Stephanie was sitting at her desk and was writing in a journal about what she had discovered, drawing out the key's design.
She left them blank because she had not discovered their powers, but she did not want to overuse them out of curiosity.
She drew, wrote, and studied each artifact she had discovered, looking through her collection of Dusts and her whistle around her neck, even the Zodiac Pocket Watch.
There are lists of different kinds of powers on different pages of artifacts and Dust, but Stephanie is saving them until she figures out what they could be.
But when she stopped momentarily to check the pages in Avril's journal, Stephanie's head started hurting a little, and she paused but continued to look while ignoring the headache.
It got stronger over time, and Stephanie stopped at the right moment after writing down her discoveries, removing her glasses, and putting them down.
Stephanie rubbed her temples with her fingers as she groaned softly, feeling like something was pushing against her skull from above.
She was used to having headaches occasionally, which were not too bad for her, but this one was killing her.
Notches, lying on the desk next to her, noticed Stephanie's expression and her rubbing her temples and gently asked, "Are you okay, Stephanie?"
Stephanie silently shook her head, wanting to speak to Notches and Lucy, but the headache was too much for her to speak, and she did not want to snap because of her growing irritation.
"Did the headache come from that key you used?" Lucy asked.
Stephanie silently shook her head again, still rubbing her temples, her long hair covering her face slightly as she hunched over her desk.
Notches and Lucy looked at each other after Stephanie answered their questions, and Notches stood up as Lucy climbed onto his back.
"Let's try walking the headache off," Notches remarked. "It could be a temporary headache."
Stephanie silently nodded after Notches suggested it and stood up from her chair, picking up the journals she had written and putting them into her bag, along with a few others.
Once she had collected what she needed, Stephanie picked up her glasses and put them on, feeling glad she could wear them without feeling sick from vertigo.
Notches jumped off the desk and landed on the ground on his paws with Lucy on his back before following Stephanie as she walked up to her door.
She grabbed the doorknob and turned it, stepping through the door frame and… stepping outside?
Stephanie looked confused after stepping outside, and Notches followed, looking confused as well after seeing them step outside.
But they had been near the beach earlier in the day as Stephanie closed the door behind her.
Confused, Stephanie turned around to open the door they had stepped through, only to pause when she opened it to an empty room.
"Er, Stephanie?" Lucy spoke as she looked up at Stephanie. "Is this supposed to happen?"
Stephanie silently shook her head and closed the door, feeling confused as she looked at the hand she used to open the door.
Her powers open doors to dimensions and places… but why did it take her back to the beach?
"Well, that doesn't matter," Notches shook his head. "Let's enjoy the beach's peace. It could help with your headache."
Stephanie nodded after Notches remarked and started walking, taking her bag with her as Notches followed behind with Lucy on his back.
They were near the docks, and Stephanie was walking through the busy crowd of fishermen selling fish to people and the noise of chattering people.
Her headache had somewhat lightened, but the light from the sun was still bugging her, making the headache a pounding one.
So she puts her hood up to keep the light from shining into her eyes, excusing herself through the crowd of people and listening to the noises around her.
It was busy, but it was not too busy for Stephanie as she continued walking through the crowd, excusing herself and gently weaving through it.
Notches followed Stephanie, carefully weaving around children and dodging people's feet by squeezing past their legs.
"Stephanie, Stephanie!" Notches called, getting Stephanie's attention when she stopped, watching a man push a wheelbarrow of fish past her. "Can I climb onto your shoulders? It's getting hard for me to catch up to you."
Stephanie looked down at Notches and nodded, kneeling carefully to him, and opened her bag, allowing him to climb inside.
Notches carefully climbed inside as another wheelbarrow of fish walked past Stephanie, and she looked over at the fish on the man's wheelbarrow to see what kinds there were.
But when she looked at the man's wheelbarrow, Stephanie had a bewildered feeling that they were staring at her.
Notches got comfortable in the bag, and Stephanie snapped out of staring, looking down at Notches as he had his head sticking out from the top along with Lucy.
