Well, we're back. And we have a new little surprise in this chapter of MMPPD. Let's see what happens when we have some new 'guests' arrive at Pearl Piari.

Disclaimer: I do not own Mermaid Melody. All rights belong to their appropriate owners.

Also, there is a poll still up I wish to be answered: which story would you want me to post more of on this weekly basis; Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Duo, or the Guardian and Maiden of the Sea? Please answer this poll soon so I know what to focus on for a time.

And now, enjoy.

It was the middle of a bright, sunny morning. But the Mermaid Princesses had nothing to do.
"I wish we had something to do." Hanon sighed.
"Our boyfriends are all busy elsewhere, leaving us with nothing to do and no one to be with." Luchia moaned.
"But, with that Dr. Hishki hunting us, I guess we should be lucky that we have so little to do." Rina tried to reason. But the four of them just sighed, having absolutely nothing to do for the entire day.
Then, Seira bolted to her feet and proclaimed, "Well, I won't just sit here and gripe all day! With or without my Hugo, I will enjoy today like there is no tomorrow!"
"Great plan. But how will you do it?" Rina posed the question. Instantly, Seira had been shot down. And once again, all four fell back into their moaning cycle.
Without warning, the doorbell for the hotel rang. And the four girls became quite puzzled by the sound, since they weren't expecting anyone to be coming over today.
"Oh, they finally arrived." Nikora spoke cheerfully as she passed the room.
"Who finally arrived?" Luchia asked her.
With a wink and a smile, Nikora answered, "Our new guests." And she made her way to the door. Curious, the four followed to find out who was coming over.
As they neared the entryway, they heard Nikora greet, "You three finally came. Welcome back." And when the girls saw who it was, their jaws dropped.
"Glad to be back." replied Karen, the Purple Pearl Mermaid Princess from the Antarctic Ocean. Accompanying her were Noellle, the Indigo Pearl Mermaid Princess from the Arctic Ocean, and Coco, the Yellow Pearl Mermaid Princess from the South Pacific.

It was when the three new Mermaid Princesses came in that everyone found out why they had been brought to Pearl Piari. Nikora and Hippo both explained that since Dr. Hishki knew about the mermaid kingdom in the North Pacific, all the other kingdoms were in danger as well. Thus, Hippo sent messengers to bring Karen, Noelle, and Coco to Japan so that they could be hidden. Further, since the water demons had attempted to capture Luchia, Hanon, Rina, and Seira on more than one occasion, all seven of them were practically restricted from leaving Pearl Piari.
"We cannot make even the slightest opportunity for that Dr. Hishki to capture any of you." Hippo concluded, "So the seven of you are not allowed to leave for any reason." This was a shock to them all.
"But Kaito has a surfing tournament next week!" Luchia argued.
"Masahiro has a boxing match tomorrow too." Rina inputted.
"Coco and I were going to check out the new resort that opened near here too." Noelle added. As soon as that started, everyone began throwing out reasons for why they couldn't stay.
Eventually, Nikora got tired of it and scolded, "YOU ARE THE MERMAID PRINCESSES! YOU CAN'T JUST GO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! YOU MUST SHOW SOME DIGNITY!" Just the scolding alone made the seven of them clam up. Clearing her throat, Nikora added, "Until the threat has lifted, none of you are to leave. Understood?"
"Yes, Nikora-san." the seven replied in unison. With that done, Nikora went out to get groceries for the hotel.

"Just great!" Hanon griped, "Now not only do we have nothing to do today, we can't do anything for the rest of our lives."
"No argument there. And we really don't know why Nikora is keeping us prisoner." Karen replied.
"You mean, we'll be cooped up here until we're all old hags?!" Coco freaked. The seven of them could imagine the idea of still being in the hotel, turning old with time. Luchia shuddered at the idea. No way could she live like that.
"We can't help it." Noelle spoke up, "We'll have to take the offensive, and prove to Nikora-san that we won't be prisoners." It was a great idea, but how would they accomplish it? It was then that Meru came in and offered a way out.
"If you want to get out of here, I have an idea of how we can slip out from under Nikora-san's nose." she told them.
Before long, the seven mermaid princesses were climbing down from Luchia's window, using bed sheets tied together like a rope. Once they had all gotten out, they snuck away along the beach towards town.

