“Pathetic. Simply pathetic.”

Chameleon and I knelt on our tails before our Commander as she reamed into us. The rest of the pod of mermaids sat half submerged in water behind us, tactfully silent.

“Did you even try? Twenty minutes. The average for the Ube course is eight.” She sneered, pacing on the sandy inlet. Though my head was down, I peered past her feet to where the purple majesty of Ube stood. It took eight minutes to just climb the damn thing. “I’m confiscating your bintilets. Clearly none of you are ready for it.” She said, holding out her hand expectantly. The pod groaned. “Shut it! If you were so damn intent on keeping your legs, you should’ve fought harder for it.”

She turned to the side where her second-in-command stood in wait. “Coraline, gather the bintilets.”

Coraline stepped through the water and collected outstretched shell necklaces from my teammates. The Commander continued to hold out her hand, personally expecting mine. I reached for the cerith shell around my neck and lifted it off. The emerald in its mouth winked at me.

“This is my personal bintilet,” I protested, daring to look directly up into the Commander’s striped eyes. She was already spinning Chameleon’s in her fingers, and my defiant outburst had her glaring down at me. “I can’t give it away! I-I won’t be able to tell it apart...from the others...”

“I. Don’t. Care.” The Commander snatched my bintilet and wound it with Chameleon’s. She sneered down at me. “I don’t care if you’re Captain Vila’s daughter. The entire pod loses their leg privileges. Including you.”

Coraline returned to the Commander’s side with a bunch of necklaces all tangled together. I wanted to cry as mine was added into the mess. How would I be able to tell them apart now?

The Commander turned back to us and stood straight. “Return back to the barracks promptly at eight for roll call.” She pointed her coral rod at me. “And don’t forget—these two idiots are the reason none of you will be able to reach the upper floors of the Academy. You’re dismissed!”

A roaring wave passed through, sweeping my teammates back into the sea. Chicory Bacon turned to me and let out a pissed sigh. I glared back at him. This whole thing was not my fault.

“You slowed me down.” He grumbled. I scoffed and threw sand at him, but he ducked and rolled back into the sea.

“Lock those in Captain Valle’s office.” The Commander told Coraline before jumping into the sea. Coraline sighed and looked from the Commander’s retreating form to me.

“…Wanna get some food?” she asks.