"# In this world, we're all alone" "# You know I love my island home" "# We will make this right" "# Find our way through this mystery" "# I just wanna be swimming in the sea" "# Now it's just you and me forever, ever, ever" "# I just wanna be with you, feeling free" "# It's my destiny forever, ever, ever" "# Together" "# Forever" "# Together" "# Lyin' in the sun" "# Together" "# Forever" "# Together" "# Just be you and me" "# I just wanna be. #" "I finally finished." "What do you think?" "It's beautiful." "I used a shell from in here." "I hope you don't mind." "Not at all, there's plenty of shells around." "What's it for?" "It's for my sister, Aquata." "I do one every year for her." "She will recognise it instantly." "What's the point, Sirena?" "It's not like Aquata's ever going to get it." "Why are you saying that?" "Face facts, Sirena." "We've got a guppy's chance in a whirlpool of ever getting back to the pod." "We're never going to see them again." "We get that you're having a bad day." "Don't feel compelled to share it with us." "I don't care what you say." "I'm making this for Aquata and it's going to reach her." "Who knows how far a tide might carry it?" "Uh, not as far as the South Pacific." "I'm just telling it like it is." "We should get used to staying here, maybe forever." "I think you're wrong." "You don't know that for sure." "Can you, uh..." "Can you promise us that we will be back next week?" "Next six weeks?" "Six months?" "We're never seeing them again." "Where are you going?" "Somewhere I can be alone." "Do you want us to come?" "What part of 'alone' don't you understand?" "Let her go." "I've had my quota of doom and gloom for the day." "Do you believe we will ever see the pod again?" "Sure." "No way am I settling down here." "We just have to stick to the plan." "Remove Zac's powers and the pod will come back to us." "I just wish we knew how." "Order the prawns, I will be back." "I think we need to talk." "Me, too." "I can't stop thinking about that thing I saw on Mako." "Do you remember what it looks like?" "It's like the symbol on the tunnel wall." "What does it mean?" "I don't know." "I've got some free time after my next class." "I will see what I can find out." "I know where to start." "Where to start what?" "Looking." "Uh... where Lyla can start looking." "Looking for what?" "Chilli sauce." "She came over here to ask you where to buy chilli sauce?" "OK, thanks." "Be seeing you." "Never." "She's a little weird, isn't she?" "I think she's definitely got a crush on you." "No way." "Believe me, I'd know it if she did." "I want to stay here with my friends." "You will meet new friends." "And you will have us." "You hate me!" "Of course we don't hate you." "Then why are you making me go?" "Ben, do you know how lucky we all are to have the opportunity to do this?" "You've told me 100 times already." "This will be such an adventure." "You'll get to sail the South Pacific, see amazing islands like Fiji and Vanuatu." "And we're not getting rid of your things forever." "It will all be in storage, waiting for you when we come back." "In two years!" "I'll be old by then!" "I'm staying here!" "Ben, come back!" "Hey." "What are you doing here?" "What do you want?" "Did my mum send you?" "I don't know your mum." "What are you doing here anyway?" "This is my special spot." "Well, I like it here, too." "I can do whatever I want whenever I want." "Nobody ever listens to what I want." "Welcome to the world." "Piece of advice - better look after yourself..." "because nobody else will." "That's for sure." "Nixie should be here by now." "She's not coming." "How do you know?" "It's two hours past her sleep time." "As I recall, she said she wanted to be alone." "It's not like her." "Where could she be?" "Don't worry about Nixie." "She's probably just stretched out on soft coral somewhere, happy as a clam." "Ben." "Ben, are you awake?" "Ben!" "Ben!" "Ben!" "Excuse me, you haven't seen a small, boy by any chance?" "He's our son." "He's gone." "OK, thanks, anyway." "We're looking for a little boy." "Have you seen him?" "He's run away." "He's 10." "Blond hair, freckles." "He'd be wearing his green T-shirt and camo shorts." "He was gone when we woke up." "I'm sorry, I haven't seen him." "Ben!" "Ben!" "She didn't come home." "What?" "Nixie." "She didn't come back." "Maybe it was too late." "Maybe she just fell asleep somewhere else and forgot." "No." "She's found somewhere better." "First we lose our old pod and now our new pod's breaking up." "What are you doing here?" "Something wrong?" "Maybe." "I will take that as a yes." "What's going on?" "I said something to this young boy." "I was trying to give him advice, I guess." "I told him he should just..." "look after himself." "He doesn't want to leave home to go sailing with his mum and dad and now he's run away." "And you think it was your fault." "I was just... trying to make him stronger." "There are a few things in the ocean that swim alone but most are strongest when they're joined with a pod." "Alone, we're all vulnerable." "What's that you've found, Cam?" "Oh, this?" "Is that what they call a trident?" "Is that what they call it?" "Do you have a particular interest in them?" "No, just doing some research for history." "Hobby of mine." "Really?" "Didn't know you enjoyed history so much." "I love it." "I'm actually a bit of a history buff." "Genghis Khan and..." "Jack the Ripper." "Well, I won't keep you from your studies any longer." "Mind if I sit?" "You know, your parents are really worried about you." "They want you to go home." "I don't have a