I tapped my fingers impatiently on my lap, my body tense. I wasn't quite sure how this little… game would play out. My hands tightened into fists, and I adjusted myself on my bed to get more comfortable. My eyes flickered all around, fixated on a small, black and round object. The object moved faster and faster until—

"Damn it!" I cursed loudly. "I hate you Matthias!"

With irritation clearly evident on my face, I threw a silk, black pillow at the TV screen in my room. I watched as a bunch of men clad in equipment and jerseys dog-pilled one of their teammates. Ever since Miranda revealed that Mathias had been to my kingdom once before, she refused to talk to me no matter how badly I asked her about it. So, I needed a way to satisfy my boredom.

I finally put to use that TV I had won in a competition so long ago and became enthralled with the beautiful sport of hockey. Currently, I was obsessed with watching the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers in the playoffs. They truly were an amazing team to watch play. Currently, they were playing against the Belleville Bulls and the series were tied 3-3. This was game seven and the Rangers had to win to become OHL champs. To be honest, I was amazed at how quickly I picked up on the hockey lingo. Perhaps the reason why I had become so obsessed with watching these teams was because one of the Kitchener Ranger's goalies was named Steve Mason and one of the Belleville Bulls best players was named Shawn Matthias. Sure, my Mathias' name was only spelt with one 't' but still, Matthias and Mason was cutting it very close to Mathias Samuel Mason.

Wow. I was a freak. Either that or I was in denial. I had succumbed to watching hockey players with similar names to the vampire that I was irrevocably in love with. Unfortunately, Matthias had just scored a goal against the team I was rooting for. Curse him and his wretched Belleville Bulls! Oh well. The Rangers were still winning 2-1. I would just have to sit tight and watch.

I stayed perfectly still while I finished watching the game. The Rangers scored their third goal of the night and I let out a holler of excitement. My team was going to win! I just knew it! Late in the third period, the Rangers scored again making the final score 4-1. I was officially now the happiest vampire in the world. I finished watching the game and then turned off my TV. I fell back onto my bed with a grin plastered on my face. Well, that certainly was entertaining. I would have to make sure that I watched the Memorial Cup games when they started. I was all about the Rangers now.

After a while, I became bored of just lying there in my room. So, I got up and left my room to head out into the courtyard. I would just go swimming for a while and look for Gaito's castle. It seemed like a sensible thing to do to occupy my time. I had to rescue Noel anyways.

Eventually, I was out in the ocean and searching. I was having no luck at all. This sucked! Why did Gaito's castle have to move? I was beginning to feel irritated once again. However, my attention was quickly diverted by a flash of pink, blue, and green colour. Oh dear… what now? With a heavy sigh, I went off after Lucia, Hanon and Rina. Following them would at least give me something to do. I stayed a ways behind them, not wanting to make myself known. However, things changed for the worst.

Lucia, Hanon, and Rina came upon the Dark Lovers who had Hippo entangled in seaweed. Instinctively, they transformed into their diva forms. Unfortunately for them, the Dark Lovers would only hurt Hippo even more if they began to sing. It was time for me to make my entrance. With incomparable speed, I swam over to Hippo's side and ripped the seaweed into pieces. Apparently, they were glad to see me.

Not giving a damn about how my eyes would flicker from purple to gold whenever I sang, I quickly transformed into my idol form to assist the other three in singing. A beautiful sound resonated when the four of us opened our mouths. Our voices were perfect in every single way and the blend that we had, oh, it made us sound like we were one voice. The Dark Lovers screamed out in pain as our song pierced their sensitive ears. It was a shame that they couldn't accept a simple song about love being the greatest thing of all. Ha! I could hear the sarcasm in my thoughts as the phrase ran through my head. Love was something that could stab you in the back at any moment. However, there were those who were stupid enough to believe that it might somehow work out for them… people like me. But, in all honesty, I could care less now. Love had a bad tendency of screwing everyone over. Lucia, Hanon, Hippo and I were all suffering in some way or another. I wasn't alone.

The Dark Lovers muttered a few curses towards us and they disappeared. I managed to glower at them before they left. With the Dark Lovers gone, I let out a soft sigh and then turned back to my comrades. My eyes turned fierce and were still flickering between gold and violet.

"To the shore—now. We need to talk."

I led the way up to the surface with Lucia, Hanon and Rina following, whispering worriedly amongst themselves. Apparently, they were worried that I was mad at them. Well, their whispering didn't matter. They could have been screaming for all I knew. Heightened senses definitely had their ups and downs. However, the only voice I had yet to hear was Hippo's. I glanced back to see that the legendary Hippocampus was back in his penguin form, following us with a somber expression. He must've done something that would be upsetting. I wanted to know what it was.

It wasn't long before we were all standing on the shore in our human-like forms. The sun had turned into a rich golden colour that painted the blue sky with hues of pink, purple, and red. These were the kinds of sunsets that I would often watch with Mathias. Oh, how my heart ached whenever I thought about him. He had been gone for quite sometime and it still hurt me to think that he was gone. Would he ever come back to me? I pulled my mind away from the subject to once again focus on the small penguin. He still held the somber expression which he had before.

"Alright, Hippo. Speak up. What happened?" I demanded sharply. Perhaps a bit too sharply. My inner strife was beginning to show through my well built façade.

Hippo let out a drawn out sigh. "Well, you see, I actually saw the two mermaid princess' pearls in Gaito's castle. I went out to look for it. I'm not quite sure what happened, to be honest. When I went out, I saw the Black Beauty Sisters and then I was suddenly captured by the Dark Lovers. I'm sorry, Caren. I couldn't find Noel and Coco."

"So that's why you were so quiet before…" I softly murmured.

"Gaito's castle…" Lucia started softly. "What exactly is happening to it?"

I glanced over at Lucia who suddenly looked surprised. She said Kaito's name which confused me greatly. I heard Rina ask Lucia what was wrong and she had apparently heard Kaito's voice. That was certainly strange. I listened for all the things that I could hear. There were the obvious ones like the ocean waves and the cool breeze, and there were the more subtle ones like our breathing and our heartbeats—excluding mine.

"I didn't hear anything." Rina stated seeming just as confused as me.

"I didn't hear it either." I piped in, figuring that my answer would be the best way to justify this. "Did you imagine it?"

"I really heard it. I heard Kaito calling me." Lucia affirmed, trying to back herself up.

I hummed in response and turned my direction back out to the ocean. "How can that be possible though? If we couldn't hear him, how could you?"

Yes, that's right. How can it be possible to be an immortal being that feeds on the blood of humans? I pushed the thoughts out of my mind. God, I was such a hypocrite. I should really try to watch the words that came out of my mouth. Omitting the truth was better than telling only lies.

Lucia only hummed softly, not really knowing how to respond to me. I sighed for the hundredth time that day and looked back out at the ocean. I asked a question that I would always know the answer to. "Can I stay with you guys at your place for now?"

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

As expected, I had received a yes to my question from before. I stood in the room that seemed barren to me now. It felt so… empty. I let out a breath of air—no surprise—another sigh. I bit my lower lip, accidentally drawing my own blood. I winced in pain upon this mistake. I had been a vampire for quite a while now and still had not adjusted to how sharp my teeth had become. No, I had no fangs but, that didn't really matter to vampires. I slid my tongue over my ice cold blood while waiting for my injury to heal. All of a sudden, I hated being a vampire.

