it was times like these that Princess began to wonder if the wishing stone was somehow alive, and enjoyed playing with the people who wished upon it, because she watched the burly boy change right in front of her; transforming into a young merman. Princess blinked at the sight. He looked young still, but almost as long as she was. While her tail was a dull silver, his became a sparkling ruby red. Even the hair on his head seemed to be infused with red sparkles. Moreover, his tail flukes were longer and more ornate. His wish was granted, he would be able to play with Princess some more.
The new merman flopped to the ground and lost hold of the wishing stone, and didn't see where it got off to in the dark of the lower level room. His shock at suddenly becoming a stupid fish did not help his observation skills.
"What . . . what happened to me?" He said in a flurry of pops and clicks.
"You turned yourself into a merman, you stupid fish." Princess said. Her words were harsh, but she felt not even a slight pang of guilt for them.
"Holy moly, you can talk?" Nathan said, now looking in awe at Princess.
"Never mind all that, find the stone and make a wish! A good one this time!" Princess said, pointing in the general direction where the stone had fallen. Nathan propped himself up on his elbows and looked around the dark room, but his eyes were not made to see well outside of water or in this light.
"I can't hardly see."
Princess buried her face once more in her hands. She was destined to be a mermaid for the rest of her life. After a moment, she sighed. She really ought to go get some humans attention and help the poor merman out, especially as she didn't know how long they could live outside of water. But as luck would have it, a human stumbled on the scene . . .
