Creature Changers

All right, another chapter up! Holidays are great, aren't they? -

Goodbye to my lighthearted idea. This fic is now too serious. (sighs)

Now, everyone seems to have been confused between sirens and mermaids. Like I mentioned in a reviewer's response, different cultures and myths have different sayings about it. One of them says that sirens lost in a singing competition, and had their feathers plucked as a punishment, so they turned the bottom half of their body into a fish tail. In a way, I'm adapting my mermaid from this, as well as from another myth where mermaids mesmerize with song and sirens don't exist.

Disclaimer: The previous chapter had a mermaid. How about a 'disclaimaid' this time round? ... I don't own Golden Sun. And mermaids don't own Golden Sun. They'd dehydrate if they touched one.

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raitei: Explanation of the mermaid is above. If I remember correctly, it's Ezul... Then again, I might have been mistaken. XD

Kodoku: Yes, serious... It was first started to be light hearted... The mermaid and siren, please see above. And yes, basketball is a nice guess.

Trixie's girl: Thank you for the review.

Mercury Gold: I wouldn't call that seducing... ; Again, the mermaid and siren, see above. Thank you for the review!

Wolfune: Does that mean you didn't review chapter 11 because I posted chapter 12 too early? Oh dear. 1 review less! XD;; Ahem. Thank you for the compliment!

Shiny Milotic: Do you know, you're one of the cleverest guesser. And yes, I'll probably do lighthouseshipping. Maybe. Felix and Sheba haven't even met yet! Give me some time! XD

Yuja: If Isaac got a break, it wouldn't be nice anymore. XD In a way, we authors live to torture.

Ponie: Why do you hate mermaids? If it's because of the old stories, well, I won't let Mia be a classical mermaid. She'll be different. The wish granting is because you were the 106 reviewer.

EarthAd3pt17: Excuse me, I updated 12 a few days after 11. And don't be mean about Viv-hime. Some people actually take time to think through their story and organise it, rather than type every piece of random thought that comes to their mind. Add that to the time taken to live our own lives, and we don't have enough to spend on writing each day, though we may try to boot other things out. If you know people who update quickly, like once everyday, the person either has very short chapters, or types whatever random crap he can think of, or doesn't have a life, or already has the chapters typed out and is slowly posting them on. I'm none of those, and neither is Viv-hime, so don't expect us to be speed writers. It's quality and not speed that counts. Sorry if you're looking for a regular fic.

savinglifelessness: In a way, I suppose I'll have both. Considering I haven't plotted it out yet, probably there will be different parts where different things happen. It's okay about the reviews, just hit the button whenever you can.

...: Spooky? In bright daylight? XD

lunarwolvesshadow: You reviewed both chapters! Most people just review the latest one... (including me sometimes) This adds to my review count! Thank you! Personality doesn't determine the creature. Like I said to raitei, I could've made Mia an octopus. :D Hope your health is feeling better. By the way, many of the other reviewers always try to guess my cliffhangers. It might help if you read them after reading the fic, because many of them get my cliffhangers correct. ; Which is sad for me. Kraden meant the cola. If you refer back to chapter 5: More About Changers; More than Fun, you'll see that Coca-Cola (or coke) is dangerous to changers. I'd cry if I made Mia a druggie... ;

Princess Viv: Oh dear... No Internet access! I sympathise... I couldn't keep Mia in all the time after all; the other characters need to shine too! Rest assured Mia will appear in this chapter!

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Chapter 13: Birthmark Attacked

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The basketball flew off and hit the fence, rebounding back to the court. Several new students leapt hastily out of the way, proving that they weren't suitable for Basketball; that they panicked and ran at the sight of a ball.

When the teacher, with enough sense in him, caught the bouncing attacker, he frowned in Isaac's direction.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" he demanded.

"Sorry, I..." Isaac was surprised when the teacher ignored his words and walked past him. Turning, he saw a familiar scowl.

"Briggs Kaek!"

"It was an accident, Mr Kent," The singlet-clad boy said sullenly.

