Laila jumped into the water, seamlessly turning into a bat, then realising that she was drowning and turning slightly less seamlessly into a mermaid. She coughed some water out of her system, decided not to ponder the physics of what was going on, and swam around aimlessly because she and her new mentor had decided neither a time nor an exact place to meet.

Then she felt someone tap her on her shoulder, and spun around to face bright orange eyes surrounded by a halo of brown hair.

"C'mon, student! I, Nexie of the Gyazxcdryicav Town, will teach you how to be an amazing mermaid and all other mentors will TREMBLE IN FEAR!"

"...where's Gyazxcdryicav Town?"

Nexie stared at Laila for a few moments, as she had grown up in Gya-whatever town, and it took her ten years to be able to pronounce its name. She decided that it must just be some extra trait of mer-werepires and lead her new student down through the crystal-clear waters of the Shipwreck Seas.

Gya-whatever Town was a cluster of towering anemones and materials that looked like wooden planks, but weren't rotted through with water damage. The town was split in half by the main road, paved with bluish cobblestones. The mer-children gathered around, happy to meet a new friend, though the adults shied away from Nexie's apprentice.

Nexie went off and dragged over the mayor of the town, Jyanzken, who bobbed around with poofy grey hair and an airy moustache (despite the fact that he was underwater). He looked mildly annoyed at being torn away from matters of state or whatever he was doing, but just bounced with the flow.

"You must be Laila," he said (poofily), "Welcome to Gyaz *mumble mumble* Town! I'm sure you'll fit right in."

He gazed worriedly at Nexie, who dragged a highly entertained Laila away from the townspeople.

"C'mon! I wanna show you something cool!"

The mermaid and the werepire- I mean merwerepire- I mean- *sigh*

Nexie and Laila, those two, went around a tall rock, and Nexie grinned. She concentrated, and long wavy bits unfurled from her scales. Sort of like a seahorse turning into a seadragon. Except seahorses can't transform into seadragons but you know what I mean.

Then, she sang.

Very action-packed place, this mermaid town. People bursting into song and mayors with poofy moustaches.

Nexie grinned and turned back into seahorse-form as Laila slumped, suddenly very tired. Probably something to do with the fact she was practising levitation until 2 o'clock in the morning.

"Ha!" yelled Nexie, "See? I'm amazing."

"Nice song," yawned Laila, "What's it called?"

"It's a siren song, you jawsnapper! It puts people to sleep!"

"But I'm not asleep!"

"Well, I'm not very good at it yet, am I? Might have something to do with the fact that I'm a mermaid."

Nexie grinned, then slowly deflated when Laila looked no more impressed.

"Siren song? Mermaid? Do you know nothing about fantasy creatures?"

"Well, I didn't know they existed until a few weeks ago."

"Oh. Right. Well. Generally only sirens can sing siren songs. That's kinda how it got the name. But I'm special; kinda like how you're a werewolf and a vampire, I'm a mermaid and a siren. Except I think it's kinda more like an upgrade than a completely separate form. But maybe since I bit you, you can do it too! Try it!"

However, Laila was busy falling asleep on the rocks. Nexie sighed and plopped down next to her, which is tricky when you're floating in water. She'd have to find out how incredibly amazing her student was in the morning.

Well, at least semi-amazing. Like 1%. Yeah, that would be good enough.