I didn't sleep that night—not that sleep was even possible under the ocean, in a glowing dome of ancient stone, surrounded by secrets and strangers who called me one of their own.
I sat beside the crystal pool in the chamber they'd given me. The water shimmered faintly, casting ripples of silver light against the curved walls. My fingers hovered just above the surface. I wasn't ready to touch it yet.
Because I wasn't ready to admit what I was becoming.
"She's still awake?" I heard Isaac's voice outside, low and tired.
"She's changed," Korrin replied. "She's beginning to feel it."
I didn't turn when they entered. I knew Isaac would come.
He moved quietly, sitting beside me without a word. For a moment, we just sat there, side by side, two people caught between two worlds. Above us, the weight of the ocean pressed like a secret.
"I don't feel human anymore," I said finally, breaking the silence.
"You're not," Isaac said gently. "Not entirely. But you're not just mer, either. You're both. And that's what makes you important."
I looked down at my reflection in the pool. My hair drifted gently in the water's pull, and my eyes—my eyes glowed faintly. They had never done that before. "The creature's gone... for now. But I could feel it. The ocean isn't calm. There's more coming."
"Yes." He hesitated. "Because the Ocean's Heart wasn't just stolen, Lila. It was broken."
I turned toward him sharply. "Broken?"
Isaac nodded. "Your father didn't just take it—he shattered it. Took a part of it back to land with him. The balance has been disturbed ever since."
"So that's why the creature came? Because the ocean is unguarded?"
"Partly," he said. "But there's more. Your father... he was obsessed with the Heart. He believed it could heal something—something personal."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
Isaac looked away, his jaw tight. "My father. He's the reason we're here. He's the one who pushed your father into the expedition. They were both chasing the Ocean's Heart for different reasons. My father wanted to control it. Your father... he just wanted to protect you."
I stared at him. "Protect me? From what?"
Isaac's voice dropped. "From a curse. One that runs through your mother's bloodline."
The room seemed to tilt. "A curse?"
"It's ancient," he explained. "A prophecy among the mer: the child of sea and land would bring balance—or ruin. If left unprotected, the child's presence would awaken something buried deep in the ocean—a darkness older than memory."
I swallowed hard. "So my father took the Heart to keep me safe?"
"And in doing so, he broke the ocean's defenses," Isaac said bitterly. "My father knew what would happen, but he let it. For science, for power... maybe even for revenge."
The anger in his voice made my heart clench.
Korrin appeared then, his presence like a shadow cast across the room. "The time to act is now. We can't wait any longer."
I rose. "What are you talking about?"
"There's a second shard of the Ocean's Heart," Korrin said. "Still on land. In the human world. You must retrieve it."
"Me?"
"You're the only one who can walk both worlds. The shard responds to your bloodline. And without it, this world will die."
I turned to Isaac. "Will you come with me?"
"Always," he said softly.
Korrin's gaze hardened. "He cannot. He's not welcome on land right now."
"But he's human!" I protested.
"He's also bonded to the sea," Korrin replied. "You're the only one who can make the crossing safely. If he follows, it could tear him apart."
Isaac stood. "She won't go alone."
"I won't leave him," I said fiercely.
Korrin's voice turned cold. "Then you doom us all."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
My fingers trembled at my side. I looked from one man to the other—my protector, my stranger, my anchor to a world I no longer understood. And the mer who both hated and believed in me.
"I'll go," I said finally, my voice breaking. "But I'm coming back. And when I do, I'll bring the shard."
Isaac reached out and pressed something into my hand. A small seashell, warm to the touch. "This will let me speak to you, no matter how far. We'll stay connected."
I held it tight. "Promise you'll be there when I return."
His eyes met mine. "Always."
Korrin didn't speak as I stepped toward the glowing portal at the edge of the city. I didn't know where it would take me. Only that it would return me to land.
To my father's secrets. To the second shard.
To the truth.
But I knew something else too.
This was just the beginning.
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End of Chapter 11