Getting Settled In

The next morning, Yang and I woke up to the sound of waves lapping against the shore.

"Good morning," I said sleepily.

Yang returned the greeting in Chinese, of course.

We ate a quick breakfast of crayfish, then swam to the coast. Yang and I split up; he was in charge of sorting out our identities and legal documents, while I was out gathering information about the current timeline. I knew that Mako was definitely part of the H2O show, but that didn't necessarily mean that we arrived here during the show's official timeline. The three girls that I saw dive into the water fully clothed when we first woke up on the beach could have been a previous generation of mermaids. A generation before— or even after— Cleo, Rikki, and Emma wouldn't be impossible.

Fortunately, the story remained. After I had collected a certain amount of info based on the surroundings, I deduced that Yang and I landed right before the beginning of season 2, when Charlotte would appear and become a mermaid that the H2-Trio wouldn't be able to fight against with their limited powers.

It made sense, after all. That blue diamond moon had a strangely similar effect to the full moon that would enhance Cleo and her friends' powers. The only difference was that it was powerful enough to turn Yang and I directly into Royal merfolk. The next full moon should be a weakened version of the blue diamond moon. That's when season 2 should be officially starting.

In the meantime, Yang and I can take the next month to sort things out and settle in.

He and I met back up at the JuiceNet Café. It was the usual hangout in the series, and I knew that we'd be hanging out here a lot in the future as well.

"How did it go?" I asked Yang.

"Everything is settled, but I'm out of money. We will need a way to earn some more if we want to be able to afford a house here," he replied.

I nodded, "Yeah, I have a plan for that as well. For now, we can either invest in a business or start our own. Considering the fact that we just got here and don't know the specifics about surrounding businesses, we probably shouldn't invest. But currently, we don't have the funds to start our own business. We will probably have to get a job in order to earn money and save it up until we have enough. Then we can think about starting a business."

Yang agreed. "I want to get a job where I can put my martial arts skills to good use. What will you do?"

I hesitated. "I don't know. Ideally, I'd be able to use my wits AND martial arts skills… but it might be better to swim under the radar and just get an ordinary job. I might even end up working here in the café. I can use the café as a strategic location for gathering any useful information, and it'll give me plenty of free time to practice martial arts when I'm not working, too."

Yang thought about it for a minute and seemed to come to a conclusion. "Yes. If you work here, it won't pay much. But it will give us a cover story and you'll have more free time. I can work as a bodyguard or something and it will pay more, but it's not a good cover story if we want to keep a low profile. 好! Let's do it like that then!"

It was decided.

The next week was spent getting jobs. We lived in our Mako mansion during this time, since we didn't have enough money to buy a house on the coast just yet.

Wilfred hired me in the JuiceNet Café almost immediately due to his current lack of staff, and since I worked a trial shift with extreme efficiency and no mistakes, it made it even easier to convince him that I'm good for the job.

Yang got a job a few days later as a bodyguard, but apparently none of the other bodyguards could keep up with his skills. He ended up as the top expert in the company, and anyone who wanted to hire him had to have the financial capacity to afford it.

I'd expect nothing less of my boyfriend.

The next month passed uneventfully. I saw Cleo, Rikki, and Emma several times during that month, but Yang and I agreed that it would be better to stay under the radar until the next full moon, so I didn't greet them yet.

Also, while I was practicing my martial arts in my free time, I had a flash of inspiration. If martial arts could be used even as a mermaid… wouldn't that be even better? So I spent some of that time adapting martial arts on land into martial arts that could be used in the water, as a mermaid. I ended up with something along the lines of Weilan's eastern magic from season 4 of Mako Mermaids. The difference, besides being more powerful than hers, was that it had more applicational variety and that I used both my arms and my tail instead of just my arms like Weilan did.

Obviously, when Yang found out, he was all over it. I taught him the basics and he figured out the rest. From then on, we practiced our martial arts on land as well as in the sea.

And just like that, the day of season 2's first full moon arrived.

"Let's go over this one more time. The H2-Trio will be drawn to the moonpool, and Lewis will get caught up in their enhanced power storm. We will be watching from a distance. Obviously, the moon pool is too small for that, so we'll be viewing it remotely from our Mako mansion using water clairvoyance. After the mermaids leave, that's when we make our move."

Yang nodded, "Then, tomorrow we meet the mermaids officially as fellow students in the same school."

"Exactly," I confirmed. "Lewis plays a key part in this, too. In case of any unexpected situations, we let each other know through our telepathy. Is there anything we overlooked?"

"No, I don't think so," Yang shook his head.

"Alright, then we're all set. Let's just get through the day. Tonight, when the full moon rises, the plan begins."

Yang smiled playfully after we were finished discussing 'official matters'.

"So, my queen… what do you say we go for a swim?"

I giggled sweetly and kissed Yang on the lips. "Of course, my king! I'd love to go for a swim with you."

We joined hands and dove into the sparkling blue waves around Mako Island.

That night, Yang and I sat on a couch in our Mako mansion, staring at the adjacent wall. Needless to say, it wasn't the wall we were staring at. Our Mako mansion was made entirely of water, so we could use the walls as a medium for our water clairvoyance.

In other words, we were watching the scene in the moonpool by using our mansion walls like a flatscreen tv.

"It's starting," I said as the full moon shone into the edge of the moonpool. A few moments later, three heads popped out through the surface of the bubbling moonpool, staring at the moon in a daze. Lewis rushed in through the land entrance, but of course the moon-tranced mermaids didn't like that very much at all.

