Nexus: Hello again... I don't really know what to say for once except a big thanks to everyone who gives a fave, a follow and reviews as usual. It means a lot when you guys do that, even if it's only 1 or 2 people per chapter who leave a review for me.

And as to thank you all, here's Chapter 8 as promised! xxx

Chapter 8: The Explanations

- The same morning, at EC42 -

Joanna leapt out of her bed in her hotel room, and instantly headed into the bathroom. It was becoming more and more evident that the sea demon was feeding off of her life force quicker than expected, even with its tail missing. Joanna's luscious brown hair had starting turning grey in places and she was by no means old enough to be getting grey hairs yet. She always seemed more tired as well when the sea demon wasn't in control. Though those moments had been rare and few recently. It seemed she had her time in the morning to have a shower and get dressed before the sea demon itself woke up and began its daily controlling.

Joanna began walking swiftly to EC42, eager for today's work. She'd been leaving Zac alone for quite a while, but she thought today that she would have some fun with him.

On the way down, she ran into Marie.

"Oh, good morning Joanna," she called and she ran up to her to walk along side Joanna.

"Morning Marie," she replied rather plainly and out of interest.

"Are you okay this morning? You seem down," Marie asked concerned.

"Oh no I'm fine. I'm just still a little tired is all," she replied smiling.

"I hope you don't mind me asking this but would you mind if I took the day off?" Marie asked, flinching.

Joanna looked down at her. "I don't see why not? You've been working rather hard recently with other projects, you deserve a break I guess."

Marie couldn't believe it. Any other time before Zac came along, she would never allow days off. "Really? Thank you so much!" She then turned around and began walking away from EC42, down towards the hotels docking yard.

"Looks like I'll be feeding Zac today then," Joanna said to herself, smiling viscously.

Once she got to EC42, she instantly went to the kitchen and grabbed Zac and Amy's breakfast bowl.

As she walked down the long hallway to Zac's room, she saw that something wasn't right. The closer she got to his room, the more she noticed that the door was open.

"I could have swarn I locked it last night before leaving," she said to herself, picking up her pace to the door.

When she got there, things became clear to her. There was no sign of Zac or Amy, the tank was broken and all the water was gone. Joanna was more than aware of all of Zac's powers and could see how he escaped. But just how did he break the glass, it wasn't supposed to be thin glass, it was rather thick and hard to smash.

Joanna dropped the metal food bowl, the sea food flying out onto the floor and the bowl landing with a metal clank.

"Joanna, is everything alright?" John asked as he walked up towards Joanna after seeing her drop the bowl.

When John reached the door himself, he could see why Joanna was so speechless. Right now, he didn't have anything to say either.

"What do we do now?" John asked after a while.

"Nothing," Joanna replied plainly. "We've got the research on him."

"But what about-" John began to say.

"I said, we do nothing!" Joanna interrupted. "It's not like we're ever going to find him again." Joanna then left the room and called something out to John. "Oh yeah, I let Marie take a day off and I am now as well. Good luck cleaning up the mess!"

John was just amazed at how much more mean Joanna had got since Zac appeared, and left. Nonetheless though, he rounded up a few people to help him out whilst Joanna began her research.

The sea demon thought it might be best to get some information on Zac before going back to the main land of Australia to find him.

- At Evie's place -

Both Zac and Evie woke up about 11AM in the end. After a small bit of breakfast, the two sat down and began their talk.

"It was about two months ago," Zac began. "Me and Cam went camping on Mako Island before we went back to school. It was getting late at night and I wondered further up the island. There was a cave, the entrance of which only appeared that night as far as I know. When I went inside, there was a dial on the wall... and when I touched it, the floor beneath me opened up and I was falling, into a pool of water. The next thing I knew I was waking up on the beach."

Evie was having a hard enough time dealing with this information alone right now, her face still full of shock. "Go on."

"When we came back the next day, weird things were happening. I tried putting my hand near a tap with running water but the water just bent out of my way. That was when I came to the Ocean Cafe to find Cam. I tried to make some water from a hose bend again but it didn't work for some strange reason. Once Cam left though, it worked- the water coming out suddenly made me lose my balance though and I fell into the water. That was when it happened. I surfaced quickly, looked down, and I had a tail."

