Tamesis's Suburban drove quickly through Downtown. Candice sat up front in the passenger seat, and Luna was in the back with Tracey. Tamesis had at least thirty water bottle packets and had opened one.
Tracey was starting to show signs of dehydration, so Luna constantly poured water on him to keep him moist. He looked a lot scarier than he had only ten minutes ago. His fingers were webbed, and his skin pale. More fins started to grow out of his tail. Fangs had also appeared in his mouth. He didn't look like the Tracey Candice and Luna knew. His true form, his claxton self, was starting to show.
"Please hurry," Luna begged Tamesis. "He's drying out really fast."
"Just keep on soaking him," Tamesis ordered. "I'm going to try to find a private place where we can drop him in the water."
Gina was perched on the backseat's headrest. She flapped her wings, letting cool air wash over Tracey.
To blend in, Tamesis was back in his Dr. Lincoln form, not his king self. He turned down a dark alleyway that he knew would take him, his son, and the girls to the Waterfront Park.
Just like his skin, Tracey's tail also started to turn pale. The whale design on his upper left arm glowed.
***
Beyond the Charleston Harbor, in the ocean surrounding Fort Sumter, a humpback whale named Ezra swam back and forth. He was the whale tasked by the Chief Wave to look after Tracey and to help him if he called.
Ezra was a beautiful whale. He had gray skin, a white underbelly, and green eyes. Seaweed and barnacles were on his tail.
He stopped swimming when something caught his eye. A glowing image appeared in the water. It was the same image on Tracey's upper left arm, signaling that he was calling him.
Understanding the message, the Magic Animal turned toward the Charleston Harbor, but momentarily stopped when he saw a catamaran coming toward him.
***
Tamesis reached the far end of the Waterfront Park, directly behind the long dock that was beside the small marina. Despite the strange weather phenomenon earlier, it was crowded. Tamesis would drive to Isle of Palms or Folly Beach, but didn't think Tracey would make it that far. If he and the girls were going to save him in time, then they had to come to the Waterfront Park.
"Now what?" asked Candice, who checked out the people in the park. "It's crowded."
"Your Highness, can Tracey make it to Folly Beach?" asked Luna.
Tamesis/Dr. Lincoln shook his head. "I don't think so."
Tracey's skin was now almost pure white. He started to have trouble breathing, even though Luna still soaked him with water. She had so far gone through three twelve packs of water, and she was just starting the fourth. With each passing second, the whale design was glowing brighter.
Tamesis, Luna, and Candice had no idea what to do. They were in a whammy. Moving forward meant getting caught by the tourists, and trying to go to Folly Beach meant death. Regardless, they weren't in a pickle for long.
A young girl, maybe eleven or twelve, had just appeared at the end of the Waterfront's T-Formation. Her name was Isla. She had long, brown hair and wore a cute sundress with some sandals. In her hand was a chocolate ice cream cone. She was the only person on the T-Formation's right side. Everybody else was in the middle or on the left.
Isla peered out at the now-gentle Charleston Harbor. She licked her ice cream cone and admired her surroundings. However, she stopped when she noticed something out in the harbor. Boats, even ships, had stopped and moved aside to create a wide gap in the water. Flocks of seagulls soared in circles above something, and they followed it closer to the Waterfront Park.
Confused, Isla inched a bit closer to the dock's edge so she could get a better look at the flocks of seagulls. Her jaw dropped when, from out of nowhere, a humpback whale leaped out of the water! He breached for the girl before disappearing back underwater, creating a huge splash.
Isla was so surprised that the top ball of her ice cream cone fell onto the dock.
Further down it, she heard people yelling, "A whale! There's a whale in the Charleston Harbor!"
Within seconds, Isla was no longer the only person on the last leg of the T-Formation. Crowds of people surrounded her, and all of them had their cameras drawn. The far side of the park was deserted, giving Tamesis, Luna, and Candice ample time to hurry Tracey to the ocean.
Tamesis threw open the door and helped the girls grab him.
On their way to the dock, Candice shouted, "What's a whale doing in the Charleston Harbor?"
"Tracey summoned him," Tamesis explained. "He asked him to help us out. However, I believe he is not the only one helping."
Right as he said that, the same boat that approached Ezra in the ocean flew by the dock. The person driving it was none other than—!
"Aiden!" Luna and Candice yelled. They had just stepped onto the dock and were making their way toward the end.
Aiden, it was.
"What's up?" he yelled. "It's a perfect day to go boating!"
"But I thought you didn't want to help us!" Candice yelled.
"I did, but then something called the Chief Wave knocked some sense into me! I'll explain later! Right now, you guys just toss Tracey in the water! I'll help out the whale!" With that, he punched the boat's accelerator and drove toward Ezra. Hair blew in his face as he stopped a fair distance away from him.
Aiden was dressed in scuba diving gear. He put his mouthpiece in and ensured his tank was snug against his back. He sat at the end of his catamaran's trampoline. He flapped his flippers a few times to test them. Perfect. He was all ready to go free diving to help out a magic whale. Without further ado, Aiden hopped into the harbor.
The water was warm and murky. A few fish swam past him, but Aiden could not see the harbor's bottom. He held an underwater camera and searched for the whale.
A few minutes passed, and then he heard Ezra's song. He appeared before him, his tail flapping gently behind him. The whale stared into the young man's eyes.
He returned his stare. Nodding, he lifted his hand and pointed at the Waterfront Park.
Ezra nodded back. With a flick of his tail, he swam off. Aiden quickly snapped a photo of him with his camera.
***
Back at the Waterfront Park, people were anxiously waiting for the whale to breach again. He did, and everybody cheered.
