Omgosh! That's right! I'm back with a sequel to It Started with Lilacs! I just couldn't get the story of Caren and Mathias out of my head so I figured that I would have to continue. You'll be excited to know that this story is not the end. Oh, no, there is going to be a third part to this story. That's right. You heard me. A third. You may also be pleased to know that this story is long. I had to split it into two separate chapters. xD So, I'll stop rambling now. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Mermaid Melody or any of the respective characters. I only own my vampires.

To Race the Northern Winds
Written by: Jazlynn

There was a time when running at incredible speeds through a forest in the black of night would seem foreign to me. Yes, it would seem very foreign to most humans and, also, to most mermaids. I didn't think it was even possible for a mermaid to swim as fast as I was running now. The night winds brushed against me as I ran, causing my dark violet hair to whirl violently around my back. My gold eyes were slits as I scanned the wooded area around me, searching desperately for the reason I was out here in the first place.

And then I heard it.

I made a full stop to my fast-paced run and I stood silently, listening intently as to where that steady beat was coming from. Then I picked up on breathing. I stopped the passage of air to my lungs too see if it was only my breath that I heard. Oh, breathing had become treacherous whenever I went out on these… 'midnight runs'. See, breathing wasn't exactly a necessity of life to me anymore. It was more of a habit than anything.

As I focused on the source of the breathing and that steady heartbeat, I pinpointed an area and began to walk slowly towards it. The sounds 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; a rose that is late to blossom. How things like that had a scent, I would never fully understand. One just knows these things when they come across it. After all, that's what happened with him when he first saw me. My scent was that of frozen lilacs. Yes, I remembered the scent well. Unfortunately, I was only able to comprehend why he was allured to me once. The only time when I was really able to detect my scent was when I was becoming like him. Since then, I've adjusted to my scent and it doesn't affect me as much. Apparently, I had grown accustomed to my new senses.

The snap of a twig under my foot brought me back to reality and I heard that steady beat rupture. I heard nothing more until the breathing began to get faster. Then I heard the beating start up again. With a lethal smile, I continued through the forest. Oh, how that beat quickened pace! Soon, it was almost as if I could dance to its rhythm! That glorious scent and rhythm just seemed to intoxicate me in the pleasure I would receive from committing this deadly sin.

A feminine voice then called out from the direction I was headed for. "Who's there?"

To me, it sounded like a frightened little twelve year old. Then again, I wasn't good at guessing the ages of people I had only heard. I wasn't even good at guessing the age of people that I had seen. The last time I took a try at that, I was off by a thousand years. I kept quiet as the shy voice spoke once more.

"Nicolas, if that's you, come out right now! First, you break my heart, and now this? Please, just stop!"

I had to stifle a laugh at this. This girl thought that I was her sweet heart who had apparently broken her heart. Perhaps I should just get this done and over with. Slowly, I stepped out of the trees and onto the path that the girl was on. She spun around to face me and her eyes widened in shock. To me, it looked as if she had been crying earlier and rejection was plainly written in her eyes. Now that I saw her, I changed my guess of her age to about fifteen. She looked to be at that age where girls become obsessed with make-up and wearing tight clothes that reveal the new curves of their fully developed bodies. I smiled gingerly at her with a lethal glint in my eyes. Sorry, I guess I'm not your Nicolas, am I?

"You there, you said that you just had your heart broken, right?" I asked calmly yet darkly. The girl was trembling but she silently nodded to my question. I let out a small laugh and she just stared fearfully at me. "My, my, how little you know. Your heart isn't broken, my dear. In fact, it's beating up a storm right now."

The girl's eyes widened and my senses tingled. Her scent was compelling me to kill the girl right then and there. My eyes took on a crimson hue and that seemed to make the girl scream in terror. She ran, her movements rather slow compared to mine. As I took off after her, my instinct kicked in.

The next thing I knew, I had the girl pinned to the ground and I was draining the delectable liquid from her neck. The girl screamed for only a moment, but then all went silent. I recalled the first time I had ever drank human blood. It didn't taste as good as it did now. Then again, I was only a mermaid then. It wouldn't ever have the taste that it did now. When I felt no more blood coming from the girl's cold body, I pulled away and looked down at her. A feeling of guilt washed over me. What had I done?

"Indulging in sinful pleasures, are we?"

My scarlet eyes shot over to the shadow of a tree where my absolutely beautiful lover stood, looking as seductive as ever as he gave me a crooked smile. Sinful pleasures; yes, that's what he called drinking human blood. Most newly turned vampires didn't drink human blood until they got more accustomed to vampiric life. I could understand why. The guilt that you felt after killing someone was unbearable. I pulled my eyes away from him and looked back down at the now cold and pale girl in my arms.

"I thought that you didn't like killing humans, Caren." He said softly.

Tears began to fill my eyes and I let the body slip out of my arms. I pulled myself up to my feet and I ran into his embrace. "Oh, Mathias! What have I done?"

Mathias held me close to him and stroked my hair as if that would calm me. I was still crying in hysterics when he began humming to me. It was a melody that he had often hummed to me before. He composed it himself. He made the song shortly after he saw me for the first time. I was his inspiration. In all honesty, I didn't even know that he had a musical gift until he sang for me that first time. He told me that his father had a musical ability but I never pushed the subject. I figured that since he was the King of Vampires, his father must have somehow been killed. I wouldn't have wanted to bring back painful memories. When Mathias spoke to me again, I realized that I still had not stopped crying.

"Caren, this is the third time that you've done this. If you can't stand the guilt of taking human life, then stick to animals for now. I really thought that you would've learned this by now."

I sniffled a little bit and then brought my hand up to dry my eyes. However, Mathias had beaten me to it as he gently stroked his thumb across my cheek. I couldn't help but smile at him. I was so smitten with him that I really didn't know what to do. I felt like a giddy teenaged girl again when, technically, I was an adult. Mathias just seemed to have that effect on me. I had almost forgotten what he had said to me in the first place! So, quickly, I had to make up something to say in my defense.

"It wasn't my fault! I was going out to hunt animals, really, I was! She was just walking by and was all alone as well and I…"

I dragged off and went silent, figuring that Mathias would understand what I meant. He was silent for a while and looked at me sternly. "Then hunt with me next time and I'll see to it that you don't kill any humans. Now stay still. Your lips are covered in blood."

