Of course, the Siren brothers are not stupid; Adam stayed behind to set up the weddings for him and his brothers to marry the mermaids. Noel and Karen are getting to know Tristan and another brother, Gabriel. Both stayed behind to guard their brides-to-be, ensuring they did not try to escape. Karen did not like Gabriel as he seemed to think...well...
"Do not fret, O fair maiden! I will protect you!" Gabriel acted like some big hero, though he looked too old for heroics.
"Thanks, but no thanks, old-timer. I'm a loner and can defend myself...and Noel." Karen did not need to be shielded.
"Old-timer?! I was saving ravishing young ladies before you were born!" Gabriel's dark blue eyes flashed angrily as he stomped away.
"You hurt his feelings," Noel whined, her voice full of pity.
"He's just touchy." Princess of the Mediterranean did not know why Gabriel got so heated over some simple banter.
"You just hurt his pride. He'll be back." Adam laughed at how childish his brother could be, considering Gabriel is supposed to be the oldest.
"Oh, joy..." This purple-clothed woman rolled her eyes.
Looking over, she smiled when Tristan presented Noel with a bouquet of assorted, blue-shaded flowers. To Karen, flowers are a cliché romance gift, but her adopted sister seemed to like Tristan, so Karen did not say anything against him.
"Though these flowers represent unreachable beauty, you are more beautiful than any of them." Tristan kisses the Arctic Princess's right hand, making her blush.
"Thank you," Noel spoke softly, her navy eyes shining.
Honestly, Tristan looked as lovely as his manners: Neatly trimmed brown hair, mustache, and beard with ice-blue eyes. For her part, Sara remained dedicated to pretending she loved Adam, but the 'sisters' knew she did not, as they had grown up around the mature orange mermaid and knew her well enough.
Lina and Coco had yet to awaken, so whoever they were forced to marry had left for the fight. Thinking, Princess of the Gulf wondered if Noel could use her looks and charm to get Tristan to give them their pearls back, but right now, that was too risky, and she did notice that the navy-haired young woman's interaction seemed genuinely loving!
"Yo, Romeo! Mind helping me with this?" Adam teased his brother to get his attention and assist him in erecting a flowering garden archway so that he and his brothers could get hitched to the mermaids.
"Be right back..." Tristan kissed Noel on the cheek, making her blush crimson, and then he rushed to join Adam.
Grinning playfully, Karen took the opportunity to fluster Noel a bit by wrapping her arms around her and chirping, "Aw, is my sister in love?!"
"Karen!" Noel giggled, trying to hide her reddened face and wistful smile.
"Noel..." Solemly, Sara approached the 'siblings' and stated quietly, "you mustn't get attached to Tristan. He is one of them, and our kingdoms and people are in danger."
"I know, but Tristan is so..." Noel tried to think of the right word to describe the young man.
"Handsome? " Karen offered her suggestion, still teasing her 'twin' a bit.
"Nice. Tristan is nice." Noel gave Karen a look that said, 'Stop teasing me!'
This is her way because she is determined to do what she believes is right; no matter what, Sara refuses to listen.
"Sara, while I don't disagree with you, Noel is old enough to make her own decisions." As the more defensive one, Karen stuck up for Noel.
"There is no decision to be made; those are the facts. Noel needs to make the right, wise choice." Sara replied heatedly and walked away to cool off; she hated it when others let their feelings cloud their ability to see the bigger picture.
Deep down, Karen knew Sara was right, but did she have to shatter her tender sister's heart like that?! Deciding the more pressing matter is her friends, Karen distracted Noel by urging her to help bring Lina and Coco around. Thankfully, this stopped Noel's tears, and she roused her two friends gently. Lina moaned, holding her pounding head.
"Karen! Noel! Are you OK?!" Coco grabbed Noel's arms and shook her, still kneeling.
"If you keep doing that, she might not be." Karen calmed the blond as Noel had Lina lay her head in her lap.
Besides her teammates and other sea creatures, Noel is close friends with Lina.
"Sorry, I'm relieved you both are still alive. Where's Seira?" Princess of the Carribean looked around but could not see their shortest fellow princess.
"She's safe in a cave with the other captured Neo-Sailor Senshi." Sara chimed in when she heard her best friend's voice.
Finally, Coco leaped to her feet and barreled into Sara, hugging her.
"Coco, don't freak out, but yours and Lina's..." Karen taps her neck to show Coco that her seashell necklace is missing.
Coco looked around and noticed her teammates missing theirs, too! With her mouth slightly open in shock, the yellow princess rubbed around her neck and felt nothing!
