Karen: Ladies and Gentlemen, today, is the day! This is part 3 and the last fanfic in the In Trouble Series that I've done!
Zac: So, you finally decided on a setting?
Karen: Yep, this is a continuation of In Trouble Once Again, except about 3 years after the bonus Chapter from it. So, basically, Zac is now 21 and everyone has really gotten along with their lives.
Zac: Great. Any ideas about returning characters?
Karen: I do have a quick official list of returning characters! First off, Nixie, Cam, Tetrus and Lyla, our couples, will definitely be coming back, with a slightly bigger part this time, more action from them. Also returning are Felicity, Sarah and Ben, the three that went off on Spiritual Expeditions, bringing back some new found knowledge and power. You will briefly meet Lacrima and Bill and most likely Ivan.
As for Isis, Tanya, John and Nick... no word on them. I've not got them set to return for this story, they've done their part. Isis and Tanya might return briefly or pop up out of the blue, but John and Nick are not supposed to be featured in this. Besides those lot, we've got some new cast to meet as well. Seven new people will be met. Even though a lot of characters are returning, it's a slow build up to many characters returns.
Also, I hope everyone is looking forward to the new Season 2 trailer that will be coming out next Thursday/ Friday!
Besides all this, I did warn you about the story getting a lot darker, and this story is also where Mako Mermaid's predominant feature, the Trident, really comes into play. There will be some severe deaths, a lot more than last time and not everyone will be brought back to life. But besides all this, I do hope you enjoy the final part of the In Trouble series. On with Chapter 1 ^_^
Chapter 1: New faces, new places
Three whole years have passed since the incident with the Archelyte and End Prophecies, and everyone has moved on with their lives quite well. Zac and Evie are still working for the HMC and living in their lovely house on the centre of the island. Aquata is still the HMC's leader and Maya is still her second-in-command. Things have been fine for the four of them, enjoying their lives. Besides, Zac and Evie have been to some amazing places during their work, enjoying every minute of it.
Sirena and David also began joining in on some missions when they could, but they've been perfectly happy running the Ocean Cafe together. Carly now runs Evie's old shop for herself, taking a bigger interest in diving over the years. Since then, they've hired a couple of new waitresses to help out as well, like on days when they're busy.
Calypso goes out from time to time but still lives at Rita's. Rita is still the Principle of Suncoast High, so she's kept herself busy. Though recently, she's been thinking about returning to the pod since her ban was lifted almost four years ago and turn to teaching in mermaid school after all the fun she had with her last students. Calypso also joined up the HMC upon Maya's request, so that explains where she goes.
Lyla and Tetrus are still an unknown thing. Rita confirmed to the group that they did leave early that morning, deciding not to say goodbye. She hasn't made contact with them in the three years that she's been gone. Nixie on the other hand has kept her promise of coming to see everyone every two weeks. Cam has also come over twice to see how everyone is getting along.
Rob and Tess have settles into their new house, only a couple of doors down from where Lucy and Bill reside. The two families occasionally meet up to have general chats and look over any post they get from Evie and Zac.
It was quite a peaceful morning for Zac and Evie. They decided to have a lie in as they'd just come back from one of their longer missions. Of course, those two never do get any time to rest, as their peace was broken by the blissful sound of the bell on the door.
Zac stirred and shot up after registering the sound, getting downstairs as quickly as he could. He opened it to see a man about the same age as himself. His hair was very similar to Zac's own, except jet black and perhaps a bit longer if you looked carefully at the back. His eyes were dark blue and pierced in his left ear was a silver crown. He was wearing an outfit almost similar to that of the HMC's outfits. He adorned a long black cloak with the hood left down. There were five clasps running down it, all shaped live silver crowns, much like his earring. Since the cloak ran all the way down to the floor, you couldn't tell what his lower half was like.
"Can I help you?" Zac asked, still sounding quite groggy.
"I'm looking for Zac Blakely. I asked around the island and they said he lived in a house at the centre of the island, so it must be you therefore," the man replied.
"Zac, who is this guy?" Evie asked as she rested herself over Zac's shoulder.
