"Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"Please, tell me you're okay after last night!?"

"I'm... uh... really glad you're up and walking today..."

This was all Abigail had heard from her friends since she had woken up this morning. She remembered she was staying with one of her friend's beach houses last night. She and a couple of others had been out back by the water for a little while, talking about all sorts of things she couldn't really recall. After that, there wasn't much. It was all a fuzz. Of course, she knew that, based on her friends' interactions with her, something crazy and potentially threatening to her own safety had happened, she really never felt like asking. Because nobody really gave any details as to whatever the incident was, she went with the usual suspect. She must have gotten shitfaced drunk, as she was sometimes known to do, and been totally out of it not long after that backyard hangout. Still, she thought, it wasn't like her to get so drunk to the point of blacking out. She hadn't even been really hungover that morning, just a little bit thirstier than usual.

Whatever their reason, from the moment she brushed her matted brown hair out of her eyes that morning on her friend's couch, everyone continued to be glad that she showed up in one piece. She simply thanked them for their concern and continued on with her day. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but feel annoyed at their continued show of concern. She hoped to enjoy her coffee/tea date with Ainsley as thanks for hosting the party, but but even here she wasn't safe from her blonde friend's attempt at comfort.

"Abby, you should really be at home after what happened last night."

"Relax, Ainsley "Abigail scoffed. "I'm really feeling fine. This rasberry shit is like the best hangover cure. I'll be normal again soon, don't worry."

Ainsley shook her head. "Okay, how much do you remember from last night?"

"Well, not much. But come on, it's not like it's hard to figure out what generally happened. So maybe I had one too many white claws, what's the big deal?"

The look on Ainsley's face continue to drop as she looked increasingly uncomfortable. "We didn't even have anything alcoholic last night. And, well..."

"Don't even tell me. Did that asshole you met drug me? I swear I never left my drink alone?"

"NO! Abigail, it was literally just us. You, me, Maes and Ella. Nobody had anything to drink, nobody got drugged. It was really just normal except for what happened to y-"

"Oh for God's sake Ains! You really don't have to sugar coat it. You keep beating around the bush like I don't know what went down." Abigail nearly shouted across the short coffee shop table. "I seriously can't deal with this or I really am gonna have a serious hangover headache."

With that, Abigail stormed out of the coffee shop, tea in hand as she stewed about what must have gone down the night before. Maybe she'd get some answers out of Maeson or Ella. She remembered them being there too. They'd at least be a better help than Ainsley, she thought.

As she was being let up to Maeson's apartment, she could sense the tension in the air. From the moment she opened the door, Maeson just seemed unable to say anything to her without cringing. It was as if Maeson didn't know how to address her properly.

"Well, uhh..." she began. "Maybe you wanna sit down? I'll get you some- uhhhh.. tea?"

"No thanks Maes, I already got some with Ainsley earlier." Abigail motioned with the plastic cup of fruity tea she was still carrying. "She was acting all weird about whatever happened last night so, y'know, I just didn't feel like staying."

"Oh, so you two did talk about it, huh?"

"Well not really. I mean, it's not like there's much to say other than the obvious. I don't really wanna know about whatever I did or said while I was out of it." Abby shrugged. "Unless, of course, I hurt someone."

"Well, uh, not exactly. You had a little bit of an accident. And you weren't drunk when it happened. It's just..." Maeson trailed off.

"It's just what?!" Abby snapped. "Come on, is it really so bad that you can't tell me?! I'd really like to know if something bad happened to me, Maes!"

Maeson grew increasingly uncomfortable as she tried desperately to reduce the tension. "Just don't get wet, okay...?" was all she could say, almost whispering it to herself.

Abigail stormed out of her apartment and back down the road. Surely Ella wouldn't leave her hanging. And what the hell did "don't get wet" have to do with anything?!

But she couldn't shake that warning from her mind. Had she gotten wet today? It seemed ridiculous to even think about but, somehow, she found herself mentally retracing her steps. As far as she knew, she hadn't really gotten substantially wet today. She'd had plenty of water to drink, sure. But she really hadn't gotten wet. Normally that would be... a little concerning to her. Today, though, it was oddly comforting to think about.

Ella had told her to meet her out at the marina to hang out on her boat while they talked. "Seems like she really wants my attention" Abby thought.

