Me: I'm Back Mermaid Melody folks after sometime! This is my another one-shot I published today as per the note of 'The Three Families.'
*Silence.*
Me: Looks like everyone is getting ready for an announcement I will make right after this one-shot although I already told on the note part. Just reminding you guys.
*Nagisa and Masahiro appeared.*
Nagisa: I'm here!
Masahiro: So am I.
Me: Whoa! It's really great to see you two back again after a long time.
Nagisa *surprised*: After a long time? I appeared in your crossover 'The Three Families' and that one-shot crossover. So how can it be long time?
Me *knocking my head*: Oh yeah! My bad!
Masahiro: Lucky you Nagisa. Why don't I get to appear in a crossover?
Me: Not now. Later.
Masahiro: Better waiting than never.
*All three of us laughed.*
Me: Once again, thank you for really supporting me by reviewing and liking my other stories.
Nagisa: Zahir890 does not own Mermaid Melody. It belongs to its respective owners.
Me: And now enjoy this one-shot, taking place in a different Mermaid Melody world.
Nagisa *confused*: Different Mermaid Melody World?
Masahiro: Read the summary first. Then you will understand.
The Capture and The Trial of Hippo.
A penguin, whose color is blue with large black eyes and wears a white crew uniform with an anchor put on a pocket in his right side and a matching hat with a red ribbon tied around his hat, has finally made it to the shores after swimming for sometime. He looked left and right, making sure that no people are there. After being sure of it, he yawned a little bit.
"Wah. A nice sun today and another peaceful day at the sea and land." Hippo thought and smiled.
Hippo then took a look around the beach.
"I better check everything to make sure Luchia-san is safe to go to the human world. I hope it's pleasant this time unlike what happened the last time I visited." Hippo said to himself.
But as he is walking by, he heard some whispering voices. He turned around and saw nobody. He sighed in relief as he got a bit nervous that someone spotted him. He then continued walking until he saw a shell which awed him.
"Oh wow. A pretty shell." Hippo said in awe as he took a look at it.
But all off a sudden, something came down and trapped Hippo inside. It took a second for him to realize that he is trapped!
"What the?!" Hippo gasped as he tried to get out but it's no use of course.
"Masahiro. We have finally caught him at last." The voice said happily.
"It sure is Nagisa. Our moms are so gonna be proud of us." Another voice smiled.
And so the two boys took a good look at Hippo, who is shaking in fear. One boy has dark blue bushy hair and blue eyes and is wearing a long sleeved striped shirt with a short sleeve shirt serving as a jacket and knee-length pants. He is 13 years old. His name is Nagisa. The other boy has green spiky hair and dark green eyes. He is wearing glasses. He's wearing brown jacket and dark jeans. He is 15-16 years old. His name is Masahiro. When they looked at Hippo, they smiled and slapped high fives.
"It's him. No doubt about it." Nagisa said.
"I remember our mothers telling us what he looks like." Masahiro said, "And he clearly fits in that description."
Hippo was totally confused. What in the world are the boys talking about?
"What in the world are you talking about?" Hippo asked.
"None of your business!" The boys said angrily, "You will get to see it for yourself!"
"Then could you at least tell me why are you trapping me?"
Both boys then gave a serious look at their face.
"You really did the most betrayal thing no other guardians would have ever done!" Masahiro said angrily.
"Yeah and thanks to your shocking act, my mom suffered a mental breakdown and cried for two whole days!" Nagisa said angrily.
"What do you mean?! What did I do?" Hippo asked in shock.
"Like we said, you will see it for yourself." Masahiro said, "Come on Nagisa. Let's take him to the mansion where our parents are there."
"I really wanted to throw you to the sharks, Hippo." Nagisa said, "But I realize if I did so, then the North Pacific Mermaid Princess would wonder where you are."
"You got that right, Nagisa."
Hippo is Shell-Shocked! How in the world do they know about the North Pacific Mermaid Princess? But before he could ask them, he is already being carried in the cage.
Masahiro hoped into his motorcycle. Nagisa is behind him, carrying the cage where Hippo is inside. Masahiro started the motorcycle and off they went to the mansion.
Outside the Mansion:
Masahiro parked his motorcycle as soon as they reached the mansion.
"Oh boy. I can't wait to see our Moms' reaction when they find out that we caught Hippo." Nagisa said in excitement.
"Same here." Masahiro smiled.
"Wait? Please at least tell me what's going on." Hippo pleaded.
"Like hell we will tell..." Nagisa said angrily but Masahiro calmed him down.
"Come down Nagisa. Let him speak at least." Masahiro said, "What do you want to know?"
"Who are you boys exactly? Why did you catch me? And how did you know about the North Pacific Mermaid Princess?" Hippo asked.
