Chapter 42: Mermaid Vision
Serilly's POV
I watched as Dave enthusiastically got himself ready. Ringo sighed because of how active Dave was becoming. Honest to Poseidon, I thought of it as a cute interaction. They told me that it would be cold. I felt the outside air and confirmed that it was indeed. "Serilly, I might have a spare sweater for you in my room." Ringo zipped away. "..." I stood there, quiet until... "With a fish-like body such as that, you need to keep yourself warm." Dave advised. "I'll… keep that in mind, Dave." I said. "Here's a biiiig one. This ought to keep you covered for the day." Ringo gave me. "Th-thanks." I took it. Initially, I thought it was itchy to wear, but my body became used to the feeling. Rolling around outside was yet another experience that I never had been through before. I was actually moving myself on land for once and I couldn't believe it. "This is something else…" I looked about. "Yeah, I was like that too when I first saw Suzuran, Serilly." Dave mentioned. "He loves this city, almost as much as me." Ringo followed up with. "I can see why." I giggled. "Hey, who's that over there?" Dave stopped walking. "Huh?" Me and Ringo noticed at the same. "Isn't… that the ocean's prince? What is he doing here?" I wondered. "Ocean royalty?" Ringo raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's a prince, Serilly? With that look, he seems rather feminine." Dave doubted. I understood his confusion, the prince looked all pink and whatnot.
I decided confirm to Dave that the prince WAS indeed a prince. "Don't be fooled by his current appearance, Dave. I assure you that he is in fact a prince, and not a princess. What you see there is his humanoid form, the one he uses to blend in with humans." I explained. "He's coming over to us…" Ringo noticed. "How unlikely, to see another sea creature here. …! What in the seven salty seas is that there?! Why are you on it?!" He yelled with a high-pitched tone. The prince became offended by me sitting in the wheelchair. "S-sorry, I had nothing else to use to get by on land, my prince. It is of my personal apologies…" I calmed his temper. "Well, if it's for the sake of letting you move on land... I forgive you. *gasp* I must keep moving! Sorry, miss mermaid, but I am occupied at the moment!" He hollered before running off. "What the heck is going on with him?" Dave scratched his head. "I don't know... The prince is probably so busy with duties to perform that he's behind schedule." I assumed. "Makes sense…" Ringo shrugged. I was able to look at more of the city as time passed. They showed me the school that they go to. "Wow, so this is your school…" I took interest. "Yeah, we learn whatever we can here. Right now though, we're on break at the moment. About a week left of relaxation after this day…" Dave bragged slightly. "We have a friend that goes here with us, do you want to meet him, Serilly?" Ringo asked me. "Sure." I nodded. The two lovers led me to a tree-shaped house.
Dave knocked on the door and a bear came out. "A… bear?" I saw. "The bear looked at me in surprise. "! Wh-who is this, Ringo?" He stuttered. "Ris, that right there is Serilly, a mermaid. Also… it looks like you healed since we last saw you, so that's good." Ringo introduced me to him. "This is unbelievable… I know that I am a talking squirrel bear, but I didn't think that mermaids were real." He said in truth. "Serilly, this is Risukuma. He's a smart one when it comes to anything science-heavy." Dave described. "I'm sure he is." I smiled. "Brrrgh… Maybe we should all get inside. I don't want my home to be getting cold from the outside air." Risukuma suggested to us. "Of course." Ringo agreed. I didn't hear Dave disagree either, so I just rolled with it. The house itself was nice and warm. Many things were scattered about like the aftermath of a hurricane. Some areas are really messy… I wonder if it's because of Risukuma being a science-type. "Ris, what the hell happened here?" Dave asked the bear. "Oh that? Just a myriad of different scrapped notes I took for certain experiments. Now, all but one of them I had planned are completely abandoned." He answered his question. "Okay… then what was the one that didn't end up like that?" Ringo moved things along. "It involves the interaction between thermite and ice. I figured this would be an appropriate one to make because of Winter coming." Risukuma showed. "Uh, what's thermite?" I got curious. "If I remember correctly… isn't thermite basically a bunch of flammable metal powder?" Dave seemed to recall. "In a nutshell… I guess. But anyway, I made up different compositions to see which one is most effective for taking out ice. The first one is made of…" He went on.
