Chapter 52: Some Kind of Truce

Elliot and Lizzy crept slowly through the well-lit hallway, checking their surroundings. They weren't even doing anything that suspicious to someone on the outside, but still, the anxiety was still creeping up through both of them. "Are you sure we're in the right place?" Lizzy whispered to Elliot.

"I hope so… Good thing I can do basic internet research. This should be the place… I think...," Elliot affirmed. At least, unless they were using a fake name and we're completely way off base. That's also possible.

The two of them went a little farther down, still walking cautiously. "What room is it?" Lizzy asked.

"Should be…. 2119…" Elliot trailed off.

"Are you sure?" Lizzy questioned once again.

"I'm mostly confident in it. I know I'm not 100% sure…. But at this point we can't take any chances, at all," Elliot warned.

"Oh, don't be so gloomy and doomy," Lizzy teased. "We'll be fine."

"With Mia, Katy, as well as my sister and her friends' livelihoods on the line, we have to be serious about this. They all were nice enough to reveal their secrets to us, so we should not fail them," Elliot pronounced.

"Ok, I'm with you," Lizzy affirmed. "We can do this."

"Here we are," Elliot spoke, arriving at the right door. He stood steadfast, but still frozen in place. He raised his fist to knock, hesitating for a moment, his entire body refusing to move. Within a moment, his nerve returned, and he knocked a few times on the door.

For several seconds, nothing happened, and Elliot's breath stopped, unsure if he had just made the right decision or not. Then, the door quickly opened, revealing a dark haired lady with pale skin. Her hair was frizzy and she wasn't wearing any makeup. She blinked a few times, ridding the sleep from her eyes. "Can I help you?" the woman asked, still tired.

Lizzy stepped in front of Elliot, blinking her eyes in a fangirl like manner. "Hey, are you the mysterious Raven by chance?" She asked, smiling.

"Uh… I'm not so sure about mysterious… But yeah, I'm Raven. Why? Who are you exactly?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My name is Zoey, and this is James. I heard a rumor that you were the one who were able to figure out that Farley Davis was a merman… Can you confirm?" Lizzy responded, still cheery as ever. Elliot stayed behind her, letting her take the lead. "I'm studying journalism and would love to find out how you did it."

"Yeah. I figured it out. His video with Gentleman Australia lead me to believe it, and I just took a chance. Turns out I was right. Didn't help me out though. I was banned from gaining anything from my great journalism skills," Raven complained. "They're very protective of who they allow at their events."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. That's amazing what you were able to do," Lizzy groveled.

"So… What's next for you?" Elliot asked. "You can't just have given up right?"

Raven smirked. "I think I may be going back to the US. I showed that I could use my skills and it worked. That should show employers that I have the ability to be a great journalist. Not much more I can do here in Australia."

"Well, I hope you can at least gain something from being banned from everything," Lizzy encouraged.

"Thank you. Both of you. You've lifted my spirits today," Raven smiled. "But, I must get ready for the day. If you don't mind. But, it was great talking to you both."

"Our pleasure Raven. Good luck in your life onward," Elliot spoke eloquently.

"Good bye! It was a pleasure to meet you," Lizzy added. Raven smiled, nodded, and closed the door.

Lizzy and Elliot turned and walked away. It wasn't until they were down the hallway before they both breathed out heavily, releasing the tension. "Ok… So, what did we learn?" Elliot asked. "It appears that Raven is on her way home. She won't be any more trouble for Mia and Katy."

"Unless she was lying," Lizzy spoke. "I don't know if she had any reason to lie to us, but it is possible."

"Right… We can only hope she was telling the truth… whether or not that is the case…" Elliot added.

"Now who's the overly optimistic one," Lizzy teased, patting Elliot on the back. Elliot reached and put his hand around Lizzy's shoulders, pulling her into an awkward side hug. They immediately realized and pulled away from each other. Elliot looked down at Lizzy and smiled a deep smile, and she returned the same. A connection was beginning to develop.

Meanwhile, Raven was sitting on her bed in her room, digesting what had just happened. She recognized Elliot immediately. He was one of Denman's interns. How stupid were they? Waltzing to her, the one who revealed Farley. That means they were trying to figure out what she knew…. And they failed miserably.

