Never Let You Go
Chapter 2: These Walls
T.A.R.N.S.: Second chapter. Yay! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and an extra-special thanks to Shannara810, who gave me a plot and let me bounce some ideas off her. Now, let's get this show on the road!
Disclaimer: See the first chapter.
'Cause everybody tries to put some love on the line
And everybody feels a broken heart sometimes
And even when I'm scared I have to try to fly
Sometimes I fall,
But I've seen it done before
I gotta step outside these walls...
-Teddy Geiger, from the song These Walls
Long ago, when the Earth was young, and the Panthalassa clan was ruled by the twin Princes, a mysterious force named Caos attacked the seas, intending to use the power of the Panthalassa clan to destroy Aqua Regina and conquer Earth.
The Panthalassa's kingdom was protected by the seven holy warriors, two of which were the twin princes of the Panthalassa clan, and the seven mermaid princesses. The two groups vowed to fight until Caos was vanquished.
To consummate the agreement, Aqua Regina-Sama decided to marry two of the mermaid Princesses to the rulers of the Panthalassa clan. The Pink Pearl Princess married the Panthalassa prince of light, and the Orange Pearl Princess married the Panthalassa princess of darkness.
The Pink Princess and the light Prince were very happy together; but the Princess of the orange pearl loved a human even though the Dark Prince loved her dearly. To her, the Dark Prince was too stern, and she believed he couldn't love. But he was only shy and wanted to make his Kingdom safe and happy. He gave her a pure white pearl, his family treasure, to protect her from Caos.
Caos sensed the Dark Prince's despair and tried to use it for his purposes, attempting to force the Dark Prince to join him, and showing the prince how he could make the Orange Princess his forever…
The Dark Prince tried to kill the human his princess loved so much, but he couldn't. His princess would have suffered too much. But the princess saw his attempted murder and then she shouted to him all her hate. Never, never she would love him!
To save his Kingdom, his brother and all the Seas, the Dark Prince chose to sacrifice himself to shut Caos in the Abyss Without End. Before he was sent in the abyss, Caos damned the Panthalassa to become the monsters the Mermaid Princesses believed they were.
Only then, when the Dark Prince was dying, the Orange Princess understood how much he loved her and how much she loved him. She cried and cried. She hated herself for having hurt him so much and prayed to meet him again in the future. The white pearl got wet with the Dark Prince's blood and became red. From that moment, it became the Red pearl, which Aqua Regina used to shut the temple of Caos with all his monsters within.
"But, even if that was so, what does it all mean now?" Sara wondered as she looked around. She was standing in an empty white plane. There was nothing else there, and no one else around. "Is it even possible that the Mermaids and Panthalassa were once allies?"
"It is possible, it fact, it is true."
"Aqua Regina-Sama!" Sara exclaimed as the Ocean guardian appeared in front of her.
"What you just saw was not a dream, but a vision of the past, a past which is about to repeat itself." Aqua Regina told her. "A group of human archeologists are working in the ruins of the temple that Caos was sealed away in, and they are unknowingly about to free him. When that happens, all eight princesses must be ready to stop him."
"Eight princesses? But how can that be?" Sara asked.
"Through the power of the Red pearl." Aqua Regina replied. "You are not the only one to see this dream; two other Mermaid princesses also saw it tonight. Another orange princess is about to be born, and after Caos is defeated she will be the ruler of the North Pacific sea."
"But isn't that Lucia's kingdom?" Sara asked.
"It is. But I will make everything right after Caos is defeated. No one will be left without a kingdom. Now go." Aqua Regina was starting to fade away. "You will see the next moves you should make…"
Sara jerked awake, only to find Gaito sitting next to her.
"I wondered how much longer you would be asleep." Gaito told her.
"Gaito! Where are we?" Sara asked.
"On a beach somewhere… In Japan, from the looks of things." Gaito replied.
"What now?"
"Well, I suggest we find a place to live." Gaito said. He nodded and a beat-up looking house set further up and away from the beach. "Perhaps, if no one is living there, we can use it."
The house was indeed abandoned; there was no sign anyone had bee living there for awhile, and the only things in the house were a few pieces of mostly useless furniture.
Fixing up the place would have been a problem, had it not been for the abundance of gold paraphernalia that could be taken from sunken ships on the bottom of the ocean floor.
The price the gold sold for was enough to buy some paint and furniture and fix up the house. Over the next two days, the two of them made the house livable.
It was evening on the second day when he first saw it. "Huh?" Gaito reached for the bag of gold stuff taken from the bottom of the ocean. Something in it had caught his eye. He dug through the bag until he pulled out the glittering object.
It was a slender gold band set with one single white stone. A diamond.
Gaito stared at the ring. This couldn't be a- No. Not possible. Still…
He looked at the ring for a moment longer, then turned to face Sara, who was putting away her painting supplies.
"Sara…" Was as far as he got before the lump in his throat threatened to choke him. He swallowed it down and tried again. "Sara, will you marry me?" He asked as he held out the ring.
For a moment, Sara said nothing, and Gaito began to get worried. But before he could amend what he'd said, she reached out, took the ring from him, and slid it onto her finger. It was a perfect fit.
"Yes. I will." She replied.
At an archeological dig at a ruined temple in Egypt, an American archeologist called to his comrades, "Hey, come take a look at this." Some of his American and European colleagues hurried over to look at the ornate box that had just been uncovered.
"What is it?" Asked one.
"Looks like a box." Another observed dryly.
