It had been months after their final battle against Michel. Everything should've been back to normal.
So why did Lucia feel as thought something was wrong in her life?
She didn't dare bring it up with anyone else, even as she continued on to school with her friends. Even as she continued her romance with Kaito...
Yes! How could anything be wrong when she was finally with Kaito? He finally knew who she was, and he loved her for everything she was; a mermaid, a princess, and one of the saviors of the undersea world. The seven undersea kingdoms had her, Hanon, and Rina to thank for bringing the kingdoms' princesses and saving them twice by now, from both Gaito and Michel. And Seira, the new Indian Ocean princess, also had to thank Lucia for saving her from Michel's evil grasp before she even had the chance to be born.
So why did Lucia feel this sense of disturbance far darker and deeper than the abyss Gaito used to lurk in?
"What's wrong, miss Lucia?" Hippo gazed at her worriedly as they stood within the Pearl Piari's laundry room folding bed sheets. He had switched to his human form to assist Lucia since Nikola and the other girls were out running errands, but now he could see that the young princess he was serving under was far more distracted than he usually knew her to be. "You don't look so well."
"Wha?" Lucia snapped out of her haze and looked back at Hippo, who held a sheet tightly in his small hands. She wasn't paying attention to what she was doing and had let a sheet fall out of her hands onto the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry! I was just thinking about things, that's all.."
"Well, I guess that makes sense. After what we talked about the other night, I can understand why you might be distracted.." Truth be told, Hippo should've known better. Two nights ago, Nikola had gathered the girls together for a meeting once the hotel was cleaned up. They figured it was just a run-down of how the hotel's business was going. But they were shocked to learn that since the kingdoms were all in functioning order, they were now asking that the princesses return home so that they could begin their duties again as royalty. This meant that soon they would no longer be going to school, or helping out in the hotel, or getting to visit the city and go shopping like they did on the weekend.
It meant they would have to leave the boys they had fallen for.
It meant leaving Kaito behind.
The girls were heartbroken knowing that they wouldn't see their boyfriends again, but Hippo made it very clear that when they had free time to themselves, it could be possible that they could come back and visit. But he also made it very clear that he wasn't so sure about having the boys come visit them; a hint that felt, at least to Lucia, was directly aimed at her and Kaito.
Kaito, as the girls eventually found out while fighting against Gaito, was part of the Panthalassa clan, another underwater race that fought to control the seas long ago. He was also Gaito's twin brother, separated at birth to prevent their powers from combining and devastating the seas. This led to Kaito being adopted by a human couple, who would eventually lose their lives on a ship wrecked during a major storm caused by the great despair and heartache felt by the late Indian Ocean princess Sara. This, of course, was the entire crux of Lucia's first meeting with young Kaito, whose life she had saved all those years ago. Kaito didn't know of his heritage until fairly recently, and even though he was kin to the man that threatened Lucia and the others, he never once used or wanted to use his clan powers willingly to do any wrong to anyone under the sea and above on land. And Hippo was well aware of that, as he told Nikola later on, and he was glad that Kaito was accepting of his heritage and his brother's many wrong-doings, and of Lucia's heritage as well. But still, he stressed, he wasn't so sure of how the kingdoms would react to the idea that there was still living members of the Panthalassa clan, so he made it known to Lucia that the time she spent with Kaito once she returned home would only be on land where he would be safer.
And even then, he told the young girl, it would still be very limited time since she had duties to perform back home, some of them being of very high importance. There was a rumor spreading throughout the seas that Aqua Regina would be bringing forth a successor soon, and each of the mermaid princesses had to be present at their kingdoms in the possibility that they were selected. The goddess was often selected out of one kingdom twice, and the previous goddess was supposedly selected from the North Pacific Ocean – Lucia's kingdom.
Lucia hated it, of course. Everything was going so well for her now that the seas were at peace, and now she had to leave! She understood that there was a chance she'd be selected as the successor, but deep down she had hoped that she would be able to live out a good long life with Kaito. But now…
"Miss Lucia," Hippo started. He didn't want to spoil her fun on land; he knew how much she enjoyed being part of a new world, even if it had been for the future good of the undersea kingdoms. "I know how you must be feeling about everything… But it's what has to be done. You know the kingdom can't run without you!"
Lucia's throat stung as she tried to hold back tears. "… I know that… But it's just so..." Her hands gripped tightly the sheet she had picked back up, and she held it close to her chest. Her heart pounded furiously at the thought of leaving this life behind. "It seems so unfair… It's the best for everyone, so why does it have to be so unfair?!"
Hippo bowed his head, eventually dropping the sheet he had been working on, and walked to the young girl, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as the gates holding her emotions together fell apart. Her tears cascaded down her face as she began to moan and sob, the dread in her mind just being so much to bear that she had no choice but to let it all go. The young princess cried that night, knowing that in due time, she would no longer be able to call the world above her home.