The rest of what Risukuma talked about made my head spin. I didn't get any of it and I was left confused. "Don't worry, I don't get a lot of this stuff either, Serilly. At least the boys seem to be having a good time." Ringo clasped my hands. "Yes. I didn't expect Dave to be a really smart guy." I told her. "Uh… Serilly, that's your name, right?" Risukuma came to me. "Correct, what is it?" I waited. "Well… wouldn't it be more convenient if you had legs and whatnot?" He brought the question upon me. "It would make me get around even better on land… why do you ask?" I waited again. "... I think I can make you something with a little help from a friend. A device that will allow you to choose between that tail of yours, and legs at will." He proposed. "*gasp* Really?!" I got excited. "It'll take time… like a few dedicated days-worth of designing. I was bored anyway, and wanted to do something else. My thermite compositions are not ready yet, so I might as well see if I can do this for you." The bear told me. "I guess that means you get to stay with us until then." Dave turned back over to me. "Well… I love Ringo's mother with how she makes things, so I don't mind." I said in direct response. "We'll be heading out, Ris. See you when you get that thing made." Ringo said. "Sure. And, Serilly… I hope you like Suzuran and desire to come back after you leave." Risukuma wished me. "Definitely! Goodbye, Risukuma." I waved before rolling outside.
I got to see even more of the city. I do have to say, it was bustling, despite the cold Fall hampering things. The three of us talked while I took in the sights. I really did enjoy myself thoroughly in this. But everything changed when a weird young man rushed to my side. "Excuse me, but you are of fish-kind, are you not?" I heard. "Yes, and who are you?" I turned around. Dave and Ringo just watched as this exchange of words unfolded. "I am Otomo, a butler for Prince Shellbrick III. Tell me, have you seen him around here lately?" He asked out of me. "I did see him, but I don't know where he went." I answered truthfully. "Oh no, I can't let himself get into trouble! I need to find him as soon as possible, so that the king and queen don't scold me!" He panicked. "Don't worry, I can find the little squirt for you." Dave jumped in to help. "For the record, DON'T call him a little squirt. He is Prince Shellbrick III, I will have you know." Otomo felt offended. "My apologies." Dave bowed. We watched as he transformed and flew off. "Woah! What is that?" I was stunned. "That's his dragon armor form. Essentially, Dave has the power of something known as the Demonic Dragon Warrior." Ringo went on about. "He looks so amazing…" I nearly lost myself. "But, will he find the prince?" Otomo was still deeply concerned. "Don't you worry, Dave has a sharp eye. There's no way that he won't spot the prince when he's up in the air." Ringo assured him.
