Note: Whew! I sure put my brain in overtime working on the plot for this chapter... But now I've got it done and ready to read! Enjoy the tenth chapter!
Chapter 10: Treasures, and the Battle of the Harpy Ladies
Later that night, after spending time with the merfolk, Atemu, Tea, and their friends were getting themselves ready to go back to the castle to retire to bed.
"Joey," Mai said, "Do you mind if I stay here a little longer? I'd like to have a little girl talk with your friend's baby sister."
"Sure Mai," Joey said, "I'll be waiting for you when you're done." As both sides said their good-byes for the night and began to depart, Mai ran toward the shore.
"Kisara!" she called out, "Kisara, would you come here for a moment?" Kisara stopped in mid-swim and looked back toward the beach.
"Go on ahead Kisara." Solomon said, "Just don't stay out too late." Kisara nodded and swam toward the shore to meet up with the young lady while the rest of her family dove in the water in order to return to the palace. Mahaado and Mana swam toward the shore with her, until finally they jumped out used their magic to become human again. Mai was thankful that they used their magic to conjure up the usual robes before they touched the ground again.
"I'll leave you ladies to talk." Mahaado said and he proceeded to follow his friend, with Mana giggling behind him. Once the two were alone with each other, Kisara began to speak up.
"So Mai," she said cheerfully, "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"
"Of course Honey." Replied Mai, "While we were all having fun with your brother, I couldn't help but notice a little something about you. Specifically when you're around Seto Kaiba." At the very mention of his name, Kisara started blushing furiously, causing Mai to chuckle. "That's what that little something happens to be. You do that whenever he touches you, or even talks to you. And not only that, you do your very best to get close to him." Mai then gave a sly smirk at the white mermaid and said, "There's something more to this relationship than just friendship, isn't there?" Kisara let out a surprised "Eep!" and blushed an even deeper shade of pink. Then she let out an exasperated sigh.
"All right, I confess." Kisara said, and she paused for a moment before saying, "I'm in love with Seto…"
"Ohhh. So that's how you feel about him, huh?" Mai said with an amusing tone. "Does he know about your love for him?"
"No, not yet." Kisara said, "I didn't even tell him yet."
"You didn't tell him?!" Mai said in surprise, "Why not?"
Kisara hesitated a bit before she replied, "Well, in all honesty… I feel so nervous. Not to mention scared. I love him, and I know he doesn't have feelings for Tea anymore, but even so, I still don't know if he feels the same way about me."
"I see," said Mai, "Don't worry Hon, I know exactly how it feels. I was just as nervous when I fell in love Joey." Now it was Mai's turn to blush. "You see, I happen to be four years older than him, and so I was self conscious because of it. Eventually, I found the courage to confess my love to him. Imagine my joy when I found that he loves me back in spite of my age! We've been together happily ever since."
"Awww, how sweet!" Kisara said, "If only I can find the same courage…"
Mai went into thinking. "I'll tell you what." she said, "How about we get Tea and your older sister and we'll all have a girl's and mermaid's day out! We'll go sightseeing and swimming, and search for treasure--"
"Treasure?!" Kisara said, growing very excited, "I love treasure hunting! I so do that all the time!"
"That's wonderful!" Mai said, "We'll find lots of good stuff out there, and if you want, you can give one to your sweetheart."
"Oh Mai, that's a great idea!" Kisara squealed in sheer delight.
"It's settled then!" Mai said cheerfully, "I'll go tell Tea about the whole thing while you go talk to your sister. This is going to be so much fun!"
"Okay!" Kisara said before she started to swim away. "See you later!"
"Bye Hon!" Mai called out. With a smile on her face, she went back to the castle to go chat with her friend and get some good night's sleep.
The next day, All the girls were out and about at sea, Tea and Mai in a small boat and Kisara and Ishizu swimming around them.
"I'm so glad you convinced me to come with you Mai," Tea said, "I'm already looking forward to this treasure hunt! Maybe I'll find something that I can give to Atemu."
