Beyond Coutarine Island's reef, just outside the tropical storm in the Human World, the figure of a bird flew over the waves toward Ronda's raft.
Tracey sang a reprise of his "Soar" song a second time while he adjusted his sail. Wind blasted it, and he sliced through the ocean water as smoothly as a knife. Tracey smiled. "Yeah! Now this is what I'm talking about! Go, little baby! Go! Go! Go!" Where he was, it was sunny. The black clouds were behind him.
A clipboard with a checklist rested beside Tracey, and he read from it while he worked. "Food." He pulled a latch and opened a compartment containing food and water. "Check. Sail and tiller are in good shape. Check. Paddle. It broke, but I don't need a paddle to sail." Tracey turned his face toward the wind. "Wind: forty knots. Perfect for sailing." He next lifted his free hand and skimmed it through the ocean. "Current: warm, so I'm going in the right direction." Tracey took his hand out of the water and shook it. "Last but not least, ocean: a little rough, but that's only because there's a tropical storm behind me. Heck yeah! Now this is what I call sailing!" Behind him, he heard a screech. "Huh?" Tracey peered over his shoulder, and his golden brown eyes widened when he saw a familiar figure flying toward him. "Gina!"
Sure enough, the flying bird was Gina.
Tracey was so shocked that he let go of the main sail's rope. It flapped wildly in the wind, and he ducked under it. Although Tracey was out of the storm's path, it didn't mean it wasn't heading toward him.
Gina landed on the tiller of the raft. She watched as Tracey grabbed the rope again with his good hand and peered back at her.
"What are you doing here?"
"No," Gina spoke through telepathy. "What are you doing here? Why did you leave Coutarine Island?"
"Gina, you don't understand," Tracey explained. "There's nothing left for me on Coutarine or Merlin's Island. The Bermuda Triangle is the only place where I'll be happy again. The Octopus Man promised me."
"But he's gonna kill you!" Gina screeched.
"That doesn't matter. What matters is that I'll see my parents again. I belong with them, Gina. I've already embarrassed myself plenty of times in front of Sensei, Makenna, and Ash."
"You're sailing into your own suicide, though!" frightfully yelled Gina. "Tracey, think about this! You can't die! You have your whole life ahead of you! You're only eighteen years old!"
Tracey furrowed his brows and prepared to argue back, but before he could, a clap of thunder exploded in the air, followed by a lightning flash.
Tracey gasped. "Oh no."
The tropical storm had reached Ronda's raft. The wind instantly increased from forty knots to sixty-one.
Tracey wasted no time. He left Gina and dropped the raft's main sail. Heavy rain pounded him while he prepared to steer through the storm. Thunder boomed overhead, followed by bright lightning flashes. Tracey hurried back to Gina and shooed her off the tiller. "Get off the tiller! I need it to steer!"
"Whoa!" Gina shouted as the wind shoved her back. "The wind's insane! This storm has to be just under hurricane status!" She tightly gripped the tiller with her claws.
"Ugh, for once I wish I had my paddle!" Tracey yelled, grabbing his head. He pulled Gina off the tiller and hugged her close.
Ronda's raft soared over the crest of a wave and crashed heavily into the ocean.
Tracey was thrown overboard, but he saved Gina at the last minute by tossing her back onto it.
She frightfully stared at the water and called, "Tracey!"
Tracey soon surfaced and swam toward his friend. He wasn't able to reach her and the raft, though, because another wave slammed him. That one smacked the raft as well.
Gina screeched and held on for dear life.
Tracey was thrown onto the raft. He hit it with his chest and yelled. The waves shoved him and Gina forward. Knowing that this was probably it, Tracey cuddled Gina and closed his eyes.
She did, too.
The raft flipped over, and its deck slammed into the ocean.
A huge lightning bolt lit up the whole sky, and there came the thunder.