"If you had hit someone, he could have gotten badly hurt!" Mr Kent said sternly. "As a member of the team, you should know that."

"Yes, Mr Kent. I'm sorry," Briggs said, clenching his fists behind his back. Mr Kent sighed.

"Be careful next time," he warned. Then he turned to Isaac. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Isaac replied. The blond nodded and turned back to the crowd of students.

"Alright, line yourselves up. Four per line, facing that net."

As Isaac hurried to obey, he saw the look of acute dislike that Briggs shot at him.

So it wasn't an accident. Should I have expected that...? He's in the team too... so I'd have to work with him if I make it?

"Now, listen carefully. Every line will face three members from our Basketball Team. Your task is to work together and shoot the ball into the basket on the other side of the court. Your opponents will try to steal the ball and score in the same basket, so keep your guard up," Mr Kent explained. He turned to the first four students on his left. "All right, you four, step up and spread yourselves out."

Isaac watched carefully as the team of four tried to score. He noticed that the members of the Team worked well with each other, and made use of the fact that the new students barely knew each other. Finally, one of the new students managed to put the ball neatly through the basket, and Mr Kent stopped the match.

"Hopefully we'll get in," one of the boys in Isaac's line said nervously. He had short black hair that resembled a watermelon, and wore thick glasses. "My mom will kill if I don't."

"Oh, come on, Max. Is it your mom entering or you entering?" the second boy asked impatiently. He looked confident as he stood with his hands on his hips. "If you're not interested in Basketball you shouldn't be here."

"Yeah, what he said," the last boy echoed. He glanced at Isaac. "Hey you. What's your name?"

"Me? I'm Isaac Gaia," Isaac replied. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Zach Thomas. That's Max Thornwosh and Lance Ackerman," the brunette introduced. "And we're all in 7B. What about you?"

"I'm in 9A."

All three boys turned to look at him.

"Are you sure you should be in Basketball? You don't look very tall for your age," Max commented. Isaac felt rather indignant.

"You don't have to be a giant to play ball."

"Forget about that. Are you a transfer student then?" Lance asked. "Kicked out of your school because you're a Changer or something?"

"Yeah. That about sums it up," Isaac admitted. Lance was extremely... straightfoward.

"I'd say this school's not too bad," Zach said. "In fact, it's richer than my old school and the teachers are nicer."

"All right, next!" Mr Kent called before Isaac could reply. Obediently, the four students moved towards him and gave their names.

Out of the corner of his eye, Isaac noticed Briggs talking to one of the boys on the court. He nodded and left the area, leaving Briggs to take his place.

Isaac gulped; he had a feeling that Briggs was after him. Don't let him get under your skin, Isaac... he said to himself.

"Begin!"

Zach grabbed the ball and began dribbling it. Seeing two opponents approach, he passed the ball to Max, who dropped it promptly.

"Butterfingers! Buck up!" Lance called, snatching the ball from the air and continuing on. Max looked crestfallen. Soon all three opponents had caught up to Lance, and he bounced the ball towards Isaac.

Catching the spinning sphere of orange neatly, Isaac ran for the basket. He turned slightly and noticed his two opponents approach slowly on either side.

But he was still faster than them.

Racing ahead, Isaac prepared to shoot. Max was hovering near the basket as well, anxiously running towards him.

Then Zach yelled. "LOOK OUT!"

And Max tripped. With a yell, he fell. One hand struck out and whacked Isaac on the ankle. Caught off-guard, Isaac stumbled and tripped as well. Quickly, he changed the position of his fingers. The basketball left his hands and flew towards the basket.

What he had expected (or hoped) was that the ball would go into the basket. That happened. What he had not expected was that Briggs would soar over his head and land with an 'OOF!' in front of him. That happened too.

"Um... What... is going on?" Isaac asked, bewildered.

"Get off me!" Max cried weakly. Isaac quickly rolled off him and stood up, looking sheepish. Zach and Lance came running up to them.

