Chapter Text
A few weeks had passed since the dragon incident.
"Evie are you alright?" I asked cautiously. Her cheeks were wet and shiny from all the tears, eyes puffy and bloodshot red. She was a wreck. She hadn’t come out of her room for the entire weekend.
“Go away… please,” Evie pleaded. My brows furrowed. I didn’t know what to do. Sighing, I walked to Evie’s side and hugged her. I know she’s in pain and is full of sadness. Evie leaned into her shoulder and quietly cried. Evie’s father was out doing another boat trip so Evie had the whole house to herself. I softly rub circles into Evie’s shoulder and gently rock our bodies in a forward and backward motion.
Evie was simply heartbroken. Devastated. Crushed.
I looked up to Carly for an answer but she shrugged. We were both clueless as to how we could help her. Looking back down I only thought of one thing, ‘What’s next now?’
Evie is doing better now and is coping by going diving with her father again. It’s good for Evie to be around her father because she didn’t have much time to dive and spend quality time with him since she got her tail. Evie gifted Weilan her moon ring. I doubt that the pain will go away soon but at least she accepted what had happened and that there is nothing that we can do to fix it or reverse it.
Rita, Weilan, Mimmi, and I were eating breakfast in the grotto. Prawns for breakfast! Ondina walked past us, quickly picking up a prawn before being stopped by Rita’s voice. Rita asked if Ondina got breakfast. Ondina said she did and held up the prawn for display. I shook my head as I continued eating my plate of prawns.
“Maybe you should grab one more prawn. Just in case,” Weilan commented.
Ondina scoffed, “Maybe you should come and watch me teach, you might even learn something.”
Weilan snorted but went with Ondina after she finished her plate. I turned to Mimmi, “How much do you wanna bet something is going to go wrong? I bet $20.”
Mimmi smirked mischievously, “Deal.”
We both turned to hear Rita sigh with a chuckle. “You girls outta stop betting on such silly things.” Mimmi and I smiled and laughed. Looking at the time on my wristwatch my eyes widened in realization as I saw what time it was.
“Mimmi, it’s time to go,” I said as I stuff the last of my prawns into my mouth. Mimmi and Rita shook there heads but didn’t comment. I had quit my old job and the cafe and gotten a job as a tour guide at the marine park. It’s convenient since I work similar days as Mimmi and I can now walk with her to work. Mimmi and I left for work. In the middle of our conversation, we heard Weilan calling our names.
"Mimmi! Cordelia! I have some exciting news!" Weilan said with evident excitement with a hint of irritation. Mimmi and I looked at each other wondering what could've gotten Weilan in such a state. We stopped walking so Weilan could catch up with us and tell us her exciting news.
"Ondina is going to teach the little hatchlings how to walk on land at the Western Lagoon on Mako, and I'm helping," Weilan said out of breath, huffing, and puffing.
Now it was my turn to be excited, "Ondina's teaching the girls how to walk on land? That is exciting!" I squealed thinking about how cute the little ones would look dancing and hopping around on their legs.
Mimmi looked excited but also concerned, "That sounds like fun but won't that be too much to do, even for Ondina?"
"Pft, Ondina will be fine, Mimmi! She has Weilan helping her besides, it'll be good to have a solution if the dragon thing isn't figured out," said reassuringly. Mimmi nodded considering my words.
"Right, now I need to go and grab some clothes for the hatchlings. You think we could go to the cafe before splitting our ways?" Weilan asked with hopeful eyes.
I turned to Mimmi to see what she had to say about it, "That's a wonderful idea. Let's go."
The three of us walked happily toward the Ocean Cafe joking about the different ways Ondina could mess up today's lesson. We could imagine how our first time walking on land was and cringed when we remembered face planting the moment we tried to step forward. We laughed and shared our joys and embarrassment in our first-time experiences.
We arrived at the cafe and proceeded to walk to the gift shop wondering what to pick for the little ones. "Hey, Evie!" I excitedly call out.
Evie, who was helping another customer, turned and smiled, “Hey, Cordelia. How can I help you today?”
“Well, we were wondering if you could fix a few outfits for Ondina’s class, she’s going to teach them how to walk at the Western Lagoon on Mako!” I exclaimed in excitement.
Evie’s brows rose in surprise and her smile widened, “Wow, I never thought Ondina to teach hatchlings how to walk. They must’ve bugged her. And, of course, I can throw together something for the little ones.”
“Thanks, Evie. I’ll pay for them with my savings from my old job,” I said thankfully.
“I still can’t believe Ondina is teaching the little mermaids how to walk,” Mimmi said in disbelief but also with excitement.
Weilan asked if Mimmi and I wanted to help but we politely turned down the offer because we still had work to get to. “Well, whatever you guys got going on today, I got all your stuff right here. That’ll be $35.72,” Evie said with her left palm facing up. I thanked her and put the amount in her hand while Weilan grabbed the bag.
“Thanks, Cordelia. I’ve got to go now before Ondina complains,” Weilan said with a goofy grin before leaving the cafe.
Mimmi and I said goodbye to Evie and went on our way to the marine park. I was excited bout the tour that I’ll be giving to a class of fifth-graders. When we arrived at the park, Mimmi and I parted ways since our jobs were on the opposite sides of the park. I entered the staff room to be met with a lady in a marine park uniform with capri pants, blonde hair, and bright green eyes waiting for me. “Hello! My name is Amanda and I’m your manager. I’ll be overlooking your tour today, and since it’s your first day here, we’re only giving you one tour as a trial just to see how well you perform,” Amanda exclaimed with a bright smile showing off her pearly whites. I nodded and introduced myself to her and shook her hand ready to start my day.
