As Atemu swam away from the shop, he would look at the mirror rocks. It was a few minutes as he stared at each reflection but it seemed like a long time to him. This will be the last time I will ever see myself like this. he thought, When I reach the Realm Above, I will take on a new body, and I won't change back. He finally reached the point where he came into view his palace. From a distance, it is certainly worthy of a painting. Pearly tears streamed down his eyes. Once I become human, I will never see this place again. And I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to my family before I bargained my voice away. It's too late now though. Atemu took hold of the crown upon his head and took it off. He stared at it for a small moment. This crown is Kisara's most precious gift to me. he thought, Up until now, I have never removed it. But it has no meaning for me now. Atemu closed his eyes taking in all the images of his beloved memories. Goodbye everyone, he thought, I will miss you all, especially you Kisara. I hope you find happiness in my absence. And Father, I'm am very sorry that I disappointed you. But as you will soon discover, I am the Crown Prince no more. And with that, he dropped the crown and disarmed himself of his spear. The two items sank down to the ocean floor as he began to quicken his swim upward.
"Atemu! Atemu! Where are you?" Kisara shouted as she swam about. It has been a while since she went out to search for her lost brother. So far she had no luck and she was starting to get worried. "Where did he go? Why isn't he answering?" Kisara was beginning to cry. "Atemu…" she whispered. Suddenly, she heard a clinking sound on the rock above her. She looked up just in time to see a familiar object fall from above and into her hands. She gasped in shock. It was Atemu's crown! But how did it get here? She looked up just in time to see the platinum spear on land on the rock above her. And far beyond, she saw a small speck in a familiar shape. Her eyes widened. "Atemu? There he is!" Her eyes were certainly not playing tricks on her. She had found him! But where is he going? It soon dawned on her that she'll have to catch up with him while she still had the chance. "Atemu! Wait!" she called out as she swam up to follow him.
Atemu swam in a race against time, for he did not know when sunrise might arrive. Soon however, he reached the view of the watery wall that was the gateway horizontal gateway to the Realm Above. He saw Mahaado and Mana swimming with their school of Dolphin Folk families, and Atemu did his very best to avoid being noticed. Like real dolphins, the Dolphin Folk allow half of their brains to sleep while the other half remains wide awake in order to avoid drowning. Their eyes are open so they would make sure that their fellows get their air when the two sides of their brains get in the process of switching rest. Atemu saw that his friends were busy keeping an eye on each other and their friends and families. Good, it's all clear. He thought and he looked up to see the sky beyond the water. It was a dark navy broken only by a soft silvery moon. The sun has yet to rise. That's a relief. He looked at the potion in his hand. Might as well get it over with while I still have time. He uncorked the flask and the liquid soon made its attempt to escape it. Atemu closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This is it… here goes nothing. And he placed his lips onto the opening of the flask and began to swallow the potion. He grimaced at the bitter, awful taste, and as it slid down his throat, he felt as though it were burning, but he continued to drink.
Far below him Kisara continued to swim up. She knew immediately that she was getting closer to him, and she shouted out to him, "Atemu! Can you hear me? I've been looking for you! You have no idea how worried I was for you! Please come home, you'll make everyone else worried also!"
However, Atemu did not hear her call and continued to drink. But Mana did hear her. Both halves of her brain woke up in an instant, though groggy from the trance. "Huh? Kisara?" Mana said, yawning, "what are you doing up in the--" but she stopped in mid sentence with wide eyes as she took notice of Atemu, who had now finished drinking the very last drop of the potion. As the now empty flask left his lips, his eyes shot open as he made a sudden silent gasp. He released the flask and let it drop as he clutched his throat as though he were choking.
"Atemu?" Mana said, "What's up? Why are you choking?"
"Mana!" Kisara called out as she approached. She then saw her brother in distress, and her worry began to escalate. Atemu himself began to hyperventilate, his soundless breathing growing quicker. It was not long before the pain began to expand. Such torture! He could feel the agony spread through his whole body, and he began to thrash about.
