Kyrie

Chapter 7: Road to Heaven


Come with me flyin'

Higher, give me more

It feels like riding

Faster than before

On the road,

The road to heaven.

-Kim Lian, from 'Road to Heaven'


"Isn't it a little impolite to run out on people?" Hanon asked as she followed Lucia and the others down the sidewalk. they were already a good distance away from the Piari, and they were approaching the open area where the sea and the land met. A small sign declared the area to be a park, and there a few amenities there to make it a nice place ti sit and watch the water or have a picnic. They could already see a tall creature, long necked, with glowing yellow eyes.

"I'm sure Michel will understand." Lucia panted.

"Besides, the Mirror was glowing," Seira said. "We have to get the next Heart Orb."

"Come on," Rina spoke up. "Let's hurry."


Find out who is defeating the monsters…

The mammoth, black creature stretched above the few small trees, roaring menacingly. Its master had ordered it to learn what was attacking them. It would not fail its master.

Most of the humans were running away from it, but four of them were coming towards it. Could these be ones that were destroying its brethren?

A few feet away, the Dark King's servant watched and wondered what he was looking for. The King had ordered him to find out who was destroying the monsters. All the humans seemed alike to him, and he wondered how he was supposed to figure out which ones were the enemies.

"Pink Pearl Voice!"

"Aquamarine Pearl Voice!"

"Green Pearl Voice!"

"Orange Pearl Voice!"

The servant watched, intrigued as the four humans transformed. Pearl Voice? The only creatures in the world who could become Pearl Voices were mermaids. Had the Ancient Ones involved the Mermaid Princesses in the battle?


Meanwhile, as Lucia and the others had headed for the battle, Kaito had headed for the Pearl Piari.

He headed up the front walk and pushed open the door of the building. No one was inside the room except for Michel.

"Michel, have you seen Lucia?" Kaito asked.

"She and others went out, supposedly to go shopping." Michel replied. "Apparently, everyone's taken the afternoon off."

"That's odd. Usually Nikora reads them the riot act if they try and do that."

"It was Taki-san's idea."

Kaito shrugged. "Oh, well, I guess I'll go see what Lucia's up to. You wanna come with me?"

"Sure." Michel replied. "It's not like I have anything else to be doing."

And with that, the two of them set off to find Lucia and the others.


The Heart Mirror wasn't glowing any brighter, but then again, it wasn't glowing any softer.

"I can't tell where the Heart Orb is." Seira said as she looked at the mirror. She tried tilting the mirror slightly in different directions to see if the glow would get stronger, but it remained unchanged.

"We'll find it later." Rina told her. "Right now we have bigger things to worry about."

The monster behind them roared angrily.

"Pink Pearl Voice!"

"Aquamarine Pearl Voice!"

"Green Pearl Voice!"

"Orange Pearl Voice!"

The monster roared again. Lucia clutched her microphone tighter. Kaito, I'm worried. I wish you were here with me now. Kaito.

Kaito. A few miles away from the park, Kaito started as he heard Lucia's voice. "Lucia?"

Lucia needed him, Kaito was certain. "Lucia!" He shouted as he took off running. "Lucia!"

Did I miss something? Michel wondered as he stared after Kaito. Then he decided to follow him. Perhaps Kaito was onto something.

Kaito didn't stop running until he reached the park. He darted in through the gate and glanced around, trying to figure out where Lucia was at. A huge, dark monster roared. That was where Lucia was, he was certain. "Lucia!" He shouted as he took off across the park.

Michael paused for a moment to catch his breath as he reached the gates of the park. Kaito seemed certain Lucia was here. A roar caught his attention, and he looked up to see a giant, dark monster attacking people.

"What is that thing?" He wondered as he took a step back. Then something else caught his eye.

It was a small glowing ball of white energy. It felt familiar to him, somehow. He held his hands out to it, and it flew over to him and landed in his hands. A moment after it landed in his hands, it began a blinding, white glow.

The light began to surround him, and the orb of light absorbed itself into his chest.

A moment later, amid a flurry of white feathers, a single pair of large, white wings burst out of his back.


The four Mermaid Princesses had barely been able to start their song before the creature had lashed out at them and sent them flying.

"Kyaaaaa!" Seira screamed as she was sent flying. But before she could hit the ground, someone caught her.

"Kaito?" Seira asked as she opened her eyes. It wasn't Kaito, though.

"Michel!" She gasped. He was still in human form, but he had wings now. He turned and flew back to where the mermaids were regrouping, and set Seira down.

If Seira had been shocked by seeing Michel with wings, then the other mermaids and Kaito were even more astounded.

"Michel?" Hanon asked. "How did you get those wings?"

"You're another mermaid." He told Hanon. "I can tell from your voice."

"How did you get those wings?" Hanon persisted.

"A little ball of energy." He replied. "It was what gave me wings."

Rina and Lucia looked at each other, almost reading each other's minds. Heart Orb.

A roar from the creature called everyone's attention back to the matter at hand.

"We can't stop this thing." Lucia told Kaito. "Every time we try to start our Pichi Concert, that thing sends us flying."

"I can distract it." Michel told them.

"No, you can't do that!" Seira told him.

"Why not?" Michel wanted to know.

No one replied.

"Don't worry, Seira." Michel said. "Just sing. I'll be fine." He turned and flew away, up towards the monster.

"We can't tell him why he can't fight this thing, so we'd better do what he says and start singing." Rina told them.

"I guess you're right." Lucia said. "Let's go, everyone!"

"Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!"


The Dark King's servant watched as Michel flew up towards the monster, effectively distracting it from the Pichi mermaids who had begun their song.

This human had wings, he realized. Wings just like the Ancient Ones…

On the ground, the Pearl Voices had begun singing.

