A/N: I should add that Ian wrote most of this.

Ian drove down the road in his car towards home. It was raining and the drops of water pounded against the windshield. He passed by the beach and glanced out at the ocean. The waves were large and crashed against the shore. Then the sound of the rain was drowned out by a different noise. It was a song..... someone was singing. It sounded mournful. But as Ian drove on the song faded away and was again replaced by the sound of the rain.

When he arrived home, Ian opened the door to the manor and came into the foyer, sopping wet. "Hello! Kate, are ya home?!"

Katie poked her head out of the living room. "Do I have to be?"

"No, I was just seeing if you were here. Man it is terrible out there. The rain just keeps coming." Ian took off his coat. "Um..... I think I should get changed." Water was pooling around his feet where he stood.

"Good idea. You're mopping that up, too." Katie went back into the living room. She had been watching her favorite movie, Horse Whisperer. She turned up the volume as she sat back down on the couch.

~*~*~

Ian came down the stairs, fully changed and mostly dry. He glanced at Katie in the living room and then went into the kitchen. Ian got a glass out of the cupboard and turned on the faucet. As he filled up the glass Ian heard singing again. It wasn't as strong when he had passed by the beach, but it was still there. Ian turned off the water and the singing stopped.

Katie held a Kleenex in her hand as the accident in the movie happened. She gasped as the truck hit the horse and rider. Blood was on the road from the many cuts on the horse... the dead body of the kid. Tears were coming slowly down Katie's face. Truly a tear-jerker, this part was.

Ian came in, picked up the remote from the table and paused the movie. Katie glared up at Ian. "What?" she asked, partly angry at her brother for stopping the movie.

Ian set the remote back down. "Have you...." Ian started trying to think of what to say. "Have you heard someone singing? Like.... just singing this mournful song and you don't know where it is coming from?"

"No, I haven't. Can I watch the movie now?"

Ian sighed. Apparently he was hearing things. "Yeah... sorry for bothering you." He un-paused the movie and went upstairs to take a nice long shower.

~*~*~

Ian stood in the shower, letting the water run down over him. And then the song started again. It sounded even more sad this time. Ian turned off the water and it stopped. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off. After changing back into his clothes Ian went downstairs and grabbed his keys. "I'm going out," he said to Katie.

"Okay, bye," was all Katie said, focusing on the movie.

Ian put on his coat and went out to his car. He started it up and then began to drive out to the beach.

When he arrived Ian got out of the car and looked around. The song had started up again and was very strong this time. The rain fell heavily on Ian as he made his way across the beach, following the song.

It led him to some large rocks that jutted out over the shallow part of the shore. Ian climbed up over them, trying not to slip. He got over the top and looked down to the other side. And there, on a large flat rock, sat a mermaid.

Ian started to go down towards the Mermaid. "Hey!" he called. The Mermaid stopped singing and looked up at Ian, startled. She then moved quickly across the rock. "Hey, wait!" Ian yelled. But she would not wait. She reached the edge and dived off it into the water. The last thing Ian saw of her was her tail slipping down under the surface.

~*~*~

"Katie!" Ian called as he entered the manor. "We have a little problem!" Katie groaned from the living room, still watching Horse Whisperer.

Pausing the movie, she said, "What demon now? The witchy thing is fun and all, but demons every couple days..."

"It's not a demon," Ian said, sitting down in a chair. "I followed this song that I have been hearing to the beach and I found a Mermaid. Tried to talk to her but she ran...... swam away."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "A mermaid. Riiight..." Ian got up and Katie followed him. They went all the way up to the attic. Ian had thought that would be a better place for it. The Book now sat on a stand in the center of the room. Opening the book Ian began to look through it.

"Hope there is something on Mermaids. I just can't believe they're real..... not that I should be surprised." Ian stopped on a page that had a picture of a mermaid on it. "Here we go. Mermaids. Mermaids are immortal beings, half woman half fish, who live in the sea. They are cold-blooded and are fond of shiny baubles. They enjoy the freedom of the ocean, and hear nothing but the call of the sea. If a mortal falls in love with a mermaid and confesses his love to her, then the mermaid becomes mortal." Ian looked up at Katie. "Okay, this doesn't really help me. It says nothing about the song she was singing.... or how to find her again."

