Cold seeped into my bones before consciousness returned. The deck beneath me groaned like something alive, and lanterns swayed with an orange glow that made every shadow look hungry. When my eyes opened, a circle of silhouettes stood around me—silent, tense, armed.
Paul Phoenix stepped forward first. His boots struck the wood with a warning. "You fell out of the sky… straight into the ocean. No normal man survives that. So tell me—who are you?"
His voice carried command. And threat.
I pushed myself upright. "Phoenix. Nothing more."
Nezuka's dark laugh cut the air. "No one drops from the heavens without secrets." Her eyes scanned me with surgical precision. "And you're full of them."
"I don't remember the fall," I answered, steady but distant. "Just the cold."
Rinnegan crouched beside me, gaze sharp and unblinking. "No bruises. No broken bones. A man should die from that height. You didn't."
Ayesha watched quietly from behind her father, while Kami lingered near the mast, whispering, "Is he… dangerous?"
"Only tired," I said.
Paul's hand touched his sword. "Lie again, and the sea will take you back."
Lanternlight flickered. Shadows stretched toward me.
I kept my truth buried. Let them fear the unknown—because the real danger was far darker than they imagined.