Three chapters in a week. This has to be a record for me.

Summary: Nixie wakes up and Zac is struggling

Nixie couldn't remember much after shuffling over on her knees and holding out kelp wraps. She woke up in the grotto pool, the water sparkling clean, and a concerned Sirena looking over her

Confusion hit her as soon as she woke. Water. Cave. But not the Moon Pool. She always slept in the Moon Pool. Why wasn't she in the Moon Pool?

"Nixie you're awake!"

Sirena was around her, embracing her in a hug before Nixie could respond.

Nixie stayed awake long enough to find out how Rita was doing before passing out again, slipping under the water and having to be pulled up by Sirena.

The next time she woke up, Sirena was asleep in the water across from her. Nixie rested in the water for a little while before quietly dragged herself out of the water. She slowly dried herself off, the warmth warding off the nighttime chill in the cave. She didn't feel it in the water, but on land it was another story.

Nixie got to her feet, her legs holding this time and crept into the grotto. Her legs were actually working again and there was no need to grip the bloodstained walls. The smears she'd left as she dragged her away up before were dried into the wall as dark stains. She'd clean that before Rita saw, the other Mermaid was very particular about things being neat and tidy.

The lights were off the grotto, save for one lamp on the upper level. It gave out minimal light but a Mermaid's eyes can see in the dark as well as land people do in the light.

Rita was lying on her back on the stone bench, a blanket draped over her and kelp wrap visible above the neckline of her t-shirt. She was still pale but the deathly white shade had become a very slightly healthier colour.

"I'm glad to see you've recovered."

Nixie jumped at the sudden disruption of the quiet. She hadn't noticed Veridia sitting on the bench.

"How is she?" Nixie asked, swallowing down the fright.

"Better than last time you saw her," Veridia answered, "there's not much improvement but she'll be okay."

Finally. It was going to be fine.

"When will she wake up?"

"Shouldn't be more than a few hours. Once she's awake I can work out the full extent of the damage that wounds done. It's deep but I can't tell how deep until I see how much it affects her movement."

Nixie nodded and clamped her jaws together to stop yawning. She was so tired. How was Veridia still up? Using healing abilities were draining, plus whatever that energy moving thing Veridia did had to have been taxing.

"Go back to sleep Nixie."

"Mm, I'm fine."

"Nixie."

Veridia sounded so much like Rita. It was the way she said it, the 'do-as-you're-told-or-else' tone that made her admit defeat. Nixie sighed and trudged out. Rita would be fine, Veridia was there.

Lyla surfaced in the grotto pool beside a half-awake Sirena. So that's where they were. She'd gone out to the Moon Pool but found no one and a search of the reef revealed no one either.

"Where have you been?" Sirena asked sleepily.

"I was out a swim, then went to Mako but you guys weren't there." If it had been Nixie, Lyla would have carefully added just a touch of accusing to her tone. Where was Nixie? Sirena was never far from Nixie, especially after the Pod left.

"We stayed here. You were gone all day."

"I went to see Zac but he wasn't there. Plus I didn't want to run into Veridia, Nixie said she wasn't happy."

"She wasn't," Sirena agreed and nodded.

"Where is Nixie?" Lyla asked.

"I'm here," Nixie yawned and came down off the staircase into the pool cave.

"Where have you been?" Sirena asked.

"Seeing Rita."

"How is she?"

"Still out but Veridia said she should wake up tomorrow."

Sirena smiled happily.

"She'll be fine," Nixie said as she sat on the edge of the pool.

Lyla exhaled and relaxed back against the stone. It was all fine. Everything would be over tomorrow.

It was all bullshit.

Why was he here? Why had he bothered to drag himself into school?

Cam kept asking him a million questions that he had no answer to, Evie hardly said more than a word to him since the lunch and Carly was firmly on Evie's side. Only David sat in the middle smiling away and trying to keep the peace.

It wasn't working. So Zac gave up and did something he never did - went to class early. It was only when he reached the room did he remember who's class it was. He went to turn away but one of the Maths teachers Mr Jones pounced and Zac found himself handing out workbooks and giving stiled replies to Mr Jones' questions about his weekend. Apparently Mr Jones was taking their class today.