I sauntered over to the window in my dark room and peered outside. There were a few trees and a road outside of my window but, nothing else. No golden eyes piercing my own. I wanted to cry. It seemed as if Mathias had ruined my life. First, he tries to kill me, then he turns me into a vampire, and now he left me all alone with no promise that he would return. He didn't even say goodbye! I clenched my fist angrily as tears began to form in my eyes. Nothing seemed to be going in my favour anymore.

I turned away from the window to glance back at my room. My subconscious mind pulled up images from that night that seemed like so long ago. I could see Mathias whispering into my ear, me attempting to run from him, and him pinning me against the wall near the door. I could hear his perfect voice making that promise about me keeping my mouth shut. I wanted to tell myself to just listen to him but, of course, I knew that I had already acted upon my instincts. I saw the image of Mathias throw me onto my bed and hold his hand firmly over my mouth.

I walked forward and the image disappeared. I allowed myself to fall onto my bed. It was a shock to me when I found that my scent still lingered on the bed. I breathed it in as if it was some sort of drug. No human that I had come across had a scent quite like mine. I could see why Mathias was so drawn to me. A smile graced my lips as I surrounded myself in memories of my time with Mathias. It wasn't much but, it made me feel good.

Then, a strange scent alerted my nose. I instantly sat up on my bed, tense from the unfamiliar presence. Slowly, I got off of my bed and made my way to the window. I merely peeked out so that I was not to be clearly seen. My golden eyes focused on a man with dark brown hair walking down the street with his back turned to me. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and shockingly looked a lot like Mathias. But it wasn't Mathias. My eyes stayed completely focused on this man, mystified by his presence. For some reason, I didn't feel safe. I could sense hostility around this man, this… vampire. He was out hunting. One thing that I was sure of, I didn't want to get in his way.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

Morning took far too long to arrive. Quite frankly, I was terrified as to what might happen if that vampire saw me. I disliked the hostility that surrounded him. It was worse than Mathias when I had first met him. I shuddered fearfully as I lay on my bed. I glanced over at the window and found that sunlight was beginning to illuminate the sleeping world. I breathed a sigh of relief upon this. No more darkness meant that no vampire would do me any harm for now.

I slipped off of the bed and I stretched. It felt good to have something to do now. Night was so boring here. Were I back at the mansion, I could be watching something on TV. Then again, if I were back at home, that vampire may have been able to find me. After all, if Mathias truly was the King of Vampires, most vampires would know where he lives. At least, that's what I thought.

Pushing my thoughts out of my head, I left my room and headed down to the main part of the hotel. I looked around the barren place and wondered how early it really was. I managed to get a peek at the clock to find that it was 6:23am. Well, that explained why it was so quiet around. I frowned and then planted myself in a chair. Well, I had nothing else to do but wait for people to wake up.

"Caren?"

My eyes widened in shock and my head jerked as I was alerted by another voice. I relaxed when I found that it was only Madame Taki. She looked like she had been awake for a while now. I expected no less of the older woman. However, I was slightly surprised by her presence.

"I am surprised that you are awake." She stated while planting herself in the seat next to me. She looked at me, face stern as if she knew something I didn't. "Caren, you seem... bothered by something."

I looked at her oddly. "I do?"

"I've noticed a lot of strange things going on with you. Your life has changed drastically ever since the issue with that one man came up. Your life isn't what it seems to be, is it?"

I knew I didn't have to lie. Madame Taki knew that I was involved with something huge. Something that had nothing to do with the marine world. She also knew that my life was now centered around Mathias, even though she did not personally know who he was.

"No, my life isn't what it seems. Yes, you're right about things being different with me ever since I met that man. However, they are issues that, apparently, no longer concern me. And, despite how I still worry about them, I don't want anyone else to know about them. Right now, all I want to do is rescue my sister."

Madame Taki became silent as she contemplated my reply. "I understand your worries. No one else shall know of this. However, I do believe that your heart wishes to know where he is."

I was quite surprised that she was able to see my strife and know exactly why it was there. I must've shown it on my face. Yet, I nodded my head to her question. I did want to know where Mathias was. If he didn't come back for me then, despite what Miranda told me to do, I would go find him. I watched curiously as Madame Taki held her crystal ball out in front of her and peered into its misty haze. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary but, apparently, she did.

"I cannot say for sure where he is exactly but, I can tell you that it is in a mountainous region where there are vast castles and cathedrals. However, I am getting a very bad feeling about this place. It feels... dark." She explained while looking up at me. "Caren, please, do not get the idea in your head to find this place. It doesn't feel right at all."

Well, there was another person telling me to not search for Mathias. In all honesty, I was sick of it. He was my air for god's sake! How was I supposed to live without him! Well, I had been doing fine so far. I seriously felt like killing something right now. However, I had to push the thoughts out of my head as the front doors to the Pearl Piari opened. Rina walked in seeming cheerful and waved at Madame Taki and myself.

"Good morning!" She greeted happily. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Well, I suppose." I replied while laughing mentally. Sleep. Ha-ha! What a joke! Not that Rina would understand it.

Nikora came down the stairs and Madame Taki went over to talk to her. Rina came over to sit in the chair that Madame Taki had just been sitting in. The two of us talked for a while about normal things while we waited for Lucia and Hanon to wake up. I was simply happy to just talk about my new fascination with hockey. Oh, how I was excited to see the Kitchener Rangers play again! Nikora turned on the TV and Rina and I got caught up in watching the news.

I managed to drag my attention away from the news long enough to notice that the sky was growing progressively darker. Finally, Lucia and Hanon came down the stairs to watch the TV with Rina and I. A newscaster appeared on screen with breaking news of a cyclone forming over the ocean. The storm looked like it was getting pretty bad. I glanced back at the window to find that the winds were picking up. And then, they appeared on the screen.

"How are you doing, Mermaid Princesses?"

I was the first to say something. "That's one of the Black Beauty Sisters! What exactly are they doing?"

Rina was all of a sudden quite serious. She stood up and walked over to the TV. "They're using sounds that only mermaids can hear to relate a message to us."

Sheshe spoke once again. "You have been hiding in the human world for far too long."

"Now we, the Black Beauty Sisters, will use this chance and lure you out." Mimi added in.

"If you continue to hide, this tornado will destroy the city by the sea." Sheshe threatened.

"We aren't kidding." Mimi affirmed. "If you don't come out by noon, the people on land will be in danger."

And the vampires would get severely pissed off. I knew that vampires could get quite irritable when their food supply was in danger, no matter where it was. I listened as Sheshe and Mimi laughed evilly as the screen went fuzzy. Well, we had some work to do now.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

I wasn't quite sure what we were doing. We were swimming right into a trap. Oh, Mathias would kill me if he knew what I was doing. Then again, it was his fault for leaving me in the first place. I couldn't help but imagine what would happen if I would be captured. I could see Mathias finding out and going ballistic. He would probably search the ocean like a mad fiend until he found me. Then, when he did, he would slaughter Gaito making his death drawn out and extremely painful. Then he would set me free, take me in his arms and smother me in kisses. I caught myself smiling at the thought and pushed the devilish grin away before anyone could notice. Suddenly, Hippo's voice alerted me to something.

"Wait a minute, the two pearls are nearby."

My eyes widened in shock. Two pearls? Did that mean that Noel... was she nearby? I frantically looked around with false hope shining within my non beating heart. Then I heard a voice that made my hopes fall.

