The full moon's light fractured over the lighthouse's shattered windows, casting jagged shadows that looked like cracks in reality. I pressed my forehead against the cold stone, the bead in my chest pulsing in time with the distant roar of the sea. The blue veins on my arm glowed brighter, branching across my skin like rivers of starlight.
"You're burning up," Lila said, her voice trembling. She pressed a damp cloth to my forehead, but it evaporated instantly, the steam hissing against my porcelain-like skin.
I managed a weak smile. "It's not fever. It's… her."
The sea surged, a wall of water rising beyond the cliffs, its surface rippling with a thousand bone china eyes. The bead in my chest flared, and I felt the Deep's presence—closer now, hungrier, its consciousness merging with mine.
"Join us," a chorus of voices whispered, coming from everywhere and nowhere. "Become the throne."
Lila grabbed my hand, her grip firm. "Fight it. You're not just a vessel."
I nodded, but the pull was overwhelming. The world around me began to dissolve, replaced by a vision of the Deep's throne room—a vast, submerged chamber where the first keeper's skeleton sat atop a throne of bone china, his ribs fused with the Conch's core.
The skeleton's jaw moved, its voice echoing in my mind: "You're already one of us. Embrace it."
I closed my eyes, focusing on the bead.
The vision shattered, and I opened my eyes to find Lila staring at me, tears streaming down her face. "You're turning," she said, her voice barely audible. "Your skin… it's porcelain."
I looked down. My arm was now fully covered in smooth, white porcelain, the blue veins glowing beneath the surface. The scales on my collarbone had spread to my neck, their edges sharp as knives.
"The key," I said, my voice hollow. "We need to find the key."
Lila helped me to my feet, her hands shaking. "What key?"
"The one to the Deep's throne," I said, my vision blurring. "It's in the first keeper's diary. I saw it in a vision."
We stumbled through the lighthouse's ruins, the floor shaking with each surge of the sea. The diary lay on the floor, its pages glowing faintly, the ink now liquid silver.
"The key is in the porcelain," I read, my voice trembling. "Break it to save us."
Lila grabbed a bone china shard from the floor. "Like this?"
I nodded. "But not just any shard. The one from the first keeper's urn."
The urn sat in the corner, its surface cracked, the last of the first keeper's remains scattered inside. I reached in, my porcelain hand closing around a jagged shard.
The shard glowed brighter, merging with the bead in my chest.
The world dissolved again, and I found myself in the throne room, the first keeper's skeleton now standing before me, its hand outstretched.
"Take it," it said, its voice a whisper in the current. "Become the bridge."
I hesitated, then took the key—a bone china key, etched with a spiral that matched the bead.
The skeleton smiled, then dissolved into tendrils, wrapping around me.
I opened my eyes.
I stood on the beach, the full moon directly overhead. The sea was calm, its surface reflecting the moon's light. Lila stood next to me, her eyes wide.
"Did it work?" she asked.
I nodded, the key glowing in my hand. "The Deep is… balanced. It's part of me now, and I'm part of it."
Lila smiled faintly. "What now?"
I looked at the key, then at the sea. "Now, we rebuild."
But as we turned to leave, the ground shook, and a fissure opened at my feet, oozing red fluid. The bead in my chest pulsed, and I felt the Deep's presence—weaker, but still there.
"Not yet," I said, staring at the fissure. "It's still here."
Lila took my hand, her grip firm. "We'll fight it. Together."
The sea roared, and a new wave rose—smaller, but still menacing. At its crest, a figure stood—Xiao Xu, her face smooth, her eyes glowing.
"Wake," she said, her voice a whisper in the wind.
I closed my eyes, focusing on the key.
The wave receded, and the fissure sealed.
When I opened my eyes, the beach was calm again.
Lila smiled. "We did it."
But as we turned to leave, a single bone china bead washed ashore, its surface etched with a single word:
"Wake."