I everyone. The reason why I am updating this chapter on a Tuesday is because today is my birthday! So I decided to give you a chapter two days early. Anyway enjoy.


Chapter 39: The Curse of Geppetto

-Water-

The Fire Prince and Rose Red are ready for battle. Just as the golem attacked, they dodged it. However, the others just barely escape as the mechanic creature almost snatched Sakura.

"Sakura, be careful." Lucia warned as she took her half-sister away from the area as Coco did the same with Seira.

"This is no fun. Let's make this a little interesting." Kazu replied as he took something from his pockets. Noel seemed to recognized the object.

"That's- Lucia, everyone... Be care-" Noel didn't get the chance to finish her warning for the man threw a dark jewel at them. The moment it hit the water, it reacted and an explosion appeared.

"Everyone!" Rose turned to only see smoke.

Once the smoke cleared, the girls looked at themselves to see that they've de-transform into mermaids again.

"What's going on?" Hanon questioned as she looked at the others to see that everyone except Rose Red are back to their regular selves.

"The dark jewel blocks the power of your pearls. You can't transform for awhile. So, I shall use that time wisely and capture all of you!" Kazu declared.

"Kyle..." Rose addressed to the Fire Prince.

"Yeah, I know. It's now or never." the Fire Prince understood. With his sword and the princess' staff, a ball of collecting fire started to form. "Ready?"

"Mm!" Rose nods in determination.

"Fiery..." he started.

"Phoenix..." she added.

"Burst!" they exclaimed in unison as the ball of fire started to shape into a phoenix. It screech as it flew straight into the golem, setting it ablaze.

"Wha- What have you done?" Kazu became furious as his creation was destroyed very quickly and easily. He had underestimate the power of the Red Princess when she is in her fairytale form. He turned to the duo, eyes burning with anger that could rival the Red Princess herself. "This isn't over. You may have won the battle, but you haven't won the war!" with that, he disappeared. However, he didn't took his golem with him and it started to collapsed towards Coco and Seira, who are trapped behind a rock when they tried to find safety.

"Coco, Seira, look out!" Julie exclaimed as she de-transform from her fairytale form. However, because she didn't took time to heal properly, the stretch marks that Shika gave her caused her to fall. Luckily, Kyle caught her, but he can't save the two at the same time.

All of a sudden, Takumi appeared out of nowhere, jumping between the fallen fiery golem and the two mermaids.

"Takumi!" Seira cried in shock.

The moment he step forward, the boy started to glow a golden-orange color. His clothes changed of a princely attire, consisting of a golden armor and dark pants. A sword was attached to his belt. Taking the sword out of its sheath and placing it on the ground, a barrier started to appear. When the golem reached the barrier, it started to sizzle as the fire is being douse upon contact. The barrier was made out of water! After they were safe from harm, Coco moved away as the prince turned towards Seira.

"I'm glad you're safe, Serene." Takumi told Seira.

"Eh?" Seira was confused. That was the second time he called her by that name.

"I swore to protect you ever since I first saw you. Please, take this magic spindle." he told her as a golden spindle appeared. "You once gave it to me and it gave me protection, It's time I return your gift." her gave her the object. "I'll see you again, my princess."

At that moment, Takumi's fairytale form started to fade as he reverted back to his old self.

The mermaids, unable to transform back into their human self until the effects of the dark jewel wears off, decided to find a safe place to hide for the time being. One by one, they dived back into the water, leaving Seira alone with Takumi.

"Noel." the Fire Prince stopped her before she left.

"Yes?" she turned to see his masked face.

"What I said back then, I meant it." he told her.

"I know." she replied.

"Find me one day, okay?" he request.

"Okay." she smiled back until she left. He turned to see Julie talking to her little sister. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but Sakura nodded and then leaves the scene.

"Seira, will you be okay by yourself?" Julie asked.

"Mm." Seira simple nodded. "I stay for a while, until he wakes up."

"Alright." Julie then turned to the Fire Prince. "Should we go?"

"It's probably best." he answered as they both disappeared, leaving Seira behind with Takumi.

-Cave-

The mermaids took refuge in a cave, the one that was underneath the cliff, as they wait for the effects to wear off. While they are waiting, each of them were having discussion about what had happened.

"Why did Shika decided to show up now?" Rina started off the discussion.

"I don't know. Whatever it is, I don't think it's just to give us her christmas presents." Lucia shuddered at the very thought of the Sea Witch's twisted version of presents.

