Thank you to everyone who sent me lovely messages to encourage me to continue this. I tried my best on this, but I'm a little out of practice. I may come back to fix it a bit later. But for now I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think please.
Kyoko was trapped in a long dark corridor. She walked forward carefully, unsure of where to put her next step in the darkness.
Kyoko Kyoko Kyoko
Her name was being chanted in a familiar voice. She felt tense and burning. It felt so hot, yet she was shivering. She didn't know how she ended up there or where she was walking to, but she couldn't stop her feet from moving forward. The walls started to feel tighter against her.
Kyoko Kyoko Kyoko
She felt something brush up against her leg. She jumped, but continued walking nonetheless. She started feeling prickles against her flesh.
Kyoko Kyoko Kyoko
Finally, she arrived at a door. A tall metal door with a knob right in the middle. She held on to it and twisted it and the whole door moved forward, pulling Kyoko along with it.
Kyoko Kyoko Kyoko
The chanting became louder and all of a sudden the door turned to glass and shattered all around Kyoko, scratching her skin with deep cuts. She covered her face, but then realized her name was being said right against her ears. She lift her head up but she could still see nothing. Until finally her eyes began to adjust and she saw a tall, slim figure standing up ahead.
"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko said in almost a whisper, walking towards the figure.
He turned around, and Kyoko let out a gasp. He was staring at his hands which were covered in blood. He looked up at Kyoko with wide and alarmed eyes.
"What have you done? What have you done Kyoko?"
"Kyoko, sweetie, wake up." Ms. Woods gently shook Kyoko, refraining from frightening her even more.
Kyoko bolted upright. She was shivering and had gone pale.
"Tsuruga-san?" She looked around in panic.
"No one else is here dear. It's just me. It was just a dream."
"No. A nightmare." Kyoko pulled her knees towards her face and wrapped her arms around her legs. She was still in a shock from her dream, wondering what it meant. Why were Tsuruga-san's hands covered in blood and why did he blame Kyoko for it? Ms. Woods gently rubbed her back to soothe her.
"It's ok. Come on. Let's get you freshened up." Kyoko, finally coming a bit to her senses, got up as instructed.
"Thank you Ms. Woods. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
"It's alright dear. You were bound to have nightmares after a night like that."
"Wait! Ms. Woods! You're still a princess!" Ms. Woods smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Yes. Thanks to you. But enough about me. Now come. I have a surprise for you." Kyoko, now forgetting the images of her slumber, eagerly followed the former swan.
Ms. Woods led the way past all the trees and into a cave. She took a hold of Kyoko's hand so as not to lose her. Kyoko began feeling nervous of the darkness after the dream she had but trusted Ms. Woods to keep her safe. She flinched in surprise when she felt cool water under her feet. She curiously looked around to try to find the source of the water, but it was still much to dark. Finally they made it into a radiant cove with fresh blue sparkling water and wild flowers scattered everywhere. The clouds were fluffy and comforting in the bright blue sky. The sand was soft beneath Kyoko's feet. Songbirds sang their melodies as a greeting to welcome Kyoko.
(I drew a little picture for this that you can see here: art/The-Cove-550093178 . If this link does not work then you can just go to deviantart and search msnlitadventures and see the picture of The Cove there. It's not a very good picture though so no need if you don't want to.)
"Oh Ms. Woods! This is…this is so magical! It's like a picture out of a fairy tale!" Kyoko let out a gasp. "I bet I could find some mermaids here!" Just as Kyoko said that, she could have sworn she saw the sparkle of colorful scales right under the surface of the water. "Ms. Woods! Did you see that?"
The princess chuckled. "I knew you would like it. But that's not all. I have something else for you." With that she scampered off, leaving Kyoko by herself, looking around in a daze. She figured it would be alright to walk around a bit while she waited for Ms. Woods to return. She made her way onto the open beach. The sand was strangely warm despite the sky being clear from any sign of the sun and having the cool water wash up onto it. Kyoko got down to her knees and peered into the water. It was so clear that she could see the rainbow coral reef right below with little critters swimming about.
"Here we are!" Ms. Woods exclaimed upon returning suddenly. She waved for Kyoko to come over. "Look at this Kyoko. I made it for you!" She held up a pale blue flowy dress against Kyoko. It came to her mid-calf and had black lace on the bottom of the dress, all around its single sleeve, and criss-crossed on the bodice. It had a large blue flower on the upper right corner of the dress.
(You can see a reference to the dress here: itm/Alice-In-Wonderland-Costumes-Alice-Blue-Flower-Dress-Custom-made-in-Any-size-/180858270034 . If this link does not work then just try putting ebay's regular URL in front of the link that shows up here.)
