Rashida put her swimming cap tightly around her braided bun, and proceeded to walk towards the swimming pool. She looked around — a few audience members had already arrived at the contest pool, including her own parents and her good friend Karin — who was waving at her — with her family.

“Rashida! Woo! Get it, girl!”

Karin was so preoccupied with Rashida’s likely success that night, that she didn’t have much room to worry about any potential fantasy creatures arriving that day. Instead, she just wanted to sit back and relax for a bit.

Rashida, who was still quite worried, waved back at her with a faint smile as she walked towards her starting block — contestant number five.

She wondered if that number meant anything deep and meaningful, but she couldn’t think of anything. Rashida quickly shook the thought off her brain — focus, girl, focus.

The other contestants quickly entered the large room as well, all walking towards their respective starting blocks. Rashida swiftly glanced at the large clock on the wall — one minute.

She took a deep breath, told herself not to worry once more, and waited. That final minute before starting seemed to take an eternity.

All of a sudden, the announcer snapped Rashida out of her thoughts.

“Ready…”

Rashida took one final breath.

“…go!”

Rashida, just like her fellow contestants, quickly dived into the water.

She quickly maneuvered herself through the water with a front crawl, however as of yet she wasn’t in the lead yet.

Faster.

Rashida’s arms and legs moved up and down, swiftly and quickly — before she knew it, she was in first place.

The pool seemed to be longer than ever.

Karin was still cheering her on from the sidelines. “Woo! You’re almost like a mermaid, Rashida!”

Rashida faintly heard those words through her violent water dashing — it brought a smile upon her face. It certainly was a very ‘Karin’-thing to say.

Closer… yet still so far…

It was almost as if the water had started rumbling — that’s how intensely Rashida was dashing through the water.

However, all of a sudden, it seemed as if Rashida wasn’t moving anymore. No matter how much she tried to go forth, it just wouldn’t budge.

Oh no. Did she lose her swimming skill somehow…?

A feeling of dread overcame her, and she was about to panic — especially when something reached for her foot.

It felt as if she was drowning…

Oh no… Is this the end…?

She got dragged deeper and deeper into the pool — she was, of course, very good at holding her breath for a long time, but for how long…?

Everything went blank. Sound had disappeared.

Rashida almost lost consciousness…

🌸🌸🌸

The entire audience had gone into panic — including Karin.

She glanced at the pool. What… was that…?

A large, monstrous, vaguely fish-like creature had appeared in the water — but it certainly didn’t look like any existing sea creature.

It vaguely resembled a snake, or perhaps a dragon. It was, however, way larger and scaries than the baby dragon Karin had encountered on her first day of being a fairy.

The voice of the announcer echoed throughout the pool. “Everyone get out of the building right now, including contestants! This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!”

The entire audience yelled as they ran towards the exit.

“We need to get help! Right this instant!” Ann was panicking as well, way more so than her daughter was.

Karin was of course very worried about Rashida — but what about all the other contestants? Everyone’s whole night had been ruined, and maybe —

Karin didn’t want to think about it.

However, at the same time, Karin knew that it was on her to try and solve this — because nobody else would be able to.

“Mom, quick, get out of here. I’ll try get help as quickly as I can.” She swiftly grabbed her bag and stood up.

“What are you going to do, get one of those street performance weirdos and let them fight that… that thing?” Ann cried.

Karin rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll call mythical animal control or whatever if I have to. Now go, get dad and Tim as well.” Quickly, she ran towards the hallways of the sports complex and went into a women’s restroom.

Only now she noticed how fast her heart was beating — her best friend’s life was in danger. This somehow felt even more serious than the previous occurrences…

Karin suddenly felt really bad about not having worried that night. This clearly showed that she should pay attention at all times, even when nothing seems amiss.

“P-Papiyon?” she quietly stammered. Of course, her voice had become shaky as well. Great.

Her trusted magical butterfly flew through the small window at the top of the bathroom wall.

“Yes?” was all that Papiyon had to say.

