Under Atlantis

Everybody was silent for a few minutes. Finally Victoria asked, "So, you're like the prince?"
"Yeah."
"And your mom's dead?" Jake wondered aloud. I smacked him in the shoulder.
"Yeah."
"Huh." Eddie uttered.
Another minute of silence. I noticed that Josh was very uncomfortable, so I changed the subject. "Guys, when the lion dude stabbed me, he said he was sorry. And that he had to do it, to save his family." I stated it with complete confusion in my voice.
"Well, what the heck does that mean?" Josh asked.
"I don't know," I admitted. "But I think we should find out. He could help us."
"Cool, another adventure for my journal!" Victoria said excitedly.
Together we stood up and made a beeline for the door, only to be halted my a stern voice behind us. "I don't thinks so. Sit back down all of you." It was my dad. However, we just stared at him dumbfounded. "Sit." He repeated, pointing to the couch. The hardness in his voice had us shuffling back to the living room.
"You are not going back out there." His statement was immediately followed be protests.
"Dad, the king has been kidnapped!"
"Sir, you can't expect us to leave my dad down there."
"Frank, we are the only ones who can help." Vic claimed
"Why not? It's our job, our destiny." Goes Eddie, he's a big fan of fate and destiny. I call him Merlin sometimes.
My dad interrupted, "You died, Melanie. You died," Fright filled his voice. I was his only child after all. "Josh, you got kidnapped. Who know what else could happen. I know you have done dangerous stuff before, but this is different. I'm putting my foot down."
"Dad, " I replied gently, "I know you are scared, so am I. But we have to do this. We have each other, and we will be fine. I know it. You have to trust me, I know what I'm getting into and I know what to do. And it would help me a lot if I knew you had faith in me too."
"Of course I trust you, I just don't want you to get hurt."
"If I don't do this a lot of people are going to get hurt."
"Can't the other mer-folk handle it."
I shook my head sadly. "They need us."
He seemed at war with himself when he said, "Fine."
I gave him a bear hug and he whispered in my ear, "Just come back, okay, come back."
"I will." I said back.
Releasing him, we walked back to the patio door and jogged the short walk to the beach. Checking if there were any people around to see first, we dove into the water. Slowly, I felt the clothes shimmer away, my dress, bell, and shorts immediately took it's place, so no one could see anything. Cat's shirt turned into a bikini and her shorts transformed into red hot skinny jeans. Meanwhile, he hands and feet changed into flippers. Slimy's (Eddie's) legs turned into a slim, snake like tail starting at his waist and he got a spiked fin down his back.
Shell Shock (Jake) got a turtle skin vest and his sheld (sheild/shell) and he too got webbed feet.
Jaws (Josh) legs cramped together and transfigured until they were a tail, his tail was completely black, and now that I really looked, I could see tiny scales.
"You're not a shark, are you." I asked, a little whimsically.
"No, I just have a black tail, like my mom. It was just easier to let you believe I was part animals, like you guys, instead of having to come up with some elaborate lie." He admitted.
"What about the jaws on you wrists?" Eddie asked.
"Oh, all mer-folk have some kind of power. I have knifes sticking out of my arms," he chuckled while saying it.
"How come they look like teeth." Cat wondered. Josh shrugged. Another mystery for the book.
"Well, I knew all along." S.S. declared.
I rolled my eyes, because no way did he know, he wasn't that smart. I was beating myself up for not noticing. But I guess we don't see what we don't want to see.