Chapter 4
"Guys...I don't think our parents will be worried about us..." Rikki said as she saw two very familiar faces approaching the cafe. Emma saw them too. "Oh God. We have to leave now!"
Rikki, Cleo, Anna and Bella went out the backdoor and dived into the water to swim to Mako. Emma stayed behind; she had noticed that her younger self was not with them. She had to tell Ash that she was leaving.
"Ash, I don't feel very well, I need to go..." She cooled her blood enough so that it looked like she was pale.
"Yeah, you don't look too great, have the rest of the day off, I'll see you around."
"Thanks Ash, See ya," Emma hurried out the side door just as the others entered. She heard them talking. "It's not Emma's fault she came down with the tummy bug..." Cleo said. Emma remembered that Rikki had been really disappointed that they wouldn't be swimming that night. She remembered that day and grimaced, she rarely got sick. A day from the past was playing in front of her eyes. She pulled herself away and dived into the water, following her friends out to Mako.
At the moon pool, they sat there pondering.
"I'm starving." Rikki moaned interrupting the silence, they all turned to her.
"Sorry, sorry, just putting it out there, I haven't eaten since breakfast; smoothies don't fill me up,"
"Well, to stop arising suspicion, how about Anna and Bella go back to shore and get us some food; we will meet you at Lewis' old fishing spot." Cleo suggested.
"Okay."
They had a couple of bread buns and apples and some food in plastic wraps for breakfast the next morning that they had managed to buy with their small amount of money that was brought back with them in time. When they had finished they decided to swim back to Mako cautiously, they would have to avoid the other three mermaids from the past. The dried themselves off on the beach in case the mermaids had gone to the moon pool in their absence. They decided to trek to where their houses once were, or would be in the future.
"Well, In order to get back to our time, I suggest that the best thing to do would be to retrace our steps – to go back to that strange cavern on the other side of the island."
"We'll do that tomorrow morning," Cleo yawned.
"Where are we gonna sleep?" Anna asked.
"How about we recreate a water house just for the night and take it down in the morning?" Bella suggested.
"Okay."
"I miss my kids..." Rikki moaned, "As much as I didn't think I would, and I miss Zane"
"I think we all miss our families too," Emma replied.
Cleo, Anna and Bella soon had made a small house to shelter them from the elements that night. Cleo helped Bella to create hammocks in the house; they would be made of semi hard jelly so that they would be comfortable to sleep on. After a surprisingly good night's sleep, Bella unhardened it so then Rikki could evaporate the whole building with Anna's help. They had their breakfast and soon they had set out on their journey to the mysterious crystal cavern.
Chapter 5
The five mermaids walked along the rocky outcrop searching for the entrance to the cave. They were just about to give up when they heard a telltale scream and turned around just in time to see Cleo disappearing from sight. Rikki rolled her eyes and the girls slid down into the cavern.
"I'm all right guys thanks for asking," Cleo said as they walked past her and examined the crystal wall - they were not glowing. She got up and stood next to them. As soon as she went into a line with the other four girls, it glowed and a tentacle shot out at them, they all took an abrupt step back and ducked. It had flown into the empty space behind them. The tentacle formed a wall very much like the one that had warned them of the comet.
"What's going on...?" Emma asked cautiously.
"I think it's trying to show us something...it did last time it made a wall like this..."
The wall began to show a picture of the young Lewis holding that old purple mermaid myths book that had gotten the original trio into lots of trouble with the wish potion all those years ago, though it seemed that that had not happened yet. Lewis was looking through the pages skimming each one before turning the page.
"I thought that book was destroyed." Cleo said
"I don't think it has been yet," Emma replied
He paused at a page on time travel before flicking to another. Cleo and Emma were to busy talking to notice. "Guys! Regardless of that, did you see that page? Time Travel" Bella said.
Finally, it dawned on them. "We have to get the book!"
"What exactly is that book?" Anna asked
"It's a book on mermaid myths and potions," Emma replied, "It got us into a lot of trouble when we first found it had wish potion recipe in it..."
"Guys, it's changing," Rikki said. They all turned back to the waterfall. It had morphed from showing Lewis in his room, to showing them a picture of their older selves - from the future or present...confusing...It showed them wearing their crystal necklaces, (Anna had had one made when she joined the group) it was only there for a split second as it then zapped back into the wall of crystals.
"Why did it show us ourselves from the future?"
"Have no clue...have we changed back?"
"No."
"Well in any case, we need to get Lewis' book."
"Without being seen?"
"Well, duh?"
"This is going to be a challenge."
A/N: Please review! Thanks. Sorry its two short chapters, but I wanted the chapter bar to have the same chapter title as the story...it is less confusing that way. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapters!