Mermaids of Ying and Yang

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

Chapter 7 –Subduing a Demon

By: ArcticWhisper

"Who… who are you?" Saphiro stuttered and then he suddenly realized what had happened.

"What have you done with the princess!" He wailed, grumbling under his breath, "If you hurt her…"

"If I hurt her… what?" she quipped. She did not fear anything… so this boy held no threat… none.

She smirked. "That carefree princess of yours has lived a short… but fairly good life… I think that it's about time that I stepped in."

Saphiro bit his lip as beads of sweat raced down the side of his face. Even though this woman wasn't using magic, Saphiro could easily tell that she yearned to tear him apart . The nervous air tingled between them… it made his body numb.

Saphiro wanted to blink, but he couldn't. Then he couldn't stand it any longer. Slowly, his eyelids crept down and closed for a brief moment before he forced them back up, his eyes watering. Before the woman was at the other side of the room… but now she was inches away from him.

"H-how?!" he screamed, but the woman placed a finger on his lips. She was ice cold, and so was her voice.

"If I wanted to I could tear your little princess heart out… but I know that you care about her so much, so I'll make a deal with you. If you do everything I say, when I say it… I shall spare her." Her voice was demon-like and an eerie music playing its vile notes in the background would have been perfect at this moment… but Saphiro could barely even hear her over the thrumming of his heart.

"Agree?" she suddenly added with a childish voice and a sweet smile. She brought her hands to her side and then folded them behind her back, cocking her shoulders innocently. She continued to smile, adding a small giggle. But her eyes reviled her true feelings.

"Why you…" he snarled.

She shook her finger from side to side in front of him. "No, no, no." She then hummed a note between her colored lips.

"Oh… you don't want to save your princess? What a shame… more fun for me!" she said childish, but an evil grin slowly melted over her delicate features.

Izuna's murderous screaming echoed throughout the room. The woman snickered as a evil aura surrounded her. It's breath was so vile that it made the floor beneath her crackle and dissolve.

The three original mermaid princesses along with Hippo, Kaito and Nicola rushed to the door.

The woman flinched "Tch!" and then snapped her finger and the door slammed shut and melted into the wall… no entrance or exits.

"W-what?!" Luchia yelled as she felt the wall were the door was. She hammered on the wall.

"What's going on in there! GUYS!!??"

Their yells were faint in the background.

"I agree!" Saphiro yelled.

"What was that?" the woman hummed, cupping her hand around her ear innocently.

"I agree! Just stop hurting Izuna!!" he screamed. "Please…" he murmured.

"Aw…" she whined. "Fine."

And with those words she disappeared, morphing back into Izuna.

"I'll be watching you…" the woman whispered, demonically before vanishing completely.

Izuna collapsed to the floor, her face and body against the cold, wet, and title floor. Saphiro ran over to her, tripping in the process and cradled her in his arms. Locks of her violet-sliver hair brushed against her pale, tear-stained cheeks. Saphiro delicately tried to brush them away, muttering on the brink of tears…

"I promised to protect you… I failed."

The door now re-emerged from the wall and all five of them came tumbling in, after "attempting" to ram the door open. They made a nice pile of moaning and whining, stretched out dolls.

"OWwww!!" Luchia yelled

"Your butt's in my face!" Hanon squealed.

"Please remove your knee from my stomach!" Lina politely requested, hiding her agony.

"GET OFF!!!!" They all yelled at once, squirming. They were now a knot. ("TWISTER")

"What… just happened?" Luchia mumbled as she finally untied herself from the human-knot and staggered to her feet. Her eyes skimmed the destroyed kitchen. Then they fell upon Saphiro and Izuna.

"What…?"

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A young Izuna stood in a room of pure Darkness, shivering. Her mother's angelic figure in the near distance. Blond hair framed her pale face and sad blue eyes. She wore a flowing white dress with a golden belt hugging her slim waist and a glimmer crown weaved through the silky hair on top of her head. She was fading into the background… into the night that swallowed mermaids whole.

"Mother!" little Izuna wailed, uncontrollable tears trickled down her round cheeks. They were cold and tasted salty. But her mother did not answer her calls. Was she ignoring her? Or could she not hear her? Not wish to hear?

This is what Izuna thought. She wished for her feet to move forward, but they would not budge and her mother was now see-through.