"Ms. Woods! It's beautiful! Thank you so much! But you didn't have to go through so much trouble for me." Kyoko smiled, though. Even in this world Ms. Woods was coming up with outfits for her.
"The design just came to me last night and I just had to see it on you. Please freshen up and put it on to show me! Don't you wander off too far though." With that, Ms. Woods left to give Kyoko some privacy.
Kyoko peeled away the old dress she wore which was now sticking to her from the humidity and her own sweat until she was just in her undergarments. She stepped into the cool water.
"Hmmm…I hope there are no mermen in here." Kyoko wasn't sure if she should be alarmed or excited when she heard splashes after saying this. She decided to ignore it for now.
She swam around a bit and found a spot where the water was warm and bubbling as if she had stepped into a hot spring. It felt so relaxing and soothed her muscles. She felt all her stiffness slipping away. But Kyoko had one more surprise in store for her that morning, but this one she actually was already half expecting. Kyoko suddenly felt hands on her shoulders. Instead of screaming or jerking away like a regular startled person would at sudden contact with strange hands, she squealed and turned around to come face to face with her masseuse.
The mermaid had long dark hair that seemed to go on forever beneath the water. She had little lilies wrapped around her head like a crown. She had big, bright, brown eyes. Her skin was pale but her cheeks were blushed pink. Her lips matched the color of her cheeks. She had a long, scaly tail; red blending into purple. When she smiled, the phrase "pearly whites" suddenly made sense. She was enchantingly beautiful. And she was right in front of Kyoko. And Kyoko knew immediately who she was.
"Oh my goodness! Amamiya-san! It's actually you!" Kyoko put her hands against the sides of her face in excitement. But then she quickly composed herself, realizing the mermaid wouldn't recognize her. "Hello. My name is Kyoko. Who are you?" The mermaid simply held a finger to her lips in response and shook her head. At first Kyoko was confused, but then she understood. She couldn't speak. Kyoko's smile disappeared.
"That's alright. It's still wonderful to meet you!" Kyoko found herself whispering for some reason, as if she felt guilty for being able to communicate. The mermaid just smiled in return and turned Kyoko back around and began combing through her hair. She wove her hands into a braid lined with lilies. Kyoko relaxed as the mermaid's hands did their magic. She looked up at the clouds forming shapes that seemed to be telling some sort of story that Kyoko couldn't quite understand. Kyoko's curiosity began to get the best of her again and she finally spoke again.
"Where are the rest of your friends?" The hands in her hair slowed down at that. Kyoko turned her head around a little to look at her new friend. "Wait. You're not alone are you?" Of course, there was no answer. Kyoko turned back around to look at her friend and took the mermaid's hands into her own.
"You are, aren't you?" The mermaid just turned her head away in frustration and tried to pull her hands away, but Kyoko held on tight. Kyoko looked at her sadly.
"Amamiya-san. Does it hurt you to be alone?" The mermaid looked down and nodded slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"It's alright. This must be your greatest worry, right? Well, the answer to this is easy. I'll be your friend! And I promise I will come here every day until I get us back home."
The mermaid's face twisted into a scowl and shook her head furiously as if refusing to believe Kyoko's words.
"I mean it. I want to be friends with you!"
The mermaid yanked her hands away from Kyoko and swooped back into the water and with a gush of water she was suddenly gone.
"No! Wait! Come back!" Kyoko frantically began swimming after her even though it was clearly hopeless to try to catch up with the mermaid. Kyoko still continued swimming until her legs and arms were sore. She looked around but she couldn't see the mermaid anywhere. In fact, she couldn't really see anything, except water. Kyoko examined every side of her but she just seemed stuck in the middle of open water.
"Maybe I should just try swimming in the direction I came from," Kyoko said to herself. But then she felt a strong nudge on her back side. She turned around but she couldn't see anything. At least not above the surface of the water. Below everything just looked dark and murky. She felt another strong nudge on her side. Kyoko began feeling extremely nervous and started swimming back, but she swam straight into something. She looked up and saw a large reptilian head arising from the water with a long scaly neck below it. Unlike Amamiya-san's tail, which was covered in soft, smooth and shiny scales, these scales looked sharp and were a murky green. The beast opened its mouth and snarled.
Kyoko screamed and began trying to swimming backward, but something pulled her under. Suddenly the pressure of the water seemed too strong for her as she was overcome with fear. The monster tossed her around beneath the water and Kyoko's lungs' oxygen was quickly being replaced with water. Then Kyoko felt something hard on her head and everything went black.
Kyoko woke back up on the beach of the cove. She got up quickly only to feel a sharp pain on her head from where she had been hit. She looked towards the water to see large brown eyes staring back at her. Kyoko jumped in surprise but then realized it was just her mermaid friend.
