For Twilightroxas7 who requested a Carly story. This was the first idea that came to mind so I went along with it. I have preliminary exams (mock exams) the next couple of weeks so I've had lots of revision classes which I have spent writing.
Thank you to everyone who has followed/favourited so far!
Word Count: 3,329
Summary: Set just after the end of season 2. Carly has a lot of questions regarding Mermaids, now that she's had time to think about the whole situation. However, not all the Mermaids seem to be pleased with this.
EDIT: Edited 3/6/2020. I did some serious editing on this so it reads a lot better now. I am so sorry to everyone who read this before. I did not realise how badly it read until I re-read it...
Mermaids are real. Mermaids are real. Mermaids are real.
That had been the only repeating thought on Carly's mind after finding out about Mermaids and the fact that her best friend was now a Mermaid, and didn't tell her she was a Mermaid. Although Sirena had insisted multiple times it wasn't Evie's fault, Evie was just protecting all other Mermaids, it still hurt and caused a rough couple of days in their friendship before everything smoothed over. Now, after all that trouble with a chamber on Mako, they were including her, it felt good, it felt like nothing had changed.
Except nearly all her friends had tails...
Carly stood absentmindedly wiping down the counter of the cafe. She had accidentally knocked over a glass of water, then while mopping up the spill she got distracted wondering how on earth the Mermaids and Zac managed to go so long without turning in public. Hearing Sirena singing on stage formed another question in Carly's mind. She already had an A4 page filled with questions, both sides. Carly picked up the pen from beside the order pad and dug the folded up page from her pocket and scribbled down her question. Can all Mermaids sing? Can you sing so well because you're a Mermaids? Are Sirens real? Was that Mermaid video I showed you real?
Okay, make that four questions...
Sensing the opportunity once she'd finished cleaning up the water, Carly made her way over to the two tables side by side occupied by Ondina and Mimmi, accompanied by Zac with his arm around Evie and Ondina. Evie smiled brightly when she saw Carly coming over and gave her a small wave.
"Hey guys," Carly said, slipping into one of the two empty seats, one was probably saved for Sirena once she'd finished singing.
"Hey," Evie said.
"Hi Carly," Mimmi smiled at her while greeting her.
Switching to a serious tone, Carly leaned forward in her seat, resting her crossed arms on the table.
"So I have like a million questions about ..." Carly paused and looked around making sure no one was listening. They weren't no one was paying them any attention. They were all listening to Sirena's singing. " ... Mermaids."
She could've sworn she heard Ondina scoff. She definitely saw her roll her eyes.
"Ondina," Mimmi chastised the other Mermaid before turning to Carly, "of course you do. We'd be more than happy to answer any questions. Right Ondina?"
Ondina gave a sweet smile, that was entirely and completely faked, "of course." The smile dropped off her face immediately after.
"I'm sure Sirena will as well, and I'll help," Evie said.
"Awesome!" Carly sat upright in her seat, trying to not smile so wide, save annoying Ondina any further.
"And I'm here to speak for the Mermen," Zac said, "also could I get a...banana and pineapple smoothie and a fish burger, no wait just a bowl of prawns."
"Really?" Carly asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" Zac defended, "I'm hungry."
"I have a list," Carly once again pulled out the folded page with her questions scribbled on it.
She started unfolding it.
"Maybe not here, Carly," Evie said, reaching out towards her.
"Oh, sorry," Carly whispered, folding the paper back up and stuffing it back in her pocket.
"Why don't you come round to Rita's tomorrow?" Mimmi asked.
"Principal Santos' house? Are you sure?" She gave a sideways glance at Evie. Zac and Evie both were often over there, hanging out with the Mermaids.
"She said we could invite friends over, and you know about us."
"Okay then. Wait," Carly lowered her voice again as a realisation hit her," is she a Mermaid too? When I spilled that water in Chemistry, you both ran off..."
"No," Ondina answered abruptly. "She just knows about us. She went with Mimmi to help her because of your clumsiness."
"It was an accident Ondina, I was fine," Mimmi immediately came to Carly's defense.
Ondina turned to Mimmi. "If anyone had seen you..."
"I'll get you those prawns..." Carly hurriedly stood up, pushing the chair back in. "What time tomorrow?"
"I'll text you," Evie said offering Carly a sympathetic smile.
"Sure."
Carly walked back over slowly to the counter. She always had the feeling Ondina didn't like her much. The blonde had never been one to hide her distaste for anything, and now it appeared she was that object of distaste.