So… Raven pondered to herself. I'm going to find out what they're trying to hide from me. All of them. No matter what. I will find all their secrets and Take… Them… Down…

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Anna burst through surface of the lagoon, arriving at Isla Delfin before the others by a long shot. She maneuvered her way over to the rock edge at the side of the lagoon, posting up against it, waiting for the others to arrive. Soon, within a minute, the heads of Luisa and Fallon broke through the surface, finally reaching the island much slower than Anna. They quickly turned toward Anna, who just smiled cheekily at the both of them. "You both get lost?" Anna quipped.

"Cállate," Luisa spat. "One of these days I'm going to beat you here. You know that right?"

"I'll believe it when I see it, Luisa," Anna teased. "But for now, I'm the undisputed queen of the mermaids."

"Yeah? And what about Sara?" Luisa questioned. "Seems like she's better than all of us!"

"Both of you please," Fallon stepped in. "Chill your competitiveness ya know. We got more to deal with."

"Right right…" Anna spoke. "So, I have something I wanted to talk to you both about. Mermaid things in particular."

"I'm assuming that's why you wanted us to come here?" Luisa asked.

"Precisely," Anna answered. "I've been thinking a lot about what Sara said… And I'm thinking about something specific. She told us that we need to find someone we trust… a non-mermaid person that can help us out."

"Let me guess… you want to tell someone?" Fallon questioned. "You know how dangerous that can be. Just look what happened to Sara!"

"But she was able to trust Farley with her secret! And her manager Zane! And, her friends' boyfriends were trustfully as well," Anna fired back. "This is her words exactly that we need someone to trust… How is it that crazy?"

"I suppose that is fair," Luisa spoke. "Who do you want to tell?"

"Well…."

"You want to tell David, don't you," Fallon accused.

"Maybe… I believe I trust him, and they all told their boyfriends," Anna explained.

"Still… Can you trust him?" Luisa questioned.

"I know I can. We've known each other for a while now, and he's the one I want to tell. Here's my plan though… I'm only going to tell him that I'm a mermaid. If this goes south, I can save you two from the fallout," Anna added.

Fallon sighed. "Ok fine. I suppose we have to do it eventually. And if you want to take the lead, be my guest."

"It's a plan then," Anna concluded. There was a tinge of optimism in her voice. But, Anna was still worried. With mermaids in the public eye, telling anyone was dangerous… But, just as Sara said, it was what they needed to do.

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"So… Where exactly are we?" Denman asked to Sara as they both stepped out of the car into the hot sun. "I obviously realize we are in San Diego now. But, you've been extremely vague about why we came here."

"It's mainly for me, an opportunity of sorts. And, I wanted you to be here for my support. That's why you're my manager," Sara spoke, "And Zane is… Well… Zane. He's much more eccentric than you. I needed someone more logical. Hence why I brought you with me."

"Ok. I get that … But you're still being vague about everything…" Denman countered. "And we're at the Ocean View Apartments…? This seems odd."

"I promise. This is legit. Trust me. I had to trust you with my secret. You can trust me here that I know what I'm doing," Sara said, leading the way into the gate. They wound their way through the buildings and up the stairs. The apartments had an annoying blue paint to them, like they were trying way too hard to invoke the ocean aesthetic. Soon they reached their destination. "Room 221," Sara read aloud. "We're here." And, she knocked loudly on the door.

"But… Where is here?" Denman asked.

The question was answered immediately as the door whipped open, revealing the surprisingly chipper face of Rikki Chadwick. "Hey Sara you made…"

And then Rikki noticed Denman. The smile on Rikki's face vanished instantaneously, before it then turned to shock, and then to rage. For several seconds, there was only silence as old enemies faced off. The air began to get hotter and hotter because of Rikki's powers, causing Sara to begin to sweat from both the heat and anxiety, wondering if this was a good idea or a terrible plan.

"You…" Rikki whispered, too angry to get any more words out.

"Hey Rikki! Who is it?" Cleo called, walking towards the door. "Oh Sara! You're here, we were…" And then she noticed Denman…

That's when Rikki exploded. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU BRING DENMAN HERE?" She turned to Sara, her face full of rage, grabbing her shoulders and shoving her back into the door frame angrily. Sara fought free and stepped between the two girls and Denman, trying to stop any violence that could occur.

