Water and Air: A Waterfire Saga reincarnation fanfic.

Plans swimming in Motion

My first birthday approached.

As you can imagine, I had to adjust to a lot of things. Thankfully, swimming is actually easier than walking in many ways. Hence, the reason why a number of humans- or terragoggs- are sure to introduce their babies early to swimming lessons. The water held me up so even though my tail felt heavy against my meagre strength, I could forget that once I was able to move in the air. The currents created by my movements often helped me, and having a large pair of fins definitely did. Having a pair of diving flippers certainly didn't compare to having real fins shaped like this, swimming like I did, and a tail made for swimming in deep water. It was chubby right now, and hopefully it would become slender and graceful like my mother's as I grew but right now it was still better equipped to swishing and cutting through water- no matter how uncoordinated I felt and clumsy as compared to a pair of legs. Even an Olympic swimmer would not be able to keep up with me, once I started properly swimming.

But alas, I was a baby merl and I nearly stumbled, propelled myself too fast or simply tipped over a number of times, but my father, my mother, Giulia, Des and Sera were always there to catch me- or rather the adults would and the kids would shout for help or try themselves. It was frustrating.

I had no idea how to float at that stage. So if I got tired, I would probably sink. If I didn't swim well enough, I could tip over and fall. So in essence, I was like a human baby learning how to crawl and walk. But baby mer learned to swim quicker and easier than terragoggs walking.

It all got easier. I was relieved.

I spent a lot of time with my siblings when they weren't having their lessons. Then one day, a mermaid as impressive and enigmatic as my grandmother appeared.

She had the lower half of an octopus, with thick, powerful tentacles, grey hair piled on top of her head like storm clouds and striking eyes.

"So this is the little princess." The mermaid crouched down. I reached out to touch her, and she gave a small smile. "Principessa Serena."

I blinked.

"Yes, Magistra," Sera said. "This is my baby sister."

Magistra... So this must be...

Thalassa. The Canta Magus or Keeper of Magic of Miromara. I stared.

Now I felt afraid. The truth was, I felt as scared as a coward. I had a family and they had no idea that their new baby was a reincarnated terragogg soul. I was afraid they would shun and hate me, or worse. I didn't want them to know, shameful, I admit.

I was scared Thalassa would figure it out. But I kept silent.

"Blessings be on you, Little Princess," Thalassa said in her powerful, mysterious and commanding voice. "You have a great destiny ahead. And one day, I will teach you all there is to know about magic."

I blinked.

Magic. Now, that was an exciting thing. Lately, I had been frustrated at having to be a baby in a formerly alien environment and struggling inwardly to adapt, that I keep forgetting that I was in the most magical- metaphorically and literally speaking- environment besides fairyland.

The fact that I was going to be taught magic by the greatest spell-caster in the mer realms excited me. But I kept it to myself as Thalassa handed me back to Giulia.

I was going to be a spellcaster. I was a mermaid princess.

It didn't hit me until right then.

Go ahead, cue the inner squeals and screams of any fangirl or daydreamer, but can you honestly blame me? What would you do if you had been born in my place?