The moment I crossed the portal, the cold hit me first.
Not the icy embrace of the ocean, but something deeper. A chill that clung to my bones like a memory I never made. I stumbled onto solid ground—sand, wet and grainy beneath my bare feet, the sea roaring behind me like it hadn't let go.
I was back.
But not in the way I left.
Everything was quieter. Still. As if the world was holding its breath.
I stood at the edge of the sea, clothes soaked and clinging to me like a second skin, and stared at the coastline ahead—dark cliffs, a faint glow of lighthouse far in the distance, and a house I recognized even through the fog of fear.
My father's safehouse.
The place where it all began.
"Lila?"
The voice came from behind me. I spun around, breath caught.
It was him. Isaac.
I blinked, sure I was hallucinating. "How—? Korrin said you couldn't—"
"I wasn't supposed to." He stepped forward, breathless, like he had run across dimensions to find me. "But I couldn't let you come back here alone. Not with what's waiting."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small stone, glowing faintly blue.
"The bond stone," I whispered. "You took one?"
"It hurt like hell." He smiled weakly. "But I'm here."
I reached out and hugged him before I could stop myself. His warmth, his heartbeat—it grounded me.
"I thought you'd be torn apart," I murmured into his shoulder.
"Maybe I still will be," he said, voice half a laugh. "But it's worth it."
We walked in silence up the narrow path leading to the cliffs. The house loomed above, old wood groaning in the salt wind. Ivy crawled up its sides like nature itself wanted to bury it.
Inside, it smelled like dust and brine. Exactly the same.
He stayed close behind me as I opened the door to my father's lab. Everything was as he left it—notes scattered, books half open, and in the center, the shattered remains of a glowing crystal locked in a containment case.
"The shard," I breathed. "It's... it's broken."
"No," Isaac said, kneeling beside it. "Not broken. Split. Look—there's still energy here."
I touched the glass and a sharp jolt shot through me. Images flashed behind my eyes—waves crashing, a temple deep beneath the sea, my mother's face, her voice calling my name.
I staggered back.
Isaac caught me. "Are you okay?"
"She was here," I whispered. "My mother. She tried to warn me..."
He looked around the lab. "Your father kept journals, right?"
I nodded, moving to the locked cabinet behind the old telescope. The key still hung on the wall, untouched.
The journals were there—four thick, leather-bound volumes. Each one labeled by year.
We poured over them until the sun began to rise outside, casting pale orange over the gray sea.
"My God," Isaac murmured, flipping through a worn page. "He knew."
"Knew what?"
He looked up at me. "That the Ocean's Heart wasn't just a relic. It was alive, Lila. A sentient core connected to every creature in the mer realm. It chose your mother. It chose to bind with her—and by extension, you."
My heart pounded. "Why?"
"Because you're the bridge. The only one who can carry its power between the worlds. That's why the creature chased you. That's why the sea accepted you. And that's why—" he paused, voice tense "—my father wants you."
A cold wave washed through me.
"He's alive?" I asked.
Isaac nodded grimly. "And he's coming."
As if summoned by his words, the lab lights flickered. Outside, the wind screamed.
Then—crack—the door slammed open.
A figure stood silhouetted against the morning light.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Eyes like steel and voice like poison.
"Hello, son," the man said.
Isaac's face hardened. "Dr. Alden."
My breath caught.
His father.
The man stepped forward, boots echoing on the wood. He ignored me entirely, eyes on the shard behind glass.
"You brought her," he said, almost admiringly. "Good. Saves me the trouble."
"She's not yours to use," Isaac growled.
"She's not yours either," Dr. Alden shot back. "She belongs to the ocean. And I'll return her, piece by piece, if I have to."
I stepped between them. "You can't control it."
He finally looked at me. "Oh, but I can. I've been preparing for this longer than you've been alive, girl. The ocean took everything from me. Now I'll take it back."
"You'll destroy it," I said. "You'll destroy everyone."
He smiled. "Let it drown."
Then everything went dark.
---
End of Chapter 12