Chapter 3

Author's note; Summary: Trish struggles with being a mermaid while Mrs. Wellington makes discoveries about the oceanic world; Annie and Irene discover a new enemy.

The Callahan family's Lexus drove along the road to Buchanan high, Trish slouched in her seat as her mother drove.

Mrs. Callahan didn't pay much attention to her oldest daughter's silence. She pulled into the school parking lot and Trish and Elaine got out.

"Is something wrong?" asked Elaine noticing her sister's troubled look.

"No," said Trish. "I'm fine."

Elaine saw her friend Jill and went up to her. The two girls then walked away leaving Trish behind.

"Hey Trish," called Parker's voice.

Trish turned around to see him and Rachel arriving.

"Hi" said Trish quietly. She saw Alex's Chevy pulling into the parking lot and Alex climbing out.

"What's Mr. Yesconis going to tell the principal about Annie?" asked Trish.

"He said he'll tell everyone that Annie's in Alberta with her mother for a while," replied Rachel. "What about Irene?"

"Mrs. Frost said that Irene is getting an operation and will be off for a while" replied Trish.

Rachel and Parker went inside to go talk to Mrs. Wellington before class. They found her and Haru in her office.

"Did you find out anything about the portal that Annie and Irene fell into?" asked Parker.

"We've looked in the book," explained Haru. "And the portal that Annie and Irene got sucked in opens up during the full moon."

"So, you mean we won't be able to get them back until the next full moon?!" cried Parker.

"We're not really sure Parker," said Mrs. Wellington trying to calm him down. "But the portal's strongest is when the moon is full, so it'll be hard to get it open again."

"Magical creatures can travel between both worlds," said Haru. "But there are many ways for them too."

Rachel and Parker stared at each other in surprise.

"Don't worry," said Mrs. Wellington. "We'll get Annie and Irene back. But it'll take a while to figure out how to get the portal open again."

…

Trish sat with Kelsey and the other girls in the drama club in cafeteria that afternoon. When the drama teacher had told the others that Irene was absent indefinitely, Kelsey volunteered to take her place as president of the drama club until Irene returned.

Trish was happy that Kelsey had got the position, she knew Irene would want them to run the drama club if she wasn't at school. Irene was the queen of Buchanan high, so she wasn't gonna lose her place. Kelsey was the second in command, so she would take the lead when Irene wasn't around.

As Kelsey and the other girls were talking, Trish looked ahead to see Rachel talking with Toni, Amelia, Jasmine and Muffy.

"Where's Annie?" asked Toni. "She wasn't in Geography today, and that's not like her."

"Her dad sent her to stay with her mother in Alberta" replied Rachel.

"For how long?" asked Amelia.

"Indefinitely" said Rachel.

"Why?" asked Jasmine.

"He probably thought that she needed to spend some time with her mother for a while" shrugged Rachel, acting like everything was normal.

After lunch, Trish went to science class. She was the first to arrive, Mr. Pleshette the science teacher wasn't there and none of the other students in her class were either.

Trish walked up to the counter, there were some beakers on the counter filled with liquids in different colors.

Trish set her hand down on the counter and suddenly, a beaker with blue liquid started to shake. Trish reached out to grab it, and the beaker started to tip over. Trish held out her hand, and the liquid turned to the gelatin substance she had seen Annie use before.

Trish gasped and stepped back, she didn't see her hand placing on a beaker with a red liquid and it turned into crystal.

Trish looked down at what she did and lifted her hand up quickly. When she did, she saw the liquids in the other beakers turn into crystal.

Suddenly the bell rang, Trish quickly grabbed a cloth and wiped up the substance and quickly took her seat, just as the others came in.

Mr. Pleshette stepped out of the storeroom and said hello to everyone. He was just starting the lesson when he noticed the beakers and saw the crystals. It didn't take long for the others in class to notice them too.

"What is that?" asked a girl in a lavender t-shirt sitting behind Trish.

"It looks like crystal" replied Mr. Pleshette looking at the beaker.

Trish sunk in her chair.

"I'm not sure where it came from," said Mr. Pleshette unsurely. "But our new topic will be about crystals." He passed out textbooks about geology.

As the class spent the period reading about crystals and studying the crystals, Trish stayed silent.

…

Celina showed Annie and Irene the ocean kingdom. It didn't look much different then the oceans back home, but it was still beautiful. The two had watched Celina and her sisters having a singing lesson with their governess that morning and when their lesson was over, she decided to take them around the ocean.

"This is the golden deeps," said Celina taking them towards a trench. "It's the deepest part of the ocean, but it's still light."

Annie and Irene looked down; they could see what Celina was talking about. The trench looked like it went down for miles, yet it didn't seem to get darker.

"There is the ruined castle on the other side," went on Celina. "It was said to be the castle of sidhes, until it sunk."

Celina led the girls over the golden deeps and there they saw a ruin castle.

Annie swum closer to the door and started to push it open.

