Chapter Text
Lewis took a test tube out of his bag as he looked up at the top of the grotto of Mako Island.
The full moon was starting to move over the pool, he already had a sample of the water on a normal night, one when it's bubbling could surely tell him what turned the girls into mermaids.
He looked back down when it started to bubble, a smile pulled at his lips. Perfect.
He crouched down on the wet rocks and dipped the test tube in. He took it out when it filled half way.
"Just gotta test this when I get home," he mumbled to himself as he stood.
But nothing can go easy, now can it?
His foot slipped on the rocks, sending him backwards into the pool, "woah-!!"
SPLASH!!!
He surfaced a few seconds later, glasses crooked and light brown hair clinging to his face.
He groaned in annoyance before getting back onto the rocks. Great, he's riding home soaking wet.
This better be worth it.
He woke up the next morning at his house, eyes squinting shut with that stupid eye crust.
He pinched it out of his eyes and put his glasses on. It was 6:30am, he might as well get up...
He walked to the bathroom, nearly tripping over the legs of his sweatpants. He turned on the sink faucet, took his glasses off and lowered his face to the sink basin.
Two hands under the running water and splashing up on his face to wake him up. Everything's normal about the routine.
That was...until his body buckled and chin hit the sink before he hit the ground.
"Ack!" Lewis rubbed his chin, sore and already bruising. He glanced down at his body, mostly to glare at his legs for failing him this early in the morning.
But he wasn't met with legs, he was met with a tail. A light brown tail, one the same color as his hair. Like the girls.
And his eyesight was noticably better.
His eyes widened and jaw slack, what the hell?
The scream came from the back of his throat before he could process he was about to make a sound.
And quick footsteps and a knock on the door followed, "Lewis? Are you okay, hon?" His mom's voice came through the door.
He blinked and pressed his back against the door, keeping it shut just in case she tried to open it, "yeah I'm fine! There- i.. I thought I saw a spider. I'm fine."
There was silence for a beat before she said, "okay."
He let out a sigh of relief when her footsteps went away from the door. He looked back down at his tail before grabbing a towel and roughly drying himself off.
Soon, he was walking out of the bathroom and into his bedroom.
He grabbed his phone and texted the girls, asking they meet him at the Juicy Cafe.
He was on his third glass of sweet tea by the time the girls got there, it'd only taken thirty minutes.
"Hey, Lewis, are you okay?" Cleo asked, giving him a little wave as she walked over.
"Yeah, what's with the urgency?" Rikki had a hand on her hip, as she moved to sit. Her red hair was in its signature ponytail.
Emma sat next to him, eyes widening as she looked at the bruise under his chin, "Lewis, what happened? You look like you lost a fight."
"I sprouted a tail this morning and hit my chin on my sink," he replied, earning an empathetic wince from his friends.
"Yikes," Rikki sucked in air from between her teeth, "that one always sucks.
He nodded and drank more of his tea.
It seemed the first part of his sentence finally processed in the girl's minds fully since their eyes were now as wide as lemons.
"Wait....tail?" Cleo was the first to question it.
Lewis nodded, "yeah, I kinda fell in the pool in that grotto at Mako while I was getting a sample for an experiment."
"You and your experiments," Rikki grumbled.
He gave her an unamused look, "right, because my trying to figure out what turned you three into fish is such a hassle."
"Well they certainly can be, and look where one got you: turned into a fish!" Rikki took a drink of her lemonade.
Lewis bit his tongue to keep himself back from shooting back a snide comment, he could be mature about this.
He could still feel his finger twitch slightly, and before anyone could register, Rikki's lemonade turned into gelatin.
She frowned when her drink wasn't coming through the straw anymore, "huh?"
It was jello. The drink that had just been liquid was jello now.
The three girls looked at him.
"I- I don't know how-" he stammered. That shouldn't be possible. He just turned something into jello.
But, then again, none of this should be possible.
Magic, unfortunately. The aspiring scientist fell into the clutches of magic.
This was going to be quite the adaptation...