"Maybe a spell?" Katie suggested. "Or we could go to the ocean again, hope she's there."

"Alright, I'll go back and look for her. You stay here and try to find anything that might be useful." Ian went back out to his car and drove off to the beach.

~*~*~

He arrived and went straight to the rocks where he had found the Mermaid before. The song was coming strongly through the air, and seemed very sad. Ian climbed over the rocks again and saw her. "Excuse me!" he called over the noise of the rain and the song. The Mermaid stopped singing and turned to Ian. She started to move away. "Wait! I can help you!"

The Mermaid stopped and turned to look up at Ian, who was making his way toward her. "Yes..... why didn't I think? Mortals can not hear my song. So you must not be mortal."

"No," Ian said. "I'm not. I'm a witch." The Mermaid seemed to fill with joy. "Then you can help me! Oh please you have to help. My people and all the creatures in the ocean are in trouble? He is killing innocent merpeople and others. He has to be stopped!"
Ian frowned. "Who?" he asked.

"The Shark demon. Ages ago we Mermaids used to have powers. We were the sister species of witches. The Shark Demon came and attacked, but the Mermaids used their power to put him in a deep sleep. They then put him away, far down in the depths of the ocean. But he has awoken. And we Mermaids no longer have power. Only our immortality. Please, you have to help us!"

Ian nodded. "I will. But we have to go back to my place and speak with my sister. I think I can think of a spell that will give you legs." The Mermaid nodded. Ian then began to say a spell. "Oh great magic come to my aid, in just an hour this spell will fade. Give this Mermaid legs to walk, so she may go to the city beyond these rocks." The Mermaid started to glow and then she changed into human form. Yet she was naked, so Ian took off his jacket and gave it to her so she could cover up. They then walked back to Ian's car. "By the way.... what's your name?"

The Mermaid smiled. "Emma," she said.

~*~*~


"C'mon... Anything? Please?" Katie asked the Book of Shadows, flipping through it for the fourth time. Yet she found nothing. A slam of the front door made her look up. She went to the top of the stairs and saw Ian and a nude woman in his jacket. "Ian? Who... Do I even want to know?"

"This is Emma," Ian said. "The Mermaid. Do you think you could lend her some clothes?"

"Uh, yeah. Hold on." Katie disappeared, only to return a few minutes later with clothes in her arms. "I think these should fit you," she said, walking down the stairs and handing the clothes to Emma.

"Thank you," Emma said. Katie then directed her to the bathroom so that she could change. She came out a minute later with her socks on her hands and her pants on backwards.

"Uh.... Kate?" Ian said. "Maybe you should help her out."

Katie sniffled her laughter. "Honey, the socks," she said, indicating the socks on the Mermaid's hands, "Go on your feet. And the pants are on backwards."

"Oh...." Emma said. "Sorry, I have never done this."

"It's alright. Easy mistake." As Katie and Ian waited while Emma fixed her clothes, Katie asked, "So what's going on?"

"Well it so seems that she and her people are in trouble." Ian then told Katie everything that Emma had told him. "So we need to help her, and we have to be quick about it."

"But how? We can't go down there, under water."

"I know. There wouldn't be enough time, even if we used scuba diving equipment. We would run out of air. And how would we fight? I don't really see a way that we could do anything." Just as he said that Emma came in. "Oh hey Emma," Ian said.

She looked sad. "You can't help me? But I thought you said you could."

"No, no... We were just talking about how to be able to stay under water for so long," Katie said quickly. "We're not sure how yet."

"Okay, let's go check the Book Of Shadows for this Shark Demon." They all headed up the stairs, going a little slower so that Emma could learn how to use the stairs. Once in the attic Katie and Emma sat down on the dusty while Ian went over to the Book and opened it up. "Okay.... let's see what we can find."

