Kassy was shaking slightly as she sat in the back of Mimic's class. This whole business made her afraid. She knew how to fight, in theory. The sea was full of dangers, and creatures that might find a mermaid to be tasty. She'd tussled with a hungry shark or two, so she could defend herself. This was something different - this was defending others. It wouldn't be her failure, it would be livelihoods and lives lost if she failed. When she failed. Old, hateful words rose up in her memory and she pushed them back, back into the deep, dark, hadal parts of her mind.

"I would-" She was surprised to hear her own voice. "I would like to go first... with whoever will join me." 

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