Nepto Supernova and the Lagoon Mermaid

Eyes opening, cheek resting on the cold ground, a light shining through a hole in the cave ceiling, awareness of his surroundings starting to dawn on him, Nepto was waking up on the stone floor of a cave overlooking a lagoon on the Minor Vina coastline.

Recalling that he had fallen asleep watching the tide come in and out of the lagoon while watching 40 of his squad members below. They were examining a submarine that had washed up onto the lagoon shore. Nepto walked over to the ledge to check that they were still working. No one was there. He did not remember falling asleep nor could recollect at all how he had ended up face down on the cave floor.

As he peered over into the lagoon, he noticed it was completely still. He checked the radar on his phone for underwater activity and noticed nothing was registering. Turning his head slightly to the left he noticed the submarine was still there. He could see the top of the submarine, with the rest of it submerged and anchored to the bottom of the lagoon floor. He considered it strange that there was not one single person still around and the quietness in the air made him sense that something was not right.

He felt his phone vibrating in his back pocket. Answering the phone, he heard his sister Venus on the other end. "Nepto, where are you? You missed the meeting."

"The meeting?" asked a perplexed Nepto. "What day is it?"

"It's Tuesday afternoon, Nepto. You knew how important this meeting was and we needed you there. What happened?" Venus sounded annoyed.

Nepto realised he had not left lagoon since the previous day. He knew what meeting his sister was talking about. It was a meeting with the Prince of Spain regarding the underwater protection of the Spanish Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean.

"I - I'm not sure. I passed out. I just woke up in the diving cave. My workers aren't showing up on my radar. It seems like they have gone," explained Nepto.

"You dozed off while your staff was working? Good Heavens, what got into you, Nepto?"

Nepto could hear the frustration in his younger sister's voice.

"Venus, I'm sorry for missing the meeting but I sense that something strange has happened. You know I have never dozed off while on duty before. Venus, I have to go."

"Nepto, you probably just fell asleep, and they probably went home, Nepto," replied Venus.

"No, Venus, I'm telling you. Let me know if you see or hear any of my workers."

"Okay, Nepto. Do what you have to do." Venus sounded unusually annoyed. "Just make sure you're at the next meeting or at least call next time!"

Preoccupied with the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach, Nepto let his sister's fury subside and turned his attention to the water below.

All Nepto could see in front of him was the deserted shore of the lagoon and the top of the submarine in the middle of the water. Nepto checked his radar again, with the same result as before.

From the edge of the cave platform, Nepto leapt into the body of water below and swam towards the submarine.

Nepto submerged his body under the water and looked around. He saw his men floating, unmoving under the water still wearing their oxygen tanks which had emptied. What happened? He could still see the anchor keeping the submarine suspended in the water. Nepto swam towards the ladder on the side of the submarine and climbed to the top. He pulled himself up and noticed the door of the submarine was still open. Feeling the hairs on his body stand up, he called out.

"Hello? Is anyone inside?"

He checked his phone radar, again. There was still nothing. Descending down into the submarine, Nepto noticed one of his workers' arms sticking out from around the corner of the hallway entrance laying still on the floor.

Walking slowly around the corner he saw what appeared to be the dead bodies of his men and women. They were lying on the ground with their eyes open and rolled back. It looked as though they had been supernaturally possessed. He walked through the interior of the submarine searching for some sign as to what had happened. Checking the dormitories, he found more men there that he did not recognise. They must have been the people who were inhabiting the submarine prior to its discovery in the lagoon.

He noticed a shadow cross the window on his left. Checking his phone radar again, he noticed a red dot circulating the submarine. Nepto's phone started ringing. He noticed it was his brother, Merc.

"Nepto, we just received information about a situation involving radioactive waste at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. Last night, Portuguese divers were swimming and came across it. This morning they were found dead," Merc reported with a sense of urgency in his voice.

"Merc, I have just - "

Nepto's phone started breaking out. "Merc -"

Just then the whole submarine shook. He noticed a woman's silhouette in the window. She appeared to have a fishtail. He touched one of the walls and was shocked by a wave of electricity not surging through his body. He noticed his body illuminate a green light. Just then, he heard movement from the next room. Turning his head he noticed a woman standing there. Her skin was a metallic shade of green and her hair was long and coppery.

"Nepto!' he heard a women's voice screaming from the top of the submarine.

Moving back towards the entrance he looked up towards the circular opening, seeing a woman's heads. It was one of his workers, Xavier.

Her hair had changed colour and had turned to coppery gold. He climbed up the ladder and as his head came up above the inside of the submarine he marvelled at what he saw in front of him. Xavielle, was lying on the roof of the submarine with a fishtail replacing what used to be her legs.

"Nepto, last night you blacked out. There was a radioactive explosion further out and we were hit with radiation from the aftershock. You were carried by a tidal onto that diving platform," Xavielle explained pointing to the cave that Nepto had woken up in.

"Hmm," Nepto deliberated on the information he had heard. "It seems like it's some kind of mutation. They're not completely dead yet. Look, their eyes are still flickering. But if we don't expose them to water soon they will, and so will you. Come on."

Just as she had said that they heard murmuring coming from inside the submarine.

Climbing up the submarine opening was a line of his workers with eyes that had gone grey and looked zombie-like. Just as the first worker's hand reached out to grab Nepto's ankle, Nepto jumped off the top of the submarine into the surrounding water, he instructed Xavielle. "Xavielle! We have to take the anchor out!"

"Okay!" she replied. Xavielle swam around the side of the vessel and took out the anchor.

As she did that, more zombies poured out of the submarine. Inside the submarine, Xavielle could hear them rumbling. Looking through the window, they had started attacking each other. Xavielle smashed one of the windows and let the water flow through, causing the zombies to stop. As the water touched their skin, their legs turned into tails but they maintained their zombie-like eyes and their attention shifted towards her.

"Xavielle!" she heard her name be called out. It was one of the other squad members that had been wearing the scuba suit and oxygen tank. He too had developed the same mutations as her. Behind him were the three others that had done the same. Still wearing his scuba mask, he called out again, "Xavielle, it's me Lius. I'm with Eris, Antia and Jida!" Xavielle rushed towards Lius escaping the wild-eyed mermaids.

The submarine started lifting up. Underneath the weight of the submarine, Nepto stood carrying it with his hands over his head. Electricity charging through his body, his body fluoresced as he drained the ship of its power. With the fluorescent electric power flowing through him, he concentrated it towards the submarine and flung it towards the open sea.

Nepto gathered the mermaids at the surface of the water. "Well, it looks like I developed a mutation too. I can breathe underwater and conduct electricity." The Lagoon mermaids stared at him.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Eris.

"Yes, how are we supposed to tell this to our families?" asked a concerned Antia.

Nepto stared back at them. "We will find a solution," he smiled weakly reassuringly.

"How come we mutated but the others didn't?" asked Jida.

"I think it's because you had the oxygen masks and because you were in the water while they were dry. So it gave you time to fully transform."

"So, I guess, this is our new life, then, " said Xavielle.

"Guess it is, " replied Lius. "Nepto, say hello to your new team of mutant mermen and women, at your service.

Nepto gave them a nod and smiled.