Two days later, Sanosuke and Miroku were hanging out at home while Shippo laid on the floor taking a nap. They were right in the middle of a game of cards when Megumi came dancing through the door.
“I’m back!” She appeared so suddenly, they both dropped their cards on the floor. Shippo was so startled he jumped right up to his feet.
“Geez, Megumi! Try to give us all heart attacks why don’t you?!” Sanosuke stated as he picked up his cards.
“Oh you’ll get over it.” She said with a big smile on her face.
“What are you so giddy about?” Miroku asked. Smiling, Megumi held out an envelop.
“Tadah! I have our pictures from the mermaid kingdom developed!” Miroku and Sanosuke smiled.
“That sure was fast.”
“Gotta love the overnight development deal.” Taking out the photos, Megumi spread them along the table.
“Awe! Look at this one of Ayame and Suzume. Aren’t they so cute?” Sanosuke rolled his eyes.
“Sure whatever you say. This is what I’m talking about.” He grinned as he held up a picture of Kikyo, Kaede, Philia, and Tae. Megumi slapped her hand over her face.
“Sanosuke, you are such a pig.” Sanosuke's face turned bright red.
“I am not!” Miroku just smiled as he looked at the picture of Sango. He was surprised how well they all turned out. Megumi and Sanosuke just stared at him smiling. Miroku finally looked up.
“What?”
“Oh nothing.” Sanosuke held up a picture.
“Hey check this out.” Miroku and Megumi leaned forward.
“Oh, it's the picture I took of King Makoto and Queen Yumi. Don’t you think Queen Yumi has such a sweet smile?” Megumi pointed out.
“I sure do. Especially for a mother of 13. I bet any human mother wouldn’t be sane after having that many children.” Miroku pointed out.
“I know I wouldn’t.” Megumi stated blushing. Miroku picked up another photo.
“Hey, here’s a picture of the mermaid's tear.” Sanosuke and Megumi peered over his shoulders.
“Wow! That turned out a lot better than I thought it would.” Sanosuke stated.
“Not very many people see such a big pearl. I can only imagine what the investigation agency would do if they found out we know where it is.” Megumi stated.
“They’d freak out that’s for sure.” They all laughed at Sanosuke's comment. Just then, something caught Miroku's eye. He reached over and pulled out a photo. Suddenly, his face turned bright red.
“What is it, Miroku? Whats wrong?” Megumi and Sanosuke peered over his shoulders.
“Oh boy.”
“Oh dear.” It turned out to be a picture of Miroku and Sango hugging each other.
“Someone want to explain to me what this is doing in here?” He said with his face bright red. Megumi looked up at the ceiling while Sanosuke turned away and started whistling. Miroku flared up.
“You two were spying on us weren’t you?!” He shouted staring directly at his sister.
“Oh well, it wasn’t exactly spying. We were just keeping an eye on you that’s all.”
“How is that any different?!”
“Take it easy, man. It's not like the two of you ever had anything to hide. Besides, we couldn’t even hear what you were talking about so we weren’t really spying.” Sanosuke stated. Miroku turned his attention to him.
“You still did it!” Megumi sighed in relief.
“Anyway, there’s one thing I don’t get.”
“What's that?” Sanosuke asked as he was still using his hand to hold Miroku back.
“It's just that, I could have sworn that I ordered doubles. Yet, when I went to pick them up, they only had singles.” Miroku finally calmed down and looked at her.
“You sure about that?”
“Positive.” Sanosuke shrugged.
“I wouldn’t get too worked up about it. You know you can't always get what you want.” Megumi gave him an annoyed look.
“I know that. It's just I was really disappointed because I wanted to give Sango and her family a set. Seeing as how I took them with my special 100% water proof film, I thought they would enjoy having some photos of themselves.” Sanosuke scratched his head.
“Why don’t you just take the ones you have back in and ask for copies?”
“Huh, that’s not a bad idea. I might do that.” While Megumi and Sanosuke were talking, Miroku formed a concerned look on his face.
“I sure hope the wrong person doesn’t see any of these. Cause if Sano's wrong and Megumi really did get doubles made, things could get very complicated.”
Meanwhile, at the Sea World's Wonders aquarium, Konzake was sitting in his chair with a stern look on his face. Just then, one of his servants came into the room.
