Zac swam and swam for hours. He didn't know even what time was right now. He just knew that he needed to swim towards the south. His destination was going to take half of day; at least, that's what he calculated. It had felt weird having the tail back, now that he knew it was his true form.

After swimming for what seemed to be nine hours, Zac came to a stop. Surfacing, he noticed the sun was starting to rise.

"Must be seven o'clock" he said quietly to himself as he finally realized how much time he had been swimming. He then looked at his surroundings, realizing that there was a beach and a town nearby. A small grin appeared in Zac's face. He recognized that town. It was where the camp used to take them for ice cream on Fridays. It meant that he had arrived at the right place.

He got to a secluded place in the shore, where he dragged himself on the sand, away from the water, so he could dry himself. Before doing so, he got his backpack out and put it next to him. After getting his legs back, Zac proceeded to dry the backpack. Once he finished, he started to walk towards the town.


Evie, Cam and Rita were currently at the former´s office at school, shortly after the phone call with the Blakely's.

"Let me see if I get this straight; Zac left you a note in which he stated that he ran away and then he actually did just that" Cam asked.

"Yes, Cam, and if they called you it was because they noticed he wasn't home" Evie said.

"I can't believe this. I mean… why would he suddenly do that?" Cam said. Evie didn't answer. Instead, she got something out of her pocket. It was the note.

Evie,

I'm sorry, but I can't stand this anymore. People don't seem to understand how much this is affecting me. I'm going away, I don't know for how long: probably as long for me to calm down. I need to think this through without pressure. If anyone wants to communicate with me, I left my phone behind, but I did bring with me a way of communication. It's untraceable.

You can always find me, though… the seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake.

Please don't hate me,

Zac.

"Did he actually end the note with a reference to 'The Little Mermaid'?" Cam asked after reading it. Rita couldn't help but stare helplessly at him.

"From everything in the note, that is what caught your attention?" Evie said as she got the note back and gave Cam an incredulous face.

"I have selective hearing!" Cam exclaimed in his defense. Evie decided not to argue as she turned to look at Rita.

"Now what do we do?" she asked. Rita thought for a moment.

"We need to talk about this later, at my place after school. And for now no one says anything to the rest of your classmates. I'll go to check on the Blakely's to see what they are going to do. Evie, you are going have to break the news to the girls. Am I clear with all of this?" Rita said. The two teens slowly nodded.

"Zac, what have you done?" Rita whispered to herself once Evie and Cam were gone.


Zac walked around the town, taking a few glimpses to the shops as he made his way towards the main entrance. Everything around him was more or less the way he remembered; shops were starting to showcase summer sales and restaurants were promoting concerts and soccer matches. There were a few differences, just a few new stores, water fountains and public bathrooms.

"Amazing how a few things change" Zac muttered to himself as he compared the place to his previous memories.

He finally reached the main entrance, where there was a mini market and a few other shops. Zac stopped for a moment when he saw the market, debating if he should go in and buy some more supplies for just in case, or just go with what he had. At the end the logical part won and he walked into the market, while keeping his head down to avoid contact with the cameras. Zac knew it was silly, but deep inside he was panicking over the fact that his 'parents' would call the police to find him and the security cameras would easily give him away. An old man who sat behind the cashier kept giving him weird looks as he went down the corridors. Zac tried not to give away nervous glimpses to the man.

"Damn it Zac! Stop acting like a criminal on the run" he angrily thought for himself as he made his way to the cash register.

"That will be twenty bucks" the old man behind the counter said after viewing the items. Zac paid and after putting the grocery bags into his travel bag, he turned to leave before the old man stopped him.

"Do I know you kid? You seem familiar…" the man said behind him. Zac froze. Bloody hell, the news of his runaway had already started? No. It couldn't be possible… could it? Did Rob and Lauren started some kind of Facebook account to promote his little adventure and see if anyone could recognize him?

"Kid, you in there?" the voice of the old man brought Zac back to the real world. Trying to act natural, he turned around.

"I don't think so sir. What gives you the impression?" he asked in the calmest way he could. The man frowned.

"Don't know, you seem familiar. That's all. You kind of remind me of a kid who used to come here for the summer about six years ago. Liked to wonder off around the place when the camp in which he was staying came here for ice cream" the old man replied while shrugging. The teens' eyes widened at the realization. That man actually remembered him, but didn't completely recognize him. The man, on the other hand, didn't seem to realize Zac's expression.

"Really?" Zac brilliantly stuttered. The old man nodded.

"Yeah. He had the same black hair as you… I think his name was… Zeke? Zane? I don't remember, it started with a Z" the old man said. An awkward silence emerged.

"Oh, well, um… I- I have to go" Zac said after a while. The old man nodded.

"Well then, have a good day mate" he said.

"Yeah. You too" Zac said before exiting.


"Veridia, can we talk?" Aquata asked her leader. Veridia nodded and motioned her companions to leave, leaving the two mermaids completely alone.

"What is it Aquata?" she asked. The mermaid hesitated.

"I- I wanted to talk about what happened yesterday" she said slowly. In a blink, Veridia's face changed from a nice looking person to a terrifying one.

"I made myself clear that we wouldn't talk about this" she hissed.

"With any member of the pod, that's what you said, as I recall" Aquata said while trying to maintain a brave face.

"What do you wish to speak about then?" Veridia asked, knowing that Aquata had a point.

"Why do you wish to get rid of the Son of Nerissa? According to Sirena, he is not a threat" Aquata asked. Veridia cast gave her an irritated look.

"He is a merman and the son of the most powerful mermaid to have ever existed! The power that he holds can only be used to destroy us. He is the only merman in centuries that can control the chamber! Unleash its complete power to eliminate us all!" Veridia said.

"But… he has saved Mako from destruction. According to Sirena, Lyla and Nixie, a land boy tried to use the trident against us and he stopped him. And Mimmi is also the Daughter of Nerissa and you don't have anything against her" Aquata said. Veridia gave a cold stare. In a flash, she started choking the younger mermaid with her telekinesis.

"Listen to me very carefully Aquata. This merman is a threat to us all and I am going to save all mermaids from him, even if it includes murder. Nothing would stop me from doing that, not even Mimmi, Ondina, Rita or your sister" Veridia said coldly as Aquata desperately tried to free herself as the air ran out of her lungs.

"And now I'm afraid that you can't share this information with anybody. So consider this your permanent banishment" Veridia finished saying as she focused more energy on the strangling. Aquata, in a rush of adrenaline, managed to focus on her moon ring and send a blast towards her ex-leader. The blast distracted Veridia enough to lose her focus on her telekinesis and free the younger mermaid, who made a run for it as soon as she could. Veridia let out a growl and using her moon ring, started sending deadly blast towards the direction Aquata disappeared, hoping to intercept her and stop her from escaping. In the water, one of the blasts's hit the young mermaid's tail, forming a gash. She let out a scream, but thanks to the adrenaline rush, continued and didn't turn back as she swam towards Mako Island.

She had to warn her sister.