With a snap of his fingers, Ezekial Flint turned himself and his brother back into men. But they were still mermen.
“You know,” Johnny said, “I’Ve kinda been wondering, how are you able to turn me and yourself into fish?”
“Well,” Ezekial said, “that be a dark deadly secret. Ye promise not to tell anyone?”
“My lips are sealed.” Johnny said.
“Ye see,” Ezekial said, “a while ago, on one of me voyages, long before me nephew was even born, I struck down a nasty sea witch, who threatened to sink the boat our father took on his final voyage.”
“You mean the S.S. Mudskipper?” Johnny asked his brother. Ezekial nodded.
“but,”, he said, “in her final moments, she struck me with her deadliest curse - the curse to give people the power to turn others, and meself, into fish. I had just barely kept this power as a secret from our father, and you, And yer wife, of course.”
“That,” He said, “Is be why I not tell ye about me secret powers. Besides, I mostly call this a blessing, not a foul curse. Ye do know where I’m going with this, matey?”
“Yes, yes I do.” Johnny said. “Don’t worry, brother. You kept this secret from Dad, and I will keep it too. But you will have to tell my wife and son eventually.”
Ezekial nodded grimly.