A/N: I'm so incredibly sorry for taking so long! I hope many of you read my note from Kagome...It was all I could do before I left. Again, I apologize. This had been driving me nuts the entire time!

Also, it didn't help that I actually had some of this written...and then found out that I had accidently erased it! So I had to retype everything. I guess it turned out a little better, though. My sister certainly thought that I did a good job on the transformation.

Which reminds me. I was going to say this before, but...it's so HARD to write without using time in Atlantis! I keep wanting to use minute, second, etc., but I can't because they don't have a time system listed. Oh well, I'm plowing through it.

Anyways, I got surprisingly many people requesting that Shippo be Flounder. Let me just say this to those people: I have a different place for him, but I hope you find it amusing for who I did choose. I actually had my flounder character chosen before any of this was written...

What else, eh? Thank you for being patient, and I will graciously accept flames for taking nearly three weeks.

Everyone! I need an Ursula character, so I'm going to be taking a poll. I have a couple choices, so vote for your favorite (or who would work best) and I'll go for it. The choice are: Karasu (Dark Tournament, because of Youko), Naraku (Main villain in IY, because of Kagome), Rando (Genkai's tournament, because of my sister), or another person who isn't listed (either show, please tell me in a review!)

I think that's it. Please vote, and please enjoy this new chapter that is finally out!

Youko shuffled down a sparkeling, white marble hallway. At least, he would have shuffled, had that been an appropriate action for a prince. Instead, it was more of a dragged walk, wherein his feet didn't always pick themselves up off the ground, consequently causing a scraping noise to occur.

His arms were crossed, and he had a scowl etched onto his face. It was one of those looks where, had anyone been in the immediate vacinity, they would have quickly made themselves scarce in order to avoid the inevitable explosion that would result from the prince's infamous temper. Fortunately, or unfortunately, nobody but the lone youth walked in that particular section of the seaside palace.

Youko sneered at one of the statues on his left. It was supposed to resemble his however-great ancestor. The man was supposed to have been a sight to see, collecting maidenly fans from lands far and wide. Youko thought the statue looked like a bloated catfish. Just what had his ancestor ben thinking, cultivating a mustache that drooped into sharp points like that?

Turning his glare elsewhere, Youko kicked after an imagionary stone. Of course, there would be no loose pebbles about the magnificant floor of the castle. No, the floor was complete sealed marble that matched not only the vast walls, but also the vaulted ceiling in brightness. When the sun, or any bright source of light, found it's way into the palace, most people were blinded from the reflecting aura. It made it incredibly hard to view the majesty of the palace, in Youko's professional opinion.

The young prince turned a corner and the light dimmed considerably. Youko didn't notice, too busy cursing his father. What was the man thinking, trying to force Youko into a marriage that he didn't want? He knew full well he needed to marry; after all, he was the next in line for the throne, loathe as he was to admit it. He just wanted to live a little before he was tied down to a single place, to one person, one country that demanded his full attention. Was that too much to ask for?

"Nothing should be too much for a prince like you to ask for," a voice said suddenly from behind Youko's right shoulder. "You are the prince, after all."

Youko jumped and spun. "Who the hell are you, sneaking up like that?" he shouted.

The figure laughed. Covered in a brown cloak from head to toe, the hood pulled up to cover his face (Youko assumed he was male, since his voice was too deep for a female), the stranger held out his hands to either side. "My prince, I am merely a dabbler in the arts, looking to help people. Is that too much to ask?"

Youko didn't relax, but he half-turned. "Then you should leave me alone. I'm in no mood to entertain common folk right now," he bit out nastily. Normally he had nothing against his people, but his temper was getting the better of him and he could have cared less at that moment.

He completed his turn and started to walk again, but was stopped moments later by the stranger's next statement.

"And if that commoner could make your deepest wish reality? What then?"

Youko glanced back slightly. "What are you saying? That you know what I want and can make it happen somehow?" Youko heard a few steps being taken and assumed the figure was walking towards him. He tensed.

"I know everyone's desire, my prince. I only wish to make them come true." The footsteps ceased. "Would you like me to prove it?"

Youko turned fully and looked around for the cloaked man. The stranger was standing next to a place where one of the statues was conspicuously absent. Instead, a dark tunnel was formed, and the man gestured down it with a hidden hand. "If you would care to follow me, I can provide a way for you to have your wish granted." The figure turned and proceeded through the opening.

Youko hesitated momentarily. Was it worth it, following someone who looked entirely too creepy to be anyone normal, opened up secret passages in dank, unused hallways, and assumed that he knew Youko's secret wish?

It took only moments for Youko to wiegh all of the consequences before he chose to follow. It was, apparently, just in time, for the statue swung back into place just as Youko cleared the threshold.

