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We reached over 200 REVIEWS! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I'm sorry! I can't stop screaming!
206 REVIEWS!
This is so exciting, yet also proves to be the first, popular Charlotte story to exist!
I would like to give HUGE thanks, and congrats, to Sunshine224 for being my 200th reviewer! And expect an amazing chapter in return!
ENJOY!
Previously...
"ANE'LIE, YOU WILL RETURN TO ME AT ONCE!"
...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
...
"Nope. You see, in your honor, I beat up the royal crap out of some jock that had the nerve to talk about you so badly that the act itself would have been nonconsensual. So, instead of being suspended or expelled, the principal 'volunteered' me into helping the Student Council throw this big, costumed Halloween Bash! So first off, you're welcome. Secondly, I don't believe that show will happen on the 31st. I believe it's not announced yet and your choir teacher has yet to hear about this!"
...
Instead of scribbles and nonsense as I expected, it was, as if it was taken out of a polaroid, it a picture of me and Riley.
His arm left arm was wrapped around me as I laid my head on his shoulder, my eyes looked closed for a brief second, while he was looking down at me, smiling, with his sunglasses on. There was enough 'light' to see the love in them while his other hand, despite not being seen, held the 'camera'.
...
"Back in the old days, mermaids would often use this as a way of disputing territories and, for fun, messing with humans. So, they played an ancient war game in which is similar to a tug of war. Only instead of rope, we are using a ship. Jonathan, bring it in!" Laguna commanded.
...
Then, Laguna pulled the ship back into the center.
"Well, I see you've brushed up on telekinesis and your heat powers. A mermaid can use whatever powers she has. Now, let's get a little harder," Laguna said, using two hands.
The ship started to move towards Laguna again and I brought out both of my hands as well.
This time, while using my mind, I created waves around the ship, turning it away from Laguna and towards me.
But Laguna created another set of waves, bigger ones, using it to move towards her again and, with her mind, pulling it to the range and claiming it.
...
And then, to my surprise, Laguna lifted her hand again, but instead of more rain, it was lightning.
This one I was familiar with for two reasons, though I won't say. I had a good idea of how to get this to work for me!
But then, all of a sudden, my vision fades.
...
"Oh Cleo, I did have a lot of personal things against you. But then I realized, the longer you stayed a mermaid, the longer you lost your humanity. Think of this as me doing you a favor and giving it back!"
And with one hand motion, I watched in tears as Cleo fell into the moon pool.
"CLEO!" Emma and Rikki shouted.
...
"NOOOO!"
Karen's POV
No matter how much Jon rubbed my shoulders, trying to relax me as best as he could for me in my current state, the anxiety was building up for me faster than morning sickness on a good day!
I kept rubbing my belly as I glued my eyes to the pool. I sent Brendan in after Charlotte the moment after Mother narrowly escaped being hit by lightning.
Flashback...
I couldn't help but watch in nervousness as Mother and Charlotte dueled it out in the pool.
I had to admit, Charlotte was doing well on her own, but when Mother pulled out the storm clouds, I got worried.
"Mother, is this really necessary? You both won a round each!" I asked worriedly as the game now got more serious. This was supposed to go like a pretest, to see just what Charlotte knew and how we could progress it with self-defense.
But of course, I forgot she had a competitive streak.
"Don't worry, I got this!" Charlotte exclaimed as she kept her eyes on the ship. I felt another gush of wind added into the storm and could only hope Mother knew what she doing.
I watched in anticipation as the miniature ship was caught in a power struggle between the two mermaids. Charlotte was doing a surprisingly good job at keeping the ship in her direction and the display of her powers was most impressive.
However, Mother had centuries of practice on her. No matter what the girl did, she always knew how to use the storm against Charlotte and work to her advantage.
As the struggle got more intense increased, I couldn't help but be amazed at how much control Charlotte manages to have to keep up with Mother.
She was learning.
When Charlotte raised her hand, I expected her to add more wind again, but then she surprised me by adding rain to the mix. I felt Brendan get behind me when some of it splashed towards me and Jon.