"You weren't afraid to come look for us?"

Somehow, I seemed sickened by the tone that Mimi had taken. She spoke as if... as if we weren't courageous enough to come and that we would be cowards! Oh, how I would've loved to sink my teeth into that precious little neck of hers. Who would be fearful then? I glowered at the sisters as the Dark Lovers appeared beside them. However, something seemed off. It was as if the quartet was in a trance—oh, they were most definitely in a trance. As if it were instinct, Me, Lucia, Hanon and Rina all transformed into our idol forms. Hippo also transformed.

Mimi laughed. "That won't work!"

The blue haired water demon snapped her fingers and a group of angler fish appeared. To say, in the least, we were surprised. Rina advised that we start singing but then, oh, those angler fish! They began emitting a blinding white light! I couldn't see and had to shade my eyes. All that light made my eyes feel like they were burning! I couldn't understand what was going on around me until it was too late. The next thing I knew, Hippo had been attacked, and I was trapped along with my companions. I tried hitting the ball of golden light surrounding us.

"It's no use! This thing can't be destroyed!" I proclaimed hopelessly.

I glanced back at the Black Beauty Sisters who looked like they were about to sing. I almost gasped when I realized what they had. Noel and Coco's pearls! They took them! How dare they! I couldn't dwell upon the thought when a sound akin to nails on a chalkboard resounded. I cringed upon the voices of the Black Beauty Sisters. God, it hurt so much! My hands flew over my ears and I let out a loud scream to try and drown out their singing. My tactics weren't working so well. When their song was finally over, I was separated from Lucia, Hanon and Rina and was sent down into some crevice in the ocean floor.

I wanted to scream again. I felt so… trapped. Hadn't I been wishing for this moment once upon a time? Back when I had reason to fear Mathias? Yes, I did. I wanted to be with my sister in Gaito's little collection. But not anymore. I was not going to be turned into something to look at for eternity. I was going to save my sister.

All of a sudden, a heavenly white light enveloped the darkness that surrounded me. The next thing I knew, I had been freed from my prison. I glanced around to find that Lucia, Rina and Hanon had been freed as well. I heard a soft feminine voice resound and, when I looked, I was shocked to find that I was looking at Aqua Regina herself. My jaw dropped. I was completely speechless! She spoke of giving us a new song to sing in dark times. I felt an unearthly power surge throughout my body and I discovered that my outfit had been slightly altered.

With a newfound determination, I began to sing with Lucia, Hanon and Rina. Our voices had just become so much stronger. I could feel the power echoing from our voices and I could faintly hear the Black Beauty Sisters screaming out for Gaito to help them. I didn't think that it would happen. Those two made off with Noel and Coco's pearls. I highly doubt that he would forgive that. A strange light shot out from somewhere in the ocean and enveloped the Black Beauty Sisters. Hold on… Was Gaito actually helping them? I was shocked. However, to my amusement, the Black Beauty Sisters turned into little angler fish. I had to contain my laughter. It was the hardest thing for me to have ever done in my life.

However, the Black Beauty Sisters were no longer of any concern to me. I would be able to rescue Noel soon. I was sick of waiting. Now was the time to act. Now was the time to infiltrate Gaito's castle and rescue Coco and my sister, Noel.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

An ominous feeling was radiating from the vast ocean. Lucia, Hanon, Rina and I all stood observing the water as the sky began to turn dark. The time was nearing. This was the time when I would finally rescue my sister and put Mathias' gift to use. After all, the only reason why he turned me in the first place was because I had told him that I had wanted to kill Gaito. Maybe that was all it was. For a time, I believed that Mathias may have actually turned me because he loved me. When I thought about it, not once had Mathias told me that he actually loved me. How was I supposed to know what his feelings towards me actually were? He could have just been using me for all I knew. Lucia's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and reminded me of whom we were supposed to be thinking about.

"Hey, Rina, do you think he's waiting for us?" She asked the green mermaid princess somberly.

"Yeah." She replied. "Gaito has been waiting for us a long time."

"He knows what we want." I added in, trying to push Mathias out of my mind for the time being.

I watched the ocean carefully with my golden eyes. My enemy was out there. My prey was waiting for me. In all honesty, I couldn't wait to go accept his invitation. After all, vampiric parties often led to either one's turning or one's death. More often that not, it was the latter. I was an exception. I was forced to look over at Nikora and Madame Taki when they said that we had to see something. I walked over to the patio table with Lucia, Rina and Hanon in tow. So then, Madame Taki could find Gaito's castle with her crystal ball? It sounded good to me.

"Let's go!" I demanded sharply to cut off everyone's conversation. They all looked at me. "I'm tired of waiting. Let's go rescue Noel!"

Lucia, Hanon and Rina all nodded their agreement and Hippo added in about also rescuing Coco and Sara as well. Hanon also mentioned Taro. Yes, she would be reunited with her love. She was lucky. My relationship had been crushed—for now at least. If what Miranda said would hold true then Mathias would come find me. My attention was quickly drawn to Lucia who appeared to be thoroughly upset about something.

"Lucia, what's wrong?" Rina asked worriedly.

"It's just that… I'm worried about Kaito."

My hands tightened into fists. All this talk of rescuing lovers was making me sick. I didn't want to think about Mathias. I had to save my sister. I would save her. "Lucia, I'm sure that Kaito will be just fine. In the meantime, we have my sister, Coco and Sara to find. Like I said before, let's go."

I figured that I would start this and I ran off towards the beach. Everyone followed me so, obviously, it was working. Soon… soon I would rescue Noel. When we were all gathered on the beach, Madame Taki gave us words of good luck and Nikora promised to make us some sort of food when we got back. I could've cared less. All I wanted was Noel. Hippo reassured Nikora and Madame Taki that we would prevail. Of course we would. Gaito would be dead by the time I was through with him.

"Alright guys, we can do this, right?" Hanon asked cheerfully as if we were going off on some crusade that we going to win.

We all nodded our response before I took off for the ocean. I dove into the water and changed back into my mermaid form. I was soon joined by Lucia, Hanon and Rina. I quickly swam ahead to the area Madame Taki said Gaito's castle would be. I heard Lucia call out for me to wait and I mentally slapped myself. I would have to be more careful with my speed. Still, I wanted to get there as soon as possible. I slowed my pace so that the three could catch up to me. Thankfully, they didn't press the issue of my speed as we continued to swim.

I was beginning to feel a strong dark aura. I wasn't sure if anyone else could feel it but I knew I could. We were getting close. I followed that aura until it became immensely strong. I then surfaced with Lucia, Rina and Hanon following suit. My eyes widened in shock. Gaito's castle was huge! Dare I say, bigger than Mathias' mansion! One thought was being processed in my mind: Noel was in there. I was about to look for the entrance when a strange current began pulling at my body. I heard my three companions begin screaming and I soon found out way. The ocean was draining into a huge hole! I began to scream myself as I went over the side. I fell faster and faster until everything went dark.

It was so strange being conscious that whole time. Were I still fully a mermaid, I would've passed out. I landed on a hard floor and I cringed. It hurt. My eyes were squeezed shut so I wasn't exactly sure where we were. Slowly, I opened them to find that we were in a room in Gaito's castle. I looked over to my companions to find that they were all unconscious. Quickly, I swam over to Rina and began to shake her.

"Rina! Rina! Wake up!" I demanded worriedly. I couldn't just leave them there while I went off to find Noel. It wouldn't be right.

