Chapter 7

WARNING: Even though the overall rating of this story is "T" for Teen, the following Chapter contains . Reader discretion is strongly advised.

"So, Mr. Blakely," Lyla asked as she and Zac surfaced in the Moonpool on Mako Island. "What is in that little sack? And by the way, I beat you here, you can't deny that."

"Only because I was wearing a backpack and it slowed me down," Zac grinned, shrugging out of the backpack he set it carefully by the edge of the pool. "I'm a guy you know, we're naturally more streamlined," He teased.

"Not all the time," She shot back archly, and then cast an eye around the chamber. "Everything looks the same as it did a few days ago. I don't think anyone from the pod has been here."

"Well the Trident stone hasn't been touched," Zac said pulling himself out of the water to sit on the stones that encircled the pool and glanced around. With an almost nonchalance motion he tossed one hand out, his Power lifting the large Moonstone from Trident off the floor and calling it too him. "At least the tides washed all my puke away," He observed, tucking the stone into the front pocket of his backpack.

"That's gross," Lyla grimaced. "But your use of Power was impressive, you didn't even concentrate."

"What?"

"You're Powers Zac, you hardly even concentrated when you used your Powers," Lyla replied thoughtfully. "You just did it as if were nothing to it…I've only seen the older members of the pod, or Rita use their Powers so easily."

"I-I didn't even really think about it," Zac replied after a few moments. "You don't think something is wrong with me, do you?" He slid back down into the water next to the mermaid and looked around, eyes resting on Volkswagen sized boulder that had been ripped from the wall. "I really did that didn't I."

Following his gaze Lyla answered, "Yes you did, that's when you were screaming in a weird language, and the earthquake started. It was as if you were someone else."

"Who though? I mean when all this happened to me, how did I know where the Trident chamber was? Something led me to there the night of the full moon when me and Cam were here. How did I know any of that?" Zac stared up the volcanic shaft at the darkening sky far above. "I wonder if I'm going nuts, or have split personalities, I mean how can I speak another language, I don't know any."

"I don't think you're going crazy and one of you is more than enough, I can't imagine two of you," Lyla smiled, and then furrowed her brow. "But you do keep getting stronger and gaining new Powers, and nobody knows why, or at least none of us have the answer." Scooting closer to Zac she looked up at the distant stars that were just beginning to shine. "And now we find out it was Aquata who tried to kill David, how would she even know who he was?"

"Sirena asked the same thing, we figured the café must have been watched, like my house, we don't know for how long though, weeks? Months? I haven't figured that out yet." Zac continued to stare at the sky far overhead and placed one arm around Lyla's shoulder. "And I'm scared of what we have to do to save David."

"You mean find Aquata and kill her."

"Or at least capture her and force her to break the spell…" Zac trailed off as he stared at the darkened sky overhead.

After several moments of silence, Lyla ventured, "So what else is in that bag you brought, you said it was for a celebration. What are we celebrating?"

"Well, now that you asked," Zac answered as he flipped over and unzipped the backpack and pulled out a bottle and two small plastic glasses. "Well you, said this was a date," He explained. "And its New Year's Eve, so this Lyla is champagne; mom and dad have a few bottles left over from when mom opened the gallery." Peeling the foil off from the top, he twisted the cork off with a small 'pop'. "Sirena gave me the idea yesterday while we were talking at the bus stop. People drink it to celebrate." He filled both glasses and then handed one to Lyla.

"New Year's Eve?" She asked, sniffing the contents with a suspicious look. "Zac is this alcohol?"

"Uh, yeah, why?"

"Rita told us never to drink any; it does bad things to mermaids." Lyla said handing her glass back to Zac.

"Sirena had some and nothing bad happened to her; from what she said, she had a really good time with David," Zac responded and handed the glass back. "Lyla, you'll be fine." He set his own glass down and pulled out a large Ziploc bag, with several more Ziploc bags inside it filled with cheese and crackers. "I know it's not exactly the most romantic setting, and we have a couple hours to go, but Happy New Year Lyla."

