This chapter didn't get as far away from me as far as length is concerned, but it may still be a tad long. I apologize in advance for that.
A note regarding this chapter: With only three days to go until the official Season 3 premieres, I felt it was important to get this out of the way. As I said in the first chapter, and as I added to the story's summary, this story does not take the still-incoming Season 3 as strictly canon. However, it was always meant to use some elements from it. One of those elements, debuting in this chapter, is the character of Karl, who we only know so far from the Mako Mermaids website and the wikia. I am well aware I can't write an accurate version of him only with what we know from those sources, so there is a fair lot of speculation when writing the scene with him. I hope my idea turns out to be accurate enough, but in case it doesn't, I apologize in advance to all those who become fans of the real Karl after seeing him in the series proper.
So to answer any questions on that front, yes, I will continue writing this story, and will continue writing it as it was planned so far. There will be room for changes, but I won't build it around accomodating the incoming Season 3.
To the guest review from last chapter: Thank you for your constructive criticism. I always am glad when I get that. I will try to improve on the front you mentioned. For now, the best I can say is that I acknowledge I am a wordy fellow, and still a relatively new writer. I haven't yet struck the right balance between 'talking heads floating in vaccuum' and 'whole essay on the characters' thoughts, appearances, and locations'. The locations part in particular is still even trickier than the rest for me.
And don't worry, I don't hold your nitpick on Gunnar's accent against you. The issue will be addressed both this chapter and the next... and well, for what it's worth, I hope you at least accept my rather tacked-on solution.
Another note: This really should have been on the first update of my chapter, but I forgot to include it then. The song "I'll Be Your Today", of which a few lyrics are included in this chapter, is property of Pete Dacy, David Cameron, and Mushroom Music & Control, not of me.
I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 6 – Mermaid Lure – Part I
And I'll be yours today-ay-ay-ay
And I'll be yours today
If… you just… can stay…
As Sirena let her voice trail off to the sound of David's last strum on his guitar, the audience at the café gave them a sounding round of applause. Sirena curtsied to thank them, as David bowed slightly, still sitting on his stool and with his guitar on his lap. As Sirena rose from the curtsy, she saw Evie standing at the café's door, clapping with the others in the café. She must have come in while Sirena was singing without her noticing. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. Even in her early days of singing with David, she'd had a tendency to lose herself in the act and in him, but now that there was no secret between them, it was as if she and David vanished into their own world when they performed together.
As for Evie, she seemed calm, even happy, so if she had told her father the truth after all, it must have gone well.
"Well, that's it for now, folks," David said into his microphone when the applause ended. "Thank you all for being here."
While David took the guitar off of his shoulders and went to put it away, Sirena walked over to meet Evie, who had walked to the counter of her clothes shop after the applause ended to set down her purse. As they also noticed Evie's presence, Zac, Ondina and Mimmi leaned away from the counter and went over to meet her.
"Hi, everyone," Evie said, as Zac put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek in greeting. After she kissed his cheek in return, she turned to look at them.
Then, David joined them after having put away his guitar, with Carly, who had just finished taking two juices to a table, right behind him.
For a few moments, they all stood in silence. Then, Zac asked the question they all wanted answered, taking care to speak low enough for no one to eavesdrop.
"How did it go?"
Evie smiled a bit.
"It went well," she replied in the same low voice. "My dad was a bit sad that I kept it from him, but he also understood why I did so. We even went for a dive together afterwards."
Evie's answer was met with several smiles, words of congratulations and happiness, and two hugs, one from Zac, another from Carly. Even Ondina had the corners of her mouth turned upwards in a small grin.
After Evie let go of her boyfriend and best friend, she looked specifically at Sirena, Ondina, and Mimmi, and added, in a voice even lower than before, "And don't worry; he promised he wouldn't tell anything about any mermaids to anyone."
Sirena nodded, and so did Mimmi, but one of Ondina's eyebrows rose interrogatively.
"Any mermaids?" she asked. Although her voice was still low, it had gained a harsh edge. "What do you mean 'any mermaids'?"
Evie was silent for a few seconds, trying not to avert her eyes from Ondina but seemingly unable to keep looking her in the eye.
"I had to tell him a bit more than I expected to," Evie explained. "He knows about everything and everyone now."
