Nixie stood on the docks, her long wavy hair blowing behind her. She put her hand above her forehead and tried to block the sunlight from her eyes. Of course, she had forgotten her sunglasses on a day like this; at least the sun was going down soon. She and some of her classmates in their Environmental Studies class were supposed to meet up to start working on a project their teacher assigned them to do. They were supposed to get some test samples of the ocean water in various points around Mako Island. Mako Island was home to an inactive volcano and not much was known about the it, other than some rumors the coastal town had about it being haunted. People did not like to visit it. Though it was different for Nixie and her family. They visited the island once a year for a picnic. Secretly, she visited it more often. For some reason, the island had always called to her, almost as if she could hear a voice beckoning her to come closer.

The girls in her project group were widely different from each other. They weren't really friends and barely knew each other, except in passing, despite having lived in the small town for a very long time. People on the coast were close nit. Everyone knew each other by at least name and face. It was nice. Nixie usually liked it, but it also meant there was no privacy.

"Where are they?" Nixie mumbled. She twisted her dyed light blue hair between her fingers, while she looked at the small boat they would be taking. It belonged to one of her friends. He was the one who took her to the island whenever she asked, but today he was unable to take them, so she decided to borrow it. She knew how to drive it, so it really should be no problem.

Nixie adjusted her light blue sundress and tapped her foot impatiently. They should have decided to leave earlier. In a couple hours, it would be pitch black.

Grabbing the bag of test tubes, Nixie went ahead and gently got into the boat, sitting down in the drivers seat. She patted her pockets, making sure she had her cell phone, just in case. All that was left was to wait for everyone else.

While she waited, she could not help but think of how cool it was that they lived in a place that allowed them to do things like this. Everyone in the coastal town was very protective of the environment; even Nixie’s hair dye was made from natural products that would not be toxic if it got in the water. If they did not take care of their lands, waters and animal life, than who would?

Speaking of animals, Nixie straightened up in her seat when she noticed “the friendly neighborhood” dolphin a yard away from the boat. She waved at it and laughed when it waved back. It had recently been released from the Aquatic Animal Rescue Center and always came back for a visit. The town had a couple aquatic centers; one was the rescue center for hurt or sick animals and the other was part of an animal theme park. They both had study programs that studied and learned more about the animals of the sea.

“Come on guys… it’s going to get dark.” She looked up at the sky and shrugged. “At least it’s a full moon tonight.”

@_@_@_@_@

"Good, just in time!" Nixie said as one by one, everyone started to show up. "It's getting dark. We are not the world's best planners." She smiled and felt a wave of awkwardness surround her. Hopefully this would not continue this way; maybe they would have a chance to become friends during the course of their class. She liked making friends, but since she lived in the lighthouse, she did not get the chance to hang out with the neighborhood kids as often because the main housing area on the island was too far to walk. Come to think of it, the others lived in different parts of the island separate from the housing addition, so they probably understood how she felt.

"Let's hit the road... so to speak, before it gets too dark to see." She glanced over the land toward where the white peak of her lighthouse stood. Her dad had a schedule for when the lights were supposed to be on. All the fishermen knew it and if they went out when it was not scheduled to be on, then they were doing it at their own risk. It had to be on a strict schedule to conserve energy for the island. If it was on all the time, it would likely cause power outages, which is why most of the fisherman did their fishing during the day. The night fishermen had special boats with spotlights to help them complete their jobs. It was not scheduled to be on tonight because of the full moon. Usually, a full moon was light enough, but if it was cloudy, then it could potentially be pitch black out soon.

Nixie turned the key in Jay's boat, frowning when it made a weird clicking sound at first. She ignored the warning voice in the back of her head, thinking nothing could possibly go wrong. This boat was as reliable as most of the big fishing boats. It was Jay's pride and joy. They drove for a few minutes in silence; she enjoyed the spray of ocean mist hitting her pale skin. The dolphin from before was following them.

"Hey Ike!" Nixie pointed out the dolphin to everyone else. "He's so smart. Sometimes I think he understands me."

Mako Island was looming up, bigger and bigger. The volcano was in perfect view. It was impressive and a little intimidating, though it had been inactive for as long as any islander could remember. She could see the stream that trickled out of a little opening in the volcano into a mangrove forest.

Just as they were 20 feet from the island, the boat started to sputter. Nixie's eyes widened. She looked at the gas gauge, confused because it was still full. She was no mechanic and had no idea how to check what was wrong with the boat. It had completely died.

She looked over at the other girls and bit down on her lower lip. "Now what? We're going to have to paddle the rest of the way to shore." She picked up one of the paddles, handing it to one of the girls.

@-@-@-@-@

Once they got to the island, she and the other girls pulled the boat far enough onto the beach that it would not be washed away. She sighed and hoped that her actions had not permanently damaged Jay's baby. Nixie pulled her cell phone from her dress pocket and looked down at it. She had 1 bar amazingly enough. She tried to make a call, but it kept dropping after the first ring. She sighed again.

"I've got a single bar. Dad got me this new phone. They advertised that it would have good signal "anywhere," but apparently that did not include Mako Island." She bit down on her lower lip and looked toward the hills and forest all around them. "Maybe higher ground would help?" She put her phone back into her pocket, grabbed her bag and pulled out a couple test tubes. "But first, let me get this really quick before in all the excitement we forget. I know none of us want to fail." She went to the edge of the water, kicked her shoes off and waded to her knees, getting the end of her dress wet. She didn't really care; Nixie had always had a thing for the water. After all, she had been born in one of those fancy water births.

"Is everyone okay with climbing." She was wearing flip flops, so after debating the risk of keeping them on and spraining her ankle on or taking them off and risking stepping on something sharp, she decided she'd rather take the second risk. She had eyes and smarts enough to look where she was walking. Nixie put them in her backpack next to the test tubes and then put the bag around her shoulders.

"Phones out. Watch for a signal, but make sure to watch your step!" She started off, first in line. They would be climbing the hill, which in reality was the bottom of the volcano, now covered with all sorts of plant and wildlife. It was quite amazing how everything had evolved over the years.

The mangrove forest was so breathtaking up close. She looked at the swampy waters and wondered what kind of creatures lived out of sight. She swore she saw a crocodile slipping off a log and into the waters. Nixie paused and squinted her eyes, watching as sure enough a small crocodile moved smoothly through the waters, away from them, to the other side of the swamp area. Some people might feel frightened with such a creature nearby, but she felt at ease because she could tell that it was a freshie.

"There's a freshwater croc. They won't attack unless provoked." Amazing creatures.

Nixie looked down at her phone and sighed. "Still one bar." She pointed up toward a rocky part of the volcano that if they climbed would take them to a higher part of the island.

"It looks easy enough to climb." She looked down at her bare feet. "Even with no shoes." Most of the rocks had been smoothed over by streams of water that had been continuously pouring out of openings in the volcano and into the mangrove forest for over a hundred years, if not more. "Just don't slip. It will be really wet."

She grabbed onto one of the rocks and pulled herself up. It did not take too much effort. She was fit enough. Living on a small island, people mostly walked to where they needed to go, and of course there was a lot of swimming and surfing, though she was more of a swimmer than a surfer. Every few feet of height, she paused and checked her phone. Nothing.

Getting frustrated, she threw up her arms and groaned. "This stupid phone." She was concentrating so much on her phone that she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing. The next thing she knew, darkness and a tightness surrounded her. She was sliding down a smooth, dirt covered tunnel. At the bottom of the tunnel, she tumbled out and did a somersault, landing on ground made out of some sort of rock. Disoriented, she could only blink her eyes a few times. When her vision returned to normal and her eyes adjusted to the lower light, she gasped.

It was a cave, a beautiful cavern filled with strange blue crystals imbedded into the rocky walls. There was almost a glow coming from them, but the most wonderful thing had to be the blue/green pool of water in the middle of the mysterious area.

Nixie stood up, shaking on her feet at first.

"Oh wow...Guys! Guys, can you hear me? Be careful."

