Water and Air: A Waterfire Saga reincarnation fanfic.

A Current of Destiny

Isabella raised an eyebrow. Bastiaan's brow furrowed. "Serena, just where are you getting with this?" He asked. "What did you do?"

"Yes," Mother leaned forwards and frowned. "Serena, what could be so urgent that you and Magistra Thalassa the Canta Magus had to pull me out of a council session?"

I took a deep breath. "Because... Despite some differences in their stories and culture due to distance, I assumed that when humans wrote about something that was similar if not the same, I thought it was true. Including the one about mermaids turning their tails to legs. So," I cleared my throat. "I visited the Magistra's house. I researched. Learned some more magic," I looked sheepish. That could have been dangerous. "And I... Well, I found it."

"You found what?" Both my parents were baffled.

"It is best," Thalassa sighed. "If we just show you."

Moving her hands together in a spiral, Thalassa song-cast a ball of light which eventually grew to form an air bubble, drained of water, suspended within the liquid.

"Principessa Serena," Thalassa said steadily. I took a deep breath once more and stepped in.

And willed myself to change.

I couldn't describe the gasp that ripped from my mother's throat and the strangled cry from my father's, or the looks on their utterly thunderstruck faces as their youngest daughter's long, silver tail shortened, the scales began to fade and turn into skin and the fins shrink as the tail itself caved inwards to form leg lines and fade into halves.

That's right their daughter just turned into a human.

Thalassa stepped forwards. "This is a rare case, but I believe the Principessa is a rare type of mermaid. Long-forgotten except in myths and legends but most certainly true. They are by far, rarer than a bioluminescent like Princess Neela and long-thought of to be extinct or even myth. She is a nymph- a Nereid in this case. In the old days they used to roam the shores protecting, nurturing and nourishing all sea life and guarding the wilds. Some came from freshwaters. Others came from the sea or the deep ocean. A guardian of sea life and its protector."

Their faces were totally priceless.

"Can I change back now?" I asked, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Plus, being a mermaid means that you don't wear underwear- how could you? And suddenly transforming into legs without knickers is just.... No.

"She is the first Sea Nymph born in millennia," Thalassa said solemnly. "A sign from Neria. That nature now has a chance against the ravaging natures of the Terragoggs."

Isabella leaned backwards, almost slumping against her throne, too stunned to think about it. Bastiaan didn't look that much better.

"I know that the principessa as the youngest of the royal siblings, is the only candidate for the Perumtavi," Thalassa said. "But the fact is, that she has been given such a gift means that she was meant for a higher calling- to protect all the underwater realms and not just from below, but from the world above."

Isabella stared at Thalassa. "You expect me to send my daughter to the human world?" She asked, aghast.

"No," Thalassa said respectfully. "Not yet. But it is the gods' will and destiny has decided. She is meant to be more than a pawn. Few can span both worlds as she will and none for a several millennia. First she must be taught to be strong, to defend herself on land and underwater, how to cherish and best look after nature's treasures, and how to defend the sea from the worst." Thalassa sighed. "It is Neria's will that she has been born as this." She stated.