"This is a comb. We brush our hair with it. And this is a mirror." Katie was picking up objects and showing them to Emma, who was examining each one closely.

"These type of things are always falling into the water from ships and things. But we never knew what they were for." She grabbed a book off the table next to her and flipped through it. "What is this?"

"It's a book," Katie said. "We write stories in them."

"We tell stories by song and remember them by passing them on to each generation. See we may be immortal, but accidents do happen. And many of us leave the Kingdom to go explore the rest of the ocean."

"You have a King?"

"Why of course. He is a wonderful Merman. He has been rule for the past 200 years. Don't you have a King?"

"Well," Katie said, "sorta. We have someone that is called a President. He is like a King, but he doesn't have ALL the power. The power is separated into sections. Like the Senate and the House Of Representatives.... okay I won't get into all this. I hate politics."
Ian grinned and then looked back at the BOS. "Hey I think I found him."

Katie and Emma got up and came to stand next to Ian. "Yep," Emma said. "That's him."

"Jerimia," Ian read. "Jerimia is a Shark Demon; half man, half shark. Many years ago, when the Merpeople still had their magic, Jerimia ruled the ocean. He terrorized the population into doing his bidding. After ten years of this horror, the Merpeople banded together to fight Jerimia. Since he was too strong to destroy the Merpeople used a powerful spell to put the demon into a deep sleep. They then put him in a cave in the depths of the ocean where he slumbers to this day." Ian looked up. "Well, it doesn't say what powers he has."

"Move over," Katie said. Ian stepped aside and Katie took his spot. She turned the page. "Ah ha.... Shark Demon. Shark demons live in the ocean. Their upper half is that of a human with a dorsal fin on their back. The lower half is that of a shark. These demons have the power to shoot crimson spears from their hands. Shark demons are rare, but powerful, so beware of them."

"Okay so we have to figure out something before Emma here turns back into...... a Mermaid." Realization filled Ian's face and he smiled. "That's it!"

"What? What's i--" Katie suddenly figured out what Ian was thinking. "Oh no. No no no. I am not gonna get turned into a Mermaid."

"Oh yes you are. It is the only way that we can stay down there long enough to stop the demon."

"Ugh, fine."

"Okay," Ian said, "Let's look in the Book for a transforming spell." Katie and Emma went about the attic with Emma asking what everything was, while Ian took the Book and sat down on an old couch. "Okay..... spell... spell." He found one and smiled. "Okay, we need some stuff for this one. Mandrake root, toad flax, and a piece of the thing that we are turning into...... But I think we are out of toad flax. Kate, can you go get some while I get the other stuff ready?" Katie nodded and orbed out to the store. Ian stood up. "Okay, well let's go down stairs and get started."

~*~*~

Ian and Emma were in the kitchen. There was a pot boiling on the stove and Ian was searching through the cabinets. "Ah, here it is." Ian pulled out a jar of mandrake root and set it on the counter. He went over to the table where the Book was sitting open. "Okay.... it says that after we say the spell.... we drink the potion and it should turn us into Merpeople. Yet.... it says here that we won't be able to use our powers and there is a two hour limit. I guess we will have to figure out what to do when the time comes. But for now we need to finish this potion." He turned to Emma. "We have the mandrake root, and Katie should be back soon with the toad flax. But we need something from you to finish it."

"I can give you one of my scales.... but I need to be a Mermaid for that."

Ian looked at the clock. "Well you should be turning back any min-" There was a flash of light and Emma fell to the floor. She was a Mermaid again. "Well," Ian said. "I guess we solved that problem."

Katie orbed into the kitchen holding a small bag in her hand. "I got the toad flax," she reported. Then she noticed Emma on the floor... with a Mermaid tail. "Well then," was all she said, not quite knowing what to say.

