Orca and the Coral Reef Palace residents waited up all night for Coco, but she never showed up. When Hannah explained what transpired, one of the Carribean princess' youthful handmaidens, another yellow mermaid with shoulder-length blonde hair, began to cry uncontrollably. (Seira wanted to cry, too, as she was close to Coco. Consequently, all the Aqua Senshi's nails were blue, showing their shared sorrow.)
All of Coco's servants were yellow-tailed mermaids possessing various hairstyles. The same went for the other Aqua Senshi households. Except Hannah's servants had varying shades of aqua hair color. Karen's servants had the same short, dark purple, wavy hair and tails. Meanwhile, Lina's servants had a combination of lighter and darker shades of green. Unlike other mermaids, Noel's kingdom remained the only one filled with sea creatures. It's a haven for those who are injured or sick.
The animals who serve Orca's family came from Noel's kingdom after they became healthy and strong again! As for Sara and Seira's kingdoms? All that remained of their once magnificent sovereignty were now only crumbling ruins! After Levithan's initial downfall, he attacked the empires, hoping to flush the princesses out, but they were still safely in Orca's kingdom, which is where they remained.
"Where is our princess now?!" another yellow mermaid with her wavy brown pigtails demanded.
"I'm not sure..." Hannah replied, ashamed.
"Hey, you saved yourself and Seira." Orca tried to cheer up Hannah as her Aqua Senshi attempted to console Coco's people.
"It would've been a double tragedy to lose Seira or you, Hannah. You're clever and quick-thinking enough to protect yourself and Sailor Indian," the captivating Queen Oki added. Hannah perked up slightly as it was an honor to receive praise from the queen.
With all the tears and betrayal around her (from Coco, Karen, Noel, and Lina helping sneak Seira out), Sara bolted for the door as her nails turned bright red! She would if no one were going out to find her so-called best friend! Before she could touch the handle, the doors blew open. The whole chamber fell silent in respect as the wise woman stood there! Her knowing, ocean-blue eyes pierced into Sara's amber eyes.
"Naia...I was going out to clear my head. It's getting a bit crowded in here." To her credit, Sara was correct concerning the crowded part. However, she should've known better than to try and lie to Naia.
"I know what you intended to do. I must advise you against such foolish action. You are no match for our enemy on your own." Naia grabbed Sara's arm and glided into the middle of the room.
"What do you mean, our enemy?" Queen Oki questioned the sage.
"I was alerted by a fish from the Caribbean that something occurred to the waters there. That sea, itself, spoke to me about a human man with a greedy heart trapping Coco." Naia clarified solemnly.
"Lady Naia, please, tell us, where is my daughter?!" Coco's mother sobbed. Coco's mother has the same hair color and style as Sara. Except she had a yellow bra and tail.
"Right now, she is in a run-down, misleading shack on the far side of the Crystal Sea. I wouldn't recommend anyone to go snooping up there, either. Not much open water and too many locations for a hunter to conceal themselves." Naia elaborated on what she'd been told.
"What does he want with Coco?" Lucy's face scrunched up in confusion.
Naia sighed, "When my daughter, Lani, was young, she fell in love with a young and, I admit, fetching human. She regaled him with tales of life under the sea. She shared many of our secrets I disapproved of. One story concerned an underwater city called Rush City, our El Dorado. A city sunken by a curse but glittered in the most brilliant gold. Of course, after hearing such a legend, he betrayed her heart to uncover it. The enchanted gates only prevented him from entering it, and now he knows the whistling spell to control the special mermaid's voices to unlock it."
"Special mermaids?" Noel spoke softly.
"You, Aqua Senshi," Naia replied with a heavy heart.
"I don't care what enchantment he employs! We WILL rescue Coco!" Sara declared passionately.
While the Aqua Senshi would, no doubt, agree with her, they still knew something she did not.
"One more thing, my darlings. If this man achieves becoming King of Rush City, it will be too late for you to break free. This magic is so dangerous because it brings a sense of enrapture. Past self-proclaimed Kings have been capable of creating entire harems with it." Naia finished grimly. She ultimately let go of Sara, who was too dumbfounded to move.
As the Aqua Senshi rested the next day, Sara had a horrid nightmare as her nails shined pale lilac. In a dimly lit chamber of an odd structure, an unsightly male sat in a high-backed, upholstered, decorative chair, and surrounding him were her friends. Lucy sang sweetly on his right side, and Karen did the same on his left. Hannah was hugging one of his legs as Lina was begging for attention. Finally, Noel was massaging his shoulders.
Coco is sitting on one side of his lap, and he pats his other side for Sara, which she finds her body obeying, even though her mind is screaming, 'No!' Even more terrible, she and Coco are forced to make out with him. Soldier of the Gulfs could see other mermaids swimming about and somehow knew these were all children she and her friends had been made to have with this man!
Sara jolted awake, screaming in horror! Her parents, both attractive in their own ways, rush in to comfort her.
"Someone needs to order Naia to stop telling scary stories before bed." Sara laughed nervously.
Sara's parents soothed her back to sleep. Waking up in the late evening, the girls ate supper together and considered what they could do if they could not go to the surface safely. As they were still sleepy, their nails had no color yet.
"Wait. Didn't Naia say that the monster's goal is Rush City?" Orca looked to her friends for confirmation. Lina, Karen, and Sara nodded. The others had been so preoccupied with thinking of how to rescue Coco that they had missed the information.
"If you are going to suggest we head him off at the gates, that won't work, as he won't be there without control over all of us." Karen reasoned.
"When he knows we're all there, he'll come." Orca tried to defend her plan. No matter how many holes she was left wide open.
"Who will be dumb enough to use one of us against seven of us? He can't whistle underwater, and Coco doesn't know it. How is he even going to get down here? When will he know we're there? He probably wants to target us individually anyway." Karen showed the flaws as best she could.
Not willing to waste more time on another pointless plan or risk another nightmare, Sara slipped to the surface! She found the shack by sheer luck and cautiously scrutinized her surroundings before heaving herself onto land and changing into her human form. Naia could not have been more right about the state of this shack! It looked like it should not be standing, so it must be fortified inside. Sara's amber eyes scanned for a way to sneak in, but there was not even a back door. Suddenly, she felt a cold, hard hand on her back.
"Hey!" Sara spun around, then she heard the dread of whistling!
After the first tone, Sara clamped her hands over her ears, but the young (he had to be older than he looked due to the Silver Crystal prologing his life), weathered man, smiled, "You can't keep your ears covered forever, sweetie."
Weakened but brave, Sara gave the man a cold, stern glare. She did not need to say anything; he knew why she was there. Sara gasped when this man's hand rubbed her behind, and she had to use her hands to stop him! Of course, this left her susceptible to the spell, but she did not care about decency! Before she lost consciousness, Sara's last thought was how she failed to save Coco, herself, let down Naia, and what would happen to her other friends if they could not stop him in time.