"I still don't know how it can be a new year, none of the currents have changed and the whales haven't started migrating," Lyla answered with a smile as she and Zac touched glasses in a toast and she took a tentative sip of the bubbly drink. "But Happy New Year. Wow! This is delicious!"

"Really? I'm glad you like it, I wasn't sure what I was grabbing when I took it," Zac reached for the bottle and looked at it. "Domaine Chandon, I have no idea where that is."

Lyla tipped her glass and drained the contents. "I have never tasted anything like this," She held her glass to Zac. "Can I have some more?"

"Well, I guess if you like it that much," Zac answered and poured more into the mermaid's glass. "Um, Lyla, maybe-maybe you should slow down." He said with a note of alarm as he watched her drink the contents of her glass and hold it out to him again to fill. "We only have one bottle you know."

"But it's so good!"

"I know, but you've had two glasses already," Turning Zac offered the bags filled with cheese and crackers to her. "Why don't you eat some of this." He waited for her to take a cracker, and refilled her glass saying, "Anyway, I hope tomorrow that paranormal ghost hunter friend of Rita's can actually help sort some of this out."

"Ghost hunter? What's a ghost?" Lyla said tossing the cracker in her hand away and drank the contents of her small plastic champagne glass in several gulps, and thrust it expectantly to Zac.

"A ghost is…well, if a person…a land person dies um, sometimes their spirit comes back as a ghost," Zac answered hesitantly looking at the mermaid and her empty glass. "Maybe you should slow down with the champagne."

"Oh Zac, learn to live a little," Lyla snorted and reached for the bottle, ignoring the merman's strangled protest, she sloshed the liquid into her glass. "Is it supposed to do that?" She asked as the champagne bubbled over to drip into the Moonpool. "And you never told me what a ghost is."

"No, you poured to fast," Zac answered, and carefully took the bottle away and set it on the paving stones that circled the pool. "And like I just told you a ghost is the spirit of a person who dies but they don't move on." Setting his own half-filled glass aside, he said, "Lyla are you feeling alright? Maybe you should slow down with the champagne.""

"I'm fine," Lyla said waving him off and then drinking the contents of her glass. "Mermaids don't have ghosts, we just get born all over again."

"What?" Zac spoke staring at Lyla. "What do you mean by that?"

"Mermaids, Zac, we don't have spirits or ghosts or whatever you call them, we just live, and live and live," Lyla answered reaching for her the bottle of champagne and dumping the contents in her glass. "I have no idea how a merman as good looking as you and with a body like yours can be so dense."

"Um, I think maybe you've had enough champagne for now." Zac answered, reaching for the bottle and setting it aside. "Lyla what do you mean mermaids just 'live and live'? Are you saying you're immortal?"

"Nooo," Lyla exclaimed and then drank down the contents of her glass, waving the empty galas round she explained, "We just live forever." Leaning forward she rand a hand through Zac's hair. "How can you be so dumb and so gorgeous at the same time? I could get lost in your eyes forever."

"I really think that's enough champagne for now," He said removed Lyla's roaming hand. "Um, okay. So why haven't you mentioned that before?" He asked.

"Because it's not important," Lyla slurred looking at the merman beside her. "Besides that, you're a merman so you probably don't count anyway, mermaids never die, unless they get killed by a shark or hit by a boat." Moving closer Lyla ran a hand over Zac chest. "You are so beautiful, have I ever told you that."

"Okay," Zac gasped as he removed Lyla's hand. "I think I know what Rita meant about meant about mixing alcohol with mermaids, and I think you've had more than enough to drink for one day. Whoa!" He gasped again as Lyla other hand traced a path down his stomach to where his abdomen met his tail, reaching down he grabbed her questing hand, and scooting away slightly as he asked. "So, what happens to mermaids when they do die?"

