The city of Merlopia had changed quite a bit since the Ninja and Ninja Pups had first ventured into it. All the members of the Sea Team could see evidence of the Merge as they swam through the wondrous city. Just a few minutes after Kelly and Kaida had spotted the city, Nya had stopped the sub and ordered everyone aboard—all those who couldn't breathe underwater—to don the special aqua-suits Rocky had made for them. They would have to swim the rest of the way.

Both the pups who had been here before and those who had never seen Merlopia were fascinated by the changes the underwater kingdom had gone through. The city had retained its buildings made from giant seashells and its swift water currents that eased travel for its citizens. But there were several key differences between the old Merlopia and the Merlopia that they were seeing at that moment.

For one thing, it was much brighter in the city now, as Benthomaar had placed strange yet cool crystal orbs all over Merlopia. For another, there were new creatures that neither Nya nor any of the pups had ever seen before. Even though Kelly was sad that she did not have a Merpup tail, she was fascinated, nonetheless. White, pink, and blue dolphins darted through the crowds in what seemed to be a playful game of tag. Brilliantly colored tropical fish and pastel-colored seahorses swam in beautiful harmony. Sea otters of many different shades and manta rays carrying Merlopians on their backs zoomed through the currents. Sea turtles with blue-and-purple shells, manatees with silver-gray skin, and whales of all different sizes glided peacefully overhead. And as Kelly looked around her, she felt as if the sea was singing a song of welcome just for them.

Kelly had always loved music. Whenever she sang or played her panpipes, she felt so…so…well, she didn't know how to describe it. What she did know was that, for as long as she could remember, she had seemed to hear music in everything—the wind dancing through pine trees, the crackling of a cozy bonfire, the meows of cats and kittens as they prowled the streets of Imperium, even the sound of cars swooshing back and forth on the highway. To her, music seemed so…magical. It could inspire wonder, create joy, make what seemed impossible possible. Music seemed so powerful and vibrant and full of light. And yet…and yet Kelly wondered if perhaps her own music wasn't enough—as if it were meant for something even greater than she could imagine.

As Kelly thought about these things, she suddenly was startled when Zuma cried out, "Dudes, look!" Kelly glanced over at where Zuma was pointing and silently gasped. Could these be…?

"Those are not!" Tuffnut cried.

"Those are not!" Ruffnut echoed.

"They ARE!" Zuma exclaimed.

"What are?" Tuck and Ella replied simultaneously, looking frantically all around them to see what the others were talking about.

"Look!" Kelly shouted, pointing at what she saw in the distance. "Sea dragons," she continued in awe as everyone turned to look over at the majestic aquatic reptiles. The sea dragons were of all sizes, though most were medium-sized or on the small side. There were teeny-tiny blue sea dragons no bigger than one of the pup's paws, slightly longer purple and green sea dragons about Riyu's size, and medium-sized sea dragons that ran the length of the new sub. All of them had flipper-like feet to help them glide through the waters with precision and ease, as well as beautifully glistening scales that looked (and probably were) tough enough to withstand even the toughest arrows or the strongest energy blasts. As the team watched, several of the sea dragons started to swim around them in a beautiful pattern, making low moans and rumbles as they did, sounding almost like whales calling to one another. Words failed Kelly to describe the dragon's majesty and wonder. But she was even more awestruck when Gracie called out, "The dragons! They're singing!"

Tuffnut snorted and remarked, "You call that singing?" Then he let out a sharp "OW!" as Ruffnut elbowed him in the ribs. "What?" he continued. "Does that actually sound like singing to you?"

"Maybe not to you, but they are, in fact, singing." Gracie replied. "This seems to be their way of welcoming us."

"What are they singing, dude?" Zuma asked. In response, Gracie took on a look of sheer concentration, then began singing softly,

Welcome one, welcome all.
Welcome big, welcome small.
Welcome child, welcome pup,
And the hatchling you love.
Yes, we greet you today,
In our own special way.
We welcome you
To Merlopia.

Once again, Kelly was at a loss for words—not out of surprise, but because of how Gracie's song had made her emfeel/em. And judging from the looks on everyone else's faces, she wasn't the only one who felt this way. Zuma beamed with radiance. Tuck was sniffling, trying to keep from weeping with joy. Ella's eyes were filled with tears. Nya and Sora just stared at Gracie in wonder. Riyu squeaked and squealed with happiness. Kaida gazed in awe at the dragons still swirling all around the small company. The twin Riders, on the other hand, just stared openmouthed at the young Golden Pup who, apparently, could sing with sea dragons.

"No way." Tuffnut said when he finally found his voice.

