babyromani

Part V - Finding Memories

2006-01-20T23:45:25Z

It took a while for Romani to drag Grasshopper away from the mirror the next morning. He had been in front of it all morning since he woke up, and he still just couldn't get used to how "handsome" he had become. This made Romani a little more at ease, though - maybe he wouldn't feel such a need to attack the witch again, since she was the one responsible for his new good looks...

She eventually coaxed him into going with her by telling him that she would need his help completing any of the witch's tasks... especially if they involved big sea monsters.

The two of them made their way towards the castle, Romani noticed that, for Grasshopper, swimming was a lot like flying so he got used to it quickly.

Romani refrained from calling out "We're here!" when they arrived because it was obvious that Eudella already knew; the drawbridge was lowering.

"I want you to go to the cove..." Eudella began as soon as Romani was within earshot and bring me every single book you find within it."

"Okay!" Romani said as she and Grasshopper turned right back around and headed back to the cove. "Man, she didn't waste any time, did she?" she asked Grasshopper who simply rolled his eyes.

"Every book, huh..." Romani mused out loud once they were inside the cove. "Let's stack them all over there."

One by one, she and Grasshopper stacked the books all together. There were more of them than she thought there would be and, before she knew it, she was swimming across the cove with about 10 textbook-sized books in her arms.

"Easy…" she murmured to herself as she slowly swam across the cavern. She should have known better than to carry so many books at once, but she realized it all to late when the tower toppled over and sent books sprawling on the floor all around her.

Grasshopper groaned as Romani started to gather them back together. "Shoot…" she said, "I hope none of the pages got bent!" She had just reached for one of the smaller books when she heard a voice yell out.

"STOP!"

She froze and turned to Grasshopper, "Grasshopper… I didn't know you could talk…"

Grasshopper shook his head and looked around frantically for the source of the voice. "Don't close me!" it said again, sounding desperate.

"Close you!?" Romani asked, "What do you mean?"

"Down here!" the voice said again, "Please don't close me, I've been silenced for too long!"

Romani blinked nervously as she looked down to the book below her. "Ummm… please tell me I'm not talking to a book."

"Not just any book." the book said, sounding more relieved that she was listening to it. "I'm an enchanted diary. And I've been neglected for years."

Romani didn't look convinced, "Look, I'm really sorry, but I have to take you to someone else…" then she added, "Otherwise, I'd probably stay and chat."

"Don't take me to her." it warned. "She wants to destroy me! She knows what lies in these pages, it's only a matter of time before someone found me and used me to their advantage."

Romani frowned, "Don't try to talk me into anything that will get me in trouble. I've got Grasshopper to think of - he could drown if I don't obey her."

"Did she specifically ask for me?" the book asked.

"Well, no…" Romani answered, "She said she wanted 'every single book I could find'."

"Well, then!" the book said with a laugh, "I'm not a book, I'm a diary!"

Romani looked at Grasshopper and they both rolled their eyes. "Okay, say I don't take you to her… then what will you do?"

"Share my secrets." the diary said mysteriously. "My previous owner forbade me to share her secrets with anyone… but for some reason, I think she'd trust you."

"What kind of secrets?" Romani asked. "And howcome you can talk?"

"I told you before," the diary said. "I was given to Sirena as a gift from her best childhood friend, Eudella. Yes, they were best friends in childhood, but eventually grew apart as Eudella's attention was focused more on learning magic…"

"I can't believe she ever had any friends…" Romani said.

"I was enchanted to speak, so that Sirena could simply converse with me in order to record her memories and thoughts. I was also enchanted to be smart enough to withhold my secrets from anyone that was untrustworthy. Unfortunately, Eudella also bewitched me to turn a blind eye to her… she was always asking me for Sirena's secrets and I was forced to give them to her against my will."

"That's terrible!" Romani exclaimed, "Why would she want to do that to her friend!?"

"Simple." the diary said, "She was jealous. She was always jealous of Sirena, even though Eudella was the one chosen to be the next mage of their clan and Sirena was nothing but a common girl. Eudella probably wants me again so that she can hear Sirena's last secrets and then destroy me… but I'd rather not go without spilling all of her dark secrets first."

Romani frowned, "I dunno… sounds kind of dangerous…."

"What's dangerous?" it asked. "Simply tell her you never found me, and she'll either have to find me on her own or maybe you can hide me somewhere else."