She looked up the tunnel. It was much too steep and slippery for her to climb. Nixie turned away from the tunnel and walked a little ways toward the middle of the cave, toward the pool. She bent down and looked inside. It was so clear and looked almost like it would be drinkable, though the few bubbles at the surface, made her believe it was connected to the ocean.

'I've got this weird vibe,' Nixie thought. 'It's almost like this place is magical.' She stood up and did a silly spin. Despite falling into a place that seemed impossible to escape, she felt really excited. Not only was the place mysterious and beautiful, it even felt wonderful. The air inside was fresh and cool on her skin and it smelled like strawberries and spring time. It also made her feel safe; like nothing could ever harm her while in this cavern.

"It's so amazing down here," Nixie yelled up to the girls. She looked up and gasped once again. There was a perfect round opening far above her. "Oh my gosh. I'm at the bottom of the volcano." It was hard telling how far the true bottom of the volcano was. For all she knew, she could be near the sea floor. The opening above her sure looked a million miles away. It was daunting and a little scary, but did not stop her from wanting to explore the cave more.

Yuki allowed the ambient entirety of the sea, with its refreshing winds, cold, frothy waves, and warm sunlight, to engulf her. She felt completely alive in nature’s beautiful island sculpture, and reveled in every energizing moment, taking in a deep breath of air as the water sprayed her every so often with sun-kissed ocean. She opened her eyes and saw the large blotch of land up ahead, and became very excited to finally see whatever lived, breathed or crawled out there. She took out her hand-dandy sensations notebook, and decided to record a summary of her current feelings:

“08/09/2014
-Air smells FANTASTIC here, it’s cool and windy, and everything just feels wonderful. Mako Island is a ways away, but the atmosphere of the sea is just breathtaking. I should probably stop looking at internet pictures of the sea, and actually GO OUT and experience it more for myself. So much prettier here.”

Yuki looked over her shoulder to the three other girls on the shore: the first one, Nixie, was a fascinating blond who streaked her hair teal and was accommodating enough to let them use her friends’ boat to take their trip to Mako Island. She didn’t know much about her other than the fact that she too, lived here since the day she was born. She noted the way she led the group about, taking charge and generally breaking the ice for the girls. She did not say so out loud, but Yuki appreciated her efforts, as the other two might not be as comfortable as she with practical strangers. "Sorry I'm late. My brothers decided that they didn't want me to go out tonight and dad had to put them back in their place,” said Tristan, the newbie in town with earth colored hair. Yuki smiled slightly and nodded acknowledgment. “No worries,” she simply said, then hopped onto the boat, eager to make her trip. She didn’t care much for the class and their experiments; she was here for the experience, the fun, the excitement of going out and setting sail in the ocean under full blown moon light. Today, she sported a light blue shirt with navy blue long sleeves, gray denim half pants that reached slightly past her knees, white Nike running shoes with its black trademark streaked across its body, and a black and dark green backpack containing her class binder for note taking and the lab sheets. She watched Nixie randomly wave to a cute dolphin out on the open waters, and smiled as the sweet animal shook its flippers back. She decided to sit down on one of the boat benches, and flipped open her little book again:

“-Saw an actual wild dolphin for myself. I thought it was cute. I hope to see many more awesome things on here. I should probably expose myself more other than skateboarding and video games.”

She looked up to Nixie motioning everyone to go before it gets dark, and watched the other girls take their seats on distant sides of the boat. She sensed the awkwardness in the air, but didn’t pay any heed to it. She turned around and bent over the boat to see the magnificent rainbow spectrum of fish darting about in the crystal clear waters. There were yellow fish with black and white strips, fish the color of rust with silver linings on the fins, small sand colored sharks, and terrific corals with varied shades and structures. “Wow”, she exclaimed under her breath, and silently observed with much fascination the thriving ecosystem just below her. She swung her pack in front of her and quickly opened one of the pockets to reveal a brown, whole wheat sandwich wrapped in plastic chock with spinach, tomatoes, grilled onions and a savory, juicy beef patty right in the middle. She scraped off a few crumbs and dropped them into the ocean for the precious fish to eat. Yuki hoped they enjoyed her small contribution for their continuous cycle of life.

"So, uh... Look, I'm really sorry about you and the others having to be stuck with me and all; I'll try not to drag the group down..." Tristan suddenly piped, the new girl with the sad but pretty face. "I promise I'll push myself into studying so that I can do my part as best as I can..." Yuki shot her a friendly glance, trying to ease her out of her nervousness and to reassure her that she’ll be fine. It’s not like this place is super advanced or anything.. She thought silently to herself as she momentarily remembered her boredom with school. Since there were no AP or Honors classes, Yuki was stuck in the regular classes that didn’t really challenge nor test her abilities. She never really listens in class, and instead, always opts to play her Nintendo DS in the corner of the room, or quietly pass messages between herself and a desk mate. She usually aces the tests, but can’t be bothered to do homework, so as a result, she usually only passes with a C, when she could be getting straight As and a good chance at college. Yuki didn’t know what she wanted to do in life, nor was she actively thinking about it; it’s not something that she exactly liked dwelling on, and when someone asks her about it, she usually just shrugs them off. To get her mind off of her academics and future career, she opens her notebook again to write down some things she’s noticed about two out of her three class partners:

“-Nixie seems to be the leader type, taking charge and organizing and harmonizing people, even if she may not know it. Seems nice enough, and definitely knows these parts more than I do. I may need to speak to her about exploring more aquatic life.

-Tristan seems to need a self-esteem boost. I know she’s new, but I don’t think she’ll hold us down with a little help. Don’t know much about her, so might talk to her sometime.”

"Good, just in time! It's getting dark. We are not the world's best planners”, Nixie said as the group slowly neared the island. Yuki’s eyes widened as she beheld the magnificence of the secluded body under full moon light. Her excitement grew exponentially, and she was already gearing up to head down, when she heard the engine down below sputter and cough. Her eagerness instantly died, and she looked from one girl to the next with a worried expression on her face. Trist quickly broke into the hatch and mumbled something about broken parts and repairs. Yuki and the other girl didn’t exactly know how they could be of use; still, she attempted to shoot a clueless, friendly glance out to the other, in an attempt at mutual connection. Her eyes suddenly fell upon the life boat, and this alone got her a’moving. She threw the life jackets stationed in a mini-shelf onto the little boat, and turned to hear Nixie suggest to paddle the way forward. She took one of the paddles the blonde girl held out, and lowered the boat down…

Several moments later, they found themselves climbing the rocks to find a better signal for their cellphones. Yuki didn’t find the rock climbing all too difficult, but she was worried that her sneakers might slip off, given that the flat of her shoes wasn’t enough to really put traction between her and the stones; still, it was better than the flip flops the others wore. Raising her Samsung Galaxy S4 over her head, a small bit of disappointment came to her as she also had only one bar just like the rest of her group. She glanced around her surroundings, and noticed the activity of wild life on this untouched, isolated island: the eerily grinning crocodiles, the alluring light of the fireflies, the crickets and frogs that played their evening tune. The brilliant, star filled night sky, the wonderful sounds and the soft glow of the fireflies made everything seem like a high class private concert. She quietly thanked nature for her music, and pulled herself forward happily, until her classmates suddenly started disappearing one by one into a tunnel. With the reflexes of a house lizard, she dived towards them, hoping to catch them by the arm or wrist, but she was too late, and ended up sliding straight into the dirt hole herself. The darkness and her body spiraling down towards some unknown made her very anxious and dizzy, until she finally tumbled into a long forgotten cave.

A sharp pang of pain around her shoulders dominated her senses for a moment, until she opened her eyes and saw the grandeur beneath the volcano: blue crystals with soft, gentle lights hummed all across the walls with their beauty, and as the main center piece, a shining, turquoise-like pool that sat in the middle and charmed in moonlight from the opening of the volcano. Yuki gasped slightly, as she has never seen anything more breathtaking in her life; even the other girls found the whole scenery just as amazing. She quickly stood up and wandered around the earthy room, touching the crystals here and there, taking in the overload of magnificence over her. She was so stricken that for the entire duration that she would be there, she forgot to write her thoughts and sensations in her notebook.