He quickly glanced over at Evie and could see that her initial shock was slowly wearing off bit by bit.

"I swam back to mine, pulled myself out of the canal, dried off, and I had legs again. Since then, nothing has been right in my life," Zac finished. He sighed and looked over at Evie again. "Evie?"

"I still can't believe you lied to me all this time," she stated, tears forming in her eyes.

"I know. And that was wrong of me," Zac replied, walking over to the sofa she was sat on. He took a seat next to her. "But with everything that was happening around me, I didn't want you to get hurt or anything. I just wanted to protect you."

Evie looked up at him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You have no idea how mad I am at you right now. There's no way I'm forgiving you for this any time soon."

"I don't expect you to," Zac replied, sadness tinged in his voice.

"I still have more questions for you anyway," Evie began. "Who else knows about you besides me?"

Zac didn't answer.

"Cam? David? Those girls?" Evie asked. Zac looked away when those named were mentioned.

Evie scoffed at him and stood up. "Unbelievable." She walked over to her door and was about to leave until Zac grabbed her hand.

"Listen Evie, I told you I would explain. Cam was there when it all happened to me, he had to know eventually. The day that David's brother got his new boat and took it out for a test, there was a chase between them and me as I got seen on his fish finder. It chased me to the canal and I got caught on some netting, which is when Joe jumped in and saw me. Both of them then chased me out to Mako and confronted me about it. And then there was my pool party, Cam pushed me into the pool once most people had gone, we had a row you could say. Lyla, Nixie and Sirena happened to still be around and saw me. It's not like I wanted most of them to find out about me. They were all nearly accidents. I never wanted many people to know. I was eventually going to have to tell you anyway."

"So why didn't you tell me when you were first transformed?" Evie asked harshly.

"Because I was afraid of what you would think of me," Zac replied truthfully. "Put yourself in my shoes. If you'd been transformed into a mythical creature, would you want to tell anyone at the risk of exposure?"

Evie had never looked at it like that before. "I guess, I wouldn't," she replied slowly. Every time she now looked at him, the truth was becoming slowly clearer to her. "Can we still talk about your disappearance?" She seated herself back down on the sofa and motioned for Zac to sit next to her.

"When the news first came out on the news about a mermaid being found, I was dead scared. Because those images on the news were of me. I decided to go back to Mako to destroy the Scanners out there."

"Why?" Evie asked confused. "Why go back out there to destroy some scanners at the risk of being caught?"

"There are some things in life we need to protect," Zac replied plainly, thinking of the mermaids.

Evie wasn't quite sure what he meant by that but let her carry on.

"I was careless anyway. I was caught by Joanna and was held her captive and test subject," Zac said, anger flowing through him. "She made a deal with me, once the research was done, I was allowed to be free. I thought it was all going to be okay. That was two weeks ago roughly, two weeks before it all went wrong. Believe what you like in sea mythology but a small sea demon had taken control of Joanna Fischer. That demon was using Joanna to keep me captive. I don't know what it had in store for me, but it couldn't have been good."

"How did you escape in the end then?" Evie asked curiously.

"I broke the glass of the tank I was in after a couple of hours of plate slapping with help from a seal friend of mine. I used my powers to escape the centre and that's when I saw you on the shore. I don't know why I called out your name, I could have just swam away somewhere..."

"But you didn't," Evie intervened. "You called out my name and told me the truth. Even if it only all came out this morning, I'm just glad you finally told me it all." She lunged herself into Zac, Zac welcoming the hug from her.

"So, you're not mad all of a sudden?" Zac stated confused.

"Oh trust me, you're not off the hook yet. There's only one way I'm going to forgive you," she said, releasing her hold on him. "You will tell the two people who still need to know about you."

It took Zac a second to catch on to what she was saying. "My parents?" Evie nodded back at him. "Are you nuts!? My dad's a doctor for christ sake!"

"Either you tell them that you're a mermaid, or I tell everyone about you," Evie offered.

Zac sighed and could see it was clear which option was better. Let his parents know he was a fish or let the whole of the Gold Coast know. No brainer really.

"I'll tell my parents. I guess you're right, they do deserve to know about me," Zac replied. He stood up and walked over to Evie's front door. "And one last thing Evie. I'm not a mermaid. I'm a merman." He set off outside.

