Danny's POV

I'm sitting in a booth at the Nasty Burger trying to remember the dream I had last night with no luck, when Sam and Tucker come running in.

"Danny! Danny! You're never gonna believe what happened to us last night! It was unbelievable!" Sam shouted.

"Yeah man! I've seen weird stuff before, but this tops it all off!" Tucker adds excitedly.

"What?" I ask in mock confusion.

"There was this merman-" Sam starts.

"-and he was all like-" Tucker continues.

"-'Fear me!'-"

"-'I'm gonna eat you!-"

"-I am the most powerful merman-"

"Arrgg!" they finish in unison.

"It was so scary, but then this other merman came in named Phantom-" Sam continues.

"-and he was just like, 'fear not humans, I will protect you'" Tucker says using his best superhero voice for the last part.

"And he shot him with this, this shell."

"Yeah and it sucked the other guy up with this weird glowy light thingy."

"It was so cool!"

At the end of their story they are both out of breath and panting like crazy.

"Wow guys. The Box Mer? That does sound scary." I say feigning amazement. They share a critical look before looking back at me with suspicion. I furrow my brows in confusion. Why are they looking at me like that?

"We never told you he was called the Box Mer." Sam says making my eyes go wide.

"Yeah, we just said that a merman was attacking us and another merman named Phantom saved us." Tucker adds. I chuckle nervously.

"A-are you sure? I could have sworn you said he was the Box Mer." I tell them.

"One hundred percent." Sam says.

"So how did you know what the mermans name was?" Tucker question.

"Uh-um, look, I want to tell you guys, but not here. Can you guys spend the night?"

"No! If you want to be friends with us you need to tell us the truth!" Sam yells, attracting the attention of the rest of the restaurant.

"Okay okay. Calm down. I will show you but we still need to be somewhere private. That's why I wanted you guys to spend the night."

"I know where we can go." Tucker states calmly.

"No. No way. He won't share his secrets, we aren't going to share ours."

"But that's the thing, he's trying to show us."

"Why can't he just tell us?"

"I hope you know, I'm still here. I can't tell you in a public place. You won't believe me if I don't show you, and if I show you here, I could be put in serious danger." I try to explain to them.

"You promise you'll show us as soon as we get there?" she asks.