Suddenly, as if the pool of jade and sapphire bound her to its will, she slowly walked towards the water and dipped her entire body inside; surprisingly, the liquid was cool to the touch and felt like bliss against her lightly tanned skin. Without warning, she plunged herself deep into the pool, and came out thoroughly soaked, her clothes stuck hard to her body, accentuating her lean, slender muscles. The moonlight that filtered into the mouth of the volcano highlighted the golden tone of her skin, and the dripping water from her hair plastered her bangs against her forehead. She flipped her hair sideways once, twice, showing off the black, silky strands, then looked back to her classmates and smiled sheepishly, with some slight embarrassment. “Well, I don’t know how I got into this, but you guys should come in. It’s nice and cool,” Yuki said invitingly.

Skye’s feet pounded against the wooden boards of the docks as she hopped up onto them, her honey brown hair flew wildly behind her; of course it had been today that they were doing this. I can’t believe I forgot! Actually it was entirely believable, she slowed down to a jog as she got closer to the boat. Her storm grey eyes lifting past it almost instantly as she noticed the dolphin swimming in the bay, taking her eyes off of the boardwalk probably wasn’t her best move however. The problem with the floor was its favorite trick was to throw a sporadic bump into its normally flat form, of which Skye almost always dutifully found. She approached the others housing a sheepishly apologetic smile “Hey sorry I’m-wah!” Unfortunately finding that rare bump in the ground Skye was cut short of her apology as she felt her body lurch forward unexpectedly. She inhaled sharply as she toppled head first into the boat, breaking the perfectly serene scene as she caused the whole thing to rock sharply. The brunette ended up splayed across the floor having almost landed on one of the other girls she was lucky enough to fall short merely ending up in an undignified heap on the floor, her legs were stuck in the air over the side of the of the boat, she was starting to wish she’d just fallen in the sea...at least then she could have hidden beneath the waves.

“I’m ok...” She whispered almost inaudibly, pulling herself upright she ran her fingers into her hair pulling it away from her face, avoiding the others eyes as her cheeks colored in embarrassment. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to...” She apologized casting her gaze to the floor as she slowly lifted herself onto her feet, reaching down to brush down her khaki shorts and readjust her purple tank top, the simple action showing up the variety of braided leather bands covering her left wrist. She slid over to an unoccupied seat willing the blood to leave her face as she nervously reached up to the necklace hung around her neck as was her style it was a material necklace laced with a variety of wooden beads a shark tooth secured at its centre held in place with a thin piece of wire. Holding it between her fingers, she ran her index finger along the jagged edge of the tooth allowing the sharp tip to gently indent her finger, shifting her gaze to Nixie as she mentioned them not being the best planners she felt the left side of her mouth twitch up into a half smile. Perhaps but at least we all made it She thought in answer to that, though Skye carefully kept her opinions to herself. It was unfortunate for the other 3 having to be placed with her, although there was no obvious reason why, Skye figured something had to be up with her 2 years on the island and still no solid friends depicted there was. Noah often teased her for it, which was understandable considering her ‘best friend’ was a seal...one of which only really loved her for the small bribe of food.

Skye was pulled from her thoughts as she heard Tristan apologize for being a burden to the rest of them. Skye noticed Yuki give the other girl a friendly glance, she felt like she should offer the same but You just fell into the boat and almost squished her...she’s not going to want to know Successfully convincing herself not too speak for fear of putting her foot in it again she offered up a small smile of acknowledgment before returning her gaze to the ocean. Choosing to remain quiet her eyes flickered to rest on the other girls every so often, she had known of them before this assignment but not personally, she was aware of the awkward feeling that was currently surrounding them. Should I say something? Even as the thought crossed her mind she dismissed it looking back out over the water as they glided across the surface, she reached over the edge with her free hand allowing the warm salty water to slap against her palm enjoying the cool ocean spray against her lightly tanned skin. A larger smile crossed her face as Nixie pointed out the playful dolphin; the way he moved was beautiful effortlessly slicing through the water and propelling himself into the air with profound ease.

Skye had little to no knowledge about engines and the like but she felt her gaze shift to Nixie as she started up the boat, she’d been on enough boats to know that sound wasn’t right it caused worry to prickle across her skin briefly. Ignore it...Nixie’s not bothered by it She told herself, leaning further over the boat she dropped one of her hands onto its side to hold herself steady, the other outstretched towards the water, unbothered by the slight sting of the spray against her skin. She lifted her eyes to Mako island as they approached the shore, excitement apparent in her expression as she absorbed the scenery of the small island. “Never ceases to amaze me” She murmured to herself, forgetting other people could hear her. She withdrew back into the boat as the engine came to a spluttering halt, worry flooding back into her mind as she got to her feet unsteadily following Tristan over to the hatch but making sure she stayed well out of the way as the other girl got down onto her front to inspect the engine, in a bid to be useful she wracked her brain for a way to help.

