Dangerous Waters

Chapter 9

Cleo shook her head and blinked slowly, her ears ringing. She looked around, confused, and saw everyone unconscious around her except Rita, who was stumbling toward the door, her frame outlined in smoke and blue haze. "Rita?" she said, everything muffled, "Rita!?" The older mermaid couldn't hear her, it seemed. Cleo stood up shakily, and stumbled toward the closest figure lying on the ground. She slid to her knees. "Cam, wake up. CAM!" Cleo said, shaking him. The lifeguard stirred and stared at her groggily. "Nixie?" he asked. "No, it's Cleo. Come on, HELP me!" she said, helping him up. The two started waking everyone up, and Rita got her senses to her and ran outside, looking for Zac.

"Zac? Zac, where are you? Seriously, you need our help to control this! Please let me help you?" she sat dejectedly at a cafe table and sighed. "I've failed. I've epically failed. It was my job to keep these girls and Zac safe, and I couldn't even protect them from themselves." She put her head in her hands. "Rita?" a quiet voice said, "Rita, it's not your fault, ok?" The principal looked up to see a large blue stone being set on the table in front of her.

"How-?" she started, but Lyla cut her off. "Serena found it under a booth inside the cafe. I guess Zac left it and ran. Now we just have to figure out if he did it on purpose or accident." "Well, first, we need to find him," Cleo pointed out, "we need him to activate parts of the Atlantic ruins." Rita stood up and looked her former student in the eye. "MY first objective is to find him so I know he's SAFE. Not because I need him for my research, Mrs. McCartney. Now I understand your findings are important to you, but they're not my primary concern!" 

Everyones eyes widened as Rita turned around and stalked off toward home. "Well, that was eventful!" Cleo said. "I'm going to make sure Rita's ok," Lyla said, her and Serena headed off after their "Aunt". "And i'm going to go look for my boyfriend," Evie said and walked toward Zac's house. "ALONE," she clarified when Cam started to follow her. "Right," Cam said, "well then I'm checking on Nixie," he decided, "bye, Cleo." Cleo found herself alone, and she sat down in the same chair Rita did. "Oh, Lewis, what do I do?" she asked herself.

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Evie walked into her boyfriends loft, to find him asleep on the bed. "Zac?" she ran over and sat down next to him. "Zac, wake up!" He stirred and looked at her, "what?!" he asked, annoyed. "What's going on with you? You could have been killed back there?" She scolded him, and hugged him. "What are you talking about, Evie? Back where?" She looked at him, confused, "at the cafe- where you used the trident stone to knock everyone out?" "I don't know what you're talking about, Evie. I've been asleep since I got home after visiting Nixie in the hospital," Zac replied. "What? No, you haven't, Zac, you- You know what, I'll be right back!" She got up and ran toward Rita's. "Evie? Where are you going?"

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"Rita, Evie's here to see you. She said it's important and she found Zac," Lyla announced breathlessly, having run from the second floor all the way to the grotto. "Bring her here, I need to keep searching for something to help Zac." "Got it!" Lyla said, and left for a moment, and returned with the land-girl. "Rita! Zac doesn't remember anything?" Rita turned around quickly. "What do you mean by anything?" she asked hurriedly. "The last thing he remembers is going to sleep after visiting Nixie earlier today." "Damn! Sorry, girls, pardon my language. Ok, it looks like I'm looking for a memory potion now." She ran toward another part of the grotto, gathering ingredients. 

Evie sat down on one of the pillows lining the grotto, overwhelmed by the events of not even the day, but just the past few hours alone. "It's going to be ok, Evie, we're here for you," Serena said, putting an arm around Evies's shoulder. Evie smiled weakly and leaned into the affection. "Thanks." Lyla pointed her moon ring at the stone once more, but again, nothing happened. "Blast it! This moon ring is USELESS!" she yelled, and Poseidon jumped up and walked out of the grotto with and annoyed growl.

"It's not useless, Lyla, we just have yet to figure out the right way to use it against this particular threat. Persistance is key." Rita said, calming the girl slightly, "after all, you're not the best with patience." Serena laughed and Evie smiled. "Shut up, Serena. And you-" she pointed at Evie, who raised and eyebrow, "wipe that smirk off your face!" Evie looked at Serena, who shrugged, "She's just stressed." Evie began pacing.

Cleo walked in with Zac. "Found him." The girls turned toward them for a few seconds and the continued what they were doing. "A little late, Cleo, Evie already did." "Yeah well, then explain why he was still at home and not here? And by the way, we've run into a little issue." Cleo said. "Yeah, I'm working on a memory potion now!" Rita said, "Lyla, grab the last ingredient, please?" Lyla walked by Zac and plucked a hair, and continued toward Rita. "Hey!" Zac and Evie said simultaneously.

"What? You need it to make the potion." Lyla shrugged, earning a glare from Evie. "Now, Zac, you're going to have to drink this. I know it doesn't look good, and it probably won't taste good, either, but you need to trust me and do it." Rita said. "Why should I trust you? Any of you? None of you seem to trust me." he retorted. "Zac, please," Evie said, "at least trust me?" she asked him. He looked unsure for a moment. "Only for you- you're the only one here I trust right now," he accepted and downed the potion. He immediately started coughing. "Ugh- what's in that stuff?! And is it SUPPOSED to give you a monster of a headache, I me-," he immediately cut off his tirade and looked around the room.

"What is it?" Lyla asked, "Zac?" A few quiet, tense moments went by, and Zac finally said something.

"I remember. And I'm so so sorry."