"Do you hear something, Caren?" Aryl turned to her friend. The two were standing on the balcony of the hotel room. Kiri was inside packing up her stuff, along with Lexia. Madison had gone for a walk, and Jay had taken Moiyu and Rilene down to the beach.
Caren listened for a moment, "No, I don't hear anything. What does it sound like?"
There was a pause. "Almost like singing. But, its no song I've heard before. It's really beautiful." Aryl sat down in one of the two chairs on the balcony with a sigh. "You're sure you hear nothing?"
"Yes, A, I'm sure." Caren said, "And you're sure you actually hear music?"
Aryl glared at her friend.
"Okay, okay, I get it, sheesh." Caren grinned.
XXXX
"Spirit of ice?" Miriella asked Edur, completely ignoring the man's suggestions that the two girls leave, "And who is this Jeredeau? I want some questions answered!"
Edur stood up. "And I would answer them, if there were time. Children of the water, she will be returning soon, and if you are here when she does, you will not escape her wrath. I will seek you out as soon as it is safe and answer your questions. For now, you must leave."
Miriella continued staring at the spirit, as Rina pulled on her sleeve, "Come on, we should listen to him."
"What? Rina!" Miriella shouted, surprised the mermaid was siding with this person they didn't know.
"Miriella, listen." Rina said, "If he's telling the truth, he's actually worried about this Jeredeau person finding us. We'll get him to answer our questions later, right now; I think we need to go."
Miriella growled, but nodded, "Fine. Let's go. Don't think we're done, Edur. We will talk again, whether I have to fly for hours through the clouds to find you or not." With that, she pushed her way out of the cloud room.
Rina blinked.
XXXX
"Aryl's insistent that she heard music a few minutes ago." Caren said to Kiri as she and the amethyst warrior walked in through the door.
"Singing, Caren. Singing." Aryl said, "And I swear, I heard it! It was really pretty." Aryl said, sitting down and pulling a pillow onto her lap. "Wish I knew what it was."
"You mean besides a figment of your imagination?" Lexia asked.
"I don't think she's making it up." Kiri interrupted. "I heard something like that earlier, just after we left the food store. It was really pretty, like Aryl said, but kind of... sad at the same time. It didn't depress me, but I think if I'd listened for too long if could have."
"Well, Kiri doesn't just make things up like Aryl does..." Lexia started.
"HEY!" Aryl shouted.
"So, where do you think this singing is coming from?" Lexia finished.
"It seemed kind of airy. Almost like it was coming from the…" Kiri said.
Aryl joined in, surprised, the two finishing the sentence together, "…sky."
"Do you hear it?" Aryl asked Kiri. She was obviously hearing the singing again.
Kiri nodded, slowly, surprised, "Come on!" she shouted, grabbing Aryl's arm and dragging her to the balcony. Lexia and Caren were right behind them.
"I don't hear anything." Caren said.
There was a pause, "Neither do I, you two." Lexia said.
"It's gone again." Aryl said.
Moiyu, Jay, and Rilene walked in the door just then.
"What's everyone doing on the balcony?" Moiyu asked, walking out onto the already crowded balcony.
"Aryl and Kiri think they hear singing, but Lexia and I can't hear anything." Caren said.
"It's gone now." Kiri informed them. "Next time I hear it I'm following it."
"Count me in." Aryl nodded.
"Did you finish packing?" Jay asked them.
"Uhh…." Aryl muttered, "Not exactly."
Moiyu turned and glared at Aryl, "Come on, then! We have to leave in an hour! Where's Madison, anyway?"
"I'm here." Madison said, walking in the door. She yawned, "Do we have to leave tonight?"
"Yes." Kiri nodded, "We have to leave before Rayza insists we go home with her. Love her to death, but we can't afford this many plane tickets."
XXXX
Late that night, Miriella stared at the ceiling of the apartment as she lay on her bed, simply thinking, finding sleep unfortunately unreachable, no matter how tired she was or how much she wanted to reach the peaceful oblivion that was her dreams. She was thinking about the other mermaids, Aryl and Lexia, when she'd last seen them 2 years ago, Kiri, who, though she hadn't known her for very long, had become a goof friend of hers, Rina, her best friend by a long shot and the very girl she'd given so much up to save.