"Amamiya-san…did you save me?" The mermaid didn't respond and instead just turned to leave again but Kyoko quickly grabbed her arm. The mermaid tried to pull away again but Kyoko held on tight.
"Look at me Amamiya-san. You just saved my life. Don't you think I can offer you something as small as my friendship in return? I know what it's like to be alone. To feel unwanted. I don't want you to feel like that. I promise. I promise to be there for you. And I never break my promise. Can you trust me?"
Their eyes met and the mermaid knew then, that she did. She trusted this girl who had suddenly come into her home and given her a strange name. She nodded a bit hesitantly.
"Wait here." Kyoko got out of the water and put on her old dress again. She walked along the sand picking up various shells and stones. They shone brightly in multitudes of colors. They were like treasures yet they just lay there on the sand for Kyoko to claim. Then she went over to some vines growing on the mountain wall. She sat down and concentrated on her task while the mermaid curiously watched her. After a while the mermaid became impatient and began splashing water at Kyoko.
"Hey! Stop that!" Kyoko giggled and splashed water back at the mermaid who was less than pleased ad continued to thrash around. Finally, Kyoko stepped back into the water, ignoring her dress becoming soaked in the water.
"Look!" She held up two bracelets made of vines wound around the treasures of the sand. She took one and wrapped it around the mermaid's wrist. Then she put the other one in the mermaids hand and held out her own wrist. The mermaid just stared at her at first, but then she understood and repeated the action on Kyoko's wrist. Kyoko then held up her wrist against the mermaids.
"See? This is me promising you that I will come back to see you. That I see you as a precious friend."
The mermaid stared in wonderment at this girl who just spent hours tying together bracelets for her sake. She didn't understand her feelings at that moment. It was as if someone had remove all the weight from her body. It was as if someone had filled her body with hundreds of buzzing fireflies. It was as if she had fallen into a deep sleep that she actually had control over. Then she understood. She felt happy. She was so happy. Her eyes began hurting all of a sudden. She lifted her hand to her eyes and saw that water was leaking out of them. Tears. This girl had managed to make a mermaid cry.
"Amamiya-san please don't cry! I didn't mean to make you upset!"
The mermaid shook her head and wrapped her arms tightly around Kyoko in an attempt to give her silent thanks. Kyoko understood and hugged her back. She was surprised at how happy she made the mermaid just by promising her friendship, but she remembered how she felt when she became friends with Corn and Moko-san. They stayed like that for a while, but then the mermaid slowly let go. She looked at Kyoko and gestured out to the sea.
"You have to go now?" The mermaid nodded in affirmation. "Oh ok then. It was very nice to meet you And I'm so glad we became friends! I have a beautiful mermaid friend now! Thank you for the massage and for making my hair." The mermaid tapped her bracelet as a reminder of her promise. "Yes, of course. I'll see you here tomorrow!"
The mermaid looked back at Kyoko as if she were some sort of amazing creature. With a smile, the mermaid waved her final good-bye, but only for the day as they would meet again very soon. And she swam away. Kyoko then got out of the water and slipped back out of her old dress and lay on the sand to wait for herself to dry off. After a while she got back up and dusted herself off. Then she picked up the dress Ms. Woods made her and put it on. It fit her perfectly and flower down past her knees. The silk was smooth and felt cool against her skin.
"Kyoko!" Kyoko turned towards the voice that called out to her.
"Kyoko! There you are! I was looking everywhere for you. When I came back here to get you, you were gone. I told you not to wander off!" Ms. Woods face was a mixture of relief and frustration.
"I'm sorry Ms. Woods. I…met a friend." Kyoko smiled brightly.
"Oh dear, what did you do to your arm?" Kyoko's left arm was covered in cuts and bruises.
"Don't worry Ms. Woods. I just came across a hurdle but someone sweet helped me through it." Ms. Woods looked confused at that. But she just shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Listen. It's getting dark. I need to tell you something important. It's about your curse."
"My curse?" Ms. Woods gestured to her head where the symbol lay.
"The mark of Selenstra. The effects will begin with nightfall. Hurry and grab your things and I'll quickly explain." Kyoko grabbed her old dress and began walking after Ms. Woods.
"Oh isn't this your little notebook?" Ms. Woods picked up the pink notebook and opened it. "Oh you have a new picture in here."
"I do? Let me see!" Kyoko got the notebook from Ms. Woods and saw a picture of a majestic mermaid sitting. That meant Amamiya-san had truly believed her and her worries of being alone had gone away. Kyoko hugged the notebook to her chest. Two down. It felt so good to be the cause of her friend's happiness.