Mysteries of the Deep

Abby Ebon

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Disclaimer: I do not own "The Thirteenth Year" (Disney, 1999) or "H2O: Just Add Water" (Nickelodeon, 2008).

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Caught In A Too Shallow Tide Pool

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

"Someone is here my son, we must flee. Follow closely after me." His mother instructed, raising her silver and blue scaled palms above the surface of the water – he knew what she planned, when whoever it was surfaced, she would call upon lighting and blind those who dared enter while they lingered.

His heart pounding so loudly in his ears he thought their 'guests' would be forewarned by it, Cody waited. He felt when the water shifted around him – saw when the two surfaced – his mother gave an abrupt gesture and Cody was almost too stunned by the sight of two mermaids to shut his eyes – but he did.

Behind his lids light flared, and not waiting to feel the echo of his mothers mind guiding him through the water – Cody took off, twisting around the two mermaids before they could do more then blink away the dots from his mothers blinding light.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

In the distance, a small boat seemed headed toward the island. They might not have noticed Jess, or thought themselves safe at the distance that they were at. Jess knew something was going on when they arrived and making sure they could not see him clearly, he took the binoculars from the cabin and used them to watch the bobbing boat in the distance. They noticed him - that much was sure – but they thought his ship empty for it was anchored near the reef.

Jess swallowed drily when he thought he saw shadows moving beneath the glimmering surface of the water. He fretted over the thought that Cody and Julia might have gotten confused to where his boat – though it was a "sail ship" compared to this open vessel the strangers were in - was. He had never been in sight of another boat before when he had left the shore to follow them.

Tilting the binoculars toward the smaller boat he noticed one – the darker haired - of the two boys leaning toward the side, as if waiting. He spoke, and whatever it was caught the fair haired boy by surprise.

"Lewis…?" Jess muttered the name, seeing the blond look nervously toward his ship giving him a clear glimpse of his face through the lens. Jess had met Lewis at the aquarium, he seemed the nice sort – reminding himself of Jess when he had been younger – though perhaps Lewis was more sure of himself. Here knowledge did not seem to be scorned quite so much as when Jess had been growing up.

What he saw next worried him all the more, the shadows did indeed surface, human at the torso but with glinting gold and rich oranges scales below. They were mermaids, though not the ones Jess knew. Over the years Jess had gotten fairly good at lip reading, it was the only reason he knew what was being said – otherwise he would have been clueless.

"You won't believe what we saw… a mermaid – only, she was old… summon lightning… defensive, she blinded us…. thought she'd died – Julia, wasn't that her name… is still alive – and still is a mermaid… there was a merman with her…" Unaware he had muttered what he caught being said under his breath. Sick dread filled him, he couldn't hold himself steady anymore – crouched as he was – he suck back against the chill metal cabin of the ship, he didn't stir until he heard the small motor of the boat churn as it headed to the mainland.

Almost dazedly, Jess hoped the two mermaids had good instincts about who to trust, remembering all too clearly the madness his father had taken to having glimpsed a mermaid and been out casted for claiming it. Remembered with worry cold in his belly that Sean – who had been Cody's best friend - had glimpsed the fins along his forearms that day the change had taken him completely, Jess had never told Cody but he still worried about Sean who had said nothing of what he had seen or thought.

Sam, who had been barely more then Cody's crush, had found it the world too strange for her. While she still kept in contact – like Cody's human parents – she was content to think the summers Cody and Jess had spent together had been a regular vacation, and when school had ended she only called up, seeming to reassure herself it was not a fantasy.

'Their still out there…. I have to wait…make sure they're alright.' Jess told himself, trying to distract from the awful fear he had felt. He worried at what might have happened if the gold and orange tailed girls had caught Cody and Julia in their territory. They were young – but remembering the random burst of abilities Cody had shown – that did not mean they were unskilled or any less powerful. There had been two of them, after all, and Cody still relied for the most part on his mother to direct and protect him.