"She can't find you on her own." Romani said, "She can't leave the city."

"She can't leave the city!? Heavens, what on earth did she do!? Ooooh wait a minute… it's because she never followed them isn't it?"

"Something like that."

"I'm pretty sure the king would have protected the city before he left… she probably got caught in the middle of it, I know Sirena was pretty upset when Eudella refused to help them fight."

"Sirena fought, then?"

"Yes." the diary said, "And I haven't heard from her since."

"I'm sorry…" Romani said, "Eudella told me they had all died that day."

"I figured as much." the diary said sadly. "I'll miss her… but I've also been going crazy on my own all this time. No one to talk to and such… even being abused by Eudella would have been better than this."

"What did Sirena tell you right before she left?" Romani asked, curious to hear the story from another standpoint.

"Well…" the diary started, clearly delighted to finally be letting out some of the secrets it had held for so long, "Actually, a lot happened in… oh, I'd say the week prior to when she left. She and her husband were preparing to fight with the king for Maraqua. Most of the clan was happy to go to their aid, but Eudella flat-out refused. She later told Sirena that she had seen Merkaus dying in a vision, and was positive that none of them would make it back alive. Besides, what had Maraqua ever done for them!?

"Of course, Sirena ignored her warnings. She knew what had to be done… for the best of the underwater community! It wasn't until Eudella told her to 'think of your baby!' that Sirena started having second thoughts."

"Her… baby?" Romani asked.

"Yes." the diary said as it continued, "Sirena had recently given birth to a daughter. She and Sartalus were positive about helping the king, but they didn't want to put their daughter in danger. That's when they asked Eudella for help. She was reluctant at first, warning them a few more times about the consequences of fighting and trying to talk them into fleeing instead. But they were resolute. They finally made an offer Eudella couldn't resist, both of them making the ultimate sacrifice."

Romani swallowed hard, she knew where this was going… and she had never felt so guilty in her entire life.

"They sent their daughter to live on land as a normal Kau. Sometimes I wonder whatever became of her… you know, if the pirates ever found out about it and chased her down. And then I wonder what Eudella would say if she knew the daughter was still alive. I think it's safe to assume that both Sirena and Sartalus are dead, seeing as how they never came back to get me."

"Err…" Romani finally said after a long period of silence. "You never told me what their daughter's name was…"

"Oh, I didn't? They hardly called her by her birth name anyways - it was always cute substitutes like "cutie" and "precious" and "dearest". No, they hardly ever called her by Romani."

Romani choked and quickly shut the diary. She didn't want to hear any more. How could her parents have seen any benefit in what they did? She was just a kid - if they hadn't given up their scales for her, maybe they would have been strong enough to help overthrow the pirates the first time!

Grasshopper eyed the book suspiciously when he saw how distressed Romani looked.

Romani stared at the book for a minute before barely cracking it open. "It's you, isn't it?" the diary asked smugly, "No wonder, I thought you were your mom at first."

Romani flung the diary all the way open, "Let's get something straight, Diary, I didn't ask for them to save me and I didn't ask for them to die. I didn't even want to live underwater, I liked my life on land! But now I'm stuck here and I don't have any friends other than Grasshopper. And that's why I'm working for Eudella - because if he wasn't with me, I don't know what I'd do!"

"Okay, okay, calm down!" the diary said, "I never accused you of anything, remember, I've never spoken to you before! You say you're working for Eudella? What kind of work?"

"Just errands." she said, "Since she can't leave the city and I can."

The diary didn't seem very happy with this news, "Don't let her use you, okay? She's never been good with relations… and she'll probably try to talk you into doing really suspicious things for her."

"I'm not stupid." Romani said, looking annoyed. "That was part of our contract, I can say 'no' if I want to."

"Oh, well, that's a start." it said, "Oh, and don't call me diary, okay? It's disrespectful. I have a name, you know."

"You… do?" Romani asked. She had never named any of her books before.

"Yes." it said. "My name is Dartalo - you'll need to call me by name if you ever want to record any entries of your own."

"Entries of my own?" Romani asked, thinking 'fat chance I'd tell anything to you'. "We'll see… I've got to take these other books back to Eudella."

"You're keeping me, then?" Dartalo asked hopefully.

