Pichi Pichi Pitch
Chapter 5
Kaito stared out his window, holding the letter Hippo had sent him. I have to say you two shall never be together. That's what Hippo said in the letter. I promise with all my heart I'll return soon. That's what Lucia said before she left. "Now this doesn't make sense, Lucia would never break her promise or just never come back. I'm guessing her penguin must've sent this behind her back, because Lucia would never say something like this to me." He said to himself.
After a few hours the others finally showed up. Lucia sneezed. "Lucia, are you getting a cold?" Nikora asked. "No, I think someone just said something about me." She answered. "I guess that wouldn't be a surprise, people on the surface might be questioning your absence." She said with a laughing tone. "Yeah, I guess so." She said as she laughed with her. "Oh, looks like all the princesses are here." Nikora said as she stopped laughing. "What? Already? But I just just sent the letters yesterday." Lucia said with a very confused and surprised look.
"Well, let's ask them how they got here so fast." She said and they swam for the grand hall where the other six mermaid princesses were. "Welcome everyone." Nikora said, and they swam to them. "Hey, it's great to see you guys, I haven't seen you all since my birth." Seira said. "Yes, and what a beautiful Sunday that was." Coco said.
"How did you all get here so fast? I sent the letters out yesterday?" Lucia asked. "Well, you see we were talking about that, and we all discovered the same thing. That this prince came to all of us in the course of one day, which means he was going from country to country nonstop." Noel said. "And he asked us all the same question to combine countries." Caren said. "But of course we refused him." Coco said. "But every time we refused him, he would act as if he was fine with it." Seira said."So he came to us all in one day, and when we got the letters, we immediately came here, because we were told you were the first to be visited." Hanon said.
"Not to mention I was looking in my kingdoms records and I got ahold of one that told of an ancient kingdom that was centered somewhere that lost long ago, in our grandmother's time. Back then all the kingdoms were in peace, even the Panthalassa which is where Gackto came from. But then a great king from the Sea of Japan cam and demanded control over the kingdom." Rina said. "What happened to them all, and the kingdom?" Seira asked. "I don't know, the records were torn and I couldn't read anymore. But when I asked people about it, they said they didn't remember even if they were there." Rina said.
"So this great king must've been the prince's grandfather, he might be trying to finish what his grandfather started." Hanon said. "But we can't figure out what happened, we need to see what exactly went on if we're going to do something about it." Noel said.
"That's a good point but no records here have anything on that kingdom, I've looked many times through our library." Nikora said. "So what do we do?" Caren asked. "Princesses." They heard a voice say, they turned to the fountain and saw a figure of light shine out of it. "I know of that event." The voice said and the light showed a figure. "Aqua Regina." They all said. "A long time ago, all seven seas lived together in harmony, and they were joined together to form one kingdom that was protected by seven princesses. One day a corrupt king from the Sea of Japan came and demanded that he be the one to take control of the oceans."
"When the princesses refused, he began attacking the kingdom and started a war with the princesses, and it lasted for five days. Everyday the war got worse and many people lost their lives trying to protect the kingdom, the princesses had no choice but to pull out a secret that had been pulled from existence until it was time to bring them forth. Each princess had a sacred staff that their pearls were to combine with for a power that only protected not fight. When they used them all together, it created a great blast that sealed the king and caused the princesses to lose their lives."
"The king was sealed, but his legacy was continued by his grandson. The kingdom was lost in the sea, no one has been able to find it since. As for the staffs, when the blast occurred, they were lost somewhere and buried in the sands. I myself don't know where they are, if you find them, you'll be able to seal the Sea of Japan's power for good, and that'll stop the war that is about to begin." Aqua Regina explained it all.
"But why do people who were there don't remember anything?" Caren asked. "They don't remember because the blast caused a memory lapse that erased their memory of ever being in that kingdom, now they all serve you. And it's a good thing they don't remember, it would kill them to remember such a dark day." She said with a sad face. "But where were you, you were still goddess back then weren't you?" Seira asked. "Yes, but if they had used some of my power to even the odds, there wouldn't have been such a great destruction. I regret not doing anything. But that's why I have come to tell you of your new assignment."
"You must go and search for those ancient staffs, and bring them back here, and summon me once more. Then we can end this war for good, and peace will finally return to the seas, hopefully for all time." Aqua Regina's light was beginning to fade. "Please princesses, find them, so I can help correct the mistake that was made." She said and then she was gone. "Aqua Regina." Lucia said."Okay, so where do we start looking?" Hanon asked. "Well, the way I see it, they gotta be somewhere near the old kingdom, if we can find it, we can find the staffs. Plus that kingdom must've had a part for each princess, so if we study where the blast was, we might be able to track where they are." Rina said.
"Great! Now I wish I had paid better attention in math class!" Hanon said, and everyone laughed. "So what're we waiting for, let's-" Seira was cut off by screams coming from outside the kingdom, they all swam fast to the window to see mermaids swimming in panic.
"It's the prince's soldiers!" Coco shouted. "They must be here for Lucia!" Hanon said. "You all escape from the back and go back to the surface, I'll stay here and find Hippo." Nikora said. "But-" Lucia started. "No buts Lucia, go, now!" Nikora shouted. "Okay, come on Lucia, we gotta go." Rina said, and they all swam out for the back opening that was for emergencies. Hippo was runnig and found Nikora. "Nikora, we're under attack, we're under attack! Where's Lucia!?" He asked in a panic. "Calm down, she and the others went out the back. We gotta go find them." She said but a swarm of soldiers came in and Hippo managed to get to a hiding spot.
"Alright mermaid, where's the princess?" A soldier said. "I'll never tell the likes of you where she is." She said. "Listen, I'll give you one chance to make our prince happy, now make with the talking. Where is the princess?" He asked again. "I'll never tell you where she is, your gonna have to find some other poor fool to talk for you." She said. "Alright, your coming with us, we'll see what his royal highness wants to do with you." He said and he and another two guys grabbed her and began taking her out. "Hippo, find Lucia, and keep her safe!" She shouted before they swam away with her held captive.
"Nikora!" Hippo shouted. I better get out of here before they find me too. Nikora, please be okay until we can rescue you. He thought and swam through the back like Lucia did and began to swim for the surface. The soldiers swam up to the prince, with Nikora tied up. "Your highness, we found this mermaid, she wouldn't tell us where the princess is." The soldier said as he bowed before him.
"Really?" He asked as he swam and lifted Nikora's chin to get her to look at him. "Now, tell me where the lovely princess is, and you'll go free." He said with a smile. "Like hell I'll ever tell you where she is, you can do whatever you want but I'm not talking." She said as she moved her head to the side to remove his hand from her chin. "She's a brave one. We'll take her with us, maybe over time she'll talk." He said with his smile still on his face. "Gather the rest of the troops, we leave for home right now." He said. "Yes your highness." He said and went for the others. Lucia, please stay hidden and safe. She thought.