"Jess…?" A voice – Cody – hissed, and Jess stirred crawling in a way that was almost embarrassing to the edge of the ship where he could see Cody – worried and drawn, his normally sun darkened skin had blanched a sickly looking color.

"I'm here." Jess reassured him, having caught sight of the elder.

"What happened to you?" Cody asked taking in Jess' own preference, Jess didn't know what he looked like but he reflected that it had to look pretty awful for Cody to not even greet him in the usual way.

"There were two mermaids…" Jess trailed off at the look of fierce protectiveness that darkened Cody's eyes.

"Did they hurt you?" Cody demanded sounding both rash and enraged with his words. Jess knew Cody would do something he didn't mean if he wasn't calmed down quickly, Jess shook his head trying not to look drawn and tired – he hadn't done anything straining – but he had been so very afraid and helpless.

"No, but listen Cody – there was another boat here, a little motored one – the mermaids surfaced at their side, looked like they knew and trusted the two boys in it. But…" Jess paused wondering if he should tell Cody of Lewis before he spoke to the other boy at the aquarium. He was sure Lewis had recognized his sail ship. Before Cody could think to question Jess at his pause, he started to look distracted and Jess for the first time was grateful for Julia's interruptions.

"It doesn't matter, Jess. Mother says she thinks she knows someone who has answers. I think she's going to the shore to meet with them…." Cody looked puzzled at this – he had good reason to be - for Julia had never ventured close to the shore alone unless it had been in Cody's youth…

"Jess, do me a favor?" Cody asked then, looking to Jess with affection and worry. Jess knew it would most likely have something to do with Julia's unexpected trip to the shore of the mainland and found it almost too easy to smile for Cody's sake with a nod of his head.

"You don't even have to ask Cody, I'll make sure she'll be alright." Jess promised standing up slowly his knees aching for having been sitting most of the morning and noon – as now the sun was high in the sky- Cody smiled somewhat sadly, as if that was not quite what he wanted of Jess but he was unwilling to speak now. Jess shook off the thought, he was reading too much into things that just weren't there.

"Be careful, Jess…" The words were sung into his mind, soothing and delicate as a spider web might be. Jess looked to Cody to find he had left, though he had said his own silent good bye, whispered into Jess' mind. It felt all at once like a personal– almost too intimate – gesture, for merely friendships sake. Jess bit his lip, ignoring the shiver of pleasure that washed along his spine, even as he went about on the ship, pulling up anchor, unfolding the sails with a press of a button, then going to the cabin making way silently to the shore of the mainland.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

When Lewis and Ash reached the dock, Cleo and Emma had already dried off and were, in appearance, girls once more. They waited –somewhat impatiently - for Lewis to tie off his boat before rushing into an explanation of the plan they had formed together while they had waited.

"First we'll fetch Zane," Emma - who still did not like the overly rich boy who favored Rikki – curled her nose a bit at the mention of his name upon her lips, "and Rikki, and then call up Miss Chatham…I'm sure she'll have a answer to who the merman could be." Emma told the two, Ash smiled at her, and she preened pleased with the apparent approval.

Cleo merely nodded her own agreement, and reached for Lewis' hand. While he did not flinch away from her, Ash noticed he still looked worried and wondered if it had anything to do with the sail ship they had seen.

"Any ideas to where they are, Lewis?" Cleo asked him quietly, for it was clear then that that much of their plan relied on Lewis' knowing Zane as only he did. It was something the girls – and Ash – did not understand of the pair, they had had a rivalry since childhood, but when one needed the other they could be relied upon to come to help.

"Yeah," Lewis answered somewhat reluctantly, "likely at the motorcycle track …Rikki's been asking Zane to teach her how to ride." Lewis confessed, Ash gathered from Emma's and Cleo's surprise they hadn't known this. It turned out that Lewis was the only one to know for sure where the track was, so he led them there, however reluctant he was loyal to the girls.