Sirena gave Evie a sympathetic smile. When she had heard that Evie planned to tell her dad about being a mermaid while only including Zac and Mimmi, she had guessed how difficult it would be. She had had to tell David everything herself after she showed him her tail for the first time. Zac and Mimmi didn't seem upset either, presumably because they had agreed to be included in Evie's reveal from the beginning. Ondina, however, did not seem too thrilled.
"Everything and everyone?" Ondina parroted.
"Everything and everyone," Evie reiterated with a nod.
Ondina gave her a stern look. Mimmi put a hand on her best friend's shoulder to pacify her, but the other mermaid's expression didn't soften. Zac again put his arm around Evie's shoulders.
"I'm sorry, but he just started asking too many questions and guessing too many answers," Evie added. "I couldn't lie to him again."
"It's alright, Evie," Sirena reassured. "We understand."
Hopefully the 'we' she was thinking of was indeed true. She knew she spoke for herself and Mimmi – and for Nixie, although she wasn't here – but she wasn't sure if it was also true regarding Lyla or Ondina, especially because the latter still had a stern look on her face.
But then, her expression softened.
"I guess that it's better like that," Ondina said. "If he had any suspicions, he might have started snooping around on his own, and that could have been worse."
Then she smiled.
"And for what it's worth, I'm glad you and your dad can dive together again." Her look again became sterner, but this time with a playful edge, only emphasized by the way she jabbed her finger toward Evie. "Just make sure he doesn't take any more tourists to Mako."
Evie smiled and said, "We talked about that after our dive. He promised not to do it." After a pause, she added, "He even made a pinkie swear on it."
The statement caused all of them to chuckle.
"Oy!" A guy in a black leather jacket and faded jeans interrupted. "Is this a café or a talk show with the sound turned off?"
Sirena winced. She'd forgotten that with all of them gathered around Evie there was no one to serve the customers.
"Sorry!" David called back. "We'll be right with you!"
He gave the group an apologetic glance and then went over to the guy's table. After giving them a similar look, Carly walked to behind the counter to be ready to make whatever it was the guy had ordered.
As if their actions had reminded him of something, Zac's eyes lit up and he fished a piece of paper out of his shorts' pocket.
"And I'll be giving you this," he told Evie as he extended the paper to her. At her puzzled look, he explained. "It's Doctor Thomas' address. Dad already found it, and asked me to bring it to you. As soon as you want, we can go talk to him about Alana."
"We?" Evie echoed.
"We don't know this guy," Zac clarified, a serious look on his face. "It's true he sounds like he's a wonderful human being from what you said Alana told you, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather go with you when you meet him."
Evie nodded as she slipped the piece of paper into her purse. After she zipped it shut, she turned to them again.
"Did I miss anything here?" she asked.
Sirena felt as if a cloud had just shadowed them at Evie's question. Mimmi and Ondina had told her and Zac about the problem they'd had a few hours ago at the marine park, and they all had agreed Evie also needed to know. They still weren't sure whether they'd tell the pod, but any mermaid that came to land on a regular basis would need to be aware of him.
A concerned look started to creep onto Evie's face as she noticed their silence and expressions.
"What happened?" Evie inquired in a tone that matched her frown.
"Here at the café nothing, but Mimmi and Ondina say that there's a guy working at the marine park who looks like he's a merman," Zac replied.
Puzzlement replaced the concern on Evie's face. Her eyes turned to Ondina and Mimmi, she asked, "Why do you think that?"
"He seems to know what we are," Mimmi explained. "And he hasn't told anyone. Ondina said that the most likely reason we can think of is that he's a merman, and although it may be something else, we all agree it's possible."
Evie's eyebrows furrowed for a considerable while. Then, she spoke again.
"What does he look like?"
This time, Zac was the one who replied. "They say he's around my height, well built, pale, green eyes, really short light brown hair…" He thought as if to see he wouldn't forget anything, and then added, "Und apparrently, he talks with zis Gerrman accent zat is ze most carrtoonish you would expect to encounterr."
Evie frowned in puzzlement as she heard Zac's imitation of the supposed merman's accent.
"Really? How come?"
"If I had to guess, I'd say his English is really rusty," Zac suggested. "Of course, he may also be an idiot who never learned the language properly. But then again, he may also just be trying to make us think he's an idiot so he'll get the drop on us. It will be hard to tell without talking to him."