After that, the girls started to enjoy themselves. They went shopping, ate at some restaurants, sang karaoke, anything they could do to escape being cooped up. It was rare for the seven of them to be together for anything. But it was loads of fun.

As they strolled along the coast, enjoying being out and about, they came across Maki's beach house cafe. They all went to peer inside, and saw that it was swamped. All the tables were occupied with guests wanting to take a break. And the only one serving them was,
"Kaito!" Luchia exclaimed. Kaito was being run ragged; taking orders, then returning to the kitchen to make them, then delivering the food to each table as fast as he could.
"Who knew this place would get so busy so quickly." Hanon observed.
"But how is Kaito able to handle this many people?" Seira asked.
That was when Karen came up with a surprising decision. "Well, I think I'll help too." she told everyone. Noelle and Coco were astonished by Karen's decision. But Luchia also made the decision to help out Kaito and Maki.
Rina and hanon also decided to help, and so did Seira, claiming, "If we work here, we can avoid Nikora-san from finding us and be safe from the water demons." Seeing no way to avoid it, Noelle and Coco joined up too. So all seven were in agreement to work at Maki's beach house.

Maki was very grateful for the girls desire to help, and set them to work right away. Luchia, Hanon, and Rina skated around, waiting on customers; Karen, Noelle, and Coco helped make the food in the kitchen; and Seira helped Kaito clean the dishes. With the group's teamwork, guests began streaming in larger groups. The place was becoming quite busy.

By mid-afternoon, the amount of guests began dwindling down. By that time, some of the girls switched jobs with each other.
While Hanon was helping Coco out cooking, Coco suddenly asked, "So, have you and Nagisa gotten even more into each other since last time?"
"Huh? Me and Nagisa?" Hanon quizzed her friend.
"Well, last time I was here, Nagisa really liked you. He even asked you out. So I was wondering if he became your boyfriend while I was away."
Immediately becoming annoyed, Hanon haughtily replied, "That is not going to happen! Nagisa is still irresponsible and insensitive to someone else's feelings." But even as she said that, she could not help blushing bright red.
With a small giggle, Coco said, "That's not what you really believe, is it?" And that just made Hanon angry, and she put her anger to use by working on the food while Coco kept pestering her.

Meanwhile, Rina was cleaning some of the tables off when Karen came over.
"You've been enjoying your time in the human world. Haven't you, Rina?" Karen inquired.
"Yeah. I'm surprised that I've become so interested in the human world." Rina replied.
"I'm guessing it has nothing to do with a certain someone or anything, does it?"
"Wh-What are you talking about? You know I'm not into love like Luchia and Hanon are."
"Then why were you so distracted at your kingdom's celebration?"
"Where would you get that idea?"
"Admit it, you have someone you really like."
"I'm not the one who stares off in the distance." Rina countered.
"Now what are you talking about?!"

While that scene carried on, Luchia had just popped into the kitchen to bring the next order out. But, she had noticed Karen and Rina squabbling over their love interests.
As Kaito came up with Luchia's order, he asked, "What's up with them?"
"Karen was curious about how Rina was doing in the human world." Luchia tried to explain, "But now, I don't know."
"Guess Karen isn't the only one." Kaito pointed out to Hanon and Coco. When Luchia saw the scene going on between those two, she felt embarrassed.
"This won't be good." she moaned. And Kaito felt inclined to agree, seeing how the two outside were beginning to make a scene.

