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The warm water on the shores of an uninhabited island off Australia's coast were a wonderful place for fish to hide. Smaller sea creatures lived quite happily there.
But they also quickly learned to swim away when they felt the vibrations of swift movement, and saw the rush of bubbles that followed the fastest swimmers in the ocean.
One warm evening, a school of small fish were calmly basking in a tide pool of sunlight, when they felt the vibrations of an oncoming swimmer.
They ducked into shoal just in time to see not one, but three long, colorful tails, followed by three streams of bubbles. The poor fish were tumbled backwards by the strength of the wake, but otherwise unharmed.
Meanwhile, on land, three teenagers were helping two adults set up a picnic near a private dock.
Cam and Carly were opening a large cooler of seafood David had sent from the cafe. Dr. and Mrs. Blakeley had just finished spreading a cloth on the outdoor picnic table, and Evie was just walking up with a large glass pitcher of lemonade.
In a short time, the table was set with eight places - a bit of a tight squeeze but they'd all fit - food was set out, ready to eat, and the lemonade was sweating in its glass.
"Well that looks delicious," said Dr. Blakely. "and a lovely day for a picnic. It really was a good idea of Zac's to get us all together for this."
"Where is Zac?" Mrs. Blakely added, frowning at Cam, Carly and Evie, who stood squinting into the sun.
"Er, I'm sure he'll be here soon," Cam said. "Say, Dr. Blakely, Mrs. Blakely, could you tell me about uhh--"
he glanced around and his eyes landed on the Blakeleys' carefully kept garden.
"gardening? I've been uhh thinking of taking it up."
As the Blakeleys launched good-naturedly into an explanation of soil types and fertilizers, Cam wished Zac would get here quickly.
***
Zac had spent the entire day in an underwater cave he hadn't known existed on Mako. The cavern was located not too far from the moon pool and was only accessible via a disconcertingly narrow rocky tunnel underneath the island. The cave wasn't large, just big enough for himself, Nerissa, and Mimmi.
"We are going to be doing magic here that your friends will not be able to do," was Nerissa's comforting introduction to magic lessons.
"But I--"
"I know that it goes against mer-nature not to share everything with our pod," Nerissa added when Mimmi's mouth opened to protest. "But even if you shared these spells with the most powerful mermaids you know, they wouldn't be able to perform them safely. Not even Viridia."
"But, how can we do them safely, then?" Zac asked, frowning.
"You are my children," Nerissa said. "Our family has always been capable of powerful magic.
"And now that the entire sea knows you're my children," she continued, "there will be others who don't trust you, who might want to harm you. You'll need to protect yourselves. "
"Protect ourselves? But the pod--"
"I know you've made peace with the Mako Pod, Zac," Nerissa interrupted him gently. "But there's more than one pod in the sea.Others may not be so easily won over."
"Look what happened to me."
Zac shuddered at the thought of being turned into a water dragon.
"You're saying we could be turned into water dragons?" Zac asked.
"Or worse?" Mimmi added.
Nerissa nodded.
"Or worse."
"I don't suppose there's an anti-water dragon protection spell," Zac said feebly.
Mimmi just rolled her eyes. He could feel sarcasm dripping off her. He also couldn't help but notice the large, gold dragon bracelet still coiled about her upper arm. He almost thought it winked at him.
"Your best protection is each other," Nerissa said, in the tones of a teacher warming up for a long lecture. Zac, who was treading water, merman style, flicked his tail a bit harder than necessary in annoyance.
"So," she continued, "You need to strengthen your connection. It could save your life one day.
She started by making Zac and Mimmi sit facing away from each other and try to reliably send each other visions. By the time she told them they could stop, Zac had a headache and was positive he'd never sent Mimmi any vision at all, though she swore she felt him trying.
Then, to further test their skills, Nerissa issued a challenge.
"This is a spell another mermaid, or merman, could do -- with enough training. But not the way you two are about to. Mimmi you already know how to do this. I want you to show Zac how to cast the spell.
"But there's a catch," Nerissa added. "You're not allowed to speak."
With that she had done another spell, rendering both Zac and Mimmi totally mute. Zac tried to speak and words would not leave his mouth. Mimmi also looked upset but though her mouth moved, no sound escaped.
"Your connection is important," Nerissa said. "You've used your shared visions in the past. Now, I want you to do it consciously, in a situation that isn't life-or-death."
Then she began the instructions for casting the spell. It was a spell to sharpen hearing and included a series of movements that looked very similar to the ones Nerissa had used to cast the mute spell.
Zac and Mimmi practiced on themselves. Mimmi got it perfectly, and reversed it perfectly, by doing the motions in reverse.
Zac, however, was hopelessly confused. As he started to move his hands, he saw Mimmi's face - mirror image -- as she watched her reflection in the water as she did the motions.
He closed his eyes, focusing on the vision she sent him, and he copied the motions.
The sounds of the cave magnified slowly. It was as if someone had turned the volume up on the world. The water burbled, their tails swished, there were birds chirping somewhere and
***
A hideous, shrill beeping pierced the peaceful sounds, and Zac covered his ears.
For a moment he was seeing through Mimmi's eyes, and feeling her feelings, confusion, pain, and worry. He had the disorienting experience of seeing himself through her eyes, and then her vision zeroed in on his watch.
Immediately understanding, Zac moved his hands and pressed a button on his waterproof watch to turn off the alarm he'd set.
Nerissa's hand motions were too swift to follow but as she made them, Zac felt a ripple through the air and water.
"What was that for?" Nerissa asked.
"It's my alarm. We're late," Zac answered, realizing he could talk and his hearing was back to normal.
All three shared a look, and dove.
* * *
Rita Santos, High School Principal turned pod teacher was floating in a circle of young mermaids just off the coast of Mako. They'd taken a break from water manipulation practice and were learning about searching the underwater cave system beneath Mako for moon ring stones.
"Moon ring stones can only be identified by the full moon, so --"
Just then with a whoosh, three figures zoomed by in a blur of coral and blue.
* * *
“So, what is the best kind of natural fertilizer, exactly?” Cam asked, trying to hide a wince at the idea of spreading animal dung on the ground and then planting seeds in it, with his bare hands.
“Well, we get ours from a farm in--”
“Mum! Dad! So sorry we’re running late!” Zac said, arriving out of breath, and a bit sweaty with Mimmi and Nerissa following behind.
Dr. and Mrs. Blakely were frozen mid-sentence, staring awkwardly at Mimmi and Nerissa, who stared awkwardly back.
Zac, looking between them, was frozen for a moment too. Then he cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Uh, Mum, Dad, this is Nerissa...my, er mum, and my sister Mimmi.” He turned to Nerissa, suddenly not sure how to address her in front of his parents...
“Er, these are my parents, Dr. and Mrs. Blakely,” he finished lamely.
Dr. and Mrs. Blakely stood, and shook hands with Nerissa and Mimmi, very cordially, if a bit stiffly.
“Please, please sit down,” said Dr. Blakely. “You’re part of Zac’s family, so you’re part of ours.”
Nerissa and Mimmi sat on a bench around the picnic table. Dr. and Mrs. Blakely resumed their seats on the other side. Zac wasn’t sure where to sit, so he ended up sitting on a chair on the short side, in between his parents, and his biological family. He fell awkwardly caught in between his two sets of relatives, like a fish in a net.