THE MOMENT
"Have a nice night ladies. I'll see you in the morning," Randy smiled at the mermaids as they walked out, then he closed and locked the door behind them. Contrary to what most patrons thought, the mermaids did not live at the aquarium. Now that he'd secured the gift shop, he began his second to final walk-through of the exhibits on is way to the back office. After finishing up his paperwork, he would do one more walk through and then be done for the night.
As he trekked the dim halls, sudden movement caught his eyes. There wasn't supposed to be anyone else there, but two teenagers walked out of the shadows toward Randy. One was a tall, lanky boy with brown hair and the other a short girl with long straight purple hair and spectacles.
"You've got 15 minutes before I'm kicking you out," he nodded at them with a warm smile. "I'm trusting you not to get me in trouble," he added with a direct gaze at the boy. Randy owed Todd a favor, and this would leave them square.
"No problem, we'll be done way before that. I just wanted to show her one of the exhibits," Todd nodded.
"Mermaids are gone for the night...," Randy suggested.
"No sweat, it's something else," Todd added. It was a vague answer, but his quick glance at the girl told Randy it was also meant to be a surprise.
"Have fun," Randy continued back to his office as Todd took Vivi's hand and led the way.
"Why are we coming to a closed aquarium? There are a billion others..., and we have Atlantis at the school?" Vivi asked. She was mildly disappointed and doing her best not to show it. Todd had talked up a special date tonight. He'd been planning it for weeks apparently, and she hoped it would be something more romantic than an aquarium after hours. As much as she liked animals, this particular trip felt underwhelming.
"Because this aquarium has something no one else has," Todd grinned. "I've wanted to show you for a few weeks now, but I had to make sure of some stuff first," he said.
"What stuff?" Vivi asked as they walked hand in hand. Despite the underwhelming location, she had to admit there was a certain romantic charm in being there alone. But, it felt like a strange thing to say.
"Well, Randy's schedule for one thing," Todd chuckled. "And, I needed to know if anyone claimed this Earth yet, or if it was still something we could do. Surprise, I got Ballisea's company to claim it," he added.
"Yay?" Vivi smiled as she asked.
"Totally," Todd said. "So, I met Randy in the AlterNet. We keep in touch and sometimes he'll ask me for meals or potions or whatever, and if I can get a pass I'll come deliver it. I've done it a few times throughout the year. It's not a big deal and just assumed it was the same as any other aquarium in the multiverse. But one time they had just gotten a new exhibit. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to show you," he grinned.
"After the Void Court owned the planet, huh?" Vivi asked with a giggle.
"Well, I think it'll be obvious why," he said. He stopped suddenly, and guided her to turn and look left. He'd been leading the way on her right side, and she was focused on him until they stopped.
"OH MY GOD!" Vivi squealed like the schoolgirl she was as she dashed forward and pressed her hands and face to the glass. It was right there, surrounded by a web pattern of tiny, luminescent bubbles. Vivi could barely make out the nearly invisible thread holding the array of bubbles, but there was no missing the eight black legs and spider-like octopus-creature at its center. "YOU FOUND A NEW SPIDER! THANK YOU!" She tore herself away from the glass to squeeze her boyfriend tight, then she went right back to staring at the creature as he chuckled.
"It's called an octonid," Todd said. As he began the explanation, the creature seemed to know he was talking about it, and it left its web to swim upward. "Apparently the bubbles are poisonous and when something swims by it gets a face full of them and tangled in the webbing."
"Poison bubbles? That sounds handy," Vivi giggled as her eyes followed the arachnid up until it disappeared beyond an angle she couldn't see. Then, she turned and hugged Todd again.
"Thanks so much," she said. "And, thank you for keeping it a secret like you did. Even if I really should share it now," she added.
"Well, I started that whole process before the Conquistadors arrived," Todd agreed. "I didn't realize it was gonna be the whole school against them."
As they chatted, a wet, black figure crawled down the glass toward Vivi. Both of the teenagers were calm and collected until a sudden scream startled them.
"AAAAGGGH!!!!" Randy yelled and pointed at the descending octonid without making any actual effort to help them get away.
"Don't worry, it's fine," Todd turned to try and calm Randy down at the same moment that Vivi reached up to touch the octonid.
"WAit," Randy was instantly confused as the creature touched Vivi's fingers briefly, then it began crawling back up again.
"That's all," Todd nodded. "She just needed to touch it, it's going back into its home now," he said. "No one will ever know."
"Touch it... what? Why? How?" Randy had so many questions that he hadn't realized he knew some of those answers already. He'd been familiar with the AlterNet long enough to know about Unique Souls. "Oh wait... she's an Araña?" he asked.
"You know," Todd chuckled. "I probably could've told you that. I was trying to surprise her, not you," he said. He'd been so determined to keep it a secret that he kept it out of his mind as much as possible.
"Well, I came to tell you guys you have more time than I thought. But, does that mean you're done already?" He asked.
"Yep," Todd nodded as Vivi hooked her arm in his again.
"Thanks man," he waved as Vivi dropped a black card at their feet to open a portal.
"Hey, no sweat," Randy waved. "What fun is it being the head tour guide if I can't bend some rules every now and then?"