Evie took a few seconds to reply once more, her lips pursed in thought.
"And… how do you plan to talk to him?" she asked.
Zac put his hand to his chin and rubbed it as if the answer was crawling around on the spot. When he failed to collect it, he turned to Ondina and Mimmi. Neither of them had any answer for it.
"We're still working that part out," Sirena said. "In the meantime, we'll be staying as far away from him as possible."
"It seems to be the best we can do for now," Evie agreed.
The conversation could have gone on, but then a brown-haired girl a few years younger than them approached and cleared her throat. Evie turned around at the sound, and then walked to behind the counter of her clothes shop.
"We have to get going," Mimmi said. "Our lunch period is nearly over."
"See you," Zac said as he, Evie, and Sirena raised their hands in goodbye.
"And be careful," Sirena added.
The two mermaids echoed the gesture and smiled reassuringly as they walked out of the café. After watching them turn around the corner, Sirena turned around and went to meet David, to see if he needed her help with anything.
A while later (but technically several hours earlier because of the difference in time zones) at San Diego, Chris and his best friend Karl walked out of the Edgewater Grill, one of the many restaurants Chris had spotted during his afternoon walk through Seaport Village, after having enjoyed a very good (and admittedly very pricey) dinner in there.
"Thanks again for the tip, man," Karl told Chris as they went toward the ocean for a walk along the water. "The food there was awesome."
Chris shrugged. "It wasn't really a tip. I've never eaten there before tonight either. But you're welcome."
In a sense, it had been a difficult choice, as more than one of the restaurants had caught his attention, but Chris would be leaving tomorrow, so he would never be able to try them all unless he wanted to return to Australia as heavy as a whale and with his wallet as empty as two broken eggshells. So he had ended up choosing the Edgewater Grill as the place he'd eat at after going back to the hostel to drop off the bag of souvenirs in order to not have to carry them all night long. He had also ended up bringing Karl along after his friend had been curious enough about the place.
He didn't mind the idea of having dinner with Karl, but now that they were done with eating, Chris had a feeling he knew where the conversation would be going, and what Karl would be doing next.
"So, any plans for the night?" Karl asked.
Apparently he had been right. Well, there was no harm in that, as long as Karl understood he would rather do something else than what he was sure his friend had in mind.
"Not really," Chris replied with a shrug. "I guess I'll just go for another walk around here before I get back to the hostel."
Karl sighed theatrically in mock-hopelessness.
"How original," he deadpanned. "Couldn't you have come up with anything lamer, like embroidering a sheet or counting bottle caps?"
Chris kept walking, unaffected by the remark. "Well, why don't you impart your great ideas and tell me what you are going to do then?"
"You should know by now," Karl replied with a smirk. "I'm going back to that swell club we went to yesterday and try out my luck with that gorgeous redhead we saw, of course."
Chris remembered both the nightclub and the girl. He hadn't particularly enjoyed the experience, as that kind of more intense night life wasn't his cup of tea. Still, he couldn't help but chuckle at the idea. He pitied the girl, but he somehow pitied Karl even more for repeating the move after what had happened yesterday.
"You still think you'll get lucky with her?" Chris asked, making no effort to hide his utter disbelief.
Karl smirked again. "Of course I will," he replied as if he was stating a fact as true as the sun rising and setting every day.
Chris couldn't help a smirk of his own, although his' was amused rather than smug.
"You remember what she did yesterday when you made your move, don't you?"
Karl's smirk faltered at the question, but he quickly composed a confident look.
"I'm willing to give it another shot," he stated. "And you should too." As if he'd realized what that sentence was implying, he said, "Not with the redhead of course, but with another girl at the club, or even with any you find here. It's your last night in San Diego; you should try to make it a pleasant one."
Well, if his afternoon had been any indication, a night walk through Seaport Village would also be pleasant, probably even more so than the afternoon one as he wouldn't have to worry about not getting too much sun. He might have to leave soon, as the place closed at ten and it was already half past nine, but half an hour here would still be pleasant.
"Seriously," Karl insisted. "You've already turned down at least two smoking-hot babes because of that Mimmi gal who taught you about dolphins. I get being thankful to her – I'd be too if she had helped me make my dream come true – but that doesn't mean you owe her anything."
