Each member of the small pod that was forming, stood out. Not just because of their personalities but their sense of style too. Most residents of pointbreak wore the classic board shorts and shirt combo every Australian wore on a stupidly hot day. But our three Merfolk differed.

Icarus was known for bright colours, tropical imagery, tiny skirts and sparkly thongs (for flip flops for the Americans). Aries had a slightly more old summer approach, although they had a soft spot for surf brands. They were usually in matching shorts and crop top sets, sailor collars, high waisted shorts with a bright red tank top to match. And the newest edition, Pandora had her own identifiable style too.

Each time Aries and Icarus met up with her, she had some kind of combination of the same thing. Button ups over bikini tops, denim skirts, shirts branded with boating and fishing logos and terry cloth beach wear.

If Icarus was pink and Aries was red, then Pandora was blue.

The way they looked as a group together, with different styles but tied together with the similarly of it being a form of beach wear, made them look like an odd match to outsiders. But they were probably the best match anyone could make. After all, it'd only taken the first term of school and some mermaid mischief for them to all become friends.

The sun was again, blazing. Aries smelled like sunscreen from the sheer amount they'd put on to keep their pale skin from becoming burnt. The front yard needed to be watered, so carefully as to not touch said water, they'd spent most of the morning out the front watering.

A car horn beeped, making them jump in fright at the sudden noise and almost drop the watering can they held. Looking up, a with P plates car rolled up to the curb. Icarus was the one to stick her head out the window.

"GUESS WHO PASSED THEIR TEST!" She called out.

"What lunatic let you pass?" Aries joked back.

Pandora climbed over Icarus to stick her head out the window as well.

"Get in loser we're going to the rapids!" Pandora said.

"I dunno, we getting maccas on the way?" Aries replied.

"Duh! Come on!" Icarus added.

Quickly locking up the house, Aries jumped in the back seat and off they went. The first thing they noticed was the powerful smell of coconut air freshener that hung from the rear view mirror, and little hula dancer on the dashboard.

"You are the most stereotypical surfer chick on the whole coast" Aries laughed.

"That's the goal. Her name is B-B, short for baddest bitch" Icarus replied, tapping the hula dancer so she wiggled.

"All you need is a custom number plate with beach babe on it or something" Pandora snickered.

"Ugh I wanted one but they're SO expensive. Gotta save up"

The drive from the coast to the rapids wasn't too long, but it would be a pain in the ass to walk the distance. Icarus having her license now would be useful for the travels the group would be making up and down the coast line on their hunt. The rapids was a stretch of the river that was famous for being rocky and fast running, lots of waterfalls and twists and turns. The main stretch wasn't safe to swim in, but the smaller sections where the river broke off into watering holes and small lakes was safe and pretty. The annual river boat races often came through the rapids, the experts being able to navigate the rough waters without being hurt. The area was usually rather empty aside from race season, perfect spot to mess around with magic.

After their McDonald's pit stop to get frozen colas, they came to their destination and parked in the shade of the trees. Getting out, they looked around to find only a few people out picnicking by the water. As long as they went past the populated area, they'd be fine.

"Go any spots in mind?" Aries asked.

"Do follow, I used to come here all the time as a kid" Pandora beckoned.

The two followed her along the pathways until they started to thin out, the directions only known by patches where grass didn't grow from all the years of walking over it. Over some rocks and behind some trees, they came to a pocket of water away from the main river, only a small waterfall flowing into a watering hole.

"I don't know why people done come here. It's a good spot" Icarus said.

"Snakes" Pandora replied.

That made Icarus stop in her tracks and give Pandora an 'excuse me?' Look.

"Not here, on the pathways. They won't approach humans but let dogs..? Yeah that's why people don't come down here. Not safe for pups" Pandora explained.

"Shit girl you almost gave me a heart attack"

Australia was all fun and games until you get bit by a snake, stung by a jellyfish and pushed off the jetty by that one drunk friend. Luckily for the group, they knew better.

"By the way, you tried out any powers yet?" Aries asked the newbie.

"Oh fuck, I have powers now I totally forgot. I've been so wrapped up in having a tail" Pandora replied.

"How do you forget the little detail of powers?" Icarus asked.

Pandora just shrugged, honestly not knowing how she could forget such a thing.

"Well you're an air sign so we know WHAT your powers are. It's a matter of how to do them" Aries said.

"Right. It's three right? One over water, one over weather and one extra?" Pandora asked.

"Ay someone's been paying attention. If I had to guess I'd say the weather one is conjuring wind, the one over water would be freezing it and the third... Hm. Not sure"

Of all the powers Pandora had, the ability to cool the air down to freezing temperatures seemed like the most useful. She could stop water from hitting her by freezing it, stop things from overheating, if there was a puddle or wet area to cross she could freeze it to walk over it.

