BOOM!

Mimmi caused a small explosion during our lesson with Rita. Ondina had left to talk to the Mermaid Council, and we were terrified of what they would say about us leaving, as well as about Erik, Jasper, and Evie.

"I can't stop thinking about Ondina," Mimmi says.

"Me to," I add.

"The Mermaid Council are going to be so angry," Serena says.

"They're gonna make us come home, I know it," Mimmi says worriedly.

"There were always going to be consequences to your decision to run away," Rita informs us.

"It's not just the running away," I say, "how's Ondina going to explain Erik, Jasper, and Evie?"

"Maybe she won't tell them," Mimmi suggests, though she sounds unsure.

"It would be most unwise to lie to the Mermaid Council," Rita says, and we exchange worried looks.

All we could do now was wait for Ondina to return. Sirena helped Rita clean up while Mimmi and I left through the sea entrance. We both sped towards Mako, but later split off in different directions to hang around different parts of the reef. I also spotted Erik as well, so I swam up to him and waved when he saw me. He waved back and signaled for us to surface so we could talk.

"What brings you out here so early?" he asks, "I thought you said you had lessons with Rita."

"Kinda blew up the lesson," I say, "and I needed to de-stress. Ondina went to talk to the Mermaid Council and we're worried we might have to leave."

"Why would they make you leave?" he asks.

"Well, we did run off to come here," I say, "and I really don't want to go back."

"Don't worry," he says, taking my hand in his, "for now, let's relax and enjoy the reef."

We then dove under and continued to swim around, occasionally playing a few games with each other until Erik had to leave for work. I then headed back to the Grotto where I found Mimmi and a younger mermaid in the sea entrance.

"You shouldn't be alone this far from your pod," Mimmi says to her when Sirena and Ondina enter.

"You have legs?" the younger mermaid asks, "they're so weird looking."

"What are you doing here?" Ondina asks

"'Who is she?' would be a better question," Sirena adds.

"Neptina," Ondina answers, "Neppy. She's from the pod." she then turns to Neppy "I told you to go back to mermaid school."

"You also said it was going to be a really tough fight to save Mako because you've only got Mimmi, Sirena, and Manoa to help," Neppy says, "You're the leader, so I've come to volunteer. Put me to work. Let me be part of this."

"You're the leader?" I ask, giving Ondina a look.

"And we're just the help?" Sirena adds.

"That's not what I said," Ondina replies, but we didn't really believe her. "Neppy, you can't stay. You have to go back to the pod."

"But I want to save Mako," she says.

"You're going home," Ondina states.

Neppy sighs before saying "There's no way I can swim that far again tonight. I'm hungry and I'm tired. I don't even know how I kept up with you, Ondina, you're so fast."

"We could at least give her something to eat," I reason.

"Fine," Ondina says, "but if you're going to come in, you'll need legs."

Sirena went to get some clothes while Mimmi and I got out and dried off before helping Neppy out. Once she was dressed, she started looking around the Grotto until Poseidon came in, and she freaked out. I don't know why, but it reminded me of when we first came here, and Mimmi and Ondina ran into each other when they saw him for the first time. After Ondina finally sat her down, Mimmi, Sirena, and I quietly talked to her from another part of the room.

"So, it looks like you have your own one mermaid fan club," Mimmi comments.

"I didn't know she would follow me," Ondina says.

"Well, she's your problem," Sirena tells her, "Mimmi, Manoa and I have to collect ingredients for our next lesson, so we'll leave you to babysit."

"If that's alright with you, O Great Leader?" I add.

"That is not what I said," Ondina defensively responds.

We laughed and left to get what we needed. Once we found it, we came back to find that Ondina and Neppy weren't there. At first we thought that maybe Ondina took her back to the pod, but they eventually returned to the Grotto. Ondina told us that she trapped Jasper and Carly in a boat near the cafe, and she knows about Evie and Erik.

"How did a land girl get powers?" Neppy asks after she gets out and dries off, "How come there are three mermen?"