Lyla reached over and picked up Zac's glass and drank the contents in several long gulps. "They just get born again from sea foam and moonlight, that's why we have a Moonpool, everyone knows that," She answered, tossing the empty glass carelessly away as she glided closer to Zac, leaning in she pressed her body against his, and whispered conspiratorially, "For someone so gorgeous and hard you are so dumb Zac, have I ever told you that?"

"You told me that just a few minutes ago," Zac gasped as Lyla's hands glided over his chest and down his abs again. Taking a deep breath, he glanced upward at the circle of sky far above. "Oh God, I shouldn't be doing this."

Sliding her body over Zac, Lyla's blue eyes gleamed huge, almost predatory, as they met his brown ones. "You are so beautiful Zac Blakely; do you even know how beautiful you are?" She purred, as one of her hands moved farther down, past Zac's abs, the other reaching to caress his face. "You're like a dolphin, all smooth, hard and strong; do you have any idea what I want to do to you?"

"I…Oh yeah, you're making that totally clear Lyla," Zac sputtered as the mermaid ran fingers through his hair again. "But I'm not sure that's a good idea, I think the champagne is making you-Oh God!" He gasped as the mermaid's other hand found what it was exploring for. "So, you're saying that mermaids aren't born? So, you don't need mermen I guess," Zac squeaked, attempting to slide out of the mermaids embrace.

Lyla responded by grabbing the hair on the back of Zac's head and pulling him forward in a kiss, the actions of her other hand, and her body, causing the merman to gasp again. "I never said we didn't need mermen. So are you a dolphin Zac Blakely, or are you an orca?"

"Oh God," Zac moaned. "I'm going to be in so much trouble for this."

Rita sat at the table of her dining room; hands idle on the keyboard of her laptop, eyes narrowed as she watched Nixie stomp around the kitchen to open cupboards and slam them shut again. With a sigh, Rita finally asked, "Nixie, is there something you want to talk about?"

Nixie spun her blue eyes flashing as she looked at Rita, the bruise, which covered half her face, had faded to yellow, flushed slightly as she snapped, "No, why?"

"Because you are slamming my kitchen cupboards and are clearly upset," Rita answered.

"What do you want me to do?" Nixie replied, walking over to throw herself down on a sofa. "Sirena is crying over David at some hospital, Zac and Lyla are off doing waves know what, and I'm stuck here under orders from Zac our new Lord and Master to not go out to sea!"

"With everything that is going on we can't take any chances." Rita answered as she walked over to join the younger mermaid on the sofa. "Nixie, as much as you don't like it, we have to stick together, all of us, until this is sorted, and we know what we're dealing with."

"Well Rita, what are we dealing with?" Nixie cried out, tossing her hands in the air. "According to Zac and Sirena, Aquata tried to drown David. You, Zac, Lyla AND Sirena agreed with it." She shot Rita a look that bordered on disgust. "And now the whole solution is for Aquata to die and that's just nuts, mermaids are not killers, that's what MERMEN DO!"

"Well…." Rita started say and then stopped.

"Well what?" Nixie demanded. "If you know something Rita now is as good a time as any."

Rita stood and walked over to look out the sliding glass doors to the sea beyond. "Have you ever heard of Nan Madol?"

"No, what's that?" Nixie answered crossing her arms. "A disease? A land person drug?"

Heaving a sigh, Rita explained, "Nan Madol is a group of ruins far to the north, Harry and I visited them once, in our time together; that was one of Harry specialties, archeology, among other talents he had." She smiled, eyes distant, and continued. "Nan Madol was the center of a powerful nation of mermaids hundreds of years ago, and it still might be for all I know."

"So," Nixie shrugged. "So what does that have to do with anything?"

"Near Nan Madol, was another mermaid nation called Leluh," Rita continued. "It was almost 500 kilometers away." She looked at Nixie. "About ten times as far as Mako is from here; the Mermaids of Leluh were destroyed by the mermaids of Nan Madol in a war. So, to say that mermaids never harm each other isn't exactly true."

