H2O: A Summer's Tail
Chapter 4

While a joyous reunion proceeded at the café, Will and Elliot had half-consciously migrated to the nearby beach, where they now walked along the edge of the tide discussing the proverbial nuts and bolts of competitive diving.

"So you actually hyperventilate on purpose?"

Will put his hands in his pockets and nodded. "Yeah. If you keep it under control, hyperventilating is actually good for your circulation when you're underwater. You have to be careful, though, 'cause if you overdo it, you could end up blacking
out on your way back up."

He looked at Elliot's face to gauge his reaction to this new detail. A mild widening of the eyes indicated an appropriate rise in attentiveness, but no undue intimidation seemed apparent. "Why?"

"Well, basically, the deeper you go the more pressure there is on your lungs, and by the time you start back up, the urge to inhale is considerable. So alot of divers instinctively go up a little faster than they came down, but that means that the pressure on your lungs drops pretty fast. If it drops too fast, it's lights out for you."

"Can you drown?"

"Not if you have a buddy to monitor you, which is pretty much mandatory. In fact, they almost always prefer that you have two: one on a boat at the surface and the other in scuba gear below. They also have to be trained in first aid. I haven't signed up for anything yet that didn't disqualify you if you didn't have at least one, so they take the risk pretty seriously."

Elliot considered this. "So it's kind of like having a spot when you're lifting weights?"

Will blinked, impressed at the accuracy of the analogy. "Exactly!"

The younger boy nodded. "Well, I definitely want to get into swimming at school. I'm not sure about diving yet, but if I do give it a try sometime, will you be my buddy?"

The older boy smiled and gave a nod of his own. "Why not? I could use something to help keep me busy over the summer, anyway. I've been looking into maybe getting a job as a lifeguard, but I'll be leaving for university in a few months, and the people I've spoken to are all looking for a more permanent arrangement."

"What university?"

"Melbourne."

"That's where my sister's going!"

Will was genuinely surprised. "Well, that's cool! At least she won't have to say goodbye to Cleo and Rikki again."

"Ash, too. He's already in the business school there."

"Nice."

"Yeah, he really seems to like my sister."

The response on Will's tongue was silenced by a third voice. "Well, I'm glad you approve."

The two boys turned to find Emma standing nearby with crossed arms and a smirk on her face. "So what have you guys been up to?"

"Will was just telling me some stuff about free-diving," her brother replied.

She narrowed her eyes. "Think you might try it?"

Elliot shrugged. "I'm not ruling it out."

"Cool," Emma nodded her approval. "Anyway, Cleo finally had to go back to work, but Ash is just about ready to drive us home so we can start unpacking. We're all getting together after Cleo's shift ends for a little reunion party!" She faced Will. "You and Bella are invited too, of course."

