Something was ringing.
Loud. Sharp. Annoying. Way too real.
I groaned and shifted slightly, my head pounding, my thoughts slow and foggy. The sound kept drilling into my ears, refusing to stop. With a lot of effort, I opened my eyes.
Everything was blurry.
Two shapes hovered above me.
I froze.
As my vision slowly cleared, I realized they were faces—worried faces.
Xylan.
Seraphina.
I gasped and tried to sit up. "What—what are you guys doing?" I blurted out, my heart racing.
The ringing suddenly got louder.
I flinched, pressing my hands over my ears.
Then it clicked.
It wasn't the sea.
It was my alarm clock.
Of course it was.
I let out an annoyed sigh. "Are you serious?" I muttered. "Worst timing ever."
I looked back at them. "Wait… Xylan!" I said suddenly. "What are you doing in our room?"
They didn't answer.
They just stared at me, like I had done something terrible. Or like something terrible had happened to me.
Seraphina finally spoke, her voice soft but shaky. "Are you okay?"
I frowned. "Okay? Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
I looked between them. "Seriously, what's going on with you two? You're acting weird."
I rubbed my eyes and sat up a little more. "First of all," I said, "I just had the wildest dream—"
"It wasn't a dream," Xylan said suddenly.
I stopped mid-sentence.
"…What?" I asked. "What do you mean it wasn't a dream? What would you even know about it?"
Instead of answering, he pointed at something near my shoulder.
"What were you doing in the ocean?" he asked quietly.
I followed his gaze.
Seraphina was holding something between her fingers.
A thin, dark strand of seaweed.
My breath caught.
And then it hit me.
It wasn't a dream.
t was real.
My stomach dropped like I was falling all over again.
Slowly, I reached out and took the seaweed from Seraphina's hand. I stared at it, hoping—praying—that it would vanish.
It didn't.
It was cold.
Wet.
Real.
"I—" my voice came out shaky. I stopped, swallowed, then tried again. "I didn't mean to go into the ocean."
Xylan's jaw tightened. He looked angry—but not at me. At something else.
Seraphina moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed. "Start from the beginning," she said gently.
I took a deep breath.
"I heard the sea," I said slowly. "It wasn't loud. It didn't use words. It just… called me. Like it already knew me."
I shook my head. "I tried to ignore it. I really did. But my head started hurting. Like something was pulling me, and I couldn't stop it."
Xylan's eyes darkened.
"I don't remember leaving the house," I continued. "One second I was standing on my balcony, and the next—"
I paused. "A man appeared. He took my hand and jumped off the balcony, dragging me down along with him."
Seraphina gasped.
"The moon was full," I said. "The water below was glowing. Just a little."
I took another breath.
"The man looked human at first," I went on. "He told me not to be scared. Said someone wanted to talk to me. I didn't trust him—but when we stepped into the water…"
My hands started shaking.
"He changed," I whispered. "His legs turned into a tail. And I could breathe. I shouldn't have been able to—but I could."
I swallowed hard.
Xylan looked away, running a hand through his hair.
"He didn't hurt me," I added quickly. "He just took me deeper. The water got colder. Darker."
My chest tightened.
"And then I heard a voice," I said. "Strong. Angry."
My voice dropped to a whisper. "He said my name. Not just Hope. Hope Starling. Voice booming. Like it meant something."
The room went silent.
"He told me to stay away from the sea," I continued. "Said it wasn't my place. That the throne was his."
I looked up at them, my heart pounding. "And then… everything went black."
Seraphina covered her mouth.
Xylan finally looked at me again. "You were taken," he said quietly.
I nodded. "And whoever did it… knew exactly who I was."
The room felt heavy. Like the ocean itself had followed me inside.
"And that's when I woke up," I finished. "To my alarm. And you two staring at me like I'd died."
No one laughed.
Because we all knew—
This was only the beginning