WHO: Cleo & Alexis WHEN: August 3rd - later in the day/night WHERE: Morningside to Mako Island WHAT: Mako Island shows up in Vallo and life gets a bit weird TRIGGERS: Probably not?
Today was a full moon. It hadn’t been a real problem for a while, but in a place full of magic, Cleo didn’t want to put things to the test. She’d taped the windows up, gotten dinner and some juice early and set up a sort of comfortable hang out space in the living room. She’d invited Alexis over because she didn’t want to be by herself this time. The last time she’d been by herself and it was kind of boring without other people to distract herself with. There was only so many movies and shows she could watch on her own. She wished that Lewis or Rikki, Emma, or Bella were there. It would have been nice to have someone who understood. Also she missed her friends.
She double-checked the windows again, having to adjust the one in the bathroom again. Once she was sure that it wasn’t coming down again, she went back out into the living room to wait for Alexis to show up.
Well, Alexis wasn’t any of those people - but she was a pretty good full moon companion anyway, she thought. And the full moon looked nice - a warm milky glow, shining like it had some bright idea to share with the rest of the Earth. Or whatever planet they were even on (had that question actually been answered?). She didn’t have to worry about turning into a wolf or some other creature, or being lured someplace, so the least she could do was be there for a friend.
She wore belted shorts and a black tube top with sandals, something to keep her cool during a hot summer night - and with her she brought some snacks, because what was a slumber party without snacks? Kettle corn, boxes of candy, some fruit salad so they could pretend to be somewhat healthy. Carrying everything in a tote, she arrived at Cleo’s apartment and knocked on the door.
“Heeeey girl, it’s me,” she called, grabbing one of the many hair ties she had around her wrist (it was handy, in case someone else ever needed a hair tie - solidarity) to pull those spun gold locks back, away from her face.
Cleo had her hair braided back and out of her face. It was easier than trying to fight with her hair sometimes. Either way, she quickly moved to the door, opening it. She was glad there wasn’t some glaring, large window for her to accidentally get moon-weirdness from. She remembered how the first couple of years was and how they would get into the weirdest things. The most embarrassing for her to think about was the siren song thing. It had been really nice when it was happening, but after, it was awful. At least no one ever tried to make her do karaoke again.
“Hey!” Cleo’s smile grew as she greeted Alexis. “Come on in. I was trying to figure out what sort of film to watch. I wasn’t sure if there was anything we needed to avoid or look for.” She just hoped that whatever it was wasn’t someone’s story because that could get weird.
“I’ve got everything together so that we can enjoy a moon-less full moon. I hope you don’t mind. I put the juices in spill proof containers so we don’t have any accidents.” Because those were never fun. It was probably fine, though. Just as long as it wasn’t in tandem with seeing the moon, she’d probably be perfectly normal.
“Whatever makes it easier - I’m all for less spillage,” Alexis grinned, setting her tote bag down. Though she took the bag of kettle corn out, fully prepared to work her magic and showcase some amaaaazing chef skills.
Which meant put the bag in the microwave and set the timer, but who was keeping track? Kettle corn was so good, sweet and savory, and she even brought plenty of flavored floss in her overnight bag to combat pesky kernels stuck in teeth. “I’ll just make some popcorn?” she suggested. “You can pick the movie, I’m open to most anything. Comedy, a psychological thriller?”
She didn’t even think about it being the story of someone they knew in Vallo. Geez, how weird was that?
It felt like the slumber party that happened at Emma’s that one time. Everyone got their own, individual water bottle, but it wasn’t the same juice. She had gotten Alexis’ favorite and her own. Not that she didn’t like Emma’s drink. She just had her own favorite. Right now, she was happy with bananaberry splash.
Cleo was fine with most things cooking-wise, but she was glad that she didn’t have to hand wash any of the dishes because that would have made things super complicated. But, usually, if she wore the necklace that Zuko made her, she was fine. And she’d been working on controlling water around her. Sometimes reflexes weren’t enough, though. “Okay. I’ll see what’s on.” They hadn’t had anything like netflix when she was. It must have been new. She wondered how new, but she didn’t really want to ask either. It wasn’t super important.
She saw a movie about whales, but she wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t be the only one to enjoy it, so she went with Clueless since it was at least one she recognized.
Aw, Cleo even got her favorite juice! She knew what it was (for the record, it was coconut mango with chia seeds, since a little extra fiber never hurt anyone). That just proved that merm friend was the best friend - besides, someone you could venture down to Atlantis with, who would show you how to properly swim with a tail, was a friend for life.
“Ooh, good choice - as if,” Alexis quipped, since she’d seen Clueless about a hundred times and loved it, never growing tired of the movie. Ding, there went the microwave after the kettle corn was done, fresh and hot popped kernels. She grabbed the bag and opened it up, letting the steam waft out from it. “Alright, let’s get this party started.”