“Excuse me sir, but I have that little errand you requested.” He held out an envelop in his hand. Konzake quickly took it from him.
“Thank you, you may go now.” Bowing his head, the servant left the room. With an anxious look on his face, Konzake opened the envelop. Inside, he found exactly what he was looking for. It was a set of pictures, but there was something very special about them. As he looked through them, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“This is unbelievable! So there is more than just one of them!” He looked at pictures of Sango and all of her sisters along with pictures of a whole underwater world. Just then, one picture caught his eye. Something so shocking, it made him rise from his chair.
“It...it can't be!...This is...this is the.” It was a picture of the mermaid's tear. On seeing this picture, his eyes became filled with greed.
“Who would have imagined the legend of the mermaid's tear is more than just a tale? This is becoming very intriguing.” Just then, he came across a picture of Sango and Miroku hugging. On seeing this, his anger flared up.
“I knew it! That man and that mermaid do have a bond between them! And it seems they have a very close bond!” After studying the picture of where Sango was using her starfish necklace to open the gateway to the mermaid kingdom, he began to make up a plan.
“On the other hand, this could prove to be used to my advantage.”
Late that night, Konzake was riding in his car along the docks. Just then, the car stopped in front of Sanosuke's boat. Konzake rolled down his window.
“Is this the one?”
“Yes, sir. Intel has confirmed that this is the boat they use to go out.”
“Perfect. Get the boys together. Tell them, tonight we're going fishing for big fish.”
“Yes sir.” Konzake stepped out of his car and walked up to the boat.
“Quite an interesting large boat to be used to go boating. They certainly have interesting taste.” As he climbed into the boat, he walked up to the control panel.
“Quite an interesting boat indeed. Should work out just fine. By this time tomorrow, I will be the most famous and richest business men ever to walk this earth.” As his laugh echoed into the night, the lights along the port seemed to dim out.
After some time, Sango was out by the reef swimming along the sunken ship.
“Miroku...I wonder...if I truly wished for it...could he and I really be together forever?....Or...am I asking for too much?” She thought to herself as she sat on the ship thinking. As she sat there, she thought she heard a familiar sound. It was a low humming sound and it was approaching her location.
“That’s strange. That sounds an awful lot like Sanosuke's boat. But, why would they come out here so late at night. Unless...it's someone else.” As fast as she could, she swam up to the surface. Looking out along the distance, she could see a large boat approaching her. It was throwing out a search light as if whoever was on board was looking for something.
“There’s no doubt about it. That’s definitely Sanosuke's boat.” Using her tail, she created big splashes of water along the surface. It didn’t take long for the light to pick them up as the boat came closer and closer. Soon, the boat came to a stop as Sango swam up along the side. However, when she looked up at the steering wheel, Sanosuke wasn’t there. In fact, no one was there. The entire ship was completely deserted.
“That’s strange. Ships can't float around on their own, can they?” As she tried to see deeper into the ship, she called out.
“Hello?! Miroku?! Megumi?! Sanosuke?! Shippo?!” There was no answer. Sango dove under the ship to swim around the other side. Suddenly, something came up over her. Before she realized what had happened, Sango found herself entangled in a large fishing net.
“What is this?! What's going on?!” Just then, two divers appeared from behind her.
“We got her, boss!” One of them announced.
“Very good. Bring her up.” With that, the divers dragged her up out of the water and onto the ship. Sango tried to fight her way out of the net, but she was too tangled up to hardly even move.
“Well, well, well, didn’t think I'd ever see you again, my dear.” Sango looked up at a familiar voice. Just then, the ship's lights were switched on. Now able to see, Sango saw a man dressed in a white suit standing over here. Her had a smug look on his face.
“Konzake?! “
“How about that? Not only do you finally speak to me, but you also remember my name. I’m very flattered.” Just then, several men appeared from out of nowhere. They all had smug looks on their faces and were laughing.
“What do you want of me this time? Do you intend to make me your prisoner once again?”
“Quite the contrary, my dear. I intend to take much more than just you this time.” Sango formed a confused look on her face.
“What are you talking about? I am the last on my kind. What more could you possibly hope for.” Smiling a smug smile, Konzake reached into his coat pocket and took out a few pieces of paper.
“Oh I beg to differ, my dear. And I’m sure you will too after taking a look at these.” With that said, he dropped the pieces of paper down in front of her. Sango took one look and made her eyes widen.
