"So, um," Valkyrie said. "What exactly does that mean?"

"We're a pod of mermaids led by," she made a shrieking noise that Valkyrie assumed was a name. "We don't recruit very often. Very elite. Your membership was a controversial one."

"If by controversial, you mean somebody made the decision without asking anyone else," said Tallya.

"You can't talk about her like that!" The other said. "She made a fine decision. I mean, look how pretty she is."

"Uh, thank you."

"Not a problem, sweetheart. We're happy to have you. And the rest of the pod will be, too. Although they don't know that you're even alive yet. We were a scouting team, you see, to stick around the beaches and make sure you got through okay…"

"What would have happened," Valkyrie interrupted before she started on another tangent, "if I didn't get to the water on time?"

"Didn't I just say? You would have died," she said cheerfully. "No water, not very good for us. Too much sun is bad, too – you'll dry out. A newbie like you will revert back to being human, even!"

"For how long?" Valkyrie asked, eyes widening.

"Oh, I don't know. A few hours or less. Not to worry, getting back into the water will get you back to normal. And you'll be out of that stage soon enough, like Darcy, here." She nudged a brunette who hadn't spoken yet. Her curly brown hair floated around her in the water, shadowing her face.

"Great," Valkyrie said, cataloging the information. "Um, what else do I need to know?"

The chatty one opened her mouth again, but the blonde nudged in front of her.

"Well," she said, "it is, a bit, you know, weird…" She gestured towards Valkyrie, who frowned.

"What?"

"You know…" she said, gesturing again. "I mean, I can totally understand why you are! Conservative human culture, right? But like, the other girls might make fun of you, so, like…"

Valkyrie brow furrowed. She looked at the others, trying to find a hint. There was nothing that different about her. They were, of course, all half naked freaky fish things, and she thought at that point there was no room to make fun.

Wait.

Half naked.

"Oh. Ohh. You mean, what… my bathing suit top?"

The blonde winced, nodding. "I mean, it's, like, super cute, but… I mean, really? Humans are so fussy about nudity. No offense. I just... why not flaunt what you got?"

Valkyrie stared. Being peer pressured out of her top by a preppy blonde mermaid wasn't exactly something she expected to happen in her lifetime, or was incredibly comfortable with. But she supposed after becoming a fish mutant, she had no room to complain.

And she did have a point. They certainly looked natural, baring their figures. So she reached around and untied the strings at the neck and back. It went free, floating off in the water in front of her, and Valkyrie resisted the urge to immediately take back her decision and pull it back towards her.

"Oh, great," said the blonde. "I'll just take this for you." She balled it up and pulled it behind her. Valkyrie had the grim sense that she was going to throw it into the farthest corner of the ocean when she wasn't looking.

"Now that's settled," the chatty one said officially, "We can get going." She really was like a tour guide. She was going to rub this in Skulduggery's face, when she got out of this. If she ever got out of this.

The mermaids kicked off, the movement mesmerizing. She watched for a few seconds, wondering if she could copy it. She was never very good with the dolphin kick, but it wasn't like she had that much of an option now…

Valkyrie started when she realized that the brunette – Darcy – was still there, looking at her, and Valkyrie balked and pushed off the rock immediately. She shot forward, which was promising, but as soon as she tried to kick, her body flipped over. She flailed desperately, trying not to hit a rock.

She heard laughter, and Darcy grabbed her around the waist, stopping her flailing.
Valkyrie went limp, awkwardly, as Darcy pulled them back and kicked. Valkyrie face reddened, horrified at being towed like this – and feeling bad for the amount of effort Darcy had to put it to move them both.
She watched her tail (bright red) carefully, with the mindset that it was a training lesson, something that Skulduggery set up. And with that, it clicked. She pushed away from Darcy as respectfully as she could, and tried swimming on her own.

"Are you good?" Darcy said quietly, treading water to watch her.

"Yeah, I think so," Valkyrie replied. She pulled her arms through the water, behind her head, and tilted her head low enough to watch her tail do it's thing, still feeling a bit like she was trapped in a sleep bag. Soon she had fallen into a rhythm, slipped into the form she had strived for as a little girl. Little did she know, she thought dryly, what it would require.

