Azul was in utter shock. "How did you turn around as fast as me?!!" I shrugged as I continued to keep up with him while on my back. "As you can see, I flipped over." Azul then shook his head with a hint of a smile. "Let's see what else you can do, Your Majesty." He zoomed even faster ahead of me and I turned to swim on my stomach again.
I quickly caught up to him and somehow the mood seemed lighter between us. He swam through the various rock formations and even rolled in the air while keeping his speed. I did the same and even did a backflip over a boulder and pushed hard enough to land in front of him to continue swimming. I laughed and he did the same as we continued to show off.
Soon the crowd appeared in the distance and we were neck and neck beside each other. The cheers got louder and Azul turned to me with a competitive grin. "Eat my bubbles!" He swam faster and I followed close behind. "Not before I make waves!" We made it back to where the crowd had gathered, and the tension was high as we approached the home stretch.
Suddenly, I felt a burst of adrenaline once I saw the finish, and I zoomed past Azul. I made it back to where May was swimming in place before him, and the crowd's cheering skyrocketed. Azul stopped behind me in surprise and the merman with the black and white tail swam over to me from the sidelines. He turned to the crowd and gestured to me as he shouted. "The winner is Prince Dedrin!"
Everyone cheered with enthusiasm and surprise, and it was then I realized how tired I was. I breathed heavily and I felt sore from how fast I moved my tail. 'I did it.' I thought as I started to sink in exhaustion. Azul was exhausted as well and we both sank to the sea floor. We landed on the ground and May swam up to me excitedly. "You won! I knew you could do it! Um, are you okay?" I laughed a little as I caught my breath and closed my eyes. "I, I need a minute. Was that impressive enough, Azul?"
He breathed heavily as well as he lay on his back a few feet away from me. "I, don't know how you did it, but yeah..." After the crowd thinned out and Azul and I regained consciousness, we met up with Raymond again. Azul turned to me and raised a hand to his lips. "I don't remember the last time someone impressed me. You are an extraordinary human to be able to control a tail like that so quickly. Here is what you came for."
He then pulled a large pearl from his mouth and handed it to me. I waited a second before taking it and blinked repeatedly as I held it in my palm. "It was in your mouth this whole time?" Azul held his smile as he answered me. "Not exactly."
Raymond elaborated after him. "You know how clams make pearls when a piece of sand gets in their mouth? Well, it's kind of the same for mermaids, only our pearls are made with magic energy. Azul is very connected with water and makes more powerful pearls because of it. But we mostly use them as good luck charms or jewelry. As well as..."
He then pulled a smaller pearl from his mouth and took May's free hand to place it in her palm. May moved the pile of armor she carried under her arm to see the pearl he gave to her. "Um, what's this for?" He didn't let go of her hand as he leaned closer with a smile. "Well, you impressed me as soon as I saw you, cutie." She blushed and I smacked his hand away. "Hey! What did I tell you about hitting on her?! I already have to deal with that enough with Theodius!"
Later we continued to talk and they had informed us that they actually heard about the two of us making progress on the Sudre quest. Apparently, word about how we had already passed three trials got around. Now we had completed four, and I was already impatient to complete the fifth.
As we finished our conversation, I realized that May was really quiet. This was very unusual for her so I decided to say something. "You haven't said anything about how beautiful our surroundings are for five minutes. Is something wrong?" May's face was of discomfort as she answered me. "I, I think the tideweed is- wearing off... I can't- breathe as well..."
I remembered that we ate it earlier, but now that I was a mermaid it slipped my mind that she still had a time limit. I turned to Azul and Raymond and lifted May to prevent her from sinking. "We better be leaving now." They nodded and waved to us as I took May in my arms and started to swim back to shore. "Bye! Good luck on your quest!" They shouted. I waved to them as we swam away, and soon we were out of sight.
I swam quickly so we were at the beach before we knew it. I lay May down on the sand once we reached the surface, and she coughed a little and gasped as she pushed herself up to sit. She put my armor and sword down beside her and smiled at me. "Thanks, Dedrin." I shrugged and rested my head on my arms as I lay in the short water depth. It was weird to have my head out of the water, yet still be able to breathe through my gills that were still in the tide.
"So. Is this mermaid thing going to wear off or what?" May nodded and adjusted herself to sit Kris Kross. "Yes, but it might take a while. It's effective for much longer than tideweed." I relaxed my body into the sand and felt the rays of the sun warm my back and the water around me. "Why didn't we just eat the mermaid fruit instead of the tideweed?"
May turned to look at the bed of plants that we got the stems from. "It's more common I guess. Plus that fruit is usually found in much deeper water levels, so we would've had to eat the tideweed anyway. But I still think you're tail is beautiful and very fast too!" I looked off to the side and felt my eyelids relax to the sound of the small waves crashing into the sand. "...You know, you didn't have to cheer for me back at the race. I was going to win anyway."
May seemed surprised with what I said but her smile returned twice as bright. "Of course I did! What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?! Of course, I knew that you were going to win, but I cheered you on anyway to let you know that I believe in you! Just like lesson thirty-one says, believing in others is like sharing your strength."
I thought back to the race where I received that random burst of energy at the end. 'I felt that energy once I saw May at the finish line yelling you can do it over and over. Was that the reason why...? I've never had anyone cheer for me before. Not even when I excelled in combat. It kind of felt... Good...'