"Like we said, you will see it for yourself."
The boys then approached the door. Masahiro rang the bell. The door opened and the one who opened the door is the butler. He has green hair and green eyes and is wearing the butler's clothes.
"Ah young sir and Nagisa. Good to see you here." The butler smiled.
"It sure is." Masahiro smiled, "We got some really good news to tell you."
"Really? What could it be?"
"We will tell." Nagisa said, "But first, could you call our parents first?"
"Sure."
And so the butler ran to call Masahiro's and Nagisa's parents. Hippo is confused and is a bit frightened. He had no idea what is going on.
Soon their parents came. Nagisa's Mom has cute blue eyes and long blue hair. She looks very pretty and has the aqua shell locket in her neck. Her name is Yukito Shirai. Nagisa's Dad also has blue eyes and blue hair with lot of bangs on his hair. His name is Taoki Shirai. Masahiro's Mom has beautiful green eyes and dark green long hair. She is beautiful and has the green shell locket around her neck. Her name is Naoki Hamasaki. Masahiro's Dad has green eyes and short green hair. His name is Shizuro Hamasaki.
"Wow boys. Do you have anything really exciting to tell us?" Yukito asked in excitement in which Nagisa nodded.
"You boys seem really happy today." Naoki smiled.
"More than happy Mom." Masahiro said happily.
"Cause we have got the best news ever to tell it to you." Nagisa said happily.
"And what could that be?" Taoki asked curiously.
"Let's hear it then." Shizuro said.
"This is really interesting." The butler said.
Nagisa and Masahiro breathe for a moment.
"Okay. So you told us one day about what Hippo did which broke all of our hearts, did you?" Masahiro asked in which the parents nodded.
"You all wish that Hippo will be caught one day and get punished for what he did." Nagisa said, "And we even promise that we will find him and bring him to you, didn't we?"
"Yeah. But why ask?" Yukito asked.
Masahiro and Nagisa gave a huge smile on their faces before saying this:
"We caught him."
There was a shock among everybody and silence occurred for a moment.
"Are you trying to joke with us?" Naoki asked in shock.
"No Mom. We are not joking." Masahiro said, "We really caught him."
"Do you want to see it?" Nagisa asked.
"Yeah son." Taoki asked, "By the way, what's behind your back?"
Both Nagisa and Masahiro smiled as Nagisa finally reveal what's behind his back and to their parents' and the butler's shock, Nagisa showed Hippo in the cage! Hippo is becoming so afraid.
"Who's he?" Shizuro asked.
"Why? The penguin whose action affected us all." Masahiro said.
"Hippo, the despicable penguin." Nagisa said which shocked Hippo, "He looks like the one you told about us. Do you want see it clearly?"
"Better put it on the table." The butler said in which the boys nodded.
So Nagisa put the cage on a small table. Their parents and Masahiro's butler looked at Hippo closely. Hippo shrieked back seeing their faces.
"Ko...ni...chi...wa?" Hippo asked meekly.
When Yukito and Naoki finally knew that this was Hippo, they stared at him more sternly, causing Hippo to go back in fear but he is stuck in the cage.
"It's him. It's really him!" Yukito said angrily, "Hippo, whose actions opened the wounds of all of our hearts!"
"So. How has it been going?" Naoki asked angrily.
"Why are you all angry with me? What did I do to make you all suffer? And how do you know about me?!" Hippo questioned in shock.
"Young sir and Nagisa. How were you able to capture him?" The butler asked.
"Well we were sitting at the beach, chit-chatting. I predicted that Hippo might be coming today in which Nagisa said it's near to impossible but I went to a cage shop and brought a cage anyway." Masahiro explained, "But boy, little did we know that my prediction turned out to be true."
"I was also shocked when we hid in a big rock and we saw the penguin in his sailor's suit. We then suddenly realized that this was the penguin our Moms are talking about." Nagisa said, "So when he was looking at a shell, we knew that it was our chance. So we grabbed the cage and bang! So now here he is."
Their parents and the butler looked at Hippo one last time to make sure that he is the one. When they are finally confirmed, they exploded into happiness and congratulated the boys.
"My son! Give me a five!" Shizuro said happily.
"Yeah!" Masahiro said happily as he slapped high fives with his Dad and Butler.
"Congrats!" The Butler smiled in which Masahiro nodded.
"Oh Wow! We are so proud of you." Taoki said happily as he hugged Nagisa.
"Kyahhh! I'm so proud of you Nagisa. My little boy and Masahiro has finally done it!" Yukito cried in joy as she hugged Nagisa as well.
"Masahiro. This is my thanks to you." Naoki smiled as she kissed Masahiro in the forehead before hugging him.