She stood up to her feet and continued walking after waiting for the two wheelbarrows of fish to walk past her.
She was walking through a market when she saw multiple fish laying out on crates with ice on them for people to see.
But from her perspective, it all looked like they were staring at her as she walked down the docks, and every fish was staring at her from where they were.
Stephanie instantly became shy after seeing the fish staring at her, ignoring the fish around her, and continued walking, noticing the headache had somewhat faded during her walk.
She softly sighed with a small smile, feeling happy that the headache had faded, but decided to stay outside a little longer to get the headache away.
"Look out!" Stephanie flinched after hearing someone's voice and glanced over, seeing a gigantic crate with the label that reads 'Tuna' fall from over her head and land on the dock next to her.
She shrieked after the crate of tuna landed almost inches away from where she was and scrambled backward, but she tripped over her feet and started moving back.
"Kid, watch out!" One of the fishermen called, rushing over to her.
But Stephanie fell backward and started heading towards the water, thinking she would fall into the ocean.
Until she landed on something solid that knocked the wind out of her lungs as Notches slipped out of her bag along with Lucy.
"That was a close one!" Stephanie perked up after hearing someone speak and gingerly pushed up from where she was, taking a slow breath. "Is she alright?"
Two whistles went through the air, and Stephanie somewhat groggily looked up, seeing two tugboats approach where she was.
They both have faces but different heights compared to each other, and they have a cap on top of their wheelhouses with some hair.
The first's livery is a black hull, a yellow superstructure, a white mast, and an American flag-styled red, white, and blue funnel.
The name 'Ten Cents' is painted on the sides of his bow in white, and he has the number one on his funnel and wears a blue cap with an eagle ornament on top with a light.
The second's livery is the same: a black hull, a yellow superstructure, a white mast, and an American flag-styled red, white, and blue funnel.
But he wore a red cap on his wheelhouse, had the name 'Sunshine' painted on the sides of his bow in white, and had the number seven on his funnel.
"Yeah, she looks alright!" The tug with the name 'Ten Cents' responded. "Are you okay, though?"
Stephanie nodded after the tug asked her, looking down at what she landed on and noticing it looked like metal under her body.
She reached over to Notches and picked him up along with Lucy, being careful of what she landed on and not wanting to slip off and fall into the ocean.
"Don't move around too much, okay?" The tug with the name 'Ten Cents' gently warned Stephanie. "Elias would be coming here to help you get off Grampus."
"Who?" Stephanie asked, looking somewhat confused.
"That would be me," the same voice responded, speaking with a lisp. "The submarine you landed on."
Stephanie carefully moved forward and looked down, seeing a pair of eyes with goggles look up at her before smiling a little.
"Thank you, Mr. Grampus," Stephanie thanked him.
"You're welcome," Grampus nodded. "Just be careful walking through Oakwood Harbor. It's sometimes this hectic during the later days."
Stephanie nodded after Grampus explained it to her, glancing around, careful not to slip over accidentally as the water gently splashed onto Grampus's body, and the flat part of Stephanie's hands was getting wet, and something blue appeared from her palms.
A horn went through the air, and the two tugboats perked up, moving aside as a third appeared, smaller than the two and looking younger.
The tug has a white body with red lining, lifeguard rings on the side of his head, lights, and an antenna with a symbol on the side of the front bow.
He noticed Stephanie on top of Grampus with Notches on her back and Lucy gently tucked underneath one of her arms.
She sheepishly grinned when the tug appeared, and he told her, "Okay, stay where you are Grampus. I will turn around to use my crane to lift the kid from you."
"Be careful, Elias," Grampus nodded as the tug, named 'Elias,' turned around, carefully lowering his crane.
Notches instantly hopped onto his deck, and Stephanie carefully followed behind, allowing Lucy to board Elias first before gripping the crane.
Once off Grampus, Stephanie carefully climbed onto Elias' deck and sighed in relief after boarding his deck.
"Thank you, Mr. Elias," Stephanie thanked, walking up to the front to let him know she was on his deck.