Ian helped Emma up into a chair. Emma took a scale off her tail and handed it to Ian. "Thanks." Ian went over to the pot. "Toad flax, please," Ian said, holding out his hand. Katie set the paper bag containing the toad flax onto Ian's hand. "Thank you," Ian said. He then put some of the toad flax into the pot, and then the mandrake root. Finally he held the scale over the pot and dropped it in. The was a puff of smoke and Ian waved it away. "Okay, potions ready." He put the potion into two bottles and then walked over to Katie and Emma. "Let's go."

Katie orbed them to the ocean... and landed in the water. "Ugh, didn't want to do that," she said, balancing on one foot to take off her shoes.

Emma was smiling. "Oh it feels so good to back in the ocean." It had stopped raining, but the waves were still large.

"That's nice..... now let's do this quickly." Ian handed one of the bottles to Kate and then began to say the spell. He had memorized it earlier. "Through heaven and hell, through space and time, we speak out this magical rhyme. Transform us now we ask of you, so we can experience something new." The two then drank the potion. They began to glow and then transformed into merpeople. They fell into the water. "Oh... Kate. You have scales."

"So do you."

Ian looked down. "I feel like a lizard."

"You look like one," Katie teased. "But this water is cold!" she complained.

"Well there is no time to complain. Let's.... get going." Ian looked around. "Now how do we do this?"

"Ask her," Katie said, gesturing at Emma.

"Just dive in!" Emma yelled with glee. She then threw herself into an oncoming wave and disappeared under the water. Ian looked at Katie.

"I am feeling these instincts...... I think I know what to do. Let's follow Emma." He then turned over swam down into the ocean.

Katie shrugged and dove under, quickly catching up with Ian. "We don't even know what to do when we find this shark guy."

"You just talked! I just talked! We can talk under water. And I can breathe."

"Ian? We're Mermaids.... well, you're a Merman. But anyway, we're supposed to be able to do that kind of stuff under water." Katie shook her head at Ian's surprise.

"Oh right. I shoulda known that. I saw The Little Mermaid." Emma swam up to them. "Come on. I'll show you the way." She then turned and went down into the darkness. Yet for them it wasn't darkness. As Merpeople they could see just fine.

"Hey, Emma, where exactly are we going?" Katie asked.

"To my home. The demon has taken the King's palace and is using it for his own. He has guards everywhere."

"Is it safe to talk about him in your home? Without anyone over hearing, I mean."

"Yes, it is. Just stay alert. The demon does have allies." Emma said all this with a calm tone.

Ian glanced at his sister. "So how do we vanquish him without our powers?"

"I'm still working on that," Katie replied. Soon they arrived at Emma's house, which was made of huge shells along with the ceiling and walls of a cave. "Alright," Katie began once they got comfortable. "What else do you know about the demon?"

"Well," Emma said, "he has super strength along with that ability to shoot spears of energy from his hands. That's all I know."

"So he has powers and we have fins. Great." Katie sat down next to Ian.

Ian thought for a long moment. "Well we may not have our active powers, but we are still witches. We have spells.... and I am sure we can make a potion of some kind."

"Spells and potions, eh? Well, I doubt they have the ingredients we need for the potions we know. Spells, on the other hand... We can just make them up," Katie said, thinking out loud.

"We? I am the spell maker here, remember. You are just the one who gets potion stains everywhere."

"Yeah well, I'm the one who has to orb you everywhere."

"I could just drive!"

Emma held up her hand. "The ocean is turning your hearts cold. It affects you only since you are not really merpeople. Control yourselves.... we need to concentrate on the demon."

Ian smirked. "Yep, the demon of the week. Never changes." At that moment the was a loud bang and Emma's house shook.

"Oh no!" she cried. "It's him!" The three swam outside to see a bunch of sharks circling around them. And Jerimia hovered just meters away.

"Well well..... what do we have here? Some new playmates for me?" The demon smirked. A crimson spear appeared in his hand. Pulling his arm back Katie instinctively threw up her hands to freeze him. But nothing happened.

"Oh right," she said, diving out of the way as the attack shot at her.