"Thank you." Masahiro and Nagisa smiled.
After the celebrations are done, they all turned their attention towards Hippo. Yukito and Naoki approached him. Hippo tried to get out of the cage but he couldn't.
"Are they your sons?" Hippo asked.
"Yes they are." Yukito said sternly, "Now guess who we are."
"How should I know?! I never met you guys?!"
"Well if you can look closely, then you will understand." Naoki said.
Naoki picked up the cage so that Hippo can see them clearly. And when Hippo saw 'a thing', he is SHELL-SHOCKED!
You want to know what's 'a thing'? It's the aqua shell locket of Yukito and the green shell locket of Naoki. When Hippo saw it, he couldn't believe what he is seeing and gasped in disbelieve.
"Are you the mermaid princesses of the South and North Atlantic Ocean?!" Hippo asked in shock.
"Close. There's a dash in the front." Naoki said.
Hippo thought for a moment before gasping in shock!
"Don't tell me that..." Hippo is so shocked that he couldn't speak.
"That's right. I'm Yukito, former mermaid princess of the South Atlantic Ocean. And this is my husband and son, Taoki and Nagisa." Yukito said as Taoki and Nagisa approached.
"And I'm Naoki, former mermaid princess of the North Atlantic Ocean. And this is my husband and son, Shizuro and Masahiro. This guy is our butler." Naoki said as Shizuro, Masahiro and the butler approached.
"And we are the former mermaid princesses' family!" Both Yukito and Naoki said.
The others nodded as they all circled around Hippo, who is stuck in the cage. Hippo couldn't believe that he is meeting the former mermaid princesses for the first time. But from the look of their faces, it isn't a warm welcome for Hippo. But Hippo couldn't understand. What wrong did he do?
"Please. At least answer me this question. Why all of you are having a grudge against me?" Hippo pleaded.
"You will see it for yourself!" Taoki said sternly.
"Well boys." Shizuro smiled, "For the capture of Hippo, you are in for some special treat."
"Special treat! Oh Boy!" Nagisa said in excitement.
"But first our Moms need to heal their old wounds first." Masahiro said in which everyone nodded.
"But what old wounds did I cause?!" Hippo cried but they ignored him.
"You are right Masahiro." Naoki smiled, "We need to go to the North Pacific Kingdom and arrange everything. It's sunny so we have plenty of time to arrange everything in the North Pacific Kingdom."
"Yeah. Meanwhile, we will make sure that Hippo doesn't escape from the cage." The butler said, "He can really be cunning sometimes."
"Taoki, I will tell you about the later plans when we get back to our house." Yukito said.
"Sure." Taoki agreed.
"Well you better guard it then. We have all been waiting for this for years." Nagisa said.
"Of course. We are not gonna let him escape." Shizuro said.
"Well then. We are leaving now." Naoki said, "See you later."
"Yeah. See ya."
And so Yukito, Naoki, Nagisa and Taoki left. Masahiro yawned for a moment. Hippo has absolutely no idea what is going on but he is feeling that something bad is coming but what he did do that devastated Yukito and Naoki is still unanswered to him.
Night:
Shizuro is doing some exercise. The butler has served tea to Shizuro and himself, in which they drank it. Hippo is served small biscuits but all he wants to do is to get out of the cage but he couldn't because from morning to night, they kept an eye on him to make sure he doesn't escape. The butler kept an eye on him till afternoon, Masahiro kept an eye on him in the evening and now at night, both Shizuro and the butler are keeping an eye on him.
"Could you please let me out?" Hippo asked, "We can talk about this."
"Oh. Don't think that we will let you out so easily after a really traitorous thing you did, You Love-Hater!" The butler growled.
"Love-Hater?!"
"That's right. An exact term to describe you!" Shizuro said angrily, "You had really done such a thing a guardian would have never thought of doing it! And because of that, our children and this good butler will never be able to see her again!"
This is where Hippo got shocked.
"See who again?!" Hippo asked in shock.
Before Shizuro could answer, a ring sound could be heard in which the butler rang to open the door. It's Taoki Shirai, smiling.
"It's time." Taoki said slowly.
"It's time? Oh! So all arrangements are done?" The butler asked.
"Yep. Just a few minutes ago, Yukito appeared in her mermaid form and told me to bring Hippo to the beach while she is sending her messenger to bring Hippo to the kingdom."
"Ah! Hippo, prepare to pay the price for your actions." Shizuro smiled evily in which Hippo shook in fear.
"So where is your son by the way?"
"Oh. He is in Kazama's house. Yours?"
"Hotoshi came to our house to spend some time with Nagisa."
"I see. Here you go."
Shizuro gave the cage to Taoki. After taking the cage, Taoki walked off to the beach.