I didn't quite understand what he meant until his lips came crashing down on mine. If my heart could function, it would be beating rapidly right about now. I felt his tongue tracing my lips and I uncontrollable quivered in delight. I had noticed that, overtime, our relationship with one another was becoming more intimate. However, I could still proudly say that I was a virgin princess.

I softly giggled as Mathias moved his mouth away from mine and caressed my neck with his lips. I loved it when he did that. It felt really good and it made me feel special that he would kiss me like that. A tingle shot throughout my whole body as he gently placed kisses along my neck. That feeling of guilt was now non-existent as Mathias held me close to him.

As Mathias kissed me, his hands slowly scaled my body which caused me a lot of surprise. Well, this was new. Apparently he was getting more touchy-feely with me now. Despite the shock from it, I must say, I rather liked it. A grin was permanently plastered on my face as his hands rested on my waist. He laughed softly and the sound just made me want to melt in his arms.

"Perhaps I should stop before you get any ideas." He chuckled.

"But I like it." I whined while I wrapped my arms around him tightly and entwined my fingers into his dark hair.

"I know." He stated bluntly while scooping me up into his arms. "But too much of a good thing can be bad. Miranda, come here for a moment!"

I grinned deviously at Mathias as he spoke to me and I quickly leaned forward to kiss his cheek. When he summoned his servant vampire, my eyes instantly scanned the area for her. Within seconds, I caught a glimpse of blonde in the trees and Miranda was instantly at our side. This was one of the vampires that I had gotten to know quite well in the past few weeks. Miranda was the vampire who had kidnapped me from the Pearl Piari when I was staying with Lucia and Hanon. She was also the vampire who had gotten me dressed and all prettied up for the party that Mathias had created in my favour. I watched her flash a pearly white smile at Mathias and curtsy to show her respect.

"What is it that you wish of me, master?" She asked, eager to do anything that Mathias commanded.

"It would appear that Lady Caren has unintentionally killed a human. I'm bringing her back home right now, else I would have cleaning it up myself. You wouldn't mind lending me a hand, would you?"

"Not at all!" Miranda replied quickly. "You bring Lady Caren home and I shall have this mess cleaned up within a minute."

"Don't go overboard again, Miranda." Mathias warned in a joking manner before taking off through the trees. I couldn't help but giggle at the comment. It was custom to burn a body after feeding so that no humans would be able to know of our existence and, well, Miranda often got carried away when playing with fire. If there was one thing that I had learned about her, it was that she absolutely adored fire. The reason why would forever remain a mystery to me. Fire was supposed to be the only thing that can kill a vampire. Mathias had told me that if a vampire was ever caught within a blaze for too long, their blood would evaporate as well as their souls and nothing would be left except for an empty shell. Just the thought of it made me shudder.

However, I wasn't left to dwell upon it as Mathias and I plunged into the ocean. I instantly transformed into my mermaid form and Mathias' arms were wrapped tightly around my waist. I smiled at him and kissed him before we swam off to the cavern that housed our huge, secluded mansion.

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

It had been about three days since my little… hunting incident. I wasn't good at controlling my instincts yet, so what? At the least, I wouldn't be persuaded to kill anyone, right? I tried desperately to believe that. I was trying my best to live the life of a vampire. I really was. I wanted desperately for Mathias to be pleased with me.

I let out a yawn—something that I had only formed from habit since I couldn't actually sleep. I was out swimming at night again, something that had become more frequent with me since I became a vampire. It gave me more insight as to what was going on with Gaito. I would often find some of his lackeys around and I would try to get more information as to where they had my sister, Noelle.

Oh, Noelle… I just had to find her. I wanted to meet my sister and the only kind of news that I knew about her was that she had been captured. Well, the time was nearing and I would soon be able to save her. Mathias was even willing to help me in this quest. We were both strong enough and, to be honest, we could both easily kill Gaito. That was what I was planning to do after I rescued Noelle. After what he did, he deserved nothing more than death.

I was instantly dragged out of my thoughts as I heard angry voices nearby. I easily recognized the voices. It was the Dark Lovers. Ha. This would certainly be interesting. Silently, I swam towards them and watched silently as they spied on the youngest of their group, Yuuri. Yuuri was reading some letter that… Lucia's dolphin gave her? What was she thinking?! I began to focus more on what the Dark Lovers were talking about. So, they thought that Yuuri was trying to befriend the mermaid princesses in order to trick them and get all the glory for their capture? Well, things obviously weren't going to go down well with this. I had to find Lucia. I had to find out what was going on.

So, as silently as I came, I turned tail and fled to find the pink mermaid princess. It didn't take me long to get to the shore and soon enough, I was back in my human form. I easily caught onto Lucia's scent and I detected Hippo's as well. Oh, so that was it. Lucia was trying to set up Yuuri with Hippo. It all became so obvious to me now! But why would she try to do that? Didn't she realize what a mistake that would be? With a newfound determination, I ran at top speed to intercept Lucia and Hippo. It didn't take much effort at all and I was able to stand in their way. Lucia halted to a stop in front of me and stared in shock.

"C-Caren!" She stuttered.

Well, obviously she hadn't been expecting this. Then again, even I wasn't expecting this. But I was about to show them a piece of my mind about how wrong this was. So, with arms folded over my chest, I began to speak.

"Before, I knew that Yuuri, the sea demon was secretly meeting someone every night," I started while recalling a few times when I had seen Yuuri sneaking around. I didn't think much of it then but now… Trailing out of my thoughts, I continued to speak as I glanced at the small penguin in human form. "…but I never expected it to be Hippo. I even saw Momo delivering a letter to Yuuri and I couldn't believe my eyes. You couldn't be setting up a place for them to meet and run away, could you?"

"Caren, listen! I can explain this!" Lucia cut in, trying to justify what she was doing.
I glanced at her as if she was stupid. "Lucia, have you forgotten Hippo's true purpose? His purpose is to help us in bringing peace to the waters, reviving Aqua Regina and protecting us, the mermaid princesses."
Once again, Lucia cut me off in trying to justify her actions. "But, Hippo and Yuuri really do love each other! If we pull those two apart, they may not be able to move on!"

That statement totally set me off on a tangent in my mind. So it was Yuuri and Hippo who deserved a happily ever after? What about my sister? Did Lucia even care about what Noelle's predicament was at the moment? And what about Coco, the yellow mermaid princess? Certainly, their freedom was more important than the happiness of two star-crossed lovers!

