Tracey soon returned with Merlin, and Gina flew beside him. He pointed at Makenna and said, "There she is. Merlin, please. Something's seriously wrong with her."
Merlin patted his shoulder. "Thank you for getting me, my young apprentice." His eyes rolled over to Ash, who didn't move from where he lay. He immediately grew nervous when he saw how still he was, gesturing at him. "Check on Ash, Tracey!"
Tracey nodded and hustled to Ash. He fell to his knees beside him, and Gina landed on his shoulder.
Merlin dove before Silvey and Raeven and peered down at Makenna. "Makenna, what is wrong with you tonight? You have somehow been struck by Poseidon's curse."
"I want to live the rest of my life in the ocean," Makenna dreamily explained. "Just me, the ocean, and the moon."
Merlin kneeled and reached for Makenna's hand. "I want you to get out of the water," he ordered. "If you stay, you will be pulled to a dreadful destiny."
Tracey looked up from checking on Ash and said, "Sensei, I don't know what she did to Ash, but he's unconscious!"
Merlin glanced at him. "She struck him with one of her new powers the second they touched hands. Keep him warm, Tracey. Let me first snap Makenna out of her trance, and then we'll help him."
Understanding, Tracey used his own magic to create a green-and-purple blanket. He pulled Ash's arms in and tossed the blanket over him, saying, "Hang on, Ash. Merlin will get you and Makenna fixed up right away. After all, he used to work in a fairy hospital."
Where Merlin was, he grabbed Makenna's hands and pulled as hard as he could. "Come on, Makenna."
Makenna refused to move from where she floated. "I don't want to be on the island," she complained. "I want to go swimming."
"Well, I'm not going to let you," Merlin sternly spoke. "I think you owe Ash an apology." He pulled even harder and finally dragged Makenna out of the ocean. Merlin lugged her onto the sand and got down on her level. He picked up her hand with the cut on it and examined her injured finger. "Just as I suspected. It's this cut."
"Sensei?" questioned Tracey. Under his hand, Ash began to stir and wake up.
Merlin explained to his apprentice, "Makenna cut herself when she found that old necklace. The coral she touched was poisoned by the Octopus Man. He knows who she is."
Tracey shook his head and admitted, "I really hate that guy. How on Earth are we going to defeat him, Sensei?"
There, Ash woke up. He feebly lifted his hand and said, "I'm going to teach you and Makenna about Special Spells."
Tracey jumped. "Ash!" He crawled back a few feet. "Sensei Merlin, he's waking up!"
"Keep him down," Merlin ordered. "Make sure he doesn't get up until I ensure he's okay. Makenna hit him with a very powerful spell."
Ash lifted his knee under Tracey's blanket and moved it off to the side, but did not open his eyes. Clenching his fist, he held it out to the side, too.
Tracey pinned him down and calmly whispered, "Don't try to get up, Ash. Merlin has to make sure you're okay."
"Where's my Cappuccino Wing Slushy?" asked Ash.
Tracey answered, "It's back at camp, but I'm not going to get it. You need to rest, Ash. You may have a concussion." He looked up at Merlin, who picked up Makenna. She squirmed in his arms. "Master, what are you doing?" Tracey wanted to know.
"I'm going to take her back to camp and take the poison out of her wound," Merlin answered.
"Do you need help?"
"No, I've got it. You start with Ash."
Makenna squirmed harder and threw her arm out.
Tracey stood and inquired, "Are you sure you don't need help?"
Merlin nodded. "I'm sure. I may be old, Tracey, but I'm not useless. I appreciate your concern, though. You're a good person, just like Makenna."
Tracey thanked him and watched him walk down the sandbar, Makenna still squirming in his arms. He refused to make eye contact with the moon. Lucky for him, though, it ducked behind another cloud.
Tracey studied the ocean and shook his head, admitting, "The Octopus Man's defeat is suddenly getting harder and harder, Gina. First it was me, and now Makenna. I wonder whose next."
Gina worriedly glanced at him.
Tracey got down on his knees beside semiconscious Ash and inquired, "Do you remember what happened, Ash?"
He paused and then shook his head, answering, "I-I don't."
"That's okay," Tracey calmly spoke. "It will come to you eventually. You need to take it easy. Makenna really slammed you." With a wave of his hand, he created a bowl of water with a rag in it. Tracey picked up the rag with his good hand and squeezed out water. He placed it on Ash's forehead.
