"I can't wait to see who wins the competition!" Cleora squeals, holding Dominic in her lap.
"There's a pretty good chance your group will win. Your act left most people in awe," Dominic says, trying to hype Cleora up.
"So, are you two together or not?" Riri asks, being her snarky self.
"Riri, don't rush them! They'll say when they're together on their own time," Emmeline reprimands, hitting Riri's shoulder.
"Just asking. By the way, what is the prize for winning?" Riri questions.
"I don't think there is one. It's a fundraiser," Emmeline says, tying her hair up. "Everyone is doing this out of the kindness in their hearts."
"You have a lot of hope in the NRC students, don't you?" Yuu asks, remembering her friend's behavior and lack of morals.
"I'm sure they're upstanding young men. Besides, they've shown nothing but respect to everyone here."
"You know what, imma let you believe that."
"Welcome back, magicians! For our closing act, we will have the adorable prince of Sunset Savanna, Cheka, and his uNcWle Leona, on stage as they perform Hakuna Matata," Sam announces, teasing Leona.
The music starts to play, and Cheka begins to sing and dance, much to Leona's chagrin.
"Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing craze. It means no worries for the rest of your days. It's our problem-free philosophy, Hakuna Matata. Hakuna Matata!" Cheka sings, dancing around in a circle.
"Hakuna Matata?" Leona sings, trying to avoid eye contact with the crowd.
The women in the crowd coo over Leona and how fatherly he's acting. Leona notices the attention, immediately becoming more energetic, and performs along with Cheka. The two perform the whole song, smiling like they have no worries.
"You're the best Uncwle Leona!" Cheka exclaims, hugging Leona.
"Awwwwww!" The crowd coos, making more noise as Leona hugs Cheka back.
"That was such a beautiful and adorable performance! We'll get back to the show after everyone votes!" Sam says, trying not to cry from a cuteness overload. "Remember, you can vote by going to SaveRSA.com and clicking the now open voting link! I'll see you fellow imps in 15 minutes!"
"Who are you voting for?" Riri asks, looking at Emmeline's phone.
"Us for first, Hakuna Matata for second place, and The Malevolent Winds of Hell for Third," Emme answers, submitting her voting form.
The intense 15 minutes go by, and Sam walks back onto the stage.
"Alright, my fellow imps, the results have come in! First place goes to Hakuna Matata! Second place goes to Queens of the Sea! For third place, two acts will be sharing the spot. Those acts are The Malevolent Winds of Hell and Rotten to the Core!" Sam announces, making the crowd applaud as the winning acts come on stage. "The prize for winning is a week off of school!"
Everyone on stage claps, and the RSA and NRC joint talent show ends.
"Wanna go take a victory lap around the beach?" Riri asks, seeing the glowing ocean.
"I, for one, would love that!" Cleora exclaims.
"Let's go!" Yuu squeals, running off stage.
The girls run to the beach and jump into the water as the moon rises.
"Woah, check it out! The water is glowing around us!" Riri exclaims, noticing the electric blue glow around their bodies.
"This is so cool!" Cleora yells, swirling around to make the water glow more.
"I remember reading about this during our biology class! It's a type of algae called Dinoflagellate. Its glow is beautiful, but it has a horrible smell when it begins to die off," Emmeline explains, using her powers to create an ice ball. "But for now, we can rule an electric ocean!"
"Hey, girls, look. I think it's talking to us?" Yuu says, pointing out the glowing words in the water. "It's spelling out the word hi."
"Freaky," Riri says in awe.
The algaes begin to spell out more.
Our name is Dinoflagellate, but you can call us Dino. Nice to meet you girls. We're staying here for a couple of days. Then we're moving to the City of Flowers on Halloween. Hopefully, we'll see you again. We always get along with mermaids.
"Never heard of algae being able to talk," Riri says, touching the words.
"Everything is possible in a world with magic," Cleora replies, playing with the algae.
"You know, my family is going on a trip to the City of Flowers for the festival. Maybe the rest of you can come along? We have enough room for seven," Emmeline proposes, looking at her merfriends.
"I would love to!" Cleora and Riri exclaim, hugging Emmeline.
"Yuu, what about you?" Emmeline asks, looking at Yuu.
"I'll see if I can go. As you know, NRC has a huge Halloween festival. They may need my help," Yuu answers, getting the feeling this Halloween is going to be something special. "I'll text you if my schedule clears up."
"Alright! I can't wait to see you again, Dino!" Emmeline says, blowing a kiss to the algae.
The algae swirls around and shifts into the form of a mermaid with hair down to its tail fin.
"I'll see you later," Dino says, her voice coming out as a mix of Yuu's, Emmeline's, Riri's, and Cleora's.
Dino swims away, taking the rest of the Dinoflagellate with her. Her mermaid form grows to the size of a skyscraper as if she were a sea goddess. The mergirls wave goodbye and swim off to their homes. Yuu swims back to NRC and goes back to Diasomnia. She opens the doors and is greeted by Malleus hugging her.
"Yuu, where were you?" Malleus asks, rubbing his cheek with Yuu's.
"I was celebrating our win in town with my group," Yuu half-lies, avoiding Malleus's eyes.
"That's great! We're having our celebration as well. Here's a glass of our Diasomnia dragon fire. It's just lemonade with green dye," Malleus says, handing Yuu a glass, only to spill it on her shirt.
"Oh crap!" Yuu curses, running away from Malleus.
Yuu runs to the nearest bathroom, locking herself inside as she transforms. She faceplants onto the floor and groans. Malleus and his bodyguards run to the bathroom and knock on the door.
"Yuu, are you ok? We heard a large thud," Malleus asks, pressing his pointy ears on the door.
"I'm ok! I just slipped on some water!"Yuu responds, pulling herself onto the counter.
"Are you sure? Wait, what's that huge orange thingy?" Malleus asks, going onto the floor and peaking in from the bottom crack.
"Don't peak!" Yuu screams, pulling more of her tail up.
"You know, you've gotten stranger these couple of weeks," Malleus says, leaving to let Yuu get herself together. "You even smell different these days."
"I'll tell you one day. I promise," Yuu replies in a whisper that only a fae can hear.
YOU ARE READING
A Twisted H2O
FanfictionYuu sneaks out into the woods and finds herself in an underground cave. Unfortunately, the consequences of sneaking out had more fishy effects. Also known as Part of That World on Ao3 on the account Notthisg1rlagain.