I think I still have Noah’s multi-tool...would that be helpful? She thought to herself, it was the best she could come up with. Moving back to where she had been sat she searched for her bag feeling her stomach drop as she realized she didn’t have it with her. She must have left it back by Selkie’s enclosure, she pressed her fingers to her forehead everything she had needed had been in that bag, including her phone....disappointed with herself she moved back over to the others glancing away as Yuki threw a worried look in her direction, she instinctively reached up to her necklace to calm herself down as she listened to Tristan’s summary of the engine, she shuffled nervously. “Not an idiot, it was only a slight indication...wasn’t exactly worry inducing at the time” Skye murmured in a low voice British accent far more prominent than before, she had spoken up in an attempt to make the other girl feel better but knowing the likeliness of being able too was slim she quickly dropped her gaze to the floor. She peeked back up at Nixie as she mentioned having to paddle the rest of the way to shore “Looks like we have no other options, at least it’s not far!” She offered up with a small smile, deciding optimism was the best way to deal with this situation rather than worry, she tried to help out as best as she could on the paddling.

~~~

After they finally reached the shoreline, Skye was one of the first ones to jump ship so to speak, having not been much use with the paddling she eagerly vaulted over the side of the boat, splashing noisily into the surf below she grabbed onto the boat helping the others pull it ashore. Moving further in land her eyes focused on the other girls as they all pulled out their phones, she licked at her lower lip nervously before running her fingers into her hair pulling it away from her face as she moved closer to the trio unable to produce a phone, she tucked her hair behind her ear and awkwardly pushed her hands into her pockets hoping someone would be able to get some form of signal. Noah’s going to kill me when we get back... She couldn’t push the thought aside, she’d promised him she wouldn’t be out late and when she was unable to answer her phone he was surely going to panic. Hearing Tristan exclaim she glanced at her curiously, feeling her mouth turn up at the corners she quickly averted her gaze again, as if this action showed she hadn’t intentionally eavesdropped her conversation. I wonder if Noah knows Tristan’s brothers? It probably didn’t matter, even if they were associated would they even know where they were...she shifted over to Nixie as the teal tinted blonde pulled the test tubes from her bag, tilting her head to the side she watched the other girl wade out into the water to fill them before Skye could even offer her assistance. Just stay quiet, they've got this She retreated back from the others, trailing behind as the decision to climb was made.

She watched Nixie take her flip flops off and place them in her bag, her eyes falling to rest on her own feet, her battered old Nike trainers were by now absolutely sodden and rather uncomfortable to walk in. But she wasn’t prepared to risk cutting herself by taking them off; she ended up third in line following behind Yuki whilst being acutely aware of Tristan’s presence behind her as she moved. As beautiful as their surroundings were the brunette glanced around her only occasionally, though the full moonlight was creating enough light for her to see where she was going she didn’t trust herself enough to not trip up again. She moved past the swamp dwelling croc pretty fast as Nixie pointed it out, she loved all forma of wildlife...there were just a few species she wasn’t comfortable around, Crocodiles happened to be one of them. Just after they passed into the forest she noticed her shoelace had come undone not wanting to cause another disaster she quickly stepped out to the side haphazardly balancing on the rocks as she leant done to do it up again, lifting her gaze after the others as she felt Tristan pass her.

She had literally just secured the lace back in place when she heard a scream up ahead, her heart practically leapt to the back of her throat as she propelled herself upright and forward, catching up just in time to watch one of the girls feet disappearing into a hole in the ground, she skidded to a halt just in front of the gap, teetering dangerously she threw her body weight backwards in an attempt to fall clear of the ominous opening unfortunately the action caused her feet to slide straight off the edge, her backside connected with the tunnels surprisingly smooth walls with a harsh thump. She kept her knees bent, her fingers grazing the top of the tunnel as she tried to press her feet against the smooth rock beneath her causing a nasty squeaking noise to echo through the cavern below. She squeaked out a rather feminine exclamation as she was unceremoniously thrown out into the cavern, ending up face down in the dirt for the second time that evening.

She lifted herself up onto her knees almost instantly, groaning as pain coursed through her body, she was pretty sure she would have bruises in unsavory places after this. Luckily her mind quickly recovering from the disorientating ride down after all she hadn’t been as surprised by the fall. She got to her feet hastily, having been the last down the chute she moved further into the peculiar cave. “Is everyone...” She started to ask trailing off as her eyes widened taking in the rather mystical view before her. “...okay?” She finished, though she was concerned for the others she was momentarily mesmerized by the place they had fallen into, she reached out towards the crystals on the wall her hand hovering just in front of it, smiling as blue light danced across her palm. “Are we inside the volcano?” She asked aloud, looking up at the opening far above them her mouth turned up into a smile as she listened to the others talk. “...Snap” Skye murmured although it was in answer to Tristan’s comment she hadn’t said it to be heard. Remembering how they had gotten into this place in the first place she allowed the rational side of her brain to regain control as she turned her attention back to her companions, her storm grey eyes still alight with excitement.

She noticed Tristan was still on the ground not far from her, she shifted towards her reaching over to offer her a hand up. “You ok down there?” She asked clearly concerned but unable to wipe the smile from her face, even as she spoke she avoided eye contact as best as she could. Depending on whether Tristan accepted her help or not, Skye either helped the other girl to her feet or uselessly retracted her hand keeping the smile on her face regardless. She turned her attention to Yuki who had sunk into the beautifully clear pool sat at the center of the ‘room’. “Not meaning to be the buzzkill here guys... but shouldn’t we be trying to find a way out of here?” Skye suggested though she moved towards the pools edge at Yuki’s prompting, clearly far more in touch with her ‘voice of reason’ at this moment than her ‘free spirit’ she looked around with a hint of worry to her expression the tunnel they had all fallen down was definitely too slippery to ascend. She looked up at the hole in the ceiling far above them, she bit down on her lip refusing to admit she couldn’t see an easy way to escape the confined space...It’s not confined, it’s open, you’re ok, don’t freak out, just breathe Her thoughts came out in jolty sentences, her hand reflexively sought out the necklace around her neck trying to appear as calm as possible to the others. She crouched down next to the pool reaching forward to dip her fingers into the cool water so as to distract herself, her eyes drifting up to rest on Nixie as she moved around. “Nixie, what do we do?” Skye asked in a low voice as she balanced precariously by the edge of the pool, she was clearly taking this far too seriously it was apparent in her face she was nowhere near as relaxed as everyone else seemed to be...

Nixie laughed when one by one all the girls ended up at the bottom of the cavern. She bent over, putting her hands on her knees, trying to regain her breath. "Nice of all of you to join me." She stood up and shook her long hair out of her face. She looked over at the pool of water at Yuki and raised an eyebrow. The Japanese girl must be really trusting to just jump in some strange pool of water. Though, Nixie knew she would have done the same if she had thought about it. The water did look invigorating.. The blue-haired girl walked over to the water's edge and looked down at her. She chuckled, then turned to the other girls when Skye asked what they were going to do now.

She walked over to the cave wall and ran her fingers gently over the crystal rocks, delighted when one of them fell out into her hand. Nixie held it up and squinted her eyes at it. It really did seem to have a soft glow coming from it, but that was really caused by the full moon starting to pass over the volcano opening. She looked up at the tiny bit of moon that was visible and smiled. The moonlight felt really inviting. Everything about this place felt inviting, from the walls, the floor, the crystals and especially the round, crystal clear pool of water.

When she realized she had got distracted and ignored the other girl's questions, she blushed slightly. "Oh sorry. I do have a theory about how we can get out, but bear with me, until I figure out if it will work." She walked over to the pool, set down at the edge, dangling her legs into the water. She shrugged off her backpack and set it aside. "It looks like this pool is connected to the rest of the ocean." She pointed in the clear water. "See that tunnel down at the bottom?" It was at least big enough for two people to swim side by side.

She jumped into the water next to Yuki, smiled at her slightly and then focused on the tunnel.

"I'll go check. I can hold my breath longer than anyone on the island." Since they lived surrounded by water, it had become a standing tradition to have silly water competitions and see who could do various things the best while in the water.

She took a huge breath and started through the clear tunnel. The swim did not take as long as she thought it would. In no time, she was out of the tunnel and in the main ocean. Nixie swam to the surface and took a huge gulp of air. It had taken her a little over 2 minutes, though would have taken longer if she hadn't swam so fast. She looked around her, saw that it was a short swim from where she was to the beach where their boat was docked.

- - -

"Good news," Nixie said when she appeared at the pools surface. She looked at the girls and smiled. Her long hair swirled around in the water as she laid back and floated. "This pool is connected to the ocean. If we swim fast, it is about a 2 minute swim from here to the surface." She motioned for the others to join her in the water, grabbed her backpack and secured it to her body.