Cleo's face angrily formed as well, but she said no words, still trying to comprehend what was going on. "I brought her here to rebuild bridges. I'm not gonna allow you all to hate her without giving her another chance," Sara defended, trying to remain calm. Ok this is not going how I wanted it to go at all. Should've expected this though.

"Sara! You know what she did to us! You know why we don't trust her!" Cleo exclaimed furiously. "Why would you bring her to where we live? The one person that hurt us and you bring her here!"

Just then, Bella walked up. "Why is Denman here with Sara?" She questioned. "Doesn't she know what Denman did to you!"

"Denman's on our side!," Sara explained. "She's worked tirelessly to help me! She can be trusted! I wanted to at least have some kind of truce between us!"

"Can I say someth-" Denman began.

"SHUT UP!" Rikki, Cleo, and Bella yelled simultaneously.

"Well it's obviously not working!" Rikki chastised Sara. "You brought her to the one place we're supposed to feel safe!"

"She's the one person who tried to ruin us!" Cleo added. "And you thought it was a good idea to bring her here!"

"Yeah. I get it! You hate her! You can't accept that she's changed! But there's one who has. Emma," Sara fired back. "She forgave Denman for everything she had done to you. Why do you think Elliot is one of her interns? Emma trusted her enough with her brother! Don't you deserve to hear her out?" Sara looked through the three furious girls in front of her to see a cheery blond haired and tan girl standing in the living room, staring out at the commotion at the front door. "You… must be Emma…" Sara spoke to her.

Emma smiled warmly. Bella, Cleo, and Rikki whipped around to see Emma. "You forgave her?" Rikki blurted.

Emma slowly sauntered over to the group and stepped through and embraced Denman in a big hug, much to the shock of everyone. "It's good to see you again, Linda," Emma spoke.

Denman's tense demeanor lessened. "Same to you, Emma. How have you been?" She asked.

Emma released Denman. "I've been well. I came here to visit my old friends Cleo, Rikki, and Bella. As well as meet, for the first time, the infamous Sara Meyer," She spoke gesturing to Sara. "By the way, it's good to meet you for the first time."

"Uh… likewise…" Sara stuttered, shaking Emma's hand. "Elliot's told me a lot about you."

"Ok hold up. Can someone please explain what the fuck is going on?" Cleo angrily exclaimed, which was highly unusual of her.

Sara smirked. "I told you. Emma forgave Denman. And, Denman is working to make things right for me. I want to make sure we're all on the same page."

"Emma… You should probably explain to everyone why you forgave Denman so we're not left in the dark," Rikki spat, no longer in rage but still seething. "You did it behind our back and without telling us until now. We deserve a real explanation."

"Well, looks like our formal introduction has to be cut short," Emma joked to Sara. "At least for now. Alright come on. I didn't want to tell this story because I knew you all would react this way. 'How dare I forgive Denman?' was what I kept running through my mind. I thought you all would hate me for it."

Cleo put her hand on Emma. "With all we've been through, it would be very hard for us to hate each other," She encouraged. "Even if you forgave Denman without talking to us. But Rikki's right. We deserve an explanation."

"Sure we might get extremely angry. But never hate you," Rikki added . "Think you're an idiot for doing it. But never hate."

Emma smiled. "I'm glad we're all back together on this. So… now, let's get inside so I can tell the story."

The six of them entered the apartment and closed the door. Cleo led them over to the couches in the living room. Sara and Denman sat on one side, while Cleo, Rikki and Bella sat on the other couch facing them. They were still very skeptical, so Sara didn't blame them.

Emma pulled up a chair in front of the three of them. She rubbed her palms together, trying to figure out how to begin. "So, what's the story?" Cleo questioned. "Emma, you know we trust you. But you need to explain everything that's happened."

"Ok… We have to go back a ways. Back 9 months ago. Back to the sunny shores of Florida…" Emma began.

You all wanted more Emma, well you're definitely gonna get more of her. Keep updated. With finals literally knocking on my door, I may need to wait a couple more weeks for the next update. But, stay tuned. I'll be back soon with the next chapter!