It all started fifteen years ago. Within the depths of the Pacific Ocean, sits a grandiose underwater kingdom as large, occupied, and illuminated as any of the major cities of the eastern surface world. Twin strips of rushing lava from the Earth's core make for the borders of this submarine civilization. The empire itself took inspiration from early days of eastern nations such as Australia, New Zealand, and southern Asia and so were its citizens. The mer-people of this aquatic nation have spent years, centuries adapting to the evolution of man, witnessing the introduction of ships and boats, their interest in gathering sea life for food and research, and the unfortunate result of those who disrespect the ocean with waste and oil. Fortunately, the sea goddess was fair to the ocean, passing judgment upon man in the form of hurricanes and tsunamis. However, both the people of the land and sea were able to bounce back and thrive from their misfortune. Today would be no different.
Today was to be a day of celebration. Unfortunately, it is also a day of remorse. The exalted one of the Eastern seas, Emperor Yoko, was caught between an emotional rock and a hard place on this day. The "rock" was the birth of his son, Prince Kurama, the first child to be born in over a century. Sadly, the "hard place" came at the cost of the mother, Empress Botan. It was a high-risk pregnancy for her majesty given her illness from her exposure to pollution. Nevertheless, she pulled through, stating the name of her son as she took her last breath. The funeral was bittersweet. Emperor Yoko led the charge carrying his newborn son as his wife laid behind him carried by six members of the royal army and encased in a casket forged of the finest clear quartz and decorated in stones such as lapis lazuli, aquamarine, and Australian opal. The procession ended at the country's furthest border where molten lava flows at the very bottom. It is there where her majesty will be laid to rest.
"Rest now, my love," Yoko whispered as he watched, "May our great goddess welcome you with open arms. And don't worry about our son. He will be well taken care of. I promise."
For the next couple of weeks, the imperial palace remained quiet except for the cries of its prince. Nurses tended to his every whim while the emperor watched from a distance, still grieving over the loss of his bride. It never stopped his court from carrying on with the usual business.
"My lord, it is unwise for you to go on like this," said Yomi, advisor to the throne, "Although our kingdom has suffered a great loss with the unfortunate passing of our empress, we still have the prince to look after. He's going to need a motherly figure in his life, meaning you will have to take a new wife. The palace has been swarmed with eligible mates just waiting for the chance for you to look their way. Please, your majesty. You must consider this."
"I will do no such thing," Yoko stated, simmering in annoyance, "Yomi, you do realize how long it's been since I lost Botan. She was a beacon of hope for this kingdom. Her light shined brighter than the sun. She was a fighter when she carried our son and for you to tell me that it's time to move on is an absolute disgrace to her legacy."
"But, my lord, your son–"
"Is only two weeks old. I know that. He is still quite young and naive about the world around him. His caretakers are doing just fine…for now."
"I understand that, my emperor, but there will come a time when he will begin to understand how the world works. He'll need someone around to… You'll need someone to…"
"I will take care of that when the time comes. For now…just let me be. Any word on Botan's memorial?"
"Yes, my lord. Her statue is under construction as we speak and will be placed in the royal tomb upon completion as instructed."
"Excellent. Keep me informed."
Yomi could see that the emperor was still too distraught to even consider tending to his royal duties. He left the throne room dissatisfied but content over getting his point across. Meanwhile, Yoko sat on his throne and glanced at the empty seat next to him. He leaned towards that waterlogged, opal-sculpted seat with his hand over his face.
"Botan…my love. I hope the goddess is treating you well. As I continue to mourn your loss, please watch over us, over our son. If only he could see you…as I did."
At that moment and completely alone, Yoko finally took the time to fully release his grief over the loss of his greatest love. It was the first time in a long time that he ever shed a tear or more.
Later that night, as the palace sat in slumber, there was one sinister character who wanted to stir things up a bit. Up to this point, he had sat in the shadows, biding his time, waiting to strike. Now was that time. This creature was an unagi and its purpose was definitely the opposite of a ningyo. Under the cover of darkness, the creature slithered its way into the palace, spewing clouds of poisonous ink towards whatever guards that may come his way. There was only one thing he wanted to do, take away the one thing that provided happiness to the kingdom.
