PART ONE- I decided to put this first part up, regardless of the fact that I don't have a beautiful cover image courtesy of fvcutie0028 ):
But anyway, like I've been saying lately, this won't be updated for a while. Probably not until late October, early November will I find time again to update this.
But I wanted to let you all know that I will finish this three shot, and then I actually have a few other mermaid fics I've thought of that I might post. I'm insane.
I don't own Phineas and Ferb. I do own Jack and Jordan, though they don't come in yet (:
GENERAL POV
Stacy sighed and tightened her grip on her suitcase, glancing down at her sister. "Can you believe Mom thought that a week on a fishing boat would be beneficial?"
Ginger shrugged, more to adjust her backpack than anything else. "I don't know. It could be interesting. And she is pretty good friends with the captain."
Stacy rolled her eyes. "Maybe. But it's also a week of no electronics, hanging out with our friends, or going to the mall."
Stacy thought she saw Ginger smirk for the briefest second, but it was wiped away so quickly that the teenager couldn't be sure. She shrugged slightly and turned to look down the dock where her mother was talking to Captain Morelli.
"So when do you guys leave?" came a voice from just below the dock.
Ginger and Stacy both jumped at least a foot before looking down at Candace, who was dangling from the dock by her elbows, her tail halfway out of the water. "Jeez, Candace, don't do that!" Stacy hissed.
Candace smirked slightly. "Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all.
Ginger glanced around nervously. As Stacy's sister, she was one of the few Fireside Girls who knew about Candace being a mermaid, along with Isabella and Adyson. "Won't someone see you?" she asked.
Candace grinned. "Not unless they don't find dancing dolphins amusing," she said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to the other side of the ship.
Stacy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "So what are you doing here?"
Candace adjusted her position on the dock carefully before answering. "Just came to see you off."
Stacy raised an eyebrow. "It's like, seven in the morning!"
Candace chuckled. "I know. I didn't want to wake Mom and Dad, since they had such a long night at the antique fair, so I rode my bike down to the beach and swam over here."
Ginger and Stacy glanced at one another. "Why didn't you just ride up to the dock?" the younger of the two questioned logically.
Candace shrugged, hard to do when she was holding herself up purely with her elbows. "Because, I wanted to talk to some friends about keeping an eye on you two for the next five days."
Stacy shook her head. "Why would you do that? We'll be fine! We know the captain, and he says the crew is a good one."
Candace tilted her head to the side, her eyes sparking with slight worry. "I know. But what if the boat capsizes or something? I mean…just in case. Besides, they're ok with it."
She glanced to her right as Dr. Hirano and Captain Morelli started over. "Gotta go. Have fun, guys!"
She vanished with barely a splash, leaving Stacy to wish that she had asked who would be keeping an eye on them.
The two girls turned to their mother, waving to Captain Morelli as he boarded the ship. Dr. Hirano raised an eyebrow as she got closer to the girls. "Was that Candace I saw?" she asked in a low voice.
The girls giggled and Dr. Hirano rolled her eyes. "Ok, girls, behave. If you want to call home, you're going to have to ask Joe," she said, referring to Captain Morelli by his first name.
Stacy sighed. "I still can't believe you won't let us take our phones with us!"
Dr. Hirano smiled thinly. "Because, I want you girls to actually learn something."
She kissed each of them on the forehead and sent them up to the boat, where the two stood at the railing, waving as the ship pulled out of the dock.
When their mother disappeared from sight, Stacy turned to Ginger with a sigh. "Well, we might as well go find our cabin," she muttered.
Ginger rolled her eyes. "That's the spirit, Stace!" she said sarcastically, adjusting her backpack once more and leaving the railing, Stacy close to her side.
It took the girls nearly five minutes to find a crew member, which Stacy found slightly odd, seeing as how they were on a boat and all. The first one they came across was tall and very skinny, almost ferret like.
He glanced down at the girls with a raised, uninterested eyebrow, and Stacy instinctively stepped in front of Ginger. "Um, hi. Can you uh, tell us where our cabin is?"
