"So what exactly is this supposed to do?" Marcus inquired. He was in Rita's kitchen along with Zach assisting her in mixing some sort of potion that Rita claimed would be of some benefit. "Will it cure them?"
"No, the only way for this cure to be fixed is to let it run its course." Rita told him regretfully. "But this should at least lessen some of their symptoms."
"Like their habit of freezing people when they sneeze?" Marcus asked, grinding some sort of plant in a stone bowl.
"No, it isn't wise to do anything involving their magic." Rita said, taking the ground up plant from Marcus and emptying it into a bowl that contained some sort of green liquid. At the addition of the plant the potion began to smoke slightly and Marcus immediately took a step back. Rita saw his hasty retreat and smiled at him encouragingly. "Don't worry, this is how it should be."
Zach was busily pulling food out of Rita's refrigerator and setting it into a large basket. When the basket reached dangerously full levels Zach closed the fridge door and gathered the container in his arms. "Want some help?" Marcus offered.
"No, I got it." Zach told him.
Marcus frowned and raised his hand. He concentrated on the basket and grinned triumphantly when it rose out of Zach's hands. It floated in the air right in front of Zach's surprised face, bobbing gently up and down. "That wasn't as hard as I thought it was." Marcus admitted, raising and lowering the basket with magic. "This magic thing is handy."
"And should only be used in situations that require it." Rita told him firmly, pushing the basket back into Zach's arms. "It should not be used to simply make things easier."
"I feel like that defeats the purpose." Marcus said. "But I see where you are coming from. No magic for fun, check."
They returned back to the snow-filled sanctuary to find that the girls had grown tails. A light flurry of snow descended from above them, and Marcus guessed that was the reason for their transformation. "You know, this whole transforming when you touch water thing is really inconvenient." He laughed.
"You have no idea." Zach and Evie said simultaneously. They caught themselves and grinned at one another.
"Oh brother." Marcus rolled his eyes at the couple and took a seat on the steps. Rita waved her hand and sent the snow swirling away from her as she distributed the smoking potion to the girls. A spare snowflake must have landed on Zach as he suddenly found himself with a tail. "And then there were two." Marcus chuckled, referencing himself and Rita being the only ones who had yet to grow a tail.
"Not going to come over here?" Ondina asked Marcus. She had her arms crossed tightly against her chest and was evidently not enjoying the cold snow at all.
"For what?" Marcus wondered, thoroughly comfortable where he sat.
"To keep us company." Evie offered quickly, sensing an argument about to break forth.
"I can do that right here." Marcus told her. "And it's warm over here."
"Come over here and warm me up." Ondina commanded. She blushed slightly and hastily added, "Just so you can be useful."
"I'll get you a blanket." Marcus told her. He stood up and made to go up the stairs when some sort of sixth sense told him to turn around. His head whirled around just in time to see a large amount of snow making a beeline for him. He brought up his hands instinctively and cut a swath through the frozen water. He straightened once the snow had passed him by and smiled arrogantly. "I have magic too." H reminded a very annoyed Ondina.
"Is that how you want to play it?" She challenged.
"Yes." Marcus rose to the challenge immediately. "Absolutely."
"Would you two make up your minds?" Mimi asked exasperatedly. "Seriously. Either decide that you like each other or hate each other. All this back and forth is giving me a headache."
"You told me to annoy Ondina." Marcus reminded her. "You asked for this."
"That was to get you to come to the lesson." Evie pointed out.
"The agreement stands." Marcus declared. "Besides, she starts it."
"And finishes it." Ondina added.
"Well that's just blatantly untrue." Marcus shot back. "I win most of the time."
"I let you think you win." Ondina countered.
"That's enough you two." Rita clapped her hands loudly to bring attention to herself. "Since everyone is here, we might as well have a lesson. Marcus, come join the others."
Grumbling to himself, he hopped over the stone couch and took his seat next to Ondina. In less than a minute the falling snow had brought out his silver tail. Marcus glanced back from his tail to Zach's several times with mild interest. The others seemed to be doing the same thing. Rita was standing just far enough away to be out of the range of the snow that continued to fall in the room. Marcus shivered and immediately heated his arms to the hottest they would go. Ondina immediately seized one and held it across her chest, hugging it for warmth. Marcus hunched his shoulders and scowled at the theft of his limb but he maintained the heat in the arm Ondina had borrowed.
"Zach, do you remember your first full moon as a merman?" Rita asked, presumably starting the lesson.
"Sort of, not really." Zach admitted. "I was kind of out of it. I mean, I remember Serena, Lyla, and Nixie keeping an eye on me but not much more after that."
Speaking of which, where did those two get off to? Marcus wondered. I didn't get to tell them the trip was cancelled.
"The full moon is a thing of great power, especially on Mako." Rita was saying. She fixed Marcus in her sight. "We need to prepare for this upcoming full moon. I'm not sure how you will be affected, or what will happen. Zach has acclimated to the full moon now, but he was born a merman. Evie is a mermaid. The full moon affects us differently than it does mermen. Marcus, there is no telling how the full moon will affect you or what changes your presence may bring."
"So I'll just stay inside." Marcus said, shrugging. "It won't be that hard. I'll go to bed early."
"It's not that easy mate." Zach said. "The moon calls you to Mako. You can't resist it. Trust me I tried."
"So, what? You want to chain me up?" Marcus asked, hoping that they wouldn't.
"No, but I want you down here for the night of the full moon." Rita told him. "Along with everyone down here right now. We need to be prepared for whatever this may bring."