The revving of an engine that purred like an all too large big cat was their first clue that they were close. Lewis had led them along the beach to a grove of trees that had no clear path through, though there were signs of the tires along the beach and the sparse vegetation. A clearing opened up surprisingly quickly, it took them around the track to the leveled platform that looked out over the rough terrain the motorcyclists favored. There was also a smaller smoother inclined track which – without hesitation – was where Lewis took them. Sure enough there were the two they were looking for bedecked in leather with helmets securely clipped on.

"Well, well, seems someone doesn't know the meaning of the word "private" or "secret." …" Despite his drawled words, he didn't look surprised or particularly upset that Lewis had showed up with the rest. Rikki had started to smile, but it paused before it reached her eyes upon hearing Zane's words and significant look to Lewis, who flushed not looking the darker haired boy in the eyes.

"Leave him alone, Zane, he's only trying to help." Ash grumbled out, unhappy at the open show of how they treated Lewis – he had so little respect from them – worse was that he didn't seem to expect to be thanked or included by them. It wasn't right, even though it seemed to be just how things were. Lewis had accepted that easily enough, but Ash couldn't.

"Want to make something of it, Ashy-boy?" Zane asked softly, though Ash knew Zane was furious at being told off in front of the girls.

"That's enough you two. We may have a…problem." Lewis interrupted, having seen how the girls were getting upset. Lewis knew he should not have brought Zane and Ash together if he could have helped it, but this was dire.

"What do you mean?" Rikki asked in a no nonsense tone, before either Zane or Ash could continue, both seemed to settle – feathers ruffled – but willing to share information for now. Lewis was always reminded of two dogs fighting over 'marked' territory when he was around them.

"Emma and I saw a merman - and a mermaid - in the moon pool. We think the mermaid was Julia – we'll have to ask Miss Chatham to be sure of that - but we've never seen the guy before…" Cleo explained softy, Rikki's eyes had widened in her surprise, though Zane's attention was on Lewis, who didn't seen all that interested in the facts laid out for them. The girls weren't alone, and Zane knew how much that meant to Lewis, but he wasn't reacting as he would.

The girls, too caught up in their own excitement as they trekked out of the grove intent on going to Miss Chatham's did not notice Ash and Zane exchange looks, both having seen Lewis' odd silence as something not normal. The look was a truce, and because Ash didn't feel he knew Lewis well enough to ask he walked with the girls – asking questions and keeping them distracted – as Lewis and Zane walked beside each other, both silent until Zane broke the silence between them with a blunt question.

"What's wrong with you?" It was, Lewis supposed, just like Zane to notice and to not keep it to himself that he did.

"I recognized the sail ship at the island. It's…Dr. Wheatley's; he just started work at the aquarium." Lewis confessed, though not wanting to let Zane know that he knew he and Jess were on a first name basis. Zane's knuckles whitened on the helmet he gripped, pressing his lips together in thought.

"Could he know Dr. Denman?" Zane asked softly, not wanting to alarm the girls – or have them overhear. Lewis thought about it a moment, then shook his head slightly. He had admired Dr. Denman before he had made the mistake of letting her get her hands on a sample of mermaid DNA.

"I don't think so." Zane had learned that Lewis' first instincts were often right and found him self relaxing slightly, though he was still tensed. The silence between them dragged on a bit.

Zane overheard Ash ask something of the girl's powers and how that while Emma's and Cleo's had manifested swiftly enough, Rikki had been worried with how long hers had taken. Ash was sympathetic and new, and perhaps that was why Zane didn't like him all that much. He shook his head, turning his attention once more to the withdrawn Lewis at his side.

"Then what has got you so worried?" Zane asked then, as he saw the elderly residential houses coming into sight, he was truly puzzled for though Lewis had told him the connection his mind was clearly elsewhere.

"The mermaid, I agree might be Julia, but…what about…" Lewis paused, biting his lip to keep his own council. Zane having read between the lines paused, and Lewis with him, though Zane hadn't been aware of it till Lewis glanced to the ground guiltily.

