Call from the Deep

As the Sea God pulls itself out of the island, the crew of Bonebeard's ship revert to their tentacle shapes. Everyone aboard the Seahorse stares in awe, and Isma weeps at the sight of her home torn apart by the creature's movements. The Sea God throws up a huge wave that slams into the side of the ship.

Near the deity's heart, Guts battles still more parasites, these resembling the tentacle whiskers of the Sea God and posing him little trouble. Yet as he closes on the heart, it delivers a tremendous beat that flings him backward and lets the parasites swarm over him.

The wave crashes across the Seahorse and sweeps Isidro off the deck. Isma strips bare and plunges into the water after him. She finds him below the surface and tries to haul him up, but tentacle monsters rush toward them from the depths. Kicking upward, Isma hears a voice in her head commanding her to speak her true name. She utters it silently and is instantly changed into a hybrid of human and fish, her upper body largely unchanged while her legs merge into a tail. With the new limb's power, she carries Isidro back to the surface with ease.

The Sea God tears free of the island, reverting Bonebeard's crew to tentacles and striking the Seahorse with a massive wave. Guts is knocked back and swarmed by parasites as the heart beats. Isidro is washed overboard, and Isma dives after him, hears a voice bidding her speak her true name, and transforms into a merrow to rescue him.

This twenty-one-page Fantasia Arc chapter appeared in Young Animal issue 14 on July 8, 2011. It marks Isma's first transformation into a merrow, prompted by hearing and answering the call of her true name.