The tears that hurt so much overflow in the nightly depths of the sea.
But as I stretch my hand across the glass surface of the water, light reaches them.

This was interesting, he realized as slunk back into the darkness of his hiding place. At least he knew who was defeating the monsters.

The only things I can see can only hear my voice.
Realize the fact that it's not everything.
The things I can believe have all increased by one, and now I can become stronger.
After being hurt, I'm shining again and feel our invincible bonds.

The monster did not appreciate the mermaids singing down near its feet. It turned towards them, growling low in its throat. The song was starting to hurt it, and it didn't like that.

Before it could move attack the mermaids, its attention was distracted by the winged creature flying around its head.

It isn't someone, it has to be you.
Through all the pain, I still pursue to increase them.
If miracles overlap over one another, it would seem like they could change fate.
Throwing away all doubts and darkness,
I believe in our strong bonds.

Michel darted out of the way as the monster swung an arm out at him. Flying came naturally to him; almost as naturally as playing his flute did, though he didn't understand how he was able to do either. He twisted around and landed crouched on the side of a building, only to dart out and take flight again a moment later, leaving the monster nothing to grab but a few white feathers that had fallen off his wings.

Anxiety and loneliness all are born from the shadow of your own weakness.
But don't look away from it; you can face it without running away.
The things that make your hand waver and the sicknesses you feel
aren't real problems. Remember that.

Kaito waited next to the Mermaid princesses, his sigil glowing. If the monster attempted to attack the mermaids, he would be ready. But so far, it appeared unlikely he would need to join the fray. The creature was now writhing, and had even given up on chasing Michel.

You should know the meaning of supporting oneself, so become stronger now.
Money alone can't buy our eternal bound bonds with one another.
No matter where you are, our melody will reach you
and you won't be alone.

Michel flew back down and landed next to Kaito. "I believe this fight is almost over."

Kaito smirked. "So is the song."

After being hurt, I'm shining again and feel our invincible bonds.
It isn't someone, it has to be you.
Through all the pain, I still pursue to increase them.
If miracles overlap over one another, it would seem like they could change fate.
Throwing away all doubts and darkness,
I believe in our strong bonds.

"Love Shower, Pitch!"

The creature let out a shriek.

"Would you like an encore?" Lucia asked.

In response, the creature turned to dust and blew away on the wind.

"These monsters are getting stronger." Rina said. "Whoever is sending them knows something is up."

"Is that what you're all always running off to do?" Michel asked. "Fight monsters?"

Before anyone else could come up with a reply, Hanon spoke up. "Yep. It comes with the territory of being a Mermaid Princess."

There was a momentary pause, than Seira spoke up. "Michel! You got your wings back!"

"That might be a problem…" Kaito pointed out.

"How?" Michel wanted to know.

"Well, most humans don't have wings."

"Can't you get rid of them?" Hanon asked him. "You know, make go away, like how we transform and de-transform?"

"I'm not even sure how I got these wings." Michel pointed. "What was that ball of light, anyway?"

No one answered, which immediately alerted Michel that something was up.

"All of you know what that ball of light was, don't you? But you won't tell me, because I'm not supposed to know, yes?" He asked.

Still no answer.

"Oh my word."

"Look, you should not be out in public with those wings." Kaito pointed out.

"Kaito's right." Lucia suddenly realized. "We'd better get back to the Pearl Piari right away!"


At the Pearl Piari, Nikora was checking a customer out. Even though the girls had gotten the day off, there was still work to do.

She was almost done checking the customer out when the door opened and Lucia poked her head in. "Okay, coast is clear." The rest of the mermaids and Michel followed her inside a moment later.

And no sooner had they come inside then they all realized something: Lucia had been wrong. Nikora was frowning at Lucia, and the customer was looking at Michel.

"Umm… we were just … going upstairs!" Lucia blurted out, then grabbed Michel and fairly shoved him up the stairs, not stopping until they had reached Michel's room.

"Did that young man have wings?" The customer wanted to know.

Rina, Hanon and Seira looked extremely nervous. "No. Not at all." Hanon replied. "You just thought he had wings."

"Really?" The man asked. "Then how do you explain the white feathers all over the stairs?"

Now the three of them looked even more nervous. "Umm… uhh… those were cosplay wings. We're getting ready for a convention coming up, and we're keeping it a secret so we can win first place." Hanon amended her earlier claim.

The man looked unconvinced.

"Uh, we'll go, get a broom, and, clean up those feathers." Rina said, and the three of them made a hasty exit

The customer shook his head, took his receipt, and headed for the door.

Meanwhile, Lucia leaned against the door of Michel's room, exhausted in her relief. Michel was safely on the inside, away from the rest of the world, where no one could see his wings. Now on to the next problem: finding a way to hide those wings.

Inside the room, Michel picked himself up off the floor, and wondered if being a mermaid also meant being slightly crazy.


T.A.R.N.S.: And so it begins...to fall apart. I can't wait to see what happens next. :3

Yeah, I know: "T.A.R.N.S.! Aren't you the one writing the story?" Yes I am. But I can look forward to the next chapter as much as the next person. Alright, what notes do I have for this time? Hmm, the song the mermaids sang is Kizuna. I think I shortened it, though. Also, if you re-read this story, which I have done several times now, you will notice that I said Arella has two pairs of wings. My bad. She was only supposed to have one pair of wings. I have consulted volume six of the manga and it appears that all the other Ancient Ones have only one pair of wings. Therefore, Arella should only have one pair. Only Michel should have four wings (two pairs). Someday I'll have to go back and fix that.

I wish there were more stories out there about Michel. (Sighes) Oh well. Anyway, please review and tell me what you thought! Happy Halloween!

[EDIT: Note about needed edits left up above for posterity. I have since corrected Arella's wings and she only has one pair now 2-17-17]