"Where are our pearls?" Coco asked, her throat dry as she feared losing her pearl for good.
"In the siren's nests," Sara replied.
"Did anyone try getting them back?" Lina groaned as she sat up; while the soreness had gone, the dull ache of her throbbing head was still present.
"Alexis informed me earlier that Seira attempted to retrieve them when they first arrived here but were attacked, even when they bravely tried to fight back." Sara divulged how well the sirens could combat the Senshi team's powers!
Coco chuckled, "Lucky for you, I'm adept at being spontaneous."
"You're about as spontaneous as dry sand!" Karen clapped back, but this was meant to be a joke.
"Spontaneity isn't going to work here. We've got to use our wit to beat them." Sara shook her head, half-sad and half-annoyed, because she could not think of how to use their wit exactly to outsmart them.
"If they know us too well, we'll need the land Senshi," Noel whispered.
"I hope they are still in one piece..." Karen's green eyes shifted to the cliff edge, where they could hear the sounds of the attacks. However, they were too high to hear or see what anyone said.
On the cliff ledge...
"HELL'S FIRESTORM WAR!" As is in character for Neo-Super Sailor Mars, she is too angry, annoyed, and displeased at these jerks, who do not seem to get the message that Senshi never gives in!
So, she screams in outrage, blueish-white flames spew from her mouth, and the rest of her group is left to duck as a blistering wave of heat spreads outwards from the young lady's body! After Mars screaming died down, everyone noticed it worked: The Sirens brothers had retreated! At least, that is what the girls HOPE they did because the alternative is they would have been cooked alive!
Despite her arrogance and ignorance, Mars is not weak when it comes to the battlefield...which, being Senshi, matters a bit more than it would for an average person. Crawling over the last part of the mountain, the girls made it to the top and rejoiced to see the other Aqua Senshi safe!
Alarmingly, the female sirens came out of the gigantic nests scattered about, and they joined their brothers! Around the siren's necks are the stolen Senshi's pendants and Aqua Senshi's pearls!
"We gave you so many chances to comply, but you humans and mermaids just don't take a hint! So, now, we have to do things the hard way!" Lily, who the Senshi compared to Neo-Super Sailor Mars and Sailor Atlantic's attitude, snarled.
"Although I just climbed a murderous mountain, I'm up for playing some hardball!" Mars cracked her knuckles, causing flames to pop out with every snap.
Though the other Senshi made no reply, they posed to fight to the death as well. Except for Seira, her amber eyes are trained like a male siren about her age. No one had seen him in the previous battles.
"Daniel?" Seira asked as she could not believe her old friend lived here!
"Seira!" With blond hair and blue eyes, Daniel jumped to his feet to fist-bump Seira.
"Seira, you know this boy?" Sailor Amphirite demanded an answer.
"We used to play together on land when I was little, but then my princess and Senshi duties caused me to be unable to meet with him anymore..." Seira explained in a downhearted tone that she had missed her cool friend.
"This is ridiculous! So far, Karen seems to be the only other woman here who has her head screwed on straight! Noel is in love with Tristan, and you're friends with another one!" Sara exploded under stress.
Noel blushed, though she did not attempt to hide it this time as she tried to warn Sara with a stare that she had just blown her cover!
"I thought you were OK with marrying me?" Adam glared at Sara, hurt and anger evident in his eyes.
"I only agreed to this to get my allies and me transforming items back!" Sara argued.
"Well, you aren't getting them." Harmony cackled.
"Why do we always have to do things the hard way?" Neo-Eternal Sailor Moon sighed.
"This is a bit more high stakes than usual; our tools allow us to fight effectively. If we lose them forever..." Holly trailed off, knowing she did not need to explain the severe consequences if they could not return their items.
"No! We will get them back!" Amphitrite drew her Crystal Trident, and the Aqua Senshi followed suit. Even if they could not transform, they could still use their weapons as usual.
This battle is intense as the Neo-Super Sailor Senshi tries to equip their Eternal attacks with the Aqua Senshi's weapons, but because they are still only in Super form, it does not work. On top of that, the sirens protected themselves by using the pendants and pearls!
Unnoticed by everyone, Mars slipped into hiding beside one of the nests and managed to reach Luna on her communicator; she just had a brilliant idea on how to figure out how to defeat these avian freaks!
"Christen...?" Luna tried to strengthen the transmission as the image of Mars's face was fuzzy, but the sound was clear enough.
"Luna, this is urgent: I need you to go to my room and find a book on sirens. Report to me whatever you find out. Keep this link open." Mars commanded as she prayed this idea worked.