Next to Tracey, like what happened to Makenna, the ocean came to life. A wave lifted from the water and hovered over Merlin's apprentice and Ash.
Silvey and Raeven noticed that, and Raeven's face brightened. "Whoa! Tracey, check it out!"
"What, Raeven?" Tracey asked.
Raeven pointed at the hovering wave. "Next to you! The ocean!"
"What about the ocean?" Wind blew through Tracey's black hair and massaged his scalp. He finally lifted his head and looked in the direction Raeven mentioned. His eyes landed on the curious ocean wave, and his mouth dropped open. "What the—? What's going on?" Tracey stood and took a step back.
Ash squirmed from where he rested and softly told him, "It's your new powers." He somehow knew what was going on. "You can control the ocean, Tracey. Makenna can, too. It's a sign that you two are almost ready to become merfairies."
"Merfairies?" questioned Tracey. He curiously eyed the ocean wave as it started to move.
It stretched its body out to the beach and tossed itself on the top of a palm tree. What the heck was it doing?
When the wave returned, it dropped a coconut toward Tracey's arm.
He caught it and rubbed his thumb on its surface.
The wave dropped back into the ocean, and Tracey stared at it. Did he really have control over the water? There was only one way to find out.
From the sand, Ash, who still didn't open his eyes, said, "Give it a whirl."
Tracey listened to him. Raeven, Silvey, and Harmony moved aside and let him approach the edge of the water. Tracey's bare feet touched it. He set the coconut down and shook out his hand. Tracey pointed it at the water and turned it a bit.
Water droplets in the reef soon came together, and a watery figure of art escaped the ocean. The droplets formed a sailboat. It danced by Tracey's head and sailed on the air currents.
He couldn't help but smile. Raeven, Silvey, Harmony, and Gina did, too.
Desperate to see what was happening, Ash opened his eyes and tried to sit, but was forced to lie down again. The rag fell from his forehead, and he reached for it.
Tracey kept creating watery forms of art.
Gina hopped onto his head so she could get a better look.
After the sailboat came a horse, which cantered beside it.
Harmony observed it, intrigued.
Wow, Tracey couldn't believe it. This was amazing!
The sailboat and horse circled his head a few times, and then they dove back into the ocean.
Tracey peered down at his hand and examined it. "Holy smokes. I never knew I could do that. Ash, did you—?" However, he cut off when he again realized that Ash had been hurt.
Tracey soon became serious. He washed off Ash's rag and dabbed his forehead. Just one year before, Selene did the same with him on her sailboat at North Beach.
After a few more minutes, Merlin finally returned to his apprentice and Ash, empty-handed.
He waved his hand before him and said, "Whew. Man, I'll tell you, Trace, that Makenna is a piece of work."
Tracey turned his head. "What did she do, Master?"
Merlin explained, "She refused to sit still while I took the poison out. She even batted me a few times on the shoulder. I had to pin her down like she was an ox. She wanted to dive back into the ocean, but I didn't let her."
"Really?" asked Tracey. "But you got the poison out, right?"
"Oh, I did," Merlin answered, "but it was difficult. I gave her warm coconut milk, which helped her fall asleep. She'll be fine by morning. The most important thing is that the trance is broken. But enough about Makenna. How's Ash?"
Tracey sighed. He wanted to tell Merlin about his incredible new power over water, but then concluded that Ash was more important. "Honestly, Master, I don't know. What I do know is that he hit his head when Makenna threw him. I'm scared he may have a concussion."
Merlin slipped by him to get to Ash, and Tracey crawled back on the sand, the coconut under his arm. He turned on an upset face. "This is all my fault. I told him to pull Makenna out of the water. I have really been screwing things up for the past couple of days. Some apprentice I am. And now, thanks to my mistakes, Coutarine Island is going to be invaded."
"Oh, Tracey," Merlin comfortably spoke. "You're too hard on yourself." He turned all fatherly again. "This isn't your fault. You and Ash had no idea Makenna would turn violent like that. Keep in mind, though, that she was under a trance. She had no idea what she was doing."
Tracey looked at Ash and questioned, "But how am I supposed to explain that she hurt Ash?" He upsettingly stood and shuffled to the other end of the sandbar. Tracey sat down and pulled his knees close.
