Second chapter, finally! Enjoy!

2.

Mimmi tried to be cheerful, for his sake, but Zac could tell that a lot of her cheer was over-compensating for his gloom. He followed her through the reef around Mako as she collected bits and pieces - seaweed, urchins, and some small silver fish, which she killed with a quick strike against a rock, so they wouldn't swim away.

Zac probably should have been a bit disturbed by how casually she used her power to trap the fish and kill them, but he felt a little too numb with shock over his predicament to really care. When she handed the dead fish to him with a smile, he just took it and followed her back to the moon pool.

Veridia was gone, of course. No one was there and nothing looked out of place. Mimmi arranged her catch on one of the shelf ledges thoughtfully, sorting through them until she had split it evenly.

"Go ahead," she said, when Zac merely stared at her blankly, still holding the dead fish.

Mimmi sighed and pried the fish out of his hands. She split those as well and narrowed her eyes at him. "Zac, you haven't eaten yet. Eat."

Zac stared down at the collection of extremely fresh, uncooked seafood. Was this what he had to look forward to now? Nothing cooked, ever again. You couldn't exactly cook something underwater, now could you? No more café juices or sweets - what about cake and chocolate and ice cream?

He picked up a piece of seaweed doubtfully.

Mimmi rolled her eyes. "Don't be a picky eater, just eat it!" She bit into her own seaweed, chewed and swallowed.

Zac's stomach chose that moment to growl. He was hungry. Slowly, he copied her. It was...surprisingly okay. He had expected it to taste weird and slimy, but it was...pleasant. Like soft, slightly salty, but watery lettuce.

Mimmi cracked open the urchin and scooped out the inside with her fingers, dropping it onto the ledge. "Mmm, I love sea urchin." She licked each finger and dunked the thing back in the water. Some purple, inky liquid seeped out and quickly dissipated. Then Mimmi raised it again and scooped out the yellow bits that Zac was more familiar with and popped one into her mouth.

Zac stared at his skeptically. It was still alive - moving, even. And covered in spikes. Eventually, his sister sighed, reached out and grabbed it herself. She cracked it open, went through her little cleaning ritual, and held it out expectantly. He took it and peered inside. Several lumps of yellow were attached to the inside of the urchin and he used his fingers to scoop them out.

He'd had urchin before, he'd just never quite realised how one might go about preparing it. He put it out of his mind, as his stomach was grumbling still, and quickly ate every last scoop.

"Ondina doesn't like urchin," Mimmi told him with a grin. "She says the taste is too strong. But I knew you'd like it."

Zac shrugged, staring down into his empty sea urchin shell. Would he have to learn to do all of this? Cracking open sea urchins and bashing fish against rocks to kill them? He looked up just in time to watch Mimmi simply dig her teeth straight into one of the small silver fish and rip off a strip of meat - scales and all.

"This is like the complete opposite of The Little Mermaid," Zac blurted in horrified fascination.

Mimmi paused and tilted her head. Slowly, she finished her mouthful. Her brow wrinkled as she asked, "What little mermaid?"

"Never mind." He shook his head quickly and picked up a dead fish by the tail. He watched Mimmi finish the first one - only leaving behind the spine and head bones as she sucked out the eyeballs. He wanted to wince.

Mimmi's tail nudged his own. "Zac, come on, it'll be okay. Just...think of this as a lesson in merman survival for now." She smirked as she discarded her fish bones. "Moon knows you're as helpless as a hatchling. What, do you want me to eat the fish for you as well?"

Zac grumbled. "Yeah, well, my land survival skills are ten times better than yours."

Mimmi shrugged. "Yeah, but you're a merman, so really, what's more important?"

The fish was still dangling by its tail from his fingertips. Zac scowled at her and quickly bit into it, more to prove her wrong, than anything. It...it wasn't bad. He was used to cooking his fish, but honestly, it probably made no difference in the end. The flavour was actually stronger this way - sharp and clean - which was kind of nice.

Together, they finished everything Mimmi had caught, and Mimmi gathered the remains and darted back out of the pool to dispose of them somewhere where it wouldn't attract sharks.

As Zac waited, he brooded. He glanced down at his tail and watched the scales shimmer in the water. He had never imagined, not once, that he would ever be denied land. Even knowing he had always been a merman, he still ultimately thought of himself with legs. That was his 'normal' form, even if he knew in his mind that it wasn't his original form.

His legs were such an integral part of his self-image. He had never even contemplated that someone could ever take them away.

And why not? They weren't his. Not originally. Magic had given him legs, so why hadn't he realised that magic could just as easily take them away again?

He'd been so worried about mermaids trying to take away his tail, he'd never once contemplated they might try to take his legs.