"So, when the mermaid world is going through a lot of chaos and pain, is it fair if you let only these two have happiness?" I asked with slight irritation in my voice. "If you think I'm wrong and it's fair, go ahead. I can't stop you from it anymore."

"Caren, you are so stubborn!" Lucia declared angrily.

I just watched her with a stern look on my face. I wasn't being stubborn. I was just stating the obvious at how horrible and stupid Lucia's little plan was. I watched her argue with Hippo who sounded as if he might back down after my tirade. However, Lucia got the better of him and they both ran past me. I turned to watched them run off, a look of worry now evident on my face.

"What a crazy thing to do…" I muttered.

So, with a sigh, I turned and began to walk towards my home. Mathias was probably wondering where I was. I usually wasn't out for this long on my own. After all, I had gotten so accustomed to his presence always being there. Perhaps I was just missing him right now. Well, that sounded just about right what with how I've been so emotionally attached to him, lately.

"Caren?"

I stopped dead in my tracks and I was dragged out of my thoughts as I heard a familiar female voice. Standing in front of me were Rina and Hanon. They weren't in on Lucia's little plan as well, were they? Then again, if they were, they would probably be with Lucia and Hippo right now.

"Hey," I replied in greeting, "are you looking for Lucia?"

"Yeah." Hanon nodded.

"She ran off with Hippo so we went out looking for them." Rina added in.

"Well, I saw her and Hippo run off to the shed down by the beach. She's trying to help Hippo and Yuuri run away together." I explained, being sure to tell them what I knew.

Just at that moment, each of our pearls began to emit a purple, green and aqua glow. This often meant that another one of us was in danger and, right now, the only mermaid who could be in any danger right now was Lucia.

I glanced up at Rina and Hanon who both nodded towards me. We all had the same notion in our minds that we had to help our friend. So, with that decided, the three of us took off down the path that led to the beach. I had to pace myself as I ran with Hanon and Rina. I loathed running slow, however, I really didn't have a choice if I was going to keep me being a vampire secret. I just wanted to get this whole ordeal over with so that I could return to Mathias.

In only a matter of minutes, we reached the ocean and were in our mermaid forms. We swam as fast as we could—no, wait. Hanon and Rina swam as fast as they could while I was going insane from my slow pace. Thankfully, it didn't take us long to find Hippo and Lucia. Unfortunately, they were being attacked by the Dark Lovers and Hippo was all tied up in seaweed. I just knew that Hippo meeting with Yuuri would be trouble!

The three of us quickly swam in between Lucia and the Dark Lovers. She looked at us with a surprised yet thankful expression. "Hanon! Caren! Rina! Why are you all here?"

"It's because we found out that Hippo ran away." Hanon explained cheerfully.

"We all thought that he'd most likely be in the shed, so, we went after him." Rina chimed in.

"Also, while I was heading back, I ran into them!" I added in, making it known that I was the one who was the main hero in this situation. After all, I was the strongest out of all of them. Well, not that they knew that, but still.

Lucia seemed to be aglow with happiness at the fact that all of us were here. Taking on a leading tone in her voice, she spoke excitedly to the Dark Lovers. "Alright! Like this, we aren't going to lose to you guys!"

The next moment, the four of us were summoning the power of our pearls and transforming into our diva like forms. This was the first time that I had ever had to sing since I had become a vampire so, I really didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, I still looked the same. Lucia, Hanon and Rina didn't act as if anything about me had changed so, that was good.

However, when we began to sing, I noticed something about my voice. I knew before that I didn't have the best singing voice, but now… my voice was absolutely incredible! I was shocked that my transformation had affected the quality of my voice as well! I suppose that meant that every talent that I possessed was somehow enhanced. I didn't mind though. However, I had to try my best to blend in with the voices of my other three companions. This was something that they would certainly take notice of later.

As we sang, the Dark Lovers screamed out in pain from the effect that our song had on them. I realized how much I hated their voices. They were loud and obnoxious. I truly hoped that they would leave soon. Trying to distract myself from them, I glanced over at Hippo and noticed that the seaweed was loosening around him because of our voices. That was good, at least.

Finally, our song ended and the Dark Lovers left in disgust that they had failed once again. It was pathetic, really. They could never capture us. However, they didn't matter at the moment. Right now, all attention was on Hippo who was seemingly unconscious. Lucia quickly took a hold of Hippo and all of us swam to the surface. We didn't change back into our mermaid forms due to the fact that Yuuri was tagging along. I found it interesting that she would still stick around after what happened. Perhaps she really did love Hippo and I was mistaken in my earlier thoughts.

When we reached the beach, Hippo was laid on the sand and Lucia was trying to wake him up. Lucia, Hanon, Rina and I were all gathered around while Yuuri stood a bit further away from our group. Eventually, Hippo awoke and slowly sat up.

"Hippo! Hippo, are you alright?" Lucia asked worriedly.

"Yes. I-I'm okay." Hippo replied quietly. He looked up and his beautiful yellow eyes fell upon Yuuri. "Yuuri…"

I watched in awed silence as Yuuri slowly approached Hippo. It amazed me that she was still here even with her enemies standing around. She really must have been devoted to him. But if that was the case, why did she still dwell with Gaito? If she truly loved Hippo, then she would help us and assist in rescuing my sister! Subduing my thoughts for now, I listened as the young sea demon began to speak.

"Oh, Hippo, I'm so sorry that this happened! Even so, I wasn't lying! Please believe me, Hippo!"

I must say, as much as I disliked Gaito's servants, I was slightly appalled by Hippo's actions. As Yuuri reached out to him, he slapped her hand away and began to speak in a low voice.

"I don't want to hear what you say anymore." Hippo started. Yuuri withdrew in shock. Obviously though, Hippo wasn't done talking. "You lied to me just to use me as bait to lure out the mermaid princesses. You're a very bad person!"

"Hippo, what are you trying to say?" Yuuri cried out.

Hippo then stood up to look Yuuri in the eyes. "I don't want to see you or your face anymore! I don't ever want you to appear in front of me ever again!"

"What are you doing Hippo?! Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?" Lucia asked while placing a hand on Hippo's shoulder.

I could see the tears forming in Yuuri's eyes and I looked over at Hippo. I saw the flicker of pain in his eyes as he saw the tears in Yuuri's eyes. This was something that I highly doubted that anyone else could see. The penguin jerked away from Lucia and took of down the beach. I understood now. I understood Hippo's harsh words.

