Lucy steps out of the wardrobe and onto the creaky, protesting wood of a weatherworn ship; she didn't even realize that's what it was until she stumbled out of the hold and into the pouring rain. Half of it seemed to be missing, although it was quite hard to see through the sheets of rain.

"It looks like a pirate wreck," she murmured, running her hand against one wall of the ship as she ducked back in, out of the chilly rain. "How does a shipwreck get inside a wardrobe?"

"It's not a pirate ship," a voice spoke, making Lucy jump. When she whirled around, she found the face of a girl just her age peering up at her from the murky hole in the floor. "And what is a wardrobe? Is it a type of war room? Are you a warrior?"

"I--no. It's a type of furniture. You store things like coats in them." Cautiously, she walked over and kneeled down next to her; she could see very little but the light glinting of water, but she did see that girl didn't seem to be wearing any clothes and her hair was a shocking shade of purple. What a funny place to end up, a place where you didn't have to wear clothes and parents let children dye their hair.

The sea girl wrinkled her surprisingly flat nose at her. "What's a coat?"

This was a step too far--she'd known there'd been something magical about the wardrobe, but now she knew that there was something very off about the girl as well. "It's... it's a garment you wear to keep you warm." She paused licking her lips. "Are...are you a mermaid?"

The girl blinked. "Oh, no. I'm an oceanid. A sea nymph. I take it you're not a warrior, are you?"

"No, I'm afraid not," she paused and then offered her hand to the girl. "I'm Lucy."

The girl stared at the hand for a long moment before reaching out as well, but instead of shaking it, she reluctantly patted it, palm to palm, as if she was trying terribly hard to be polite. "I'm Sao. You're a Daughter of Eve, aren't you?"

Lucy frowned. "Um, well, my mother's name-"

"I'm asking if you're human."

"Oh! Well, then, yes."

Sao's dark eyes glittered for a moment as she looked quickly around. "Has anyone seen you?"

"I--I don't think so."

"Good. Come with me--you're not safe here. The witch's spies might find you," she said, grabbing Lucy's arm and starting to pull.

Lucy took one look at that dark water and tried to resist. Everything seemed to be happening awfully fast now. "What do you mean safe--there's a witch?"

"Yes. She's the one who always makes it rain. She's the one that conquered the Lone Islands. All other humans fled or died a hundred years ago. Come."

The rainstorm was not unusual? What were the Lone Islands? Lucy balked one last time. "But I can't hold my breath that long and I won't be able to see anything!"

And then, as one last surprise, Sao rolled her eyes and then grabbed her by the collar to haul her close to press a kiss to her lips.

Oh, she thought for a moment, I've never kissed anyone before, let alone a girl, but then she felt a strange sensation on the sides of her neck, felt the flesh move and change--she only had a moment to reach up and feel the gills that had sprouted there.

Sao nodded at her. "And now you can breathe underwater and I will guide you. Come!"

If she were sensible, she would have shaken the nymph off and ran back to the wardrobe--but then, it hadn't been incredibly sensible to just jump into in the first place, right? Besides, she really did want to know if she would be able to breathe under the water, and that kiss had intrigued her. With one last look around, she took a breath, and then plunged into the dark waters below.