Eventually, Rina came to. I could hear Hanon groaning nearby as she also regained consciousness. Now, only Lucia needed to wake up. Rina went over to her in an attempt to get her up. I then took the time to observe the room where we were in. There was one exit that I found. I doubted that there were any others unless they were well hidden. I heard Lucia ask where we were and I figured that since I was the only one who didn't pass out, I would have to answer. Unfortunately, all I knew was that we were in a room in Gaito's castle.

"I don't know where we dropped." I admitted sullenly.

I kept glancing around as if paranoid. I had to find Noel. Where would she be? I became more alert as I sensed four different heartbeats sound. We were no longer alone. Despite what I now knew, I was shocked when I heard Gaito's voice.

"Welcome Mermaid Princesses. I know what you want, but first, my good workers are going to take care of you."

I felt as if I was going to snap. Just hearing his voice caused anger to surge through my body. I was going to kill him. I heard Hanon and Rina shouting out at him and I figured that I would make my demands as well.

"Where are Noel and Coco?!"

I got no answer. Instead, I heard the irritating laughter of one of the Dark Lovers. I cringed. To me, once again, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Oh, the joys of having sensitive hearing. They spoke about killing us and I was almost tempted to laugh. To bad Mathias beat them to me. Now I would get to be their own personal poltergeist. I almost smiled in glee at the thought. No matter, I was saving my evil thoughts for Gaito. He would suffer through what I had to suffer when I found out that he had imprisoned my sister. He would pay the ultimate price.

Rina told Lucia, Hippo and I to go find my sister and Coco and I obliged to that. I quickly swam off to the doorway with Lucia and Hippo following. We swam down a long corridor turning down different hallways and trying to open different doors. We were having no luck. I tried desperately to listen for slowed heartbeats that might match Noel and Coco's. Then I heard it—the heartbeats that I had been listening for. I swam ahead of Lucia and turned down another corridor.

"Caren, where are you going?" Lucia asked. "How do we know if they're down that way?"

"Trust me Lucia." I said reassuringly. "I know. I can hear them."

Lucia and Hippo seemed confused by my choice of words but didn't press the subject. They probably thought that I was supernatural by now. Soon we came to a large, fancy door. Noel was in this room. I could sense her presence. I would finally be able to meet my sister. Not being able to wait any longer, I pushed the door open, not even hearing Lucia speak. I was too enthralled with searching the strange room. There were six large tubes that lined the room and two of them were not empty. My eyes widened in shock when I found Coco and Noel within these tubes.

"Coco! Noel!" I shouted before swimming up to the tube that held my sister. I called out to my sister again despite the fact that she wouldn't be able to hear me.

All of my anger and fury began to rise within me once more. Seeing Noel trapped only fed the flames within me. My hands tightened into fists and I struck the glass that contained my sister. Lucia and Hippo's eyes widened in shock as they watched the glass shatter into a million pieces. My sister fell and I instantly caught her in my arms. I had succeeded. My sister was now free.

"Noel, Noel, it's me, your sister. Wake up, please!" I begged my sister's sleeping form.

I watched as my sister's blue eyes began to flicker open. "…C-Caren? Is that you Caren?"

I nodded at my sister's question. There were undoubtedly tears in my eyes at this point. I had found my sister. She was free. Strangely enough, Mathias didn't even matter to me anymore. He hardly even crossed my mind.

"Caren, I've missed you so much, you know."

I felt nothing but joy in that moment. I embraced my sister tightly and cried tears of happiness. We had been reunited at last. I had saved her without Mathias' help. It felt fulfilling in a way. The moment wasn't long lived when I remembered that Coco was still imprisoned. I glanced over to find that Hippo had transformed into his human-like form and shattered the glass that held Coco with that key of his. She fell from the broken prison and into Lucia's arms. I was drawn away from the scene by my sister's voice.

"Caren, how have you been? Have you been alright?"

I looked at her and smiled brightly. "You're free. I'm perfectly fine now."

It was difficult to just push away the whole incident around Mathias but… what I spoke was the truth. I was happy and content knowing that my sister was alright. I didn't need Mathias anymore. He had left me without a word. Perhaps forgetting about him was the best option for now.

Both my attention and Noel's was drawn back to Coco as she began apologizing repeatedly. I focused in on the conversation to find that she was blaming herself for the loss of Sara's pearl. Personally, I didn't care about Sara. She was working for Gaito. That, to me, was unforgivable. As my thoughts turned bitter towards Sara, the Orange Mermaid Princess silently entered the room.

My eyes shot over to her and they turned into a death glare. How dare she come here! She was a traitor to the rest of us! She shouldn't even breathe the air that we do! Coco seemed to think differently about my thoughts. She wanted to help Sara, Lucia as well. I didn't understand why. Sara was even saying that she wasn't going to join us. She was in love with Gaito.

Then something happened. I don't know what Sara did but, Lucia disappeared within a pillar of light. And then she was gone. My eyes widened in shock. That just proved my point further. Sara was no good. Her soul had turned as black as her hair. My hands tightened into fists as I tried to pinpoint Lucia's location. Something was off though. I could hear her heartbeat as if she was still in the room, yet, she wasn't. I was confused. But Lucia had helped me get this far and I was not going to turn my back on her.

"Alright, Sara, where is she?" I demanded angrily as my eyes turned to slits. "Speak up or else you won't live to regret it."

Sara, as well as Coco, Noel and Hippo looked shocked upon my reaction. I quickly realized why figuring that the monster within me had taken control. My vampiric side was showing and there was no way I could hide it. Then again, Sara deserved to be driven by fear. I would make her regret joining Gaito. However, she didn't answer my demands. I was becoming very angry.

Just then, Hanon and Rina burst in through the door. Sara glanced back at them in shock and then glanced back at me. She was surrounded by us mermaid princesses—and a vampire. She didn't stand a chance. I just turned into the leader of our little group. My eyes took on a darker tone as I smiled sadistically at Sara.

"Last chance, Sara." I warned in a twisted voice which I'm sure creeped everyone out—a bad habit that I had picked up from Mathias on the night that he had turned me. "Tell us where Lucia is."

She didn't answer and, apparently, didn't need to. My pearl, as well as everyone else's began glowing brightly. Sara and the room we were in faded away and we appeared in a place full of mirrors. Lucia and Gaito were there as well. However, this Gaito ceased to have a heartbeat or a scent. That was strange. Was he merely the reflection off of one of the mirrors? A hallucination, perhaps? No matter. He still had to be eliminated.

Hippo handed over Noel and Coco's pearls to them and the rest of us transformed into our idol forms. Lucia said something about Gaito not being able to win and how we would conquer all. I wasn't really paying any attention to what she would say anymore. All I knew was that I had to sing. So, I did just that. It was truly amazing how we six mermaid princesses had such incredible blend. That doesn't usually happen when you stick a bunch of different people into a room and force them to sing.

Eventually, our song was done and the mirrors around us, as well as Gaito, shattered into a million pieces. We were then, somehow, back in the room we were in before where Coco and Noel were being kept. However, to my dismay, my assumptions on us only defeating a fake Gaito were correct. The real Gaito stood at the end of the room with an evil smile on his face. Oh, but that smile wouldn't be there long. He would be screaming in agony once I got him alone. I was dragged out of my dark thoughts as Gaito spoke.

"Mermaid Princesses, prepare to meet your doom."