Evie leapt to her feet and chased after Zac. "I'm coming with you though okay?"

Zac didn't say anything and waited for Evie to catch up to him. Once she did, the two carried on walking towards Zac's house.

- At the Blakely Residence -

Both Rob and Mrs. Blakely were enjoying the lovely day outside together. Just lounging around, looking out over the canals and the open ocean that followed.

Something suddenly caught Mrs. Blakely's eye. There were two people walking towards the house that looked a little like Evie and Zac from a distance.

"Rob?" She asked. "Am I imagining things or do I see Zac and Evie walking towards us?"

Rob took off his sunglasses and looked down at the path towards their house. "I see it too, does look like them doesn't it?"

"Because it is them," Mrs. Blakely slowly realised. She jumped out of her seat and began running towards the two.

Zac could see his mum running down towards him and decided to run towards her as well. "Zac!" His mother screamed in happiness and she greeted her son with an almighty death grip hug.

"Okay, ow, easy on the death grip mum," Zac asked as nicely as he could, his mother releasing him moments after, her hands never leaving his shoulders.

Moments later, Rob came down the path to meet his son as well. "Is that really you Zac?" His dad asked in shock, feeling tears welling up inside him.

"Yes, it's really me," Zac replied happily.

"Where on earth have you been all this time?" His mother asked worried.

Zac looked back over his shoulder at Evie, who just nodded to him. "I think we need to sit down inside and talk about this," he said in a low tone.

He pushed his mum's hands off of his shoulders and let himself inside, sitting down in his arm chair in the main lounge. His mum and dad walked in after in, inviting Evie in as well. Evie pulled a chair over next to Zac, whilst his parents took residence on a couch that was facing opposite them.

There was a rather thick tension in the air. Zac had suddenly appeared after being missing for what was three weeks, and didn't seem the slightest bit phased right now.

"Before I explain where I've been for the last three weeks, there's something I need to tell you both something. Something really important," Zac said, swallowing hard at the end. "Something life changing."

"Whatever's happened to you Zac, we know it must have been something big. But whatever it is, just tell us when you're ready," his mother replied calmly.

Zac looked down at Evie, who nodded at him again. "They have to know Zac."

Zac turned back to his parents and took in a big deep breath, preparing for the worst. "I'm a- a merman." He chocked out.

His mum and dad acted the same as Evie did before, both froze up. And both didn't quite know what to say.

"What do you mean by, a merman?" His dad asked.

"Whenever I touch water, I grow a tail. That's why I quit Surfing and Lifesaving. I couldn't be near the water without the tail appearing," Zac explained.

Thing were slowly coming together in Rob's mind. Zac's disappearance. Joanna's sudden news on a mermaid. Joanna saying she had no further news. Then really no further news for the next three weeks. Then Zac suddenly appears back on shore. It had to be, there was no denying it.

"When Joanna said she'd found a mermaid and it was broadcast on the news, that was you wasn't it?" Rob asked a little breathless.

"Yes, that was me," Zac replied, looking down at the floor.

"And you disappearing, that was because Joanna captured you wasn't it?" Rob asked, his own wife shook by his verdict.

"What? You really think that was our son?" Mrs. Blakely asked too.

"Because it was me mum. I was the one Joanna caught. The one who she said she had no news on."

The couple still looked rather frozen. "I know it's a lot to take in but you need to believe me!"

They still didn't know what to say. Zac could see it in their eyes though, they wanted proof.

"You want proof don't you?" Zac asked.

Not to his surprise, both nodded back slowly.

He walked out the front of the house and around the side to their pool, his parents following him, Evie in tow.

When they got there, Zac dived into the pool, the usual stream of bubbles appearing as he did, disappearing moments later. His parents rushed to edge to try and see him. A few seconds later, Zac surfaced right in front of them, his tail on full display for them. He never looked up at them though.

Mrs. Blakely bent down to her son. "Zac?"

He looked up at her, the slightest bit of fear in his eyes.

"Yes, it's a lot for us to take in, finding out our son is- a- a merman. But, we don't think any differently of you," she explained.

He looked up surprised out her. Turns out Evie was right, she told him that everything would be okay and that he was under estimating his parents.