Beach:
Taoki is waiting for Yukito's messenger to arrive. Hippo tried to beg Taoki to tell him what's going on.
"Why are you all doing this to me?" Hippo asked in tears.
"You indirectly made my wife suffer a mental breakdown and she cried for two whole days." Taoki said sternly.
"But what in the world did I do?"
Before Taoki could answer, he noticed a dark sea blue color dorsal fin swimming towards him. The shark then leaped through the air before going back to the water and smiling at Taoki. The shark's top part is in dark sea blue color while it's bottom part is in light blue color. Its eyes are in dark blue. Some of his sharp teeth could be seen.
"You will see it for yourself." Taoki said before turning to the shark, "How things go Setsuki?"
Setsuki nodded with a smile.
"You are going to take Hippo to the North Pacific Kingdom, right?" Taoki asked with a smile.
Setsuki again nodded and smiled as Taoki picked up the cage and looked at Hippo for a moment.
"This might probably be the last time we will see you." Taoki said.
"What?! What do you mean by that?!" Hippo asked in shock.
But by then, Taoki gave the cage to Setsuki, who grabbed it with his sharp teeth. He got a pat in the head from Taoki before beginning to swim towards The North Pacific Kingdom.
Under the Sea:
Setsuki is swimming towards the North Pacific Kingdom. The North Pacific Kingdom has a strong resemblance to the Taj Mahal with many lights on it but this time the lights are off. Hippo has no idea why but began to wonder how things can happen badly to him so quickly. He still did not know what did he do that lead the sufferings of Yukito, Naoki and their family, why they have a grudge against him and why does Yukito and Naoki want him to be captured. He also has no idea what arrangements are being held in North Pacific Kingdom but seeing the lights off, he felt that something not good is going to happen.
"What did I actually do to deserve this?" Hippo thought and is a bit scared.
Setsuki finally arrived at the palace. It's a bit dark as all the lights are switched off. He then put the cage down before swimming out of the palace. Hippo remained in the cage for sometime as he is starting to become scared.
"Why is everything so dark?" Hippo wondered.
But then all off a sudden...
"DOWN WITH HIPPO! DOWN WITH HIPPO!"
"TRAITOR! TRAITOR! TRAITOR!"
"HE MUST BE PUNISHED!"
These chants totally shook Hippo. Soon the lights, except one, are turned on and Hippo could see all the pink mermaids chanting against him, making angry faces with one mermaid even throwing an object to Hippo but he is protected because he is inside the cage. But these chants and angry faces stun Hippo. Why the pink mermaids are angry at him? The light that is not on is a mermaid sitting in the princess's throne chair so Hippo couldn't see her clearly. Oh and inside the castle, there is also a fountain with a clam on it and there are golden spiral pillars holding the ceiling.
Pretty soon, Naoki swam and let Hippo out of the cage before forcing him to stay in the middle. She then gave Hippo a cold glare.
"Sea Enemy No.1!" Naoki growled which frightened Hippo.
"You are on trial tonight for committing a betrayal act which broke all of our hearts." Naoki said sternly.
"But what act did I do?!" Hippo cried.
"You will get the clues." The shadowy figure said, "But first swear yourself."
"Do you swear to tell the truth and the whole truth?" Naoki asked.
"I swear to tell the truth." Hippo said, "But what did I do?!"
Naoki took a breathe for a moment. Everyone is silent for a moment.
"First clue for you. Who was the mermaid princess at that time before the princess name Luchia succeeded her?" Naoki asked.
Hippo thought long and hard for a moment before knowing the answer.
"Azumi-san." Hippo said.
"Correct." Naoki said, "Now guess what happened to her?"
"Well maybe I guess she is having a happy life with her loved one and is staying in the human world but she is not keeping in contact with us. Maybe she might have forgotten about her duties of being a mermaid princess so we had to convince Aqua Regina-sama to give an extra pink shell locket and the pink pearl."
Hippo's answer shocked everyone. Yukito, in tears, swam and slapped Hippo with her fins.
"You really want to know what happened to her?!" Yukito asked in tears.
"Why? What happened?" Hippo got a bit surprised.
Yukito gave a loud angry voice to Hippo in tears:
"SHE WAS DEAD! SHE KILLED HERSELF! AND THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
Yukito then cried on Naoki's shoulder, who comforted her. Some pink mermaids are also in tears, including the shadowy figure whose crying voice can be heard. The other pink mermaids are chanting angrily, calling Hippo a 'betrayer' and a 'traitor'. Hippo couldn't believe what he just heard.
"Azumi-san committed suicide?!" Hippo asked in shock.