"Come on everybody; jump in!" She rested her forearms on the edge of the cavern floor and looked around the magical room. Part of her wished that there was a normal way to come and go because she wanted to come back every chance she got. She looked up at the night sky through the volcano's opening, watching as the full moon almost nearly covered it. There was still a slither of moon missing from view. She was still looking up when the rest of the girls jumped into the water and just when she heard the splash of their bodies hit the surface, the moon passed full over the opening.

Nixie's eyes widened as a beam of moonlight shined down on them. It was like the tower of light was some sort of magical barrier. She could not move away from her spot. Subconsciously she reached out and took two of the girl's hands, noticing the everyone else had done the same, until all four of them were holding hands and facing each other.

The water around them began to gurgle and turned a pleasant warm, like a fancy bubble bath. Orbs of water and light floated out of the pool, swirling around their heads and up the column of moonlight and seemed to be following it until it could no longer be seen. A whoosh of air followed the bubbles, caressing their cold, wet skin. The next thing she knew the water around them startled to boil and become hot. It did not hurt, but left a really strange sensation on her exposed skin. Almost a soon as it began, it stopped and the surface got as cold as ice.

Looking up, Nixie noticed the full moon moving away from the opening, the column of light went away and all the strange phenomenon went with it.

"What was that? Is everyone okay?" She looked at the others; they were still holding hands, forming a circle between them.

"Oh sorry. I have a theory about how we can get out, but bear with me, until I figure out if it will work. It looks like this pool is connected to the rest of the ocean. See that tunnel down at the bottom?" Nixie said as she pointed to the glowing, translucent pool that Yuki was floating in. The blue-haired girl wiggled out of her backpack, and hopped in with the strange Japanese girl, but she found it pleasant that one of them finally decided to stop worrying, relax, and find a way out. After all, you do your best thinking when you’re calm, she thought to herself. “Yeah, I see it. It seems pretty deep though..” She mumbled the last part to herself, suddenly anxious of the depths of the pool. Yuki was never one for endurance and strength-based activities; that’s why she prefers skateboarding over any sports, because it relies more on how you control your momentum and your agility rather than simply physical toughness. Her weaker than average lungs didn’t allow her the pleasure of surfing and swimming regularly with the others, so when Nixie came back up from the other side and told them it would take “only” a two minute swim, she got pretty nervous.

“Uhm.. You know what, maybe I’ll just.. stick around here, y’know?” Yuki muttered nervously with a smile that tried to hide her anxiety around the waters. “I like the place: it’s beautiful, peaceful, and I want to find out a bit more about the crystals and such. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” She looked about the cave room once more, admiring the awe-inspiring grandeur of the interplay between the soft luminosity of the crystals and the dancing shadows hovering in between. She wondered if there was another pathway out that did not require her to drop down a dark hole or search randomly around the island shores looking for the underwater entrance. She sighed disappointedly, seeing there were none, and looked to Tristan as she responded to Nixie’s invitation, "Well that's a bummer... It was looking like it was going to be such a nice night for camping..." Yuki couldn’t agree more, and nodded solemnly to show her siding with the girl’s statement. “Problem is, we don’t have camping gear.. No rations either, since we did plan on just being here for a few hours.” With that discussion out of the way, Tristan jumped into the pool, and the team of girls started preparing to make their escape, when suddenly, a beam of moonlight shot down through the crater and into the water. She stood frozen, completely enthralled by this shining, white pillar. Subconsciously, she reached out and grabbed the other two girls’ hands, and closed her eyes and basked in the strange serenity of the situation. Little droplets of water started floating around the four, and small orbs of light bobbed up from the pool and glimmered against their entranced, relaxed faces. The water started bubbling to a warm boil, which soothed her skin and her now dull, aching bones. Taking this moment to unwind, she submerged herself even more into the pool.

The strange occurrence passed as quickly as it came, the moon shifting phases in the blink of an eye, the little blobs of water and light phasing out of existence, and the water simmering down to its inert state. Yuki opened her eyes, and saw how everyone was just as confused as she was. “What was that? Is everyone ok?” Nixie asked everyone with a rather worried look on her face. Yuki nodded simply in response, and quickly glanced around to make sure that the others were all right as well. "Well... That was better than a full body massage... Yeah, I'm fine. But unless you guys are fine with camping here in the cavern we better get our buts into gear." She opened her mouth to state that she was actually fine with it, but then Tristan went under and swam towards the tunnel towards the exit. Yuki gulped nervously and hard, her anxiety shooting up her throat. She felt queasy, and probably turned a sickly shade of blue, but she swallowed her ill feeling, and shot the remaining two a weak smile that indicated that she was trying too hard to keep it all down. Well, here goes nothing.. she thought helplessly as she inhaled the deepest breath she could, and plunged herself in. She began waddling as best as she could along the pathway, admiring the little dots of light that seem to float about the water, illuminating her way. After about thirty seconds, she calmed down, and thrust her arms forward and back in more fluid motions. All right, slow and steady now.. she told herself reassuringly, and continued at her desired pace. Despite her positive self-encouragement though, her lungs had already reached their limit. Making the mistake of letting out all the air bubbles in her mouth all at once, she accidentally inhaled water in reflex for oxygen. Struggling for a foothold of the situation, she tried to paddle her way towards the opening, which was half-way across, her lungs growing hotter and more bloated in her chest. She looked back, panic flashing from her wide, dark eyes, and gauged whether or not she could swim forward or back fast enough for air. She coughed up another air bubble in her paralyzed state, and her lungs seared with burning agony. Her vision hazed into a blur, her arms and legs grew wobbly and weary, and her body felt like lead. She vehemently hoped that another girl would come soon to sweep her out of her scorching suffocation, as shadows crept into her vision..

((Disclaimer: Maki Casanova gave me full permission to move Yuki))

Skye momentarily froze as Tristan caught her eye before she could avert her gaze; it was an uncomfortable experience despite the warm smile the other girl had given her. She dropped her hand nodding her head she hadn’t thought about that...yet again the others were all rather calm about this whole ordeal whilst she was internally not. Having moved over to the pool she was absently running her fingers through the water when Nixie chuckled, she lifted her gaze to the other girl curiously before her eyes were drawn to the moon peeking in through the opening above them. If the cave hadn’t felt as warm and welcoming as it did Skye may have been far more panic stricken by now, but something about this place was keeping her fear in check the longer they were there the more relaxed she was able to become.

She glanced at Nixie a second time as she approached the water’s edge, half of her glad the other girl was going to find a way out for them and surprisingly half disappointed they had to leave. Really...? The fear left just like that She thought to herself, sitting back she pulled her trainers from her feet before submerging her legs into the calm waters lifting an eyebrow at Nixie as she shrugged off her backpack before hopping into the pool alongside Yuki. Be careful... Skye tactfully kept the thought to herself as the blue haired girl told them all her plan before she disappeared under the surface no doubt heading down towards the tunnel at the bottom of the pool. Skye remained silent as the other two girls discussed a shared disappointment that they couldn’t just camp in the cave for the night, she was surprised that she also felt their disappointment...it was nice in here.

Like they’d fallen down the rabbit hole and ended up somewhere mystical, somewhere away from the sting of reality. A smile crossed Skye’s lips as she allowed her imagination to run free with the idea, effectively immersing herself in a private daydream. She actually physically jumped as Tristan dove into the water splashing her lightly just as Nixie reappeared, Skye was glad to see the other girl was unharmed though her words brought forth that strange mixture of feelings again, torn between relief and disappointment.
“2 minutes?” She repeated, reaching up to push her fringe off of her face she was positive she could do it she spent so much time in the water she had slowly been building up the time she could spend underwater...2 minutes was pushing it however she wasn’t exactly at Nixie’s level yet. Hearing the instruction to get into the water Skye reached over for her trainers wrapping the laces around them she secured them to the belt loop on the back of her shorts making sure the soles were pressed against her and the heel was pointing towards the ground, she gave them a tug before hopping forward into the calm depths, sinking beneath the surface briefly before surfacing, basking in the wonderful feeling of the pool and scolding herself for being the last one in.

She had barely been in the water for a minute when the moon passed over the opening above them, her gleeful expression turned to one of shock as a barrier of light seemed to surround them, she couldn’t move from where she was she felt warm fingers wrap around her hands as the girls all seemed to instinctively reach out for one another. Skye was completely convinced she had in fact fallen asleep a few moments ago and everything that was currently happening was in her imagination...but the feel of the warm bubbling water against her skin seemed so real, she was positive if she had been able to move her hands she could have reached out to touch the bubbles that rose from the surface, the swoop of air that brushed against her heated damp skin caused a shiver to run down her spine. As the water seemed to bubble and boil around them it sent a strangely relaxing sensation through her body, in truth she just wanted to lay back in the pool and bask in the moonlight, no longer wanting to leave at all...she wanted to remain in the rabbit hole for as long as possible.

