Lyla

**Lyla** was a main character in the first season of *Mako: Island of Secrets* briefly an antagonist when she was enemies with Zac. She's a fiery mermaid, and she's very determined and passionate. Overtime, Lyla develops romantic feelings for the new merman, Zac. After the first season, she went away with Nixie and the pod to find a new home.

## Pre-Series

Lyla was born in the Mako Pod in late 1990s to an unnamed mermaid. Later, she began attending Mermaid School in hope of becoming a skilled and powerful mermaid someday.

## Biography

Lyla is introduced as a mermaid in the Mako Pod who is tasked with guarding the island from trespassers along with her fellow pod members Nixie and Sirena. She is shown to take this task very seriously but is not to thrilled about not being able to do it all herself being a mermaid who is more of a loner and does not particularly enjoy mingling with others. She is later angered when she notices Nixie and Sirena have neglected their duty by allowing two boys to venture onto the island though Nixie hardly thinks anything of it. Lyla's fears prove true when one of the boys named Zac falls into the moon pool and they later learn that he has powers and formed a connection with the island. As a result, she and the others are cast out of the pod, much to their heartbreak. The mermaids then decide they must venture onto land and take away Zac's powers so the pod will accept them again, believing that he will lose his powers if they zap him with their own.

Along the way, they find a new ally in the Suncoast High school principal Rita Santos, who also happens to be a mermaid. Not at all happy with having to mingle with land people, Lyla goes into a one track mind to find Zac, take his powers and be done with it. During this time she is shown be rather reckless, willful and stubborn often acting without thinking and refusing to change her mind on something she decides to do despite what Nixie and Sirena have to say about it. This often gets her into trouble such as in "Lyla Alone" where she her attempts to get Zac alone lead to her being trapped in the cafe cool room as a mermaid, "Blizzard" where she and Sirena cause Rita's house to snow in attempt to change the weather despite Sirena's opposition, and "The Siren", where they attempt to enchant Zac with a forbidden siren song hoping he'll fall under their command only to enchant David instead. She also usually has a hard time swallowing her pride and admitting she was wrong.

When the mermaids soon realize that zapping Zac will not remove his powers, Lyla comes up with a new strategy to befriend him hoping that they can work together to remove them. Her attempts to befriend him prove much more successful then Nixie's at first, but when she attempts to force him to open up to her about his merman secret, he pushes her away. However, when Zac and Cam have a fallout, the mermaids "learn" Zac's secret when Cam pushes him into the pool. Believing himself to be at Lyla's and the others mercy, Zac admits everything that happened and they assure him that they can be trusted to keep his secret. Lyla in particular becomes Zac's go to companion and the one he grows closer to.

In time, Lyla soon begins to realize that she is beginning to care about Zac for real despite initially only being interested in him for the sake of taking his powers. The two develop a strong friendship and Lyla begins to show signs of developing feelings for him. This causes Evie to harbor a great deal of resentment towards her as Zac spends less time with her and more time with Lyla and the others.

As Zac tries to figure out why he got his powers by exploring Mako island again, Lyla suggests that she and the others join him hoping it will give them answers to how to remove his powers. The others refuse, so Lyla decides to go on her own with Zac after stealing Rita's moon ring. The two make their way to the land entrance where Lyla misleads Zac into thinking that he opened the entrance by using his powers when Lyla secretly opened it with her moon ring. However, upon entering they are both trapped when the entrance suddenly closes.

As they try to figure out a way to escape, they notice a chamber that when opened leads to a tunnel of endless water. While Zac goes inside to explore it he discovers a strange object in the distance but the tunnel closes with him still inside, much to Lyla's horror. When the other mermaids arrive and open the chamber, Lyla frantically calls out for Zac to come back so they can escape which Zac does before he can claim the object. Following this, Lyla's recklessness and stubborn streak is largely toned down and she begins to act more like a responsible leader among the mermaids. However, she and Nixie still frequently argue, much to Sirena's annoyance.

Later, she and the others learn from Rita that the object Zac saw was an exceptionally dangerous magic weapon called The Trident that mermen in the past used to nearly destroy all mermaids. Zac however, becomes obsessed with getting the trident as it begins to urge him to come and claim it. Realizing the situation has escalated, Lyla becomes desperate to prevent Zac from getting the trident as she and Rita believe that Zac could possibly be killed by the trident. However, as Zac powers grow and he learns more secrets of the sea, Lyla is only barely able to keep him from discovering their secrets and true identity.