Chris tried not to roll his eyes. Karl had been one of the few at the dolphin training program who didn't make snide remarks about his relationship with Mimmi, but even he didn't seem to understand why Chris kept such a deep online relationship with a person he'd only seen for days.
"I'm not paying her any debt," Chris explained. "I like her."
Unlike Chris, Karl did roll his eyes; whether he'd tried to avoid it or not was unclear.
"I get that you think that," his friend said. "I even get that you feel that. But do you really think that's enough to keep a relationship with her when we go back to the Gold Coast?"
From his concerned tone, it seemed that he was, in a roundabout sort of way, trying to make it so Chris wouldn't put so many false hopes on Mimmi. But unlike Karl, Chris didn't believe his hopes were false.
"I guess we'll find out then," he replied.
Karl looked like he was going to say something else, but as several seconds of silence went by, it started to seem he couldn't find the right words to go on with the conversation. Eventually, he just shrugged. "Well, if you turn out to be unable to keep a relationship with her, don't say I didn't warn you."
"I won't," Chris promised.
"Well, I will," Karl stated. Chris gave him a puzzled look. "Or rather, I will be going," he clarified.
Chris nodded, excusing himself from further comments. In a sense, he knew that a night club was a place to meet people just like any other, but at the same time, Chris doubted Karl wanted to get to know that redhead like he wanted to get to know Mimmi. If he knew Karl, his best friend probably wouldn't even remember that redhead again after tonight, assuming he did manage to spend the night with her.
"See you at the hostel then," he replied.
Karl started to walk away toward the exit, but after only three or four steps, he turned around and walked back to Chris.
"Are you sure you don't want to come and see if you'll get lucky as well?" Karl insisted. "Last time we were there that redhead had a gorgeous Latina friend who seemed to fancy you."
Chris again stopped himself from rolling his eyes.
"Yes Karl, I'm sure."
Karl's gaze seemed to say 'Your loss.' but he held himself back from saying the words out loud.
"Enjoy your walk then," he said as he again turned around to the exit of the Seaport Village and walked away before Chris could say anything in reply.
Chris watched him leave for a few seconds, and then turned back toward the sea, to contemplate the lights of the Coronado Bridge, the lights of the cars on it looking like ants carrying live fireflies to their nest. He just hoped Karl wouldn't get into trouble. His friend's tendency to not take no for an answer could go way beyond pushiness, and although he did have a knack for charming girls, he had trouble telling those playing hard to get apart from those who weren't interested.
According to Chris' grandfather, who had known Karl's father since they were young, Karl's issues with girls were a family thing. If his grandfather was right, it certainly might explain why Karl's father had only become a father in his fifties, as well as why Karl was the man's only child. But then again, Chris' grandfather also had said more than once that Karl was much nicer than his father had been at the same age, so it was a bit difficult to tell.
And all in all, Karl wasn't a bad guy. He hadn't ridiculed Chris for only getting into the program with Mimmi's help, and had been accepting when Chris turned out to be the best at interacting with the dolphins. And while he did seem to think Chris had his priorities a bit out of order, he mostly accepted their different ways of thinking and never went any farther than trying to get Chris to 'join in on the fun'. He also took a 'No.' from him much better than he did those from just about anyone else. His only flaw was being a bit on the conceited side, but it was something Chris had learned to deal with.
The cars kept moving along the bridge, visible only as dots standing out against a dark backdrop. And time kept passing; he probably had to get out soon. It was a pity. This place was really nice to be at.
A shiver seemed to prickle up his spine at the thought, and the hairs of his neck stood on end. Chris tensed up at the feeling. It might seem stereotypical, but he had the feeling he was being watched… and for whatever weird reason, he had the feeling that whoever was watching him was standing to his left.
As discreetly as he could, Chris turned left… and then inhaled sharply, as less than three two meters from him, two women stood watching him.
One was blond with icy blue eyes, pale, and lean, the other had brown hair, eyes of a slightly different shade of blue, brown hair, and a softer, slightly fuller figure. Both were relatively tall (around 170 cm if he had to guess) both had long hair, and both were wearing ankle-length sundresses with matching flip-flops – icy blue for the blond, yellow for the brunette. All in all, they did not seem threatening. But the way they were looking at him, as if they wanted to chop him up and eat him for breakfast, made him uncomfortable.
