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Eli scowled at the man opposite him. He leaned over the kitchen island’s countertop. How could he be so nonchalant? It was time for answers.
“Thrawn, what happened the other night?”
Thrawn looked up from his phone, a lock of his long hair slipping off his shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“I mean - I remember we were out in the bay in my boat on a date. We got on our gear and then the next thing I remember I’m here, in my bed,”
“Perhaps you were dreaming…”
“No, no, I’m not accepting that. I don’t just lose time like that. Something. Happened. And I know you know what it is, you’re just not telling me. So what was it?”
Thrawn seemed to go cold. He stared at Eli, his face placid and unreadable. “We went to the island, you followed me to an underground cave to witness the full moon,”
This did nothing to relieve Eli’s anger. “Bullshit, I would have remembered that,”
“Your lapse in memory may be due to the ritual.” He tilted his head up proudly.
“What? Ritual? Did we do shrooms in the cave?”
“There were no hallucinogenic substances involved,”
“So what, then? Did I hit my head? You know you’re not supposed to let someone sleep with a concussion.”
“It was not an injury either, Eli,” Thrawn said with all the confidence of a doctor diagnosing a patient, “You received the Moonpool’s blessing,”
Eli laughed, this was just ridiculous. “So you roofied me, got it,” he laughed again, because if he didn’t, he would cry. “Why can’t you just tell me the truth, Thrawn?”
There was a hint of confusion on Thrawn’s face. “I am telling the truth,”
Eli snorted. “Oh yeah, sure. Who’s ever heard of this Moonpool and this ‘blessing’. Stop lying to me!”
Almost too quickly for Eli to register, Thrawn picked up the glass sitting on the counter at his side and splashed the contents all over Eli. “What - what the hell was that for?”
“You will see,” Thrawn said.
Something was happening. His skin began itching where the liquid made contact. There was an ache rising up from Eli’s pelvis and spine and through his belly. It was almost like a cramp, like he really had to use the restroom or he was really aroused. It pulsed again and he hissed in a breath through his teeth as the ache sharpened to pain moving down his legs.
“What the hell? Did you poison me? Was that acid?”
Thrawn cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes, “Acid? No.”
A sweat broke out across Eli’s brow as the pain in his spine intensified. He groaned in spite of himself.
“Don’t panic or fight it, Eli Vanto, let it happen,”
“Don’t fight what? What are you - ah!”
A new, exquisite pain radiated up his back. His spine felt like it was being ripped out through the small of his back. His legs grew shaky and buckled underneath him. Collapsing to the floor, he moaned and writhed as his spine cracked and stretched outward. The itching intensified as scales pushed out of his skin. His spine continued to elongate, narrowing to a taper at the end. The pain was almost blinding, gripping his entire body so much that he barely knew what was happening.
After what seemed like years, the pain subsided for just a moment. Eli tried to push with his legs to sit up but they wouldn’t respond. He looked down his torso and found the remnants of his legs were hanging loosely off his hips now, slowly shrinking into his lengthening body. He screamed.
“Wha - What’s happening to me?” Eli yelled, voice cracking with fear and horror.
Thrawn knelt to meet him on the floor. “As I explained, you have received the Moonpool’s blessing. You belong now to its waters,” Thrawn said in his infuriatingly calm voice.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he reached for Thrawn, desperately wanting to grab him by the collar and shake him. Eli froze, staring in shock at his forearms which had now sprouted fins.
The moment of reprieve was over. Another jolt of intense pain ripped through his body and his spine - no - his tail grew out almost a foot in a sudden spurt. The tapered end fanned out into a wide, translucent paddle shape. Like a fish tail…
His legs were totally gone now and Eli pushed himself up on his forearms. He pulled himself forward, dragging his newly grown tail along with him. He collapsed again, feeling heavy and weak. Breathing became difficult and there was a burning sensation along his neck and collarbone as the flesh opened up in long, diagonal slits. He coughed and he felt air moving through the slits. Suddenly breathing was easy again. Eli felt at the new openings. Did he just grow gills?
“I’m a goddamn merman!” Eli shouted. He flexed his spine and finally saw the full length of his new body. He had to be eight feet long now! “What did you do to me!?”
“I did nothing but perform the ritual. This is the work of the Moonpool’s blessing. You are…magnificent,” he said.
“Magnificent? Blessing?! What the hell?! This is not a blessing, Thrawn! I’m a fish!” Eli tried to sit up, to pull himself upright but the lingering ache from his transformation made him feel so weak. “Ahh,” he moaned, “I don’t want to be a fish,”
“You will not always, as you said ‘be a fish’…however, as I just demonstrated, exposure to water triggers the change,”
“The change?”
“In this shape, you will find it easier to move in the water,” he continued.
“I hadn’t guessed,” Eli hissed.
