Chapter Text
Max stayed over at Lucas' house when their trip was cut short, partly because she didn't want to go home where Billy and Neil were but mainly because she didn't want to be alone after the events of the night before.
She knew intellectually nothing really happened on the island. There was nothing hiding in the dark tunnel, there was nothing watching them as they entered the water to leave, and there was a perfectly natural explanation for almost everything that happened with that pool of water. The water suddenly heating up must've been some kind of natural phenomenon, it was directly in the middle of a volcano after all. The same probably went for the sudden bubbling that happened in that pool. Even the little balls of water that floated up to the top. Absolutely. It wasn't like she was the science nerd of the group, that was Dustin for God's sake!
But she couldn't shake the feeling something was deeply off about that place. Like she had seen something she shouldn't have saw in that cave. That something didn't want any of them there.
Thanks to the uncomfortable sleeping bag she'd been sleeping on and whatever the heck happened on the island, she couldn't sleep. For the most part, she laid on her back staring up at the ceiling long after Lucas had been able to go to bed. Her eyes traced the tiles on his ceiling, her mind losing track of how many times she did so until her body gave into exhaustion.
Even her dreams seemed uneasy as she had a nightmare about that pool of water. It played out almost exactly like the events they'd went through, stumbling into it after Lucas had fallen into the dark pit that appeared out of nowhere. But instead of swimming out after that strange phenomenon, they sank beneath the water. Water filled her lungs, the pressure squeezing her brain in a vice grip. But strangely enough, she didn't die as she sank deeper beneath the surface.
Max woke with a start, the cool air hitting her sweat covered skin and making her shiver. Panic seized her without warning as her senses returned and the blurry surroundings slowly began coming into focus. Soft sun light was streaming into the room, meaning it was probably dawn.
"Lucas-?" She choked out, propping herself onto her knees. She peaked over the bed, hoping to see him sleeping there to reassure her she wasn't alone. But instead the bed was empty.
The door opened with a click and in walked Lucas with two glasses of water. "Hey- you're up."
"Bad dreams," she admitted as she sat down on the sleeping bag.
"Same here." He chuckled and handed her the second glass. Somehow he'd managed to make it so there were no droplets on the outside.
The bastard, she thought to herself lovingly, somehow perfect at everything.
"How's your ankle?"
"I can walk on it so I think we're fine."
Max gritted her teeth, "Just watch it ok? Sprains can get worse,"
"Ah so you do care," Lucas teased and Max rolled her eyes playfully.
"Of course I do, not everyone happens to show affection through dnd references y'know?"
"So your war with Mike continues even when he's not here?"
"Hey he started it-" Max pointed at him, accidentally spilling some of the water over the both of them. "Shit, sorry-"
Lucas laughed, putting his cup aside to try to wipe it off. Max chuckled too a little embarrassed but ultimately knowing it didn't matter. Not here anyway.
Suddenly, her skin began to tingle just under the surface. It swiftly spread through her body, growing more and more powerful as it did. There was only a second to share a confused glance before their bodies were consumed by some sort of bubble.
When it popped, Max's legs disappeared and were replaced with what she could only describe as red fish tail. She looked to Lucas as if she was crazy but quickly realized that he too had a fish tail except his was green strange enough. As if this whole thing wasn't strange.
Neither screamed, terrified that someone would wake up and see whatever the hell had happened to them.
"Um- Do you see this too?" Lucas asked, his voice quiet and squeaky like it would give away to a scream at any minute.
"Yeah. I see it." Max didn't have it in her for a funny comment, this was too freaky to believe.
They didn't know how long they sat there for, the sun slowly rising was there only indication of time passing. Finally the water dried and the two were returned to normal. Lucas looked like a deer caught in the headlights, beginning to get up before the glass long forgotten began to shake like it was going to tip over. He stopped moving, being suspended in a half crouch, as the cup thankfully didn't fall.
Lucas shared a look with Max before doing anything else, panic and confusion written all over his face. He went to move the cup, his hand hovering several inches away as if he was trying to telepathically move it with the force or something. But as he did, the cup began to actually move on its own.
Max stared in disbelief as the cup slinked over to the other end of the room all on its own. Lucas put his hand down and the cup stopped in its tracks.
"…I think I- I-" Lucas stuttered.
"Yeah, totally." Lucas put his hand up again as an experiment, nothing happened. "Or… not?"
He adjusted his hand, his brow furrowing in concentration, and the cup began to move on its own again. "Holy shit-" He muttered under his breath.
