Chapter 4

“Just call me chap instead,” Lavana said in defeat.

This second voice was eccentric. What would the last one be like? She didn’t wanna know!

She entered the water and began to swim to the stream bed. She could surprisingly see well underneath the water. When she finally reached the stream bed, Oceana told her to sit beside a large rock and hug it.

When she obeyed, Oceana told her to repeat the words she would say next after her.

“But I can’t speak underwater,” Lavana said in her head.

“Say hello with your mouth.”

Lavana sceptically agreed and said “Hello!”

Water entered her mouth and she tried to close it.

“Keep it open, silly girl,” Pamela ordered.

She couldn’t resist and opened her mouth. She swallowed water and started to cough and struggle.

“Are you guys trying to kill me?” she asked in her head.

“No, you just need to embrace your next self. Now call my name with your mouth.” Oceana said.

Lavana did as was told and to her surprise, the water entering her mouth didn’t hurt her anymore. It’s like she’s on land talking. She wasn’t choking anymore.

“Wow!” she said and it produced bubbles.

Her eyes lit.

“Am I... Is my second transformation gonna be a mermaid?” she asked excitedly.

“No, it will be a blue wolf,” Pamela replied sarcastically. “Of course, you’re gonna be a mermaid.”

“Are you ready?” asked Oceana.

“More than ever!” Lavana replied.

She was so special. She’s going to be a mermaid soon. How cool was that?

“Now I need you to repeat after me.”

“Alright!”

“The stars smile, the clouds dance. The waters are peaceful, my folk are hopeful, and the life force of my home is ever-vibrant. My body is waiting. Oh, sea goddess, where is my long-awaited gift? Where is the beauty that makes pearls dance around me you promised? Where is the sensational feeling?” Oceana said and Lavana repeated after her.

“Are my hopes gonna be dashed at the last minute? I wanna be the carp that leapt through the dragon gate!” Oceana said and Lavana repeated in a higher tone.

Immediately, she felt pain in her legs.

She felt her leg’s bones break and her reform. Her legs became longer and fused together then continued to lengthen.

Scales started to appear starting from her waist. A large pink tail fin appeared along with fins on her thighs.

She felt like a thousand ants were eating her skin.

“This freaking hurts!” she cried.

“Save your strength. You will be developing gills soon,” said Oceana.

“Will it affect my heart?” she asked in her head.

“Yup. It will.” Pamela replied.

Lavana nearly fainted.

“Can I push the full transformation date?” she asked.

“Yup, but you can’t push the third transformation. Might as well just do everything today.” Oceana said heartlessly.

“Ah, I’m toast!”

“No, you can’t be toasted. We’re underwater. You can’t be frozen either. It’s not yet winter.” said Pamela.

“You two are ganging up on me,” she complained.

“Chap, you haven’t met the third sis. It’s better you reserve all your complaints for her,” said Oceana. “Focus!” she added.

Lavana looked at her tail that was done transforming. It was purple with silver spiral designs and pink fins.

There were a few scales scattered on her belly and arms. Her ears were pointed like an elf’s.

Her eyes had become orange and her lips were pale blue. Her hair had reached her waist and was moving about in the water.

A pink sapphire gemstone was in the middle of her forehead.

She looked entirely different from the skinny Lavana everyone knew. Then the dreaded chest pain came.

“Don’t remove your hands, chap. Keep hugging the rock.” Oceana warned.

“This... is.. un... bearable!” she struggled to speak.

“Save your strength, chap. This is your last warning!” Oceana was pissed.

She felt something forming on the right side of her chest. Her chest heaved up and down as fast as her breath had become. But she dared not stop hugging the rock. Her survival depends on it.

30 minutes later.

She lay exhausted on the stream bed, exhaling slowly with her hand on her stomach. There was a blue tattoo of a scallop shell on her right shoulder.

“Congrats, hun. You and Oceana are one,” said Pamela whose true form appeared in Lavana’s head.

“Ugh! Should I be happy or anxious? My third shifting could be minutes away.” she mumbled.

“Chap, you have to brace yourself. I won’t be able to help you. Third, sis has woken up.” said Oceana.

“Eh? What is third sis?”

“Hun, you’ll know when you’re done with the last transformation. Good luck!” Pamela said and vanished with Oceana, whose true form was identical to Lavana’s current look except for the brown eyes and tanned skin in her merform.

“So after all I’ve gone through, you’d just ditch me at the last minute?” she thought.

“Girl, I’m awake. I need you to prepare. I don’t have much time to waste with you.”

Lavana heard a babyish voice.

The third spirit she’ll join with is a baby? So this is the thousand-year-old sis the other two were talking about?

The owner of the babyish voice came out, and she wasn’t surprised to see that the spirit was short but was awed by the fact that it was a black dragon with a long purple horn.

“What are you looking at? Hurry up, girl.” the dragon spoke in annoyance.

“Err... okay.” she transformed back to human with a little difficulty and went into a crawl position.

“There’s nothing for you to recite like Oceana. I’ll need you to dance.”

“Eh? Dance?” she asked in disbelief. She never thought this was the requirement.

“You can’t dance, plus your body is stiff, which is terrible to begin with. This dance is pretty hard but I have to teach you within an hour coz that’s when the shifting starts.” said the dragon. “By the way, call me Thora.”

“Okay. So, how do I start the dance?” Lavana asked. She wanted to get it done quickly.

“I’m gonna teach you three dances. You must commit them to memory.” Thora changed to her human form, which was a little girl wearing a purple lace gown. She looked really pretty and Lavana wondered how she would look after transforming. Would she look like Thora?

“Girl, I’ll advise you to ditch those useless thoughts of yours. No time to waste. Get into horse stance position.”

She quickly rose and obeyed Thora’s order.

“You aren’t doing it right. It would have been better if you were a gymnast.” Thora complained nonstop and Lavana wondered if she was trying to teach or berate her.

“Look at your back and your lower legs. That’s not the right way. Bend lower. Ugh, this is terrible. A little lower... see how your legs are shaking. When will I even have time to teach you the dance when you literally are stiff everywhere? Look at your boobs. After all the transformations, they remained the same. Flat like a board! How pitiful you are. You know, I can’t have your boobs looking that tiny when I come out of you. Stop the stance and go over to that corner... yeah.. pick that plant... no.. not that one.. yeah, yeah, that black one. Don’t care about the looks and the taste. Eat it up, girl. We have only 40 minutes left and haven’t even started.” Thora spoke authoritatively with her right hand on her waist.

Lavana rolled her eyes when she stared at the little girl’s melons.

“What are you looking at? Harassment!” Thora cried with her hands covering her chest, causing Lavana to sigh.

“Now I see why those two escaped. Disloyal scums.” she thought.

“Is the plant weighing 800kg? What’s holding you back? Come on, eat it up! I don’t have all day. We have 35 minutes left. Gosh!” Thora started pacing up and down.

Lavana felt drained.

This dragon was very annoying!

She ate the plant quickly, not even sparing the stems.

Once she was done, she saw Thora seated on the floor cross-legged.