"Just who was that man?" Hanon questioned in a dreamy way.

"Hanon, don't get off-topic." Karen told her. "But since you just brought that up..." her eyes shifted to her older twin sister. "Hey, Noel... Who was that hot guy? You looked like you know him."

"Wha- And you were the one who said that we shouldn't get off-topic." Noel didn't answer her sister's question.

"Oh? As long as we are talking about him, you have to answer my question." Karen insisted.

"He... He's... Someone I know." Noel gave half an answer.

"Really? Your face seemed to tell a different story." Karen teased her sister as Noel turned around to avoid eye contact.

"I wonder how come Takumi-kun transformed like that." Coco wondered. That brought everyone back into their main discussion.

"Yeah, that was very strange. And he called Seira 'Serene'." Hanon recalled.

"I wondered who he was in the ancient fairytale past. He seemed really devoted to Seira." Lucia comments.

"Hey, guys." Rina caught their attention. "Where is Sakura?"

"I think Julie told her to get help or something." Akari answered.

"How long are we going to stay like this?" Hanon sighs for she wanted to become human again so she can not get chased around by witches and a man from a fallen clan.

-Kyle's Room-

After they left the waters, Kyle and Julie decided to return to his room. Upon entering, Kyle noticed that Julie looked closed to passing about until he knows why. Despite her red dress is camouflaging it, blood was soaking from behind.

"Are you alright, Julie?" Kyle questioned. He knew that the question was probably lame since it's obvious that she's not, but still, he had to asked.

"The scratch she gave me really stings... I lost a fair amount of blood though." Julie answered.

"I think I had some gauze bandages somewhere..." he trailed off as he went to look for them in the drawers. "Here." he handed her a roll.

"Thanks." Julie replied as she went to the bathroom to cover her wounds.

A couple of minutes later, Julie came out of the bathroom with the empty roll. She found that Kyle has changed his clothes, wearing a blue cotton shirt and a pair of navy-blue jeans. Feeling that she needs to discuss important matters with him, she sat on his bed while he sat on his chair with a laptop on his lap.

"Kyle, are you sure you were okay when fighting that golem today?" Julie started off the conversation.

"Yeah, why?" Kyle asked without looking up from the screen.

"You know who that man was, do you?" Julie questioned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." he tried to avoid answering the question.

"Don't lie." Julie warned him, her voice was a bit stern. "You know the consequences for lying."

Kyle sighs in defeat as he closed his laptop and looked at her in the eyes.

"Yes." he answered. Knowing that Julie wants him to admit it, he added, "He's my brother in the fairytale world."

"So, you realized who you were back then?"

"Before I was known as the 'Beast', I was a boy named Geppetto." Kyle admit it. "And that man, Kazu, was my older brother."

"Explain." Julie requested.

"I though you knew who everyone was in the past." Kyle pointed out.

"Not all. Terra Elaina... She's the Earth Goddess, she knows who everyone was. We were all human once... And because I know her the most, she tends to give me some info from time to time." Julie explained.

Kyle sighs, "Kazu, in the past... He was Jimmy Cricket or rather, a man who was turned into a cricket. After upsetting an imp, he was curse to be turned into that. After watching me build my puppets, he began to feel jealous of me. It only got worse..."

"When you meet Princess Leya, Noel's fairytale self. I believed she was a born from the Fairy Queen, thus making her the Blue Fairy." Julie finished.

"Correct. After falling in love with her, Jimmy became envy of me even more. One day, when Leya was helping a 'Cinderella', Jimmy started to influence me in building more puppets from the Dark Orchard. The more I spent time there, the more I was filled with dark intentions to destroy the world. I became heartless and only cared for myself. That was when the Dark Fairy who inhabited the Dark Orchard turned me into the Beast. Through Leya, I learn to love again and all those dark intentions disappeared." he explained.

"What did you do after?" Julie became curious. It was obviously not the Pinocchio story you usually would hear about.

"Jimmy took me back into the orchard. This time, Leya came to stop me. However, because of an accident, she died. As punishment for the death of her daughter, the Fairy Queen cast a spell to turn me into wood. It's has a slow effect and if I completely turned into wood, my life will be gone. It'll only happen if I fail to find True Love and become selfless."

"Kyle, if you keep this up... If you don't tell Noel... You'll-" she got cut off.

