Tonight was the night. The planets would align and Pandora would transform. Under the excuse of a sleepover, Icarus and Pandora would meet at Aries place and then go to the beach after dinner, get to the pool and the transformation would begin.

Sitting in the back yard, Icarus and Aries waited for Pandora.

"You've barely been here a year and you've already got pets" Icarus states.

"I couldn't just... not get him" Aries explained, holding a ferret.

"What is it with you and small things that bite? Reef sharks... ferrets what's next? Otters?"

Putting the ferret away in its cage, Aries turns back to Icarus.

"Hey otters are cool. Their little shell crushing is cute, and they hold hands when they sleep" Aries sassed.

"Yeah I guess otters are petty cute"

The side gate opened and Pandora walked in holding her bag for the night, the two turning to face her and getting up to greet her.

"About time" Aries joked.

"I'm nervous ok? This is kind of an important night" Pandora whined.

"Don't worry girl, nothings gonna go wrong as long as we're there to make sure it goes smoothly" Icarus reassured.

"Put your stuff inside and bring your beach bag, we're having dinner at the marina. Any restaurant suggestions?" Aries asked.

The girls thought for a moment, trying to decide on somewhere for dinner.

"Is eating fish as a mermaid cannibalism?" Pandora asked.

The other two snickered.

"God we can never escape that question, that's exactly what I asked when I became a mermaid" Icarus laughed.

"Depends who you ask. Why wanna get fish and chips?" Aries asked.

"Yeah, feel like barramundi right now..." Pandora admitted.

"Well anyone who doesn't want fish can eat the chips. We can go to anchors, they serve so much we can get one thing and share among us" Icarus said.

"Sounds like a plan, let's get going" Aries replied.

The three take their beach bags and skateboard down the coast to the marina, along the fishing docks and past the surf beaches until they make it to the shopping ams restaurant strip as the sun is setting. They order their food, and sit at the outdoor tables by the water to eat.

"What's it like? Do I have to worry about pain?" Pandora asked, taking a chip from the pile.

"Don't ask me I was born with a tail" Aries replied.

"Don't ask me either. I was knocked out when I fell in, but I'm guessing no since pain would have woken me up" Icarus replied, sipping her drink.

"Don't stress it you'll be fine. It's what your grandmother wanted anyways" Aries added.

Pandora sighed, stress eating her fish and chips.

"I know but I've kinda been human my whole life, this is one hell of a change" she admits.

"It does take a little bit to get used to, but once you do everything becomes second nature. The real question is what colour will your tail be?" Icarus asks.

Perking up, Pandora puts down her drink and gets exited.

"I hope it's purple, purple would be so pretty" she smiles.

"Well you're an air sign so that answers what powers you'll have, but unfortunately there's no predicting tail colour. You'll get what you get" Aries explained.

"God I hope it's purple. I could settle for green maybe, but not red. Red looks shocking on me"

"I think Icarus is the one here that suits bright colours"

Icarus takes a bite of her food and looks up, jokingly flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Why thank you, that's my goal. If Malibu barbie won't wear it than neither will I" she jokes.

The others snicker and roll their eyes at her humour, Aries looks at their phone for the time and then over at the sunset.

"We better hurry up or will miss the chance, either eat everything now or take it home for later" they said.

"I vote now, this barramundi is so good" Pandora replies.

They finish up dinner and then skate down to the beach where they walk along the coast and climb over the rocks to the pool as it's getting darker. When they arrive they put their bags down and get ready to jump in. Pandora walks over to the edge and looks down at the water.

"So this is what it's like... I bet my grandmother knew about this place..." Pandora said.

"She probably did, she was trying to lead you to it after all" Aries explained.

"I find it weird your mum doesn't know about this, I mean wouldn't she have been born in Izroulia?" Icarus asks.

"I think my grandmother left before the war even happened, my family has been here for generations" Pandora replied.

"Well that would explain a lot. Some people sensed a war would break out and left early. They were smart, they saved their own lives" Aries said.

Aries and Icarus walk over to the pool and look up at the sky for the timing of the alignment.

"Any minute now, come on let's get in" Aries said.

Icarus and Aries jump in without hesitation, but Pandora seems apprehensive. When they break the surface, it's clear their new pod member is scared.

"Come on, it'll be fine I promise" Icarus said.

"You were knocked out weren't you?" Pandora replies.

"From hitting the water from all the way up there. If you jump in here you'll be fine. Trust us"

As she says that, the alignment begins and the water starts to glow.

"This is it, come on before it stops" Aries said.

The two hold out a hand for Pandora, and after a moment of hesitation she takes them and jumps in. When she breaks the surface she looks up at the sky seeing the planets in perfect alignment. Holding her up so she doesn't sink when she transforms, the two look up with her. Soon Pandora can feel her legs fizz, the glow gets brighter and her legs begin to morph into her tail. The gene laying dormant inside her finally activated and giving her her tail. When the glowing dies down she can feel her legs aren't legs anymore, but one tail.

"That felt so weird" she laughed.

"Like what?" Aries asked.

"Pins and needles"

"Pins and needles? Damn I must have been knocked out hard if I didn't feel that" Icarus laughs.

They let her go slowly and she gets a feel for treading water with a tail on her own.

"What colour is it, I'm scared to look?" Pandora laughs.

"Just look! You'll have to see it eventually" Icarus laughs.

Lifting her tail from the water and floating on her back, the three are able to see the colour and shape.

"It's purple! Yeeaahhhh!" Pandora cheers, slightly loosing her balance and sinking from a moment "Damnit I need to get used to this"

"See? I told you I'll be fine. And you got the colour you wanted" Icarus replied.

"It wasn't that bad now was it? Welcome to the pod shark bait" Aries joked.

Looking at her tail, and then up at the sky again, pandora smiled.

"Yeah, this will be fun. My grandmother wanted to give me this gift for a reason, I'll fufill it for her..."