Disclaimer: I don't own Mako Mermaids. Get ready for an epic chapter! Italics are for texting. And bold italics are for talking underwater.
"Zac's onto something." said Lyla, who had called all of us in for a meeting. "He's searching everywhere for it."
"Yes but was he anywhere near it?" Nixie asked in reply.
"No." Lyla said.
"There's your answer." Nixie said. "It's a big ocean and it's a pretty small trident."
"We just need to keep an eye on him." Lyla quipped. "That's all."
"Lyla's right." I spoke. "He's smarter than you think he is."
"I doubt that." Nixie said.
"If there's one thing I know about Zac, it's that he won't give up on this one." I added on.
"Kind of sounds like you're a big fan of his." Nixie sarcastically said.
"Look Nixie, I was stuck with him for 13 years, so I know what I'm talking about. Ok?" I said finally standing up.
After the meeting ended, Mom called for lessons. It was a good thing we were in the grotto, so we wouldn't have to get up.
"Today's lesson, the power of the moon ring!" My mom told us. "Thalassa, may I use yours?"
"Mine?" I asked confused. "But you've got a moon ring can't you use that?"
"I don't like to." Mom said. "I never wear my ring. I took it off when I left the pod and came to live here."
"But still can't you just-"
"It's just a lesson." My mom cut me off. Nervous, I handed her the ring. "It takes years to master the power of the moon ring. Now look at the aquarium. Now focus on the seaweed."
"I'm sorry." Nixie interrupted "Is this about the aquarium or is this about seaweed?"
"Mermaids have the power to become invisible. But we can't hold it forever. Sometimes nature can provide a bit of instant camouflage."
"Like our tails." I chimed in. "A mermaid's tail is bronze to fit in with the coral, and a merman's is blue to mix with the sea. While mine's is silver to blend with the coral or the light reflecting through the water's surface."
"Excellently put Thalassa." Mom said to me in praise. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
"Show off." Lyla muttered in my ear.
"Hothead." I replied.
"Now," my mom continued. "Focus on the ring, meld your thoughts with it, and above all focus on what you want it to do. Unleashing intended energy is crucial." As she gave her instructions, the moon ring glowed with it's light blue light and the seaweed started to rise, overflowing the tank.
"That's incredible!" Sirena exclaimed in wonder!
"Wow." Nixie sarcastically quipped. "I could completely disappear if I was a goldfish."
"A mermaid that can use the moon ring can increase the size of a kelp forest the same way." Mom told us. "Nixie you're up." I paled at the thought of Nixie using a moon ring. Every time Nixie was first to try something, she ended up blowing up something!
"Nixie's going to blow the seaweed up isn't she?" I whispered to Lyla.
"That you can be sure of." Lyla said smiling back at me. Nixie used the moon ring but when she did, instead of growing even bigger, it turned black and crispy.
"You killed it!" Sirena exclaimed, slightly horrified.
"Ok it was my first try!" Nixie said in exasperation.
"Like I said, it takes years of practice." Mom said to us.
"So this can destroy things as well?" I asked.
"Magic is only as dark as the user." Mom replied.
"The trident has the same stone as the moon ring but it's so much bigger." Lyla chimed in.
"Yes, it shares the same power source: moonlight." Mom said.
"No wonder it's a hundred times more powerful." Lyla mused in terror
"And that's why the danger from it is immense." Mom added on, making us look at the burned seaweed in terror.
My phone suddenly buzzed alive with a new text from Helen.
I just saw Cam with scuba gear, but strangely he was alone.
Thank you Helen. I texted back.
"Guys." I said, getting everyone's attention. "Helen just saw Cam heading off with scuba gear."
"Was he with anyone?" Sirena asked.
"No he was by himself." I said. "It's strange though. Those two basically have done everything together, meaning if they dive, they don't dive alone."
"So?"Nixie asked. "What it's not like he can stay down there very long with those silly tanks."
"What if he's meeting someone." Lyla started to sound worried. "What if he's meeting Zac?"
"You worry too much."
Lyla got up and headed out on the front lawn. We followed her.
"Lyla, look even if Cam is meeting Zac, there's no reason to think that he's anywhere near the trident." Nixie said. "It'll be weeks before they find anything."
"Yeah Nixie, I bet that's just what you guys said before Zac got the trident first." I quipped.
"Thalie's right." Lyla agreed with me. "What he is onto something? What if he figures out that I didn't make it the whole way there? What if he's figured out that it's somewhere between here and Mako?"
"Ok." Nixie finally said. "You both might have good points. He might be a lot smarter than I think We should check it out."
"No I'll do it." Lyla said. "I know where it is."
