Nexus: Here's Chapter 10! Hopefully not too long a chapter, I'm trying not to make the whole learning new powers thing drag out too much. Sadly, no new news on Cam this chapter... or the next... it'll be a while! I just hope you'll enjoy it

Chapter 10: The Higher Mermaid Council/ Training

Zac had come back about an hour later after he had his little swim out to Mako and his sob over the loss of a great mate.

Towards the end of the afternoon, all four of them were able to easily pull off making each other invisible. Once they heard the book case entrance open, they decided to try and surprise Rita.

As she walked down to the grotto, she noticed a lack of students around. They must have been invisible. Just to be sure, she flicked her hand behind her back which made her students slightly visible to her, as if they were in a water bubble almost. She noticed their hand movements and the positioning of their arms. They were keeping each other invisible.

"I'm very proud of you all," Rita said as the four disband their invisibility. "I honestly didn't think you'd have been able to master it so quickly.

"Yeah well, we really want to learn these new and extended powers," Sirena replied, speaking for the whole group.

"And if it wasn't for you Rita, we wouldn't be able to learn them," Zac added.

She smiled proudly at her four students and glanced down at her watch. It would be another hour before they thought about having dinner. "Girls, why don't you go out for a swim? You've earned it."

The three girls grinned from ear to ear. "Zac, you coming with us?" Lyla asked excitedly.

"Sorry Lyla, but Zac won't be going with you," Rita interrupted.

"Why?" Both Lyla and Zac and asked.

"There are certain powers that mermen can learn that mermaids can't. I'd like to use this little bit of time to try and teach Zac at least one staple advanced power," Rita explained.

"Really?" Zac asked surprised.

"If we're to have the upper hand on this sea demon, we'll need all the powers we can get our hands on."

"Okay, we'll see you in about an hour then," Nixie said as she and her two friends dived off through the ocean entrance and headed out for Mako.

"So, a power I can learn that they can't," Zac said intrigued.

"I need to be honest with you Zac. It's not so much a power but more a skill. And even though it's a skill, it's one that shouldn't be possible. It goes against everything mermaids know about," Rita explained, her breath a bit shaky.

"How bad is it?" Zac asked.

"It's shape shifting," Rita said quickly.

"Shape shifting?"

"It's the ability to remain in water and switch from having a tail to legs. The ability to make yourself human in an impossible case."

Zac was a little taken back by it. "So, I can learn how to shift from being a merman in water to being a human!?"

"It says so in my files from when I was younger. If this is truly possible the way it is written, then it is the greatest skill you will ever possess, and your most vital. The sea demon will use water to its advantage should it fight you, but you have the chance to over come this." Rita still couldn't fathom how great an asset this skill was. How she would kill to be able to do that living on land, it would make her life so much easier. "Lets go to the back entrance to practice."

Once Zac got down there, Rita was already in the water, sitting on the edge. "Coming in?" She asked.

This was the first time that Zac had seen her as a mermaid.

Zac slipped in next to her, his long elegant blue tail appearing a few seconds later.

"Now, the files say that shape shifting is an easy process as all you have to do is think. The only downside is that it might hurt the first few times."

"So, that's all there is to is? Just thinking about it?" Zac asked.

"Yep, that's it. It's mastering it though," Rita replied. "The best way to try to do this, is to think about having your legs back. How it feels to have them in the water and to not think about the tail."

"Well, I can only try right?" Zac stayed silent for a minute or two, focusing all his thoughts on what it was like to be in the water with legs. After a while, he felt a shooting pain go through his legs, clenching his teeth in response.

"Just keep on focusing," Rita said calmly.

Zac's tail suddenly transformed into a bunch of bubbles, Rita watching in awe as Zac's legs reformed, including all his previous clothing.

Rita didn't say anything and waited for Zac to open his eyes.

Zac opening his eyes after letting out a sigh of pain and felt the strangest sensation he'd had in the last two months. He looked down to where his tail should have been and saw his legs, his mouth dropping wide open at the sight of them. He'd done what should have been impossible and most of all, he'd done it so quickly.

"This is incredible. You learnt is so quickly as well- I thought it would take us a couple of days before you learnt this!" Rita blurted out quickly.

"It's not suppose to be as easy at it seems?" Zac questioned, quickly focusing his mind of having his tail back, a smaller amount of pain shot through him as his legs returned to his tail.

"No, there's no record in my files of a merman ever learning shape shifting so quickly," Rita replied.

