Ondina, Mimmi, Lyla and Sirena spent the next two days practising their magic, and strengthening their powers. They practised levitating, stunning, disappearing and summoning objects.
They worked hard each day and night, and Rita helped them whenever she could. Veridia even came.
"Concentrate," Veridia said.
Ondina twitched. "Well maybe I could if you didn't keep talking."
Ondina was levitating three rare and valuable vases at the same time. And if that wasn't difficult enough, Veridia had instructed Sirena to sit right underneath them!
"You never know," Veridia said to Ondina. "One of your friends may be in great danger, and in order to save them you may need to lift a huge object in order to free them!"
Ondina sighed wistfully. Her arm was aching.
"I have an idea," Sirena said, raising her hand timidly. "How about we all just stick together as one big group when we go to defeat Erik?"
Ondina pointed at Sirena with her free hand and looked at Veridia. "That is a great idea!"
"Including Erik, there are seven people in his team, and they can easily spilt off into groups. We must train to do the same, or even work independently. Besides, some of you will have to go and find Nixie and Weilan."
Mimmi looked up from the spell book she was reading. "I have an idea," she said. "I know a way we can contact them."
"Contact Nixie and Weilan?" Lyla asked. Then she threw her arms in the air. "And you've only thing to tell us this now?!"
"It's an ancient potion, created by the Northern Pod centuries ago," Mimmi continued as if Lyla hadn't even opened her mouth.
"Aren't most Northern Pod spells dangerous?" Sirena asked, eyeing the vases just above her head.
Mimmi gave a sly smile and shrugged. "They can be..."
Veridia helped Ondina lower the vases above Sirena, before turning to Mimmi. "Tell us."
"We need to make a potion first," Mimmi said, "but then we can write a note on the piece of paper and pop it into the pot. Then the note travels to whoever we want to send it to, and it appears right in front of them!"
Everyone agreed that this was a good idea. Mimmi - thankfully - remembered all the ingredients, which they were able to find in Rita's grotto. The ingredients included blue coral cut up into small chunks; seahorse scales diced and dashed; seaweed sliced into thin slithers; and a pinch of sea salt from the Mediterranean.
Whilst Mimmi, Veridia and Sirena collected the ingredients and made the potion, Lyla and Ondina were instructed to write the note to their friends.
It was a simple message:
Nixie! Weilan! This is Lyla and Ondina.
Mimmi created a special potion so we could send this message to you. But it can only go one way. So listen carefully... Or read carefully, and then hide this message so Erik or one of the others don't find it... On the night of the full moon we will be heading to the Merman Chamber to stop Erik. We've been practising or magic. But we're sending Sirena to come find you. Make sure you're ready!
The note was finished, and Mimmi rolled it up. She was about to place it in the pot, when she paused.
"Oh no.. I've forgotten something... We need an object of Nixie's and Weilan's, so the message gets to them..."
Lyla picked up Weilan's school bag and rummaged through it. "Well, here's one of Weilan's pencils," Lyla said, picking it out of her pencil case.
Ondina ran upstairs into Rita's house, and then returned moments later with a half eaten lobster. "And this is Nixie's. Will a lobster work?"
"As long as the object belongs to them," Mimmi nodded.
They held the objects over the pot, and then dropped them in at the exact same time. The yellow liquid fizzled and sizzled.
Mimmi smiled happily. "It worked!"
*****
Meanwhile, Rita was swimming through the sea. She was swimming as fast as she could, because she was late. She had a very important meeting to get to...
Rita broke the surface and checked her surroundings. She looked towards the beach, where there was a large crowd of people.
Rita swam on, and eventually found a large clump of rocks on the beach, which she could hide behind.
Once she had dried her tail and acquired her legs, she walked along the beach as if everything was normal.
She continued walking into she was able to find the path which lead her off the beach and towards a café.
The café was large, and best modern looking. Just below the roof there was a huge electrical blue and pink sign which read the name of the café: Rikki's.
Rita headed up to the café door. The cardboard sign read 'sorry, we are closed!', but the door was unlocked, so Rita entered.
The café was large inside. Most of the walls were covered with windows, and the floor was made of wood. At the back there was a large bar. The bar had a black marble surface covered with drinks and menus, and the silver metal till. There was a large bending machine behind the bar. There were wooden circular tables and chairs for people to sit, and sofas in the corners. Each table had a menu.
When Rita entered the café she saw five people. Four were female, and one was male.
The first girl was the tallest out of all the girls. She had a fairly round face. She had dark skin and dark brown hair - in a ponytail - the same colour as her eyes. She was wearing her Marine Park uniform (as she worked at the local Marine Park): a light blue shirt and black shorts, and simple white sneakers.
