Chapter 26-Part 1-Just Believe

"We don't have to be ordinary. Make your best mistakes. 'Cause we don't have the time to be sorry. So baby be the life of the party." ~Excerpt from Life of the Party, Shawn Mendes

A/N: Hey, it's Darkwind! I've spent most of the morning working on cover art for a story that I have to write for English, but I'm still updating this story! I don't think I'll be able to update 'Sweet Embrace,' the first comedy/romance story that I've tried. But who knows? Maybe I'll be able to. But it's not very likely.

This chapter is about facing your deepest fears and conquering them. It's about feeling afraid but not backing down. And I think that the song Life of the Party by Shawn Mendes is the best song choice to listen to when you read this, as I am writing this as I'm listening to Life of the Party. It's not a really new song, but it's good. I think. The part about conquering your fears, not the song.

The song is awesome.

Enjoy! ;)

Zac could probably feel the electricity in the room.

No wait, there was electricity in the room!

He looked up towards where he thought Raiden was—where he felt the strongest pulse of energy from the trident. "Umm..." Zac said. Then, he realized that he was holding his breath. Hastily, Zac breathed again. He turned to Raiden. "Are you ready?" Zac asked the merman softly, frustrated that he couldn't seek out the merman with his eyes. But if this went well, Zac would be able to see again.

"I... No," Raiden said. Zac heard something drop—maybe the trident—and heard footsteps dashing out of the room.

Zac frowned and stood up, wobbling.

"I'll get him," Lyla said. Zac heard her get up and dash out the door.

Zac stood up and pressed his ear against the door.

"Hey, Raiden, you okay?" Lyla murmured. Zac could picture the concern in her eyes as clearly as he would've if he could see. His heart tugged for her, and Zac closed his eyes. He knew that Raiden could do it—it was if Raiden would do it. Raiden had a challenging enough life—which had morphed him into a strong, stoic warrior-sort of sarcastic merman—and this only added the pressure.

"Yeah," came a muffled reply. "I just... I don't want to hurt him."

"You wont." Lyla sounded so sure—so confident—that Raiden would pull through.

"And what if I don't?" Raiden's tone was challenging, and Zac could imagine the boy burying his face in his hands. "What if Zac's worse off than he started? What if I kill him? Think about it, Lyla. What would you do if I killed your boyfriend?" That last line made Zac's blood run cold. "And what would I do? I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Lyla went uncharacteristically silent. Then, after a long heartbeat, she said, "Believe, Raiden. Believe that you'll be fine. Believe that Zac will be fine. I know you can do this. You were chosen for this. The trident chose you, not Erik, for a reason. That isn't something to be taken lightly, Raiden. You've got all of this power, and I know that you know where you belong. In here. In your heart."

The whole room seemed to hold its breath. Then, Zac heard Raiden exhale. "Alright."

Zac quickly shuffled back to his bed just as the door creaked open. He heard footsteps sound, and he looked up, pretending that he hadn't been eavesdropping on their entire conversation. He directed his sightless gaze to the trident, which was still on the ground. Power radiated off of it. The intensity was staggering.

"Are you ready?" Zac inquired.

"Inasmuch as I can be," came Raiden's semi-confident reply. Zac felt the power of the trident shift upwards. Raiden must've picked up the trident. Zac closed his eyes as he felt Raiden direct the trident's power waves towards him. Zac remembered a piece of information from a while ago: The trident has to power to hurt and heal. Hopefully, it would only be the heal part for Zac.

"Are you ready?" Lyla said, the question directed at Zac.

Zac took a deep breath. "I am."

"That was the best thing ever!" Mimmi exclaimed, turning to Chris.

He seemed pleased. "I knew you would like it. But you stood so far from the water—do you have some weird phobia that I don't know about?" His tone was teasing, but it struck a nerve. Chris noticed her expression. He turned to her, clearly concerned. "What's wrong? What did I say?" Oh, if only he knew. But he sure wasn't making it easy for her with those gorgeous hazel eyes. How inconsiderate of him.

"Nothing," Mimmi said, flashing him a saucy grin.

Chris smiled, and Mimmi felt relieved—until she saw a careful, unsure glint in his eyes.

Mimmi reached down and intertwined their hands, which made him smile—it also distracted him from Mimmi's 'problem' with water. She smiled at him breezily, hoping he wouldn't see through her smile—which was actually genuine. But it was one born out of relief, not affection—but of course, she had smiled plenty of times due to affection. Mimmi's gaze wandered to Rita. She had remembered that the older mermaid had been doing some research earlier.

"Hey, do you want to go to Ocean Cafe?" Chris asked, interrupting her traitorous thoughts as his smile widened.

"Yeah, I—"

Mimmi dropped to her knees, letting out an ear-piercing scream.

"Mimmi!" Chris turned to her, alarmed.

Mimmi shook her head furiously. "I'm fine—I don't know what came over me. I—"

Mimmi writhed in agony, screaming.