***
Things weren't much better where Makenna was, but she refused to give up on her search for the Crusha Fruit and Silvey. She dove underwater and tried to swim down to the Crusha Fruit. It was tough, though, because she wasn't a Merfairy. Without fins to help, she couldn't fight the current. It kept pushing her to the surface.
Even with her disadvantage, Makenna kept trucking. Every time she tried to swim down to the Crusha Fruit, her face showed desperation and bravery. The sparkles surrounding her grew.
Makenna shook her head and, in frustration, yelled. "I am going to save you, Ash!" she promised in her head. "This storm will not control me! It will not defeat me! I am Makenna, Metamorphic Fairy of Seabrook Island!"
As soon as she said that, her blue, horse head-shaped necklace pendant began to glow, and blue and pink sparkles exploded around her.
Noticing that, Makenna asked, "Huh?" She peered down at her body, and her jaw dropped when she saw the sparkles and her pendant glowing.
The Chief Wave appeared before her underwater, creating a transparent, watery tunnel. It pushed her into it, and Makenna closed her eyes.
Makenna opened her blue eyes and blinked. Smiling, she lifted her hands and covered herself in her magic. Purple streaks appeared in her hair, alongside the blue streaks, and it grew as long as her Crystal Metamorphic Fairy hair. Makenna's hair was pulled back in a low ponytail by a light pink, coral-like hair bow, and sparkly, blue mermaid studs replaced the surfboard ones in her ears. Her bangs were parted sideways.
Covered in magic from her shoulders down, Makenna's legs flew back, and she acted out a boomerang twirl. During the process, her polka-dot top was replaced with a short, light-blue-and-cyan dress with a ruffled hem.
Makenna performed a midair jeté. As soon as she reached split position, light blue tights and blue ballet slippers materialized over her legs. She lifted her right arm and clenched her fist. A pink, coral-like wristband emerged around her wrist.
Makenna next grabbed a line of magic and wrapped it around the backs of her legs. Sparkles surrounded them. From the sparkles appeared blue and pink fins that attached themselves to Makenna's legs. The wand she had as a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy reappeared in her hand.
Finally, Makenna turned her back to the camera. Tossing blue and pink magic onto her bare back, she felt and watched as she popped large, sparkly, seashell-shaped fairy wings with dark blue borders.
As soon as she finished transforming, the Chief Wave let Makenna go. She was thrown back into the ocean, but stopped herself from flying all over the place.
It took Makenna some time to readjust to her surroundings, but when she did, she gasped when she saw herself. "Wow! Cool!" She could now talk and breathe underwater.
The Chief Wave soon approached her, and Makenna's eyes widened. "Who-Who are you?"
"I am the Chief Wave," the Chief Wave explained through telepathy. "Congratulations, Makenna Delling. You are now a Merfairy Metamorphic Fairy, or in other words, a Level 4 Metamorphic Fairy."
Openmouthed with astonishment, Makenna said, "Tha-Thank you. I-I can't believe it. Caleb was right. He was right about everything. Do I really deserve this transformation, though?"
The Chief Wave nodded. "You do, Miss Delling. Don't sell yourself short. For a fairy to earn the Merfairy transformation, especially fairies of your kind, they must prove true bravery to the ocean closest to them, and you have. You have exceeded the limits of true bravery. You deserve to be a Merfairy."
"But what is this transformation?" Makenna questioned as she examined her hands.
"With it," explained the Chief Wave, "you are a fairy, human, and mermaid all in one. You are now able to explore both the sea and sky. You can swim to the deepest point of the ocean without being affected by temperature, water pressure, or oxygen levels. With the Merfairy transformation, Makenna, you can travel to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench and the Mariana Trench."
"Really?" Makenna's eyes sparkled. "Even the Mariana Trench, the deepest point of all the oceans?"
"Really and truly," said the Chief Wave. "Congratulations, Makenna Delling." It moved away from Makenna, and she cheered.