"That was harsh Ondina," Evie said disapprovingly, shooting her a look to match her tone.
"Well she should mind her own business, we're not her research projects. And she could've exposed Mimmi and Rita," Ondina said folding her arms.
"Why did you lie about Rita?" Zac asked. "Telling Carly's she's not a Mermaid? She will find out at some point, and so will David."
"It's not our secret to tell. She doesn't want anyone knowing about her, much less another two of her students. And speaking of Rita, I'm going to go warn her that Carly's coming over unless you want to invite David as well, make it a party." Ondina stood up pushing her chair out as she did so.
"She'll probably be with Veridia," Mimmi warned.
"Oh well. I'll see you at the Moon Pool later." Ondina stalked off leaving her chair out.
Up on the stage Sirena finished her song and happily skipped down to the group while the small gathered crowd applauded.
"Thank you all for coming tonight, we're taking a quick break but we'll be back shortly," David said before removing his guitar from where the strap around his neck kept it elevated before joining Carly behind the counter.
"You were great Sirena," Mimmi said.
"Aw, thank you." Sirena took her seat with the group, "Where did Ondina go? She didn't look too happy when I looked over."
"Mimmi invited Carly round to Rita's tomorrow. She has a whole list of Mer related questions, and Ondina wasn't too happy about it so she left," Zac answered.
"She asked about Rita and Ondina told her Rita wasn't a Mermaid, and when Zac asked why she lied she got annoyed, " Evie added.
"I can see why," Sirena said. "It's different for us, having people find out about us. I know Ondina doesn't show it but she cares about her friends. She respects Rita and for Ondina-"
"That means a lot," Mimmi finished. Sirena nodded in agreement.
"What's up with Ondina? She wake up on the wrong side of the Moon Pool? Or is she just being Ondina, everyone's favourite grumpy Mermaid?" Cam appeared behind Zac and Evie, leaning with a hand on each of their chairs.
Mimmi glared at him.
"What?"
"Hey Poseidon!"
The white cat allowed Carly to kneel down and stroke him before he wandered off back into the house. It was a nice house, the kind of place she would love to have once she had the money for her own place. She'd followed Sirena up through the house to the balcony with a view out over the Sea and to Mako off in the distance.
Evie, Zac and Cam were already there, sitting around a sleek black table with wicker, cushioned seats around it.
"Ondina and Mimmi shouldn't be long," Evie said, "we met them out at Mako this morning when we were out."
"So cool. What's it like just being able to go swimming out in the sea whenever?" Carly asked.
"It's pretty cool," Zac said, "you and Cam should come with us some time."
"That'd be awesome. Right Cam?"
"Depends on the time, if it's too early- it's a no go. The Camster needs his rest," Cam flopped down in one of the seats, "comfy."
"Back in a second," Sirena said and went back through the glass door into the house.
"Is David coming?" Evie asked.
"No, he's working but he said he'll stop by later with the fish delivery," Carly answered, "I have to say all that seafood makes a lot more sense now."
"Tell me about it."
Sirena re-emerged onto the balcony carrying a tray with a large jug of iced tea and seven empty glasses.
"How's your cat getting on?" Sirena asked Carly, pausing to let Poseidon run past her and jump up onto the low wooden bench tucked beside the door.
"He's fine. It felt unfair to keep calling him Erik so I re-named him Timmi, after this cat my gran had. He was this fat ginger cat that only ever moved to get food and would roll onto his back and let you rub his belly."
Sirena laughed and set the tray down on the table, "Poseidon's probably going to end up like that, Rita gives him so many treats."
Carly laughed, "really though I honestly can't thank you enough for him. That was an amazing thing to do.
"It's no trouble," Sirena responded, "I mean it was sort of our fault that there was all that trouble with Poseidon in the first place."
Cam started pouring the iced tea out into the glasses for everyone.
"Do you want to know what was actually happening that day with all those cats?" Sirena asked.
"I would love to know. There were so many weird things happening," Carly answered, picking up one of the glasses of ice tea.
"I want to know too, you never really explained," Cam chimed in, filling up the last of the glasses.
"Basically Ondina turned Erik into a cat using ..." Zac began, then trailed off.
"Golden Spider Coral," Sirena finished his sentence.
"Yeah, that. Ondina turned Erik into an exact replica of Poseidon using that stuff, then accidentally duplicated them, making four completely identical cats. And then they got out."