home anymore." "I know how that feels." "No, you don't." "You've never had to leave everything behind." "What did you ever lose?" "My family." "You know, you're so much luckier than you think you are." "You have your mum and your dad, and they love you so much." "Then why are they forcing me to go out into the stupid ocean?" "Guessing you've been wondering what I've been up to." "Every waking minute." "I saw you in the computer lab today." "You were locked into something." "Oh, yeah." "Just downloading a game." "Yeah, for sure." "Weird thing - the principal came sniffing around your workstation after you left." "What did she want?" "Didn't say." "Don't worry." "I kept my mouth zipped." "I wasn't downloading a game." "Yeah, I know." "I found a website you might want to take a look at." ""The trident signifies great power." ""It's been associated with the oceans of the world" ""for many thousands of years."" ""It is said that the merman who is given the task" ""of carrying the trident is of one with the gods."" "A god." "Hey, don't get any ideas, it's bad enough having a fish for a friend." "Thanks." "I know I left my carving right here." "Where could it be?" "Don't look at me." "I haven't seen it." "I think we need to talk." "Why is Cam so interested in this?" "Maybe you should tell her." "It's not Cam, it's Zac." "When we went to Mako together, we opened the land entrance." "And Zac saw the trident there." "What were you thinking?" "Why didn't you tell me?" "We thought we could handle it." "Handle it?" "!" "The trident has powers that you can't even begin to imagine." "Like what?" "OK, I should have told you." "But if we're going to stop Zac, you need to tell us everything." "She's right." "We need to know." "Aeons ago, before men lived in cities, a pod of mermen rose up out of Mako, carrying the trident before them." "The same trident that Zac saw?" "Their strength and their power was horrendous and destructive." "Finally, they were overcome by an army of mermaids drawn from all the five oceans." "They seized the trident and hid it and commanded that it never be unlocked again." "I've got a feeling things just got a whole lot worse." "Why won't you leave me alone?" "OK, I will, but..." "I want you to do me a favour." "Now, I have a lot of family and friends in the waters of the South Pacific." "What do you mean IN the waters?" "Well, they moved there." "Anyway, when you reach the reef," "I want you to throw this bottle overboard." "Why?" "What is it?" "It was made by a friend of mine." "What will happen?" "Something wonderful." "You mean like magic?" "I guess you could call it that." "I don't believe in magic." "There's no such thing." "And I don't want your stupid bottle." "No way!" "So, do you believe in magic now?" "You're a mermaid." "A REAL mermaid." "How far can you swim?" "I can swim all day and night without stopping." "Have you ever swum in the Pacific Ocean?" "I've only swum here but I've heard where you're going is very beautiful." "You said your family and friends live there." "Do you mean they're mermaids, too?" "Yes." "How many are there?" "Hmm... there's over 100 in my pod, but there's other pods in the ocean around the world." "There's mermaids everywhere." "No way." "Can I give that to them?" "I'd like that." "What do you want me to do with it?" "Well... you must wait until you're in deep water, far away from land... and when the moon is full, throw it as far from the boat as you can." "It would mean a lot to my friend that her family gets it." "Now, you better go, 'cause your mum and dad are missing you." "I won't let you down." "I promise." "Lyla!" "Perfect timing." "I found a mountain of stuff on that symbol." "It's a trident." "That's why I came to talk to you - I found out something, too." "Like what?" "It's powerful." "I'm getting that, in a serious way." "Maybe we shouldn't mess with this stuff too much." "What do you mean?" "There are some things that should be left where they are." "Why?" "We don't know anything about it, for a start." "Not yet we don't." "Look at this." "Pages and pages of myths and info." "Where did you find all this?" "Courtesy of Cam." "Does he know we know about you?" "No way." "I tell him what I want him to know." "Show me everything." "Ben!" "Are you OK?" "We were worried sick." "Don't ever do that again, please." "I'm sorry." "Your dad and I have decided that if you really don't want to go, we can stay here." "Your mum's right." "There's not much for you out there." "It's wrong to think that it would hold the same sense of adventure as it does for me." "It's up to you, darling." "No." "No, I want to go." "Are you sure?" "Then let's get started before it gets dark." "What have you got there?" "Nothing special." "Nixie!" "I was so worried you weren't going to come home." "One night at Rita's grotto was enough." "Is that why you came back?" "To get comfortable?" "Well, why else?" "What, don't get any crazy ideas that I missed the two of you." "I, um... took your carving." "You took it?" "Why?" "I gave it to someone, someone I can trust." "I have a feeling Aquata might get it, after all." "Really?" "Thank you, Nixie!" "I just wish I could be there to see her face." "# Being alone in this place" "# Knowing that soon I'll be home" "# And I pray" "# As we share forever and grow together" "# Facing so much every day" "# I'm closer right now but still so far away" "# But I won't surrender" "# 'Cause I remember" "# Shine, shine your light on me" "# This love we share will set us free" "# Though I'm far from home" "# And will always be" "# This is our destiny. #"