Mermen on Accident (DNF Mermaid AU)

Fishy

Sapnap sets out all of the materials he gathered, and his books, on the rocks. I look at all the random things in front of me as he organizes them, checking a page in his book to make sure he is doing it right.

"Okay," he breathes out. "So I want to try three different things. You might have to eat some stuff though."

I nod my head in understanding. George looks terrified, but he nods his head as well.

I watch Sapnap mix up seaweed, a random glowing blue slime, three different bugs, and an orange rock that turns to powder when he crushes it. I stare with intrigue. I look over at George and he looks pale as Sapnap adds another ingredient.

"George?"

His eyes turn to mine. "Yeah?"

"You good?"

His eyes look over at Karl, then Sapnap, and back to me. He subtly shakes his head.

"What?"

He takes a shaky breath. "I don't know if I can eat that."

I look back over to Sapnap as he stirs the ingredients together and continues to read the instructions from his book. Karl watches over his shoulder, but his gaze occasionally follows mine and George's movements.

"Hey," I grab George's shoulder. His eyes jerk from Sapnap's stirring. "You want to go back to normal right?"

He nods his head shyly.

"Then you can do it. Don't worry. I'll be doing it with you okay?"

George nods his head again and I smile at him. I don't know if my encouraging words could really help him much, but it seemed to ease his conscience just a little.

"Alright," Sapnap interrupts. "I think it's done. It looks to be about the right consistency and the right color... probably."

"Probably?" I look at the goop he has concocted. It's an ugly chartreuse color, almost like vomit. I shiver.

"Look, I've heard it taste's just like salted seaweed. You'll be fine."

"Is salted seaweed good?" George asks.

Sapnap moves his eyes between the two of us. "Not really, but still. It's better than other things."

I scoot over to where Sapnap holds the bowl out to us.

"What even is it?" I ask.

Sapnap looks at his book. "It's a potion I learned to make in my class. It's very powerful and if made correctly should be able to transform you into your true self, which is a human."

"Oh..." I mutter. "What if it's not made correctly?"

"It might have other side effects potentially, but nothing bad." Sapnap pushes the bowl towards me. "Well?"

"Do I just-" I do a scooping motion with my hand.

Sapnap shrugs. "Sure."

I sigh and George bends over next to me to look at the goop. I stick my finger into it and George follows my action. I look over at him wearily. He looks back before his eyes wander to Karl's supportive face.

"You can do it!" He chants helpfully.

I close my eyes and stick my finger in my mouth. I quickly swallow. It tastes like moldy cheese and I gag. George also has his finger in his mouth with his eyes squeezed shut. I watch his adams apple bob as he swallows. He gags too and covers his hand with his mouth.

"Don't throw it up otherwise it won't work." Sapnap says. "Or maybe throwing up is one of the side effects?"

My insides tingle. I stick out my tongue in disgust and Karl laughs at me.

"His tongue is glowing green Sapnap. Is it supposed to look like that?"

Sapnap's eyes widen. "That's-"

George spews glowing blue liquid from his mouth all over his hand and legs. He groans and grabs at his abdomen. The blue liquid turns gooey and clings to his hands as he tries to brush it off.

"Eww..." He pulls a layer of goop off his hand and I watch in confusion as he shifts into a merman again. He sits in shock looking at his blue tail. "What?"

I stare wide eyed at him. I pat myself down realizing I still have legs. My stomach twists and I spill glowing green liquid from my mouth. I try to stop it with my hand, but it gets all over me. I look up at Sapnap with disgust and he stares back wide eyed. Karl cowers behind Sapnap with a hand over his mouth as if he's trying not to throw up.

My legs turn into a tail as I try to wipe the goop off of me. I sigh and look over at George.

The cave is quiet before Sapnap says, "Well, that wasn't supposed to happen. I must've done something wrong."

"Seriously?" I groan.

Sapnap quickly flips through his book. "I swear I did everything right."

He starts listing the ingredients. Karl hovers over his shoulder. He points at the book and Sapnap stops short.

"Oh..."

"What?" George inquires shakily.

"I forgot the sea grass," he mumbles in embarrassment.

George and I sigh.

After another attempt for the un-merman potion, with sea grass, George and I try it again, with much hesitance. George has to scoot over because he still has a tail, something I was trying to figure out. Technically, being out of the water would make us change back, but that didn't seem to be the case after eating Sapnap's 'potion'.

We eat the new goop which is more of a lime green that matches my tail. It tastes much better this time, almost like a very salty tomato sauce. I swallow thickly and watch George follow my actions.

I take a deep breath.

"How does it feel?" Karl asks.

"Much better," I note. I look at my sparkling green tail. "Why do I still have this?"

Sapnap shrugs. "Try getting in the water and getting back out?"

"Try turning it off and back on again," George jokes. I chuckle and scoot over to the water. I put my fingers in and retract them quickly.

"Ouch. The water burns."

George also reaches at the water and pulls his hand away. "Yeah. The water stings."

"Just get in. It's probably just a side effect from the bad potion." Sapnap says grabbing at my hands and dragging me face first into the ocean water.

I fall in and sink. My skin burns and I clench my teeth at the discomfort. And then my skin itches and I wrap my arms across my body. I kick toward the surface, wanting to get out of the water as soon as possible, but it feels like my body is stuck. I get a flash of cold across my chest and arms and I shiver. I take deep breaths and look up at the surface. I choke on the water and cover my mouth. I look down and see two legs instead of a tail. My eyes go wide as I realize I can't breathe underwater anymore. I also continue to sink and start panicking. Karl is watching me and notices my panic. He quickly swims towards me, but Sapnap catches his arm. I watch in terror.

"HELP!" All that comes from my mouth is bubbles. I reach an outstretched arm towards Karl. My lungs beg for air and I frantically kick trying to reach the surface. My legs start working, and propel me upwards. My arms flail and my lungs burn.

Almost there.

My head breaks the surface and I gasp for air.

"Dream!" George calls to me.

I lean against the rock catching my breath.

"What the heck, Sapnap? I was about to drown and you wouldn't let Karl save me? Are you trying to kill me?"

"What do you mean?" Sapnap argues, shooting me an incredulous look. "I was making sure he didn't ruin the transformation. You're human aren't you?" He gestures at me as I climb onto the rocks.

I look down at my legs again and it suddenly dawns on me. "Did it work?"

I hope you liked today's chapter! Make sure to drink water. Don't choke on it tho. :)

1339 words