Led by Karen, the mermaids traversed the Mediterranean. Other than seeing some species of marine life, such as monk seals, whales, dolphins, and harbor porpoises, nothing interesting happened until they stopped to take a break near Naples. Though exhausted, they were overjoyed and shocked to hear a familiar, mocking female voice call out to them, "Bonjour!"
"That's French. Ciao is Italian." Another female with a strong voice spoke.
"That's why she failed Spanish AND Latin." This girl's beautiful and loving voice giggled.
"Who cares about learning a different language anyway?!" This mocking voice turned slightly heated.
Turning around, the mermaid princesses saw the Neo- and Dark Senshi! Each girl had an elegant hairstyle and well-fit, dull-colored, leather, and expensive clothes with accessories to make them stand out as an individual. They are trying to blend in.
"What are you girls doing here?!" Orca exclaimed happily.
"What are you wearing?" Coco scrutinized them.
"How did you even get here?!" Hannah asked, bewildered.
"We came to help rescue Alexis and Seira too. We used Sailor Teleport. Crystal thought going a little incognito would be a good idea." Chibiusa explained.
"I hate to burst your bubble, but incognito isn't going to work in this situation, as we have to ride these turtles into an underwater gateway to get to Sirenum Scopuli," Sara informed them.
"Still, that sounds fun," Crystal said without really thinking of how that could not be so simple because it is a security measure.
"Even if water is your element, Crystal, this gateway forcefully blows out any living creature that gets close. Only leatherbacks have been known to be able to get through." Lucy pointed out.
"Why can't things ever be simple?" Shadow groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead.
"Because that would be no fun." Dawn put a reassuring hand on her twin's shoulder.
"Define "fun"." Princess of Mars air-quoted the word 'fun.'
"Sorry about your new outfits; you should shed them before turning into mermaids." Princess of the Crystal Sea made room for the land Senshi to dive into the water.
Though most of the girls did not look pleased, as they had not had time to enjoy their new look, they knew they could not assist if they could not get to the island.
"Being a mermaid isn't so bad." Princess of the Caribbean swam around her, now mermaid, allies.
"We never said it was." Their Moon Princess pointed out.
"I don't mind it!" Minako's redheaded daughter commented happily as she splashed about.
"Neither do I." Ami's offspring agreed.
Jupiter's beautiful girl waited for Mars's kid to say something, but her attention was on a wistful-looking Holly.
"Alexis always loved this..." Holly's green eyes teared slightly as her other Outer Senshi teammates embraced her.
"Let's get to finding her then!" Mars's guardian snapped, dragging Uranus's child out of her solemness.
Jewel, who sometimes compared Christen to her mother, noticed the dark girl's recent commitment and wanted to ask why she was acting so dedicated to this rescue mission, but she did not quite know how to word the question. Sadly, Christen's good attitude diminished as they approached the depths of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and an odd sound reached their ears!
"LOOK!" Orca pointed to what they believed to be the bottom of the sea.
Beneath them is a delicately carved, decorative, significant, pitch-black void, sucking in water but none of the ocean life!
"Come on! You're telling me NO ONE discovered this before?! My extension of disbelief can only be stretched so far!" Christen raged.
"Maybe the sirens made it invisible to humans without powers?" Ivy ventured a guess.
"Hopefully, we'll find the answers on the other side. Grab a turtle." Star ordered.
In groups of three, the leatherbacks swam the girls through a high-speed torrent to the most beautiful beach they had ever seen: White sand, crystal clear water, hot sun, and misty, sky-high mountain peaks! Something about the sand unsettled Emily and Trisha, but they were more concerned about finding their missing friends.
"Why do the sirens want the Coral Reef Palace? They've got their paradise right here!" Christen ranted.
"Let's try to find Alexis and Seira without getting caught." Ariel hissed at Rei's child.
Crawling onto shore, the girls turned into humans. Thankfully, regular clothes were provided. As usual, starting the climb was easy, but it quickly got more treacherous! However, they did not have to scale much when they heard the turtles thrashing about in the water and panicked! Turning, they saw three sirens, the identical twins, Harmony and Destiny with Lily, tormenting the animals.
"Mist Spray!" Thinking it would be best to cloak themselves and the turtles from view, Mercury's guardian had them all covered!
Unfortunately, this display meant the sirens now knew the Senshi were here! Altogether, the sirens dived into the mist to overwhelm the girls! In the blinding confusion, Sara screamed as she backed straight off the cliff! Holly made to grab her, but she slipped, too! Sara and Holly guessed they would land in the sand but did not even hit the ground; they were rocketing up!
"Am I losing my mind?" Uranus's kid thought out loud.
"If you are, so am I." Princess of the Gulf looked as bewildered as Uranus's defender felt.
Looking up, they are stunned to see two wild-haired, muscular, tanned men, each one carrying one of them in their arms! They wore only black, studded scarves, sleeveless tops, fingerless gloves, and pants. They bore red war paint over the eyes, and their wings resembled the sirens, but that is the only similarity. Once they reach the mountaintop, the girls are carelessly tossed to the ground, knocking them out!