She couldn’t help but feel slightly deflated as the pleasant feeling left with the moon; the bright sphere had begun to move away from the opening above them taking with it whatever magical phenomena it had brought. “That was...” Skye murmured a smile still playing on her lips she hadn’t felt this content for a very long time. She blinked up at the other girls as Nixie asked them if they were ok, slowly slipping back into herself she immediately retracted her hands from the others grip clearing her throat in embarrassment, raising an eyebrow at Tristan’s sheepish grin finding that a content smile was still on her own lips. She nodded at Nixie as well glancing at Yuki to check she was OK as well, hearing Tristan verbally answer the blue haired girls question before she dived under the water heading for the tunnel. Skye noticed the Japanese girl had turned a rather interesting shade of blue; she even got a sense of how nervous the other girl seemed to be, of course her concern grew as Yuki threw her and Nixie a weak smile before gulping in air and diving under the water before Skye could ask her what was wrong. “You’re concerned too right?” She asked Nixie in a small voice. If Yuki was nervous we could have gone together... Skye thought as she paddled through the water to get a little closer to their exit.

“I’ll go next” She smiled at Nixie before taking a deep breath and plunging under the surface heading straight for the tunnel the other two had disappeared into. Skye glided through the water with ease keeping her legs going in a steady rhythm, her arms sliced through the current systematically, being beneath the surface had almost become second nature to her. However being underground and confined in a tight space such as this would normally have sent her into a panic attack by now...but whatever had happened in the cave was still affecting her, her fear couldn’t reach her. She was just glad the strange glowing stones embedded in the jagged walls around her were actually a very effective light source not to mention beautiful and suitably enchanting, if it had been pitch black down here no amount of magical ju-ju could have saved her from the crippling effects of fear.

Even the cool ocean water had little effect on Skye, her core body temperature had always been higher than average, Noah called her a human radiator...as unflattering as it sounded he hadn’t been lying, she practically projected heat from her body it helped her keep the cold at bay as she moved. She started to feel the pressure on her lungs about halfway through, though she was careful not to panic about it she merely upped her pace until she came across a hugely concerning sight. Skye darted forward towards the floating shape of Yuki she had literally left the pool less than a minute after the other girl, she couldn’t tell if the Japanese girl was even breathing but she knew the tunnel wasn’t the place to stop and check, she also knew she didn’t have enough air for the both of them anyway. Without hesitation she swam closer to Yuki snaking an arm around her waist and kicking her legs harder to carry the pair of them further along the tunnel. She had no idea how much further they had to go; only that her lungs were beginning to burn with the need for oxygen and her limbs were starting to protest to her relentless pace.

By the time they were out of the tunnel Skye was barely keeping herself going, a rush of adrenaline was the only thing that got her and Yuki up to the surface. She burst through the water with an almighty splash practically gasping for air as she pulled Yuki’s head above the water as well, unable to speak to Tristan as she trod water trying to suck in as much oxygen as possible and looking around for the shore. If Yuki started breathing Skye’s panic subsided and she merely held the other girl up until she found the strength to do so herself. If however she didn’t Skye would have immediately started swimming backwards towards the shore keeping the other girl above the water as best as she could.

24 hours later

The next day, the four girls were able to fake their way through their class presentation. They got the samples and Nixie knew a lot about the water and the environment, so she was able to throw together a decent paper with the help of the others. Their teacher Miss. Timpleton was a fairly young girl and mostly seen as the cool, hip teacher, and it was usually easy to get through her class with a good grade.

After the strange events that happened on Mako Island, Nixie felt a closeness to the other three and when they parted at the end of the school day, she could not help but think about them, wondering what they were up to. Here she was at the top of the lighthouse replacing the burned out bulb with a new one.

When she finished her work, she walked down the spiral stairs of the lighthouse. It was a tight squeeze, on some sides of the stairs were very small bedrooms or storage rooms for guests. At the bottom of the lighthouse, there was a large open room that led to the main house that had been built onto the lighthouse back when the it was first built. The main house had 4 bedrooms, a living room, bathroom and a kitchen.

Outside the lighthouse, they were situated on a high rocky cliff that overlooked the waters and the island.

Nixie remembered the night before as they came out of the water and went back to their boat. It had been pure luck that they were found. It had been Nixie's friend Jay who noticed his boat was missing and Nixie was the only person who ever wanted to use it, and to get to Mako, no less. He and one of his fishing friends came out to the island and found the girls.

He scolded Nixie, but couldn't be too angry with her. How was she supposed to know that the boat was in need of new parts?

She shook off the memory and started to do her nightly routine before going to bed. Unbeknown to her, around 10pm that night, it had been 24 hours since they had been trapped by the moonlight. Something inside her was changing, shifting.

The next morning, she woke up around 11am, happy that it was Saturday. She threw off her covers and jumped out of bed. From the sounds of it, the other people in her house were up and going about their days already. She waited for what felt like 10 minutes for her sister to finish in the bathroom, getting annoyed because Lyra always took forever in there.

“About time!” Nixie ran into the bathroom, slammed and locked the door. She dropped her clean clothes on the sink and started to undress. She poured herself a nice, warm bath. Nixie was going to relax this time. She had nowhere to be.

When she got in the water, nothing seemed different. Then ten seconds passed, and with a whoosh and what seemed like water swirling around her body, she found herself looking down at... at... a fish tail. She blinked, rubbed her eyes and looked again. Yes, it was still there.

“Oh my... Oh my God,” Nixie exclaimed.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Her mother's voice came through the door, making her panic. How would she explain a freaking tail?

“I-I'm fine. Lyra just left a clump of hair in the drain. Ew!”

“Teenagers,” her mother said with a chuckle.

“I'm not fine, I'm not fine. I'm a scientific freak. What the heck is this?” Nixie whispered to herself. She twisted her body around, trying to get a good look at the tail. It was bright blue and scaly. It had little fins on the sides of her hips and tapered off to a point with two flippers like fins a a foot or two from where her feet normally should be.

Not only did she have a tail, she was now wearing some scaly bra like thing on her chest. It matched her tail in color and kind of looked like wings on her breasts, it barely covered them, making it look like she had huge cleavage, and her shoulders were left bare. Nixie blushed and vowed nobody would see her like this.

“Wait a minute...” Nixie tilted her head to the side. What if the other girls also had a tail. She snapped her fingers as if coming to an explanation. “The cavern. The moonlight!” That had to be it, but how was any of this possible and what did it mean?

Nixie pulled herself out of the tub and dragged her body until she got to the towel rack. She had no idea if this would work, but figured drying off would make her legs come back, if getting wet made the tail appear.

And just like magic, she was soon herself again. A bit shaky, she got up to her feet.

“Now what?” she asked the empty room.

Yuki sat hunched over on a mahogany bench, tapping away at the rubbery, black buttons of her dark blue Nintendo 3DS, completely engrossed in her game. To her left sat Akahito, her younger brother three years her junior, with his own bright red machine. A girl with dark purple hair, with a gray and maroon beanie atop her head, heavy mascara with crimson lips, and an intimidatingly silver lip piercing perched on her right, smashing her own device’s keys with her fingers. “Hahah, I’m gonna ejaculate into Wonder Trade again,” laughed the gothic girl with a nasal tone. “You’re going to trade level 5 Weedles again, Serah?” Yuki commented with a small, bemused smile, glancing sideways to her friend momentarily in sync with the question. “Hell yeah I am, you think I’m gonna walk around in these damned caves seven million times just to get a Volcarona!?” Fuck no!” She exclaimed indignantly. The Japanese girl only shook her head, still with the same pleasant smile and soft eyes, and turned her gaze back to her game. She was busy picking back up Pokemon Emerald, the third game after Ruby and Sapphire: she appreciated a blast from the past every so often. At the moment, she threw her Mightyena against Flanery’s Torkoal. She remembered having significant difficulty her first play through of the Hoenn series, as Torkoal was a Pokemon that boasted unexpectedly high defenses and great attack power, despite hindered more on the speedy side. With long hours of training dedicated to advanced level-ups, however, Mightyena made quick mincemeat of the gym leader’s strongest and last Pokemon with four turn Crunches. Her feet started doing a mini tap dance, swiveling from side to side in accordance to the Pokemon battle music. After acquiring the gym badge, she commanded her trainer to trudge on towards a Pokecenter, where she promptly healed her party and saved her game in case of a crash.

