Hey, folks! I know I've been gone for a while, and that this chapter isn't particularly satisfying. It's mostly filler, with a touch of suspicion, but next one is where we get into the good stuff!
Chapter Twenty One
Careless
Ava crept inside through the back door, trying to make it to her room without being noticed. She was almost halfway up the stairs before someone caught her. "Ava, why aren't you in school?" Abigail Harris was standing at the base of the stairs, her blond hair done up in a tight bun. Her smart grey pantsuit was as impeccable as always, and compared to Ava's faded jean shorts, wine-colored blouse, and strappy brown sandals, she made her redheaded daughter feel puny. "Ummm…." Ava reached out to her mother's mind, almost being bowled over by the noise of her thoughts. You called me home from school to see me…. you wanted to see your only daughter for the first time in weeks….you called me home… She repeated, forcing her will into her mother's mind. Shakily, Ava withdrew. She almost collapsed from the effort, swaying slightly on her feet. Her mother blinked, shaking her head slightly as she looked up at her daughter. "Ava. It's so good to see you. I called you home from school to talk about something." The redhead mentally sighed. She hadn't expected the energy drain from making her mother believe something, and just wanted to go upstairs and rest. Maybe eat something and drink some water to regain some energy. "You've been doing well with your grades, and I have a few days off. What do you think about us going to get your permit sometimes?" Ava blinked, effecting a look of surprise. Although she had gotten the whole ethics lecture from Beth, she wouldn't be a teenager if she didn't take an opportunity when she got it. She was sixteen, after all, and had been for a while. "Are you sure, mom?" She asked. "Yes, Ava. I'm sure. You're sixteen, and driving is an important life skill. Oh, and since you're already home, you can just stay home. Your grades are good, so you can afford to skip a day." Ava barely managed to restrain her grin, instead opting to nod and head upstairs. Abigail went back to whatever she had been doing, while Ava padded down the hall to her room.
The aerokinetic mermaid flopped onto her white bed, staring up at the ceiling. A grin spread across her face. She could read minds! She could read freaking minds! Sure, the whole 'mermaid-with-magical-powers-after-falling-into-a-magic-pool' revelation was much more stunning, but this was pretty cool. It was just like one of those crazy comic books she'd read a few years ago- just to make her parents mad that she was wasting her allowance on flimsy paper picture books, of course. She rolled over, giggling slightly. Her stomach growled loudly. Her abilities were still rather drained from her foray into her mother's mind, but- hey! How come she was losing energy from using her new-found Telepathy, but using her aerokinetic and cryokinetic powers didn't drain her? She twirled her finger in the air, letting her powers free a little. A small breeze swirled around her finger. Nothing. It didn't make her feel weak, or anything! She flicked her finger, directing the breeze towards the metal jewelry tree on her dresser. The necklaces and bracelets tinkled faintly in the wind. She sat up, exercising her abilities further. A faint, glimmering patina of frost grew on the silver-colored branches, overlaying the sculpted leaves and twigs. Ava stopped, the frost gradually beginning to melt without the cold wind sustaining it. That was certainly interesting.
o(O)o
Marie sat in the classroom, her head propped up on one hand as her hazel eyes watched the Science teacher. Mrs. Porter was jabbering on about Biology, but the pyrokinetic wasn't listening. She was contemplating the recent development of Ava and Jemma's new powers. If they have new powers, what about me and Liz? Will we develop new powers? What will they be? "Ms. Jackson! Have you heard anything I've said?!" Marie's head snapped up and she looked at the teacher with a confused look on her face. "Uhhh.." The rest of the students laughed, but Mrs. Porter just looked mad. "Marie, go to the Principal's office," The severe-looking brunette teacher ordered. Rolling her eyes, Marie rose from her chair and slung her black backpack over one shoulder, pulling the door open and walking out.
"Marie, you have to pay attention in class! This has happened too many times- I mean, twice today?" Principal Wilkins tapped his thin, sticklike fingers on the polished wood of the desk, his grey eyes fixed on her face. Marie internally sighed, preparing her 'sorry, I'll never do it again' routine. She usually did pay attention, only zoning out occasionally, but the whole 'friend-being-kidnapped-by-a-Siren-almost-dying-and-becoming-a-mermaid' kind of took up a lot of brain power. "I'm sorry, Principal Wilkins. It's just…. I've been kind of distracted lately. My friend, Liz Moore, she disappeared on Friday, and I'm really worried about her." The black-haired teenager cast her eyes down at the dark wood desk, focusing on the metal nameplate that read 'Edward Wilkins, Principal'. "Oh, Marie. I'll let you off this time, but please try to focus more in class. Now go along." He pulled a folder from the top of the stack on his desk and opened it, signaling that the meeting was over. Marie stood, leaving the office. It was only lunchtime, so she settled herself in one of the empty hallways.
