Alverna: Chapter 5. This one was almost done yesterday. Remember that it will take a lot longer for new chapters to come out.
I don't own Yugioh or Barbie in a Mermaid's Tail. Enjoy.
Chapter 5: The First Item
Back at the palace, an angry Aknadin was swimming down a secluded tunnel, a timid Duke right at his heels, er- fins.
"You're sure Duke?" Aknadin asked, not wanting to be tricked by his scribe. "You're sure that no one near Seaflora Flower Shop saw anyone strange."
"No one your majesty." Duke replied wearily.
"Fine." Aknadin snapped. "Then we'll just have to get our answers somewhere else."
At the end of the tunnel, a metal grate, that resembled coral slid out of the way into a dimly lit room. Inside was a merman, with grey-brown, more on the brown side, hair, with dark gold streaks, and tanned skinned. A dark purple sash covered his chest and stomach, his tail was a dark gold, the same color as the barely noticeable streaks in his hair. His hands were moving side to side as more black tendrils floated past and then down into a basket as they were collected.
"Aknadin." The merman spoke, not looking up from his work. He knew the only person whoever came into this room was Aknadin.
"Hello, brother." Aknadin ended nastily, glaring at Aknankanon. "I saw the Destinies today, lovely girls; and I have great news. Guess what? I'm an uncle."
"Really?" Aknankanon glanced up. "And who's the long lost sibling that is the parent?"
"Nice try brother." Aknadin sneered. "But the baby is yours. You found a way to hide him from me, a long time ago. Only he's not a baby anymore. But now he's here in Kehmet. Where can I find him?"
Aknadin was hoping to find a way to egg his brother into talking, but it didn't seem to be working.
"How would I know?" Aknankanon didn't look up as he replied. "I've been locked up for the past 16 years, so even if I did have a son, I know nothing about him."
"That's true." Aknadin agreed. "But you could still tell me what lucky mermaid the mother is." Aknankanon remained silent, but Aknadin saw through it. "Unless… no. It couldn't be. You wouldn't have. Is the mother not a mermaid? Not that human girl you were always swooning over?"
Aknankanon's control over the shadow magic failed for a second, and Aknadin knew he had hit the nail on the head.
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." Aknankanon focused on the shadow magic even more, hoping to distract Aknadin.
"A half human, half merman?" Aknadin snorted in laughter. "You had better end the poor boys suffering now and just tell me where he is." Silence is golden, but apparently, no one had told Aknadin that. "Fine then. But I will find him. And for every hour you don't tell me what I want to know, I will imprison 10 innocent merfolk. Oh! And your shadow magic is still weak. You're killing everyone."
"No Aknadin." Aknankanon swam forward as the door closed. "You are. My shadow magic reflects my emotions. It will only improve when you set me free."
"Never!" Aknadin shouted over his shoulder as he swam away.
A sigh escaped Aknankanon's lips. His son was in Kehmet.
'Stay safe.' Was Aknankanon's only thought for the next few hours.
Near the Yafos Caves, a certain group of merfolk and a baby sea lion were swimming.
"Just look at the coral." Yugi moaned. "Soon all of the ocean will be like this if Aknadin isn't stopped."
"I don't think the coral's our only problem." Ryou said looking ahead.
"He's right." Joey agreed and pointed ahead of them. "Aren't those the Yafos Caves?"
"Jellyfish!" Atemu gasped. The grouped stopped upon seeing four huge orange jellyfish in front of the caves they needed to get into, and quickly swam behind a large rock. "They're huge!"
"One of the largest in the entire ocean." Malik said.
"Are giant jellyfish friendly by any chance?" Atemu asked as he peeked around the corner.
"The very opposite." Ryou said as he shook his head. "They're very territorial and their stings are deadly."
"How are we going to get into the Millennium Puzzle then?" Atemu asked.
"We can't." Joey gestured to himself, Malik, Ryou, and Yugi. "But you can."
"He's right." Yugi nodded his head. "It we distract the jellyfish, you can get inside and get the puzzle. Hikari will help you."