"Hippo!" Lucia cried out.

She was about to go after him but I felt the need to stop her. I now understood the actions he was taking. "Just a minute."

Lucia turned to look at me as if I was crazy for doing such a thing. "Caren?"

"Hippo is already aware of the truth that Yuuri was not lying to him." I explained. Lucia decided to interrupt me, something that she had been doing all night when I tried to speak to her.

"Then why?!" She demanded.

I breathed in deeply, hoping that she wouldn't continue to further question me. "Hippo has decided to give up on his love."

"But, why?!" She demanded again.

"He doesn't want to give us anymore trouble." I said simply.

It was then that Yuuri cut in to save me from having Lucia ask more unnecessary questions. "Umm… I want to ask you all a favour. Please, tell Hippo this. Tell him that I won't come to him again so that he may be at peace."

Lucia turned to face Yuuri who looked like the tears in her eyes were about to fall over and spill down her face. "Yuuri…"

"I love Hippo, but, because of what happened today, I don't know what is going to happen if the event that happened today reoccurs. Since I love him so much, I don't want to give him anymore trouble. So… just tell him that I love him from the bottom of my heart, as much as I possibly can."

All of us watched as Yuuri turned and headed back towards the ocean. Hippo came running back in his penguin form and watched in tears as Yuuri left. I watched Lucia go to speak with Hippo and I became enthralled within my own thoughts. For some sick reason, I was glad that this was happening to Yuuri and Hippo. This would never happen to Mathias and I. We were so perfect together that nothing bad could happen like this.

When Yuuri was out of sight and within the ocean, Hippo turned and ran off. I watched him go, figuring that he had a lot of emotions to get out of his system. I felt terrible for him. He had been plagued with a forbidden love. And speaking of love, I had to get home to my one and only love, Mathias. So, I changed by into my normal 'human' form and began to walk away.

"Caren, wait! Where are you going?" Lucia asked quickly.

"Home." I replied curtly.

"Hold on, Caren. I noticed something earlier." Rina quickly said before I had the chance to walk away.

I turned to look at the green mermaid princess with a questioning look. She must have noticed my improved voice. Quickly, I came up with a decent answer for it in my mind so that I would be ready.

"Earlier when we were singing," she began, "your eyes were flickering between purple and the liquid gold colour that your eyes are now. Now that I think of it, your eyes have never even been that light before. I also noticed that your voice has drastically improved. Care to explain what's been going on with you?"

I stared at her. Okay, so maybe I wasn't quite normal when singing. I had only noticed my voice. I had no idea that my eyes kept changing colour. That would be difficult to explain. It might also be difficult to explain why my eyes were lighter now. However, I would just have to my best and improvise.

"Nothing has been going on with me." I stated in my defense. "My eyes have always been this colour in my human form. As for my voice, there is such thing as practice. You must have been hallucinating when you saw my eyes change colour. I doubt that it could be possible for my eyes to do that."

"Then I must have been hallucinating too." Hanon stated calmly.

I looked over at the blue haired girl in disbelieve. She noticed as well? This wasn't turning out very good. I couldn't exactly tell them that I was a vampire. It was Mathias' number one rule that no one could tell a human (or mermaid, in this case) that they were a vampire. Not to mention that they wouldn't believe me even if I had told them. Lucia's voice dragged me out of my thoughts as I tried to come up with a decent explanation.

"You know, Caren, ever since that incident about you having some guy following you around, there's definitely been some change in you."

When Lucia mentioned Mathias, my mouth spoke faster than my mind was able to register what I was saying. "What exactly are you talking about? Just to let you know, I already confronted him and got the whole issue dealt with. He has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my eyes change colours when I sing. Personally, I wasn't even aware of it until you said something."

With that, I stormed off, ignoring them to tell me to stop. I had to slow my pace because I was walking too fast. Hopefully they hadn't noticed my speed. Eventually, I was out of their sight and I let out a long sigh. Wow. I was such a liar. So Mathias had absolutely nothing to do with my eyes changing colour? Riiight. He was only the one who turned me into a vampire in the first place. Of course it wasn't his fault!

The moment that I reached the oceans edge for a second time that night, I leapt into the water and made my way home. Usually, home was the Antarctic Ocean but, now, it was wherever Mathias was. He was home to me. I swam for what seemed to be quite a while before I came upon the small crevice that led to the cavern that housed Mathias' mansion. I quickly swam into it, twisting and turning around the little corners. Eventually, I came into a clearing. I was in the first chamber of two caverns—the cavern where I saw Mathias for the first time. I didn't go up to the surface but, instead, swam around the small island in the middle of the cavern and headed into another passage which led to the second cavern.

At the end of this passage, I surfaced in a small pool of water in the middle of the glowing lilac forest. The blossoms looked truly amazing in their frozen splendor. They also reminded me of the night when I was turned. I ran through this forest expecting that I was outside of Mathias' mansion and could escape when I discovered that the area was completely closed in. Little did I know at the time that this pool of water was the exit itself and that I could have easily escaped. I felt a fool now thinking back on that. Well, I was a vampire now so, it no longer mattered.

Quickly, I pulled myself out of the water and I transformed back into my human-like form. I then headed for Mathias' room. I had a feeling that he might be there and I wasn't usually wrong. When I reached the beautifully decorated ochre doors, I pushed them open and made my climb up the spiraling staircase. When I reached the top, I pushed open the second set of doors to enter Mathias' room. He was there, lying on his bed and looking like the most perfect angel. He feigned sleep which made him look even more angelic. I smiled at him and walked over to the side of his bed. I took no hesitation in lying down beside him and cuddling close to him. His arms immediately wrapped around me and pulled me closer to him.

"You've kept me waiting, Caren." He whispered softly. "I was beginning to worry."

I buried my face into his chest and breathed in his sweet scent. "I'm sorry. I ran into a few friends of mine that seem to constantly get into trouble."

He hummed gently while stroking my hair. "I see… so, when are we going to rescue your sister? I would very much like to meet the family of the woman who I will be spending eternity with."

I smiled at him, even though he wasn't able to see my face. "I want to meet her too. Hopefully we will be able to rescue her soon."

Mathias slightly pulled away from me and looked at me with an expression of confusion. "You… want to meet her too? You mean that you never met your own sister?"