"You're welcome," Elias nodded as Notches lay down on the other side of his face as Stephanie carefully sat down. "Now, let's get you to the nearest town to drop you off."
Stephanie nodded as Elias moved away from the spot, and Stephanie turned around to the three, waving as she said, "Thank you!"
The two tugs hooted their whistles after Stephanie thanked them as Grampus went underwater, and she turned back to the front, sitting comfortably next to Elias' face.
"So, what's your name?" Elias asked, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes.
"I'm Stephanie," Stephanie smiled. "The cat's name is Notches; he's my pet, and the doll is Lucy."
Lucy was on Notches' back as Elias glanced over, seeing Notches with Lucy on his back, looking confused but turning back to watch where he was going.
"Is your name 'Elias?'" Stephanie asked him.
"Yes, that's my name," Elias nodded. "Elias the Rescue Boat."
"You're a rescue boat?" Stephanie perked up with interest, and Elias nodded slightly. "Cool! I've heard of rescue boats from Shining Time."
"You have?" Elias asked, glancing at Stephanie from the corner of his eyes after stopping to allow some boats to pass him.
"Yeah," Stephanie nodded, geeking over her knowledge of vehicles. "Rescue boats are amazing with how strong they are at pulling ships twice their size!"
Elias blushed a little at Stephanie's words before perking up after seeing a small cartoon boat going down the river.
"There's Little Toot!" Elias perked. "He's one of my friends."
"Aw~!" Stephanie cooed. "He's cute~!"
Little Toot perked up after hearing Stephanie's coo and glanced over with confusion, thinking it was Elias saying that but seeing Stephanie sitting near Elias' face.
"Not me, Toot!" Elias chuckled after seeing Little Toot's confused expression. "It was Stephanie who said that."
Stephanie sheepishly blushed before standing up, deciding that sitting down would not work since she was too small for anyone to see her.
"Oh, hi!" Little Toot tooted with a smile after seeing Stephanie after she stood up. "Have a nice day, Elias!"
Stephanie waved goodbye after Little Toot tooted before Elias continued, causing Stephanie to wince before clutching onto his railings.
"Sorry!" Elias apologized. "I'm not used to carrying people on my deck."
"It's okay!" Stephanie chuckled. "I'm not used to being on a ship's deck."
"You've never been on a ship's deck?" Elias asked.
Stephanie shook her head no after Elias asked as Notches climbed onto her shoulders, laying down comfortably as she looked forward.
"What brought you to Shining Time?" Elias asked.
"I was accidentally brought here," Stephanie explained. "It will take a few paragraphs to explain the whole story, but I'll start with how."
Elias looked at the reader with a somewhat confused expression before turning back to Stephanie as she took her Dust Whistle from her garments and showed it to Elias.
"I was brought here after whistling the Dust Whistle," Stephanie explained.
"Wait a moment!" Elias perked. "You're that Stephanie?!"
Stephanie nodded and asked, "You've heard of me from the others?"
"Yep," Elias nodded. "Many people talked about it among others, and I learned a little about it."
Then he paused from continuing and waited with a slightly irritated expression, which perked up Stephanie.
She looked over and saw a Navy tug moving down the river with a stern expression before disappearing down the river, and Stephanie looked confused after seeing the Navy tug.
"Who was that?" Stephanie asked, looking over at Elias in confusion.
"That was Bluenose," Elias scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "He's a Navy Admiral. A very rude Navy Admiral. He barks at anyone he comes across, even humans. I hate him because of his rudeness."
"Hmm," Stephanie gently hummed after Elias explained. "He sounds almost like a Troublesome Truck."
Elias looked confused after Stephanie remarked and asked, "What's a 'Troublesome Truck?'"
"A Troublesome Truck is rolling stock," Stephanie explained, pausing when she noticed Elias' confused expression deepening. "A wooden box with wheels that rolls on the rails."
"Oh!" Elias perked. "Like Trolley?"