"Can I help you?" he asked, hoping they understood English.
The two women remained as still as statues when he spoke, as if they both hadn't heard him and hadn't seen him moving his mouth. They, they started singing.
And the moment he heard their voices, Chris' brain switched off like a light bulb.
In spite of their fears about Gunnar, Mimmi's and Ondina's afternoon at the marine park went on normally enough. They put their carts at exactly the same spots they had been at before lunch, they sold souvenirs and ice creams as usual, and they chatted a bit about whatever came up during the quiet moments they got. The only tense moment was when Gunnar passed by them with a tour group and made it a point to give them a threatening look none of the visitors with him saw, but even that lasted only a few seconds, as he hadn't even slowed down to look at them.
Mimmi had taken that chance to assess his tour group as they passed by her; it seemed they were enjoying the tour quite a bit. So Gunnar not only knew about the sea but could capture an audience – which according to Ondina, must be some merman talent, given how Erik had also appeared to be trustworthy until he activated the chamber.
But although it was unpleasant, it didn't ruin the rest of their afternoon, which was just like so many others they'd had at the marine park. At least until two visitors Mimmi hadn't been counting on at all arrived.
Her first thought when they approached was that those two land girls looked an awful lot like Lyla and Nixie. But as they got close enough for her to identify them, she realized that they were Lyla and Nixie, looking straight at her as if they had been trying to find her, and with rather serious looks on their faces.
"What are you doing here?" Ondina demanded once they were close enough, right when Mimmi was about to ask the very same question.
"Well hello to you too," Lyla drawled.
Ondina flinched.
"Right, hello," she said in a calmer tone. Then, in a sterner, but still relatively calm one, she repeated, "What are you doing here?"
This time, it was Nixie who replied, looking straight at Mimmi.
"We need to talk to you."
Mimmi knew that socializing while at work was not well regarded, but the seriousness in Nixie's voice would have conveyed that the subject was important if she hadn't worked that out from the fact she and Lyla were here to begin with. After all they, unlike Sirena, Ondina, and Mimmi, hadn't made use of their own privilege to go back on land a single time since the pod had returned.
"About what?" Mimmi prompted.
"Potions," Nixie explained. "Or rather, their ingredients."
Mimmi's eyes narrowed in puzzlement.
"Why do you want to ask me about potion ingredients?" Seeing Lyla and Nixie scowling, she realized what she might have implied by her question and added. "Don't get me wrong, I'll be glad to answer what I can, but you haven't come on land a single time since the pod returned, and the pod's teachers would surely know whatever it is you want to ask. Why are you asking me specifically, and what is so urgent that you couldn't wait until I got to Mako tonight?"
Lyla's face softened at Mimmi's tirade, while Nixie rolled her eyes with a smirk.
"Typical Mimmi," the pale brunette deadpanned. "Always wanting to know everything…"
Before Mimmi could reply to that, Lyla butted in. "We're asking you because we happened to see a merman and two mermaids collecting all the things we want to ask you about and we decided it would be better not to tell the pod about them for now."
Mimmi's heart leapt into her throat, and Ondina's eyes seemed to double in size.
"A merman?" the curly-haired mermaid almost shouted.
Realizing her mistake a second later, Ondina looked around to see if anyone had eavesdropped. The other three mermaids did the same, but as far as they could see, all those in the vicinity were going on with what they were doing as if they hadn't heard them. As in the end Ondina hadn't actually spoken that
"Yes, a merman," Lyla repeated after they had checked no one was listening to them. "And two mermaids," she insisted as if it was an important detail.
In a sense, it was. Mermen and mermaids had been enemies for millennia, and although now her pod got along well with Zac, the fact that two mermaids clearly not from her pod were interacting with another merman seemed a little odd. Still, given that mermen had been revealed to have merely been in hiding, Mimmi supposed it wasn't impossible that every now and then a rare mermaid and merman would get along.
"Did the merman per chance look anything like that?"
Ondina's question dispelled Mimmi's musings; she followed the direction her friend was pointing at, and saw Gunnar standing about twenty meters away from them, his eyes narrowed as if he was sizing them up. This time, rather than looking at her and Ondina, he was looking at Nixie and Lyla, or, more specifically, at their moon rings. Lyla gave him her glare that could even scare sharks, but Gunnar either wasn't intimated or did a better job of hiding it than he had done this morning with her.
