My father released my arm with a sigh and I sunk to the ground, disturbing a cloud of sand when I fell on the stone. The sand swirled around me briefly before settling on my tail and limbs. I stared in shock, unable to push myself off the ground. I faintly heard my father talking.

"They came one day while she was out for a swim, looking for the sea glass she liked to collect. She was not much farther out then you were. Some guards that were close by swam to try to fight to get her back, but they'd already killed her with a knife and dragged her out of the water. There was nothing more to be done."

"You…You said…she got sick and died," I whispered.

"I lied. You were eight. Telling you she was butchered would've been scarring for you."

I stayed quiet and brushed the sand off my tail. My green scales stayed dirty. I looked at the scars left by the net and ran my hand over them. They held such a tale, a tale of a human saving a mermaid. It was an absurd story, everyone told me. Humans had no ability to care for beings such as us. They were greedy and cold-hearted and would kill us in a split second. They were not to be trusted.

"Do you still believe humans aren't evil?"

I stopped mid-brush and let the cloud of sand fall back on my scales. I laid my hands in my lap and clenched them into fist.

"Yes," the word tumbled out. My father looked at me in pure disbelief. I raised my head and met his dark eyes, completely opposite from the green eyes I shared with my mother. "The humans who hunt us are probably evil souls. But that's because only a bad person is going to kill for sport. Maybe not all of the people who even attack us are purely evil; maybe they want our tails to prevent someone they love from dying. It's still an evil act, but they can't be pure evil if they have someone they care about that deeply. The good ones…they stay out of the waters. They have no business hunting us. They might not even believe we exist and maybe some of them even believable it's wrong to kill us. I'm sure some of them think we're not just some…animals they should hunt for sport. Those people don't come after us so we never see them. And I want to prove to you that they exist out there in the world."

"And just how do you plan to do that?"

"By becoming human." I paused, and again he just stared at me. "I read about it in one of the scrolls at the record hall. You can turn someone human for a short while."

"At a price, Elizabeta." He narrowed his eyes at me in a challenging look, as if he thought that was going to make me back down.

"I know. I read about it. It didn't explain what the consequences were completely, but I'm willing to take the risk." Humans can be caring. I've witnessed it. And I can prove it. I know I can.

"You're willing to suffer excruciating consequences and become a monster just to attempt to prove that not all humans are evil?" I know they aren't all evil. I can feel it in my tail. If they were all evil, I wouldn't be alive right now.

I returned his challenging look. "That is what I said."

My father looked at me sternly. "Make sure you listen to what I'm going to tell you, because these are the consequences of becoming human and if you fail in your quest to prove their innocence. When you turn human, your tail will turn to legs. Your body isn't designed to have legs, so your legs will bleed if you overuse them. Walking is going to feel like wading through a pit of swords. With the way the spell works, you will lose all your memories of humans if you fail in your quest. You'll be human for one month. You have one month to convince me that humans are not evil. Do you understand?"

I nodded confidently. "Yes."

"You still want to go through with it?"

I affirmed his statement with a determined nod. Ha, there was no way I was backing down now.

I jumped when I heard someone burst in the door. I looked behind me. It was Bella.

"Father, you can't possibly be going along with this!" Bella yelled. Had she been hiding behind the door this whole time?

At this point, I was happy Lili and Michelle were in school. I couldn't bare leaving Michelle the most. She'd be so heartbroken, I know it. She'd sob inconsolably, and then my determination would waiver. But I had to do this, no matter what anyone else told me.

"It's Elizabeta's choice. She'll learn that humans cannot be trusted," Father said confidently. "This appears to be the only way she'll ever come to understand that."

"Elizabeta, please think about your choice," Bella pleaded.

I slightly winced at the look of pain on her face, feeling guilty. But if I couldn't prove this, then I would be confined in the castle for the rest of my life. That was not the life the goddess of the weather wanted or needed. I reached up absently and rubbed my fingers over the gold of my armband.

I stood up and looked at Bella. "I have thought about my choice, Bella. I want to go."

Bella looked around the throne room, her eyes pleading as she thought of something to say to convince me to stay. She settled on staring at the ground, teary eyed but refusing to cry. "I understand. Be careful, OK? Don't do anything rash."

I nodded to her with a vague smile and looked to Father.

Father sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You're just like your mother. You don't give up once you set your heart on something. Close your eyes."

I did as I was told, and I felt my father's hand come up to my face, a finger resting gently on each of my temples. Light flashed behind my eyelids and a searing pain engulfed my body, and then I was numb. Distantly, I felt myself falling.

Everything started fading. The last thing I heard was, "Take care, my little hurricane."

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the shortness! Emily and I worked hard on this (we sent it back like three times and kept adding), and manged to double the word count. But, think of it this way: next chapter has Gilgil. So, look forward to that and ignore the shortness! =D ~Juliette

As my friend said, we worked really hard on this chapter. She could only get it up to 666 words, then I bumped it up to around 1,000, and then we got it just a tiny bit over 1,000. Next chapter is definitely going to be longer, I promise it. I hope you enjoy my writing next chapter~ -Emily