"The merman…you don't think he's Dr. Wheatley, or you would have said so, but he is connected somehow to those two. You think…" Zane paused feeling all at once worried, though he didn't want to say what exactly it was that worried him.

"Think about it, Zane, how else could a merman come about – either he was born, or…" Lewis paused, they had both seen the moon pool often enough to know how easily that they could have been affected.

"Or the moon pool could also affect men." It troubled Zane, he didn't quite know what was worse – that a mermaid could bare children that could become, in turn, be of their mothers nature. Or if the thought of being a merman thrilled him, he wondered – if it was possible – what Rikki would think of it.

"It can't be a coincidence, the phase the moon will be in – Julia's appearance, and… Dr. Wheatley…" That, Lewis knew, was what troubled him the most. He knew how the moon affected the girls – how eerie and frightening they became, the way Miss Chatham was – though strange and dignified – was also something he worried was natural in a mermaid's development. If Miss Chatham was the way she was, how strange and – perhaps – manipulative might Julia have become over the years?

It could be that Dr. Wheatley was in danger, and he wouldn't even know it until it was too late.

"Even so, we ought to keep this to ourselves; the moon pool only works if there are three of them. I imagine it's the same for men as well." Zane murmured softly, Lewis only nodded in agreement. Emma had knocked; the door opened to Miss Chatham's smiling face.

"I knew you would come!" Miss Chatham said by way of greeting, opening her door wider to let them come in. The girls settled themselves on a couch across from a chair which Miss Chatham claimed. Lewis squeezed in beside Cleo, but Zane and Ash had to stand, neither minded much as they found Miss Chatham very strange.

"What can I help you with?" Miss Chatham asked them, sitting forward so her elbows rested on the chair arms and her hands folded beneath her chin. She had dreamy blue eyes, but they were focused – startlingly so – upon the three young mermaids before her. Long golden hair, wavy and curling with a life of its own as it clung to her shoulders, seemed to frame her features.

"Well, Cleo and I found a mermaid – and a merman! – at the moon pool." Emma explained seeming to be the one which Miss Chatham got along with the best. Cleo merely nodded empathically beside her, Miss Chatham leaned backward and her eyes went somewhere else as she considered what she had been told.

"I always wondered…." Miss Chatham murmured, frowning slightly. Zane shifted his weight; he had never been on good terms with Miss Chatham having been the one to have her boat commandeered for its unsafe nature. It did not help any that Zane had had his own property damaged by hers and had taken it harshly, always having been protective of what was his.

"Wondered what?" Zane kept a polite tone with effort, but he didn't like how she strung them along so. Miss Chatham, despite of the bad history between them, only smiled at him in a way which was mystifying – and understanding.

"Of what became of Julia…and her child…" Miss Chatham explained then, somewhat bemusedly looking upon their combined confused and worried features. Ash looked to Zane, who lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. He hadn't known anything of this, despite having researched it all when he had been obsessed with that glimpse of Emma's tail he had gotten when she had saved him.

"She had a child?" Lewis spoke then, very tense as he calculated the years between when Julia might have left then and how old a merman – if it was hers – had to be. It was clear Emma was doing the same, and found the age of the apparent merman matched up.

"No, but she was with child when she fled from us. She had been horrified at what Gracie had done – give up her power for Max. She could never have done something like that, not for anyone however much she loved them. Our little group split up them, and when the time came, I too left my power behind having Gracie die – it was all too much to remember alone." Miss Chatham mused, and for a moment Zane was afraid she was getting lost and her memories and would leave them with only a bit of the information they needed.

"So, the merman we saw…could be her son?" Cleo asked, pensive and her brows drawn up in thought. Lewis patted her hand, smiling if only to reassure her. Miss Chatham seemed to notice, and approve. Zane was suddenly furious at her for thinking that Lewis - or Cleo - needed her approval to have a relationship.

"There is only one way to find out." Miss Chatham told the room at large, though her answer was for Cleo. All the same she raised herself awkwardly from the too soft chair; Ash was willing enough to help her.