"Attack!" Jerimia yelled. The sharks that were circling turned to Ian, Katie and Emma. They flashed their teeth and then sped toward them.

"We have to get out of here!" Emma screamed.

Ian swam up in front of the sharks that were speeding towards him. "Minions of the evil one, shall be repelled so we can run!" Inches before the sharks got to Ian they hit an invisible shield and were repelled back, spinning head over fin. "Okay, now we can get out of here." He whipped around and the three high tailed it out of there.

~*~*~

"Alright let me sum this all up," Katie said. "We don't have our powers, we are being chased by very hungry sharks and a demon, and we are part fish. This just gets better and better." They had escaped from Jerimia and his fishy friends, and were now sitting on a rock far from Emma's home.

"Well it isn't that bad...." Katie gave her brother a look. "Oh come on, Kate. We get to see all these wonderful thing. I admit that getting shot at with energy spears is a downer, but this is a once in a life time thing."

"Okay okay. I get it. But we still have to figure out a way to vanquish the demon. If he couldn't be destroyed by all the Merpeople before...... what do we do?"

"Well our magic should be more powerful than theirs were. Hey Emma, what did happen to your magic?"

"Well after Jerimia there was no real threat to us. So after all the years it just went away. We evolved out of it. Our immortality is all we have left."

"Hmmm...... maybe you can tap back into it. If we can find other Merpeople, find a way for you to tap into your magic, and combine that with ours then I think we can vanquish Jerimia."

Katie nodded. "Didn't we do a tapping in thing before?"

"Yep. It was when we went back in time to save George Washington."

"Oh right..... I liked the power that I had. The lightning bolts were cool."

"Kate.... focus."

"Right."

Emma spoke up. "I know where a large group of my people are being held. The King is there too. After Jerimia attacked he took the King into custody along with many others. We can go find them and bring them back here. It would be dangerous though.... they are being heavily guarded."

"Yeah, I think.... OH NO! How long have we been down here?"

"About an hour and forty-five minutes," Emma said.

"Well there is a two hour time limit on this spell! Meaning we have fifteen minutes to get back to the surface."

Katie's eyes widened. "Well let's move!" They pushed off the rock and kicked their tales furiously to get back to the surface.

Once on shore they was a bright flash of light and Katie and Ian were human again. Katie stood up. "Well at least we changed back with our clothes on.... whoa!" She stumbled a little. "It kinda feels weird to have legs again."

Ian turned to Emma who was floating in the water. "Okay, we are going to go home and make some spells and potions that can help us. Meet us back here in a few hours." Emma nodded and dove under the water. Ian then took his sister's hand and she orbed them back home.

~*~*~

Bang! "Oh! Well the potion to act like your exploding power is done." Katie waved her hand to subdue the smoke. "How is it going with those spells?"

Ian got up from the table and picked up the pieces of notepad paper that he had used. "Okay I have one to make a sort of mist to give us cover.... one to freeze things like your power.... and I think I have a vanquish for Jerimia."

"Ah ha.... good work."

"Thank you. So you ready to go kick some fishy demon's ass?"

"As always."

Ian smiled. "Then let's go." Katie finished bottling the potions and put them in a purse.

"I bought this thing cheap so I don't care it it gets wet." Ian nodded as he put each piece of paper in a plastic sandwich bag.

"Gotta keep these dry." He put them in Kate's purse with the potions. Katie took his arm and orbed them back to the beach.


~*~*~

"This is it," Emma said, pointing to a large cave, guarded by many sharks. They had met Emma at the beach as planned and turned themselves back into Merpeople. Now it was time to save the King and then vanquish Jerimia.

"Alright," Ian said. "Is everyone ready?" Katie held up her purse and nodded. "Okay. Let's go." They swam quickly and quietly around the perimeter of the cave. "Kate, hand me the obscuring spell." Katie took out one of the sandwich bags and gave it to Ian. "With the current, to and fro, we say this spell to bring fog so, that we may save our friends today, and make the evil demon pay."