"It was most likely Erik you saw on the beach. And that's also why when you called Rita she said Poseidon was there, because technically he was. Though that could of been Erik..." Sirena trailed off.
"Are you really still bringing that up?" Ondina appeared from the house, Mimmi close behind her.
"Yes," Evie said, smiling at her.
"Um, how often do you do stuff like that?" Carly asked. "You know making massive magical messes?"
"More than I think they'd like," Cam said, "I often end up having to help."
"It's a common occurrence," Mimmi said sheepishly, while taking the glasses Sirena held out to her and passing one to Ondina. Ondina took a seat at the head of the table and Mimmi sat at her side.
"So Carly, questions?" Evie prompted.
Carly took her list out and unfolded it. There were a lot of questions.
Cam leaned over and looked at the page. He whistled.
"That's a lot," he said.
"There's more on the other side," Ondina said, her face unreadable.
"Where to start, where to start?" Cam joked.
"I guess um, where are you guys actually from?" Carly asked. "You all sound local. Apart from Mimmi..."
"We're from Mako. It's our home," Ondina answered.
"So they are technically local," Zac added.
"You're from Canada right Mimmi?" Cam asked.
"I am," Mimmi nodded. "I'm from the Northern Pod, we live off the coast there."
"Nixie and Lyla are from Mako too," Sirena said. "We were all born in the Moon Pool there. Which is also where Evie and Zac got their tails."
"So how are Mermaids born then?" Carly scored off her first question and moved onto the next one, which Sirena set her up nicely to ask.
"Usually hatched from eggs in a Moon Pool," Mimmi said, "but most Northern Mermaids are still able to carry their young like land people do."
"So this is sort of awkward but, you mentioned they're aren't many Mermen, so how are the eggs turned to baby Mermaids?" Carly trailed off. Maybe shouldn't have asked that one…
"We don't actually know. We're too young," Sirena answered.
"Moving quickly on," Cam prompted.
"Good idea," Zac and Evie said simultaneously. Carly nodded and scanned down her list.
"Transformations," Carly said, "What triggers them? What happens when you transform? How long does it take?"
"That was three questions," Ondina sneered.
"Any liquid that is mostly water will turn us, even if it's only a drop," Zac said, ignoring Ondina's comment.
"When we transform we basically turn to water then to Mermaid or Merman," Evie said, gesturing to Zac at the end.
"Quite often though our legs sort of seize up and stop working before we turn to water, so we end up falling over before turning," Zac said.
"It's painful and you get hurt falling over," Sirena added.
"So how long does it take?" Carly asked before taking a sip of her drink.
"It averages about ten seconds, but we have some degree of control over it. We can make it take longer or happen pretty much instantly," Sirena answered.
"Suppose it wouldn't be handy, dramatically diving into the water only to be human for another ten seconds," Cam mused.
"My phone would get wrecked," Zac agreed.
"That's what you care about most?" Mimmi asked.
"Of course."
Carly marked off the transformation questions, scoring a neat line through each before moving down on her list.
"What powers do you guys have? I've seen you use some but what can you all do?"
"It varies for each Mermaid and depends on where she's from but most have basic core powers - manipulating water, and invisibility. There is also heating and freezing, telekinesis, the ability to make storms," Mimmi listed.
"Isn't there some Northern Mermaids who can make it snow?" Ondina asked Mimmi.
"Oh yeah, weather manipulation - it's not very common, too much power is needed to do the simplest things. There also used to be this Pod somewhere north, I think maybe Ireland or Scotland, they could turn water to gel or harden it like glass but it's a really rare power."
"There's other rarer powers as well," Sirena said," like electrokinesis. It's really dangerous so we're not taught to use it."
"Also, we can, with the right training, make fire," Mimmi said.
"Oh wow. Can any of you?" Carly asked in awe.
"No," Ondina cut in, "no one in our Pod can teach us. Besides we have our Moon Rings, our natural powers and potions. What do we need fire for?"
"Wait, potions?" Cam asked, looking at the Mermaids.
"What do your Moon Rings do?" Carly asked.
"Lots," Siren said, holding up her hand to let Carly study the ring. "They can duplicate, shrink things, make things bigger, control objects, make it snow, change the weather. They hold the power of the full Moon.
"The Trident Stone that Erik was after, that's the same kind of stone?" Carly looked up.
"Yeah," Zac answered.
"Carly stopped Erik from getting it from me at the cafe. She poured water on him so he had to run off. That's how I got it to you lot," Cam explained.