Zac once again, didn't know what to say. He was learning skills and powers much faster than known. "So, mermaids really can't do this?"

"Trust me, I've tried myself several times. Even mermaids of old who've spent years practising were never able to do it," Rita explained. "I guess we can teach you a new power then. Does combining elements take your fancy?"

"Combining elements?" Zac asked confused.

"Mermen are not only able to control water. All merpeople know how to control it and a rare few number of mermaids know how to control air. Lyla is one of them. Besides Air and Water though, mermen can learn to create fire and also how to create lightning. Even though mermaids can make storms, they can't make lightning without one. Besides learning them, you can combine them and create electrified torrents and even fire spitting tornadoes," Rita explained. "So, now does it take your fancy?"

First being able to control water and now air, fire and lightning? Zac was thrilled deep inside to be able to have such an array of amazing powers. He smiled in response.

"We'll start on them tomorrow though, it's been a long day," Rita said, stretching.

"Rita, I need to ask you something serious," Zac said out of the blue.

"What is it?" She asked slightly worried.

"Once we defeat the sea demon, what will happen to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I used to have a life here on land. I was just a normal human boy and then I fell into the moon pool. Ever since then, so many things have happened and after those three weeks of my sudden disappearance, how can I face anyone on land seeing me again via Evie and my parents?"

Rita's heart sank at his words. Being a merman and having being captured meant he could never go back to having a normal life on land. And the Mako Island pod would never accept a merman. Right now, Zac was in a major outcast zone.

"Whatever happens to you and the girls, you can all just go back to the sea. But I have friends and family here on land, and I don't want to have to hide from most of them."

"Zac, you need to listen to me. You are in a seriously tough situation. You can't remain on land because of what happened with Joanna but at the same time the pods of the seas will never accept a merman. All we can do is play it out, defeat the sea demon and roll from there. I'm sorry."

Zac lowered his head at her words. "Playing it out is all we can do."

Rita gave Zac a brief hug. "Everything will be alright. How about we get some sea food?"

Zac liked that idea. He and Rita pulled themselves out of the water and dried themselves off, heading upstairs to Rita's kitchen to get dinner.

- When the girls left for Mako -

"You two go on ahead," Sirena called as she turned around.

"Why? Where are you going?" Lyla asked curiously.

"Well, I'm going to go to the Ocean Cafe and see David. I haven't been there in over a week," Sirena explained.

Lyla looked over her shoulder to Nixie, who just nodded her head and mouthed *let her go*.

"Okay, off you go then," Lyla ushered.

A smile grew on Sirena's face. "I'll see you both in about a hour then!" She torpedoed away to a safe area where she could dry herself and get to the Ocean Cafe easily.

Nixie and Lyla carried on towards Mako. It wasn't often that they let Sirena go to the Ocean Cafe by herself in case something happened, especially as of recent events. But it wouldn't hurt to let her go see David.

- At the Ocean Cafe -

Sirena walked through the large double doors, expecting to see David at the counter. But he wasn't there.

She walked up to the counter to meet Carly.

"Oh, hey Sirena. Do you want the usual Watermelon and Lime Frappé? Carly asked.

"Yeah," she replied as her mind wandered. "Where's David?" She asked.

Carly sighed. Sirena wasn't going to like this. "He hasn't even been out of his house for the last week according to Joe so he's left me to run the cafe along with Evie who's cut her time working at the shop. God knows how much longer its gonna be before he's out of there."

"Is he okay?" Sirena asked worriedly.

"You'd have to ask Joe, I don't know anything sorry," Carly replied as she began making Sirena's drink. She handed it over to her with a lid on it. "I presume it's to go."

"Yes thank you," she replied as she handed over the money for the drink, only for Carly to give it her back. "That's for me not calling you about David, I'm sorry Sirena."

Sirena looked down at the money that was now back in her hand. "Thank you Carly," she said with a smile as she headed out of the doors. She decided to walk back to Rita's, knowing that she would pass David's house in process.

After half an hour of walking, she finally reached the road where David lived. She walked really slowly down the road, finding a bin at the same time to throw her now empty drink in to. She looked right down at the end of the road where a bench was placed and could spot David's mob of fluffy hair a mile away.

"David!" She shouted as she began running down towards him.

David turned around, leaping off of the bench to meet the girl running towards him. "Sirena!"

