Chapter 19
May sat outside the palace, staring down at the silent village illuminated only by the faint golden glow of the sun. Despite how faint it was, it was enough to make her squint thanks to her strong eyesight. She had to fight her body as it begged her for sleep.
After waiting for some time, she heard a familiar barking sound from not far off. The source of the sound swam to her and quickly arrived in front of her.
"There you are," she grinned, floating up. "Did they go to the place I showed you?" Popplio nodded, then frowned slightly before making some gestures to indicate that only one of them came. May understood and sighed. "It was Dawn, wasn't it?" Popplio nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right." With that, she swam off towards the edge of the village. There, she uncovered the passage leading to the secluded area that she and Lillie were in the night before and swam into it, Popplio right on her tail. It didn't take long for her to arrive in the beautiful cavern. She looked up and found two feet dangling in the water. She slowly swam up and poked the top of her head out of the water. There, sitting on the edge of the water, wearing a strange human garment over her body, was Dawn. Although she looked quite different from the last time they saw each other right before she became human, her long, ocean-blue hair still flowed down her back.
Seeing May, she smiled and popped her breathing device back into her mouth before dropping down into the water. May was confused by this and pulled back down right beneath the surface before swimming over to her sister, who floated in front of her, gently kicking her legs to stay afloat. Her hair flowed in the water the same way it always had.
"Sorry to call you over here on such short notice," May said.
"It's all right," Dawn replied, much to May's shock.
"How are you –?!"
"Talking underwater?" Dawn giggled. "This little device in my mouth has some oxygen in it, so I can use it to breathe underwater for a short time."
"Oh," May blinked, still amazed, but she quickly got over herself. There would be time for this later. "Listen, I need your help." With that, she began explaining what she needed her sister to do.
Lillie tossed and turned in her shellbed, quietly moaning in misery as her stomach growled at her. As painful as it was, she knew complaining would only make things worse for herself. She sighed as she curled up tightly, desperate to go back to sleep. It would only be a few hours before she had to wake up, and she knew she would get in trouble if she hadn't gotten enough sleep.
Unfortunately, the faint golden glow of the sun kept her awake. She knew that the humans were still going about their business for the day, even if it was drawing to a close, and enjoying the warmth of the sun. Not that it wasn't warm where she lived, but there was something about the light of the sun that made her want to experience it out of the sea. She caught herself thinking this and just sighed, knowing it could never be. Giving a quiet, sad sigh, she forced her eyes shut and sank deeper into her shellbed, silently hoping that one of these nights, she would find the freedom and happiness she so desperately longed for.
Her gloomy reverie stopped when she heard something tapping on her window. Her eyes shot open, and she looked around curiously. When the tapping didn't come back, she assumed she was just hearing things. Unsurprisingly, that was precisely when she heard it again, only louder this time. Curious, she gently flicked her fins and swam over to glance out the window. Her eyes widened when she saw none other than May floating there, silently pointing to the front of her home as though she wanted her to leave. Lillie looked over her shoulder nervously, then silently nodded and swam off to meet her out front. May grinned at this and eagerly swam over to meet her.
"What are you doing here?" Lillie asked nervously. "Do you have any idea what time it is? If Mother knew what I was doing, she would –"
"Sorry to wake you," May apologized.
"Oh, I wasn't asleep," Lillie sighed, "but Mother would probably lock me inside for a week if she found out! What's going on?" At this, May smiled and bent down, digging through the sand on the ground. It floated in the water as she dug before pulling out what she brought for her friend. Once she had it in hand, she presented it to Lillie.
Lillie blinked, confused. "What is this?" she asked. "A drink?"
"A path to freedom," May replied, her smile unwavering.
Lillie stared at the strange, orange liquid bubbling in the vial. Then her eyes widened as the weight of her friend's words hit her. "May…" she breathed, a smile slowly growing on her face, "is this –?"
"Yes," May nodded. "This is the forbidden potion that will turn any mermaid who drinks it into a human."
"But how did you –?!"
"When my sisters decided to become human, they got four vials of the potion for us. Of course, I didn't join them, so I put my potion away so that it wouldn't go to waste. I just found it again recently, and I realized just what I needed to do with it." She placed her hands over Lillie's, grasping the potion with her. "This potion belongs to you, Lillie. You need it so much more than I do."
Lillie couldn't believe her ears. As joyful tears formed in her eyes, she set the potion aside and lunged forward, pulling May into a tight embrace which the mermaid princess was only too happy to return. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice choked by her tears. "Thank you so much!"
"Of course," May smiled, gently stroking her hair before pulling away. "Now come on! We gotta get to that cavern before the sun sets!" She grabbed the potion and gave it to her before starting to swim off.
