Note: I made it! Uploaded it just before Sunday was going to end. I'm sorry for being a little late as I have been busy at school and I had to spend some time with my family (because it's Sunday...) So... Either way, Chapter 8's quite different from what we've had so far. Looks like things with Umi and Armik are quite fine, but let's take a look on what's happening back home... (P.S. Umi's parents now have names, as suggested by Daemonic Maid. The names Takashi and Aurelia are a collaboration of Daemonic Maid, eioulfyd, and my effort. So, I sincerely thank the two of you for taking your time to help me in this!)
Normal POV:
The deep darkness of the dusk had set dark, unsettling mood around. It was evident enough when Umi's father had finally blown his fuse and hit his daughter. That day was definitely not a good day for him.
Why won't she ever listen, he thought, I provided everything yet she's such a stubborn child.
He had a notion to check up on her room but decided against it, due to his foul mood. After all, who wouldn't be in a bad mood after what Umi had done.
"She'll get over it in the morning," he quickly dismissed.
"Good evening," his wife lovingly greeted him.
No matter how foul his mood was, he couldn't help but smile at that.
"How did things go with Umi, dear?" she asked, ignorant of what had happened. Her husband's smile started to falter after hearing that question, the clouds that were blown away had come back to storm his mood.
"Things... Didn't go so well," he admitted, guilty that he left out the part where he had hit his daughter.
"What happened, Takashi?" she asked, feeling the gravity of the situation, her husband knew that his wife would only use his name when he felt a sense of urgency.
"Nothing! I'm sure everything will be fine in the morning," Takashi replied; hiding the doubt in his eyes.
He quickly fell into a sleep of unrest.
The rays of light shone into his chambers, illuminating the room with a huge collection of vibrant colors, as they reflected off the Royal Couple's scales. The sun was up and the temperature of the sea was beginning to rise to the start of a new day.
Now, moods and emotions practically come and go as they please, just like the weather. While this is true with some, others are not necessarily the same.
Takashi now felt guilty and sorry for his actions to his daughter the previous day, so he planned to apologize to her, thinking he was a little harsh on her, but as soon as he entered her room, only silence greeted him.
Probably hiding again, he thought, when will she ever learn to act more mature?
He spent an hour and a half participating in what he thought was a game of hide-and-seek with his daughter... Then, it hit him.
She left and escaped.
The cold truth finally found its way to him after he panicked and searched every corner. What would his wife say? What kind of a father was he?
No! He thought, trying to justify his actions.
She was stubborn, so I HAD to use my authority, he doubtfully thought.
He swam back to his chambers, scared of what he was going to say to his wife. As much as he loved her, there are times when putting up a cold front is necessary.
"Uh... Aurelia, my love?" Takashi started, his usual confidence faded into guilt and unease.
"Yes, dear?" Aurelia gracefully replied, yawning as she had just woken up.
"Uh... Umi... shesgone!" he quickly shot out, horrified at what had just exited his mouth. He felt like a small child who had just said something wrong to a teacher, pressure closing into him. Sweat was pouring out of his elegant and sinuous body.
"Umi's- WHAT?" Aurelia exclaimed, shocked.
Takashi was now panicking. He hesitated, but guiltily admitted what happened the night before.
"TAKASHI! HOW COULD YOU? SHE WAS OUR ONLY DAUGHTER!" she choked up, finally losing the calm nature she always put up.
Takashi flinched, from fear and guilt.
"I suppose I could send a search party to find her?" he proposed, looking down on the floor.
Aurelia just sighed, she held back here tears and twisted her golden tail into a knot...
It was just like that time...
"I-I'll have it done then," Takashi said, feeling a strong sense of responsibility to overcome his guilt, he then swam out slowly.
The night before, Armik had also been busy. After all, he needed to make sure his carefully crafted plan would be able to proceed without any flaws. If things went according to plan, he would be able to mold the entire tribe into his personal empire, but most importantly, he would have the most beautiful queen stand by his side. He let out a small chuckle; all he had to do was set up his last precaution. After all, you can never be too careful, right?
He silently sensed the currents. This was the exact location he had noted in the past, he was so sure that it would be beneficiary for him if he could hire them to add to his numbers.
The pitch-black darkness of the seabed was unsettling for those who were not familiar in such a dark environment, but Armik had been here before and knew exactly what he needed from such a dark and gloomy place. Suddenly some red orbs shone, being the only source of light in such a dark place. Others would have run in fear, but Armik only grinned.
"Squalo," Armik called out, "I have an offer for you."
The red orbs came closer and revealed themselves to be the glowing red eyes of a Sharpedo. Endless scars studded his rough black and white hide, but true to his species, his teeth were undamaged as Sharpedo are known to have their teeth grow back immediately if they ever get damaged or lost. IF they ever got damaged or lost, at least.
"Spit out the deal first," Squalo replied with a voice that resembled metal being grounded, "Then we talk."
"How would you like power?" Armik offered.
"Go on, I'm interested," Squalo replied.
"I need am army," Armik began, "If you are able to provide one, I will give you a position once I overthrow and conquer the Milotic Tribe."
"Treason, eh?" the Sharpedo grinned, exposing his teeth, "I don't mind. You got yourself a deal."
Armik chuckled lightly.
Such a simpleton, he mused to himself, He's obviously not thinking of the many risks. If I take Umi as my wife, I will have no need for his army and just eradicate it with the Milotic Tribe's army that I would sieze control of.
He began to leave, satisfied with his plan. Nothing could go wrong now everything has been set. He had his pawns ready; of course, they would need to be sacrificed later. Maybe he would keep several pawns as rooks and bishops to defend him, their fate is something he could control.
