Hi everyone. Sorry that I didn't update this chapter earlier. I would have updated this chapter two days ago, but I was kinda stump on how to set it up so anyway... It's been a long time since we have a Seira-centric chapter, right? We would have little mentioning of her. Well, now we can have a chapter mostly for her and Takumi. Hay! So enjoy.

Chapter 36: Sweet Love

-Morning-

Today is December 23, a Saturday. Seira remembered that Takumi told her that he was going sailing today. She really wanted to see him, but she couldn't risk being turned into bubbles if he saw her turned into a mermaid in front of his eyes. Still, she decided to go see him today before he leaves.

'At least... At least I should give him the bento I made for him...' Seira thought.

Wearing a strapless orange dress with a hint of red at the rim of the skirt and a jacket to keep herself warm along with a pair of orange boots, she grabbed her wrapped bento from the kitchen and went out the door.

-Kyle's Room-

It has been a couple of days since Kyle had stayed in Japan. He was on his laptop typing something when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." he replied.

The door opened to reveal that it's Julie. He know that it was her since they were excepted to meet.

"Hey, Kyle." she closed the door. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Better than last time." he answered as he closed his laptop and gestures the princess to sit in a seat.

"What do you want to asked me that you couldn't asked with the others?" Julie questioned as she sat in a nearby chair.

"You know that everyone once lived a fairytale life before. I was wondering about Noel." he replied.

"Noel? In the ancient past, she was Leya, also known as Beauty from Beauty and the Beast. Was that the only reason why you call for me?" Julie asked.

"No, I want to asked about one of your friends." Kyle explained.

"Akari or Yuki?"

"Akari. I don't know why, but I get this feeling that she died the most tragic death." Kyle replied.

"She did. Eliza's death was the most tragic out of all the heroes who died. Even far more than mine or Snow's. I don't know much of the details or how it started, just how it happened."

"What happened to her what she was Eliza?" he got curious.

Julie got out of her seat and head towards the door. Before she left, she turned and spoke quietly, "I think that you're not ready to know yet just like the others. Until the time is right and Noel finds out who you are, I'll tell. Bye Kyle."

-Dock-

On the dock, in the rocky area of the beach, there is a boat. Takumi is there with his father, Kai. He was helping his father with the motor while Kai was bringing some food to eat for later. After the preparation was finish, Takumi was looking at the sea nostalgically.

'I wonder if I'll see her again. The last time I saw her was before I visited Seira back when she was sick... I wonder if she is still mad at me.' Takumi thought.

"I'm actually closer to you than you think." Takumi repeated what the mermaid once told him. He still didn't understand what she meant by that. Perhaps boat sailing will give him a chance to talk to his father about when he first met his mermaid.

"Takumi, are you ready?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Takumi replied as he was about to turn for the boat until...

"Takumi!" he heard his voice being called and turned around. He saw Seira running towards him with something in her hands.

"Seira?" he was surprised that she would come. "What are you doing here?"

"I... I came... To give you this." Seira replied between pants as she gave Takumi a wrapped bento. "It's probably not much... And I'm pretty sure that you already have something to eat, but... I would like you to have it." Seira told him nervously.

Takumi smiled at the girl in front of him. He gave her a hug, being careful not to ruined the bento.

"Thank you, Seira." he whispered into the girl's ear as he release her from his embrace. He took the bento from her hands and left for the boat. As his father start the motor and the boat started to sail off, he turned to wave at her. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Seira smiled as she happily waved goodbye back at him, "Mm! I'll see you soon!"

When she was sure that the boat is from a far distance, she dived into the water and followed the boat.

"Who was that Takumi?" his father asked as they got further away from the dock.

"Hm? Oh, m-my friend." Takumi answered.

"She seemed more like a friend... Was she the girl you told me about?" Kai asked. Noticing the silence, Kai know the answer. They continued on their sailing.

-Sea Cave-

In the underwater cave, the Sea Witch was started to become irritated. Normally, she is very patient and all, but the more she wait with no results, the more she feels like she's going to lose.

'I don't have much time. It's been almost two thousand and five years since I was curse by those two meddlesome Goddesses. If I don't have the Rose Princess in time, my immortality will fade. Unlike those foolish girls, my immortality is unstable. I won't be about to gain my youth and beauty again if this continues.' Shika fret.

