Morg: Heyo!

Ikuto: Is that all you're going to say?

Amu: Don't you have an excuse or something to give?

Morg: No, why would I?

Ikuto: You've usually got one ready.

Amu: And you just spew them out even though we don't care.

Morg: I don't own you. You don't have to care.

Ikuto: Yeah, yeah.

Amu: As long as you know that.

~At the Water's Edge~

Tadase didn't want to admit that he was worried. He was the prince. Everything always went his way. No way was he actually worried, and definitely not because Utau hadn't woken up yet. Kairi kept telling him that she was fine, but Tadase was beginning to doubt the other male. What could a librarian know about health stuff? Utau needed a doctor. "We should take a break."

Sighing, Kairi moved with the prince on the other side of the unconscious princess that they carried between them so that they could lower her onto the sandy bottom of the ocean. He would have liked to keep going, but arguing with the prince wouldn't get him anywhere. "How long do you wish to stop?"

Pushing his short, blond hair from his face, Tadase looked away from his two traveling companions. "However long I say."

That was that. Kairi really didn't like spending so much time with people that talked to him in that way. What a jerk. "As you wish."

Making certain that Utau was resting safely, Tadase moved a bit away from his sister before taking several deep, calming breaths. Fucking sea monster. If he had his guards with him then they would have killed the thing before it could have ever hurt Utau. He would not forgive it. If she died… No, she would live. But if she didn't, he would hunt it down and have his revenge.

Kairi watched for a moment as Tadase moved a short distance away from where they were taking a break. The young prince looked to be as though he was having a fight with himself. There was nothing the librarian could do for the other. His advice was being ignored. Kairi felt a bit slighted by the prince, though he couldn't completely blame him for it. Kairi had only read books about medicine. He didn't actually practice it.

Moving back to his sister's side, Tadase took her hand to just hold it for a moment. They spent a lot of time bickering, but he actually loved her. Though Utau didn't always act like it, Tadase knew that she loved him in return. They were brother and sister, after all. They were supposed to fight. "This is my fault."

Kairi looked up to see if the other boy was talking to him. The prince kept his eyes on his sister.

"If I hadn't wanted to come then we wouldn't have."

"That's not true."

"What do you know?"

Sighing, Kairi didn't bother to move closer to the other. It wouldn't have helped. His proximity would have only made Tadase all the more angry. "Because Utau wants it, too."

Tadase glanced back down at his sister's face. Her eyes were closed while her mouth was slightly parted. The girl could have just been resting, though he knew the truth. There was the chance that she wouldn't wake up. "But I pushed for it."

Knowing that arguing really wouldn't do any good, Kairi opted to remain silent. Tadase had to fight his own battles with his mind. There would be no convincing the boy of anything else.

XXX

Rima didn't like the look of the clouds. Storms had never really bothered her before. Beneath the tumult of the wind and rain, the ocean kept them safe. While growing up, other kids had been curious and had gone to the surface to see what damage a storm could make. Not Rima. She hadn't planned on ever finding out. "Don't those clouds look a little dark to you?"

Picking up his head from where he'd been resting it on Rima's stomach, Nagi looked out over the water towards a few dark grey clouds. "I think they're fine."

Shaking her head, Rima motioned back towards the sky. "The wind has gotten stronger, too."

Sitting up all the way, Nagihiko turned so that he was facing into the wind. His lover was right, it had gotten stronger. It also had a bit of a coldness to it. Still, he didn't think it was cause for concern. "We'll be just fine, Rima. Even if the boat sinks, we'll be able to just swim."

She supposed that Nagi was just trying to be funny, though Rima didn't really see it that way. The boat sinking wasn't going to be a good thing because that meant that they'd have to be the ones carrying Ikuto, Yaya and Kukai. Not to mention the dog and the bird. No thanks. "Do you think Ikuto knows that it's there?"

"Know what is where?"

Turning her head slightly, Rima caught sight of the boat captain as he came out onto the deck. Amu pulled herself behind him. "The clouds over there. Do you think it is a storm?"

Moving to the railing, Ikuto looked out in the direction that Rima gestured. He'd been on the ocean enough times to know that no clouds should be taken lightly. "Yes, that's a storm."

Amu followed the direction of Ikuto's gaze to look at the sky, as well. The prospect of a storm excited her. Being one that could control the elements, Amu loved riding out storms on the surface of the waves. To feel everything so completely out of control was wonderful. "Are we going into it?"

Staring at the clouds, Ikuto gave a slight shrug. "Is that the way we have to go?"

The tug of the Tear told Amu that they did indeed have to travel that way. "Yes."

"Then we're going into it."