I slowly shook my head. "We were separated when I was born. Noelle is the mermaid princess of the Arctic Ocean and I'm the mermaid princess of the Antarctic Ocean. We've had to dwell within our own kingdoms so…"

"So you've never had the chance to meet." Mathias finished for me.

"Yes." I said softly. "I only heard of her capture by rumor and I've been searching all over for her. However… she's within a castle that is constantly moving so I can never get even close to finding her!"

"Hmm… that is a problem, isn't it?" Mathias mused quietly while pulling me close to him.

I hummed softly in response and closed my eyes. I felt so safe being there in his arms. Gaito would never get me when I was here. Mathias softly hummed a beautiful melody to me and, if I could sleep, it probably would have lulled me off into my subconscious.

Just then, Miranda burst through the door with a look of worry evident all over her face. Mathias and I both sat up in shock. Miranda never entered Mathias' room unless summoned. I noticed that she held an envelope in her hand but the main thing that I noticed, and Mathias as well, was that there was another vampire standing behind her. I heard a low growl emanate from Mathias and the vampire behind Miranda flinched. I began to feel very scared for some reason. Something wasn't right.

"What is he doing here?" Mathias demanded in a low and angry voice.

Mathias' eyes were dark and they held no emotion or any kind of caring that they did before. I didn't dare move for the fear of what Mathias might do. He looked ready to kill someone. Slowly, my eyes wandered over to Miranda who held out the letter to him. In less than a second, Mathias was off of his bed and had snatched the letter from Miranda's hand. He then glared icy daggers at the other vampire.

"I suggest that you leave now." He said venomously through clenched teeth. "Miranda, assist him out of my mansion."

Miranda silently nodded before leading the vampire away. Mathias quickly shut the doors behind them. Then, without turning back to me, he tore open the envelope and began to read what was on the sheets of paper within. I just watched in fear as his eyes became darker with every word that he read. I didn't even think that it was possible for his eyes to look so dark. It absolutely terrified me. I felt as if I was a human again, being pursued by the mysterious and nameless vampire that used to haunt me. I lingered in indecision about whether or not I should say something to him.

"Mathias…?" I slowly spoke to try and get his attention. I wasn't expecting the reaction that I received.

"Silence!" He yelled angrily while turning to glare daggers at me.

I flinched and felt myself withdraw as far from him as I could. He terrified me. The term 'If looks could kill' popped into my mind. Yes, I seriously thought that Mathias was going to kill me when he looked at me that way. I just wanted to turn invisible. I hated this! Maybe he didn't want me around right now. I should probably just let him be on his own for a while. So, with that thought running in my head, I slowly slid off of his bed and headed silently for the door.

As I neared the door, his head jerked up and his eyes went wide. Instantly, he seized me and then had me pinned on his bed. He straddled my figure and had his hands gripping my wrists tightly while looking down angrily at me. I was frozen in place by him and mainly by my fear. His grip was getting tighter to the point where my wrists were beginning to hurt. I let out a small cry but that didn't loosen his grip on me. Why did Miranda have to come in? Why?

"Mathias," I shouted out, "you're hurting me!"

Tears began to stream down my face and I heard him growling. What was wrong? Why was Mathias acting this way? I had never seen him so worked up like this before! Terror flooded throughout my body and I wanted to get away from him. Apparently, I had come home too soon. Then again, if I had come back when he was like this… I didn't even want to think about it. He might have been even angrier at me than he was now. I didn't even understand why he was so mad at me in the first place! The pain in my wrists was becoming more unbearable and I let out another cry.

"Shut up, Caren!" He hissed. "Don't move!"

My eyes went wide and I became deathly silent. Mathias had just told me to shut up after he was causing me pain. My eyes were filled with tears and that picturesque image of Mathias and I had been shattered into a thousand pieces. As Mathias looked down at me, his expression softened and his grip loosened. Then, something happened that I didn't expect. Mathias started to cry. He pulled me up into his arms and held me tightly as if he would lose me forever if he let go. I felt so broken and confused and Mathias' actions only confused me even more. One moment, I was absolutely terrified of him and then, the next, I felt comforted. I was going on one hell of a rollercoaster ride of emotions with Mathias. Only, there were so many loops and turns happening so quickly that I couldn't register what was happening or what would happen next.

I let Mathias hold me for a long time and, eventually, I gathered enough courage to softly press my lips against his. He greatly accepted my actions and returned the favour by pulling me even closer to him. I was beginning to wonder what exactly was on that letter that had caused such a dramatic change with Mathias. It was causing him some sort of internal conflict that was making him quite upset. I didn't like it. I wanted Mathias to be happy. How could we ever hope to be that perfect couple if he wasn't happy?

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

It had been almost a week since Mathias had received that letter from our unexpected guest. Since then, he seemed to move around like a ghost instead of a proud vampire and he rarely ever spoke to me. Now, whenever we were together, he would just hold me as if he never wanted to let me go. It almost scared me in a way. I didn't like the actions that he was taking. It was almost as if there was some impending doom looming over our lives as we knew it. Miranda also became more silent within that week. I got the feeling that she had been able to read whatever was in that letter. However, I was the only one kept out of this little secret that they kept. I wanted to know what was wrong.

I let out a soft sigh as Mathias and I walked along a path near the beach. Apparently, I wasn't allowed to leave the mansion without an escort anymore. I was almost always accompanied by Mathias and, on the rare occasion when he was out hunting without me, Miranda would follow me around. It was as if I no longer had any freedom. I at least had that before I became a vampire. All I had now was silence. It was beginning to drive me insane.

I abruptly stopped walking which completely threw off Mathias. He turned to look at me with curious golden eyes. Again, he didn't speak to me. I just stared at him with a distant look in my eyes. Neither of us said a word to each other. We just stood there, looking at the other. We could have stayed like that for eternity and nothing would have happened. Hell, people could just walk by and give us odd looks and we wouldn't have noticed them. I hated the fact that Mathias wasn't speaking. I wanted him to say something to me! I wanted to hear his beautiful voice! I then realized that Mathias' expression had changed. His eyes slightly widened and he looked worried about something now.

"Caren," he started, worry completely evident in his voice, "what's wrong?"