Now it was too late.

Mimmi returned, swimming past him and breaching the surface of the water. She regarded him with solemn eyes. "Zac, we'll fix this."

He looked away from her sincere, determined expression. "And if we don't?"

Mimmi swam closer until her tail brushed his. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug and spoke into his shoulder. "You'll always have me. I'm not going to leave you. Maybe we could even go find our mother - find out the truth?"

Zac let out a shaky breath, right into her wet hair. There was always that - Mimmi was right.

"But what about my parents? They'll think I've been kidnapped, or worse, killed! They'll be looking for me. And even if we do find a way to fix this...how long will it take? What will they say if I disappear and then reappear several weeks later with no explanation for why I was gone?"

Mimmi squeezed him tighter for just a second and then let go, shifting back again. The expression on her face was no longer optimistic, but her jaw was set and her eyes were filled with compassion. "I don't know, Zac. We'll just have to take this one step at a time, okay? We'll figure it out, like we always do."

Zac bit his lip. Somehow, he didn't see a way of getting out of this one. He hoped to god Mimmi was right, but… he just didn't have the same faith that she did. This time he was sure that it wasn't all going to work out.

A yawn suddenly cracked open his jaw and Mimmi made a sound in the back of her throat that was maybe a squeak, maybe a laugh. "You're tired," she observed.

"Yeah...I still feel a bit off," he admitted.

"You can nap here, if you want." Mimmi gestured to the pool and it suddenly hit Zac that there were no beds in the ocean.

He opened and closed his mouth, trying to figure out how to ask what must be a ridiculously obvious question. Mimmi was right - he was like a - how did she say it? - hatchling. He didn't even know how to sleep. Or if he even could. How was he supposed to get comfortable?

Mimmi must have read some of the conflict on his face, because she swam over to the other side of the pool and said, "Like this. Just...lay back and close your eyes. The water buoys you up and you just float."

Zac watched her skeptically. Just...float on his back? Then again, did he really have a choice? It wasn't like he could haul himself onto the beach, or a rock. He'd dry out, or worse, someone might see him.

Floating it was, then.

He copied his sister, settling onto his back until he was staring up into the sky high above through the opening in the top of the pool. Hesitantly, he let himself go limp until he was floating there, just like she had said. The water surrounded him, holding him there, with no effort on his part. He closed his eyes and as soon as he did, the fatigue hit him anew and he realised just how tired he really was.

It didn't take long after that to drop off.

Mimmi woke him in time to return to Rita's after school let out. Zac felt better - his headache was gone and he didn't feel like a newborn kitten anymore. His stomach was rumbling again after his rest, and he hoped Rita might spare some food from her fridge.

As they swam back towards Rita's grotto, Zac felt like he had a ball of electric eels writhing in the pit of his stomach. Part of him didn't want to hear the words from Rita's mouth when she told him that there was nothing she could do. The rest of him hoped in desperation that she would tell him she had a cure and that everything would be back to normal soon.

He had a feeling that hope was more of a fool's dream than anything.

He and Mimmi surfaced in the grotto to find that everyone had already taken seats on the ground. Zac realised that they couldn't exactly talk to him back in the cave with the comfortable seats, which was probably why they had arranged piles of cushions to sit on. Evie was there, sitting quietly next to Sirena. She stared at him with wide eyes when he caught her gaze.

Zac expected Mimmi to get out of the pool and join them, but to his pleasant surprise, she merely settled next to him in the pool, shoulder to shoulder in a show of solidarity. He was grateful for her support. This would be ten times worse without here there to lean on.

Rita, sitting cross legged in khakis and a flowing top, cleared her throat the moment they were all settled. "Zac, Mimmi, it's good you're here."

Zac swallowed thickly, waiting for his sentence to pass her lips - you're stuck, Zac, I'm sorry.

Rita leaned forward, eyebrows furrowed gravely, lips a hard line. "The girls filled me in on what happened. I have to admit, I never suspected Veridia would try something like that, but I should have thought of it." She shook her head, eyes softening. "Zac, I'm sorry. I didn't think about what might happen if…" She trailed off, sighing. "But no use crying over spilt milk. What's done is done."

"Are you really stuck like that?" Evie whispered after Rita fell silent.

Zac closed his eyes and nodded. "Yeah," he whispered roughly.

Rita sighed again. "It's not that he's stuck, Evie, it's that Veridia has reversed the original magic Nerissa placed on him to give him legs. He's back to his original form, and her removal spell is somehow more powerful than our ability to reapply the transformation spell. She must have placed another spell on him, a block." She reached up and rubbed her brow. "The problem, it seems, is that she amplified her power with the full moon while in the moon pool. That's a powerful combination."