For a bit, she danced underwater, but then her mind returned to the task at hand. "Oh, right! The Crusha Fruit!" Makenna couldn't forget about Ash. She had to prove that yes, she really did deserve the new transformation. How would she get to the fruit, though, if the current kept pushing her back? That was the first thing she learned with the Merfairy transformation.
Makenna's underwater wings began to flap, and she yelled as she zoomed all over the place in the ocean. Oh man, she would have to get used to this. With each wing flap, blue and pink bubbles escaped her new wings.
Makenna sliced through the current like a pro. It could no longer push her back to the surface—she was too strong. Then that meant—!
"I can get the Crusha Fruit now!" Makenna yelled. She stopped herself from zooming and stared at the bright, green light of the Crusha Fruit buried in the sand.
Makenna moved her legs like a mermaid, and thanks to the fins on the back of them, she was able to swim without much difficulty anymore.
Makenna sternly swam down to the bottom of the reef where the Crusha Fruit rested and reached for it. She felt her fingers wrap around it, and she pulled it out of the sand. "Yes!" Makenna yelled as she held the berry up to her face. "I've got it!" Already, she really liked her new transformation.
Makenna looked up to the surface, watching as the ocean lit up with lightning. She didn't want to throw herself into the storm again, but then she concluded that Ash needed the Crusha Fruit now. He had waited too long already.
Makenna bravely nodded and kicked her legs. She swam underwater toward the beach and tightly clutched the Crusha Fruit. Wow, she really could swim a lot better now.
Makenna soon reached the shallow water and stood. The beach was before her. Makenna started making her way in at a slow, leisurely pace. Unfortunately, though, another giant wave crept up on her from behind and slammed into her back. Makenna was shoved out of the ocean, drenched, and crashed into the sand. She hit it so hard that her world went black.
***
Returning to the section of the ocean where Tracey and Gina were, they floated freely beside the flipped raft and spat water out of their mouths.
Gina rested on Tracey's head and shook with fear. She was so scared that her feathers stood on end.
Tracey tried to flip the raft back over, but it wasn't easy because the sail weighed it down. "Please turn over!" he begged. His hand slipped, and he and Gina ducked underwater. The current was so strong that the raft shot all over the place. It headed toward Gina and Tracey, but they didn't see it coming.
Tracey grabbed Gina and hugged her to his shoulder. Peering forward, his eyes landed on the outline of an island in the distance. "An island," Tracey mumbled. "Quick, Gina!" He took her off his shoulder and tossed her into the air. "Fly to it! I'm right behind you!"
Gina peered over his shoulder, and her eyes widened. "Oh no! Tracey, behind you!"
Confused, Tracey followed her orders and turned his head. His own eyes widened when he saw Ronda's raft coming for him. Tracey's first response was holding his hands before him, but his quick thinking didn't really work. The raft smacked him in the face and threw him underwater.
Above the waves, Gina yelled, "Tracey!" but Tracey didn't resurface. The tern tried to dive in after him, but the wind was too strong. It grabbed her and chucked her like a baseball toward the island Tracey saw. Gina screeched the whole journey.
Behind, one of the crashing waves came to life and dove underwater where Tracey had disappeared. The wave frantically searched the ocean for Tracey. It saw him.
Tracey, who was no longer conscious, sank toward the bottom of the sea.
The wave swam to him and quickly pulled him to the surface. It headed toward the island and picked up Ronda's raft as it passed. The ocean turned it right-side up again and set Tracey down on it. It gave the raft a push and watched as it floated away.
Ronda's raft hit the island's beach, and another wave pushed it up to a safer place.
Once the magic water had ensured Tracey and Gina were secure, it dove back into the ocean and disappeared into the depths of the tropical storm.
After what felt like forever, the storm finally calmed and started to track away from Coutarine Island. The black clouds moved toward the horizon, but thunder could still be heard in them. The sun poked out from behind another cloud and shone down on Coutarine Island's trashed beach. A few palm trees had fallen, and flowers and branches were everywhere, but besides that, the island was luckily unharmed. The ocean was still pretty rough, though, and would remain that way for another day or two.