"Lucia!" "Mama!" Sakura and Kaito shouted. The mermaids fell quiet and gasped, whispering amongst themselves. A dark mist fell upon the ballroom, making all the mermaids cough.
"Everyone!" Sakura called "Evacuate the kingdom as fast as you can! Don't take anything! Just leave!" Sakura demanded. The mermaids quickly left ballroom, heading for the available exits.
"Sakura! Get out of here. I can breathe just fine, but you have to get out of here!" Kaito told her.
"Daddy! I won't leave you!" Sakura shouted, hugging him "I don't want to lose you!"
"The mist is clearing!" Hanabi gasped. The group looked around and saw a shadow figure appear in the center of the room. The figure floated towards the balcony getting closer to Sakura.
"Where is the pearl?" it questioned.
"I don't know. Lucia dropped it during the commotion. I have no clue where it is." Kaito told the shadow, holding his daughter close.
"Where is it, princess?" the shadow asked, ignoring Kaito.
"I don't know! Mama dropped it." Sakura answered.
"That's too bad. I guess that I'll just hold your wife prisoner until you find it!" the shadow declared. It summoned a dark conch and held it out for Sakura to take. "When you find the pearl blow this, and I will return your mother. I cannot guarantee that she'll be okay, but she will not die." The shadow chuckled. Sakura whimpered and hid behind her father, eyeing the conch suspiciously. The shadow placed it on the balcony railing. "I know that you will make the right choice." The shadow smirked, before disappearing.
"Sakura!" The princesses gasped quickly swimming up to the balcony. Sakura fell down, breathing heavily.
"Are you alright?" Kaito asked, leaning down next to her.
"I'm fine." Sakura nodded.
"What exactly happened?" Hinata asked, leaning next to the pink girl.
"Mama was taken…and I couldn't do a thing about it." Sakura cried, leaning onto her friends.
"It's alright." Kurenai soothed, rubbing the girl's back. "It'll be fine."
"Right now, I believe the safest thing is to pack up and go back to land." Kaito told them.
"Daddy no!" Sakura gasped "I've been waiting so long for this! I don't want to return to land! Not after what I said to my team."
"Sasuke will be mad." Temari nodded "And so will my brothers. They're probably interrogating Shikamaru."
"I can't face them again." Sakura sighed.
"Don't worry. I'm sure that they'll understand." Moegi smiled. "If they're really your friends, then they will forgive you."
"For now, we should leave, before the shadows strike again." Tenten suggested.
"Agreed." Kurenai nodded "who knows what will happen next if the shadows find us."
"Sakura, you have to calm down the mermaids and tell them to go to another kingdom. It's not safe for them to stay here."
"Why not? The shadows have already attacked, and they know what I'm feeling! Why isn't it safe?" Sakura shouted.
"Because the Arctic kingdom has been overrun by shadows" Kurenai confessed.
"What?" Hanabi asked.
"After Nixie was taken, the shadows took over while there was chaos. Without the pearl, the mermaids aren't strong enough to rebel. And anyone that tried was killed." Kaito told them.
"Daddy! How come you never told me?" Sakura asked, standing up straight.
"It was too gruesome for you to know." Neji told her.
"Who are you to decide that?" Sakura shouted. "We're not little girls that you need to protect and keep sheltered from the rest of the world. We should decide what we know or don't know! It's our decision to make, NOT YOURS!" Sakura shouted, she swam away from them.
"Sakura!" Kaito shouted, trying to grab his daughter's hand.
"No, leave her be." Kurenai told him "This is something she needs to come to terms with on her own."
"Also, we need to come to terms with this as well." Hinata confessed, before swimming away. Hanabi followed after her sister. Moegi dutifully followed Hanabi.
"Why couldn't you have told us sooner?" Tenten agreed, turning her back on the elder sea creatures.
"Tenten, wait!" Neji shouted, running after her.
"No." Tenten shook her head. "You kept this from us." The yellow princess frowned "I trusted you the most out of everyone! You lied to me about Nixie. I don't know how to feel about this right now…just leave me alone." She requested, swimming away. Neji frowned and turned back to the remaining princess. Ino had managed to go after Sakura.
"Temari? Why have you stayed?" Kaito asked.
"The indigo and purple have always had a strong bond, especially since my mother and Noel were twins. I'm very mad," Temari confessed "In fact I'm livid. But I understand your intentions. I agree with Sakura though, you shouldn't need to protect us. We can handle our own." Temari bowed and quickly swam away, going to gather her things.
"We just screwed up, didn't we?" Neji asked.
"Royally." Kaito agreed.
"Seven times." Kurenai added.