"Did the merman look anything like that?" Ondina asked once more.
"No," Lyla replied at last. "His hair was a bit longer and darker." Gunnar at last turned his gaze away and kept walking; only then did Lyla turn to Ondina and ask, "Why?"
Both Mimmi and Ondina hesitated. They, as well as Sirena and Zac, had agreed it was better not to tell the pod about Gunnar yet. But Nixie and Lyla were here with another matter that they found it was better to keep from the pod, and trying to lie to them by now would be difficult at best.
"We think that that guy's a merman," Mimmi explained.
Lyla shook slightly as if the reveal had a physical impact, Nixie scrunched up her nose like she tended to do when she was puzzled.
"Well, he's not the one we saw," the other brunette eventually stated.
"So now we may have two mermen who may be up to no good close by," Mimmi mused.
A shiver went through Mimmi. She no longer believed mermen were enemies by default, but Gunnar had already managed to make her uneasy. The idea that another merman was close by and potentially coming up with a nasty plot was far from pleasant, especially if he had two mermaids assisting him. Mermen were powerful, but if Erik was anything to go by, they were mostly ignorant about the ins and outs of the more complex types of magic. If that merman had two mermaids with him, they might have already shared a lot of information about mermaid spells with him, if not actually made a moon ring for him (as silly as the idea of a merman wearing a moon ring sounded).
"Let's focus on the important thing," Ondina pushed in, blunt as ever, her eyes locked on Nixie and Lyla "What exactly did you say that merman and those mermaids you saw are collecting for potions?"
Lyla and Nixie immediately turned to Mimmi at the reminder of what they were for, but the Northern Mermaid held up a hand before they could speak up.
"Hold that thought," she told them. Then she turned to Ondina and asked. "Can you look out for anyone who might be coming to my cart? I don't want to leave them hanging."
Ondina's ponytail swayed as she jerked her head toward Mimmi. "Sure."
While Ondina looked around to see if anyone seemed to be heading toward their carts, both Lyla and Nixie started listing all sorts of things to Mimmi – lionfish quills, cone-shell venom, crown-of-thorns starfish thorns, among many others. With each supposed ingredient they listed, Mimmi told them whether it was part of any potion she knew or not. The only stops they made were when anyone wanted to buy something from either hers or Ondina's cart, and they had to keep silent so they wouldn't draw suspicions. As a result, both Lyla and Nixie kept asking her about ingredients for a considerable while.
And the longer their list got, the more times Mimmi said she hadn't heard of any potion for which a given ingredient could be used. A few of the things they mentioned were indeed used in potions Mimmi either could make or knew about, but the vast majority of them was not part of any potion, as far as Mimmi knew at least. And modesty aside, she did know plenty of potions. But she didn't know any that could be made of any kind of combination of any of the ingredients Lyla and Nixie had listed; all those that were indeed part of any potion involved ingredients they hadn't mentioned.
So what exactly could this merman and the two mermaids with him be up to?
"Well, I think that's about it," Lyla finally said. "Except for the things we saw them collecting that even we knew could be used in potions."
Even without those, they had mentioned a lot of things indeed, which as far as Mimmi knew could be used in anything from a single very complicated potion to a whole lot of potions, which in turn made it impossible to predict what the merman and the two mermaids with him might be trying to do with what they were collecting.
As Lyla and Nixie kept looking expectantly at her, Mimmi explained, "Well, I wasn't lying when I gave you my answers individually, and I have nothing more to add now that I know the whole list either. All the things that I know can be used for potions are the ones I told you about. I have as much of an idea of what that merman and those mermaids might be up to as you."
Nixie groaned in annoyance, and Lyla clenched her jaw.
"Great," Lyla grumbled. "We go through the trouble of coming to land and we're not any closer to knowing what those three are up to."
Mimmi understood what she meant. At first, she had also loathed the idea of going to land. She might have acclimated herself to it, and had even started to enjoy it, but she could understand why some mermaids wouldn't, and why a mermaid who had to go to land might not enjoy it.
Then, Nixie carried the conversation onward, "So… do we tell the pod about the two mermen and those mermaids or not?"
Mimmi's eyes bugged out in surprise, but that reaction seemed mild compared to Ondina's and Lyla's, who respectively put their hands on their hips and folded their arms with borderline outraged looks on their faces.