"Come!" she felt a presence.

It was the scientist, simply called as "Doctor". He never told the Sea Witch his name, so she just called him as he is.

"Ah, Doctor. What have you invented?" Shika questioned.

"My first invention." the doctor replied as he pulls the sheets from the machine. The machine or whatever the invention was looked similar to the Legendary Hippocampus that is twice as large as a human being, except it's black. "Have you ever heard of a sea monster that inhabits the waters of Scotland?" the doctor questioned.

"I've heard rumors." Shika answered.

"Well, based on the information you gave me. I was inspired to create this beauty. The exact opposite of the Hippocampus who protects these Mermaid Princesses. I call it Kelpie point one, based on the stories of the sea monster who drowns humans to their deaths. Taking little children who aren't careful and capturing women who are deceived by their handsome appearance when disguised as human men. I'm pretty sure my experiment won't fail." the doctor replied with confident.

"Very well, I'll let the others distract the princesses for you. Do not fail." Shika replied.

"Hai, Shika-sama." the doctor bowed at the witch as he disappears.

A smirk spread across Shika's face.

'Almost there... Almost.'

-Waters-

Seira was quietly following the boat, since she couldn't be with Takumi in the boat, why not in the water when he cannot see her?

"Seira." the Orange Mermaid Princess stopped at the sound of her name being called. She turned to see Lucia, Hanon, and Rina, who have followed her.

"Lucia, everyone, why are you here?" Seira asked.

"Nikora wanted us to clean the bath house and when she notice that you weren't in your room, she told us to find and bring you home." Lucia explained.

Hanon sighs and gave a shrug, "Honestly, if we're Mermaid Princesses, why do we have to clean and work everyday?"

"It can't be helped, come on, let's go." Rina told them.

Seira turned to see that the boat was out of her sight. She looked in disappointed as Lucia called her name again.

"Seira?"

"Eh? Oh... Nothing." the princess replied, though her tone clearly wrote the message.

Lucia looked at her friends as they each gave her a nod, before turning to Seira.

"We'll give you some time alone. We're going back, try not to stay too long... Okay, Seira?" Lucia told her.

"Mm." Seira replied as the three left her alone.

-Sakura's and Julie's Room-

Julie, temporarily in her fairytale princess form, Rose Red, was laying on her bed. She wasn't sleeping, more like concentrating. Sakura was out to play with Makoto. After all, the two were once Gerda and Kai. Julie was happy that her little sister found love very quickly, but eventually, that love will fade for it's not the same love Gerda had for Kai. In the ancient past, Gerda had romantic love for Kai, but she was abducted by her stepmother, the Evil Queen. Kai's whereabouts at that time was unknown and it was possible that he perished in the cold snow storm her past sister, Snow White created. Now they are reunited, but they can't have the same feeling of love anymore. Sakura was Lucia's half sister while Makoto was Kaito's cousin. She'll have to think about that later. She continued to concentrate.

She hasn't told anyone yet, but being a Red Mermaid Princess, she has the ability to see into the future. A power that apparently can only be used by the Red and Pink Mermaid Princesses. However, the gift will only come of use when the princess, herself, is matured, resulting in a more clear and accurate vision of the events given to her. Since she never tapped into it much, the visions are still hazy, in bits and pieces.

-First Vision-

Her first vision is from the future. A blood-red moon and another abandon kingdom. Amongst all of this are red roses that are wilting.

-First Vision Ends-

Julie lost her concentration at the vision. She has control over the red roses and for them to wilt... She concentrated again to receive another vision.

-Second Vision-

In her second vision, she was looking at the past. A house came into her mind made out of... Sweets? She sees two innocent children and an old woman who live in the depths of the forest. The image changed from the innocent children to two grownups. One male and one female, each wearing black in their own style. All of those images dissolved in flames. However, this fire was not like her warm, protective flames, rather the fire of hatred. She then sensed an overwhelming feeling from this past vision as she sees nothing, but flames. The thirst of revenge, the hatred towards humans who kills innocents, the distrust in others, the painful memories, the sad past, a ruined childhood. Who possess such melancholy memories?

-Second Vision Ends-

Julie opened her eyes in concern. She just received a memory from one of the heroes who had died in the ancient past. Whose was it? She'll have to check the fairytale book later for she closed her eyes for the third and final time.

