Everything happened so quickly that very little was left in Naia's impression, not when she was shaking in fear.
Elder Baba tried to reassure her by patting her back, but she was still shivering. "We are sorry that you cannot consummate at this time," she said, "But the process cannot be compromised…
"All of our fates lie in this."
Naia gripped her arms, as if trying to comfort herself. She looked around, her azure eyes looking at the merfolk that surrounded her.
"Where… where's the Grand Elder?" She asked, laboriously looking around. Her pretty eyebrows furrowed when she couldn't see the great elder.
"She is indisposed at the moment." Elder Baba said as she led Naia to a stone slab, asking her to lie there. Her tone was unreadable, but Naia felt the heaviness in her aura.
Her back felt a little cold, but she couldn't complain. She could only look up to see the sharp crystals of green and blue above her, feeling a bit of comfort in the beauty of her land.
"The Grand Elder…" Baba sighed as she stared at the younger mermaid. "Just… try not to put her heavy sacrifice to vain."
Naia looked at her in confusion but, before she could ask what she meant, Elder Hao had already swam to her side.
He had a heavy expression on his face as he held her palm. "We are sorry, my dear." He said, with a bit of heartbreak, "This will be painful."
"What?"
Before she could receive an answer, a ball of blue crystal was placed in her mouth and she was forced to swallow it whole.
The next moment a searing pain jolted through her body and her entire body bent painfully, but it still didn't compare to the torture she was feeling in her bones..
It was so painful that she could only yell to the top of her lungs, the vibrations of her scream through the water breaking everyone's hearts.
"AHHH!!!"
Her whole body bent and clutched itself as intense agony flowed through her veins, leading to her tail.
Every molecule in her body had begun to change and morph, her bluish red blood slowly turned crimson. These changes caused her entire body to feel like it was being pulled apart, as if her own blood turned to acid.
No—if she knew what fire was—she would describe this as if she was being burned alive, but worse.
She could hear a few sobs outside and apologies, but she did not care for these at all, she could barely absorb them.
Eventually, at the last bit of her consciousness, she vaguely heard some of the elders' reminders.
"Remember, your two land fins are not permanent. They must be maintained. The Grand Elder said these must obtain the seeds from the world above."
"She said that your body will know, and look for these seeds instinctively."
"We do not know what these seeds are, but you are a smart little mermaid. We trust you will be able to do well.
"And most importantly: Until your voice can be heard all over the world, humans cannot know of your true nature. It would lead to your doom and the possible failure of your mission."
"Be careful, our little Naia. We hope you can return to us safe and sound."
Then, she lost consciousness.
***
12 kilometers off coast of Albera Town
Thaddeus looked at the time, 9:05 pm, before he turned back to the branching structure of his coral-of-study. He gently gathered a sample and closed the lid.
His thesis had to do with acropora and Favia corals, corals which spawned at night. He had gotten just enough samples and mused it would probably be his final night excursion.
Relieved, he finally decided to swim out. He felt that his flashlight would also lose power soon and he wouldn't want to be trapped under the sea at night.
As he swam to his boat though, his peripheral vision seemed to have caught sight of… a human leg?
He froze, not immediately turning for a second look. His heart beat loudly. What if it was a corpse??
He floated like that for a moment before turning.
The light of his equipment landed on the spot, and he quickly saw that it was, indeed, a body.
Still the naked body of a very beautiful woman.
He immediately swam to her and extended his hand to grab her arm, intent to check if she was alive or if he was handling a corpse.
His eyes couldn't help but look at her face as he did so, but immediately shook his head away and focus on the task at hand.
His eyes widened when he, through his scuba suit, felt a pulse.
Alive!
He immediately pulled his own oxygen and put the breathing tube to her mouth.
He then pulled her to him so he could carry her up, the softness in his arms distracting him a bit.
He swam up as fast as he safely could (especially for her, as the sudden change in pressure could damage her), gasping for air as they reached the surface. He held her firmly, looking for his boat.
He blew his whistle to alert the boat's skipper to go to him, but he still couldn't keep calm even when he saw the boat finally heading in their direction.
He felt his heart race as he looked at the woman's pale face. Unable to just swim and wait, he also swam as quickly as he could to meet his boat.
His heart beat loudly as it synced with hers. Somehow, he could feel her heart weakly beating even through the scuba suit, and he felt hopeful and scared at the same time.
What if he was too late?