There were so many people in her life, and yet, Miriella knew something was missing. She couldn't place what, or why, but she knew there was something. With a sigh, she rolled over to her side, hoping the new position would clear the depressing thoughts from her mind. It did no such thing, so Miriella growled and sat up. She forced her thoughts to drift to Edur, and the things he'd said. The way he talked was so old fashioned; in fact the man looked old fashioned. He had white, pure white hair, and light blue, icy eyes. He was wearing a long light blue trench coat that was open, with a pair of slacks in a slightly darker, but still light blue, and a white shirt. Add in his boots and you had a thoroughly mysterious, old fashioned looking man who lived in a cloud.
Miriella contemplated that statement, before laughing out loud. When she thought about it, she had to admit that the entire situation was rather funny. The idea of a grown man living in a cloud amused her, not that she'd ever admit it outside of her bedroom. She traced the patterns of the shadows on the wall with her eyes until she finally fell asleep, drifting into her dreams.
XXXX
Where she found herself was not what she expected. She was back in the cloud, with Edur standing in front of her.
"Wha--?" Miriella muttered.
"I said I'd contact you." Edur said.
Miriella hit herself over the head. "Good. It didn't hurt. I'm just dreaming."
"Yes, you are, since the only way I can contact you without Jeredeau's knowledge is through your dreams." Edur said, "Though the body you are currently using is only an astral projection of yourself, I can assure you, the information I'm about to tell you is all real."
There was a pause as Miriella contemplated what Edur had said. "So, you're going to answer my questions, then?" she finally asked several moments later.
Edur nodded once, taking a seat on one of the chairs and gesturing for Miriella to sit on the other one.
"I won't… fall through it, right?" Miriella asked, voicing the concern that had been lingering on the edges of her mind.
Edur chuckled, a kind of ghostly laugh that seemed foreign to the man. "No, you won't fall through it." He assured her.
"Good." Miriella said, plopping down into the chair. Once settled, she proceeded to stare at Edur attentively.
"Is something wrong?" Edur asked her, raising an eyebrow.
Miriella shook her head, "Explain. What are you? Who are you? Why do you live in a cloud? Who's Jeredeau? Are you married to her? Is that why you act like she's such an old bitch--?"
Edur cut her off, half laughing his ghostly laugh as he said, "Married to Jeredeau? No one would ever marry that slimy…" he cut himself off, calming down, "Anyway, as I said earlier, my name is Edur. I'm the spirit of ice."
"What do you mean by that 'spirit of ice' thing?" Miriella asked him.
Edur thought for a moment, trying to figure out the easiest and least confusing way to explain, since Miriella obviously had no idea what he meant.
"You're a mermaid princess, are you not? A warrior princess, actually, correct?" Edur asked her.
Miriella blinked, surprised, "How did you know that?"
"Each person has an element running through their veins. With enough training, it can be seen. When one is actually attuned to the element, much like you are, it becomes clear to those that can see." Edur explained. "You and your friend are both mermaids. Mermaids know of the water queen, Aqua, right?"
"Aqua Regina?" Miriella asked, "Of course we do."
"When did she add the 'Regina' to her name?" Edur quietly contemplated.
Miriella cocked her head.
"I apologize; ignore that. Aqua Regina is practically your goddess, correct?" Edur asked her, making Miriella even more confused.
"Well, sort of, I guess." Miriella nodded, "She's more like our queen- thus the whole 'Aqua Regina' thing. Why?"
"In the same way that I am the spirit of ice, she is the spirit of water. However, long ago, the four major elements split their power up into 'guardians', in a way their children. You power was born from Aqua splitting her power with the guardians of fire, earth, and air. We guardians of light, darkness, lightning, and ice, the minor elements, kept our powers since, unlike the major elements, we really aren't seen as prevalently."
Miriella nodded, slowly, still confused, "So, you're this super old guy who has control over the element of ice, then?"
Edur blinked, "I'm not that old." He said, "I'm not the same guardian from all those years ago."
"Oh? You made it sound like you were." Miriella said.
"Well, I'm not." Edur stated, "That was my grandfather. My lifespan is longer than yours will be, but not THAT long. Aqua, however, is the same spirit. All of the major elements are. We minor elements change every 500 years or so."
"Thus I bring back the whole 'really old' thing." Miriella said.
"Can I continue?" Edur asked her.