"I know because... It's happening." Kyle told her as he roll up his sleeves to show her his left arm. His upper arm is slowly turning into wood!

"When did it happen?" Julie asked urgently.

"After my cold." Kyle answered. "And that's not all. Ever since then, whenever I use my flames, they won't respond. I think it's because of my curse and that's why I can't call my flames. That's why I had to used my sword to save the others today."

"You'll have to find a way to tell Noel eventually. You won't be able to last if you keep on hiding the truth from her. Fire and wood don't mix very well. I told you once and I'll tell you again, you don't have to hide your secret like us mermaids." Julie reminded him.

-Cave-

Back in the cave, the mermaids were still waiting for the effects to wore off when Sakura emerged from the water.

"Everyone, here. Yuki gave us a potion that will negate the effects of the dark jewel." she told them.

"Really?" Hanon questioned as Sakura nodded. She threw it into the air as the potion spray a silvery mist over them. Once it covered them from head to tail and had faded, the mermaids can feel the effects are weakening until it was no more.

"Yay! Let's go home, I'm ready to fall on my bed." Hanon suggested.

"What about Seira?" Coco questioned.

"She's still with Takumi. He hasn't waken yet." Sakura replied.

"Let's leave them alone for a little while longer." Akari suggest as everyone agreed.

All of them dived back into the water and started to head back to the bath house.

-Waters-

The sun was starting to set and Takumi has not woke yet. He was laying on what would have been Seira's lap if she was in human form, but the block still has her in her mermaid form. Meanwhile, Seira was pondering about what had happened. Takumi came out of nowhere and transformed in front of everyone. He then gave her a golden spindle, which she knows nothing about... At least, not yet anyway. She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt movement. She looked down to see that Takumi is stirring to consciousness. He opened his eyes to see beautiful orange eyes staring back at him.

"Oh, it's you." Takumi replied as he sat up.

"Baka!" Seira hugged him very tightly.

"Eh?" Takumi didn't understand.

"You worried me, Takumi. Why did you jump in front of that falling golem?" Seira cried. She couldn't help it, but let the tears roll down her face. "When you didn't woke up... I-I- I thought..."

Takumi didn't need her to finish her sentence as he returned her hug. He whispered, "I'm sorry, but I saw you and your friends along with that weird woman."

"You were watching us?" Seira pulled away from her hug.

"Yes. When I saw that strange man and that creature almost falling on you, my first thought was 'I have to save her'. I couldn't just stand by and watched as that thing almost crushed you." Takumi admit it as he wiped the tears from her eyes. "What happened before I passed out?"

"You mean, you don't remember?" Seira asked.

"Remember what?" Takumi became just as confused as Seira.

"Nothing." Seira decided not to tell him. "Takumi... Promise me that you won't do something reckless like that again."

"I promise, but if you are in danger, I don't think I can keep it." Takumi answered honestly. He was taken aback when the orange mermaid gave him a kiss. It was nothing to be surprised about, but each time felt new to him. At the same time, it felt so nostalgic.

"Thank you, Takumi." she told him as she gaze into his eyes one last time before disappearing into the water.

-Kyle's Room-

It was close to becoming dark and tonight is a full moon.

"Well, I have to go. See you, Kyle." Julie replied as she summoned her red cloak. She put her cloak around her, almost shielding every part of her body except for her face.

"Bye, Julie." Kyle replied back as she left the room.

-Pearl Waters-

On her way back home, Julie was thinking very deeply.

'Kyle was once the woodcarver, Geppetto... And his brother was Jimmy Cricket, the supposed good consciousness in every human being on Earth. However, he was reborn as Kazu, the half-child from the fallen Mirovia Clan. He has bad views on the Mermaid Princesses and he builds robotic creatures to counter Geppetto's wooden puppets. Lastly is Shika, the Sea Witch.' Julie looked up to the moon. 'Just what are you planning... Stepmother?'


I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Please review if you can, no rush. Next on Undeniable Love...

Lucia: The three wing demons are back and they are planning something bad.

Hanon: Eh? What's this? EH!?

Noel: Rina is... Rina is...

Masahiro: What happened to Rina?

Lucia: Hamasaki-san... Rina is... Gone.

Next time, Undeniable Love Chapter 40: Follow the Guide to True Love

A/N- To any readers who have read my other story, Mermaid Melody Fairy Tales, today is the day where I'll start my sequel. The first chapter will be short and it will be there shortly after this chapter is updated. See you soon.