"What about why she's here?" Emma asked with a puzzled frown as she too stood, followed closely enough by Rikki and Cleo. They followed after her like ducklings as she headed toward the door. Miss Chatham didn't answer them until they were out on the lawn, only then did she address them her gaze going over them all, seeming to make eye contact. It was a trick, Zane knew, that his father had taught him – to skim your eyes over a crowd and make them feel as if they answered to you. Nonetheless, somehow with Miss Chatham it was more effective.

"We'll find that out too – I indeed to ask her myself. Come along now, there's a cove along this beach that no one would remember near by, none save those who could get to it from the sea." She told them, leaving no room for argument or discussion she headed down the path to the shoreline, they could do little else but follow after.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Lewis at first thought that perhaps Miss Chatham had made a mistake, heading into tightly woven tress whose limbs pulled at hair and clothing alike, and with undergrowth so overgrown it seemed to have a goal of seeing one of them flat on the ground. It was just enough to deter someone into turning back rather then risk clothing or skin, after a few minutes of walking through what felt like a trap, they reached a strip of clearing that lead into the sandy cove.

Sea water dipped into it in the form of something like a dorsal fin of a dolphin. With sand uncluttered by trash it was as if they were alone in the world, sunning rocks peeked out from the water, it would be a prefect place to hide a secret. Miss Chatham merely looked around it once, breathed in and seemed pleased to know it was as she remembered.

Without anymore of a pause she made her way to the waters edge, closed her eyes, and if she had not been standing up it would have looked like she was asleep. Lines creased her forehead, and she pursed her lips impatiently, the boys looked among each other – baffled – while the girls frowned, as if they could hear something far off that the couldn't quite make out. At last Miss Chatham sighed, and smiled out over the ocean water, pleased with something.

"She is reluctant, but she is coming." Miss Chatham told them, glancing to see their puzzled expressions.

"What did you do?" Rikki asked, frowning – she hadn't stopped doing so since Miss Chatham had withdrawn in that moment of pensive silence - Miss Chatham for a moment merely looked surprised, her eyes widening ever so slightly.

"You mean you haven't tried to share thoughts?" Miss Chatham asked, making it sound as if they acted very particular indeed. The girls looked among each other, and Emma sort of shrugged, stepping into the position of spokesperson for their actions.

"Why would we need to?" Emma was honestly curious, and Miss Chatham only shook her head, seemingly both amused and disappointed all at once. Lewis glanced aside; it all seemed to prove that he was ineffective help for them, when Miss Chatham seemed so surprised at something like this.

"To speck to each other underwater, of course, try it sometime. It's much more effective then you might think." Miss Chatham encouraged, smiling as if she found that question amusing. Zane bit his lip, there was no way they could have known about such ability if they had not been told about it or stumbled upon it by accident. Lewis was not at fault for not knowing such a thing, though Zane knew Lewis would think it so.

"Thanks, but I'd rather keep my thoughts to my self." Cleo announced, glancing to Lewis something like guilt in her eyes. Ash could see that Emma and Rikki were silent because of this, not, he thought, because the idea of having such ability did not interest them.

"As you wish, dear…ah, here she is." Miss Chatham seemed riveted to the waters surface, as tide moved in and out for a moment it seemed that they had imagined movement beneath the waves. Then, almost shyly, a woman who seemed ageless peered out of the water at them. She was breathtaking, her golden hair though wet seemed to float about her in the water as if in a breeze. A crown of shells and starfish were fitted atop her brow, her eyes were dark though from the distance she kept they could not tell the color.

"Greetings to you, my heart –sister, Louise…it has been too long, and two of these children I know by face, for they startled my son and I. The rest I'll have to be introduced to …." Her voice was unusual – for her words seemed to be sung - that was Lewis' thought, until he realized that for all he had heard her speak, she had not done so aloud. Then he remembered the way Miss Chatham had 'spoken' to her – had told the girls, he just had not realized they could speak to others. Of course – why wouldn't they be able to do so?