"Mana!" Kisara yelled as she reached to where the apprentice mage was. "What's happening to Atemu? I haven't seen him in so much pain!"
"That doesn't look good!" Mana replied. She swam quickly to where Mahaado was half sleeping. "Master Mahaado! Master Mahaado wake up!" Mahaado bolted fully awake at the sound of his pupil's voice.
"W-w-what?" he said, "Mana? What's wrong?"
"It's Atemu!" Mana shouted, "Something's wrong with Atemu!" Then the Dolphin magician looked up and saw his friend thrashing about. Imagine their horror when they saw that the Prince's coiling tail suddenly grow rigid and began to bend from below the thighs and slightly above the very tip with an agonizing crack in different directions. Atemu gritted his teeth as pain seared through him.
"Atemu!" Mahaado shouted and attempted to swim towards the Prince. However, he was stopped when a scale from Atemu's body shot out like a porcupine's with a loud pop. It flew for a yard with a small cloud of blood trailing behind it, before it stopped and began to float downward. Then another scale popped out of Atemu's body in the same manner. "What the heck?" Mahaado shouted. His eyes suddenly widened as in realization.
"Master? What is it?" Mana asked, worried about what's going on.
"I sense magic at work! And it's not of my doing!" shouted Mahaado. Even as he spoke, another scale shot out, then another and another, and each one of them soon shot out of his whole body, even his face, in a rapid pace like popcorn. Atemu released his neck and his webbed hands were shaking. As he watched, the webbing between his fingers ripped and detached themselves in a bloody mess. Then the fins on his forearms ripped away as he swung his arms to the position in which they were outstretched behind him.
"Do something Mahaado!' Kisara shouted, terrified at what she was seeing. "Make it stop!"
"I can't!" Mahaado shouted, "This magic is too strong!" Atemu could feel two bumps beginning to potrude on the front of the tail where it first became crooked. A second pair of smaller bumps bulged out where the backward bend had appeared a little above the tip of the tail. The scales continued to shoot out in a rapid pace, and new skin began to show itself.
"Master, look!" Mana shouted, "He's changing into something different! But what?" The fins that were on the tail right below his navel tore away, and when Atemu looked down, it happened. A cloud of blood burst literally through the top of his thrashing tail, from the front to the back. Then more blood began to spew as it traveled downward. It was as if a sword were cutting his tail neatly in two. Atemu let out a silent scream as the tail stretched apart and ripped in two among a swirling mass of red clouds. As he looked upon himself, his vision became blurry. At the same moment, the fins on the tips of his now divided tail snapped off and the tips split into five smaller stumps on each side. His pointed fin ears began to curl until they were small and round. Before long the sound around him became muffled with the rush of water. To the horror of the three onlookers, he suddenly began to gasp, as he could feel his gills shrink. The fins on his back burst away at that moment, and he winced in added agony. Only his head fins stayed put, but they too, transformed. The fins split into thousands of long soft tiny strands in a massive collective. As the last of the scales began to detach themselves from brand new skin, unharmed by the transformation, the gills disappeared altogether. He choked, as he now knew that he could not breathe underwater anymore. Combined with all the pain coursing through his body, he seriously thought he was going to die before he even got a chance to see his beloved. The whole water around him had turned red, and the three could not believe what they had witnessed.
"Oh my!" Kisara gasped, "Did… did he just…"
"Become… a human?" Mana finished.
"Now's not the time to gawk, girls! He's drowning!" Mahaado shouted, and once again he attempted to swim towards his now human friend. But an undersea current conjured itself up, and in a flash, the Prince was carried up towards the surface.
"Atemu!" Kisara shouted with pearly tears in her eyes just before he disappeared above the waves.
The current was strong indeed, for Atemu broke the surface and burst above the water, rising up to the waist for a moment for a breath of fresh air before sinking to his neck and shoulders. The waves carried him onward until at last he washed up onto a sandy beach. His mind groggy, and his body freezing and overwhelmed with extreme pain, he managed to crawl up the beach with the waves close behind him before he closed his eyes completely and fell unconscious. It was right at the time when the sun had begun to rise to announce a new day.