Sirena launched into a hug with him when she met him and didn't let go for some time, just enjoying the moment.

She released the hug. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah sure," David replied, leading her back to the bench he was just sitting on.

"Carly said that you haven't been into work for a week now. Is something wrong?" Sirena asked.

David wasn't sure whether he should tell Sirena about what happened to him last week. Maybe Sirena would know something. He would just have to hope she wouldn't freak out when he told her.

"It was about a week ago. I'd woken up like any other day of my life and got ready for school. When I looked in the mirror though, I saw that something wasn't quite right. I'll tell you what it was in a minute. But because of it, I haven't wanted anyone else to see, so I've stayed away from society for a while," David explained.

"Okay, how bad can it be?" Sirena asked, not knowing how right she was about to be.

David pulled back his hair to show Sirena his ear. It had changed and become pointed almost like an elves ear. The tips of his ears had little blue fins coming off of them, delicate diamond webbing woven between each fold of the fins.

Sirena froze and couldn't even speak when she saw his ear, the look of sheer terror taking over her face. She'd seen those ears before, but no human like David was supposed to have them. Not that she knew of.

"Look, please don't freak out," David pleaded, trying to calm her down.

"I'm sorry David, but I have to go," Sirena called as she shot up from the bench and began running away.

"Sirena wait!" David called back in return. Sadly, Sirena had already made a break for it all the way back to Rita's.

He decided to walk back to his house, regretting ever showing Sirena what had happened to his ears. It didn't seem to have effected anything and he couldn't find any information on the internet about either. He took his coat off when he entered the house and closed the door behind him, only for the doorbell to ring a second later.

He opened it to find two women standing before him. How they got there so quickly, David had no idea. One of the women had blonde hair with seashells wrapped into it whilst the other woman has darker almost black hair.

"Can I help you ladies?" David asked politely.

"David, right?" The blonde one asked in return.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"Sorry, I'm Aquata and this is Maya," Aquata introduced.

"And you are here to see me because?" David asked, dragging it out.

Maya looked over at Aquata who nodded her head. Maya placed a finger to David's forehead and sent a pulsing shock through his brain, his mind fading away as he collapsed.

"Sorry David, but this is the only way," Aquata could be heard saying very faintly. "The Council will keep you safe until we sort out what's happened to you."

- Back at the Grotto that night -

The two new beds that Rita had ordered were set up. One was set upstairs in the spare room so that the three girls could sleep together and the other bed was placed in the Grotto for Zac.

Lyla, Nixie, Rita and Zac were sitting around the table, talking about what tomorrow's training would be. They settled on levitation and telekinesis in the end.

Just as they were done, Sirena came running down the stairs, completely breathless.

"Are you okay Sirena?" Rita asked worriedly looking at her current state.

"It's about David," she said quietly.

"Is something wrong with him?" Zac asked. "Just take your time to get your breath back."

Sirena did so and explained to the group about David. "Rita, what do you know about mermaids who have children whilst on land?"

"When a mermaid has a child on land, there is a chance that the said child we be a natural born merperson. It's common in females but very rare in males. If they are natural born, by the time they are 17, their powers automatically begin to unlock themselves, starting with Heira's ears, a sign of a human becoming a merperson. Natural borns don't even need a moon pool, but it does trigger their transforma-" Rita stopped herself once she'd realised Sirena's question and her own mentioning of Heira's ears.

"Are you trying to tell me that-" Rita began to say before Sirena finished off her sentence.

"Yes. David has Heira's ears."

This came as a surprise to even Rita. "But, there's no-one in David's family known to be from the sea. It shouldn't be possible!"

"Actually, it can be," Zac said.

"Okay Zac explain," Nixie suggested. "Cause I don't see how it can be possible.

"Joe told me this a couple of years ago. After Joe was born, David's mother couldn't have another child and so they used another woman to have the child instead. That woman must have been a mermaid. But if David does turn out to be a merman, what do we do about it?"

"Even though David's transformation has already begun, there is a chance that it won't be completed at all. If David refuses the final offering of becoming a merman, then the powers will drain from his body and he'll remain human," Rita explained, hoping that should the final offering come, he would refuse it.

- That night -

Rita had woken up about 3 in the morning, she just suddenly jolted up feeling that something wasn't right. She decided to go get a drink and try and clear her mind. She was probably just worried about the sea demon more than anything.

