Nimue absolutely hated Halloween, and upon learning what a big deal it was to the students and teachers at Night Raven, had taken to avoiding the dorms like the plague in the hopes of not being dragged into their celebrations.

Her phone was not waterproof...more the pity...but she had long since found a workaround using songs stored into special crystals. Luna had loved it, as had several other students had lined up to pay for their favorite songs to be put on the crystals so they could enjoy it at Hogwarts.

Coincidentally Nimue had patented the crystals and they would officially be sold at the twin's shop...if they ever got it up and running. The real headache was mass producing the things.

Nimue sat in her true form, which she was still getting used to. There was limited things she could do underwater, as she couldn't exactly read most of her books which would become illegible. She couldn't dance, as she was still getting used to having eight tentacles (swimming was still an issue but she was getting better at it). She couldn't brew anything because most of the potions were impossible to do underwater.

At this point she was so bored she was attempting to braid seaweed just for something to do. Flotsam and Jetsam kept her company.

Nimue was about done with her latest attempt when she sensed someone coming.

Without a second thought, she ducked into the small cave which was just big enough to hide not only her, but her two familiars.

"Come oooon Jade, you really think she's this far out? That potion wouldn't last that long and you know it. Besides, it's too deep for land dwellers!" complained Floyd.

"I know, but Azul was adamant she had gone through one of the portals the merfolk use in the dorm into the water," said Jade. "He's also been keeping an eye on the ingredients for the potion to breath underwater and it hasn't gone down from regular use, despite the fact she's swims almost as much as we do."

"So what?" said Floyd. "Maybe she got it from her Master or Sam."

"He already checked...neither of them have been supplying her with the list needed or their accepted alternates," said Jade. "However, the supply needed for our potion to stay human has gone down more than it should."

That got Floyd to pause.

"What are you saying?"

"I believe, as does Azul, that Nimue is one of the merfolk like us," said Jade.

It would explain a lot of oddities he had noticed about her...oddities that only a select few that Azul knew damn well were merfolk had. The main reason he wasn't sure was because Nimue had spent her entire life above the sea, and there was no way that potion would last that long. Her swimming was worse than Azul's, which was saying something.

Nimue scowled. Her familiars tensed, ready to chase off the interloping elvers.

The two were about to swim away, when Jade's sharp eyes caught something.

"I think she's close."

"Why?"

"Since when does seaweed grow in such a semi-neat braid?"

Nimue wanted to curse, as she had forgotten to grab those.

A hand groped blindly into the cave. Flotsam bit it hard.

There was a minor yelp, as the hand grabbed her familiar and dragged him out. Flotsam dug his teeth even deeper, before putting the hand into a stranglehold.

"Little fishie thinks he can out-hug me?" sneered Floyd.

Oh hell no... she was not letting him hurt her familiar!

Jetsam was of a similar opinion. However he would not let her remain hiding by herself. Besides, Flotsam wasn't some baby elver.

Jade ignored Floyd dealing with the clearly pissy familiar... who's eyes looked oddly like Floyd's own. He focused on the cave instead.

"Miss Potter, will you please come out?"

"Why did you two follow me out this far? I'm perfectly fine and I thought it was clear that I can handle myself!" said Nimue crossly, not budging.

"Azul prefers to keep track of the things needed to brew the potion that makes us human. He was becoming a bit concerned when he noticed it was getting too low to be a coincidence, and he suspected you might be having trouble adjusting," said Jade.

Which was true, but it had more to do with Azul really didn't want to lose his biggest investor so close to the restaurant's launch. That was just bad business.

"I can handle myself," said Nimue crossly.

"So you are intimately familiar with mermaid biology enough to avoid certain potions and ingredients? Things all merfolk learn are bad for them as children?" countered Jade.

That got her to pause.

"Judging by the attempts at crafting, I can also assume that you wouldn't know what materials can handle long-term submersion in water," said Jade, eyeing the seaweed. Why else would she mess with it? She wasn't the type to braid things and her hair was usually in a simple ponytail most days if she messed with it at all.