"We didn't know, thank you so much Carly!" Sirena leaped up and hugged Carly.
"He still got it in the end," Ondina remarked bluntly.
"If it wasn't for Carly, it might've been much worse Ondina," Evie said.
"If you're going to sit and make snide comments all day, you're not going to be much help Ondina," Mimmi said, raising her eyebrow.
"Then I'll leave. I'm going to go see if Rita needs any help tidying downstairs."
"You helping with housework? Who are you and did you do with Ondina?" Sirena joked, trying to lift the mood that had quickly turned dark.
"Ha ha very funny," Ondina retorted her voice clearly portraying the sarcasm while disappearing off into the house.
"Ignore her Carly, what's next?" Sirena prompted.
"Hang on, no one answered my question about potions?"
"Remember when Evie was acting all weird after visiting here?" Zac asked.
It was so quiet down here.
Most of the time.
It was a welcomed break from the balcony though.
Ondina sat heavily down on the stone bench in the grotto. There was none of that distant land noise down here, no drifting beach chatter, none of those car things and no land people. Ondina shifted uncomfortably feeling something digging into her leg through the cushion.
She dug a shell out from underneath her, probably one of Sirena's, and threw it across the room. It splintered against the wall and fell to the ground bashed and chipped. Ondina leaned back against the sandstone and closed her eyes. They were too trusting, way too trusting. They're just giving away all their secrets. Why had she helped? She sighed.
"Ondina, what are you doing here? I thought you had Carly here?"
Ondina opened her eyes to see Rita standing on the upper-level.
"She is. She's upstairs getting informed on every aspect of Mermaid life. She'll be able to write a book on us soon."
She glared down at the floor until Rita sat next to her.
"I don't know Carly very well, but she is trustworthy. She's just a girl who's found out her best friend is a Mermaid, a mythical creature that only exists in fairytales. She's just excited."
"She wants to know everything about us! What if she blabs to someone? Or someone finds any notes she's made about us, or that ridiculous list of questions?"
Ondina looked at Rita, the other Mermaid was quiet, thinking.
"Creative writing assignment," Rita said. "Land people write fictional books about Mermaids all the time, they all have different interpretations of us, what's one more? People usually opt for the most believable explanation, it's like that video of the Canadian siren, not many people believed it was real did they?"
"I guess," Ondina pouted. "Wait, you saw that video?"
"I did, and I know that's why Sirena was acting weird. She came to the school to see David with a basket of prawns and lobster..."
"Zac said that. She disrupted their exam."
"The amount of trouble Mermaid magic causes, maybe we're better off in the Sea. No land people to find out about us," Rita said sadly, her voice quiet.
"I told Carly you weren't a Mermaid, but she will most likely still find out. I'm sorry,"
"It's alright Ondina. Thank you though."
Rita placed her hand on top of Ondina's.
"Maybe we are better off in the Sea," Ondina repeated.
It was surreal, to say the least. Sitting drinking ice tea and having Mermaids, and a Merman, answering all her questions about their species. And she had a lot of questions. Two glasses of iced tea drunk and she had only asked about 1\5 of the first A4 side.
She had been planning on writing down the responses but decided against it. If she was writing she wasn't listening and this was definitely worth listening too. So she sat and devoted 100% of her focus to listening.
"... aren't bad. They can be aggressive if we're in their territory, but some are actually playful at times," Sirena said.
"I once played catch with a tiger shark before he ate the bone I was throwing," Mimmi added in.
Carly had asked about sharks, being familiar with the creatures who inspired many books and films, mainly in the horror genre, as well as taking the headlines usually a few times a year. She had wondered if they posed a similar threat to Mer-kind.
"Can you talk to fish?" Carly moved down her list.
"No," Mimmi answered," even if we could I doubt they'd have much to talk to about. We can't talk to crustaceans either. Just dolphins, whales, seals..."
"Rays," Sirena continued," though rays and sharks are an empathy thing rather than actual communication."
"Wow. So how do you talk to them? Do they understand English or ...?"
"Sort of, but we can learn their languages," Sirena said.
"I can speak dolphin, blue whale, humpback whale and penguin, we can speak to some birds as well," Mimmi added.
"That is ...awesome. Can you say something in dolphin?"
Mimmi clicked and squeaked like a dolphin and Sirena started laughing.
"What did she say?" Evie asked, smiling.
"I like sandwiches..." Mimmi answered.