Karin almost wanted to cry. Rashida was provably already dead by now, or at the very least unconscious. The same thing probably counted for her fellow contestants.

“M-my best friend… I…” was all that could come out.

Papiyon landed on Karin’s shoulder. “Yes, it seems we’re having a monster problem tonight. I guess it’s time for you to get ready again.”

Karin took a deep breath. Papiyon was right — as upset as she was by it all, if she kept sulking, she’d never be able to save Rashida.

“But that’s not all,” Papiyon quickly added. “There’s another girl here tonight who can help.”

Karin’s eyes turned big. That’s right — there were supposed to be five other girls who were to fight alongside her.

“Where is she?” Karin yelled, both out of panic and excitement. “I need her help right now!”

“Well,” Papiyon stated, “you’d have to get ready and go back to the pool first. You’ll meet her very shortly.”

Karin didn’t quite understand what Papiyon had meant. However, she knew she had to get ready one way or the other.

“Latsiya yamina nalitsa, tekyalas!”

After changing into her fairy form inside the cocoon, Karin flew back towards the swimming pool. Time to save her best friend.

🌸🌸🌸

“Rashida…”

Rashida opened her eyes underwater. Did someone call her name…?

“Rashida… Please do not be afraid. You are not alone.”

She tried to reply to the ethereal-sounding voice, but remembered she couldn’t talk underwater. All that could come out was a bunch of bubbles.

‘Not alone…?’ How? She was almost drowning, and nobody could save her because a gigantic sea monster was in the pool!

“Rashida… You possess great power. Let your powers come to life.”

Power…? Nonsense. She might be a great swimmer, but that in and of itself is no ‘power’.

All of a sudden, she felt something on her body.

Shortly after, a bright light had appeared and just as quickly disappeared again inside of her.

Rashida couldn’t see very well what was happening, but somehow, it felt comforting…

“Repeat these words, Rashida. Please do not worry about clarity, my child, for magic surpasses that need. Please chant : ‘Latsiya ilemiya folneya, tekyalas!’”

What on Earth even were those words…?! Rashida was rather taken a back by it all. And who was that voice, too?

Unfortunately, she was unable to ask at this time.

She did her best to recite the strange words she had just heard.

“Latsiya ilemiya folneya, tekyalas!“

For some reason, the words she had just uttered sounded as clear as day instead of a bunch of bubble-speak.

Rashida felt something again. Her body was… changing…

Her legs suddenly came together, as if they fused into one. Her athletic swimsuit had also made place for a rather ornate bikini top — not suitable for a competition at all, Rashida thought with slight amusement — and her swimming cap had come off, revealing her long braids again — or, rather, they had grown even longer than they already were beforehand.

“Er, th-thanks, whoever you may be!” Rashida uttered. She quickly realized she was still underwater — however, she was able to breathe and talk just fine, without any struggle whatsoever.

Slowly, Rashida swam towards the surface. Quickly, she realized one big problem — she looked different now. Even her ears had grown pointy, and her hair… suddenly had blue streaks in it!?

But then she remembered the fairy that had been spotted multiple times in town by now. Maybe she could just pretend she was one of them…?

Maybe, perhaps just maybe, Rashida was one of them…

🌸🌸🌸

Karin had arrived back at the contest pool, with her trusted butterfly companion by her side.

She peered around the pool — Rashida was nowhere to be found. However, the gigantic sea-snake-monster-thing was still ever present, thrashing around in the water wreaking all kinds of havoc.

“Okay, time to get rid of this thing once and for all,” Karin spoke with a determined tone.

“Latsiya yamina nalitsa, tekyalas!“

As soon as the large cocoon had dissipated, Karin flew closer towards the pool.

“Latsiya nalitsa juyas!“ A beam of flowers appeared from her scepter as they aimed towards the large water snake.

It hurled out a short growl as it got hit. ”Rroarr!“

“What is this thing even…?” Karin asked with a curious tone.

