Karen: I'm back! And I bring a slightly longer chapter this time!

Isis: I don't care how long it is! You just had me splashed with water in the middle of a party with loads of people around me, and no help from anyone! I can't even use my powers in this case!

Karen: Sorry but it's something that had to be done. Usually everything is done for a reason around here. Enough dwelling though, let's get down to business!

Chapter 4: Of parties and prophecies

*Please, no tail!* Isis screamed in her head waiting for the inevitable to happen. She was even counting in her head, 8, 9, 10...

And yet...

Nothing.

Isis still stood on the spot like a frightened deer in headlights, her brain unable to comprehend the fact that she had just been splashed with water and her tail hadn't appeared.

"Um miss, you sure you're okay?" The man asked one more time, sounding rather confused himself.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. You just caught me off guard is all and it came as a bit of a shock to me," she eventually replied to him. She grabbed a cloth from the counter and dried off the water from her legs. Placing the cloth back where it was, she moved her way over to Tanya and company, the six of them just staring at her, like something bad had happened.

"Isis, is everything okay?" Tanya asked worried, looking at her friends still frightened face.

She didn't respond for a few seconds.

"I'm fine. Zac, can we talk outside for a minute?" She asked shyly. Zac and David were the only two in the group who could be splashed and not grow their tails, but Zac knew more about his magic."

"Sure," he replied slowly, making his way through the crowd and exiting out the front door with Isis.

Lyla didn't seem all too happy about Zac being taken away outside, almost glaring at Isis as she walked behind him, her behaviour not going unnoticed by Evie.

"What happened over there?" He asked curiously.

Isis took a moment before she told him what happened. "My legs were splashed with water, this guy accidentally bumped into me and dropped his glass over my legs. I couldn't do anything, I was too scared, and I couldn't use my powers in that situation either. I prayed for my tail not to appear, and it didn't. I don't know why or how but it didn't appear. Only you and David have a power like that. That's why I need your help."

Zac was rather overwhelmed by what he'd just told her. First Evie's fire magic, then a group if International Mermaid Hunters, and now Isis's no tail moment. "I don't know what to do really. Rita told me that only mermen had the power to shape shift and stop their transformations. Thing is though, you are a rather rare mermaid, and it wouldn't be an ultimate surprise if you really did hold that power without knowing. We should really go see Seiger."

"What about Tanya?" Isis asked. "She's just like me too."

"I know that, but I think we need to test it on you first and try and find the answer before we tell them about this," Zac replied, taking a hold of her hand. "Let's just go now."

He began pulling her down to beach and headed to the secluded part so that no-one could see them. He created a portal to the HMC, stepping through it after Isis had.

Landing on the other side, Seiger wasn't sitting in or standing by his huge chair. Instead, he was sitting at a desk across the room, piles upon piles of books around him.

"Look, I'm busy today so you could come back and talk about whatever it is you have to say tomorrow please?" Seiger called out.

"Can't even spare two minutes for you caring grandson?" Zac called back, catching his attention.

Seiger turned around with a smile on his face. "Oh. Sorry about that Zac." He got up from his chair and walked over to the two, greeting Zac with a brief hug. "I thought you and your friends were having a party?"

"We were," Isis replied, "but something's come up. Something we could use your help with."

"What impossible feat happened this time?" He asked, almost as if he knew what they were going to say.

Isis and Zac took it in turns to explain that she'd been splashed with water but didn't grow her tail.

"We thought maybe since Isis is one of the four original elemental mermaids, that she had this power all along," Zac said sharing his thoughts.

"It's a nice idea but I'm afraid I can rule it out," Seiger replied. "Aria had carried out extensive research a couple of years ago with me, it's not anywhere in a mermaid's matrix."

"I know we've said this a dozen times recently, but it really doesn't make sense," Isis said, sighing. "I mean, the only thing I can think of is if the power was somehow transferred to me, if that's even possible."

"Transfer... that's it!"

Seiger ran over to his desk and grabbed a book on lost arts. "I suppose neither of you two know about transfer magic do you?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"I expected as much," he stated. "Transfer magic is a very old ancient art used to transfer powers between mermaids, only basic powers though. But when I say transfer, it's more like a teaching. You transfer the power to them, but you don't lose it yourself. The magic itself is older than yourself Isis, dating back to most likely the first ever mermaids in this world. Before our time though, transfer magic was lost, and became what we know as a lost art. There are several lost arts like Hyperos magic and Sentrian magic, and Transfer magic falls in along with them."