For once, Thrawn looked sympathetic. “Come, I shall take you to the water, then you will understand,” Thrawn placed gentle fingers at Eli’s temple and all his aches soothed in a rush of cool relief. He didn’t fight Thrawn as he lifted Eli’s awkward new body up in a bridal carry. Thrawn carried him down to the end of the small private fishing pier that had come with the house rental. In the moonlight, he could see Thrawn’s eyebrows turning up with concern. He was just as beautiful now, here in the moonlight, even if Eli was angry with him.
Eli hooked his arms around Thrawn’s neck to steady himself. Thrawn knelt down to ease Eli into the water. He panicked and thrashed as the dark water slipped over his head.
“ Eli Vanto, let this body guide you,” Eli heard Thrawn’s voice echo in his head. “Breathe,” he commanded.
Eli inhaled. Water rushed through his gills, filling his lungs with water. But he wasn’t distressed, this body knew what to do. He now felt invigorated with oxygen. Without a thought, he beat his tail against the water and was surprised at how quickly it propelled him forward.
As an amateur diver and marine biology student, Eli had done dive school and numerous expeditions for fun as well as for his studies. All the equipment was so awkward and graceless. But now, he felt like he was flying. Swimming with his tail and rudder like fins on his arms was a whole new level of freedom. His senses, too, had changed.
Even in the dark water, he found he could see every detail clearly. And the bay was so alive . Every species of fish he knew and some he didn’t swam around the reefs and rocky ridges. In the distance, Eli heard the squeaks and whistles of a pod of dolphins. And they were…talking about him? Instinctually, he knew what their sounds meant.
A tingling ran down his neck and back, alerting him. Somehow, Eli knew there was another creature, a large creature, coming up on his left. Eli veered off and spun around to see the shape of a large merman with glowing red eyes and long dark hair spreading out like a halo around him. Eli . He said.
It was him. Thrawn was the merman who’d saved him that stormy night on the bay. But of course he was, somehow Eli had always known. He opened his mouth to speak, but only air bubbles came out.
With your thoughts. Thrawn said, pointing a clawed finger at his head.
I - I’m a merman now…how?
The merman that was Thrawn bowed his head slightly, as if finally feeling shame for what he’d done. I lured you to the Moonpool on the night of a full moon. With the ritual, its blessings were bestowed upon you . Thrawn said. Eli’s throat tightened, the reality of it all setting in.
Is it really a blessing? What am I gonna do now?
Live in the water, with us, with the folk.
The folk? There are more of you? I can’t do that! Eli pushed up to the surface. He couldn’t do this telepathic thing, not when he needed the satisfaction of yelling. Thrawn surfaced after him, the glow of his eyes reflecting off the water..
“I can’t, Thrawn,” Eli yelled, “I can’t. I have school! A life! My parents!”
“You are angry,” Thrawn observed.
“Hell yeah I’m angry. I’m furious! What else am I supposed to be? You seduced me, drugged me and abducted me against my will. And then you turned me into this!” he flicked his tail up and out of the water.
“Can you not see the gift that has been given to you? Humans are almost never bestowed with the Moonpool’s blessing.”
“No! This isn’t a gift, Thrawn, if that’s even your actual name. I didn’t ask for this, you just did this. I thought I could trust you.”
“But the blessings have made you better, stronger, more beautiful. I have made you more ,” his eyes sparkled as he said that. Was it malice or lust? Eli decided he didn’t care.
“You don’t get it,” Eli shook his head.
Before Thrawn could make more excuses Eli dove and swam toward the docks. Maybe water made him change but being dry could turn him back. Checking to see if anyone was around, Eli hauled himself up onto the dock, awkwardly wriggling to push himself onto the wooden planks.
Eli marveled at his new body. How was this even real? The scales were a fiery orange, like a goldfish almost. The transition to his human upper half was supernaturally seamless. He was almost too scared to touch it, as if it would make this all the more real.
In a few minutes the ocean breeze blew across the scaly skin of his tail. He hoped he would dry and change back soon but it seemed to be taking ages. Maybe Thrawn had to do it and he’d left the man - the merman- in his dust.
Just before he started to panic, he felt that tugging ache rising through his belly. The pain this time lasted only a short time and in moments he was wiggling the toes of his feet, happy to have legs again. To his horror however, he realized he wasn’t wearing any pants. He wasn’t wearing anything actually.
“Shit,” he grabbed a beach towel someone had left and wrapped it around himself. He started to run but almost stumbled over his feet. He ran to the house, praying no one was home so he could sneak to his room.
“Went for a swim?” Karyn asked, startling him. He hoped she hadn’t seen him on the dock.
“Uh, yeah,” he said, “it’s a lovely night, moon is still pretty full, a good night for snorkeling in the bay.”
“Ew, you swam in the bay? But there are things in the bay,” she said, not even trying to hide her disgust.
“Yeah, I know, that’s kinda the point Karyn,” Eli said. He did not miss the irony that now he was one of those things.