Guests at the Mansion

Me, Yang, Cleo, Rikki, and Emma were all speed-swimming towards Mako. Lewis wanted to come too, so due to the complete lack of nearby boats, Yang shaped a boat with water and I hardened it. We were dragging it with us towards Mako, so we couldn't swim at top speed or Lewis would end up flying overboard.

That made me think that it would be more convenient if I could program my magic. Instead of building a boat and having to drag it with us, it would be better to build the boat with a pre-set magic program so it could move by itself. It would definitely be a worthwhile experiment.

A few minutes later, we made it to Mako. Yang and I showed the trio the way to our mansion. While Lewis already knew what it looked like, all he knew about the location was that it was 'near a lagoon on Mako', so he also followed us while making a mental map of the path we took.

Cleo frowned. "I don't remember seeing this part of Mako before…"

Emma nodded slightly as she looked around at the unfamiliar path.

Yang chuckled. "The path isn't much compared to the mansion."

Lewis nodded in agreement. He had seen our mansion before, and needless to say he knew how breathtaking it was.

'Architecture aside, the material is water. WATER.'

The young scientist mused over the novel concept of using liquid to construct a house. He knew it'd probably be impossible without mermaid powers, or at least a few centuries of technological advancement, but it was still a fun thing to think about.

I glanced back at the dazed Lewis. He had potential, and I wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating him just because he didn't have a tail or powers.

Suddenly, Yang halted the group and began, "Cleo, Rikki, and Emma, welcome to our Mako mansion!"

Three pairs of eyes gaped at the magnificent structure before them. Despite having already seen the mansion, Lewis still couldn't help but marvel at it. It was really too interesting to him.

Rikki sighed, "It's huge!"

"This is made of water?!" Cleo gasped.

Emma just kind of stared in astonishment… somehow I felt like that was a compliment, coming from the responsible and OCD mermaid.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" I smiled invitingly, "Come on in!"

Yang opened the entrance with moon magic, earning another amazed exclamation from not only the mermaids, but also Lewis.

Come to think of it, he didn't get to see the moon-magic entrance last time he was here.

Lewis nodded dazedly. "That is seriously cool…"

Yang and I led the way into the mansion. We showed our visitors around, giving them a complete tour of the mansion.

"While we built this place mostly for us to live in, we found that it was too much for just the two of us," I explained.

Yang continued with, "We have a lot of extra rooms, so we though we could use some of them as recreational rooms and some of them as guest rooms."

I nodded, "We showed you our mansion because we hope that you'll agree to stay here occasionally. Doesn't have to be all the time, but you're welcome here whenever you want. The moonpool is a great meeting place, but I'm sure it'd be nice to have another secret place to come to if you ever want to relax your scales."

Yang chuckled. "After all, this mansion is made entirely of water. It's the only kind of water that won't transform you into mermaids when you touch it."

Cleo, Emma, and Rikki didn't even have to think about it. This was a great deal, and they knew it.

"Are you kidding? YES! There's no way we'd turn down such an awesome thing!"

Cleo smiled. "Yeah, I'm with Rikki!"

Emma frowned a bit, "Are you sure we won't bother you?"

Yang pretend-glared, "We'll be bothered if you DON'T accept! You must come here regularly!"

Then he laughed, "Selena and I will be too lonely if you don't hang out here sometimes."

I smiled and nodded in agreement. "Being a mermaid is only fun if you have someone to share it with. Our goal is to start our own pod one day. Of course, we would love to have you guys be part of our pod. Our mer-family."

The H2-Trio were on the verge of tears.

…Of course, they were happy tears.

Lewis watched all this with a smile on his face. "Awww that's so sweet. I'm going to barf."

Cleo smacked him on the shoulder playfully as the rest of us laughed.

Then I directed my attention towards Lewis.

"Lewis, can we have a word? In private?"

The young scientist was surprised at the sudden request. "Sure, I guess?"

He followed Yang and I into a nearby side room.

Yang spoke first. "Lewis, you are a very talented human. The mermaids also depend on you a lot."

I nodded. "We know that there's a certain barrier between you and them. You can't understand their mermaid world, but they can understand your human world. As a scientist, you should have already understood that you can't explain their transformation with science. But you still persist in helping them through your experiments, despite being unable to explain any of it scientifically."

Lewis smiled sadly. "You saw through me, eh?"

We stood in silence for a moment before Yang spoke again.

"The earlier offer still stands. Do you want to learn martial arts under me? I can teach you what I know, and maybe you'll learn something else in the process. Something that could help you understand the mermaids better."

Lewis perked up. "Qi?"

I smiled. "Something like that. But that's not all…"

The young scientist brightened up. "It's a pseudo-science, but if I could learn it then maybe I could understand it enough to even turn into an actual science!"

Yang smirked amusedly. "It's a pseudo-science for a reason, Lewis. Even so, if you can learn it, then you'll understand why even a pseudo-science isn't necessarily baseless."

"Alright. I don't understand yet, but I'm sure that if I learn it I'll understand."

'Hmmm…' I glance at Yang knowingly.

'I know what you're trying to do, Yang,' I said telepathically.

'That's why I'm doing it,' he replied.

We smiled at each other before heading back to the room where we left the mermaids.

We all chatted some more before Yang and I transformed one of the empty rooms into a recreational den of a sort. We all hung out there until the sun began to set, then the mermaids said goodnight and left Mako to head home.

After they left, it was time for us to settle some matters with Lewis…