"Forgive me," he apologised bowing slightly. "I'm Laidus, a messenger from Arca, the ancient mermaid city, here with a request from the King and Queen to speak to Zac Blakely, the merman who killed not only killed a demon, but also killed two member of the IMH who tried to destroy the world using the power of the Archelyte Shell."
"Hang on, ancient mermaid city?" Zac asked confused. This was a first, he'd never heard of it before.
Laidus himself shot Zac a confused look. "I'm surprised no-one has ever told you about it. It's a city that lies within a separate realm much like the HMC and Arcosta, but to get there from here, requires seven days of travel."
"Seven days!?" Zac shouted. "That's a rather long time isn't it? Where exactly is it?"
"It's half way around the world from here. Even though torpedo swimming for the whole way would only take a day or so, it's incredibly draining, so a two day swim is what most people do from here. From that point, there is a royal silver seal that takes five days to travel through, even though it feels like only a minute."
"Hold on a second," Evie interrupted. "If the King and Queen want to see Zac, why has it taken over three years for them to request to see him?"
"News travels slowly to Arca, especially when it's in another realm that takes five days to travel to, and also when the news is halfway around the world so far from its mark," Laidus explained. To Evie, something still didn't feel right. "Even so, there isn't much time to waste, they requested to see you as soon as possible."
Zac didn't see an issue with it. He too was a little baffled about how it took three whole years for them to ask about him, but nonetheless, he trusted Laidus about the message. "Okay, when do we set out?"
"Zac," Evie said tugging him back a second. "Are you sure you're okay to make the trip? It'll be a while."
"Evie it's only two days of swimming followed by a few seconds of travel, it'll be fine. I know it's going to feel like a while, but it'll be okay, trust me. Could you tell Aquata and the rest where I've gone? He did just say they wanted to see me as soon as possible."
"Okay, I'll tell them," she eventually replied, giving her boyfriend a long goodbye hug. "Stay safe."
Zac gave her one last kiss before heading off to the shore of the Island with Laidus. They both dove off into the Ocean waters, Zac not surprised that Laidus himself was a merman.
"So, you been like this your whole life?" Zac asked him.
"Yes, I've been one for as long as I can remember. I was brought up in the palace a servant to begin with, and now I'm one of the four royal messengers. From looking at you though, you've been through death and come out the other side haven't you?" Laidus asked in return.
Zac lowered his gaze away from Laidus for a moment before meeting his eyes again. "My grandad, Seiger, sacrificed his life so that I could remain alive. I ended up using up all of my human life force, and my merman half was too weak to keep me alive at the time. I'm lucky that I've survived, and that I've still been able to access my human form."
"I'm sorry if I brought up any unpleasant memories. We in Arca have only heard of your victories, not any of the consequences that occurred for both of them," he apologised.
"It's fine, like you just said, you didn't know," Zac replied, giving him a brief smile, Laidus smiling back.
After about six hours, Laidus suddenly stopped as they reached a beautiful coral reef. "Fancy taking a break?"
"I could do with one," Zac replied as he took up residence on a nearby rock, stretching his arms.
As he took in the beauty of the reef, he realised that it was so much more vibrant than the one out near Mako. The sight of it all was almost overwhelming. He was enjoying the sight until he felt something sharp jab into his back. His body froze up, unable to turn around. Within seconds, the all too familiar black spots began appearing around his eyes. Yet once again, he'd fallen victim to the Jellyfish Anthranox. "Not again," he said weakly as his body finally shut down.
Laidus floated behind him holding a piece of black coral, that happened to be the base for creating Jellyfish Anthranox. "Sorry Zac, but it seems our agenda has changed." He created a black portal and tossed Zac's body through it. "Hope you don't mind that too much." After Zac had gone through, he swam through it himself, the portal then disappearing.
- Back 6 hours ago, after Zac had left -
Evie had called up a group meeting with Sirena, David, Aquata and Rita. Maya had taken up a mission upon request of Aquata, and decided that she would take Calypso with her to help.
"What's with calling us all here so early so morning Evie? How come Zac isn't with you?" Sirena asked first.