Her phone started buzzing in her black messenger bag, and she sifted through the front pocket filled with old candy wrappers and receipts to find the source of the familiar vibrations. She unlocked the screen with a swipe of her fingers, and pressed on the green phone icon to pick up to her mother’s voice: “Yuki honey, are you and Akahito out with your friends?” Ueno, Yuki’s mother, inquired with a lightly concerned, casual tone. “Yeah mom, we’re just sitting on the benches near the docks and hanging out with Serah. Why’d you call by the way?” “I wanted you to pick up some groceries for dinner tonight. Your father forgot yesterday, since he was kind of busy dealing with some shady crackers at the store..” A small, but worry-filled sigh escaped Mrs. Soujiro, and Yuki could sense that her maternal figure was not happy about suspicious loiterers around the Tropical Siren, the drink and snack store that her parents built up before she was born. Both of them considered the establishment their sole lifeblood, so they dedicated particular attention to its local reputation. “But do you have any money on you? I’d feel a bit bad about making you come all the way back home, and then to the groceries, but we need it,” her mother spoke with an authoritative voice that still managed to relay that she felt bad about potentially making her daughter ride all across town because of their own forgetfulness. Yuki, hoping her mother could feel the appreciating smile behind her words, replied tenderly, “No, it’s ok, don’t worry about it. I’ll pick it up. Let me see if I have cash though..” She took one quick glance into her pocket and found a twenty and ten dollar bill, and replied with relief into the mouthpiece, “Actually, I do have money mom. I’ll drop by the market when he come back home, ok?” With that, her mom gave her gratitude, and hung up the call afterwards.

Her brother, thirteen years of age with adolescent acne flaring up on his forehead and at exactly five feet three inches tall, trotted up to her and asked, “What did mom say, Nee-chan?” Yuki put an affectionate hand above his large, dark head and rubbed gently as she replied, “She just wants us to get food for dinner tonight, since they forgot yesterday.” She turned towards Serah’s direction and waved despite her eyes still glued to the 3DS. “We’re going home now Serah, be careful out here ok?” The dark clothed individual shot her gaze from the machine with a pout on her lips. “Aww, already? We JUST got here, are you cray girl? For real, are you cray?” Yuki’s serene smile dropped immediately and leered disapprovingly at her friend; the ghetto way of talking started popping up as a crazy fad some time ago for teenagers and has toned down quite a bit since then, but Serah liked it so much she still swings the trend in full locomotive motion to this day. Yuki did not like this, as this behavior shows that Serah ignorantly spouts this way of speaking without any knowledge of the source, the people in the hood; in addition, she only really uses it when she deems it funny or convenient., and even then it sounded like she was trying too hard to convey humor. Despite that though, Yuki said nothing: the girl was a dear friend since childhood, and if this is what she truly wanted, she will accept it so to not ruin their friendship. “Serah, it has been four hours since we met up, and we started at like, what.. two? It’s already six dude, time to go home.” Her friend simply rolled her eyes around in response, and hung back against the seat, replying with a half-joking, sarcastic whine, “But we’re teenagers Yuki! We’re supposed to be defying our parents’ wishes and causing them constant migraines every night, drinking ‘til we toss all sanity out the window, smoking pot ‘til we crack our heads with nothing but! You’re too much of a goody two shoes for me, and I think it’s time we revoke our friendship status!” The pale Japanese girl only shook her head in familiar amusement, and, before waving goodbye to her friend for the day, said, “Don’t stay out too long, and be careful, ok? Please. I’ll have you over at dinner tomorrow though, hopefully.” With that friendly warning, she and her brother hopped onto their skateboards and rolled away to get dinner.

Yuki pushed a Lucky Charms’ and Cocoa Puffs’ cereal box into the cart as an extra to all the meat, mushrooms, tomatoes, and green onions on the cart. She calmly strolled through the snack lane in no particular hurry, finding the atmosphere of the supermarket to be relaxing: the instrumental jazz music, the cool air, the almost empty state of the building, the rows and rows of browsable items at her leisure. Her brother busied himself on his DS again, underestimating the threat of his surroundings until they took a turn into another aisle and he promptly smacked into another shelf filled with packed instant noodles. She let out a small laugh, to which Akahito mock pouted as he rubbed the top of his head gingerly. She wandered over to the produce area and poked at the golden mangoes, leaving an imprint on their tender bodies. She picked up an orange and tossed it over to her brother, and they started tossing back and forth between them, covering a wider and wider distance: whoever dropped the fruit would have to pay for it. (Un)Fortunately, a store associate swung by and saw their hijinks, and promptly scolded them for their misbehavior. They both smiled sheepishly as they put down the orange in its proper place, sweeping off the dust from the bumpy surface with their fingers for added emphasis, and apologized to the store worker enough times for her to be satisfied. As soon as he turned his back towards them, however, both started giggling madly, holding on to their cart for stability as they trip over their laughter. When their chuckles simmered down enough for them to not stumble round like drunks, they put their arms around each other and pushed the carts together while walking side by side.

Yuki happened upon a small aluminum container of flan in the isolated bakery of the market. She thought about Nixie and how she helped her with the reports in the environmental studies (Or was it science? She couldn’t bother remembering) class, and decided that dropping by and sending a thank-you gift her way wouldn’t hurt. She picked up the flan, shoved it into the cart, and by the time they got out of the market lane, sent her brother with the groceries back home. “I have to go see a friend. She kinda saved me from outright failing a class, so..” Yuki paused slightly, gave him her usual calm smile, and raised the small plastic bag with the jelly-like dessert, “I’m sending her an appreciation gift of some sort.” Akahito furrowed his brows in worry, and shook his head with an expression of mixed disappointment and knowing beguilement on his face. “Y’know sis, it would be nice if you actually tried a bit in school..” He bit his lip and looked up at her carefully, fully aware that his sister did not find the discussion of her academics all that pleasant. “It could give mom some breathing space, for one… She has a lot of stress to deal with as is, but it would help a bit if you could get your grades up.” Ugh, not this again, she thought to herself, and turned around to roll her eyes out of her brother’s sight. I just don’t understand why they can’t just leave me alone about it.. I’ll cross that bridge later, but now, I really don’t want to think about it. She breathed a long, heavy sigh, stayed silent for at least a minute to let her brother know of her discomfort with his statement, and finally broke the silence, “Go on home ahead before it gets dark. Tell Okaa-san and Otou-san I’ll be back before it gets dark.” She took off on her mini four wheel and blazed down the sidewalk, refusing to give her brother a chance to prolong their unwanted conversation.

As she rolled down the cold, gray pavement under a melting sky of lavender and indigo, Yuki could not help but feel remorse for her rude disregard of her brother’s concern. She made a mental note to apologize to him later when she returned, and stomped her feet onto the ground to propel herself even more forward. She passed by a couple of lovely beach houses on her way to the lighthouse, and because of how close-knit and trusting the small island community was, she still saw kids playing after dark. A good bunch tossed a beach volleyball back and forth, but a particularly sizeable group shot at each other with Nerf guns. She recognized most of the children, and opened her mouth and raised her hand to wave a greeting, when suddenly, one of them shouted, “Hey, it’s YUKI!” Suddenly, the crowd bunched up away from the sidewalk, lined up neatly on one of the lawns, and unleashed a torrent of water in her direction. She laughed, and tried to shield her face from the shots, lest they blind her and make her board wander onto the road. All the kids laughed at her partially soaked self, and she croaked a half mocking, half joking, “Haha” at them, and tried to speed away, when all of a sudden her legs started feeling wobbly. Thinking that the hours of travel took a toll on her feet, she jumped off her board, kicked it into her free hand, jogged down the cement stairs and sat in a rather dark corner right beside it. She decided to take off her pants, since the appearance and the feel of water in more intimate places made her look like she soiled her undies, and she found it blatantly uncomfortable; besides, no one needed to know that she was wearing panties instead of a bikini.

Not long did she realize that her soaked pants would be the least of her worries, and saw that instead of her own two human legs, a deep, sapphire fish tail would replace it. She stared on, dumbfounded by the sight, and launched into a deep, but rather quiet panic. She first rubbed her eyes to see to it that she was not hallucinating; when it was not to be, she started looking around to see if anyone was in her immediate vicinity to notice her: she was less worried about the potential malicious gossip, and more concerned about people mistaking her for a monster and possibly harming her. She tried to think of some explanation for the incident, but nothing came to mind, and the goal of concealing herself before anyone discovered her in this state became top priority. She hurriedly got onto her belly, left her belongings and tried to crawl into the deep azure waters of the ocean, making sure to lie as low as possible; there were still a couple of swimmers and surfers scattered around, and although she would look strange crawling ineffectively through the sand, at least the high waves would mask her figure for the most part. The lighthouse was relatively nearby, and Yuki felt this immense tug towards the building, feeling as if Nixie might have some answers as to why this happened to her. She finally swept herself into the waves, and paddled her way towards the beacon in the darkness, hoping to find enlightenment regarding this recent string of a weird event.