"What's wrong? Afraid of a little rain?" Jonathan asked under his breath. I smirked and whacked him on the shoulder while I could feel the glare my son was giving him.
Looking at the ship was making my head dizzy. It was going from back and forth, clockwise and counter-clockwise, and I was tempted to get up and call it a stalemate.
But then, Mother added lightning and I saw Charlotte smirk. There must be a way for her to use this against my mother.
I watched as she maneuvered the ship to stop turning, a feat in itself.
Mother went to pull the ship towards her, but Charlotte managed to keep it still. The expression the girl had on her face was absolutely calm.
The whole point of the game was to get the ship to your side to claim it.
What was she planning?
Charlotte raised her hand towards the ship, and my eyes widened as I saw a whirlpool forming under the ship, causing it to go clockwise.
I looked to Mother as she tried to diffuse the whirlpool, but somehow, Charlotte was keeping extra control of it.
Next, she started to move the whirlpool towards her, and the ship with it. Mother tried to pull the ship from under her grasp but went unsuccessful.
This continued until Mother froze the whirlpool, causing it to stop at a halt.
Mother smirked triumphantly at this, but when I looked at Charlotte's face, her expression was neutral.
But is it just me or...
Did her eyes just darken?
"Charlotte, are you okay?" I asked hesitantly.
She didn't turn toward me but simply nodded.
And then, Charlotte used her heat powers to unfreeze the whirlpool, causing the steam to go up into the storm clouds, creating an even bigger storm than before.
"I don't like losing," Charlotte stated menacingly. Her eyes almost looking black.
Mother and I looked at each other and we both knew something was wrong.
This time, Charlotte seemed to be manipulating the clouds rather than the ship. The wind started to lash out violently, causing the rain to hit me and my family, rendering Brendan a merman.
"MOM! What is she doing?!" Brendan exclaimed while groaning. He hated being in his other form when not needed.
Mother managed to stop the rain from touching her, but now there was a new power struggle. But instead of the ship, it was the control over the storm.
Mother sent her own set of powerful winds at Charlotte, but then she smirked back and, using the winds and the atmosphere altogether, I watched what she created.
Around the ship, 4 dark spots started to form spirals on the ship, and the spirals increased and increased its speed until 4 cloud funnels emerged from the storm and made contact with the spirals.
And the widths increased in size as well.
Not liking the look of those waterspouts she created, I got onto my feet and decided to call out a draw.
"Alright, you two! This is a draw, a stalemate, or whatever you call it! Charlotte, you're taking this too far!" I exclaimed.
This time, Charlotte looked at me and I almost screamed.
She turned to me. Her face was filled with hatred and her eyes were full black.
"I. Don't. Like. LOSING!" she screamed, sending a violent wind at me. I held my belly with both arms as I was pushed down, but thankfully, Jon caught me just in time with his arms.
Jon looked at her with something quite close to pissed off, but I had to calm him down.
"Jon, this isn't her! This has to be Marana controlling her!"
"And you think I can't tell! That voice she used wasn't even hers!" he argued, glaring at Charlotte. Or Marana rather.
I watched with terrified eyes as Charlotte brought the waterspouts on top of the ship, dismembering and destroying the ship.
I could only hope Charlotte snapped out of it because words went only to Marana directly.
Suddenly, she used Charlotte's hands to make a thunderous march as lightning bolts paraded on the dismembered parts of the ship. The wooden parts blasted and burned into ashes and the metal parts just conducted towards it into the water.
I looked back at Charlotte, whose eyes were trained directly to Mother, used the thunder clouds to threaten and intimidate her.
But even though she was using the most of her power, Mother wasn't doing so good against Marana. I had no doubt she figured it out, but even if she could, only Charlotte could break her hold.
And suddenly, Marana raised Charlotte's hands towards the clouds again, when a bright light appeared.
I looked back one last time to Charlotte, and the utter amazement hit me as her black eyes reverted to chocolate brown, but her face was one of immense trauma.
"NOOOO!" Charlotte screamed, causing Mother to duck as an aimed bolt of lightning missed her by a few mere inches.