"Of all the nerve!" Lance said, glaring at Briggs and shaking his head. "Even if he IS a senior, how can he be so mean!"

"What happened?" Isaac asked.

"He was going to pounce on you. You know, like a cat does? He sneaked up on you from directly behind, and then he jumped," Zach explained. "But you tripped over Max and fell, so he missed and just flew over your head. Now he looks like he's kissing the ground."

Isaac raised an eyebrow as he visualised the scene. Briggs, sneaking up on him. Him, holding the ball. Max, tripping. Then him tripping over Max. And then Briggs jumping right over his head. And molesting the floor.

Then he laughed.

Mr Kent came running up. He looked livid.

"Briggs! What on earth were you thinking?" he demanded. "Pouncing is not part of basketball!"

Briggs lifted himself from the ground, looking embarrassed. Many of the new students were sniggering, and he sent them a glare.

Mr Kent looked from Briggs to Isaac, then frowned.

"I don't care what trouble lies between you. Violence is not a solution. You had no right to attack him like that," he said to Briggs as calmly as he could. "From now on, I wish to see both of you working amicably together. Do you understand me, Briggs Kaek?"

Briggs opened his mouth to argue, then as he saw Mr Kent's stern face, closed it and nodded sullenly.

Work... together? Isaac wondered.His unasked question was answered when the teacher turned to him.

"That last minute flick was excellent. You're accepted into the team," Mr Kent told him, smiling. "Please hand me your identity crystal."

Dumbfounded, Isaac plucked the crystal from his pocket and handed it to the teacher, who pressed a finger to the pointy tip.

"Isaac Gaia, 9A? Basketball, by orders of Kureta Kent," he announced. Then his index finger traced something on the surface of the crystal. It glowed slightly for a while. Mr Kent handed it back. He asked Zach for his crystal as well, and promptly accepted him into the team.

"All right. You may go home or haunt the other places. No one else can recruit you now, though. The crystal will stop them if they try." Mr Kent turned to the remainder of the students. "Next!"

"Good work!" Zach congratulated, patting him on the back. "I must admit, I'm impressed. I expected the ball to fly elsewhere when you tripped."

Isaac grinned. His smile faded when he saw Lance's jealous face. Silently, he turned and left the court.

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Wandering around, Isaac noticed a familiar redhead yelling on the field.

"SHOOT! Yes, you over there! SHOOOOOOOT!"

Isaac went over and tapped him on the shoulder. He snapped around.

"SHOOT!" Garet bellowed, defeaning Isaac and blowing his hair to one side unrealistically. When he saw who it was, he stopped. "Oh, it's you."

"Yes, it's me," Isaac said, amused. "What are you doing yelling like a sniper?"

"No no no, not guns! Shoot as in shoot the goal!" Garet replied enthusiastically. Isaac shook his head , grinning. He looked around the field at the tryouts for Soccer. Mr Quertz was calmly intructing several nervous young wrecks on the proper way to kick a ball.

"There doesn't seem to be many people trying out," Isaac commented. Garet shrugged.

"It's a small school after all. There aren't many entries per year, so this is sort of expected. Say, what did you go for?"

"Basketball."

The next thing Isaac knew, Garet had sat on him. Hard.

"You went for Basketball and not Soccer! BASKETBALL!" Garet yelled.

"Cut it out!" Isaac gasped. "I've never been trained in soccer!"

Garet released him. "Bother! And here I was hoping we'd have someone nice in the team."

Rubbing his shoulder, Isaac asked, "Aren't the others in the team nice?"

"Well, sort of... But they're too competitive. They all want to be the one that scores the winning goal, so they only try their hardest in the last five minutes of the game," Garet frowned. "Because people only talk about winning goals."

Staring at the balls being kicked randomly around, both boys sighed.

"Hey, Isaac, why don't you run off to the Archery room?" Garet suggested. "Tell me what Felix and Piers are doing."

Isaac saw the wicked gleam in his eyes. "Felix and Piers are in Archery?"

"Yup."

