*The Talk*
Outside in the setting sun, the group walked in unison towards the beach, searching for the boat that the boys must have used to get to the island. As they walked, Cleo had a lost look in her eyes, her mind deep in thought. Her eyes suddenly snapped back into focus, and she cut her stride short stopping her in place. The group noticing this, slowed down as they went to make sure she was ok.
As Lewis was about to ask what was wrong, "I think we should tell our parents" Cleo said with a determined look. "If... If we are to protect our home, we need our parents' support. I don't want to hide it from them anymore." She said with a tear in her eye.
"I think she's right, plus if our parents know what's going on they may be able to help us. My dad travels a lot and Zane's father has a lot of ties around our area" Emma chimed in.
"Well, our parents aren't special like that, but I know they will be supportive of us." Cleo said miffed. Emma realized that what she said came out wrong.
"I didn't mean it like that" she said in a fluster. "I meant... never mind." She said in defeat as her voice trails off. She never meant to be rude.
"I think what Emma's trying to say is that we have some financial support on top of emotional support" Ash said, rescuing Emma from an embarrassing situation. Emma gives Ash a smile as thanks for saving her.
As the couples talked among themselves about how best to break the news to their parents, the group finally arrives their familiar beach from over the years. "Ok my boat should be around here somewhere, there is usually where we arrive at the island" Zane said, his face covering his eyes from the suns setting rays as he scans the shoreline looking for his boat.
"There it is" he says suddenly, before running off towards the shore. In the direction he headed, the group could see the boat bobbing with the waves on the rocks, its bow secured by an anchor to the beach. "Ok girls, swim over to my house and we will meet you at the dock." Zane said as the boys started to get into the boat.
As Ash lifted the anchor, Zane's starts the engine and pulls away into the water as Ash does one last push and hops in. Giving the engine a little gas, he pulls the boat in reverse till he cleared the rocks and begins driving off. As got farther away from the shore he idles the engine as he waits for the girls to follow them.
He knew that speed wasn't an issue for the girls, as they could easily outpace most vehicles when in the water. As he watches the girls jump in, only but a few moments had passed before a bunch of splashing begins to occur. Thinking something was wrong, Zane immediately turned the boat around and begins making his way to the girls. The girls must have sensed the boat turning around as four torpedo waves form, caused by the girl's speedy approach to the boat.
"Look Lewis! Our bodies changed" Cleo said as she pops out of the water next to boat. The boys are met with a girl with bright teal blue hair. This mysterious girl was Cleo. The once small streak spread throughout her hair transforming it to the teal it was now. Her bra and tail matched the color of her head and depending on the angle, her lower half appeared to blend with the ocean.
"My turn Will!" Bella said as she popped up next to Cleo. Like Cleo, her hair and scales also changed color. The earthy green looked good on Bella and made her look like a true siren. The green on her tail was made up of an ombre of greens, steadily getting lighter till it reached the tips of the fins,
"How does it look Ash?" Emma said, surfacing on the other side of the boat. The once blonde hair was now a silvery white which matched her bra. Her tail however was speckled with blue frost down the sides which gave it the appearance of a frozen lake.
"Which leaves this badass for last. Be amazed at my awesomeness Zane." Rikki said with a laugh as her head broke the waters surface. Her blond hair now looked as though it was on fire. Golden roots transformed into red locks of hair. Her tail was mixture of gold and red that made it look like a living flame as the tail swished back and forth.
"It looks like the physical changes in your normal forms carried over to your mermaid selves." Lewis says excitedly. "Have you noticed anything else, do you girls have any new abilities? Does it feel different like new skin?" he continued rambling off questions at this new discovery until Cleo finally got his attention and gave him the look. With an audible click Lewis closes his mouth and sheepishly retreats. He made a mental note to do some tests with the girls later.
The girls swim about on the way back to the shore as they admired each other's new looks. Zooming about, their different colored tails created a colorful contrast in the ocean's blue waters, as rays of green, blue, red, and white could be seen streaking through the water.
Not wanting it to end, as the girls got closer to shore, they were very reluctant to go the beach, as this meant their fun would come to an end. With much coaxing from the boys and the promise of their favorite smoothies at Rikki's café the girls finally landed on the shore.
"Ugh this is so embarrassing" Rikki said as she used her arms to drag herself on the sand until finally her tail went onto the beach. Cleo giggled at the site.
"You look like a beached whale with your tail flapping about." Cleo said as she giggled, covering her face to hide it from Rikki. Rikki was no fool and immediately knew Cleo was making playful fun at her.
"At least I can do this" Rikki said with a laugh. With a quick twist of her fist, Rikki evaporated all the water left on her scales. With a sudden cloud of mist appearing, the last of the droplets disappeared into the cloud of steam and Rikki stood there in her human form.
"Steam dry yourself" Rikki said with a laugh.