The shock took me by surprise. All I heard was a splash and Charlotte was gone.
Flashback ends...
I held my breath as Brendan surfaced up from the water. And his sadden expression didn't help one bit.
"Well?" I asked.
"You know the phrase, 'You look like someone kicked your puppy'? Well, the look on Char's face is as if somebody ran over her puppy, checked to see if it was dead, spat on it, made fun of her over it, and then drove off laughing."
I couldn't even begin to describe the look on my face at his description, while Jon mostly likely got it. But Brendan continued with it.
"Sadistic, I know. But Charlotte's not coming up anytime soon and I think forcing her won't help either," he concluded, getting ready to get out the pool. But I stopped him.
I looked up at Jonathan in concern. He had told me about his and Charlotte's little talk, which surprised me that he was even able to be reasonable with her at all, especially with the tone he used, and hoped that he could help.
"Brendan, did she look at you while you were down there?" he asked, a stoic on his face. But if anyone could look closely at him, and knew who he was, then you'd be able to see the concern in his eyes.
"No. She was looking down and, had she been on the surface...it looked a lot like she was crying. Mom, what was going on with her during the game?"
"That's because Marana had full control of her. Wouldn't you say so, my dear?" Laguna said, walking towards them with a towel her hand. Mother may not have fallen in, but even the storm took enough of her energy and got her wet.
I nodded. I know Charlotte broke herself out of whatever trance Marana had over her. The girl would never attack me in my state, and definitely would not hit Mother with lightning!
"Jon, honey, is there any way you could-"I started, but he held his hand up, stopping me in mid-sentence. He groaned.
"I must love you if you want me to bring the girl up," I heard him mutter as he left my side and, along with beckoning Brendan, jumped into the pool.
When they went under, I turned to Mother. She had already developed bags under her eyes and already tired. Now, she was glaring at me.
"So, do you now understand why I can't teach her? Marana got to her the moment I challenged the girl!" she exclaimed.
"No, I was watching her!" I countered, recalling the game in my head, "it must have been after you added lightning into the storm. She was...unusually calm. Like she knew she had the upper hand in the game. I swear Marana must have taken over then. Can you go through any of her memories and find anything related to lightning."
Mother considered this and suddenly went stiff. Her hands were by her side, posture straightened, and her eyes looked straight ahead, but not looking at anything in particular.
This was what she looked like when she goes through Charlotte's memories.
At first, when the switch happened, it was, as she described it, a 'Flash-Forward'.
Pictures and images flashed before her at once, so many things yet she understood it all. Especially from a new perspective. After this, and her talk with Charlotte, she made sure to never go through the girl's memories without a good reason to. She had already invaded Charlotte's privacy without meaning to.
This was the least Mother felt she could do.
Eventually, she came back into the present time, and this time, her anger at me was replaced with sadness.
"Mother?" I asked hesitantly.
"It has something to do with Charlotte's 'supposed' last night with as a mermaid," Mother said sourly. I winced.
Mother never gave me the full details on how Charlotte lost her tail, exactly, but if that particular memory sparked Marana taking over...
There was a big splash and I looked up to see Brendan emerge with Jon carrying Charlotte in his arms bridal style. Mother quickly grabbed a rolling stool where he laid the girl down on before grabbing a towel as well.
I quickly put Charlotte's head on my lap and rubbed her wet hair soothingly. Even from Jon's arms, I could tell that she was shaking and the sobs were just...terrible.
"I'm a horrible person, I'm a horrible person, I'm a horrible person..." I heard her muttering repeatedly and my blood boiled.
What the hell did Marana do to her!?
I started to shush her, calming her down to my best abilities, trying to at least find a way to get her talking. She was clinging to my maternity dress, her eyes red as tears flood down her face like a waterfall.
All I could do was wipe the tears away.
30 minutes later...
Charlotte finally stopped crying and woke up from a mini nap, that Mother induced her into, human again. When she looked at me, I swore she had aged 30 years right before me before asking what happened.