At first nothing happened. But then the water began to fog up. A moment later the water was filled with a thick fog. "Good spell," Katie said. They swam through the fog and into the cave, making it past the blinded sharks. There was a commotion going on in the cave and an old, but healthy looking Merman approached.

Emma bowed. "My King," she said.

"Have you come here to free us, Emma?" the King asked. Emma nodded. "And who are these two?"

"This is Ian and Katie. Ian answered my call for help. They are witches."

"Witches, eh? Well I thank you for coming. Are you sure you can stop Jerimia? He is so powerful."

"Well," Katie piped in, "we think that if you can call on your old powers and we combine that with our vanquishing spell, then we might be able to destroy him."

The King frowned. "Might?"

"Uh, well there is no guarantee...."

"Katie, hush. We are almost positive that this will work." Ian smiled nervously. "But first we have to get out of here." At that moment sharks shot through the entrance of the cave. "Kate, the potion!"

Katie opened her purse and took out a bottle. She threw it at the lead shark. It hit him and he vaporized in a bright flash. The other sharks were startled. "Let's move!" Kate yelled. All the Merpeople swam hard and Katie, Ian, and Emma took up the rear.

They escaped and were now all sitting around the rock that Emma had taken them to earlier. "Okay, here is the plan," Ian said loudly, so everyone could hear him. "You have to focus and tap into the power that you once had. It didn't go away it just became dormant. Now focus.... feel the power within you."

Katie leaned over and whispered in Ian's ear. "What is this? Star Wars?"

"Ssh!" But Ian smiled slightly. All the Merpeople had their eyes closed and were concentrating deeply.

"I feel it!" Emma cried. Everyone turned to look at her. She was glowing faintly. "I feel the power within. The power we used to have! Come on everyone! You can do it!" Over the next few minutes people glowed in turn until they had all felt the power.

"Okay," Ian said. "Concentrate on keeping a hold of that power. We have to get to the palace and take out Jerimia right away!"

"Oh you won't be going anywhere," came a deadly voice from above. They all looked up to see Jerimia and what seemed like over a hundred sharks hovering above them. Some screamed, and a few tried to get away.

"Wait! Don't be afraid!" Katie yelled. "You have the power. Now let's use it. Concentrate your power on us. Combine it with our magic!" The Merpeople closed their eyes and concentrated once again.

They all glowed brightly and then golden beams of light shot from each one and into Katie and Ian. "Alright, Kate, let's do it." They took out the spell and began to read.
"Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night, the oldest of power is invoked here, the great work of magic is sought. In this day and in this hour we call upon the ancient power. To vanquish Jerimia and set free, the magic that was meant to be!"

Jerimia writhed and screamed. "NO! This can't be happening! It's impossible!!!" BAM! Jerimia exploded and a massive shock wave shook the surrounding waters. The sharks seemed disoriented for a second and then they all peeled off, leaving the area.
Cheers erupted from the crowd of Merpeople. A second later the golden beams shot out from Ian and Katie and returned to their owners.

"Oh thank you, thank you!" Emma said, coming up to the siblings. "How can we ever repay you?"

"Well..." Katie began.

"No, thanks is all that we need," Ian interrupted. "But we have to get back to the surface before this spell ends. Goodbye Emma."

"Goodbye. Thank you for helping us and thank you for the chance to let me experience what it is like to be human."

"No problem," Katie said. The two then swam upwards toward the surface.

~*~*~

"I'm home!" Katie called, entering the manor. It was the next day and the sun was shining beautifully. Ian came into the foyer to see his sister putting away her coat and holding a small bag.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Oh this? Well I got a movie...."

"What movie?"

"Splash. I decided that since we were Merpeople I wanted to watch some movies with some in it."

"There is always The Little Mermaid."

"I hate that movie. And this is not a cartoon."

Ian smiled. "Okay, well let's watch. I'll get the popcorn!"

"I'll get the blankets and start a fire!" The two then rushed off to get ready for a nice relaxing time in front of the television.