"Annie what are you doing?" said Irene. "I don't think we're supposed to go in there."

"Come on Irene," said Celina sounding excited for adventure. "There could be something inside to help you two get home."

"Princesses shouldn't be going into old ruins" declared Irene indignantly.

"She's sounding like my governess," Celina whispered into Annie's ear. "She favours Lacey and Anemone because they're princess like."

Annie held back her giggles at Celina's comment. She then watched Celina push the door open. The door creaked as it opened, and Annie and Celina stared into the darkness inside. Taking a deep breath, they swum inside.

Irene looked back for a second and then swum in after them.

Inside, the hallway was dark and there were pillars that had fallen over and thin traces of light shone inside through the walls.

"We shouldn't be in here," said Irene worriedly. "It could be dangerous."

Annie and Celina didn't pay attention, they just kept swimming.

Celina then came to a stop. There standing in the hall was a beautiful woman, she wasn't a mermaid though, she had legs instead of a tail. She had curly auburn hair and wore a puffy, creamy yellow dress.

Annie and Irene starred in amazement by the lady's beauty, but Celina had a look of shock on her face.

"Who are you?" asked Annie.

"Is she a sea witch?" asked Irene. "She doesn't have the appearance of a sea witch, they usually have oceanic styles in their clothing."

"That's Ava," said Celina. "She's a sidhe, she was once part of dad's council when she betrayed the oceanic realm."

"I've been hiding out in this castle for eight years," said Ava. "And I know you mermaids are trying to get back your world. I've been trying to escape this world, so I can rule all the realms."

"My parents welcomed you into our court when you left Avalon," said Celina. "And you betrayed the mermaids by trying to become queen of the ocean!"

"I hate those mere mortals," said Ava cunningly. "If all the magic worlds unite together, we can overthrow the humans and rule the world."

"That's not going to happen," said Annie. "Irene and I will get back to our world and you won't be welcome in Florence!"

Ava raised her hands in the air and she transformed, Ava shrunk smaller, she sprouted a pair of dragon fly wings and her skin turned blue. She then flew away.

"We have to tell my father!" said Celina.

The three mermaids swum back to the castle and found Marrow and Thelxiepeia.

"Your highnesses," cried Annie. "We have something to tell you!" the three mermaids quickly told the king and queen about Ava. Marrow looked very troubled when they finished.

"Is she still there?" asked the king firmly.

"No," replied Celina. "She just left."

"I'll have the guards search for her," said Marrow. "And we will put an end to her powers."

Annie and Celina looked at each other gravely.

…

When school was out, Trish walked over to Kelsey's house with Kelsey. Kelsey was a middle-class girl and lived in a nice neighborhood. Trish was looking down at the ground and not her usual cheerful and spirited self.

"What's wrong?" asked Kelsey.

"I've always been happy for Annie and Irene being mermaids," said Trish. "And I've always thought of how exciting It'd be to be a mermaid, but it's hard to have powers and trying not to touch water."

"Maybe we should go see Mrs. Wellington," suggested Kelsey sympathetically. "She knows a lot about mermaids and magic. She helped Annie when she first became a mermaid."

Trish nodded in agreement and they walked over to Mrs. Wellington's house.

Kelsey knocked on the door and Haru answered the door.

"Hello Haru," said Trish. "Is Mrs. Wellington home?"

"Yes, she is," said Haru stepping aside to let them come in. The girls walked inside where Mrs. Wellington was sitting on the couch watching tv.

"Hello Trish, Kelsey," said Mrs. Wellington with a smile. "Can I help you?"

"I wanted to ask you to help me," said Trish. "I've been having a hard time controlling my powers. I've thought it'd be exciting to be a mermaid, but it's hard hiding my powers and turning into a mermaid from my family. I don't know how you can live on the land."

"I know it's hard for humans who turn into mermaids to get used to having powers and turning into mermaids when they touch water," said Mrs. Wellington sympathetically. "All magical creatures have to hide from the humans."

"But how do you get by without getting wet?" asked Kelsey. "I haven't seen you transform or use your powers."

Mrs. Wellington was quiet for a minute.

"When I started to live on land, I used a potion," she explained. "It's called a tailless potion. It keeps merpeople from transforming when they rub it on. I put it on so I could go around without getting wet. It wasn't until the night of the sea witch's attack when I stepped into the moonpool. Jumping into the moonpool makes mermaids who use the potion regain their powers. I've come to start using my powers again ever since."

She walked upstairs and came back with a glass bottle.

"This is the tailless potion," she declared. "It will take time for you to get used to having powers, but if you feel like you're having a hard time, you can use it." She handed the bottle to Trish.

"Thank you," said Trish with a small smile.

She and Kelsey then left.

When Trish got home, she sat on her bed and looked at the potion. Taking a deep breath, she dipped her fingers in the bottle and rubbed the potion on her arms and legs.

Author's note; Trish doesn't seem to be making the best decision. Let's find out what will happen in the next chapter.