"I swear on my life." I tell her with a no-nonsense tone.

~~~Line Break~~~

"How much further?" I ask as we walk through a small forest-like area.

"Not far. We should be there within the next five minutes." Tucker announces.

Five minutes later and we are at a stream. Sam and Tucker go up to a rock and move some plants to the side to reveal an opening. We go inside and find ourselves in a cave connected to the ocean. There is some strange fluorescent plant all over the walls that lights the cave in a magical sort of a way. It gives off a light blue color that reminds me of my eyes when I use my ice powers.

I can feel the ocean's power here, standing meters away, as strongly as though I was sitting at the bottom of Her deepest trench. My breath hitches at the sheer amount of power that hits me as soon as I enter. I'm mesmerised by the beauty and power. I want nothing more than to jump in the water and let Her surround me. Suddenly, a hand is on my shoulder, snapping me out of the trance.

"I'm sorry what?" I ask, shaking my head to clear my mind.

"I said, what is this big secret you absolutely couldn't tell us in public?" Sam glares at me for what she probably assumed was stalling.

"Oh. Right. Sorry, there is just a lot of power in here. Look, if I tell you this, I have to be sure I can trust you guys. You need to promise me, that you won't tell anyone else about this. You can't tell anyone about what happened last night. You can't tell anyone anything. If you do, I could be dissected and killed. Do you understand how important it is?" They give me feeble nods, only just realizing the severity of the situation.

I take a deep breath before the two rings surround me, turning me into the same merman that saved the two the night before. I look down, unable to bare seeing their reactions. I float silently for what seems like an eternity before finally looking up. They are looking at me with a mixture of fear, awe, and curiosity. It reminds me of how my parents look whenever they discover something new involving mers. It scares me and I decide that it was a horrible idea to show them. I turn around and dive into the water, but not before hearing them calling my name for me to wait.

I sink down to the bottom and curl up into a ball. The ocean comforts me until I hear a splash. I look up to see both of them swimming down to reach me. I start to swim away, but the ocean tells me to turn around. When I do, I find Sam trying to help Tucker free his leg from a piece of coral. Their struggling is using up energy that they need to be able to hold their breaths.I turn around and swim towards them as fast as I can.

"Hold on, I'll get you out. Stop struggling or you'll run out of air." I inspect it and notice that they are trying to pull up, when they should be pushing down. I move his foot down and backwards, freeing it from the coral. I grab them both and drag them both to the surface.

"What the hell did you think you were doing? You can't breathe underwater, you could have died!" I yell as they catch their breathe.

"We couldn't let you go. You are already practically our brother and we just met you yesterday. Did you really think that something like this was going to change that?" Tucker asks me.

"You mean you won't tell anyone?"

"Of course not. As long as you don't keep anymore secrets from us that is." Sam answers.

"I promise. No more secrets." I tell them, grinning like a madman.

"So then, tell us everything. How did you become a merman?" Tucker asks.

"I'm technically half merman. I was born like this."

"Wait, so your parents are merpeople too?" Sam questions.

"I think so. I'm adopted, so I've never actually met my birth parents. I'm guessing one was a merperson, while the other was human. As far as the ocean told me, it's not normal for mers to be able to appear human. And those that can, transform back every time they touch water. I, however, can appear human, while touching water, and still maintain my human form. She's the one who helped me adjust to my mer form and tell me everything I needed to know about my powers and how to control them." I explain after changing back to human and getting comfortable on the rocky floor.

The questioning goes on for a few more hours before they finally know everything that I know. It's dinner time now and mom said something about making spaghetti and meatballs. I'd rather not be home in time for the toxic meal, so I call my mom and tell her that I'm eating with Sam and Tucker. I also inform her of our plans of having a sleepover which she agrees to.

Ocean brings plenty of fish for Tucker and I, and some edible seaweed for a side and for Sam. We start a fire and I find a rock that I can use to cook it on. I also find some herbs and spices in the jungle that I am able to use for flavor. We use small sticks as silverware.

"Oh my god this is so good!" Sam exclaims with a moan of pleasure.

"I know right. Who'd of guessed that seaweed could taste this good. Danny, I think I'm going to hire you as my personal chef. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"Well, you see, my parents cook with mer energy, but the way they use it causes the food to become poisonous to any mers or halfas, a half mer, so Jazz will often sneak my food to her plate, and I will sneak out to make something like this. Ocean has always taken care of me. She's like a second mother to me."

"You said something similar a few times. It's like you're talking about the ocean as if it's sentient." Sam says, using her hand to play with the water.

"That's because She is. She can't prevent tsunami's or catastrophic events like that, but She can help provide other necessities and guide you to where you need to be if you let Her. Sometimes bad things happen because without them, we wouldn't be able to start a new chapter in our lives. She has the unfortunate job of having to cause those things on occasion, as well as helping to show people how to move on and start that new chapter."

