Unknown Depths.

Chapter 15

Her eyes bulged in surprise and confusion when she looked down at where her legs had been only moments before. Instead there now lay a long, black, mermaid tail that hung over the edge of the tub. For most people, their mind would now go to the 'H20 just add water' series, but Delia was in shock. 

"Delia?" Oliva frantically yelled from the other side of the door, "Are you alright?!"

Quickly composing herself Delia turned to her head away from the tail, "Uhmmm... I'm fine! I was just watching a scary movie on my phone." 

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked, sounding concerned. 

"Yeah, don't worry..." Delia said, whilst simultaneously asking herself why she'd given that explanation. 

"You scared the living hell out of me!" Olivia yelled before walking away again. 

Delia let out a sigh of relief as she turned her attention back to the matter at hand...

Quickly she pushed the bubbles above her waist away as she noted the black, iridescent scales that started at her hips. Carefully placing her fingertips upon them she padded down the length of the tail, to assure herself that this was actually her. 

It was longer than the full length of her legs and she actually couldn't see the very end of it. For a second she pondered what muscles to move if she wanted to move it, but then without thinking she simply did. 

She lifted the very end of her tail up revealing the fins at the very end. "Oh my god..." She whispered clamping her hand over her mouth. 

'What do I do now?' She thought to herself as all she could do was stare at the tail. 

Suddenly realization hit her, 'How do I reverse this?!'

Quickly she started looking around the room as if she would find the answer there. It was then that she turned her attention elsewhere. Looking down at her, you know, boob area, she noted that those too had changed. Confused she stared down at them, trying to figure out what had happened there. 

The black iridescent scales had also appeared there and at first, the thought that it might just be a top. But once she felt with her fingers she noted that the scales were somehow part of her flesh, just like with the legs... 

"What the actual fuck?"

Peering through the bubbles and water she realized that the scales covered more then she initially figured. They started at what used to be her feet, and went up to her hips. There a small strip of scales connected on her side up to her chest. Her chest was in turn fully covered with scales and part of her right shoulder. 

'Interesting...'

Now that she'd figured out that part she got back to figuring out how to reverse this. Trying to remember everything she knew about mermaids she thought back to the H20 tv show. 

'Right, if I dry myself this should go away...'

 She was about to pull the plug out of the bath when she remembered one crucial bit of information...

Their bathtub had been malfunctioning... You needed something like a butterknife to wiggle it out before you could drain the tub. Normally this wouldn't really be a problem as you'd get out of the water before you'd drain it, but now this did pose a problem. 

She cursed under her breath as she tried to lift herself out of the bath. With a hand on each side, she managed to push herself up, but she couldn't exactly stand up. Next, she tried to lift the tail out first, but she couldn't quite get her butt over the edge. 

After numerous attempts at leaving the bathtub, she realised that she was gonna need help... 'Should I just call Olivia? I mean she'd freak out, but if she brings the knife I can get the plug out.'

Also, the water was kind of getting cold, but for some reason, she didn't really mind that. 

Resining to the fact that this was the only option she sighed before calling her roommate.

"Olivia?!" She yelled out as she waited for a response.

"Yeah?!" Olivia yelled back from the living room. 

"Can you come here for a sec?"

"For what?" Olivia replied, confusion clear in her voice. 

"I can't get the plug out, could you help me?"

"I'll take a look at it later alright?"

Delia sighed before saying, "Can you please just come now?!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," A cleary annoyed Olivia replied. 

Delia heard the footsteps walking over to the bathroom as she waited. Then the door swung open, revealing Olivia, "So wha-" She started, but as soon as she looked at Delia she stopped. 

"Oh... My... God..." She said, staring at Delia. "Did you steal one of those from the aquarium?"

"No," Delia said with a confused look on her face. 

"This must be a joke," Olivia said walking over to her. 

"I wish it was," Delia replied. 

At that, Olivia bowed down next to the tub and touched the tail. Immediately she recoiled back, "That does not feel like siliconce!" She exclaimed, surprise and confusion clear on her face. 

Olivia then took another good look at Delia and noticed how the scales on her shoulder faded into her skin... "Oh my god, this is real!!" She screamed. 

"Please keep it down!" Delia said shushing her. "I don't know how this happened, but you've gotta help me."

"How do you not know how this happened?!" Olivia exclaimed.

"I simply don't know!"

"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW?!"

"I JUST DON'T KNOW!"

Olivia sighed, still staring at the tail, "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know how to reverse this... I thought maybe draining the tub, but I couldn't get the plug out..." 

Olivia nodded, "My mermaid knowledge doesn't exactly go further then H20, so I think drying you off is indeed the best option. Let me grab a knife."

With that Olivia promptly left the bathroom and went over to the kitchen. She was quick to return carrying a knife in her hand. 

"Here you go." She said handing it to Delia.

"Thanks," Delia said grabbing the knife from her before pausing for a moment. 

"What are you waiting for?"

"I just can't believe that our first instinct in this situation is to act based upon an old tv show...." Delia said with a doubtful look on her face. 

"Do we have anything else to go by?" Olivia replied, "Because so far this sounds like the best plan."

Delia nodded as she moved to the side exposing the plug. Using the knife she wiggled it out and slowly she felt the tub drain. 

"Let's hope this works..." She said staring at the tail. 

Once the tub was empty Delia and Olivia simply stared down at the, now fully exposed mermaid tail. 

"This is insane..." Olivia said softly. 

"Yup..." Delia said nodding. 

"Why isn't it turning back?" Olivia said confused. 

"Maybe I need to fully dry it." Delia said, "Can you hand me a towel?"

But before Olivia could hand her a towel the scales faded away and her legs returned to normal.

"What the fuck?" Olivia said, "Are you fully dry?"

"I don't think so..." Delia said touching the still wet surface of her legs...