"You people are crazy. I don't want to go that way."

Nagihiko was quick to wrap his arm around Rima as the other two turned to look at her. "Rima isn't fond of storms."

Giggling a bit, Amu moved so that she could put her hand against Rima's arm. "We've got nothing to worry about. The storm can't hurt us."

Shaking off her friend's hand, Rima glared at the pinkette. "That's not the point!"

Ikuto wasn't entirely certain why the mermaid was having problems with just a measly storm, but he decided against trying to make her feel better with words. "Well, you can go back in the water if you want. There is the chance that we'll get separated though."

Being separated from the others wasn't what she wanted. "Then I can't really go into the water, can I?"

Nagihiko squeezed his hold around the girl in his arms. She definitely was worried about the weather. He knew her well enough to know that she truly was. "It'll be fine."

"You can say that all you want, but I prefer to be beneath the waves where it is completely safe."

Sighing, Amu laid her head on Rima's shoulder. "You can go down into the ship further if you want. That way you don't have to be out here to see the storm. We could let you into the hold with our fish. No one else would be able to fit in there with you, though."

Pouting a bit, Rima turned so that she was looking at her husband. "I don't want to go anywhere without Nagi."

Kissing those pouted lips to make his wife stop before he couldn't hold himself back, Nagi let out a quiet chuckle. "Then we'll go inside the boat and wait for the storm to end in there."

Moving away from the other two, Amu went back to the railing to sit beside Ikuto. The clouds told her that they didn't have much time before the storm hit. "Then the two of you should head below. That storm is building."

Pulling away from his wife, Nagihiko sent Amu a smile before heading towards the door that the other mermaid had just come out of. "Then we'll head down."

Rima was right on his tail.

Turning back to look at Ikuto, Amu lifted an eyebrow when she found the man smirking at her. "What?"

"That storm won't hit for a while yet."

Returning the smirk, Amu gave a slight shrug. "Might take Rima a while to get down there. Especially since Pepe trapped Kukai in that room."

Chuckling, Ikuto had to agree to that. That dog did not like his first mate. Sort of served the idiot right. "She's going to be pissed."

"The dog or Rima?"

Not losing the grin on her face, Amu turned back to the railing. She could just make out the lightning beginning to flash in the clouds. The storm was going to be a big one. "Both."

Ikuto wasn't going to argue with that.

XXX

Kairi knew that they needed to keep going, however, Tadase didn't want to. The librarian couldn't push the other male since he wasn't of royal blood and Tadase made the orders. The prince wanted to wait for Utau to wake, but Kairi knew that it wasn't safe for them to just sit in the middle of the ocean. He might have worked inside the palace where it was safe, but he knew the dangers that lurked in the waters. "We need to keep moving."

"You need to shut up. We aren't going anywhere until Utau wakes up."

Glancing around them, Kairi noted how the waters were growing darker. Night was coming. They didn't have anywhere to go for shelter. "At least let us move somewhere safer."

"There is nothing wrong with where we are."

Kairi couldn't argue any further. To do so would only make Tadase angry without really needing to. While he was important to their journey, he wouldn't be once they had the Tear. There was nothing he was going to do now that he didn't want to pay for later. Instead, he moved to sit on the opposite side of the rock that Utau rested against. This was a rather bad idea.

Not long after he'd tried to reason with the prince, Kairi saw something move in the gloom of the water. It wasn't the same kind of movement that the tentacles of the giant sea monster had, but it wasn't a regular fish either.

It wasn't until the movement got closer that Kairi realized that it was creatures moving towards them. Creatures that everyone had thought to be extinct. Creatures that were shoving spears into their faces and yelling in a different language. Kairi knew that there was nothing they could do but allow their hands to be tied and swim after their captives.

Sending a glance over his shoulder, Kairi tried to make out how Tadase was doing. So far the prince had been yelling a lot. Something about being royal and how he shouldn't be treated that way. A spear to his throat had shut him up. That was, until the creatures began prodding Utau. In the end, they were all being taken. Kairi just wished that he knew where. Getting lost in the ocean wasn't what he wanted to be doing.

Tadase hung his head as he followed behind the creatures carrying his sister. The monsters were like them in a way. They looked as though they could be merpeople, with being half human and half fish. Unfortunately, they were more fish than human. Tadase didn't like their odds. "This isn't how a prince should be treated."

His mumblings when unnoticed as they moved through the dark water.

.

Morg: I love how exciting this story is.

Ikuto: You could make it even more exciting!

Amu: Gross.

Morg: Maybe I will.

Ikuto: Do it.

Amu: Really, don't.

Morg: Everyone will just have to keep reading to find out!