Ocean moves Her water to twist around Sam's arm as she is playing with it. It then moves to touch her nose. "She likes you. She says thanks to both of you for always trying to protect Her and the creatures that live within Her." I skim my hand across the surface, enjoying the strong energy that flows into my body as I do.

"Wait, you can understand Her?" Tucker asks surprised.

"I can. I think it has to do with the fact that I'm half merman, but for some reason, She won't tell me for sure. She says I need to learn the truth for myself when I'm ready."

If you wish to take them for a swim, you can share your ability to breathe underwater and survive under enormous amounts of pressure with them as long as you keep skin contact with them at all times. Just will it to happen, and it will. You won't even have to concentrate afterwards, everytime you touch them it will automatically activate this power. It will do nothing on land and nobody would be able to notice a difference. She tells me.

"Seriously?" I ask. I wouldn't lie to you Daniel. "I know but you never told me about this with Jazz." You weren't ready before.

"What? Are you talking to her now?" Sam questions.

"Yeah. How would you guys like to get a personal deep sea tour."

"Danny, I think you've forgotten that we can't breathe underwater." Tucker reminds.

"Normally, you would be right. This time, though, you are wrong. Ocean says that I can lend you my ability to breathe underwater and survive extreme pressure as long as we keep skin contact. So what do you say? Want to explore the ocean floor?"

"Hell Yeah!" they yell together

"Alright, take my hands." I say transforming. I take one of each of their hands, and we jump in the water. We swim down deep enough to leave the cave through an opening underwater. I look over and find the both of them holding their breaths, and turning red. "Guys, you don't have to hold your breath, remember?"

They look hesitant, but let their breath go, breathing in slowly at first, before taking greedy breaths to catch their breath.

"Wow, this is so weird, it's like I'm breathing liquid oxygen!" Sam says excited.

"That's because you are. It's hard to explain in full detail, but basically what's happening, is your body's filtering out anything that's not oxygen before it gets to your lungs. Then the only thing left, is oxygen in a liquid form. Normally, it would be difficult for humans to breathe it as a liquid, but because you are keeping contact with me, your lungs are processing it better and using it."

"Did the ocean tell you that?" She asks like she knows it's true.

"She told me most of that a long time ago. The last part is the only part she told me just now."

The rest of the time is me taking them around a reef, telling them the names of different kinds of fish and their attributes. Tucker nearly let go of my hand when a hammerhead shark came by.

"Relax Tuck, they won't hurt you as long as you leave them alone." I tell him.

"Easy for you to say, you can probably swim faster than it. I on the other hand, can't swim very fast at all."

"Oh lighten up Tuck. Danny wouldn't leave us behind." Just then, a bunch of bubbles leaves my mouth, telling me there is another mer nearby. I look around frantically, trying to spot the threat.

Relax Daniel. Take your friends back to shore and I will lead you to the mer.

"Danny, what's going on?" Tucker asks.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to leave you behind." I say grinning. Tucker pales but Sam just rolls her eyes.

I swim as fast as I can towards the beach. There is no time to take them back to the cave specifically. I hold on to them for a few more seconds to make sure they are breathing proper air, before I shoot off to where I see a giant hunk of metal. The ocean tells me that's him.

When I get there, I find a merman made of metal. Is that even possible? He has grey skin, green hair, and lots of weapons. Even his grey tail seems to be made of metal.

"Hey tin can! Didn't Boxy tell you guys? The humans are my territory. Back off."

"What are you gonna do about it little halfa."

"So Boxy did tell you about me. Good. Then you should know that I'm not someone you should mess with."

"Oh please, the Box Mer is one of the weakest mers around. He couldn't hurt a krill. I am Atlantis' greatest hunter! You will never defeat me!" He cackles and shoots an energy beam at me through a gun that somehow appeared on his wrist.

I put up an energy shield and attack him the same way. The fight goes on for a while before I decide I'm tired of throwing around banter. I freeze him solid and pull the shell off of my belt. I kept it from last night so that I would have one handy when I needed it. I suck him up, ice and all, and put the shell back on my belt. It's kind of funny because the belt is just there to carry things, I don't have any other clothes on in Phantom form.

I fly to a secluded area where I can transform and then go find Sam and Tucker.

"Well, if you were aiming for the whole world knowing about mers, then you succeeded." Sam says as we hear screeching from the beaches parking lot.

I facepalm as a high tech vehicle parks, and two jumpsuit clad people jump out with guns blazing.

"That's weird, our scanners said there were two mers here just a second ago. Now it just shows Danny." Jack says looking for either his son or the two mers that were there only moments before.

"Who are those people? I haven't seen them around here before." Sam says.

"Danny, aren't those your parents?" Tucker questions remembering them from the restaurant.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Oh. And I thought my parents were bad." Sam says putting a hand on my shoulder in consolation.

"Well, we might as well ask them for a ride since their here." I sigh.