"Almost." Stephanie nodded with a 'so-so' mention with her hand. "Troublesome Trucks, as their names mean, are very troublesome towards rail-based vehicles. They push, shove, and even make fun of vehicles. To delay the time to give trouble to whoever is pulling them."
"Huh," Elias remarked after Stephanie explained. "Have you encountered Troublesome Trucks?"
Stephanie nodded and explained, "I sometimes come over to visit some of the members of the Steam Team, and they would make fun of me because." She gently pulled on her sweater, mentioning it. "I'm wearing blue, and they nickname me 'Blueberry.'"
"Rude," Elias huffed. "If I see a Troublesome Truck, I'll give them a piece of my mind."
Stephanie chuckled after Elias huffed as he continued down the river.
"What's your version of Troublesome Trucks?" Stephanie asked.
"Some yachts, ocean liners," Elias responded. "Maybe some other boats and trampers, but those are 'Troublesome Trucks' to us."
"Sounds lucky," Stephanie chuckled.
"What do you mean by lucky?" Elias asked.
"You don't have to deal much with Karens and Kevins," Stephanie responded.
Elias looked confused after Stephanie mentioned 'Karen' and 'Kevin,' and Stephanie noticed his expression.
"'Karen' is a slang term for an obnoxious, angry, entitled, and often racist middle-aged white woman who uses her privilege to get her way or police other people's behaviors," Stephanie explained. "'Kevin' is the same but male."
"Oh!" Elias perked. "So if Bluenose is threatening to call the Navy, that means he's a Kevin?"
"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "And there are a lot of Karens and Kevins from Shining Time."
"Twenty-four seven?" Elias asked.
"All over the news," Stephanie explained. "Grocery stores, parking lots, Starbucks, etc. They are freaking everywhere!"
"Does Sodor have that?" Elias asked.
"No," Stephanie responded. "It's much better here than Shining Time. And it is minimum here too. I feel at home."
Elias smiled a little after Stephanie explained, saying, "I feel at home whenever I am around Sodor, but my true home is Cozy Cove. And we're near Cozy Cove."
Stephanie looked forward and saw a beautiful port appear, and some boats were around, perking after seeing him.
One was a submarine, and the other was a raft with faces.
"Hi, Elias!" The drilling submarine was greeted as the raft instantly started hopping up and down and swimming around Elias happily.
Then she noticed Stephanie on his deck as she smiled, waving hello to her, and she asked, "Who's this?"
"My name is Stephanie," Stephanie responded with a smile. "Your friend Elias saved me after I fell off the dock after being caught by Grampus."
Elias blushed again at Stephanie's words as she turned to the submarine, asking, "Who are you and your friend?"
"I'm Dippy," The submarine answered. "This is Swifty."
"'Swifty?'" Stephanie looked at the little boat and smiled at her. "Cute~!"
Elias carefully moved to the dock and allowed Stephanie off his deck, and Stephanie carefully stepped off, a little wobbly after stepping onto land.
"Are you okay?" Elias chuckled after seeing Stephanie wobbly along with Dippy.
Stephanie nodded as she giggled, walking over to a crate and allowing Notches and Lucy off, and responded, "I need to take a minute to get my land legs back."
"But you have legs," Dippy mentioned.
"Yes, I do," Stephanie chuckled. "But while on Elias, I had sea legs, which is slang for the ability to maintain one's balance on board a ship, especially in rough weather. Land legs are slang for the ability to adjust one's sense of balance and motion to walking on land, as after a sea journey or flight."
"Wow, you have a lot of slang," Elias remarked.
"And I'm sheepish about it," Stephanie nodded with slight embarrassment. "I usually confuse people with my slang since I'm more of the," she quoted with her fingers, "'Gen Z' kids back in-"
"What happened to your hands?" Elias suddenly asked, causing Stephanie to perk up.
"What?" Stephanie asked, holding her hands out for the two to see. "Is there something wrong with my hands?"
"They're blue!" Dippy exclaimed before pausing, adding, "And they have something in between them."