"I want to know everything you do." Romani said simply as she gathered the other books in her arms. "So I guess I'll keep you around for a while."

"Just… leave me open when you go, okay? It feels really good to stretch again."

Romani shook her head, thinking that a talking diary just might be the weirdest thing she would ever encounter, and headed towards the castle with Grasshopper. Eudella looked suspicious when they arrived several hours after she had originally gave them the assignment. "Taking your sweet time, I see… did you find anything interesting?"

"Just this bracelet." Romani lied as she waved it in front of Eudella, "It matches my horns!"

"Right…" Eudella said as she quickly looked through the books. Romani could tell she was angry that the diary wasn't with them.

"These were all the books you could find?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at Romani.

Romani was suddenly hit by a wave of shock. She could tell Eudella was reading her mind or something - forcing her to tell the truth. She looked nervously at Grasshopper before nodding. "Yes, those were all the books I could find." After all, Dartalo had said he wasn't a book…

"Fine…" Eudella sniffed as she broke her eye contact. "That's all I need today, I'll think of something else for you to do tomorrow."

Romani didn't waste any time in leaving the castle to return to the cove. She wanted to tell Dartalo about Eudella's reaction… and ask if she could read minds. Maybe she'd have a friend underwater after all.

Part IV - Maraquan Horus

2006-01-11T05:34:08Z

"Okay..." Romani said to herself as she swam her way out of the castle. "A treasure cove... outside of the city limits... I hope I can find it." The witch had made sure to explain its location in detail so that Romani wouldn't miss it. In fact, it wasn't hard to find at all once she knew what she was looking for.

There was a small hole just big enough to swim through. Any passerby probably wouldn't pay it any notice since it didn't give any hint of leading to treasure, nor was it guarded. But, once inside, the view took Romani's breath away!

The cavern was small, but she wasn't sure whether that was really due to size or just to the fact that it was filled to the brim with any kind of treasure she could imagine. She swam around, taking in the sight, opening small jewelry boxes and trying on the ones she liked best. The witch had told her that she could keep anything she found in this cove, so she wanted to make the most of it.

She found several strings of pearls that glistened beautifully in the water and quickly adorned them. She also found small golden bracelets and several really nice earrings. One pair of earrings particularly caught her attention. They dangled from her ears and had a small ruby at the end. She tried them on and viewed her reflection in a mirror - they reminded her of the bell that she had left at home.

Once she was done trying on all of the items she could find, she decided to set out for what she had come to do: find a trident. The witch had sworn there would be one there, vowing that she left it there herself. But Romani didn't see one right away...

She looked under armor, under coral, under silver, it wasn't until she found a robe of scarlet silk with a golden barb sticking out behind it that she knew this was it. She slowly withdrew the robe and was surprised to see that the trident's symbol looked exactly like the one on the bell that she had worn as a child. What did it mean?

But now wasn't the time to dwell on something so minor; she had found the trident! She would have plenty of time to dig through the treasures here later... that was, of course, providing that the witch didn't work her too hard during her two season sentence as the witch's servant...

She held the trident close to her as she slipped through the exit to the cave and swam as fast as she could. Grasshopper would be so excited! He would finally be able to join her underwater - they would be together forever!

She leapt out of the water and scanned the shoreline, knowing that he couldn't be far. Sure enough, she heard him squawking joyfully as he flew out to sea to meet her.

"Guess what, Grasshopper!" she sputtered excitedly, "I'm taking you to see the witch so she can turn you into a fish!!"

Grasshopper immediately changed direction and squawked at her madly; was she insane!? Who would want to be turned into a fish by a witch!?

"What's the matter?" Romani asked, looking concerned as she couldn't figure out why Grasshopper was so upset. "We'll be together! And if I don't bring you back, I'll lose the witch's trust. Then she'll never let me inside the city again!"

Grasshopper clicked his beak angrily and didn't look convinced. "Come on, Grasshopper!" Romani pleaded with him, "I thought you wanted to be with me! Then you wouldn't have to live on the beach anymore!"

She didn't think this was going anywhere... but then she got an idea. If she knew Grasshopper, there's one thing he couldn't resist.

"Oh well..." she frowned, pretending to look disappointed, "I guess I'll just have to save the lost kingdom of Paradure all by myself... those poor war heroes who died in battle to save the city... and all of the treasure they left behind to their survivors...." She cast a quick glance in Grasshopper's direction to make sure he was listening.