She jumped out of bed and headed out to the kitchen. Whilst she was getting herself a drink, she felt a strange breeze in the house. She didn't remember leaving any windows open and so decided to check the front door. As she walked up to it, she noticed that it was slightly open. Rita didn't know if it meant that someone was inside her house or if one of the girls had snuck out in the night. She would have suspected Zac but she knew there was no way he would go out the front when he could exit through the sea.

Throwing on her invisibility cloak, she headed up the stairs after closing the front door and went straight for the girls bedroom door. Rita saw that the door was wide open and snuck inside, carefully avoiding the creaky floor boards in front of the door. When she walked inside, she saw that all three girls were still in bed and let go of her invisibility. She was about to throw it back on before something niggled inside her brain.

Just in case, although it seemed highly unlikely, she tried her invisibility detection powers on the room and was surprised when she saw a mermaid she'd never seen before looking down at the girls with a vial of powder in one hand.

"You can release your invisibility now," Rita called. A second later, the mermaid released her invisibility, slightly shook by the woman that stood before her. She'd detected her invisibility.

Rita flung off some questions at her. "Now, who are you? What are you doing here? And with forbidden memory changing powder nonetheless?"

"I'm sorry Rita, but this has to be done," the mermaid replied.

"I'll ask again, who are you?" Rita asked once more. Not getting any response, she raised her voice slightly. "Tell me, now!"

"Aquata, I'm Aquata," the mermaid stumbled before getting her brave face back.

"And why the memory changing powder?" Rita asked, glaring at the small vial of forbidden dangerous powder.

"The higher mermaid council sent me to change the memories of these girls and the boy downstairs. It's about David," Aquata explained.

"Let me guess, the higher mermaid council has taken David in because of him being a natural born and you've been sent to change the memories of everyone who knows about him?" Rita guessed.

"Almost correct. The memories of all those involved with David must be changed and most of them have, but the memories of you five are more severe. You know of what he could become and further more you Rita know where he is now. But your memories are to remain as they are under order of the council. I don't know why they would do this to you but there you have it. We've been keeping an eye on my sister ever since she came into contact with David and we've followed all of you since."

"So, you're Sirena's sister, the one who gave her a moon ring?" Rita then looked down at Aquata's left hand to see a new moon ring on it. "And the council some how gave you a new one."

"I had to beg them to give me one. I said I would work for them as a message deliverer and also did all the council's work on land since I can hold my invisibility quite well," Aquata explained.

"Well, just do what you must and then leave. If you've been following us, you'll know how to get to the grotto and how to get out." Rita then left the room, bidding Aquata good night as she left.

Aquata opened up the vial of powder and spread some of it on the girls fore heads. "The memory to be change is the knowledge of David's ears and every moment up to it. It is to be replaced by David telling them that he is going on holiday for a few weeks." The powder then glowed and sank into their fore heads, changing their memories. "Good bye Sirena."

Aquata headed down stairs into the grotto and flinched when she saw Zac sleeping in it. She'd never been so close to a merman before but since he saw sleeping, Aquata wasn't too worried. She hastily rubbed the last of the powder into his fore head and had the powder change the same memory. One she saw done, she ran out and dived through the ocean exit. She waited for a portal back to the council to appear. As she wondered through the portal, she carefully stepped out onto the councils grounds to be greeted by the head leader.

"Did you sort everyone's memories Aquata?" The head asked.

"Yes and I didn't change Rita's just like you asked," she replied.

"Good, then your duty is done for the night. Go get some rest, we have some major work to do," the head said just as David walked in on them.

"Sorry to disturb you, Maya just let me out for a few minutes to get some air," David explained.

"It's alright David," the head replied. "By the way, Aquata will be over seeing you for now. All will be explained about what you're doing here tomorrow."

The head left the room and just left Aquata and David alone. "Where did you go?" David asked. "And what's this about memory changing?"

"Like the head said, I'll explain it all to you tomorrow David. I'm sorry that you've been put in this situation," Aquata apologised.

"And what C-"

"I'm not explain what that person is doing here," Aquata quickly blurted out. "For now, I think it's time both you and me get some sleep yes?

Nexus: MAN I HATE THIS SITE SOMETIMES! I'd manage to finish this chapter only to save it and for FF to have logged me out during this time meaning this would have been updated almost 4 days ago and would have been slightly different. But oh well, that's life and at least I've got this chapter out. Chapter 11 will probably be out just before Christmas day.

I just hope you're all enjoying this story so far ^_^ xxx