"And?" Zac asked, dragging it out.

"When you taught Isis and Tanya the silver seal code, did you feel anything strange or say anything weird?" Seiger questioned.

Zac thought on it for a minute or two. "I remember going into Overdrive when I began teaching them the code, and chanting the words to learn it. But something happened at the end..."

"Eldura Heischia Lantura," Isis butted in. "Those were the three words he said to us at the end. Do they mean anything?"

Seiger ran back to his desk and began looking through different books. He had five volumes on ancient mermaid language, hoping to find those three words. Within minutes, he'd found them.

"Eldura, meaning 'I present to thee,' Heischia, meaning 'divine godly gift,' and Lantura meaning 'of mermen.'" Seiger put the three together and added in the extra words. "I present to thee a divine godly gift of mermen."

Something hit Zac like lightning. "Do you think that by saying those words, I somehow transferred a gift of my powers down to Isis?"

"It would make sense. I present to thee a divine godly gift of mermen, the only thing different between genders being powers. Only one power though. Shape shifting is the only 100% unique power mermen have. All their elemental magic is derived from mermaid magic," Seiger explained, everything slowly coming together. "Transfer magic. You transferred the divine power of shape shifting to Isis and Tanya."

Zac and Isis couldn't believe it. He'd used powers from a lost art whilst unconscious in Overdrive and for the better. "It's not a bad thing is it?" Zac asked a little worried.

"On the contrary, it's remarkable! We can use this discovery to teach every mermaid in the Higher Mermaid Council shape shifting. I'd like to keep this a secret from the regular council for now. If they find out we've discovered how to use a lost art, there would be hell to pay for." He murmured that last part.

"Why would there be hell to pay for?" Isis questioned curiously.

Seiger sighed. "The council below us prohibited the use of lost arts if they were learnt or discovered. They cannot know that Zac knows how to use transfer magic."

Zac and Isis nodded their heads in understanding. "Now, I suggest you two hurry on back to your party, the group will be worried about where you went to." He created a portal to lead them back to the beach, the two stepping through it, landing on the soft sand on the other side.

"So, transfer magic huh?" Isis said to herself as she and Zac walked back to the Ocean Cafe. "It's truly a miracle. After all, if you hadn't of taught us that code and transferred your power to us, I'd be exposed. So thank you."

Zac looked down at her and smiled, glad to see that Isis was still her upbeat happy self.

When the two reached the doors to the Ocean cafe, Lyla was standing outside waiting for them.

"Where have you two been?" Lyla asked, feeling slightly angry. "Isis, what happened to you when you were at the bar?"

She looked to Zac nervously, who very helpfully just shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll talk after the party's over," she replied, feeling slightly guilty. She kind of wished she'd of just told them there and then.

The three walked back inside, rejoining the party.

When they caught up with the group, all eyes were on Zac and Isis.

"Look, I've already said this to Lyla but can we just talk about this once the party is over?" Isis pleaded.

Tanya stared at her for a few seconds before her face melted into a smile, putting a strong arm around her friend. "Oh yeah, we'll talk alright. But for now, let's keep partying!" She shouted the last three words rather loudly which seemed to rile up the crowd.

- Later that day, HMC -

Zac, Evie, Lyla, Sirena, Rita, David, Tanya, Isis and Seiger all gathered around a table to discuss the events of the day.

"Might as well start from the beginning," Isis spoke up. "When I was over by the bar, I was just about to stand up and return to you when I bumped into this guy. He was holding a glass of water and he dropped it, the water splashing my legs.

"You were splashed?!" The six who didn't know about it shouted in shock.

"Yes. I prayed for my tail not to appear and somehow, it didn't," Isis explained briefly.

"But that's impossible," David noted. "Only me and Zac can stop ourselves from transforming if hit by water. Right?"

Zac nodded to him. "Exactly, which is why we decided to come straight to Seiger, hoping he could shed some light on the matter."

Everyone turned their heads to Seiger.