"Holy shit," Max said in agreement, "So you just- have the force now?"
"And we have fish tails?"
Max didn't say anything, the entire thing feeling like a dream she just didn't wake up from. The radio buzzed to life a moment after, breaking the uneasy silence that fell over the room. Mike's grating voice coming through the sparkling static, he sounded panicked from what she did understand, her mind just was too in shock to fully comprehend.
She grabbed it, Mike Wheeler of all people becoming her tether to reality. He kept talking but it might as well have been the parent speak from the Charlie Brown movies. Just a bunch of blah blah blah.
"…What? Over."
A very audible sigh could be heard on the other side of the line. "Just meet me by the docks. Over."
Lucas and Max shared another look, both thinking the exact same thing: The Pool caused this, didn't it?
Jane spent the rest of the full moon pacing the small expanse of their hiding spot. Her twin brother asleep uneasily beside her, twitching every couple minutes as he floated on the surface. Every shift in the tide made her jumpy that someone from the Pod would find out what had happened the night before.
Their family had a very shaky standing with the Pod already after Jonathan had saved a land boy a couple years ago, practically unofficially out-casting them. It was practically why they lived off the coast of the island, why they were the only ones who guarded it every full moon. It was a punishment, or maybe a test. She didn't know. All she did know was that she didn't want to know what they would do to them if they knew they'd broken the biggest rule.
A land person may never be in the moon pool. Ever.
Sure, maybe nothing would happen. Maybe the Pod would leave them alone and they could be a happy family unit waiting for mom to come back from her mission to find more land. Or whatever she was doing. But the longer this was left to fester, the more Jane felt sick as a result.
Jonathan surfaced beside her, sending her flying back into Will's yellow fins. He woke with a start, accidentally dipping below surface as he did.
Jon looked between the two of them, "What's wrong?"
"We messed up," Jane cried, breaking almost immediately. "We messed up,"
"Hey, hey, hey." Jon wrapped her in a hug that she instantly melted into, "What happened?"
"Land people got into the Moon Pool." Will answered from somewhere behind them.
"What?"
"We- we didn't mean to- We tried to stop them-" Jane choked out.
"They got in through from the side. There must be an entrance on land," Will continued gravely.
"This is all our faults-"
"No, it's not." Jon assured them. "None of us could've known that there is an entrance on the island."
"Please don't tell the Pod," Jane begged.
"I won't. Ok?"
"Ok," Somehow that was able to calm Jane down from hysterics. "Ok…"
"Are we going to check on the land people?" Will asked uncertainly.
"Yeah… yeah, we will." Jon decided, "I'm coming too,"
Jane nodded, her breath beginning to slow. "Ok,"
"Everything is going to be fine." Jane wanted to believe that, she really did, but as the three raced off to where the civilization where the land people lived her doubt grew until it blocked all belief.
Land people were something to be strictly avoided according to Pod rules, but everyone knew where their civilization was. It was about six miles away from their tiny island, most knew they were getting too close if they saw the light of a tall building Jonathan had told them was called a lighthouse. Sometimes the young hatchlings would dare each other to get close to the lighthouse, but none of them would ever get close enough to break the record set by their mother when she was a kid.
Except them apparently.
Jane tried not to think about that as they passed the strange structure. Only focusing the way the current pushed against her as they approached the coast. She nearly crashed into Jonathan when he slowed by a couple pillars near a sandy bank.
The trio resurfaced underneath a wooden structure that connected to the land. On the other structure the boy, Mike she believed, was pacing around with his hands fisted in his hair.
'Who names their hatchling, Mike?' She thought to herself. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Will staring at the boy. His face flickering between dread and admiration for the boy. Despite the situation, Jane found herself giggling mischievously.
"Will, you're boyfriend's here." She whispered. Will shot her a look, mouth agape like he was about to snap back with another quip but didn't have a chance.
"Thank God you're here." Mike said, well it was more of an awkward sort of squawk.
'Like a seagull.' She noted.
Max and Lucas came into view a moment later, both looking just as distraught as he was. "We came as soon as we could." Lucas said.
Mike awkwardly crossed his arms, shifting on his feet uncomfortably. Jane was terrible at social cues, it's why a lot of the other hatchlings thought she was odd, but she could tell they were all waiting for the other to stay something.
"So… Weird things have been happening to you too?" Max finally said.
"Define weird?"
Lucas sighed before stepping closer into the middle. He grabbed some sort of- hose(? Was that the word?) and turned it on, water spraying out into the air. The siblings leaned closer as Lucas put his hand in front of him, the water predictably bended unnaturally.
