The ocean was too quiet.
Not the kind of peaceful silence that lulls you into calm—this was the tense, breath-holding silence that comes before a scream.
I stood at the edge of the research vessel, clutching the shell Korrin had given me. It pulsed faintly in my hand, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to me. Ever since the chant escaped my lips, something had shifted. The sea was no longer just water and salt and waves—it was alive, watching, waiting.
Dr. Marla noticed it too. She approached with a worried expression, eyes scanning the horizon. "There are tremors beneath the trench," she said. "Mild, but steady. Like... breathing."
Isaac joined us with a frown. He hadn't looked me in the eye since the chant. There was something about the way he studied me now—like I was both a puzzle and a threat. His voice was clipped. "We're seeing energy signatures below the Atlantis Point. Something ancient. Something... waking up."
The name chilled me: Atlantis Point—the site of dozens of shipwrecks, failed dives, and unexplainable disappearances. Now it stirred, drawn by the song I hadn't meant to sing.
"We need to dive," Isaac said. "Now."
Marla hesitated. "Isaac, if it's really the Ocean's Heart reacting—"
"Exactly," he snapped. "It's finally showing itself."
I felt a prickle on the back of my neck. The Ocean's Heart. The artifact Isaac's father had once stolen, cursed, or maybe protected—no one really knew. But I was starting to understand something Isaac didn't.
The Ocean's Heart wasn't an object. It was alive.
And it was angry.
---
We suited up and descended in the submersible.
The waters grew darker, denser. I sat beside Isaac in silence. He avoided my gaze. The only sound was the soft hum of the engines and the occasional crackle from the sonar.
As we reached the trench, the pressure thickened. Then—
BOOM.
A shockwave hit us sideways. The submersible rocked.
"Seismic spike!" Marla shouted from the comms. "That wasn't natural!"
We peered out the thick glass window.
And saw it.
A massive stone door carved into the seafloor. Ancient symbols glowed faintly on its surface, the same ones etched into the shell Korrin had given me. The door was opening—no, breathing, pulling in water like a slumbering beast.
A swirl of shadow erupted from its center.
And then, they appeared.
Merfolk.
But not like Korrin. These were armored, their tails armored with obsidian-like scales, their eyes glowing with azure fire. Guards. Warriors. Protectors of whatever slumbered below.
They swam toward us fast.
I felt the shell in my hand heat up.
Then the chant returned to me—clearer this time. Not from memory, but from instinct.
"Amiya lorai, taniya morai, Zor aalor majot mur naam bohai, Jolot sohor, hotot shakti, Murkhu mur naam, moi bideshi."
The moment I spoke it aloud, the merfolk stopped.
They bowed their heads.
Isaac stared at me in disbelief. "What the hell are you?"
But I didn't answer.
Because the trench cracked open wider.
And from the glowing door below, a golden light began to rise—like a heartbeat made of liquid fire.
The Ocean's Heart was awake.
And it had heard my voice.
---
End of Chapter 17