"Well, we do actually know the reason why Isis didn't transform," he began. He looked over at Rita. "You know of lost arts don't you?"

"Like Hyperos?" Rita asked, getting a nod back from Seiger.

"Transfer magic is amongst the lost arts, and is strictly forbidden by the council. Knowledge of the use of it results in dire consequences. But even in the Higher Council, I don't make the rules. They cannot ever know about us knowing how to use this art."

"How is it used then? What exactly is transfer magic?" Lyla asked.

"We don't know 100% what it really is and how it's truly used, but we do know how we can transfer our shape shifting magic. It's not like we lose it, we just pass it on like teaching," Zac replied. "There are three words from ancient mermaid language that are used to transfer it. Eldura Heischia Lantura. The three world put together mean 'I present to thee a divine godly gift of mermen.' When I taught Isis and Tanya the silver seal for our sleeping quarters, I went into Overdrive and said those three words right at the end. If I've got it right, just saying those three words in Overdrive should transfer the power over.

Everyone was a little star struck by this discovery, Rita was more shocked than anyone though, being highly knowledgeable.

"How about we see it in action then?" Rita suggested. "We have two mermen to cover four mermaids without this power."

"Hang on, I don't know how to do this. And I don't even know how to go into Overdrive," David pointed out.

"Don't worry boy, Overdrive comes naturally. You don't even have to think about it. What you do need to think about, is that you want to transfer your power of shape shifting to the girls," Seiger explained.

Everyone except Isis, Tanya and Seiger stood up. Zac decided to take Evie and Lyla, leaving David with Sirena and Rita.

The girls each held one hand out, palm up, for Zac and David.

The two boys steadied themselves, slowly but steadily entering Overdrive. They both put their hands on top of the ones held out for them.

"Eldura Heischia Lantura."

The same sort of silver glow engulfed their hands and was absorbed into the girls bodies, the Overdrive state disappearing once the light was all gone.

"That's it?" Lyla asked.

"That's it," Seiger replied. He created a small puddle of water on the floor though. "Just to test, step on that puddle and think about your tail not being there. Tell yourself that you are not going to transform."

Evie, Lyla, Sirena and Rita stepped into the puddle, each mermaid telling themselves in their head that they were not going to transform and grow a tail. 15 seconds and passed and the four were still standing.

"It worked," Evie said, unable to believe it. "It actually worked." She stepped out of the puddle along with everyone else, Rita evaporating it.

"This will make life so much easier," Sirena smiled. "No more running away at every single little drop of water that hits us."

Seiger himself smiled, happy to see that everyone was pleased with now being able to stop their transformations.

"On a more serious note," Seiger began. "I've still not found anything into Lacrima and Evie's fire magic. But for now, I'll keep researching. You have no orders from me except for Zac teaching in mermaid school, so just go about as normal. Tanya and Isis, I'm sure Felicity will introduce you to how jobs work around here tomorrow."

- Several days later -

Evie's fire training had gone well. She'd learnt how to summon it at will and also how to control it, including learning how to not set things on fire when trying to heat them up. She'd also picked up a little trick which was slightly copied from Zac. Remember during the Sea Demon fight how Zac fired two shots of wind to create a protective barrier? Evie does the same thing only she uses her fire magic instead.

Truth is, things had been rather peaceful. Felicity, Tanya and Isis had no jobs from the HMC at all whilst Seiger was still having no luck during his research into Lacrima. Lyla, Rita, Evie, Sirena and David had carried out life as usual and Nixie even gave her girls a phone call, saying she would be coming to visit them tomorrow.

In total, the six female mermaid friends decided to go out shopping to get some things for Nixie's visit whilst Zac decided to take a peaceful walk on the beach to clear his head of all the recent events. David on the other hand was working shifts at the Ocean Cafe.

His walk was going perfectly well, until he spotted something odd about a nearby rock. It looked just like any other ordinary rock, but the closer Zac looked out it, the more he could make out a strange dark gem embedded into the top of the rock. He couldn't help but go take a look.

When he touched the top of the rock, he could hear a strange noise behind him. "What in the-?"

He turned around to find a hole in the rock face. Looking into the hole that was now there, Zac could make out a set of steps, leading down into wherever the hole in the rock face lead.

