Mother of Pearl: A Floyd Leech x OC Fanfiction

Chapter 34

** MENTIONS OF PAST BULLYING**

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"Will this potion from Azul really help us be able to breathe underwater?" Deuce examined the glowing green concoction skeptically. We all stood in the mirror chamber while Yuu poured the potion into small paper cups.

"That's what he said," I nervously tapped my fingers on my leg. "Let's just get this over with please!"

"Then we drink on 'go'," Ace called as we each got our share. "Ready, set, GO!" We all gulped down the potion. It went down like a yogurt smoothie. There was only one problem.

"THIS IS NASTY!" I exclaimed. I scrunched my face in disgust as I scraped my tongue on my teeth. "It's like sewage and skunk spray!"

"Bleeh...no, it tastes like frog and rotten mushrooms," Grim's eyes watered as he held his stomach. Yuu covered their mouth, most likely trying not to throw up.

"What kind of comparisons are those? How do you know what that tastes like? Kek!" Jack coughed. "The taste sure is strong, whatever it is."

Ace and Deuce seemed the least phased by the potion. Ace simply scrunched his nose and sighed, "I think they need to fix the taste of magic potions. How do adults drink them like it's nothing?" Ace gagged a bit at the end.

"You mean...all magic potions taste this bad?!" Yuu whined.

The potion the nurse gave me doesn't taste like this. It's just a little tart, like cranberry juice.

"Effectiveness is more important than the taste," Deuce surmised. He got a pained look as he clutched his throat. "What? ...It's...getting hard for me to breathe..."

My lungs started to burn too. I coughed as Jack spoke, "Are our lungs adjusting to allow us to breathe underwater?"

Ace panted as he put his hands on his knees, "This is bad...it's getting really hard to breathe now...Hurry, let's get to the ocean."

"Mirror of Darkness, guide us to the Coral Sea!" At Jack's command, the mirror started to glow a bright white like the ones that travelled between dorms. One by one, the others went through until it was just me and Yuu.

My legs were shaking so bad that my knees knocked together. Yuu grabbed my hand and through labored breath said, "We have to go! ...I've-I've got you!" They led me through the mirror. When we went through, I felt the sensation of water rushing over me. I stiffened. I shut my eyes tight and clung to Yuu's arm for dear life.

I'm surrounded by water...water-water hurts! Bad, bad!

My mind was a blur. Hazy scenes of my past buzzed in my ear.

"Haha! Come on Vivienne! Let's go for a little swim~!" the teasing voice sneered.

"Yeah, Viv. Don't be such a stick in the mud!" another joined.

"What are you talking about? She is the mud!" a third voiced joked.

"Hahahaha!" they all laughed.

Please...I-I don't want to...let me go...

"Viv, calm down! I need you to look at me, please!" Yuu's urgent, but soft voice reached my ears. I felt hands rubbing my shoulders and upper arms. I peeked opened my eyes to see Yuu in front of me. They gave me a relieved smile. "Good, now breathe." They motioned for me to breath in and out. I let out a breath I didn't notice I was holding. I was stunned that the intake felt no different than taking a deep breathe in an open spring meadow. As my field of vision grew, I saw the others looking around in awe. The colors of the coral around us were vivid and the fish that swam by looked peaceful.

"It is so beautiful," Yuu softly stated.

"Y-yeah..." I was barely audible. A small fish swam by my face. Its fins tickled my nose, and I felt a bit of my anxiety fade. "All the...all the fish are super cute!"

Jack put an end to the tourist behavior with a curt statement, "We don't have time for sightseeing. Let's hurry and do what we came here to do."

We started to half walk, half swim. Yuu let me cling to them as we went. Grim grumbled beside us, "Fnya, I can't move my body well..." We swam like that for what felt like forever to me before we came to more open waters.

"Oh...there's something over there," Deuce pointed ahead. A building of swirling columns and towers that looked like seashells stood proudly before us.

"That's the Atlantica Memorial Museum, isn't it?" Ace identified.

"Ah!" Grim gasped. "There are people with fish tails where their legs should be!" He pointed at two folks, one old and one younger, that stood by the entrance.

"No way..." I whispered. I looked over Yuu's shoulder to see the creatures only spoken of in fairytales back home.

"Are they...mermaids?" Jack put a name to the people we were staring at. "I can't believe there are people who live underwater."

Two large shadows passed over head. I looked up to see nothing. "What was..."

"Ah~, they're here! Little Shrimp and friends!" an all too familiar voice squealed from above. We tried to look around but saw nothing.

"Greetings everyone! What do you think of the world that is under the sea?" another voice came down. I felt something swim behind me. It was much larger than the fish we had passed thus far. A shiver went up my spine. The tiny amount of anxiety and fear that went away earlier was back multiplied by one hundred.

"That voice..." Grim's face frowned at the realization, "it's of those twins!"

"That's right~," Floyd popped his head over my shoulder to address Grim. Jade came from the other side of Yuu. They swam around us. We got to see their long, dark teal bodies with lighter patches on their hands, face, and chest. They had pointed fins where their ears would be and on their forearms. Darker stripes decorated under their heterochromatic eyes, their upper arms, and around their waists. A serpentine tail with fan-like dorsal and ventral fins replaced their legs. When the light hit them, their skin seemed to have a green tint. Their hair was the same as ever. Everyone jumped at the sight of them floating among us.

Jack sputtered, "You-you guys...Why do you two look like that?"

"What do you mean? This is what we normally look like, you know?" Floyd looked at Jack confused.

"I-I am pretty sure I'd remember playing basketball with a, a fish," I remarked in a quivering voice. "So...so are you~"

"We're mermaids," Floyd happily declared. He got closer to me with a closed eyed smile. His sharp teeth were on full display.

So were his abs.

My legs gave out from beneath me. Luckily, Yuu still had a hold of me and pulled me back up. "You two are mermaids?!" they said in shock. "But, you have legs in school!"

"We drink a potion that lets us shapeshift while on land, since it's hard to walk with tail fins," Jade explained as his brother swam away from me and past Ace.

"You both are so long!" Ace gapped. "How tall are- How long are you guys?!"

"Are you some sort of sea snake or something?" Deuce asked.

"Nope! We're eels," Floyd corrected as he blissfully swam along.

"Why are you guys even here anyway?" Grim asked.

Floyd cracked up laughing as he went back to float next to his twin, "Hahaha! Isn't it obvious? We came to get in your way."

"Yup, I knew it," Ace whined.

"Well, it wouldn't be fair if we let you clear the condition so easily now, would it?" Jade smirked. They both torpedoed through the water. We all jumped back, but the current was strong. It knocked me and Grim off Yuu. I tumbled in the water until I landed in a nearby seaweed patch. Jack managed to grab Grim and swim to a better position. An underwater battle was starting, and we were greatly at a disadvantage.