She screamed again, but the only thing that did answer her calls were the snickers of a familiar voice…Those giggles hung in the water like dark clouds. Izuna turned around to see the silhouette of a woman standing before her. Then everything cracked… like fragile glass. Izuna never wished to cry again.

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Izuna fluttered her violet eyes open to see herself in a dimly lit room. Her eyes slowly adjusted and a sleeping face drifted into view, the early morning sun ghosted over his face. Realizing who it was she slowly lifted her upper body from the fluffy bed. Something restrained her movements. She glanced down and saw herself wrapped in frilly pink fabric. It was too tight.

Izuna then looked to her right and saw Saphiro sleeping with his arms crossed underneath his chest and his chair carelessly leaning back on the wall behind him. Had he been here all of this time? Izuna thought, she was too tired to smile. A shadow then faded under her eyes as she remembered the dream… or nightmare about her childhood.

"Why did I remember that now?" She forced her eyes closed and willed to forget it.

The human world early in the morning gave off a quiet, magical-land feeling and made Izuna want to whisper and walk around on tip-toes. Though she would not dare of doing something so… She shook her head.

"Saphiro…" She whispered. He would not answer, he just mumbled in his sleep. His dark blue hair brushed against his forehead and cheeks.

"Saphiro…" she repeated, in a stage whisper. She sighed with disgust and gingerly jumped out of bed, not making a single sound even though the floor below her was made of old, groaning wood. All of those nights sneaking out of the palace when she was younger had finally paid off.

She got close to him and whispered loudly in his face. "Wake up!"

His eyes sprung open and his face narrowed. He looked up and saw Izuna uncomfortably close to his face. She had an empty expression. Immediately, a bright pink tickled his cheeks as he flung backwards, his arms in the air. The back legs of the chair screeched against the floor and swiftly collided with it, dragging Saphiro with.

Saphiro, now in a crunched position whined to himself.

"Get up." She demanded with a "you're not worth the effort" voice.

"Yes, princess…" he whined as he got to his feet and rubbed the back of his head. He looked up at her like a whipped puppy.

For a moment she starred at him dangerously, but then a smile lit her face and her eyes softened.

"You should have seen your face…"

"Was it that amusing?" he laughed pathetically, now scratching his head. "Remind me to do it more often… it's quite rare to see the princess smile with such a carefree expression." He complemented.

Izuna took it the wrong way.

"Oh… so I'm miserable all the time, then am I?" she snapped, her eyes flashed with her anger. Then gave off a watery nothing—a nothingness that was utterly unbearable as she remembered the murmurs she heard from the townsfolk during her childhood.

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"Why didn't the princess cry at her mother's funeral? She could at least act like she cares!" a bratty mermaid said after the funeral of the queen. They did not realize that Izuna was hiding behind the drapes, listening to them accidentally.

"Yeah! I bet that she wanted her mother to die all along!" said another.

"… Because then she would be the next queen!"

… but that was not true. Izuna had promised to herself that she would not cry any longer and that she would try to be strong for her people. Izuna, even though she was not even a teenager yet… understood the position that she was in. This great kingdom could not have an heir that would cry at everything. No… she would hide her emotions so that she would not upset anyone else…

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"Princess… Are you still feeling ill?" Saphiro questioned. Izuna returned to the present and pushed away her memories once again.

"No… I'm fine. Please do not worry about me. I'm sorry…"

Saphiro could tell that she did not wish to talk any longer… even though there were so many things that he wanted to say.

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Saphiro walked out of the bedroom, his head still throbbing. Suddenly, his nose was filled with a mixture of unfamiliar smells. He lifted his nose, but hesitated to sniff the delicious-smelling air.

He followed its trail.

"Luchia, don't let the bacon burn!" Nicola yelled from across the kitchen to Luchia who was daydreaming; she had just woken up and was forced to help make breakfast for the uninvited guests.

"Ah!!" she screamed as she yanked the pan away from the burning, old-fashioned- gas stove. Saphiro eyed the blue fire with wide eyes, gulped and then looked away as he continued to walk.

"Oh… they probably won't know the difference…" Hanon whined under her breath as she took the boiled eggs out of a pot. Its steam puffed in the air and brushed its warm fingers across her face.

