RINGGGGGGGGGGGG

Cleo unwillingly switched her alarm off. Contemplating for a moment on why she still sets it. She sat up, brushing the hair out her face and stretching. She sat for a moment then got up to brush her teeth.

"CLEO! GET DOWN HERE! NOW!"

"Coming dad!" She quickly spit the toothpaste out her mouth and gargled some mouthwash, then she ran downstairs to her father.

"Yeah dad? Is everything alright?"

"Kim here has been telling me that you came here late last night. 11 to be specific!"

"What? I did not!" Cleo glared at her little sister. Although she isn't entirely sure what time she came in, she kind of just took a bath and went straight to bed. Of course Kim was the one to point out the time.

"Oh, so she's lying?"

"Wha- I didn't say that!"

"Sounds like you said that to me!" Kim said, pouring herself a cup of orange juice.

"Well then what were YOU doing at 11 anyway!?"Cleo said, folding her arms.

"She makes a good point Kim." Don said, looking from Kim to Cleo then back to Kim again.

"Well..I was..um..UGH! This isn't fair!"

Cleo smiled triumphantly, then curled her fingers, directing her power at Kim's glass.
"Ah! What the hell!?" Kim said, wiping the juice that sprayed up at her out of her eyes. "Why does this always happen!?"

"Well girls, you work it out, I've gotta run." Don said, kissing Cleo on the cheek and leaving.

Cleo quickly turned, heading back up to her room. She picked up her phone and dialled Emma's number.

"Hey Cleo, what's up?"

"Just checking up on you. Remember we agreed to do this until you got used to the changes."

"Ughhh, do you have to call me exactly when I wake up though?"

"Of course, how else would I do it?" Cleo said, laughing.

"You're insufferable." Emma smiled.

"But you love me anyway."

"Hold on, Rikki's on the line. Hey, what's up?"

"The ceiling."

"You say that every time we call."

"Because it's true! Unless I was outside at 8 o'clock in the morning, then it'd be the sky!"

"No no, it'd be the clouds first."

"Unless it's a clear day."

"Are you guys trying to find a counter to my very smart observations?"

"You damn right we are."

"Hold on, I just got a text from Lewis. He says to meet at mako urgently."

"Why mako?"

"Does he mean all of us?"

"Yeah, even Zane and Ash are gonna be there."

"It must be pretty serious then."

"I'll text Bella."

"Just when I wanted to stay wrapped up in my blanket."

"I'll see you guys there."

Cleo hung up the call. Jumping out of bed for the second time this morning and running downstairs.

"Cleo! I'm going to hang out with my friends!"

"I don't care Kim!" Cleo said, running out the front door towards the water, which was about 2 minutes away from her house. She dived in, flicked her tail and sped off to mako.

*AT MAKO*

Cleo swam in, just as Emma and Rikki entered.

"Lewis! We're here!" Cleo yelled, sitting on the underwater ledge off to the right. Emma sat beside her, Rikki chose to sit over to the far left.

Lewis walked through where the land entrance was as Zane and Ash jumped down.

"Good, you're all here." Lewis said, hugging his hands, pulling down the sleeves of his sweater a bit more. The girls all looked at each other, shooting worried glances at the boys.

"Are you okay? You guys are all wearing sweaters when it's like 50 degrees out there!" Emma said.

"There's just..there's something we need to show you." Zane said, walking closer to the moon pool so they could see him better. He reached to take off his sweater. "Just don't start hyperventilating when i'm shirtless." he said, laughing.

"Sorry I'm late guys." Bella said as she swam to sit next to Rikki. "I couldn't find a good place to dive, there were too many people. And it's 8 in the morning!"

"Exactly!" Rikki said, agreeing with Bella.

"Guys focus please, Zane's about to show us something." Emma said.

They all turned their attention back to Zane, who took a deep breath before taking off his sweater completely. "Guys focus please, Zane's about to show us something." Emma said.

They all turned their attention back to Zane, who took a deep breath before taking off his sweater completely.

"Oh my god.." Cleo said, surprised.

"Are those scales!?" Emma asked.

"I don't know what they are, scales-zits I don't know. But they're all over our bodies!"

"Our?" Rikki asked, her face still masked with surprise and a bit of fascination.

Lewis and Ash both took off their sweaters, revealing they too had scales all over their sides, some on their chests and shoulders and Ash even had one up his neck.

Cleo's face palmed, as if she just found out the answer to their questions was inherently obvious.

"I think it has something to do with the moon." She said, looking back at the boys.

"The moon?" Ash asked.