When the eve of the next full moon comes, Lyla believes that the time has come to tell Zac the truth about who she is and why they came to town, but the others refuse to let her do that. Nixie comes up with the overly optimistic idea of allowing Zac to take the trident so they can take it from him while he is under the moon spell, but Lyla is disgusted by the idea and how little Nixie appears to be considering the danger her plan might be putting Zac in. Despite Nixie retorting that Zac will go after the trident away when the moon light hits him, Lyla is determined to prevent that from happening. As Zac struggles to fight to pull of the moon, Lyla attempts support him. However Nixie is disgusted that Lyla is losing sight to their mission to reclaim Mako for the pod and believes that if they continue help him fight the moon that they will never be able to take his growing powers and they are only delaying the inevitable.

Eventually Nixie is pushed over the edge and decides to carry out her plan by allowing Zac to see the moonlight so he will give into it's pull, much to Lyla's horror. As Zac races after the trident, Lyla and the others follow him and Lyla is forced to go through with Nixie's plan as he enters the chamber and attempts to claim the trident. However, Zac snaps out of the moon spell as soon as he touches the trident and is shocked upon seeing the girls in mermaid form and when Lyla tries to take the trident from him without warning. When the trident activates and kicks them out of the cave, Lyla runs after an infuriated Zac and feebly tries to explain the situation as she soon realizes that Zac's trust in her has been shattered. Before taking his leave, Zac expresses his anger and disappointment with her and the others for betraying him.

Afterwards, Lyla is heartbroken over her broken friendship with Zac. She is also furious with Nixie for selling him out against her wishes since it was her actions that led to the mermaids true identities to be exposed to Zac before Lyla could be honest and upfront with him like she wanted. Lyla and the others try to apologize to Zac for their dishonesty and explain that their true intentions were to prevent him from being harmed. Zac is beyond listening and refuses to accept their apology as he believes they want the trident for themselves despite the girls insisting that his assumption is completely wrong. The mermaids soon realize that in losing Zac's friendship and trust, they have gained a dangerous new enemy in him. The battle lines are drawn.

During the second half of season 1, Lyla and the others battle with Zac for possession of the trident. Despite the fact that Zac's actions would force Lyla to fight against him, she never loses her compassionate feelings towards him and is more then willing to work with him when the situation calls for it. She also wants to stop Zac from getting the Trident not only to avoid her pod being put in danger, but Zac as well. When the next full moon comes, Lyla and the others make a plan to follow Zac wherever he goes to stop him from getting the trident. After Lyla briefly confronts Zac at the cafe and the two proceed to taunt and patronize each other, the mermaids learn he is planning to attend a Halloween party and she and Nixie volunteer to be waitress for the night to keep an eye on him.

However, despite Lyla and the others best efforts, Zac is able to outsmart them and gain possession of the trident after sneaking away from the party and tricking the girls into a wild goose chase with Cam's help (who had snuck away from the party early and changed into the same costume Zac was wearing to trick the mermaids into chasing him in a different direction from the chamber). Although Lyla begs Zac to put it back for his own safety, Zac still does not trust her and refuses. The girls then make multiple attempts to take the trident from Zac, but he defeats them multiple times with ease with the sheer power of the trident at his disposal. They also learn from Rita that if they do not find a way to get the trident back before the next full moon, it will destroy the moon pool if it is brought there.

However, the girls finally manage to get the trident in "Aquata Returns" and Lyla hides it in a small cave. In spite of this, Lyla is still worried that Zac might find it again knowing that he is far more resourceful then Nixie gives him credit for. While going to check on it, she is horrified to notice that Zac has indeed found the trident as she had feared. With almost no hesitation Lyla attempts to take it from him again but in the ensuing struggle, the trident zaps Lyla and knocks her out cold. A horrified Zac then brings Lyla back to Rita's grotto for help, now wishing he had never unlocked the trident in the first place.

When the mermaids are unable to heal her with their moon rings, Rita realizes that Lyla's only hope is to let them use the trident to refuel their moon rings which he immediately agrees to do. With Zac's help, Lyla is able to recover much to everyone's great relief. Lyla then reveals to Zac what will happen if the trident is brought to the moon pool during a full moon hoping to convince him to put it back and believing that he has proven himself trustworthy. Zac finally agrees and the girls open the chamber for him while he puts it back. Lyla then thanks Zac for both saving her life and putting the trident back, delighted that Zac no longer views her as his enemy and immediately forgiving him for accidentally hurting her.

Later, Lyla is delighted when Zac joins their magic lesson and eagerly greets him, having been invited by Rita. Unfortunately, Nixie is not so welcoming and Lyla defends Zac from her spiteful remarks causing a rift between them as Lyla tries to no avail to convince Nixie that Zac can be trusted. Although Lyla insists to Zac that she will come around, Zac is still discouraged and takes his leave despite Lyla's plea to stay and Rita's insistence that they can still help him. However, Lyla is later able to find time with Zac alone where she is once again Zac's go to confident on merman business.

