Author's Notes: Yes, I'm putting these before the chapter today because this is the first one of the story that made me mark this as M. No lemons! Just... ridiculous science. :P I've had complaints before about the realism (or lack thereof) of the girls transforming with these cute little bikini tops on. And nothing's more amusing to me than embarrassing Lewis in front of Zane. My love is strange like that. For yes, I do love Lewis. He is my H2O husband, so I'm allowed to do these things to him. Okay! As long as you're aware! Inappropriate hijinks are ahead! Carry on.
iii.
The three of them stared long and hard at the gently oscillating water particles. The waves lapped against the rocky edges of a pool, encompassed by a dome of natural rock formations that gradually narrowed into a cone-shaped top, leaving a circular opening for the moon to shine through.
There was something decidedly eerie about the pool. There were no deviant creatures lurking in its depths that could be seen from shore, no sounds in the cave besides the natural movement of the water, but there was a thickness in the air that felt wrong in a sense. And it wasn't just because Lewis was still a bit winded from falling several metres into the cave in the first place. At least, that's what he told himself.
Finally, Rikki spoke up. "Well? Who's going in?"
"You're not volunteering?" Zane asked.
"Sorry," she said in mock-sympathy. "Haven't got a bather with me."
"Even better," he smirked, earning himself an angry glare from Lewis.
"Guys, please! This is clearly the remains of a dormant volcano that is thousands, possibly even millions of years old! A little respect for the atmosphere?"
"Lewis, you got us stuck in a creepy cave with a pool. I hardly think respect is something either you or the volcano has earned here," Rikki replied.
"No need to worry!" he said, pointing a finger in the air like a professor. "I bet a peek below will reveal an easy escape out! Someone just needs to take a quick dip and reassure the rest of us."
"Why don't you go if you've got it all figured out," Zane insisted.
"Fine!" he agreed vocally. He was even grinning at the words, but his feet stayed planted away from the glowing pool. In fact, his arms were crossed and he seemed to be inching in the opposite direction from the edge.
"Well, no time like the present!" Rikki announced. And then with a shove: "In you go!'
It only took a matter of moments for Lewis to resurface, sputtering and indignant. The two remaining dry on the pool's edge had not ceased their laughter since he'd been pushed in.
"Real funny, guys," he said, rubbing his eyes. "But I wonder how you might like it." He grabbed each one by an ankle, and with surprising strength, pulled them in to join him.
Rikki was not pleased with his revenge, but Zane came up laughing.
"Are you ready to get serious and find us a way out?" Lewis frowned. "Help, I mean… help us find a way out."
Zane shrugged, "Since the brains of the operations is in over his head, I guess it's time for some heroics." He sent a cocky smirk Rikki's way, and she tried to blow it off but couldn't help the beginnings of a smile.
She would have proceeded to climb ashore and start drying off, but when it looked like the only way out of the cave was through the pool like Lewis suggested, she figured there was no point.
Zane came back up some time later in order to direct them to the underwater passage. Rikki ignored Lewis's smug, "Told you!" about their escape, and prepared to follow Zane beneath the water where there was no possibility of speaking or being spoken to.
Before she'd gone under, a bubbling in the water distracted her and she twisted around to call Lewis out on being such a sicko. His face mirrored Zane's in that they were both staring fearfully at the rapidly increasing bubbles around them. Soon, the whole pool was foaming, and they realised the moon was hanging directly over the opening above, filling the entire cave with ethereal light.
"What the…?"
The sound of the suddenly roaring pool drowned out Zane's outburst. Rikki found herself grabbing his arm, just to have something to hang onto in case it became a full blown typhoon.
Eventually, the phenomenon ceased, and not even Lewis had a theory about why or how it happened. He mumbled something half-hearted about geysers, but it lacked any of his usual conviction. Shaken, but not discouraged, Zane led them out as he'd planned.
It was a cold, uncomfortable trek back to the campsite in the dark, and everyone was soaked through. No one wanted to talk about the strange happening in the moon pool. The two guys weren't up to talking about their feelings, and Rikki was more than okay with that.
Bedraggled and exhausted, the three of them made way to their tents to strip off their wet things and call it a night.
-x-
"I think it rained last night," Lewis remarked, wiping the excess dew off a canteen they'd left out by the campfire.
"Wow. You are a real genius," Zane said bitingly as he picked off a leaf that clung to his bare foot. "Here, toss me that. I'm parched."
The canteen was still spinning in the air when it happened, almost in slow-motion. Zane thought either his eyes were playing tricks on him or he was still asleep. It wasn't until he felt his legs turn to liquid, and reform themselves as a tail of his own that he began to believe it might be real. And even then…
"What is going on?" Lewis asked.
"I don't know, but we'd better find out how to fix it before Rikki wakes up."
"What's wrong?" Lewis scoffed, "Don't want your girlfriend to see you with a fish tail?"
He expected a fierce rebuttal about the use of the term girlfriend, but Zane said with a surprisingly sincere voice, "Something like that."
At the sound of Rikki's struggle with the tent zipper, they both scrambled to find something to hide their afflictions with, but there was nothing more than a hand towel in the dirt. Zane tossed it over his tail, making Lewis snort. "That's great. It's totally hidden now. I can't even tell you've got a tail."
"Shut up!" he hissed.
"Are you two insane?!" Rikki cried as she stumbled out into the campsite to see her two partners had morphed into some kind of fish hybrid. "Or am I?"
"I have no more idea than you," Zane said defensively. "Lewis under threw the water at me, and now I'm like this."
She continued to stare at them in horror for several more seconds before finally tearing her eyes away. "I'm gonna... go wash up, and maybe by then I'll be awake enough to deal with this."
"The water…" Lewis mumbled. "Rikki? Have you come into contact with any water this morning?"
She made a non-committal snort. "Why? Is it plagued?"
"No... " He waited until she was splashing it on her hands and face before he added, "Not in the strictest sense."
He counted from the time she touched the water until the transformation happened. Ten seconds. At the end of those ten seconds, Rikki had a tail almost identical to his and Zane's, except it was orange. Also like the guys she had no covering on the top portion of her body. She was, essentially, naked. And it was difficult for them not to enjoy their vantage point for a bit.
"Is this some kind of joke?!" she exploded. "Lewis… I don't know exactly how but this is your fault!"
"Why is it my fault?"
"You're the one who dragged us to this stupid island for water samples!"
"Lewis!" Zane stared in horror at the barb extending from Lewis's tail. "Control yourself!"
"I can't!" he wailed. "I don't even know how…"
The rest of his answer was cut off as Zane tossed the towel over his head. "Stop being such a pervert. Explain how to fix this!"
Lewis's response was muffled and dejected, but still decisive. "I haven't the slightest idea."