Uncle Jack arrived at the extraction point with our new transport shortly before noon. It was an old commercial fishing trawler that had been converted into a comfortable houseboat with four bedrooms. We figured that would be plenty of space since the Naethari among us would be sleeping in the sea whenever we were anchored anyway so we wouldn’t dehydrate.

We didn’t plan on turning Mom, Dad, Uncle Jack, Aunt Carmen, or Luiza until we reached our new temporary home in Belize, and we expected the trip to take around three days. Before we left Cuba’s coast to make that trek though, we wanted to give Maddie and Nat some more time to further improve their swimming ability and stamina. With that in mind, we stayed anchored near Havana, occasionally docking there to get food and other supplies.

Most of that time was just spent relaxing and keeping tabs on the news. Our story hit in a big way with various environmental preservation and activist groups lobbying or protesting for us within days of Janice’s livestream. Many people thought it was a hoax at first until we did another livestream, with Janice, this time in full view of the public. Interacting with them and even rescuing and healing a little boy who was drowning after getting stung by a jellyfish really helped to cement the fact that we were real, especially since Janice wasn’t the only one filming.

The military had publicly claimed no knowledge of Carmichael’s plans or the fact that he had been harboring a fugitive who was responsible for unwilling human experimentation. Dr. Harris was turned over to the FBI and would likely be going to prison for a very long time. As for Carmichael’s operations in Cuba, they were keeping very quiet about any details and saying only that he had died in a boating accident.

Nobody was after us anymore, except for people who wanted to see the mysterious Naethari up close. We collaborated with Janice several times for surprise livestreams several times, to generate hype about our existence and to show us as people. We wanted a generally positive image in the media to prevent future hunts like Carmichael’s. Playing in the water with humans was also good exercise for Maddie and Nat.

Our presence and these livestreams had an unexpected consequence though, Havana was currently experiencing a tourism boom as people flocked to try and catch a glimpse or get photos of us. We tried to take it in stride as we just enjoyed the sunshine, played with kids, or showed off a bit for the humans as Janice got it all on her stream. Our collabs with her had quickly shot her into internet stardom.

Now we were due to do one final collab with her before she headed back home to Miami, and we traveled to our new beach house in Belize. Once there, we could enjoy some solitude while turning the others into Naethari and seeding enough mana for Kieshala to cast a spell to open a path between Earth and Totha. First though, we had to meet with Janice for our final playdate, as Natalie ended up calling them.

Janice had taken the news of Nat’s transition into a Naethari surprisingly well once she was actually able to believe it. Unlike Maddie, Natalie did look quite a bit different from her old self after all, but she seemed to understand and respected Nat’s decision. She also seemed glad that Nat had found a way to pursue her wildest dreams and that she had found a mate who loved her as much as she deserved.

She and Maddie had made that official last night, as was made obvious by the scales around their vuhac starting to shift color to match one another’s tails. It would have been hard for them to have hidden it, even beneath the surface of the ocean with us other Naethari having such powerful senses, and we teasingly congratulated them both this morning when we joined the rest of the family for breakfast on the boat. Now we were hoping to get to Belize before their first kima’tah started, or at least before the pair could think of nothing aside from sex and occasionally food.

At the moment though, I was more concerned with snuggling with Kara on the deck of our boat while we enjoyed the sun and some cold drinks. She was currently stroking my left ear and had me almost purring in happiness as we kissed and ran our hands lazily over one another’s bodies. I broke off the kiss to snuggle closer and enjoy her talented hands turning me into a puddle of contented Naethari.

“You know, my love,” I commented contentedly between kisses along the nape of her neck, “as much as I loathed Pierce for everything that he did to all of us, there is something about these past few months that I am grateful for. If he didn’t have Hart offer me that fake Cancer cure, I would probably be dead by now. I wouldn’t have met the love of my life or have a body that I’m comfortable with and cool magic powers either.”

“I can’t say that I’m grateful… Pierce took everything from me and Jenny, and the things that he did to Kieshala…” she paused as she shivered in my arms. “I’m glad that you had the spark of magic that let you survive the process though, Naiya. Without you, Nat, and your family helping us to escape, the three of us probably would have been doing tricks for Pierce’s marine park right now, or worse. We’re okay now though, even though Jenny and I both still miss our brother and parents, we still have each other and a new family. I actually like being a Naethari, I’m with my soulmate, we’re bearing each other’s children, and I honestly can’t wait to explore the ocean more, especially once we get to Totha.”