"That is none of your business," Ondina scolds.

"Why didn't you tell the Mermaid Council?"

"Neppy, we know you're trying to help, but we're dealing with a lot here," Sirena says.

"The mermen and the land girl are our friends," Ondina answers.

"How's that going to help the pod come home?" Neppy asks.

The conversation got heated from there and Neppy stormed out, with Ondina following. The rest of us quickly went after them, and found Ondina standing by the sea entrance.

"She's going back to the pod," Mimmi says, "she'll tell the Mermaid Council everything."

"I guess that's it for us," I say.

"I don't think she's going back to the pod," Ondina says, "Neppy loves Mako. She wants to save it as much as we do. She knows that if she tells on us, we'll never get Mako back."

"So what are we gonna do?" Mimmi asks.

"Find her... fast." Ondina says, "just because she's not going back to the pod, doesn't mean she won't get herself into more trouble.

We quickly left and searched all over Mako, but couldn't find her. The four of us then regrouped at the Moon Pool.

"What if she's gone back to the pod?" Mimmi asks.

"She hasn't." Ondina says.

"And you'd know 'cause you're so good with people?" Sirena comments.

"All right, I admit it," Ondina says, "I treated her badly. Neppy's just a kid and I let her think I was this big hero. I'm going back out.

"If we're going to keep searching, then we could use some help." I say.

"We can't ask Jasper," Ondina says, "not after the way Neppy trapped him."

"Jasper wasn't the one I was thinking of," I continue, "but I'm sure Zac, Evie, and Erik would be willing to help."

"Okay," Ondina says after a pause, "you talk to Erik, I'll talk to Zac and Evie."

"We'll keep searching," Sirena says, "then we'll meet at the Grotto."

Ondina left first, then Mimmi, then me, followed by Sirena. I sped towards the cafe and got out as quickly as I could. Erik was outside when I found him, and I explained the situation. "Please, we need your help," I say.

"I'd love to help, but I can't." he says, "We're really busy today. Let me know if you find her though. Maybe we could go for another swim when I'm done?"

"Okay," I say before diving back into the water. I continued to search for what felt like hours before heading back to the Grotto. Evie and Sirena were already there.

"Any luck?" Evie asks.

"Couldn't find her," I say.

"Erik?" Sirena asks.

"Couldn't get away from work," I respond.

Mimmi and Ondina later returned, also unsuccessful. We were starting to get really worried when Zac returned.

"Guess who I found," he says, and Neppy surfaces behind him.

They got out and dried off while Evie and Sirena went to go get some food. Ondina and Neppy made up, and Neppy promised to not tell the Mermaid Council about what happened. The two then left to return to the pod, and Zac and Evie went home.

"Speaking of..." I say, "Did Ondina ever say what happened with the Mermaid Council.

"They've given us until the next full moon," Sirena says.

"At least we get to stay," I say.

"Well, we should head back to the Moon Pool," Mimmi says.

"You two go ahead," I tell them, "I'm gonna go to the cafe."

"Going to meet up with Erik again?" Sirena asks.

"I promised to go for a swim with him when he was done with work. I'll be back at the Moon Pool later."

The girls nod and leave for Mako, while I went back to the cafe. I found an empty table by the door and waited there for Erik to be done. He came out a few minutes later.

"Hey, you're back," he says, "how'd it go?"

"We found her, she's okay." I say, "the pod's also letting us stay a while longer."

"That's good, right?"

"I would say so."

"Well, you still okay for that swim? Or do you want to reschedule?"

"No, I'm okay if you are, but maybe we could also spend some time at the beach on Mako? For a bit of a change?"

"Sure. I just finished up, so I'm ready when you are."

We dove into the water and swam over to Mako, pulling ourselves on the beach. After that, we walked along the shoreline, talked for a bit, we even playfully chased each other around for a bit. This continued until it started to get dark, and we left to get some sleep. I didn't know about the others, but I wanted to stay here.