Shocked that Rei's kid had never contacted her before and concerned for the girl's safety, the black cat streaked off and returned in human form with a book in her arms. Mars always admired Luna's human form, especially the black hair. Luna riffled through the pages, her now blue eyes darting about, distressed. Mars's heartbeat increased as each worn page was turned: There had to be something, anything!
Luna sighed, "As far as I can tell, it says, 'Sirens can be harmed with normal weapons, but the only way to kill them is to use powerful magic,' but it doesn't even specify what kind of magic."
"I already have a plan; I'm just making sure it makes sense. Thanks, Luna." The Mars defender ended the communication and pulled Amphirite, Moon, and Super Sailor Universe down to where she hid without the enemy noticing.
"Christen, we are kind of busy...!" Universe hissed.
Mars rolled her dark eyes and informed, mockingly tilting her head at every word, "I know how to defeat the sirens."
"The best news I've heard in a while! How?" Neo-Eternal Sailor Moon asked eagerly.
"Chibiusa, Jewel, you must combine your energy with Orca's Crystal Trident. We can use it to keep the sirens and their brothers away as we take back our items and leave." Mars surmised this would be enough power to even the playing field.
Without any other option, Moon and Universe concentrated, their marks lit up, and they poured all the power they could spare into the trident. This caused their Senshi outfits to flicker but did not fade completely. Amphitrite held aloft her weapon as it glowed gold and black!
Mighty energy waves flowed from the trident, hitting the sirens and their brothers! As the sirens fell, the girls mobbed them to get their tools back.
"Dark Kingdom Senshi, cover us!" Universe commanded, and the small army retreated down the mountain, this time with their transforming tools hidden under their clothes.
Thankfully, the Leatherback Turtles are waiting right above the gateways current! However, as the girls were pulled toward the opening, Trisha hung back, transformed, and (thanks to the magic of the Aqua Senshi's pearls) spoke underwater.
"Alternate Reality Trap!" Neo-Super Sailor Pluto began closing off Sirenum Scopuli...and her with it!
Luckily, one of the turtles clamped onto one of her shoulder pads and pulled her out! Hurriedly, they headed into the gateway as Pluto's attack was completed! Once the Senshi returned to the Coral Reef Palace, the Queen of the Crystal Sea could not contain her emotions!
"Orca, my darling daughter, thank the Moon and Sea, you're OK!" Oki hugs her daughter, relieved she is safe. Then, she begins scolding for disobeying a direct order, "You worried me sick! I gave you strict orders to stay inside the palace! I'm equally displeased the Aqua Senshi didn't stop you!" Now, she turned to the land Senshi, "I'm glad to see you girls are unharmed and am grateful you put yourselves on a dangerous path for my daughter and her soldiers."
"If we keep doing things like this, we might not be around much longer. Those sirens would kill us outright, and no one would know unless someone else used the gateway, and who knows how long that would be!" Mars, now back in the form of Christen, exclaimed.
"I would shock you, but you make a valid point," Ariel commented.
"You won't have to worry about those creatures again, Your Highness; I sealed off their island from our dimension," Trisha informed.
"You could have done that at any point previously, but better late than never." Christen shrugged but yelped when Ariel slapped her with her mermaid tail for being rude.
"Thank you, Princess of Pluto. You may have single-handedly saved my life and the other Crystal Seas allies." This blonde Queen bowed.
Trisha beamed, as it was a pleasure to receive such praise when she felt her power was limited. After honoring the land Senshi with a feast, which Noel and Seira had not attended, the human girls went home.
Karen and Sara took it upon themselves to check on their friends; they had lied about not attending the feast because they did not feel well, but the other girls could tell they were upset.
Noel solemnly tended to the sick animals in the Arctic Kingdom until Karen called down to her. Noel swam up and hugged her 'sister,' sobbing, "K-K-Karen, I cannot believe I left Tristan without so much as a 'Goodbye!'"
"You loved him, huh?" Karen asked, to which her 'twin' nodded with tear-filled navy-colored eyes.
Not knowing what else to say, Karen just cuddled with her teammate.
In the Indian Ocean, Sara found Seira sitting on a rock on shore above the ruins of her kingdom! Seira was gazing into the starry night sky, yet you could tell by the wet tracks on her face that she had been crying too and still was, but silently. Sara climbed up behind her and embraced her securely as Seira began bawling.
"I miss Daniel!" Seira cried woefully.
"I know." That was all Sara could reply with to comfort her look-alike.
While sealing off the sirens and their brothers had been the best decision, Orca felt dismayed when she learned how distraught Noel and Seira were. Yet why did she think they had not seen the last of those creatures?
The End