Stolen Scales

Chapter 18

Kyma stops upon seeing this new guard, surprised as well as curious about the different colored clothing of each group. He looks up from his conversation with Alai when he hears that Kyma's footsteps have stopped. His voice isn't cold, but it is guarded, tense.

"Who are you?"

Kyma gives him a strained, but careful, smile. "Kyma Tide."

His eyebrow arched delicately. "And? You'll need to give me more to go on. You've never been in this Kingdom before, for all I know, you could be dangerous."

Kyma sighs, just as Roan steps around the bend. Roan answers for her, his voice resigned to the task. "She's the Queen's daughter, Lairin."

Lairin's mouth pops open slightly in surprise, but he closes it quickly and bows to Kyma. "I am grateful the tides have brought you home, Princess."

Kyma sighs again, this time it is much louder, and Lairin looks at her in shock at the sound. "Kyma. Please just call me Kyma."

"Very well. What do you need to do here, Kyma?"

"Alai is showing us around the Kingdom. We're about to see the water portions."

He nods. "Ah. Have fun then, our Kingdom is gorgeous."

Kyma nods, smiling brightly. From what she has seen of the Kingdom, she agrees with Lairin calling it gorgeous. They've barely finished talking when Kyma feels a tug on her arm. It's Alai, being extremely impatient about finishing the tour. Kyma laughs and acquiesces, following Alai to the edge of the water. Alai strides into the water until it is just past her lower chest. She reaches down to unclasp her skirt, and with a few deft movements, the strips of fabric are wrapped around her torso. Kyma watches closely as Alai arranges the folds, preparing to do the same to her own dress for the first time. Alai finishes rearranging her dress into a tunic and shifts. Her body dips in the water until it is at her neck, and she swims out before flipping over to look at Kyma.

"What are you waiting for? Don't you want to get in?"

Kyma laughs brightly and steps into the warm water, letting it pool around her ankles and ebb in and out with the waves. It's not until Alai emits a noise of impatience that Kyma steps in further, feeling the water envelop her centimeter by centimeter until it reaches her chest. She carefully reaches down to the edge of her skirt, and feels along the edges until her finger snags in one of the sides. Her fingers slip through a gap, and she feels along its edge until she feels something hard. She touches it with the tips of her fingers before finally discerning that it is a minuscule snap button. She pulls on it, and the two sides of the skirt separate, but not all the way. She continues working her way up the fabric until the two sides are completely separated. She repeats the process with the rest of her skirt until she is left with eight panels of fabric.

Kyma carefully copies Alai's movements, and grins when she finishes, her finished project being a tunic wrapped tightly around her torso. She is momentarily embarrassed by her lack of coverage on the lower half of her body, but when she looks down, she realizes that even she can't see anything through the water. Then she reaches a dilemma. She doesn't know how to shift back into her tail. Alai sees Kyma's expression and swims closer.

"You don't know how to shift back into the tail, do you?"

Kyma shakes her head. "No."

Alai gives her a small smile. "It's just like shifting from your tail to your legs, you just need to imagine having your tail instead of your legs, alright?"

Kyma nods, and concentrates. But no matter how hard she thinks of having her tail, the sensation of her toes digging into the pebbly sand distracts her and reminds her that she has legs.

"It's not working, Alai."

Alai frowns. "What's distracting you?"

"My toes in the sand."

Alai laughs. "Well, that's easy to fix! Just start treading water. If that doesn't work, tread water as if you do currently have your tail."

"Okay."

Kyma frowns down at the water and her feet, pushing them off of the sandy bottom to float in the water. Her legs move in circular motions, and Kyma sighs at the feeling of water swirling against her bare skin. She tries again to summon her tail, and fails. She sighs before trying Alai's technique of moving her legs like she moved her tail. This time, her attempt works, and the change ripples down from her hips to the tips of her toes, lengthening and flattening them into fins. She flicks her tail experimentally, and is smoothly propelled through the water. Alai grins and swims over to her.

"Does it feel nice?"

Kyma nods. "Yes. Well, it does now that I'm not mourning the loss of my legs."

Alai laughs. "Yes, that would probably put a damper on any joy you felt about your tail." She turns towards the shore and calls to Roan. "The girls can come in the water now!"

A moment later, the bubbles lower to the surface of the water. Once they touch it, the bubbles melt away to deposit Nami and Fala into the water. The two swim over to Kyma, and Alai waves at Roan. He waves back before turning to walk away from the shoreline and back through the cliff's precarious path.

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What do you think they'll see in the underwater city? I'm sorry I don't have much to say today, but I'm a tiny bit stressed out. I have to go to work today, and then rush out of work as fast as possible for something, and I'm worried I'm not going to make it in time. I promise I won't be as stressed next chapter, so happy reading, and I'll see you then.

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.