Amanda led me to the park's entrance where a group of children waited. Before we approached the group Amanda turned to me, "Did you memorize everything you're supposed to?" I nodded letting her know that I did read and memorize every page that all tour guides are required to memorize. Amanda nodded and we approached the group with warm smiles.
"Hello everyone! My name is Cordelia and I'll be your tour guide today," I welcomed loud enough to capture the group's attention. "now if you follow me, to our left is the penguin exhibit."
"Wow, you were fantastic today! You're going to do well as a tour guide and you're good with the children," Amanda complimented. I shyly smile in embarrassment.
"Thank you, Amanda. I appreciate you saying that. What should I do now?" I asked still embarrassed by the compliment.
"Oh, well, you're not needed at the park anymore today so just go home. You've done well today," Amanda said with a smile before leaving me in a rock tunnel with fish tanks on both sides. The tunnel was dim so I was caught off guard when I felt someone grab my shoulder. I turned around prepared to drop kick whoever grabbed me.
"Mimmi? What are you doing? You scared me you know," I dramatically exclaimed with both of my hands on top of my heart.
"Sorry, but right now is not the time for games. Karl and Chris are going to the Western Lagoon where the hatchlings are, we need to warn Weilan and Ondina before Chris or Karl sees something they're not supposed to," Mimmi said clearly frustrated and worried. I nodded and jogged out of the tunnel and out of the marine park diving into the nearest body of water. We raced to Mako hoping we were not too late. We rose to the surface near a few rocks that blocked us from anyone coming from the West and dragged ourselves to the shore so we could dry off and get legs. Once we got our legs we bolted toward the western lagoon to warn Weilan and Ondina to get the hatchlings off the island.
"Weilan!" Mimmi shouted catching Weilan's attention.
Weilan turned around and smiled, "Hey, I thought you were working?"
"Where's Ondina?" Mimmi asked brushing her question off.
"Amaris took off. Ondina's gone off to find her." Weilan said confused.
"We've got to get them off the beach," Mimmi said pointing to the boat coming toward the lagoon, "we've got company."
Weilan understanding the situation now ordered the girls to swim back to the pod as fast as they can, "Go! Go!"
"We better find Amaris and Ondina," Weilan said worriedly.
The three of us darted into the forest looking for Ondina. We ran into her after fifteen minutes of running, not knowing where we were going.
"What are you doing here? Where are the others? Don't tell me they ran off, too." Ondina questioned, worried about the hatchlings.
"I sent them off to the pod."
"Why?"
"Chris and Karl are heading here." Mimmi interrupted.
A look of dread fell on Ondina's face as she realize the situation and danger Amaris is in now. We searched closer to the middle of the island shouting Amaris's name. Ondina was worried out of her mind. She began doubting her ability to teach and wondered how she'll tell Veridia she lost a student on land.
This day couldn't get any worse. We bumped into Chris and Karl at the beach and now we're all searching for Amaris. I leaned toward Ondina and whispered, "You guys take the island, I'll look in the water. She might've gotten frightened and hid in the caves under Mako." Ondina nodded knowing it's a possible scenario. I smiled and comfortingly rubbed her shoulder. I waited till everyone was ahead of me in the forest before turning back around and headed toward the lagoon. I swam into cave after cave finding no sign of Amaris. Where the heck is this rascel at? Deciding to go back to the lagoon I swam out of one of the caves and saw to the surface for air. Before surfacing for air, I see Amaris. I tap Amaris's shoulder and relief washed over my face.
We surfaced to the the surface and breathed in fresh air, I turned to Amaris with my arms crossed, "Amaris, you've got to stop doing that. Ondina is going crazy over looking for you." Amaris shyed away in embarrassment and guilt.
Sighing I asked Amaris if she was alright and if she's hurt, "Amaris, we need to go find the others and let them know you're okay," I said before waddling toward to the shore and repeating the process of dragging myself on the dryer part of the shore and dry myself off. Once I've got my legs I turn to see if Amaris have done the same. When I see she's got her legs we go and search for Ondina.
"Ondina! I've found her!" I shouted when I spotted her. She was sitting on the sand near where we came from.
Ondina let out a breath of relief, "Thank Posiden you're alright Amaris. Do you know how much trouble you've put us all through? Don't run off like that again."
"I'm sorry, Ondina."
Ondina and I sighed glad that we found her. "Let's go find the others now. They'll be glad that we've found you," I said before walking ahead of the two.
"Hey you guys! We've found her," Ondina said to Mimmi, Weilan, Karl, and Chris. They were gathered in a circle talking amongst themselves. Ondina made Amaris apologize to the others for making everyone worried. Karl and Chris were leaving since it was getting late.
I felt someone tap on my shoulder, "Hey, Cordelia. Can we talk?" I turned to see Karl with his signature smile.
"Yeah, sure. What's up?" I asked.
"How about we go on a date later this week?" Karl asked.
I broke out into a grin on cloud nine, "I'd love to."
"Great! How about the beach then to some mini golfing?"
"Sounds great! I'm free on Saturday. Eight. Don't forget," I smiled sweetly.
Karl's grin widened, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
Chris and Karl boarded the speed boat and left the lagoon leaving the five of us on the island waving at the boat.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted! Thank god this day is over," Ondina exaggerated tiredly.
Mimmi, Weilan, and I grinned mischievously. Oh the next few weeks are going to be filled with delicious lobster and prawns.