Waterworks (H2O Just Add Water) 🌊

66. Mermaid Magic

"Well, the rock hasn't been a threat."

"Yeah, but the rock swallowed up the torch the same time the tentacle appeared."

"So, they're connected?" Will asked.

"Maybe," Cleo answered.

"It's a possibility," I shrugged.

"The rock might give us a clue to what's really going on," Cleo stated.

"Yeah, I guess," Will agreed just as his phone rang. He went over and answered it, "Yeah, Soph."

I assumed his sister was constantly reminding him to train. Will had told us before Sophie was always keeping a look out for a sponsor to support him.

"Yeah, I do remember we had training," he responded, "I'll -- uh, I'm kind of in the middle of something now. I'll go soon." He hung up.

The girls brought a few stools over to the table while Will found a chisel and hammer making me realize the plan was to break open the rock. Will's phone beeped once again as I guessed Sophie had sent him a text. 

"Well, I'd really like to stick around and help you guys check this out, but Sophie's just texted," he informed all of us.

"Oh," Bella sounded bummed out Will couldn't stick around to witness what could be inside the rock.

"She got me a meeting with another sponsor. She'll kill me if I don't show up."

"She found you another one already?"

"Yeah, that's Sophie. You guys stay as long as you like." Will headed out the door.

"Thanks for your help, Will," Cleo thanked him.

"Hey, I live to chip," he smiled and left.

"'Live to chip.' He's so funny," Bella turned to Cleo and me.

Cleo examined the rock not taking in her statement.

"Ok, well, maybe that wasn't so funny. But he's really--" Bella stammered as if correcting herself.

"Cute," Cleo filled in the sentence.

"Someone's gotten herself bitten by the lovebug," I glanced at Bella knowing the obvious.

"Come on, we've got work to do."

Cleo reminded us not wanting to lose track of time. I pulled out my camera from my bag ready to take some photos of what we might potentially discover.

🌊

Cleo carefully used both the chisel and hammer to try and brake into the rock. Though the more she tried, it appeared the rock itself was extremely hard to smash through.

"This thing sure is hard," Cleo commented as she kept on banging.

"What are you guys doing?" Rikki wondered as she arrived.

"Cleo thinks that there might be something special about the rock," Bella replied.

"And there's only one way to find out," Cleo added as she continued hitting the chisel, but it wouldn't break into the rock, "And this isn't it." She placed the hammer and chisel down on the table, "It didn't even leave a mark." 

"Pretty weird," I examined the area where Cleo tried prying the chisel in, but there was no imprint of the tool end.

"Well, it's from the moon pool. How about I try a little mermaid magic on it?" Rikki inquired.

"It's worth a shot," Bella turned to Cleo.

The rest of us took a step back as Rikki started using her heating power on the rock. It started steaming as Rikki focused on the seemingly unbreakable stone. Suddenly it literally rocked.

"Stop," Cleo called out not wanting Rikki to damage it, "There's something in there."

I had a feeling she said that there was something alive in the rock. Thought I hoped it wasn't that.

The four of us looked closer at the rock and there was a small crack that gave off a strange blue glow.

"What is that?" I wondered as I picked up my camera and took a couple of photos of the rock.

🌊

Rikki resumed heating the rock. Cleo used her power to form a chisel made of water. Right on cue, I used my power to turn the water chisel into crystal with the help of some sand Will had kept around. Cleo dropped her hold on it onto to the rock, causing a piece of it to break off. The blue glow dimmed. 

Cleo carefully used a pair of tweezers since the rock was still cooling down. She slowly pulled out what appeared to be a blue crystal, which made me think of Bella's necklace.

"Wow," Bella remarked as Cleo held a UV light at the crystal.

Once again, I took some more photos of the rock and the crystal, "I wonder what type of rock it is?"

Cleo borrowed my laptop to look up more information on the crystal, "OK, let's see what else we can find out about it."

"You won't find anything," Bella informed us.

"How do you know?" Rikki asked.

"It's the same crystal as mine." Bella held out the crystal she wore as a pendent.

"Where did you get yours from?" I wondered as the rest of us approached her.

"It was at the bottom of the sea pool where I became a mermaid. I've worn it ever since."

On examining Bella's pendent, Cleo examined the recently discovered crystal, "Wow. They're exactly the same, just from opposite sides of the world."

"Mind-blowing," I remarked.

"It's not all I found," Bella pulled something out of her pocket, revealing a small conch shell that was clear, but diamond like as it reflected the light, "This was at the edge of the pool after the change."

I was reminded of the colored conch shells Anahita left for me to find and give to the other girls. It gave me a feeling that it was all connected piece by piece.

That second, Rikki's phone rang.

"It's probably Zane hassling me about why I'm not at work," she guessed.

"Don't answer," Bella shook her head.

"It could be important," I nodded as if telling Rikki to take the call.

"Oh, I better. He's grumpy enough as it is at the moment," Rikki replied to the call as she walked out the door.

🌊

The rest of us assumed Rikki left due to a work-related emergency or something. We'd update her if we found out more.

"So, yours is from the bottom of a pool in Ireland," Cleo turned to Bella and held up the crystal, "And this, is from inside a rock from the moon pool. Yet they're virtually identical."

"They're beautiful," Bella commented.

"I assumed that they stood out due to being from different oceans," I pointed out.

"Oh, but what does it mean?" Cleo wondered as she examined the crystal in her hands, "They're from opposite sides of the world. They're obviously connected. Like we are."

"Connected by magic?" Bella inquired.

"I dunno," I shrugged, "We'll find out more soon enough."

🌊

Later, all of us found out Will had been in a diving accident. He hadn't properly prepared for a deep dive and almost drowned. Sophie had been reminding him to take it easy since it scared her. I could tell there was a caring side to her when it came to her brother.

It turned out Rikki saved Will. Zane had called her to inform her of what was going on. She headed out in a rush and gave him enough oxygen to get him back to the surface. It surprised me Zane had offered to sponsor Will for his free diving competition. 

After I got home, I emailed the photos of the Mako rock and crystal to both Lewis and Emma to keep them updated on our discovery.