"This is amazing!" Isla yelled. She had managed to find her parents in the crowd. They had front row seats to the show.
***
Perfect. Everybody was distracted.
Candice, Luna, and Tamesis stopped at the end of the empty dock. The rays of the setting sun skimmed the surface of the Charleston Harbor like a lighthouse.
Glancing at Candice and Luna, Tamesis asked, "Ready? One, two… three!" Right at three, he and the girls tossed Tracey into the water. Tamesis jumped back when there was a huge splash, but Candice and Luna didn't mind getting wet.
Tracey sank toward the bottom of the harbor, deprived of all energy. There was no change in his condition.
Above the waves, Candice, Luna, and Tamesis gulped.
"Come on, Tracey," Luna begged. No! It couldn't be too late! But what if it was? What if Candice and Luna just killed off the last heir of Atlantica? How would it ever bounce back from the calamity that hit it so many years ago?
Tracey continued to sink, but then his body hit the setting sun. He floated on his back and let them warm him up.
Closing his eyes, he thought happy thoughts. He remembered when he first met Makenna Delling and when he got his fairy wings back. He remembered meeting Candice, Luna, and Aiden, and then recalled that beautiful duet he had with his father.
The color in Tracey's skin and tail returned, and his fangs disappeared. No longer were his fingers webbed, and the extra tail fins disappeared as well. He sang the song he shared with Tamesis. He knew he had heard it before! Tamesis taught him "The Claxton's Call" when he was just a babe. Claxtons sang it to find each other in the wide-open ocean.
Green sparkles danced around him and gave Tracey his much-needed strength back. He peered down at his tail and grinned when he saw how healthy it looked again. Cheering, he gave it a quick flap and hurried back toward the harbor's surface.
Luna, Candice, Gina, and Tamesis gasped when Tracey leaped out of the water and performed a backflip. He was completely revitalized. His green and gold sparkles sparkled in the sunset as he landed back in the harbor.
"Yeah!" Luna cheered. She and Candice jumped up and down excitedly. Even Dr. Lincoln clapped.
Gina flapped her wings and danced in midair.
Before long, Tracey appeared at the surface of the water. He glanced at Dr. Lincoln and asked, "Papa, do you want to swim with me?"
"Oh, I don't know."
"Please?"
"Go on, Dr. Lincoln! You can do it!" said Luna. "How many years has it been since you last saw him? Nineteen?"
Dr. Lincoln chuckled. "Well, you do have a point."
Tracey smiled and swam back a few feet.
Dr. Lincoln kicked off his leather shoes and pulled off his tweed jacket. Holding his hands over him, he approached the edge of the dock. Within seconds, he dove into the harbor.
Instantly, Candice and Luna got down on their knees. Together, they carefully studied the water.
Tracey dipped his head underwater and floated a few feet below the surface. From there, he watched his dad.
Tamesis smiled nervously at him. A blue and gold light washed over his body. When it faded, just like Tracey, he was a merman. Like him, his hair was light brown with black streaks. While Tracey's hair grew longer with his transformation, Tamesis's grew shorter. His tail was blue and gold. All claxtons had gold as a secondary color for their tails. He wore a blue vest-like shirt with a few straps covering the upper half of his torso. He also wore golden wristbands. Finally, there was a gold feather behind his left ear. However, he was still missing his crown. As a merman, Tamesis looked so young.
Tracey's eyes widened. So, it was true! Dr. Lincoln really was a merman!
Tamesis lifted his hand and waved at his son, still looking nervous.
At the same time, the two mermen poked their heads out of the calm water.
At the sight of Tamesis's merman form, Candice and Luna gasped. He and Tracey were definitely father and son. They looked so much alike.
"Wow," Candice squealed.
The whale design on Tracey's arm vanished. Ezra had finished his breaching show and was heading back toward the ocean. The crowd at the Waterfront Park's T-Formation was breaking up. Even Aiden was coming to the dock.
He waved at the girls and mermen.
They waved back.
"Thank you, Aiden!" Candice yelled.
"No problem! I'll meet y'all back at the dorm!" Then, just like that, Aiden disappeared into the sunset.
Luna fell to her knees, trying her best not to burst out sobbing. She reached her hand down to Tracey, and he took it. "Tracey, you're free. You need to return to the ocean with your father."
Tracey chuckled. "You're saying that like we'll never see each other again. I won't be gone long. I just need to take a few days to recuperate. The ocean will heal me. Until I return, Luna, can you keep an eye on Gina?"
"No problem." Luna stood and held her arm out to the tern. She landed on it, also seeming to smile.
Tamesis started to swim away, but he stopped to wait for Tracey.
He waved goodbye to the girls, and they waved back. At the same time, he and Tamesis dove underwater. They briefly lifted their tail into the sky before vanishing.
Luna and Candice watched with huge smiles. That was both the scariest and most beautiful day of their lives, but it did leave them with many unanswered questions. Did Tracey really destroy Atlantica? If so, why? How many people did he kill? Was there any hope for Atlantica to be rebuilt?
Luna stared blankly at the sunset as she thought. There was a small smile on her face. One of those days, she and Candice would learn the truth behind their mysterious, new friend and maybe even the truth behind them.
Beside her, Candice asked, "You okay, Luna?"
"I'm fine," Luna replied. She turned to glance at her friend. "Well, what are you waiting for? Last one to the dorm is a rotten egg!"
"Oh, you are so on!" Candice said.
She and Luna laughed. Turning on their heels, they jogged down the dock—back toward the dorm, and on to their next adventure: the mystery of the K.T. Magic Murderer.
End of Season 1: The K-T Magic Murderer!
Word Count: 25,581
Question for Readers: Would you guys like another season of Fins?