She was halfway through her PB&J when she heard the sound of footsteps. She glanced up, seeing that three girls, all of them in five-inch heels were standing in front of her. "Can I help you?" "Yes. I'm looking for Marie Jackson?" One of them, a blond, asked in a peppy, sugary-sweet voice. She tilted her head to one side, blond, gelled curls falling over one bare shoulder. Her strapless top was orange, covered in ruffles and paired with a short pink skirt. Her absurdly-high heels were spindly and bright orange and her face was covered in layers of crazy makeup. All crazy bright. "I'm Marie," Marie answered bluntly, taking another bite of her sandwich. "Patricia Nichols. This is Melissa Shaw-" Another blond, this time in a radioactive teal dress so short that it was barely acceptable for school "-and Janet Hawkens." Janet had black hair and was wearing a pair of tiny jean shorts and a rose-pink spaghetti strap top. "Whaddya want?" Marie asked, still holding her sandwich in one hand. Melissa reached out and grabbed her sandwich, wrinkling her nose at it. "Hey!" Marie stood, anger boiling beneath her skin. "Oooohhhh, weirdo's getting all fierce…." Janet mocked. Patricia's heels clicked on the concrete floor as she stalked around Marie. "You really wear that? It looks like something you dug out of the garbage!" Marie looked down at her faded shorts and green tanktop with confusion. "My clothes are fine," She replied, her hazel eyes flashing with anger. Melissa tossed the sandwich into the nearby garbage can neatly, and Marie snapped. "That was my lunch," She snarled. "Whatcha gonna do? Attack us?" Patricia laughed, her voice high and shrill. Marie's eyes flamed dangerously, the garbage can behind Patricia starting to rattle. Janet looked at the can, her eyes widening. "How are you doing that? Stop it!" She shrieked as the rattling grew stronger. Marie backed away, her own eyes wide. She wasn't doing anything! The green can stopped rattling as soon as her anger vanished, and a grin slowly spread across Marie's face. Was this her new power? The girls were visibly rattled, glancing around nervously. The mermaid smiled darkly, focusing on the nearby doorway. She pulled her power upwards to the surface, feeling the familiar warm flush from her pyrokinesis and a strange, new tingle from her other power. The doorknob jiggled rapidly, the door flying open and banging against the brick wall. Patricia, Melissa, and Janet all screamed, whipping around and backing swiftly away. "Wh-what are you doing?!" Melissa cried out. Marie's grin only grew wider as the three girls started to shrink away from her and the door. Another door, further down the hall, started to bang as well. The garbage can started to rattle again, adding its noise to the cacophony. "R-RUNNNN!" Patricia screamed over the sound, starting to scramble away. Janet stumbled in her heels, falling to the floor and stumbling upright as the three of them disappeared around the corner.
Marie stared at her hands, her grin fading as she started to feel slightly weak. The doors slowed to a stop, the garbage can finally tipping over. Spots swam in her vision, her stomach growling. So tired…. The dark-haired teenager wanted nothing more than to just plop down and sleep in the middle of the hallway. With an enormous amount of effort, she pulled herself up, not realizing that she had slid down the brick wall onto the floor. Even that small movement made her want to throw up, she was so tired. Marie's eyes started to drift closed, then she forced them open again. Again, they drifted closed and she was out like a light.
o(O)o
"Are you alright?" Someone's voice drifted through her exhausted haze. Marie's eyes flickered open blearily. A black-haired girl was crouching in front of her, her short pixie cut framing a tanned face and worried brown eyes. "I…" Marie began, her eyes drifting closed and open again tiredly. "I'm fine... just tired…" The half-asleep mermaid realized that a bunch of students and the odd member of the faculty had gathered around her. She tried to get up, but stumbled and landed back on the floor. The black-haired girl stood, holding out a hand to help Marie up. The pyrokinetic took it, wobbling as she stood upright. "What happened, Miss Jackson?" The Art Teacher, Mr. Lin, asked her concernedly. "I-" Marie's mind raced; she couldn't exactly tell them that she had discovered a new mermaid power and it had sapped an enormous amount of energy. "I didn't sleep well lately, and I didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning." Mr. Lin nodded slowly. "Make sure it doesn't happen again. Go along to the nurse's office and have her check if you're okay." Marie started to make her way down the hallway, people parting around her.
o(O)o
Jemma sat in her bed, scribbling away in a school notebook with a pencil.
