When Marcus pulled the boat onto the beach Erik was there, lounging casually on the sand. He raised a hand in greeting as Marcus stepped off the boat and landed lightly on the sand. "Took you long enough." Erik admonished as he dropped his hand and leaned back on the beach.

"Yeah, well, no tail." Marcus lied dismissively. He stood over Erik and stared down at the merman, his arms crossed tightly. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Who says I want to talk about anything?" Erik asked. "Maybe I just wanted some company."

"Ask someone else then." Marcus said, walking away without a second thought. "I don't have time I can afford to waste."

"Let me guess, they don't like that you know about their little secret?" Erik asked.

Marcus stopped short and slowly turned around to face Erik who had gotten to his feet and was now brushing off his clothes. When he straightened his back he smiled confidently at Marcus and shrugged. "I know how they are." He explained. "They're fickle. They think that they always know best."

"Something tells me that you aren't on the best terms." Marcus observed. "What happened?"

"That's a long story," Erik said.

"I have time." Marcus told him. "And if you really want to speak to me, you better start talking."

And so Erik launched into his tale. Marcus stood there, listening intently as Erik recounted his story. He interjected only occasionally to ask about a point in the story that he did not understand, or wanted elaborated upon. When Erik finally finished his story, Marcus thought for a long moment before saying, "So, this merman chamber, you thought that it could help them despite what the wisest mermaids told you?"

"No one understands that chamber." Erik insisted. "We still don't. But they are so afraid of it that they won't listen to reason."

"You almost killed Zach. Your foolhardiness nearly cost the mermaids their magic and their lives, not to mention their home." Marcus snapped, treating Erik with his most scornful gaze. "You were so wrapped up in that damn chamber that you didn't bother listening to reason. You just wanted to know what that chamber could do."

"I only meant to help the mermaids!" Erik snarled, taking a step towards Marcus. "I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Marcus said with a cold smile. "And I think that you might be in hell right now. That little plan of yours with the chamber seems like it was an express shot."

"You weren't there!" Erik roared. "Don't you dare act like you know what happened."

"Exactly." Marcus responded, though he was purposely keeping himself infuriatingly calm. "I only have your story to base my judgement off of. That means that either you are the worst story teller ever, or you really thought that something so stupid could pay off."

"So they already have their hooks in you." Erik said, backing off now. "I bet you think that the merman chamber is dangerous too."

"No one has their hooks in me." Marcus said. "And I don't really have enough information to make any judgement on that chamber. Maybe it could be helpful, in the right hands that is, but it seems to me that it might be too much of a risk to find that out. Everyone but you seems pretty happy with the status quo, everyone but you that is. Maybe it's because you lost Ondina that you are just now realizing how shitty is being alone."

The blood drained from Erik's face giving the tan man a rather ghostly appearance. A vein worked in his cheek as his mounting fury began to cause his face to redden again. "You-you have no idea what it's like…"

"You're right." Marcus shrugged. "I don't. Don't really care to know either. That's your personal situation. But if you want my advice, stop trying to find good in what you did. Admit you did wrong and beg Ondina to take you back. She misses you too, but you better play your cards right. Generally speaking, nearly ruining a girl's life is enough to make her not want to speak to you forever. But! It's your call. I'm going hiking, have a nice day."

And so saying, Marcus walked off into the woods and left Erik to sort out the myriad of emotions that were no doubt rolling through his mind after Marcus's advice. Marcus walked through the woods whistling a cheerful tune, not at all concerned with the conversation he had just had with Erik. In fact, he was in a rather good mood. "So there's another chamber, eh?" He said to himself as he walked. "Good to know."

But his good mood was marred by something that Erik had told him. "The merman chamber calls to us, or at least it did for a while. Zach was the worst affected because he was still new to the whole merman thing." Erik had said.

Marcus scratched the back of his head absentmindedly as he gazed up at the cliff that led to the Moon Pool cavern. Shrugging, he began the climb up the cliffs without another moment's hesitation. He found that the climb came easier this time than it had the previous two times. In fact, when he pulled himself over the edge his limbs barely felt fatigued at all. He walked over to the lip of the cave and gazed down at the Moon Pool, only slightly surprised to see several people staring back up at him. "You, uh, you must really like climbing those cliffs!" Zach called up with false cheeriness. "I don't suppose you want to come down."

Marcus didn't bother answering. He glanced up from the cave and saw the rope he had used to climb up last time still seemed to be anchored to his climbing axe. "I really go through a lot of climbing rope." He muttered as he tossed down the rope into the cave. He grabbed onto the line and began to lower himself down into the cave, not at all slowly. There was a tense moment when he almost brushed the water when he got to the bottom, but Mimi pushed him telepathically to the side and out of the way of the water. "Thanks." Marcus said. "What do you want?"

"Look, I'm sorry." Mimi told him. "I am really really sorry." Her sincerity actually gave Marcus, who had decided that he did not want to forgive them, a moment's pause.

"Yeah, well you should be." He said sourly. "Like I told you, I have no reason to tell anyone your secret. I don't even have anyone to tell. In case you hadn't noticed, the other kids at school try to avoid you three." He directed the last at Zach and Evie.

"Do they?" Zach asked, genuinely surprised. "I hadn't noticed."

"I sort of did," Evie admitted. "I stopped getting invited to hang out with some of my older friends."

"Moving on," Marcus said, doggedly sticking to his point. "Since everyone has seen me hanging out with you, no one really talks to me. So, like it or not, I think I might be stuck with you guys for as long as I'm here."

"You could always do worse for friends." Zach said brightly.

"You tried to erase my memories." Marcus reminded him. "Let's not say we're friends just yet. Let's say acquaintances on… relatively good terms. But, if you try anything funny…"

"Don't worry," Mimi told him reassuringly. "Rita thinks that the Moon Pool might have made you resistant to spells."

Marcus stared at her and sighed. "You know, saying things like that make me think that you have thought about how else you can try to put a spell on me."