Willow felt kind of intimidated, she was surrounded by beings she didn't even know existed until recently. The seeming head of the group being a gender ambiguous siren with a resting bitch face.

"She has a boat guys, since we can't use my dads because he needs it to work Willow can be a big help" Pandora explained.

After learning of the situation, Willow eager to help. That night after she approached Pandora again, she couldn't stop thinking about her and the Merfolk. Mainly her though, it didn't take long for her to realise that she indeed was living a fantasy story and had developed a major crush on a mermaid.

And if she wanted to be in the mermaids life she had to prove she wasn't a threat. That meant winning over her friends.

"I mean as it gets colder and the seas get rougher... swimming isn't really an option" Icarus spoke up.

"We're merfolk Icarus, we can withstand harsh waters" Zagreus said.

"Not me! You and Aries maybe, you two have more experience. Pandora and I only have a year under our belt"

It was still warm, the tail end of summer right now. But as the months went on and they continued to hunt the waters would get colder and make traversing them harder. None of them were cold water Merfolk, so none of them were used to it.

"A boat would be very helpful on those days" Icarus explained.

"True... it's just... look willow don't take this the wrong way or anything. It's kind of hard to trust humans knowing they're the reason we're having to hunt these island in the first place" Zagreus said.

The human understood, completely. There was a reason Merfolk stayed hidden from humans, and from Pandora's initial panic when she first got spotted Willow knew it was a serious situation.

"I get it. It's not exactly reasonable to trust a human after everything that happened. But I swear on my life I'm not going to spill anything to anyone. I doubt anyone would believe me anyway. I just... it's interesting to know there's a whole world out there I don't know about. I wanna learn" Willow said.

There was a moment of silence, the Merfolk pondering. They could use the help...

They stood on the docks in a circle, Willows boat just down the jetty ready to go if they decided to let her help.

"Hmm... Zag didn't you say Styxx wanted to help too?" Aries spoke up.

"Yeah, he's down to help. Just had to hide his ears while he's in the sight of humans and he blends in pretty well" Zagreus replied.

"Apart from the purple eyes" Icarus added.

They could use the help, they had a boat at their disposal if they took on Willow. And with Styxx they'd have another aquatic creature to help with all the water based stuff.

"Could you get him over here? If we're gonna let willow help we may as well get as many people as we can" Aries said.

Willow lit up? She was allowed to help? This was exiting! She'd been thinking about it non stop, and was hoping to find a group of friends. Sure she had her coworkers but a coworker and friends are kinda different relationships. And of course, she got to hang out with Pandora.

Aries figured if she'd been so calm when seeing Pandora for the first time, had kept the secret this far and was offering to help then they might as well let her. Although they would be keeping a close eye on her until they were sure they could trust her 100%.

"I'll call him, get the boat ready" Zagreus said.

Willow and Pandora were quick to rush onto the boat, the two of them knowing how to work a boat better than anyone else. Aries and Icarus stood in the docks as they got ready, and Zagreus took his call.

"I get the skepticism, but I think she's safe. I just... get this feeling she's trustworthy" Icarus said.

"She seems ok, I'm keeping an eye on her though" Aries replied.

"I get that. By the way, you figured out what your boon does yet?"

Since they received their Devine boons, they had been patiently waiting for something to happen as they figured out what exactly they did. So far only Pandora had reported effects. She woke up in the middle of the night a few weeks after getting said boon and found she could see perfectly in the pitch black darkness. The boon from Nyx allowing her to see in total darkness.

"I think I'm sleeping better... but that might just be because there's no stress of a rebellion anymore" Aries replied.

"I still don't know what mine does, I'm just waiting for something to happen" Icarus replied.

Aries was pretty sure Hypnos' effect on them would have something to do with either their sleep or being able to cast others into sleep. Zagreus was yet to figure his out as was Icarus, but they didn't mind waiting for results.