"Yes she did!" Naoki said sternly, "So you know it now. You are on trial tonight for committing an act which lead Azumi to kill herself!"
"FOR AZUMI!" The pink mermaids chanted.
"But how can you be so sure about it?! And how I'm responsible for her death?!" Hippo asked in shock.
"There's a link between these two questions." Naoki said, "How about I call Azumi's helper and hear what she has to say."
A mermaid arrived and stopped in her tracks when she saw Hippo. Naoki soon spoke to her:
"Now tell me what happened on that day when the book arrived on the North Pacific Kingdom. Don't be afraid to speak up."
Azumi's helper took a breathe for a moment before pointing angrily at Hippo and said:
"Just when the book arrived, I got very excited but all off a sudden, Hippo snatched the book from me. He then read the whole book and then suddenly and then he immediately closed the book and threw it away which completely shocked me. Hippo then said that he will tell Azumi everything but never ever that law which I don't know. He even spoke harshly to me."
All of the pink mermaids gasped in shock and started chanting against Hippo. Hippo, himself, is shock!
"I never threw any books in my entire life!" Hippo protested, only to get another fin slap by Yukito.
"You Liar! You are trying to defend yourself in spite of what you did!" Yukito said angrily.
The other pink mermaids chanted angrily against Hippo, calling him a 'Liar!".
"Could you please tell me what is the book name?" Hippo asked.
"The book name is or was 'The Book of Mermaid Laws' written by Aqua Regina." Naoki said in which everyone gasped in horror and seeing the change of Hippo's expression, "So now you remember what you did, do you?"
Hippo's expression change to a shock! All off a sudden, he clearly remembers about that day when he threw that book away which shocked Azumi's helper.
"You threw the book written by Aqua Regina-sama, the Sea Goddess?!" A pink mermaid asked in shock.
"Shame on you Hippo! Shame on you!" A few pink mermaids said angrily.
"Boo!" All the others jeered.
Hippo tried to cover his ears to stop hearing the booing chants but it failed. Hippo then cried and shouted:
"Alright! I remember now! I admit I threw the book away and I didn't tell her one law! But what is that one law and why it had a huge effect on Azumi? And I'm still not convinced that Azumi killed herself just for not knowing one law!"
"The one law you didn't tell had a huge negative effect on Azumi." Naoki said, "And it can all be proven with this!"
Yukito gave a piece of paper to Naoki in which everyone is curious about it.
"What's that?" A pink mermaid asked.
"You will know it when I read it loud and clear." Naoki said, "You also better listen -Hater."
Hippo got a bit angry when Naoki called him that but all those anger faded away when Naoki read the letter:
Dear Yukito and Naoki,
I can't live as a mermaid princess anymore. My guardian, Hippo, has completely betrayed me. He never told me about that law in which I can reveal my true form if his mom was a mermaid and because of his betrayal action I lost the love of my life whose mom was a mermaid. My life has completely being ruined.
I am sorry. You guys take care of yourself and hope you prosper with your love ones in life. I will always regard you as my best friends.
Love from Azumi.
As soon as Naoki read the letter, the pink mermaids could only gasp in horror and everyone made a serious angry stares at Hippo, who himself is in shock!
"So it's...it's..." One mermaid gasped and is starting to cry.
"It's a suicide note!" Another mermaid gasped in horror.
"That's right." Yukito said in anger, "And do you want to know what law Hippo hid from all of you, especially the princess?"
All the North Pacific Mermaids nodded eagerly. They really want to know what law Hippo didn't tell the princess.
"If you still don't believe it, read it yourself then!" Naoki said as she slammed the suicide note right on Hippo's face.
Yukito then began to proclaim:
"Law No.34! Mermaids are free to express their true form to their loved ones if only his mom is a mermaid. In addition, he can become a prince if his mother is a former mermaid princess!"
The mermaids couldn't believe it! The law in which they are allowed to find love at least was never told in this kingdom ever! Some tried to even attack Hippo but got pulled back by the other mermaids. Some who tried to attack said:
"You Love-Hater! You Low Life Penguin Scum!"
"You really broke her heart, as well as ours, for not telling her that love law!"
"TRAITOR! DOWN WITH HIPPO!"
As Hippo is reading the suicide note, tears started to come out from her eyes in which no one noticed. Then a pink mermaid realized one thing and asked in horror:
"Could it be that Azumi must have swam down in tears after being broken up by her boyfriend and then saw the book in which she saw that law? And then when she realized it, she killed herself?!"
"Yep. That's what the suicide note said but after finding out that law, she went to her home and hanged herself." Naoki said which shocked everyone.
"So how was Azumi able to find the book?" The another mermaid asked.
"We don't know. The last time we saw her is at school. She ran away in tears and we saw the news of her death the next day." Yukito said sadly.