-Third Vision-

In the present vision, Julie can see Seira and the other Mermaid Princesses. They were in the ocean and not far from them is a boat where Takumi and Kai are in. However, soon... An attack will come.

-Third Vision Ends-

Julie got up from her bed, her curly blond hair returned to its usual dark brown color. Heading out the door, she head for the beach.

-Sea-

On the boat, Takumi was eating lunch from the bento that Seira made for him. It was very delicious, containing rice on the right half, slices of meat on the upper left half, and some fresh fruits on the lower left half.

"Dad." he called out to his father.

"Yes, Takumi?" his father questioned.

"How did you and your mermaid met?" he asked. "I've told me stories, but never have you told me how you met."

"I met her when she was in trouble once. The moment I helped her, I fell in love. I guess it was love at first sight." Kai smiled nostalgically at the memory.

"Were you conflicted between her as a human and a mermaid?" Takumi asked.

"Yes, the woman I love was the same was the mermaid I love. However, I didn't realized until she revealed herself to me. If I had known sooner, she wouldn't have turned into bubbles." Kai explained.

"But she sacrificed her life for you." Takumi reminded him.

"Yes." Kai agreed with his son. "Why did you asked about mermaids all of a sudden?"

"I-I met one myself." Takumi admitted the truth.

"Really? Was she a red mermaid?" Kai questioned.

"No, the mermaid I met have an orange tail." Takumi answered.

Meanwhile in the water...

Seira was about to follow Lucia and the others when a voice stopped her.

"Well, well, well. Looks who we have here." the voice turned out to be Lady Bat. "The Orange Mermaid Princess, Seira. Why are you out here all alone?"

Seira didn't reply and just simply glared at him as Lanhua and Alala appeared beside him.

"It appears that our princess doesn't wish to speak to us. How unladylike of her. However, I'm not surprised at all. She doesn't know the meaning of what it's like to be a beautiful lady like me." Lanhua mocked and taunted the girl at the same time.

"Enough talking! I want to sing my song now!" Alala whined.

"And we shall. Prepare yourself, Princess! Your heart will be mine!" Lady Bat replied.

The three started to sing their own songs, each are mixing to become a full blast of a painful musical tune. Seira feels the affects of all three songs at once, her strength is leaving her at a rapid speed. She screams in agony as she tries to block out the music from her ears, but it was useless. Her pearl started to glow very faintly calling for the other pearls.

At the same time, on the boat...

"Dad, why are the waves acting so strange? It was calm just a minute ago." Takumi wondered.

"There's no time to think about that, Takumi. Quick, help me with the motor. We need to get out of this area of else the boat will capsize." Kai told him.

"Hai." Takumi replied as he rushed to his father's side.

However, as he tries to make haste, a large wave crashed into the boat, causing it to turn violently. Kai managed to stabilized the boat despite the rough waves, but Takumi unfortunately fell into the water.

"Takumi!" Kai exclaimed as he tries to reach for his son's hand, but he was carried away by the waves until there is no hand to grabbed. He repeatedly call Takumi's name, but there was no respond.

Under the surface, the villains were just finishing their song as they are pleased to see that Seira is close to passing out. Before she did, she turned to see Takumi drowning not to far from her.

"Takumi!" she cried as she tries to swim to him, though it was difficult to do so with pretty much of her strength and energy gone.

'I can't... I won't be able to make it in time...' Seira thought as she is close to closing her eyes.

She was then suddenly caught by someone. She looked up to see that it was Julie. The Red Princess was looking at her in concern, but at the same time, a smile appeared on her face.

"Go." she simply told her.

"What about them?" Seira asked weakly.

"Don't worry about them. I'll take care of them. Go and save Takumi. Here." Julie hold Seira's hands and a warm light came from Julie's hand as it is transferred to Seira's. She can feel that some of her strength is returning to her.

"Thank you, Julie." Seira smiled at her gratefully as she swims away.

When Seira is gone from the scene, Julie turned her gaze towards the three wing demons.

"I won't let you take another step in capturing that girl or breaking her dreams." Julie warned them.

"And how are you going to stop us? It's three against one." Lanhua asked with such ignorant.

"Think again!" Rina exclaimed as she, Lucia, and Hanon descended next to the Red Mermaid Princess.

