They appeared inside the room in a flash of silver light. Lydia barely had time to process what had just happened before her knees gave out, she dropped to the floor, her back hitting the wall as she stared around the room in complete shock.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
"…What… what just happened?"
Mishell didn't answer, she was more concerned about Corelia's health. She moved quickly toward the wardrobe tucked beside the bed and opened it.
Hidden behind neatly folded clothes was a small concealed compartment lined with several glass vials filled with liquids of different colors, they each had a glitter kind of glow. Her fingers hovered briefly before selecting one — a pale violet potion that glowed faintly.
"This should work…" she muttered.
Behind her, Lydia was still frozen on the floor, eyes wide, trying desperately to connect logic to what she had just witnessed.
Mishell didn't spare her a glance.
She uncorked the vial and drank a portion of it before carefully lifting Corelia's head and pouring the remaining liquid gently between her lips.
Corelia's skin burned to the touch. Her breathing was uneven, her brows twitched as if trapped in a nightmare she could not escape. The hallucinations were getting worse.
Mishell sat beside her, gently taking Corelia's hands into her own.
Her fingers tightened slightly and her eyes slowly closed. She whispered something softly under her breath — ancient words Lydia could not understand.
A faint glow spread from their joined hands and within moments, Mishell's body went still. Her consciousness was pulled inward into Corelia's mind.
Being in her friend's mind was not as pleasant as she expected, It was filled with darkness, cold, and chaos. Corelia stood trapped within a trance-like void, surrounded by shifting shadows.
Multiple Noctyra circled her, their forms unstable, twisting unnaturally as though made from living darkness. Each time Corelia summoned magic to defend herself, the shadows multiplied.
Her power struck them down— But each strike fed them.
Strengthened them.
Consumed her.
Her magic was turning against her… slowly eating away at her life from the inside. Her glow flickered weaker with every attack.
Mishell's eyes widened in realization.
"This isn't just an injury…"
The shadows weren't random, it was as if they waited for her, prepared for this moment and lured her into a trap. It was as if someone knew she would come and prepared for the moment to strike.
Mishell's eyes snapped open.
She inhaled sharply, the connection breaking instantly.
Her grip on Corelia's hands tightened.
"This is bad," she said quietly.
Lydia finally found her voice.
"What… what is happening to her?"
Mishell hesitated, then spoke plainly.
"Corelia is dying."
Lydia's heart dropped into her stomach.
"…What?"
"Her powers are consuming her from the inside. The Noctyra did not just attack her…" Mishell's expression darkened. "They targeted her."
Lydia forced herself to stand despite the fear crawling up her spine.
"What's a Noctyra?".
"Long story".
" Okay...Fine How would you save her?"
Mishell didn't respond immediately.
Instead, she returned to the wardrobe and retrieved two more potions — one glowing red, the other deep blue.
"She needs water," Mishell said. "A large body of water."
Lydia blinked.
"Large body... It would take us hours to get to the beach..umh…The pool, is that large enough?"
Mishell nodded once.
Without wasting another second, she recited another spell. The room dissolved around them and they appeared beside the school pool.
It was empty.
Silent.
Still.
Lydia's mind finally reached its limit.
She turned to Mishell, panic spilling over.
"What are you? A witch?!"
Mishell smirked slightly.
"Way better."
She knelt beside Corelia and gently removed the necklace resting around her neck. Without hesitation, she lowered Corelia carefully into the water.
Corelia's body sank slowly beneath the surface.
Lydia screamed. "She's going to drown! What are you doing?!"
Before Mishell could respond—Corelia's body suddenly shifted as light flickered beneath the water. Her legs fused together in a glow of silver and deep ocean blue. A powerful tail replaced them, scales catching the faint pool light like shattered glass.
She floated upward, weightless, suspended just beneath the surface.
Lydia froze.
Her lips trembled.
Her eyes widened beyond belief.
"…No way…"
Her vision blurred and her body swayed.
"This… this isn't real…"
Before Mishell could say a word, she collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.
"Oh God".
Mishell hissed in irritation and snapped her fingers, splashing water onto Lydia's face using magic.
Lydia jolted awake.
"Oh my head…Mishell... I just had the worst dream. Corelia is a—"
She paused. Her eyes slowly shifted toward the pool, Corelia's tail sparked under the water. Her breath caught in her throat.
"…It's not a dream…"
Her eyes rolled back again.
"Faint one more time," Mishell said coldly, "and I promise you an afterlife."
Lydia's eyes snapped open immediately.
"I'm awake!"
Mishell exhaled slowly before standing and walking toward the pool entrance.
She lifted her hand and murmured another spell. A ripple of invisible energy spread outward, cloaking the entire pool area in illusion.
To anyone outside, the pool would appear completely empty.
She turned back to Lydia.
"I need your help."
Lydia pointed weakly at herself.
"Me?! I don't even understand what's happening!"
Mishell placed the two potions into her shaking hands.
"I am going into the water to perform an extraction spell."
She gestured toward the red potion.
"When you see dark poison leaving Corelia's body and entering mine, pour the red potion into the water. It will amplify my strength long enough to finish pulling the poison out."
Then she held up the blue potion.