At late afternoon, Maki had Kaito, Luchia, and Seira wait tables and had the others work in the kitchen to avoid them making a mess. Thankfully, Luchia and Seira managed to dodge Karen, Noelle, and Coco's inquisition. Unfortunately, that meant a lot of shouting and arguing coming from the five stationed in the kitchen. Kaito had just finished cleaning his table, when another guest came in.
"Welcome." he greeted. But then he found that the new guest was Nikora from Pearl Piari.
"Ah, Kaito." she returned, "Is Maki-san here?"
"Yes. He is. Shall I take you to him?"
"No thank you." As Nikora went over to the bar area, and Kaito went to Luchia and let her know she was here.
Freaked out from the news, Luchia took Seira into the kitchen with her, and announced over the squabblers, "Onee-chan is here!" Instantly, the five girls silenced themselves. But they also became worried about Nikora being here. So they diligently went back to work without making a fuss.
Wondering why Nikora was here, Luchia and Seira went to eavesdrop on her conversation.

"Maki-san, thank you for lending us some of your catch the other day." Nikora thanked.
"Don't mention it. It's the least I could do after you helped advertise my shop." Maki returned. When Luchia looked over to the two, Nikora looked quite flustered. She knew Nikora really liked Maki, and vice versa. In fact, Maki even proposed to Nikora some time ago. But Nikora had refused, claiming she wasn't really ready for something like marriage.
"You seem a little down Nikora-san." Maki noticed, "Did something happen?"
"Actually, Luchia and her friends could be in trouble." Nikora explained, "And I want to protect them, but I'm just not sure I can do it right. I feel like I'm holding them against their own wills." Maki pondered what he was told as he cleaned one of his wine glasses. And while he did, Luchia and Seira began to understand Nikora's motives.
Like Hippo, she was concerned with protecting them. Unlike Hippo, she was worried that what she did might be wrong.
So Maki finally told her, "If you care so deeply for them, then at least let me help. You can't protect them on your own. Those girls are very free-spirited. So don't be afraid to let someone else be responsible too."
"Maki-san." Nikora sighed dreamily. And Luchia couldn't help notice her blush a bit.

But then, a massive clatter of pots and pans arose from the kitchen. Trouble had begun to brew, again. Coco and Hanon were in each others faces about Nagisa, Karen was accusing Rina of assuming too much and kept countering by bringing up the idea that Rina was in love, while Noelle was trying to calm everyone down. Luchia and Seira pitched in, trying to settle the disputes down before they drew too much attention. The squabbling got so loud that even Kaito tried to break up the fights. It was then that everyone tripped from the clatter and fell through the kitchen doors.
"Ow!" Luchia, Seira, and Kaito groaned, being on the bottom of the pile.
"What is going on here?!" Nikora demanded, her hands on her hips. When all seven girls looked up at her, they knew they were caught.
"Didn't I tell all of you that you were to never leave the hotel?!" she scolded.
"But please, Onee-chan-"
"No excuses Luchia! How could you be so selfish to just take off on your own?!"
"But, Nikora-san, we only wanted-" Seira began.
"They only wanted to help me manage the shop." Maki interceded, "They had come by, noticing that Kaito had his hands full working here. So they all decided to lend us their help."
"That's right." Kaito added after getting up, "The cafe was swamped with people, and I was the only one working besides Maki-san. We needed the help."
"Nikora-san, don't judge the girls harshly." Maki finished to calm Nikora, "They all have good intentions in their hearts. And if anything would have happened, Kaito and I would have been here for them." All was quiet after that. Even the customers waited in earnest to see how things would develop. Eventually, with a silent sigh, Nikora confronted the Mermaid Princesses.
"Make sure nothing happens to you on the way back." she finally told them. The girls cheered with delight. Nikora was letting them stay.
"Thank you, Onee-chan." Luchia gratefully replied.
"Yes. Thank you!" the others pitched in. With that settled, Nikora thanked Maki for his help, and left. While Maki was left to ponder why she was so concerned for Luchia and her friends.