"Yes, it has Julia, many dozens of years. These young mermaids are Cleo and Emma, those are the ones whose faces you know, I assume. They and Rikki are the next generation. The young men are their loves, Lewis for Cleo, Zane for Rikki, and Ash for Emma. Cleo and Emma tell me there was a merman with you." Lewis looked to Zane and Ash, who seemed to be able to hear as well, he noticed then the distracted air about all of them, and it looked as if they listened to music no one else could hear. Lewis knew then that this ability, however valuable in water where they would not be observed, was dangerous to use above land where people could catch on.

"This is a truth, my son –Cody - of twenty-two; he prefers to call himself a triton," it was clear this amused Julia with the smile that she graced them with then, "I assume, Louise, that after so long you can only wonder why it is I have returned...home." Miss Chatham merely nodded her head; it was enough of a gesture to indicate her curiosity.

"My son has a …friend, Jess, who means very much more to him then I think he knows. You and I know, Louise, how those who age on land and sea differ, there you are a aged woman dignified in her elder years, and yet here I swim, with the looks of someone two dozen years younger for all we are the same true age." Julia's smile then turned very sad, she looked so heartbroken and it gave her the look of someone older, though Miss Chatham gave her a look of sympathy, she did not seem overly concerned with her looks or Julia's own.

"I fear for my son, he will learn of this difference soon enough if I do not see done as I indeed. He knows I seek to do what will give Jess a choice of land or sea, and Jess is worthy of him. He will choose the sea, I do not doubt this. Yet, therein is the problem, the darkened moon will only turn three without a great change in nature corrupting a sea natured person, it is not any kinder then that which changed us…." There was a fear in Julia, of many of the things she did not want to happen coming to pass and hurting Jess – who meant much to her as well – or her own son, Cody.

"I'll do it." Zane said abruptly, stepping forward into the water, having heard the plea in her voice. Rikki looked alarmed in that moment, then calmed and looked fondly to Zane, seeming to understand in her own way why he did this. Zane looked to Lewis then, as if daring him to say something. Lewis narrowed his eyes, pressing his lips together.

"I as well…." Lewis said, seeming to be surprised by his own words, though Zane looked all too pleased with himself. Cleo swallowed, reaching out to hold Lewis' hand; she looked both worried, as if she might lose him, as she nearly had with Charlotte.

"Ash….?" Emma sought out him, looking pensive; he only shook his head somewhat sadly. He did not think it was right of him to step forward as a volunteer, both Lewis and Zane had known of this sort of thing longer then him, figuring it out on their own without so much as being shown. He knew too that if Zane had anything to do with this, he'd make sure Ash never got the chance just to spite him.

"Not me, Emma, I'm not cut out for this." Ash told her, it was truth but it still stung to see her disappointment plainly, and to see Zane's hidden smirk. Lewis saw it all, frowning, but not saying anything.

"Then it is decided, when the new moon rises three will become sea natured, by whatever name you choose – triton or merman." Julia had understood them, they knew, for all she had not spoken aloud; it was still a shock to hear her musical voice echo within them, and for them to sense her joy at their easy acceptance of what she asked. She knew also that it was a true wish, not something they felt obligated to do – Zane would to this for Rikki, so she would not be alone – and for himself so he would know what it was truly like. Lewis would do so for Cleo, and himself, for he had always heard the call of the sea and been unable to answer it.

"I think I prefer triton…" Zane grumbled, nearly too softly to hear. His response sent their laughter across the waves. It was not too long after that that the girls grew thirsty, for something unparticular they knew could only be found at the JuiceNet. Even knowing that they wanted to talk among each other of the change that would soon occur, without worrying Zane or Lewis, neither could blame them for wanting to do so.

They left then, after having kissed their girls on the cheeks, and bid farewell to Ash and Miss Chatham and Julia, the all too eerie mermaid who filled their hearts senses with some strange song of farewell they knew was sea natured, but could not quite understand. They knew also, that come tomorrows light…they would understand.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Note; hope the long chapter made up for all the waiting.