Eva was breathing hard, nervous excitement coiling inside her. For what she did not know. She kicked forward in the water, swimming into Viola’s arms.

“Now what?” She asked nervously as Viola wrapped an arm around her, supporting her in the water. The saltwater stung at her eyes and nose, having forgone the goggles. Yet another reminder of how unsuited humans were to the sea.

Viola rolled onto her back, floating at the surface and holding Eva close to her chest. “Now… drink,” she said.

“Drink?” Eva asked with confusion.

Viola brought her hand to her chest, pressing against her breasts.

“What?” Eva squeaked, her face warming.

Viola rolled her eyes in a perfect mimicry of human annoyance. “I am not trying to start human sex ritual. Drink.”

The only thing stopping Eva’s mouth from dropping open was the salt water around them, her eyes glued to Viola’s breasts. Not a bad price to pay for a lesbian.

Despite Viola’s words, it did feel fairly sexual, at least to her. The only other dynamic she could imagine was an infant feeding and that was even weirder.

The distraction of the methodology did not however fully distract her. Her mind was still buzzing about what was about to happen. What would it feel like? How long would it take? “Will it hurt?”

Viola became thoughtful, her hand gently stroking Eva's back. “In a way… like… do not have words. It will hurt some.”

Eva nodded, taking a shaky breath as she lowered herself to Viola’s chest. Viola’s eyes never left hers. Like an orca, Viola’s nipples were hidden behind slits. The potential for chafing otherwise was a horrifying image.

Viola clicked with encouragement as Eva used her tongue to find her nipple. Taking it in her mouth and beginning to suck. As far as she knew Viola wasn't pregnant but apparently there was another purpose to her milk. Thick and creamy, with a hint of sweetness and salt, neither unpleasant nor delicious.

Viola whistled low, sending reverberations through their bodies as she brushed the hair out of Eva’s face. Eva kept drinking, swallowing down gulp after gulp, hyper-aware of her own body and any sign of something happening. It felt surreal, so strange and yet at the same time perfect.

Something began to build inside her as she drank, a strange tingling beginning at her lips and trailing through her veins and mixing with her very being. Her heart raced as the sensation spread, a pleasant warmth that urged her for more. Every beat of her heart synched with the tugging of change.

Viola tugged her away, pulling her close. Eva tried to speak but her voice failed her. She frowned with confusion, bringing her fingers to her lips. She stared with disbelief, the tips of her fingers blackening, not into the dark browns that existed in humans but into the deep black of the orca. Calm began to wash over her, extinguishing the panic that tried to rise as she realized she couldn't feel her legs.

Drowsiness began to engulf her despite her best efforts. The pull of drifting in warm comfy bliss was impossible to ignore.

“Rest, Eva. I will keep safe,” Viola murmured in her ear.

Even with the looming danger of the dome’s collapse, the fact the only thing supporting her in the water was Viola and the confusion and mystery of what was happening to her she slipped into unconsciousness. Her head lolling forward into Viola as her metamorphosis overtook her.

----------------------------------------

Dreaming wasn't the word for what Eva was experiencing. Pain couldn't be felt in a dream, yet her body felt… worn. She felt detached like pain signals were being triggered without feeling the pain itself. She reached out for something, the air thick and slipping through her fingers. The coherent thought was enough to assure her she wasn't dead.

Despite her realization, she couldn't shake this strange trance, this weird drifting empty space that she couldn't wrap her mind around. No awareness of anything beyond herself yet her own body was a thing obscured by fog. Only aware enough to know this was not right.

Then sound moved through her, one of an injured animal. A sound she made, her body now awakening to the pain that engulfed her. Pain that sliced through this haze and made her instinctively retreat from consciousness.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

She drifted in this place, her mind begging to sort through itself, the way sand settled on the button of the sea. Eva drifted, or maybe the world drifted around her. Wetness, something sloshed, water. The pain became closer, more real. Dull rather than sharp, her muscles sore and fatigued.

Her head pounded and she winced away from the light. Her mind snapping back into her body, returned to the land of the living from whatever strange place she had inhabited.

“Eva,” a familiar and comforting voice called to her.

Eva groaned, the sound reverberating strangely through her as she forced her eyes open. Viola’s face was a comforting sight. Viola pressed her forehead to Eva’s, she seemed smaller, at least a little closer to Eva’s size. Not that wasn't right, she was bigger, her body had grown.

“Viola,” she croaked, her voice now a chorus of alien sounds despite speaking English.

Viola smiled, nuzzling against her before pulling away and pressing her lips to Eva’s. Eva’s breath hitched in her throat, her mind still foggy but her instincts kissing Viola back. Finally having the kiss she had wanted so much.

Eva deepened the kiss just a little, wanting to show her growing feelings in a way that was very human. She could feel Viola’s hands against her body yet everything felt so different. Her eyes drifted closed in this place of comfort with Viola.

“How long was I… asleep?” Eva asked when the kiss ended. It was going to take her a long time to adjust to the strangeness of her voice.

“Much time, was… becoming nervous,” Viola replied. Eva followed her gaze to the crack in the glass, a crack twice the size it had been before. “You are beautiful, Eva.”