"Do you want us to come with you?" Sirena asked
"I'll be fine." Lyla said leaving. While Nixie and Sirena were distracted, I turned invisible and followed Lyla through the sea. If Lyla was going out to face Zac with the trident, then she was going to need backup. I hid behind this large piece of coral and I managed to pull my fin back in time before Lyla could see. If she caught me, she would get me in trouble. And I wasn't going back to Mom's grounding method. Why? Because on the first day, she made me write on the board at least 20 times, "Mother knows best." It was worse on the second day of my punishment. She made me watch her grade my papers! Not fun.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when I saw Cam wave over to Zac. My heart raced at the speed of light when I saw Zac swim over and pull the trident out of this tiny cave b Lyla then tried to grab it but Zac kept pulling back initiating a fight. I swam up to them to try to break it up.
Stop! You're only making it worse!
Stay out of this Thalie!
Suddenly the moonstone started to glow and I got in Lyla's way right before a burning pain struck my chest and I fell to the ground. The last thing I saw was Zac looking at me in horror before the world collapsed in darkness.
Lyla could only watch in horror as my seemingly lifeless body fell on the ground. Lyla immediately picked me up but Zac swam closer to me and held my body. He looked at me in shock and regret as he and Lyla swam back to the grotto.
"Help!" Zac yelled carrying me once we got dry. "Anyone! Help! It's Thalassa!" Rita, Nixie, and Sirena came over and gasped in horror at the sight of me, although Rita screamed in horror at first. Without a second thought, they put me on a sofa.
"What have you done?!" Nixie cried out, pushing Zac back.
"I don't know." He answered. "I found the trident, we fought over it, Thalie swam in Lyla's way, and then there was a flash."
"You did this?!" Mom asked with icy venom at the teenager.
"Just help her please." Zac pleaded.
"We need to move quickly, can you get me that shell box?" Mom asked. "This is going to require that we all work together. Lyla take Thalassa's ring. Ok now hold your rings over her. Focus on them, they have the power to heal."
"But remember what I did to that seaweed?" Nixie asked her. "I don't wanna hurt her."
"You have to trust yourself." Mom told Nixie, trying to keep her tears in. "Now let your thoughts focus on her." As their rings lit up, a blue glow lit up my skin and hair. Shortly, the rings glow vanishes and so does the glow on my body. They could only stand in shock as Mom searched every part of her books to find something.
"What happened?" Zac asked.
"The rings are spent." Sirena told them heartbroken. "It's been too long since they've been exposed to the light of the full moon."
"No, there has to be something." Mom said.
"Rita." Nixie said. "She's gone." Mom came back after finding nothing and broke down crying over me.
"Thalassa, oh my poor child." They heard her through broken sobs.
Zac went to the wall and slammed his fist on it. He slumped to the floor, putting his head between his arms. "What have I done?" He asked before he broke sobbing. He knew that he had done something really stupid. He had finally figured out that his actions were sort of not his own. But he chose to let the evil in him and it cost him the person who had always been there for him. Sure he had Cam as a good friend but no one understood him like his sister, who wasn't even his real sister. He had caused Rita's pain and it would be something he would have to live with for the rest of his life.
"You, Zac Blakely!" Mom shouted with utter rage and heartbreak. "YOU DID THIS!" Who could blame her? Losing your flesh and blood could really cause you extreme pain.
"See how stupid you've been?" Nixie said walking up to Zac. "And all for what? Rita's own daughter dying because of you!"
"There must be something we can do." Zac said to Lyla.
"Without the power of the ring, we don't have time to wait before the next full moon to charge them." She said, blinking tears. "There might be another way. The trident stores the power of the moon."
"You've got the trident." Mom said. her ears perking up. "You have to let us use it! We have to save my daughter!"
"It's the only way Zac." Sirena said to him.
"I knew we couldn't trust him." said Nixie. "Why would he care? He basically disowned her that night she betrayed him."
"Which is why I'm willing to right my wrongs right here." Zac announced, getting up on his feet and running to my still form. "I'm coming back." He said to my unconscious form, brushing my hair out of my face. "Just hang in there." Zac then rushed off, returning a few minutes later with the trident in his hand, the stone glowing due to it being surrounded by mermaids. "What do I have to do?"
"Hold your rings out." My mom told them to do. "Nixie that means you too."
"But this isn't seaweed, I mean how do we know what he's gonna do with it?" Nixie asked, not buying Zac's shot at redemption.
"I just wanna help Thalie." Zac pleaded.
"Oh yeah, like you just did?" Nixie sarcastically quizzed.
"Nixie we have to do this." Sirena pleaded to her best friend.
