Lyla awoke in Zac's arms.

Although she was disoriented at first, as her vision cleared she realized that he was carrying her through the trees towards the waterfront. The pain in her legs was gone but, as she tried to move them she realized that they had disappeared—instead, her tail flapped gently against Zac's side.

Looking up, she could see the strain and anger in his face as he pressed through the foliage. There was no doubt that he was furious at Cam for attacking them, but Lyla was grateful that he seemed physically unharmed. He had recovered even faster than she had apparently and, now that she had regained consciousness, she seemed to be okay.

"Lyla, you're awake." Zac said as he looked down at the young mermaid in his arms. His relief was apparent.

She nodded, trying to clear her head.

"Don't worry," he continued, his breaths ragged. "I'm going to get you into the water. You'll feel better after a little time in the sea."

Giving a sign of relief, Lyla smiled thankfully and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was still too drained to really speak, but she knew that he was right—the salt water always made mer people feel better.

As they approached the shore, Lyla felt a sense of relief wash over her. Whatever Cam had tried to do had failed, she thought gleefully—they were going to be okay.

"Nixie! Sirena!" Zac shouted their friends' names as he carried her across the beach. "Are you okay? Come out, we need your help!"

Although the two other mermaids were in the moon pool's cavern, there was a good chance that Zac's voice would carry far enough to alert them. Lyla knew that she would be relieved to see the other girls unharmed. Hopefully, Cam hadn't had anything in store for them.

Seconds later, Zac reached the shoreline and splashed into the water. The incline was steep, and they were both quickly submerged. The water felt wonderful against Lyla's skin and she stayed beneath the surface for several long moments, allowing the sea to restore her strength.

She wondered if Zac felt the same way.

Finally popping her head up, Lyla turned towards he companion, relieved that they had made it to safety. Even if Cam was still in the vicinity, they could easily get away from him in the water—his scuba gear was no match for their tails.

Any reprieve that Lyla felt quickly faded, however.

As she looked at Zac, she could see that his clothing had not faded away. She ducked beneath the surface for a second, her eyes wide with fear.

Zac had been in the water for over a minute already, and his tail hadn't appeared.

He was still human.

He still had legs…

Lyla popped back up, suddenly frantic.

No, no, no, no, no.

…it couldn't be.

She didn't want to believe it.

"Zac, you didn't change." She whispered. She already knew that it was true, but a part of her needed his confirmation. "What's going on?"

She could tell from the look on his face that he was just as panicked as she was. "I..I don't know." He stuttered, his eyes clouded with confusion. "That green stuff that Cam dumped on me must have done this."

Lyla's heart was beating rapidly in her chest. She hated the thought of Zac losing his tail for good and she refused to believe that this was the end of the future she had dreamt of. If Zac could no longer be part of her world—part of his world—she wasn't sure what she would do.

"What's going on?" Nixie rose to the surface, her eyes locked on Zac, and Sirena followed close behind. "What happened to your tail?"

Zac turned to face the others and began to explain. "We're not sure…but Cam attacked us near the cave. He poured some sort of strange liquid on me. And when I jumped in the water, nothing happened."

"Woah." Nixie replied, just as shocked as Zac and Lyla had been. "So, he made some sort of potion or something? I didn't think that was actually possible."

"It's okay." Serina cut in, swimming up beside Lyla and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. The blonde mermaid clearly recognized the worry in her friend's face, and was doing her best to diffuse the situation. "The full moon will be above Mako in a few minutes." Sirena continued calmly. "Even if Cam did find some sort of potion to make Zac human, all he has to do is fall back into the moon pool." She paused. "You won't be able to hold your breath long enough to use the sea entrance—you'll have to go through the cave."

Lyla nodded in agreement, grateful that her friend had managed to remain so logical. Sirena was right—all hope wasn't lost. Zac just had to go to the moon pool and he would be back to normal in no time.

"Are you sure?" Zac asked, looking both hopeful and apprehensive. "I mean, now that I'm human again, your pod can return. As much as I'll miss my tail, I don't want to deny that from any of you. This could be your big chance."

Although Lyla knew that her friends had many reasons to wish for the pod's return, she was thankful to see them both shaking their heads with conviction.

"No, you have to go." Sirena said, taking a glance in Lyla's direction.

Nixie nodded again. "Yeah," she began with a small smile. "We may have wanted to change you back before…especially me…but we all know that that's not how things are supposed to be anymore. The sea is in your blood—you're not totally human anyway." She paused, looking back and forth between Zac and Lyla. "And more importantly, you two are meant to be together. On land and sea."

Zac turned towards Lyla. He had been touched by their friend's words, and he was sure that Lyla agreed with their sentiments.

He knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Please, Zac." She said softly, reaching out to touch his hand.

Much to her relief, he nodded.

"Okay." He said, his eyes locking with hers. "But we need to hurry."

"I'll come with you." Lyla said, glancing towards the beach. "Nixie, you guard the sea entrance to the pool, in case Cam comes back. Sirena, you come with us to guard the cave."

The other two mermaids quickly agreed, and Nixie disappeared below the surface. The other three swam towards the beach—Zac was able to get out the water easily, and he helped Sirena and Lyla pull themselves onto a dry spot of sand.

After a few moments of brushing away the water, Sirena's legs appeared, and she got to her feet, ready to help set things right.

Lyla frantically tried to catch up, throwing handfuls of dry sand on her tail to help absorb the remaining water droplets.

"We've got to hurry." Sirena urged gently, glancing up towards the rising full moon.

Lyla continued to work away, frustrated by her lack of progress. "I'm trying." She said nervously. "It's not working."

Zac crouched by her side, inspecting her tail with wide eyes. "You're totally dry." He observed, unable to mask the worry in his voice.

There was no denying it. Everyone present knew that something was wrong.

Finally, Lyla said what they had all been thinking.

"Cam poured something on me too." She began, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

"I…I don't think I can change into human form anymore."

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From a concealed spot in the bushes, Cam watched the scene unfold with a wide smile on his face.

Zac had emerged from the sea with his legs, and Lyla had been unable to get rid of her disgusting tail.

Everything was going exactly as he had planned.

Cam bit back a laugh as he watched Sirena and Zac takeoff up the hill, leaving Lyla to return to the water alone. He knew that there were going to try to change Zac back using the moon pool…and he knew that their quest was in vain.

He had read he had fine print of the stolen spell book carefully.

There was no going back now. The moon could not overpower the potion.

"Sorry mate," He muttered as he watched them disappear into the distance. "Your time with your little fish girl is up."

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A/N—I hope people liked this chapter. More questions will be answered soon.

Reviews make my day!