She flopped on the sofa and grabbed herself a handful of kettle corn to munch on while she watched Cher’s antics.
Cleo liked to learn about people and be able to make little things so it would make them happy. She always liked it when people did nice things for her, so she was only too happy to do things for others. And it was easy enough because Alexis talked a lot sometimes, so she could always find out her favorites of things.
Once they got close to the halfway point, Cleo got up. “I’ll be back. Bathroom.” She felt a little weird explaining herself, but she didn’t want Alexis to think she was just walking out of the room for no reason. Maybe she was the one overthinking it. Once she walked in the room, she noted the tape was peeling back again. She sighed, moving to go fix it, but ended up tripping and having to catch hold of herself on the window, which just pulled the covering back more.
The moon was so beautiful wasn’t it? She felt the pull of Mako. In any other state of mind, Cleo might have been reasonable enough to realized the weirdness of it, but she didn’t. Instead, she just felt the draw to Mako. She was up far too high to try to sneak out, so she’d have to go past Alexis and make her way down. She nodded at a thought she didn’t voice before slipping out of the bathroom and making her way to the door.
She didn’t even bother to grab her phone or keys, her mind fixated on Mako and the draw of the moon pool.
Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go. Alexis wasn’t weirded out at all. “Don’t fall in,” she teased as Cleo left, but that was all - otherwise, she was sipping on juice and snacking like a champion, all from the smorgasbord set up here, not even worrying about calories or looking like an oinker.
But then she was pretty sure that Cleo was just like - leaving the apartment? She didn’t come back to finish watching the movie?
That was definitely the front door opening. Alexis swiveled around, jade eyes narrowing as she caught a glimpse of Cleo about to leave. “Hey - where are you going?” she asked, getting up and finding the remote to pause the film. “Is this an ice cream run? I have some at my place - Cleo?”
Okay, she’d just...follow. Because otherwise it’d be awkward to sit here alone.
Cleo heard Alexis speaking, but Mako was so much more important. She couldn’t remember how anything else could even compare to it. Certainly not just sitting there when she could be at Mako. It didn’t even occur to her that it was weird or to realize how strange it was that Mako existed here. “I have to go.”
She just made her way toward the beach, eyes steadily focused on the moon. When she got to the edge of the water, she looked down, gaze shifting to Mako. It didn’t look like much out in the water, but it was an obvious change in the landscape. Without any sort of second thought, she walked into the water before just diving in.
And then she was off.
“Cleo, wait!”
Alexis had followed her here, all the way to the beach; it was a pretty sight, she guessed, the stars glowing like they had little pockets of the daytime stored in them. The air carried the scent of the ocean, salty and briny, and while there were small waves gently lapping upon the sand she knew she couldn’t just dive in the way Cleo did.
In the distance, she saw the outline of an island, some kind of mass - was it that thing Cleo had been worried about keeping herself from? Because of course it had to show up here. But she also couldn’t just leave her friend to go wandering in some moon-induced trance, so, after calculating the odds of whether or not she could swim there without drowning (they weren’t good) Alexis made an executive decision.
There was a little sailboat and fishing rental shack nearby - closed for the night, of course, but the lock was rusty and she managed to break in (not like she had super strength, okay, she just hit the lock with a rock like some caveman) and stealborrow a small sailboat and a small paddle, a nice combo that she really didn’t know much about using - sure, she’d gone sailing before, but that was on David Geffen’s yacht and like she’d been paying attention to how shit worked.
Whatever, hashtag yolo.
She pushed the boat along the sand and ran and hopped into it, using the paddle to propel herself even faster, hoping that plus the wind would take her to the mysterious island.
Once Cleo got to the entrance to the moon pool, she realized that there was something blocking the entrance. She tried to move the rocks on her own, but she couldn’t. So she swam to the shore, dragging herself up onto the sand. Without Rikki, she couldn’t change as easily, so she would have to wait to dry off.
It took longer than she wanted it to and she spotted a boat coming closer before she turned to look at the moon again. She lingered for a little while before walking further inland. She wanted to be sure if she was being followed. It could have been a boat on the water, but she was sure it wasn’t. Once it was almost to the shore, she slipped into the woods and started toward the land entrance. It was over a river and up to a rock. If you weren’t careful, you’d miss the entrance and fall in instead of jump in. Then it was a slide down, landing in an empty room with a walkway into the moon pool.
Almost as if whatever the magic of Vallo and Mako did together, Cleo’s mind cleared and she looked around. “How…” She looked up, seeing the sky through the ceiling. “Am I home?”
Oh no. Alexis.
Cleo went back into the first room, grabbed the rope to go out, and tried to make her way up, but her grip slipped and she fell back down. “Ouch.”