"Why does Azul care anyway?"

"You're his biggest investor. It would be bad business if you were to be harmed or worse killed after he managed to get his restaurant off the ground thanks to your help," explained Jade.

"...That's fair," said Nimue. "But I swear if either of you laugh at me I will strangle you both. It's bad enough I had to find out the hard way after learning I had been under a nasty curse my entire life."

"A curse?" repeated Jade.

Nimue said nothing, but his eyes did widen at the sight of a single black tentacle slowly crawling out. Then another and another until there were eight of them followed by a very unhappy Nimue herself.

The first thing the twins thought when they saw her mer-form...was that she could have passed for Azul's sister. The second was the fact she had a striking resemblance to the Sea Witch, especially when the second eel came out glaring at them both.

The first eel quit attacking Floyd and calmly swam to her side. Jade couldn't help but think they bore a very disturbing resemblance to the Sea Witch's lost familiars.

Azul was a genuine admirer of Ursula, for multiple reasons. As such he had gone to extra lengths to acquire actual paintings of the woman as well as a rare photo of her and her familiars.

Familiars that looked almost identical to the ones circling Nimue protectively.

Floyd looked a tad worse for wear, as Flotsam hadn't held back much.

Nimue glared at them both, daring them to laugh at her appearance. It wasn't exactly something she was particularly happy with, as she knew perfectly well most viewed tentacles as 'ugly'.

The twins looked at each other, then at her. There was no way in hell they weren't showing this to Azul. His reaction would be worth it!

"Well?" she demanded. "And don't try to claim you were stunned by my 'beauty'. I know damn well Floyd has a crush on Riddle and you've made no bones about the fact you're partial to Trey."

Jade blinked.

"Would you be offended if I asked you to show this form to Azul?"

Nimue raised an eyebrow.

"I know he's an octo-mer, because I saw him swim past before...but why?"

Jade smiled.

"Octopus mermaids are very rare, even for our kind. He was the only one in our class and an only child. I want to see his reaction to the fact there was a female one under his nose this entire time," he said with wickedness.

Nimue smirked.

"You want to prank him," she guessed.

"Tako-chan is going to flip out when he finds that you're like him!" cackled Floyd, not even denying it.

"Well why didn't you lead with that?" she said. "And you had better get this on camera, because if we're going to prank him then I want a copy of the blackmail."

"Deal," said Jade with dark glee. This was going to be hilarious.

Azul looked up from his newly built office to see Nimue and the twins. It seems his suspicions about her nature were confirmed from the smug look on Jade's face. But why did Floyd have a camera?

"So you were a mermaid. Why did you hide it?" asked Azul.

"Because I didn't know I was one for sixteen years. I had to get a literal goddess to help me break the seal on my true form," said Nimue. "Te Fiti is far more reasonable than Poseidon or Zeus."

Azul racked his brain for the limited pantheons he knew of. For obvious reasons, he was mostly familiar with the Greek/Roman one.

"Te Fiti?"

"The Polynesian pantheon. She's considered a mother goddess and is known to have the power of creation," said Nimue, simplifying it for him. "However if her heart is taken, she becomes Te Kā, the goddess of death and destruction."

Azul made a note to look into that pantheon.

"So why did you hide your mermaid form?" said Azul.

"I barely know how to swim as a human," said Nimue flatly. "I haven't the first clue how to do so in my true form. I'm lucky my familiars don't mind helping me out...they're much faster than me."

Azul eyed Floyd.

"I take it they were the ones who did that to him?"

"Flotsam didn't appreciate someone trying to drag me out," said Nimue. "Floyd's lucky that I consider him something of a friend, because the twins aren't known to hold back when I'm threatened."

The one time a shark had attempted to take a bite out of her because she was on her period, the eels had eaten it alive...almost literally.

Azul raised an eyebrow at the name, but said nothing.

