Deciding that indecision was by far the worst possible option available to him, Marcus decided to jump right into the questions he had mentally prepared. "Why does water transform you?" He blurted out.

"Because we are creatures of the sea." Rita told him. "Humans might rule the land, but mermaids have always been the one that governed the sea."

An awkward silence fell over them as Marcus searched for any questions he could think of. He knew he had to be careful in the wake of discovering that he had somehow become a merman himself. "So all of you are mermaids?" Marcus asked, deciding that this question was possibly the safest. "And you have kept your secret all this time?"

"Well, not all of us." Zach said. "I'm a merman, and Evie is a half-mermaid."

"Half-mermaid?" Marcus repeated. "How is that possible? Was your mom a mermaid or something?"

"No, nothing like that." Evie glanced to Rita as though asking for permission.

Rita shrugged. "He might as well know." She told her.

"I was a human until recently." Evie told Marcus hesitantly. "But I was… changed. By the Moon Pool."

"You mean that pool in the cave?" Marcus asked. "The one that tried to drown me."

"I doubt the Moon Pool tried to drown you." Rita assured him. "The Moon Pool is a place of very strong magic. Old magic. It is a very important place to the pod, a place where they can hide and rest. Mermaids get their power from the Moon Pool."

"But not Mermen?" Marcus asked, noticing the distinction.

"No." Rita said. "Mermen gain their power solely from the moon."

"No wonder you guys didn't want me anywhere near it." Marcus said understandingly. "You don't want me messing it up."

"The Moon Pool is remarkably resilient," Rita told him. "But we had greater concerns than you somehow ruining that place. The Moon Pool is what transformed Evie into a mermaid. It has that power and most likely much more."

"Since I went into the pool does that mean I am going to be a merman now?" Marcus asked, carefully keeping his expression and voice neutral.

"I would have thought so," Rita said, "But according to Ondina you didn't transform when she dumped her drink on you."

"She dumped two drinks on me." Marcus corrected, scowling at the blonde. "But the second one I deserved."

"Marcus, you understand that this secret must be kept at all costs." Rita told him seriously, laying a hand on his arm. "If anyone were to discover our existence we would never know a moment's peace."

"I understand." Marcus insisted, looking around the room. "Listen, I know you don't know me. And I realize I might have gotten off on the wrong foot with a lot of you. But despite that, I swear that I won't tell a soul. If there's anything I can do to prove that, then please, let me."

He had expected them to assure him that they believed him, possibly accompanied by some restriction. But Ondina and Mimi stepped forward as one and stared him down. "There is, now that you mention it." Ondina told him. "There is a spell that will prevent you from revealing our secret to anyone. Actually, it will force you to keep it at all costs."

"Done." Marcus said immediately.

With no further prompting Mimi and Ondina raised their hands, aiming a blue ring at Marcus. The stone glowed brightly and Marcus frowned as everything he knew about mermaids began to surface in his mind, including his memories of the previous night. With a sudden flash, the memories disappeared from his thoughts and Marcus shook off the effects of the spell. "Well," He said after he collected himself mentally, "That was certainly more pleasant than being knocked out earlier."

Ondina and Mimi looked at each other uncertainly before looking to Rita in search of some explanation. "You said it would work." Mimi said accusingly. "You said he would lose all memory of mermaids."

"Whoa, hold on, what?" Marcus said. "That's what you were trying to do?"

"It should have worked." Rita said helplessly. "But he has been in the Moon Pool before. It's possible that the magic in the water did in fact have some sort of effect on him."

"You tried to erase my memory?" Marcus demanded loudly, glaring at them. "Really?"

"Marcus, you have to understand that the fewer people that know about us the better." Zach explained quickly.

Not accepting such an explanation, Marcus turned on his heel and stormed up the stairway without another word. The white cat was sitting on the same spot in the bar and as Marcus passed her flicked his wrist, flinging the cat onto the floor. Poseidon yowled angrily as he was unseated by an unknown force. Marcus slammed the door behind him as hard as he could. He made it as far as the gate before leaning against the metal and glaring back at the house. As he expected, a few seconds later Zach and Evie came hurrying out of the house. The quickly stopped when they saw Marcus clearly waiting for them at the gate. "I knew you would come after me." He told them, clearly still furious. "So I thought I would save you some running. Now say whatever it is you have to say and I'll be going."

"Marcus, I swear I did not know that they were going to try to wipe your memory." Zach said pleadingly.

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Marcus sneered, shaking his head. "Nuh-uh. I don't think so."

"It's true!" Evie insisted. "Rita said that they had a way to make sure that you would not be able to tell anyone, just in case."

"Oh, they had a way alright." Marcus barked out a laugh. "But it so happens that the way they had in mind involved them ripping out my memories."

"We didn't know, you have to believe us!" Zach insisted. "Come on man, give us another chance. Don't walk away like this."

But Marcus had decided he had had enough of them already. "I'll keep your secret." He told them. "And I will be civil to you in school, but that's it. Stay away from me and we won't have a problem."

They plead with him as he walked away, but he ignored what they had to say. He didn't look back to ensure that they weren't following him. In truth, their betrayal had terrified Marcus. The thought of having his memories taken didn't really scare him, but what did was the fact that they were so casual in their deception. He had gone into that house with every intention of showing them that he now shared their secret, but now he realized that they would never fully trust him. He kicked viciously at a tuft of grass that had grown up in between the concrete.

He walked through his front door and slammed his door with a thought, not caring if someone saw the odd phenomenon. He threw his bag aside, not caring where it landed. He took a deep breath, not sure where to go. Coming to a decision, he ran into his room and quickly changed into his climbing gear. He grabbed his climbing backpack and swept out of his house, his face set into a determined line as he jogged to the harbor. Evie's father was there to his relief, chatting with a young man with bronze hair and a tan complexion. "Ah, Marcus!" He said when he saw the young man approaching. "No school today?"

"Not today Arthur." He said, forcing a smile. "Decided that I needed some time to myself."

"Well, she's your if you want to take her out." He laughed, reaching into his pocket and tossing him the keys. Marcus caught them easily in one hand and nodded his thanks. Arthur nodded to the young man he had been talking to and said, "This is Erik. He's a friend of my daughter's."

Marcus immediately grew suspicious of him, fixing him with a suspicious stare that was at odds with the friendly smile he wore. "Pleasure to meet you." He said, offering his hand.

"Same to you." Erik said, shaking Marcus's hand. "Where you heading?"

"Mako." Marcus said, daring him to argue. "Why?"

"No reason." Erik said cheerfully. "Mind if I walk with you to the boat?"

"Not at all." Marcus said coolly. "Nice to see you Arthur. I'll have her back before you know it."

Arthur bade them farewell and the two young men began their walk down the pier, Erik smiling slightly. "Let me guess," Marcus said as he stepped into the boat, "You are going to try to stop me from going to Mako?"

"Hell no." Erik laughed, diving into the water at the end of the pier. He resurfaced a few moments later, a blue tail having replaced his legs. "I'll race you there."

"You're one of them." Marcus breathed, not entirely surprised as he had expected such. "And you don't want to stop me?"

"Meet me on the beach." Erik told him. "Try not to take too long." And with that he dove below the water and shot off into open water, moving faster than Marcus would have believed possible.