"Take it over with the rest of the stuff." A third ordered. "We'll open it later."
No sooner had he said this, then the wind changed and began blowing the opposite direction.
"What's with that?"
"I guess it was just a freak of nature." The American said as he carried to box away. "C'mon, let's get this stuff out of here."
Did you hear that, Aqua Regina? These stupid humans will be the tools I use to escape from this prison. I know you lost your power sealing away the Panthalassa. Well, I still have my power. I still have the red pearl! This time, I will not lose…I believe it's time for round one of this new battle to begin. Allow me to make the first move…
Deep in the bottom of the sea, a few fish danced and played around a large orb of light.
Inside the orb, was a creature that largely resembled an angel. He was dressed in white robes, and along with the robes, he was wearing sandals and gold jewelry. He also had two pairs of large, feather-covered white wings on his back. His long hair was pale green, and his eyes were pale blue.
His name was Michel, and he was curled up in the orb of light, tucked deep away in the sea.
"Aww," The mock concern was followed by a cold laugh. "What's the matter, little angel? Are you trying to hide from the world?"
Michel shivered as an eerie sense of cold pervaded his warm home. "Who are you? Who's there?"
"Why does it matter? All that matters is that after your long, self-imposed exile, you've finally got company. Does that worry you?" As he was talking, the speaker walked into view. He was tall, at least 6 feet tall, and dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt, black pants, and black boots, along with a short dark gray cloak. His hair, small beard, and eyes were all black. Michel also noticed that he seemed to be only a ghost.
There was an evil glint in his eyes, fitting in with the pervading sense of darkness that seemed to follow him everywhere.
"I am Caos. And judging by your wings, you are one of the Ancient Ones. Tell me, why are you here and not with them?"
Michel just looked away.
Caos laughed. "What, did they leave you behind when they left the Earth?"
Still no answer.
"They did!" Caos raised an eyebrow. "Well. I suppose that would be why you live in this little orb of light, hiding yourself away from the world. Would you like a place to belong?"
"Not for the price you would charge." Michel replied.
"Come, don't turn down the invitation just yet." Caos said. "I need your help to conquer this planet."
"No."
"Listen to me. You want to go back to the Ancient Ones, don't you?" Caos asked.
Michel didn't answer.
"Ah, you do."
"Do not take it upon yourself to put words in my mouth!" Michel snapped, a white aura starting to glow around him. As almost as soon as it had begun, the aura faded away, leaving Michel trembling and clutching his chest.
Caos decided it was time to switch tactics, and shook his head in mock disdain. "It's a shame a creature as strong as you could still be so weak. That's why the Ancient Ones left you. After all, how could they claim one as weak as you? None of the Ancient Ones were ever weak."
Michel didn't answer.
"But I can make you stronger. Then the Ancient Ones will have no choice but to acknowledge you your rightful place."
"Really?" Michel asked.
"Yes." Caos replied. He pulled out a black pill, which he showed to Michel. "This world should mean nothing to you. Agree to help me make it mine, and I will make you strong enough to return to your rightful place. Will you help me?"
Caos knelt down and held the black pill out to Michel. "This will help you with that little…problem of yours. It will help make you stronger. The only stipulation is your helping me. And if you take this, there is no turning back."
Michel hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took the pill, which he swallowed.
"Excellent." Caos said as he stood up and turned away.
Michel cried out and clutched his chest as the pain came back, this time multiplied tenfold. "What did you do to me!?"
"Me?" Caos glanced backwards over his shoulder. "I did nothing. You, on the other hand, did everything."
"I beg to differ." Michel replied through clenched teeth. "I didn't make this medicine, which you said would help."
"It will help." Caos told him. "In time. In the meantime, you should rest. The time will come when I will need your help, and it's coming very soon…" Caos finished as he faded away.
Michel was still staring at where Caos had been when Fuku reappeared a moment later.
"Michel-Sama, I thought I sensed someone else was here!" The little human-headed bird said. "Who was it?"
"No one, Fuku. It was no one." Michel replied.
The little bird looked as though he didn't believe it, but he had no other option but to take Michel at his word.
From outside the glowing orb, the ghost of Caos looked back at it.
"Very soon, my friend," He said as he faded away, preparing to return to the prison that had kept him looked up for thousands of years. "It won't be long now…"
T.A.R.N.S.: Yay chapter 2! Yeah, the prolouge counts as chapter one. It makes everything easier that way. And what a long chapter this was. Let me see if I remember all my notes...
Michel: Are his wings set on 'shed?' He's always losing feathers. Anyway, I hope I spelled his name right. I almost broke a unwritten rule of writing Pichi stories and romanized his name. And, since his named drives me nuts, I still might. We'll see how long I can stand it first. It's spelled with an "e" in masculine form, right?
Human forms: We all know what Sara's is, but it seems to me that Gaito had a human form that was different than his Panthalassa form. (At least in the manga.) Well, in this story, he looks the same in both his Panthalassa form and his human form.
Shameless plugs: This has nothing to do with my story, but I wanted to share two cool MMPPP stories I found. If you're looking for more Sara/Gaito, I'm not the only one anymore! (But I was still one of the first.) Check out Don't Cry by Mint Pearl Voice. And if you're looking for a fic about Michel, then try Reverie by Big Sister Kitty.
And...that's all I can think of (except sama, which is a respectful Japanese title. Anyway...). I hope you all liked this chapter. Please review and tell me what you thought!