"She's not alone to take on you three failures." Hanon somewhat gloat in a way.

The three wing demons have angry marks on their heads as they are filled with intense rage.

"What did you say, you ugly Aqua Mermaid Princess?!" Lanhua yelled.

"I dare you to say that again!" Alala replied.

"Of course," Hanon shrugs as if it was no big deal, which isn't to her. "You three are failures."

"Hanon, stop messing around." Rina advised.

"What? I was just having fun." Hanon protest.

"Anyway..." Lucia trailed off.

~Pink Pearl Voice!~

~Aqua Pearl Voice!~

~Green Pearl Voice!~

~Red Pearl Voice!~

The girls transformed into their super idol forms with their microphone close to their lips.

"Get ready for a December live special!" Julie smiled.

"Today's special is what you're going to like." Lucia replied, standing next to her sister.

"Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!" the mermaids sing Legend of Mermaid.

Nanairo no kaze ni fukarete tooi misaki wo mezashiteta
Yoake mae kikoeta MERODI
Sore wa totemo natsukashii uta

The wing demons screamed as they hear the lovely music flowing into their ears.

"Why? Why don't you accept my love?" Lady Bat questioned.

Higashi no sora e to habataku toritachi
Saa, takarajima ni nukeru chikamichi

"No fair! I wanted to sing." Alala whined.

Nanatsu no umi no rakuen
Arashi no yoru no ato ni wa ai wo tsutaerutame inochi ga mata umareru
Nanatsu no kuni no MERODIA
Daremo ga itsuka wa koko wo tabidatsu hi ga kitemo
Watashi wa wasurenai

"Ah! My ears hurt!" many of the chibis complained until they all turned back into Lanhua.

"Love Shower Pitch!" the mermaids finished their song as the villains are defeated. "Do you want an encore?"

"I won't forget about this!" Lady Bat replied as he disappeared in a cloud of bats.

"Don't think you've won yet. Today, you just got a lucky start." Lanhua disappeared in butterflies.

"I hate you four!" Alala stuck her tongue out as she turned into a mini version of herself and fly away.

"Well, looks like we're done for today." Lucia concluded.

"Not quite." a voice boomed.

"Who's there?" Rina questioned.

The robotic kelpie appeared. Its eyes glowed an eerie red color.

"I've found you... Mermaid Princesses." the dark voice of the kelpie replied. "I am Kelpie point one, a creation created by my master. He wishes for me to capture all eleven of you and bring you to Shika-sama. So... Prepare yourself!" it moves for an attack.

"Look out!" Julie warned the girls as they abruptly de-transformed to split up, breaking the live stage.

"Let's see if you can get pass this!" the Kelpie opened its mouth and shoot a net at Hanon.

"Kyaa!" Hanon screamed as she struggled in the net.

"Hanon!" the girls exclaimed.

"Ha, ha, ha, one down." the Kelpie laugh despite the mouth was still opened with the net. "And soon... I catch the rest of you!" it declared as more nets came from its mouth.

The net caught Lucia and Rina, leaving only Julie left. She avoided getting captured, but she know she can't keep it up for much longer.

"Enough!" Julie temporally transformed into Rose Red. She summoned her rose staff, the Scepter of Briar Rose.

With a wave of her staff, Rose command the briars to do her bidding. Despite that it's impossible, briars grow from the sea floor and wrapped itself onto the mechanic kelpie. The thorny vines wrapped tightly on the machine until the system started to malfunction.

"W-What is t-this? I-I'm b-breaking a-a-apart." the Kelpie started to shook very violently. "No!"

It exploded into many pieces as the nets with the mermaids in it fall.

"Kyaa!" the three screamed for they can't escape from the closed net.

"Lucia, Hanon, Rina!" Rose cried as she quickly used her magic and used her briars to catch the falling nets. The Rose Princess started to transformed back to her normal self as she swims to her friend's side. She untangled each net as they swim free from it.

"Julie, thank you." Lucia replied.

"You're welcome." Julie smiled. "Let's go."

"What about Seira?" Hanon asked.

"We should let her be. I wouldn't worry about her." Julie gave the girls a wink.

Somewhere in the murky parts of the water, Seira manage to catch up to Takumi and caught him before he could drift even deeper into the ocean. By the time she caught him, she has begun to realized that they're in the deep and cold parts of the sea. She looked at his unconscious face, troubled in thoughts.