"It wasn't just any moon, it was a lunar eclipse. Lewis, what do we know about lunar eclipses?""They draw away your powers for 24 hours.."He said, completely lost on where she was taking this.

"What if..because you guys were in the moon pool on a lunar eclipse without being mermaids or men; mermen, it split the two?"

A light bulb went off in Lewis's head. "That would mean to balance things, it gave us merman characteristics on our human body. Would that logic be the same

if we had tails?"

"You don't have tails?"Bella asked.

"We woke up like this, I kind of just asked you all to come here a few minutes after. I didn't actually test it out." Lewis said.

"I have an idea.." Cleo said, curving her fingers towards the water. A decent sized water bubble emerged and floated towards the boys stopping right in front of Lewis, who took a cautious step back.

"What if we're all freaking about nothing?" Zane asked, his voice a bit shaky.

"There's only one way." Cleo said.

"And until you touch that water, you're both human and merman and nothing at all." Emma said.

All three boys crowded around the bubble. "Are you ready?" Ash asked.

"Let's just get this over with." Zane said, a bit impatient.

They all put their hands inside the bubble at the same time.

"I'd suggest sitting down, just in case, you don't wanna fall on your first transformation." Emma said.

"Nah let them stand, we fell so they have to too."

"Correction, you fell, I was swimming and Cleo was in her bathtub." "Yeah yeah whatever." Rikki said, rolling her eyes.

In the end, the boys decided to stand. They took their hands out the bubble and Cleo dropped it. 1 2..1..

Lewis sighed a breath of relief when nothing happened. Then he felt a strange tingly sensation run through his legs and back. From the looks of it Zane and Ash felt it too. They all collapsed onto the floor, tail outstretched in front of them. Rikki smiled, partly at the fact that they fell.

"This is..insane.." Zane said, carefully examining his tail. It was a blue gradient. A bit darker at the top and lighter nearing the fin. Lewis wondered if the colour was

for blending in the water easier, but then why were the girls' tails a bright bronze colour that MOST DEFINITELY stood out in the water?

"I never thought I'd see the day I become a fish." Ash said.

"A merman, Ash." Emma corrected, just like she did with Lewis all those years ago when they first became mermaids.

Zane couldn't help but smile, he'd been secretly wishing to be a part of the secret hands on. Sure it was great to know and be able to protect Rikki and the other girls, and be a trusted carrier of the secret but that's all he was. Whatever he did there was the underlying question of if he'd expose them, or if he had an ulterior motive with every decision or idea he put forward. With this, Rikki wouldn't question his trustworthiness ever again. He'd have an entire secret life away from his father, it wouldn't be easy but he'd manage, he'd get so much closer with Rikki and they'd understand each other more. He'd experience running with the girls into the water instead of sitting back on the rocks, he'd no longer be jealous. Not to mention how closer his friends could get with each other. Why wouldn't he be smiling?

"Well there's no point in denying it now. It's right in front of us." Ash said, stroking his tail ever so softly, exploring the different sensations on his body. It was weirdly awesome.

"It'll be another 50 years before we can even think about undoing this, so why not ride the wave?" Zane said, looking at Lewis who seemed to be deep in thought, staring at his tail.

"Looking at it won't get you anywhere, you've gotta learn how to swim with it!" Cleo said, smiling.

"How did you guys learn?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Me and Rikki learned by jumping in the water and letting instincts guide us. It came naturally honestly, I personally used my knowledge of swimming to help me." Emma said.

"Emma held my hand for 5 seconds, then I kind of just..swam. I don't know how to explain it." Rikki said, shrugging, "It was like I already knew how to do it, like muscle memory." Lewis perked up. "Really? I've never thought to ask about how you knew how to use the tail! I wanna know why it feels like that, when you've never swam with something like a monofin before, right Rikki?" Rikki nodded. "Fascinating…"

"And I kind of just..threw myself into the water, almost drowned, then figured it out- almost like a locked away memory, and went on from there. Minus the getting caught in the net part." Cleo said, a wide smile on her face.

"Lewis. What do you think? Lewis? LEWIS!"

"Huh!? Oh..sorry about that, I had all these new hypotheses and theories running

through my mind. I've questioned things before but it's as if it's been amplified beyond humanly possible." He rubbed his finger over his lips, a look of confusion came over his face.

"Are you okay Lewis?" Bella asked.

"When I did that, all the things I was thinking just..disappeared. Like an off

switch."

"Okay.. but there's something I'm curious about. What power did you guys get?" Cleo said.