"While I can't do that, I have been working on my control, so it's not quite effective as you but..." With a twist of her hand Cleo motioned to the water on her tail, moments later, the scales on her tails appeared to vibrate. This wasn't in fact the scales but the water droplets still covering them that was giving the vibration appearance. Slowly, the water droplets gave way to Cleo's control and began rising into the air forming an ever-growing ball of water.
"Oh my god it's actually working this time!" Cleo said happily, her face beaming with a smile as the last of the water left her scales, and like Rikki, returned to her human form.
"What do you mean Cleo?" Lewis asked in response to her words.
"Well, I had gotten jealous that Rikki had such a convenient way of drying herself off whenever we got wet." Rikki gives Cleo a grin, as Cleo kept explaining. "So, I figured if I could control water, why can't I just remove the water off myself? This is the first time it worked though, I never got past getting rid of just a few drops of water."
"Maybe it's because of the whole Guardian blessing thing?" Will suggested to the others. Lewis nodded his head in agreement.
"That's very plausible. It could be that the core initiated a mutation in the body causing their powers to grow. Wait, we were also blessed as Guardians, so what about us?" Lewis suddenly said with a start. If the girls got a power boost from their blessings, then what did that mean for the guys?
His curiosity overrode reason as he ran off towards the shore. As he neared the water, he hesitated for a split second before taking off his shoes and continuing forward till he was ankle deep in the lapping waves.
"Okay so it took 10 seconds, right? One... two... three" Lewis slowly counted to himself until he hit ten. Suddenly with a magical whoosh Lewis fell and stared at his lower half in amazement. Where his legs where were now a beautiful red tail like the streaks in his eyes.
Or so Lewis had wished.
"Umm Lewis, are you okay? You're starting to freak me out." Cleo said as Lewis was standing in the water, his eyes closed with a dreamy expression on his face.
Opening his eyes Lewis sheepishly realized he got a bit carried away. "Umm... it was nothing let's go, we should call your parents and meet up at Rikki's café." The girls eventually nod their heads after that weird display and pull out their cellphones to make the calls.
"Actually, speaking of parents, how the hell did you get here Emma?" Rikki just realized. Wasn't Emma traveling with Ash? When did they get back?"
"To be honest I don't know. Me and Ash were in our home in America and the next thing we know we are both here. With everything going on I never stopped to think about it."
"Won't your parents be worried?" Bella asked with concern.
"No, we have been living on our own recently so they wouldn't notice a few days. We can tell him everything another time. For now, I will just let him know that we are here visiting friends. We can discuss more after things have been settled."
"I'm pretty much in the same situation as Emma, I'll let my parents know I'm in Australia, so they won't get worried." Ash added on.
"So, I guess that leaves my parents, Rikki's dad, Zane's father. The rest's parents are out of town and away for business if I remember right." Cleo said taking a count of who to call. Lewis, Will, and Bella nodded their head to Cleo's question and waited for the others to call their parents.
*At Rikki's Café*
The group arrives and sees their parents have arrived already and appeared to be waiting outside. This would only be natural as it was closed considering it was after normal business hours for the café. As Zane walks up with the key in his hand he turned around to the group.
"Alright remember what we discussed after we get past the mermaid part" he says in a hushed voice. "Hey Dad, thank you for coming." Zane says greeting his father as the parents step aside so Zane could open the door.
"I hope this is important, I have a Zoom meeting in an hour. You better have a good reason for calling me down here."
"Relax Harrison, I'm sure the kids wouldn't bring us here if it wasn't important." Don said coming to the kids rescue. "Hi Cleo, is everything, okay?" he said giving Cleo a hug.
"Yeah, Dad everything's fine, I think it will be easier to explain inside" Cleo said after releasing her father from the hug.
As Zane opens the door the group and the parents present walked on inside. Zane led them to the center table before walking off and filling four glasses of water. As he filled the last of glasses he walks back to the table and places a glass of water in front of each girl.
"I'm not thirsty but thank you" Rikki's father Terry said to Zane.
Rikki with a laugh says, "It's not for you Dad, you will understand soon."
As Zane takes a seat, he begins the talks. "Ok so before I start, I just want to get this out of the way. What we are about to discuss cannot leave this room." Zane looks around at the parents with a serious expression. "It is especially important for the girls as it could be a matter of life and death."
"Okay now you are starting to worry me. What did you girls do wrong?" Don said with a worried expression.
"Dad, do you remember what we discussed after Denman left the area?" Zane said to his father. Harrison looked confused for a second before his eyes widened, he turned and stared at the girls before looking back at Zane.
"Do you mean… But I thought you said they lost their powers? Did they get them back?" Harrison said in a rush.
"Powers? What the hell are you talking about?" Terry says visibly confused.
"We are mermaids" Cleo blurted out.
A collective silence occurred before Terry gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "Mermaids? C'mon kiddo there's no such thing."
"No, she's telling the truth." Harrison said. "A few years back I was approached by a marine biologist named Linda Denman. She came to me with a proposal for buying the island for 'scientific research' As proof she presented me a photo that showed the girls… as mermaids."