"I'm not too fond of this idea." Atemu said. "But I don't see another option. Let's do it."
Atemu waited behind the rock with Hikari while his new friends swam closer to the cave.
"Hey jellies," Malik called in a singsong tone. "Mind if we come in?"
Immediately, the jellyfish swam towards them. You could see the electricity coursing down their tentacles. Everyone gulped as the jellyfish got closer and closer.
"Now!" Yugi shouted, and they turned tail and speed off, the jellyfish following closely.
Once the jellyfish were a good distance away, Yami and Hikari quickly swam to the entrance of the cave. After a brief glance back at his friends, Yami went inside, following Hikari's encouraging yips.
The cave had lots of dark stones that glowed with a familiar look.
'Are these stones filled with shadow magic?' Yami thought. As a tendril floated past, the thought was pretty much confirmed.
Yami and Hikari surfaced and looked around. It was a huge air pocket, and the stones that were under the water were the same as the ones above the water. A glint caught Yami's eye, high up in the rocks.
"Where merfolk could see, but never touch." Yami repeated, then noticed the formation of the rocks. Someone with legs could scale them easily.
"SWIM!" Joey yelled. The jellyfish were defiantly to close for comfort as the group dodged each other and the jellyfish between the tall, skyscraper like rocks.
"Joey, Ryou, Malik, over here!" Yugi called, and they all swam into a group and huddled together. "On three. One."
The jellyfish closed in.
"Two."
Nervous looks were exchanged.
"THREE!"
They all shot upward and the jellyfish became tangled in their own tentacles, shocking each other instead of their intended, and now escaped, merteen prey.
"Whew." They all breathed in relief.
Needless to say, inside the cave it was a lot quieter, save the occasional whimper from Hikari. Yami was climbing up and was now closer to the upside-down pyramid shape of the Millennium Puzzle. Upon reaching a level spot, Yami noticed a ring on the top, which was imbedded into the rocks.
'I guess you need some way to wear it.' Yami thought as he reached up and grabbed the puzzle by the ring. However, a few tugs later, it became obvious that the puzzle wasn't going anywhere.
"It's buried to deep Hikari." Yami called down to the sea lion pup. "I can't get it."
As Yami glared at the puzzle, he noticed the crack the puzzle was stuck in. It traveled down and ended in a rock next to his foot.
"I wonder…" Yami muttered, and placed his foot on the rock. A glow which Yami recognized a shadow magic spread through the crack and up to the puzzle.
'Father, you thought of everything.' Not only does the person have to be human, they also had to be connected to shadow magic, and only he fitted that description.
Glancing around Yami saw two more cracks that led to the puzzle. After placing his foot on one, he reached his hand for the last one, and just barley reached it. As the glow of shadow magic reached the puzzle, it slid out like a well-oiled key in a lock.
"Yes!" Yami cheered as the weight of the Millennium Puzzle settled in his hand.
A low rumble caught his attention. Glancing around, Yami saw the cave start to collapse.
"Look like there's one more test." Yami said grimly as he undid his deck holder belt and slid the puzzle on before putting it back on. Taking a deep breath, Yami leapt off the rocks, grabbing his tail as he splashed past.
Under the water, Yami spotted Hikari.
"Hikari." Yami called as he swam up. Looking around, they spotted the exit. "It's now or never."
Swimming as fast of they could, they dodged the falling rocks, which Yami found was a lot like dodging attacks while dueling. Shooting out of the exit, Yami stopped when he heard whimpering. Turning around, he saw…
"Hikari!" Yami shouted. The pup was trapped in the cave, the rocks blocking the exit. Swimming back as fast as he could, Yami reached through the gap and pulled Hikari out just in time. One second later, Hikari would have been crushed by the falling rocks.
"Atemu!" Yugi shouted when he heard rumbling coming from the Yafos Caves. Swimming as fast as they could, the group arrived to see the entrance completely covered in rocks. "Oh no!"
"Hey guys." Yami said from behind them.
