(Hey! This is a continuation of a story that I posted here not too long ago!)

Rachel was no stranger to the trails and landmarks in his hometown. She lived in a fairly rural part of his state not far from a small college, and she knew all the places to explore and relax without bumping into annoying college kids. Her friends all thought she would've gotten sick of it by now; there were only so many places you could hike so many times without getting super bored of it all. But there were some places that Rachel would never tire of visiting, whether with friends or just herself.

She decided that today she'd pay a visit to the old town reservoir, just herself and her water bottle. It had been nearly a year since she or anyone she knew had been there, but it always had this charm when she reflected back on it that she couldn't forget. She walked down one of the state-maintained trails a good distance before turning off, weaving through the thickly-wooded brush until she saw the glint of water reflecting the setting sun. She couldn't believe how late it had gotten; by the time she broke through the tree line it was nearly dark out.

Rachel sat down on the edge of the water, taking a celebratory sip of her water bottle. The lake was, of course, as beautiful as she remembered. Her parents had taught her all about the different landmarks that could be seen from here; the old boat launch, the pair of cypress trees just offshore, and the old hut. Was it an old fishing shed? A forest service maintenance cabin? She didn't know, and neither did her parents. It was just about the only mystery there was left about this place to her. But just as that thought crossed her mind, she saw something she had never seen out here in all her years of hikes and family lake days. There, near the far shore, atop an old concrete pylon, was a creature.

It was long, slender, and was sitting upright just like Rachel would on a stool. She froze in place, eyes fixed on the... whatever it was, not knowing if it had seen her too. As the sun sunk further into the tree line, parts of the creature seemed to reflect its glow, as if its skin were coated in some sort of polished metal. Still frozen, Rachel stood up to get a better view. In doing so, the creature's full size became apparent. The top half appeared humanoid at least, with two arms extending out and down, propping itself up. But below its waist was a long, glowing appendage that extended deep down, fully underwater. And as the sun made its final descent below the trees, this part of the creature's body shone a brilliant shade of pink. Rachel was dumbfounded; this was not like anything she had ever seen, heard, or read about. It was like something out of a movie, she just wasn't sure what kind of movie yet. She didn't have much longer to contemplate, as whatever it was dove into the deep end of the reservoir, taking its brilliant pink glow with it into the deep. A single splash on the surface a moment later was the creature's final goodbye as it left the unknowing bystander to contemplate what she had just seen and wonder if it had even truly happened.

The semester at Nolan University had begun in earnest. Everyone had, by this point, settled into their daily, weekly routines. Classes Monday through Friday, club meetings in the evenings, parties on the weekends. For Emma, though, this year was going to be different than she had imagined. She was heading into her junior year at undergrad and she was determined not to let it interfere with her new life. Nothing about her belonged in this rat race of a society that demanded her attention; "to hell with it" she thought.

But, of course, someone like her needed to keep up appearances. Emma had already gotten away with seeming apathetic about her schooling for years now, but now the detachment was truly genuine. For only a few short days ago, she began her double life on the banks of the town reservoir. A fateful drink from a crescent-labeled glass had changed Emma from the short, fanfic gal of her school to a creature of legend. While she loved that it finally gave her the freedom she had long desired, it of course came with downsides. She was determined never to let anyone know her secret. In doing this, she had only permitted herself to go swimming in the evening and at night to arouse the least suspicion. Second, and more importantly, she was not to get herself wet at any cost, lest her plain human façade give way for the mermaid of her peers' dreams. The nights she spent sleeping out under the stars, her lengthy form stretched out over a small patch of dirt in the middle of the abandoned reservoir had been like nothing she'd ever felt before; not something she could ever live without.

Now Emma was not going into this situation blind. She had, like many others of her age, grown up watching three Australian teens grapple with just this kind of situation in H2O: Just Add Water. She saw the kinds of strategies they used to avoid exposure: drinking from straws, locking their bathroom doors, and using only specific brands of lotion and hand sanitizers. Even though she was in college, she felt like she could manage the situation just fine day to day. It helped that she didn't even live on campus, her house being just a 10-minute drive down the road. Still, the reflex to wash her hands and drink from water fountains was not an easy one to break, and she had already faced a handful of close calls. Once, when she arrived early to class, her elbow touched a wet spot on the desk where someone had left their water bottle. Thinking quickly, Emma managed to calmly but quickly rush to the safety of a bathroom before she transformed, leaving none the wiser.

Luck appeared to be on her side for the time being. But there was undeniably something thrilling about the whole thing. Something about keeping this secret from everyone around her filled her with such an exhilarating feeling. Of course, she had always been cagey with the extent to which she enjoyed certain TV shows, movies, and other media franchises. Indeed, her fanfiction consumption was surely up in the millions of words by this point. But this new secret was in a league all of its own. She was a whole different creature than these people, something others had only fantasized of being or seeing. Maybe it was also to do with the extreme changes to her body. It didn't hurt that they seemed to glow along with her other magical features in the dark.