~~~Line Break~~~

Danny's POV

One Month Later

"Geez Skulker, you'd think you would have learned your lesson by now." I shake my head as I return him to Atlantis.

I feel a strange pull towards it like usual, only this time, it's stronger. I can't help but stick my head in to check it out. I see several structures of rock rising at different heights, with different sizes. Some of them have buildings on top while others are unoccupied. There are also a lot of random doors just floating around. Before long, I find that I've come all the way into Atlantis.

The ocean hasn't objected to my being here yet, so it can't hurt to look around a bit. I notice several different marine animals swimming around and even some that aren't normally able to breathe underwater.

Because of it's unique composition, anything can breathe the water here.

"Is that why I feel so much more powerful here? Because of what the water is made of?"

That is correct. Now, follow me, there is someone I want you to meet.

"Who is it you want me to meet?" I ask after several minutes.

"Are you talking to yourself?" I hear a female voice ask behind me.

I freeze and prepare for an attack. I slowly turn around, only to find the most beautiful mermaid I've ever seen floating in front of me. She has blue hair, pale skin, and the deepest, most hypnotizing blue eyes I've ever seen.

"Wow." we breathe out in unison.

"I-I'm Danny." I say holding out my hand.

"Ember." she says taking it. Her skin is as soft as her silky voice, and I feel electricity run through my body as our skin makes contact. "Are you going to answer my question?" she asks snapping out of the shock-like state. I shake my head and give her a confused look. "Were you talking to yourself?"

"What? Oh! No! I was talking to the ocean." I say like it was obvious.

"Uh huh. Is this a habit of yours? You do know She can't actually respond right?" I furrow my brows in confusion at this.

"What do you mean? Of course She can. She was always talking to me when I was young and helping me learn about my powers and things. She took care of me better than my own parents."

"What do you mean? Only the royal family is able to understand Her. So how can you?"

"I-I don't know. I've always been able to understand Her. She is basically my mother." I try to explain to her. She gives me a weird look.

"What is she saying now?"

"She's saying... stop stalling... and tell her... you think she's... pretty." I finish confidently before realizing what I said. My face erupts in a blue blush while the ocean rolls with laughter. "Wait- I didn't- I wasn't- gahh! Stop laughing at me!"

"I wasn't laughing." She says confused and a little scared.

"Wait! No! I wasn't talking to you. It was the ocean-" I sigh in defeat. She giggles at me.

"It's alright. I... I think you're pretty good looking yourself." She says shyly.

"You do? I mean- thanks. Hey, do you want to-um, maybe, go out with me? I mean you don't have to if you don't want to, but I know where a portal to the human realm is, and I know some pretty cool places out there."

"I would love to go out with you, but I thought the King and Queen made a rule saying we weren't allowed to go to earth."

"Oh, really? I don't know anything about that. I live on earth. Ocean never said anything about a king or queen. Then again this is my first time in Atlantis." I say starting to babble. "Wait, did you say yes?" she laughs.

"Yes. Did you say this was your first time in Atlantis? How is that even possible?"

"Oh. That's right. I don't know if you've heard anything from the Box Mer, Skulker, Technus, or even the Lunch Lady, but I'm a halfa. Every time they attack they humans, I send them back here to Atlantis. I feel kinda bad about it though. If they would just stay out of trouble and find a way to block their energy signals, then I would let them roam around as much as they want. That's what Johnny 13 and Kitty do."

"Oh! You're Johnny's new little brother Phantom aren't you?!"

"Yeah. He's great when he isn't scaring innocent humans." I laugh.

"I like you Danny Phantom. You're a pretty cool guy."

"Thanks." I rub the back of my neck shyly. Danny, it's past your curfew. "Oh no! Why didn't you let me know sooner?" I ask Ocean panicked. "Hey, Ember, I'm really sorry, but I have to go. My human parents are going to kill me if I don't get back soon. Can I pick you up here tomorrow at four?"

"Yeah. I'll see you then." she says before kissing my cheek causing us both to blush furiously.

"S-see ya." I say before swimming off and scolding myself for having such a lame response.