Surfs up, the air was warm and the sun sky was clear. Perfect day to be out on the waves. Perfect day to swim the coast in hunt of clues. Now the group had a lead, they knew where they should be looking. They decided to go out to the wreck again, double check for anything they may have missed. They planned to meet there, as they all had things to do that day before heading out. Aries got there first, followed by Zagreus and then Icarus. They were just waiting on Pandora. Nearby to the wreck was a buoy, so they three had propped themselves up on it while they waited and chatted about anything and everything.

While the wreck was pretty far out and they didn't have any worried of being spotted, the coast was bustling today.

Having just gotten off her shift as a life guard, Willow colt the winner of the 2006 point break gromfest wasn't done in the water yet.

She'd double checked the surf watch that morning and saw the perfect conditions down the coast, and best of all? It was midday on a weekday so not many other surfers were out hogging the ways. Most of them still at work or school. She'd been pushing herself recently, in pursuit of her goal to be a big wave surfer. The bigger the wave the harder it was to surf, but the more thrilling it was. She'd been surfing all her life, and by now at her age of 19 she was able to catch some pretty big waves.

But until she could reach Nazaré or the mavericks, she wasn't stopping. Every big wave surfer dreamed of that perfect 8 story wave, getting barrelled and coming out the other side. Todays waves definitely weren't that big, but they were good practice.

She'd been out for a while now, long enough for her hands to wrinkle up. But she wasn't done, she just needed a break for a moment to catch her breath. The redhead paddled out past the waves to sit in the flat for a moment, just letting her feet dangle off her board. She watched the waves rolling in, analysing them. She could probably catch some more good ones today, the swell was good.

She ran her hand over her board, checking the wax.

"Hm... gotta re wax soon..." she muttered.

The sun reflected off the water, sparkling in the blue. As she gazed out at the open ocean she noticed movement, her first thought was 'fuck is that a shark?'

But there was no dorsal, just a vaguely fish shaped shadow. Perhaps a small whale? Or a really big fish? She'd seen some funk creatures out on the waves before. Even got lucky enough to surf with dolphins down at the Margie's a few years back. But this looked... strange.

Curiosity killing the cat, she paddled a bit closer to see if she could make it out. It looked purple? As far she she knew fish weren't usually purple.

"What the-" she muttered.

Suddenly the shadow broke to the surface and took a deep breath, it was... a person? Out this far with no board or diving gear?

"Shit I need to work on my breath hold..." they muttered.

"Fuck man how'd you make it all the way out here in one breath?" Willow spoke up.

She didn't find it strange to talk to people out on the waves. It was surf culture, always interact with those in the lineup to avoid crashing into each other or dropping in on people. The girl whipped around in shock, having not noticed the surfer.

"FUCK- you scared the shit out of-" she began.

The brunette froze, suddenly getting a look of panic on her face. Willow raised a brow, where did this girl even come from? Was she ok?

"Oh good god I'm so fucked..." she muttered.

"You good? You can lean on my board if you're out of breath" willow offered.

"Listen, forget you ever saw me. I can't- I'm not meant to... shit. Just pretend I don't exist" she panicked.

Now willow was really confused. What would warrant such a reaction. She was about to question it when she noticed that same shadow on the water right below the brunette girl. Again she almost panicked thinking shark, but the closer of a look she got she realised something.

The shadow, the fish like shadow was connected to the girl.

"Wait..." Willow mustered.

She paddled toward the girl, only to have her react in panic and back away a bit. Although in her panic she didn't think it though, and backing away only exposed her tail more.

Pandora was caught. A human had seen her tail, she felt her blood run cold.

"No way... holy shit..." willow gasped, hardly believing her eyes.

Pandora sighed, wanting to just sink into the water and disintegrate in that moment. What the fuck did she do? If she swam away without making sure the surfer stayed quiet she could end up being hunted down. Her own parents didn't even know about this yet, let alone a random surfer.

"Oh man Aries is gonna gut me like freshly caught cod..." Pandora muttered.

Willow just starred in utter disbelief, mermaids were real. Mermaids were real and she was floating right in front of one.

"Oh my god..." she said under her breath.

"Yes, I'm a mermaid. Yes, we exist. Yes, it's unbelievable and incredible and you probably want to send me to a lab for study-" Pandora rambled, still internally freaking out.

"What? Why would I send you to a lab? I don't even know someone who works on a lab?"

"Because... humans haven't ever had proof mermaids exist? And this is a major discovery..?"

Willow slipped off her board, her leg rope keeping it close to her. She needed to see this closer so she knew she wasn't going crazy. Pandora knowing she was caught either way just allowed her to reach out and touch her tail. The gentle fingers tickled on her scales, and willow stared in awe.