"Funny, that's exactly what I'm thinking when it comes to my boyfriend!" Mai said with a chuckle. "I'm so excited!"
"Not as excited as Kisara, that's for sure! I mean, look at her!" Ishizu said. Indeed, the white mermaid princess was jumping in and out of the water in great anticipation. A certain blue eyed knight was on her mind, and she could hardly wait to find the perfect treasure for him. Unbeknownst to all the girls, there was someone watching them, someone in league with the Claws of Tiamat.
"I didn't expect a greater opportunity than this!" Rex chuckled in a menacing way. "Tiamat must be giving me her blessing today. Guess I'll take this opportunity while it's still available." He turned toward a large blue brontosaurus-like dinosaur. "You know what to do Bracchio-Raidus." The dinosaur did a nod and slowly sank into the water so that it would show itself when the time is right. At this moment, the boat stopped moving.
"Here's a good spot to start looking." Mai said, and she brought out a special net used for fishing out treasure. "Here Kisara, gather up any treasure you find and put it in this net. You too Ishizu, and we'll bring them up once it gets full."
"Glad to help." Ishizu said before turning toward her baby sister. "Let's go Kisara."
"Okay!" Kisara said with enthusiasm. And with that, the Deep Dweller mermaids dove into the water. Once underwater, the two mermaid princesses began their search. It was more than a good spot to search for treasure… it was a great spot! There was a large merchant ship that had been wrecked several years ago and even though it was split in half and far apart from each other, the mermaids could still tell that it was built in a foreign land. In between the two halves of the ship was a large bed of sand and seaweed, where several artifacts are bound to be discovered. Kisara wasted no time and started digging. Ishizu joined her sister in the search. Within a few minutes, the two of them found several objects of great worth, like decorative jewelry, vases with exquisite designs and beautiful pieces of art in the form of paintings and statues. Each one of these objects were put into the gathering net for safekeeping. Finally, Kisara spotted something shiny in the sand. Brushing away the sand, Kisara gasped in amazement at what the object was. It was a small brooch made completely out of pure silver, and it took the shape of a Blue Eyes White Dragon, complete with a tiny blue sapphire where the eye is. It was curled into a round circle, its wing folded on its back from the outside. Oh, how pretty! she thought as she picked up the brooch, And since it's in the shape of the Blue Eyes, this will be a perfect gift for Seto! Kisara swam toward the gathering net, clutching the brooch in her webbed hand. Suddenly, there was a quaking vibration on the seabed, and as if out of nowhere, Bracchio-Raidus appeared in front of the two mermaids with its long neck bent in order to have its head underwater. Immediately, it grabbed hold of the rope that the gathering net was attached to and began to pull. In the surface, Tea and Mai felt something tugging on the rope and pulling the boat sideways toward the water.
"What the?!" Tea shouted, "Since when did the gathering net become so heavy?!" Mai peered over the side of the boat.
"It's not the gathering net at all!" she shouted, "It's a dinosaur, and it's tugging hard on the ropes!" Right at this time, Mai's companions, the three Harpy Lady sisters, flew overhead of them. One Harpy Lady with straight red hair looked down and glared.
"That's not just any dinosaur!" she screeched. "I know that beast from anywhere!"
"You do?!" said another Harpy Lady with spiky blue hair, "Well what is it, Airo?"
"That's a Bracchio-Raidus, Keraino," Airo said, "and its owner is a Claw of Tiamat!"
"What?!" Mai shouted from below. Back under the ocean, said dinosaur had pulled hard enough that eventually the rope snapped. It did not tip the boat in the process, but now it had the gathering net in its toothy grasp, treasures and all. It quickly began to run away.
"Hey!" Kisara shouted, "Come back here!"
"Kisara wait--" Ishizu called out, but the white mermaid had already swam out in hot pursuit, too fast for her elder sister to catch up to. Ishizu now became worried, and she swam upward to the Realm Above. "Guys!" she said once she broke the surface.