It was as we were cuddling and thinking about the direction that our lives had taken that Natalie slither-crawled to the forward deck and called out, “It’s time to go! I just got off the phone with Janice to confirm the meeting spot for the final flash livestream and she’s already there and ready to start streaming.”

Almost as one, the five of us Naethari who had been spread out on deck got up and stretched. I was reluctant to put a halt to my cuddle session with Kara and she looked like she felt much the same way. Kieshala didn’t seem very eager to stop snuggling with Luiza, but we all took one for the team and started getting into our bikini tops so Janice wouldn’t be flagged for adult content and any children wouldn’t see more than their parents might wish.

“Have fun,” Luiza said as we all headed to the railing to dive over and into the sea below. She sounded wistful, but that wasn’t surprising since we all knew how much she was looking forward to being turned once we were settled in Belize.

As we made our way toward the beach where Janice waited, we tried to avoid any fishing boats so we wouldn’t have to worry about nets in the water. Other boats we got as close to as we could and showed off by getting some good speed before leaping out of the water and into the air in full view of the boats’ occupants. Not only was it fun and shocked the hell out of a few of them, but it was nice for us not to have to hide, and would give us and Janice’s streams more exposure. Jenny in particular enjoyed showing off when she wouldn’t have to actually socialize with strangers.

Once we got to the beach, we had an afternoon of fun in the sun while playing with children in the surf and taking breaks chilling on the beach. We were all careful to keep our vuhac retracted inside of our forearms and cautioned people not to touch them if they were out, explaining that they had barbs that were highly toxic. It was basically a repeat of every other livestream after that first night, though we did answer the questions of curious onlookers and the media who eventually showed up, as long as they weren’t too pushy.

Kieshala answered questions about the Naethari as a people as best she could without giving away that she came from another world entirely. Nat and Kara eagerly fielded questions about Naethari biology. The only question they wouldn’t answer on that topic was how we former humans had been turned into Naethari in the first place. That information had been excluded from the data packets we sent the media, and we didn’t even let on that Maddie and Nat had been human before too since they hadn’t been present for that first livestream. They told people that it only worked for Kara, Jenny, and me because we already had a faint spark of magic and were already sick at the time we were changed.

Some of those questions were also about the magic that we were blatantly showing off though, like when I suddenly shifted to give myself legs and go on an ice cream run, making sure that I was covered with a wrap of course. Jenny healing people on the night we dealt with Carmichael and then that boy with the jellyfish sting had already opened the doors to the fact that some of us had unusual abilities, so we figured it was best to be mostly honest about that. The only ability that we didn’t openly discuss, or even mention, was my Soulsinger ability, which could have caused our generally positive image to flip in an instant.

Kieshala couldn’t really show off at the moment without mana and Kara’s ability wasn’t exactly easy to show off with, but both did explain what they could do when asked. Jenny would heal injuries whenever someone asked, Nat made water do her bidding, and Maddie and I sometimes casually pulled some minor shifting tricks. However, when asked by Janice, or anyone else, we made sure to downplay the full scope of our shifting ability in regard to things like facial features since it was another possible hot button. We even demonstrated by ‘trying’ to copy people and not getting anywhere close to what they looked like or ‘having trouble’ shifting our gills away or getting our ears to look human.

People did want to know more about magic and how we could use it though. Kieshala came clean about that, saying that it was because we were creatures of primal magic, but that magic was almost completely gone from this world now because of the damage done to nature. She also stated that the damage was too far gone for six Naethari to make any difference now. Even with tens of thousands of us spread across the globe it could still take decades, or even centuries for Earth to return to a state where magic might become possible for humans who possessed the spark like Jenny, Kara, and I had.

That thought left me feeling a bit somber and I asked the others, ~ Are we doing the right thing by leaving Earth when Kieshala has enough mana? I know that even when the others are turned eleven of us won’t be able to do much for the planet, but it feels like we’re abandoning our home and leaving humanity to their eventual doom. ~

~ Maybe? ~ Kara answered uncertainly. ~ But we have to do what’s right for us, and I don’t really feel like we belong here anymore. Besides, we’ve all been looking forward to seeing a new world and meeting the rest of Moonreef Clan, and Kieshala won’t say it outright, but I can tell that she’s been missing her home. ~

~ She’s right, Sis, we don’t belong here anymore. Even if we stayed, those responsible for the pollution aren’t going to change their ways anytime soon and we’d have to become far more involved in human politics than any of us would like to actually start changing things for the better, ~ Maddie added.

~ The Humans have brought this upon themselves by embracing the ways of the Lantir. If they are to be saved, then they must change their ways, ~ Kieshala agreed.

