The mermaid was so gorgeous that I would not have been surprised if she were a princess. Heck, I wished that she would replace me as the princess. But I did not want her to end up with my parents.

The mermaid introduced herself as Ginger. She was named Ginger because of her curly hair. She had on an orange, sleeveless shirt, and her tail was also the color orange. The only makeup that she wore was red lipstick.

I wonder how the lipstick did not run off under the water.

I assumed - and prayed - that this was another one of Ginger's jokes. She was joking about me stealing the water, so she was just messing with me about my pendant killing me...right?

Pendants cannot kill people...right?

Ginger let go of my pendant and said, "I thought that I had not gotten all the water out of my eyes, but...it is no mistake."

She splashed her tail on the water, and drops of said water shot out and landed on her skin and shirt. She did not look pleased anymore. She looked...worried. Like that she was on the verge of having one of those panic attacks.

"Are you alright, Ginger?" Hot Chocolate asked her. "You seem pale."

"W-where the heck did you get the pendant?" Ginger stammered. "Tell me!"

Why was she afraid of my pendant? Was she afraid that it would ultimately kill me?

I raised the pendant. Ginger hissed and immediately shielded her eyes. "No! Get that necklace away from me! Away from this lake!"

I dropped the pendant, and it hit my chest. "I do not understand. What is wrong with this pendant?"

Ginger reached out and grabbed my wrist. "You need to see the king of this lake. You need to meet up with King Trifacha. The pendant used to be his."

My eyes went wide. "The pendant that I am wearing right now..." I glanced at it. "...used to belong to your king?"

She nodded. "Our king thought for some reason that the necklace would bring him and his kingdom good luck. Unfortunately...it almost murdered him and his only child. His daughter is the princess of Mermaid Lake."

"Is that so?" Tabceo said. She motioned to me. "This girl here is a princess too."

The mermaid gasped and covered her mouth. "You are a princess?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, but being a princess was no fun."

"How the heck can being a princess not be any fun?" She drifted closer to the grass and brushed it using her wet fingers. "Royal families can pretty much do whatever they want."

I hugged myself. "That is the problem, Ginger. Royal families think that they can do whatever they want."

Ginger promised us that she would be right back and returned to the surface. An object was in her hands. I will admit that I found it cute. The object was a clam. A purple clam. She opened it, and my animal friends and I saw that there were no pearls. It was empty.

"Place your necklace in the clam," Ginger instructed. "Please. I am doing this for your own good."

I took off my necklace and was about to toss it in the clam - but stopped. I turned to all my animal friends, specifically Spot. I was unsure whether I should trust Ginger. The horse smiled and reassured me that this mermaid was good and only looking out for my best interest.

Thanks to Spot, I decided to trust Ginger and tucked my necklace in the clam. Ginger closed the clam and wiped her forehead.

"So...how do we see the king?" I asked.

"Leave that to me. By the way, what is your name?"

"Maria."

"It is an honor to meet you, Princess Maria."

"You can just call me Maria."

"As you wish."

The mermaid grabbed ahold of my arms and told me to get in the water. I was so shocked by what she just said that I asked her to repeat herself. She explained that she wanted me to be in the lake because she was planning to turn me into a mermaid.

"Y-you are going to turn me into a mermaid?"

She nodded. "It is the only way that you will be able to talk with the king. Besides, swimming around as a mermaid is loads of fun!"

"Not to disrespect the king, but why does he not just come to the surface?"

"He is a stubborn man and will not leave the comfort of his castle."

I watched as Ginger took in a deep breath and blew in my face. But she did not just blow air in my face. She blew purple sparkles, and those sparkles went under my skin. Then she yanked me into the water.

I splashed into the water - and felt myself beginning to change. Well, below my waist. My upper half did not change at all. My legs merged and transformed into a tail. Into a purple tail.

You readers can imagine my excitement when I saw my new tail. It was as beautiful as Ginger's.

"Do you like being a mermaid?" Ginger asked with a smile.

"Like it? I love it!" I tested my tail and splashed with it and swam. "This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me!"

Triste's face saddened, and he gave me those puppy eyes. "Thought that I was the best thing that has ever happened to you."

I swam to the edge of the lake and petted him. "You will always be the greatest thing that has happened in my life."

His lovely smiled returned as he wagged his tail and panted. "Please do not be gone for long, Maria. I lost you once. I cannot bare to lose you again."

I picked up his paw and kissed the top of it. "I will be back as soon as I can. I promise."

Then Triste whispered, "I love you."