"Sure, go ahead, sorry." Miriella said, giggling. "You were saying?"
"Aqua split her power into the 16 mermaid princesses. Later that power was split again, into warrior and idol, by the mermaid elders." Edur continued, only to have Miriella cut him off again.
"Wait, 16?" Miriella asked. "I've only heard of 14. And one of them's dead."
"16. There are 8 mermaid kingdoms, and two princesses from each. One idol and one warrior." Edur said.
Miriella thought for a moment, quietly, counting off the kingdoms on her fingers, "North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Antarctic, Arctic, Indian… Sorry, Edur, I only know of 7 kingdoms."
"The Polar kingdom?" Edur asked, "You skipped that one."
"Polar?" Miriella asked, "I've never heard of it."
It was Edur's turn to be surprised. Something must have happened that he was never informed of. "Yes, well, I'll talk to Aqua about it as soon as I can. Until then, may I continue, again?"
Miriella nodded, "Sorry." She said.
"I will warn you now that there is not much I can say about Jeredeau without bringing in a biased opinion and much speculation." Edur said.
Miriella nodded, "Okay."
"Jeredeau has become corrupt with power. She's using her own unique powers to manipulate me into making this snowstorm. If I had any control over it I would stop it immediately, but until Jeredeau releases her hold over my powers, I'm caught." Edur said.
"So, which spirit is she?" Miriella asked, thinking in her mind.
"It's probably better not to say. Besides, I should think it pretty obvious." Edur said.
Any other day, Miriella would have argued, but there was so much new information running through her head that she was unsure even how to, so she just nodded, before raising another question. "Do you know why Jeredeau's doing all this?"
Edur shook his head, "That, I unfortunately do not know." He said, sighing, "If I did, this could be so much easier, but…" there was a pause, "Oh, I apologize, I've kept you here too long."
"Huh?" Miriella asked.
"Your friend, the other mermaid, is trying to wake you. Seems I lost track of time. You'll wake up in your bed in a few moments." Edur said.
'W-wait! Edur!" Miriella shouted, but he was gone, along with the cloud room. Miriella's eyes snapped open and she heard Rina sigh.
"You must have gone to bed pretty late to sleep like that." Rina said.
"Y-yeah." Miriella muttered, "Sure. Look, I have some stuff to tell you."
XXXX
"Ah, home sweet, your apartment." Aryl said, collapsing down onto the couch of Kiri's living room. Lexia smirked, taking a seat in the recliner. The entire group was pretty exhausted. Getting no sleep one night and then swimming back to Japan from California will do that to you. Aryl had already fallen asleep on the couch.
Lexia's head suddenly snapped up, "Hey! Wait a second." She muttered, "I can hear… singing! Is this what you two were talking about?"
Kiri listened, "I don't hear anything this time, Lex." She said, "Where's it coming from?"
"It doesn't sound far from here." Lexia said, running to a window and opening it. "I could probably find whoever's singing." There was a flash of blue light as Lexia transformed and flew out the window, ignoring the fact that if anyone on the streets below were to look up they would be pretty confused. She flew towards the sound of the voice, stopping with surprise when she saw someone who almost looked like a bird-woman sitting on a lamppost, one of the L-shaped ones with the weird lights that are seen on highways, simply singing for the whole world to hear. But, that's the thing. The whole world wasn't hearing. This time, only Lexia was.
"Hello?" she asked the girl, flying a little closer.
The girl opened her blue eyes, smiling at her, before spreading her wings and flying away with more speed than Lexia could ever hope to reach.
"W-who was that?" Lexia asked herself, heading back towards Kiri's apartment with a sigh. Kiri might know.
XXXX
"Bird-woman?" Kiri repeated, "I've never heard of anything like that."
"She had wings instead of arms." Lexia said, "Kind of… brownish colored ones."
Kiri shook her head, "I still don't know, Lexia. But, I'll do some research."
Lexia nodded.
"But ask Moiyu and Rilene. They might know something." Kiri suggested, "It's at least possible."
"Okay, thanks, Kiri." Lexia left the room, walking into the living room. She really didn't want to have to ask Moiyu, the two hadn't really made up after the fight they'd gotten into before leaving for California, and Lexia really didn't know Rilene that well. She didn't really trust Madison yet, and she knew Aryl wouldn't know a thing about bird-people if Kiri didn't, and Lexia had never really felt comfortable talking to Jay. So, that left Caren. With a sigh, Lexia began to search for the purple idol princess.
