The morning light crept through the gaps in the blackout curtains like an unwelcome houseguest, thin golden lights stretching across the room, reflecting into the water in the tub.

Neville gradually became aware of it, but didn’t want to wake up. Then, his light brain rang a cheerful alarm tone in contrast with how he actually felt.

Every muscle in his body ached, his legs—no, not legs, his tail.

Neville’s eyes snapped open, and the bright ceiling greeted him. He blinked several times, half-convinced the events of yesterday had been some kind of stress-induced hallucination.

But he was faced with the delicate fins along his tail, which moved along the movements of the water, caught the morning light, and scattered rainbow patterns across the white walls.

He couldn’t help but stop deluding himself about reality.

"Still here then," Neville muttered, his voice hoarse, possibly from screaming too much.

After all, the transformation had been a blur of pain and panic. It was so awful that he could still feel a slight pain from the overwhelming pressure in his chest last night.

Neville propped himself up on his elbows, ignoring the protest from his shoulders.

The water that had glowed so eerily last night now just looked like regular water. Sunlight danced across its surface, refracting through the liquid normally, which somehow made the whole situation feel even more surreal.

He raised his hand to his forehead.

The coral crown was still there, solid and real under his fingertips, though it had stopped emitting that soft bioluminescent glow. At least he wouldn’t be lighting up the room like some kind of organic nightlight.

As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, Neville noticed something scattered across the bottom of the tub. Black pearls, dozens of them in varying sizes, gleamed darkly against the white tub. They rolled slightly with each small movement he made, clicking softly against each other and the tub.

Each one was a tear he had shed during the transformation. The thought made him uncomfortable.

He had cried that much?

He barely remembered crying at all. He had been too focused on trying not to pass out from the pain. But here it was. The evidence was littering the tub like some kind of treasure box.

"How am I going to clean this up?" he wondered aloud, pursing his lips.

The pearls were beautiful in their way, dark and lustrous, but they were also very warm to touch.

What was he supposed to do with these? Flush them? Could you even flush pearls? They would probably clog the pipes or something equally disastrous.

With the better lighting, Neville could finally get a proper look at himself. He leaned forward, peering into the water’s surface like a mirror. The reflection that stared back at him was almost unrecognizable.

His long silver hair cascaded over his shoulders, nothing like the carefully maintained hazel-brown he was used to. His ocean-blue eyes seemed more noticeable than usual. It would be hard to cover it up with fake nerdy glasses.

The coral crown on his forehead looked like something out of a myth, organic and beautiful and utterly foreign. Below the waterline, his tail curved in the tub, silver-black scales catching the light, fins spreading like delicate silk.

He looked like something straight out of a legend.

Beautiful. Terrifying. Obviously, completely non-human.

"Great," Neville said flatly to his reflection. "Just great."

Just as he was about to sink into his dark thoughts, the system notification materialized in front of him.

[Good morning, Host! ✺◟(＾∇＾)◞✺

Congratulations on surviving your First Day of Full Moon Transformation!

New form unlocked: True Deep Sea Mermaid Form (Young)

Current transformation status: Unable to transform into human form for 48 hours

PS: This is a scheduled message; yours truly is still unavailable. Everything you need is accessible in the inventory. Good luck, host! (◕‿◕✿)]

Neville stared at the holographic text floating above his tub, his mind taking several long moments to process what was written on it.

"Unable to transform into human form for forty-eight hours," he read it out loud.

For forty-eight hours.

Meaning, two days.

Two days of being stuck as a mermaid in a bathtub, unable to move around the house, unable to get out of this tub.

"Fuck," Neville whispered into the empty bathroom. "This is a disaster."

He read the message again, his brain focused on a different detail this time.

Young? What did the system mean by young? He was already twenty years old and had been legally an adult for two years now.

Sure, mermaids might probably age differently from humans, but young? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was he going to get even more fish-like as he aged? Would there be a middle-aged mermaid form? An elderly one?

Neville shook his head sharply, water droplets flying from his silver hair.

Nevermind. One crisis at a time.

He reached for his light brain, and the holographic display flickered to life at his touch. Neville began scrolling through his notifications.

The company chat was its usual chaos of morning greetings and work updates. Sarah was already complaining about a scheduling conflict. Bryan had sent out a reminder about a review meeting. Iris had posted something about updated protocols in the operations department.

All were working as per usual.

Neville refrained from replying to any of them. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Because what was he supposed to say? "Sorry to take a leave. I just need to get this fish tail out in a couple of days."? For sure, that would go over well.

He navigated to his private chats, looking for Grayson’s name nervously.

But Grayson’s chat was empty.

No messages. No demands for his presence. No questions about where he had disappeared to.

Why hadn’t he reached out?

Grayson had specifically said he wanted to see him later, but the Full Moon Transformation had derailed everything. Now, he didn’t even leave a message?

What did Grayson want to talk about yesterday anyway?

Now, Neville was staring at an empty chat and trying not to feel disappointed about it.

Before he could even sulk, another notification caught his eye. It was a private message from someone who definitely shouldn’t have his contact information.

SmileyEthan: Why didn’t you come to work?