The second girl was slightly shorter. She had pale skin and a thin face with a slight dash of freckles on the bridge of her nose, and cheeks. Hey eyes were a mixture of grey and blue. She was wearing a black top with thin sleeves and a pair of blue jeans. Over her jeans was a small apron with the 'Rikki's' logo. On her feet she wore flowery pumps. Her light brown hair was in a loose ponytail.
The third girl had perfectly tanned skin and dark blonde hair which she kept down to frame her oval face. Her eyes were a beautiful electrical blue. She was wearing a short white strapped shirt with blue swirls, showing her tummy. She was wearing a white floaty skirt and pink flip-flops.
The fourth girl was the shortest of everyone in the room. She had a round face with a greatly structured jawline. She had pale skin and platinum blonde hair which just reached her shoulders. Her eyes were a pale blue which looked just like the ocean. She was wearing a dark dress with a thick fabric belt sewn into place, and thin leggins in replacement of tights. In order to make up for her height, she wore black high heeled shoes, which she was clearly uncomfortable in. She looked like she would rather be wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
All four girls wore moon rings.
The man was very tall. He had a slightly thin face and fairly dark skin. He had brown hair. He was wearing a simple collarless dark red T-shirt and black trousers with dark blue shoes. He was sat down on a chair in the middle of the room.
The fourth girl was stood a few feet away, her arm raised towards the boy. Her moon ring was glowing. One foot above his head was a huge bubble of water.
"Rikki, don't purposefully drop the water on my head," the boy said. "I know we broke up nearly a year ago, but - "
Rikki (the fourth girl) rolled her eyes. "Zane, please, I have lots of magic. If I wanted to get back at you, I have many other ways in which to do so."
The first girl turned to look at the door. She smiled when she saw Rita. "Rita! Come on in!"
Rita nodded, walking up to everyone. "Hello, Cleo," Rita agreed the first girl.
"You're a little bit late today," the second girl said, sipping on her fruit smoothie.
"I'm sorry Emma," Rita said to the second girl. "But now Weilan has been taken as well as Nixie. Mimmi was coming up with an idea to contact the girls."
"Weilan is the one we haven't met yet, right?" Rikki asked.
Rita nodded at Rikki.
"Wouldn't it be easier if we told Zac and the others that we are planning on helping them?" The third girl asked.
Rikki shook her head, still levitating the water over her ex boyfriend. "Bella, no! We agreed to wait until we had all mastered our magic before we met our friends again... Of course, we've had to move that date closer - "
Rita nodded. "And the Mermaid Council can't thank you enough for helping to save Mako last time Erik was her, but now he is back. I promise to tell you everything I know about the moon ring as quickly as I can. We will have to act quickly, as the next full moon is tomorrow, and Erik will strike."
"Haven't Zac and the others been suspicious of you always disappearing?"
Rita shook her head. "Veridia and I agreed to tell then that I was helping the Pod escape. But I've secretly been coming here to teach you magic."
Emma sighed. "We're only land-girls turned into mermaids... We won't be about to master our new power by tomorrow."
Rikki cast an annoyed glance at Emma, before sharply flicking her wrist, and sending the water ball towards Emma.
The water hit Emma on her stomach, and Emma gave a yell as she slipped backwards. Her legs disappeared and were replaced with an orange mermaid tail.
Rikki grinned. "Sorry, my hand slipped."
Emma look at Rikki and threw her arms in the air. "Why did you do that?!"
"Because I don't need your negativity in my life," Rikki replied smugly.
Cleo and Emma had been best friends, and Rikki had been with them when they turned into mermaids, one full moon, on Mako Island. They had agreed to keep their mermaid powers and tails a secret. A few years later they had met Bella, and discovered that she was a mermaid too. The only people who had found out about their mermaid side was Lewis (Cleo's boyfriend), Ash (Emma's boyfriend, who had sadly moved away), Will (Bella's boyfriend) and Zane (Rikki's ex). And all the the boys had agreed not to tell anyone about the girls' secret.
After Erik, Charlotte and Dr Denman had been defeated and let Mako Island, Cleo, Emma, Rikki and Bella were all presented with moon rings. Rita had been making visits to teach them for the last three months.
Bella laughed at Rikki's actions and words, but then frowned. "So, will we be ready by tomorrow?"
Everyone turned to Rita, except Zane, who muttered someone about meeting his best friend, Nate, and then left the building.
Rita sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't know. I will come back tomorrow, but - "
"When we go, can I tell Lewis?" Cleo asked.
"And can I tell Will?" Bella asked.
Rita nodded. "Of course, do tell them, but I don't think they should come with us this time - for their own safety."
Bella looked like she was about to complain, but Cleo just raised her eyebrows and nodded at Bella.
Bella sighed. "Okay, we will go tomorrow, and Lewis and Will won't come."