Stephanie looked at her hands with confusion and saw they were covered with dark blue scales and light blue webbing between her fingers.
She gasped after seeing her hands and looked at the back of them, seeing the scales fade into her normal skin midway around her fingers.
"Stephanie," Lucy spoke, standing on her left thigh. "Let me look at your hands."
Stephanie showed them to Lucy, and she looked at them, feeling the webbing and the scales thoughtfully while Stephanie looked worried.
"Has this happened before, Stephanie?" Lucy asked, looking up at Stephanie.
"No," Stephanie responded. "I've never seen this happen!"
She started to worry more and asked, "How am I supposed to tell Sir Topham Hatt about this? Would he ever believe me if I explained that, 'Hey, while being rescued by Elias and Grampus after avoiding nearly being hit by a crate of tuna, something happened to my hands that made them grow scales and webbings, and I have no clue what happened!'"
"Tell him what?" After hearing someone's voice, Stephanie jolted and glanced over, seeing a confused Henry.
"Oh!" Stephanie perked before looking down at her palms and hiding them in her thighs. "Hi! Sorry, I didn't see you there."
The tip of Stephanie's ears turned blue as they twitched nervously, and she was hesitant about showing them, but she could not lie to him either, so Stephanie reluctantly and slowly showed her webbed hands to Henry.
Henry gently took them into his gloved hands and looked at Stephanie's webbed hands, looking at the small jet-black claws and webs between her fingers.
"Am I going to be in bigger trouble?" Stephanie worriedly asked.
"No, no, you're not," Henry assured her, not wanting Stephanie to fret as he put one hand on her shoulder. "He would get a heart attack if you nearly had an accident, but he will listen after you explain about your hands."
Stephanie nodded after Henry assured her and looked at her right hand, confused about her webbed and clawed hands, as Henry stood up.
"First, let's get you to Sir Topham Hatt," Henry helped Stephanie to her feet as Notches hopped onto her shoulder. "That's the first step."
"Good idea," Stephanie nodded, looking at her hands before pulling the sleeves over them to keep them hidden.
Stephanie waved goodbye to Elias, Dippy, and Swifty before following Henry to a steam locomotive named 'Linus,' who waited for Henry before perking up when he saw him along with Stephanie.
Linus noticed Stephanie's hands were covered by her sweater's sleeves but said nothing about it as Henry helped Stephanie into his cab.
After Stephanie was in Linus' cab, Linus started heading towards one of the shunting yards to help Casey Jr. while Stephanie looked out from Linus' window.
But that headache that was gone earlier had returned, and Stephanie was slumped against Linus' window ledge, one hand on the side of her head with a sick expression.
Lucy noticed Stephanie's expression and grew worried, asking, "Stephanie? Are you okay?"
Stephanie gave a silent grunt in response but started to become sick as her cheeks turned a blue-green color, which perked both Notches and Lucy.
Notches delivered a sharp 'Meow!' towards Henry, which caught his attention before he noticed Stephanie's sick expression and the color on her face.
"Uh, Linus?" Henry poked his head out of the other window. "Can we stop over at those docks? Stephanie's starting to get sick."
Linus nodded and quickly moved to the side of a different dock, allowing Henry to take Stephanie out as she placed her bag down before being taken over to the side.
She went onto her knees when she was close enough and stayed like that while Henry kept in check with her, holding her long hair back.
As he held her long hair back, Henry noticed half of what looked like a birthmark on the back of her neck with three points.
It looked strange for a birthmark, but it piqued Henry's curiosity about the shape of the birthmark after seeing it.
Instead of moving her garments down to look closer, Henry focused on Stephanie, watching her as the color slowly faded.
Stephanie was confused about why the headache and the sick feeling had faded, wondering what was happening with this sudden headache?
She slowly pushed herself up from where she was, and Henry asked, "Are you okay?"
"I… think so?" Stephanie slowly responded with confusion. "I don't feel headachy or sick anymore."
"You're not?" Henry repeated.