"Yeah, I wonder if our powers split up between them. Or maybe something else." Emma said.

"It's something else.'' Lewis said, immediately after Emma's comment. "Don't look at me like that, I didn't do it on purpose, the thought was in my head and I blurted it out. Like I already knew and just needed a trigger."

"And you've never felt this way before?"

"No..not at all. I've had my theories but never to this extreme."

"Do you think it has something to do with the moon and recent..developments?"
"Maybe, there's no other explanation."

"AHEM. Aren't we supposed to be finding our powers?" Zane said, annoyed.

"IF we even have powers." Ash said, lying back on the sand.

Lewis looked deep in thought. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the water, it was like it was calling him..drawing him into it. That when he got there, they'd be one and the same. But whenever he attempted to go closer, dragging himself towards the edge, he got washed down with a feeling of dread, that feeling was not meant for him. He looked at Cleo, nothing. Then Rikki,Emma and Bella. Nothing. He looked at Zane, who was busy complaining about not having a power, very upset about it too, nothing. He looked at Ash, longer than he looked at the others. There was something floating around him, kind of like an aura of some kind and red string attached to both Emma and moon pool. Then it clicked.

"Ash." Lewis said, getting the attention of everyone in the space. "Go in the water."

"What? Why me? I didn't volunteer to be the one to test these new appendages out first."

An annoyed look came over Lewis's face as he sighed. "No, not to swim, just go in the water, float or something."

Ash reluctantly pulled himself into the water, cursing about how heavy the tail was but calmed down once he reached the water. His body looked it was melting, the more relaxed and at ease he felt the more he would basically fade into the water like an ice cube on a hot summer day. Emma got worried, a bit scared of what was happening in front of her. "What's happening to him?" She said, looking at Lewis for answers.

"It's almost like he's melting. Is that supposed to happen?" Cleo asked,

uncomfortable what was happening.

"Freaky…" Bella said, shivers running down her spine. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite place what it was.

"Guys? Why am I really small? Or did you just grow?" Ash said, from inside the water.

Everyone looked at each other, wondering where his voice was coming from since they couldn't see him.

"Ash, where are you?" Cleo said.

"What do you mean? I'm right here. In front of you. Why are you looking at me like that?" Ash looked at his hands or what should be his hands. He was invincible! "Guys..I think I'm invincible! I can't even see myself!"

"I don't think invisible is the word for it..more like..you became water." Rikki said.

"Can you change back?"

"I can try…I don't even know how I became water in the first place." Ash closed his eyes, or what he thought were his eyes, turns out it's very disorienting when you can't see yourself even with your eyes wide open. He looked for the feeling he felt when he was becoming water, warmth..comfort..security..and switched them, fear..danger..ok maybe too far ahead. Legs..humanity..sand..he felt a familiar tingly feeling run through him. He opened his eyes, realising he had been in one place the entire time, he wasn't even under water!

"Ash, you've found your power!" Emma said, a proud smile on her face.

Zane looked at Ash with envy. He'd never admit to being jealous but he was. He the only one here without a power, he had a feeling that Lewis's power had something to do with science which was very in-character for him. Zane started feeling angry, he thought he'd be fine without a power but was the point of having the tail if he's basically useless? His hands formed into a fist, steam was basically coming out his ears, he felt a feeling of something dropping and immediately went to feel if his heart was still there, because that's what it felt like.

"I have to do so many tests, your power is so unlike the girl's power, maybe it's different for mermen? I- Zane? Where did Zane go?" Lewis said, looking around to see if Zane was standing somewhere.

"What do you mean? I'm literally sitting right beside you. Have you gone blind Lewis?" Zane said, a bit sarcastically. He looked down at his torso-or lack thereof. "What the hell! I'm invincible!"

Rikki splashed water at Zane in a playful manner. "Looks like you're not powerless after all." She said, smirking.

Zane felt proud, a wave of relief washed over him, he had the tail and the power.

The possibilities of his power were endless, all the things he could do. But first he had to learn how to switch back and forth as he was still currently invincible. That raises the question..

"Rikki..I'm still invincible..how did you see where I was to splash me?"

Everyone looked at Rikki expectantly. "I..I don't know. I can still see you perfectly fine so I just assumed you were invincible while I was talking to Cleo."

"I have an idea on why Rikki is the only one who can see him." Everyone looked at Lewis, annoyed written all over their faces, except Cleo who just smiled. "Oh..do you want to hear it?" He asked apologetically.

"Of course Lewis." Cleo said, smiling.

