The hours seemed to drag on, and Lewis, Zane, and Will became increasingly more frustrated as the day continued. The girls obeyed every word that Zane said, no matter how silly it was. The three boys sat in a row on the couch, watching the three girls with unamused expressions.
"Tell Rikki to walk on her hands." Will said, bored.
"Rikki walk on your hands." Zane's tone was just as bored as Will's.
Wordlessly, Rikki flipped over into a handstand. Well, tried to flip into a handstand. She tried several times, but was unsuccessful with every attempt.
"Ok, Zane, tell her to stop." Lewis said in a monotone voice. "We don't want her to hurt herself."
"Rikki stop." Zane said unenthusiastically.
Rikki stopped immediately and took a seat on the armchair.
The boys sighed collectively. Cleo and Bella were sitting on the floor, absently staring out the window. All three of the mermaids obeyed every word Zane said.
Lewis leaned forward, his face buried in his hands. He knew there was something up with that new blue stone. He should have put it somewhere where no one could get ahold of it. But what in the world was going on now? Lewis checked his watch. It was only just 8am, still really early. Lewis stifled a yawn as he stretched his arms over his head.
"What now?" Zane asked.
"Be careful what you say, Zane." Lewis answered quickly. "This could be a very dangerous thing."
"What could be a dangerous thing?" A voice asked sleepily.
All three boys' heads shot toward the sound. Cleo blinked back at them blankly, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"Cleo?" Lewis stood and walked over to her quickly.
"Yes?" Cleo waited for him to speak. "Lewis?"
Lewis looked at his fiance closely. The odd moonstruck look had faded from her eyes. "Zane quick, tell her to do something. Something easy."
"Uh, Cleo..." Zane thought for a second. "Stand up and do 10 jumping jacks."
Cleo stood, and each of the boys drew their breath in sharply. But Cleo simply walked into the kitchen. "Do them yourself." She called behind her as she pulled open the refrigerator.
Lewis, Will, and Zane's eyes flew open excitedly. "Yes!" They shouted.
"What are you three going on about?" A tired Bella stood up from her place on the floor. She looked around herself, quickly becoming confused. "Will? What are we doing here?"
"Bella..." Will wrapped her in a tight hug.
"When did you two get here?" Rikki stood and quickly located Zane. "What is going on?"
"It wore off. It wore off!" Lewis pulled Cleo in for a bone-crushing hug.
"What wore off?" Cleo said, slightly louder.
"Ok." Lewis went immediately into scientist mode. "Everyone have a seat."
The group obeyed. Will and Zane held tightly onto their girlfriends. Zane's heart was beating super fast. If everything from the full moon had worn off then that hadn't been such a bad night.
"Talk, Lewis." Rikki said insistently.
Lewis nodded several times before he opened his mouth. "Last night Zane's new blue stone touched the blue stone in Rikki's necklace." He spoke quickly. "And right when it did, the room went all blue, you know, the way it does when your necklaces touch. Everyone was moonstruck for a bit, and then when you all came to you were... well... you were obeying Zane."
"Huh?" Rikki said skeptically. "We did what?"
"You did everything he told you to." Will chimed in.
"Whoa whoa whoa." Cleo stood. "Meaning what exactly."
"Nothing bad!" Lewis comforted her quickly. "Just little things."
"So... Zane would say to do something and we just did it? Automatically?" Bella asked skeptically.
"Like zombies." Zane muttered.
"Ew." Cleo sank back down onto the couch.
"Test it again." Lewis said to Zane excitedly. "Tell them to do something else."
All three girls crossed their arms over their chests.
"Rikki, make me a coffee." Zane said, a teasing grin on his face.
"Heck no, make your own darn coffee." Rikki teased back.
"She's definitely back." Zane said with a smile, pulling Rikki's face to his for a kiss. He hadn't liked the obedient, moon struck Rikki from last night. He liked the spunky, independent blonde he had fallen in love with years ago.
"Ok. Whatever happened last night seems to have worn off." Lewis spoke up. "However," He looked to Zane. "You should still be careful about what you say to the girls, just in case."
"I'm not going to tell them to jump off a bridge or anything, stop worrying." Zane said smartly.
"No, it's not just that kind of thing." Will realized. "What if you ask them to go somewhere for you and it starts raining before they get there? They'd keep obeying you and end up exposed. Or what if you tell them off offhandedly to try something and it hurts them or isn't good for them." Will paced, deep in thought. "Zane, even an innocent comment could seriously hurt them. You've got to be careful."
"Then it's a good thing I know how to control myself, isn't it?" Zane stood and faced Will nose to nose.
"Hey guys, cool it." Bella stood and pushed the two boys gently apart. "All that matters is that whatever happened last night seems to be over with. Let's just get on with our day."
Will stepped back reluctantly. He hoped Zane realized how bad things could get if the girls really did start obeying everything he said again. The slightest slip of the tongue could get the girls into a lot of trouble.
"Bella's right." Rikki agreed. "It's over now, let's just carry on."
"Ok," Lewis conceded, "But I may run some tests later today."
"Tests?" Cleo chuckled. "What kind of tests are you going to run on us, Lewis?"
"I'm... going to..." Lewis didn't really know. "Run tests. Don't worry about it."
"Ok." Zane checked his watch. "Well you guys can do whatever you want, but I have a cafe that needs opening."
"That's my cue as well." Rikki stood to follow him. She turned back to the group momentarily. "And I'm following him because we're working the same shifts. Not because I'm under a moon spell." She followed Zane through the front door. It clicked shut behind them.