"Wait!" Lillie squeaked.
May stopped at this, and turned to her, confused. "What is it?"
"I have something for you, too," Lillie said. She set the potion down and swam back into her home.
"Lillie, what are you doing?!" May hissed nervously. "You could get caught!" There was silence a moment before Lillie swam back out, carrying something.
"Sorry," she said, "but I think these belong to you."
May looked down and gasped. "My...sacks?!" she breathed. She looked up at Lillie, who was smiling shyly at her. "How did you –?!"
"I noticed that those pirates cut these off of you when they nicked you with their knives," Lillie explained. "The night after that whole debacle, I went back there and found them. I was gonna give them back to you sooner, but then I saw what you were trying to do with your map." She pulled the slab of stone out and handed it to May, who looked at it, puzzled.
"You marked it up?" she wondered.
"Yes, I did," Lillie nodded. "Look." She turned the map around for May, who stared intently at it. As she did so, her eyes went wide.
"You," she whispered in disbelief, "You finished it! You found Popplio's home!"
"Yes," Lillie nodded. "If you and Popplio go to the Southern Sea when the new moon rises, Popplio's pod should be there."
"The new moon," May mused. "That's just a few nights away!" She turned to Lillie, unable to contain her smile. "I don't know how to thank you, Lillie."
"Thank me?" Lillie giggled. "I did this to thank you for your being so kind and understanding!"
The two of them chuckled as they finally started to swim towards the outskirts of the village. There, they found their secret passage and swam in, quickly finding themselves in the secluded cavern where they met the humans the night before.
"You need to wait for the sun to set before you drink the potion," May explained. "My sister Dawn should be here to coach you through the process."
"Will it feel strange?"
"It's gonna hurt," May replied. "Changing into a human isn't a matter of simply swapping out fins for legs, Lillie. It's a complete biological restructuring."
"Oh my," Lillie mused, looking down at the potion she was holding. "Is there anything else I need to know?"
"If there is, then I don't know about it," May said. "I've told you everything I know about the potion; Dawn will help you with the rest."
"Right," Lillie said quietly, staring up at the surface. "Then after that, I'll have my legs...and live on land for the rest of my life." She sighed and looked down at the potion. "Just what I've always wanted…"
May noticed how her face fell and understood what she was thinking. "You're having second thoughts, aren't you?"
Lillie turned to May with uncertainty in her eyes. "I can't stay in the sea; I'll never find happiness here. But at the same time...leaving the sea means leaving you behind. I…" Small tears formed in her eyes as she spoke. "I might never see you again!"
May frowned at this and floated forward before pulling her friend into a gentle embrace. Lillie proceeded to hug her back tightly.
"I'm not gonna pretend to know what you've been through with your mother," May said quietly, "but I know very well how hard it is to say goodbye to someone you care deeply about. I'm gonna miss you too, Lillie." She pulled out slightly to look her friend in the eyes. "As much as I wish you could stay here in the sea with me, I know it's your dream to be human, so it's for the best that you go to the surface. But the memories we share will always be in my heart." She pulled Lillie back in and slowly rubbed her back to soothe her, a small tear leaking from her eye as she did so.
"Those memories will be in my heart, too," Lillie whispered. "Thank you for being my friend, May."
"Of course," May smiled, pulling out. Then a thought occurred to her. "Oh, I know!" She reached behind her and pulled at her tail, pulling out a single scale and handing it to Lillie. "Take this with you: a small treasure to remember our friendship by."
Lillie took the scale in her hands and smiled at it. "It's beautiful," she said, looking back up at May. "Well, since you've given this to me," she said as she reached behind her and pulled out one of her own scales. She handed it to May, who gratefully took it in her hands. "I never forgot what you said about my tail when we first met: how you thought it was beautiful. I guess it makes sense that you should have a scale from it to remember me by, too."
"Thank you," May smiled at her. "I will treasure this scale forever."
No sooner had she said this than they heard something drop into the water from above. They looked up and saw a pair of feet dangling in the water.
"She's here," May said quietly.
They turned to each other with sad smiles. "I guess this is goodbye," Lillie said.
May just smiled and lunged forward, pulling her into one last embrace which she returned with all her might. "Goodbye, Lillie," May whispered. "I hope you find what you're looking for."
"You too," Lillie replied. "Thank you again for everything. I'll never forget you; I promise."
"Same here," May said. Finally, the two of them parted, and Lillie slowly swam up to the surface. After her head rose above it, she swam towards Dawn before pulling herself ashore. May watched as her tail left the water. Then, knowing that her part was done, she turned and swam away out the passage, intending to head home and spend the night resting.
She knew what her next course of action was, but she needed sleep before she could embark: lots and lots of sleep.