Taking a deep breath Harrison continued. "At the time I was more concerned about money then ethics. I agreed to help Denman capture the girls if she assured me that they wouldn't be harmed.
"Why you little..." Don said angrily as he started to get up, his face red with anger." You were going to exploit my little girl?!"
Sam put a hand a hand on Don's shoulder gently. "Don let him finish, the girls are still here and safe and don't seem to have any ill will towards him, so it must've turned out okay."
With a sigh, Don calms himself down and motions for Harrison to continue.
Harrison gathered himself before continuing, "As some of you may already know, my relationship with my son wasn't the greatest at the time. When I realized that Rikki was one of the mermaids, I hid it from him as I was more obsessed with the fame."
Harrison gives a tearful glance at his son. "However, Zane found out and had rescued the girls from Denman. After realizing how they much they meant to my son, it changed something inside me and I dropped all my agreements with Denman, effectively cutting her off from doing more work around the area. The last I knew though the girls had lost their powers which was the final push to send Denman packing. Did you girls ever actually lose your powers?"
"Yes, we did but only for twelve hours. We got them back the next day." Emma answered.
"Ok this has been a wonderful story time, but I think that's enough, and we should go home Rikki" Terry says getting up.
Wasting no time Lewis, Ash, Zane, and Will all simultaneously reached out and grabbed the glasses of water. At one time they poured the water onto their respective girl and began counting.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sam said, "You just got their clothes all…." Her mouth hung open as the girls disappeared in a cloud of bubbles. In their place appeared the girls on the floor, full tails on display.
"Do you believe us now?" Bella said with a smile, slapping her green fin tail on the floor.
It took a few moments to calm all the parents down as Don appeared to be having a mini heart attack and Terry straight up passed out. Once both parents had recovered came the endless questions at the girls about how they came to be that way.
Cleo began explaining to the parents how it happened from the very beginning when they became mermaids in the Moon Pool and had to adjust their way of life hiding their secret. She continued with the story about how Lewis almost exposed them and how they almost got captured by Denman. She finished it off when the girls and Zane worked together, and they chased off Denman.
Emma took over from here and discussed how one of the new girl Charlotte discovered their powers and turned herself into one. After developing an attachment to Lewis, she set out to get rid of the other girls thinking of herself as a superior mermaid and wanted Lewis to herself. Emma then explained that this is when her parents began traveling and she had to tightly guard her secret while abroad with her parents.
Bella picked up the ending describing how she had been transformed in Ireland and moved here, becoming friends with the girls here over their shared secret. They talked about how the moon pool had warned them about the comet and the collective effort the girls went to protect everyone. They ended the story off with how they believed that Sam's colleague Ryan attempted to destroy the moon pool cave, but thankfully the cave didn't sustain any permanent damage and was able to heal over time.
As the girls finished up their story the parents stood there in silence, slowly absorbing the info dump the girls had just put them through.
"You girls really went through a lot, god you grow up so fast." Don said with a smile and tear in his eye. "I do have one big question. If you girls have been hiding this secret all this time, why are you telling us now?"
With a collective look at one another, the group nods to Zane to continue.
"That brings us to other reason we have gathered here." Zane started speaking again. "This morning the eight of us woke up in the moon pool greeted by a deity called Amphitrite. She was the former Queen of Atlantis and told us that the New Atlantis was ready to be reborn and that we are to be the next leaders."
"Atlantis? Like the Disney movie? That place isn't real, is it?" said Terry.
"It is Dad. It apparently used to be a utopia where Fae and humans lived in peace." Rikki said, answering her father.
"Fae?" Sam said quizzically.
"Umm Fae is a general term for mythological creatures. In the girl's case they would be considered Maritime Fae or Sea Nymphs." Lewis explained.
"Okay so what do you need from us?" Harrison asked.
"Well, we were told that New Atlantis is to be born on Mako Island, and I remember you tried to buy it Dad. We need to make sure that we have control over the island or risk exposing everything to the world." Zane said to his father.
Harrison leans back in his chair deep in thought. "I'll see what I can do about that and asked the contact who oversaw purchasing it. I believe I still have his number."
"In the meantime, it sounds like this Amphitrite wants you to join the humans and Fae together so you must not neglect your human side either." Sam said to the girls.
The girls had a puzzled look on their faces as they didn't quite understand what Sam had meant.
Seeing their expressions Sam laughed before elaborating. "I mean jobs. You need to make yourselves known to other humans, this way when the day finally comes and you reveal yourselves as mermaids, people will have a human face to put with it."
"She's right girls" Don said with a smile. "I think you kids are adult enough after everything you've been through. We can help however we can, but I think it's best if you start thinking of ways to make your human sides known to the public."
With that said, the parents and their kids began brainstorming ways on how to purchase Mako and how the kids should integrate themselves into society.
A/n Thank you to all those who are reading this! I have a personal schedule of trying to get out a chapter a week so we will see how that works out.
As always please read and review as your reviews is what fuels me. See you next time!