The man squinted an eye at them and proceeded to spit over the side of the boat. Stacy grimaced ever so slightly as the man turned back to them. "Names Vincent. Vinne for short," he said, crossing his arms. "You two must be Stacy and Ginger."
Stacy nodded slowly. "Yeah. Do you uh, do you know where our cabin is?"
The man scowled and hollered over his shoulder, "Carlos! Show these here girls where the cabin is!"
A large, muscular man stepped out of the shadows and looked down his nose at the girls, giving them the faintest smile. "Sure thing."
He gestured to Stacy and Ginger and they followed quickly, more comfortable around this large man than Vinne. He was weird.
He led them down a short staircase and into a long hallway. He pointed as he walked.
"Down there is the kitchen and dining hall," he said, pointing to the left. "Stephanie's the name of our cook."
He pointed down another flight of stairs. "Down there is where we keep the catch of fish. Don't go down there, because it's dark, cold, and smells disgusting."
Stacy and Ginger nodded quickly, not having planned on going down there anyway. Carlos smiled thinly and turned around to face them as they reached the first door on the left. "Your cabin, ladies," he said with a gesture.
Ginger stepped in quickly, but Carlos caught Stacy's elbow before she could follow. "Be careful," he whispered seriously. "These men may come highly recommended to Joe, but a lot of them are bad news. You girls come to me, Joe, or Steph if you have any problems, all right?"
The sisters glanced at one another, and then back at Carlos, Stacy finally noticing the glint of concern in his eyes. They nodded quickly. "Of course," Stacy said, backing into the cabin quickly. Carlos didn't stop her. "Thanks."
She practically slammed the door in his face before leaning on it heavily, her face pale. Ginger looked startled, and her eyes sparkled with worry. "What was that all about?" the Fireside Girl asked.
Stacy shook her head slowly. "I'm not sure. But I think we should listen to Carlos. He seemed serious."
Ginger nodded, and the two finally took in the room.
It was small, as rooms went in, with a bunk bed against the left wall and a desk against the right. A door that led to the bathroom was directly across from the cabin door, and a closet was next to that. A small dresser sat at the foot of the bunk bed. Everything but the desk chair was nailed down to the floor.
Ginger smiled. "I call top bunk!" she yelped, clambering up to the top and plunking herself down.
Stacy smirked, trying to forget about what had just happened, and shrugged, setting her bag down on the bottom bunk. "That's fine. If the sea gets rough, you have farther to fall."
Ginger scowled at her sister, her bottom lip puffed out. "You meanie."
Stacy giggled and the two set to work unpacking their things from their small duffel bags they had brought and putting them in the dresser and closet.
It took nearly all day, but when they were done, everything had been stored somewhere, even their shampoo and things, which had gone into the cabinet under the sink in the bathroom (there so nothing would fall from the mirror and hit them in the head in case of rough waters). They had even cleaned the space, finding more dust than they had ever wanted to.
Ginger stretched and glanced briefly at the clock, frowning. "When did Joe say dinner was?" she questioned.
Stacy looked over at the clock as well, blinking in surprise. "Wow. Five o'clock already? We were really focused. I don't think he did say, but we can go ask the cook…what did Carlos say her name was?"
Ginger paused for a moment, chewing her lip. "Stephanie, I think."
Stacy nodded and turned the knob, pulling open the door and glancing into the hallway. "That sounds right. Come on, let's go ask."
The siblings stepped into the hall, shutting the door behind them, and headed for the kitchen. They walked in to find a thin woman, probably in her early thirties, with light brown curly hair bustling around, a spoon in one hand and a pot of potatoes in the other.
She glanced up as she heard the door swing shut and she smiled brightly. "Hey! You must be Ginger and Stacy."
Stacy smiled, liking the woman instantly. "Yeah. And you're Stephanie, right?"
She laughed easily, waving the hand with the spoon in it. "Oh please, call me Steph. You girls hungry?"
Stacy and Ginger glanced at one another. "I thought there was a set dinner time?" Ginger questioned.
Stephanie hesitated before setting the potatoes down on a stove. "Well, there is for the fishermen. But I personally wouldn't eat with them. I've never worked with Joe before, but Carlos and I try our best to avoid these guys. I would eat with us, if I were you. It's nice to have young ladies on the ship for once," she finished with a smile.