"No," Stephanie responded, turning to Henry. "I had that same headache while studying in the room Sir Topham Hatt allowed me to borrow, then it faded when I got here, then happened again when we were leaving."
"Has this happened before?" Henry asked.
"No," Stephanie answered. "Have I been cursed or something that I didn't see?"
"Wait here," Henry said, patting Stephanie's shoulder. "I'll call Sir Topham Hatt to tell him what happened."
Stephanie nodded after Henry told her and watched him stand up before walking over to the nearby buildings, and she sighed, feeling more confused about everything happening to her.
She pushed her sleeves up and looked at her palms, seeing they were still scaly and had webbing between her fingers.
But they strangely faded slightly as the webbing was shorter than before, the scales only covered the palms of her hands, and even her fingernails were normal too.
Stephanie inspected her hands with confusion after seeing the difference, feeling them with her thumb, and noticing the texture.
However, as Stephanie looked at her hands, the ocean water next to her rippled before a horse-shaped head made out of water lifted and looked up at Stephanie.
It slowly rose and stared at Stephanie, the ears moving forward as Stephanie looked at her hands while sitting on her knees.
The horse leaned forward as it watched Stephanie lift more from the water and place one hoof on the dock, looking curious behind its eyes.
Linus' eyes were wide as saucers after seeing the horse made out of water appear from the ocean and looming slightly over Stephanie, looking over at Henry just as he had stepped out but stopped after seeing the horse.
Stephanie felt something was staring at her and looked at what it was, seeing a horse's head staring at her.
But the horse was made out of water and loomed over her while the rest of the body was in the ocean's water.
Stephanie and the horse stared at each other for a minute before Stephanie became afraid of what this horse was.
She was about to stand up to back away from this horse, but it nipped the sleeve of her sweater and yanked her forward, tugging her into the ocean water.
"Stephanie!" Notches and Lucy exclaimed.
Underwater, Stephanie was struggling to become free as the horse dragged her deeper and deeper into the ocean, still holding onto the sleeve of her sweater.
She tried pushing against the horse or slapping against its snout, but her hand kept going through the body itself, feeling like she was pushing against nothing.
The coldness of the ocean was causing her to lose more strength, but she was still attempting to push against the horse as it carried her further despite becoming cold.
On the docks, Henry was panicking as the other workmen who witnessed the horse grabbing Stephanie were looking around, too, and even one of them was rushing to call Sodor Search and Rescue.
"Where is she?! Where is she?! Where is she?!" Henry panicked, looking through the waves.
"I don't know!" Lucy exclaimed. "I can't see her!"
Sir Topham Hatt's car soon arrived on the scene, and he stepped out, seeing the commotion and rescue vehicles appear.
"What is going on?!" Sir Topham Hatt exclaimed.
"Bertram, I'll explain everything once Stephanie is back on land," Henry explained before looking back at the water.
Underwater, Stephanie could feel her muscles becoming stiffer as the horse continued going deeper underwater, seemingly reaching the bottom of the ocean.
Suddenly, something massive was heading towards them, and the horse perked, letting go of Stephanie's sleeve, and quickly moved away while Stephanie was knocked backward but safe from being hurt by the propeller.
Seeing she was free, Stephanie started swimming to the surface, but the horse suddenly appeared above her, which caused her to instantly freeze.
Using the front of its hooves, the horse dove down and started to push Stephanie back toward the bottom, causing Stephanie to panic as the horse divided further and further.
Her lungs were aching in pain, and her webbed hands or claws were not doing anything to help her at this moment!
As she tried to swim, the panic continued to go through Stephanie's mind, and she grew fed up with this horse dragging her to the bottom of the ocean!
Stephanie's eyes flashed azure, and her pupils turned vertical, causing the horse to perk up after seeing the eyes flash and the pupils transform.
She moved both arms back, and a wave of water swirled over her hands as the horse lifted its hooves and watched the water swirl over Stephanie's hands.
Then she swung her arms forward, and the wave of ocean water shot forward, causing Stephanie to go backward, but the horse trying to drown her went upward, heading toward the surface.