"It just seemed like it might be better," Nixie pointed out. "I didn't like the look that that supposed merman was giving us, and Mimmi said that the one with the mermaids might be doing basically anything with what he's collecting. What's to say the next ingredient he needs isn't mermaid blood, or mermaid bones, or…"
"Alright, we get the point," Lyla interjected. "But you know that the first thing the pod will think of doing if they hear of more mermen in the area is leaving again."
All the mermaids went rigid as Lyla brought up that fact. Mimmi felt her heart sinking at the thought. If the pod left this time around, there would be no way for it to come back. With the trident stone and the merman chamber both destroyed, anything that made them leave would have to be even more dangerous and all the more likely to be permanent.
"Maybe now that there is no trident and no merman chamber they'll be more willing to stand and fight when it comes to that," Nixie pointed out.
"It may not even go that far," Mimmi added. "They've mostly accepted Zac; they could just talk to that merman and the mermaids who are with him." At everyone's puzzled looks, Mimmi suggested, "Sure, they may be making dangerous potions, but they also may be making harmless or even beneficial ones."
None of the other mermaids voiced any thoughts, but the scepticism on their faces spoke just fine.
"Hope is the last to die," Mimmi pointed out, quoting something she had heard over her months on land.
She couldn't tell whether any of the other mermaids had ever heard the quote, but all of them relaxed as they heard it. After all, it applied to all four of them. They had all hoped to make it possible for the pod to return to Mako even when there was no hope to be had, and their hopes had turned out to not be in vain. And at least regarding the merman Nixie and Lyla had seen, their hopes seemed possible. If he could get along with two mermaids, he could presumably get along with a whole pod. Gunnar might be a trickier story, but he would still be only one against more than a hundred. With no merman chamber to render them all powerless, he should be easy enough to deal with if he turned out to be aggressive.
"The question still stands," Lyla insisted. "Do we tell the pod or not?"
"We could try to tell Rita first," Ondina suggested. "She and Veridia were friends, so she'll probably know better whether we should tell the pod or not, and how to break the news to her if she decides that's what's best."
A murmur of agreement went through Mimmi, Nixie and Lyla. It made sense. Rita might still be living at her home, but she and Veridia had been making some efforts to reconnect. They were few and far between, because Rita was busy with land school and Veridia, even now that there was no ongoing battle and they were again settled into a proper home, still had quite a few things to take care of daily in the pod. All the same, their relationship had definitely improved since the day they had almost come to blows in the merman chamber.
"We could stop by Rita's house when we leave the marine park," Mimmi volunteered. "She should be there by then."
Lyla nodded. "You do that. We'll be heading back to Mako."
"Thanks for the info on potion ingredients," Nixie added.
"No problem," Mimmi replied.
Nixie and Lyla turned around to leave, but the second they finished doing so the blond mermaid turned back to them as if she'd had a sudden thought. When she sensed that, Nixie turned back to Mimmi and Ondina as well.
"By the way, did Evie already tell her dad about her tail?" Lyla asked.
Mimmi held back an intrigued remark. As far as she knew, Evie had never talked to Lyla about the fact she would be telling her father about her tail, simply because she hadn't thought she would need to tell him about the whole pod. But Sirena had been there when Evie talked to Zac and Mimmi; maybe she had told Nixie and Lyla about that.
"Yes, she did," Mimmi confirmed.
"And he?" Lyla pressed on.
Mimmi shrugged.
"I wasn't there, so I don't know what happened for sure, but Evie told us he was a bit sad that she kept it from him, but that he understood why she did so," she said, trying to convey the same idea Evie had when she spoke about her father's reaction. "She also told us that they went for a dive afterwards, so he must have taken it well enough. And she also said he promised not to tell anyone about mermaids and to not take any more tourists to Mako Island, so the pod can rest assured on that front."
Nixie smiled at Mimmi's words, and relief burst across her features, but Lyla seemed to be fighting to keep a neutral face instead of a scowl.
"I'm glad to know that," she ground out. "See you later."
Then she turned around and walked away, leaving Nixie standing with Ondina and Mimmi.
"What's wrong with her?" Mimmi asked.
