Chapter two: The timing of it all
This next chapter is to kinda add some Easter eggs for when the story progresses to the end; like a certain someone being involved here; no spoilers, all rights reserved.
It was such a nice afternoon; the setting sun made the sky and the sea such a radiant view of orange and yellow with the hints of the familiar rich reds and bright pinks. It certainly wasn't an afternoon to pass up on sitting by the shoreline, skewing away the last few drops of pure sunlight, leaving its remnants on an aspiring artist.
As Rina sketched the last bits of the clouds onto her sketch pad, she felt satisfied that near nothing could ruin this moment.
"Hey chuck, come on over, give me a hand!"
Rina looked up from her finished work to see non other than Fly and Stella, plus some other chubby boy quivering in the shallows.
"Fly, look! Auntie witch is here!" Stella didn't hesitate to run over and give Rina a hug. Like clockwork, Rina shared some of her gooey fish and showed her the drawing she made.
"Wow, that looks beautiful!"
Back at the rocky cliff, Fly finally yanked what was stuck on the other end of his line.
This caught Stella's attention and rushed over to see what it was. Rina put away her art stuff in her bag and looked over too.
"Look Auntie, a little fishy."
"It's a Hippocampus Bulgarus." The chubby boy, Chuck said blandly.
Stella huffed "No it isn't. It's a girl!"
Rina sinkered at the child's naivety.
".I'm going to call her Sasha."
"It has to go back in the water Stella!" Chuck said firmly. While he was a little harsh; Rina agreed with him.
"He's right, she needs water to live." Rina added, noticing how "Sasha" was gasping in the little girl's tight grasp.
"Here Stella, give her to me." Fly offered.
"No."
"Stella, come on." Fly said in a surprisingly firm tone (I say surprisingly because he never talks seriously or firmly.)
"She's mine!" Stella said stubbornly.
"She'll die if you don't put her back." Again, Fly said in a sympathetic tone. Rina was a little impressed by the kid's growing maturity as he handled his little sister.
Sniffling, Stella finally admitted defeat and threw "Sasha" back in the water.
"I think we better go home." Chuck said, more than ready to leave even though they were only out for a few minutes.
"Come on Stella." Fly ushered his sister to his side. Rina too decided to retreat to her home; not that anyone was really waiting for her there.
Their path was cut short by a giant wave that seemed to come out of nowhere, rising the sea so the stepping rocks disappeared into the tide.
Rina's eyes grew wide "Oh no, I forgot about-"
"The tide." Chuck finished. The waves kept coming closer, cornering the four to the rocky wall.
"Fly, Auntie, help!"
"Do-don't worry sweetly, it'll be alright." Rina said, her attention on the rising water.
"Fly, Fly what did we do?" Chuck turned to see no Fly or Stella.
"Where'd they go?" Rina darted between Chuck and the spot Fly and Stella were just at.
"Fly! Fly, come back! Fly!" Chuck called out. A wave crashed up to knee length and made Chuck punch up against the wall, causing it to swing open. Both Chuck and Rina stumbled down a set of stairs, revealing a lit up passageway.
"Hey guys, check this place out. It's unbelievable. That tunnel might get us back to shore."
"Good thinking Fly!" Rina agreed. Chuck just gave an unimpressed glare before yet again, the fours attention was focused on the tide.
"The doors still open!"
Fly helped Chuck get to his feet and the made a run for it. The current caught up, snatching them up before they could make it up to the rest of the tunnel, detouring them into a opening in the ceiling.
"Stella, are you okay?" Rina asked, helping her up.
"I'm okay auntie." Stella hugged her, a little shaken from the ordeal.
Chuck looked to Fly questioningly. He just shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to find an exit.
They came across an opening to a cave, where a makeshift boathouse came into view.
The four were silent with both awe and slight fear as they cautiously made their way along the creaky deck to the boat house. Inside, there were test tubes and fish tanks with circuits and makeshift models of marine all over the ceiling.
"It's a laboratory." Rina concluded, peering over at the mouse that was nonchalantly munching on a peice of cheese, underwater.
"Hey, look at this." Fly took off a Diploma from the wall of various fish. "Professor Mac Krill."
"A PHD in marine biology, wow." Chuck noted, his admiration for scientists showing.
"Fly, Rina, I'm thirsty."
"Sorry, I don't have anymore water with me." Rina said, pulling out her two empty glass bottles.
"This professor guy could show us the way out."
"M-maybe we should go; a brilliant scientist probably won't like to be disturbed by ordinary people like us."
