Marcus's mind went into overdrive as he racked his brain for ways out of the situation he now found himself in. In less than a few seconds dozens of possible ways to escape the situation ran through his mind, each as unfeasible as the last.

Swim out of the cave.

Jump back into Rita's grotto and get out of the water.

Turn invisible. Explain everything later.

Turn invisible. Explain nothing later.

Try to keep my tail from- The thought was left unfinished when Ondina's lips pressed against his and he felt air flow into his lungs.

It wasn't a kiss, not really. But the simple intimacy of the action sent a shiver running down his spine. He felt the sensation of his legs preparing to transform run through his legs and he reluctantly ended the embrace. He stared at Ondina under the water, his eyes distant. She looked at him curiously at first, and then with surprise once Marcus felt his tail emerge. He smiled slightly and raised his hands apologetically. They hung in the water, staring at one another for a very long time. Ondina's eyes were conflicted, Marcus could at least tell that much. Eventually, she turned away and slowly swam out of the cave. Marcus watched her go and did his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. He waited until her bronze tail disappeared around the corner before he swam up and pulled himself out of the pool of water. He quietly dried off his tail, which curiously was still silver, and got to his feet. He felt Rita's eyes on him as he left the underground sanctuary, but he said nothing. There was nothing to say. He wasn't angry at her, not in the least. Marcus was grateful in truth. She had done what she thought was best, and he could not hold that against her no matter how much he might have wanted to.

Night had fallen outside, but Marcus barely noticed. A pit had formed in his stomach, one such as he had never felt before. He had the terrible feeling that he might have lost something that he didn't even realize he had. He breathed in the crisp night air and stared up at the sky, stumbling slightly as his feet suddenly sunk into sand. He glanced down and saw the beach stretched out before him, the sand illuminated by the moonlight. But what caught his attention was the blonde hair of Ondina far in the distance.

He blinked twice and frowned. He made his way across the beach until they were ten feet apart. "Didn't expect you to come here." Marcus admitted. "Figured you would be finding the others and telling them."

"How long?" Ondina asked, ignoring the accusation. "How long have you been a merman?"

"A little longer than a week." Marcus said honestly. "The day that I find out that you were a mermaid I found out I was a merman. About an hour later actually. Look, Ondina, I…" He searched for something to say but his brain failed to give him a reasonable explanation.

She waited for him to offer some sort of explanation, but when none were forthcoming she turned her head to stare out over the water. "Come on." She told him decisively. She didn't wait for a response, opting to trot off into the waves and dive into the surf.

She appeared several yards off shore, bobbing with the waves. Marcus took a deep breath and then charged after her, his body arcing over a wave as he dove into the water. It felt odd, deliberately exposing his tail after he had hidden it from everyone for so long. But it also felt as though a weight he had not been aware of had been lifted from his shoulders. He resurfaced much closer to Ondina than he originally intended to, but she didn't seem to particularly mind. She gestured for him to follow her and then dove beneath the water. The membrane of her tail slapped the water and showered Marcus in water, which under the circumstances he chose to let pass. He followed after her, grateful that she had chosen not to speed off and leave him to play catch-up. She was in fact just a few feet beneath the surface. When she saw that he was following she swam deeper until her belly was nearly skimming the sea floor. Marcus swam just as deep, though he was not nearly as half as graceful as she was. He tried to remember the lessons that Nixie and Lyla had given him, resisting the urge to swim using his arms. He was fairly certain that looking ridiculous while swimming, while surely comical, would not be beneficial for his position with Ondina. But she didn't look back at him. She just kept swimming across the sea floor, not even checking to see if he was still following.

I probably deserve this. Marcus reflected. Ondina stopped suddenly and turned back to Marcus. She pointed to an underwater cave and then back at herself. She waved her hand in front of her face and she disappeared. She reappeared and then pointed to Marcus. Taking the hint, he cloaked himself and followed after her when she entered the cave. The cave took them to the Moon Pool and Marcus made a mental note of where the cave was located.

When Marcus entered the cave it was empty, save for Ondina who was leaning against the stone that lined the pool. Marcus treaded water in the middle of the cave, uncertain of how to begin his explanation. Ondina saved him the trouble. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" She asked evenly.