Eva couldn't hold back her smile. Yet confusion quickly overtook her as she realized her teeth had even changed. She should have expected it but running her tongue across her teeth was an entirely different and new sensation. As she began to tentatively move and take in her body just how different it was became clear.

Her skin had lost any semblance of humanity. Her body was now painted in black and white, perfectly countershaded for aquatic life. Her hair darkened to match, Even her proportions had changed, her arms stronger, her chest smaller, her lack of visible nipples something she would have to get used to. Even the way things felt was different, her skin thicker and insulated to keep her warm.

Of course, what drew the most attention was her tail, and her two new pelvic fins and dorsal fin. Simply feeling the water moving around her lower half sent sensations through her that she did not know how to understand. Eva’s legs had not simply fuzed together, she had no knee joints. It was a fully developed tail. She tried to move, but her body was slow to respond and uncoordinated. Her tail weakly pushing against the water.

She trailed her hand down, her fins twitching in response to her touch the way a shiver went up her neck. She was able to move them as well though an entire new set of limbs far far harder to wrap her mind around.

There was also of course the slit between her fins, parts of her that used to sit between her legs now on her front. It was all a lot to wrap her mind around, her body alien and unfamiliar. Yet she could not say it felt wrong. In fact, it felt surprisingly right, the saltwater no longer stinging her, her body able to float and sink without a second thought. She was built for the sea now, it would just take some adjustments.

“This is… wow,” Eva said breathlessly.

Viola whistled, the sound somehow more in-depth though it had no more meaning than before to her. Viola would have to give her language lessons since she would be staying underwater so much. Come to think of it, she had yet to breathe. Her body no longer automatically breathed for her. Cursed to breathe for the rest of her life manually. That would have been a problem for a human but Eva still felt no need to breathe, her body content with the oxygen it had.

Unable to ignore her curiosity Eva did her best to whistle back. Her own screechy whistle lacked the melody and meaning that Viola’s always did. Viola laughed and nuzzled her with delight, uncaring of her terrible tune.

Eva laughed too but it hurt, her muscles aching with protest. The more her awareness of herself increased the more she realized just how weak she was. Not to mention famished. Her metamorphosis had drained her.

“Hungry, yes? We find food,” Viola said, familiar enough with this process to know what Eva would need.

Eva nodded, “do… we have time?” she asked, glancing back at the crack, she had to move her tongue around her words in a way she never had to before.

“Do not know but you must be strong,” Viola said gently, releasing Eva.

Viola gave Eva a second to adjust to the water in her new form without her support. She was… heavier, which made sense, the bones of cetaceans were surprisingly dense. In fact, she was probably less buoyant than as a human but her tail was powerful enough to keep her afloat with a little practice. Still, it was awkward, her arms and fins outstretched to try and balance. She felt like a baby trying to figure out how to walk.

“Being… tall in water is hard at surface,” Viola said, waving an arm up and down.

“Vertical?”

“Yes,” Viola nodded. “Take breath then dive, do not… swim with arms like before. Use tail and… fins to balance.”

Eva nodded with determination, exhaling the air in her lungs and inhaling deeply. A powerful breath that felt far grander and full body than breathing as a human. Viola could hold her breath for frankly an impossible amount of time, which meant somehow she would be able to do the same.

She kicked forward, using her arms to dive down like she had done hundreds of times as a human. Yet it was not as effective anymore. As soon as she was below the surface she felt the difference. Her body began to drift down rather than up as it always had. She gently kicked her tail, pushing herself forward in the water. Her mind still urged her not to swim deep, worried about already running out of air, yet her body had no such worries. It would take her time to adjust but they did not have time.

As she began to relearn how the move Viola swam down, her hair dancing around her head freely in the water. Eva hadn't even noticed that her vision was crisp and her eyes were unbothered by the salt until now.

Viola waved at her to approach and swam a little further down. Eva resisted the urge to take a deep breath to calm herself out of habit and followed despite her brain screaming at her that she would drown.

The light continued down before being consumed by the dark waters below. Eva marvelled at the fish that scurried by and the few plants that grew. Despite the sights not being new she now saw it through a new lens. Viola had been twice her size before, now she was maybe one and a half times, Eva’s tail making her a few feet longer.

Curious to tentatively test her limits she sent clicks out into the water the way she had seen Viola do before. For a moment there was nothing, and then she was overwhelmed by a wall of sound and information her brain had no idea how to process. It took her a second to shake through the strange sensation. Echolocation would have to wait apparently. Her mind wasn't ready.

Viola whistled her name from up ahead, holding a wriggling fish in her hand with a proud expression as she held it up. Eva approached, taking a second to rebalance in the water. Viola whistled and clicked at her before holding out the wriggling thing for her.

Eva didn't want to be rude but the idea of biting into a living wriggling scaly fish was… not what she wanted to do. She couldn't even imagine how Viola managed to swallow fish whole. Plus she wasn't sure she had the stomach to kill the poor helpless thing, let alone pull it apart and eat it.

Don't be a baby. With a mental sigh, she took her fish, having to grab onto it with surprising force as it almost wriggled free. She looked at Viola who gave her an encouraging smile which Eva only half-heartedly managed to return as she brought the fish to her mouth. She bit down and braced for impact. This was going to take getting used to.