As Nikora made her way back to the hotel, Maki's words continued to carry in her head.
What am I to do? she pondered. She trusted Maki a lot, and was willing to let the girls work at the beach house for as long as possible. But the danger still hung in the air.
Looking out to the moonlit sea, she prayed, "Aqua Regina-sama, please tell me. Is there any way I can protect Luchia without burdening anyone else? What must I do to protect the Mermaid Princesses? Or am I unable to shelter them now?"
"What is this you say about Mermaid Princesses?" came a voice. When Nikora found who it belonged to, she found Lady Bat, along with Linhua and Arara.
"Water demons?!" she gasped.
"So you were the one hiding the Mermaid Princesses from us." Linhua chuckled maliciously, "The guardian mermaid."
"Hishki-sama told us to capture the Mermaid Princesses." Arara elaborated, "But all he needs is just one mermaid. And you will do quite nicely." The situation looked bleak. Nikora had no way to protect herself like Luchia and the others did. So instead, she ran back to Maki's beach house.
"You can't escape." Lady Bat warned. And Arara commanded a new robot to capture Nikora.

Back at the beach house, everything had finally settled down. Hanon, Coco, Rina, and Karen had all forgiven each other and resumed working together. It was close to closing time, so everyone was busy cleaning up the place.
As Luchia was wiping down one of the tables out on the balcony, Kaito came up to her and inquired, "What was Nikora-san talking about? Why did she want you to never leave Pearl Piari?"
"It's because of Dr. Hishki." Luchia answered, "Ever since the attack on the North Pacific palace, Onee-chan and Hippo had been trying to keep us from being captured. They even called in Karen, Noelle, and Coco because we thought he knew about the other kingdoms."
"So it was to protect you?" Kaito surmised. Luchia nodded in affirmation.

Just then, Nikora burst through the doors, startling the girls, Kaito, and Maki.
"Nikora-san! What's wrong?!" Maki asked urgently.
Before she could even answer, Luchia cried out, "Onee-chan! Behind you!" But it was too late. Mechanical tendrils wrapped around Nikora's waist, wrists, and ankles, and began carrying her away. Shocked by what had just happened, Maki took off after her. But he couldn't find where the mechanical tentacles had taken her.
That is, until Luchia pointed out, "Look! Over there!" When everyone looked to where Luchia was pointing, They managed to glimpse Nikora being dragged underwater.
"Nikora!" Maki called out to her. Then he leapt over the balcony railing and took off after her.
"Let's go, everyone." Luchia suggested.

Underwater, the water demons were carting off their newest catch back to Dr. Hishki's base.
"I can't believe how easy this was." Linhua pondered aloud.
"I know. How could we have ever tried capturing those Mermaid Princesses when we just needed a mermaid all along?" Arara pointed out cheerfully. But Lady Bat didn't see how this was better.
"Don't forget; our real targets are the Mermaid Princesses." she chastised, "This is simply to get the doctor what he wants." They stopped for a quick bit to take a look at their captured mermaid. Nikora tried to break out of the robot's grip (which turned out to be an octopus robot), but its tentacles had her bound tight.
"Don't bother struggling." Arara told her, "It just makes it bind tighter." But Nikora just kept struggling. She was NOT going to let Dr. Hishki take her prisoner.
The water demons were amused by her vain efforts, but it was cut short when Maki swam up to free her. Maki was working primarily on instinct, his mind focused on the task he had just undertaken. This mermaid that he was trying to save reminded him so much of Nikora, though he did not know why. Nikora was surprised when Maki had shown up, but she said nothing as he worked to unbind her. Before long, Maki managed to free her by going up to the robot's head and bashing on it a couple of times. But he was running short of breath, so he immediately started swimming for the surface after he did that. Desperate to protect him, Nikora helped Maki up for air.
"Get back here!" Linhua ordered. The three tried to follow, but were blocked when Luchia and the others swam in their way.
"We're not letting you hurt them anymore." Luchia told them.
"It's us you wanted, so we won't keep you waiting any longer." Hanon added.
"So you are back." Karen came in, remembering her encounter with at least one of the water demons, "Well then, it's time you went back to where you came from." The three water demons would have been proud of the opportunity to capture all seven Mermaid Princesses, except that they were already prepared to face them. Because the Mermaid Princesses had already begun to transform.

