Chapter 12 Welcome to Florence
Author's note; Celina and Sean come to Florence; Irene discovers Ava in Florence.
Trish and Kelsey were over at Irene's house, they were sitting at the table and Irene brought them drinks. Irene used her ice powers to make the drinks cold.
"You're really good with your ice powers Irene" said Trish admiringly.
"I know," said Irene proudly. "When I was in the oceanic realm, I met this male mermaid named Sean. He had a bad boy personality, but was still very sweet."
"You must really miss him" Kelsey pointed out.
Irene looked down to the ground.
The three girls went on a walk by the beach. Both Trish and Kelsey could see Irene looking at the water every few steps as if she were expecting to see Sean.
Just then they saw a light in the water.
"What's that?" asked Trish.
When the light in the water cleared, they saw a mermaid and a male mermaid surfacing in the water.
"Sean, Celina!" cried Irene happily.
Irene ran into the water, not caring that she'd transform for touching the water. She and Sean hugged.
"What are you doing in Florence?" asked Irene.
"King Phillip told my parents that Ava's been located in Oregon," explained Celina. "So, dad sent us here to help capture her."
Irene looked surprised to hear that Ava was in Florence. But her worried look quickly faded as she was happy to see Sean again.
"I'm glad you volunteered to come," she said happily. "I wanted to see you again."
"I wanted to see you too" replied Sean.
Trish and Kelsey looked at each other as Irene, Sean and Celina swum closer to the shore.
"These are my friends Trish Callahan and Kelsey Tear," Irene introduced. Trish and Kelsey waved hello to Sean. "Guys, this is Sean, the mermaid I told you about."
"Irene's told me about you two," said Sean.
"Pleased to finally meet you" replied Kelsey.
"How are you going to find Ava?" asked Trish. "You don't have legs like Irene and I do."
"We will with this," said Celina. She held up a moon ring. "Lacey gave it to me to help us in the human world."
"Just like when Mrs. Wellington came on land" exclaimed Trish.
"We'll be right back," said Irene.
After getting Irene dried off, the girls went back to Irene's house. Irene called Annie to let her know that Celina and Sean had come to Florence. When they returned to the beach, Irene carried some clothes and set them down on the ground.
"You can have some of my clothes Celina," said Irene. "And Annie and her boyfriend Parker will be here soon with some clothes for you Sean."
A couple minutes later Annie and Parker ran in, Parker carried some of his clothes for Sean.
"Parker," said Annie. "This is princess Celina, princess of the mermaids. Celina this is my boyfriend, Parker Gaxiola."
Parker bowed at the princess and Celina returned it.
Celina and Sean crawled on to the beach and Celina handed Irene her moon ring.
"Irene," ordered Celina. "You put on the ring and hold it out in front of us. Sean and I concentrate on human legs and it will transform our tails into legs."
Irene put the ring on her finger and held it out in front of Celina and Sean. The ring glowed and Sean and Celina felt a tingly feeling. They looked back to see their tails had turned into legs.
Irene held Celina an ice blue sleeveless top, a hot pink sweater and a pair of black pants. Parker had given Sean some of his clothes. It was a black shirt and denim jeans.
"You two can come and stay at my house," said Irene. "It's a five-bedroom house, so I'm sure my mom will let you stay."
"That would be lovely," said Sean.
Sean took a step forward. He looked like he was limping, but he was eventually walking. Celina also tried walking, she also started to get the hang of walking. The gang was glad that these mermaids were fast learners in walking.
Irene was able to take Celina and Sean back to her house. As soon as they walked inside, it was a wonderous sight. They looked around at the ivory walls of the living room.
"It's beautiful Irene," said Sean.
"Thanks," said Irene proudly. "By the way Sean what about the rest of the Shadow pod? Won't you miss them?"
"Don't worry," assured Sean. "They supported me to go see you, and Caterina said she'd lead till I got back. Besides I couldn't let you face Ava alone."
"Irene" called a voice.
They looked up to see Lydia coming downstairs.
"I'm heading off to work…" she said. And then she noticed Celina and Sean. "Who are they?" she asked.
"Mom," said Irene. "This is princess Celina and Sean."
Lydia stared in surprise for a minute but then bowed down at the princess. Celina returned the bow respectfully.
"What are you doing here your highness?" she asked.
"We were informed that a sidhe is here in Florence Mrs. Frost," explained Celina. "My father sent us to help capture it. Your daughter said we could stay here."
Lydia nodded in grave understandingly.
"Of course, you may stay in Florence" she said.
As she headed out the door, she looked back at Sean.
"My late husband warned me about your pod," she said frowning. "That your pod is rebellious to the rules. If you cause any trouble around my house don't think I'll hesitate to inform the king about it."
Lydia then walked out the door.
"Sorry about that," said Irene. "She's normally very nice."
"It's okay," assured Sean humorously. "The shadow pod is known for being rebellious. We don't really have the best reputation."
"Come on," said Irene. "Would you guys like a snack?"
Sean and Celina nodded and followed Irene into the kitchen. Irene pulled out a bag of chocolate chip cookies and handed one to each of them.
Celina ate the cookie with interest, but when Sean took a bite out of his, he spited it out in disgust shocking the girls.
"Sorry," apologized Sean. "It tasted like sand."
Irene remembered that most mermaids from the ocean couldn't eat human food and that it tasted like sand. She reached into the fridge and pulled out a can of tuna. Then she grabbed a knife and spread it on a slice of bread.
Sean took the tuna on bread and ate it.
"This is much better," said Sean.
Irene showed Sean around the house.
"This is my room," said Irene.