"Way-out." Ruffnut agreed.

"How—how did you do that?" Sora stammered.

"Yeah," Kelly exclaimed in turn. "How do you understand their song?"

"Well, I can't exactly understand their language. That's—that's Bark's department." Gracie explained. "But part of my power does allow me to sense what they're singing about."

Before anyone could ask how that was possible, the dragons parted to allow a blue-skinned, black-haired figure with a golden jeweled collar to come swimming towards them. "Nya!" the figure cried out in joy.

"Benthomaar!" cried Nya in return, swimming over to the figure to give him a big hug. The two embraced for a moment before Benthomaar pulled away and said, "Zuma, Tuck, Ella, so good to see you again! But Nya, who is the new ninja, and these two new pups, and the baby dragon, and those two lanky land-dwellers?"

"Hey, who are you calling lanky?" Tuffnut retorted, appalled at being called a "lanky land-dweller."

Kelly's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Why would anyone insult the ruler of Merlopia like that? Especially after the welcome they'd received! Fortunately, Kaida wasn't so shaken up by the snide retort. She swam forward to Benthomaar, held out her paw for Benthomaar to shake, and said, "My name's Kaida. Don't mind Tuffnut. He and his twin sister, Ruffnut, have a bit of a tendency to fly off the handle, you might say."

At that moment, Nya found her voice again and exclaimed, "Well, apparently, you don't need that many introductions. This is Sora, Riyu, and Kelly." Sora gave a tiny wave as her name was called. Riyu let out an excited squeal. And Kelly held out her own paw just as Kaida had done, saying, "Pleasure to meet you, Benthomaar."

"As it is with you." Benthomaar replied, shaking first Kelly's paw and then Kaida's. Turning to Nya, he asked, "What are you and your team doing here? Have you come to visit Merlopia?"

Nya grimaced and said, "Not…exactly. Actually, we need your help to look for some of our friends. They've gone missing and we don't know where they are."

Benthomaar wore a face of concern. "Who exactly is missing? Is it Jay?"

Nya sighed and answered, "Well, Jay's missing, yes—but he's not one of the ones we're looking for."

"Um, dudes," Zuma piped up. "I hate to interrupt, but there's a lot of sea traffic out here. Maybe we could explain everything to Benthomaar back at the palace?"

"That's a totally pawsomely epic idea!" Ella replied.

"Yeah, what my sister said." Tuck stated.

"I would be honored to invite you to the palace so we can discuss this more in depth." Benthomaar exclaimed. "No pun intended."

"None taken." Nya replied with a slight chuckle.

Kelly was amazed. Benthomaar and Nya seemed to be really great friends—even though she had no idea how long they'd known each other for. It reminded her of her friendship with Sora, and how the two of them had had each other's backs ever since the Merge. Her thoughts were interrupted again when Benthomaar said, "Follow me. I happen to know a shortcut to the palace. Not as much traffic." With that, the team followed Benthomaar through a fairly swift current and got to the palace in less than five minutes.

If the city proper had been breathtaking, the palace was even more so. It was built from four large scallop shells all layered on top of each other, with coral shelves in between. From the bottom up, each shell was smaller than the last. The outside of the palace was decorated with rows of milky white pearls that seemed to glow in the light of the orbs planted all around the palace. As the team swam towards the palace, a gate made of two scallop shell halves swung open, and the pups, ninja, dragon, and twin Riders emerged out of a small pool. Zuma and the Mighty Twins leaped into the air, and there was a quick flash of light as they regained their Land-pup forms. Kelly and the others clambered out of the pool and almost simultaneously removed their helmets. As Kelly stood there gulping in breaths of salty sea air, she gazed all around the room. The same orbs that had illuminated the city were strategically placed in here so that not one corner of the room was dark. Wanting to get a closer look, Kelly ran up to one of the orbs and saw that there was golden light swirling inside of it. The light seemed to mesmerize her, and she extended one paw out to touch the orb.

"Um, I wouldn't do that if I were you, Kelly." a voice behind her said. She whirled around to see Benthomaar standing a few feet behind her. "Those orbs are ridiculously fragile."

"Oops, sorry, Benthomaar." Kelly apologized.

"It's okay. You didn't know." Benthomaar turned back to the others and said, "Um, before we get into details, there's someone I'd like to introduce to you." Everyone, including Kelly, stopped what they were doing, intrigued. He quickly ran off and came back a few moments later with a huge grin on his face. "Friends, I'd like you to meet—"

He broke off suddenly and looked around him, as if trying to find someone. "I'm sorry—she can be a bit shy sometimes." He then turned around and called out, "It's okay, Kelpie. You can come out—they won't bite."

