Marina wakes up in her home, giving out a long yawn. She uncovers herself from the azure sheets and checks her phone. Today is a Sunday, her day off. Marina looks around her beautifully decorated home with blue wallpaper and various white furniture, unsure what to do for the day.

  Marina gets up from her bed and does her usual morning routine: brushing her teeth, dressing herself up, and eating some breakfast. As she eats at her light brown table, Marina’s stomach growls for something more than just eggs and bacon.

  I should go fishing today, Marina thinks to herself. Marina doesn’t fish too often, but it’s a little side hobby that she likes to do if she has nothing else to do. In this case, she doesn’t have anything on her mind that she needs to do, and catching a few fish to cook and eat would be a nice way to burn the day and reward herself. After finishing her meal, Marina heads out and drives to a nearby fishing river.

  It’s a beautiful day out. The sky is cloudy, but the temperature feels nice on Marina’s skin. The river is flowing calmly; the only sound Marina can hear is the occasional breeze and croak of a frog. Foliage covers a good amount of the river’s sides, but there’s a clearing where Marina can fish.

  Marina approaches the river, smelling the wet, plant-like smell of the river and feeling its moist air. Marina brought some equipment with her: a bucket to keep the fish in, a fishing rod, and some bait. Marina begins her fishing, casting out her line into the river.

  A few hours pass by as Marina fishes. She manages to get herself a few fish, a few small ones that she releases, and a few large ones she keeps to eat for later. Overall, her catches are somewhat average today, at least until a certain catch.

  After a good while of struggling, Marina pulls a fish out of the water. The fish’s scales are the color of the sky. It has a baby blue belly and a silly-looking face. Marina doesn’t recognize the species, but she doesn’t pay attention to fish species despite being a fisher. Weirdly enough, there’s a bracelet on the fish’s tail.

  Marina begins to utter something. “What is-”

  “Hey! Let go of me!” The fish shouts in a feminine, yet dopey voice, starting to flop on the ground.

  Marina’s mouth is left agape hearing the fish speak. “D-did you j-just…” Marina stutters, not being able to comprehend the fish. “D-did you just talk?!”

  “Yes, I did just talk. Please get this hook out of my mouth!”

  Marina hesitates for a while, just staring at the struggling fish. After several seconds, she picks up the fish, taking the hook off its lip. “Thank you,” the fish says in relief.

  As Marina carries the fish toward her bucket, the fish takes a good look at her face. “Hey, wait a second, you! You’re the one I was looking for! I have something for you to know about-”

  The blue fish yelps as it's dropped into the bucket of fish. Marina sighs a bit. “The sun must be getting to my head if I’m talking to fish. I ought to get home.”

  Marina packs her stuff into the car. As she puts the fish bucket away, she hears the blue, talking fish talking and mumbling about something, but she doesn’t listen to what it says. Marina thinks it’s just her mind going mad, after all.

  Back home, Marina brings her gear and catches inside, but stops when she feels struggling inside the bucket. The blue fish is shuffling inside, much to Marina’s surprise. Could fish survive that long out of the water?

  “Hey, let me out of this bucket, miss!” The fish pleads. “It’s cold and slimy in here and I’m trying to tell you something!”

  Despite her shock and curiosity, Marina continues to tune out the fish’s words. “I really need a cold cup of water…” Marina murmurs to herself.

  Marina enters her living room as the fish continues to babble in a frustrated manner. “Are you even listening to me? You need to stop for a second! I’m here to tell you that you’ve been chosen to be the ruler of-”

  The last of the fish’s sentences is muffled by Marina shutting the fridge with the bucket inside. Thank goodness that’s over, Marina thought. Now to clear my mind with a nice drink.

  Marina continues her day like normal after drinking a refreshing, cold cup of water. She just watches TV and begins preparing dinner. As Marina makes dinner, she notices something amongst the fish: a blue bracelet.

  Where did this come from? Marina thinks to herself as she picks up the bracelet. The bracelet has a white gem on it that’s the shape of a teardrop and the etching ‘Royal Water’ between the white gem. Wherever it came from, Marina thinks the bracelet is pretty and takes it.