At the surface, Captain, Elias, and Fireman Sam on the rescue boat were searching for Stephanie when a sudden burst of water shot up just miles away from where they were, watching a horse-shaped object fly in the air with a loud, startled whinny before landing back into the water.
"What was that?" Elias asked, startled after seeing the horse-shaped object flying.
Fireman Sam took out binoculars and looked in the direction where the burst of water happened, watching the water move around like a battle was happening, and he perked up.
"There!" he pointed. "There's where Stephanie would be!"
So the rescue boats started heading in that direction, carefully watching the water move around.
Underwater, Stephanie roughly landed on a sandbed and grunted, accidentally knocking water out of her mouth before panicking as she covered her mouth with her hands.
She looked back up at the surface before seeing the horse swimming towards her like a water bullet.
Stephanie panicked and instantly flipped over to her front, grabbing at the sand underneath her and clawing her way away, and she swam away as the horse landed where she was, creating a small crater before turning towards her.
She had never swum before and was starting to panic, not wanting to die underwater by this horse and leaving Sodor behind!
After evading the horse again, Stephanie reached for her Dust Whistle but realized she could not blow it without filling it with water, and to make matters worse, Dust could not work underwater either!
She avoided the horse again and started swimming to the surface, thinking of what else to do to get her out of this danger.
Remembering her Zodiac Pocket Watch, Stephanie reached for it, took it out of her blue jeans pocket, opened it, and looked at the clock.
Then she made a face of worry after seeing her current zodiacs, knowing that if she transformed into her Flacon Zodiac or Beaver Zodiac, it would not be enough.
Stephanie quickly put the Zodiac Pocket Watch away and avoided another attack from the horse, but slowly realized she had been holding her breath for a long time.
She had exhaled a lot of air from her lungs and was swimming around for a while… so why was Stephanie still swimming if she was not struggling at this point or drowning?
The horse dove again, and Stephanie perked up after seeing the horse appear in her eyesight, so she moved back and swam backward, missing the horse by a foot as it swam upward.
She looked down at her hands thoughtfully before noticing an almost invisible ring on her hand, but it looked like a band ring.
Stephanie was about to remove the ring when the horse suddenly slammed into her chest, causing her to inhale after being slammed into a rock pillar.
She winced in pain and squirmed as the horse transformed into water, becoming a strong current and pushing against Stephanie.
Something yellow and orange appeared from the corner of Stephanie's eye, and she looked over, seeing a diver appear.
The diver picked up speed, sped towards the current, and slammed against it, watching it transform into a horse, and snorted.
The diver swam over to Stephanie and wrapped an arm around her body, swimming forward while holding her, and Stephanie swam to follow.
Looking back at the ring, Stephanie grabbed it with her hand and started to tug it, seeing that it was stuck to her finger and clasped to the webbing.
Stephanie struggled with the ring as the diver looked back, watching the horse appear and speed after them, causing the diver to look forward.
The diver went underneath many obstacles before him, still holding onto Stephanie as she fidgeted with the ring.
The horse continued chasing after them from behind, attempting to get in front of the diver, but the diver went underneath an obstacle, and the horse swerved hard to miss the obstacle.
Stephanie would wince a little whenever the ring stung a little, but she continued fidgeting, trying to think of how to get rid of this ring.
The diver looked over his shoulder and saw that the horse was not chasing after him, and he nodded, looking around to see if he could swim back to the surface.
Suddenly, the horse swam in front, and the diver created a startled noise, swimming backward as the horse sped toward them both.
The diver quickly pushed Stephanie away for safety, and she watched as the diver was smacked by the horse and slammed against a pillar of stone.
The breathing mask fell off from the collision, and the oxygen tank on his back cracked and spilled oxygen out.
Stephanie's eyes widened after seeing the horse pinning the diver against the pillar, and she looked back at the ring but grabbed it and ripped it off her ring finger.
It tore through her webbing, and Stephanie grunted back a noise of pain as she looked at her webbed right hand, watching dark blue blood come from between her middle and pinky fingers.
