Mako Island was the home of the southern Pod of mermaids. Mako Island was a small, beautiful place, even though there were a few dangers, like snakes and mosquitoes, and the were several shark territories around the island. The whole of the island was covered in forest; large trees, lots of shrubs and bushes dotted here and there, and beautiful golden sand by the beach. The main feature of the island was the volcano. The volcano stood slightly to the right of the island, and it stood tall and proud.

But the volcano was not a threat. The volcano was an 'Extinct Volcano', which means it had been unable to erupted for thousands of years. Because of this, the inside of the volcano was hollow, and at the bottom there was a huge pool of water, which the mermaids called 'The Moon Pool', and they call it this, because if you lay on your back floating in the water and looked up; you'd be able to see the moon passing by the volcano in the sky.

In the Moon Pool one glorious summer morning, Mimmi was laid on her back in the bright blue water, gazing up the volcano and looking at the clear blue sky.

Mimmi was a mermaid. She had dark skin and brown eyes and hair and a beautiful orange tail. Mimmi was originally from the Northern Pod, but had moved to the Mako Pod as a hatching.

Mimmi was enjoying the bliss of quiet and relaxation, when she heard a splash by the entrance of the Moon Pool. She turned her head to look, and there was her best friend Ondina entering the Moon Pool with Lyla, another mermaid.

Both these mermaids had blue eyes and blonde hair, but Ondina's hair was more frizzy and Lyla's was always in a pony tail with a thin plait like a headband.

"Stop being so bossy," Lyla told Ondina.

Ondina scoffed. "Me? Bossy? I'm simply pointing out why I'm correct."

"What's going on?" Mimmi asked.

Lyla turned to face Mimmi. "Ondina thinks - "

"Don't tell her!" Ondina cried.

"Why not?" Lyla asked.

"Because she'll just take your side," Ondina grumbled.

"What's going on?" Mimmi asked again as calmly as she could.

"Ondina thinks we should stop the search for Erik," Lyla explained.

Mimmi's eyes widened with shock and she turned to face Ondina. "Why?!"

Ondina sighed. "Because it's been six months since the battle in the Merman Chamber. Six months. The large moon stone was destroyed, Zac closed down the Chamber, and the new moon rings have even more power in them so it would be magically and physically impossible for him to take them... Erik has obviously retreated to land," Ondina trailed off.

"But the Mermaid Council need to find him," Mimmi reminded her best friend. "Then they can keep track of his actions in case he tries to strike again."

"But he won't," Ondina persisted. "He's failed at taking over Mako twice now."

"Well what about Charlotte and Dr Denman," Lyla added. "We need to find them."

Ondina sighed once more. She knew that maybe she wouldn't win this argument after all...

Just then another person entered the Moon Pool. It was the merman Zac, Mimmi's brother.

He had brown skin and brown eyes, and black hair. He splashed his blue tail before his face emerged. He swam over to the rocks next to Mimmi.

"Hi Mimmi," he addressed her, before he turned to the others. "Hi, guys. What's up?"

"Ondina's ego," Lyla muttered.

Zac blinked, obviously confused. "What?"

Lyla gave a false smile. "Nothing!"

Zac gave Lyla a confused look before turning back to his sister. "I'm heading over to the Ocean Café for breakfast. Do you want to come?"

"Yes please!!" Ondina said, excitedly.

Mimmi and Zac laughed.

"I'll swim to Rita's with you," Mimmi replied. "But I need to head over to the Marina early today."

"Oohh, to see your boyfriend?" Ondina asked flirtatiously, wriggling her eyebrows.

"Shhh!!" Mimmi cried, her face going red.

Just then, another mermaid entered the Moon Pool. This mermaid had pale skin and platinum blonde hair. She had blue crystal eyes and a warm smile. In her hand she carried a small bag.

"Sirena!" Lyla announced happily when the Mermaid had surfaced. "You're back from your holiday with your sister!"

