The biggest, most grand and beautiful of the undersea kingdoms was Lazur. The capital city was the epitome of the kingdom's grandeur. Lazurdun, as the city-fortress was called, was built upon a somewhat small and solitary mountain, though its splendor was visible in the clear water from far away. The mountain itself had no name for it was impossible to tell where the city ended and the mountain began; they were one and the same.

    From the outside, it appeared less like a city and more like a colossal monument. Enormous carvings graced the exterior of the mountain: kings and queens past, fish and corals, ships and swirls. Huge stones and crystals in all colors decorated the brown-gray rock of the mountain. Some adorned the carvings, like in the eyes of the giant faces. The crystals fluoresced and looked to be so fragile they would shatter at the slightest of touches, but in actuality were one of the most study materials known below the surface.

    The southern face of the mountain Lazurdun was covered in stones that ranged from deep blue to pale green. They were carved into circular shapes and layered to resemble scales. 

    Within a portion of the mountain, the merfolk of Lazurdun lived. Entering the kingdom could be done by passing though one of a few guarded gates. Once inside, the viewer would be rewarded with the sight of a massive chamber flooded with light. The crystals on the outside served as windows to let light flood in. Mirrors, biofluorescent plants and organisms, and glowing rocks were also used where the window light was not sufficient – not that the merfolk necessarily needed it since their eyes were adapted to the darkness of the deep, dark sea.

    Across from the wall of crystals were dozens of circular holes of varying sizes. The larger ones were tunnels to businesses, residencies, and other districts deeper in the mountain.

    A complex system of tunnels known as the "gills of the city" constantly brought in fresh, oxygenated water from outside to the deepest recesses of Lazurdun. 

    The city truly was awe-inspiring, to put it simply.

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     Kelsea did not know all this information about the mountain that was suddenly in front of her. She didn't need to know it to still be amazed. 

     She took a look behind her, towards the gate they had just emerged from. The blue glow emitted by the stone slowly dimmed until it was entirely gone. Under the arch was a view of place they had come from, but by the time the glowing stopped, the familiar landscape faded away like a mirage.

     The girl turned to Izmuir, about to ask more questions, but she saw he had let go of her hand and was on the ground again.

     She cursed and sank onto her knees next to him. "Are you okay? What happened? You can't die on me now!"

     He huffed. "Give me a moment to regain my strength, human," he said.

     After a couple minutes, she helped him up but he still looked rough. A frown marred his face and his skin was pale. Even his tail appeared to be a few shades lighter.

     He could swim on his own but he still did not look completely steady. Kelsea kept a careful eye on him as they headed towards the place the merman had called Laz ... uh, Laz-something. She forgot the name.

     "The sooner we are among my people," he said to his companion, "the sooner I will recover. Merfolk draw strength from each other. We are social creatures, not entirely by choice."

     Izmuir's dolphin friends, who had gone through the gate in front of them, swam up to the two. The weakened merman gladly used one of the dolphins to support himself and Kelsea held on to another, hastening their short trip to the mountain.

     He led them to a large opening near the foot of the mountain. To the left and right sides of the opening were larger than life statues of intimidating mermen. Their sightless eyes were sparkling red stones; Kelsea felt like they were staring straight into her soul. A shiver ran down her spine.

     If she wasn't mistaken, Izmuir seemed nervous as they again parted ways from the dolphins and moved inside an empty, nondescript passageway. 

     "Highly unusual," he said under his breath.

     "What is?" Kelsea asked.

     "It is quiet, and the entrance was unguarded. It is like there is no ..." He trailed off as they reached the end of the passage, which lead to a huge open area.

     Kelsea's jaw literally dropped open. 

     She did not know how to describe what she saw. She hesitated to call it a room, since it was so massive. It was almost as if the mountain she had seen from the outside was just a shell with another mountain on the inside, and she was in the space between the shell and the mountain.

     There was so much to see! So much to take in! Everything about this Laz-place was so amazing that she could only comprehend the big-picture things, not even able to process any of the finer details that surrounded her. It was like she was a tiny child visiting Disney World for the first time all over again. Minus the crowds, of course.

     Wait.

     Minus the crowds? Wasn't this place supposed to be full of other mermaids and mermen? There was no one else there. Not a single other mermaid or merman.

     She tore her eyes away from the suddenly disturbingly empty space and turned to the only merman there.

     Izmuir looked horrified. She was surprised he had not collapsed yet again.

     Kelsea could barely hear his hoarse murmurings. "No one. Impossible. No. Where did they go?"

     He reached over to her and firmly covered her ears with his hands. It barely muffled anything as he yelled in his native language louder than Kelsea thought he would be able to in his state. 

     They waited a minute for any response, but heard nothing. Absolutely nothing.