"Guess we won't know until you try, give it a shot" Icarus asked.

"Uh... how?" Pandora replied.

"Just try various hand motions. It's different for everyone, like here's mine-" Aries said.

They held out their hand, a flame engulfing above their palm. Pandora stepped back in shock slightly, not expecting such a quick reaction and whole flame to appear.

"Woah! That's probably not a good idea. Bushfire season" she replied.

"Yeah probably not" Aries put it out, dropping their hand back down and the flame vanishing.

Icarus turned to the watering hole beside her, holding out a hand and lifting some of the water from it. Without even touching it she was able to morph it's movement up into a stream.

"You thirsty?" She joked.

"Where does the extra water some from?" Pandora asked.

"No idea. Magic I guess"

She shrugged as she responded, moving her hand and causing the water to drop. Jumping out of the way, Aries and Pandora managed to dodge the splash.

"Oops" Icarus stated.

"You gotta remember that" Aries replied.

"Hmm... what can I try it on?" Pandora asked.

They looked around for an idea, Icarus still holding her cup of now melted frozen cola she held it up in response.

"Freeze this. It's melted" she suggested.

"Ok, hold it still" Pandora replied.

Icarus held out the cup, holding it still. Pandora thought for a moment, trying to come up with a hand motion that might work. She stated with making a gesture similar to 'stop' only for nothing to happen.

"Hmm..." she muttered.

This time she waved it, again with no reaction. Then she tried various finger positions, none of them working.

"Man come on, I want super powers" she muttered.

"Try flicking your wrist" Aries suggested.

Following the suggestion, she flicked her wrist and held her palm up to the sky. Sudden Icarus felt the cup get cold, making her jump.

"Oh! That's cold, I think you got it" she said.

Taking the lid off the cup and looking inside, she snickered. Holding it upside down the whole drink was frozen to the cup and wouldn't pour out.

"Bit much" she teased.

Pandora grabbed the cup to look for herself, trying to pull the straw from the frozen block of cola.

"That's so cool..." she smiled.

"Pun intended?" Icarus asked.

"Obviously"

Aries took the cup to see how frozen it was, also snickering at the solid block.

"Not quite a slushy but hey, that's a power" they teased.

"Hey I've never done this before. What about the others?" Pandora asked.

"Same gesture, just in a different direction"

"Like this?"

Without thinking, she flicked her wrist down this time, a sudden gust of wind knocking Aries and Icarus back a bit as they stumbled for balance.

"Yep, like that" Icarus replied, almost dropping her now ice lolly.

"Oops, that was stronger than I thought" Pandora replied.

You can't expect a first time mermaid to be an expert at powers straight away, so they didn't give Pandora a hard time about it. It was pretty impressive how quick she figured it out though, some people take ages to find the right motion to activate their power.

"The last one would be sideways then huh?" She asked.

The two nodded, taking a step back this time in case they got in the way of whatever his final power was. Pandora motioned to the side this time, not knowing what to expect. And to the surprise of all three of them, a quick burst of ice fell from the sky and landed on ground right where she'd motioned.

"Was that hail? Or did I make ice out of the moisture in the air?" Pandora asked.

"Honestly, not sure. But let's chalk it up to conjuring ice and remember not to step on that and slip" Icarus replied.

"I'd say it's from the moisture, since the wind is already a weather power" Aries added, looking down at the quickly melting ice on the ground.

In excitement, Pandora laughed and jumped around punching the air.

"Haha, yes! All three powers in one day" she cheered.

"Now you gotta learn to control them better" Aries replied.

"I will, I will. I'll be able to make the perfect frozen cola one day"

Icarus and Pandora were still new to the whole powers thing, but with their enthusiasm they'd be able to pick it up fairly quickly. Icarus had already made good progress in a short period of time, Pandora would definitely be able to do the same with some work.

"So are we going to swim or did you bring us here just to flex the fact you can drive?" Aries asked, turning to a smug Icarus.

"Well I was just going to flex but swimming sounds good too" she admitted.

Pandora and Aries gave her a playful groan and shove.

"Of course you flex on us. I'll be able to drive too you know? I only need a few more hours" Pandora said.

"Yeah imma let you two do the driving. I don't wanna pay for petrol" Aries said, walking over the to edge of the watering hole.

"You literally have money spells!" Icarus laughed, following along.

"That take time to do! I'm too lazy for that!"

The group jumped in, leaving their dressed and shirts on the rocks to stay dry for when they got out. The water was warm, the pool not too deep or rocky, it was the perfect little hidden spot. The most fun part of being a mer-person was always the swimming. How fast you could go, the tricks you could do, how much better you could see underwater compared to a human. The water experience was much better as a mer-person.

An experience Pandora was rapidly growing to love. If this is how much fun her grandmother had, she was exited to feel that same joy for the rest of her days.