Dave's POV
I searched the city persistently for the prince, but I had no luck. Throughout most of the time, I just could not find him. "Damn, where is this scapegoat at? I know Suzuran is pretty big, but he should still be running around… Maybe the prince is hiding out somewhere? It's like he knows that Otomo is trying to look for him. That would explain why he was in a hurry when we saw the little feminine guy... That has to be it! Alright, where would I hide if I was a little humanoid prince with pink hair? … Hold on, I see a little shadow creeping around in that alley. It's shaped like the prince too… I might have found him." I landed on the ground and looked closer. "Woah! What in the whale is that monstrosity?!" I heard a voice. It's him! I hear his girly voice! The shadow started to run in the other direction, to which I gave chase. My wings easily out-paced his running and I grabbed the little twerp. "H-hey! Let me go, Shellhead!" He demanded. "Sh-Shellhead?!" I grew angry from his name-calling. "What do you want from me?! I'm Prince Shellbrick III!" He exclaimed. "I want to take you to someone, Prince." I took us both to the sky. "Aaaaaah! I feel seasick!" He screamed. "It seems like you were running away from someone... mind telling me who? And answer truthfully, otherwise… I'll drop you!" I forced him. "I concede, I concede! Just please stoooop!" He pleaded. "Then tell me." I waited. "I was fleeing from my butler, Otomo. He never lets me have any fun! Otomo only keeps me bottled up within the confines of the undersea castle." He told me. Just as I suspected… he ran away from Otomo. I began flapping back over to where Otomo was. "W-wait, where are you taking me?!" "Back to your butler." "You…! No way! I can't let you do that! Water Ball!" He escaped from my grasp and threw a ball of water at me. It hit me a lot harder than I expected it to. The water ball left a noticeable dent in my armor. "Uuuaaaagh!" I screamed. The impact caused me fall faster than he did. No! I can't have myself crash to the ground here, people will panic! I got a hold of things and stabilized myself. The prince meanwhile, managed to land safely on a pile of dirt. He began to run once more after he recovered. "Oh no you don't!" I chased him. He's going to have to be tired sooner or later. When he does, I'll grab him again!
Serilly's POV
The butler grew more and more impatient as time went on. "*grumble grumble*" He paced back and forth. "Man, he's growing restless…" Ringo sat down by me. "I can understand his sentiments, I'm sure that Otomo doesn't want to keep babysitting the prince." I sympathized. "It's strange, I thought Dave would've found him by now… What's holding him up?" She didn't get it. "Young lady, with the red hair. Prince Shellbrick III is a slippery one. Even if he is found, he won't just have himself submit to defeat very easily. He will even fight if he feels like it's necessary to get people off his trail." Otomo told her. "I think I have an idea…" I started to roll. "W-wait, Serilly! Don't do anything rash!" Ringo tried to stop me. "It's fine. I know what I'm doing, Ringo." I said. I inched across the city, hoping to find Dave flying. Fortunately, I did. It didn't take too long for me either. The prince noticed I was near and ran to me. "Hey, it's you! Can you take me into hiding?" He asked. I nodded, but I led him to where Otomo was. "Phew, I'm safe…" He sighed. "Actually, about that…" I started. "Eh?" The prince looked before his eyes bulged. "No… nononononono!" He stumbled and fell to the ground. "There you are! We are going back to the castle immediately!" Otomo grabbed the prince. "Nooooo! Mermaid, you tricked me! I trusted you and you chose to stab me in the back! You siren!" He flailed helplessly. "Maybe you should be conscientious of your status and do your duties properly. Otomo only wants what's best for you. Just be a good prince and maybe shenanigans like this won't erupt into trouble." I lectured. "But I hate my dutiiiiiiiiies!" He disappeared, along with Otomo.
Hopefully, he will learn to be a good prince... "Nice going, Serilly!" Dave landed and his armor was gone. "What happened? It looked like you actually got a beating from him." Ringo came to him. "Well, I didn't expect the prince of the ocean to hit me hard with one attack. He may look weak with his humanoid form, but my God he can pack a punch… Agh-!" Dave winced. "A-are you okay?!" I was concerned. "I'll be fine, I have suffered worse pain than this. I just need to lie down a little." He assured me. "We should get going… it's late." Ringo addressed the elephant. "That took up a lot more time than any of us expected." I said. "There's always some sort of event going on with us. Life never seems to slow or change, only continuing at the same breakneck speed." Dave sighed. We came back to Ringo's home. There, we told Ms. Ando of the day's events. "Your lives never change, do they Ringo and Dave?" She chuckled. "That's literally what I said not too long ago…" Dave planted a hand on his face. I rolled over to him and gently rubbed my hand against his arm. "It's not all bad, I got to see Suzuran how it was." I reminded him. "I suppose…" He looked up. I heard a buzzing come in soon after. "Oh! It's from me.. I'll be over there. Excuse me." Dave moved over. "Eh?" I was confused. "It looks like he has a call to answer from someone…" Ringo assumed. I became curious about all of it. I listened, but I didn't understand what the discussion was about. "... I'll see you as soon as I can, bye. Sorry, I have to go somewhere on my own. Looks like I have to cut dinner time short…" He almost went out the door. "Dave…? Is something bad happening?" Ringo turned to him.