What good fortune. Under the company of two sleeping handmaidens, the malicious creature slipped inside to observe the sleeping guppy. The baby was indeed adorable with his emerald green tail and hair as red as a ginger. It was a peaceful slumber for the young prince. Whatever dreams he had no one could ever know. Despite the child's innocence, the intruder didn't break in to play the role of a babysitter.
"You," he mumbled in disdain and jealousy, "You were the one who took her away from me. She was to be mine. She was to carry… No. I will make you and your world pay for the destruction of mine."
The now kidnapper snatched the child from its crib and took off, filling the space with more of its poisonous ink in case anyone decided to follow him. Out and away from the palace, the thief thought of the many ways to do away with the prince. Using his ink on him would be too easy as he could do that to anyone. He could feed the prince to some sharks but a fish as small as the prince wouldn't be satisfying to neither the shark nor its feeder. Perhaps cutting the guppy up like sashimi will do. No. There aren't enough parts to cut up to satiate the anger. The baby would be cut up into over a hundred pieces before even a sliver of anger and pain is dissolved. Just how should this young ningyo be dealt with?
"What do you think you're doing, Hiei," asked a voice from the shadows.
Hiei was considerably far away from the sea kingdom and was heading towards an island when he was caught, "Unless previously stated, my business doesn't concern you, Mukuro."
Mukuro was what's known as a nure onna, A vampiric sea creature with a partially burned head and torso of an attractive woman and the lower body of a sea serpent. She snaked her way out of the shadows to see what Hiei was holding so close to him.
"What do you have there?"
"Swim aside."
"Bullshit. As one of the most skillful thieves of the sea, it's always interesting to know of your latest plunders. Cough it up."
Hiei took off clutching the young prince close to his chest. Considering that Mukuro was slightly longer than the unagi, she bested Hiei, grabbing the small package and swimming away with it.
"Give that back," Hiei demanded, "You don't know what that is!"
"All the more reason to see," once Mukuro pulled back the cover to see the contents within, she hesitated but only out of interest, "Wait a second. Is this…? This is the prince! The son of Emperor Yoko!"
"Yes, it's the prince. Now give it back to me!"
Mukuro chuckled, "What in the sea world…? Why do you have this? Do you have any idea what will happen once Yoko finds out his guppy is gone? Word under the sea is that he's still mourning the loss of his bride."
Hiei stood in silence as his own anger returned for the same reason, "Hmph. Like I care."
"I'd say judging by the way you're pouting, you care a great deal. She meant something to you, didn't she? The empress?"
"It doesn't matter. She's gone now."
"Okay, fine. Onto my next question. What were you going to do with this?"
"…I had my plans."
"Ha! Plans? What were they? Tell me."
"As I've said before, my plans have nothing to do with you," Hiei attempted to reach for the baby, "Now hand him over!"
"Nope," Mukuro tossed the child over her head only for it to be caught by her tail, "Not a chance. Once Emperor Yoko finds out his son is gone, he's going to wreak havoc on the entire eastern seaboard that would even rival the goddess! No way am I going to have you be responsible for that."
"Excuse me?"
"Consider this my payment for feeding me those divers a few tides ago."
"What are you talking about? What are you going to do with him?"
Mukuro looked up towards the surface, "You want to get rid of him, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Let me handle that."
"How?"
"I'll bring him to the surface. Given what and how young he is, he won't survive for long up there. Once I leave him on the shore, he'll suffocate and die, leaving your hands and consciousness clean and your sense of loss avenged. Get it?"
Hiei looked up as well. Sunrise was a few hours away. A great amount of time for the young prince to lose his life on the surface.
"You know…" Hiei complimented, "you really know how to use that head of yours when discord comes into play."
"It's in my nature, Hiei. He'll be nothing but a dead freak of nature by the time the humans find him. Now, our time grows short. If you'll excuse me," Mukuro took off, heading for the surface while carrying baby Kurama in her arms.
Her trip stalled when she noticed Hiei accompanying her, "What are you doing?"
"Just because this is your idea doesn't mean I'm not going to see it through. I want to make sure he's dead."