"Ishizu! What's wrong?" Tea said.
"It's terrible! A monster came and ran off with the treasures we found, and Kisara is chasing after it even as I speak!" The two human girls gasped in shock.
"Oh no! We have to follow her!" Mai shouted, "Bracchio-Raidus can only mean trouble!"
"We'll lead the way!" Ario called out, "Come on sisters! Don't you lose sight of her!"
"No problem!" Keraino shouted.
"We're right behind you Sis!" screeched a blonde fancy-haired Harpy Lady named Octipite.
"Thanks guys!" Mai said.
"We're glad to help!" Airo said. And in a flash, the girls sped as fast as they could to catch up with a certain white mermaid.
Kisara swam as fast as she could, determined to retrieve the stolen treasure from that beast that came out of nowhere. All the time she held the Blue Eyes brooch in her webbed hands, refusing to let it go. Soon Bracchio-Raidus lifted its head up above the water, and entered a cavern. Kisara surfaced soon after, and swam right into the cave.
"I've got you now!" Kisara shouted. The dinosaur suddenly stopped and turned around. Sinister laughter echoed in the cave as she swam forward, and soon she heard a voice speaking to her.
"Actually, little mermaid, I've got you!" Before she could react, Kisara found herself being surrounded by a large net and lifted her out of the water. Her eyes widened as she looked upon a knight in brown dinosaur scale armor. Rex Raptor gave a menacing chuckle. "My catch of the day…You'll make good bait for some bigger fish."
Outside the cave, Tea and her companions had arrived to where the runaway white mermaid had disappeared. "That's not good." Octipite said, "That Claw of Tiamat, Rex Raptor, got his hands on Kisara before we could reach her."
"That creep…" Mai said in anger, "Tea, you go and get Atemu and the others. I'll go after my prey with the Harpy Ladies before he does something to the mermaid princess."
"But Mai--" Tea began.
"No 'buts' Princess." Mai interrupted, "Kisara's in trouble, and I need all the help I could get in order to save her."
"Just be careful." Tea said. Mai gave a reassuring smirk.
"Airo, give your Pet Dragon a call," Mai called out, "I'm in need of his service!"
"You got it Girlfriend!" Airo called in reply. The Harpy Lady took out a small whistle and she blew hard. In a flash, a roar was heard from a distance and a red dragon with a collar came into view. The Harpy Ladies' Pet Dragon flew close to the boat and Mai took out her rapier and mounted him immediately.
"You're going down Rex!" Mai shouted as she and her Harpy Lady companions flew head on into the cave.
"Let's hurry!" Ishizu said. Tea gave a single nod and the two of them set sail at once.
"What do you want with me?" cried Kisara, scared out of her wits. Rex, who was standing on the dry floor of the cave, walked toward the net that contained the mermaid princess.
"Oh, nothing much." He said with a sinister grin, "Like I said, you make good bait for catching bigger fish. Especially since one of them is bound to you by blood."
"What are you talking about?" Kisara demanded. Rex grabbed the net and pulled her closer.
"I suggest you shut that lovely mouth of yours, otherwise I might turn to drastic measures." Rex said. Right at that moment, he spied the shining brooch that Kisara was holding. "Huh? Well, well, what have we here?" The dinosaur knight grabbed hold of Kisara's wrist and pried the brooch from her hand, dodging the venomous spines as he did so.
"Give it back!" Kisara screamed.
"Ah, that's a nice piece of jewelry you got there. I suppose this is gonna be some kind of love token, huh?" There was a gasp emitted from Kisara's lips. "I'll take that as a yes. No need to explain, I know that you're in love with that Dragon Knight. You know, the one who's proud owner of four Blue Eyes White Dragons." Kisara could not believe what she was hearing. How in the great ocean did he…? "I reckon he'll come for you too." Rex said, "And when he does…" Before Kisara could protest, he threw the brooch far into the sea. The white mermaid princess was dismayed when it fell into deep waters, because she knew that the currents would more than likely carry it out of sight. Pearly tears streamed down her scaly cheeks then. How will she ever find the brooch again? Just as Rex was approaching the white mermaid again, a loud roar was heard echoing in the cave. "What the Heck?!" Rex yelled as he turned around to face the source. Kisara was astonished to find that Mai and her Harpy Lady friends had come to her assistance.