Rather than answering the question, Nixie started looking around as if trying to find some subject that would pop into the conversation and spare her from replying. When she failed to find it, she turned to Mimmi and, as if just saying so was painful, she explained, "She liked Zac when we last were here and she's been hoping to reconnect with him now that we're back."
Nixie spoke hastily, as if forcing herself to say anything before her nerve failed her. Mimmi's sympathy went out to Lyla. She had never been in the same situation, but she couldn't imagine it was pleasant for any of the involved parties. She was sad Lyla was going through love issues, but truth being told, there was no way around it. Mimmi knew that Zac and Evie only had eyes – and everything else – for one another. Even if Lyla was the kind of mermaid who would resort to underhanded tricks – which as far as Mimmi could tell, she wasn't – none would give her what she wanted. Even mermaids were unable to put love in someone's heart. Some of their songs lead to things like a fascination or an obsession, but creating true love would be beyond even her mother.
"I'm sorry to know that," Mimmi offered.
"It's tough," Nixie said nonchalantly. "But we've got to learn to move on."
Mimmi's eyes narrowed interrogatively. Something about the way Nixie had spoken made it seem as if the statement also applied to her rather than to Lyla alone. But why would it? Had she had feelings for someone else when she was on land only to find they had moved on when she returned?
Some of those questions must have been visible on Mimmi's face, because Nixie immediately said, "See you tonight."
Before either Mimmi or Ondina could reply, she turned around and jogged off to catch up with Lyla. The two of them exchanged a look at the hastiness with which Nixie had left, but neither remarked on it. Instead, they mulled over what the other two mermaids had told them, trying to get some answers to their questions before the end of their shift arrived and they went to talk to Rita about Gunnar and the merman Nixie and Lyla had spotted.
Hydrurga was the first to surface on the moon pool, her heart pounding in anticipation. Not waiting for Sedna to arrive with the land boy, she swam over to one of the small ledges in the moon pool, one of the few parts in it that rose low enough out of the water for her to reach it, and then pushed aside a stone about as wide as her head that could be seen on the rocky surface.
Careful not to break anything, yet desperately eager to have confirmation that what she had left behind was still in its place, she stuck her hand into the hole the stone had been covering. Then she smiled as she felt her hand meeting the smooth cold surface of what she had kept inside the hole. It was still here. She could enact her plan.
Still smiling, she took out a glass vial as long as her hand from her wrist to the tip of her index finger and about three fingers wide. It was capped with sea slime, and full to the brim with a golden-green liquid she and Sedna had taken over two weeks to make. She had barely been able to leave it behind when they went to get the land boy, but she had been forced to, as the alternative would have been to let Sedna take care of it. She might not have any complaints on Sedna so far, but Hydrurga was not the kind of mermaid who trusted others with anything easily. Thankfully, it had paid off, and not only was the land boy in their grasp, but the potion was ready to be used. And all of it had to be used properly tonight, or they would have to wait a whole month before making another try, a try that would be too difficult, as they'd have to make it on Mako Island, which would imply avoiding the pod's watch. This moon pool, unguarded by any pod, was much better for their goals.
The sounds of two bodies surfacing reached her ears. Hydrurga turned around and saw Sedna floating in front of her, looking a bit tired from having to drag the land boy in by herself, and the land boy treading water about a meter behind her, his eyes empty and dull like those of all the land people Hydrurga had enchanted over the years had been.
"Sit there," Hydrurga demanded as she pointed her finger to her right.
Without saying a word, the boy swam to another ledge in the moon pool, which had a length and width comparable to a mermaid's; more than enough for the land boy to sit on while they waited for the moon to be in position. The last thing they needed was for one of their tools to eliminate Nerissa's children to drown before they could use it, especially when it had been difficult enough to get him to come here. Not only had they needed to wait until his friend went away, but they had needed to get a boat for him to make the journey, which had involved plenty of mishaps with land people because of their lack of understanding of land currency. But the difficult part was already done. Now it was just a matter of acting at the right time.
Once the land boy heaved himself up to the ledge and sat down, Hydrurga and Sedna looked upwards at the cave's ceiling, waiting for the full moon to arrive to the spot it would have to be at for them to start their task.
And we're getting closer to one of the plot-points I really wanted to get to ever since I first began writing this story. The next part of it will take place next chapter.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one is nearly finished, and should be ready tomorrow.