"And the witch! Who knows what her role was in all of it! Why, she may have been the reason the city was left to rubble... maybe I'm next... maybe bringing you to her was all part of her plan... she just wanted to get rid of the bravest hero she could think of; the only one capable of saving the entire kingdom!!"

She had to suppress a giggle when she saw Grasshopper's reaction - he could hardly stay in the air puffing his chest out and clucking proudly, practically overwhelmed with how wonderful and brave he was. She felt kind of bad for lying to him... after all, the witch probably wasn't the real villain...

But she did need to get Grasshopper below the surface - and she knew he wouldn't be able to resist the chance to be the hero. But now she was faced with a new problem: how?

Grasshopper perched on her shoulder and preened his feathers while Romani gawked at the trident in her hand. She had been so concerned with finding the trident that she hadn't even asked the witch how to use it! Granted, the witch probably would have laughed her out of the kingdom... but she would have looked a lot less silly than floating here at the most crucial moment without a clue of what to do next.

Grasshopper nibbled on her ear to let her know that he was ready and she turned to him. "Grasshopper... I don't know how to work this! I'm supposed to use it to help you breathe underwater but... geez! I've never used magic before!"

Grasshopper nodded once as if to say "Leave it to me, I know how to do everything!" and Romani watched as he leapt up from her shoulder and landed on one of the trident's prongs. He eyed it for a minute before attacking it in a rabid, pecking rage.

"AUGH!! What are you DOING!?" Romani shrieked as she quickly withdrew the trident under the water to get Grasshopper to leave it alone. But she was surprised to find that he had gone under with it!

"GRASSHOPPER!!" she screamed as she dove underwater to find him. She knew he couldn't swim, he would drown! She nearly choked when she saw him, though.

There he was, stuck underwater in... what looked like a big bubble. He looked rather shell-shocked for a minute before he began pecking at the inside of the bubble, trying to pop it.

"DON'T!" Romani hissed, "If you pop it open now, you won't make it to the surface in time!"

Grasshopper stopped and looked upwards to see about 8 feet of water above him. He groaned a little squeak and Romani thought she saw him look a little green.

"I don't know how you did that..." she said to him as she began to examine the bubble, rapping her hoof on it three times "But it looks like it worked. This thing's pretty solid!"

Grasshopper grumbled and slumped down onto the bottom of the bubble. "Don't worry." Romani said as she grabbed the bubble under one arm and began to swim towards the kingdom, "The witch will know how to get you out... and she can turn you into a fis... er... help you swim better."

It took a lot longer to get there with the Grasshopper bubble. It would slip from her arms and she'd have to go chase it with Grasshopper going crazy on the inside. He was obviously bored stuck inside the bubble- not to mention, it had to feel very defenseless.

But eventually, the shadowed kingdom fell into view and Grasshopper quieted down, staring up at the dark towers in awe. "I brought him!" Romani called out as the drawbridge lowered, "This is Grasshopper, I brought him here!"

"I'm not blind." the witch snapped as Grasshopper responded with a few angry pecks from the inside of his bubble. "Are you ready to seal the contract?"

"Um... okay." Romani said, not knowing what exactly this entailed, but willing to do anything to get Grasshopper to live safely below the water.

"Place your hoof here." the witch said as she pointed to a pedestal holding a single, blank piece of parchment. Romani stamped her hoofprint on it without a second thought and watched as her handwriting magically scrolled across the parchment, signing her agreement.

"I, Romani of Paradure consent to two seasons of service of Eudella the Sea Witch. I must do everything asked of me unless it is within my better judgement not to do so. Should I break my promise of loyal service at any time the spell will be immediately broken, releasing my Horus from his water form forever. However, if I uphold my promise for the contracted seasons, the spell will be permanent and I will be free to continue on wherever I please."

Romani read it over a few times before turning to the Sea Witch and looking shocked, "Your name is Eudella?"

"So what if it is?" the witch hissed as she stamped her own hoof to the parchment, signing a similar promise in deep, scratchy handwriting. "This is important - make sure you agree to all of the conditions."

