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[color=1966ff]"Huh... Maybe what happened wasn't so bad!"[/color] Nanami gave a shaky laugh. Her heart still hammered from the experience, but if Saya's health problems were cured, and she herself had grown stronger... [color=1966ff]"I mean, the way it happened certainly was, but that creature did say it wanted to help. And if you're feeling better, seems like it actually did!"[/color]

Her eyes widened at Saya's next words. [color=1966ff]"Magical girls? Heh, anything's possible after that!"[/color] As bizarre as the idea seemed, it couldn't hurt to test whether it was true. Taking a deep, steady breath, she willed herself to transform.

Water swirled around her. [color=1966ff]"Wha-?"[/color] Her body reshaped itself like liquid once more, but this time there was no pain. In fact, shifting came as naturally to her as walking or breathing. When the foamy whirls faded, she looked down at her new form and gasped.

Well, this wasn't what came to mind when she thought of magical girls. Blue, yellow and white fishlike skin glinted in the lamplights, translucent patches showing mechanical-looking muscle and sinew. Fins lined her limbs, and tentacles trailed from her shoulders and hips, each one tipped with a metallic pincer. [color=1966ff]"Oh wow..."[/color] She raised and studied the tendrils, the new limbs moving just as easily as her arms and legs. She barely had to turn her head, her field of vision much wider, her eyesight so sharp she could see deep into the shadows of the trees. Running to a nearby pond, she crouched and stared at her reflection. Looking back was a being with only traces of herself, her form mostly that of the aquatic alien.

[color=1966ff]"I'm..."[/color] Those six eyes blinked. She reached up, touching the smooth manta-like fin that had replaced her hair. [color=1966ff]"I'm an actual mermaid? Well, close to it anyway!"[/color] Through the whirl of bewildered thoughts, the word came to her. [color=1966ff]"A Thalassan."[/color] How had she even known that? She had no idea, but one thing was certain... this really wasn't so bad. Of course, if she could still blush, she would have done at the fact that she was naked, but at least scales covered everything. And while she was no conventional mermaid, a Thalassan seemed much cooler.

Not that she'd want to be standing around where she could freak out passers-by. She hurried and hid under a shaded, leafy canopy. Insects fluttered and crawled in the corners of her expanded vision, in stark clarity despite the darkness. That was going to get distracting, but everything else had to make it worthwhile. [color=1966ff]"This is awesome!"[/color] She grinned at Saya, her ribs convulsing with joyous laughter. [color=1966ff]"We're real magical girls! Hey, let's see your magical form!"[/color]