Cora groaned as the sun shined her face, effectively waking her from her slumber. She curled under her covers trying to get back to sleep again, but she had no such luck as she heard her parents call for her, "Cora! It's time to wake up! Breakfast is ready!" She groaned and got up out of bed, looking out of the window to see the island before heading to the dining room. 

Cora Remington was born to a rich family of a successful business, with no siblings. Some may consider this to be a blessing, but for Cora, this was more of a curse, because the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. Her parents were overprotective in a way that made them seem almost paranoid (at least to Cora). They also controlled almost every aspect of Cora's life, which included choosing her friends for her, and arranging a marriage for her. Cora loved her parents, but she hated the fact that they were so controlling. Living like that was like trying to live without breathing air. She wanted to make her own choices and follow her dreams, but that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. Every time she made her own decision, her parents would send her on an immediate one way guilt trip. 

After she ate her breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruit with her parents, she went into the bathroom to change out of her PJs and into her bathing suit and light blue sundress, with sandals and a wide brimmed hat to block the sun. As she did she heard her parents call "Hang out with your friends today! We don't want to hear that you've been by yourself again," 
Cora sighed as she exited the room with a large bag filled with stuff for her time at the beach, including a fresh bottle of water, "Yes, Mom and Dad, I'll do that,"
She honestly didn't want to hang out with her so-called 'friends'. They were awful in personality and they were only nice to Cora because she was part of the Remington family. They were more interested in going to parties and getting drunk while Cora was much more interested in reading a good book for fun. 

She left the house and walked across the beach. They were at the Remington's private island because Cora and her 'friends' were on spring break from college. Cora honestly preferred to have stayed at college and get some work done ahead of time, but her parents, once again, 'insisted' that she and her friends come to the island for their break. Cora enjoyed the peace and silence she had as she walked across the beach, with her sandals off and in her hand. However, that peace didn't last, as her 'friends' arrived. The leader, Tina called to Cora "Yo Cora! 'Sup?"
Cora mumbled distantly in reply "Nothing much…"
After her reply, the 'friends' followed her talking about things that Cora was never interested in, and whenever they said something offensive, Cora mentally said otherwise in her mind. She didn't speak up against them, because she didn't want to be involved in that kind of discussion with anyone in general.

However, the group soon came upon a limp body of a woman wearing rags, just lying in the sand away from the tide. The woman had strange crimson hair, and the rags looked eerily like seaweed. Cora widened her eyes in concern and her mouth open in a slight gape when she heard the woman groan, as she looked up to the group "He…Help…Help me….Need…wat-water…"
Cora was about to rush to help the woman, but Tina sauntered forward and kicked the woman, making Cora gasp, and the woman cough in pain. Tina sneered "Hey! You do know that this is a private beach, right? You want water? Go and drink from the ocean!" Tina kicked the woman again, and the rest of the group, except Cora, laughed. 

Cora stepped forward, and pushed Tina away from the woman angrily. For Cora, this was going too far. After that, she said to Tina and her 'friends' angrily "What is wrong with you?! All of you! She needs help!"
Tina was surprised and she snapped back at Cora "What's in it for us? Why should we help some nobody?" She continued, sneering at Cora instead of the woman, "You know, we had our suspicions about you. You really are a little freak aren't you? After all, what sane person would prefer studying over a party?" She sighed and said "Fine. We'll let you do your thing. Come on guys. Let's leave the little freak with that nobody," Tina and her friends left Cora behind with the woman, laughing at loud jokes that made fun of Cora. 

Cora ignored them and helped the woman up asking "Are you alright, ma'am? I'm terribly sorry about what just happened. Here," She handed the woman the bottle of fresh water to her. 
The woman smiled at Cora as she stood up, and said, "I'm fine, dearie. Thank you," The woman accepted the water and drank a small sip of it. 
Cora asked in concern for the stranger's well-being, "What happened? Do you need help? I could call for someone to come and take you back to your home if you like," 
The woman shook her head and said "It's alright dearie. You helped me enough. However, I would like to bestow you a gift," 
Cora raised an eyebrow at the mention of a gift and she said "No, you don't have to-"
The woman insisted "But I wish to do so! In return for your kindness!" The strange woman continued, her hand now clenched around Cora's arm, "You wish for freedom, correct? To live your own life and have real friends of your own, hm?" Cora didn't answer, out of a growing fear of the woman, and the woman finished "I'll give you that freedom, right now!"

Cora winced when the woman's grip on Cora's arm tightened tenfold and she said to the woman, "Please, let go! My arm hurts!" Cora then noticed that the woman seemed to be mumbling incoherent and incomprehensible words that Cora couldn't recognize. All of a sudden, the two of them were glowing with different auras. Cora had an earthly toned green aura while the woman had a very light blue aura. She noticed that the both of their colored auras were slowly changing to the other color out of the two. Soon Cora's aura was light blue while the woman's was green. The auras faded and the woman let go of Cora's arm and backed away from Cora by one step. 

Cora started to ask "What did you-" before she suddenly felt pain. She gasped as she fell over. She felt as though her chest was burning from the inside. 
The woman sighed and said to herself "Finally…! I'm human…!" She then looked to Cora who was gasping and on the ground in pain, and she said "Oh that's right. You've been on land for all of your life as a human. So you're going to die if you're not in the ocean. Don't worry, I won't let you die so early…you kind-hearted fool," Cora couldn't ask the woman anything because she soon fainted from the pain. After Cora fainted, the woman waved her hand over Cora's body and it disappeared.

*~*~*

Cora's body reappeared in the ocean in the Midnight layer. She was lucky she was unconscious as her body had changed into that of a mermaid's. A light blue tail replaced her legs and her auburn hair grew longer. Had she been awake during this part, she would have gone through more pain. She was breathing steadily as she fell slowly through the ocean water.