'What should I do? We're in the deep parts of the water…. If this keeps up, Takumi might….' Seira thought in worry. 'I love him, but what would Takumi think of me? He loves my mermaid self and as human girl… But will he'll be glad to see me in this form? He never even kissed me as a mermaid before... My third kiss...' Seira continue to ponder in thought.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Seira closed her eyes and kissed Takumi on his lips. Though it was faint, she can hear a pulse. Suddenly, sunlight somehow reached the depths of the sea, shining on Seira's back as the girl pulled back from her kiss. Her checks was turning a tinge of pink as the light behind her made her glow radiantly like an angel while her tail glistened in the sunlight. Takumi opened his eyes for a moment, at the sight of his mermaid, a memory of some sort appeared in his mind.

-Ancient Past Memory-

A girl with bright orange hair and eyes. Her beautiful hair was resting on her back. The girl was very simple out of all the girls he have seen so far. She wore a cute orange, off-shoulder dress with the top being a sunset color and the skirt being a vibrant orange like fire lilies with a hint of gold sparkles. On her pretty petite feet are plain flats and her hair was decorate with many spring flowers.

"Prince Takuma, I present you a girl who have the best thread in the entire kingdom. Golden thread on a silver spool." the servant told him as he hold the spool.

The prince approached the girl, who gave him a curtsy.

"No need to for that, dear." the prince hold out his hand for her as she hesitantly took it. "Tell me, what is your name."

"My name? It's Serene." the girl answered.

-Ancient Past Memory Ends-

"Serene." Takumi called out the name as he closed his eyes again.

"Eh?" Seira had a questioning look in her eyes as she tilted her head a bit. For a moment, the princess was confused of why Takumi would call her "Serene", but quickly put it aside for now. Wrapping her arms protectively around him, she swims to the surface at top speed.

On the surface, Kai was leaning on the rail of the boat, worried sick over his son. He didn't know what happen and run a lot of scenarios in his head. After his son had fallen over, it only taken a couple of minutes later for the sea to become calm again. However, he haven't seen his son anywhere nor does he know where he'll ended up at. The current could have taken him anywhere. He just hoped and prayed for a miracle to happen.

Suddenly, a sound in the water made him look out into the sea. He saw Takumi floating in the water not too far from where he is.

"Takumi!" Kai exclaimed as he jumped out of the boat and swim to his son's side.

Kai took his son back to the boat and turned around when he heard a splash. He didn't see anyone, but caught a glimpse of an orange tail in the sunset. At first he was in awe, but that quickly changed to a smile of gratitude. A mermaid who he once loved saved his life and now a mermaid who his son loves saved his.

"Thank you, mermaid." he gentle told the sea.

Seira, hiding behind the rocks, watched as Kai took Takumi home. A sweet smile spread on her face.

"Thank goodness. I'm glad you're safe, Takumi." Seira whispered as she turned in the other direction and dived back into the water.

-Sakura's and Julie's Room-

Sakura had returned from her time with Makoto and happily told Julie all about it.

"And then, Makoto told me about when he first saw Lucia onee-chan as a mermaid!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Really?" Julie asked. "If Nikora had found out at that time, I'm pretty sure that she would have scolded Lucia and made her clean the whole bath house until she collapse." she joked.

Julie then remembered those strong negative feelings of the past when she tried to see the future. In a way, she have always believed that the past are pieces of the puzzle. After all, to know your future, you must know your past and you have to know the past to understand the present, right?

She did solve parts of the puzzle to her question upon returning home. The two children she saw, they were Hansel and Gretel. If she remembered correctly, the two abandoned children later grew up to become witch hunters after encountering one when they were little. She didn't really like them for they have the same mindset as the former werewolves hunters: All witches are evil, just as all werewolves are monstrous beast. All of them, even the innocent-looking people you see everyday. What those group of hunters don't know is that witches and werewolves have one thing in common, humanity. What make a certain group of werewolves and witches different from the other is if they've become deranged. Some werewolves and witches, alike, who have committed such atrocity doesn't deserve to be called by the respective term, rather be renamed as the "Unforgivable" for their unforgiving acts towards the innocent. Still, the hunters see them as the same beings.

The real question to all of this thinking to Julie is: Whose memories did she tapped into?

I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. See you soon.