"What happened? WHAT HAPPENED!?" Brendan shouted angrily, scaring the hell out of everyone, "First off, you turned a simple war game into a freakin' storm. Then, you created some wicked powerful waterspouts that destroyed the ship. Next, you nearly killed my baby sister by pushing Mom to the ground. You're soooo lucky Jonathan caught her in time. And lastly...you almost hit Grams with a lightning bolt!?"
I could understand why my son was angry, but the moment Charlotte's eyes dimmed, if they weren't already, and filled with absolute guilt before looking down at her hands, I shut him down!
"BRENDAN MICHEAL COVE!" I yelled, "I want you out of this cave and in your room! And if I come up there and you're not sitting your butt on your bed, I swear I will-"
"Don't even bother with that threat!" Jon interrupted me again, "I'll take the boy upstairs and talk to him. You and your mother find out what happened."
And this is why, Ladies and Gentlemen, I married this man!
Jon roughly grabbed Brendan by the collar of his neck and dragged him out the grotto. He was still glaring at Charlotte, but my glare outdid him and he put his head down.
We waited until I heard a rumbling and then a slam, signaling that they were gone.
I looked back down to Charlotte, gently grasped her chin and lifted it, causing her to look up at me. A fresh batch of tears had already started falling from her eyes.
"Charlotte, please...Tell us what happened. Ignore Brendan, that wasn't YOU! That was Marana who did those things, not you," I reasoned.
The tears started falling faster from her eyes and I wiped them quickly. She started shaking her head hastily as if what happened was too painful to bear. I started to console her again, but leave it to my mother to beat behind the bush.
"It had something to do with the night you lost your tail, isn't it?"
I felt Charlotte stiffen.
"Mother!" I exclaimed. Now she'll definitely won't open up to us!
Mother rolled her eyes, "Better now than later, Karen. You want an answer, you got to get it!"
I was so close to possibly grabbing Mother's neck and throttling it until...
"Yes."
I and Mother looked at Charlotte, who was starting to look up at us.
I swore, I saw how broken apart her soul was and I just wanted to hug her. But we did need to know what happened.
"After Laguna added the lightning, I blacked out," she started, before taking in a shaky breath, "I found myself back on...back on Mako, at the moon pool! At first, I was confused until I saw a mermaid swim through the underwater entrance. I stood back, thi-thinking it was one of the girls...but it wasn't."
I noticed that she was starting to shake and tremble again, so I held her steady. Mother beckoned her to continue.
"...It was me," she gasped, "I mean, not Present Me, more like Past Me. Who I was before I left Australia. And I know- I knew it was in the past because I was wearing the locket again. I nearly fainted when I saw myself there. I knew I was moonstruck at the time, but the Old Me looked so...so...evil. There was a look in her eyes, something so dark and filled with hatred, I wondered if Marana had control over me at that time. But then, the girls appeared. I tried calling out to her, trying to tell her that she didn't need to take her path as far as this, but I was like the Scrooge in 'A Christmas Carol'. No matter what I said or did, nobody was listening to me!"
I was already shocked at what I was hearing, Mother looked gobsmacked, and I soothingly wiped the tears falling from her face. There's more.
"I remembered hearing myself using a cruel, cruel voice. Emma was the only one who tried to be reasonable, but Rikki, as expected, was angry with me. But Cleo...she glared at me so hard, I felt it yet the Old Charlotte didn't. It started to play as it happened, but the words that were said...They were never said at all! When Old Me told the girls what I planned, they protested. Cleo hit a nerve on both me and the Old Charlotte, about people never wanting to be around us. I have been excessively bullied all my childhood and even other kids that got picked on didn't want to be friends with me!" Charlotte exclaimed, "I mentally had hoped that those words weren't said by her but from Rikki. But they weren't."
Oh no. Even I knew such childhood traumas, and worse, could cause enough anger to lift a car.