"A smudge of pink...a splash of red...a wave of orange...a dash of blue and voila!” Skye grinned to herself, flicking her paint brush across the page in front of her. She leant back from her position on the floor to inspect the painting in front of her, lifting her eyes to examine the sunrise in front of her for comparison. Though the warm colors stemming from the rising sun were constantly changing as they danced across the morning sky, she was able to get a general idea of how it should look. “It’ll do” She decided wiping her fringe away from her forehead with the tips of her fingers, her full lips pulled into a smug smile. She jumped as a puff of warm air slid across the back of her neck followed by a wet nose as Selkie came to investigate what the young girl was doing, Skye chuckled softly turning to look at the inquisitive sea lion who was hovering by the railing at the edge of her habitat. “What do you think Selkie does it pass your incredibly high standards?” Skye asked the mammal, laughing as the chocolate colored sea lion nodded her head in a dramatic fashion, 'barking' in agreement. “Ah you’re just saying that to get some food" She chastised her aquatic companion, laughing harder as the sea lion waved her head from one side to the other.That timing was perfect Skye thought to herself as she got to her feet collecting the small collection of art supplies she had on her, she picked up her sketchbook along with the small stand it had been perched on before precariously balancing it all in her arms as she walked around to the staff room to clean up her equipment before she could tend to Selkie and the others.

As she cleaned up her brushes in one of the sinks she thought back to the night before last. Noah had been beyond furious with her when Jay had brought the four of them back from the island. She knew he'd been worried but there was only so much she'd take from him when he went all 'adult' on her, as it was they still hadn't patched things up...And what about her classmates? She hadn't for one moment expected them to continue talking to her once the project was over, but she couldn't help but wonder about them, especially Yuki after the cave incident...Skye sighed as she finished cleaning up, she quickly changed into her 'work' clothes now wearing dark blue tankini bottoms and a similar bikini top underneath her water park t-shirt and khaki shorts. She patted herself down making sure she hadn't slid her phone into her shorts...she'd lost countless mobiles to the water in Selkie's enclosure. She quickly made her way out of the door, realizing as she reached the enclosure that her cousin had already prepared the sea lion's breakfast she frowned walking over to the buckets.

A few moments later after feeding the majority of the hungry occupants she was sat cross legged at the water’s edge watching Selkie splash around playfully with a few of the other sea lions. Noah had saved her a lot of preparation time, he'd even filled the barrels. If he was going to do all the jobs anyway why am I here this early on a Saturday? She thought to herself idly braiding her hair, she didn't mind being here it just seemed...odd not being able to do anything. She was tugged out of her thoughts as her sea lion friend suddenly propelled herself out of the water besides her bringing forth a small wave of water that soaked Skye's bottom half pulling another bout of laughter from the brunette as she jumped to her feet. “Selkie! Watch-“ She was cut off as a very peculiar feeling passed through her, before she could register quite what had happened she lurched forward onto her front, her legs apparently unwilling to hold her any longer. Luckily for her she caught herself with her hands before she could smack her head off of the sloped floor, Selkie padded at the ground in front of her bobbing her head impatiently. “What just...?” She started flicking her hair back off of her face so she could look over her shoulder. “H-huh?!” was the startled response she gave as her eyes fell on what she could only describe as a large fish tail where her legs should have been. She all but held her breath as she tried to process what she was seeing, her eyes grazed the length of the tail taking in the silvery glint of the scales and the clear webbing of the fin at the end...What are you doing?! Have you forgotten this is where your legs should be? Her thoughts pulled her out of her relaxed trance as she pushed herself upright, looking down at her middle. “Oh...my...” She murmured, her eyes falling first on the scaling and netting secured around her chest for starters it looked like it was actually a part of her rather than a ‘top’ secondly...it gave her cleavage only slight but enough to bring a blush to her cheeks.

She squeaked in surprise as Selkie pushed her moist nose against Skye’s cheek, barking impatiently at her before she turned and slid back into the water. “Right, focus Skye!” She told herself sternly lifting a hand to her forehead, she splayed her fingers across her eyes peeking through them as she tried to move her ‘legs’ only to watch the large fish tail wriggle uselessly beside her. “Sugar honey ice tea...what the hell happened to me?!” She whined pulling her other hand to her face, she was daydreaming she had to be! The urge to run from this entire situation was almost unbearable but how could she run without any legs?

“Skye?” A masculine voice called out to her, Skye felt a cold chill race down her spine. Ah! He can’t see me like this...think, think! Her thoughts flew around her mind in a chaotic swirl of confusion as her eyes fell on the pool of water in front of her. Without thinking it through she near enough threw herself into it plunging into its warm depths, on instinct she held her breath as she spun in the water finding it surprisingly easy to move her...tail. With a quick flick of her fins she swam up to the surface just as Noah stepped into the enclosure, she tucked herself as close to the edge as she could making sure only her head was above the water. “N-noah...hi” She stuttered, her heart was beating ten to the dozen at this moment. “Fancied a dip huh?” He chuckled clearly trying to make small talk as he rested a towel over the railing of the enclosure, Skye smiled faintly at him grimacing as he took a few steps forward. Please don’t come any closer... “Right well, look I wanted to apologize for going all ‘overprotective brother’ on you the other night” Noah started as he crouched down a meter or so away from her.

Thank you karma! “To make up for it though I’ve got your shift covered for the day. No work for you to do” Noah grinned at her “Really? That’s...great thank you” Skye answered him, she was ashamed that was the best she could do but she was preoccupied. “To boot I’ve also rented out your favorite movie and got toffee popcorn so don’t make plans for this evening” He told her getting to his feet, Skye rested her hands on the edge of the pool smiling up at her cousin, he must have been feeling really bad over their tiff... “Toffee popcorn included? Who are you and what have you done with my cousin?” She jested, her smile only growing as he poked his tongue out at her playfully. “Haha she’s so funny” Noah sarcastically answered. “Anyway get your butt out of there, the parks going to open in 5...go find something to do you deserve to relax after the other night, maybe go find those other girls and give the ‘friend’ thing a try...you’re not a hermit crab” He teased her, before heading back out of the enclosure. “Catch you later” He called back over his shoulder, Skye’s tail flicked as realization hit her. The other night, that cave! Whatever this is has to be connected to that weird...thing that happened. I wonder if this happened to the others Skye’s heart was still pounding in her chest so fast she could in fact hear her own pulse in her ears.

She looked around cautiously before pulling herself back out of the water despite her panic, there was a small part of her that had wanted to explore what she could do with a tail. But with the park opening in 5 minutes she couldn’t afford to. She had too many problems to contend with at this moment like...was this tail trick even reversible? “Half human half fish...you read enough books to know something about this” She told herself as she dragged herself clear of the water, trying desperately to scrape something from her extensive knowledge of fiction. “Dry...need to get dry” Skye told herself, mentally making a note to stop talking to herself after this, people thought she was weird enough without adding madness into the mix. She wriggled towards the rail grabbing the towel Noah had left on the rail, she hastily dried her tail gasping in surprise as she watched her tail morph back into her normal legs, relief flooded through her chest as she reached down running a hand along her calves in turn as if to check they were in fact her legs. When she was sure she could support herself she slowly got to her feet, glad she was no longer of any interest to the sea lions she quickly made her way out of the enclosure heading for her things she retrieved her bag tucking her sketchbook under her arm she headed for the exit to the park, her mind abuzz with thoughts as to what had just happened. As she walked she fiddled with her phone, sliding her light blue skull candy headphones out of her bag she pulled them on hoping Paramore would help calm her nerves, she had already decided to head for Nixie first...which meant travelling up to the lighthouse. She wasn’t even sure the other girl would be up at this hour, she could probably immerse herself in drawing somewhere close to the lighthouse for a few hours...which is exactly what she did.

Pushing all earthly worries aside Skye had settled herself on a small collection of rocks just along from the lighthouse, yes it was a strange place to be but she knew for a fact she was probably visible from the lighthouse...and as strange as it may be if Nixie left she’d be able to quickly catch up with her. She hadn’t been able to remove her headphones since putting them on, she’d always found Hayley William’s voice to be oddly relaxing, which was exactly what she needed right now. She was bent over her sketchbook, a pencil tucked into her hand which flickered across the page as she tried to focus. Her eyes occasionally lifted to inspect her surroundings curiously. Come on...I can’t be the only one She thought to herself, she had hoped if the others had experienced the same as her that they’d all think to head here...Nixie was the expert on Mako island it was fact, she must know what was happening. Skye frowned down at her page shaking her head as she realized the drawing she was working on had ironically turned into a mermaid she was in the process of shading in the tail...