     You can't cry underwater, but if it were possible Izmuir certainly would have bawled his eyes out. He seemed defeated and more exhausted than ever before. She had no idea what to say as he leaned on Kelsea, whose tired muscles could hardly support herself at that point. She stayed silent as he deeply shuddered and his face turned red.

     It was awkward but at the same time she understood. This place must have meant something to him, and all its inhabitants were gone without a trace. 

     When the tremors came to a stop, Kelsea softly asked, "What now?"

     He sighed. "We rest." He indicated one tunnel not too far away. "Let us see if we can find a place to stay over there."

     The two sluggishly swam over. As they neared the tunnel, the blonde saw other paths and tunnels branching off the main one and many little doors lining the walls. Izmuir led them to a small wooden door and pulled it open, ushering the teenager inside in front of him. He didn't bother close the door behind them, but Kelsea didn't mind because it let in a little more light. He might have had good night vision but she certainly did not.

     It was a dark little space and reminded Kelsea of a hotel room, as it had the necessities but lacked any personal touches. A couple large, circular cushions were against one wall. There was also a table and some chairs made of stone, and a couple of chests in the room.

     Izmuir opened one of the chests and pulled out a bundle of green fabric, which he handed to the girl. He then headed over to one of the cushions and curled up on it. He passed out in seconds without another word.

     Kelsea looked at the fabric he gave her. It was heavy and definitely would not float off. 

     She shrugged and settled herself down on the other cushion. She used the fabric as a blanket and followed the merman's example of quickly falling asleep.

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     When Kelsea woke up, the room was dark. Something – a crystal, it looked like – glowed in the corner. She blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the minimal amount of light.

     Izmuir was still asleep and looked like he had not budged a muscle. 

     She felt pretty well-rested. Her muscles were still sore, but given how hard she had to push herself the previous day the aches were not surprising. The twisting feeling in her stomach was also unsurprising, considering the only thing she ate the day before was some fish. 

     What she would give for a good, warm meal. Chicken nuggets, a cheeseburger and fries, pizza. She groaned and rubbed her empty stomach. Would it be rude to wake up the merman and ask him to find food?

     Kelsea pushed the blanket off and got up. Then she noticed on the table there was some kind of covered dish that had not been there when they went to sleep, if she remembered correctly. Maybe Izmuir had woken up some time in the night and found it. 

     She sat down on a chair by the table and lifted the lid off the dish, revealing what appeared to be ravioli pasta, but it was green and had no sauce. There were no utensils around that she could see, so she just grabbed a piece with her hands and bit into it. She moaned with delight.

     Somehow, the pasta was still warm. The ravioli was stuffed with some kind of meat. She didn't recognize it, but who cared? It was delicious. She quickly ate her fill and then placed the lid back on the dish. 

     The young woman had no idea where Izmuir had gotten the food or how he warmed it. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth, after all.

     She moved closer to the door, and sat in the doorway where there was more of the soft morning light. The human took a moment to examine the condition of her legs since they were starting to itch more. 

     More scales had emerged all along her legs. The scales around where Izmuir had bit were solid black. As far as she could tell, the other scales that had become visible were not as dark, but still a deep navy blue. She twisted around and as different scales caught the light they sparkled like sequins, something she found oddly pleasing.

     Once she got past looking at her new scales, she remembered that at some point her legs were supposed to fuse into a single limb. Already, she couldn't separate or spread her legs or anything. The next problem was her clothes: She was still wearing her shorts and underwear.

     Kelsea went back into the room and grabbed the blanket. She tied it around her waist like a sarong and reached under the blanket to tug off her bottoms, thankful that no fusion had happened yet that would impede her removal of her clothes. She could not imagine how hard (and potentially embarrassing) it would be if she had to cut them off.

     Not liking how exposed she felt with only a skirt to cover her lower half, she tightened the blanket. Her shirt had ridden up, exposing a band of flesh around her stomach and upper hips. Seeing bruises on her hips like the bruising on her legs, she pulled up her shirt a little further and saw the bruising ran up along her sides, but not on her stomach. She followed the bruising up and realized that it covered her pectoral region as well, covering her chest and sternum up to her collar bone. Was that entire area going to be covered in scales? 

     "What are you doing?" she heard Izmuir's sleepy voice behind her. 

     Kelsea gasped and yanked down her shirt. She had her back to him, but she felt a little better knowing her bra also covered anything he might have seen. 

     "Oh, nothing," she stated shorty. She patted down her shirt one more time then turned around to face the merman. His scales only went up to his hips. "Thank you for getting the food, by the way. How did you cook it?"

     Izmuir's head tilted to the side. "Food?" 

     She pointed to the dish on the table and approached the table. He yanked the lid off the dish and stared at the pasta. 

     "If you didn't get it, then who did?" she asked. Then a thought occurred to her. "Oh no! This place is haunted!"