Chapter 104

"Oh no," Rikki said, covering her eyes with her hand.

"Um…we need to get her some clothes…" Cleo said looking away.

"Ya think?" Rikki said looking at Cleo.

"Let me check…" Bella rummaged through one of the waterproof bags and pulled out a light blue beach dress. "Okay. Khasha, you need to put this on," Bella addressed the tailless mermaid. Khasha gripped the fabric in excitement and threw it over her head. Unfortunately, she got her head stuck in one of the arm-holes and her arm stood up at an awkward angle, all tangled up. Bella gave a sigh and helped her to her feet. She proceeded to help the mermaid into the dress.

"There you go," Bella said. Khasha beamed at her. The scout took a step and her legs wobbled.

"Take it slowly," Jessie commented.

"Maybe she will be a liability," Rikki said, frowning and folding her arms as she watched Khasha's awe as she took her first steps.

"It's something she's always wanted to do, Rikki," Cleo said, nudging her with a smile. "Give her this moment,"

OoOoO

Once Khasha was walking well enough as to not draw too much attention, the group walked up from the beach to the nearby settlement. This area seemed to be a place where a lot of tourists came to and from. They bought food at a foodbar. Khasha was very excited to try 'human' food. Fortunately, everything she said was in mindspeak so she didn't garner any strange looks from fellow humans in the area.

(A/N: I just realised the first version of this said 'teamspeak.' Sorry :P I've been gaming too much - corrected to mind speak)

Emma asked the server if they knew where the Cazadores de tesoros were. The server said that they thought they rented a building down next to the docks.

Emma thanked him and returned to the group. After they finished eating, they head towards the docks. They warned Khasha that she couldn't touch water at all, otherwise she would change back to her true form and alert the humans to her presence. Khasha's eyes widened and looked scared. She was not allowed on land, being discovered would damage her livelihood greatly.

They navigated throught the docks. Jessie noticed the logo first.

"Over there," she pointed to the building on the pier over.

"You guys stay out here," Rikki said. "It'll look more legit if I go alone,"

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll enquire into the artefact and offer money - don't worry guys, I've dealt with other treasure hunting groups before."

"You sure we can't come?" Cleo asked

Rikki gave her a look.

"Fine," Cleo rolled her eyes.

OoOoO

Rikki opened the door and walked inside.

"Hello?" she called out. "Anyone here?" she asked looking around.

It was a modest wooden building, various pictures of sea treasures recovered by the group lining the walls.

A white, brunette woman came through the door from the back room. She had a polishing rag in-hand. Rikki observed that it seemed that she had been polishing a metal treasure recovered from the local waters.

"Can I help you?" she asked impatiently. The woman sounded like she was from a part of England.

"Yes – this is the Cazadores de tesoros, Fijian base, correct?"

The woman nodded.

"I have a client who lost a family necklace in Fijian waters after it was knocked off the deck of the boat…I heard rumours that Cazadores de tesoros recovered a unique necklace. This necklace matched the description of the one belonging to my client," Rikki said. "I was wondering if the rumours were true."

"May I see your identification please?" the woman asked. Rikki nodded; she was expecting this type of request – a treasure hunter should never tell a random person anything about the treasures- there is a risk of hijacking and theft.

Rikki looked through her bag, opened her wallet and handed over her Australian passport and her treasure license.

"Rikki Bennett," the woman said. "I've heard of you – you're that diver that can retrieve some of the deepest treasures… based in Queensland, Australia."

"That's me," Rikki said, "Though you seem to know an awful lot about me, and I don't even know your name."

"You can call me Erin," she replied.

"My client is willing to pay generously for the necklace's recovery," Rikki said persuasively. "Do you know anything about it Erin?"

"Hypothetically I could tell you that a necklace was recovered by the Cazadores. Maybe it was found amongst the rocks on the sea floor, not near another wreck. Maybe it was found on a leisurely dive. Maybe I was the one to recover it," Erin's eyes sparkled mischieviously, "Maybe I would be willing to part with more information if you were willing to give me some…generous compensation…a cut of your payment maybe?"

Rikki grinned. "I like the way you think. But that would depend on the quality of information you can share,"

"I know where it is," Erin said. "That quality enough for ya?"

Rikki shrugged playing along. "Sounds like we have a deal. A cut of the payment."

She offered Erin her hand. The other woman took it and shook her agreement. Since the payment was story, Rikki was more than willing to give Erin money for her help – it was the treasure business' way.

"So what do you know?" Rikki asked.

Erin led her out into the back room. There was a table in the centre which had the goblet that Erin had been polishing prior to Rikki's arrival. There were stacks of boxes of different sizes all around the room. Rikki assumed they contained various artefacts. Erin gestured for Rikki to have a seat.

"I went out for a dive the other day – it was just one for fun, there were no known artefacts in that area. To my surprise, there was this incredible necklace just laying there. It seemed like it had not been there long, so I picked it up and took it back to the boat with me. I figured I might as well since it would just be taken by the current soon enough, and I didn't see any other boats in the area. The necklace is nothing like I've ever seen before – the material's density…It is incredible. I messaged my discovery back to HQ – our Pacific base. They didn't waste any time in displaying it in one of the artefact showcases- they found a buyer. He offered a larger sum than what we were going to sell it for and apparently sounded really eager to get his hands on it. I sent it over and as far as I know, the man is going to pick it up in a few days."

"Do you know why the man wanted it?"

"Not really, sorry. I believe he is a geologist and works at a museum somewhere in Australia, as some kind of manager of the minerals collection, or something. According to Lakyn, my boyfriend, he was particularly interested in the rock pendant."

Rikki's heart sank. This geologist obviously knew that the moonrock wasn't just any rock. This could be bad.

"…and apparently this guy is a wackjob – he has been obsessed with mermaids for years and.."

Apparently Erin was still talking and Rikki had zoned out – oops.

"…claims that this necklace was made by them."

Rikki looked shocked.

"I know right," Erin laughed. "Total nutter,"

Rikki laughed along with her but her mind was buzzing.

How the heck were they going to get a mermaid necklace, off of a mermaid nut without alerting too much suspicion?

"When is he picking it up?"

"This afternoon, I believe, it's on our main base, a few islands over. You will need to have the owner show proof of ownership if this sale is not to go through," Erin said.

Rikki sighed. "That's going to be a problem."

"Why?" Erin asked suspiciously.

"She's not exactly…" human? mentally sound? "…on the right side of the law," Rikki made up.

"Ah, I see" Erin grinned.

"Would you be able to take me and my friends to the HQ?" Rikki asked.

"I don't see why not, but I better get paid for my troubles," Erin winked.

A/N: Hey everyone :) Thanks so much for reading. Sorry about the wait again. It's a shorter wait than the last time ;) But I;m sorry the chapter is so short after the long wait :/ I've been really busy with uni work, being a PVP leader in Elder Scrolls Online, and having difficulty with this storyline :P I hope that despite my difficulties that you still enjoy the chapter.

Thank you so much for the lovely reviewers, you guys inspire me to get this story out :P Anyway, I am one month away from finishing my Bachelors degree :D So after that finishes I'll just be working...and gaming, but I should have more time to dish out these chapters :)

Thank you to the following people for being incredible :D

YaleAceBella12, , The Writer Es, bethy6791/midnightstress, Angel Ruth, CrazyHayniac, H2o JAW, Loveh2o, Clewis, MermaidSinger, H20lover and Guests

You guys are amazing. thank you for reviewing the last chapter.

See you all next time :)