To everyone's surprise, I laughed. Lucia, Hanon and Rina probably thought that I had snapped and Noel and Coco probably didn't have a very good first impression of me. But what Gaito said… oh, it was too much! I was to meet my doom? He had to be joking! I looked up at him with an equally dark smile.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble but… there are much more fearful things in the world than you. In fact, these things, these… creatures would put you to shame, Gaito." I stated in an amused voice. Oh, how much should I reveal in this moment? Well, I would only leave my companions to wonder but not know. "Besides, for a while about a month ago, I wished to be here within your captivity because I feared for my very life. Ironic considering the circumstances that I am under now. You cease to frighten me, Gaito. If you wish to scare me with talk of… my doom, then I would suggest stalking me for a week, confronting me when I'm all alone, demand that I come to a party as the guest of honor, have one of your minions attack me and bring me to your castle where I am to be dressed in a neo-gothic outfit with ridiculous high heels, give me blood to drink, and play a sick game of hide and seek."

I could've laughed at Gaito's expression. He seemed shocked to say in the least. I didn't doubt that my companions would have the same expressions. I wondered if I had revealed too much. Well, that didn't matter to me anymore. Everyone would think I was crazy and Noel would press me for more information. Gaito's expression hardened after a moment and he looked at me sternly.

"And what makes you say this? Certainly, that could not have happened to you. You're a poor liar, Purple Mermaid Princess."

"You think I'm lying?" I said while trying to prevent myself from laughing once again. "Well, we shall see who's lying soon enough. Don't get me wrong, I'm a lot different than you may think. Not to mention stronger."

"I highly doubt that." Gaito disagreed. "I shall prove you wrong right here and now!"

I watched curiously as Gaito raised his hand. A dark light emitted from his hand and shot forward. I stayed where I was. If he was going to attack me, I would prove that it would not work. After all, the only thing that could damage a vampire and kill it is fire and we were in a palace that was filled with water. My eyes widened in shock when the blast of dark energy did not hit me, but Hippo instead. I turned to see if the penguin was alright but Rina and Hanon beat me to it. Curse my pride! I shouldn't have said anything! If I had stayed quiet, this wouldn't have happened to Hippo!

Just then, another blast of dark energy came from Gaito. This time, I focused on where it was aimed. It was headed for Lucia. Reacting this time, I quickly pushed her out of harm's way. This wasn't good. What had I gotten us into? Lucia and I got back up on our feet to look over at Gaito. A strange, golden mark appeared on his forehead.

"Hey, I've seen that somewhere before!" Lucia blurted out. "I saw it on Kaito. He has the same mark!"

I was confused now. Kaito was the silly human boy that Lucia had fallen in love with. Why would he have the same mark as Gaito? I tried to think of reasons but couldn't. "What exactly does it mean?"

Gaito laughed. "You don't know? Kaito and I are brothers. We were separated but now we're fighting together."

"You're lying!" Rina blurted out.

"We won't believe you!" I added in with a lot of conviction in my voice.

"Just like I don't believe your little story?" He shot back, flashing me an evil grin.

I just smiled right back. "What happened to me was something woven together by nightmares. You're just being ridiculous."

Gaito laughed again. "Well, it's up to you if you believe me or not but, Kaito and I are the same."

Gaito was beginning to irritate me and I desperately wanted to follow through with the reason I became a vampire in the first place. Suddenly, blackness swirled around me and my vision was blurred. Damn that Gaito to hell! I thought that I had heard Lucia say some stuff about Kaito but no words were really coherent to me at the time. As the darkness faded away, Gaito had summoned the Dark Lovers to help him fight us. One word kept floating around in my mind: ridiculous.

However, when the Dark Lovers began to attack us, the word soon faded away. I was having no problem dodging their attacks (aside from Yuuri's piano playing) but everyone else wasn't doing too well. Eventually, Hippo called out for us. He must've found a way to escape. So, we all followed him. However, Lucia and her clumsiness caused us to stop mid-stride to wait for her. She was in the way of one of Maria's attacks. I was about to go push her out of harm's way yet again, only to find that she had called out for Kaito with a warm light following to protect her from the attack. I looked back at Gaito to find that he and the Dark Lovers had fled from the light. Cowards.

When the light died down, it seemed as if everyone had swamped Lucia, asking if she was alright or not. She said that Kaito had saved her. For some reason, I felt envious. She had someone who cared about her enough to protect her. Why wouldn't Mathias do the same? Didn't he know that he had hurt me by leaving? Didn't he understand that? I saw him in my mind looking as perfect as he did that day when I found him feigning sleep. Then, the image became distorted and I saw the vampire that I had seen last night. He really did look a lot like Mathias. Now, I was beginning to wonder who that was.

Becoming wrapped up in my thoughts once more, I almost failed to notice the arrival of Sara until she spoke. I tried to focus in on what the conversation was about. Apparently, Lucia was demanding to know where Kaito was. Didn't she know that demanding such answers wouldn't get her anywhere? If she wanted something then she would have to go out and get it. That was how life worked. Speaking of which, if we were going to get caught up in singing once more to try and defeat Sara, it would be a perfect oppouritunity for me to go and find Gaito. His time would come.

As my sister and the other five mermaid princesses began to sing, I joined in for some of it before using my speed to make a stealthy escape. Surprisingly, no one had noticed. I was now out in the hallways of Gaito's castle to find him and kill him. Soon he would see the wrath that he had brought upon himself when he captured my sister. He would pay the ultimate price.

I could hear it. I could hear his heart beating like a steady drum. As I focused on the source of his heartbeat, I pinpointed the area he was in and began to walk slowly towards it. The sound that had drawn me here continued to get louder and louder as I approached. I could now detect the scent that went along with the heartbeat; water contaminated by darkness. I came upon a set of double doors and I silently pushed them open. I crept in, and closed them behind me. I looked up to find Kaito lying on the ground in front of Gaito who was sitting on a throne. I flashed him a pearly white smile.

"Well, if it isn't the Purple Mermaid Princess. Where are the others?" He asked as if he was winning this little game. "It was foolish of you to come alone."

"It was foolish of you to come and stay here with your brother who is unconscious and will not be able to help you." I snapped back while walking forward. "You have no idea how long I have waited for this day. This is the day where I will be drenched in your luscious blood. It is the only reason why I became this way. The only reason why he turned me."

As I continued to approach Gaito, I could see the fear flicker through his eyes. I also saw the reason why reflected in his burgundy orbs. I saw the hunter with crimson eyes who was ready to kill her prey. But, oh, how I didn't want his death to be quick and painless. It would be drawn out and agonizing. A twisted smile crept onto my face as I continued to approach Gaito.

"Gaito, prepare to meet you doom." I stated, seeing if he would catch on to my repeating his phrase from before.

Gaito stood up and shoot a blast of dark energy at me. It hit me yet had absolutely no effect. I came out of the attack looking fine and dandy. More fear was evident on Gaito's face now. For a moment, I could see myself being pursued by Mathias. I was doing the exact same thing to Gaito that Mathias had done to me. Oh, the irony of it all! I simply had to make a comment about it.

"You know, Gaito. This is exactly what happened when he turned me. I was being pursued by a hunter. However, he had much more constraint. One thousand years of practice I suppose. However, I've only been like this for about a month. Chances are that I will drain you of all of your blood."

Gaito looked to fearful for this to be real. "What are you?"