Dave's POV
"Ringo… None of this concerns you, just stay here." I told her. "No, Dave! I need to know what's going on, as one of your girlfriends. If you tell me to stay away, it'll only have me more likely to follow you." "*sigh* Very well, but be extremely cautious. What we are dealing with is no joke. Just in case if you're wondering who called me, it was Jace. He found sufficient evidence to have authorities apprehend the criminals. And luckily, it seems that they as a team successfully found most of the rats. The problem rests on the fact that INTERPUYO still only consists of humans. This was why he contacted me, so that I would make short work of the criminals and deliver them to the authorities. If you can make it easier to incapacitate these guys with your lightning, then I'll let you come along." "... Sure. I promise not to weigh you down, Dave." I smiled at Ringo's promise of not dragging around. "Thank you, Ringo. Serilly, make sure you stay safe and happy with Ms. Ando. Everything will be alright on our end, so there's no need for concern." I turned to the mermaid. Serilly simply nodded and we exited for where Jace told me to rendezvous at. "You're here…" Jace saw us. "So, they're hiding inside of the school… We should probably smoke them out like bees. Ringo, are you ready?" I turned to face her. "Do you really need to ask?" She gave a frustrated look. "Alright, alright… let's go then." I transformed into my armor. "Hrr-! Raah!" I forced the doors open. "Excellent work, young man. We will all drive the criminals out of this school and arrest them. Please, help us in this." An officer praised and pleaded. "It would be an honor to help the authorities out. Besides, I have my own reasons for wanting them apprehended, officer. Do not ask what that reason may be, it's a personal one." I replied. "Is that so? Very well, young man." He turned away from me. "I'll stay out here for now, just get those bastards, Dave." Jace told me. "Consider it done." I promised him. I walked inside with the officers. Ringo came in behind us for precautionary protection.
We searched for a while, but there was no sign of anybody else being in the school. "This is impossible! Did they escape somehow?!" I overheard an officer yelling. "What's going on? They should be here, right?" Ringo came to my side. "I don't know… There shouldn't be a feasible escape route, I know this school." I looked around. "Fellow officers, I think I may have found where these scoundrels fled to!" A leading officer announced. "Is this true?! Please, lead us to it!" I demanded. "Now, hold on. We'll see if this is safe for you kids." He told us. "Excuse me? I was brought in to help you by Jace because I am no mere human. If you trust him, then you should trust me as well. I think it will be better if you guys stand aside and let me look at things. I'm less susceptible to danger here, just look at me. This armor isn't just for show, it's tough and protective." I decided. "Fine. Alert us when it's safe to come with you." The leading officer moved out of the way. "Unfortunately… this means that you'll have to stay with these officers, Ringo. Not that I don't have faith in you… it's just that we don't know what lies over there." I spoke reasonably. "Promise me you won't get hurt…" Ringo hugged. "I promise." I went with a group who found this discovery. "What might this be?" I wondered. "Well, why don't you take a look? Jace said that you investigated in a murder case at one point. None of us carry knowledge regarding the secret to this hellhole." A lower ranked officer brought up. "Yeah... I did." I began putting the pieces together. Footprints led to a sudden stop in the wall. "What the hell? This footprint just cuts off at this wall…" I observed. I felt parts of the wall to see if there was anything out of place.