"What are you planning?"

"Oh, nothing," Garet replied innocently. "Just that I'd like to hear how they're helping their club gain members."

Eyebrows raised suspiciously, Isaac nodded agreement. He left the field and headed for the Archery room on the other side of the school. As he passed the Health room, he noticed Jenna inside bandaging an unhurt arm with deft skill. As she twisted the knot tightly, her victim winced sharply.

"I'm going to get a real injury!" he complained.

"Oh, be quiet. It's supposed to be tight!" Jenna said crossly.

Looking up, she saw Isaac and waved. He waved back and continued up the stairs to the second floor.

"La la la la la..."

Astonished, Isaac turned to look through an open door. A grand piano stood at one end of the room, and a sophisticated looking lady dressed in bright yellow kept on hand on the piano keys and the other hand in the air. An extremely pissed looking Ivan was standing in front of her and eyeing her waving hand with much distaste. As he noticed Isaac, he shot the older boy a look that said 'how-come-you-don't-have-to-do-this!'.

Isaac chuckled. He turned to go, then noticed Mia leaving through another door that led to the same place.

"Mia!"

The blue haired girl turned. When she saw who it was, she stopped and waited for him to walk over.

"Are you trying out for choir too?" she asked.

"No. I saw a friend in there and looked in."

"That young blond? Miss Aerolker saw him loitering and dragged him in without his consent," Mia said, grinning. Isaac laughed.

"No wonder he was looking so... gloomy," he commented.

"That's an understatement," Mia said solemnly. They chuckled. "I'd better get going."

"See you!" Isaac continued past Mia and headed for the Archery door.

Garet had apparently guessed what was happening in the room. Felix and Piers were both surrounded by groups of girls asking them to demonstrate the correct way of using bows. Even the teacher in charge was looking frustrated.

Isaac chuckled.

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"Stop right there!"

Mia eyed the three girls that had appeared in front of her.

"Talinth, Miriam and Reane. What is the matter?" she asked.

"The Matter?" Talinth, the first girl, echoed.

"The Matter is that you ruined our dates!" Miriam screeched.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Mia said quietly.

"She says she has no idea. Well, listen up, FREAK, you landed our boyfriends in detention when we had a triple date on. It was so embarrassing when we waited at the bar and no one turned up!" Reane exclaimed.

"We know what you are," Miriam said dangerously, her eyes shining. "You mutant."

Mia clenched her fists. "Name calling won't get you anywhere. I'm not as weak as that."

"She says she's not as weak as that," Talinth echoed. "Oh yeah?"

Miriam and Reane hoisted up a large bucket and poured its dark contents over Mia. As she sputtered, Talinth and Miriam grabbed hold of both her arms in a tight grip. As some of the liquid ran into Mia's mouth, she choked.

"Coke...! What are you..."

"Maybe this will teach you to stay away from our boyfriends!" Reane triumphantly brought down her hand hard on Mia's right hand. The blue haired girl froze. Her tormentors released her.

"So it's true, eh?" Miriam said nervously.

"Don't be a coward!" Talinth said scornfully. Just then, footsteps sounded. "Come on, let's go."

The three turned and left, leaving a motionless Mia on the ground.

Shaking visibly with anger, Isaac and Piers rushed towards the paralysed changer.

"They hit her birthmark," Piers said grimly. "I'll get Miss Bolloska."

"Piers, wait," Isaac called urgently. "Get Kraden instead."

Piers looked confused, then realised what Isaac meant, and nodded. He ran off, yelling to Felix about an emergency.

Isaac eyed at the flower shaped mark on Mia's hand. It was easily seen.

"You need gloves," he muttered angrily. How could those girls do this?

It wasn't long before Kraden and Piers came racing up the stairs.

"Oh, dear!" Kraden groaned. "Carry her to the pool, quick!"

Piers stared at him, puzzled. Isaac picked Mia up and followed Kraden down the steps as carefully as he could.

"Why pool?" Piers asked as he moved.