Suffice it to say, Emma loved hiding her ethereally gorgeous magic form from those around her. It filled her with such a thrill that at any point she could drop the act, but she wouldn't. As much as she hated admitting it to herself, there were nights she fantasized about finding someone she really fancied, bringing them aside privately, before transforming into her magical alter ego before their very eyes. She imagined their stunned reaction, followed by confusion and inevitable awe at her ethereal beauty.

At least, that's what she dreamed. Emma knew that, in reality, the reactions would be more like screams of bloody murder and trying to get as far away from her as possible. She still wanted some kind of social life. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if a couple of her closest friends knew, but that would be too risky. Besides, having anyone else know about her secret would kill part of the fun, the thrill that came with hiding her double life.

The stats professor apathetically closed his textbook and dismissed class for the weekend. Emma lucked out that her last class on Fridays got out at 11:30 in the morning, giving her plenty of time to blow off the tension that she'd built up all week. She couldn't have gotten out of that building fast enough. She dumped what few belongings she had with her in her car then took off in the other direction. Nolan University was situated just along a train track, and past a certain point it was pretty much entirely woods along the tracks for tens of miles until the next city in either direction. Nolan wasn't the kind of place where you really needed to go sneaking off into the woods to have fun on the weekends, but Emma wasn't taking any chances. She never felt comfortable letting herself free back home; the risk of her parents interrupting was too high, not to mention that she could barely fit on her own bed. No, she needed a well isolated spot in the woods, away from any coincidental passersby.

After walking down the tracks for several minutes, making sure she was around the bend and out of view from the school's streets, she ducked through a couple of familiar branches. A twig moved here, puddle dodged there, and she made it to her destination. The little patch of clearing in the woods was a genuine oasis. A small pond, perfectly sized to fit Emma inside it, surrounded by smooth rocks cut perfectly by years of erosion into perfect shelf formations. On these she had prepared her stash of spare clothes, bottled waters, and a book or two perfect for passing the time. She couldn't believe her luck when she stumbled across this little grotto, perfectly situated about halfway between Nolan and the old reservoir that she first transformed.

She set down what few things she had on her and approached the edge of the grotto. The feelings bubbling up from the pit of her stomach were driving her insane. The anticipation, the buildup after a week of abstaining was about to tear her apart. She needed just a little bit of a push to let it all go. Slowly, gracefully, Emma laid herself down on the soft dirt ground, the tips of her toes just barely dashing the surface of the water; that was all it took.

The bubbling feeling in her stomach nearly exploded as the transformations began. It began just like it did at the old fishing cabin, and every time since then. Her body seemed to emit a warm, purple glow that twinkled as it reflected off the calm grotto's waters back into her eyes and onto the thick trees surrounding her. Suddenly, her legs became enveloped in a glowing translucent shroud, concealing them from her vision. The watery texture took over her body, corrupting and consuming her bit by bit as it crept up towards her face. Within half an instant her entire body was a glowing form made of pure water. The magical process had completely dissolved her shoes, her skirt, and the top she was wearing that day. Emma felt entirely serene as she relinquished her human form, the rigidity of her body to the magic that was reshaping her. Flawlessly it worked to meld her into her otherworldly form, needing but a few seconds before it entirely dissipated. It had only been a few seconds since she ever so slightly touched the water when she was returned to her solid, visible form.

Emma was a mermaid. The ancient magic at play had done away completely with Emma’s human clothing, leaving her only with a precious few scale-like pieces to cover her chest with. Her glasses had been entirely dissolved, her new goddess form granting her perfect vision both above and below water. Any and all blemishes or scars on her bronze skin were nowhere to be seen; Emma was practically glowing still in the moonlight with the clarity of her skin. That day, Emma had her hair down like usual, its black length terminating in brown streaks just below her elbows. Magic had again worked to extend the length of her hair by multiple feet, her "mane" now reaching as far down as to where her knees would be, accentuating it with pink highlights. Completing the change was the thick, pink, 6-foot-long mermaid tail that was now attached to her waist, taking the place of her legs. Its length stretched into the grotto and curled around inside, the many scales which lined her new limb sparkling and glowing a vibrant pink in the water. At the end, her tail terminated with a beautiful fluke, almost as wide as her arms stretched all the way to the side.

The overwhelming feeling of relief, of released tension that surged through Emma at that very moment was indescribable. She couldn't tell what it was about being out here like this, what she considered to be her TRUE form fully on display, was so exciting to her. No, it was beyond excitement. It was almost... voyeuristic. Arousing. The feeling of relief was nothing short of orgasmic when the transformation completed, and her mind let go of her human form, if only for a little while. Oh yes, she was going to be doing this every weekend for the rest of her life, as often as she could. She longed for the day when she could live her life full time like this, swimming beautifully and gracefully on through open water as a creature straight from myth and legend. From here, laying in the woods with herself fully exposed, her hair blanketed beneath her and her MERMAID TAIL soaking in a grotto, she had never felt quite so happy before in her life.