I didn't understand what he was talking about. Why would he just come out and say that after looking at me with a blank expression for what seemed like an eternity to me. And why would his expression all of a sudden turn worried? It didn't make sense. I only understood why he said that when he reached out to wipe some sort of moisture from my cheeks. I was… crying? Stupid traitorous tears! The moment I realized that I was crying, more tears fell from my eyes and I couldn't stop them. Mathias pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Caren, what's wrong?" He pleaded. "Please, talk to me!"

He wanted me to talk to him? He was asking me to talk to him about what was wrong? I wanted him to talk to me about what was wrong! That's what was wrong with me! Why couldn't he understand that? Did he honestly think that I would enjoy being plunged into silence?

"Mathias, I don't understand!" I blurted out. He looked at me with confused—and perhaps, even hurt eyes. I looked at him with great sadness. "You're asking me what's wrong when there is something going on with you that you refuse to talk to me about! How is that supposed to make me feel Mathias? I hate all of this silence! Just tell me what's going on."

I heard Mathias let out a long and sad sigh. "Caren… It's a very complicated issue. I would rather not have you dragged into it. There are those who would not support you being what you are. Half-vampires are frowned upon by most Night Dwellers. Because of this, I… I just want to keep you safe."

Something inside of me snapped and I had no idea why. My mind couldn't even register what was happening. "You want to keep me safe by not telling me something that seems to be very important? I don't see how keeping me oblivious to everything is going to help me! Shouldn't I be told what's dangerous instead of blindly walking right into it?!"

With that, I ran off at top speed. I heard Mathias call out my name but he didn't follow me. I felt as if my new life was beginning to suffocate me. I needed some familiarity. I needed something that wasn't going to cause me pain. I was at the ocean's side within a matter of seconds and I dove into the cool dark waters. My body shifted back into its mermaid state and I felt instantly calmed. Yes, the ocean was a very familiar thing. It reminded me of a time when I didn't think that vampires were real. It reminded me of a time when all I worried about was rescuing Noelle. Perhaps rescuing her would help me to forget about all of the bad things that were occurring in my life.

I tried to temporarily push the thoughts of Mathias out of my head as I swam. Then something caught my eyes. There was a strange golden glow in the water. I stopped swimming to watch it in the distance. It seemed to be moving which made me even more confused. What was it?

So, with that, I headed towards the light. As far as I knew, there weren't many sources of light within the ocean. As I got closer, I noticed a human form within the glow. But how could that possibly be? And then I saw them. Lucia, Hanon, and Rina were swimming after the human. Quickly, I made my way over to their side.

"So it's you guys." I stated, somewhat in greeting.

The three looked at me and seemed to say my name in unison. Really, was it that surprising for me to just appear like that? I didn't think so. Well, I figured that I should explain myself to them. "I saw a very mysterious light just now so I came to look. What exactly is it?"

"That light…" Rina started, only to be cut off by Lucia.

"We aren't really sure what it is."

I hummed in response and the four of us continued after the human. As I observed him more closely, I began to recognize him. I had seen this human before. He kept following me around and staring at me only to have mistaken me for someone else. That seemed like such a long time ago. It was before I had even formally met Lucia, Hanon, and Rina. Well, I guess it wasn't all too formal at all. I was kind of a witch towards Rina at that point. Now, I could really care less.

Suddenly, my attention was drawn to the dramatic change in scenery. There was a huge gate that appeared, and behind it, Gaito's castle. A black mermaid was swimming towards the gate to meet the human. However, my mind set wasn't focused on her.

"Gaito's castle is actually here?" I asked Lucia, Hanon and Rina, still in somewhat disbelief.

I heard Hanon mumble something about a 'Taro' but I paid no attention to it. Gaito's castle was here. My sister was somewhere behind those walls. I could rescue her right now. It wouldn't have taken me much to kill the black mermaid and get through the gates. Then with my quick speed, I could quickly get into the castle and evade any of the water demons. They wouldn't have seen me coming. Then I could kill Gaito and free Noelle! Yes! I could do it!

My planning was immediately cut off as Hanon swam towards the human known as Taro. However, when she got close to him, some sort of barrier came up and pushed her back. She let out a shrill cry before she flew back into Lucia, Rina, and I. I couldn't comprehend what was being said in the moment that followed and soon, the four of us were being enveloped in a thick black mist.

"What's happening?" I demanded as I tried to see through the black mist. Even with my vampiric eyes, seeing through the thick haze was nearly impossible.

From somewhere in the darkness, I heard Rina exclaim that the gate was open. This was just wonderful. My chance to save my sister had come and I was blinded by a black mist! I couldn't believe it! I wanted to scream out in frustration but I knew that screaming would do no good. When the mist cleared, I was disgusted to see that the Black Beauty Sisters had arrived on the scene. Well, this was just peachy keen.

Without time for us to react, they began their dark song. As their voices drifted through the water, I felt a jolt of pain run through my head. Instantly, my hands flew up to hold my head as if that would stop the throbbing feeling that I now had. With each note sung, the pain became more intense. It was a terrible feeling. They were hitting every note with accurate precision but, to me, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

An intense light suddenly distracted me from the pain and I looked to find that Hippo had transformed into a magnificent horse-like creature. Something clicked in my mind then.

"That is…" Rina started.

"Is that…" Hanon started as well.

Neither of them could finish what they were trying to say so I decided to voice it for them. "The legendary Hippocampus!"

"Hippo is actually the legendary Hippocampus?" Lucia restated in disbelief.

The four of us listened as he explained his situation. So, this was his true form; the form in which he could protect the mermaid princesses. It was unbelievable, really. This was Hippo; the lovesick penguin that had fallen for one of the bad guys. As if to prove his powers, Hippo swam towards the Black Beauty Sisters and destroyed their live stage.

Lucia, Hanon and Rina began to transform but I stayed as I was. I wasn't going to risk having my eyes change colour again. Besides, those three would be fine on their own. This was also my chance to get into Gaito's castle. I wasn't about to let that one slip. So, my eyes began to scan the area. For some reason, I couldn't find the castle. Where was it? I felt my heart fall as I realized the situation. It had moved again and that small window of oppouritunity had shut right in front of my face. I couldn't believe it!

Soon, Lucia, Hanon and Rina's song ended and the Black Beauty Sisters had left. Rina stated what I had already realized and it only made me feel even more upset. Another chance to rescue Noelle; gone.

Hanon began calling out for Taro. I watched her in stunned silence. Why was she calling out to him? He was gone. He wouldn't be able to hear her. She was simply making a fool out of herself.

