Where there was magic there was hope. Jon knew that if this could have been accomplished with magic, then there must be a way to undo it as well. Or so he told himself. Regardless, Jon had almost, almost, been feeling better.
Then his mother came back from the mall.
"Sweetie, it will look good on you!"
"No!" Jon refused yet again. In his mother's hands was a skimpy bikini top. A pink bikini top.
Truth be told, like Mikey, Jon would rather be naked than wear the...well...there was no other word for it but "girly" article of clothing. But his mother wasn't accepting that answer. A mermaid's (or mer-person's, as she had hastily corrected herself) skin was very sensitive, the doctor had informed her. It needed continuous direct contact with water if it wasn't to dry out, and many fabrics irritated it.
And besides that, Jon couldn't help but harbor the bitter thought that despite all her protestations that she would always love him for who he was, his mother seemed entirely too ready to accept his new body.
"Fine." His mother sighed, exasperated. "I'll leave it on the side of the pool until you're ready. But if we have company over you are wearing this young lady." Jon cringed at the descriptor. His mother's voice softened. "I'm sorry sweetie, but you can't just go around topless. I'll go make you some lunch. Maybe after you eat you'll feel better."
Shortly after Jon's mother disappeared into the house, he heard a sigh of relief coming from somewhere behind him.
"Thanks for not telling her, Jon." Mikey said as he (she?) flitted up next to him.
"No problem," Jon told his former brother. "But you know this is just delaying the inevitable. The school is bound to call home soon about your vanishing act."
"But still...thanks." Mikey replied, shortly before giving him a quick hug.
A hug. Mikey never hugged him. Mikey blushed furiously if his mother even showed signs of the dreaded gesture. Jon knew it wasn't rational, but he couldn't shake the suspicion that maybe Mikey was picking up some new personality traits from his transformed body.
"So what do we do now?" Mikey asked.
Jon sighed. "I'm not sure we can do anything. I'm not exactly in a position to investigate any leads on a way to change us back," He said, gesturing at the pool that was his temporary home and prison. "I hate to say it squirt, but...this might just be up to you."
Mikey tried to look brave. "Ok. Then what do I do?"
And that was the question. Jon hadn't even known magic existed until a few days ago. How could they even hope to begin their search? Then it hit him. "The attic."
"The attic?"
"Yeah. Grandpa left a lot of stuff up there, and he's who I got the stone from. Their might be clues to other bits of magic. You know how he liked to hoard those obscure artifacts."
Mikey's eyes lit up. "I'm on it!" He said, fluttering towards an upstairs window.
