"Are you really going to go get the potion?" Bella whispered behind me

"Yeah… My friends need it."

"... I don't really understand why we try to keep it safe, it's not much use." She cocks her head to the side. Really… Then my theory must be right… Just like Bella, the other mermaids must be lonely. But why must they take the souls of the men?

"Hey… Look. They found more men." Bella pointed to the mermaids. I see six men walking their way to the mermaids. The mermaids laugh and giggle as they walk forward. One mermaid was playing a harp that wasn't there a second ago. Is that's what's controlling them? Christopher did say that they cast spells on the men to lure them into their hands. But I can't be so sure. I have to watch their movements.

I watch the scene as the men come into the clearing

"!" Are you serious? Didn't they say they'll be careful here? The Sirus crew emerges from the shadows and into the water. I can't believe it. These idiots are even bigger idiots than I thought! But then again, this might be helpful to me…

"Come on Bella. Let's go!" I dove into the water with Bella following behind me. The water was deep enough to hide me from the others seeing. I swam until I got to the rocks that were isolating those mermaids with the other part of the water. I tried to think of a way in until I suddenly got hit with a pebble

"Come here! There's an entrance." Bella pointed to small hole in the rocks. I swam toward her and looked at the hole

"How long does it take to capture the men's' souls?"

"It takes about 3 minutes."

"Alright. Let's go." I swam through the hole first and Bella went in after. The water surface was filled with flipping mermaid tails in all different colours and shapes, "Look!" The waterfall was right above us

"The pressure looks bad…" It's true. The way the water was falling was making the water around it feel more stuffy. The pressure must be at a high level

"How are we gonna swim through?" I stared at the waterfall questionably. Then, I swam up to the surface to observe the waterfall at a different angle. When I reached the surface, I see the Sirus crew sitting on the rocks along with the mermaids, laughing and chatting. One… Two… Three… Four… Five… And even Christopher… They're all under the mermaids' spell. Wait a second… I squint at the scene in front of me. Christopher… His expression looks different from the others… What..? I noticed he was blinking rapidly to get my attention. He then gestures his head a little to the waterfall. He's not under the spell… But what is he saying? What about the waterfall? I looked at the waterfall again. I observed it again and then realize there was a faint rainbow reaching from a purple rock to the waterfall. I turn and nod at Christopher. Then, I motioned Bella to stay quiet and follow me.

We dove back into the water and swam to the rainbow outline

"Hey! Where are we going?"

"To that rainbow! It has to be showing us a way into the waterfall!"

"What rainbow? I don't see one!"

"What..?" I was confused. Am I the only one who can see it? But what about Christopher? He was motioning me to the waterfall… Surely he saw it! I shook my head. Now's not the time to be confused. I have to get into the waterfall before our three minutes are up! I quickened my speed. The rainbow was now clear and was showing me a small hole in the waterfall. But it was above the surface. How am I gonna get in there without the other mermaids seeing me?

"Hey Bella."

"What's up?"

"Can you do a small favour for me?"

"?"

I waited just beneath the water surface as Bella swam a little further out.

"Can you make a distraction long enough so that I can enter that?"

"I don't know… I don't know if I can do it…"

"You'll be fine! Just swim out there and flick your tail just beneath the surface so that the mermaids will mistake it for something else. But you have to be careful. They might jump in and see what's up. Try to hide as soon as I jump in."

"Alright!"

"Thank you so much!"

Bella flicked her tail a little just beneath the surface

"What's that?"

"I don't know!"

"Doesn't look right to me."

"Maybe there's something there? Let's check it out!" Just as planned (surprisingly) the mermaids went to go investigate. I hurriedly jumped out of the surface and into the tiny hole in the waterfall. Yes! I got in! Hopefully Bella got away in time… I have to hurry! Inside the waterfall, there was a small pool of clear water. It was a cave. It was dark and the water was reflecting an ominous light in the cave. Then, I see a small bottle at the end of the cave, wedged into a blue stone. That must be it… I have to get it! I swam to the bottle. But then, I unconsciously stopped but my tail kept flicking. I moved to the bottle. When I was neck-and-neck to the stone floor, I pushed myself up and climbed out of the water. A soft glow of light shone off me. I went back to my senses and when I looked down, my legs were back. But they were covered by a long silky dress. My hair was laid down and a curl or two at the end of a small braid on the side. What the hell? How did I..?Ugh! No time to be thinking about this right now! I have to get the bottle and run out of here. Hopefully the mermaids won't catch up to me if I run fast. But there's also the crew to think about… Ugh! I'll just think of something on the way! I through the water and out of the cave. The sun shone so bright on me that I had to stop to regain my vision. When it came back, I see everyone staring at me. I hear the mermaids mumbling and then they bow. What?! What's going on here?!

"What?" I looked around confused. I gripped the bottle in my hand, "Wh-What's going on here?!"

"We knew that someday, you'll come." One of the mermaids said, head still lowered

"What do you mean?"

"We knew that a human will retrieve the potion that we hold so dear. According to a legend, after the human turns 25, they will undergo certain changes in their life; finding new people to lead him to his destiny, challenges that will help him learn more and more about the future ahead, and secrets that will be revealed in an unexpected way."

"We did not know it was today that the human would come. We let our guard down today and let you retrieve the potion."

"Thank you."

"W-Why are you thanking me?"

"Because if it weren't for you, we would've been continuing to take the souls of mere innocents. We were doing this against our will. Thanks to you, we are free." And with that, they dove into the water and swam away

"What… Just happened..?" I see Bella swim up to me

"That was amazing!"

"Thanks. I wouldn't have gotten this if it weren't for you!"

"It's no problem… Hey, I didn't catch your real name."

"It's Na-... Annabelle. But you can call me Ann."

"It's nice to meet you Ann! Well gotta swim! See you soon?"

"Yup! See you!" And she swims away with the other girls

"Nat!"

"Natalie!" The Sirus crew gathered around me with smiles and grins

"Nice goin'! You got what we needed!" The Captain patted me on the shoulder

"Was this where you were going before?" Christopher chuckled

"Thanks to you, we're one step closer to the treasure!" Russelle Ruffled my hair. I'm still confused… What just happened… Oh well… We walked back to the ship.

To be honest, had no idea where I was going with this chapter... Leave a review and tell me what you think... I just think this was all over the place (-_-)\