He slowly walked over to it and quickly looked around to make sure no-one else was in the vicinity. He used his own fire magic to create a ball in the palm of his hand, one that gave him some light as he walked down the steps.

It seemed liked forever walking down the steps until Zac started to notice reflections on the walls.

"Water?" He asked himself as he ran down the last few steps, only to find a rather peculiar sight. There was a small tank of water next to one of the walls as well as a small desk with beakers, flasks, test tubes and clip boards galore sprawled out over it. The rest of the room was rather bare, but the one thing that struck Zac as being odd, was the small layer of water that covered the floor.

He used his spare hand to try and heat up the water, but it was to no avail.

*This is just like that time with the Sea Demon, water that can't be evaporated.* Zac thought to himself in disbelief. Looking around, he found a small switch and reluctantly flicked it, light filling the room.

He thought about freezing his feet and using water travel, but...

"Hey, is someone here?" A voice called out.

Zac was a little startled at first, and replied with a simple, "yeah." Moments later, two very unfamiliar men came within sight of Zac.

He decided to slowly make his way over to them, using his shape shifting to stop himself from transforming.

"Hey," Zac said to them rather slowly.

"Oh hey," one of the men replied. "You wouldn't know how to get out of here would you? We stumbled into this place but the entrance closed on us as we walked in."

*Odd, the entrance I used was still open when I entered. Maybe there's another one,* Zac thought to himself. For some reason, he decided to trust these two random men. After all, Zac himself had come across here by accident too.

"Well the entrance I came through was still open, it's that way but I don't know if it's still open now." Zac motioned to the steps behind him.

"Thanks man," they both replied, one of them slapping a friendly arm around Zac shoulder and tapping his neck, Zac feeling a small but sharp pain in that area.

"Ow," he muttered to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck. As he watched the two men walk away, one of them took of his jacket, revealing a rather terrifying tattoo.

"IMH?" Zac whispered in disbelief to himself. All of a sudden, he began to feel rather faint, and clutched his head as she slowly sank down to the floor, his tail eventually appearing. He'd felt this before, back when he was Joanna's test subject.

The two men then turned around, grinning massively at the sight now before them. "Looks like we got him good."

That last line was all Zac heard before he completely blacked out.

"Heh, one merman down, only two mermaids to go," Richard said snidely to himself, quickly disposing of the small syringe attached to his hand. They'd planned this for a while now. They studied Zac for the last week and figured out when he took walks near their hideout. They purposely placed the rock with the black gem on his route so that he would notice it, and open the door to their small Gold Coast Lab. Using the same water as Joanna and the Sea Demon did, they enticed him into helping them, acting like normal people who were just as confused as Zac was. When the moment was right, inject a small amount of knock-out liquid into his body and voila! Plan successful.

"Now we just have to do something about the other two, Isis and Tanya," Lucas pointed out.

"It's easy," Richard huffed. "They can't resist gossip. We just have to pass by them and entice them to find this place. Say that we saw a dark haired boy find the gem and enter the rock face and that we never saw him come out. Give it a day or so though, they'll be worried about him and come running on that small piece of hope. Besides, Russian Ice Mermaids have an incredibly good sense of hearing, she won't be able to resist."

Lucas smiled at him. "I am so glad I'm stuck with you," he joked, which earned him a little slap from Richard. "Come on, you genuinely are a pretty awesome partner in crime."

"Don't think just because I saved your ass 1,044 years ago means that I like you," Richard replied, glaring at Lucas.

"Jeez, it was 1044 years, 7 months and 18 days! You're loosing your touch man," Lucas joked again. He decided to stop now since Richard seemed to be getting very pissed off.

"Never mind what happened back then, we need to focus on our current task at hand. We get Isis and Tanya, and then we can begin our master plan for our mistress." Richard grabbed Zac's unconscious body and dragged it across the room into a corner. Clicking his fingers, the water on the floor suddenly drained away and Zac returned to a human form.

"Time to have some fun."

- The next day, Rita's place -

"Hey, has anyone seen Zac at all?" Evie asked worried. "He went out for his walk yesterday but never came back." Rita had called for a meeting at her grotto that morning after Evie had turned up last night, saying that Zac never came back to Mako and that he wasn't out his parents house either.