Romani browsed over both contracts again, this time reading the latest addition:

"I, Eudella of the Canyon of Lost, consent to turn Romani of Paradure's Horus into an aquatic creature who will be able to breathe not only underwater but above as well. The Horus will remain in this state as long as Romani remains faithfully in my service. I also realize that Romani is free to make her own decisions and may refuse to serve me if she has moral reason to do so. Should Romani break contract, my end of the bargain will immediately be undone."

That sounded pretty good to Romani, so she nodded her head, "I agree."

Eudella sneered, "Even the part about breaking your promise? You realize that if your petpet is unlucky enough to be underwater when you break your promise, it is sure to drown."

"I understand that." Romani said as she cast a confident look towards Grasshopper, "but I don't plan on breaking my promise. He's too important to me."

"It is done, then." the witch said as she held out her hoof. The parchment hastily rolled itself up and flew into her outstretched palm before disappearing into a cloud of purple ink.

Eudella swam over to Romani and took the bubble containing Grasshopper. He squawked and pecked madly and she looked severely annoyed, but was resolved to finish he half of the deal. Muttering under her breath, she waved her hands around the bubble producing dark green ink that completely shielded Grasshopper from Romani's view.

Romani watched nervously as both Grasshopper and the witch disappeared from view as they were covered in the dark green ink that the witch was producing. She was just thinking she couldn't stand the silence anymore when she heard Grasshopper squawking, then the witch screamed and both of them went silent.

"What happened!?!" Romani shrieked as she dove through the ink to find the witch on the floor and Grasshopper floating eerily above her. He wasn't moving.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?!"

"Your stupid bird attacked me when it was released from your bubblebreather." the witch snarled as she hoisted herself up. "Don't worry, I only froze him for a few hours. He'll be fine once you're far from here."

Romani frowned, poor Grasshopper! But... she had been so caught up in all of the excitement that she hadn't even noticed that Grasshopper had changed! She grabbed a hold of his a thin fin where his wings once were so that she could tug the statue-like Horus closer to her. His feathery tail had been replaced with a tail that more resembled a dolphin. In fact, all of his feathers were gone and had been replaced by a sleek, dolphin-like skin. She rubbed her hoof down her back, admiring his new look and feeling sorry that he wouldn't get to enjoy his first few hours as a fish.

"He's... he's beautiful!" she said, "Thank you so much!"

Eudella brushed herself off and ignored Romani's comment, "Your sentence starts tomorrow. Don't bring your bird unless it can behave itself."

"I'll be here!" Romani said as she tugged Grasshopper off by the fin. "We'll both work very hard!"

Part III - The Sea Witch

2005-10-04T19:08:01Z

"Oh Grasshopper…" Romani sighed as she spotted him nested on the beach. He hadn't moved from that spot for the last month. She'd come and visit him daily but… it broke her heart to see him like that.

He ruffled his feather and looked out over the water where he saw her swimming towards him. He chirped excitedly and flew out over the water to greet her.

"Hey there, Grasshopper!" Romani said as she reached up and stroked the side of his face. "Still living on the beach, huh?"

Grasshopper gave a proud squawk and flew with her back towards the beach where they both came to rest in the shallow shoreline.

"Why don't you go home, Grasshopper?" Romani asked him. "Alan and Grover will take good care of you! Or maybe you could even go live with Ainad… or even Tiri! Would you like that?"

Grasshopper frowned. She had been asking him to go live with someone else for the last several weeks… couldn't she realize that he didn't want to be with anyone but her?

The two of them played on the beach like they had done ever since Romani returned to the sea. And, once the sun began to sink below the horizon, Romani bade Grasshopper farewell and swam back out to sea.

She had done a lot of thinking about her petpet lately… the poor guy was so loyal to her that he wouldn't leave her. Half the time, she was afraid he'd try to follow her underwater and drown himself. She had to figure something out… she had already asked Grover for a Maraquan Petpet Paintbrush so that she could paint Grasshopper, but Grover told her that Horuses couldn't be painted Maraquan. She wasn't ready to give up, though… she had thought of another way…

The idea had come to her only a week ago. She wasn't sure if it would work, but it was worth a try, right?

Grover mentioned the Sea Witch… she thought as she ducked through a small hole in the coral. She's the reason I have fins… I wonder if she could do the same for petpets…

She had spent the last week searching endlessly for the Sea Witch. It was hard because no one had heard of her. The Merkau Clan had been extinct for so long that it was hard to find anyone that had even heard of them, much less the witch who aided them during their downfall.

