He didn't bother knocking when he arrived at Rita's house, simply pushing the door open and stepping inside. Poseidon heard the arrival and came to investigate, gazing up at Marcus with a curious yet bored look. Marcus in turn glared down at the cat. "I still have not forgiven you." He warned. "You just go somewhere else and leave me alone you little devil."
He walked to the back room where he the opening to the secret cavern was and paused, frowning. A book shelf stood where the entrance should have been. Marcus pursed his lips and began to examine the shelf, running his hands along the various books. "Must be a secret entrance…" He murmured, now pulling on each book. One in particular, a large book on mermaid mythology, did not budge when he pulled on it. He ran his hand up the spine and pulled again from the top. The book tilted back and the wall clicked, sliding away to reveal the staircase. Marcus grinned smugly. "I win." He said, descending the stairs.
The grotto appeared empty, but he was not entirely certain that appearances were truth. He whistled a tune to himself as he began to examine the various things that Rita had around the grotto. He lifted up a golden cup, appearing to take interest while he was intently listening for any movement. He placed the cup back where he found it and picked up an emerald brooch from a pile of golden coins, throwing it up in the air and catching it. He sat down on the stone couch, running the brooch across his knuckles as he patiently waited. He still wasn't certain that he was alone, but he decided that fifteen minutes would be long enough.
He only had to wait five. A mermaid appeared in front of him, her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face, but it wasn't Ondina. Mimi stared down at him, silently waiting for him to explain his presence. Marcus sighed disappointedly and got to his feet, tossing the brooch back to the pile of coins. "You aren't the one I'm looking for." He told Mimi, looking around the cavern. "Is Ondina here?"
"No, she's not." Mimi said, her annoyance melting away to give way to curiosity. "Why are you looking for her?"
"I just need to talk to her." Marcus said. He wasn't willing to get into the reason for his search with more people than he absolutely had to. It would only make things more difficult to help Ondina. "Where is she?"
"Mako." Mimi told him. But then added, "I think. She hasn't-."
"She hasn't been social lately." Marcus waved away the words before they could even be said. He already knew enough. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. Alright. Sorry for bothering you."
He turned to leave and had begun to ascend the stairway when Mimi spoke up. "You know, I haven't met any land boys like you before." She told him.
Marcus paused, his hand on the stone wall. He faced Mimi and tilted his head to one side. "I'm not sure that's a good thing." He told her honestly.
"I don't know if it is or isn't." Mimi said honestly. "I don't even know if I like you or not. But I think you might be able to help Ondina."
"I think I can too." Marcus told her. "Or at least, I can make her stop hating herself. As for liking me, well, I won't hold my breath waiting for you to make up your mind either way."
He waved a goodbye over his shoulder as he left, heading to the docks. He was reasonably certain that Mimi would grow fond of him in time, which was why he had not given it too much concern when she professed to be unsure of her feelings about him. Even if she didn't Marcus wasn't truly bothered. He had more pressing concerns than to be bothered by such a petty thing like being liked or disliked.
Arthur was on the pier again, tinkering with something or other on his boat. He saw Marcus approaching and frowned at the young man. "Skipping school two days in a row?" He asked Marcus, disapproval evident in his tone. "You know, I place a lot of value on getting a good education."
Marcus thought quickly, understanding that Arthur would not be willing to give the keys to his boat to someone he did not approve of. "I talked to Principal Santos," He lied smoothly. "When I went climbing yesterday I lost my bag. It has something very important to me, so I need to go get it. I can call her if you want, she'll tell you the same thing."
Arthur looked at him through narrowed eyes for a long moment. Marcus gazed calmly back at him, one eyebrow slightly raised as he was examined. Arthur reached slowly into his pocket and withdrew the keys, tossing them to Marcus. The merman caught them without breaking his gaze from Arthur, nodding in thanks.
The outboard roared to life and Marcus tore out of the harbor with the wind whistling across his face. As he drove he longed to dive into the water and swim to Mako. He smiled to himself as he imagined Ondina's face if he swum into the Moon Pool with a tail. But it was a fleeting thought as he pulled the boat onto the beach. He leapt onto the sand and made a beeline for the cliffs. He scrambled up them in record time with not an ounce of strain in his limbs as he looked down into the cave. A blonde mermaid had her head buried in her arms against the stone. Marcus stared down at Ondina for a long moment, feeling the sadness emanating from her. He took a step back and took a deep breath, massaging his temples with the tips of his fingers.