Sean looked around the room.
"It looks nice Irene" he said.
Irene showed Sean a picture of Irene and her parents when she was a baby. Her blond hair was shorter and wore hot pink pajamas. Her father had short light brown hair and blue eyes.
"This is my father," said Irene. "He died when I was five. This is one of the few pictures of us as a family."
"You look so beautiful Irene," said Sean. "What was your father like?"
"Mom said he was excited to be a dad," Irene sighed happily. "He always played with me when I was a baby."
"I remember my dad was one of the best members in the shadow pod," said Sean sympathetically, putting an arm around Irene. "I learned all my powers from him. He was wild and rebellious. The pod admired him."
That night Lydia cooked lobster rolls.
"You know," said Irene to Sean humorously. "I can't believe I didn't realize my parents were mermaids."
"Really?" laughed Sean.
"Yeah," said Irene. "I've seen them cooking seafood a lot, so I can't believe I didn't see the signs that they were mermaids!" causing the two to laugh. Celina overheard their conversation and chuckled along.
Sean took a bite out of his lobster roll. He was amazed by the taste. "These lobster rolls are delicious" he declared.
"Lobster rolls are my favourite," said Irene. "You should've seen my dad cook. He was great. He owned a gourmet seafood restaurant."
"That sounds amazing" said Sean between bites. Although it had human food, the lobster made it taste edible for him.
Lydia noticed Sean and Irene holding hands under the table. She didn't trust Sean with her daughter. But she didn't say anything.
…
Trish was working in her mother's boutique after school the next day. When Irene and Sean came in.
"Hey Trish," said Irene. "I've been showing Sean around Florence."
"Where's Celina?" asked Trish.
"She's with Annie and Rachel" replied Irene. Just then she looked ahead to the back of the store to see a familiar person helping a costumer pick out a dress.
"That's Ava!" cried Irene softly.
Trish's eyes opened wide in surprise.
"Are you sure that's the same Ava?" she asked.
"Yes," whispered Irene. "Why is she here?!"
"My mom hired her," explained Trish. "She said she was looking for a job, I didn't know realize it was the same Ava you met in the oceanic realm."
"What are we going to do?" asked Sean worriedly. "We can't fight her here with all these people around."
"I'll call Annie," sighed Irene reaching into her purse for her cellphone.
Annie, Rachel and Celina were over at Annie's house when Annie's cellphone rang. Annie picked it up and answered.
"Hello" said Annie.
"Annie," said Irene. "Sean and I are at Callahan's boutique. We found Ava."
"Okay," said Annie. "We'll be right there."
"That was Irene," said Annie. "Ava's at Trish's mom's boutique."
"Let's go," said Rachel.
Irene, Trish and Sean hid behind the racks of clothes as Ava worked. They that if she saw them, they'd be in trouble.
"I can't believe I didn't realize Ava was the same sidhe that you've been after," said Trish nervously. "She always looks at me with interest. Like she knows something about me."
"She probably senses magic on you," Sean guessed. "That's how she probably found you and why she wanted a job in your mom's store so she could get close to you."
"Ava," called Mrs. Callahan coming out of the back room. "Can you get some sequins out of the store room for me?"
"Yes Hillary," said Ava in a cheery voice. She then walked into the store room.
The mermaids felt relieved when Ava walked into the room and quickly ran outside just as Annie, Rachel and Celina arrived.
"Is she here?" asked Rachel.
"Yes," said Trish. "She's in the store room."
"What are we going to do?" asked Celina.
"We'll just have to wait for Ava to leave," said Annie.
The others nodded in agreement. The gang went back to Irene's house. Trish and Kelsey had asked their parents if they could have a sleepover with Irene and they said yes. Annie, Rachel and Parker came over too.
The sun was setting when Trish looked at the clock. It was almost closing time at her mom's boutique. So, they headed back.
When they got back to the boutique, they saw Mrs. Callahan and Ava talking for a minute and then Mrs. Callahan got in her family's Lexus and drove off.
Ava waited till the car was out of sight and started walking off.
The gang followed her into the wooded area outside of town. They decided to confront her.
"Ava!" called Annie.
Ava turned around to see the group.
"So, you figured out I was here in Florence," said Ava cunningly. "Well no matter, once I've taken down you lot, the humans will be next." She looked at Trish. "I don't understand how I could sense magic on you but I couldn't sense it on the rest of your family."
"Because I wasn't born a mermaid," declared Trish. "I became a mermaid when I fell into the moonpool on a full moon."
Ava looked surprised, but quickly dropped it.
"It's over Ava," snapped Celina. "You're going to be locked up for good!"
Annie and Rachel stepped forward and combined their heat powers together to make two balls of fire into one ball and threw it towards Ava. It hit Ava sending her flying to the ground.
Parker took out his sword and charged forward. But Ava swung her hand and Parker flew to the side.
Trish and Celina helped Parker up and Sean stepped in.
Ava unleashed lightning bolts, but Sean unleashed his own. Annie noticed a car was heading along the road towards the town sign. But Sean didn't notice and redirected the lightning and it struck the car.
The car swerved and went out of control.
"Sean, look out!" cried Irene.
Ava transformed into sidhe form and flew away Sean attempted to dodge the car as it swerved off the road, but got bumped in the waist by a headlight and the car crashed into the sign.
Irene and Trish checked on Sean, while Annie, Rachel and Parker went to check on the car. Kelsey grabbed her cellphone and called for an ambulance.
Inside the car was a man. He looked between his late thirties and early forties. He had short dark hair and wore a grey t-shirt, a bottle green sweater and grey pants. He was unconscious.