"Rex Raptor, don't you dare lay a finger on that mermaid!" Mai shouted in anger, and she pointed her rapier in his direction. Rex growled at the intruder before him.
"Damn, I didn't expect the likes of you to show up!" he bellowed, "You want the mermaid back? You'll have to get through me and my dinosaurs first!" Bracchio-Raidus and Gliasaurus growled likewise, ready to fight alongside their master.
"I'd be more than glad to!" Mai retorted, "C'mon Harpy Ladies! Let's make fossils out of those monsters of his!" And with a screechy battle cry, Airo and her sisters lunged toward the dinosaurs.
"Bracchio-Raidus! Gilasaurus! Sic 'em now! You too Megazowler!" Rex barked. The two dinosaurs charged, along with Megazowler, an orange triceratops dinosaur monster covered with spikes.
"Hey you!" Airo called out, "Wanna play bullfight?" Megazowler found itself playing the role of the bull, and charged in a bull-like fashion towards the Harpy Lady. But Airo was ready. Smirking, she flew upward just as the "dinosaur bull" was just about to hit her. She shouted, "OLE!" right when Megazowler crashed headfirst into the rocky wall. Keraino flew around Gilasaurus to and fro, nimbly avoiding the snapping jaws and sharp teeth of the angry monster. She taunted it the whole time. Octipite, meanwhile, flew downward and raked her talons across Bracchio-Raidus' long neck.
"Take that, you worm on legs!" she screeched. Not wanting to be left out, Mai leaped off of the Harpy's Pet Dragon and made her first attack with her rapier. Rex, anticipating the attack, raised up a mace to block her thrust.
"Not too shabby," Mai said, "but from my point of view you're nothing more than a stylized caveman!"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Rex yelled in anger, and he swung his mace to bash the swashbuckler, only to miss his mark miserably as she dodged seemingly without effort.
"Oh come now, you can do better than that!" Mai taunted. The weapons clashed against each other, neither side gaining an advantage. Finally, Rex's fury reached its breaking point.
"All right! Time to get serious!" Rex bellowed, "Dinosaurs, attack!" By then Megazowler had just gotten its head out of the hole it made, and now it made its bull rush again. Once again Ario dodged the attack. She turned around and gave it a mocking smirk.
"Ha! Missed me again you big—AAAHHH!" Ario hardly finished her sentence when Megazowler did a running start and leaped into the air, knocking the Harpy Lady to the ground. Bracchio-Raidus swung its head in a counterattack that sent Octipite flying… right into the wall.
"Ario! Octipite!" Keraino cried when suddenly, Gilasaurus grabbed hold of her with its claws. "Aieee! Let me go!"
"Try this on for size, Bitch!" Rex roared, and he swung his mace over his head and slammed it hard on the floor. It was enough to make Mai lose her balance and fall onto the floor.
"MAI!" Kisara shouted as she watched her friend land on the floor. Once again Rex swung his mace toward the fallen swashbuckler, but she barely managed to raise her rapier and block it before it made impact. She soon saw that Rex was giving a feral grin. "Heheheheh, looks like someone's losing her touch." Mai could only glare at her opponent as she thought, Damn, where are they?! For Kisara's sake, I need backup, and fast!
Note: I must mention that some of the names of certain Duel Monsters are actually based on the names I found in the strategy guide for Yu-Gi-Oh Falsebound Kingdom. Sorry to leave you guys in yet another cliffhanger, but my brain needs to think up the plot to put in the next chapter. See you soon!