  The stench of fish coming from the accessory makes Marina hesitate to wear it at first, but she puts it on anyway. The bracelet feels slimy but very fancy. She twists her hand around, gawking at the pretty bracelet. Not bad. Marina thinks.

  The rest of Marina’s day is uneventful, mostly just eating dinner and watching more television to burn the time. Marina is used to spending her days off of work like this, mostly due to her lack of stuff to do and her friends being at work unlike her.

  Things have recently changed for Marina, though. While in her bed, she is texting a new boyfriend of hers named Fisher. So, I was thinking about setting up a date for the two of us. He texts.

  Marina smiles at the message. She’s never been on a date with Fisher before, nor has he really seen him much outside of video calls. I’d love that. Marina replies to her boyfriend.

  Fisher texts Marina again. How does the Savory Steakhouse sound?

  Sure thing, I’m getting tired of eating fish.

  Marina reminded herself about the weird talking fish she met today from that text message. Despite that, her thoughts about the strange event are replaced by thinking about the potential date. The only barrier for her tomorrow is having to go to her workplace, Inn Island. Marina makes sure to tell Fisher that by texting she’ll need to go to work so they’ll have to have their date late.

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  How does seven o’clock sound for our date? Marina messages to Fisher.

  Sure, that sounds good.

  With plans settled, Marina falls asleep, ready for a big day. It wasn’t very common for her to be expecting something to do other than work, after all. Eventually, Marina’s alarm shouts at her to wake up at 6 AM.

  Marina does her morning routine, which includes putting on her worker outfits consisting of a blue shirt and teal pencil skirt, grabbing a quick bite and a coffee, and making sure she generally looks presentable.

  By 8:15, Marina is at a library she goes to often: the Stargazer Library. The library has plenty of bookshelves and has the color tones of light lavenders and vibrant violets. There are plenty of brown tables and white computers scattered across the library.

  At the front desk, the librarian of the Stargazer Library is reading a book. She has a purple hoodie that covers her head, dark purple pants, and dark purple gloves. While hard to see, the Librarian has dark, purplish hair.

  Marina approaches the librarian with a book in her hand. The librarian’s silver eyes look up at Marina as she puts down the book she is reading.

  “Hi, I would like to check out this book,” Marina says to the librarian.

  “Alright,” The librarian replies, scanning both the book Marina got as well as her library card. However, as the librarian scans the book, she notices the strange, blue bracelet on Marina’s wrist. The bracelet catches the librarian’s attention.

  “That bracelet… where did you get it?” The librarian questions Marina as she points at the bracelet.

  “Oh, this?” Marina says as she holds up her wrist, showing the blue bracelet in better detail. “I got this bracelet yesterday. It's pretty, isn’t it?”

  The hooded librarian stares at the bracelet for a good second. Her expression shows shock, but a layer of curiosity is hidden under. After looking across the library for any nearby listeners, the librarian speaks up again. “Hey, listen-”

  “Oh my, won’t you look at the time! I’m gonna be late!” Marina shouts, gazing at the clock. It’s 8:34 AM, less than thirty minutes before her shift begins. “I’m sorry, but I need to go!”

  Marina trots away as fast as her shoes can let her. “Hey, I need to speak to you!” the librarian yells at her.

  Before the librarian can continue, Marina has already run out of the quiet library. The librarian huffs in frustration as a result. “Damn it… was she…” the librarian says under her breath, then sighing in resignation.

  Meanwhile, Marina manages to rush to her workplace in time, the tropical Inn Island. Being the receptionist, she gets to check in and out a colorful variety of people to the hotel. Despite that, work is mundane for her, feeling extra excruciating since she knew about her date by evening.

  When work ends, Marina enters her home, excitement filling her up. She dresses herself up and begins to get ready for her date with Fisher, when suddenly…

  Tap!

  Marina’s bracelet hits her brown table, the gem on it having a sense of pressure between it and the main body of the bracelet itself. The lady hesitates for a moment, confused, before she notices a bluish light covering her vision.

