Chapter Text
“Did you get the goods?” Rui asked with a sinister smile on his face.
No comment. Nene thought, but she did give him a sidelong glance. “I bought the flowers, though I’m not sure what colors you wanted so I bought red and white. I put them outside.”
“Alright, good.” Rui approved. “So the next step in making our concoction is getting the materials from my house here, and then we’ll begin. I’ll drive, it’s kind of hard to get there- Why are you staring at me like that?”
Nene rolled her eyes. “You can’t drive. And what do you mean it’s hard to get there?”
“Right…” He sighed, then dramatically said, “You can go then, I’ll just stay here….. alone…..”
“I’ll go tomorrow morning then.”
–
8:32 AM
It had been 2 days since Nene “rescued” Rui from the ocean, and now she was on her way to get said materials from his house with barely any instructions. And what did he mean it was hard to get to?
That answer was solved when she pulled up to his driveway which was.. overgrown with plants. In fact, he technically didn’t live in a typical neighborhood. He had a one-storyone story house that was hidden among the luscious green trees and covered in leaves. Whatever science experiments he had, no one knew but him as there were things like tables out and flower seeds separated from each other. Looking further, there was a small garden with a variety of different colored flowers, which Nene assumed was him trying to come up with as many colors as he could.
Nene was told the key was beneath the mat, so she walked there first. That’s probably not a good place to put the keys of your house, she thought.
That's because they weren’t there.
The girl with moss colored hair (which slightly blended in with all the plants near her) looked around the porch, double checking and checking under pots and chairs. No key spotted.
Nene groaned, thinking Rui said where he thought they were but actually misplaced them. She texted him, not wanting to investigate around his house further.
Nene
where did you put your keys they are not under your mat
…
Rui
yjeu arw su yje nack
Nene
???
…
Rui
slpw repaindes srry
repsomses
respondes
RESPONses
do I nerf tk ude a bah for covwring my ohonr it’s kindof annoyinh
Nene
yes you should keep your phone in a bag if you drop it rice won’t magically fix it
Rui
;(
the keyd are at the back may
mat
drianign thewater im jotuismg this bagAnnymore
You do you, she thought while she walked to the back carefully treading through the grass that went above her ankles. At the side door, she lifted up the mat which had different colors of splashed paint on it to thankfully find the key. She put the key in the lock and tried to twist it, but of course, Rui doesn’t make it simple.
The key doesn’t work.
Nene ran to the front door to try there, but the lock still wouldn’t budge. She groaned, pulling out her phone again.
Nene
why does the key not work for either of your doors.?
Rui
ahh right
in case someone like a robber found the key, I made a system where you have to find the actual key by going on a… let’s say a quest
Nene
so a scavenger hunt..
Kill me..
Rui
precisely!!
She groaned, looking down at the key she was holding. It looked like your average key for a normal lock. Nene looked around, seeing if there were any other doors or maybe a mailbox.. Bingo.
Nene walked up to the mailbox which had blooming purple flowers with 5 petals each. She unlocked it and reached her hand inside.. nothing. She then looked inside and saw a note in the back saying (in messy handwriting):
P55555 side garrage
Ok.. so now she was working with a code. Seeing as it said “side garage”, she assumed he meant the separate little shed. She walked there and saw a lock with a number code she needed to input.
Nene first tried “5555” and pulled the lock. Didn’t work. Maybe 45555 for 4 5’s?
Nope.
How about.. P was the 16th number in the English alphabet, so what if she tried 165555?
And… nope.
Dang it, that was a good guess.
How about P as in purple, like the flowers she saw? 6 letters in purple, so Nene put in 65555. Pulling on the lock, it still wouldn’t budge.
That was a good guess too!..
Nene sighed, not knowing what else to think of. She then kept trying random combinations, like adding all the 5’s or trying 5^4, but none of them worked. She sighed again, pulling out her phone to text Rui once again.
Nene
can you please just give me the code i dont have time for this
Rui
no can do what if youre a robber???
hmmmm heres a hint: 15
15? What’s that supposed to mean? P.. 15.. 5555… Knowing Rui, the code is probably something related to science. Oh! P is the symbol for Phosphorus, the 15th element on the periodic table!
Nene pressed the buttons for 155555 and prayed it worked, or else she would drag Rui here herself. She pulled the lock, and thankfully it unlocked letting her open the door.
Inside was a small but cluttered shed with boxes and materials of all sorts. Was she gonna have to look for the ingredients now too? Checking the tables and all, she looked around for things he had recently used. As she was mentally playing I spy, Nene saw an interesting looking paper on a desk. It looked like a map of the ocean and some sort of path that was drawn on. Like a stereotypical pirates map, there was a red X marking a specific spot. There were also papers and drawings of castle-like buildings and so on.
Probably just an idea for a story, she thought as she continued to look. Finally after digging around, Nene found a box with leftover flower petals that looked like the ones she bought and other items like lab tools and a lighter.
–
“So how are we going to do this?”
The two of them chose to do their experiment outside in case something exploded despite the reactants being flowers and other miscellaneous elements. Just in case, you know?
“First, let's get out all the ingredients.”
.
.
.
“And… voila!” Rui said with a final stir of the mysterious substance. It was a light pink which had the consistency of water but a bit more thick. There were still some petals floating around alongside whatever else was added. Using the spoon, he poured the liquid into two small bottles. One for himself and one for Nene.
“We could’ve done this inside if I knew we had to use the stove instead of holding a lighter to the side for how long..” Nene grumbled.
“I thought you thought this would blow up your kitchen?”
“Fair point.” She took the clear bottle and screwed the lid on, not wanting to accidently spill it. While it only took around 2 hours or so, the whole thing with her acquiring the materials and then making the potion felt like it took forever. It was currently 2:30 PM.
“So, let's head to the ocean now, shall we?” Rui asked.
“Now?”
“When else? Do you want to keep your poor friend as a mermaid forever? Plus, anything can happen to delay this even further if you choose to go now or later-”
“Alright, alright no need to ramble! But why am I going to the sea with you…?” Nene asked, realizing that all this time she had subconsciously agreed to him asking her to go with him for who knows what.
“You’ll see.”
“What…?”
—
The two of them walked to a part of the beach no one was around. Seagulls flew around and the salty scent of the ocean was in the air.
As she sat down at the edge of the water, Nene held the small vial of the potion close to her mouth, but her skepticism showed through her eyes. If she drank the innocent looking mixture (which actually smelled kind of good),, there was no guarantee she would be able to turn into a mermaid only temporarily. Rui didn’t drink his now, assuming that if he drank it he would turn back human. But..
Curiosity kills the cat. Or more so your legs.
“Are you sure this can be used to turn me into a mermaid and you back into a human?” She asked cautiously.
Rui didn’t answer.
Nene sighed, then pinched her nose not wanting to taste the potentially poisonous drink and swallowed it in one swoop.