"Hanon," I started, waiting for her to acknowledge me. "Hanon, he's gone. There's nothing you can do."

"No!" Hanon cried out. "I'll find him!"

Hanon began to swim off but Lucia and Rina stopped her. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't just accept the truth. It would be so much easier than making some false pretense. I watched as tears began to stream down Hanon's face. I let out a small sigh.

"I truly am sorry for your loss, Hanon, but, sometimes you just need to wake up to reality. Life isn't fair. But there's still a chance to save him. Have faith."

Hanon just stared at me, not speaking a word as tears still streamed down her face. I turned to Rina and Lucia then. "I should probably be going now but, I'll come by in the morning so that we can sort things out."

The two nodded at me and I then took my leave. I still couldn't understand why Hanon had to get so upset. As long as there was hope enough for me to save Noelle, there was still hope for her to rescue Taro.

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

I returned home in complete silence and dread. I wasn't sure as to how Mathias would act after I ran away from him. He would probably be angry. I wasn't looking forward to that. Mathias terrified me when he was angry. However, I knew that I would have to face him eventually. It was better to just get it over with than to wait in dread.

As I emerged in the lilac forest, something didn't seem right. It felt… empty. I looked around in silence. Neither Mathias or Miranda were ever in the forest when I returned so, it was expected that it should be empty. However, something still felt like it was missing. I figured that Mathias would be in his room, so I headed down the path that led to the ochre doors. As I ascended the steps, a feeling of uneasiness washed over my entire being. I didn't understand why. Perhaps it was because of the same reason that I felt something was amiss. I entered Mathias' room to find that he wasn't there. I frowned, and then headed back towards the main part of the mansion.

As I walked, I didn't hear anything. I still couldn't feel Mathias' presence anywhere so I figured that he might still be outside. As I walked, I heard something that indicated the presence of another; the flipping of a page in a book. Quickly, I ran to the source of the sound to find Miranda reading a book in the library. She seemed distracted by something and I didn't understand why. Her gold eyes flickered up to me and she forced a smile.

"Evening, Lady Caren." She greeted through a feigned cheerfulness.

"Good evening, Miranda." I said in reply. "Where is Mathias?"

"He left." She said simply before looking back at her book.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I was thoroughly confused by her statement. I thought I heard that she said that Mathias had left.

Miranda looked back up at me as if I was stupid or something and then her eyes widened in shock. "My god, he didn't tell you, did he?"

I looked at her in confusion as a tight knot formed in my stomach. "What… didn't he tell me?"

The book fell out of Miranda's hands and she instantly got up to embrace me. I felt so confused as she wrapped her arms around me. I heard her crying and I knew that what she said was true. Mathias was gone. He went somewhere while I went to go help out Lucia, Hanon and Rina. This had been our last night together and I decided to be stupid and run away. I felt completely broken. All of a sudden, I was wishing that Mathias was here. I wished that I could have apologized to him about running away. But more than anything, I just wished that I could've known he was leaving so that I could've at least said goodbye.

Suddenly, I jerked away from Miranda and I booked it out of the library as fast as I could. I could feel the tears streaming down my face as I ran. Mathias couldn't be gone. He just couldn't! I exited the main part of the mansion and I ran to the pool of water to leave the cavern. I twisted through all of the turns until I was out in open water and I then headed for the surface. The moment I felt air against my face, I cried out Mathias' name.

Lightning and thunder cracked in the sky above me and rain poured down hard onto the ocean's surface to create frightening waves. Despite the weather, I continued to shout out Mathias' name as if my voice might somehow reach him. He had to come back. He had to! I couldn't live without him! He was like my oxygen!

My tears mixed with the rain as they streamed down my face. I wanted him back. He had to come back. Feeling rather defeated, I looked around to find a small rocky island that was situated atop of the caverns that housed Mathias' mansion. I swam over to it and pulled myself up onto it. I just laid there on the ground, crying into my arms with my tail hanging over the edge in the stormy waters. This wasn't fair. Why did Mathias have to leave? He could have stayed. I wanted him to be here with me.

I glanced back up at the flashing sky and I called out for Mathias again. This wasn't fair! The words that I had spoken to Hanon earlier suddenly came back into my mind and they made me shudder. He's gone. There's nothing you can do. Sometimes you just need to wake up to reality. Life isn't fair. Wow. Karma just came back to kick me in the ass. It hurt like hell. I now understood Hanon's pain. I understood why she kept calling for him. Hope was all that she had. She had hope that there might be a chance, however small it was. I would really have to apologize to her tomorrow.

As another bolt of lightning cracked, I slid back into the ocean and made my way back to Mathias' mansion. It no longer felt like home there. My home left me. However, the mansion was still the place that I had been living in for quite a while now. It was just habit to go back to.

When I entered the lilac forest, I walked solemnly towards Mathias' room. Maybe there was a chance that he had come back, despite how empty the cavern felt. I made my way up the spiraling staircase and entered Mathias' room to find that it was empty. My heart felt as if it was literally aching and more tears began to stream down my face. I let myself fall onto his bed and I wrapped the blankets around me tightly. However, the fabric was nothing in comparison to Mathias' embrace.

In all honesty, I couldn't believe it. My life went from heaven to hell in a day. It was one of the worst feelings that I had ever felt in my entire life. Even worse than when I found out that Noelle had been captured. She was all that I really had left now. I had to rescue her. And soon.

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

Somehow, the night ended and I had made it through the pain. Although my non-beating heart still ached, it was easier to deal with now. I doubted that there would be any chance of me crying because I truly believed that there were no more tears left in me to cry. I simply had to face the fact that Mathias was gone. I may not ever see him again. Oh, that was a thought that made me ache terribly inside. I didn't want to accept the awful truth.

I tried to push the thoughts of Mathias out of my mind as conversation between Lucia, Rina, Hanon, Hippo and Nikora went on around me. Hippo was speaking about his past and how he was commanded by Aqua Regina to protect the key to the Panthalessa, or rather Gaito's castle, and how the key had been stolen from him.

"So, it could be that the person who took the key is from the castle. I never would've guessed that it was the Mermaid Princess from the Indian Ocean, Sara." I stated while reflecting on what was being talked about as if I had been focusing on their conversation completely.

"And not only that, Hippo is actually the legendary Hippocampus." Rina added in also.

"Yeah, it scared me." Lucia chimed in.