"No-one's got a clue where he's gone. For all we know, he could be anywhere. The Ocean is a rather huge place after all," Lyla pointed out.

Rita looked down at her watch. "I've called Tanya and Isis so they should be here in about another 10 minutes."

"Any idea if they're swimming or walking here?" Sirena asked.

"I've asked them to walk here. The reason being that something could have happened like with Joanna. When a mermaid or merman goes missing, we never let our own back into the ocean when it could possibly be incredibly dangerous."

- On the path to Rita's house -

"So where do you think he went?" Isis asked looking up at Tanya.

"From what I've heard the boy once got involved in a situation between a Scientist and a Sea Demon. It wouldn't be a total surprise if he somehow got involved in another crazy incident again," Tanya replied, still unable to comprehend how Zac let himself be caught in the first place.

Tanya passed by two hooded men, her strong sense of hearing kicking in.

"Hey, did you hear about that kid on the beach yesterday?" One of them asked.

"Yeah, I heard that someone saw this dark haired boy walk into this cave and he never came out again apparently," the other replied.

"Wait a cave? Are you pulling my leg here? All I heard was that he found this gem in a rock," the first one retaliated.

"He touched it and the rock face opened up, thought you would have known about it, the news is all over the place about him now," the second one defended.

Tanya suddenly stopped walking, putting 2 and 2 together after what she'd just heard.

"Zac," she whispered under her breath.

"Is something wrong Tanya?" Isis asked, genuinely concerned. "Did you hear something strange?"

"I know where Zac is, follow me," she said plainly as she turned around on the path and began running down towards the beach where Zac took his walks.

"Wait up," Isis cried, struggling to keep up with her. "Shouldn't we tell Rita and the others first? More importantly, are you going tell me at all?"

"I heard those two men talking to each other about a dark haired boy who wondered into this cave in a rock face but never came out. It just fits the situation," Tanya explained in staggered breaths.

After a few minutes, the two had reached the place where Zac would have been yesterday.

Tanya was looking very carefully at the rock face whilst Isis was looking around for the Gem that Tanya eventually mentioned to her. "Is this is?" She called out.

Tanya headed over to the rock she'd found, and the black gem was there, embedded into the rock. Tanya very cautiously touched it, both of them turning around just in time to see the rock face open up and the set of stairs.

Isis used her magic to create a lightning ball, much like Zac had with fire, to provide the two some light. After a minute of walking down the long metal steps, they entered the same room that Zac had.

"What on earth is this place?" Isis asked herself as she walked forward into the room, Tanya following her.

When Tanya stepped off of the last step though, a metal door suddenly shot up, blocking the only entrance and exit the room had. "Oh no!"

Isis suddenly shot around to see the door as well. "Great, just great." She suddenly remembered that Zac had been down here according to what Tanya heard the two men say. "Zac? You here?"

All Isis got in return though was a sinister laugh filling the room. "Welcome, Isis and Tanya. Or should we call you Elicia and Marina?" A voice asked over a loud speaker.

"Whoever you are, you'd better show yourself right now!" Tanya demanded.

Both Richard and Lucas stepped out of the shadows, with a dastardly grin. "Well well, it's nice to meet two of the original four Elemental mermaids," Richard said, bowing down to the girls.

For some reason, this made Tanya flare up, recognising their voices as the ones she heard not too long ago. She fired an ice dart towards Richard, who clicked his fingers, a purple barrier appearing around him.

"Woah take it easy there Marina," Lucas said smiling. "You wouldn't want us to hurt your little merman friend now would you?"

"What exactly have you done with him?!" Isis asked, her voice filled with anger. She may not have known Zac for long, but he was a good man in her eyes.

"Not much, just given him a few injections," Lucas replied in an almost sarcastic manner.

Tanya tried to fire some more ice darts at the two men, but they just clicked their fingers once again, barriers appearing around themselves.

She gritted her teeth. *Barriers that deflect magic attacks? What about close up combat then?* As a Russian Ice Mermaid, Tanya was also trained rather well in one-on-one combat. Using her Ice magic, she created herself a pair of claw gloves that went over her hands. She charged head on for Richard, lunging forward at him. He clicked his fingers once more and Tanya was thrown back across to the other side of the room when she made contact with it.

