She tried to bury the thought. She didn't want to think about her task right now.
It was interesting to consider that Austin had told Dominic about the existence of mermaids because of Emea. It meant that in the book, she had indirectly caused her own capture, as Dominic went out to sea because of the tip from Austin. The book had described her as capable and adventurous, but she seemed careless.
-
Emea swam up to the shoreline, quietly gaining on one lone surfer.
He sat on a rock, separated from the rest of the beach, his eyes aimlessly scanning the horizon. He seemed to be idly waiting as the waves gently brushed against his shins.
Eemea drifted behind him and sharply poked him in the back.
"Ow!" Austin looked behind him with a frown that dropped immediately.
"Emea! I've been waiting." He smiled, overjoyed to see her.
Emea hugged him, smiling as she warmly greeted him. It was difficult to meet him since she couldn't talk, but that didn't stop them from getting along.
Austin looked her up and down, pure happiness stained his face with a blush. And another emotion lay at rest in his eyes: love.
She'd been working her magic on him for a while, and it seemed it finally worked. He loved her.
Today was the day.
For this to work, she needed to love him too, which she wasn't sure if she was capable of, but she found a way to use her magic on herself, too. She didn't want to, but she had no choice.
She'd been waiting for this for so long.
Austin began rambling about his day, but as he soon trailed off as Emea gently
raised herself onto the rock and kissed him.
He froze for a moment, taken aback. But he soon met her lips and rested his hands on her waist.
Emea felt relief wash over her; it worked.
She felt her tail disappear in an odd sensation, as legs replaced fins. She gasped for air that she could now breathe.
Austin looked at her in shock as the mermaid he was holding a second ago turned into a human.
"Emea?" He sounded uncertain.
"Austin." Emea said her first words to him, happiness bubbling up.
She was finally human. She'd still have the capability to turn back into a mermaid when she went back into the ocean, but she felt like she'd never go back. She had a whole new world to explore.
She felt excitement course through her body, all of her effort made this single moment.
She was human.
Giddiness coursed through her as she thought of every single thing she wanted to do, now that she wasn't constrained by a tail.
But she had a debt to settle first.
"I can't believe I'm here." Emea said breathily.
"What's going on, why are you…"
"Because we love each other." Emea hugged him.
"This is amazing! Now we can be together!"
The magic clearly affected him quite a lot, if all he could focus on was his relationship with Emea. He didn't ask any other questions.
But it wasn't enough, not yet.
Emea pushed some more magic into Austin, and she watched as his eyes turned obsessive, the love twisting into something sinister.
She did too much, she could tell. But it was too late, he loved her, and that's all she needed.
She had no patience for a romantic exchange at the moment, and Emea got straight to the point.
"Austin… Before we focus on anything else, there's something else I need to tell you."
"What?" He smiled at her, his eyes only containing her.
"I was hurt recently, a lot. And I'm going to get hurt again if something's not done." Emea stretched the truth a bit. She couldn't talk about this to her parents, the news would reach every mermaid's ears by the end of the day. But she still had business to settle.
"What can I do?" Austin turned serious.
Austin had told her that a siren had been taken for research by one of his friends, and judging by Narcissa's recent disappearance, it was easy to put the puzzle together. It was far too easy to put her plan in motion.
And now that someone was at her beck and call, her grievance would be settled.
And she could focus on what really mattered.
Emea turned towards the city beyond the beach and smiled. She had so much to see.
-
Dominic had put a large curtain by Beatrix, separating her from the rest of the lab. It was simplistic, but it was the best he could do, considering the space.
Unfortunately, this tank was the only option for Beatrix. He had other ones, but they were all too small for Beatrix to stay in for a long time. And it was too late now to fashion anything else.
Beatrix idly drew random pictures on the whiteboard as she waited for Austin to arrive with Dominic. She was pretty limited in what she could do, considering she gets everything wet.
Dominic stared at the door, frowning as he waited for his guest. He clearly didn't want Austin to visit, but he owed too much to Austin. It would be ungrateful of him to refuse his sudden request.
He shot up and quickly walked to the door as the doorbell rang. He wanted to get this over with.
"Austin, welcome." Dominic had trouble hiding his displeasure, but he didn't want to be rude to his old friend.
"Dominic! I'm so glad to be here. I've been wanting to see your progress forever, I'm so excited." He excitedly gave Dominic a short, halfhearted hug.
Beatrix was peeking from behind the curtain, holding her breath as she watched the two men.
"Yeah, come take a look." Dominic gestured to his lab.
They began wandering around as Dominic explained various things, getting more outspoken as he gushed about his work. All it took for him to open up was talking about his research.
Austin, however, was getting impatient. His steps were getting hurried, and he was constantly scanning the room. He had an odd look on his face.
"Look, Dominic…" He paused, as if wondering how best to phrase his question.
"What's up?" Dominic extricated himself from his research after being interrupted.
"I want to see something more… real, you know?" Austin tried to sound casual.
"Real?" Dominic pretended to be clueless, but he knew what Austin was talking about. He started to get a bad feeling.