"I didn't think you would take it this well," Zac replied honestly. He dragged himself out of the pool and steam dried himself, much to the shock of his parents and the still amazed Evie.

He stood up and looked at their faces. "Part of the deal," he replied simply. "I think I still have some things I need to explain. But I have one condition on telling you them. You mustn't tell a single soul about the information I'm giving to you."

His parents and Evie nodded, the group heading back indoors to explain his story to them. He told them everything that he had basically told Evie. Starting with his transformation, and finishing on his escape from EC42.

"Woah," was all that Rob could say. "I can't believe you lasted that long, doesn't it feel odd to have legs back after two weeks in a tank?"

"It did a little yeah, but, I've been human for longer so it's not as bad as it seems," Zac replied. Those words reminded him of the mermaids, they were only on borrowed legs themselves. He had to tell his parents and Evie about them as well. Right now, they were his last bit of hope. They were mermaids who most probably knew about sea demons, they could help him.

"There's one final piece of information that is crucial to what I do next," Zac began. "Lyla, Nixie and Sirena are mermaids."

"They're like you?" Rob asked in shocked.

"Not entirely," Zac replied slowly. "I was transformed into a merman, those three were born mermaids."

"So mermaids are more real than even Joanna knows, who'd of thought?" Rob asked himself.

"What do they have to do with any of this?" Evie asked. She didn't like those three right from the moment they stepped foot on the Gold Coast.

"I told you about the sea demon inside Joanna. They might know something about it, and if they do, maybe they can stop it," Zac explained. "It may be a small issue, it may be a major issue. But I'll never know unless I see them."

Zac looked over at his girlfriend. "I only ever wanted to protect you Evie. I know you don't like them very much but you have to trust me. Right now, they are the only ones I can turn to about this situation. After all, Lyla was there when I was captured, she was trying to set me free, but I told her to leave, better one person being caught than two at the end of the day."

Evie didn't know how she felt right now. Zac was back and yet after everything that had happened, he decided he needed to see those three girls that she despised. But if they could help him in any way, shape or form, she would just have to accept it.

"Then what are you waiting for? Go find them," Evie replied, giving her boyfriend a massive hug and a kiss to boot. He looked over to his mum and dad, who just smiled at him and wished him the best. They themselves knew that there was nothing they could do to help.

"It's also best if I stay with them for a while. If the sea demon finds out I live here, it'll come straight here so I can't stay," Zac explained. "I'm pretty sure Miss. Santos won't mind me staying with her and her 'niece's for a while.

"That reminds of Miss. Santos. Surely those girls really aren't her nieces if they're mermaids?" Rob wondered.

"Who knows," Zac replied. "Guess I'm going to find out."

He walked over to his little house and began packing a bag to take with him whilst he hopefully remained at Rita's place. Was Rita really a mermaid as well? It had troubled Zac for quite a while, but now his questions would finally be answered.

He gave his parents and Evie and long good bye before setting off to Rita's place. He didn't walk there though, too risky. Instead, he took his water proof case and dove off into the canals. He was going on the one thread of information he had. He'd seen Nixie swim out of another cavern much closer to the shore, more importantly, close to where Rita lived. He'd ventured inside once and found that there was a small cavern inside, he never got out to investigate though.

Finding the cavern link, he swam inside and tossed his case onto the side. With great effort, he pulled himself out and steam dried himself. He grabbed his case and slowly walked up the stairs that were carved from the cavern. The more he walked up it, the more clearer the sound he could hear became. People talking. He looked around and saw an opening that branched off from the steps main path and peeked round the corner of it.

To his surprise, it was like a treasure grotto, filled with items of wonder galore. There was another important feature to this place. Nixie, Lyla, Sirena and Rita were all in here too. He'd found what he was looking for, Rita's house.

He slowly walked inside the grotto area, his footsteps earning him the full attention of the four women.

"Zac?"

Nexus: FINALLY! I did it! God, I'd tried to write this chapter so many times but could never get it down quite right. So I'm happy that I finally got it out like this!

Next time is chapter 9, Zac explaining to the girls about the sea demon and their response and actions to the current situation.

I don't know when it will be out or ready myself yet so don't hope for it too soon, okay?