"He's coming, I told him to take some of my clothes so he's not walking around like a Greek statue" Zagreus said, walking back over the the group.

"I can't imagine him in anything other than a toga or pants and nothing else" Icarus snickered.

"You should see his wardrobe, it's literally just chitons, togas and like two pairs of pants"

The girls had the boat ready pretty quickly, they worked well together. With their boating experience there was no worries about getting lost or sinking. And after about 20 minutes, Styxx finally showed up. He looked so strange in human clothes...

He'd stolen one of Zagreus' shirts, wrapped a toga up like a skirt and put a hat on to cover his ears and sunglasses over his eyes so he could walk though the human realm without drawing attention.

"What is up with you humans and cars? There's so many" he said, climbing onto the boat.

"Humans like polluting the air apparently" Zagreus replied, placing a kiss on Styxx's cheek.

Willow noticed something non-human about Styxx, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Let's go, once we're away from the marina you can take that hat and sunglasses off" Zagreus said.

"Oh please, my ears hurt under this thing" Styxx replied.

Willow started the engine, Pandora untying the ropes from the docks and pulling them in. After carefully getting past all the other boats in the docks, they began to make their way into open ocean.

"Pandora" Willow spoke up.

"Hm?" she replied, keeping an eye on the gps.

"What is he? I hope that doesn't sound mean..."

"Styxx? Aside from Zagreus' boy toy, he's a Naiad" Pandora replied.

She turned to the two boys, calling them to get their attention. They turned to face her and the human beside her.

"Totally forgot proper introductions. Willow, Styxx. Styxx, Willow" she said.

There was something about Styxx that gave away he wasn't human. Willow couldn't figure out what it was, it was just his vibe.

"You know if the fish are trusting you, you must be pretty special. Not ever day we accept humans with our secrets" Styxx said.

"I feel like in a secret club or something. My lips are sealed, promise" Willow replied.

"Are we far enough away from land? Can I take my hat off?"

Pandora looked behind them, seeing land has become a distant fog against the scene of blue water.

"Yeah you're good" she said.

"Finally"

Styxx snatched the hat off, shaking his hair out and revealing his pointed ears covered in piercings. And off went his sunglasses too, purple eyes now visible. Willow blinked in surprise, she didn't know what she was expecting but it wasn't an almost elf like being. Not that it was bad, it suited him.

"Head to the next island over, we've already checked Trigg" Aries spoke up.

Steering in that direction, they passed the islands they'd already looked on, and approached the next on the list. A small island known for having very friendly seals, it was possible to dive here but you needed a permit making it a less popular spot for divers. There were no other boats around, giving them the clear to look around without the risk of being seen by divers.

On the shore some seals lay in the sun, completely un phased by the boat that was nearby. Pandora tossed down the anchor, Willow turning the engine off. Aries stood on the end of the boat, looking out at the island.

"You know the drill, swim around the shore line and search for anything underwater. Then we meet up on land and search there" they said.

"Last one in pays for smoothies when we get back!" Icarus teased, leaping over the railing and landing with a splash in the water.

"Hey! You got a head start not fair!" Aries called after her, jumping off the edge following her.

Styxx quickly shed his clothes, prepared to swim with board shorts underneath and dragged Zagreus in with him. Pandora and Willow were the last left having been the ones to make sure the boat was secure.

"Split the cost?" Pandora suggested.

"Yeah, sounds fair" she agreed, pulling her cover up off.

She was always dressed to swim because of how often she was by the sea, under her clothes she wore a red bikini top with a red and white spotted bottom. The girls took hands and jumped off the edge at the same time to make them both the last ones in. Under the water willow could see all four of he merfolks tails, each a different colour and shape.

It was interesting to her that each one was different, and she figured it must be because of evolution like with regular fish.