They started their raging power storm, and right on script, Lewis got caught up in it.

Yang had already gotten into position outside.

'You're up, Yang,' I said telepathically.

'Roger that,' he replied.

Lewis tumbled around in the chaotic storm air, but Yang spotted his figure before he could fly too far. He guided the storm current back around and towards himself, and caught Lewis as he fell out of the air currents.

'Capture successful,' Yang affirmed.

'Great. Meet back here at the mansion. Bring Lewis.'

'Got it,' he replied.

Meanwhile, the full moon passed and the mermaids left the moonpool with their newly enhanced powers.

The next morning, Lewis woke up groggily with a headache.

"Hey, Selena. He's awake."

That's when Lewis realized that he wasn't at his house. He didn't fall asleep in his makeshift science lab either. He was in a completely unfamiliar place.

When I heard Yang call for me to tell me that Lewis had woken up, I walked into the room that Yang was watching Lewis in.

"Hello, Lewis. Welcome to our Mako mansion. My name is Selena, and this is my boyfriend Yang Xiaolong."

"Just call me Yang," he added.

Lewis frowned in slightly panicked confusion.

"What's going on?"

I gave him a friendly smile. "Don't you remember what happened last night?"

Lewis furrowed his eyebrows. "Last night…"

Suddenly his expression changed drastically as he recalled the storm last night.

"You seem to have remembered," Yang smirked.

Lewis sat up and frowned again, this time with alert caution towards us. "What does that have to do with you two? What do you know?"

I smirked amusedly.

"Cleo, Rikki, and Emma are mermaids," I stated non-inquisitively.

Lewis was obviously panicking. "Mermaids? Haha… you're bonkers… I don't know what you're talking about."

"It wasn't a question, Lewis."

He glared. "What do you want?"

Yang and I exchanged glances and smiled.

"Simple," I began. "We need you to pretend like we never met. At least until we approach the mermaids ourselves. Also, beware of Charlotte Watsford. She is not your ally."

Lewis scoffed. "Why should I listen to you?"

I smirked, "Because we are your greatest allies. And when I say 'you', that includes the mermaid trio."

He seemed conflicted. Then again, why would he believe two strangers he just met?

Yang spoke up, "Maybe we should show him."

I knew what Yang meant. I hesitated for a moment, but the pros outweighed the cons. Ultimately, I agreed.

"Alright, let's show him. Lewis, kindly follow us. We'll give you a solid reason to trust us," I said.

"You mean a liquid reason," Yang smirked under his breath.

"You're not wrong," I giggled.

Lewis followed us cautiously.

We came to the lagoon behind the mansion, with Lewis trying to figure out when a mansion could have suddenly appeared on Mako Island.

"How did this mansion suddenly appear here…?"

I smirked. "Oh, that?" I reached out my hand and pulled some water up out of the lagoon with my powers.

Lewis stumbled back. "Y-you… how?!"

Yang completed my little show by hardening the water I had conveniently shaped into a royal mermaid figurine.

"We built that mansion," I said.

I sent the finished royal mermaid figurine into Lewis's stunned hands.

"Ready?" Yang asked.

"Let's do it," I replied.

We dove into the lagoon at the same time; fully clothed, of course.

When Lewis saw our legs turn into tails, he finally understood.

"You, too?"

"Yep. We're merpeople. Yang is a Royal merman, while I am a Royal mermaid. We're a little different from the girls in terms of 'rank', but we hold no ill intent towards them. We want to befriend them, and to protect them from any other threats."

Lewis blinked. "So this Charlotte Watsford you mentioned is a 'threat'?"

He catches on quick.

I nodded, "Yes, to the mermaid trio, she is a threat. To us, she is nothing. She can barely overpower the girls, but we can completely overpower Charlotte. Not to mention, even native mermaids aren't our match, and Charlotte can't even match a native mermaid in terms of power."

Lewis stood there dumbly with a 'mind-blown' expression on his face. "Native mermaids…"

Yang squinted. "They exist. You have some impressive processing skills, my friend. Have you ever thought about taking up martial arts?"

I facepalmed.

"Yang, he's a scientist. He doesn't have the drive or tolerance to survive as your disciple."

Yang showed an expression of disappointment and shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

Surprisingly, Lewis seemed to actually be considering it before I mentioned the 'scientist' thing. Well, if he really wants to learn martial arts under Yang, the opportunity would arise again in the future.

After clearing things up with Lewis, we used our powers to escort him back to the coast in his half-broken boat. It could float, but the engine was kaput. Hence why we had to drag him back with our powers.

We made it there just in time for school to start. Lewis went to the bathroom to change his tattered clothing and freshen up, while Yang and I went to the main office to check in as new students. Of course, we came prepared. After all, today was our first day.

Yang was already 19, and I was 18. Since we didn't exist in this world until just recently, we were able to forge our identities to some extent. I put my age as 17 and Yang's as 18. His legal name here was Kai Yang and mine was Selena Silverly.

On paper, we are roommates who live together in a slightly above-average house near the beach. Of course, we still prefer our Mako mansion.

After 3 weeks of working, me at the café and Yang as an expensive expert bodyguard, we saved up enough to buy a house. It's mostly for fooling the public, but we do hang out there sometimes. It also has easy access to a private cove and it's within walking distance of the JuiceNet Café.

Since today was our first day of school, we'd mostly be getting settled in. But Yang and I had our own little hidden agenda, too…