A/N: Hey guys! sorry about the late update! I went on a skiing trip yesterday and came home too late to finish and upload this chapter... I'm sorry... forgive me?


He lead you down a hall, the air getting ever warmer as you went farther and farther. Finally, the hall ended at a staircase leading into a bigger room, a small balcony at the top of the stairs. You, North, and Jack (who had tagged along) all stood and stared into the room, steam rising from the floor.

"This is a hot spring I created, for when I need relaxing after delivering gifts on christmas." His russian accent was carried around the room softly, the steam slowing down the sound. "It is as big as swimming pool, and is over 18 meters deep in deepest part." He was obviously proud of his work, his arms on his hips and gazing down into the spring. While he was beaming down at the water, you did the math in your head. Roughly three and a half feet in a meter, 18 times 3 is…54, plus 18 times point 5… 9. About sixty feet deep. You stared down at the spring in amazement. Sixty feet was ridiculously deep, as deep as some lakes.

You all stared at the springs for a while, you and Jack had taken off your coats, and they now lay discarded on the floor.

"Well, you won't figure out who you are just standing here." North suddenly grabbed you and threw you over his shoulder.

"Wait, what are-" You started to protest, but North had already pushed a button on the railing, and with a slight humming sound, the rails slid away and a diving board slid out of the balcony. He walked onto the diving board, the board bending slightly under the combined weight of you and him, Jack following you only to the middle of the board.

"I suggest hitting water headfirst, or it will be painful. Do not worry, little one, I trust you will do it right." With that, he pulled you off his shoulder and tossed you over, and you fell towards the water. As you plummeted towards the steamy water, you heard a "What are you doing?" from Jack, almost jumping off after you. However, with a hand thrust in the way, the words by North stopped him and reached you before you hit the water. "Do not worry, I know what I'm doing."

You fell in the water headfirst, as North had instructed, and you dove like a torpedo through the transparent liquid. Your ears popped uncomfortably as you neared the twenty foot mark. Your lungs were burning from not getting a decent breath before you went under, and you started to flail towards the surface.

As you neared, there was a slight tingling sensation, which quickly turned to a burning sensation, like the flesh on your legs, chest, arms, neck, and face was being torn off. You stopped trying to resurface, and focused on mainly holding your burning body and screaming with the last of your breath. It was an agonizing pain, more painful than that of being stabbed through the chest with an icicle.

Slowly, the pain subsided, and even though you were still underwater, you felt as if you could breathe again, like you had grown gills or suddenly had a snorkel. You released your hold on your sides, and through your soaked shirt, you had a feeling similar to wearing pants right after shaving your legs. A smooth feeling.

You looked down, and peaking out from your wavering shirt, was a fin. Your pants had been completely torn apart, making way for the tail, and the remnants now floated around you, but you completely forgot all about the pants and inspected your new, fish-like body. Your tail didn't appear as frilly or simple as a mermaids, instead, the tail fin was sharp, like curved arrowheads, and was oriented on you like a mermaids. A dorsal fin was attached to the back of your tail, and it stretched up to about the middle of your back. Scales covered every inch of your lower half, and they disappeared underneath your shirt. Pulling on the collar, you looked down, inspecting the scales which covered and stopped just at the top of your breasts. Shells are too overrated I guess.

You inspected your hands, which you noticed for the first time, and a thin webbing stretched between your fingers at the lower knuckle. Fins had also grown out of your arms, only on the lower half of your arms. Feeling up to your neck, you traced four slits under your jaw, feeling how they moved when you breathed in and out. Traveling upwards still, you realized your ears had gone, and replaced by large fins. They were sensitive to the touch, and they felt smooth and surprisingly tough under your fingers.

Excited now by your new body, you swam towards the surface with surprising speed, and exited the water flying. You almost hit Jack, who was hovering above the water, looking for you, but you soon showed him that you were more than fine by flicking water at him as you descended.

"Hey!" He protested, lifting his arm up to protect himself from your attacks. Hitting the hot water, you swiveled to watch Jack scan the water for you, and he slowly made eye contact. You circled in the water, taunting him, daring him to go in the water, but he didn't fall for it.

Disappointed, you swam up to the surface and poked your head out into the air, keeping your eyes on Jack. He smiled mischievously, and with a swing of his staff, a blast of icy air hit you square in the face. Ducking down back into the safety and warmth of the water, you watched Jack circle above you, laughing and grinning. A thought came to mind, and you grinned, just as mischievously as Jack had.

Getting closer to the surface, but not too close to get caught in another icy wind, you lay parallel to the surface. As Jack circled into range, you used all the power you could muster to flick the water up at Jack.

A direct hit. Jack, now soaking, stopped circling and stared open mouthed at you in surprise. Emitting a bubbly laugh, you dove deeper into the darker parts of the spring. You had your sight set on the bottom, and you pushed harder into the depths. You could definitely feel the weight of the water above you, but it wasn't uncomfortable, so you continued to dive.

Reaching your goal, you tapped the bottom in victory, and you looked back up towards the surface. It seemed so far away, and the surface rippled and shifted with light shining on it.

Time to head up. Swimming as fast as you could, you breached the surface, flying again. Twirling, water droplets flying everywhere, you hit the water again, but stayed on the surface, watching Jack shake his head to rid his hair of the warm liquid.

"That's not fair! You did another surprise attack." Complaining, he landed on the ground beside the spring and slipped off his soaking jacket, revealing his white shirt, which clung to every contour of his body. Blushing, you looked away.

"Hey! Not everyone has the chance to be a mermaid." You said teasingly, watching Jack scowl while wringing out the wet, dark blue material.

"That doesn't mean you can soak everyone." He had unraveled the twisted fabric, looking at the wrinkled, wet jacket unhappily.

"I'm sorry," You slowly swam over to him, and you pulled yourself up onto the hard ground, your tail flipping in the water lightly. "I didn't mean to make you mad." You could feel something in your body, but you had no idea how to put it. It was a weird feeling. You had wanted to charm him out of his unhappiness, but you didn't expect this feeling. Jack, however, stared at you mesmerized, the unhappy look in his eyes fading out and replaced -surprisingly and almost scarily- with lust.

He dropped his wet jacket onto the ground, forgetting about it entirely, and he went in for the kiss, placing both of his hands on the side of your face and molding his lips to yours. It wasn't like him, though, and that scared you.

"Jack," You mumbled past his lips, placing your hands on his chest as to push him lightly away. He didn't budge, but deepened the kiss feverishly, holding onto your face almost harshly. "Snap out of it! Jack!" You pushed harder, but your attempt still failed. Finally, you pushed off the ground, forcing yourself, and Jack, back into the spring.


A/N: Okay, in case you're confused, you aren't just a mermaid! Okay, technically you are, but you're something more complicated than a simple, cliché fish person. Hehehehe you find out exactly who you are next chapter!

(MAJOR FLIPPING SPOILERS, DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE NEXT CHAPTER AND NOT AHEAD OF TIME: you're a siren, and that means you take on a human form, fish form and... well you'll figure that out soon enough! ;) )