The sailboat was beached, Alexis hitting land a little faster and harder than she anticipated - but she didn’t exactly know where the brakes were on this thing, and it was dark, and she basically just tumbled out with an oof. Hit the sand all ungraceful-like, even, but she managed to scramble up, Cleo having disappeared into the shadows of the trees.
Great. Now what?
She thought about texting Arthur, since he could get to the island without risking a drowning and he might even know what to do about friends caught in a moonlust - but was service even a thing out here? Besides, she wanted to track down Cleo herself and this couldn’t be too dangerous, right?
Twigs and leaves crunched under her foot as she wandered the woods, using the light from her phone to sort of illuminate her path. There was the sound of rushing water and what looked like a cluster of rocks in the distance, so she headed that way. So far no moon pool, but it had to be around here somewhere, maybe?
“Cleo??” she called. “Where are you?” Perfect, now it looked like she had to do some rock diving, if this was even the right way to go.
Cleo heard her name and saw the rope moving. She looked up, blinking a few times. “Alexis?” So she wasn’t home? She was really confused. She peered up the slide. “Um. Sorry. I don’t know what happened. I think I tripped in the bathroom and then...um…?” She sighed. “Hold on. I’m going to come up there. Probably.”
She grabbed hold of the rope again. “It’ll only be a minute.” She was just annoyed because if she’d known this was going to happen, she would have prepared better and worn shoes with more traction. And she knew she could just go out through the underwater tunnel, but she wanted to make sure Alexis was safe.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry if I did anything weird. Once we accidentally hurt Lewis without realizing it. Actually more than once. I didn’t do anything, did I?” She scrunched up her forehead in concentration as she started to climb again.
Alexis shined the light down, now seeing Cleo make up her way up using the rope. “Yeah, I’m fine - here, let me help you,” she offered, shimmying on her abdomen and reaching down with her hands to offer something else for Cleo to grab onto. She wasn’t sure if she trusted the rope or not - what if it snapped, before Cleo reached the top? Yikes.
“You tripped in the bathroom, fell, and ended up here?” She snorted in disbelief. “That was totally some weird moon trance. So now this thing’s here from your home.”
Congrats? It probably could have been something less dangerous but now that they knew it was here they could figure out what to do about it. If anything.
“One of the weird side effects of things.” She sighed, reaching up to take Alexis’ hand when she got further up. “That’s exhausting. The boys have to do that every time.” She laughed a little before she pulled herself up to sit at the edge of the hole. “Goodness.”
She looked up at Alexis. “This is Mako Island. The Moon Pool is down there. That’s...we should probably stay away from that till I know if it’s...you know. Still acting as the moon pool. I really hope the water tentacle isn’t back. I’ll check it out more tomorrow.” She didn’t seem hurt, though.
Just in case, Alexis checked Cleo over to make sure she wasn’t hurt or anything - she was acting like herself again, which was good. She didn’t know what she would have done if merm bestie was still in some trance. “Water tentacle...”
Okay, no. That sounded like something from the Asian porn variety, and she wasn’t touching it with a ten-foot pole.
“Alright, well - “ Alexis shook her head, pocketing her phone, rubbing her arms because it was a bit breezy out here, wind blowing in off the water and she felt it scraping her cheeks; she wasn’t really dressed for it either. Like, a nice beach coverup would have worked better - something better than a tube top. “Maybe we should head back?’ she suggested. “I have the boat still by the water. And if you want to come back here tomorrow when it’s daylight, I’ll totally come with you. For backup.”
Though if the moon pool was safe, she wanted to go for a swim. How amazing would that be?
Cleo sighed. “Yeah. It kept attacking us, but apparently that was just because it was trying to warn us that this comet was going to totally explode right into us and then goodbye world. But it was kind of obnoxious, but I’m also absolutely certain that I cannot save the world on my own without...anyone else.” She stood after a moment, looking out. “Yeah. We should come back when it’s light out.” She could navigate a lot easier then. “But you’re probably better going and coming through this entrance anyway. Cause the other one is underwater. Maybe if you get some scuba gear or something.”
Letting out a sigh, she started to make her way back down to the beach. “Sorry about making you come out all this way because of the weird moon stuff. Hopefully this is just a one-time thing or whatever.”
Well, let’s hope the world didn’t end. Alexis wasn’t sure what she would do in that case - Vallo was her ‘do-over’ from Schitt’s Creek, apparently, so anything after that remained a mystery. Maybe she’d just get bunged back home - which was iffy on some days. Some days she really wanted to, others not so much. “It’s okay, I’ll climb in using the rope,” she promised. “I was really good at climbing in gym class anyway,” she added, flexing her arm muscle guns.
But right now? She was eager to get back home and away from the mysterious island beach - she wasn’t even wearing the right shoes for it.
“Alright, girl, let’s get a move on,” she wrapped her arm around Cleo’s, so they could escort each other to where the sailboat awaited. “It’s still not too late to finish all those snacks.”