"Suit yourself."
By the time the pair reached the surface, the skies were slightly lighter as sunrise approached. In order to make sure Mukuro reached her target, the two swam up to the nearest port possible where human traffic was quite light. Given her nature, Mukuro shifted into a fully grown woman and walked the surface completely nude with the ocean prince in her possession. Hiei watched everything from afar while Mukuro did her thing. Knowing that, Mukuro used the distance to her advantage. Just before she dropped the baby off, Mukuro bit into Kurama's tail, transforming him into a human baby boy complete with darkened hair. Afterwards, it was time to put on her best performance yet.
"Help," she shouted, "Help! Somebody help me! Someone! Please help!"
Two men who heard the woman's cries ran onto the port to investigate, using flashlights for guidance.
"Help," Mukuro cried again while hiding behind a freight car, "Someone help!"
"Who the hell could that be at this hour," one man questioned.
"Beats me," said the other.
"Wait! What if it's a nure onna?"
"A nure onna? Don't be such an idiot, man. Obviously, there's a woman in trouble."
"Yeah but think about it. A woman? Here? This late at night or…early in the morning?"
"Yeah, I guess you…have a point."
Things changed when the sounds of a crying baby echoed in the distance. To solidify her plans, Mukuro bit one of the baby's newly-formed legs, drinking a bit of its blood for a second time to savor the flavor. There was no way she was going to do all of that and not get something out of it. Eventually, the two men did find the child naked and crying from the shock of Mukuro's actions.
"No way," the first man observed.
"What the hell? It's…it's a baby," the other followed, "How the hell did it get here?"
"Look! It's bleeding."
The second man picked the newborn up and noticed the wound, "Yeah. Yeah, it is. How did that happen?"
Kurama continued to cry and cry, giving Mukuro time to run and transform into her original self upon reaching the ocean. Forgoing the baby's backstory, the men decided to take things into their own hands, starting with seeking medical attention. Back in the water, Mukuro assured Hiei that Kurama will meet his end. However, Hiei was none the wiser as to what happened after Mukuro dropped Kurama off.
At the nearest hospital, Kurama received the best treatment he could possibly get, including attention to the wounds he sustained. How unusual for a baby to receive vampiric-like bite marks on his legs. It was just as unusual how he was found. Afterwards, Kurama was brought to the NICU for some much needed rest and nourishment. As he slept, one of the men who discovered him, reached out to his wife who was understandably asleep. Upon hearing the news, she rushed to the hospital still wearing her pajamas.
"Kazuya," she called, "Kazuya!"
"Shiori, over here!"
Shiori was a woman in her late twenties and an office employee of the very seaport her husband worked for. The pair had been married only for a few years and it was their second marriage for each of them. There was a good reason why Kazuya called his wife to come to the hospital.
"I came as soon as I could," Shiori claimed, "Is it true? Is what you say true?"
"Take a look for yourself."
With permission, Shiori gently stepped inside the NICU where she found the newborn resting but not alone. A few other preemies were occupying the room as well, one of them attended to by a mother. The second Shiori saw the incubator and the bandage on Kurama's leg, she broke down and cried.
"Oh, my god," she whimpered, "Oh, my…oh, my god…"
"I couldn't believe it, myself," Kazuya quietly assured, "I wanted you to see him so…"
"He's…he's so…"
"Shiori?"
Shiori looked at her husband, eyes full of tears, "Kazuya…Kazuya, we have to…"
Thoughts confirmed, Kazuya concluded, "I thought so but…are you sure? For all we know, he could belong to someone else."
"Are you kidding me?! If his parents wanted him, he wouldn't be here. Don't you see? Our prayers have been answered, Kazuya. We've been trying for a baby for so long and now… It wouldn't be right if we didn't…"
"Alright, alright. I see your point but…what will we name him?"
"Eh?"
"The baby. It doesn't have a name. Considering how we found him, he…doesn't have a name."
Shiori took a second look at her soon-to-be adopted son with those same motherly eyes she always wanted to give to a child. With a warm smile and ideas for the future dancing in her head, she gave her boy a name.
"I'll call him…Shuichi."