Secrets of the Island (Sequel to Mysteries of Mako)

Chapter 12: The Trident Stone

Jasper approached the Cafe, with Carly already giving him a 'don't even bother asking' look.

"Relax, I'm not here to ask for my job back." He says.

"Good, because you know what the answer would be." Carly responds.

"So can I get a juice?" Jasper asks.

"Take a seat. I'll be with you when I can." She says as she enters the Cafe, not even looking in Jasper's direction as she does so.

Cam, who was watching and hearing their conversation, walked over to Jasper. "That might take a while." He says.

"I've got nothing else to do." Jasper responds.

"Where's Ondina?" Cam asks.

"I thought she'd be here. She must be swimming somewhere with Mimmi and Sirena."

"What about Manoa?"

"With Erik."

"You guys need some kind of sonar to keep track of each other."

"That would be handy."

"It's a pity you never saw the Trident. It had this stone that glowed whenever mermaids were around."

This immediately caught Jasper's attention. "The stone glowed?" He asked, "Not the Trident?"

"Yeah." Cam responds.

"And you saw this?"

"Yeah. Well, actually, I was kind of there when the Trident got broken."

"I thought the Trident was destroyed."

"Well, strictly speaking, no."

With this new information, Jasper called Erik and Zac, asking if they could meet up at his place. Zac said it was alright, but Erik wasn't too thrilled about it.

"Jasper, you know I'm out with Manoa right now. Can this wait?" Erik asked on the other end. "I haven't had the chance to hang out with her in a while."

"This won't be long." Jasper insists. "You can meet up with her after. Besides, this is kinda important."

After a pause and some sound from the other end Jasper couldn't make out, Erik finally responded. "Okay, fine. I'll be there in a few. You owe me for this."

He then hung up and the guys met up with Zac at his place.

"So I'm thinking it doesn't matter if the Trident is broken." Jasper starts, "It's the stone that's important. Remember how it glowed in the hologram in the Chamber?"

"So?" Zac asks.

"So, maybe the stone is all you need to activate it." Jasper says. "The next Full Moon is tomorrow night. Come on, Zac. If the three of us find the stone, we can do this."

"The mermaids took what was left of the Trident." Zac says. "My bet is that they would have destroyed it, including the stone."

"That might be for the best." Erik says.

"Are you kidding?" Jasper asks. "We don't know for sure. If there is the slightest chance we can get the Chamber up and running, we should take it. We've got to do it. We owe it to all mermen."

"No, we don't." Erik states. "We don't owe anything. We don't even know if it's safe to use. For all we know, the mermaids are right and it's dangerous."

"Erik's right." Zac adds. "I'm sorry... but as far as I'm concerned, the Trident is gone. You should move on."

"No." Jasper says, "If that stone's out there, I'm going to find it. With or without you guys."