Chapter 6 Mermen
Author's note; Summary: Irene meets a rebellious merman; Annie faces Ava.
Mrs. Wellington and Haru were in Mrs. Wellington's office at school the next day. Mrs. Wellington was on her computer looking at FBI files. She had heard on the morning news that the bodies of the hunters Rachel had burned had been found. Fortunately for them the deaths were ruled as a car crash.
Trish had mentioned that the female hunter had been referred to as Josie and the news report had identified the lady as Josie Knorr, so Mrs. Wellington decided to do some research on the incident.
"Hey Haru I found information about the female hunter Parker and the girls saw in England." She spoke up.
Haru turned to see a picture of the girl and read the information.
Name: Josie Nathalie Knorr
Place of birth: Santa Monica, California
Date of birth: 2/24/1975
Occupation: Interior designer
Height: 5'6'
Weight:
Hair color: brown/blond
Eye color: amber
"It says she's the oldest of five, never married and never had children, and doesn't have a criminal record" said Haru looking up from the computer screen.
"Well, she obviously killed magical creatures before since she's a supernatural hunter" retorted Mrs. wellington.
"Nobody would notice a magic being killed by a human" agreed Haru.
"I also looked up some of the other hunters that were killed in the fire," went on Mrs. Wellington. "They were petty officers or in the military."
"They must be good at covering up the evidence of their killings then" declared Haru.
…
Annie, Celina and Irene were swimming through the water. After being busy all morning with princess lessons with dame Alexandra, they were free to swim in the ocean.
"It's been a very busy morning," sighed Celina. "Today's Wednesday, and we have history lessons and later this afternoon we have ancient writing lesson. My sisters and I always look for to Tuesdays because that's when we have music lessons."
Annie had quite the interest in learning the writing mermaids in ancient times used, but she also liked swimming around the ocean.
"It's nice to get to swim around the ocean though," said Annie. "Dame Alexandra works you all hard."
"Mom and dad do it to find nice mermen for us to marry," explained Celina. "Especially Lacey since she's the oldest and she's going to be queen of the mermaids one day, it makes me glad not to be the oldest since I won't have to worry about marriage for a few years."
Annie knew that royals had arranged marriages and that the princesses would have to find husbands soon to keep the bloodline going.
The girls looked through the reeds and saw a mermaid boy around their age. He had short black hair and blue eyes.
Irene stared at the mermaid with wide eyes.
"Hello" said the mermaid boy noticing Irene.
"Hi" replied Irene trying to keep her emotions from bursting.
"My name's Sean" said the merman, also attracted to Irene.
"I'm Irene," replied Irene. "Irene Frost. I'm from the Frost clan."
"One of the most respected mermaid clans in the human world?" asked Sean looking amazed. Irene nodded. "It's like meeting a noble family" he said bowing playfully making Irene giggle.
"I'm Annie," said Annie. "And this is princess Celina."
Sean starred in surprise at the mention of the princess. He then bowed down respectfully.
"I've never seen you in the kingdom," said Celina.
"I have my own pod" replied Sean.
"I see," said Celina. The name did sound familiar to her.
"I wasn't born a mermaid like the rest of you," said Annie. "I feel into a moonpool back home during a full moon and became a mermaid."
"That's amazing," said Sean. "What are your powers?"
"I've got all powers," said Annie. "Water, fire, ice and substance."
"That's really amazing," replied Sean. "It's very rare for mermaids to have all powers. I was born with all four powers."
The girls stared in surprise.
"We have to get back to the castle," said Celina. "It's almost time for our afternoon lessons."
Annie and Celina left, Irene looked at Sean for a brief moment and waved goodbye to him smiling before swimming after the others.
That evening at dinner, Annie sat next to Celina and listened the king and queen.
"The son of the leader of the Cortez Sea pod has eyes for Lacey," said Marrow. "We should think of asking them to meet with us, she does have to find a husband soon you know. She's almost nineteen."
"The prince of the Northern Ocean also has hopes to marry Lacey" added Thelxiepeia.
"Mermen always seem to have eyes for Lacey and Anemone" teased Jade.
"You should have seen Sean this morning," said Irene boastfully. "He was cute."
"Sean?" asked Lacey.
"He's a merman we met out in the ocean today," explained Irene. "He was telling us about he has his own pod."
"You mustn't go near him" declared Marrow.
"Why?" asked Annie.