"And go where? It'll only take a few seconds, where's the harm?" Rina said soundly. Chuck nodded resentfully and continued up the steps.
Fly, who wasn't really paying any attention, bumped into a Fish model.
"Check out this Fish. 'Californian Flyfish'. Hey, That's a good looking fish" Fly said, obviously referring to the fish's similarities with his own name.
In the distance, mutterings of what Rina could guess sounded like a mix of algebra and compound formulas could be heard on the other side of a particularly large fish tank.
"Fly, I'm thirsty!" Fly and Rina both shushed her for fear of getting attention.
The scientist in question looked up, at the same time, his tank suddenly stirred into a school of piranha, startling the four.
So much for that.
"Fly, whose that man?" Stella hid behind him as the man in question grunted towards them.
Their fear was short lived though as the scientist turned on the light, revealing a humble looking man. Rina could guess he must've been here alone for a while, seeing as how he bumbled and mumbled so.
"I am, oh, uh. What was- I am..eh.."
"H.O. Mac Krill. Professor." Chuck offered.
Oh welcome welcome. Welcome welcome! I am a professor too!" Mac Krill said giddily.
"You must come and see my new experiments!"
Rina and Fly looked at each other and both agreed that this professors head wasn't screwed on just right, but they really didn't mind, he seemed nice enough.
Both the professor and Chuck began to ramble on about something relative to global warming and rising sea levels, Fly and Rina weren't really paying attention to the heavy science chargan. That is, until Mac Krill spoke of a way for human to survive underwater.
"Now, let me show you how to mix, FISH POTION!"
Was he for real? What scientist calls anything a potion?
Then, if this man couldn't get anymore odd, he starts singing all the ingredients for the, ahem, potion. Rina, observant as she was, pulled out a notepad and started jotting down all the ingredients. After it was finished, Mac Krill asked the boys to help fetch his camera and a tank for him to stand in. While they were busy, Rina took this opportunity to replicate the professor's potion.
'I'll never know when I'll need it, and it'd be a good way to try to go treasure hunting without expensive scuba gear.' Rina knew better than to use it for profit, tat just wasn't how she was raised, but it didn't hurt to have her own personal stash and a recipe, right? Rina stopped in front of a tank with a tiny school of pilot fish, noticing a familiar bundle of eggs hiding beneath the seaweed.
"Start the camera, this moment must be immortalized!" Rina saw the professor in the tank, ready to sip the concoction while Fly ran the camera, wanting to see for himself if he would really turn into a fish.
"Cameras running, and action!"
"Miss, the professor's gonna perform the experiment." Chuck called out to Rina, who just finished the last ingredient for the potion. Carefully, Rina hid the tiny bottle in her bag. She didn't want the know-it-all lecturing her about anything.
"What were you doing over there?" Chuck asked suspiciously.
Rina kept her cool "I was just looking for something to drink to give Stella, see?" Rina pulled out the empty water bottle she had, making sure the other one was safely hidden behind her sketchbook.
"Finally, the time has come!" Mac Krill slowly put the drink to his lips, the boys anxiously awaiting what to expect.
Suddenly, the professor began a fit of giggles. "Stupid me, oh I almost forgot!"
The three were ushered into another room where the professor showed them the antidote for the fish potion "This potion is almost the same. But, in order to reverse the process, you just add some ground up kelp."
Kelp. Rina took a mental note for that. As he finished pouring some of the antidote into a spare bottle, the whole lab started blaring alarms and flashing red lights. As everyone was in a frenzy, Rina took her second bottle and filled it with the antidote, not noticing she emptied the whole canister before stashing her bag behind the tank of piranhas.
'He's a scientist, he can make more later, plus he's a bit on the dense side for a marine biologist.'
There it was again, that bad feeling again. What did it mean?
"Oh that's done it!" Mac Krill, having found the source of the alarm, began explaining how his fish tanks were pumped fresh seawater through various pumps directly from the ocean.
"Hey, any of you guys seen Stella?" Fly asked, looking around
"Who?"
"Uh no, not in the last six minutes." Chuck said in his usual monotone voice. You'd think he'd show a little concern for his family members.
"Stella?!"
Rina and Chuck paired up to go look for her. Chuck stumbled across the camera, pointing out that it was still running.
"Maybe it has Stella on it somewhere."
Both Chuck and Rina gasped in horror as they watched Stella turn into a Starfish! THE ONE THEY TOLD FLY TO PUT IN WATER! Chuck and Rina scrambled to stop Fly before he through Stella into the ocean.
Too late.
Now we see a little development, however subtle or unnoticeable they are. No flame pretty please!