"Pink Pearl Voice!"
"Aqua Pearl Voice!"
"Green Pearl Voice!"
"Purple Pearl Voice!" Karen's outfit was a white, short dress with some purple lace.
"Indigo Pearl Voice!" Noelle's outfit was similar to Karen's, but indigo.
"Yellow Pearl Voice!" Coco's outfit, on the other hand, was similar to Luchia's and Hanon's, yet was yellow.
"Orange Pearl Voice!"
And once all seven of them had transformed into their second forms, the show could begin.
"Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"

This time, all seven sung the full version of "Legend of Mermaid." their combined might instantly shattered the octo-robot that had taken Nikora earlier. And even bore into the dark beings before they had the chance to counter their singing.
"How could this have happened?!" Lady Bat complained under the strain.
"And when we were so close to bringing Hishki-sama his mermaid!" Arara cried out in agony.
When the seven had finished, they called out, "Love Shower Pitch! How about an encore?" But the three water demons had disappeared long before they had finished the song.

Meanwhile, Maki had broken through the surface of the water, taking in a massive gulp of fresh air. But Nikora stayed submerged just below. Having regained his breathing, Maki took another big breath and plunged under to find the mermaid her had saved. He found her, swimming away to the depths.
"W-Wait!" he called to her. And he gave chase. However, he was running out of air faster this time. But he held on and continued after her. Nikora wanted to get away from Maki, and avoid him knowing both sides of her. But his persistence worried her as he struggled to swim while running out of air.
Before that happened, Nikora carried Maki to the surface for air. Once they broke through, Maki began coughing from almost inhaling water.
"You must stop following me." she told him. He didn't respond. Rather, he was confused and in awe at the being he was seeing. "You must not come after me." Nikora continued, "If you don't stop, the dangers that follow me will hurt you too."
"Dangers?" Maki questioned, "What do you mean? What dangers?" But Nikora didn't asnwer.
Instead, she replied, "Farewell, Maki-san." And she dove underwater, tears streaming down her face. The way the mermaid said his name made Maki ponder. Who was this mermaid? And how did she know him?
But before he could go after her again, Maki heard Kaito call out to him. Then he saw the raft he was using, accompanied by Luchia.
"Maki-san, are you alright?" Kaito inquired as he helped him in.
"I'm alright." Maki replied. But in all honesty, he wasn't sure he was.

Back at Pearl Piari, the seven mermaid princesses and Meru faced Nikora and Hippo, expecting some kind of punishment for disobeying them.
"We're really sorry, Onee-chan." Luchia started.
"Yes. Very sorry. Please forgive us." Seira added.
"The seven of you acted recklessly." Hippo chastised, "If things hadn't turned out the way they did, you all would be that human scientist's prisoners."
"Although," Nikora interceded, "I doubt that keeping you all here is a very good idea. You may be Mermaid Princesses, but you are capable of taking care of yourselves."
"What are you saying, Nikora-san?" Hippo asked.
"So, feel free to be yourselves. Spend whatever time you can while we are in the human world. But, you must be careful of that Dr. Hishki." Much to Hippo's shock, the girls all cheered at their newly earned freedom.
But in the midst of it, Luchia couldn't help thinking about Nikora and Maki. She figured this change in her was partly due to her feelings toward him.
Onee-chan, Luchia thought, if you love Maki-san, then why do you keep him away? She was the only on with those thoughts that night.

At long last, we have the remaining Mermaid Princesses joining the gang: Karen, Noelle, and Coco. Man, it definitely did not go smoothly with either them or Nikora. But, all's well that ends well, aye? Stay tuned, and please answer my poll if you really want this or my other fanfic to be posted more often.

Til next time,
Encore wa ika ga?