The travel down the tunnel was a lot shorter than Youko had anticipated. It seemed like they had been walking only moments before the descent was complete and the two people entered a large cavern. Youko took a good look around himself, stepped to the side of the cave's entrance and putting a wall to his back; he felt more comfortable knowing that someone couldn't sneak up behind him that way.

Shelves lined the vast underground room, dug out directly from the solid walls. Books were strewn happlessly in them, along with baubels that held random creatures in them and bubbeling concotions in corked tubes. There were a handful of jars, hidden in the shadows, that looked as if they had body parts floating in them. Paling slightly, Youko decided to keep his eyes fixed to either the floor, or where the mysterious figure was hovering over a bubbling cauldren.

He was adding in a couple different things, using the poor torch lighting to examine his ingredients before tossing them into the frothing pot. Youko wondered if he knew it was beginning to boil over, the crimson-streaked lavendar liquid splashing little droplets about the floor.

A sizzling noise brought Youko's attention to the floor. He watched, wide-eyed, as wherever the liquid landed the stone was being eaten away. It acted like an acid, only more potent. Youko could see the ocean water, which he knew lay a good mile or so under the palace, rise up from the holes.

"What is that stuff?" he demanded. "And how far down are we?"

The figure finished his activities and the cowl shifted, giving the distinct impression that the person had just looked up. "My prince, it is merely a tool that will help you with your wish." He left the other question unanswered as he began to chant in a harsh, gutteral language.

Youko glared and opened his mouth to say something. Only, he never got a chance to say what he intended to. Just as he was about to form the words, a sharp pain shot through Youko's spine.

It was strong enough to send the young, silver-haired prince to his knees. With eyes the size of saucers, Youko felt the pain pass momentarily. He was about to stand, thinking that it was a fluke in his nerves or something, when an even larger shock ran through his legs.

They completely collapsed, dropping Youko from his kneeling position to the cold, hard stone. Youko screamed as the most horribly painful experience in his entire life began to commence.

On the one hand, there was his legs. He barely registered anything beyond the sheer magnitude of pain he was going through, but somewhere in the back of his mind he felt his legs melt. That was the only way he could describe them, as if the very acid he saw being brewed had somehow replaced itself with the marrow that filled his bones.

Legs were never meant to be connected in a human. That was the thought that flittered across Youko's agonized mind, as he felt his legs begin to fuse together. He could hear a distant grinding sound as his feet shifted to accomidate whatever changes were being wrought in him.

On the other hand, there was his eyes. He couldn't see anything through the burning. He swore that someone had taken a red-hot brand and shoved them into his eyes, the illusion made even more believable from the fact that he had tears pouring from his eyes in an attempt to ease the flames that was consuming his sight.

He also felt like someone had taken a particularily unforgiving comb to his hair and tried to wrench out every single snarl that he had ever had from the time he was born. His scalp kept twisting in every direction, eventually getting to the point where Youko began to wonder, in the only corner of his mind that wasn't pain-fogged, when his scalp would become too strained and just peel itself from his skull.

He couldn't handle what was happening to his body. His arms couldn't hold himself up, and his nerves began to send mixed signals to his brain. His body had begun to violently convulse. He began to bleed from his neck, where little slits were beginning to form. A thousand needles were being stuck into his muscles, ripping them forcefully while an outside force caused them to regrow, only to be ripped to shreds once more.

His mind began to overload from everything that was happening. Just before shutting itself down, Youko heard one last thing from the cloaked traitor.

Then oblivion consumed him.

Kagome could see the light in the ocean above. She sped up her swimming, flipping her tail as fast as she possibly could. She had only a few hundred feet before she would break the barrier between worlds, and find a small sanctuary from her father. For a while, she could forget that she had ever been forced into an engagement she didn't want.

"Wait up, you bitch!"

The same voice had been shouting at her for some time, but Kagome had, like now, chosen to ignore it. It was one of her friends, yes, but she didn't feel like dealing with his brash temper and foul mouth at the moment.

"If you don't stop," her friend threatened, "I'm going straight to your father and telling him that you're swimming to the surface again."

Kagome stopped. Had she been driving a cart on land, or had even known about carts or land, she would have compared it to a screeching halt. Instead, it never crossed her mind as she turned to face her friends, hands on her hips.

The person coming closer to her, in front of her other friend, was the object of her sister, Keiko's, crush. Yuusuke was a strong, long-haired brunette that harbored a brash sense of humor and had a fairly sarcastic personality. He possessed one of the more unusual tails in Atlantis, where it was completely black except for his red fin. It made it incredibly easy for him to be spotted, and consequently, he was one of the more recognizable people of the sea. He was the one who had shouted at her.

Her other friend followed slightly behind. Miroku had hair as black as Yuusuke's fin, held back into a small dragon's tail at the base of his neck. He believed himself to be more mature and responsible than Yuusuke, and for the most part, he was. However, Miroku had a small problem in the fact that he loved to flirt.

