Leviathan, seated with regal stillness among her merfolk, finally broke her silence.
"So," she said calmly, eyes never leaving Kraken, "this is where you ran off to."
Kraken's lips curled into a sharp grin. "Still breathing under all that pressure, sister?"
Leviathan's gaze flicked briefly to the empty imperial seat. "Barely. This place bends reality in… unpleasant ways."
A few seats away, Queen Ashtora's psychic spikes vibrated faintly, reacting to something unseen. Urrandel's calm expression tightened, his eyes lifting toward the ceiling as if listening to a frequency no one else could hear.
"This hall is layered," he said quietly. "Not spatially. Causally."
That earned him attention.
"Explain," Jerry said flatly, already calculating threats.
"Something has been anchored here," Urrandel continued. "Not a weapon. Not a barrier. A decision. One that hasn't been made yet."
That sent a chill through several kings.
Then...
The music faltered.