Soon enough, one tile seemed off to me. After applying pressure, it dug itself further into the wall. "...! Men, I think I have figured it out." I stepped out of the way. "*gasp* A secret passageway… they must have entered here at some point." A different officer asserted. "Let us take a closer look, but be on your guard." I led them. This passage was long and winding with its path. It took us several minutes just to reach the other side. "Damn, it looks like they're no longer in the building! We took too long to find this place…" I gave up. "... Sorry to have dragged you into this, young man." The leading officer spoke to me. "No, it's fine, sir. None of us expected that it would turn up like this. At least we have driven them out of the school. Who knows what kind of behind-the-scenes strings they were pulling. The downside to this though… much of the school's staff was made up of these villains. The school is basically done at this point, people WILL find out the truth. When they do… the fate of the building's state will be unknown." I said to him. "You were a student at this school, correct?" He assumed. "Yeah… for a few months, I had no idea this kind of secrecy was slipping through, unseen. In fact... no one knew, until recently. Damn those bastards…" I looked at my hands, then rolled them up into fists. I met back up with Ringo and told her the bad news. "Well, that's not good… If we can't do anything about this, then we'll just have to go home." She said. "What's the situation?" Jace rushed to us. "They escaped…" I passed the word. "Goddammit…" Jace displayed his trademark irritated face. "We'll leave now, tell us when you do find them again." Ringo spoke to him. "Sure…" He sat down in a silent rage.
We left for home, telling Ringo's mother about the situation. "... Why must things turn out this way? Why can't there just be peace?" She thought out loud. "Ms. Ando, humans are merely just human. As such, we are easily manipulated and bribed into doing deplorable acts. Human nature is extremely difficult to bend to the good side of things. Sin, the byproduct that grows in us the more we perform wrongdoings… is a toxin, mentally destroying our minds. It is sin that blackens the heart of every human being. Sin-" I get interrupted. "Alright, we get it! You don't have to go off on a tangent about that… again." Ringo demanded for me to stop. "Sorry… I guess I went overboard." I apologized. "In any case… Those bad people need to be stopped, by the look on your faces, right?" Serilly sat firmly in her wheelchair. "Yeah, but as long as we don't know where they are… there's nothing we can do about them." I responded. For the rest of the early night, none of us were so talkative. Me and Ringo stayed silent in the shower. But, I did try to get her to forget things by caressing her. However, she wasn't in the mood for it. Ringo looked at me a certain way that made me cease it. Ms. Ando went to bed early, which I understood why. That meant Serilly was placed on the sofa early too. I decided to go and be with her on it for a bit after wishing Ringo a good night. "Serilly?" "Yes, what is it, Dave?" "I figured that maybe we can talk for a bit. That moment after we came back, it made us all not so… willing to talk." "I know… you guys see this as a very serious situation and you are treating it as such. The bad people, the thing that was controlling me, are both huge concerns." "It's not just that... Suzuran, as well as Primp Town... they're on the verge of being destroyed." "... Will everything be fine?"
I thought about what I should say next before opening my mouth."... Serilly, how much do you personally value your own life?" "I-I… value it deeply. Why do you ask?" "How would you feel if I possessed the power... to save all that is good from evil dimensional eyeballs." "I… think I would look up to you and-" "Say no more. No matter how grim things become, people will always be there for others. I will be there for you when you're crying and hurt. It's part of a creed that I now follow: Bringing protection to girls who cannot protect themselves and stop their tears. I hate seeing girls in pain… it makes me feel a certain way. I probably should have told you what my powers are, because I-" "I roughly know what you are, Dave. You're the Demonic Dragon Warrior, yes? Ringo said that to me when you searched around for Prince Shellbrick III. I think I have an understanding of how strong you may be. It's interesting... you're a demon of sorts, but not rude or crass at all. In fact, you… are one of the nicest people that I got to know." "A lot of people say that, Serilly… I was able to make so many friends in such a short span of time. Going to this magic school in Primp Town made that happen. Things might've started out awkward and slow, but I became the strongest student in my class. Everyone looked up to me… I'm grateful for it, not because I seeked attention... but because I was in a tough time in life where I didn't have many friends." "Your desire for friends must have been so strong that you got that form of happiness…" "Maybe, but those people understood my bashful nature at the time. See, I wasn't always the powerful and brave guy that you are looking at now. Back then, I only talked a whim. I only spoke when I needed to answer something or whatever. I was quiet, often silent during most days. Ringo and the others though, changed that forever. Over time, I became more outgoing and less passive. And, thanks to that… I began doing more things for myself, and for others. I slowly, but surely, became stronger... to the point where I was one of the strongest people I knew. And well, that's the story, Serilly."