"The trident stores the power of moonlight." Mom told Zac, still trying to hold her cool. "You need to use it to fuel the rings with that light."
"But last time it took the moonlight from the rings." Zac noted. "How do I make it give it back?"
"Focus your mind on it." Mom told Zac. "And what you want it to do."
"So I just aim at them?" Zac asked.
"You're in control, remember that." Mom reminded Zac. The trident glowed and moonlight flowed back into our rings. "That should be enough. Remember your lessons." They held out their rings over me, causing my body glowed again. My head jerked up and I started breathing normally.
"Are you alright, can you hear us?" Sirena asked.
"Thalie." Zac said.
"Zac, you're here." I said breathlessly. "What exactly happened? Did I miss an ice cream party?" Everyone just laughed before Mom gave me a giant hug. Even though I was getting better, Mom was still pretty mad that I had risked my life for the third time. So I was relieved that she gave me a grounding detention for about 5 days, instead of the rest of my life. As soon as I felt at least a little better, I trotted up to the roof where I saw Zac and the 3 girls hanging out. "Hey."
Hearing my voice, they moved towards me."Are you ok?" Zac asked me.
"A little weak but getting better." I answered.
"We were worried sick." Nixie said while Sirena gave me a giant hug.
"All I knew was that I was so weak that I didn't wanna come back." I described my near death experience. "I was in a tunnel, heading for this warm white light, and I swear my dad was there. And then I felt your energy, pulling at me, urging me to return. I wanted to fight it and stay there. But my dad then said, "turn around my little mermaid, and listen to your mother's song." Besides, you guys are pretty hard to resist. Thank you."
Zac walked up to me and looked me in the eye. Light brown meeting deep blue. "Thalie, look, I'm sorry, for everything."
"Zac, you don't have to apologize." I said. "You were under a curse. But I'm the one that betrayed you!"
"You were just trying to help and more importantly, whether we're bound by blood or how we were raised, you're still my little sister no matter what. I'm so sorry for even saying you weren't." I gave him a long hug. "And curse or not, I let that trident get into my head. All that power, it felt like a rush and I couldn't let it go. I let it into our lives and so I take responsibility for my actions. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't know I could do that so quickly."
"Yeah I know." Lyla said.
"I never even should have brought the trident out in the first place." Zac declared.
"At last we agree on something." Nixie said sarcastically.
"None of this is what I wanted." Zac said to me.
"Then you gotta put the trident back where it belongs, please." I pleaded with him. "What happened to me, it's nothing. It can do so much worse."
The three mermaids looked at me incredulously. "Thalie!" Sirena said to me. "It's a mermaid's deepest secret."
"He should know." Lyla retorted. "Hasn't he proven himself trustworthy today? If the trident is taken to the moon pool on a full moon. It'll destroy the moon pool forever, unleashing a tidal wave that will obliterate the entire Gold Coast. That's why mermaids fear it so much. That's why you have to put it back."
Zac took some time to think about this before he called all of us to Mako Island. Or more specifically, the trident chamber entrance. Me and the girls were outside while Zac was in. I found out that a moon ring could actually open up the chamber and that it was Lyla who had a moon ring when Zac and I first discovered the trident.
"You know we can leave it any time." Nixie said.
"And let the tunnel entrance close over?" Sirena quizzed. "Zac's not out yet."
"So he gets stuck in there, too bad." Nixie snapped back.
"Zac helped save my life." I told her.
"Only after putting it in jeopardy in the first place." Nixie muttered.
"He didn't know what the trident could do." Lyla told us. "You heard him say that."
"So now he does." Nixie said. "Who knows if he'll really put the trident back?"
"We can trust him, I'm sure of it." I said.
Zac then came out with no trident in hand or in sight. "You don't have to worry anymore." He said. "It's locked away and no one can get to it."
"Except you." Nixie quipped.
"I can't get in there without you guys." Zac retorted back, confused.
"Except when there's a full moon." Nixie said. "He doesn't need us then."
"Zac's kept his word." Lyla spoke up. "I believe him."
"Me too." Sirena added on.
"Me three." I said with them.
"Thanks." Zac said smiling.
"No." I said. "Thank you for saving me and for doing the right thing by putting it back."
"It was locked away for a good reason, I can see that now." Zac announced. "With the curse gone, i feel like I can actually breathe again. It has to be left there. I don't want anything to do with it anymore." We left but Nixie stayed behind eyeing the entrance.
"Nixie, I know what's on your mind." I said. "The deed is done. It's time to put the past behind us."
Just as I turned around I heard Nixie's voice ask me,
"Have you put your past behind you?"
That's it for now folks! Be sure to review! But what happens in the aftermath of this episode? Stay tuned to find out