“This...this is!” They were pictures of her mother, father, her sister, the mermaid's tear, even a picture of her hugging Miroku.
“These must be those picture things Megumi was trying to explain to me!” Konzake chuckled.
“Judging by your silence, I'd say you aren’t the last of your kind after all. Pick her up!” He ordered. With that, his men took hold of the net and dragged her along the floor. Once they came to the wall, they pulled the net upward and made Sango situp. After that, they tied the ends around her hands. Konzake walked up to her laughing.
“So, my dear, there are two ways we can do this. The first way is the simple way. You can simply take us to that little entrance way to the mermaid kingdom.” Sango formed an angry look on her face.
“Never! I will never do such a thing!” Konzake shrugged.
“Oh well, I try. I guess we'll have to do it the other way.” With that being said, he reached through the net and pulled off Sango's starfish necklace from her neck.
“No!” She screamed. Konzake held it up and looked it over.
“So this is the key to open the world of the mermaids. How quaint.” Sango struggled against the net.
“That does not belong to you! Give it back to me!” Konzake smiled.
“Sorry my dear, but this is the decision you made yourself.” With that, he turned to his men.
“Alright, boys! Suit up! We're going diving!” The men cheered as they threw their hands into the air. Sango did her best to struggle against the netting, but she couldn’t even budge. Before she realized what was happening, Konzake and his men were ready to dive.
“Alright than! Let's go fishing boys!” The men cheered as they dove into the sea one by one. Before going in after them, Konzake turned towards Sango with the same smug look.
“Don’t be too upset, my dear. We shall return shortly. Only this time, we'll have you some company. You can all be together in my new sea world along with your precious pearl.” With that, he dove into the water.
“No!” Sango screamed as he disappeared under the waves. Sango tried to break free, but it was no use.
“No, this can't be! This can't be happening! What do I do?! I can't break free! I have no way to warn everyone!” As she hung her head down low, tears fell from her eyes for the first time.
“Miroku, I need your help. I can't do this without you. Miroku...Miroku.” Suddenly, she rose her head and called out as loud as she could.
“Miroku!!!”
At that moment, Miroku was laying in his bed sound asleep. Just then, his eyes shot wide open as his head shot up from his pillow.
“What was that? Was that a dream? I could have sworn I heard Sango's voice.” As he rubbed his head, he looked out his window at the open waves. There wasn’t a wind blowing at all. In fact, there wasn’t even a gentle breeze. Still, the waves were raising really high. They seemed to be calling out to him. As Miroku stared out at them, he thought he heard Sango's cries again.
“Miroku!!!” The waves seemed to be carrying her voice as they rolled along.
“Sango?!” Miroku kept feeling an urge pulling him towards the sea.
“Something's wrong.” With that, he jumped out of bed and threw his clothes on. Rushing down the stairs, he almost fell while putting his shoes on.
“Megumi?!...Megumi, wake up!...Megumi?!” He hollered as he banged on her bedroom door.
“Megumi, get up now!” He yelled as he rushed to the phone. As fast as he could, he dialed Sanosuke's number.
“Come on, come on....” He waited for a long time before Sanosuke answered.
“Hello?” Sanosuke finally answered still half asleep.
“Sano?! Its me!”
“Miroku? Isn’t it a little early for you to be---” Miroku wouldn’t let him finish.
“There’s no time for that! We need to head down to the docks now!”
“What? What are you talking about?” Just then, Megumi appeared wrapped in her house robe from behind Miroku rubbing her eyes.
“Miroku, what are you?”
“Listen, Sano! Like I said, we all need to get down to the docks right now! It's Sango! She's in trouble! I can feel it!” Megumi's eyes widened.
“What do you mean she's...”
“I don’t know why, but I know I heard her call out for me! She's in trouble and I have to help her! I made a promise that I'd always be there to protect her and now I’m going to fulfill that promise!”
“Miroku.” Megumi stated. Sanosuke thought for a minute.
“Alright, Miroku, give me ten minutes.”
“Thanks Sano, you’re the best.”
“Yeah, just remember you’ll owe me for this.” With that, Sanosuke hung up. Miroku put down the phone.
“Miroku?” Megumi took a step towards him.
“She needs me, Megumi. I can feel it.” As he turned towards her, Megumi could see the determination in his eyes. She couldn’t help but smile.