"Oh and by the way, Hippo. About how we know Azumi. We were her best friends." Naoki said, "And we are going to tell the events that lead her death."
Naoki then began to tell the events about how they become Azumi's best friends, how Azumi has fallen in love with a boy whose mother was a pink mermaid and so on until she told this to everyone:
"We were having a nice time one day when we saw, to our shock, that the boy Azumi loves is with another girl. Azumi went to him to talk about this but he said he is giving up on her because of the secret she refuses to tell him about. Azumi was in tears and we comforted her. She then left and that was the last time we saw her."
"The next day, we found out that Azumi hanged herself at her house and we were totally shocked. Our school was in grief and Yukito suffered a mental breakdown and cried for two whole days!"
"A few years after that, we went to our kingdoms to give our respective pearls to the people. After that, Yukito went to the police station while I had a talk with Azumi's helper about what happened to the book. At first I didn't believe what she said but after reading the suicide note which Yukito got from the police station and thought of what she said, I finally realized that you, Hippo the Love-Hater Penguin, are responsible for her suicide!"
"We asked her if she saw the Book of Mermaid and she said she never heard of that book!" Yukito cried.
All the pink mermaids gasped in shock.
"You wanna know what she else she said to us?!" Yukito asked in anger which frightened Hippo, "She said she trusted you and she will always believe you."
"And you broken her trust!" A pink mermaid said angrily, "I cannot believe her own guardian would do such a thing!"
"TRAITOR! TRAITOR! TRAITOR!" The other pink mermaids chanted.
"And as a result, our children and butler will never be able to see her again. But they were determined to capture you so that you will face the penalty of your actions!" Naoki said, "So Hippo. Anymore protest you can make?"
Hippo lowered down his head in shame. He never thought what actually happened to Azumi until now. Now he knows why the boys had captured him: To put him on trial as he is responsible for Azumi's suicide. Everything has now been revealed. He now realized that he should have never thrown the book away and he should have told Azumi that law but now it's too late. This was his biggest mistake he had ever committed but, to them, he did it criminally. Hippo slowly began to cry. He then told this:
"I...I can explain. Ple...Please forgive me. I had no intention to..."
"I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR USELESS EXPLANATION!" The shadowy figure shouted in tears.
The princess finally emerged from the light that is not on, slowly approaching towards Hippo. Her mermaid form is with a bracelet around one of her upper arm and double pearl bracelet around one of her wrists and her tail. Their all in different colors. Her hair is loose and barely in pigtails the tips of which have been loosely curled. There are also glittering pearls and flower petals strewn throughout her hair. She wears lacy elbow length gloves, and her dress has three bows in the center as well as three layers of cloth, all centered in the front. She also has a choker of laces. That princess always use to be chubby, happy and always upbeat which Hippo sometimes didn't mind. But this time, it's different. Her eyes are red. She must have cried a lot. She gave an angry stare to Hippo, which frightened him. Never in Hippo's life has he seen the princess so angry at him.
"Lu...Luchia-san?" Hippo asked meekly.
SLAP!
That's right. Luchia, the North Pacific Mermaid Princess, slapped Hippo hard across the face. A red mark appeared across Hippo's face. But Luchia didn't stop there. She continued to slap Hippo even more harder. Hippo is crying in pain from all the slaps he is getting.
"Luchia-san! Please stop it!" Hippo cried and pleaded.
"Like Hell I will Stop it!" Luchia cried in anger as she gave Hippo another slap, this time with her fins.
Hippo withered in pain as he tried to look at Luchia. Luchia is filled with anger and sadness.
"I trusted you Hippo." Luchia said, "I trusted every word you said and I was pretty sure you would make a good guardian."
"Luchia-san?" Hippo asked a bit frighteningly.
"But now what I'm hearing?! You threw the book away in which there are Mermaid Laws written by Aqua-Regina-sama! You broke Azumi's heart by not saying that law in which she could have been so happy had you said that law to her. And because of that, she got ditched by her boyfriend and she committed suicide!"
"Please listen..."
"You want me to suffer the same fate like Azumi, do you?! You don't want me to find love, do you?! All you care about is blocking human and mermaid love and being too concern with the duties!"
"That was never my intention..."
"Naoki and Yukito told me everything when they came to this palace. They told me not to trust you which caught me by surprise. Unlike you, it took them only a few explanations and the suicide note for me to realize the true colors of you!"
"But..."
"No buts! I cried and cried after reading the suicide note! I can't believe that you took advantage of Azumi's trust and could have been my trust if it aren't for the former mermaid princess of the South and North Atlantic Ocean, Yukito and Naoki."
"Luc..."
