Meredith

What? I thought, but Pauletta was right.

The planet was getting closer.

Grabbing her arm, I pulled her behind me, trying to shield her from the light.

I waited for a crash, a bang, or a BOOM! but all was silent. The light was too bright, barreling toward us too fast, and I was forced to turn away. As it dimmed, I hesitantly spared a look.

A girl was standing there, brushing stardust off her sparkly silver dress. She carried a flowery scent, probably from the small, bell shaped flowers pinned to the brim of her large sparkly white hat. It ended in a point so sharp it could poke holes in the sky.

After a moment, she looked up at us as if she had forgotten we were there, or perhaps she hadn't noticed until that moment. "Well, howdy."

Releasing Paul, I drew my crossbow and pointed it at the girl.

"Now, don't be alarmed." She put her hands up in defense. The girl couldn't have been much older than Issy, with startlingly green irises and orange spots covering her face. "My name's Ella," she said slowly. "I'm here to grant yer wish."

Grant my wish? I thought. I strapped the crossbow behind me again. "You mean the one I made just now?" I signed.

Paul bounded toward the girl. "Are you a fairy godmother?!"

A fairy? "But I thought fairies were extinct?"

"Ya thought wrong."

I had no idea what she said. "But—"

A small brown object hopped from on her shoulder.

I jumped, almost grabbing my trident. "What is that?"

"Oh, this is Danny. My... associate."

It hopped again. The tiny creature seemed to be attempting to remove the glitter from its tiny pants and tiny shirt to no avail.

"He's a toad, Merry," Paul whispered.

I nodded, pretending I knew what that meant.

"It's nice to meet ya, by the way, Merry." She leaned down to shake my hand, before turning to Paul. "And would you mind givin' me yer name, sugar?"

Pauletta smiled proudly, rocking back and fourth on her feet. "I'm Jolie. Nice to meet ya."

"Ah, smart girl." Ella winked.

I looked between them, confused.

"What?" Pauletta asked. "Everyone knows ya can't give a fairy yer real name, silly."

"But you gave her mine."

"That's different," she said. "Mermaids don't have souls."

I frowned. "That doesn't mean we don't have feelings."

They both laughed, and I decided to go along as if it were a joke.

I turned back to Ella. "So, you're just going to grant my wish? I don't understand. What's the catch?"

She shrugged, a faint smile stretching across her lips. "Nuttin that affects y'all much. A little conspiracy I unearthed. A little curse I need to crack. A little giant that needs to fall. The more wishes I grant, the more powerful I get. That's all."

I looked her up and down, wondering if I could trust her. She seemed nice and Paul didn't seem to have a problem with her, but if she really was helping me to gain more power, I knew I could trust that some people would do anything to be more powerful. "Alright, but how are you going to help me find the Princess?"

"I know where she is." Flipping over her hand, she gripped something in the air, and a white envelope appeared between her fingers.

She tried handing it to me, but I shook my head. "I can't read human."

"Here." Paul snatched it from her. "To whom it may concern, you have been cordially invited to the formal masque of Her Royal Highness, Princess Kailani Essein Primila the first. This is an invitation to the royal ball!" She started jumping."We're going to a ball?"

"No." Ella took the invitation back. "Meredith is. But my powers ain't strong enough yet to keep her fully human fer long. I'll need a binding. Someone will have to take her place."

Paul gasped. "I GET TO BE A MERMAID?!"

We reached our hands out, shushing her. "Be quiet!" I signed. "Or someone will hear."

"Got it," she signed back in ancient Atlantean. I elected to ignore this. Meeting an actual fairy for the first time was overwhelming enough.

I shook my head. "When does the ball start?"

"Right now."

"What? We have to go, or we'll be... wait. I'm going to be human." I laughed. "I'm going to be human! How is that possible? Magic?"

Ella shook her head, cringing her nose in a smile. "Somethin' stronger."

Laying a kiss on her fingers, she blew it toward Paul and me. I felt the rush as the kiss swarmed into a flurry of stardust, swirling around my arms and my tail, and lifting me up, out of the water.

"What's—what's going on," I tried to sign, but mist was too thick for my arms to move. I succumbed to the feeling, and my limbs went numb. I felt pins and needles all over, especially in my tail. I grit my teeth to keep from screaming.

When the mist settled, I was gently set down on the sand.

Something's wrong. I could feel it. My vision was blurry, I tried dragging myself back into the water, but something was wrong with my hands. They were brown, and my tail didn't feel so heavy. I looked back, and I must have been having double vision.

"Need some help?" Ella asked.

I nodded. To my surprise, she hooked her arm in mine, standing up.

"Here," she said, flicking her hand up and down. A full length mirror appeared.

"Wha—?"

I saw myself for the first time since the transformation. I drew a sharp breath.

"What is it?"

"I'm brown!"

"Well, you knew I was turnin' ya human," Ella said.

"Why am I brown?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but yer natural color is golden. Humans ain't naturally golden. Besides, I just turned you human. I didn't do nuttin else. This is completely random!"

I ran my fingers through my hair. It was unsettlingly dry. Long, dark, and wavy. It looked mostly the same as before, its bronze color unchanged, but the strands were thinner and didn't stick to my face. Looking down at my fingertips, I saw my rings had stayed the same but my fingers barely fit them now. They seemed chubbier and squishier than before.The only thing that hadn't changed were my eyes. They remained their golden hue.

My head snapped toward a splash in the water. "Pauletta!" I signed. I tried moving forward, but immediately fell over. I tried pushing myself up again, but I couldn't balance right on my legs.

"Here," Ella said. She drew a line in the air, and a shiny stick appeared. "Use this."

I leaned against it for support, but it sunk into the sand and made it harder to sign. "Pauletta?"

"Here!" She stuck her head out of the water. She wasn't her natural color either.

Head to toe, Paul was covered in light gray dermal denticals, giving her skin the look of a shark's. Her hair was also less black than it was dark, dark blue, and two large fins stuck out of her head like the wings of a manta ray.

"This is so fun!" she squealed, before disappearing into the water.

"Why can she still talk? Can—can I talk?"

Ella shrugged. "It wasn't a full transformation, and there's a lot of people who can't talk. It ain't just a mermaid thang."

I shook my head, growing increasingly frustrated with everyone's accents. "Where's the ball? You said it's starting about now. We have to go right away."

She laughed. "Honey, we ain't done yet. You can't go to the ball in—" she looked me and my guard's uniform up and down "—that. But, never fear, yer fairy godmother's here!" She squealed. "I've always wanted to try this. I'm thinking a mermaid cut to be ironic, and gold? That would go perfectly with yer eyes! Quick, what are yer thoughts on pearls?"

I shrugged, not sure what pearls had to do with fashion. "It's good with phytoplankton."

"Perfect! The clothes will only be temporary, last you a few hours, but by the time I'm done with you, you'll be the belle of the ball!"