Almost a week after the disappearance of Calista Landsell, a secret operation took place in the heart of the Low Country swampland. The disappearance of Aika Homura had prompted the FBI to get involved, with so many resources put into finding the girls. Yet it wasn’t until an anonymous tip came from a person using Aika’s phone, that told they learned about the secret location of the compound. They were even warned about the advanced security measures and were able to catch the perpetrator off guard before he could escape.

The mastermind behind the kidnapping was one Dr Julian Weller, a former scientist at the Landsell research division who had been made redundant after wasting funds on fruitless projects. Given his fragile state of mind he was more than likely to be committed to an asylum for rehabilitation rather than face jail.

Outside the secret facility, a clean-up crew was making a sweep both inside and outside for all evidence of Dr Weller’s experiments. Sitting on a log beside a 4x4 were two girls wrapped in foil blankets, while an older woman was by there side, offering them hot drinks.

“So, someone within used my phone to contact you?” Aika looked puzzled.

“It seems like it. We suspect they may have even sabotaged the security system so we could bypass all the tripwires and alerts. Honestly, in the last few days we had no idea where to look, Val was in quite a state…”

“I wasn’t that bad,” sniffed Val. Normally Val was an aloof and spoiled little princess, but here her face was pinched, holding back her tears as she tried not to make a scene. For Aika she felt incredibly guilty sending her off to find her missing sister, but in true Aika fashion she was understanding and gracious. She winced as Val gave her a hug, her back still sore from where her spines had been.

Both girls had been given an antidote to counter the serum. It had worked well on Cal, with most of her body no longer covered in fish scales. Her throat still felt sore from where her gills had sealed shut, and she was getting used to breathing with just her lungs but given what she had been through she wasn’t feeling so bad.

Aika on the other hand was still getting over her metamorphosis. Her transformation had been far more experimental, and undoing the damage was taking its time. Her hair had only started growing back and was much shorter than she liked. Lenora thought it was still quite cute. Then of course there was her tail. Without her scales, her fleshy plump tail was pink and soft, and she found she could still move it back and forth. The Landsell doctor had promised it would disappear within a couple of days. Hiding it from sight was going to be a pain, and she wondered if she had any skirts that were long enough.

“What will happen to my…” Cal realised what she was about to say and blushed, “What will happen to the rest of the Homo Lierganes?”

“Many of them are accepting the antidote, they will be taken back for rehabilitation, hopefully we can find out who they were and help them rebuild their lives,” said Lenora in her most diplomatic voice, “There’s a few who are rejecting the treatment, and they’re asking if we can leave them in peace.”

“I had a feeling not all of them wanted to go back,” replied Cal, looking down at the ground. She knew the bond that they all shared. It wasn’t going to be easy for the family to be split up like that.

“We’ll work on a protection program, find a safe place where they can live peacefully without being discovered,” reassured Lenora.

“I can help out with the rehabilitation too,” said Cal, it was the least she could do for all they had done for her during her time as a fish woman.

Aika looked around, “What will happen to the eggs…?” she couldn’t help but blush, even after reverting she still felt a small maternal connection to them.

“We’ll take them back to the lab. Kaelyn is already devising incubators for them.” We’ll make sure you are around when they finally hatch,” Lenora put a hand on Aika’s shoulder, “We just didn’t want baby Aikas running around the swamps.”

Aika blushed furiously at the thought, Val thought it was adorable and asked if she could see the babies too. For Lenora it reminded her too much of that one Star Trek episode…

Val hugged her sister tightly, “I’m just so happy to have my baby sister back with me,” tears wet in her eyes. It was first time Lenora and Aika had even seen Val act so sisterly and caring. Even Calista was surprised by this display of affection, and gingerly returned Val’s hug.

“Thanks Val, I missed you too…” Cal croaked with her slightly sore throat.

“Even if you do still stink of fish,” said Val, twitching her petit nose, “You really need a…”

Before Val could finish, Cal’s hand shoved her back and the older sister lost her footing in a muddy puddle and felt on her back into the shallow water. A scowl had lined Cal’s face and she had put all her frustration and anger into that one push.

Val slid herself back up, her clothes were soaking wet and covered in algae and a toad had found a place to perch on top of her golden princess curls.

“Now you really do look like a fairy tale princess,” smirked Cal

“You are the worst little sister ever!” snarled Val. Equilibrium it seems had been restored.

Still for Lenora there were many questions that remained unanswered. Who had been the anonymous tipper, and why had they given away the location of Dr Weller and the facility? Had they been here at the facility all this time? They had found Aika’s clothes, but her phone was still nowhere to be found…

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This is part 1 of an epilogue for the Missing Links series. Given everything that happened to the girls I thought it would be nice to show how them returning to normal. But don't worry, there is one final tf left before I complete this, and you'll be able to read it here tomorrow: same bat time, same bat channel (it's not a bat tf though...)