From around the corner came a small purple hand. Then the teammates saw a small figure peak her head around the corner shyly. The figure looked a lot like Benthomaar, except smaller and with purple skin instead of Benthomaar's blue. The girl's hair was cut to be shoulder-length and there was a small blue barrette in it that appeared to be made of coral. Slowly, she walked over to where Benthomaar stood and tried to hide behind him, peeking just her head out. Benthomaar put an arm around her and said, "May I introduce you to my adopted sister, Kelpie. Kelpie, these are Sora, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Kelly, Kaida, Zuma, Tuck, Ella, Gracie, Riyu, and last but definitely not least, Ny—"

He was suddenly cut off by an excited squeal from Kelpie. "EEE! It's Nya! The Nya!" Kelly could not hide her surprise at that remark. This girl had just gone from acting shy to squealing with delight.

"Whoa, dude!" Zuma exclaimed. "You've heard of Nya?"

"Who hasn't heard of Nya?" Kelpie answered. "She's the one who saved Ninjago City singlehandedly with her water powers!"

Nya's mouth hung wide open, and Kelly guessed that she wasn't really sure how to handle this. From what Zuma had told Kelly, Nya hadn't exactly saved the city singlehandedly—it had been more of a group effort. But Kelly guessed that turning into a Nyad and absorbing the power of the Wave Amulet could qualify in someone's eyes as doing just that.

"Can you do the water jets?" Kelpie begged. "Oh, please, show me the water jets!"

"Um, okay." Nya said nervously, probably still unsure how to cope with this girl's excitement. She lit up her hands and blasted water into the air, being careful not to hit one of the orbs. (She hadn't forgotten the bit about them being ridiculously fragile.)

"AHHHH!" Kelpie squealed, bouncing up and down in excitement. "They're even cooler than Bentho described them!"

"Bentho?" Tuffnut exclaimed, smirking. If Benthomaar could blush, his face would have turned three shades of crimson. "Yeah, um, that's, um, Kelpie's nickname for me." he explained, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. "She says 'Benthomaar' is too much of a mouthful."

Kelly just stared openmouthed at this apparently huge fan of Nya. Kelpie's excitement reminded her of how Ranger was when he'd had too many energy drinks.

"I didn't know you had adopted a sister, Benthomaar." Nya commented, trying desperately to change the subject.

"Well, to be honest, I didn't ever think that I'd adopt anyone, let alone someone like me." Benthomaar stated. "But all that changed after the battle against the Overlord." He looked up at the ceiling, as if contemplating those horrific events.

"After I helped you rebuild your dojo, I was traveling back to Merlopia when something happened. I was just crossing through the Tartarus Trench when I nearly got run over by some sharks. They were all headed someplace, and I decided to find out what. I followed closely behind them, only to find that they were attacking a little girl, just like they had attacked me when I was just a tot. I knew I had to do something, so I attacked them with my trident. After a taste or two of my trident's power, the sharks had had enough and swam away. But I knew they'd be back, possibly in greater numbers."

"I approached the girl, but she was frightened from the attack and curled into a little ball on the sea floor, hiding her face in her knees. I put a hand on her shoulder and told her everything was going to be okay. She looked up at me and seemed to trust me, 'cause the next thing I knew, I was bringing her back to the palace. As we went, she told me her parents had gone missing just a few weeks before and she didn't know where they were."

As Benthomaar said this, Kelpie looked down at the floor in sorrow, tears filling her eyes. "That day, I told her I'd be her family—and I've never forgotten it." Benthomaar continued, putting an arm around his sister protectively. "Now I'd do anything to protect her."

"You two must be really close." Kelly commented, thinking once again about how she and Sora had been as close as two peas in a pod when the Merge hit. In fact, Kelly knew, that was the whole reason why she had been willing to go with Sora after the Merge hit. The memory flashed into her mind without warning.

Kelly raced up to Ana's room, desperate to get away from Ana's parents. They had never approved of Ana having a pet. Especially a stray from off the streets of Imperium. Kelly's throat stung as she recalled all the times they had threatened to put her back on the streets where she "belonged." So more and more she had tried to keep her distance, spending most of her time with Ana. At least she didn't care where Kelly came from or what her pedigree was.

She was about to step into the room when she heard the soft sound of sobbing. Peeking her head from around the door, she saw Ana kneeling beside her window, her face buried in her hands. Not wanting to disturb Ana, she tried to tiptoe quietly around the door. But the door's hinges squeaked, and Ana whirled around at the sudden noise. Seeing Kelly standing there, she calmed down.