"How-?" Mike began.
"I don't know!" He put his hand down and turned off the hose thing. Sparing a glance behind them. "I just woke up and moved a glass."
Jane felt Will and Jonathan moving uncomfortably. Her gut screamed at her to leave now, that they'd seen all they needed to see. But she didn't move, she had to see this through.
"Has this- Have you been able to do that before?" Mike asked finally.
Max turned to him with a flat look, "Did you seriously just ask that?"
"It was for science!" He exclaimed.
Max rolled her eyes before she shoved him, probably meant to be a playful gesture but it was quickly meant with retaliation. He shoved her back a little too hard and sent her backwards into the water. Seconds slowed into molasses as the siblings waited to see if she would grow a tail. It would only take ten seconds
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10.
The water wrapped around her on its own accord and Jane didn't need to guess what happened next. The land people had become mermaids.
They didn't linger longer than necessary, it was clear what the Moon Pool had turned them into. They'd slipped away before the Land Girl saw them, unaware of the person following them on the way.
The siblings returned to the island, taking much needed refuge in the Moon Pool. It was probably the only place where Will truly felt at ease. He propped himself onto the ledge beside his sister, replaying the events of the last 24 hours in his head.
"What do we do?" Jane asked.
"I don't know…" Will picked at the scales along his arms, "What are we going to tell the Pod?"
"We can't tell the Pod." Jonathan decided.
"They'll find out eventually," Will argued.
"Who will find out what?" Will turned around and found Kali treading water at the entrance. She was basically like an older sister to the siblings seeing as she was the only person in the Pod who actually hung out with them. Her face was twisted in a betrayal that was painful to be on the other end of.
"Kali." Jane choked out, "We can explain-"
"So it's true? You let land people into the Moon Pool?"
Will and Jane shared a look, "What-? How-?"
"So it's true?"
"Kali, it was a mistake," Jonathan cut in, "We tried to ruin their fishing trip and they went onto land anyway. There must be some sort of- land entrance."
"The Pod said there is no land entrance."
"I'm sure they didn't know-"
"Yeah," Will added but Jonathan put a hand on his shoulder, gesturing him to be quiet.
"You've betrayed the Pod," She said quietly.
"We didn't mean to, we swear," Jane cried. "It was an accident,"
"An accident that could put our entire Pod at risk of discovery," Kali shook her head, "To think I defended you," She added in a whisper.
"Defended us from what?"
"The High Council held an open meeting throughout the night. We're leaving the Island and you are not allowed to follow."
"Kali-"
"You've been cast out,"
Will's stomach dropped, the blood rushed in his ears drowning out all the sounds. A million questions swirled around his head as Kali left and Jane attempted to call after her.
'What was gonna happen to us now?'
The ride back to Lucas' house was silent, no one daring to break the silence caused by the events at the dock. The sun had officially rose over their town, nearly blinding Max as she sat in the passenger's seat. Her eyes drifted to Lucas who's grip on the wheel was so tight she could see the blood drain from his knuckles. In the rear view mirror she found Mike was squinting out the window, his eyes undoubtedly screaming at him for not wearing his glasses.
She hummed to herself in discontentment, something to break the tension laced silence. No one knew how to broach the subject of their new- forms. But someone had to rip the band-aid off.
"So…" Lucas turned to her after he turned onto Maple Street, the window of this conversation last going to come to an end if she didn't get this off her chest. "What now?"
Lucas let out a heavy sigh, "That's the million dollar question isn't it?"
"We can't tell anyone," Mike said quickly.
"Agreed," Max said, not even bothering to argue this time.
"What about Dustin?" Lucas asked.
"Especially not Dustin," Mike pulled his eyes away from the moving outside, "This- this is something so scientifically big that he won't want to keep this to himself."
"Are you sure?"
"It's also safer to just keep this between ourselves. If anyone knew we could be dissected or end up in some sort of museum or something."
"Not even our families?"
"No. Too dangerous."
"Yeah, they call the doctors to try to fix us and then every scientist on the block has our exact location," Max pointed out.
"I don't know… I tell my dad everything,"
Max and Mike shared a knowing look in the mirror. 'Wish we could relate.' It said.
"It's only for now," Max tried.
"I know, I know. It still sucks though,"
"I get it," Mike put his hand on Lucas' shoulder, "But it's for the best."
"I know. This is just between us."
"We could blood oath it if you want?"
"Maybe…"
"Don't entertain that-" Max rolled her eyes playfully, feeling a little better about the whole situation now.