I flashed a smile at him. Too bad I didn't have fangs. "I'm a Night Dweller. Or, otherwise known as a 'Cold One', 'Bloodsucker' or, the term more frequently used, a vampire. I'm only half but… it's still enough to be far stronger than you."

Gaito's eyes widened in fear and I was at his side in half a second. My hand clasped tightly around his throat and I lifted him off his feet. He struggled to break free from my grasp but I didn't allow him to do so. Besides, I was being careful to make sure that he could still breathe properly. I wouldn't want to make a mistake an accidentally kill him now.

"So, Gaito… how shall I kill you?" I asked sweetly as if asking him what his favourite ice cream flavour was. "I'll leave it up to you since you were the one who so willingly went after my sister and caused all this mess."

Gaito didn't respond. He was still trying furiously to get out of my grasp. He must've felt so weak right now. I delighted in that. However, he was taking far too long to respond so I threw him against one of the walls. When he fell to the floor, there was a noticeable crack where he had connected with the wall. Oops! The poor architecture! I would have to be more careful.

Gaito struggled to get back up on his feet and I laughed at his feeble attempts at appearing strong. His end was near. He should just give up now. Still giggling, I made my way over to him and cupped his chin in my hand. His eyes were fearful and once again, I could see the monster reflected in them. I had never felt this powerful before in my life. I had always feared Gaito but… not anymore. His life was in my hands. I could spare his life and take it away just as easily. It was amusing!

With a dark smile, I moved my hand so that I carved a smooth line across his cheek with my finger. Gaito winced in pain but there was nothing he could do. He was like a deer in headlights. My smile darkened as a crimson colour flowed from his cheek. Gracefully, I leaned forward and licked away the blood. Gaito tried to pull himself away from me once more. I instantly grabbed the fabric of his coat and pulled him back.

"I'm not finished with you yet." I informed darkly, emphasizing the 'not'.

Gaito looked as if he were desperately searching for some way out of this situation. From the look in his eyes, it appeared that something had clicked in his mind. This would certainly be interesting. To my unfortunate disdain, his lips came crashing down on mine. I was repulsed that he would even think that this would work. Only Mathias was allowed to kiss me! So, I bit down into his lower lip and began to draw blood from him. He let out a yelp of pain and tried to back away from my. I kept right at his side, draining the blood from his lip.

"Caren!"

My eyes widened in shock and I released Gaito. I checked my reflection in Gaito's eyes and was quite pleased to find that there were no traces of blood on my face and that my eyes were no longer red. They were merely flickering from gold to violet once more. I turned to see my sister looking quite shocked. Everyone else was there as well. Sara looked even more shocked than my sister. Oh, right, Sara supposedly loved Gaito and it would have appeared that I was making out with him. Well, that would be difficult to explain.

Lucky for me, I didn't have to. Apparently, with the arrival of the remaining mermaid princesses, Gaito got an ounce of courage to threaten the human world. Power surged from his body that resounded throughout the room, out into the hallways and to the victims on the land above.

"The world of the sea, the world of the land, everything should just disappear!" He screamed out.

The room began to cave in around us and Lucia panicked for Kaito's sake. Yes, he was still lying unconscious on the floor, completely unaware that a moment ago, I was trying to kill his brother. I went back to my sister's side and quietly assured her that what had happened between Gaito and me was nothing. After all, I wasn't about to say that I was trying to kill him. That wouldn't bode well at all. I tried to focus on what Gaito was doing at the present time. He was severely pissed off now and chances were that he was going to use all the time he had to try and destroy us.

Then, to my surprise, Kaito was fully awake and Lucia was the one unconscious. What just happened? I really should have been paying attention. However, the one thing that I noticed was that Kaito was emitting that same warm light from before and weakening Gaito. Eventually, Gaito was flung back, hitting another wall. Geez, the poor guy couldn't catch a break, could he? Then again, he deserved it. The Dark Lovers appeared around him and they quickly retreated with Gaito. So much for my plans of killing him off right then and there.

Now there was no longer any need to stay in this room. Gaito had retreated to a different place. We would have to find him soon. I glanced back over at Lucia and Kaito to find that Kaito had finally realized who Lucia was. In my opinion, it was about time. I let out a sigh when I saw how happy they were together. I was alone. My only love had gone away. Then again, I had all eternity to find him again, right?

The ground began to shake, pulling me out of my thoughts. This wasn't good. The room was beginning to fall apart! I glanced around, noting the worried expressions on everyone's faces. I quickly caught on to the conversation happening around me.

"We have to stop Gaito as soon as possible." Rina stated hurriedly.

"But where is he now?" I thought aloud.

Sara then joined the conversation. "He's probably in his room. I will guide you there. Let's go. We must stop him."

Everyone nodded and we followed Sara back down a hallway towards where Gaito's room would be. I was irritated by the fact that I couldn't detect his heartbeat. There was far too much noise with all the chaos ensuing around us. Eventually, we came upon a door. However, that same dark energy that Gaito had been using before surrounded the area, forming a barrier between us and Gaito's room.

"What is that?" Kaito asked in curiosity upon what had been placed in our way.

"This is the power of the Panthalessa which overflowed from Gaito's body. It's the Aura of Hatred."

A voice called out and we turned to see Hippo coming towards us while carrying an unconscious Taro. I didn't think it would be that useful for him to join us now. He had been gone for what seemed like a long period of time to me. Then again, I did go off to find Gaito and kill him. As Rina began to speak, I quickly focused back in on the conversation.

"Gaito is probably inside of that Aura. We have to take him by force."

"We can't!" Sara cut in immediately. "Those who are not liked by Gaito cannot enter."

Hippo took action, believing that he may be able to break through. The moment he came in contact with the barrier, he was shot back by the immense power. Kaito then said that he would go in and Lucia began to argue with him that he shouldn't. I was beginning to get irritated from all of the arguing.

"I'll go." Sara stated as if her mind was already made up.

"Sara, you're going to go?" I asked quietly as if still within my own thoughts.

"Taro and Hanon melted my heart which had been coldly frozen. It is now my duty to calm his raging heart." Sara explained while walking up to the barrier. "Gaito, can you hear me? It's me. I want to talk to you."

To my surprise as well as everyone else's, Sara was able to enter the barrier. Now, all we had to do was wait. It would be a miracle if Sara's plan worked. Unfortunately, after a while, more of the castle began to collapse. I took that as a sign that things were not going well. I turned to Lucia.

"Hey, all of our pearls are together now. Shouldn't Aqua Regina appear?"

"I don't know. Why doesn't she appear?" Lucia asked, restating my question.

"Caren is right." Hanon piped in. "All seven mermaid princesses and the seven pearls gathered."

"Those are the conditions to revive Aqua Regina so, why isn't she here?" Rina pondered further.

Noel added in, making a good comment. "Perhaps it is because our seven hearts have still yet to become one."

"Maybe Sara's heart hasn't really come back to us yet." Coco added in.

"That's right." Noel said, voicing her opinions once again. "Sara thinks that it's her fault for Gaito's actions."

This was turning into a conversation led by only Coco and Noel when Coco piped in yet again. "Sara is still not with us completely."

"We were foolish." I then stated suddenly. Everyone's attention turned to me. "We thought that she had completely befriended us. Has she betrayed us?"

To my surprise, Lucia answered my remarks by singing. I was confused by this. Everyone else seemed confused as well. Rina and Hanon even made their bewilderment known by asking Lucia what she was doing. I figured that I would ask to, not that she would give anyone an answer anyways.

