Unknown to Cleo, the potion did its work overnight, erasing her memories about being a mermaid.
The next morning, Cleo woke up with a slight headache. Looking at the time, she realized she slept for nearly 12 hours but still felt tired, almost like her body had been working all night. She stretched and glanced at her phone, noticing a missed call and several messages from Lewis. Frowning, she opened the latest text.
'Cleo, are you okay? Call me as soon as you see this!'
She dialed Lewis' number, her mind foggy and her whole body feeling strange in a way she couldn't describe. He picked up on the first ring.
"Cleo, finally! What happened with the potion last night? You said something was wrong."
Cleo sat up, confused about what he was saying. "Potion? What are you talking about, Lewis?"
There was a pause on the other end. "The wish potion from the mermaid book. You texted me saying something strange happened. You said the potion started to glow after you applied it and something about a bright light."
Cleo's mind raced, trying to piece together what he was saying. "Lewis, I have no idea what you're talking about. What potion? What book?"
Lewis was getting slightly nervous by now. "Cleo, you… you don't remember? You, Emma, Rikki, and I found a wish potion recipe in a mermaid mythology book. You told me you tested it last night while you were in the bathtub. Did you say anything while you had it on your face? Did you make some kind of wish?"
Cleo started thinking this was some kind of prank. "Lewis, this isn't funny. Why would I be testing a potion in the bathtub? Why would I make a wish with some stuff on my face, thinking it's magical? And why do you keep mentioning mermaid mythology? Why would I ever read a book about that? I don't even like the ocean. I've been scared of it my whole life and you know that."
Lewis' voice grew more urgent. "Cleo, listen to me. You're a mermaid. You've been one for over nearly a year now. You and the girls have been dealing with it together. You can't have just forgotten all of that."
"Lewis, are you feeling okay? Mermaids? Seriously? I think you need to rest or something," Cleo answered.
Lewis felt a shiver run down his spine. By now he was sure Cleo wasn't joking. He knew he had to act fast now. "Cleo, stay where you are. I'm coming over. Don't go anywhere, okay?"
"Yeah, sure," Cleo replied, still extremely confused.
As she hung up, she couldn't shake the strange feeling that maybe, just maybe, there was some truth to Lewis' words. But how could she forget something as unbelievable as being a mermaid? She looked down at her legs, perfectly normal, and shook her head. "Ridiculous," she muttered to herself.
Just a few moments later Kim rushed into Cleo's room without knocking. "Cleo, what's taking you so long? You said you'd help me with my project today."
Cleo sighed. "Yeah, sorry. I'll be ready in a bit."
Kim rolled her eyes and left, mumbling something about unreliable sisters. Cleo quickly got dressed, still feeling disoriented.
A short while later, Lewis arrived, breathless and worried. He found Cleo and Kim sitting together in the living room, working on a poster that Kim had to do for biology class.
"Did you just run a marathon or something?" Kim asked Lewis who was all sweaty and red in his face.
"Uhm...can you just excuse us for a second?" he asked and grabbed Cleo's arm to take her to her room to talk.
Once they were in Cleo's room, Lewis quickly shut the door and lowered his voice. "It's true, Cleo. You have to believe me! You, Emma, and Rikki—you're all mermaids. We've been trying to keep it a secret. The potion must have somehow erased your memories."
Lewis found the small container of potion on Cleo's desk. "See, this is the potion I've been talking about. You used it yesterday, just like I explained."
Cleo stared at him, trying to process the information. "This is crazy. How can I be a mermaid? How can I use some kind of magical potion? And how —"
Lewis cut her off and took a deep breath. "We need to find Emma and Rikki. They need to know what happened. You remember who they are, don't you?"
"Of course I do, they're my friends. Emma and I have been friends since we were in preschool," Cleo answered.
Lewis let out a breath of relief, glad that she remembered that at least.
"And I better put this somewhere safe," he added and put the potion into his bag.
He was about to call Emma when she called him herself.
"Hey, Emma. What's up?" Lewis said, trying to mask his anxiety.
"Lewis, you need to come to the cafe right away," Emma's voice was strained. "The potion we experimented with yesterday—it's growing. Spreading everywhere!"
Lewis' eyes widened. "Growing? What do you mean?"
"I mean, it's expanding. The bowl we left it in is overflowing, and it's spreading across the counter. I don't know what to do!" Emma explained, her voice filled with fear.
"I knew leaving it there overnight was a bad idea! You said you'd get rid of it first thing in the morning!" she added, starting to get mad at Lewis for being irresponsible.
"I'm really sorry, something's come up. It's too complicated to explain now, we'll be there as soon as we can," Lewis answered, looking at Cleo as he ended the call.
Cleo, overhearing the conversation, started to worry. "What's going on, Lewis?"
"The potion we left at the cafe is out of control. It sounds like it's reacting in a way we didn't anticipate," Lewis explained, glancing at Cleo. "We need to go there now!"
Cleo nodded, feeling a sense of urgency as they quickly made their way out of the house and headed towards the cafe.
Hey, just a quick message to those who sent me a PM offering to design character art or covers for my stories: First of all I'm really happy you enjoy reading them but I really do this just for fun and right now I'm not planning to invest any money. I'm sure you all do amazing work but...well...I'm still a student and gotta look after my money haha so please don't be mad if I don't reply to those requests!