As the two eels led the merman to a dark cave that looked like a giant eel with blue smoke flowing out of it. When Shoto saw the mouth of the cave he stopped and thought about his decisions, but quickly swallowed it down and continued inside. As they swam down the throat of the cave, The merman saw the cursed people and one wrapped around his wrist as if to stop him, but he pulled away from it and panted in fear.
"Come in. Come in, my child." He heard a deep voice say from behind him and he turned to see a throne but no one on it. "We mustn't lurk in doorways. It's rude."
A merman swam out of the shadows and he had a blue and black tail.
"One might question your upbringing." The merman chuckled and looked at himself in his mirror. He grabbed a small red octopus from a small cage and he squirted it onto his hair to make his black hair a deeper black. "Now, then, you're here because you have a thing for this human, this princess girl. Not that I blame you. She is quite a beauty, isn't she? Well, angelfish, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself."
"Can you do that?" Shoto gasped, making Dabi laugh and turned to face him.
(Play Song)
"My dear, sweet child. That's what I do. It's what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk, like yourself, poor souls with no one else to turn to." Dabi said and swam around Shoto. "I admit that in the past, I've been a nasty. They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch, but you'll find that nowadays, I've mended all my ways, Repented, seen the light and made a switch. True? Yes."
"And I fortunately know a little magic. It's a talent that I always have possessed." Dabi sang and he opened up his cauldron that made blue smoke rise up, and he made a silhouette of a man, who was skin and bones and a woman, who had a big belly. "And here lately, please don't laugh, I use it on behalf of the miserable, lonely and depressed. Pathetic. Poor unfortunate souls, In pain, in need, This one longing to be thinner, that one wants to get the girl. And do I help them? Yes, indeed."
Dabi snapped his fingers and the two silhouettes turned into a skinny girl and a muscular man, and they hugged each other and kissed.
"Those poor, unfortunate souls so sad, so true, They come flocking to my cauldron, Crying spells, Dabi, please, And I help them, Yes, I do." As Dabi sang as Keigo and Izuku slowly swam through the entrance. "Now it's happened once or twice, someone couldn't pay the price. And I'm afraid I had to rake 'em across the coals. Yes, I've had the odd complaint, But on the whole I've been a saint, To those poor unfortunate souls."
Dabi wrapped his arm around Shoto's shoulders and led him towards his cauldron.
"I will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days. Now, listen, this is important." Dabi said and grabbed Shoto's chin and made him look into the cauldron, as a silhouette of him. "Before the sun sets on the third day, you've got to get dear old princess to fall in love with you. That is, she's got to kiss you. Not just any kiss, the kiss of true love. If she does kiss you before the sun sets on the third day, you'll remain human permanently. But if she doesn't, you'll turn back into a merman, and you belong to me!"
"No, Shoto!" Keigo yelled but Toga and Twice wrapped around him and Izuku, to keep them silent.
"Have we got a deal?" Dabi asked.
"If I become human, I'll never be with my brothers or sisters again."
"That's right!" Dabi exclaimed and crossed his arms. "But, you'll have your girl. Life's full of tough choices, isn't it? Oh! And there is one more thing. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing, you know."
"But I don't have any-"
"I'm not asking much. Just a token really, a trifle. You'll never miss it. What I want from you is..." Dabi trailed off and his teeth shone as he spoke. "Your voice."
"My voice?" Shoto asked and put his hand on his throat.
"You've got it, soba. No more talking, singing. Zip!"
"But without my voice, how can I-"
"You'll have your looks, your pretty face. And don't underestimate the importance of body language! Ha!" Dabi laughed and flexed his muscles as he started to grab his ingredients. "The girls up there don't like a lot of blabber, they think a boy who gossips is a bore. Yes on land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word. What about if we add a man! Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation. True women avoid it when they can, But they dote and swoon and fawn. On a girl who's withdrawn, it's she who holds her tongue who gets her man, you can too! Come on, you poor unfortunate soul. Go ahead, make your choice, I'm a very busy man and I haven't got all day, It won't cost much, just your voice! Ya poor, unfortunate soul, It's sad, but true. If you want to cross a bridge, my sweet you've got to pay the toll. Take a gulp and take a breath and go ahead and sign the scroll."
Dabi made a scroll and quill appear and he whispered to his two eels.
"Twice, Toga, now I've got him, guys. The boss is one a roll. This poor, unfortunate soul." Shoto grabbed the quill and quickly signed his name, before he could change his mind Dabi quickly grabbed it and started with his chant.
"Beluga, sevruga, Come, winds of the Caspian Sea." Dabi chanted and lights shot into the sea around them. "Larynixis, glossitis, Et max laryngitis, La voce to me! Now, sing!"
Shoto started to sing as a wind of lights circled around him and a blue light shined on his throat.
"Keep singing!" Dabi yelled and two big hands came towards the singing Shoto and the hand grabbed Shoto's voice and went into a shell that Dabi was holding with a creepy smile on his face. Once Shoto's voice fully went into the shell Dabi broke out into a cackle and a smoke grabbed Shoto and he gritted his teeth in pain as the transformation started. Shoto's tail split into to and two legs replaced it, the red and white hair man filled with fear when he realized he couldn't breathe underwater and he tried to swim up, Keigo and Izuku quickly swam over and started to pull the naked man to the entrance of the cave as Dabi continued to cackle.
The three quickly swam to the surface and Shoto quickly sucked in the air with relief.
~
A beautiful music of a flute filled the castle grounds as the princess played the song that the mysterious boy sang to her. Eijiro barked as she pulled the flute away from her mouth.
"That voice. I can't get it out of my head." Y/n told her friend and she petted the dog's head. "I've looked everywhere, Eijiro. Where could he be?"
~
On the bench next to the white and gold castle was a naked boy hanging out to a rock with his two fish friends panting beside him. Shoto pushed his hair out of his face and looked down to see two new legs on his body and he stuck one out of the water and wiggled his toes.
"Well, look at what the catfish dragged in." A familiar yellow and black seagull laughed and landed on a rock next to Shoto. "Look at ya. Look at ya. There's something different. Don't tell me. I got it. It's your hairdo, right? It switched sides. You've been using the dinglehopper, right?"
Shoto shook his head.
"No? No, huh? Well, let me see. Have you been working out?" Denki asked and he shook his head again and Shoto started to move his legs. "Not working out. I gotta admit I can't put my foot on it right now. But if I just stand here long enough-"
"He's got legs, you idiot!" Keigo yelled, annoyed as Denki shot up in surprise. "He traded his voice to the sea wizard and got legs. Geez man!"
"Shoto's been turned into a human." Izuku said as Shoto started to shakenly and stood up. "He's gotta make the princess fall in love with him and she's gotta kiss him."
"I knew that."
"And he's only got three days!" Keigo added and a splash came from behind him to see Shoto sitting back in the ocean. "Just look at him! On legs! ON HUMAN LEGS! My nerves are shot! This is a catastrophe! WHat would his father say? I'll tell you what his father'd say. He'd say he's gonna kill himself a crab! That's what his father'd say! I'm gonna march myself straight home right now and tell him just like I should have done the minute-"
Shoto quickly shook his head and picked up the crab.
"And don't you shake your head at me, young man. Maybe there's still time. If we could get that wizard to give you back your voice, you could go home with all the normal fish and just be-" Keigo stopped when he noticed Shoto's pleading eyes. "Just be... Just be miserable for the rest of your life. All right, all right. I'll try to help ya find that princess."
Shoto gray and teal eyes lit up in happiness and hugged the crab and set him back on the ground.
"Boy, what a soft shell I'm turning out to be."
"Now, Shoto, I'm telling ya. If you wanna be a human, the first thing ya gotta do is dress like one. Now let me see." Denki said and grabbed a piece of a sail from a broken ship.
~
Y/n and Eijiro slowly walked down the beach with the waves flowing onto the shore. Eijiro suddenly stopped and sniffed the air and took off while barking.
"Eijiro?" Y/n called and Eijiro ran back and lightly grabbed her hand. "Huh? What? Eijiro! Slowly down!"
~
"Ya look great, bro." Denki wolf whistled as Shoto stood awkwardly with the sail around his waist and his chest displayed. "Ya look sensational."
A bark caught everyone's attention and the sea creatures gasped and swam back into the water. Shoto jumped as the dog ran towards him and he quickly hid behind a rock but indeed up on the rock and the red dog licked his cheek.
"Eijiro! Eijiro!" Y/n shouted as she searched for her dog. "Quiet, boy. What's gotten into you, fella? Oh. Oh, I see."
Y/n stopped when she noticed the boy staring at her with awe, Eijiro ran back towards him as Shoto started to try to fix his hair.
"Are you okay, mr? I'm so sorry if this knucklehead scared you. He's harmless, really, uh-" Y/n quickly apologized but froze when she realized how close she got to the boy's face, who gave her a smile, making her blush a little. And she looked more closely at him. "You seem very familiar to me. Have we met?"
Shoto quickly nodded and Eijiro barked and tried to push her closer to him.
"We have met. I knew it. You're the one, the one I've been looking for. What's your name?" Y/n asked as the boys mouthed the words before realizing he can't speak and he pointed to his throat. "What's wrong? What is it? Oh! You can't speak? Oh, then you couldn't be who I thought."
Shoto and Eijiro sighed but Shoto shot up, making Y/n look at him and he started to make random movements.
"What is it? You're hurt? No, no. Do you need help?" Y/n asked as Shoto lost his balance and he fell onto her and the two fell to the sandy ground. "Whoa, whoa, careful! Careful, easy."
Shoto opened his eyes only realizing he was pinning her down and their eyes met.
"Gee, you must have really been through something." Y/n said when she noticed his scar on his face, making Shoto's eye's fill with fear. "Don't worry. Don't worry. I wanna help you."
Y/n and Shoto stood up with sand still on them and Y/n took his beggar hands into hers.
"Come one. Come on. You'll be okay." Y/n said comfortably and led him towards her castle, making him smile with glee towards Denki and Keigo.