So tonight, as the sun set, she was heading out again, in search of the Witch. She had heard of an area just farther to the south where most sea pets avoided. It was very dangerous and everyone claimed they always heard strange voices when they went there. The idea of visiting such a place without Grasshopper to protect her kind of spooked Romani, but she felt as though she had looked everywhere else.

This must be it… she said as a dark canyon came into view. For some reason, the moonlight didn't spread its light within this area. The rocks and coral along the sea bottom were dark as well, and the light reflecting off of them caused strange shadows. But Romani wasn't about to turn away just yet.

She took a deep breath and slowly moved forward. As soon as she had passed into the shadowed waters, she heard the voices. They sounded scared… wounded. And they sounded as though they were in trouble. She tried not to think too much about it as she quickened her pace and headed in deeper. If anyone lived here, they were sure to live at the middle of it all, weren't they?

Once she was about a mile into it, the cries began to die down. I must be getting close. Romani thought as a strange object came into view. What… what was that!? It looked like, but it couldn't be! Was it a castle!?

Seven dark towers pointed towards the surface and the drawbridge at the front of the castle slowly began to lower itself. Romani froze, the castle occupants had seen her… were they hostile?

The drawbridge lowered itself completely before Romani saw someone floating in the castle entryway. "H…hello?" she called as she inched her way towards the castle. "I'm not hear to cause trouble… I'm just looking for someone."

"And who would you be looking for?" an eerie female voice called through the dark.

"I… I'm not sure, exactly." Romani said, "I'm looking for a Sea Witch. If you can tell me where she is, I'll leave."

"A Sea Witch?" the voice asked as it raised an arm and all of the lights in the castle burst to life. Romani was temporarily blinded by the lights before she saw the figure up close and gasped. It was a Merkau… just like her. She was dressed in black, and her long purple hair looked as though it had seen better days.

"You're a Kau!" she said. "But I thought I was the last one!"

"You undoubtedly are." The Merkau said as she turned her back and swam back into the castle.

"Wait!" Romani called, "Do you know the witch I'm looking for."

"I am she." the Merkau said, "Follow me."

Romani was speechless, this was the witch that had cast the spell on her? What was she still doing here? If she was a Merkau, howcome she didn't die with the rest of them.

"Who are you?" the witch asked.

"My… my name's Romani." Romani answered. "I haven't lived here very long, just about a month."

"Romani!?" the witch asked. "The baby from land?"

"Yeah…" Romani said. "I changed on my third birthday, I've lived here ever since."

"You're still alive?" the witch asked. "I thought for sure that you were gone like the rest of them!"

"No…" Romani said, looking confused, "Aren't you the one that put me on land in the first place?"

"Well, yes." the witch said, "But that was the last I ever heard of you. It was only shortly after that that this castle was invaded."

"This castle!?" Romani asked. "This was the Merkau Castle?"

"Yes." said the witch sadly. "When they all died, this castle was covered in darkness. Some people say it was because the land was mourning the loss of King Moskorn."

"Wow." Romani said, "And you've lived here ever since?"

"I can't leave." the witch said quietly. "The land isn't mourning, it's trapped me here."

"Trapped!?" Romani asked, suddenly hit with a wave of fear.

"Oh you'll be able to come and go." the witch explained, "You weren't part of the curse that fell upon this castle."

"Why was the castle cursed!?"

"It's a long story…" the witch said, "The king demanded that all Merkaus join the fight for Maraqua. The city emptied and he was just leaving to follow them when I stopped him. I begged him not to go - I told him that I had seen the war would not end well. If Maraqua was going to fall, then we should at least hang back and preserve our race. The king got very upset with me - he said I should be ashamed of myself for being so selfish when Maraqua needed our help. He ordered me to follow him, I could use my magic to protect the Merkaus as they fought.

"But I hid. The king left and fought with the others, but I stayed behind. I was afraid of dying - I knew I'd be killed if I fought. All of the others were killed and, when they killed the king, his castle was shrouded in this terrible curse. The curse covers the entire land of the Merkaus and it's trapped me here ever since. Others can come and go, but for some reason, I've never been able to cross out of the shadows.

I've done a lot of thinking… and some reading in the tower and I think the king placed a powerful spell on the land using me as leverage. I'm being punished for deliberately defying his orders… I'm being blamed for the extinction of my species… but there's nothing I can do to make it right. I'll be stuck here until the day that I die."