*They deflect physical attacks too!? Is there nothing we can do to beat them? And where are these barriers coming from? These guys are just human right?* Tanya tried to get her body to move so she could get back on her feet, but it was to no avail. Hitting the barrier had done exactly what it did to Felicity, rendered her body incapable of movement. "Isis!"

Isis had been standing in the corner whilst Isis attacked Richard and Lucas. When she heard Tanya call her name and saw the electricity around her body, she knew what to do. As a lightning mermaid, she could draw lightning to her body and discharge it with her own. She held out her left hand and began to draw the visible purple lightning off of Tanya's body and brought it into her own. Isis' Lightning should have immediately discharged Richard's own but it didn't. Instead, the purple lightning began shocking her body, something she was not used to at all, falling to the floor in screams of agony.

"Isis!" Tanya cried out, ashamed and upset for not knowing that the lightning would do that to her, since it shouldn't of. She rose back up to her feet. "You're gonna pay for that," she growled.

"I don't think so," Lucas teased as he raised his palm. Holding it flat out in Tanya's direction, a shot of the same purple lightning headed straight for Tanya's body. She too held her hand out flat in front of her in an attempt to freeze the lightning, but even that didn't work. When Tanya was hit by the lightning, it branched off and circled around her wrists and ankles, the line of lightning still coming from Lucas' hand.

"Now, which position looks better?" Lucas asked as he began to make the lightning pull Tanya right down to the floor, making her lie dead flat against it. "This?" He then pulled her legs forward and made her push her arms out flat in front of her. "Or begging?" He began laughing at her sorry state.

Tanya tried her best to move her head, but she couldn't. They had completely gotten her. They'd lured her into this place along with Isis and managed to get Zac as well. She didn't even understand the magic that they were using or who they were.

"Now now Marina," Richard said as he moved over to Isis in a calm manner. "Don't worry about all of this." He held 2 small vials in his hand with needles on them and quickly plunged one of them into Isis' body. It contained the same knock-out liquid that they used on Zac. He then moved over to Isis, who was unable to do anything at this point. "It's what happens when you wake up." He jabbed the second vial into her neck, her eyes slowly closing themselves. When Lucas released the lightning he was using to hold her down, her body slumped to the floor.

Richard began dragging Isis' body around the corner, Lucas following with Tanya's. They dropped the two over next to Zac's body.

"Zac's knock-out liquid should last for another half an hour, as should the liquid we just put into their bodies," Richard said to himself as he walked over to a nearby table which had a long metal bar on it, which had a clasp in the middle, and some chains and hooks.

"Right, so we have about 25 minutes to get everything set up and get airing."

- During this time, at Rita's place -

"They should have been here by now," Lyla pointed out. "Do you think something happened to them."

"They're elemental mermaids, they'll be just fine," Rita replied, trying to keep herself calm for everyone. "I'm heading upstairs for a minute."

She got up off of her seat and ran back up the steps, the book case opening and she approached it. She walked out into her kitchen to get a drink, but also, she was going to make a phone call to Iris' phone. Rita had given her one in case they got into any trouble on land.

Rita began typing in the number and was about to enter the last digit when the door bell rang. She stopped and very quickly ran over to the door, swinging it wide open expecting to see Tanya and Isis, but instead saw someone she hadn't seen in almost 2 weeks, and a friend, both with suitcases in hand.

"Nixie? Cam?" Rita asked, looking at her confused. "What are you doing here?" Are you okay?" Nixie was looking a little pale, and her face was full of worry.

"Rita I need to tell you something you're not going to like," Nixie eventually said, her voice being rather shaky. "I found an IMH base in California, and there were dead mermaids everywhere. I can't stay in California and neither can Cam. We took a flight here immediately. We just don't know what to do."

"If we stayed there, they might have found out about Nixie," Cam added.

Rita ushered them inside and told them to head downstairs, Rita following behind them.

"Guess who?" Cam called out as he headed on downstairs first.

"Cam?" Is that you?" Lyla asked as he stepped into the grotto. He smiled and looked to the entrance, Nixie walking in just after him.

"Nixie!" Lyla and Sirena screamed in happiness, immediately jumping up from their seats. They ran over to give Nixie a massive hug.