Sirena smiled happily. "Yes, I am! Aquata and I had an amazing time! Look at all the beautiful shells I collected. I've been turning the smaller ones into bracelets."

"I hope you had a good time," Zac told Sirena. "But the Moon Pool is getting a little bit crowded now. I'm going to go get some breakfast."

"I'll swim with you," Mimmi said.

The brother and sister said their goodbyes and swam out of the Moon Pool and through the crystal blue ocean, passing all the multicoloured fish and dodging passed large rocks.

Zac and Mimmi finally reached Rita's house.

Rita was the former principal of Zac's high school. She was a mermaid, and belonged to the Mako Pod, but lived on land because of her teaching job.

In Rita's house she had a grotto. The walls and floor were made of light brown rocks and it was full of treasures and golden objects that Rita had found whilst in the sea, which gave the room a mystical feeling. There was a round wooden table in the centre of the room and a sofa built into the rock with cushions.

Next to the grotto there was Rita's own Moon Pool with an underground passage connected to the sea. Zac and Mimmi entered Rita's house through the grotto. They used their magic to dry their tails. When they were dry, their legs appeared.

Zac was now wearing a blue T-shirt with black shorts reaching just above his knee, and Mimmi was wearing her Marina uniform: tight black trousers and a dark blue shirt with a dolphin on her chest.

Mimmi lead the way to the grotto. In the grotto sat on the sofa was Weilan, a Chinese mermaid from the Eastern Pod.

Weilan was pretty. She had a round face and brown eyes and black hair which she was wearing in two pigtails. She was dressed in a pink shirt with a white skirt. In her lap there sat a chemistry revision book.

"Hey Weilan," Zac greeted her. "Are you doing the chemistry homework which is due after lunch today?"

As Weilan spent most of her life living on land, she had attended human schools. So whilst staying at Rita's, Rita advised her to do the same.

"No," Weilan replied, not even looking up from the book. "I did that a few days ago. I'm now reading the chapter about making salts."

Zac pulled a confused face. "But that's two chapters away..."

"Yeah, I know," Weilan replied.

Zac raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything more. He knew that Weilan was very smart, and always wanted to be the top of the class.

"I'm going to the café for breakfast, do you want to come?"

Weilan looked up. "Will Evie be there?"

"Probably," Zac replied.

"Then no." And Weilan looked back at her book.

Evie - Zac's girlfriend - and Weilan did not exactly have a close relationship. It was a mixture of jealously, loss, and misunderstanding. Weilan also didn't have a good friendship with Ondina, due to the same reason of jealousy.

Zac gave a small sigh. "I guys I'll be going alone then."

Just then Rita entered the room. Rita had red hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a white blouse and a long black skirt.

"Oh, Mimmi, Zac, nice to see you," Rita nodded. She was use to the mermaids and Zac always popping into the grotto, so it never came as a surprise to her when they entered uninvited. "I'm going to teach the youngsters in the Pod magic at Mako Island."

"And I'm sure you'll do a good job," Mimmi smiled.

"And Weilan, don't forget to lock the front door when you leave for school," Rita said. "And maybe you should actually go to school today?"

"I already knew everything in that biology lesson," Weilan complained. "There was no need for me to attend school when they're just going to tell me things I already know about plant and animal cells!"

Rita held up her hands as if to surrender. "It was just a suggestion."

Rita then said her goodbyes and left the grotto, going through the passage way which lead to her Pool.

Weilan closed her book and stood up. "I'm feeling quite hungry," she announced. "Maybe I will come to the café with you, Zac."

Zac nodded. "Awesome. Let's go."

Zac, Mimmi and Weilan left the house (Weilan locking the door and securing the key in her purse) and they headed down the streets. After about five minutes, Mimmi said goodbye, and crossed the street and headed right, whilst Zac and Weilan turned left.

Five more minutes passed, and Zac and Weilan were at the café.