The ocean looked still from the surface. But I knew better now.
There was something alive beneath the quiet—a pulse, a hunger, a secret too vast to name.
Isaac didn't speak as we suited up. The dive chamber buzzed softly around us, metal walls cold and humming like a heartbeat. It wasn't a typical expedition dive. This time, it wasn't sanctioned by anyone.
This was ours.
"You sure you're ready?" he asked, fitting the regulator onto my tank.
I wasn't.
But I nodded anyway.
We stepped into the chamber, sealed behind thick glass. Water flooded in like a crashing tide, and everything else—the submarine, the sky, the lies I'd lived with—fell away.
We sank into the dark.
There's something humbling about deep sea silence. It's not just quiet—it's ancient. The kind of hush that feels like the world is watching you. Judging you.
As we dropped deeper, the light disappeared completely. Only our headlamps and Isaac's faint, natural glow cut through the void.
Then—movement.
Something darted past us. Smooth. Fast.
I clutched my wrist console tighter, trying not to panic. Isaac grabbed my hand, his expression calm. He gestured ahead.
And there it was.
A chasm.
A crack in the seafloor that didn't match any of our maps. Surrounded by glowing blue coral and strange obsidian stones.
He typed into his underwater comm unit:
This is the threshold. We pass, and there's no turning back.
I hesitated.
But then I typed:
I've already passed the point of no return.
He smiled—just a flicker—and swam forward.
We crossed the threshold.
Suddenly, the water changed. Thicker. Warmer. Brighter, as if the ocean itself had opened its eyes.
And in front of us...
A city.
Not ruins. Not a hallucination.
A spiraling wonder of translucent towers and floating bioluminescent plants. Creatures I couldn't name swam past us—some curious, others wary. It looked like it had been built of moonlight and magic.
My heart ached in my chest.
This… this was where I came from?
Isaac pulled off his breathing gear and—breathed. Effortlessly.
He looked at me, a question in his eyes.
I hesitated—then pulled off mine too.
And I could breathe.
No panic. Just cool, sweet oxygen through water that wasn't really water anymore.
I was shaking. He reached out, steadying me. His hand was warm, despite the depth. He guided me toward the city's edge.
But as we neared, others came into view.
Mermen. Guard-like figures. Their eyes sharp and gleaming.
One swam forward—older, with silver-threaded hair and a deep scar down one cheek. He didn't look at Isaac.
He looked at me.
And scowled.
"Human," he said, his voice like thunder underwater. "Why have you brought her here?"
Isaac stepped in. "She's not just human, Korrin. She's Evalis's daughter."
The name stopped them cold.
Korrin's eyes narrowed. "Evalis chose exile. Her bloodline should not have returned."
"She was taken," Isaac said. "Her daughter didn't choose her blood."
The merman turned back to me. "What do you know of the artifact your father stole?"
The mention of my father was like a slap.
"What did he take?"
Korrin didn't answer.
Instead, he turned and swam toward the inner city. "If you wish answers, follow."
Isaac gave me a reassuring look. "This is just the beginning."
And together, we entered the city of the drowned truths.
End of Chapter 8