"Because I wanted to figure this out for myself. Because I wasn't certain you would believe that I didn't mean to have this happen. And because I wanted you to trust me." Marcus slapped his palms against the water. "It's not much of an explanation, but it's the truth. When I heard what happened with Erik and the Merman Chamber and you, I didn't want to make things harder on you than they already were. That's why this whole Caribbean thing came about. I was going to tell you there because I thought it would be easier on all of you."

"You couldn't have just told us when it happened?" Ondina asked. Her voice was still neutral, but Marcus wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Look, when I first figured it out I was still kind of wary of you guys. I mean, you tried to poison me." Marcus ran a hand down the side of his face in exasperation. "Listen, Ondina, whatever you may think of me now, just know that I have always been myself around you. I-I-I haven't tried to deceive you or anything like that."

"Well, I believe him." Zach's voice came from Marcus's left.

"Me too." Mimi agreed.

"It's kind of weird not hearing him be sarcastic." Evie added.

"I guess he can be nice when he chooses to." Serena said thoughtfully.

Marcus's mouth hung open in mute shock as the four of them revealed themselves. They were on either side of Ondina, watching him with amused smiles. Ondina had dropped her façade and was now grinning at him.

Marcus's mouth snapped shut and he glared at all of them. He opened his mouth to say something to the tune of how they fooled him, but he cut he realized that this would be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. He decided to make a statement rather than an accusation. "You knew." He told them.

"Pretty much since you did." Zach admitted. "We've been taking turns keeping an eye on you."

"We were wondering when you were going to tell us." Evie told him. "We were actually talking about faking an accident and getting water on you."

"You couldn't have just told me you knew?" Marcus scowled.

"You couldn't have just told us you had a tail?" Ondina shot back.

Marcus opened his mouth, but his brain failed to supply him with a comeback. "Touché." He said lamely. "So that's why you wanted me to come to Rita's magic lessons." He realized, looking to Evie accusingly.

"No, that was just a bonus." Evie corrected. "You are actually good for Ondina."

"That's debatable." Ondina scoffed.

"So what now?" Marcus asked, glaring at Ondina.

"Well, when the pod gets back I guess we will introduce you." Serena told him. "It's best if we get that over soon. They'll want to talk to you."

"Now, see, I feel like I'm being brought home to meet the parents on that one." Marcus told them. Only Evie and Zach seemed to get his reference, the others simply gazed at him blankly.

"You'll be fine." Zach told him. "You kept the secret… sort of. Just try not to get on Veridia's bad side. She doesn't have a very high tolerance for nonsense. Or mermen."

"I'm still annoyed that you knew." Marcus fumed. "Do you realize how hard I tried to keep this a secret?"

"We tried to give you an out." Mimi told him, not at all sympathetic. "Why do you think Ondina asked you to go swimming so much?"

"My charming personality?" Marcus guessed.

Ondina chuckled. "Not hardly." She told him. "Come on, let's go back to the mainland. That is, if you can keep up with that ridiculous swimming method."

Nixie. Marcus silently cursed as the others erupted into laughter. He dove underneath the water and swam out of the Moon Pool. Ondina was waiting for him at the exit, smiling slightly. She winked at Marcus before speeding away towards the island. Marcus growled at the display of superior swimming abilities and followed after her as fast as he could. Her bubble trail was the only sign of her that he could see, so he chose to follow that. When he was finally at the mainland he dragged himself onto the shore and collapsed onto his back. He was breathing hard and his lungs, or whatever mermen had, felt like they were on fire. When he opened his eyes Ondina was staring down at him, clearly trying hard not to laugh.

Marcus sat up and set to drying off his tail. Ondina assisted him, her ring glowing bright, and in no time at all he was back on his legs. Marcus shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down at the blonde mermaid, uncertain about where things stood with them. "So-." He was about to make a snide remark about how she had played him for a fool. But she stepped forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. She had stepped back again before Marcus could react at all.

"That never happened." She told him sternly.

"Noted." Marcus answered.

"If you tell the others, I will turn you into a goldfish." She threatened.

"Can you really do that?" Marcus wondered.

"It probably won't ever happen again." She informed him.

Marcus smiled slyly at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Challenge accepted."

She grinned wickedly at him and then made a beeline for the ocean. The last he saw of her that night was a bronze tail slipping under the sea.