"I think since they are together, it's kind of like a bond. I don't know how to explain it, it sort of just popped up in my mind, I'm missing important background knowledge."

"That could be..but until you get that knowledge let's just move on yeah?" Rikki asked.

"It's time you learn how to swim!" Emma said, excited to finally swim with her newly turned boyfriend.

Zane and Lewis dragged themselves into the water, Ash moved aside so they didn't fall on him. Zane had figured out how to turn invincible by will and the hand motion for it while Lewis told them his theory. "Wait guys." Everyone looked at Zane. "I want to try something out with my powers." Zane formed his hands into a fist, activating his power and turning invincible. He reached out and held Rikki's hand, turning her invincible as well.

"Whoa! Zane, that's so cool!"

"Rikki, hold Bella's hand, I want to see how far this goes."

Rikki held Bella's hand, then Bella held Cleos and so fourth. Soon everybody in the cave was invincible, not even the rippling of their tails in the water could be seen, like they weren't even there.

"This is…AWESOME!" Zane said, throwing his hands in the air, making everybody visible again.

"And useful." Bella said.

"Now let's teach you guys how to swim!" Emma said, getting impatient.

Rikki and Zane were the first to go, after much negotiation with Emma. Rikki allowed Zane to hold on to her fin as she led them out into the ocean. Emma dragged Ash under the water with her, holding his hand and carrying him out through the underwater entrance. Bella decided to swim out into the reefs and watch the couples swim, lending a helping hand when needed. Cleo carefully brought Lewis closer to the underwater entrance, teaching him how to first stay above water by moving his hands and tail in a specific way. Then she led him underwater, deciding to let him follow her so he could get practice with the tail with her guiding him.

Bella watched as the boys swam clumsily through the water, she couldn't help but laugh. She swam over to a rock by the reef, sitting there to get a better view at everyone and so she could rest her tail. A sad smile appeared on her face, ever since Emma returned she'd been left out of a lot, almost as if she wasn't there to begin with. They'd go on morning swims without her, even going on midnight swims too, which apparently they used to do with Emma before she left but never did with her. She began to get a deeper understanding of how Emma truly felt about everything, that her anger went far beyond the lockets and was fueled by something else. Not to mention, she was the only one without her boyfriend there. She began to wonder if she should've dragged Will along with them, if she should've shot him a text for him to meet at mako, he'd end up in the water too wouldn't he? He'd be turned as well, as she wouldn't be left out. Her train of thought was broken by Zane's tail hitting hers. He mouthed an apology, saying sorry over and over again before swimming back towards Rikki, quite well too. Not has graceful but he was getting better.

The couples, plus Bella all met back at the moon pool after about an hour which felt more like 30 minutes.

"That was amazing! Now I understand why you guys swim every chance you get, it's an entirely different world under there!" Lewis said, smiling and laughing like a sugar filled kid.

"Yup, we're pretty awesome."Rikki said, smiling along with Lewis.

Bella looked at everyone, feeling a bit sad but pushing the feeling down. She had an important thing to ask. "Guys..I know you might not like this but..don't you think it's time to tell our parents?" Everyone eyes each other. Not knowing how to respond. "Don't get me wrong, this is great and all but my parents already know, and our little pod here is really big now, it's been years I think it's time to come clean."

"I agree." Emma said. Cleo and Rikki was a bit surprised at how well she took it of all people, being the one that is always on their backs about keeping the secret.

"There's no way in the seven seas I'm telling my father I'm a freaking fish." Zane said. "I've been turned for exactly a day and a couple of hours-more or less."

"Some of us are in more complicated situations than others..but to those who can-should." Bella said.

"I just have this weird feeling that by them knowing, it'll save our tails from lots of trouble." Cleo said.

"So it's settled then..we each tell our parents and meet back here as soon as we can." Rikki said, already preparing to swim out.

"Lets just hope they react well…I'd hate for anything bad to happen."

They each swam out, the girls quickly showing the boys how to activate their speed boost after forgetting to show them earlier.

MAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOMAKOM

Cleo walked into the kitchen, then poured herself a cup of water when her dad walked in.

"Dad!" She said, putting down her glass and walking over to her father. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Well can't it wait? I'm extremely late for a fishing competition down by the pier, winner wins $100! Crazy right?" Don said, fixing the string on his fishing rod.

"No dad. It's extremely important. It's something i've been meaning to tell you for a while now."

"Well spit it out then."

Cleo took a deep breath in, she could feel her heart beating at a million beats per second. "I'm..I'm..a..mer..maid.." She said, then looking at her dad for his reaction.