It was, perhaps, a good thing that most women found that he had a charming personality. It helped them overlook his tail, which was an eye-shocking combination of blue, horizontal stripes over a yellow base. Despite this odd tail and odder obsession, however, Miroku was a fair person whom people loved to say good things about.

They both slowed to a halt in front of the impatient girl and caught their breaths. Kagome took the oppurtunity to speak while they were otherwise occupied. "So, what is so important that I can't spend a moment by myself?" she asked.

Miroku was the first to recover. "Why, Kagome, one would think that you didn't like us anymore." He pointedly ignored her glare. "Besides, we just heard what happened and wanted to make sure you were alright."

Yuusuke took a swing at Miroku, which was dodged easily. "Of course she's not alright. How would you feel if someone walked up to you and said that you were engaged and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it?" he snapped.

Miroku looked away and coughed nervously. It wasn't a secret that Miroku had his eye on a certain person, no matter what he did publicly. Both Yuusuke and Kagome agreed behind the guy's back that he flirted to cover up his nervousness at being around that special someone.

Yuusuke looked smug. "I thought so." Turning to Kagome, he continued. "Besides, that guy your dad hooked you with is a prat. I heard some of the guards complaining about him, and how he was so snappy and better-than-thou."

Kagome sighed and hung her head. "My dad just doesn't get it. I want to be able to find my own person to live with, regardless of the fact that Atlantis should have more allies. I could care less, especially since both Botan and Kikyo seem happy with their suitors."

Yuusuke swam forward and crossed his arms in front of Kagome. "And you won't tell him...why?"

"Because number one," she held up a finger to emphasize her point, "he won't listen. And two," she held up a second finger, "he won't care."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't try!"

"I can't do anything if he won't even listen, Yuusuke! I tried that before and it didn't work. I'm out of options at this point."

"You still shouldn't give up just like that."

"I hate to interrupt," Miroku began, "but what is that?" He pointed over Kagome's shoulder.

Yuusuke looked up and Kagome turned around, both following Miroku's line of sight. The trio watched as a form slowly fell through the water limply. They could barely make out a tail and two arms.

"It's a person!" Kagome cried, beginning to swim towards the figure.

Miroku and Yuusuke hurried to catch up. "What kind of person would be way out here, though?" At both Yuusuke and Kagome's stare, Miroku added, "Besides us, of course. Doesn't it seem a bit...odd?"

Yuusuke shrugged. "A person is a person. Maybe we can interrogate them and find out where they're from, what they want, and how they got here."

Kagome nodded absently. Already it was becoming clear that it was no person they had ever seen. For one thing, the tail had an indistinguishable category. Normally, just by looking at a person, you could tell whether or not they had shark, fish, dolphin or whale blood, or even one of the more rare types of blood in their past. This tail, however, had traits from all different creatures.

It was also an unusual combination of colors. It was a middling shade of green, which was not an uncommon color in the different lands. What was unusual was the scattered bits of silver that could be seen throughout the tail.

As finally made it over, they got a good look at the person. It was definately male; a distinct lack of breasts made it incredibly obvious. Also, the person had a most interesting shade of red hair. It reminded Kagome of a lobster's shell. It was also long, unlike many of the male population in Atlantis chose to wear their hair (Yuusuke was one of a few exceptions).

His features were incredibly delicate. They were almost feminine, which was one thing that had never been seen in any kingdom from Atlantis to the arctic sphere. He was much darker than anyone Kagome had ever seen, his skin almost the color of sand. Kagome wondered if he visited the other ocean often; she had noticed that the more times she went into the light of that giant world, the darker her skin became.

"Who the hell is this?" Yuusuke voiced. It was an obvious question, yet someone had to ask it. The trio had all been wondering the same thing.

Miroku shook his head. "I don't know." He and Yuusuke both reached out to stop the stranger's descent and looked at Kagome.

The young princess brushed a stray hair from the stranger's face. "He's like nothing I've ever seen before."

The two sea folk took her word at face. Kagome had had more influence when it came to what people looked like, since she had gone with her family many times to visit the different kingdoms surrounding Atlantis.

The three all looked at each other and shared a look. The same thing ran through each of their minds- was this finally a person from the ocean above, come to be a sort of ambassador to the people below?

The person stirred before the friend's could say anything else. Miroku and Yuusuke continued to support the strange new someone as he groggily opened his eyes.

Kagome looked on as she watched the figure open his eyes. They were unlike anything Kagome had ever seen- they were green.

End Chapter
Character List:

Youko- 'The Little Mermaid'
Kagome- Prince 'Eric'
Miroku- Flounder
Yuusuke- Sebastion
Sesshoumaru- King Triton
Botan, Kikyo and Keiko- 'Ariel's' sisters
Rin- Max
Cloaked Figure- Ursula

Any questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please review!