Entry 16
It appears that our abilities are affected by the phases of the moon. First, we were compelled to the Moon Pool under Isla la Luna during the new moon, after all of us felt extraordinarily weak. Next, it was a full moon during our battle with Pnígo. I felt my powers grow in strength when the full moon rose, so I'm assuming that the others felt the same. Perhaps our powers are actually tied to the moon?
- Full Moon, our powers are at their strongest
- New Moon, we are at our very weakest and seek shelter in the Moon Pool
I'll have to follow up on this theory later. Maybe there's a way to fight the Moon's compulsion during the New Moon?
The brunette stopped writing, setting her pencil aside on the bed. Every week, almost every day there was something new to discover about them! Although, she wouldn't be too keen to experience something like what Pnígo subjected them to over the course of days, between sorrow over Liz's supposed death, worry that their friend might be alive and under a Siren's control, and trying to get their friend back, ever again. She picked up her pencil again, drawing a line across the page and adding more under it.
We've discovered that there's a lot more to the world than we thought there was. Steve turned out to be a Teleporter, and, apparently, Max is clairvoyant. There's Sirens, Mermaids, and I'll bet there's other magical creatures too. Plus, we've discovered new powers that we have! I'm an Empath, Ava's a Telepath, and Liz & Marie haven't discovered their powers yet. Maybe they'll be, like, Telekinetics! That's a neat power. Or maybe something else, like Photokinesis.
A knock on Jemma's door sent the mermaid into a flurry of motion, tossing her pencil off onto the rug and scrambling under the covers as she shoved her notebook under the pillow. "Come in!" She called, trying to sound sickly. She even threw in a fake cough for extra measure. Her mom entered, a concerned look on her face. She sat on the edge of the bed while Jemma kept the covers tucked all the way up to her chin. "How are you feeling?" "Still icky," Jemma croaked. She tried desperately not to smile- this was why she was a terrible liar. When she tried to lie, she almost always smiled. "Will you be okay to go to school tomorrow?" Kaitlyn asked her daughter. Jemma nodded, feeling the brief bit of curiosity that came with asking a question, worry for her daughter, concern about if this illness would progress. God, the emotions were so sharp and vivid up close! "Er, I think so," Jemma replied. Her mom nodded, rising from the bed and moving over to the door. She vanished into the hallway, closing the door behind her as Jemma sighed in relief.
o(O)o
Ava pulled a blue-and-green striped pool towel from the linen closet, slinging it over one shoulder as she crept down the stairs. "Mom, I'm going down to the beach," She poked her head into her mom's office, mentally sighing at the sight of the files that her mother was flipping through. "Okay. Make sure you have your phone," Her mom instructed distractedly. Ava nodded, padding away in her pink flip flops. She jogged across the road and down the sidewalk towards the beach.
The red-headed mermaid walked down the sand, carefully avoiding the surf as it crept up the beach. She walked behind an outcropping of rock, clambering up the sandy hill behind it. Ava made her way over the dunes, finally walking out of the dunes into the cove. She laid her towel on the sand, grinning as she glanced over at the ocean. The mermaid pulled her wine-colored blouse off, revealing her yellow-and-green striped swimsuit. The shorts just stayed on, as they would just transform along with her. She kicked off her flip flops and ran for the water.
Glimmering white scales replaced her skin, delicate flukes covering her toes as the graceful streamlined shape of her tail shimmered into existence. Ava grinned, diving further into the ocean as she swam. Her tail propelled her forwards in a rush of bubbles as she raced through the water, relishing the feeling of freedom.
o(O)o
Marie stood in the nurse's office as the peppy brunette told her to make sure that she got enough sleep and breakfast. "After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" The nurse said cheerfully. She opened the door, ushering Marie out. Mrs. Jackson was waiting outside, looking at Marie with concern. "Are you alright, Marie," She asked her daughter. Marie nodded. "I just haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately and I forgot to eat breakfast today," The teenager explained. "Alright. Make sure you eat something before your next class," The older woman instructed gently, laying one hand on Marie's shoulder. Marie nodded, hugging her mom before walking away, back to where she had left her backpack. Her mom watched her go, eyes narrowed in thought. She had seen Marie eat breakfast that morning. So why was her daughter lying?
Oh, and if anyone bothers to actually check my moon calendar dates, yes I know they're wrong. I had to do a little tinkering, but we get back on semi-real moon calendar dates in the next chapter.
Further, thank you Ant03071998 for your very generous review and interest in this story!