an idea bulb lit up above her head. if there weren't any accounts of magical moon mermaids, she'd make one herself!
OR
cleo researches everything about mermaids in an attempt to understand herself
———————————————————-
"lewis, do you know anything about mermaids?"
that question only prompted mockery from emma and rikki. their secret was to be kept...well...secret. it was the bond that tied them together: their shared fishiness. nobody else could know. not parents, friends, nor boyfriends.
lewis wasn't put off by this request. to fill his knowledge gap in mermaid mythology, he took to the juicenet and spent an entire afternoon there. after talking to emma and rikki, though, cleo thought it would be best for lewis to steer clear of any further researching, lest he get suspicious.
if cleo wanted answers, she'd have to get them herself.
and answers she wanted.
if the internet couldn't provide lewis answers, she doubted she'd get any either. cleo took to the library in search of mermaid mythology books. maybe she could track down her curse at the source.
two hours and five books later, cleo found nothing of interest. none of the myths she found contained anything that could be a considered a "moon pool". and sirens weren't even fishes! they were half bird, apparently. cleo wasn't a bird (hopefully).
she had to dive deeper. cleo took to the archives, digging up old news articles in hopes of something. nothing still! mako wasn't mentioned in any of the articles she found. was she not looking in the right places?
the only help she ever got was from ms. chatham, but her tips were vague at best and concerning at worst. reliable information only came from her and the girls' experiences.
that's it!
an idea bulb lit up above her head. if there weren't any accounts of magical moon mermaids, she'd make one herself!
back at home, cleo dug up an old, unused notebook from her drawer. she was to write and illustrate everything that had happened so far and everything that would happen in the future. from the layout of the moon pool to their development of elemental powers, cleo documented it all.
not everything went according to plan. when an incident with kim almost exposed the girls, cleo had no choice but to drop her journal into the water. it erased months of knowledge; everything that had happened to her. maybe some things were best left unwritten.