"Great," Darcy whispered, and smiled.

"Why are you so quiet?" Valkyrie asked.

"Not supposed to talk," she said as she extended her arm in her stroke. She gestured towards the other girls, just barely in earshot. "It's an initiation thing…"

Valkyrie turned her face toward her and frowned.

"Y'know, like the little mermaid?" She whispered.

"Wait, didn't she lose her voice after she became human?"

"…Yeah, it's… a little backwards here." She laughed and shook her head, looking like she still didn't understand. Valkyrie was glad someone felt the same way, after the welcome group's casual approach to everything… werefish.

"You'll get used to it, eventually," she said kindly.

"How long have you been here?"

"Two months."

Valkyrie marveled. "Wow, when they said newbie, I didn't think…"

"Yeah, it's really rare to have two people been bitten in a short period of time. You must have been something really special, huh? Are you magic?"

"Yes," Valkyrie said automatically, and then, "Wait, aren't you?"

Darcy shook her head, but gave no further answer. Valkyrie felt awkward, and took the time to examine the tattoo on Darcy's forearm. It was a sea serpent, with fish and bubbles, and a rather loving illustration of an anchor. No mermaids, amusingly enough.

"They'll tell you more, I guess, but I should probably warn you about something beforehand."

"What?"

"Your magic won't work anymore," she said, in the same tone someone would use to discuss the weather.

Valkyrie stopped cold. "What?"

"That's part of the process. Are you one of those elementy ones or an adapt?"

"Adept," she corrected automatically. "I mean, not that I am one… I'm an Elemental. Mostly."

"Okay," Darcy said, frowning, as if trying to recall the exact wording of something she learned in school but never really understood. "You've only got the water magic now."

Valkyrie groaned. "Great. That's just great."

Darcy smiled sympathetically. There was silence, which gave Valkyrie time to mourn blasting bricks out of walls and setting things on fire.

"Um…not to be rude, but how old are you? I can never tell with you magic people…"

"Oh. I turned eighteen a few weeks ago." It wasn't a big birthday for mages, so it wasn't something she had thought much of. It mostly marked the period where the surge became something with an upcoming deadline. She almost asked Darcy if she knew about the surge – but the question sounded condescending, even in her head. Instead, she asked, "what about you?"

"I'm nineteen."

"Oh, sweet." Valkyrie smiled, but she had to wonder how a nineteen year old wouldn't be missed. She had the reflection sitting around for her, safely human. It didn't even have the bite, though she figured if she released it while transformed, it would as well… it wasn't a theory she felt like testing out, though.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the blonde and the tour guide waving to get their attention, and she kicked to catch up. Once she rejoined them and Tallya, she realized they were on the cusp of the mermaid… settlement? Something about seeing it again made her nervous.

"Um," Darcy started, "should we really-"

She was immediately shushed by the blonde. "Keep it down! I mean... c'mon, newbie, it's one thing if you talk around us…"

"But they'll fry you if they hear you!" finished the other one. "And we'll get in trouble, too, for talking to you! Do you want that?" Darcy pulled back, hanging her head. Valkyrie frowned and then opened her mouth to protest - but before she could, both of her arms were grabbed and she was dragged down into the crevice.

And this was how she was introduced to the pod: captured by two over eager mermaids as Tallya and Darcy hovered awkwardly behind. Valkyrie eyes widened when she took in the simple vastness of them – there were about two dozen women, all staring at her, and she felt horrifically naked.

She smiled, and a silence fell over the giggling. They stared, and then began nudging each other, whispering and making faces. Valkyrie's smile slowly disappeared, and she felt her blood run cold.

"There she is," came a familiar voice, and Valkyrie cringed. The feeling that she had just walked in on a group of people talking about her was common enough that it hadn't wigged her out for years – but those were colleagues, it was respectful, and ninety percent of the time, it was Skulduggery's fault.

This was all her.

Her arms were released, and she forced herself to straighten (an unbelievably difficult task with a tail) and stare straight ahead.

Immediately, they swarmed. Valkyrie flinched, getting flashbacks of the attack from only three days previous, but instead they were laughing, spouting meaningless compliments and throwing questions on her.

She stared, overwhelmed, and could only nod when one asked to give her a tour of the grounds.