Lucia looked at Sara, then at the distant lights of the city where Kaito slept, unaware of the war beneath the tides. She took a breath and extended her hand.

For the first time, Sara’s stoic face cracked into a fragile, tearful smile. She took Lucia’s hand, and as their pearls touched, the ocean itself sang—a chord of pink and blue light exploding toward the heavens.

From the waves, a small pink dolphin-like creature named Hippo emerged, flapping his fins. “Lucia! The North Pacific kingdom reported strange tremors. Lady Aqua Regina says the Panthalassa forces are regrouping faster than expected.”

The morning sun spilled like molten gold over Panthalassa City’s coastal boardwalk, but for Lucia Nanami, the light felt hollow. One week had passed since she first heard Kaito’s song—the same melody that had rescued her seven years ago. Yet he remembered nothing. To him, she was just a clumsy girl who fell off a surfboard.

“You’re…” Lucia whispered.

Hippo peeked from behind a rock, trembling. “Lucia, be careful! The Azure princess was sealed away for a reason. Her melody is a requiem—it calls storms.”

“I know,” Lucia whispered. She clutched the pink pearl microphone hidden beneath her school uniform. “But I can’t fight alone. I need the other mermaid princesses.”