The ring suddenly snapped and disappeared in Stephanie's hand, then the webbing healed, reconnecting back together.
Stephanie watched as the scales covered the rest of her body, morphing along with her clothes and soon having a full body covered with dark blue scales, her legs transforming into hind legs with the same webbing between her toes with sharp claws.
Her pointed ears transformed into fins, and a tail appeared with fins trailing up along her back, creating a sea monster and mermaid hybrid.
After the transformation, Stephanie opened her eyes, and they were azure, but the pupils were vertical before she frowned.
Fireman Sam was struggling against the horse as it was still pinning him against the rock pillar, unable to push against it or get out of its way.
Suddenly, the horse's eyes flashed a blue color, and it nickered a little before a shadow loomed over it, and it glanced over only to see a gigantic humanoid.
A webbed hand smacked the horse off Fireman Sam as he was finally freed, but he struggled a little because he used too much strength.
But another webbed hand went into view, and he flinched after seeing the five-fingered webbed hand appear in sight.
Fireman Sam attempted to swim away from the five-fingered webbed hand, but it gently cupped around him before being gently pushed against the palm.
He was lifted out of the ocean water, and he coughed, taking the now-empty oxygen tank off his back.
Once the now-empty oxygen tank was off his back, Fireman Sam flipped onto his back but stiffened after seeing what was holding him.
A gigantic mermaid with long, straight hair, azure blue eyes, and vertical pupils, covered with dark blue scales with long fins on the side of the head, was staring down at him, looking worried.
A necklace was around her neck with two pendants, one a whistle and the other a pocket watch, looking familiar to the Zodiac Pocket Watch and Dust Whistle, and even a bracelet around the wrist of the webbed hand he was in.
A whinny perked Sam's attention, and he looked over the mermaid's hand, seeing the horse whinnying while bouncing in and out of the ocean.
The mermaid looked at the horse as it was whinnying, cocking her head slightly before perking up after hearing the noises.
After the horse whinnied for a while, it dove back into the ocean and disappeared, giving Sam a sigh of relief.
"Sam!" Sam perked up after hearing his name and saw Captain approaching while looking at the mermaid. "Are you okay, Sam?"
"I'm okay!" Sam called back before looking over at the mermaid. "Can I be back on the boat?"
The mermaid nodded and sank a little into the ocean, keeping her hand up to keep Sam wet before gingerly slipping him onto Captain with the broken oxygen tank.
After Sam was back on the boat, the mermaid looked back at her hands, where the ocean water pooled in her webbed hands, and watched it drain from the side of her hands.
Sam was fitted with a lifejacket vest by the driver, and he was still a little drained from fighting against that horse but felt glad he made it into the boat.
And was even glad that Stephanie had rescued him when he was pinned by that horse too.
Stephanie was now looking at her fully scaled body, now seeing more of the dream as she looked at her webbed toes, even feeling her fins on the side of her head.
"Stephanie?" Stephanie perked up after hearing Elias' voice and glanced over, swimming almost near him but stopping. "Are-" he paused as he shook his head. "Is that really you?"
"Yes, it's me," Stephanie nodded with a sheepish smile. "I knew this was a little," she paused with a slight chuckle. "Fishy."
Elias looked a little confused after Stephanie joked before looking around her, seeing the fins attached to her back, the webbing between her fingers, and even the hidden details like the gills on the sides of her neck.
"We need to get you to dry land," Elias remarked. "Sir Topham Hatt is waiting for you there."
"Oh, crap!" Stephanie exclaimed. "Sir Topham Hatt! How can I completely forget that?!"
Then she paused and looked down at her body, nervously biting the bottom lip before shaking her head and muttering, "Oh, what does it matter if I hide this from him?"
She looked at Elias and asked, "Can you lead me to the docks where he is?"
Elias nodded after Stephanie asked, and she started heading to the docks, following Elias along with the others.
But deep underwater, something rotund with ten legs followed Stephanie behind, with a menacing aura.