"Then, the Old Charlotte got angry, and it was nearly exactly how the showdown went. Only, I was more...dark. I noticed things that back then, during the battle, I didn't notice before. She attacked the girls and made them move closer to the edge of the pool, but they fought back. Cleo manipulated the attack, while Rikki boiled it away from her. But Emma, she froze it and looked at Old Charlotte. This was her mistake and when the attack backfired on her...she got pulled into the moon pool. The girls screamed and I...I somehow managed to use Rikki's anger against her. I was so sneaky. I created this powerful King Cobra and when she tried to aim lightning at it, I moved it away fast and, like Emma did, froze the cobra's head. And, before the shock settled in, the snake rammed into Rikki, knocking the wind out of her like a powerful punch to the guts, thrusting her backward and sending the rebellious mermaid harshly into the moon pool," Charlotte said, her voice filled with remorse.
It bugged me that she kept using "I" and "Old Charlotte", during the events, as if they were the same no matter which point of view it was and did this! I planned to talk to her about that! The only thing shared between her past and her present was her body! Nothing more!
"After that, it was just me and Cleo. She generated enough power and brought out at least a large body of water from the pool. After that...it was a power struggle. I was rooting for Cleo, she deserved this and justice for her friends' tails. And the Old Charlotte was struggling this time. I felt my heart starting to calm down as Cleo started to push me backward towards the moon pool. But suddenly, I felt something snap and the water boiled until steam was everywhere! Then, Old Charlotte...she used wind powers to clear everything and then...and then..." Charlotte broke down in tears again and I quickly hugged her.
No one willing admits their mistakes as she did, but at the same time...
"A-And then, I-I lifted Cleo u-up in the air, as the girls did to me...and I told her that I was g-giving her back her humanity before I...BEFORE I DROPPED HER INTO THE FREAKIN' MOON POOL!"
No one should ever have to see themselves as the Devil.
I hugged her as tightly as I could while looking at Mother. Her face matched mine and I knew her heart went out to Charlotte.
Marana did it. She broke the camel's back!
The tears I felt the girl spill made me want to cry with her. No wonder she was so upset when she was out of the pool.
She witnessed her biggest nightmare.
Once again, Mother put her into an induced sleep and I got Jon to take her home. She was still fidgeting and whimpering in her sleep. She looks so fragile...so vulnerable.
But now, I wasn't sad anymore. I was livid!
"How do you destroy a monster without becoming one? Easy. By finding someone else's inner crimes and releasing them, make sure they destroy themselves in the process so you don't have to release yours," I stated, in both seriousness and sarcasm, as the venom and malice spit from me in a tone I didn't think Brendan even got to hear it!
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Mother inquired, now worried about me from her tone.
I looked straight into her eyes.
"I mean: Marana hit her where she hurts the most. One way to hurt someone is to hurt them with their crimes. Marana freakin' broke Charlotte by showing the girl's worst nightmare: The big 'What If' of the night Charlotte lost her tail!" I stated, the effect finally setting in.
And if there's a God, he better has mercy on that poor girl. She's going to need it.
Charlotte's POV
The ride home was...dull. My 5 senses were dull and void, so distracting myself wasn't an option.
Not that it would help.
I just looked down at my two hands, and shame and guilt filled me like it was nothing.
How could I have done such a thing?
I...the vision wasn't real. The vision was not supposed to be real!
I didn't do that...did I?
The terrified and scared faces of the girls constantly paraded my brain, clouding my vision until there was only them. Emma's sadness and betrayal, Rikki's rage, and Cleo's...Cleo's well-placed anger.
I tried screaming at my old self, trying anything to get her to listen to reason. That maybe the girls never meant to hurt her, that revenge was pointless!
And then, the anger in Brendan's eyes shook me. He's never been angry at me before. Yes, we bicker and mess around, but never serious fights.
But then, he told me how I almost killed Laguna and nearly caused Karen to lose her baby.
And this...and I did that.
IT WAS MY BODY, MY HANDS! As long as it's my body doing these things, it is always going to be my fault!
I felt my heart rate accelerate and a painful throbbing was forming. My voice started to hitch and it took a lot of my self-control. Jonathan was sitting right next to me and he didn't need to see my panic attack so soon.
I was planning on having it back at the house.
At Charlotte's house...
After I got out of the van, I noticed that the front door was open.
My heart quickened as if it hadn't already, and I threw the door open before rushing in.