“It’s a Leviathan,” Papiyon answered. “Basically a dragon who lives in the water. As always, this one has been enchanted by evil powers, making it extra dangerous.”

Karin was familiar with tales of the Leviathan, as the creature had appeared in many stories she enjoyed. And just like dragons and gigantic spiders, it actually existed…

She peered around. The entire pool was wrecked — it definitely had to be rebuilt later. What a shame… It was a very tragic sight, and it made Karin realize just a bit more that she had caught herself in some serious business.

The Leviathan wasn’t even really inside the pool anymore — it was basically “swimming” through the ground, causing a wreckage everywhere it went. There was water everywhere, so much that Karin was fairly certain at least one of the pipelines had been broken in the meantime.

Everyone in the audience had left, including her family as well as Rashida’s. The announcer was nowhere to be seen as well — and the swimmers were nowhere to be seen either. Not even Rashida…

Where even was she…?

Karin was intensely worried, so much that she stopped trying to attack the Leviathan for a while. She felt her heart grow weary, and she almost wanted to cry.

Papiyon had noticed this and flew towards her.

“Karin? What’s wrong? Come on, fight!”

Karin bit her lip. Alright, do it for Rashida, she told herself. Maybe she can still be saved. Let’s do this.

Suddenly, Karin felt herself get swept by a gigantic tail. She fell with a smack to the ground as the Leviathan was growling even louder.

Before she knew it, she found herself staring straight into its face.

Uh-oh, she thought. This is trouble…

She grabbed her trusted scepter and wanted to shout another attack — until she saw the water move again.

However, this time, it did not seem to come from the Leviathan.

Slowly but surely, another creature crawled out of the water — to Karin’s surprise, it looked human-like.

The creature had the appearance of a dark-skinned young woman with very long braids, alternating between the colors black and blue. On her back, Karin noticed a dorsal fin. She looked gorgeous — was she also a magical creature, just like Karin was…?

Karin watched the young woman swim gracefully through the water — then, she noticed she had a fish tail. Or rather, it was the tail of a sea mammal, as it looked rather whale-like.

Karin gasped. Was that… a mermaid…?

The mermaid swam towards Karin and climbed on top of the floor piece that Karin was standing on. As soon as she got on land, her tail split apart and turned into a pair of legs. To Karin’s surprise, the mermaid seemed to be rather bewildered at this occurrence. Was this perhaps not a normal thing for them…?

The mermaid opened her mouth.

“Uh,” she began hesitatingly while looking at Karin. “Excuse me uh, miss… but do you perhaps know what’s going on?”

Karin smiled gently. She realized that perhaps, this mermaid was in the same boat as her — an Earthly human girl who suddenly found out she had magical powers.

“First time?” Karin asked gently. “Don’t worry, me and Papiyon here will help you out.”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. So uh,” Rashida continued, “does that mean I have to fight too now? Because honestly, kicking monster butt sounds kinda fun, in a way.” She then made a fighting pose. “Let’s do this.”

Karin started to laugh. “You sound determined, which is good. Alright, let’s go.”

Rashida went back in the water and swam towards the Leviathan, who growled at her menacingly. Despite this, Rashida decided that she no longer wanted to be afraid. She wanted to fight.

Despite this, however, she still had no idea how to actually fight this thing — Rashida knew she probably had powers while in this mermaid form, but how did she access them…?

As soon as she thought that, she saw something floating nearby in the water. Rashida swam closer — it was a trident, and a beautifully decorated one at that, with shells and beads. When she looked more closely, it even almost seemed like you could blow bubbles with it, due to the hole underneath the dents — gigantic bubbles at that.

Without hesitation, Rashida grabbed it.

“Time to take you down, you monster!” Rashida swam back towards the Leviathan and poked its tail with her trident. However, this only made the creature more angry.

“Uh-oh…” Rashida gulped and quickly swam away as it struck its gigantic mouth towards her. The creature let out a loud, threatening growl.

“The water, Rashida… Make it your own.”

Huh…?