"I might be able to help you on the swimming angle. I'm not as good at it myself, but that's mostly because my type aren't built for swimming as fast as those two," said Azul.

Jade looked close to cackling at that one. Azul wondered why.

"That...would be helpful," said Nimue tightly, as it was clear she wasn't happy about the subject.

"So were you the one pilfering the ingredients used for the potion to keep our human form?" asked Azul.

"Yes. I can maintain this form myself, but some days are harder than others so I take the potion. It's becoming harder to do lately, since my body seems to want to revert to my mermaid form," said Nimue. "I'm guessing it's because this isn't my original one."

"Well let's see what it is. I'll need to know what type you are in case I need to make a specific potion for you," said Azul.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Consider it a quid pro quo. After all, I still owe you for the money you put up to start the Monstro Lounge," said Azul.

Now he was really suspicious about why Jade and Floyd looked like they had gotten Christmas early and were aiming cameras in his direction specifically.

"Well, you asked for it," said Nimue. Her smirk wasn't helping matters either.

One moment Azul was taking a sip of his tea...the next he was spitting it out in shock. His eyes were wide and his jaw loose in disbelief.

The reason was simple enough...Nimue had let her control slip deliberately and her body had shifted (however awkwardly considering she was on land) into an octopus mermaid. Her arms were crossed and her normally black hair had faded into all-too-familiar silver. Her eyes remained the same shade of green, but there was a slight glowing to it that made her look even more enchanting.

Floyd was outright cackling at the gobsmacked look on Azul's face.

Azul slowly regathered his wits.

"You...you're like me?" he said in shock.

"Again, I had no idea I was a mermaid until recently. I certainly didn't pick this form," said Nimue crossly.

Azul slowly pushed up his glasses. Then his mind went back to what she called one of her familiars.

"Wait...you said that the one who attacked Floyd was named Flotsam. What kind of familiar is he and what is the name of the other?"

"He's a moray eel from what I was able to look up, and his twin is Jetsam. They have heterochromatic eyes rather similar to these two, oddly enough. Why?" asked Nimue.

Azul stared at her, his shock turning into something else. Something filled with a strange hunger that Nimue somewhat recognized, though she couldn't recall why.

"Do you mind if I see them?"

"Why?"

"Just humor me," said Azul. If he was right, this was an opportunity of a lifetime and he'd kick himself forever if he missed it. There was a certain excitement in his eyes that made Nimue curious.

The second Azul saw the twins properly, and briefly examined the magic on them, he wanted to laugh with giddy delight.

"You seem unusually happy," noted Jade.

"Do you have any idea who these two are?" he said.

The twins looked at him confused.

"All the legends say that the Sea Witch lost her familiars. There was never anything that conclusively state that they were killed by her brother," said Azul giddy. "The legend also state that Triton did something that drove her mad with grief, and she disappeared never to be seen again."

"Wait...are you implying that these two are," started Nimue.

"Flotsam and Jetsam...a pair of twin moray eels with mismatched eyes and unusual intelligence," said Azul, eyes glinting. "These two are almost identical to the few rare paintings I've managed to track down of the Sea Witch with her familiars."

Nimue looked thoughtful.

"It is possible. Te Fiti was the one who brought them to me...she never explained who their original Mistress was, and these two have a habit of calling me the 'young Mistress' sometimes," said Nimue. Then she looked at Azul. "But that doesn't explain your mood."

"Don't you see? All the stories say the Sea Witch disappeared... none of them say she died and she had enough divine heritage that she could have limited immortality."

Now she got it.

"You want to see if we can use their connection with her to find where she went."

Azul nodded.

"I'd be a fool to pass up the opportunity."

Nimue didn't have to think twice on the matter, especially considering what Te Fiti had told her of her heritage.

"I'm in, but only if nothing bad happens to them. I'm rather fond of them you see."

"Agreed," said Azul. "Only an idiot would try to permanently harm the last real connection to one of the Seven."