"What brings you two back here?" Sirena asked.

"Bad news I'm afraid," Rita replied, stepping into the grotto. "Nixie found the IMH base in California, dead mermaids. It wasn't say for them to stay there, so they flew out back to us. They only thing they can do is stay back in Australia for now"

"We can sort out where you're going to sleep later," Sirena interrupted. "How about we all go get some drinks at the Ocean Cafe to celebrate your return?"

"Odd celebration but sure, I could use my head being cleared," Nixie replied.

The six of them headed back upstairs and walked down to the Ocean Cafe.

The place seemed to be in full swing, David working away at the bar as usual, and Carly helping him out.

Nixie walked up to the counter with Cam.

"Hey what can I ge-" David began to say as he turned around, his words stopping short when he saw who it was. "Nixie! Cam! You here for a visit?"

"Hey David, I guess you can call this a visit. Can we get a round of drinks, you know what we all like," Nixie asked, pointing to Rita, Lyla, Evie and Sirena who were sat around one of the bigger tables the Cafe brought in.

"Sure. Wanna help me make them Sirena?" David asked, as an excuse just to be with Sirena as usual.

"Of course," she replied happily, hopping up from her seat to join David behind the bar.

After a few minutes, the five friends were sat down, just enjoying their drinks. Rita decided to step outside for a minute and see if she could call Isis from her mobile.

"Hello?" She first asked when her call was answered.

"Hello there," a voice replied, but it so wasn't Isis' which shocked Rita a little.

"I'm sorry, who is this?" Rita asked confused. "I've not got the wrong number have I?"

"Depends? Were you expecting Isis?" The voice asked back.

"Yes I was," Rita replied slowly.

"I'm sorry. But she can't come to the phone right now. But tell me something, are you within site of a TV?"

Even though Rita was really confused by this question, she still replied. "Yes."

"Ah, that's good. If you want to know why she couldn't make it, I suggest you keep your eyes glued to the closest TV screen you can find. Goodbye."

"No wait!" Rita shouted as the line was suddenly cut off. "She's in trouble."

Rita headed back in doors and slumped back down in her seat.

"Is everything okay Rita?" Nixie asked worriedly. It wasn't very often that Rita looked Troubled.

"I just tried to call Isis, and got someone completely different on the other end. They told me to keep my eyes glued to the closest TV screen I could find, if I wanted to know why Isis wasn't answering."

Everyone shot Rita a confused look.

All of a sudden, the TV in the Cafe started cracking up, which got everyone's attention. After about 10 seconds, the TV came back to life, but it wasn't on the channel it was before.

"Welcome one and all. Boy oh boy are you lot in for a treat today. Remember those times as a kid when you believed that mythical fantasies were real? What if we told you, we have proof?" The man on the screen asked.

The camera suddenly shot backwards to reveal a horrifying site.

The place on the TV was the IMH base that Isis, Tanya and Zac had wondered into. The person who was on the screen was Richard. In view of the camera was Lucas standing by the large tank, a trigger button in his hand. Above the large tank was a suspended long metal rod. Isis and Tanya were standing on it, chains attached to their hands, which were hanging from the ceiling to keep them balanced. They were still under from the liquid. Next to the tank, was Zac, who too was chained up from much longer chains attached to the ceiling, hanging him above the floor. There was also a chain around his ankles, tying them together. Zac's top had actually been taken off from before when Richard and Lucas were doing god knows what to them.

"Zac?" Evie and Lyla muttered under their breaths.

"Isis and Tanya?" Rita muttered under her breath.

Everyone else was just in shock.

"What on earth is going on here?" Carly asked.

"Today, ladies and gentlemen, the IMH plans to uncover the truth behind a very mystical race," Richard said facing the camera head on. "Merpeople."

Nexus: I finally got this chapter done! It was way longer than I expected.

Nixie: ... Hang on, you had me and Cam come back from California, running away from the potential danger of the IMH, only to find out that there is trouble with them right here? With Zac, and two other people that I don't know?

Nexus: Yeah, this chapter leaves a decent amount of suspense for the next chapter.

So, you can pretty much see where this is going... but will the IMH get away with it?

David: She can't promise when the next chapter will be out, College work has just gotten very heavy for her...