Lyla then proceeds to teach Zac the ways of the ocean and the history regarding mermaids and mermen, telling him the story of how mermen attempted to destroy mermaids with the trident but were saved when one kind merman who locked the trident away in the chamber. Although Zac's guilt for unlocking the trident grows upon hearing this, Lyla reassures him that he realized his mistake and made it right. Later, Lyla is struck by inspiration and suggests that they try to get Zac to join the pod believing that Zac is just like the kind merman in the past, not wanting to say goodbye to him when they return to the pod. This causes tension between her and Nixie to grow even more. However, Lyla is eventually convinced by Rita an Nixie that returning Zac to normal is whats best for everyone and that she must keep her relationship with Zac platonic. She also accepts that she may ultimately have to forget this whole experience believing that her original idea to get Zac to join the pod will never happen.

Believing that Zac being in the moon pool during a full moon will remove his powers, the girls prepare to return the pod. However, Lyla is unaware that Nixie is secretly planning with Cam to take the trident from the chamber to prevent Zac from getting it again. As Cam dives for the trident with Evie, she is left trapped inside the cave forcing Zac to reveal himself as a merman and the girls are faced to confess as well. However, Lyla soon learns that Cam has deceived Nixie so he can use the trident himself to rule Mako Island after becoming a merman. The girls come together with their moon rings to stop Cam from falling into the moon pool but their moon rings rapidly run out of power. However, they are saved at the last minute by Zac who is able to destroy the trident for good. In the aftermath, Rita awards her and Nixie their own moon rings and Zac remains a merman. Evie later apologizes for judging Lyla and the others so quickly and Lyla immediately forgives her. Lyla, and the other girls then proceed to race each other and Zac to Mako together, accepting that their job to get the pod to come home is not complete yet.

## Personality

A loner and a bit of a rebel, Lyla loves her life as a mermaid and is perfectly content swimming alone all day. She has her own fin in her own way, and she isn't used to having to rely on others, or even cooperating, so she can be a little prickly at times.

When the three mermaids decide to venture onto land to rectify their mistake, Lyla takes a mercenary approach- get legs, sort out the problem, get back to the ocean. But things don't quite go as smoothly as she planned, and Lyla has to accept that she might be on land for a while, but she doesn't have to like it!

As a general rule, Lyla doesn't like mingling with land dwellers but as the series progresses, despite her best efforts, she is drawn to Zac. She becomes Zac's go to confidant, but conflict arises when Zac learns she hid her secret from him and means to take his powers away. Will Lyla's feelings for Zac win out over her desire to go back to the ocean?

By the series end, aloof Lyla will have learned the importance of friendship and after starting out as the most reluctant to go ashore, it is Lyla who's the most reluctant to return to the sea.

## Physical appearance

Lyla was a teenage mermaid by the events of Season 1. She has blonde hair which is short shoulder-length and straight, but actually sometimes her hair is also wavy, blue eyes and full pink lips. She's the tallest out of all the mermaids standing at 5'9 and she is very slim. Her skin is smooth and gently fair.

In a human form she usually has her hair let down, but sometimes she has two ponytails or only one side ponytail. As a mermaid, her hair is let down and she has an orange-scaled tail with an orange-scaled top, that appears to be a lighter color than Nixie and Sirena's.

## Mermaid Powers

Lyla possesses the ability to transform into a mermaid ten seconds after physical contact with water. Once her body is completely dry, she turns back into a human along with the outfit she was wearing before she transformed. As a mermaid, Lyla has the ability to swim at a super speed, and dive at depths no human being is capable of, completely protected from its cold and water pressure. She is also capable of holding her breath for at least fifteen minutes.

Lyla has all the regular and weather powers, and she displayed the powers of Hydrokinesis, Telekinesis, Hydro-Thermokinesis, Hydro-Cryokinesis and Aerokinesis. Lyla also has the natural ability that all merpeople have to make herself invisible. She also owns a Moon Ring given by Rita Santos, which she acquired when she finished her training and mastered her powers.

## Weaknesses

Lyla has all the typical weaknesses of a Southern mermaid. However, she is still susceptible to Mako's Moon Pool's well-being, meaning if it is destroyed or deprived of its powerful, magical Moon Water, she would perish and die with it.

## Trivia

* Lyla is the only one of the three mermaids to not be able to speak dolphin.
* Lyla loves the tails of prawns, the part that humans normally don't eat.
* Lyla is allergic to kelp spores in the Atlantic Ocean.
* Lyla is the the only merperson in Season 1 to show the power of freeze water.
* According to Nixie, Lyla has a fear of sharks.
* Like her friends, she is at first afraid of cats.
* She once got a Snow Rash.
* She used to call houses big boxes when she first walked on land.
* She and Nixie left the show after the first season. Lucy Fry (Lyla) was presumably unavailable due to her new movie, *Vampire Academy*.
* Lyla's mermaid top appears to be a lighter color than Nixie and Sirena's.