Secrets of the Island (Sequel to Mysteries of Mako)

Chapter 1: A New Man (Moia's Curse)

~Manoa's POV~

A few days had passed since the last Full Moon. Things have been a bit different after what had happened. However, we still tried to do what we could. Right now we were in the Moon Pool, just hanging out.

"All this time we've been so close to your brother." Sirena says to Mimmi.

"It is pretty amazing," the brunette mermaid responds.

"You never felt anything?" Sirena asked, "I can always tell when Aquata's nearby. I can feel it in the water."

"Not until we started sharing visions."

"Now we know why we couldn't take his powers away," Ondina adds, "he was never a land boy at all."

Evie then surfaced between Ondina and I.

"Hey Evie," Mimmi greets, "have you seen Zac? Is he okay?"

"He's fine" Evie responds.

"Are you sure? He said he didn't want to have anything to do with us."

"That was then. Now, I think he's accepted it."

"Great." Mimmi says excitedly, "I've been wanting to go and see him." With that, she swam out of the Moon Pool.

"You've been pretty quiet, Manoa," Sirena says, "more so than usual."

"Yeah, sorry," I say, still a little distracted. "I just can't stop thinking about what Veridia said."

"Maybe Rita might know something about it," Ondina suggests.

"Maybe. I'll go talk to her. See you guys later."

I then swim out of the Moon Pool and make my way to the Grotto, and eventually found Rita by the balcony.

"Manoa, what brings you here so early?" she asks.

"I was wondering if you knew anything about what Veridia said on Mako the last Full Moon. About this Moia's Curse she mentioned."

"Let's talk in the Grotto," she says, and we make our way back and sit down. "The legend says that centuries ago, before the war against the mermen, there was a mermaid named Moia that fell in love with a merman. Her pod was furious with her, and so they decided to curse her, saying that any and all mermaids descended from her would be forced to fall in love with a merman. She, and the other cursed mermaids were marked by having their tail be an aqua blue color. Between her and you, only one other Aqua Tail has been known. Her name was Meranda, and she ran away during the war in pursuit of a merman named Galen."

"The merman that Moia fell in love with, what was his name? And did he and Galen return those feelings?"

"The name of Moia's merman has been lost, but he did love her as well. Galen, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with Meranda."

"So I'm related to Moia and Meranda, I understand, but what about Erik? Veridia said that 'he's the one' after I defended him. What does that mean?"

"My best guess would be that Moia's Curse knew that you two would eventually meet, and chose him as your merman."

"So I don't really have feelings for him? It's all fake?"

"That's something only you can answer."

"Okay, thanks Rita." I say, and head out to the Cafe and find the girls.

When I got there, I found Sirena and Ondina waiting nearby.

"What did Rita say?" Sirena asked.

"Long story short, Aqua Tail Mermaids are fated to fall for a merman." I answer.

"So that means..." Ondina slightly confused.

"I'll explain the details later," I say as we enter the Cafe.

Erik was the first to see us, and immediately came over to us.

"Manoa, I really need to talk to you." he says, but I turned and exited the Cafe, not wanting to talk to him.

After a while, I dove into the water and swam to Mako. instead of going to the Moon Pool, I made my way to the nearby rocks and pulled myself onto them after making sure no boats were nearby. After getting comfortable on my favorite rock, I looked out at the ocean and started to sing.

"I've been thinking over all the things that you've been saying to me. No reason or answer. Do I deceive myself what I make it out to be?

I thought I'm the girl with everything. If only you could stay. Only you could stay around the world for me. Thought I had it all and anything. I wanted you to really matter.

And I find myself searching through the days and all that you meant to me. I'm playing with fire. Will I burn inside when your passion lights for me?

I thought I'm the girl with everything. If only you could stay. Only you could stay around the world for me. Thought I had it all and anything. I wanted you to really matter.

When all is said and done for me, there is no other one for me. Cause everytime you speak, I feel my eyes drifting all around you."

"I knew I'd find you here."

I turned to see Erik as he pulled himself on one of the other rocks.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I need to talk to you about last Full Moon."

"What's there to talk about? You told me you'd keep Zac away from the Chamber, and you brought him there with Jasper."

"No, I didn't. It was Jasper's idea to bring Zac, and I tried to talk him out of it. I only went with them because knowing Jasper, he tends to overdo things. I was there to keep things from getting out of hand."

"I wish I could believe you."

"Why don't you?"

"I found out what Veridia was talking about. Remember what she said about us?"

"Something about a curse wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Moia's Curse. Apparently Moia is one of my ancestors who was cursed for falling in love with a merman. And what that curse does is that it turned her tail from orange to aqua and any mermaid descended from her with an Aqua Tail is also fated to fall for a merman, even if he doesn't feel the same. In my case, you're the one it's chosen. For all I know, everything we've been could all be fake because of it."

Erik doesn't say anything as he holds out his hand. I move closer from my rock to his as I take it and he pulls me closer.

"I don't care what some curse has to say about us. It's not going to change how I feel about you, and it shouldn't change how you feel about me. If you want me to leave you alone while you figure things out, I will."

"No." I say, "you don't need to do that. I'll need time to sort things out, yes, but let's just pretend that we never found out about it, for now at least."

We then left Mako and I made my way to the Grotto while Erik went back to the Cafe. I then explained everything to the girls before we got ready for a party celebrating the Cafe's anniversary. Hopefully things continue to work out.

A/N: Here it is, the first chapter of the Mysteries of Mako sequel, Secrets of the Island! Hope you guys liked this chapter and are excited for this story.

~Sarah_Renai