The next morning, Zac was rudely awakened by his father.
"Come on Zac, it's time to get up!" greeted Dr Blakely.
"Oh do I have to dad," moaned Zac. "Don't tell me you still want me to go on life saving duty?"
"Well it's not that anymore. The girls want to have a chat with you about some more important missions on Mako Island," replied Dr Blakely.
Zac was annoyed but reluctantly got out of bed and then prepared himself. He soon met the other mermaids who were waiting on the jetty. Bella and Mimmi were cheerful, but Lyla had an irritated look.
"How are you feeling Zac? Ready to go on another mission again?" asked Bella.
"Do I really have to?" groaned Zac. "I'm exhausted from having to swim back and forth to Mako Island. By the way, why do you lot have to go on all these missions anyway?"
"These missions are important to protect the Sun Coast community," replied Mimmi. "Now that you're one of us, I expect you to participate full time."
"But I've had to cancel my engagement with Evie yesterday," commented Zac. "She'll be wondering why I'm so busy recently."
"Alright fine, you can sit out this one. But I also want Lyla to keep an eye out for you again," answered Bella. "Now Lyla, you won't go wondering off taking Zac to any more of these 'secret' locations, will you?"
"No, I won't" grunted Lyla.
Bella and Mimmi then left to go on their mission. Whilst waiting for Evie to arrive, Lyla started another conversation with Zac.
"So, how long have you two known each other?"
"We met a few years ago, at the mall after school one day. We initially hung out with other friends, including Cam and David, the now manager of Ocean Café. After several months, Evie and I went on our first date, and we hooked up instantly."
"What do you two plan to do today then?" asked Lyla.
"Well, Evie and I plan to go to the beach. She says there's some special rock pool she wants to investigate."
Some hours later
Zac and Lyla were inside the guest house when they heard a knock on the door.
"I'll get it, that must be Evie" said Zac.
Zac opened the door for Evie to enter. She was surprised to see Lyla who was sitting at the computer table, reading something online.
"So is this the new girl you've been seeing lately?" Evie asked in a condescending tone.
"This isn't what it seems like!" complained Zac. "Lyla is just a friend of mine."
"Yeah I heard that. You two met on Mako Island, didn't you?"
This time Lyla spoke up. "Yes that is right. How did you find out?"
"Yeah, I don't recall telling you anything about Lyla." Zac added.
Evie was panicking before she responded, "Fine! If you two must know, then Cam was the one who passed this info onto me. He said you disappeared on Mako Island that night, and then just happened to come across this girl Lyla."
"Well, what does it matter to you anyway?" questioned Zac.
"Alright, I'll leave it at that. Anyway, are you all set to go to the beach?" asked Evie.
"Yeah," replied Zac.
"But you don't have your swimming gear?" questioned Evie.
"I don't plan on going in the water. I'll just walk around the beach," said Zac.
"What?! Why are you suddenly avoiding water now? You've also stopped your lifesaving duties!"
"I just found out I have an unusual reaction to water," replied Zac.
Lyla interjected as she spoke up, "Yeah, I also have that too."
On the beach
Zac, Lyla and Evie had arrived at the beach and were walking towards the rock pool. Evie was in her swimsuit whilst Zac and Lyla were still dressed in normal clothing.
Evie was still curious as she questioned Zac and Lyla. "Hey, you two. I'm keen to find out exactly what type of water allergy you actually have?"
"That's none of your concern," replied Lyla. Evie was getting irritated as she began walking in front of them. Lyla realised she had upset Evie and corrected herself. "I'm sorry I hurt you Evie, it's just that my parents don't like me disclosing my personal stuff to anyone else. Anyway, do you want to see a cool trick?"
Evie was feeling more relaxed as she replied, "Yeah I would love that!"
"Ok then, close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to do so." Lyla announced.
Evie closed her eyes as Lyla used her magic to turn invisible. Lyla then walked right in front of Evie and spoke up, "Alright, you can open your eyes now."
Evie opened her eyes and saw nothing. She called out to Lyla, "Lyla, where are you?" Lyla then released her invisibility spell and shouted "BOO!" Evie was frightened to see Lyla standing right in front of her, and she almost fell over.
"Lyla, why did you have to scare me like that? And how did you suddenly appear out of thin air?"
"Would you believe me if I said it was magic?" asked Lyla.
"Wow! So you are a magician? I would love to learn how you master all those cool tricks," said Evie.
"It takes hard work. In fact, I'm teaching Zac some of my tricks too." Lyla replied.
The three then arrived at the rock pool, as Evie stepped into the water. "This is great! Are you sure you two don't want to join in?"
"Yeah, we're alright just walking around the rocks here." Zac responded.
Evie had swum in the pool for some time, and she then moved over to the steps to rest. As she sat down, she heard a shriek of pain.
"Get off me!" yelled an unknown voice.
"Who's there?" asked Evie. Suddenly, Evie felt something scaly under her bottom. It felt like a giant fish tail. She then looked around and realised she was now sitting on top of a strange fishlike creature. As she got up, she realised this creature looked like a mermaid, and the face was of a woman she recognised.
"Principal Santos? Why are you here?"
"I'm just relaxing now that school is over," replied Principal Santos.
"Why are you in a mermaid costume though?" asked Evie.
"I just like dressing up," commented Principal Santos. "Anyway, I'm sorry to disturb your fun."
Principal Santos then saw Zac and Lyla standing around the pool. She saw that Lyla was wearing her moon ring and wanted to see it for herself.
"Hey Zac, would you mind asking that girl to come over?"
Zac and Lyla then walked over to Principal Santos, as she then spoke to Lyla. "Where did you get that ring from?" she asked Lyla.
"It was a gift," Lyla replied.
"Mind if I take a look at it?" questioned Principal Santos.
"Yeah sure," as Lyla stretched out her arm to show her moon ring.
"This can't be yours!" exclaimed Principal Santos as she yanked the ring off Lyla's finger.
"Hey, give that back!" shouted Lyla. "It's mine!"
"No, you stole it!" yelled Principal Santos. "Now leave before I call the police on you."
Zac and Lyla then left the pool area.
"Who was that mermaid?" asked Zac.
"I don't know, but I have a funny suspicion that it's Rita Santos." Lyla replied.
"So my school principal is actually a real mermaid? What was she like?"
"Rita was formerly allied to the Homeworld Pod. But like me, she also cared for humans on land. We tried to get her to join our group of rebel mermaids to fight back against the Homeworld pod, but she refused."
"Alright, so what are we going to do now?"
"We need to get my moon ring back, and I think the others will gladly help in finding it for me."
Zac and Lyla then returned back home to the guest house.