Tears of the Sea

Chapter 14

   Meanwhile, Konzake and his men had made it to the boulder that was blocking the entrance to the mermaid kingdom.

“So, how do we get past this thing, boss?” One of his men asked him as he took out Sango's starfish necklace.

“Based on what we can tell, this necklace acts like some kind of key.” With that, he held the necklace up towards the rock. Just then, it began to glow. Everyone watched in amazement as the rock suddenly disappeared. As Konzake's cold laughter echoed throughout the walls of the cave, his men rushed in to begin the hunting. Taking the mermaids by surprise, Konzake and his men began to net them up one by one. Tsubame and Meroko, who had been playing with some of their friends, just barely managed to dodge one of the nets.

“What is happening?!” Tsubame cried.

“I don’t know! Come on! We have to tell Father!” With that, the two of them swam back to the castle as fast as they could. Meanwhile, one of the guards rushed into the throne room where King Makoto, Queen Yumi, and the rest of their daughters were wondering what was happening.

“My king, a large number of human outsiders have invaded the mermaid kingdom and are in the process of capturing our people one by one!”

“Impossible! How could they have gotten past the hidden fortress?!”

“I’m sorry, my king, I do not know!” Before another word could be said, Meroko and Tsubame rushed in.

“Mother! Father! Our friends! They’re all being...!” Tsubame rushed into her mother's arms.

“Don’t worry, dear, everything is going to be alright.” Suddenly, the doors to the throne room were thrown open. Everyone turned around startled to see Konzake there. All the guards rushed over trying to protect the royal family. Konzake had a smug look on his face.

“Greetings your so called majesty. To think I’m actually coming face to face with the royal family of a legendary species.” With that being said, he threw his head back laughing. King Makoto formed an angry look on his face as he held Kagome and Kaoru close to him.

“I take it you’re the human who was responsible for my daughter's disappearance.” Konzake formed a surprise look on his face.

“So you’re saying that little princess really is a princess? Well, who would have guessed?” With that, all his men started laughing as if mocking the very thought. Layla couldn’t take it.

“Hey! Stop laughing! You monsters don’t know anything about her!” Kikyo quickly pulled her back.

“Layla! Hush!”

“But sister...” Kikyo frowned and shook her head. Konzake just laughed.

“We don’t know anything about her, huh? Well, I'd say we know her quite well enough. After all, she practically begged us to stay away from this place.” Before another word could be said, he held up a small starfish necklace. King Makoto and Queen Yumi's eyes widened.

“That belongs to Sango!” Philia stated. Grinning, Konzake twirled it around his finger.

“Does it now? Well, I guess I might as well be borrowing it for a little while. After all, seeing as how she's safely tied up back on our ship, she won't be needing it.” They all formed startled looks on their faces.

“You mean she's not in the water?!” Tae freaked.

“Seeing as how she's inside the boat, that seems to be the case.” He said as he formed a smug look. King Makoto and Queen Yumi formed frightened looks on their faces.

“You fools! Don’t you realize what will happen if she remains out of the water for too long?!”

“Hmm, let me think. She is a fish in a way. So I suppose she'll just dry out, correct?” Queen Yumi's face turned white.