Only a few seconds of silence echoed through the room before Bella spoke up. She had a puzzled expression on her face, her brows knitted tightly together. "Lewis," She began. "I get that we obeyed Zane, but how did that affect me?" She looked to Will. "We weren't even in the same house? We were streets away."
"Yeah, you were." Lewis thought hard to the night before. "Zane had said something that you were answering to." Lewis racked his brain. "He said..." His eyes lit up. "I've got it. He said that he really needed everyone to be ok. And then 5 minutes later you showed up at the door babbling about how you were doing just fine."
"But I didn't hear him, did I?" Bella asked.
"No, you didn't." Lewis shook his head. "You just showed up at the door. Will was running to keep up."
"And we're certain it's over, right?" Will took Bella's hand in his.
"It sure seems that way." Lewis shrugged. "The girls are acting normal again, it must have worn away."
"Great." Cleo stood. "Lewis, we really need to go ahead and get ready, we're supposed to be looking at wedding locations with Sam today."
"Right." Lewis said unenthusiastically. He knew exactly where he wanted to get married to Cleo, and she agreed with him. However, Cleo felt like she owed it to Sam to let her take them out location hunting. All Lewis wanted was a tiny ceremony out on Mako Island in the moon pool. Cleo had reservations about having the ceremony out there, in their secret cave, but she agreed that it would be somewhat fitting to get married in a place that had such significance for them.
"I told her we'd be ready to go at 9:30, we'd better hurry." Cleo began to gather her things quickly.
"Right behind you." Lewis hurried upstairs to change clothes.
Bella and Will found themselves alone sitting on the couch. "I'd better get going too." Bella stood, smoothing her sundress. "Since we got into the competition we've got a whole lot of work to do. The band is going to have to practice daily now."
"That's right." Will had forgotten all about the auditions yesterday. "You guys must be really excited."
"Oh we are." Bella said enthusiastically. "We have a lot of ideas. Well, I have a lot of ideas." She looked around. "Did I bring anything over here with me? My bag?"
"Not a thing." Will shrugged. "Do you need to get to band practice? I can run home and bring your things by the cafe right quick."
"Would you?"Bella asked appreciatively. "That would really be a huge help. I wanted to practice a few things before the rest of the group arrives."
"Not a problem." Will said warmly. "Go ahead, I'll be down there in just a bit."
Bella hurried out the door. Will could still hear Cleo and Lewis upstairs getting ready, but for the moment he was alone in the room. Will sat back on the couch. He didn't want to just take off, he figured he'd wait and leave when Lewis and Cleo did. He sat down heavily on the couch and leaned back, his hands resting on the back of his head. He leaned back into the couch, trying not to get to sleepy. It had been an awfully long night. His head rolled to one side.
Something blue and glimmering in the corner of the room caught his eye. It was the new stone. The one that had caused so much trouble last night.
Will stood automatically and walked over to the stone. He picked it up in one hand and examined it closely. It looked harmless now. Will peered up the staircase quickly, making sure no one was coming. Then he quickly slipped the stone into his pocket an slipped out the front door and back towards his boat shed. He didn't want Lewis to test anything else, it was too easy for something to go wrong. Will felt guilty for stealing the stone, but he cared too much for Bella's safety to worry about it for long.
Lewis and Cleo cluttered down the steps a few minutes later. They carried all of the wedding planning materials am had procured for them. The kit consisted of a never ending number of pictures, brochures, maps, menus, and color palates. Lewis set the heavy bag on the counter and began to lace up his shoes so they could go.
"You know," Lewis said as he tied. "Most people plan their weddings according to what they want."
"True." Cleo agreed. "But most couples plan their weddings together. You've been so busy studying the moon pool you've hardly been around."
"Fair enough." Lewis nodded.
Cleo put one arm around Lewis's shoulders. "I'm not fussing." She said gently. "But I'd kinda hoped you'd be getting tired of the experiments by now. And now we have a whole new thing to take your time away from me." She pecked him quickly on the lips before continuing. "Don't get too carried away, k?"
"I promise." Lewis said with a smile. "At least, I promise to try." He said, not as confidently as Cleo would have liked.
"Fair enough." Cleo echoed his earlier words. A car honked outside. "That's Sam!"
Lewis pulled the heavy bag back into his arms. He mentally resolved to become a bigger voice in the wedding plans. All he wanted was a small ceremony with their closest friends and family. From what he'd heard, Sam was planning the next royal wedding. Lewis tried to focus completely on the wedding, but the blue stone stayed present in the back of his mind.
The day passed uneventfully. Rikki and Zane worked hard in the cafe all day. Bella was there most of the day, but the band had eventually ended rehearsal around 5.
"Is that everything?" Rikki looked around the small eatery. The chairs had all been put up, the floor had been mopped, the register had been balanced, and she and Zane had that tired, end of the day feeling.
"I think so." Zane heard the clock chime behind the bar. It was midnight already. "I can't believe we've been here all day. We may need to hire some new help."
"May?" Rikki laughed wearily. "Zane, we worked morning to night. Actually, morning to morning. We definitely need to hire some help."
"I just need to lock up the office." Zane squeezed Rikki's hand briefly before heading back towards the office. "Then we can stop and get something to eat."
"What do you want to stop for?" Rikki called from the front entrance.
"I want you to get whatever you want." Zane called back as he locked the office door behind him.
"Ok." Rikki said simply.
Zane fiddled with the keys, locating the one that locked the front door. "What did you have in mind?" He asked as he walked.
There was no answer. Zane stopped walking and looked up sharply. "Rikki?"
She was gone. The front door hung open, swaying in the breeze.