"MOM! MOM!" I yelled, hoping she wasn't attacked or anything. Attack, attack, attack! Today has been full of attacks!
I found the back door wide open and rushed outside.
Only, I wasn't sure what to think.
My mother was outside again, working in the garden. But this time, I heard the laughter with her.
Hoisting a bag of dirt over his shoulder and onto the ground, it was Riley. He was dirty from the work, evident from his soiled-covered, sleeveless t-shirts. The laughing ceased when they saw me.
Oh great. My heart was going abnormally fast and my breathing should not be where it was. And now I have to deal with him.
Riley came over to me first, and I quickly tried to walk away back into the house, preferably my bedroom, when Riley caught my hand.
I looked at it and almost noticed the defined muscles on his arms before shaking it off.
"What do you want?" I asked hastily. I could feel my breath getting heavier by the seconds and it wasn't good!
"Well, I wanted to see you, Charlie. And instead of leaving, I chose to help your mom," he said, now looking concerned, "Are you okay?"
"Oh, me? Fine! Never better! Now, I'm gotta go!" I said, my voice rising as I tried to walk away. But Riley stopped me.
"No, you're not! Your eyes are red, your face is swollen and there's no light in your eyes. I should get your mom to come to look at you or something," he said worriedly.
I felt the anxiety coming off me and I knew he could too. So, I slowly backed away towards the pool, hoping some distance from him would at least have some effect on me long enough to make it to my bedroom.
But that wasn't happening.
Riley called my mom over, and suddenly, despite the space around me, he and my mom's hovering is making me feel claustrophobic.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" she asked, taking my face into her hands and inspecting me. Usually, her presence made e feel calm, but all I wanted to do was get away from her!
I shook my head out of her grasp. "Don't worry, mom, I'm fine. Just finished working in the garden, I'll help you tomorrow."
"No, your not," she said persistently, "Did something happen at work? Did somebody harass you or touch you in any kind of way?"
"No! The only one who did the harassing is the guy next to you!" I exclaimed, regretting my words instantly.
"What?!"
Oh crap.
"No, not really," Riley defended himself, "the only thing I did was get up on a table and ask her out in front of the entire restaurant. Nothing major!"
Suddenly, I felt my heartbeat increase even more and now my hard breathing was evident.
"Charlotte, please, are you sick or something?" my mom asked, placing a hand on my forehead, "You seem flustered? Do you have a fever?"
Without thinking, I smacked her hand off me and moved away from them.
"Yes, I just had a rough day and I need to lie down. So, goodnight!" I said hastily, my voice pitched. Pitched voice, heavy breathing, claustrophobic anxiety, and accelerated heartbeats.
Not good!
I tried walking away again, but this time a hand grabbed me and something snapped in me. All of the pain, the throbbing, the hurt...I just let it out. All at once.
I turned around and screamed, "LEAVE. ME. ALONE!"
Suddenly the wind picked up and without realizing it, using telekinesis, raised my hands and thrust them out, forcefully sending Riley into the pool, and hopefully out cold.
I heard a satisfying splash as he went, mid-air, into the pool. I was having a bad day and I didn't need his pestering anytime soon, now, tomorrow, or ever!
But after a few minutes, my eyes then widened in horror as I realized it. Riley wasn't the only one who went in.
It was my mother too.
So many emotions ran through me at once, it seemed impossible to tell which came first and which came last.
I stared at my hands once again.
What have I done!?
I looked up as Riley climbed out of the pool, drenched and soaking wet, as he pulled out my unconscious mother as well. Instead of him, she was knocked out cold!
He looked at me, in concern and...fear?
Fear. It was fear.
"Char-" he started, but I ran off. I finally broke.
I ran inside and almost flew up the stairs to my bedroom, where I slammed my door harshly and laid my back against it.
And then, sliding down to the floor, letting out my panic in full swing, I cried.
I cried for the girls, I cried for the Coves, cried for Riley, Alaine, my mom...
I cried for everyone I ever hurt and let down. For all the pain I've produced in nearly 18 years of my existence, that's all I'm good for.
I'm a monster.