New Faces, Same Tails

The crew equipped their bathing suits and jumped over the railing of the ship, one after another, the water closing cool and familiar around them. Once everyone was down, Selen cast Water Breathing on each of them in turn, then refreshed Tidal Tongue over the whole group before it could lapse.

[Status Effect: Water Breathing — Applied] [Duration: 30:00]

"...Thirty minutes," Arista noted, checking the timer carefully. "Same as before. We'll need to keep track of it, especially given how far down we're actually going."

"The descent takes roughly six minutes at a steady pace," Selen said, already beginning the swim down. "We should begin the return with at least seven minutes remaining. That still leaves us a reasonable window to visit."

They followed her down, the light fading gradually, then entirely, the crew swimming on through the darkness without so much as a flicker of discomfort.

"...I keep waiting to feel it," Colm said, taking an experimental breath as if expecting his chest to protest. "The pressure, I mean. We should be well past the point where a normal body starts complaining."

"Nothing," Nettle confirmed, flexing one hand experimentally in the dark water. "Not even a little."

The ocean floor eventually rose into view, lit only by soft, scattered bioluminescence, glowing coral, faintly luminous plants, and, as the settlement itself came into view, the warm, gentle glow of countless small lights marking homes and pathways throughout an entire, thriving community.

Arista stared, overwhelmed by the sheer, quiet beauty of it, modest homes carved into the seabed and living coral alike, families drifting between them, children darting past with the same easy, practiced grace Selen herself always carried.

They were greeted almost immediately, curious mermaids gathering close, studying the strange, air-breathing visitors with open, careful fascination.

But not everyone moved with the same effortless familiarity, Arista quickly realized.

A pair of figures near the settlement's edge moved with far less grace than everyone around them, tails flexing awkwardly, over-correcting with every stroke, one of them very nearly crashing headfirst into a coral outcropping before catching themselves at the last moment.

"...Are those—" Bram started.

"Players," Arista finished, delighted. "New characters. They probably rolled Mermaid the instant the race went live."

One of the awkward swimmers noticed them and swam over with visible, enthusiastic effort, tail thrashing much more than necessary for the actual speed achieved.

"Oh my god, are you the Strawberry crew?" they said, breathless with excitement despite the water. "I made this character literally the day the race unlocked. The breathing's automatic, that part's easy, but nobody warned me swimming with an actual tail instead of legs would be this hard."

"...You get used to it," a nearby NPC offered kindly, watching the newcomer's flailing with patient amusement.

"I've been trying," the player said, mock-aggrieved. "I've swum into four different coral formations already."

Arista studied the player a moment longer, something else occurring to her. "...Quick question. How are you understanding them? The mermaids, I mean. They speak their own language, don't they?"

The player blinked, visibly surprised by the question. "...Huh. I guess so? It just sounds normal to me. I didn't even think about it."

The player glanced at their own character panel, scrolling briefly. "...It's probably this passive. Tidal Tongue?"

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"Racial passive," Arista said, working it out. "No timer, no casting, just... always on."

"I mean, I never saw a cooldown or anything," the player confirmed, shrugging. "It just works. I assumed that was normal."

"For you, it is," Arista said, faintly amused by the asymmetry of it. "The rest of us need someone to cast it on us every time."

Selen, watching the exchange, drifted closer, studying the new arrivals with quiet wonder. Their awkward swimming barely seemed to register; she appeared far more taken by the simple fact of them existing at all.

"...New faces," she murmured, something soft and moved in her voice. "My own people's faces, and yet not quite. Strangers who chose to become us."

Arista glanced at her, understanding the specific, complicated weight of the moment. "...How does that feel?"

"Strange," Selen admitted, honest. "Wonderful, and strange in equal measure. I have been away from my own settlement for weeks now, between the ring, the housing project, and helping with the first rest point. I expected to return to familiar faces only. I did not expect to find it already, quietly, beginning to grow."

"...Good strange, or bad strange?" Bram asked, careful.

"Good," Selen said, watching the awkward, delighted new mermaid attempt another clumsy turn nearby. "Very good, I think. My people were disappearing, slowly, for longer than any of us wished to admit. Now, suddenly, there are more of us than there were a season ago. Even if they are not born of my people directly."

Arista smiled, watching the scattered scene, NPC mermaids moving with effortless familiarity while fledgling players flailed happily among them, learning how to inhabit bodies that were still entirely new to them.

She checked the timer, still ticking down steadily.

"...Twenty-two minutes left," she said. "Let's make the most of them."

Arista drifted slowly through the settlement, taking in every careful detail: modest homes, nothing grand or ostentatious, but thoughtfully built, every wall carved with the same deliberate circulation grooves Selen had shown them in the original mansion, every pathway lined with soft, glowing coral positioned exactly where it would light a resident's way home without ever feeling excessive.

"...This is beautiful," she murmured, running a hand along one of the carved walls, feeling the same quiet care in the craftsmanship that they'd tried, imperfectly, to replicate in the rest houses. "It's simple. Just... cared for."

"We built with what we had," Selen said, drifting alongside her. "Never abundance. Always care, though. Care costs nothing but attention."

Nearby, the awkward player mermaid from earlier was still struggling, attempting to navigate the narrow space between two homes, tail thrashing with far more effort than the maneuver actually required.

A cluster of mermaid children circled around them with mischievous energy, their movements effortless and fluid in stark contrast to the player's awkward attempts.

"...Do it like this!" one of the children called out, demonstrating an easy, economical flick of the tail that carried them cleanly between the houses without so much as disturbing the water around them.

The player attempted to mimic it, overcorrected wildly, and ended up spinning in a slow, undignified circle instead.

The children burst into laughter with the merciless delight only children could manage, circling the player again with easy, practiced grace.

"...Not like that," another child said, giggling. "You're moving your whole body. You only need the tail."

"I am only moving my tail," the player protested, though their continued flailing suggested otherwise.

"You're really not," the first child said, entirely matter-of-fact, demonstrating again with a small flick that barely seemed like motion at all. "Watch. Small. Just the end part."

The player tried again, much more restrained this time, and managed, to their own visible surprise, an actual, clean glide between the two houses.

"...Oh! Oh, that's, that's completely different, holy—"

The children cheered, delighted by their own successful teaching, already circling around to watch the newcomer's next attempt.

Bram, watching the whole exchange with quiet amusement, glanced at Arista. "...Kids are apparently the best swimming instructors in this entire settlement."

"They've never known anything else," Arista said, grinning. "No reason to overthink the motion. It's just how they move."

"Children rarely make good teachers of patience," Selen said, watching her people's young ones circle the player one more time with obvious, gleeful energy, "but they make excellent teachers of instinct. They don't have to think about the movement before showing someone else how to do it."

The player, noticeably steadier now, glanced over at Arista and the others, grinning despite the earlier embarrassment. "...Kids are brutal, but that actually helped. I think I've got the hang of it now."

"You'll need it," Arista said, checking the timer again, down to fifteen minutes now. "This whole settlement assumes you know how to swim. No shortcuts."

"Worth it," the player said, already trying another careful glide between two nearby structures, far more controlled this time. "This place is gorgeous. I still can't believe I'm actually a mermaid now."

Arista watched them go, delighted, taking in the quiet beauty of the settlement alongside the easy, warm chaos of children teaching a clumsy newcomer how to belong.