“I'll go get changed.” With that, she rushed off to put some clothes on. Miroku looked out towards the ocean. He could still hear the waves carrying the sound of Sango's voice.
“Hold on, Sango. I’m coming.”
After about ten minutes, Megumi and Miroku found themselves running through the streets heading towards the port.
“Miroku! Megumi!” They both turned at the sound of a familiar voice.
“Sanosuke! Shippo!” Sanosuke and Shippo rushed up to them.
“Thanks for coming, Sano.” Miroku smiled.
“No problem. Now you want to tell me what's going on?”
“I'll explain later. For now we need to get to the port.” With that, they rushed to the port as fast as they could. As they approached the dock, Sanosuke looked up to where his boat was supposed to be.
“Hey, hold on! Where's my boat?!” They rushed up to an empty docking spot.
“It's gone! But I know I tied it down right here like I always have!”
“I'd say either it came untied or someone stole it.” Megumi stated.
“No, if it had simply come untied, we would have seen it floating astray in the harbor. I don’t see any sign of it. Meaning it had to have been stolen.” Miroku stated.
“But by who?” Megumi asked. Looking over to the side, Miroku spotted a fancy car parked behind the boat rental building. He also saw someone in a fancy suit looking like he was waiting for someone.
“Hey!” Sanosuke looked at him as Miroku urged his neck towards him. Looking over, Sanosuke spotted him too. Looking at each other, they nodded and walked up to him.
“Hey you!” Catching the man by surprise, he looked over at them.
“What are you doing here at this hour?!” Sanosuke asked in a harsh voice.
“I am simply waiting for my master to return from his fishing trip, sir.”
“Fishing? At this hour?”
“My master is fishing for a specific type of fish, sir.” Looking at each other, Sanosuke and Miroku formed cross looks on their faces.
“What kind of specific fish?” Miroku asked. The man tipped his hat upwards.
“I’m sorry sir, but I am not able to answer.” At that moment, Sanosuke lost his temper. Before another word could be said, he grabbed hold of the man's shirt and threw him against the car.
“Let's try that again, shall we? What kind of fish is your master searching for?” Now shaken up, the man had no choice but to answer. As he swallowed hard, he barely managed to speak.
“Mermaids and giant pearls.” They all jumped back.
“What?! But how could anyone know about that?!” Megumi freaked.
“First things first, who is your master?” Miroku asked with an angry look on his face.
“Mr. Konzake.”
“Konzake?!” They all shouted together.
“But how did he know about any of that stuff?!” Megumi asked.
“He learned the truth from some pictures he had stolen from a photo store belonging to some divers who are apparently close friends with one mermaid in particular.” Megumi jumped back.
“I knew it! I knew I had ordered doubles! So that creep was the one who stole my pictures! I had taken photos of practically everything and everyone while we were there last time!”
“And he must have pilfered my boat because he knew Sango would recognize it and think it was really us!” Sanosuke added.
“This is bad! Sango won't be able to tell the difference until it's too late!” Miroku stated.
“Okay! One more question! How long has it been since they left?!”
“About four hours ago!” Having all the information they needed, Sanosuke finally let him drop.
“If it's already been that long, than they’ve probably already captured Sango and are now going after the others. I’m sure he could tell from the pictures that he can't open the entrance without Sango's necklace and probably already swiped it from her neck.” Sanosuke stated.
“This explains why I suddenly felt her calling out to me. We’ve got to go find her!” Miroku said.
“I’m sorry, guys. This is all my fault because I took all those pictures.” Megumi stated with her head down. Miroku put his hand on her shoulder.
“There’s no reason for you to apologize, Megumi. I know you never meant for any of this to happen.”
“Alright, how are we going to get there? They swiped our boat after all.” Miroku looked around.
“We borrow that!” He pointed to a small motor boat that was docked just in front of them. They all quickly jumped in.
“Can you drive this thing, Sanosuke?” Megumi asked.
“Are you kidding? This is kid stuff. With a fast engine like this, we'll be there within an hour.”
“Then let's get moving and hurry!” Miroku stated.
“Hold on tight!” Sanosuke quickly started the engine. With the engine wide open, they took off at record speed. Miroku looked out with a determined look on his face.
“Hang in there, Sango! I’m on my way