They continued dining, unaware that something ancient and seductive was already on its way.
The floating sea-table shimmered gently under magical lights as courses arrived one after the other—crystal shrimp in salted honey glaze, pearl-powder rice folded with jellyfin threads, and an airy seafoam wine that danced across the tongue. It was a feast made for celestial kings, and for a rare moment, all five of them—Asher, Valeris, Freya, Catherine and Veyra—were simply people at peace.
Valeris sipped her wine with eyes half-lidded, enjoying the salt-sweet finish. Veyra was nibbling a delicate sea-cake, her legs curled beneath her as her gaze lazily followed a school of translucent blade-fish passing just below. Asher, relaxed between them, looked up at the endless velvet sky.
None of them noticed the faint shimmer far beneath their feet.
From the abyss below, she rose.
Marina.
