Arthur kept searching this was his second day straight looking for any spell or potion that might help he and Kiku. So far there was nothing and he was begining to lose all hope in ever finding a solution. But as he put down what seemed to be the millionth book he found something. He scanned it over several times before he got his hopes up, then he looked to see if he had the ingredients, listing them off as he checked.

"three ounces of powdered unicorn horn, one eye of newt, one hallowed dragon's fang, four poppy seeds, six ounces of liquid witch hazel, and two moonstones" he was glad to find he had everything he needed but then he saw something else he didn't quite like

"Something of what you wish to transform into." Arthur frowned at this. It meant he had to give something for Kiku's potion which he didn't mind so much as Kiku having to give something for his own potion. Slightly guilty Arthur went down to the lake with the book in hand to tell Kiku this disturbing find. He sat on the lake shore by the shallows and tossed a small pebble into the water.

"Kiku?" he called, forcing his voice to stay free of the worry he felt as Kiku surfaced and swam up beside him smiling happily.

"Did you find something or did you want to play today~?" he asked, obviously in a good mood. Arthur swallowed.

"I found something and I don't like it." Kiku gave Arthur a curious look as he continued, "You need a sample of the being you wish to temporarily transform into. The transformation will last three days but as I said it needs a sample of what you want to become. So blood from me, but from you either blood or a scale would work." Kiku nodded, turning over he quickly plucked a single scale from his crimson tail and handed it to Arthur with a smile.

"Don't fret so much, I trust you Arthur. You are not like the humans I have heard about in stories." Arthur choked. He was touched by such a praise from the merman he was coming to love.

"Thank you... I just wish I was worthy of your trust..." he said sadly, Kiku shook his head disaprovingly.

"You are worthy of it Arthur. You saved my life, and you have taken me here despite having a chance to sell me or worse, you kept your word and you have done much to make sure I am safe and happy." Arthur sighed, taking the scale and holding it gently as if with one wrong move it would shatter, and take his world with it. He wished more than anything he could tell Kiku how much his trust and affection meant to him but there were no words even in his vast vocabulary to describe it.

"I hope you're right..." he sighed, turning away to create the potions for them.

HELLO TIME SKIP

They were finally done and ready to be tested. Arthur was exausted as he brought two vials out to the shallows of the lake. One resembled some kind of toxic snot, while the other looked like someone ate a bunch of glitter then had diarrhea in the bottle. Neither looked very appitizing but Arthur was convinced they'd work.

"Kiku, they're ready." he called, trying not to sound as tired as he felt. Smiling as he saw Kiku surface and swim towards him eagerly.

"They are?" he asked, using his arms to pull himself closer to Arthur.

"They are. They will last about three days from the moment we take them. This one is for you." he said handing Kiku the vial of green liquid. Kiku nodded, smiling up at Arthur.

"Are you ready?" he asked. Arthur nodded

"As I'll ever be." he replied before downing his own vial. Kiku nodded and drank his own, and as soon as it was down he swore he was going to throw them up until he felt a searing pain in his tail. Arthur by then had fallen onto the sand in pain as his legs merged into one tail, at first stopped by his pants until Arthur quickly removing them as he hopped futily that Kiku wasn't in as much pain as he felt with his transformation. But while Arthur felt his bones melding into one and changing to create a tail, Kiku felt his ripping apart and changing to create legs and feet. As to who felt the most pain through this is hard to say, but when it was over both felt great amounts of relief as they looked quickly to the other to see that they were ok before looking themselves over to see the changes. Arthur now had a long jade colored tail, and at the end of the tail his fins seemed to be longer than Kiku's had been and was slightly wavier on the edge. Kiku now had two legs with feet and toes attached to them, both were excitedly moving their new limbs for a while before they remembered that the other hadn't the feintest clue on how to use theirs other than moving it. When Kiku tried to stand he had only managed to get to his knees before he stumbled, the loose sand making it harder than it should have been on the new human. Arthur was slightly beached in the shallows similar to how Kiku had been the day they met, the only difference was Kiku knew how to fix that and Arthur didn't. Knowing his problem would take longer to get used to Arthur turned to Kiku to try and coach him through learning how to stand and walk.

"Kiku, hold on a moment. Come over here, there are some rocks you can hold on to to help you get up. Sand like this is some of the hardest terrain humans have to walk on if for no other reason other than the fact it has no real traction or friction." Kiku nodded, and crawled slightly to the rocks Arthur mentioned, using both arms to hoist himself up as he would have when he was a merman and was going to sit on the rocks.

"Good, now to walk you just move one leg forward, and then move the other forward after." Kiku nodded again and keeping his hold on the rocks he unsteadily moved one leg forward. Arthur smiled at his progress, trying to get a feel for his new tail as Kiku wobbled about happily on the sand. WHen Kiku noticed Arthur's struggles he stopped by the rocks again and helped him.

"It's all one bone, just move it up and down when you're in the water and in the opposite direction of where you want to turn." he explained, stumbling carefully over to try and help Arthur get deeper into the shallows until he could swim on his own. Kiku only ended up falling into the water a couple of times before Arthur was swimming deep into the lake. Arthur couldn't believe it. He had a mertail and he was a merman. Arthur hadn't felt so free in years. Kiku was in the same ecstatic state, happily feeling the sand and grass between his new toes, breathing in the new air deeply. To both men, everything now felt so different and both were enjoying it to the fullest. But after a while the both of them remembered the other and met in the shallows. Kiku shivered at how different the water felt to him as a human, and Arthur looked up to him "I don't know merpeople's eating habits but humans have to eat three times a day, once in the morning, once in the middle of the day, and one towards the end of the day." Kiku nodded.

"Merpeople are similar, but we mostly just eat when we are hungry. But try not to stay out or above water for too long or you may start to dehydrate." Arthur sighed happily.

"Got it. And we have to be here again in sixty two hours." Arthur looked up at Kiku again and blushed when he realized Kiku was naked. He had never thought about it before because he seldom saw all of Kiku's tail, and it was much different from having legs and his equipment not being hidden. Arthur quickly looked away and pointed to the shorts he had been wearing "Y-you may want to put some clothes on though... Human thing..." Kiku looked curiously at the shorts, wondering why Arthur was blushing until he looked down and saw that humans didn't hide. He blushed a scarlet to match the tail he lost as he tried to figure out how to work the shorts. Arthur instructed him through it when he saw Kiku was having difficulty, and told him what he needed to know about the house to get in, and keep strangers from getting in as well. He told Kiku about the bed, and what to be careful of and what could help him. Kiku did the same but there was much less to worry about in the lake than there was back in the ocean so in many ways Arthur had it easier than Kiku. But now they both had to try. They said their goodnights and parted ways, Kiku clumsily and very carefully navigated to the bedroom Arthur told him about after exploring a little. The bed was so much more comfortable than what he was used to, and all he could smell was Arthur. Arthur did the best he could and made a bed at the bottom of the lake, looking up to the water's surface and thought "So far the only thing I miss is the stars."