"A mermaid? Cleo are you okay? Those things don't exist!"

"No dad, I'm being serious. Why would I lie about something like this?"

Don's face got serious for a second, contemplating on whether she was telling the truth. "But if you're what you say you are, how come you have legs?"

"You know how I've been weird towards water..? More than when I was only afraid of it." She continued, "I grow a tail whenever I touch water. I can see you don't believe me so I'll show you." Cleo looked around for something before walking over to the water she had intended to drink earlier. She poured the water on her head, allowing it to partly soak her hair wet. She quickly ran to sit on the couch, as she did not want to fall. Then her legs disappeared, making way for her tail. She looked at her dad, all sorts of thoughts running through her head and extremely worried. Don stared for a second, put his rod down and kneeled next to Cleo's tail. He shook his head in disbelief, "Why didn't you tell me this?" He asked, a bit sad at the thought of his daughter not trusting him. "I was going to tell you! But then Kim freaked out about it and I decided it was best to wait."

"And Lewis knows about this? The girls too?"

"Yes dad he knows about it, the girls are actually mermaids too."

"I don't understand why you ever thought I'd react badly. I'm just happy you told me ah- how long have you been like this?"

"About 4 years now, nearing 5."

Don sighed. He couldn't find it in himself to be angry, disappointed..nothing. He stood up and hugged Cleo, ensuring her that her secret and the girl's secret was safe with him. He also agreed to not tell Kim until she matured enough to understand. A weight lifted off Cleo's shoulders, she felt calmer now. She quickly sent a text to the main group chat, telling them she'd be at mako whenever they were done. She then smiled mischievously, asking her dad over and over again to carry her over to the water as she felt it was a waste of energy to turn back, walk over to the water just to turn back again. He eventually agreed, picked her up and carried her to the water, allowing her to slip in. Cleo swam deeper towards the sandy floor of the water, flicked her tail and shot off towards the open ocean. Then she stopped. Deciding that she was in no rush to sit and wait for a long time, she twirled and glided through the water for a while. She briefly wondered how different it would be if she could breathe underwater, to even talk like they do in the cartoons. She allowed the currents to carry her for a while, lost in her thoughts. After deciding she's had enough, she swam up to the surface, replenishing her air before diving back down and swimming towards mako.

*AT MAKO*

Cleo swam in, surprised to see Rikki and Emma already there waiting.

"What are you doing here so late? Thought you'd get here before the rest of us."

Rikki said, chuckling.

Cleo smiled at her, then sat down on one of the underwater ledges. "I took my time. I didn't want to wait actually."

Bella, Zane, Lewis and Ash eventually swam in.

"Took you guys long enough. See, I'm already growing grey hair." Rikki said sarcastically.

"So..how'd it go for everyone?" Bella asked.

"Well, picture this. Your dad getting extremely upset then smiling like a crazy person then basically kicking you out and disowning you for being a freak." Zane said, coming off uncaring. "Dang..that sucks man, I'm assuming no one here has gotten a reaction like that..or worse right?" Rikki asked. Looking from Zane to the others.

Everyone shook there head and Zane just frowned.

"My parents reacted extremely well." Lewis said, smiling.

"Well would you look at that, everything went great! Sorry Zane."

"It's alright, I don't really care." Rikki stared at him for moment, seeming to see though the tough persona he was could see he was really hurting from his dads words.

"Say..how about a race back to the mainland? Loser have to buy everyone juices." Rikki said, a wide smile on her face.

"Oh you're on!" Emma said, already heading towards the underwater entrance. "Aye! No headstarts!" Cleo said, swimming out with the other two.

Bella laughed at the sight in front of her before joining in on the race. The boys followed them shortly after everyone exited the moon pool, all putting on their best speeds, determined not to lose. If a diver were to see them, they'd be pretty confused by 7 torpedo's all going at different speeds swimming past them.

Linda Denman ran through files, her mind occasionally thinking back to the mermaids she had in her hands. She could've done so much, if it weren't for that boy Zane meddling around. She'd practically been ridiculed and outcasted from the science community over her crazy "obsession" with mermaids who all thought she was crazy. That all those fish counts messed up her head. And Lewis, who she saw has someone worth nothing more than a key to getting closer to the girls and more tests samples. Then an email notification popped up on her screen from Harrison Bennett. It was a name she'd not seen since the mermaids gave up their powers. Curious, she clicked on the email and read it. She read it over and over again, convinced her mind was playing tricks on her. A wide smile appeared on her face. Things were finally looking up for her.