“Gelda!” Min shrieked.
Gelda heard her name but was too shocked to speak. The current had died suddenly and the Koi saw the brightly shimmering kelp plants all around. In her panic to escape the pulling waters, she’d actually gotten her fin wrapped around a particularly nasty patch.
“Gelda!”
“I’m here!” Gelda called, acutely aware of her body and waiting to feel the faintness that Min had told her about.
“Are you alright?” Min called.
“I...I think so,” Gelda cried back. It was true that she felt neither faint nor poisoned. She looked down at the scales on her body. Perhaps the poison didn’t affect her as quickly as Min? Gelda jumped as Min appeared next to her.
“Let me help you. I figured I can’t die twice, right?”
Min helped untangle Gelda’s fin and the two looked around hastily. They both saw it at the same time. A few yards away, floating serenely, was a large dark shape that looked familiarly like a Maraquan Wocky.
“Come on,” Gelda whispered, swimming over to Min’s corporeal body. Just like Gelda’s, Min’s body was tangled amongst the weeds. Gelda began freeing the Maraquan Wocky from her kelp grave.
“What are you doing?” Min asked.
Not wanting to sound too optimistic, Gelda gently grabbed hold of Min’s body and swam as fast as she could towards the opening to the bubbling pit. If Min called after her, she didn’t hear.
Once she reached the top, Gelda laid Min’s body near the ground, watching it float there tranquilly. “Min?” she called out. “Min.”
The eyes of Min’s body slowly opened, then fluttered wide. “That was weird,” Min said, reaching a fin up to her head. “Jubble Bubbles! My fin! My body!” She raked her figure excitedly, beaming at Gelda. “How did you do it?”
Gelda shook her head. “I mostly just wanted to make sure your body didn’t stay in the bubbling pit forever. Then I noticed the poison wasn’t affecting my skin the same as yours, so I thought if I could take your body out, then you might be able to reconnect.”
“Thank you Gelda. You’ve been so amazing to me. How can I ever repay you?”
“Well, how about a rare golden sea shell?” Gelda asked, nodding her head towards the entrance to the bubbling pit.
She laughed as she saw the look of horror on Min’s face. “Just kidding!”
The End.
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