Merlin left him alone and tended to Ash. He gave him some medicine to ease his headache and help him fall asleep. After doing that, with the help of Harmony, Silvey, and Raeven, Merlin escorted him back to camp and put him to bed. He had set up a hammock on the beach between a few palm trees.
Harmony stayed by Ash while Silvey trotted over to where Makenna slept.
Raeven stayed with Merlin.
As the great wizard worked, Tracey remained on the sandbar. After all that happened that night, he didn't know if he could fall asleep again. He just sat under the moon, studying the twinkling stars for a bit longer.
Gina soon peered into his face and inquired, "Tracey, I understand you want to give Ash and Makenna their space, but why does that mean we have to avoid going back to camp?"
"Gina, I can't." Tracey closed his eyes. "This is my fault, and I don't even know how to tell Makenna she hurt Ash. I'm such a useless apprentice. Merlin deserves somebody much better."
"Tracey, you need to stop beating yourself up," Gina said. "You're much more than what you think you are."
"I wish I were," Tracey admitted, "but I don't think I am. The Octopus Man might as well go ahead and take me. Sorry, Gina." He stood and took Gina off his shoulder. Tracey set her down on the sandbar and pulled the sling off his injured arm.
Gina watched as he picked up his prize coconut and headed toward the beach. She sighed gloomily and lowered her head.
Gina flew to the tip of the sandbar and landed, folding her wings. She peered down at the calm water and told it telepathically, "Ocean, awaken." At her request, another wave pierced the sky and stared her down. "Please, ocean," Gina begged. "I need your help. Please tell me how I can help my friend regain his confidence. If he doesn't, then he'll—he'll die!"
It wasn't long until the ocean answered. "Gina, tern of Merlin's Island—friend of Tracey, follow me to the Chief Wave." An empty coconut half appeared behind Gina and scooped her up.
The tern peered over the edges and watched as it landed on a smaller wave.
The smaller wave followed the bigger one. It escorted the tern to the line that split the reef from the ocean and stopped.
She watched as the wave she'd been talking to scurried forward and dove underwater right on the line. Gina waited a few minutes, grooming herself.
After a bit, an even bigger wave—twenty feet tall—lifted off the line and into the air. "Gina," it spoke, "I am the Chief Wave. Talk to me. What's bothering you?"
"I'm worried about my friend," Gina replied. "I have to help Tracey regain his confidence before it's too late. The Octopus Man is trying to drag him to his suicide. I fear that the mission to defeat Poseidon will eventually boil down to Makenna. Tell me, how can I help Tracey?"
The Chief Wave sauntered to her side and replied, "The Curse of Poseidon is a strong one, but it's not impossible to break. The best way to help your friend is to remind him of all the support he has. Explain to him that if he works together with Makenna and Ash, then the victory will definitely go to them. Tracey has to learn that he can't fight the curse alone—he needs his friends. Another thing you can do is convince Makenna and Ash to spend more time with him, to prove that they are there for each other. If you take these steps, Gina, then you will surely save your friend."
Gina listened carefully the entire time the Chief Wave talked to her. "Thank you," she said when it finished. "That makes me feel so much better." She noticed that the sky was beginning to brighten a bit. It was almost morning, and time for Gina to return.
The tern peered back at the island and told the Chief Wave, "It's time for me to return to the island, Chief Wave. Tracey will soon be wondering where I am."
It nodded and said, "I understand. You and Tracey have a very close relationship. Oh, I have one more piece of advice, Gina."
"Yes?" Gina returned to the Chief Wave.
There was a moment of silence, and then the Chief Wave requested, "Remind Tracey that he's a fairy. He has incredible powers. Just like Makenna and Ash, he is a very special teenager. Tracey and Makenna weren't chosen to have water powers for nothing. They earned them, and both of them need to know that, okay?"
Gina seemed to smile. "All right," she answered. "It was good talking to you, Chief Wave."
"And you, too."
Gina patted it and gestured toward the island.
The Chief Wave took her back to shore. Gina rode in the coconut and used the first bit of sunlight to glance into the clear coral reef the entire journey in. Her eyes caught some fish and sea turtles swimming, and she waved her wing at them.
The Chief Wave dropped her off on Merlin's Beach, beside Ronda's reef.
Gina smiled again. Both of them waved goodbye, and Gina watched as the wave dove back into the water, leaving her to face Tracey and Makenna alone.