He had paddled out to just past where the waves began to form and was now straddling his surfboard, watching the land though his thoughts were elsewhere. It was late evening and Marcus had just finished closing up David's shop after a very busy day. Busier than usual anyways, which was saying something. Since school had gone on break more students and more families had frequented the bar, which made for a very hectic working schedule particularly since it was only Carly, Marcus, and David who worked there. But Marcus welcomed the business with open arms. It kept him from brooding too heavily on what had happened the night that he and Chris had jumped into the Moon Pool.

Marcus was pulled from his reverie when a particularly early wave began to push his board forward. Without even considering the action or attempting to pull off of the wave Marcus laid onto his stomach and effortlessly caught the wave, transitioning smoothly to his feet with the ease that only hundreds of hours of practice could bring about. It wasn't a particularly strong wave, or even a very tall one at that, but it served to distract him from his thoughts for a bit. Just as the wave was about to crash Marcus began to veer off, but it was at that moment that his board did something rather odd. He had been angling to the right and moving along the wave at a fairly good pace when the board simply stopped dead in the water. Marcus was sent tumbling head over heel into the water, and was then sent for another loop as the wave crashed over him. He swallowed an inadvertent mouthful of saltwater and came up choking and coughing, wiping the water out of his eyes. He immediately searched out his board and his gaze quickly fell upon the fiberglass. It was floating gently right outside the waves' reach, but it was not alone. Leaning on the board with her head resting on her crossed arms was a small blonde haired very young mermaid.

Marcus suppressed a groan and began to swim to his board. When his hand touched the fiberglass he raised his head and glared at her. He very pointedly pulled his board away from her and at the same time pushed her off with one finger in the center of her forehead. "Neptina." He said her name like a good natured curse, rolling his eyes simultaneously. "I assume that you are the one responsible for my board's lack of cooperation?"

"Sure am." She beamed at him with pride. "We just started controlling objects in water last week at Mermaid school!"

"Lucky me." Marcus sighed. He swung himself onto his board and straddled it even as he stared down as Neptina. "So, to what do I owe this unexpected intrusion?"

"Ondina said that I could find you here." Neptina answered brightly.

"That woman." Marcus had to fight off a smile in spite of himself. "So what exactly did you want to find me for?"

"Can you take me to the café please?" Neptina asked hopefully. "I'm really thirsty."

Marcus stared down at her incredulously. "You… interrupted my 'me' time… because you wanted me to make you juice. You do understand that I just got off work only a couple hours ago, right? I really don't want to go back."

"Please?" Neptina asked him piteously, her green eyes shining in a silent plea.

Marcus worked his jaw several times and then sighed, relenting. "Fine, fine." He muttered. "Meet me on shore."

"Oh, I can help!" Neptina said brightly, raising her hand out of the water.

Marcus paled, all too aware that the young mermaid's control on magic was lacking at best. "No, Neptina, that's fine I can-." What he could do however was lost to the wind as his board suddenly rocketed out from beneath him and made a beeline for the beach. He caught himself before he went under and watched as the surfboard skipped across the waves and then up the beach about a hundred yards. Marcus very slowly turned to Neptina and fixed her with a malevolent glare. The young mermaid looked suitably abashed and dove beneath the water without a word, her tail kicking up a splash of water that had Marcus wiping water from his eyes again.

When he finally made it to shore he found a very remorseful looking Neptina standing just out of the way of the surf with his board held in her hands. "I'm sorry." She told him sincerely, offering him his board which he moodily snatched away from her. "I was just trying to help."

"Yeah, well, you are still learning." Marcus said grumpily. He marched up to where his bag rested and immediately set to toweling himself off. When he was relatively dry he picked up his phone and hit the speed dial button. The phone rang several times before an automated message telling him that the person could not be reached played. When the machine beeped Marcus clicked his tongue several times. "You know, I am almost certain that I told you that I was coming here for a bit of me time. In fact I know I did. Which begs the question, why on earth did you send this small devil after me?"

"Hey!" Neptina said indignantly. She opened her mouth to say more but Marcus's scowl effectively cut her off.