"What are you doing?"

I tried to figure out what she was thinking at that moment. I couldn't think of anything. Nothing seemed to be coming to mind. Then, Rina began singing. Hanon soon followed. Then it clicked in my mind. If Sara was able to hear us then…

I quickly joined in, Noel and Coco following suit. Our voices rose in a crescendo and I was sure that I heard Sara's voice join in. We had gotten to Sara. Lucia's plan was working. Just then, our pearls began to glow brightly. The light they emitted just kept on getting brighter. The dark barrier faded away and the heavenly Aqua Regina descended towards us. She began to speak of things but I did not pay any attention. I was still absorbed by her celestial presence. My mind began to wander yet again.

I was a vampire. A creature of darkness. Did that mean that I was condemned to a hellish purgatory if my immortal life came to an end? Or was there still hope for me? If there was a god of everything… would he be merciful? What was to become of vampires who really didn't have choice in the matter of their turning and had to kill to survive? I was dragged out of my thoughts as Aqua Regina said that she would give us a new power.

A blue microphone appeared in my hands and I looked down at it. Did I deserve this? It seemed as if Sara had voiced the same concern about herself, only, for much different reasons. However, I listened for Aqua Regina's reply. So, Sara would be able to help save Gaito's soul by singing? Perhaps I would be able to redeem myself by trying to bring more good to the world. I would sing with the mermaid princesses and I would make a vow to never again harm a human or put their life in jeopardy.

I began to sing along with my companions. Our voices rose in a beautiful melody and Gaito cringed. This was it. This was finally the end. All of our struggles and trials were coming to an end. This thought brought more conviction into my voice when I was singing and gave the song so much more emotion. Soon, our song was finished and Gaito was on his knees.

I stood and watched as Kaito tried to speak with his brother. Gaito claimed that he had lost his power. Kaito offered him the chance to come to the surface world and live with him. He turned the offer down. He said that he was still the king of the Panthalessa and that he would not abandon his castle. He retreated and the ceiling collapsed, blocking us from going to him. The castle was falling apart and it was time for us to make our leave.

Very soon, we were out of the dissipating castle and swimming away. It was all over now. Lucia's voice took me out of my thoughts as Sara stopped behind us. I watched as she handed her pearl over to Lucia. She was going to return to Gaito. I was amazed by her devotion to him. Even though she had Taro, she still was going to go back to Gaito—even if it would cost her her life. I no longer felt hate towards Sara and Gaito. I envied them. I wanted a relationship like that with Mathias. Only, he was gone.

I watched in silence as the Orange Mermaid Princess turned and headed back to the fading castle. I would give my life if it meant being with Mathias again. However, I already had given my life to him and it didn't seem to be enough. Sara and Gaito were so lucky. I felt tears forming in my eyes and I quickly used that inhuman speed to wipe them away. After, I noticed Noel glancing curiously at me. Perhaps she wouldn't have thought much about it.

I turned my eyes back towards the castle and watched as it disappeared within the ocean. I had greatly misunderstood Gaito. He deserved to die with the person he cared for by his side. That was the most ideal death. That was how I wanted to go if a time came were I would be killed.

For now, I was alive. That was all that mattered.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

Well, I knew that this time had to come sooner or later. It was now officially time for Noel, Coco and I to say our farewells to Lucia, Hanon and Rina. The three younger mermaids stood in front of us, forcing smiles on their faces as we said our goodbyes. It was so hard to believe that all of this had happened.

"Stay well, Caren, Noel." Rina told us with a smile.

"Rina…" Noel said softly.

"I really owe you guys a lot." I admitted, allowing my persistent stubbornness to go away. "Let me give you my thanks for now."

Noel, Coco and I swam in silence as we parted with Lucia, Hanon and Rina. After that one final battle, we would most likely never see each other again. So, was this it? It amazed me really. All the mermaid princesses had gotten so close within that short period of time and now we were all parting. And not only that, but, I would be completely alone once more… unless…

Becoming engulfed in my thoughts, I almost missed Coco saying her farewells to Noel and I. We said our goodbyes and then, she was gone. Noel and I would soon follow suit. It wasn't fair. I didn't even get to know my sister that well if at all. When Coco was out of sight, I let out a long sigh.

"Caren, are you alright?" Noel asked. "You seem really out of things and… upset about something."

I frowned. "Well, it's just that… you're all that I have now and I'm going to lose you too."

"Lose me too?" She repeated in confusion. "Caren, I'm sure that we'll see each other again soon. And not only me, but, the other mermaid princesses too."

"I wasn't actually referring to them." I admitted sadly, recalling the time I had spent with Mathias. "There was this one guy that I really, really liked and…"

Noel gasped. "Did he break your heart?"

I laughed bitterly. What an interesting choice of words for her to use. She had no idea how right she truly was. "In more way than one, I'm telling you."

"What a jerk." She muttered silently.

"Yeah." I muttered in agreement. However, that wasn't what I was feeling. My mind kept on screaming that 'no, he's not a jerk!' Clearly there was still a part of me that kept forgiving him a thousand times over as if that would somehow bring him back. It never seemed to do justice, though. Thinking about him, my expression softened. "I wonder if he ever came back…"

Noel looked at me oddly. "Caren, if this guy left you once, who's to say that he won't do it again?"

"I don't know…" I replied softly. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to check."

"Then I'll go with you." Noel stated bluntly. Frankly, I was quite surprised by her willingness to go with me. I kind of wanted to go on my own. However, Noel continued speaking to justify herself. "It's my duty as your older sister to protect you, right? Besides, I need to tell this guy that you're one in a million and that he should never have broken your heart like he did."

"I suppose you do." I said through a small laugh. In my mind, I was debating whether or not to show her Mathias' mansion. Was I allowed? Well, she was my sister. I should be able to. "Noel, if I show you something, you must promise never to tell anyone of it, understand?"

Noel smiled genuinely at me. "I promise."

With a sigh, I headed off in the direction of Mathias' mansion. Noel followed me silently, curious as to what I would show her that she had to keep silent about. It wasn't long before we reached the crevice that led to the caverns and it wasn't long before we were swimming through the passage that led to the mansion. When we surfaced, Noel gasped at the sudden change in scenery that I had grown so accustomed to.

"My god, this place is beautiful!" She exclaimed in complete awe. "I didn't know that lilacs could blossom being frozen over!"

"These ones are special. Despite their beauty, however, this place could be so much more beautiful." I mused silently while imagining Mathias standing beside me smiling that perfect smile of his and looking like more of a god than anything else. However, that perfect image of him shattered as I noted how empty the place felt.

I walked somberly towards Mathias' room while Noel followed, mentioning everything that seemed surreal about Mathias' mansion. Not that I blamed her. It was amazing. When we entered Mathias' room, Noel gasped in amazement. I took no notice to the room's architecture like she did. I had been in here several times before. What held my attention was the little white envelope that was on Mathias' bed.

In less than a second, I was on the bed and opening the envelope. I was sure that Noel had noticed my inhuman speed. However, to be careful about keeping my identity a secret wasn't the first thing on my mind. I immediately broke the seal and pulled out the parchment which held Mathias' elegant script. I stared in disbelief before I began to read the words he had written.

My beloved Caren…

I must have the worst timing in the world. I've missed you dearly and when I came back to see you, you've gone off to save your sister. If you are reading this, I shall assume that you have succeeded. For that, I am glad.