Like toys, he thought.
"Good evening, Armik," a cold voice, almost with no feelings, called out to him.
He whirled about and saw the source of the sound, a Gyarados.
"How did an infernal creature like you know my name?" he snarled.
She let out an unearthly laugh, a laugh that gave one the feeling of coldness and cruelty.
"Never underestimate my intelligence network, usurper," she added.
He got into a fighting stance; one small miscalculation could be the undoing of his beautifully formulated masterpiece.
No, he thought, I must obliterate anything that would get in my way!
"You need not worry," she continued, "I'm not here to wage war. In fact, I'm here to propose a temporary truce."
Armik took some time to comprehend what she said, how could the truce help?
"How about this," she offered, "I can give you all the information you need, vast streams of information, from my sources, but you'll have to lend me some of your power."
Armik thought about the deal, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra plan.
"Fine, I accept the offer Miss-" Armik replied, mentally computing the possible outcomes for his plan.
"Ikari," she said.
"However," Armik continued, "be warned that once I have acquired what I want, I will not hesitate to eradicate you."
"The same goes for you," she smirked.
After sealing the deal, the two devious conspirators went separate ways.
It's time to set my plan... into action, Armik thought.
Yet even he did not predict one possible outcome.
Things were not going well for Takashi. He had already sent out a search party to look for his precious daughter, but he was also trying to hide the fact of her escape from outsiders of the palace. Worse yet, Armik had chosen the worst possible moment to visit.
"Good afternoon, Your Highness," he greeted politely, "May I see Umi right now?"
"Um... She's busy in her room," Takashi nervously lied.
"Guess I'll just go in myself then," Armik casually said as he swam towards Umi's room.
"NO!" Takashi abruptly stopped him, "I meant, she's really busy right now!"
Armik looked puzzled, but did not ask any questions. Instead, he obediently left.
Takashi sighed in relief; Aurelia was still distraught on their daughter's absence making things harder for him.
"What to do?" Takashi regretted, "Why was I such an idiot?"
Suddenly, he noticed his wife, Aurelia, slowly swimming out. He tried to stop her before she could leave the palace.
"Aurelia, my love, where are you going?" he asked with a worried expression on his face.
"To find our daughter. If you won't, I WILL!" she choked through her tears.
Her husband wiped her tears off.
"It's going to be dangerous out there," he warned worriedly.
"I don't care!" she answered defiantly.
"Please, Aurelia. If I look for her, will you promise to safely stay in here?" her husband begged.
She thought for a while, but hesitantly nodded; her eyes locked in a mutual understanding with Takashi's.
Takashi bid her farewell and went out, only to be greeted by a puzzled Armik.
"Sir, what do you mean by 'look for her'?" he asked, "Is, is Umi... GONE?"
Takashi was, by now, sweating heavily. He no longer knew what to do; things were all crashing down before him.
"Y-yes," the Milotic of such high social rank stammered.
Armik was enraged to hear this.
"No, ALL my calculations... RUINED!" he yelled, but then he showed a small grin afterwards.
"Why am I so worried," he grinned evilly, "I forgot, I have made a last resort countermeasure. I never expected to use it in such a situation but-"
"Armik, what are you talking about?" Takashi inquired, puzzled with Armik's behaviour.
"Squalo, hold him captive now!" Armik called out, seemingly to nowhere.
A Sharpedo quickly emerged, readily analyzing Takashi.
"How could you Armik?" Takashi said, horror-striken, "I was a fool, Umi's right... All those times..."
"I have no time for your ramblings," Armik impatiently answered, "Squalo, have him held captive right now."
And with that, Armik quickly swam away.
"You're the King of the Milotic Tribe, aren't you?" Squalo inquired with a toothy grin.
"Yes," Takashi replied, preparing to engage into battle.
"Thought so," Squalo continued, "Then I have no choice but to eliminate you!"
"You have no chance of winning against me!" the proud King replied, now angry that he had fallen for Armik's false acts of kindness.
"Exactly!" Squalo confirmed, "Which is why I won't be doing the fighting. Commanders Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, assume position!"
Three Sharpedo emerged and bowed before their leader, showing respect for Squalo's rank.
"You have one order only," Squalo bellowed, "Hold the Milotic captive! I don't care how you do it!"
Squalo swam away as the three Sharpedo were left to encircle Takashi, preventing any escape.
"Three against one? That's not fair," Takashi said, now feeling doubtful of his victory.
Takashi looked around to call to his palace guards but the Three Commanders had knocked down every Kingdra in sight already.
Without warning, the Sharpedo named Alpha launched himself at Takashi, trying to hit him with Night Slash, however Takashi quickly dodged, as he was not a stranger to battle.
The Three Commanders now positioned themselves in a triangular angle all around Takashi.
Takashi let loose an Ice Beam, hoping to freeze one of them. The Ice Beam had hit Gamma, however, while Gamma was being hit, Alpha quickly struck a Night Slash on Takashi, immediately followed by a Crunch attack by Beta. A finisher Giga Impact from Gamma immediately followed after Takashi had broken out of the Crunch, realizing he was too late.
Everything went black for Takashi. The last thing he could hear was Aurelia being attacked as well.
"Aurelia... My love... N-no, I-I've... failed," he muttered, before drifting into unconsciousness.
Note: Oh boy, things certainly aren't looking good for Takashi. I'll think on whether to continue Umi and Arashi's side or Takashi and Aurelia's side of the story in the next chapter. Thanks for reading this and please do leave your opinions, however small, in the reviews... Hey, it helps! And since I've been having some trouble in Chapter 9, I'd greatly appreciate it if you give some suggestions... Oh well, 'till next time.