Lina had already finished setting the table hours ago and was now sitting at the table with a cup of Nicola's special mermaid tea. She sighed and took a sip, listening to her friends argue and whine in the background… she smiled gently, but her cup concealed it.

"What is that… smell?" Saphiro questioned as he walked into the kitchen, weaving his fingers through his shoulder-length, dark blue hair.

"Why… don't you like it?" Hanon grumbled as she patted her skin with a dishtowel, her face red.

"I- um... well, you see... ---I'll just be over there!" he added quickly as he moved to the table and looked around. That girl frightened him. Hesitating and fidgety he pulled the chair out and sat down.

He suddenly felt so short and utterly out of place.

Without warning his eyes were drawn to shiny objects that lay beneath his gaze. Sharp and shiny…

He picked the (fork) foreign object and examined it.

"What am I suppose to do with this?" he asked worried. Lina momentarily lifted her cup from her lips, shook her head slightly and then continued sipping.

Saphiro gulped. "Maybe I don't want to know…" he muttered. His eyes then, as if drawn by some unknown power... gazed down at two other similar objects.

"The human world is frightening…"

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"Breakfast is served!" Nicola announced as she balanced four plates on her arms and hands. They were overflowing with eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and a bowl of gray-ish/ brown oatmeal. She placed Saphiro's plate in front of him and he just glanced down at it.

"Hanon, go get… Izuna for us, please." Nicola said, not asking as she placed the rest of the plates down. Luchia and Hippo got seated, Luchia giggled.

"Why me?" Hanon whined as she slumped forward and let her arms hang like tame snakes. She wobbled over to the door at the end of the hall and stopped. She let out a quick sigh and placed her hand on the knob. That's when she herd it, a beautiful melody… but it was sad yet it seemed to float in the air like a warm current.

"Misfortune… Someone is out there… crying? Are you alone? You are similar to me… searching… searching… but empty handed. What are you looking for? …that makes you cry? Don't force yourself to embrace something that isn't you… look down at your reflection… and smile--"

Izuna sung, but she was cut off by Hanon opening the screeching door. Izuna looked over her shoulders with shaky, violet eyes… but then they were calm and seemed to express her demands… "Leave me alone"

"I-I'm sorry! I… well… I came to get you… Then… um… eh, f-Food! … eh… just come when your ready!" she stuttered, not making eye contact with Izuna. She then swallowed the rest of her words and slammed the door behind her. She caught her breath.

"Those eyes and that song…" Hanon shivered and then walked to the breakfast table. "Smells soooo good!"

Izuna stared at the door, and even it creaked at her expression. She then sighed and closed her locket with a quick movement of her fingers. She got up and walked towards the door. "Ew… what is that disgusting smell?"

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Izuna sat down at the table and eyed the food before her. Everyone else was happily eating the food, giggling, stealing each others food and talking. Izuna glanced over at Saphiro who was wiggling a piece of bacon.

Hanon dropped her fork and smirked. "It's called "food" you eat it… Like this!" Hanon said as she lifted up a piece of bacon from Luchia's place and bit it. A crackling noise echoed as she enjoyed its flavor. "See?" she said, her mouth full. Luchia glanced over and saw a piece of her bacon stolen. "…Hey!! Hanon! Give it back!" she demanded as she graced the sides of Hanon's face. She smiled and opened her mouth, "Wann-it baeeccccckk?" She mumbled. Luchia shivered, "Meanie…"

"I think that I lost my appetite." Izuna quietly announced as she got up and walked to the sliding, glass door to the patio. Saphiro, who was hungry, but also had to be by the princess side all of the time… glanced down at his plate and gobbled it all at once. The three mermaid princess watched him, their mouths also full. Quickly, he jumped up and rushed to the door. (Which Izuna had now closed and was outside)

"Izzzzzuuuun---" he yelled, slamming into the glass door. He then sank to the floor, his face still plastered to the window.

"Arg…" he muttered, hobbled to his feet. "Damn door…"

ArcticWhisper--- sniff there were no reviews for the last chapter… waaa…but sorry for the long wait on this one! We were just working on a Mermaid Melody English Fandub Pure to episode 1, please check it out on youtube!! our username is Firemage449

Well, the next chapter will be up shortly!! – "Mel-squeek-ody!" the three mermaid princesses have to get singing lessons from Saphiro…