Merrow (1)

Isma and Isidro burst from the sea onto the Seahorse's deck, and the crew watches as she, now half-fish, rouses him and smiles. Stunned, Isidro points out her tail, which she seems to notice only then. Isma takes to it at once, wandering the deck while yelping in surprise and practicing balancing a bucket on the new limb. She pauses to accept that the old village gossip was right: she truly is a merrow.

Unwilling to let his crew stay distracted, Roderick turns them back toward the Sea God. Isidro presses Isma about her change, recalling that at her cabin she had said she heard voices while swimming yet never grew a tail. Isma explains that this time she heard the voices plainly, and they told her to speak her true name. Before she can share it, Ivalera stops her, explaining that every Astral creature has a true name that grants others direct command over it once known, so it should be given only to the most trusted, and she advises Isma to tell no one present.

Serpico asks how Isma could know a name no one ever taught her, and she has no answer. Crewmen then spot more merrow in the water, all swimming toward the Sea God. Near the deity's heart, Guts breaks free of the swarming parasites by whirling the Dragon Slayer around himself like a tornado, the Berserker Armor sparing him any harm. Still the parasites press on, and the heart's beats grow so violent that his eyes and ears begin to bleed. Watching the gathering merrow, the crew wonders if they serve the Sea God, but before Isidro can defend them, Isma leans over the rail and leaps into the sea, declaring that she too means to fight the deity. Isidro has Roderick steer the Seahorse after her, setting a straight course toward the Sea God.

Isma adjusts to her merrow form and accepts that the village gossip about her was true. Ivalera warns that an Astral creature's true name grants others control, so Isma keeps hers secret. More merrow appear and swim toward the Sea God. Guts clears the parasites with a spinning Dragon Slayer attack but bleeds from the heart's violent beats. Isma dives to join the merrow, and the Seahorse follows her toward the deity.

The first chapter titled Merrow, this twenty-page Fantasia Arc installment ran in Young Animal issue 15 on July 22, 2011. It establishes the lore that Astral creatures possess a controlling true name and gathers the merrow as allies against the Sea God.