"Well, I'm here. What's up girl?"

"Abby, we should really talk about what happened." Ella said coldly.

"Oh FINALLY. I've been getting non-answers and vague threats ALL DAY."

"Was one of those threats to not get wet?"

"Uh, yeah, actually it was. Maeson said something like that when I met her earlier."

"You had a bit of an accident last night. We were out by the water and you tripped and-"

"That's what this was about?! That I fell in the water last night?"

"-Let me finish" Ella snapped. "You.. well, you didn't come up for a while. We were going to jump in after you but then...

"What?!"

"The water started glowing and you... you came up just fine but you-"

"IF I CAME UP FINE THEN WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT?!" Abigail cried. "Sorry, but it sounds like you all just didn't trust me, while I was SOBER, to swim properly!"

A sour look grew on Ella's face, which quickly eroded into a devious grin. "Hey, let's walk and talk on the dock real quick."

She led Abigail off the boat and along the docks of the marina. Seeing as it was a Monday, not many people were out here. Still, they had ended up on a stretch of the boardwalk at the end, out of sight from the shore behind a boat. Abby was confused, sure, but she wasn't about to leave without some answers.

"Here, spray yourself" Ella demanded, handing her one of the spray hoses. "I want you to see this."

Abigail was dumbfounded. "Uh, absolutely not? Why would I do that."

Ella let off a jet of water from the hose, dousing Abby's legs completely. "Because otherwise I'll have to do it" she snickered with the biggest shit-eating grin Abby had ever seen.

"What the fu-?!" was all Abby managed before she felt herself losing balance.

An look of discomfort and shock bolted across her face as she saw Ella's smirking visage as she fell, time seeming to slow down. Her legs and lower body were quickly engulfed in a shroud of magic as she hurtled back-first towards the water. The shroud quickly consumed her entire body, covering her as her body seemed from the outside to be converted entirely to water. Abby had only just hit the water when the changes truly began.

The first things to go were her flip-flops. Almost like magic, they seemed to vanish completely off her feet. Next, her jeans gave way to the watery effect sweeping across her body. With it went her pale green crop top and her faux-gold necklace. Thankfully nobody had been down here to see her indecency; of course, they would hardly have seen much anyways, as her body at this point was hardly distinguishable from the water around her.

Abby's mind was spinning a million miles per minute as she tried to process everything that was happening. Strangely, she didn't feel compelled to resurface with the need to breaths, as whatever the hell was happening to her was seemingly taking care of it. Still, she couldn't help but panic as the magical shroud inflicted change after change to her physical form.

Her body still composed of water, her feet and legs began to change drastically, though not painfully. Her feet lengthened and merged, lengthening horizontally into a single fin-like appendage. Her legs, too, seemed to merge forcefully together just like her feet had done. No bones had broken, nor had any flesh torn. Her watery body was not restricted by any human rigidities as it worked. With this all done, the magic deemed it fit to let her resurface. The water effect dissipated just as quickly as it arrived, returning Abigail to her body of flesh and bone. With this done, Abigail's mind was given a slight breather as she surfaced, and looked helplessly shocked at her friend Ella and the changes to her form.

From Ella's perspective, this had all taken just a few seconds. Of course, she wasn't unprepared for what she was about to see as her friend broke the surface. A couple things she noted. Abigail, who had been wearing one of her typical cute outfits, was now wearing only a simple covering made of orange scales. Her hair, which today had been put up in a low ponytail, had been let down entirely, floating around her as she sat stunned in the water. Last and most impressively, below the waist, Abigail was completely transformed. In place of her typical toned, tanned legs, Abigail had a long, scaly, orange mermaid tail.

Abigail was stunned speechless. She could only call out Ella's name in panic as she struggled to hold back tears in disbelief of what she was seeing. Ella, of course, was not panicked. She had seen this all happen just the same way last night. Quite how Abigail forgot wasn't really clear to her. Not that it mattered, as her friend group would be forever changed by what had somehow happened to her friend deal with this scaly thing growing out of her.

"Ella? ELLA?!" Abigail cried, eyes tearful and wider than they had ever been.

"Swim over there" Ella pointed way down the beach, far away from any of the tourists. "Let's talk some more."