  “Wh-wh-wha?!” Marina stammers in her confusion as she feels something poking into her wrist and injecting something fluid-like into her body. The glowing stops a second later, leaving her back in her normally lit kitchen.

  Marina looks down at her own body, noticing that her outfit is different. She now has an azure, puffy dress that flows down to her knees. The rim of the dress is a lighter blue, reminiscent of that of a waterfall. On her chest is a blue, circular brooch with a white teardrop on it. She has long, baby blue gloves alongside leggings with the same color. On her feet are shoes that, while resembling clogs, look and feel fancy.

  “I-I…”

  Marina is barely comprehending her new form. For several seconds, all she does is act like a deer in headlights, gazing at her new clothes while frozen in shock. When her initial surprise wears off, Marina slowly moves a shaky hand to the dress, feeling the smooth, almost cool fabric.

  “What just happened to me?” Marina says out loud, adjusting her body and taking in the dress. “Why am I in this?”

  As Marina stares at her new form, she notices that the bracelet on her arm has disappeared. Holding up her wrist in front of her face, she wonders why the strange bracelet she found isn’t on her. I swore I put it on today, did I? I literally saw it glow just-

  Marina realizes that it was the bracelet that changed her form, something she momentarily forgot in her shock. Despite that, it didn’t explain why it went away from her. The talking fish… the glowing… the sudden outfit change… that bracelet was surely magical. Marina figures in her head.

  Marina remembers the date she’s about to have with Fisher. While this dress is nice-looking to her, she doesn’t want to use it for the date. She has something else planned when it comes to her outfit.

  Marina attempts to take off the dress, but notices that she can’t. It’s like the dress melted itself onto her. Confusion returns to her as she asks herself why she can’t take the dress off in her head. She pulls the dress again, but to no avail.

  Oh no… Marina thinks to herself. She begins to panic, tugging at the dress, but no matter how hard she tries, the outfit won’t budge. Her shoulders have a few marks from her hands digging into them. Oh no no no no!

  Marina notices the time on the clock: 5:38 PM. Her date is going to begin, and she has no idea how to change her outfit. She slowly slumps onto the floor, repeatedly whispering ‘Oh no’ to herself. Marina’s breathing speeds up as her anxiety kicks in, along with making her rock back and forth.

  Putting her hands against her hair, Marina can feel something on top of her head. For a bit, her panicked thoughts are distracted by the strange object attached to her. Is that a crown? Marina thinks to herself before returning to her worries.

  Marina isn’t sure what to think anymore. Her thoughts are just a swirl of worries and anxiety from the strange outfit attached to her like a leech. She can only let out a few whimpers and tears from her predicament.

  “Meow,” Catfish, Marina’s gray cat, coos. The cat walks to Marina and headbutts her hand. Marina’s thoughts are set aside when she notices Catfish and begins to pet him instinctively.

  “Hey, Catfish,” Marina quietly says to her cat. Her mood heightens with her furry friend comforting her. As she grazes Catfish’s soft, thin fur and senses the vibrations of his purring, Marina continues to talk. “Thank you for helping me, little guy.”

  The black-haired woman takes a moment to think about what she just said. ‘Help’. That’s what she needs right now. But how can she get such help regarding her current costume problem?

  Marina’s mind wanders to her friend, Aria. She’s gotten a new dress similar to her, after all. Maybe, just maybe she can help her in some way. The only issue is that Aria is almost certainly working right now.

  Marina looks at her clock. It’s now 5:46 PM. She doesn’t have much time before her date starts, and she’s unsure if she should see Fisher in this strange dress.

  Without much time to spare, Marina gets up and starts her trip to The Flying Chicken. It’s silly to her that she’s going to a fast food place when she has a planned date, but The Flying Chicken is where Aria works.

  Now speeding away in her blue car, Marina can feel some of her thoughts haunting her. Can I deal with this in time? Can I even remove this outfit? Will Fisher even like me in this?

  With dread in her mind, Marina can only hope that her friend can solve her problem. Maybe she can get rid of this dress. Or maybe… Marina is in for the worst.