Izroulia: Hunt for the Lost Pod

Chapter 8 | pointbreak grom-fest

As much as they'd wanted to go swimming and keep looking around the coast for clues, this weekend was off the table. It was the annual surfing competition, point break grom-fest. The beach was packed with everyone on the coast here to watch. The sand lined with beach towels and chairs, spectators watching the surfers in the water shredding the swell. The judges panel under a shade cloth and the loud speakers by the lifeguard station where the commentators were talking and playing music.

The air smelled like a sausage sizzle, as all the barbecues along the beach were in use with people making the classic Australian snag for their lunch as they watched the competition.

The boardwalk that was usually full was empty aside from people coming from the beach to grab snacks at the cafes, before going back to watch the surfers. In a small beachside town like point break, competitions like this were the only interesting things that happened and everyone was quick to go watch.

So while the Merfolk couldn't really go into the water today, with the risk of being caught by one of the surfers they did have other things to do. Instead of being down at the noisy and crowded beach, they were at the marina where all the boats were docked. The paths were empty as everyone was at the comp, leaving plenty of room for skating. The two were taking advantage of the space and lack of people walking in their way to slap on the roller skates and zoom around the paths attempting any trick they had the skill for.

Aries had cherry red and white skates, heart shaped stoppers at the front. Icarus had bright pink and yellow skates, flowers up the sides. It was a warm day, so to cover up their exposed skin from short clothes they made sure to keep knee pads tightly strapped on in case of falling, which Icarus had done twice already.

"You know if I didn't suck at balancing I'd totally go down the whole path on one leg" Icarus said, zipping past Aries in circles.

"I hella want to go down the hill, but with that crack in the path I just know I'd end up in the water" Aries replied.

"That crack has been there since I was in year 10, they really need to fix it. Some skater is gonna get launched into the marina"

"Point break council only cares about jetties not oaths, even I know this and I haven't been here long"

"That's true, they gotta get their priorities in check. Jetties are cool but dude, paths"

They turned the corner, gliding past the aquarium parking lot and looping back around to head down the path again. They'd done this loop past the marina, around the aquarium and back again a million times now. But going down the slight slope that sped you up was too much fun.

"You got anything on next weekend?" Aries asked.

"Not if I remember to finish my history assignment" Icarus replied.

"Do it man, we can go back to swimming around for the pod next weekend when grom-fest is over"

"You know about the fall of the Roman Empire?"

Aries thought a moment, they knew about Roman magic and mythology, but not the fall of the empire.

"Dude I'm from a whole other realm. I can tell you about their gods being Greek myth fanfic but not the fall of the empire" Aries said.

"Then I gotta hope I can finish this assignment in time. Man I hate doing assignments... I can barely read let alone spell" Icarus scoffed.

Even though she hated math, Icarus would rather do a math worksheet than write a whole paper. With her dyslexia writing long essays and spelling all the long words was hell. They'd always managed to get just enough to pass the year, but never a perfect grade in English or history, two subjects they required lots of writing. Which was a shame, because she liked history.

"As long as you can get enough to pass, don't stress it" Aries assured.

"Yeah but universities are assholes who wants certain amount of points to get into certain courses. I need to get a grade decent enough for a good course I'd like, but with my funk brain..." Icarus said.

"You'll be fine. Just getting the word count and the main message across will be enough to pass. Even with some spelling errors"

"How do you know all this? You didn't even go to school?"

"My foster mum Momo, she taught me everything about what school is like"

Skating down the main path again, they both decided to turn onto the boardwalk to get a drink. All the skating in the heat was making them thirsty. Thanks to the competition, the line was short and there were plenty of spots to sit. Sitting at one of the cafe tables by the boats away from the noise of the competition, they took a break to sip their cold drinks.

"By the way, I was wondering. I've been wondering a lot recently... huh. Anyway, the pod were definitely here at some point. And we have no idea why they moved, but they're around somewhere. You think maybe some of them are still here? Like blending in with the humans. Maybe on of them didn't want to move and stayed here" Icarus rambled.

"I don't think so, we'd have seen them at the spirit pool by now. But maybe if it was just one or two they could be here blending in and just not going to the pool anymore. Chances are low but maybe" Aries replied.

"I don't know how we'd be able to find out if anyone was hiding here, I mean we're kind of super good at keeping the secret"

The two were desperate for answers, and at this point they were throwing out any and very idea they had. Just hoping that something would stick, or they'd find a lead that lead them to their goal. But with so much of the coast searched and nothing turning up, they were starting to wonder how far the pod wandered.

"They definitely can't have gone far... they're still in the human realm for sure. Maybe they're just not on the coast and a bit further out, or they are on the coast but PAST pointbreak bay. It's worth looking even if it will take forever" Aries said, fiddling with their straw.

"Man at this point we'll be 50 by the time we find a clue" Icarus joked.

"At least we'll have one"

"We better get Izroulia back before I'm old because I wanna find a hot magic husband while I'm still hot"

Aries snickered, almost choking on their drink.

"Your only life plan is to find the worlds hottest husband huh?" They laughed.

"That and be smart and rich. Oh and a MILF, that too" Icarus replied.

This girl...

Snickering at her humour, Aries shook their head.

"Wonderful life goals" they said.

"I know right. I'll help you get back the pod and Izroulia, go to university and get smart, find a hot magic husband, get rich and finish off with a bang by becoming a mermaid MILF" Icarus replied, in a joking tone but was completely serious.

"If you're gonna be a mermaid MILF you need to carry on the Greek myth name tradition for your kid"

It wasn't completely necessary, but it was common for Merfolk to name their kids after Greek mythological figured. Hence why Aries was named after the god and the zodiac sign. And why they thought Icarus might be more Izroulian than she thinks, her name was literally Icarus, flying to close to the sun Icarus.

"Of course. I'm Icarus aren't I? I'll name them something sun related like Apollo or Alectrona or something" she agreed.

"Well I'm definitely never having kids so you can be the MILF of the group and I'll be the cool wine aunt, even though I'm not a girl it still counts" Aries replied.

"Yes, that's the plan now. Fix Izroulia, become MILF, you be the wine aunt"

Their motivations may be a bit odd, but it was motivation nonetheless.

Driven by anger, spite, a need for justice and equality, and of course MILF-ness, the two were determined to reach their goal and get the Merfolk back to izroulia.