XXXX
'I can't sense them anywhere in this city,' Lycoris thought to herself as she trekked throughout the city in California where she'd last seen the mermaid group. 'Oh, this isn't good. Anayis is counting on me to deliver that message.'
With another glance at the hotel where she'd last seen them, Lycoris headed down to the water, with the single thought of, 'Maybe they're heading home.'
XXXX
Rayza sighed as she walked into a concert hall. John was behind her, rambling something about a list of things that needed to be done before the concert started. Normally, Rayza would listen to this, but today… she was sensing something she was unsure about, and it was making her restless. For the first time since she'd started her singing career, she just wanted the concert to be over. Once this concert was over, she had only a couple more days left in California before she could go home to Japan. At this point, Rayza wanted nothing more than to collapse into her own bed and sleep for a few days.
She walked backstage, shutting her dressing room door in John's face to tell him she wanted to be alone. There was no one in her dressing room, so Rayza opened her window. There were a few fans littering the streets below, shrieking as they saw her at the window. With a forced smile and a wave, Rayza shut the window again, sighing.
"Depressed about something, Rayza?" A female voice asked from behind her.
Rayza jumped, spinning around to see the source of the voice leaning against the wall, giggling.
"God, Avira, don't scare me like that!" Rayza cried, catching her breath.
"You're certainly on edge today." The blond woman said, walking over to the green haired popstar. "Is something the matter?"
"I'm… sensing something." Rayza said, "Something weird. It's kind of like… a disruption in the equilibrium of the elements."
"So, you sense it too." Avira said, "It started this morning, from what I can tell. I haven't had a chance to check with Haydn or Pyrois yet, but if both of us are sensing it, chances are, they sense it too."
"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Rayza asked.
Avira sighed and shook her head, "No. But, if you'll notice, over the past few months, there has been a surprisingly low amount of thunderstorms that actually had any lightning in them."
"Is something wrong with the lightning spirit?" Rayza asked.
"I don't know." Avira shrugged, "But it's the first lead we have. Esen and Tadewi are already searching for her. Plus, with Edur going out of control in Tokyo, we may have a big problem on our hands."
"Should I gather the other water guardians?" Rayza asked.
The woman nodded, "That may be best. At least alert them, somehow. But, for now don't worry about it. Esen and Tadewi will look for Milli, and I'll get in contact with Haydn and Pyrois. You focus on your concert."
Rayza nodded, "Alright. If you need my help, you know how to call me."
"Of course." Avira nodded, opening the window again and spreading her wings. Rayza smiled, and the harpie flew out the window, into the skies beyond.
"Stay safe, my friend." Rayza whispered.
XXXX
A dark haired woman walked into a small darkly-light house, throwing her jacket onto a chair as she did so.
"Noel, you here?" she called out, glancing around the room, looking for the blue haired mermaid.
Noel stuck her head out of one of the rooms to the side, "Hey! Milli, you're back!" she said, hurrying out.
Milli smiled, "Yeah." She said, "You were right. They can't all hear me yet."
Noel sighed, "Until all of the warrior princesses can hear you, you wont reveal yourself, right?"
"Right." Milli nodded, "Until every warrior princess can hear my voice, the spirit of lightning will stay hidden."
"And until then, I'll stay hidden with you." Noel nodded, "It wont do any good if Jeredeau can get her hands on all of the water guardians." She grinned.
Milli smiled. "Thanks, Noel."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
And that's that. Sorry this chapter took so long, but it's so much longer than usual for me. And yet, not that long. It was going to be about twice this length, but I cut it in half, deciding that too much information at one point will be too confusing. I mean, if something in this chapter didn't confuse you, I'd be really surprised, since I was confused WRITING it, and I made all the information up.
Seems there's more out there than what the girls thought, eh?
By the way, I won't answer any questions regarding Esen, Tadewi, Haydn, Pyrois or Avira until the end of next chapter. That would be giving too much away.
In the next chapter: Rayza's attacked, Avira talks to Lexia, and Edur does more explaining. Oh, and the return of Luchia and Hanon, along with the introduction of Sara.
See why I cut it off now?
Hope you enjoyed!