"He's the leader of the shadow pod," explained dame Alexandra. "They're a group of mermaids who are rebellious to the rules of mermaids. They go against the rules about keeping magic hidden from the world."
"I knew the name sounded familiar" muttered Celina.
"Dame Alexandra's right," said Marrow. "You must stay away from them. They're unsanctioned and could get you into a lot of trouble."
Annie, Celina and Irene exchanged unsure looks. They didn't seem sure about what the king said about Sean's pod.
…
Back in Florence, Mrs. Wellington was leaving her office when Alex walked up to her.
"Hey Alex," said Mrs. Wellington smiling. "What can I do for you?"
"Oh, hi Dawn," replied Alex sounding anxious. "Have you found a way to get Annie back from the oceanic realm?"
"Not yet" replied Mrs. Wellington regretfully.
"Vivian and I are really worried about her," sighed Alex. "And so is her mother in Alberta. I called to tell her about what happened and that I covered up her absence that I sent her to stay with her."
"I know Alex," said Mrs. Wellington. "I was just looking at information about those hunters the kids faced in England the other day."
"Maybe it's for the best that Annie isn't here," sighed Alex. "If hunters have returned, she might be in danger."
"We don't really know if there are any hunters around here," replied Mrs. Wellington reassuringly. "The girls have always been very careful."
"They seem to have ways of knowing if someone's a magic being though," said Alex gravely. "They always find them."
"I've lived on land for years," said Mrs. Wellington. "And I've been very careful keeping my powers and mermaid form hidden from public. And it's been very peaceful."
"I had hoped after Annie and Irene defeated Ms. Spears, our lives would return to normal," Alex sighed again. "But now this happens."
"I know," said Mrs. Wellington sympathetically. "But we will get them back into this world."
…
The next morning Annie and Celina were outside the city.
"I've been meaning to ask you," said Annie interestedly. "What are your powers?"
"Mine are water powers," replied Celina. "Lacey, Anemone and Layla have ice powers, and Jade and Tessa have fire powers. Tessa can also talk to sea creatures. Father also has water powers, my mother like you has all four, though she's queen by marriage."
"Hey Annie, Celina," said a voice.
The girls turned to see Sean coming out from behind a rock.
"Have you two seen Irene?" he asked.
"She's back in the castle," replied Celina mistrustingly. "Though you're not supposed to be near there."
"I take it your parents told you about my pod?" guessed Sean.
Annie nodded.
"Look," sighed Sean. "I don't want any trouble; I just want to see Irene."
Annie and Celina looked at each other unsurely and Celina then nodded.
Sean swum past the girls and then Annie and Celina swum on.
Irene was swimming outside the castle, when she saw Sean.
"Sean?!" exclaimed Irene. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you again" said Sean sheepishly.
The two stared at each other in silence.
"Come on," said Sean. "I want to you to meet my pod."
Irene wasn't sure. She had been thinking about what the king had told her about the rebellious pod. She loved hanging out with royalty and so she wanted to show great loyalty to the king.
"Come on," Sean said again. "it'll be fine."
Irene unsurely took Sean by the hand and they swum off.
…
Sean led Irene through the ocean until they came to a cave.
"That's where we live," said Sean.
Seven other mermaids swum out of the cave. There were two male mermaids and five female mermaids.
"Hey Sean," said one of the male mermaids. "So, you really did meet a mermaid from the castle." He said humorously noticing Irene. Irene looked at the mermaids cautiously, she was worried about how rebellious behaved they were.
"Didn't think you'd get a girlfriend" teased one of the mermaids.
"Oh, come on," added another with short wavy brunette hair. "He's a lady's killer."
"Irene," said Sean smiling. "These are the guys."
Irene waved hello to the shadow pod politely.
The brunette-haired mermaid spoke to Irene.
"So, you come from the Frost clan?" she said cockily. "You're practically nobility yourself."
Irene looked surprised to hear her say that.
"It's not exactly a noble family," replied the mermaid. "The Frost clan is just one of the most famous mermaid pods living on dryland."
"I've always wanted to be a princess though," said Irene putting on a big smile. "The king told me that you were rule breakers, that you rebelled against the rules of magic."
Another one of the mermaids scoffed. "We're just trying to help humans."
"What do you mean?" asked Irene.
"We like to use our powers to protect the humans," replied the brunette mermaid. "But the king feels we're trouble because we use our powers in plain sight."