"We have no idea where the book is. Yukito tried and tried to find the book but without much success! She said she will still keep trying but there's a very low chance of finding. So maybe the book has already being destroyed or being buried in a place where it's impossible to find! And it's all your fault!"
"Maybe I can find it..."
"Hippo. For your betrayal actions in which you threw The Book of Mermaid Laws and not telling the Law No.34 to our former mermaid princess which lead to her suicide, I..."
Luchia took a breathe for a moment before shouting at the top of her lungs to Hippo:
"I DISMISS YOU AS MY GUARDIAN AND YOU ARE BANISHED FROM THIS KINGDOM FOREVER!"
Hippo gasped in shell-shock at what Luchia just said while the other North Pacific Mermaids roared in joy and cheers.
"Luchia-san! You can't do this!" Hippo cried.
"Don't tell me what I can't and what I can." Luchia said angrily in tears, "This kingdom has no place for traitors to stay in. Thanks to your actions, I will never be able to meet Azumi again!"
"But then who will..."
"I don't need guardians like you who take advantage of the princess' trust. I can manage on my own!"
Luchia then called her servants:
"My people. Throw this penguin out! From now on, he is forbidden to enter into this palace."
Her servants nodded as they are preparing to grab Hippo.
"Luchia-san. Please at least listen..." Hippo cried but before he could finish his sentence, a pink mermaid already lifted him.
"Princess won't listen to traitors like you!" The pink mermaid said angrily.
"TRAITOR! TRAITOR! TRAITOR!" The others chanted.
And so with this chant, other chants and roar of cheers and joy, the North Pacific Mermaids lifted Hippo up and down and threw him out of the palace. Hippo tried to swim back inside but the passage is already being closed. Hippo then began to cry.
Hippo then swam for a few minutes before sitting down on a rock with a ashamed look in his face. He realized that he should have never threw the book away and he should have told Azumi that law but it's too late now. Now that everything has been known to others, he has been banished from the kingdom for eternity. Now he has nowhere to go.
"What have I done? Now I'm no longer Luchia-san's guardian and I have no home now." Hippo said to himself and cried, "What shall I do now?"
Suddenly Hippo has an idea in his mind.
"Maybe if I can find the book, then Luchia-san, Yukito-san, Naoki-san and others might forgive me. Then maybe I will be welcomed back home."
And with that in mind, Hippo began to search for the book. However, sadly, it isn't long before he bumped into the shark again. Yes, the same shark who transported Hippo to the palace. The shark's face seems pretty angry which frightened Hippo.
"He..llo?" Hippo gulped.
Setsuki looked at him for a few minutes before his eyes turned into red and he swam straight towards Hippo.
"Wait?! What are you doing?!" Hippo cried but then saw Setsuki opening his shark teeth and swimming straight towards him.
Hippo tried to swim away but it's no use. Setsuki is within inches away.
"NOOOOOOO!" Hippo screamed.
Next day
Between Morning and Afternoon
Mansion:
The Shirai and The Hamasaki family looked at the portrait of Azumi. There are also several pink candles around the portrait. The two families are paying their respect to her.
"Azumi. After many years, Hippo has finally been caught and punished for his traitorous acts." Yukito said.
"He has been dismissed as a guardian and he has been banished from the North Pacific Kingdom so he is no longer welcomed." Naoki said.
"We might have never met but this was the least we could do for you." Nagisa said.
"I hope now you can finally rest in peace, Aunt Azumi." Masahiro said.
"We all miss you, Azumi. We really do. Our wives had suffered a lot and our children and the butler will never be able to see you again." Taoki sadly said.
"But now with the satisfactory verdict delivered, our wives' wound has been healed." Shizuro said.
"Now the princess won't need to suffer the same fate that happened to you." The butler said, "Rest in Peace Azumi."
They all have a minute silence until Masahiro broke the silence.
"So what did the princess say after the trial?" Masahiro asked.
"Well she at first thank us for telling everything about Hippo. She then said that as long as she sees and reads the book, she will not enter the human world." Naoki said.
Both Nagisa and Masahiro are a bit shocked.
"But it's gonna take ages to find the book." Nagisa said, "You even said that the probability of finding the book is really low Mom."
"I know." Yukito said, "But she said she will sent her people to help us look for the book should we search for it. She even offered herself for help."
"Oh dear. So if the book is not found, then it means that she will stay in the sea world forever." The butler said.
"I know." Taoki sighed, "If only there is a book detector or something that can work under the sea."
"Very unlikely." Shizuro sadly said.
There is a silence for a minute.
"Well at least the job is done." Shizuro smiled, "So boys. Are you ready for some special treat?"
"Yeah Dad. I'm so excited." Masahiro said happily.
"Me too." Nagisa smiled.