When he woke first thing he tried to convince himself that maybe he'd go in at R - Principal Santos would be in. Maybe she'd call him up and give him a lecture about being more careful with the Mermaid, well Merman in his case, secret.

He'd take the lecture over the drivel of Spanish class without a teacher. The teacher was meant to be Principal Santos, but Mr Jones was dragged into covering the class when Principal Santos never turned up, much to everyone's surprise. She wasn't known for just not turning up.

It probably hadn't occurred to the Mermaids that someone would need to explain why Rita was missing from normal human- things. Lyla said the Pod Leader had arrived and that she'd done something but Zac hadn't heard anything since. Lyla hadn't been very talkative that last time. He hadn't seen Sirena or Nixie since he left that cave under Rita's house. Maybe she was okay now and would come back tomorrow, he'd get that lecture and they'd have a proper Spanish teacher again.

Zac stared at the page in front of him until the words blurred and his eyes burned. Mr Jones droned on, his monotonous voice doing nothing to capture anyone's man couldn't understand a word of Spanish beyond 'sí' or 'gracias' which helped exactly nobody when they had a written test next week.

What did it matter anyways, there were more important things to worry about than what noun to use.

That night, when Zac couldn't sleep he slipped out his boatshed and crept across the garden, the bone dry grass stabbing the soles of his feet. He stood at the edge of the dock, ready to dive off, he swung his arms and then dropped them.

The water usually invited him, the ripples and waves were Siren calls and the Moon's light made everything feel just right, like he belonged. Tonight he felt he was banished to the land. So he sat on the hard wooden dock instead and watched the Moon's reflection on the water's surface.

He was staring off down the canal when he saw a shadow under the moonlight.

Lyla.

She had her head above the surface in the canal hardly a foot in front of him,.

"What are you doing here?" Zac checked over his shoulders, sweeping from side to side to make sure no one had sneaked up behind him without him hearing.

"I came by earlier but you weren't here."

"I was at school. Everyone was wondering where Rita was."

Lyla's eyes dropped. "She's not woken up yet."

"Oh."

"Veridia said she'd wake up soon though."

Soon. Soon was fine. Soon was better than never. How soon was soon? It was two days already since the Moon Ring incident.

"That's … good."

"Yeah," Lyla turned and looked over her shoulder as a dark fin slipped below the surface behind her. Another bull shark. There had been more and more recently.

"They shouldn't be in this close to the shore," Lyla said.

"Why are they in so close?"

"I don't know. Something's pushing them in closer."

"Are you...safe in the water?" He'd never had any problems with sharks but that was in the open ocean, not an enclosed canal.

"They don't bother me, but I should head to Mako. Nixie gets grumpy if anyone wakes her up."

"Okay."

Lyla vanished as quickly as she appeared.

Two Days Later

A few hours. That's what Veridia had said. 'Shouldn't be more than a few hours.' Nixie had believed her, but now it had been two days. Two days of waiting and waiting and waiting. Two days of watching as everyone's hopes drained. Two days of Veridia forcing her to eat and take breaks and to go and make sure Sirena was okay.

Veridia had hardly left Rita's side. How she hadn't collapsed of exhaustion was beyond Nixie. The last two days were stressful. Lyla was never there, Sirena kept crying, Nixie was strung out and still Rita never woke up.

At least the cuts had stopped bleeding. Nixie helped Veridia with the bandages and after the first night, there was no blood. Veridia had put this pink cream over the cuts and for a second Nixie could've sworn Rita had flinched but when there was no other sign of movement, she chalked it up to her imagination, that, and desperation.

I have too much motivation for this, not enough for my coursework. Have a final project due in on Wednesday, but won't get my first draft back until Tuesday. Also got a fist draft due in on Thursday, of which I've done hardly anything. And there's a test on Monday. Yay. Not.

Anyways, next chapter shouldn't be too far behind, I'm hoping to have it up before the end of the year