Making a Splash

Aquaria Festival: Day 1

Summer break was more than halfway over for Lily and her friends. So far they had managed to have plenty of fun during their break. They had swam around in the ocean more times than they could count, explored a few new areas they hadn't been to yet, and had even befriended the princess of a mermaid kingdom. Elizabeth, or Liz as the four girls had grown accustomed to calling her, was rather busy with her royal duties and as such had been rather scarce since their first meeting. But they all hoped they would get the chance to see her again someday and have fun.

Little did they know, Marie would be presenting them with such an opportunity far sooner than they had expected.

"A merfolk festival?" Lily questioned.

Marie nodded her head as she took a sip of her soda as they sat on the boardwalk by the beach. "Yeah. It's an annual event held in Aquaria that lasts three days. Merfolk all around the area come to celebrate and have a fun time. And this year, my mom managed to get some time off from work during it so we can all go."

"Are you sure we'll all be ok going?" Emma asked. "I mean you and your mom are Purebloods, but Lily, Cleo, and I are all Halfs."

"It shouldn't be an issue. Apparently Purebloods inviting Halfs they've transformed isn't all that uncommon for this." Marie explained. "I cleared it with my mom. She has no issue with all of us going."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "You didn't tell her about us before this though, right? I can't imagine that was a fun conversation."

Marie rubbed the back of her head with a nervous chuckle. "It was an... interesting talk. She wasn't exactly happy I kept it a secret for this long."

"What exactly did you say about me though?" Cleo asked. "I mean, compared to Lily and Emma, my circumstances for becoming a mermaid were... well, different."

Marie shrugged her shoulders. "I just used the story you came up with when we first met. I don't think she suspects anything."

"Well in any case, I'm all in for this." Lily said with an excited grin. "I've been really curious as to what Aquaria looks like."

"I agree. It sounds like fun." Emma nodded. "Plus we can see Her Highness again."

"I shouldn't have any trouble convincing my folks to let me go on a trip with friends." Cleo added. "Provided they don't know the full story of course."

"Then it's settled. Oh this is going to be so much fun!" Marie said happily. "Alright so we should be leaving in one week. We'll meet by the cove around 9 am. It'll be a long swim to Aquaria."

"Have you ever been there before?" Emma asked.

Marie nodded her head. "Once, for this same festival. I was only ten at the time though. My mom can't always get off from work during the time it's held."

"Then I guess we're lucky she was able to get off this year." Lily said. She raised her fist into the air. "Alright, this'll be the best summer trip ever!"

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Lily and the others weren't entirely sure how difficult it would be to get permission from their parents to go on the trip. Thankfully, they hadn't put up too much resistance. For Lily and Emma, their parents already knew Marie from the occasional times she would come visit. All it took after a little bit of pleading was a phone call to Marie's mother to confirm that she was alright with bringing them along.

Once the day of the trip came, Lily left the house and made her way to the cove. She met up with Emma along the way and the two grabbed Cleo at the bus stop. They each had bags packed with three days worth of clothes and other supplies to fool their parents. The plan was to leave them at the cove and Marie's father would come by later to grab them. They would all then pick up their bags from Marie's house when they came back.