"Well, because the key was stolen, I couldn't turn into my Hippocampus form." Hippo explained further.

"But since the key has been returned to us," Rina began, "shouldn't we be able to lock Gaito's castle again?"

"It's no use." Hippo replied. "The power of the Panthalessa clan is too powerful. If we want to stop them, we need to revive Aqua Regina and use her power to stop them."

As Hippo explained the situation, my eyes were subtly focused on Hanon. I wasn't sure how she was taking this information especially since she had Taro taken away from her. It must've been killing her to just stand there and listen about the situation. It hurt me to even think Mathias' name so, she must've been suffering. I watched as her body became tenser until she finally decided to say something.

"Hippo, how were you so careless as to let them take the key? If you were careful and watched over the key, it wouldn't be like this now!" She yelled out before lowering to her knees and taking hold of Hippo. "The peace of the marine world wouldn't have been destroyed! If it wasn't for you, Taro would never have been taken to Gaito's castle! Hippo, give me back Taro! Give him back! Give him back!"

I watched in stunned silence as Hanon shook the small penguin as anger surged throughout her body. I completely understood how she felt. She wanted someone to blame for her sorrow. She wanted to be angry because it felt alright to be angry. The same thoughts and feeling were going on within my own body. The only difference was that I really had no one to blame. Mathias simply left.

"Hey, Hanon," Rina started gently as to try and calm the aquamarine mermaid, "even though it's like this, you can't blame it all on Hippo."

Hanon simply shook with anger before getting up and running off. She managed to let out one bitter remark. "Hippo, you're an idiot!"

I quickly ran after her. No one would make anything of it anyways. I followed Hanon out to the back of the Pearl Piari and found her screaming out loudly. With a sigh, I walked up beside her and let out a scream myself. Hanon stopped and looked at me in shock.

"Caren?"

I turned to her and smiled for the first time in a long time. "It feels good to let out some of that pent up rage, doesn't it?"

She still seemed slightly shocked. "But why do you feel you have to scream out like that?"

I grinned widely at Hanon's question. I knew exactly how to answer that one. "Because karma is a bitch and it has a terrible habit of coming back to kick you in the ass."

I watched Hanon's expression turn into utter confusion. I was slightly shocked to find Miranda off in the distance looking at me worriedly. I couldn't prevent what happened next. I laughed. I laughed like I have never laughed before. Hanon was still looking at me strangely but eventually, she began to giggle too. Miranda must've thought that we were both on crack. Then again, Hanon and I were suffering from emotional trauma and we deserved to act somewhat insane.

When I thought that I was regaining my composure, I broke out into another fit of laughter. I really couldn't stop myself. Was this the fate of vampires? To be driven insane by the trauma we go through? Well, that must've been the reason why most vampires in the movies acted kind of psychotic. I finally understood it now!

Through my giggles, I managed to get a hold myself long enough to speak. "Hanon, I must say that I am truly sorry for what I said to you yesterday. I didn't understand how painful it must've been for you to watch as the person you love was taken away. Right after I left you guys, I discovered that someone I hold very dear to me decided to leave without saying anything. Now, I may not have a chance at ever seeing him again but, I still have my sister. As long as I still have the chance at rescuing her—which I will—you definitely still have the chance to rescue your Taro."

Hanon smiled. "Thank you, Caren. You're right. There is still a chance. I guess that's all I really needed to hear."

I returned the smile before I heard Miranda ask exactly what I was doing. Hanon wouldn't have been able to hear her but I did. "Well, first thing it first, we need to find Gaito's castle. Then we can rescue Noelle and Taro. However, I've got some things to do now so, I'll catch up with you, Lucia and Rina later."

"Alright." Hanon replied softly before she snuck a glance at the ocean. "I'll see you later then."

I nodded once before walking out to the front of the Pearl Piari. I saw Miranda a few blocks away waiting for me, so I ran, at a human pace unfortunately, to go meet her. She looked at me seriously before speaking.

"Lady Caren, you almost mentioned our kind to that girl." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly to me.

"Actually, I subtly mentioned Mathias and that was it. However, speaking to Hanon has got me motivated. Where is Mathias? I'm going to look for him after I rescue my sister."

Miranda breathed in sharply as if she was lingering in indecision about telling me. "Lady Caren, it's a complicated situation."

"Complicated?" I repeated, attempting to get more information from her.

"Aye. There are many… rules among our kind and, well, Mathias decided to break one of them. It's placed you in terrible danger, love." She explained solemnly. "He left to go sort things out with his father. He doesn't want history to repeat itself."

It took me a moment to register all that Miranda was saying. Mathias left because a decision that he had made placed me in danger and he was going to sort things out with his father? I thought that his father had somehow been killed! My mind was reeling.

"B-but, isn't Mathias the king of vampires? How can that be if…" My voice trailed off leaving me still in disbelief.

"How can that be if Mathias' father is still alive?" Miranda finished for me. "Although Mathias is considered to be a king among our kind, his father has taken on a higher position. He considers himself to be a demigod that has ultimate rule over everything that goes on within our world."

I simply stared at her in disbelief as she spoke, still trying to register everything that she was saying. This was becoming so much more complicated than I originally thought. No wonder Mathias wanted to keep this from me. Still, I couldn't help but wonder why exactly I was in danger. I wasn't able to say anything before Miranda spoke again.

"Lady Caren, I want to request something of you." She said quietly.

"Sure, okay, what is it?" I replied awkwardly.

"After you rescue your sister, don't look for Mathias. I would advise going back to the Antarctic Ocean and staying there. When things have calmed down in our world, I will tell Mathias where you are and he'll come to you. Just don't go looking for him. I cannot bear to watch him suffer again if something should happen to you, love."

Miranda became silent and I knew that she would say no more. Her words terrified me. They made me want to obey her words, to follow through with what I promised to before even hearing what she would request. It reminded me that there were creatures more terrifying than what I had only seen in my nightmares long ago. It reminded me of what Mathias had told me once before. Half-vampires are frowned upon by most Night Dwellers. Because of this, I… I just want to keep you safe. I was a half-vampire and that was why I was in danger.

"If I follow through with what you said and go back to my kingdom," I started, voicing one of my worries, "how will Mathias know where to go? He only knows that my kingdom is within the Antarctic Ocean."

"He knows, Lady Caren." Miranda stated quietly. Her voice then became very quiet and I had to strain to hear what she said next. "He's been there before."