Zac was not liking the sounds of this. He raised himself further out of the water, gripping the edge of the pool with white knuckled fingers. "So what?" he demanded. "It can't be reversed?"

Rita shook her head. "No, the good news is that it can. We merely need the power of the full moon in the moon pool to remove Veridia's magic."

Zac sagged in relief, forehead falling to rest on the ledge. Thank god. It was reversible.

"But that's a month away!" Mimmi exclaimed.

"Zac can't be gone for a whole month!" Evie agreed, sounding aghast.

Zac slowly raised his head, eyes widening in comprehension. His stomach clenched and he swallowed convulsively. They needed a full moon. Full moons only happened once a month. He was stuck like this...for a whole month.

He breathed in, deeply, trying to stem back the panic that had begun to claw its way up his throat. His fingers tightened around the lip of the pool as he stared at them, hoping one of them might jump up and shout 'Just kidding!'.

No one did. Rita looked grim. So did Sirena and Ondina. Evie just seemed utterly disbelieving. Mimmi put her hand on his shoulder and shot him a worried look.

"My parents-" Zac began weakly, after a heavy length of silence.

"You're going to have to come up with a story about why you've left. Maybe tell them you were researching your mother and thought you might have found something, so you ran off to find answers."

Zac gaped at his Principal, shocked that she would even suggest such a thing. "Wh-what?" he spluttered. "I can't do that!"

Rita leaned forward intently, eyes hard. "The alternative is much worse, Zac! Either have them believe you ran away, or have them believe you've gone missing - kidnapped, or worse, dead!"

He looked down, blinking back tears. How could this be happening? A whole month?

At least it's reversible, he tried to reassure himself.

"What about school?" Evie asked, voice pleading.

"I can excuse him. We can bring him his books and work, he can study here, so he doesn't fall too far behind. I'll find a way to arrange for him to make up the work when he can come back." Rita shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. "This is just… This is a huge mess. I can't believe Veridia would do this."

"She always thinks she knows best," Ondina sniped, lips twisted into a pout. She scowled further. "She never listened to our side of the story."

Sirena leaned forward, her hand snaking forward until her finger tips rested only inches from his wet hands. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry, Zac," she whispered.

Zac shook his head numbly.

Rita cleared her throat. "I'm afraid it only gets worse. It could be one month, or it could be two, maybe even three. It depends whether Veridia will anticipate that we will try to remove her spell…" She gestured vaguely. "She may come back during the full moon and bring reinforcements. There's no telling whether we'll even have the opportunity to remove the spell."

Zac felt himself shaking. He choked back a sob, breathing heavily. Next to him, Mimmi pressed against his side, arm settling around his back in a odd kind of half-hug. Zac pressed into it, needing the reassurance.

This was a nightmare. A huge, horrible, terrible nightmare. And he wanted to wake up. Now.

"But surely we can hold her off long enough to reverse the spell?" Sirena said.

Rita nodded. "That's my hope, Sirena, but I have to prepare you for the worst, Zac." She fixed him with a sympathetic gaze. Her hands fell to her knees and her shoulders slumped, just a little. "There's just no telling what could happen."

Evie licked her lips, staring around at all of their pale, grim faces. She exhaled slowly, blinking hard. "So...so what you're saying is that Zac won't be able to get his legs back for at least a month?"

Rita nodded. "Yes."

Evie carefully turned to look at him. Her eyes caught his and the horror and pity in them was plain to see. Zac tore his gaze away, unable to look at her face anymore. In fact, he felt like he could barely breathe with all these mermaids in the room. All of them watching him, staring with pity and quiet solemnity.

"I...I gotta…" he stuttered, stumbling over his words. He didn't know what he needed, except that he needed to be gone.

So he did. He turned and ducked under the water, ignoring Mimmi's surprised shout. He shoved her tail out of the way and darted out of the entrance to Rita's pool.

His mind kept echoing with Rita's proclamation: one month, at least.

That was one month of living in the ocean. A whole month.

Zac angled his body up and broke the surface of the waves with a gasp. He turned, staring back at the way he'd come, at the land that he couldn't walk on - that was forbidden to him now. He slowly set his gaze on the wide, open expanse of ocean before him. It looked so bleak, all of a sudden. So empty and vast and unknown.

He took a deep breath. "One month," he said out loud. Then he laughed, roughly and quickly.

It was going to be the worst month of his life, he was sure. And even if they did manage to get his legs back...nothing would - could - ever be the same.

[26.6.15] So, Zac got some not-so-good news and they have a tentative plan. Let me know what you think! Especially characterisation!