The girls shrugged. "Well, ok," Stacy said slowly. "When do you guys eat?" she asked.
Stephanie glanced at the clock. "About seven thirty, after the others are done. It's a little later, but it's worth it."
The sisters nodded immediately. "All right," Stacy said. "We'll be here."
For the next two or three days, the two skirted around the creepy fishermen as best they could, only talking to them if needed. They ate dinner with Stephanie and Carlos every night, and really enjoyed it.
It was on the third day out at sea that Stacy walked out of the bathroom and caught Ginger stuffing something back into her bag. The teen raised an eyebrow. "What was that, Ginger?"
The girl winced and pulled the item back out. Stacy stared at in disbelief. "Is that a cell phone?"
Ginger tilted her head. "Well, sort of. Phineas and Ferb gave it to me. It'll only work if we're not having fun though."
Stacy sat down on the bunk next to her sister. "How does it do that?"
Ginger looked at her weirdly. "It's Phineas and Ferb. You think I know how it works? All I know is that we must be having fun, because it won't turn on."
Stacy giggled and glanced at Ginger's bag. "All right, what else is in there?"
Ginger blushed. "Why would you assume-?"
She cut herself off at Stacy's look and sighed, pulling everything out. "Human suction cups, so we can explore the sides of the ship, a snorkel and goggles, so that we can see and swim underwater, um, these x-ray glasses…Phineas said they might not work, some cards that scan the number and suit into your head for card tricks, and these invisibility pens."
Stacy looked at her curiously. "Why would they give you invisibility pens?"
Ginger shrugged. "They want us to test them out. Phineas is 92 percent sure that they'll work. And because they were made by Phineas and Ferb, they probably will."
Stacy chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Well hey, the boat is anchored and the fishermen are throwing their nets out. Want to go up and watch?"
Ginger glanced down at her hands. "Well…I've been thinking. Candace can talk to fish. It kind of creeps me out now to see them, you know, dead."
Stacy sighed and leaned back. "Oh good. I'm glad I'm not the only one who was thinking that."
Her sister glanced at her with a grin. "Really?"
Stacy nodded. "Yeah, we'll go up whenever they're done."
Ginger smiled in relief. "Thanks, Stacy."
The girls sat quietly in their cabin for a while, reading and talking, and nothing really happening.
But all at once, the boat rocked and the girls jumped to their feet, looking at one another. Cheering came from the upper deck and Stacy sighed in relief. "Oh, they just brought in a big catch. I thought a storm had started or something."
Ginger giggled nervously. "Yeah, me too."
They sat back down, listening to the clamors of the crew above them. This noise went on for a few minutes before everything suddenly went dead silent. Stacy and Ginger glanced at one another in curiosity. "I wonder what happened," Ginger mused.
Stacy shrugged and reached into Ginger's bag, pulling out the x-ray glasses. "I know you don't want to look at dead fish, so I will."
Ginger smiled and Stacy slid on the glasses, blinking and becoming a bit disoriented for a moment before she got her bearings.
The Japanese girl looked around until she caught sight of the large group of men deck, all of them about as disgusting and rude as Vinne was. They were all huddled around a large net, and even with the glasses on, Stacy couldn't see what it was they were so excited about.
She squinted and then blinked suddenly as the mass of men began moving, dragging the net down the stairs with them.
The men turned to go down the second flight of stairs, leaving a gap just enough for Stacy to see what was struggling in the net.
The girl paled, wrenched the glasses off of her face, and ran to the bathroom to puke.
Ginger darted in after her sister, yanking her hair out of the way and waiting anxiously until Stacy had cleaned up. The girl was positively white, and Ginger sat her down on the edge of the tub so she wouldn't pass out.
"Stacy, what was it?" the younger yelped.
Stacy shuddered and rubbed her shoulders shakily, her eyes turning to her sister.
"A mermaid. They caught a mermaid."
DUN DUN DUN.
And come on. Whoever can tell me first where I got Stephanie, Carlos, Joe, and Vinne from gets a shout out!
Like I said, don't expect an update anytime soon. But that's all the more reason to review!