She'd already seen Pandoras purple scales with flowy ankle and hip fins. Icarus had a similar shape but with bright pink as her colour. Zagreus' was a deep green with a wider fluke and several fins down the sides that looked like it would blend in with freshwater vegetation. And Aries notability had a mix of colour, green and blue. They had a streamline fluke shape, a dorsal down the back and smaller hip fins.

Gathered in a circle, the group planned out their routes. Zagreus would go with Styxx to the west. Icarus and Aries east and Pandora and willow would stay by the boat and look there. They'd meet up on the shore in line with the boat and go from there.

"Everyone got it?" Aries asked.

They got a series of 'yes' in reply.

"Sick. Zag don't spend the whole time making out with Styxx"

"What? Me ravishing my boy? Never" Styxx joked.

"Right, that's why he showed up after a night at your place barely able to stand" Icarus teased.

Zagreus' face went red, she shoved a heap of water at Icarus in retaliation.

"SUSH!" He said.

"I'm just saying..." Icarus teased.

Enough with the banter, they split off into their directions and began to look around the coastline for anything left behind by the pod.

Willow being human couldn't hold her breath as long as Pandora could could, but she had fun trying to keep up and get as deep as her. It was good training for surfing, if she wanted to be a big wave surfer she needed a good breath hold. When you fall off in the white water and are pinned underwater by a wave you need to be able to hold your breath long enough for the JetSki to come get you to the surface again.

Pandora let her hold onto her shoulders and dragged her around at speeds and depths she'd not be able to reach herself. It was so much fun seeing the reefs up close without bulky diving equipment in the way, and feeling the rush of breaking up to the surface and taking a massive breath.

They looked around for a while, not seeing anything of note. So they went up to the shore to wait for the others. Sitting in the waves, they looked out at the horizon and boat bobbing in the waves.

"You think you could spot me next time I go rock running? I'd be able to get pretty deep with a mermaid helping" Willow asked.

"Sure, it'll be fun floating along behind you" Pandora replied.

Part of her breath hold training was holding a weight and running across the ocean floor. It was a massive workout on the body, but was amazing training for big wave surfers. Pandora would be able to get her back to the surface way quicker than a human could, so if she was the one spotting her, Willow could push herself much further.

"Your breath hold isn't that bad for a human" Pandora replied.

"It could be better. If I get stuck in white waters in Nazaré I'd be fucked" Willow said.

"You're insane for wanting to surf Nazaré. It's freezing and the waves are massive. The fact you can't even paddle out you have to be dropped off by JetSki is wild"

"It looks fun as hell, the risk just makes it more thrilling. Imagine the speeds you could reach going down a wave that big"

Pandora didn't get it, but if Willow was having fun and being safe that's all that mattered. Regular surfing? Sure that was fun. Big wave surfing? Pandora would die of a heart attack just seeing the waves.

"By the way, Styxx and Zagreus..?" Willow prompted.

"The lovesick losers? Yeah there hella gay for each other. It was so obvious Zag had a crush it was kind of cute. When Zag and his family move back to Izroulia he plans on moving in with him" Pandora replied.

Willow wanted to know if she had a chance with Pandora, so using the topic of the obvious queerness in the group she prompted and answer.

"And Aries? How'd they manage to get too surgery in hiding?" She asked.

"One very helpful Naiad. The Naiads have always supported us Merfolk"

"Damn is anyone in the group not a rainbow child?"

"Only Icarus. It's a running joke at this point she's our token cishet" Pandora snickered.

So she was some shade of the rainbow... maybe Willow did have a chance then...

"Well if I'm worthy to join the group, Icarus will still be the only one. We're like magnets were just drawn to each other, no idea how Icarus ended up in the magnet box though" Willow giggled.

"She's blessed by the gay gods" Pandora joked.

If Pandora liked girls, and if Willow could earn the trust of the group then maybe she'd have a chance. That's all she wanted, a chance. Even if it didn't work out just having the honour of keeping the mermaid secret was enough for her. But she hoped, she hoped that as they grew closer, maybe she'd had a chance.