That voice… It was the same ethereal-sounding voice that Rashida had heard earlier.

“The water is what gives you your power. Use it wisely, and you’ll be able to do great things. Please remember, however, that being drastic will rarely ever be beneficial.”

Rashida blushed in embarrassment. Oops…

“But, uh,” she asked curiously, “how… do I do those ”great things“?”

“There are many different ways, but for now I shall teach you this one skill. If you chant ”Latsiya ulsheya, atsunyas!“, you will be able to summon a large wave. That will keep this creature occupied for now.”

Rashida nodded. “Understood.”

“Oh, and please remember,” the mysterious voice continued, “you are not alone in this endeavor.”

Rashida smiled and nodded again. “I’ll make sure to keep this gigantic water dragon thing in its place!” She then grabbed her trident and repeated the words: ”Latsiya ulsheya, atsunyas!“

Just like the mysterious voice had mentioned, a gigantic wave appeared in the ravaged swimming pool. It fired itself towards the Leviathan, clearly disorienting and confusing it. Rashida quickly dived underwater so that it wouldn’t be able to see her anymore.

“Wow, cool!” Rashida let out in amazement. She was visibly taken aback by the things she was able to do and was never aware of. If this was only the beginning, she was definitely ready for more!

🌸🌸🌸

“I think it’s time we’re gonna use some vines.” Papiyon was flying around the ravaged pool, keeping an eye on the mermaid and the ravaging Leviathan. Karin was doing the same.

Dang, that wave was cool, she thought in delight.

“Hmmm,” she wondered, “so what is the term you guys use for vines?”

“Ah, you’re starting to get it I see,” Papiyon answered. “It’s ‘rangniya’.”

Karin nodded, grabbed her scepter and proceeded to shout: “Latsiya rangniya, juyas!”

Soon, a whole bunch of vines started appearing from the ground. They quickly went towards the Leviathan, tying it up so that it couldn’t move anymore. All it could do at that moment was growl in agony.

“Hah! That’s right, you creepy sea snake thing!” Rashida stuck out her tongue towards the Leviathan, who growled back in disapproval.

Karin grabbed her scepter again, aimed it at the Leviathan, and shouted: “Latsiya nalitsa tsulaya, isenyas!”

The familiar rain of flowers and petals came down gently upon the Leviathan, quickly calming it down in all its struggling and roaring.

“You make things disappear with the word ‘satsunyas’,” Papiyon quickly mentioned, hinting at the vines that were still constricting the poor creature. It was still visibly struggling because of this, even though it’s general aggressiveness had visibly toned down.

“Latsiya rangniya, satsunyas!” Karin shouted, as the vines dissolved into the air.

The Leviathan looked visibly relieved, but also worried. It let out a sad howl, as if it was crying.

Karin flew closer towards the creature, gently patting it on its head. “There, there. It’s terrible what they did to you. Now, it’s time to go home.”

“You know,” Rashida spoke from the water, “now that it’s not basically ravaging an entire building, it’s actually a pretty gorgeous creature.”

Way quicker than she could realize, the Leviathan had bowed down its gigantic head, affectionately rubbing it against Rashida’s cheek. Or, at the very least it was attempting to, since it was way too large for that and as a result, accidentally pushed Rashida backwards into the water.

“Whoa—!” Rashida let out a surprised yell. “H-hey now, I’m not as gigantic as you are, you dummy!”

Karin giggled. “Alright, this creature really needs to go home now, it clearly does not belong here. Latsiya suneya kashluyas!” she quickly added, making a large portal appear.

“Bye water dragon thing! Be safe!” Rashida waved at the creature as it went through the portal. “Where is it even going?” she asked afterwards.

“Back to its homeworld,” Karin answered. “I don’t know any more details than that, sadly, but hopefully I’ll know more in due time.” As she said that, she was glancing at Papiyon.

“Yes, you will, but I don’t think you’re ready to know more yet,” she replied honestly.

Karin sighed faintly. One day, I will finally know more, she thought.