"Oh…" was all Romani could think to say.

"So what do you need?" the witch snapped suddenly. "Because your disturbing my peaceful cursed kingdom."

"I…" Romani said, shocked by the witch's sudden change in tone. "Well… I wanted to know more about my parents. Grover didn't tell me much about them - he didn't know much. But you met them so maybe you know something more…"

"Yeah, I met them." the witch said. "They came to me just as the war was getting started. They wanted a way to protect you incase the pirates invaded Paradure."

"Paradure?"

"This kingdom, Kindom Paradure. All of the Merkaus lived within the kingdom. It was I who suggested they hide you on land. They weren't up for the idea at first, but it eventually became clear that that was the only way to ensure your safety. I promised I'd change you if they each left me a scale as payment."

"A scale?"

"A Merkau scale off of their fin." the witch explained, "Scales off of our tales are incredibly powerful potion and wine ingredients… but giving one up means the Merkau severely limits their magical power. It not only takes back magical power, but also their ability to breathe above water. Most of the time, a loss of a scale can drastically shorten a Merkau's life."

"And they both did that for me!?" Romani looked horrified.

"Not that it mattered much, they both died a few weeks later anyways.

"The conditions were that you would stay on land in the protection of someone trustworthy for three years, or until a parent could ensure your safe return to the sea. That way, if one of them were to die, the other one could come and get you. They both said their goodbyes and sent you up to the surface with a friend of theirs - they wouldn't be able to take you because they couldn't breathe air. They promised you that they'd come back and get you as soon as they could… they even left you with a jewel or something, sealing their promise. Of course, they weren't planning on being killed."

Romani was speechless, she had no idea that so much was involved in the death of her parents.

"Both killed in the same blast. In fact, they probably would have survived if they hadn't given up a scale - bad move, going into war without magic to protect you. So you were left on land - and probably would have stayed there forever, had they not made the three-year condition."

"So that's why I changed back when I turned three?"

"You're not three." the witch said. "You did happen to change on your third anniversary of arriving on land, you're actually a few months older than that. You were born during the summer season, you know. I actually wonder if you didn't change back because of what's happened in Maraqua recently. Your parents said you'd return to the water once a parent could promise you a safe return to the water? Well, with New Maraqua rid of the pirates and rebuilt - maybe your land parent could promise you a safe return."

"Grover fought in the war for Maraqua…" Romani said.

"I wonder if that's what caused the spell to wear off… but I guess we'll never know for sure."

"Do you still make deals like that?" Romani asked quickly.

"Deals like what? I have no need for Merkau scales anymore. They're more rare now than they ever were but… you're too young to be giving away something so important."

"It's my petpet." Romani said, her voice wavering. "He's my… my best friend. I want to bring him to the water with me."

"Hmmm…" the witch said. "Follow me."

The witch led Romani through the castle up to one of the tower rooms where a large pearl sat on a pedestal. She waved a hoof over the pearl and peered into it. "A Horus, is it? Well, it's never been done before…"

"I'll do anything!" Romani cried. "I just want Grasshopper with me."

"There is nothing I want from you."

"There has to be something!" Romani said. "What about something outside the limits of the Kingdom, I can get it for you."

The witch paused and looked thoughtful before a greedy grin spread over her face. "You would work as a messenger for me, bringing me anything I wanted, delivering messages if I would just turn your bird into a fish?"

"Well… for a little while anyway…" Romani said, she didn't want to be the witch's slave forever.

"You will be my servant for an entire season." the witch said. "You will do anything I ask you or else your pet will change back into a bird. Should you lose my trust, you will lose your chance of ever making him a fish again."

"I understand." Romani said with a nod, "I won't disappoint you, I promise."

"Bring me your bird. Your sentence starts the minute he breathes his first breath of water."

"How…?" Romani looked confused. "How am I supposed to bring him down here!? He'll drown!"

"Foolish girl… don't pretend like you forgot about your magic! Allow him to breathe through you until he gets to me."

"But I've never used magic before!"

"Well, then you'd better learn. I don't want you working for me if you can't even help a land-dweller breathe. Do you even have a trident!?"

"… no."

The witch gave an exasperated sigh, "I'll find you a trident, but that's going to double your sentence."