He gave her a lopsided smile. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Great! Anyway, nice meeting you again." She motioned for Elliot to follow her, and the two Gilberts exchanged a final wave with the older boy before making their way to the café parking lot.

~~~~~~~~~~CLEWISEMMASHZIKKIWILLA~~~~~~~~~~~~

Will slid down the short natural tunnel that led to the underground cave with practiced ease. The trip had become so familiar that it hardly surprised him anymore how gentle the rocky slope was. Nor did the fact that what greeted him at the other end so uncannily resembled a set of three stone steps give him much pause. Then again, with the secret knowledge that mermaids are more than mere myth, perhaps that was to be expected. In any case, it was his turn to check on the status of the underground cave and its mysterious pool, and he had decided to take this opportunity to do so before the get-together at the Gilbert residence.

He stepped into the main chamber and gave a small smile of satisfaction. The debris of the explosion that had nearly cost the pool's comet-deflection capabilities had long been cleared away. After appraising Lewis of the dramatic events that had immediately preceded his return to Gold Coast, the mermaids and their male companions had moved quickly to gather all of the enigmatic blue mineral that had been released from the basaltic walls and stash it away in Will's boathouse. Once that had been accomplished, they still had to tend to the crystals that remained fast within the walls yet exposed by a slab of surface rock having been cut away. Will smiled as he recalled the cleverness of Lewis and Bella's solution.

Using her hydrokinetic powers, Cleo grafted a glob of water onto the exposed area, making it purposely lumpy. Bella then gelatinized it, giving it just the right viscosity so that Lewis could texture it by repeatedly pressing a piece of the native stone into it. She then thickened it further to the point of solidity, and the result was painted black. It was makeshift, to be sure, but it would at least prevent the azure minerals which lay underneath from arousing any curiosity until a more permanent fix could be found. In the meantime, they all took turns making sure it remained intact and convincing, at least to the untrained eye.

As he was focused on applying careful pressure to the faux-basaltic patch, testing its strength, Will failed to notice a content Emma surface beneath the rocky ledge that served as a natural awning over the mouth of the moonpool. She immediately froze and cloaked herself in the shadow of the ledge. When a brief turn of his head allowed her to recognize him, her relief was all too brief. As she was about to reveal herself, the approaching sound of an unknown voice caused her to retreat once more. Apparently hearing the intruder at the same instant, will turned his head towards the terrestrial entrance and waited only a few seconds before a young woman with long, curly hair and blue eyes. Clad in a fashionably worn-looking tank top, shorts, and flannel over-shirt, she stopped in her tracks as she spotted Will. Close behind her, a dark-haired man who turned out to be Zane caught the blonde male's eye.

"Hey, mate," said the female newcomer with a friendly smile as she strode confidently into the cave. "This place isn't particularly easy to just stumble upon, so are you here for a reason or are you just lucky?"

Zane jumped in. "This is Will. He's a free-diver, and this is one of his favorite spots to train. Right, mate?"

Will just nodded and replied with a half-smile. "Yeah. It's sort of a secret, though, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"No worries. I don't exactly want the whole town snooping around here myself. Heck, the only reason I let him tag along..." She gestured towards Zane. "...was because he treated me to a nice picnic on the beach and wouldn't take no for an answer after I told him where I was going next." She looked all around the cave and smiled in satisfaction before turning back to Will. "So you're a diver, heh?"

Will narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Yep."

She put her hands on her hips, bringing attention to her frame's similarity to Rikki's, and looked him over from head to toe. "I could take you," she decided with an impish gleam in her eye.

Will cocked an eyebrow. "You dive?"

"You bet, though for me, it's more of a means to an end. I'm technically an actress, but my specialty involves alot of swimming and diving. Still, with all the training I've had, I could probably compete with the best of 'em if I really wanted to. And since he obviously isn't going to introduce me,..." She threw a pointed look at Zane and extended her hand. "Reggie Frisbey, professional mermaid."

His eyes widened for a fleeting instant as he shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Will assumed a casual persona. "So, what brings you to Mako Island?" As Reggie momentarily broke eye contact and knelt down before the moonpool, he took the opportunity to throw a pointed glare of his own at his darker-haired comrade. Really, Zane?

"Well,..." she said, oblivious to the looks being exchanged between the two young men, "...aside from playing mermaids in plays and stuff, I'm also a bit of a guru when it comes to the mythology. I even have a website that's basically an encyclopedia on myths about merpeople from around the world. You should check it out. Fascinating stuff, if I do say so myself." She idly placed a few fingers into the azure water and sent a few ripples across it surface before rising to her feet again. "This place has been the epicenter of Australian mermaid sightings ever since the first colonists arrived, and the Aborigines even had a few tales to tell before that." A chuckle escaped her lips. "I don't actually believe in the stuff, of course, but I am curious as to how so many sightings could be explained."

"Well, they're probably all dolphins or whales or something," suggested Will.

"True, but still, there has to be a reason why so many cases of mistaken identity are concentrated in this area. I've wanted to come here for quite a while, but I could never quite work it out until now. I'm looking forward to a whole summer of digging!"

The male blonde nodded and plastered a smile on his face. "Great!"

Reggie smirked and glanced at her watch. "Crap! I gotta go. I wanted to stop by the marine park, and it's closing soon." She turned to Zane. "I'll see you around?"

He nodded. "Sure."

"Great. Do you need a ride back to the mainland?"

"I got 'im," Will interjected before Zane could answer, throwing him another discrete glare.

Reggie nodded and disappeared into the tunnel that had brought her there. "Great meeting you!" her voice sounded for the last time.

"You too! Will called back before turning his narrowed eyes back to Zane.

"Don't start," said the brunette.

Still unseen by the two young men, Emma was about to make her presence known and pounce on Zane when Will beat her to it. "What the hell's going on?"

"Look, she showed up at the café the day before the official closing. Said she was a student from Melbourne on summer holiday. We got to talking, and I decided, hey, I had to start moving on somewhere, so I asked her out." He ignored his friend's scoff. "I didn't know about her job until after I'd asked her, and I just found out about her research a couple hours ago! That's when I asked if I could come along." Intercepting the impending retort, he quickly added, "I made sure she has no clue about my real motives. She thinks I'm just taking a quirky interest in her hobby, I swear."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

Will shook his head, still uncertain. "I don't know, Zane. If she gets a clue, who knows what could happen to the girls? The last thing I want is for them to wind up locked up like lab rats."

"Hey, I don't want that anymore than you do, believe me! But haven't you ever heard of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer?" Zane said. "We need someone who can keep tabs on what she knows without it being suspicious. Maybe even throw her off track with some false leads or something. I can do that, Will. I saw a potential threat, I saw an opportunity to do something about it, and I took it." He stepped forward with a dejected sigh. "Believe it or not, I'm just trying to look out for the girls. I know I've stuffed that up in the past, but I do still care about them."

As Will paused to consider Zane's words, Emma took the opportunity to finally announce herself. She cleared her throat, which turned both male heads immediately in her direction. She swam quietly into view and spoke. "I believe you, Zane."

"Emma..."

Will's jaw went slack for a few seconds before his expression morphed into one of easy acceptance. He put his hands on his hips and chuckled. "I'm guessing this is why you had to quit the swim team."

Emma gave him a small smile and nodded before turning her attention to the matter at hand. "Look, we should definitely talk it over with the others at my house tonight, but based on what I overheard, I think Zane has a point. We can't let her find out anything, and our best shot at making sure that doesn't happen is to have a double agent." She gave a sigh of her own. "I should probably get back home. I just had to see the moonpool for myself real quick, so I left Elliot with Rikki and Ash. Cleo's shift ends soon, so try not to be late. We have a lot to talk about."

A/N: Rest easy, Zikki fans. Zane's relationship with Reggie won't get far. In fact, it may very well be Reggie who eventually helps push him and Rikki back together. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and even if you didn't, feel free to let me know why in a review!