Natalie’s mental tone sounded hesitant as she offered, ~What if there was someone who wanted to become a Naethari, but didn’t want to leave Earth? Someone who’s willing to fight for the environment and the rights of any future Naethari here on Earth. Someone who wants to make humanity change for the better and who has already helped us a lot in the past couple of weeks. ~

~ Janice? ~ I guessed.

~ Yeah, Janice, ~ she replied with a glance to Kieshala even as she entertained some children by making water do tricks. ~She asked about it when we were on the phone earlier, and when I told her that we would all be leaving this world as soon as we could, she didn’t want that. She said she’s needed here. Kieshala? Would you be willing to turn her and teach her what it means to be Naethari? I’ve known her for a long time, and she wants this. She would be very careful about who she turned to join her cause as well, she’d choose people who needed a chance to live and who wouldn’t abuse the power they’d gain. ~

Kieshala made the equivalent of a mental sigh, not saying anything for a moment. Finally, she said, ~ I will consider it and let you know before the afternoon is over. She has been a great help to us, and her heart does seem to be in the right place. ~

Eight months later
Somewhere off the coast of Belize

We were all gathered at the coral reef where we had all been spending most of the past seven months encouraging the environment to heal and mana to gather. Things had changed and other things stayed the same since we left Cuba eight months ago, and not just with us. People were searching all over for us and we had been declared an endangered species. It wasn’t like we had dropped completely off the map though.

Three months after we arrived in Belize, Janice started streaming again, picking up right where she had left off before going through her Naethari transition. She probably would have started up again sooner, but it took her a couple of months to have enough control over her aetral to hold her old appearance for long enough to do a decent length stream. It turned out that she was a Shifter like Maddie and me, which was one of the more common aetral among Naethari.

It would help her to blend in among humans whenever she needed to, which would be important for recruiting the right kind of people for her plan to give Naethari a presence on Earth after the rest of us were gone and to begin the long task of healing Mother Earth and restoring mana to the world. Getting back to streaming once she was able to, and Uncle Jack setting things up so she couldn’t be traced, was a big part of her plan once Kieshala told her what her aetral would be. She would use the streams of us, and later herself and whoever she recruited to keep people from forgetting we existed and to work with certain activist groups that she trusted to align with her cause.

Janice and Luiza had gone through their transitions first, Janice changing very little in her face and body, especially since she still had all of her piercings. Her Auburn hair had turned golden in color, as had her green eyes to match her scales and hair, though those golden eyes contained flecks of sapphire blue. Her golden tail was contrasted by sapphire-hued fins and the overall effect was very striking.

Luiza surprised all of us when she turned out to be a toma, though they preferred to be called Lu now. Their hair, eyes, and scales had turned seaweed green with navy blue fins, including shalkai that were much smaller than any of ours and a small dorsal sail along their spine. Rather than the cloverleaf trio of fins at the tip of their tail, they sported smaller pair, and their general appearance was very androgynous with a lean but well-toned upper body lacking any curves or bulging muscles and only very modest breasts. They were also ecstatic when Kieshala was able to confirm that they were a Spellweaver like she was.

We turned Mom, Dad, Uncle Jack, and Aunt Carmen almost as soon as the other pair was finished. Mom and Dad didn’t really change much in appearance, except for looking twenty years younger now and being part fish. Dad was still a huge wall of muscle, but his brown hair had darkened a few shades to a near-black dark chocolate color that matched most of the scales on his powerful tail. His eyes and the pair of fins at his tail tip were a bright crimson, as was his jutak (the large dorsal sail that grew from his spine from between his shoulder blades to his tailbone). Bright crimson scales also made swirling patterns along the length of his tail amidst the rest of his near-black scales.

Mom was still a ginger, but her eyes and scales were now the same bright coppery color as her hair, though her eyes had flecks of the same sea green color that her various fins were composed of. Her skin was still pale and possessed the freckles she had always had but it seemed softer, smoother, and more youthful than before. There were a few subtle changes to both her upper body and face that made her a striking beauty, where before she had been very pretty but was starting to show her age. Overall, she still looked much like her human self if one didn’t count the uniquely Naethari features such as the ears, fangs, tail, and such.

Uncle Jack was no longer the wiry man he used to be, having put on quite a bit of muscle during his transition. He didn’t possess Dad’s powerful build, but more like a swimmer’s physique, lean but muscular. He was still pale-skinned, but his hair had turned from black to navy blue to match his jutak and the scales on his tail, save for the silver ones that stood out in curving graceful lines along the length of his tail and matched his fin and eye color.