"Is this supposed to happen?" Lyla demanded, casting another anxious look at Zac, who was very, very pale.

"I-I don't know!" Raiden said, still forcing the trident's power currents on Zac.

Lyla's eyes widened as Zac's eyes shot open.

"Zac?" she breathed, moving closer to him.

His gaze remained blank, but the haziness was gone from it. She turned to Raiden, shooting him a quizzical look. The trident was still glowing, pulsing with light and power. Lyla shuddered at the force. Zac still wasn't responding. "Did it work?" she breathed. Raiden looked ever so uncertain—it was a look that Lyla hadn't seen on him before. And truth be told, his expression? Kind of scary.

"I-I don't know," Raiden rasped.

"Why are you still..?" Lyla trailed off, staring at the trident.

"I'm not!" Raiden exclaimed, horrified. "I don't know what's happening!"

Lyla frowned. The trident was shuddering, as if it wanted to be freed from Raiden's grasp. "T-that's not possible!"

"I'm sure after what just happened, all of the rules went out the door," Raiden breathed.

Lyla turned back to Zac, who was still unresponsive. "What about Zac?" she asked desperately.

Raiden could only shake his head in horror.

Chris stared at Mimmi, who was shaking and whimpering between bouts of screams.

"Mimmi, what did I do?"

"Not you," she managed to choke out before screaming again.

"Mimmi, what can I do?" Chris said. For a pretty level-headed guy, him freaking out was just going to send more panic running high. Chris's hazel eyes were trained intently on Mimmi's azure ones. He never felt so afraid in his entire life. Why was she acting like this? Was she hurt? Was it an excuse for Chris to ditch her? No, Mimmi's wasn't that good an actress. "Mimmi's..." It felt so horrible, to be close yet unable to do anything. It was utterly torture.

"Chris," Mimmi croaked.

"Mimmi? What can I do?"

"Get," Mimmi began, but she began to scream again. "Get Rita," she managed to rasp.

"Principal Santos?" Chris said, being alarmed. "What for?"

"Just get her," Mimmi forced out, her breathing heavy and eyes wide with fear.

So Chris did one of the hardest things in his life.

He left her with his heart in his throat and a mantra ringing through his head: Get Rita Santos.

Lyla stared at Raiden. "What's happening?"

"I don't know!" Raiden cried frantically.

Lyla cast an anxious look at Zac. Her Zac. Why now, when they were so close?

"Lyla..?"

Lyla felt the change before she saw it. The trident's power swelled and swelled, it's power strong enough to obliterate cities, recarve a once-familiar landscape into something unrecognizable. Lyla exchanged a shaky glance with Raiden. It seemed as if he no longer has any control over the trident. It was terrifying. But kind of awesome, to be honest.

"Zac!" Lyla cried out.

Zac screamed, and it was a terrible sound. Almost like nails on a chalkboard but a million times worse. Lyla watched him write in agony, but he didn't scream again. It was a small comfort. Lyla turned to Raiden, but the boy only shrugged. He didn't know what to do either. Lyla held her breath as Zac, her Zac, turned his head her way...

Time froze.

Lyla held her breath.

Had a miracle occurred? Or had Lyla's world just come crashing down?

QotD: What is the outcome of all of this?

2nd QotD: Why did Mimmi feel pain?

A/N: Review your answer to the QotD! So, this is going to be part 1 of part 2, okay? Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it just had to be there. All is yet to be explained: Mimmi's pain, Zac's sight, Raiden's trident. I'm sorry that I couldn't put all of that in this chapter, but the next chapter is sure to be lengthy! This chapter is just for building up the tension and intrigue and suspense for the next chapter. I'm really sorry for doing this, but it leaves a lot of questions ringing inside your head, right?

And don't forget Rita. She has a part in it, too.

Knowing you guys, I bet you can guess.

But it's getting really late right now. I'm updating really late in the night because I want to keep my promise. You'll probably be asleep as I write this, and I should probably be asleep as I have Chinese school tomorrow. I've had a few restful, stressful nights so far, but I'll be okay. Again, Raiden is not my OC. He belongs to my special friend Izi Wilson. Also, special thanks to Catm222. Your reviews make me smile.

And honestly, I can't believe how much views my story had. I never expected this, so thank to everyone who has read or reviewed. You're all awesome people! I'm seriously so lucky to have found this fanfiction site. I have made many friends, and I even persuaded my in real life friend to join fanfiction! ;D

The next chapter will definitely explain more of the story, and I can only hope that it will be as enticing as the rest. I should end this A/N, but somehow, I feel that I have a few more things to say. Okay. First, if you haven't checked out my 'Sweet Embrace ' Mako Mermaids COMEDY and romance fanfiction, go check it out! If you want some laughs, that is. Well, I think that it is funny. You might not.

And, um, there are six minutes to midnight for me. I know. I suck. But don't worry, I'll try to update earlier tomorrow. Good night!

Well, thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated (criticism and praise) though not necessary. But what writer doesn't like reviews? ;)

~Darkwind