"Watch," said Sean. "Show her Caterina."
The brunette mermaid swum up and held her hand out.
"Kathreftis deixe mou ton kosmo ton okeanon"
An image appeared in front of them. It was a restaurant; Irene could see that they were watching through a fish tank.
"Watch this," said Sean.
The image closed up to a couple in their late teens. The girl was looking away for a minute talking to some other girls. Irene's eyes widened to see the boy looked like he was slipping a drug into her drink.
Irene then looked to see Sean holding out his hand. The glass started to shake and then tipped over. Soda poured all over the table, making the girl turn to look in surprise.
Then she saw the boy and that he was holding a drug in his hand.
"Are you trying to drug me?!" exclaimed the girl. The other girls all stared in shock at what just happened.
Caterina then made the image disappear.
Irene looked at Sean and the others in surprise.
"What's the point in having powers if you can't use them?" retorted Caterina. "We're just trying to help."
Irene could see the point they were making, she took pride in her powers, but her mother had always warned her to make sure humans didn't find out about mermaids existing. But she felt she should still use them either way. And she trusted Trish and Kelsey with the secret.
"You know that water communication spell you used is how my friends back home have been keeping in touch with me," said Irene. "They're humans, well Trish became a mermaid by accident. She and Annie's best friend fell into the moonpool in our town that Annie and I got transported here."
Sean and the other mermaids starred in amazement at Irene's life.
…
Annie and Celina were near the surface, so Celina could show Annie her powers.
"Alright Annie watch this!" said Celina excitedly.
Celina raised her arms up high as if she was trying to touch a ceiling. The water of the surface began to open like a hole was opening. Annie stared at the sight in wonder.
She then saw a figure flying in the sky.
"Celina," cried Annie. "It's Ava!"
Ava was in her sidhe form flying above the water.
"Hello dear girls" said Ava in a cheerful voice.
Annie and Celina glared at the sidhe.
"My dad's guards are looking for you!" said Celina fiercely. "You'll be locked up when you've been captured!"
"The mermaids will be the first to bow down to me once I've overthrown your family," laughed Ava.
"Remember when you were banned from Avalon, the mermaids took you in," reminded Celina. "We gave you a chance to turn around and you chose not to take it. Instead, you decided to take over our kingdom."
"You seem to have forgotten your place princess" taunted Ava.
"I think it's time for you to know your place" said Annie narrowing her eyes.
Celina made a tentacle of water snake around Ava's body and then Annie used her substance powers to turn the water into glass trapping her.
Ava struggled and broke free of the glass. She then unleashed a ball of fire at the mermaids. Both Annie and Celina were able to dodge the ball as it splashed into the water with a puff of smoke.
Celina and Annie then used their water powers to make a big wave. The water consumed Ava and the three went underwater as the wave died down.
Annie and Celina used their telekinetic power to throw Ava to the side where she banged into a rock.
Ava picked herself up and limped forward. She raised her hand ready to strike, when she felt water vaporizing around her. Annie and Celina stared at each other in shock, neither of them was doing it.
They turned around to see Irene and Sean. Irene then used her ice powers to turn water into a block of ice trapping Ava inside.
"Irene!" exclaimed Celina. "You got her!"
"Well Sean used his water powers to capture" Irene replied modestly.
"The oceanic realm will be safe now that we've captured Ava," said Celina. "My father's guards will put her in the dungeon.
Celina swum back to the castle and returned later with Merrow and some guards. They were stunned to see the sidhe frozen.
"How did you manage to catch her?" he asked his daughter.
"We had help from Sean your majesty" replied Annie.
The king stared at the pod leader in even more shock at the fact that a rebellious mermaid would help capture a bad magic being. But he felt grateful for his help in Ava's capture and nodded acceptingly.
…
Annie talked to Rachel through water communication.
"We met a pod of mermaids called the shadow pod," said Annie. "They're good mermaids, but they're rebellious. Irene has a crush on their leader Sean."
"Irene in love?" retorted Rachel.
"Well, he seems to like her," replied Annie. "He helped us capture Ava today."
"Really?" asked Rachel.
"Yes," said Annie relievedly. "She's been locked up and won't be bothering us again."
"I hope you'll be home soon," said Rachel. "It's been almost a month you know."
"Don't worry," said Annie. "We'll find a way to get back through the portal."