The Destruction of Kairi's Grotto

Kairi, Kaa, and Baba Looey were swimming to her secret grotto.

"Kaa, why can't you or Baba Looey just tell me what this is all about?" Kairi asked curiously.

They swam through into Kairi's grotto. The little mermaid was curious about what they wanted to show her. Whatever it was, it must have been something really fascinating!

"You'll see," Kaa said with a smile, as he led her further inside. "It's a surprise. I'm sure you'll like it. Won't she, Baba Looey?"

"*Exacto*, Kaa." Baba Looey said, as he took her by the hand and followed. "It'll be great...now close your eyes..."

"No peeking, Kairi!" said Kaa, as they led her towards the grotto.

At that moment, they were finally inside the grotto. Baba Looey said, "*Está bien*, Kairi. You can open your eyes now."

Kairi did so, and she gasped in sheer delight as she looked on in surprise when she saw....

Standing in front of her, was a statue of Ventus! The same statue she saw on his ship.

Kairi put a hand on her heart, smiled at them as she wrapped her arms around Kaa and Baba Looey and gave them a hug.

"Oh, Kaa! Baba Looey, you're the best!" she smiled. Then she swam toward the statue and examined it.

"It looks just like him," Kairi exclaimed, "It even has his eyes!" She had no idea how it got into her grotto. It must have sunken through it last night. But she didn't care; all that matters was that Kairi has something to remind her of him. Looking at the statue, Kairi had a bright smile and giggled to the statue, saying, "Why, Ventus, run away with you? This is all so...so sudden."

She sweetly giggled again, as she spun excitedly around. Kaa and Baba Looey smiled, too. They had never seen her so happy in their lives. Kairi spun around happily and then she stopped at the moment she saw her uncle in the entrance glaring at her intently, as he held his trident.

"Uncle Shen!" Kairi gasped. She tried to figure out how he had found this place, but then she spotted Jim, cowering behind a rock. He had been forced to tell the whole story about the night before…and to where he said the human boy and she would meet. It was only finding this place was of sheer coincidence. Kaa and Baba Looey, being equally scared as Jim, hid behind a treasure chest, and peeked over it to see what would happen.

Shen took a deep breath through his nostrils. "I consider myself a reasonable mer-peacock." he said. He then moved out of the shadows and towards his niece, glaring at her, adding, "I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed!"

Kairi looked a little terrified at seeing her uncle this angry. She knew that reasoning with him now would not work, but she tried to, saying, "But Uncle Shen, I-"

"Is it true you rescued a human from drowning?" Shen demanded.

Kairi pleaded with her uncle on that, saying, "Uncle Shen, I had to."

"Contact between the human world and the mer-world is strictly forbidden." Shen scolded. He then looked at Kairi with a uncle-like/serious look on his face, yelling, "Kairi, you know that! Everyone knows that!"

Ten years ago, his beloved wife, Queen Babs, was killed by a pirate ship. If Kairi were to encounter the same fate, he did not know what to do!

Then Kairi finally spoke up as she pleaded with her uncle, protesting, "He would have died."

She couldn't believe her uncle could act so cold! Why couldn't he understand that she loved Ventus?

But Shen couldn't care less as he bitterly shouted while turning his back to his niece, "One less human to worry about!" And he flinged his hand carelessly.

That seemed to make Kairi angry; as always, her uncle judged a human before he even knew what they were like. She then snapped at him, "You don't even know him!"

Her uncle wasn't there to see Ventus, but he turned around, showing a raised eyebrow as he bitterly questioned and snapped back, "Know him? I don't have to *know* him; they're all the same!"

Kairi swam next to Ventus' side of the five-figure statue, hiding behind his back as Shen described humans, including Ventus, with much venom and distaste in his voice, shouting out, "Spineless, savage, harpooning, fish-eaters, incapable of any feeling-"

It was at that moment, with tears in her eyes, Kairi couldn't stand hearing this anymore. With all her courage, she shouted with much truth and commitment in her voice, as if it never left the cave, "UNCLE SHEN, I LOVE HIM!!!!"

She gasped as she realized she had let that slip out She shrank behind the statue, covering her mouth. Jim covered his head with his wings as he hid, as did Kaa and Baba Looey, all knowing what would happen next.

Shen's eyes grew wide with shock. He was speechless and still angry, as he only uttered out, "No!" His shock turned to anger at this insanity…this absurd infatuation. He then growled as he looked at his niece, as if she had lost her mind, "Have you lost your senses completely? He's a human, you're a mermaid!"

Kairi hid behind the statue's backside as she held on to the shoulders. She had heard what her uncle had said, but then she remembered what Ventus had said to her. He had told her that he liked her for who he was, and that maybe her uncle was wrong about both Humans and Merpeople not getting along. However, she replied in a crackly voice, showing she was on the verge of crying, though she remained firm on what she had said and what she thought now.

"I don't care!" Kairi shouted.

Shen growled as his grip on his trident grew tighter. He looked at Kairi with much fury in his eyes, and he held his trident high in the air as it glowed a dark yellow color with powerful and destructive energy.

"So help me, Kairi, I am going to get through to you!" Shen snarled coldly, "And if this is the only way, so be it!"

The trident pulsated with red electrical energy, as Shen pointed at the treasure trove. The first shot was sent to a globe, destroying it into a million pieces. Then, he destroyed a candleholder holding a dinglehopper and other utensils. Kairi looked in shock as he shot at another shelf, destroying the paintings that she, Kaa, and Baba Looey collected from that giant ship in the Atlantic. She tried to reason with her uncle.

"Uncle Shen!" Kairi begged.

But her uncle would listen as he destroyed the next items, leaving no trace as Kairi continued to plead, "No! No, please!"

He destroyed more and more, with Jim, Kaa, and Baba Looey, but mostly Kairi watching helpless as she tried to plead to him even more. She couldn't take it anymore as she swam up to him and pleaded, "Uncle Shen, stop! Uncle Shen, stop it!"

But she saw that he still wouldn't listen to her. But he then saw that his attention was drawn to something else. She looked to where her uncle was looking and saw the statue of Ventus. She then realized that was what her uncle was about to destroy next, but that wasn't what shocked her the most. She couldn't let that get destroyed, so she turned towards her uncle as she pleaded one more time, "Uncle Shen, nooo!!"

But it went unheard as Shen shot at the statue. Kairi shielded her eyes as the statue exploded with tremendous light and energy.

She was able to unshield her eyes as she looked to where the statue was, now reduced to a thousand shattered and smoldering pieces.

She crashed to the ground, got on her tail knees, covered her face, and started to cry.

Shen was about to say something to his niece, but then his rage all disappeared. His once enraged face turned to sadness and guilt as the realization of what he had just done. Unable to think of anything else to say to her in order to apologize, he swam away, leaving her to cry.

Kaa, Baba Looey, and Jim came out of their hiding spots as they saw Shen leave the cave. The two then turned their attention to Kairi, who was still weeping.

Jim could only blame himself for leaking the secret out. So he scuttled over to her as he tried to apologize to her, saying, "Kairi, I . . ."

"Just go away." Kairi sobbed. She wanted to be alone.

Jim felt very depressed. He, Kaa, and Baba Looey sadly walked out of the grotto. Kairi continued weeping. Her human collection, especially the statue, was so important to her! It meant the world to her! And her uncle had to destroy them! He also broke something else. He broke Kairi's heart and her spirit! Will they be repaired? Kairi didn't know.

As three left, two more appeared. Foxy Loxy and Lumpjaw were glancing back and forth between them and the sobbing princess in the room, both thinking the same thought. Too easy.