Kelly knew that Ana was clearly upset over something. The two had become such good friends that they could read each other's moods as clearly as if they were reading a book. "Something's wrong—what's wrong?" Kelly asked frantically. Ana sniffed and half-sobbed the words, "It happened again. My parents just told me that I was a…a disgrace to Imperium—and to our family. They…they took my workbench."

Kelly could not believe her ears! Ana loved that workbench, almost as much as she loved Kelly—and inventing things. And instead of standing up for Ana, she had been cowering under the living room couch like the scared little street mutt she once was. She glanced over at the Dr. LaRow poster lying rolled up on the floor—right where it had been ever since Ana had torn it down. Seeing it there reminded her of the day that she and Ana had discovered what really happened to dragons who were held in LaRow's lab. Kelly's cheeks flushed as her cries and screams of protest against the scientist's actions echoed in her mind for the umpteenth time.

"Leave her alone! You can't do this! Leave Sora alone!"

Sora—the beautiful dragon that Dr. LaRow had so indifferently, cruelly trapped in her lab and drained of her power. And there had been nothing—nothing—that Kelly and Ana could do about it, except watch in horror as LaRow tried to take the dragon's power and turn Ana's creation into a…a monster.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Kelly sobbed. "I should have been here! I should have tried to do something—to stop them!" She flung herself into Ana's arms, heaving with great sobs of guilt and despair.

"It…it's okay, Kelly. It's okay." Ana said, stroking the pup's fur in a comforting gesture. "I…I just wish I was anywhere but here." At that moment, Kelly wished so too.

Suddenly the ground began to shake violently. Kelly clutched Ana even tighter, burying her face in Ana's shoulder, too scared to look at what was happening outside. The pup fought back a scream, knowing that alerting Ana's parents would only make matters ten times worse. Then something strange happened. It felt as if some sort of shockwave had swept through the area—and Kelly had felt it. As the shaking finally stopped, Kelly looked up timidly, fearful of what she would see. Ana looked up too, and the two gazed out the window at the unfamiliar city that stood off in the distance.

"What…what is that place?" Ana asked, after several awkwardly silent moments. Kelly just stared. It was like their world had suddenly been slammed up against another.

Ana stood up and looked back at the bedroom door. "I know you wish I was a dutiful Imperian, Mom and Dad."

At the sound of Ana's voice, Kelly looked up suddenly.

"But…" Ana continued. "But I'll never be the daughter you want me to be—the daughter Empress Beatrix wants me to be." With that, she snagged her black backpack and stuffed some clothes into it. Then she ran out of the room and came back with a toothbrush and toothpaste. She stuffed these too into her backpack.

"Um, what are you doing?" Kelly asked, puzzled at Ana's strange behavior.

"Running away." Ana replied, as she scurried around, gathering supplies. "I can't stay here. I have to go somewhere where people don't care about where I'm from or who I am." She flipped her backpack shut and put it on her back. As she turned to leave, Kelly ran after her.

"I'm coming with you."

"What? But Imperium's your home. You should stay here."

"And be thrown back onto the streets? No way! Besides," Kelly explained, standing next to Ana. "You're the only family I've had for a long time."

Ana's face seemed to droop with sorrow. But she finally said, "Okay. You can come too. You're my best friend—my only friend. And I would love it if you'd come with me." She turned to leave the room but then looked back again. "Oh, one more thing, Kelly."

"Yes?"

"Call me…call me Sora."

As the memory faded away again, Kelly gazed up at the girl who had given her a second chance at having a real family. They had definitely been through a lot since that day, and it had made their bond stronger in the process. But the best part, Kelly thought, was that they weren't alone anymore. They had Arin, and Kito, and Kijo, and the Ninja and Ninja Pups—all friends who were the closest thing the two had had to family for a long time. And she was eternally grateful for it—for it had made her own individual strength stronger too.

"Maybe now you could explain what's going on with your missing friends?" Benthomaar asked.

"Sure, we'd love to, dude." Zuma answered. "After all, that is why we're here."

"Could Gracie and I go exploring?" Kelly asked, eager to see more of Merlopia before leaving.

"I don't know." Nya doubted.

"I could show them around." Kelpie piped up. "I know Merlopia like the back of my hand."

"Is that okay with you, Benthomaar?" Nya asked.

"Fine by me. Just stay away from the Tartarus Trench. Don't want you to get lost in there."

"Okay!" Kelpie exclaimed before she, Kelly, and Gracie swam off to discover the wonders of the city together. Little did they know that they would discover something else—something far more sinister and dangerous.