"Mer... mer... maid..." Kraden panted. Piers still looked puzzled.

"Maid?"

"Mermaid!" Isaac said.

"Oh. I thought Kraden was stammering. M-m-maid. Mer-maid. Wait, mermaids are 'creatures'?"

The trio continued ignoring surprised glances and curious looks. Thankfully, the pool was empty. Isaac laid Mia in the shallow water. They watched her anxiously. Kraden took Mia's hand and rubbed water over her birthmark.

"She needs gloves," he said, shaking his head. "It's too dangerous for her to go without. What exactly happened?"

"Some girls attacked her for some reason. We didn't hear everything. One of them hit her birthmark, then they ran away," Isaac explained bitterly.

"And it looks like they poured cola over her too," Piers said grimly. "You should have a word with Talinth Garruth. She'll spill on her friends all right."

"You know them?" Kraden asked, opening a small glass flask.

"One of them. Talinth shot an arrow into my butt on the day she auditioned," Piers said grimly. "And then she wanted to 'pull it out for me'. I nearly shot her."

If things weren't serious, Isaac would have laughed. So he stored up the knowledge to laugh later, and continued watching Mia anxiously. Kraden poured some of the powdery substance from the flask onto Mia's birthmark.

"What's that?" Isaac asked.

"Flour. It helps a little. Better than nothing, at least," Kraden replied. "I only hope she hasn't swallowed much coke..."

She had not. As they waited, Mia slowly changed. Her birthmark shrank and seemed to disappear.

"So use flour when paralysed?" Isaac asked.

"Yes, I think she'll be fine. Thank goodness. Flour does very little, but it does help," Kraden said, pulling Mia onto ground. "Mia, can you hear me?"

Slowly, she nodded. Her eyes still looked glassy and out of focus.

"It'll take some time. Just rest," Kraden instructed.

"What's the water for?" Isaac asked.

"Her creature is more used to being in water. It would be easier for her to recover if she was in the water," Piers explained. He glanced at his watch. "I've got to get back to the tryouts, or Miss Bolloska and Felix will skin me."

"All right then. You make a move first. I'll talk to her about it, don't worry," Kraden said.

"What about Felix?" Isaac asked.

"Piers will just have to deal with him alone," Kraden said lightly. Piers threw a pebble at him.

As Mia sat unsteadily up, the pebble hit her forehead.

"Oh dear. Did that hurt?" Kraden gulped worriedly.

"I'm... fine. I think..." she mumbled.

"Can you change back?" Kraden asked. Mia closed her eyes and did as instructed. Kraden breathed a sigh of relief.

"She'll be fine?" Isaac questioned.

"Yes, I think so. I have to get back to administrative stuff too, but... Mia, you sit here and rest, okay? Don't move until after... half an hour or so," Kraden said. "Isaac, you stay and make sure she doesn't run off."

"What makes you think I'm in any mood to run?" Mia asked weakly as he stood up.

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps the fact that students always like to disobey whatever they're told?" Kraden said, chuckling. "Rest well, mermaid."

"I will, turtle," Mia said, smiling as well.

The two students watched him leave.

"If I called any of my old teachers 'turtle', they would murder me," Isaac said, grinning. Mia stared at him.

"Your old school?"

"I only transferred here this year," Isaac explained. Mia stared at her feet.

"This is my first school too," she said quietly. Isaac remembered the previous Changing lesson.

"You had a governess, right? Why did you choose to enter Crystal School instead?" he asked. Mia continued staring at her feet.

Isaac felt uncomfortable. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry, it's..."

He broke off when he saw her tears.

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This will be the last chapter where I put reviewer's responses, since the site now bans it. Please try to leave signed reviews so I can reply to your reviews. Or leave an email, and I will write. If you don't do either, I won't respond. Sorry. I'm not too pleased about it either; I liked doing responses.

This chapter was mostly Changing facts, and pulling relations between the characters closer. Though it may seem a little too dramatic... Well, they're special after all, and special calls for trouble.

Until next time!

Daidairo