The girls and I led a hysterical Same to a balcony that overlooked the beautiful city of coral. The sun was just beginning to rise on a new day. Hopefully, it would be a good day. We waited for some merpeople to start coming out of their homes before speaking into a microphone that Akino found.
"Citizens of Kaiyo!" I began, my voice booming thanks to the shell microphone. "You probably don't know me, but I'm Hana Kojo from the planet Earth. My friends, inhabitants of the planet Shizin, and I discovered a horrible truth concerning your king."
By the time I said those words, many merpeople were gathered below the balcony, murmuring amongst themselves.
"The king's advisor, Same, had killed your ruler before you even left the original Kaiyo. Since then, he has been running the planet and making decisions like the one to come to this planet. Unfortunately, you coming here forced this planet's inhabitants to leave and take over another inhabited planet. I know this because I saw it for myself on the planet named Daichi. The lizardmen and their dragon king enslaved the pacifist subterraneans of Daichi. Thankfully, the girls and I were able to end the slavery, but at a high cost. Kasai, the lizardmen's king, was killed and the lizardmen are still unable to return to their beloved home. I know this is difficult to understand, but it's the whole and absolute truth. The Same you see here is not the Same you knew before."
"Why should we trust you?! We don't even know you! You could just be lying to us so you can control us!" a merman shouted from below.
"I do not intend to take over Kaiyo. You must believe me! I am speaking the truth!"
"She's telling the truth! Most of you know me and trust me. My brother, Uo, was a victim of Same's deranged plan. When Uo discovered the truth, Same stabbed him and almost killed him! He's currently undergoing intense medical treatment at the hospital!" Nami shouted, swimming up to us.
Some merpeople gasped after hearing this new revelation. After murmuring amongst themselves, the merman from before spoke up.
"Alright, I guess I believe you. I know Nami well enough to know she wouldn't lie about something as important as this. However, I don't understand why Same would do something like this in the first place. I've known him most of my life and he always seemed like a good guy."
"We don't know anything for sure yet, but we do know that there are some strange and unnatural disturbances going on in the universe. My friends and I believe some unknown force is behind this and is somehow manipulating people to disrupt the natural order. We also think Same was a victim of this force, but he wouldn't tell us anything about it. Our only option is to go to the original Kaiyo and see if we can find anything else out there," I replied, trying to give the best answer I could.
The merman nodded, satisfied with my answer.
I turned to the girls, all of them looking impressed by my speech.
"I guess we should go back to Shizin and report everything to Kusumura before heading to Kaiyo," I said to them.
"I think you are right, Hana. We must leave as soon as possible. I am sure my father is anxiously awaiting us," Kiku replied.
We left the balcony and moved deep into the castle so we didn't alarm anyone by suddenly disappearing in a flash of light. I was about to throw the seed up when…
"Wait! Don't go yet!" Nami shouted as she swam toward us.
After she caught up to us and caught her breath, she looked up to all of us gratefully.
"Thank you for everything you have done. If it wasn't for you all, Uo… Uo would have died and for that, I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you. If you ever need my help, you know where to find me."
"It was no big deal, Nami. We're friends, right? That's what friends do!" I announced, looking to the others for encouragement.
Each of them agreed wholeheartedly.
"You mean friends help each other uncover a secret coup d'etat and save a whole planet?" Nami laughed.
"Sure. Why not? This isn't my first time!"
Nami swam over and hugged me, still laughing despite everything that had happened. Finally, I pulled away.
"We better get going. We still have a lot of work to do."
"How do you plan to get to Shizin? Do you need a ride?"
"Nope! I just need this handy dandy Warp Seed," I said, pulling out the Seed and showing it to Nami.
"What good will a seed do?" she asked, perplexed.
"You'll see," I replied as I threw the Seed up and grabbed the girls' hands. "Shizin!"
Through the bright light, I could see Nami's shocked face.
"See ya!" I laughed as the light enveloped us.