"That's the exact reason why I called you hear. A royal messenger from Arca, Laidus, came round to the house this morning asking for Zac. Turns out the King and Queen had put in a request for Zac to come and see them. Right now, they're setting off on the long trip to reach the silver seal," she explained.
Aquata was not happy with the words that came out of Evie's mouth. She knew she should have told them about Arca before.
"Evie I have some very bad news that no-one hear is going to like," Rita spoke up, glancing over at Aquata. She nodded her head back at Rita, and she explained the bad news.
"Zac might be in danger again. Arca is situated in another realm but it's not protected by a silver seal. It's accessed by a portal by either those of royalty, those who work within the palace, and those who are granted access to create the portal. If this Laidus man you mentioned really was a royal messenger, then he wouldn't have said what he said."
Evie's eyes widened in shock at the information. "Please tell me you're joking?"
"I'm afraid I'm not," she replied in a sad tone. "What was he wearing?"
"He had a silver crown piercing in his left ear, and had a long black cloak that touched the floor, it had five silver crown clasps running down it as well," she replied, worry in her voice.
"That really is odd. That's the official messenger uniform when on land, and the silver earring as well. It just doesn't make sense," Rita said as she racked her brain to figure out why the two parts didn't add up. His uniform was correct, it could only be obtained from Arca so he had to have had access to it, but then why did he lie about how to get there?
"I propose a search for him," David spoke up. "If we head out now and split off in both directions to the other side of the world, we're bound to find him."
There was a general nod from the group, and a final nod from Aquata. "Then it's settled. David and Sirena, head west of Mako. Rita and Evie, go east. I'll go east as well." She handed David a necklace with a small conch shell on it. "It has a one way connection to the one I'm wearing. If you find him, just speak through it and I'll hear you."
David nodded and placed it around his neck. With that set, he created a portal leading the west shore of Mako, him and Sirena heading out.
"Ready Evie?" Rita asked as Aquata created a portal for the east shore.
"Ready as I'll ever be. It just doesn't make any sense as to why Laidus would have lied about the location if he came from Arca himself," she replied, clearly upset by the whole situation. She'd almost lost Zac twice, and she didn't want almost lose him a third time.
"I don't know either, the only thing we can do right now is search for him," Rita said as calmly as she could, taking Evie's hand and leaving through the portal with her and Aquata.
- 6 hours ahead, with David and Sirena -
"David, we've been swimming for about six hours now, can't we take a short break?" Sirena moaned. It had been a long time she'd been long distance swimming. Even though Nixie and Lyla could go all day and night, she wasn't prepared to swim for that long.
"Sure," he replied. They'd ended up stopping in the same coral reef that Zac had only a few minutes ago, as they were behind from when he left. He situated himself on the same rock that Zac had. Looking down, he noticed a piece of black coral with a strange liquid flowing out of it. For the three years that he'd been between land and sea, David became interested in researching different potions and ancient liquids. By now, he knew this coral and what it did like the back of his hand.
Sirena noticed his intense staring and swam up to him. "What's wrong?"
"It's this coral. It's called Althrax coral, the base coral for creating Jellyfish Anthranox, used to knock people out stone cold. When just the base coral is used, it's not as strong but it can keep you under for about half an hour. What matters is how much Jellyfish you add into it to amplify the time it knocks you out for. What worries me, is that with the liquid flowing out of it, this was broken recently," he explained.
"Okay, and your point to this is?" Sirena asked, not having a clue where he was going with this.
"No-one breaks Althrax coral without a reason to do so. Also, this is freshly broken, the fluid is flowing out at a pretty quick rate. This had to have been broken and used on someone by purpose," he replied, her and Sirena slowly realising what could have happened.
"You don't think that Zac and Laidus were headed this way, and that Laidus used it to knock him out?" Sirena asked.
"It's possible," David replied, realising that if it was true... "Then where did they go?"
David settled back down and used the conch on the necklace to reach Aquata.
- On the other side of the six hour trip to the east -
Aquata could hear noise breaking through the conch and ordered Rita and Evie to stop.
"David, did you find something?"
She listened to his explanation about the Althrax coral, nodding her head as he spoke.