Nixie stared silent for several moments, and then furrowed her brow and sat down. "We were always told that mermaid never hurt each other, we were always told only merman do that," She said cautiously. "Rita, are you telling me mermaid have killed other mermaids?"

Rita sat down again. "There are so many things I haven't had a chance to tell you Nixie, and there are a lot of things the mermaids in you pod never told or chose not to tell you. The Mako pod has always been…different, that's part of why I left them to travel with Harry. But yes, in the past there have been wars fought between mermaids. And I have a feeling one may have started with Zac and we're caught up in it whether we want to be or not."

"What do you mean?"

"The world is a huge place Nixie, it's larger than you, Lyla or Sirena can ever imagine. Even after all these months of living here, I have barely even touched on what lies inside the ocean realms; let alone what lies outside them." Rita explained, and heaved a sigh. "I miss Harry so much at times like this."

"Just who was he?" Nixie asked bluntly. "You talk about him the way Sirena does David. Was he really that special?"

"Let me put it this way Harry…Harry," Rita answered thoughtfully. "You know how we can throw shrouds of non-sight around ourselves to become invisible?"

"Yes," Nixie answered curiously.

"I did that the first time Harry and I met, and he still saw me," Rita said, a small smile, her eyes far away. "I think that's when I started falling in love with him; he could see things other people couldn't. And don't even get me started on his mother and aunt, I think they could give Veridia good a run."

The dark-haired younger mermaid stared silently at Rita for several moments, her face registering disbelief. "That's impossible," Nixie said finally. "Land people don't have Powers, and even if they do, they can't see us when we're in invisible…can they?"

"Some of them can, and some of them do have Powers, a lot more than we do," Rita answered. "And tomorrow you're going to meet one of them who do, he was Harry's teacher, and mine for a while, when I was with Harry at any rate."

"John?" Nixie said, "You've mentioned him before, does he have Powers like we have?"

Rita gave a small laugh and stood up, "Not exactly, but he's a very formidable man if he puts his mind to it. I haven't seen him in many years, and I know we're both looking forward to meeting again." She waved her hand around the room, "All of this, the condo, and my identity, I owe it all to Harry, John and a few of his friends." She stopped and looked at Nixie. "And I rambled and got you completely off track, didn't I?"

Nixie let out a small laugh. "Yes, you did, but I'm kind of glad because I'm not feeling as mad anymore, I'm just more curious now. Why did you say the Mako pod was different?"

Rita folded her hands together in a nervous gesture and looked at Nixie for several moments, blowing out breath she answered, "The Mako pod is the only mermaid pods in the world that possess Moonrings."

"What?" Nixie looked down at the blue stone and its silver band on her finger. "How-" She was interrupted by the chiming of the doorbell.

"That must be Sirena, I haven't had a chance to give her a spare key," Rita said with visible relief, she turned to look in the direction of the stairs leading down to the front door and then walked to the refrigerator in the kitchen. "Nixie why don't you let Sirena in and I'll set some prawns out for us."

Nixie walked to the stairs that led to the front door as the chime of the doorbell becoming more rapid. "Oh calm down," she shouted as she reached the bottom of the stairs to jerk the door open. "Siren-" Nixie started to say, and then froze, her jaw open in shock.

Evie stood, leaning on the doorframe, her shirt smeared with blood, her arms supporting her father, his skin red and blistered, his own clothing stained with red bloody handprints. "Nixie," Evie pleaded, her face streaked with tears. "Please, you've got to help us, I don't know where else we can go."

Nixie took one step back in horror and screamed for Rita, her voice echoing through the condo.

A/N: Okay, I was going to combine this with parts of Chapter 8, but damn, this ending is so cool, I could not bring myself to do it. So forgive me, and thanks for reading. I do appreciate it.