Serilly looked at me and smiled after I said all that. "*giggle* You must be happy most of the time these days, Dave." "That's if things don't go awry… but they obviously have recently. Excuse me for my language, since I'm sure you're one with standards… but, I just want all of that "destroy the world bullshit" to stop. I want there to be peace as much as any other upstanding person. Apparently though, there HAS to be struggle and strife for humans. That part of life never changes, whether it's a war, or something worse, like this. Back in my world, there's no such thing as magic or supernatural creatures. It was built on currently expanding technology. Any country that didn't have a policy on "control of the people" was and still is scared stiff as far as I know." "Why is that?" "Because… there's a thing known as nuclear weaponry: Weapons so dangerous, the very essence of them would cause living things to develop cancer. Warheads: Giant explosives stuffed with nuclear force that hit like freight trains. Launching just one of those at a city would spell doom. Even if the initial explosion doesn't kill people… the radiation left behind will linger for a long time. One of my world's two super power countries is one of those "control the people" types. Thus, they are not afraid of throwing down a warhead if they are provoked. The other one was where I came from, the land of the free. America. Of course, you wouldn't know what it is from just me telling you."
There's just absolutely no way she would know what nuclear warheads are..."N-no, I wouldn't. I'm… a little lost with everything you have said." "Don't worry, forget that I said all of that. I can see it alienating you into confusion, Serilly. Well, it's getting late… *yawn* See you in the morn-" "Wait. Take me to your room." "Eh?" "I… feel uncomfortable sleeping alone tonight." "Oh… I see. Well, as long as Ringo doesn't find out, I guess." "Thank you… now, carry me." "Will do." I slipped my arms under her back and gripped her body a tiny bit with my hands. Serilly wrapped her arms above my shoulder blades. I took one step at a time, not just because I wanted her to be safe, but I also wanted to not make too much noise. Just when I was about to get us into my room, Ringo popped out of hers and noticed. "Dave…" She glared. "Look… it's not what it looks like." I told her. "*sigh* Looks like you've left me with no other choice… I'm sleeping with you as well, to make sure SHE doesn't do anything funny." Ringo decided. "Ringo… I'm not…" Serilly frowned. "I don't care, I had a date with him before you came to be here. I'm not about to let some… mermaid have quality time with precious Dave without my approval." She scoffed. "*sigh*" I went. In the end, I had no choice in the matter. Ringo forced herself to be with me and oversee Serilly for the rest of the night.
Author's Notes: Serilly was shown the sights of Suzuran by Dave and Ringo and loved it. The trio encountered a prince of the ocean, Prince Shellbrick III. They saw him run in a hurrying flight, then he was gone. Later on in the day, they ran into a butler name Otomo. He was desperately trying to retrieve the prince so that he wouldn't be scolded at. Dave volunteered to hunt down the prince and bring him back. Although, upon his attempt, Dave was unable to catch and retrieve him on his own. It was thanks to Serilly that they were able to bring the prince back to Otomo. During the early night, the criminals were supposedly cornered in the school, but then escaped from both Dave, and the authorities' clutches. The rest of the night involved Dave getting a lack of sleep, all because of Ringo's distrust for him and Serilly being alone. What will happen to Dave, Ringo, and Risukuma now that Suzuran High is going to be known to the public as a criminal hideout? Next chapter, Chapter 43: A Rough Transition.