"You made it!" Ryou cheered as he and Yugi swam forward and gave him a hug.
"Check it out." Yami said as he held up the puzzle.
"Alright." Joey cheered.
"Here." Yugi said as he pulled one of his chains off of his waist and threaded it threw the ring on the puzzle before reconnecting it around Yami's neck. "Perfect."
"Suits you." Malik said as he took in the added piece of jewelry.
"Oh!" Ryou gasped.
"What is it?" Joey asked.
"That!" Ryou pointed, and everyone turned to see a group of manta sharks nearby.
"Quickly." Yugi whispered. "Hide in the rocks."
The group swam down to the ocean floor and hid behind a group of rocks as the sharks swam overhead.
"I saw those earlier." Yami whispered. "At the Aknadin Festival."
"Those are Aknadin's manta sharks." Joey whispered back.
"Do you think they're looking for us?" Malik gasped.
"After what we heard at the Destinies," Ryou nodded his head, "I would count on it."
"But Aknadin doesn't know anything about me." Yami said.
"He knows you exist," Yugi counter with a worried look at the manta sharks as they swam away, "and that's enough."
Once all of the sharks were gone, the group swam out of hiding.
"The destinies said we had to find a Dreamfish." Yami recalled. "What is that?"
"Well," Malik scratched his head as he remembered. "They're supposedly fish you can never capture."
"But if you impress one and gain its loyalty," Joey continued, "it will offer you you're greatest desire."
"So you wish on it?" Yami asked.
"Not exactly." Ryou shook his head. "If it commits to you, you can ask it for help and it will offer you something. But you can only use it once, so you're supposed to save it for when you really need a dream come true."
"Like getting a sneak peek at the Fall Fashions." Malik grinned. "That would be a massive dream come true for me."
"In the stories," Yami said as he stopped swimming, "where do you find Dreamfish."
"That's the thing." Joey pursed his lips. "The stories say they live 'under the horse and the bear', but I don't know what that means."
"Maybe Bakura and Marik can help." Yami said as he pressed call on his video watch. The screen showed Marik in a chair and Bakura looking at something on his bed. "Hey guys."
"Yami." Bakura turned from the bed. "You were right. Couch personally bumped me up to Masters Surf Team!"
Yami looked over at the merteens, who just gave him knowing looks.
"What were you doing by the bed?" Yami asked.
"He's trying to figure out what to wear on the first day." Marik grinned.
"I told you not to tell him that." Bakura snapped as he slapped his friend upside the head.
"Shoot." Yami cursed as a beep caught his attention. "Low battery. This is going to have to be quick. Look for info about Dreamfish living under a horse and a bear."
"That's weird." Bakura said.
"Not as weird as getting fashion complements from mermen," Marik shrugged, "but it's still weird."
"Nothing." Bakura shook his head as the results came back.
"Then try this." Yami said as he remembered something from a year back. "Remember that class trip we went on, to see all of those rocks out in the ocean that looked like a dog or a rabbit, or even a teapot?"
"Yes!" Marik's face lit up like a Christmas Tree. "Or that one that looked like a kangaroo and badger playing Crazy 8s."
"That's beside the point." Bakura rolled his eyes as he typed the words into his computer. "But I get it. You think the horse and bear and rock formations. Got it! Near the middle of the Pacific's Adenato Current, the horse and bear majestically face each other."
"Great!" Yami cheered. "By the way, did you two moose up your hair? It's spikier than I remember."
Sure enough, Bakura's hair, which earlier had no spikiness in it, was now semi-spiky with two chunks of hair looking like bull horns, and Marik's had gone from semi-spiky, to full blown porcupine.
(A/N: Their hair really does look that way, doesn't it?)
"No." Marik simply said.
"We need to get moving." Yugi said. "We don't have much time left to stop Aknadin."
"Catch you later." Yami said, and ended the call.
"I know where we need to go." Ryou said.
"Then let's book it." Joey replied, and they all sped off after the albino haired merman.
Alverna: Review please.