A sudden idea came to him then, a crazy, stupid, reckless idea. Marcus didn't think twice as he put his plan into action. He put the backs of heels against the lip of the hole and spread his arms out to his side, palms facing the sky. "Hey Ondina!" He yelled, praying that she was still there and not too lost in her thoughts to hear him. "Trust fall!" And with that he fell backward. He closed his eyes as he passed the point of no return, his heart hammering away in his chest. He fell for what seemed to be an eternity before an invisible force seized hold of him and his fall was drastically slowed. He laughed on the stone floor of the cave, hard. He rolled several times before he managed to right himself into a sitting position. In the pool, Ondina had her hand extended towards him. Her Moon Ring glowed a bright blue as her power surged through the stone, but as Marcus watched the glow faded back into the depths of the gem.
"What are you doing?" Ondina demanded, her fury almost giving Marcus pause.
Marcus rubbed the back of his neck painfully, rolling his shoulders. He had landed somewhat painfully, and he was certain that he would have bruising up and down his neck and back in the morning. But it was worth it. Ondina's fury was evident in her voice and expression which, to Marcus, meant that her emotions were temporarily displayed for all to see.
"Well, I was falling. I am now sitting in a cave talking to a mermaid who just caught me with her powers." He frowned and pursed his lips. "I swear that sounded a lot less crazy in my head."
"Why are you here?" Ondina muttered, moving to the other side of the Moon Pool and placing her arms against the stone. Her back pressed against the stone as she stared down the unwelcome intruder.
"I came to talk to you." Marcus said honestly, scooting dangerously close to the water's edge and crossing his legs. He rested his arms on his knees and leaned forward. "So talk."
"Talk about what?" Ondina asked suspiciously, her anger fading in her voice.
"Just talk." Marcus said easily. "I'm not really picky about what. You can tell me how much you dislike me, you can talk about how lonely you are by yourself here, if you want to you can tell me all about your childhood. I'm going to listen."
"I don't want to talk to you." Ondina told him.
"Well then," Marcus said, heaving a theatrical sigh. "Because I'm not leaving until you talk to me. Actually…" Marcus only then realized that, in his haste to get down to the bottom of the Moon Pool, he had left the rope he usually used to get down here coiled up on top of the cliff.
"You can't leave, can you?" Ondina asked dryly. "Not without going out through the Moon Pool."
"Well, I have rope up there." He gestured vaguely to the top of the cave with one hand. "But until you decide to use your powers to get it for me then no, I have no way to get out of here. You are, in effect, stuck with me." He beamed at the blonde mermaid.
"What are you doing here?" Ondina asked again, the anger now almost completely gone from her voice. It had been replaced with the lifeless voice she had been using almost since he had met her.
"Well, bothering you for a start." Marcus said honestly. He had no intention of letting the anger fade from her. Anger was a very effective key that he could use to unlock the rest of her emotions that she had bottled up inside. It just so happened that making people angry was something of a specialty for Marcus. "And waiting for you to talk to me."
"I don't want to talk to you." Ondina repeated dully.
Marcus steeled himself mentally for what was about to happen, for what he was about to say. Oh man, He thought miserably. I really wish I could think of another way. He forced a cold, amused grin to stretch across his face and he fell back on his elbows. He regarded her for a long time like that, stretched out next to the pool. Eventually Ondina was forced to take notice as he continued to smile at her, clearly amused. "What are you smiling at?" She demanded, her anger flaring again.
"Nothing." Marcus said easily. "I was just thinking that maybe you'd like to talk to Erik. I mean, that worked out so well for you last time, right?"
The color disappeared from Ondina's face, her eyes widening in shock at what Marcus had just said to her. For his part, Marcus raised a single eyebrow and chuckled softly. It wasn't a happy chuckle, or even a sad one. It was a lifeless, emotionless laugh that he had to dredge up from the very bottom of his soul. But it did the job. Ondina was screaming at him before he even heard her first words.
Very much enjoyed writing this chapter. Also looking forward to writing the next one. As always, your reviews mean the world to me. I notice a lot of Marcus x Ondina love in the reviews as well. Interesting... -Hallowed