And so Shizuro and the butler led the way for their special treat. Yukito and Naoki smiled at them. After many years, they have finally done their job thanks to their sons who caught Hippo. They know that Azumi can finally now rest in peace.
Afternoon at the beach:
A boy, who has yellow hair and yellow eyes and is in the same age as Nagisa's, is relaxing at the beach. He is wearing his beach sunglasses. After a few minutes, he heard a voice:
"Hotoshi."
Hotoshi took out his sunglasses and saw his mother smiling at him.
"Oh. It's you Mom." Hotoshi said.
"He will be calling us soon." Hotoshi's mother smiled.
"Dad?"
Hotoshi's mother nodded. But as soon as Hotoshi got up, he saw something floating and is in awe.
"Mom! Look! Something is floating!" Hotoshi exclaimed.
Hotoshi's mom also saw something floating and is surprised. The object that is floating is a matching hat with a red ribbon tied around the hat.
"It's a sailor hat." Hotoshi's mom said.
Hotoshi then grabbed the hat and put it at his head. He quite liked the hat.
"Look at me Mom. I'm Hotoshi the Sailor Boy." Hotoshi sang.
Hotoshi's mother giggled and laughed a little bit and patted Hotoshi.
"Well you sure are." Hotoshi's mother smiled.
Hotoshi then took out the hat and gave it to his mother. She examined the hat for a few minutes.
"That's a really unique hat. I wonder who owns it." Hotoshi's mother said.
Hotoshi then gasped for a moment.
"Could it be that some sailors or someone was drowned?!" Hotoshi gasped in horror.
"Probably yes." Hotoshi's mother said, "But it could also be probably no because sailors usually wear plain white sailor hats or sailor hats with black ribbons tied around it."
"So what do you think we should do about it?"
Hotoshi's mother thought about it for a moment.
"Maybe we will see the news and see what happens. If there are any ships sinking and drowning related then maybe we will give it to the police. If not, then you can keep it." Hotoshi's mother said.
"Good idea Mom." Hotoshi said.
And then a voice called:
"Yo! Time to go home!"
"Hai. We are coming dear!" Hotoshi's mother called back, "Come on Hotoshi. Let's go home."
"Hai." Hotoshi agreed.
And so they left with Hotoshi wearing the hat, enjoying it.
Me: And that's the end of this one-shot and the last fanfic of 2015.
Nagisa *laughing evily*: Ho Ho! Ha Ha! I would love to see that happen if Gaito's attacks had never taken place.
Masahiro: Don't say it aloud, Nagisa. If Hippo and Luchia-chan hears it and if Hippo sees this one-shot, boy you are so screwed!
Me: You got that right.
Nagisa: Uh Oh. Looks like Luchia-chan and Kaito are coming.
Masahiro: Chill Nagisa. At least Hippo isn't here.
*Luchia and Kaito appeared.*
Kaito: So author. Done publishing your last fanfic of 2015?
Me *smiling*: Yep.
*We all smiled.*
Luchia *smiling*: What a year we had. You finished your first novel, your successful 'The Mermaid Law No One Ever Knows.' and you did 6 one-shots. That's really amazing!
Kaito: Yeah. And that includes 2 crossover one-shots and 1 one-shot from 'Tom and Jerry' section.
Nagisa *saying happily*: And not to forget the crossover story 'The Three Families' in which I appeared. Yahoo!
Luchia *whining*: No fair! You and your parents are so lucky to appear in a crossover.
*Everybody laughed.*
Kaito: When can we appear in a crossover?
Me: Not now. One at the time. Too many stories planned on my head.
Masahiro *laughing a little bit*: Give yourself a break man.
Nagisa: He will after this but overall we had so much fun right?
*Everyone nodded.*
Luchia *smiling*: Well it's time for your last announcement for 2015 so it's all up to you now.
*Everyone nodded and Luchia, Kaito, Nagisa and Masahiro left.*
Me: Even though I said it in 'The Three Families' 's note, I'm saying it again. I won't be writing the rest of December as holidays are coming up but I will be back in the first or second week of January, starting with a Mermaid Melody story.
It really has been a wonderful 2015. Thank you all for supporting me by liking and reviewing my other stories and I hope you do the same thing in this one-shot. So until then...
*Lights are turned on as the casts of 'The Mermaid Law No One Ever Knows', 'The Three Families', 'Food Fight Massacre', 'Another Panthalassan', 'Cousins' Visit', 'The Nightmare Consequences of Not Reading' and this one-shot are there, waving their hands happily and smiling.
The Casts *waving their hands happily and proclaiming*: AN EARLY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND AN EARLY HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Me *waving my hand happily*: See You Later in 2016! Farewell!