Aunt Carmen had probably changed the most, though she still retained the Argentinian looks of her face and skin tone. All her scars had vanished and while she was still muscular, she was not near as powerfully built as before her transition. Her face was less worn, the crooked tilt of her nose from being broken too many times was gone, and she was now a youthful beauty with big eyes, a cute little nose, and full plump lips. Somehow though, she still managed to look like the deadliest of us all with a sleek and slender build, and bright orange fins that were a stark contrast to the steely silvery-blue of her scales, eyes, and hair. Once she got used to her new appendages, she was the fastest of any of us girls in the water when she tucked in her shalkai, even Kieshala.

Their aetral were a bit of a surprise but also made sense in a way. Dad, who had always tried to be the immovable rock for the people he cared about was a Stonebreaker, able to shape and manipulate rock, as much as Natalie could with water. Mom, the medic and caregiver, became a Healer like Jenny. Uncle Jack, who preferred to stay hidden in the darkness and work from the shadows was a Shadowbreaker, who could manipulate shadows and use them to keep himself hidden from sight.

As for Aunt Carmen, the protector who was always unafraid of placing herself in danger for others, became a Mindweaver. They were sort of like psychics, though I guess every Mindweaver had different quirks to their aetral which made them have to learn mostly through instinct. Aunt Carmen’s allowed her to create strong invisible barriers around herself and other people or objects that were close to her.

Kieshala had spent the past months teaching us all that she could about our aetral, the Naethari people, their culture, beliefs, and the world of Totha. This wasn’t just for the benefit of those of us going to her home world with her though. Janice needed to know everything that she could so that she could pass on knowledge of our people to anyone whom she turned on Earth, and the streamer and activist was eager to soak up every bit of knowledge that Kieshala offered.

Now, here we were. This was the day when we would part ways with Janice and leave for Totha. All of the preparations had already been made: Uncle Jack had given Janice access to our funds and taught her the basics of what she might need to know about IT security, she had all of the knowledge that Kieshala had imparted, I had taught her to shift to the best of my abilities, and she had several fake identities, including the one that was the current owner of the beach house where we had been staying whenever on land. All that was left was to wait for Kieshala to open the portal.

I was snuggled up with my mate as we waited. Snuggling was a bit awkward now though with us both being heavily pregnant and our bulging bellies getting in the way. We still weren’t due for another two to three months, but at least we weren’t the only ones with babies on the way now. Maddie and Nat were only a couple of months behind us with obvious baby bulges, while Mom and Aunt Carmen were just beginning to show. Kieshala wasn’t showing yet, but our sonar sense was now able to pick up the new life growing within her since she and Lu officially became mates four months ago.

There were big changes ahead for all of us, and even if we couldn’t all be together for them, Janice knew that we would be with her in spirit. It was exciting, and I found myself barely able to keep still as Kara and I kissed and cuddled as best we could. I was looking forward to this, to exploring another world, becoming a mother, and having the people I care for most by my side every metaphorical step of the way.

“Mmm… I love you, Kara. I think I have since the moment I first woke up and saw you in that pool. You’re just fin-tastic and I will love you for as long as we live, even if it’s a krill-ion years,” I told her, bubbles accompanying the words from my lips as I leaned in to kiss her. Sadly, if I wanted to use fish puns I needed to speak them aloud since Naethari didn’t really have anything like puns in their culture.

“You betta,” she teased back, surprising me since she usually just groaned and tried not to laugh when I made the puns. Jenny still laughed every time though, and this had been no exception as she was still giggling nearby.

I blinked in surprise, but I wasn’t about to let this go. “Dear Cod! Was I herring you right just now? You made a fish pun!”

“Yes, Babe, it’s o-fish-al. You’ve driven me cray-zy. It’s our last day on Earth so I figured I should stop being koi about it,” she responded playfully as she pulled me closer.

“Stop,” Jenny got out between bubbly giggles, “you’re krilling me!”

“Look, we’re Kraken Jenny up, we should probably clam up now,” I added, causing Jenny’s giggling to intensify and getting a snort of amusement from my mate.

Jenny was still trying to calm down when I felt Kieshala’s magic flare and a globe of light came to life in front of her. ~ We must hurry, I cannot hold it open for long from this side, ~ the Spellweaver told us, causing us all to scramble out of our comfortable positions to swim toward the globe of light as we quickly said our goodbyes to Janice and wished her luck. Kara gripped my hand in one of hers, and her little sister’s in the other, and none of us looked back as we followed our family into a new world with Kieshala close behind.