"I think you might be right. It fits the situation, and as you said, it was most likely recently broke. It just fits. The only thing is, then where are they?"
"I don't know myself. I'm going to take a quick break with Sirena and head back for Australia and get to the HMC again, I'll see you there," David called down the other end.
"We'll see you back there too then," she replied, hanging the conch back around her neck.
"Did he find something?" Evie asked in anticipation.
"Yes, freshly broken Althrax coral, the base ingredient to making Jellyfish Anthranox. It seems all too likely that Laidus could have used it on Zac. It doesn't last very long as a base, so he must have taken him somewhere either close to that area, or possibly, another realm. David said he would swim back and regroup at the HMC, we shall follow," Aquata explained.
Evie smiled at the fact that they might have been onto something. She began torpedoing her way back, Aquata and Rita following behind her.
- Meanwhile, in an unknown location -
Zac began to stir at long last, the Althrax only lasting around half an hour as predicted. He looked around, unable to see anything for a moment. He looked down at his wrists to see chains strapped around them, the chains themselves leading to the floor. His tail was also chained up. To Zac, this was something he was almost too familiar with now. He was able to float back up from his place on the cold floor of wherever he was. He looked up to see he was almost in a massive hole, a circular ledge above him all the way around.
As he looked more closely, he saw that he wasn't alone. There were five other figures sitting on the ledge, and one of them was Laidus. All the others had tails as well, and from what Zac could see, they were all men. This was the biggest amount of mermen he'd seen in one place that he didn't know.
"So, he finally wakes up," one of the voices said sarcastically.
"You know he was knocked out by the coral toxin, give the poor guy a break," another one replied.
"Which was my doing. Guess I should have tried something else but it was the best I had on hand at the time," Laidus pointed out.
"Just what is going on here!?" Zac screamed, silencing the five above him. After having two previous kidnaps, he was truly furious to be kidnapped yet a third time. "Who are you people and what to do want from me!?"
"Well he's lively isn't he?" The first voice spoke up.
"Silence Jack," Laidus said, floating up from his spot on the ledge. He swam down to meet Zac's evil glare and scowling face.
"Now now, no need to look like that," he said to Zac.
"There is every reason to look like this! Why did you knock me out like that? If you were taking me to Arca, then I wouldn't be here in chains right now would I? So I'll ask again, who are you and your friends, and what exactly do you want from me?"
"Haha, I like him. He's very... to the point," Jack called from his spot on the ledge.
"Jack, one more word out of you and I'll have to shut you up through methods you don't like," Laidus threatened, looking up at him.
Jack suddenly shut up, knowing what Laidus meant.
Laidus refocused his attention on Zac. "You already know my name, I am Laidus. If you want the full truth from me then I shall be blunt. I'm not a royal messenger for Arca, I killed one of the four to get their uniform and piercing. You see Zac, a merman like you who has been through so much and still come out the other side of it all alive, is a valuable asset. It's not just that either, you are also a merman of Mako Island, which holds something pretty special, something only one who's power come from Mako could ever hope to get."
"Just what exactly? What is it that you need me for?" Zac asked, his voice still full of anger.
"You'll know soon enough, but for now, stay a while, which you will be doing seeing as how you're in magic lock chains, and listen to our story."
Karen: Boom, Chapter 1 done! The first chapter is never all that long, and it just a brief introductory chapter
Zac: Are you actually just trying to f*** with me now? This is the third damn story where you've had me captured for one reason or another, I'm getting kind of sick of it!
Karen: I'm sorry, but this is what the In Trouble Saga is all about! It's about you getting into trouble, and having to find your way out of it
Evie: And we have to usually come and save his ass, or help him save his own back hide
Zac: Do you think I want to keep on getting put in these unfair situations. I never know who the enemy is, and let's face it, no-one ever told me there was freakin' royal city for merpeople! It would have been nice to know
Karen: I said I'm sorry, it's all for the good of the story! Just last it out and I'll reward you with a nice long break until Season 2 comes out. Hope everyone is looking forward to the trailer! If you're wondering where I get all my best Mako Mermaids updates, google "mmermaids twitter" they usually have the latest info right away!
See you all whenever I decide to post Chapter 2!