"Mermaids are half human though, if we can't keep humans in a lab because it's inhumane then mermaids count too. Plus, if we've never had solid proof then clearly the mermaids don't WANT to be found" willow explained.

Oh? She was actually... taking this kind of well? This isn't how Pandora expected an encounter like this to go. She was hesitant to let any more secrets slip though, she she was skeptical at whatever the surfer had to say.

"I always thought if mermaids were real they'd me more fish than human looking. But you're a 50/50 split. How does it work? Did some ancient humans go into the ocean and evolve tails?" Willow asked.

"Uhh... not exactly. Look I can't tell a human about... anything. It's too risky, even if you keep me a secret if someone else found out..." Pandora replied.

"I get it... again clearly mermaids don't want to be found if they aren't showing themselves willingly to us. Can I at least know your name? I bet mermaids have really cool names"

Pandora hesitated. But she figured if the surfer and her knew each other's names she could keep an eye on her. If she was out here in point break waters she must be local, so Pandora could take her name and find her to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't leak this information.

"Pandora..." she admitted.

"A Greek myth name of course. I'm willow, I'll keep you secret. I promise. I mean... you're half human I should treat you like one. If you don't want to be found then I won't dob you out" willow assured.

Willow, so that was her name. Good to know.

"Thank you. Seriously you can't tell a soul, I may not be a siren but I know one who will not hesitate to lure you into the rocks in self defence if you try ANYTHING" Pandora threatened.

She felt like if bad threatening a rather nice human, but she needed to make it crystal clear that spilling the secret was a massive no. That and she was still internally freaking out.

"Sirens exist too? Are they like mermaids or the bird looking things from other myths?" Willow asked, bright eyed and curious.

Pandora snickered, she couldn't imagine Aries as a bird creature. But if they were one, they'd be an angry old crow for sure.

"believe me a human wouldn't be able to tell us apart. Look I have to go, I have places to be. Just... don't say anything to anyone. If you do I swear to god my siren buddy will come for your ass" Pandora said.

"Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. I promise" willow replied.

"Good, keep that promise willow"

Pandora dove back under the water, flicking her tail and disappearing into the blue. Willow floated there for a moment completely start struck. She felt like all her childhood dreams were coming true, what little girl didn't want to meet a mermaid?

"Wow..." she muttered, climbing back onto her board.

She watched the water we're Pandora vanished for a moment, letting everything sink in. All she could think about was how beautiful she was. The long purple tail, the clear skin, the flowing brown hair.

"I guess all the myths about mermaids being absolutely gorgeous are true then..." she muttered to herself.

She must be the luckiest human on earth. She met a real life mermaid, a beautiful one too.

Pandora rushed over to the meeting point, seeing the tails of the others dipping into the water and breaking to the surface beside them.

"There you are, damn you look like you've seen a ghost. Big shark?" Icarus commented.

"...human" Pandora muttered.

"What..?" Aries replied, suddenly perked up.

Pandora was still feeling the adrenaline of the encounter pump through her, and everything came spilling out.

"A surfer saw me, I have no idea why a surfer was out that far but I made her swear to secrecy I promise! I even got her name so we can keep tabs on her if we have to" Pandora explained.

"WHAT? A HUMAN SAW Y- PANDROA EDGE- Aries explained.

"I KNOW, I'M SORRY! I swam all the way past the reef I have no idea why she was out so far! I mean the waves are pretty big today, maybe she's a big wave surfer? Her name is willow, she was wearing a life guard top so she must work for the surf life saving. I made her swear to keep it a secret and maybe threatened her with Aries being a siren and all... but honestly... she was nice"

They all floated there dumbfounded for a moment, taking the situation in. A human saw one of them in mermaid form, and didn't react badly? That's not how they thought it'd go... she must be an odd one out because any other human would have freaked out.

"You're... sure she'll keeping a secret?" Zagreus asked.

"I mean she said, quote. 'you're half human I should treat you like one. If you don't want to be found then I won't dob you out" Pandora replied.

"Hmm... I still want to keep an eye on her just in case. You can't be too careful in these situations..." Aries said, in a skeptical tone.

"Yeah maybe we should... I think I got seriously lucky..."

Even with the slight hiccup, they had a mission to carry out here. The pod wasn't going to find themselves.

"Ok... let's just hunt for now and we can sort this out back on land. I say we start with garden island. It's not too far from here and pretty deserted by humans" Icarus suggested.

"Good idea, let's start there. Race you?" Zagreus replied.

"I'll beat you easy"

"Please I'm the one with the streamline tail here" Aries flexed.

"I'm the one with diving experience" Pandora jumped in.

A race decided on they all turned to face the direction of the island and counted down from three, diving under at the same time and zooming off to hunt the island.

Pandora just hoped willow kept her promise.