However, the news that I must give you is not the kind that I would like to relay. From what Miranda has told me, you know that our world is in upheaval. Terrible things may be put into act and I fear for your safety. Unfortunately, I have not come to terms with the fact that I may lose you. I don't want to lose you. Simply leaving you to protect you has left a hole unlike any other where my non beating heart should be.

I've been thinking far too much about you lately and I realized that you may be right about your ignorance to what is going on. I never wanted to say anything to you because I feared your reaction. I feared that you might hate me. However, I've made my decision and I will tell you about what concerns your very life.

As I've told you before, half vampires are not highly looked on in our world. My father considers half vampires to be a mockery of our race. Every so often, he'll go on a crusade and eliminate every halfblooded vampire that breathes. Unfortunately, I have placed you in this terrible predicament of becoming one of his victims. I really wouldn't be able to bear it if you were to be found by him. This is why I was so angered by Nikademus' visit. The letter that he had brought informed me of this news.

Caren, I truly am sorry for all that has happened. I wish to atone for what I have done. I wish to see your beautiful face again. Because of this, I advise you to follow Miranda's advice and go back to your kingdom in the Antarctic Ocean. Will you please do that for me? Miranda has joined me for now which means that there is no longer any protection for you from other vampires who would follow my father's law. I'll come back to you when this issue has been dealt with. I promise you this with all my heart, despite the fact that it no longer beats.

With much love,

Mathias

My eyes were wide as I read the letter. I could feel Noel crawl onto the bed to look over my shoulder but I couldn't react. I didn't react to the fact that she was reading the letter Mathias had wrote that was full of secrets that had to be kept. I didn't react to the fact that Noel would learn of my being a vampire. There was only one thought running through my mind. Mathias had been here. He was here to see me and I wasn't there. I was too busy trying to kill Gaito.

"Caren, are you alright?" I heard Noel ask worriedly.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. My eyes wouldn't remove themselves from Mathias' writing. It was as if they were permanently stuck on Mathias' name, memorizing the curves and sharp areas where Mathias had applied more pressure to the quill he had used. I felt Noel embrace me in a sisterly manner as if I was crying. Wait a minute, I was crying. I could feel moisture running down my cheeks to fall on the parchment in my hands.

"I've taken notice of some things about you that is different from the other mermaid princesses including myself. I've noticed that your eyes change colour when your singing, you move really quickly and you catch onto things that would be difficult for any normal person. Not to mention the incident with Gaito. Is it because of this? Because you're… a vampire?"

I wanted to drown out Noel's words. I had allowed her to find out about vampires. I had let her see the truth that had been written in Mathias' own hand. Oh, Mathias would be furious if he found out. However, I couldn't lie to my sister. It would do no good since she already knew. So, I solemnly nodded in response. I could hear her hold her breath and I felt as if I wanted to disappear. Would she think differently of me now? Would she always take me for the bloodthirsty monster that I had become? I looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"Noel, I am still the same person as I always have. My becoming a vampire hasn't changed that at all. Just promise that you won't tell anyone about this. I didn't want to drag anyone into this. Please…"

Noel looked at me sympathetically. "Caren, this is huge. You know that, right? Still, if you don't want me to say anything then I won't. However, if I am to keep this a secret, I want to know what's going on. I want to be able to help you when I can."

I remained silent for a long time before I finally replied. "What would you like to know?"

"Well," Noel started, "I would like to know when all of this started, who this Mathias is and why he really left you."

"Oh, where to begin…" I pondered aloud while holding my head with my hand. "I guess it started when I found Mathias lingering in one of these caverns. After that, he followed me around for about a week and then brought me here. He had me completely in a trance of some kind and then he got me alone and turned me."

Noel didn't press me on any of the details of my 'death', so I continued. "I fell in love with him. I always thought that we would be the perfect couple. We were even going to save you together. But then… this Nikademus brought him a letter. It was apparently from his father who wants to kill me. Mathias decided to leave without telling me, supposedly for my own protection. He wants me to return to my kingdom and stay there. However, because of what I am, I'll have far too much time on my hands and I'll constantly be worrying about him. Apparently he knows where my kingdom is but no one has informed me as to how he knows. Miranda, Mathias' servant told me that he's been there before but I don't know when that was or why he was even there to begin with. It's kind of driving me insane."

Noel became silent after my explanation. Her eyes were pensive and thoughtful as she contemplated my story. I simply waited for her to reply. The silence was driving me insane so I focused on my sister's heartbeat. It was calm and steady throughout all of what she had just learned. I was surprised that she wasn't freaking out about any of this. She wasn't even worried that I, her younger twin sister, was a monster. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak.

"That is some story. It's hard to think that all of this has happened to you…" She said quietly. Then, she did something completely unexpected. She smiled. "Caren, this whole topic is making you seriously depressed. I say that sometime, the two of us should go on a vacation somewhere cool like… Oh, I dunno… Germany or Paris! What do you think?"

I smiled at her suggestion. "It sounds like a plan."

Actually, getting away and going to Paris or Germany sounded ideal. The shopping there would be fantastic as well. Not to mention that I'd always wanted to see some of the cathedrals there. I had always marveled at neo-gothic architecture although I had never actually been in a church of that magnitude. I had only seen pictures in books about them. However, I still had my kingdom to attend to and get back into order. Noel's plan would have to wait for a while.

"We probably wouldn't be able to do this for a while though. We've been away from our kingdoms for too long. They're probably in chaos." I stated, voicing one of my worries.

Noel nodded in agreement. "Well then, sometime after our kingdoms are organized, we can go to Europe. Deal?"

Noel offered her hand to me to shake if I agreed on her compromise. I gladly accepted her hand and smiled.

"Deal. Now, let's get going. I'd rather not stick around here if the place is going to be empty."

With the arrangement made on our vacation, the two of us slid off of Mathias' bed and headed for the door. It wasn't long before we were back in the ocean and heading off in the directions of our kingdoms. Eventually, Noel and I parted and she swam north to the Arctic Ocean. Now it was my turn to return home. Back home to the Antarctic Ocean. Back to where Mathias would one day come for me. In all this time, I felt as if I've been racing—racing against the northern winds. Now, the race was over and I was finally able to rest.

I was finally able to go home.

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There you have it! The second part in my mini trilogy! Oh, the third part is going to be intense. I did a bit of foreshadowing in this story so, you may have to go back and read a few things. Anyways, I know that some of you are pissed that Mathias was hardly in this story. I really didn't know how to do Noel's rescue if he was still around and this way, you'll be dying to come back and read the third part. I don't know how long the next part will be but... it should be worth the wait. I've had the ideas in my mind for a long time now. I wanted to make it a reality. I'm a little disappointed with how this story sounded so choppy. x.x I suppose that's what I get for writing different parts at different times. Oh well. I got lazy. So sue me. Actually, no, don't sue me. I already lack money and a job hence why I have all this time to write. x.x

Now, I took a hell of a lot of time to write this. In fact, I've been working on this for months. It doesn't take long to write a small review saying that you liked my story or disliked it. Although, I would prefer that if you disliked it, you would give reasons why. I'm open to constructive critisism.

Oh, and before I forget, if I romanized any of the names incorrectly, please let me know so that I can fix it! Well, that's it for now so I'll leave you to review. :3

Til next time, loverlies!