"After the extraction, I will attempt to force the poison out of my own body. The magical backlash may affect you as well. You may feel pressure… like the air is being pulled from your lungs."
Lydia's eyes widened in horror.
"I might not be able to breathe?!"
"Yes."
"I might die?"
"Possibly if you are not fast enough".
"WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT SO CALMLY?!". Lydia screamed.
"Because panicking will not help either of us."
Lydia pointed desperately at the blue potion.
"Why don't you just take this one with you?!"
Mishell shook her head.
"If I keep it with me, the poison's influence may distort my mind. There is a high chance I could lose focus… or crush the vial unintentionally."
Her voice grew more serious.
"The toxin attacks magic first… then judgment."
She stepped closer to Lydia.
"If that happens, both Corelia and I will die."
Lydia swallowed hard.
"And you might not make it too". Mishell added.
Lydia looked like she might cry, her hands trembled around the glass vials.
"I can't believe this is my life now…"
Mishell placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "You only need to do exactly as I say and we might survive this."
Then without another word— She stepped into the water.She stepped into the water. The water barely rippled as she removed her necklace and set it carefully on the tiled floor beside Corelia's.
For a split second, nothing happened.
Then— A faint green glow appeared underneath the water, her legs fused together smoothly, scales forming in a hypnotic pattern of deep emerald and sea-glass green. A powerful tail surfaced, elegant and lethal, cutting through the water with effortless grace.
Lydia's jaw dropped, her brain refused to cooperate.
"You… you're a mermaid too?!"
Mishell gave her a look that clearly said please try to keep up before diving beneath the surface.
The water was stilled and calm .
Then.... the extraction began.
Mishell placed both hands over Corelia's wound, her fingers glowing faintly as ancient words slipped silently from her lips.
At first, nothing happened.
Then Corelia's body jerked slightly.
Dark wisps began slipping from her skin — thin strands of shadow-like poison, twisting like living smoke under the water.
The poison resisted, they were so clung stubbornly to her. But Mishell pulled harder, her magic tightening like an invisible net. The poison slowly detached, drawn from Corelia's body and into Mishell's.
Lydia leaned forward anxiously, gripping the red vial tightly.
The moment the shadow began spreading into Mishell's arm, Lydia quickly opened the red potion and poured it into the pool.
The liquid dissolved instantly, glowing crimson as it spread through the water like red ink. Mishell's tail flicked sharply.
Her glow intensified.
The extraction accelerated.
More poison tore free, streaming into Mishell's body in thick dark ribbons. Her expression tightened in visible strain.
But she didn't stop, she kept going, increasing her energy. Her eyes glowed so bright at the amount of energy she was using. It wasn't easy but Mishell didn't stop.
Finally—The last strand of darkness left Corelia's body and for a brief second, everything became still.
Then the second phase began.
Mishell's body stiffened suddenly as the poison reacted violently within her, she screamed out in pain, her magic flared uncontrollably, sending waves rippling across the pool.
The water rolled unnaturally.
Lydia stepped back in alarm as pressure filled the air, heavy and suffocating.
It felt like invisible hands were squeezing her lungs.Her breathing became shallow.
Tight, each inhale felt thinner than the last.
"Mishell…!" Lydia gasped weakly.
Mishell's head dipped down the surface briefly as she struggled to contain the toxin spreading through her veins.
The water began vibrating with unstable energy, Lydia's hands trembled as she grabbed the blue potion. Her vision blurred slightly from lack of air.
Why was it so hard to breathe?!
Her chest burned as panic threatened to take over. She stumbled forward, dropping to her knees at the pool's edge.
"Don't… faint… don't faint…" she whispered desperately to herself.
Mishell surfaced briefly, her expression strained, eyes glowed with pressure as she reached weakly toward the edge.
Lydia forced her arm forward.
Just a little closer. She thought.
Her lungs screamed for oxygen and her hand shook violently out of control. The vial nearly slipped but she held on.
With one final effort, she pushed the blue potion into Mishell's hand.
Mishell crushed the vial immediately, releasing the glowing liquid into the water around her. A surge of power pulsed outward, the violent waves slowed down.
The dark poison began separating from Mishell's body, dissolving harmlessly into the enchanted water and all the pressure lifted instantly.
Air rushed back into Lydia's lungs as she inhaled deeply, coughing slightly.
The pool was silence for a while and then moments later, Mishell swam to the edge whild holding Corelia, her movements slower now, exhaustion visible in every motion.
She pulled herself out of the water and sat briefly on the tiled floor, catching her breath. Her tail brightened once before shifting back into human legs as she placed her necklace back around her neck. Then she gently placed Corelia's necklace back around her as well.
Corelia's body glowed faintly.
The wound at her side had completely closed, there was no blood, no mark, just smooth skin as if nothing had ever happened.
Mishell lay beside her quietly, watching carefully for any sign of instability. She was exhuasted herself, she had used too much powers already.
Seconds passed, then a minute.
The tension in the air slowly faded.
Lydia stared at both of them in stunned silence. Her brain replayed everything she had just witnessed.
Teleportation.
Magic.
Poison extraction.
Two mermaids.
She suddenly grabbed her head dramatically.
"Are you okay?" Mishell asked weakily
"That…" she paused. Then screamed—
"THAT WAS AWESOME!"