"Anyways, give me a shout back when you get this. We have got to discuss the concept of 'me' time." Marcus ended the call and then turned his attention back on Neptina. Thanks to Rita all the younger mermaids had been given their own set of land clothes for occasions such as this. "Alright, here is how this is going to go. There will be no tails grown on this trip, are we clear?"

"Of course!" Neptina said happily.

"Well then," Marcus slung his bag over one shoulder and tucked his board under the opposite arm. "Come on. It's getting late and I don't want Rita complaining to me about coming home late. Again."

"Ondina says that last time you got in trouble was your fault." Neptina told him as they walked up the beach and towards the town.

"She's the one who wanted to go to the coral beds." Marcus immediately argued. He paused and glared at Neptina suspiciously. "How much did she tell you?"

"She said that you two had a very lovely swim." Neptina said brightly. She looked at Marcus curiously and asked, "What? Was it not lovely?"

"Oh, it was very lovely." Marcus quickly reassured her. "I just retain that us being late was her fault. She kept looking for some special sort of coral for something or other."

"Yeah, Ondina has been in a bit of an odd mood lately." Neptina nodded in agreement. "She's been looking for all these odd plants and stones and stuff. And she has been asking around about old mermaid lore and stuff too from the older mermaids on the council. She won't say what for though."

"She's been acting fine around me…" Marcus's voice trailed off, his mind working furiously on the problem. Now that Neptina brought it up, Ondina had been acting a bit off. "Hm. Is anything going on with the pod?"

When Neptina didn't answer, Marcus glanced over at her and his eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion. Neptina had the distinct look of a person with a secret who had let a bit of the secret slip. "N-no." Neptina said a tad late. "Nothing at all. Nope. Not a thing."

"Neptina…" Marcus said warningly. "You better tell me."

He stopped and turned to stare at her. Neptina stopped as well. She looked up at him and then fled back into the sea. Marcus watched her dive into the water and disappear below the waves before rolling his eyes skyward and then turning back to town. The young mermaid was most likely already very far away from him and he had no hope of catching her without a tail. Muttering about how much he disliked secrets, Marcus walked all the way back to Rita's house in a sour mood. He set his board against the side of the house and walked inside, glaring at Poseidon as he passed the fluffy white cat. Poseidon merely gazed back at him with as much contempt as a cat could muster. Since Marcus had moved into Rita's house his relationship with the fluffy white cat had gone through a series of dips and dives. It was currently on a particularly deep dive as the cat had recently eaten a goldfish that Marcus had bought to add a bit of life to his room. Marcus had actually caught the cat in the act and Poseidon had merely strolled out of the room with his tail in the air and the fishy prize in its mouth. In retaliation Marcus had thrown Poseidon into the sea entrance in Rita's hidden grotto. The cat had yowled and hissed at Marcus while it swam to the edge. Rita had scolded the two of them at first, but eventually she had actually grown rather used to the constant battles between feline and human. Something that Marcus was not at all happy about.

He quickly shed off his wet surfing clothes and replaced them with a pair of simple gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt. "Rita?" He called as he exited his room, closing it behind him with a suspicious glare at Poseidon. Not that it would do any good. He had actually locked his door before, but somehow the cat still managed to get into his room. He had yet to actually figure out how the cat had done it, but he had resolved to figure it out as soon as possible. Upon hearing no response from the mermaid, he made his way down to her secret grotto and was not at all surprised to find her sitting there with the picture of her and her deceased lover on her lap. The first time that Marcus had seen her like this he had not been sure how to approach her. After a few times he decided that dwelling on the past had never done anyone good. "How's it going Rita?" He asked kindly, silently descending the last of the steps.

Rita's head shot up and she smiled tiredly at him. She set the picture down on the table and fixed him with a stern look and a friendly smile. "You know, I asked you to not sneak up on me."

"I didn't sneak this time." Marcus protested. "Anyways. I have a question. What's going on with the pod?"

Rita looked at him startled and then sighed. She patted the seat beside her and said, "Sit down Marcus. It's about time you knew."

"Knew what?" He asked, a feeling of dread washing over him.

"Knew that the pod is leaving Mako." Rita told him somberly. "They are going to take the young mermaids out so that they can see more of the world's oceans before they get their Moon Rings. They will be gone for several years."