I used to think the ocean was silent.
I was wrong.
It was never silent.
It was simply waiting for me to understand its language.
After leaving the Hall of Ancients, I couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed inside me. The third shard rested against my chest, tucked safely inside the small shell case Korrin had given me.
The first two shards were there as well.
Three pieces.
Three fragments of something that had once been whole.
And somehow, every time I carried them together, I could feel a heartbeat beneath my skin.
Not mine.
The Ocean Heart.
I sat inside the old research submarine while Korrin navigated through the underwater passage leading away from the Hall.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
I stared through the glass.
The darkness outside seemed different now.
Before, I had looked at the deep ocean and wondered what could possibly be hiding there.
Now I knew.
Cities.
Kingdoms.
Ancient creatures.
Secrets that could change the history of both humans and merfolk.
And somewhere beneath all of it was the truth about my mother.
My father.
Isaac's father.
And the Ocean Heart.
I finally broke the silence.
"Korrin."
He glanced back.
"Yes?"
"Something doesn't make sense."
His expression became cautious.
"That narrows it down considerably."
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
"Very funny."
"I wasn't joking."
I rolled my eyes.
Then my smile disappeared.
"The Hall of Ancients showed me Isaac's father holding the Heart. But you told me earlier that the Heart was stolen by humans. If that's true, why was my father there?"
Korrin's hands tightened around the controls.
He didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
"You know something."
"I know pieces."
"Then tell me the pieces."
He looked at me through the reflection of the glass.
"The problem is that some pieces contradict each other."
I frowned.
"Meaning?"
"Your father wasn't simply a human scientist who discovered our world."
My stomach tightened.
"What was he?"
Korrin hesitated.
"Someone your mother trusted."
The words hit harder than I expected.
I looked down at my hands.
"My mother trusted him?"
"Yes."
"Then why did he leave?"
"I don't know."
"Why did he disappear?"
"I don't know."
"Why is he connected to the Ocean Heart?"
"I don't know."
I stared at him.
He sighed.
"I know what you are thinking."
"Good. Because I'm thinking several very unpleasant things."
Korrin finally turned away from the controls.
"There is something I didn't tell you."
My heart sank.
Of course there was.
Apparently, everyone in the ocean had decided that telling Selene the truth was an optional activity.
"What?"
"Your father wasn't the one who first discovered the Ocean Heart."
I waited.
"My father did."
The submarine suddenly felt too small.
"Your father knew our royal family?"
"More than knew them."
Korrin's voice lowered.
"He worked with them."
I stared at him.
"But he's human."
"Yes."
"And your people allowed that?"
"Not everyone."
The submarine passed through a narrow tunnel.
Beyond it, blue light appeared.
Arealis.
But before we reached the city, something strange happened.
The three shards inside my shell case began glowing.
I froze.
"Korrin."
He immediately noticed.
"What is it?"
The glow intensified.
A low vibration travelled through the submarine.
Then I heard it.
A whisper.
Not from outside.
Inside my head.
Selene.
My breath caught.
I stood.
"Korrin..."
He looked alarmed.
"What?"
"I heard someone."
"Who?"
I closed my eyes.
The whisper came again.
Don't trust the crown.
My eyes opened.
Korrin was staring at me.
"What did you hear?"
I didn't answer immediately.
Because another voice followed.
This one was familiar.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Broken.
My mother's.
The Heart was never stolen.
I stopped breathing.
"What did she say?" Korrin asked.
I looked at him.
"She said the Heart was never stolen."
His expression changed.
For the first time since I had met him, Korrin looked genuinely afraid.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because the official history says otherwise."
"Maybe the official history is wrong."
He said nothing.
The shards suddenly stopped glowing.
The submarine became completely silent.
Then the communication panel flickered.
A signal appeared.
Korrin immediately moved toward it.
"That's not Arealis."
"Then who is it?"
He didn't answer.
The screen filled with static.
Then a face appeared.
Isaac.
I rushed toward the monitor.
"Isaac?"
His face was pale.
There was blood on his forehead, and his breathing was uneven.
"Selene..."
His voice cracked.
"Korrin is lying to you."
Korrin's expression hardened.
"Isaac, where are you?"
The scientist looked over his shoulder.
"I don't have much time."
"Where are you?" I demanded.
He swallowed.
"My father's old station."
My heart began racing.
"What station?"
"Blackwater."
Korrin went completely still.
I noticed.
"You know it."
He didn't answer.
Isaac continued.
"Selene, listen carefully. Your father didn't disappear."
My entire body froze.
"What?"
"He was taken."
The screen distorted.
"By whom?"
Isaac looked directly into the camera.
"By the people who guard the Ocean Heart."
The signal crackled.
"Your mother tried to stop them."
The screen went black.
"Isaac!"
I slammed my hand against the console.
Nothing.
The signal was gone.
I turned toward Korrin.
He was silent.
Too silent.
"What is Blackwater?"
"A place you shouldn't go."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only answer I can give you."
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because Blackwater is where your mother disappeared."
My heart stopped.
"You knew?"
Korrin's eyes dropped.
"I suspected."
"No."
My voice shook.
"You knew."
He didn't deny it.
Something inside me cracked.
All this time, I had believed Korrin was the one person who wasn't hiding something from me.
I was wrong.
I stepped away from him.
"Take me to Blackwater."
"No."
"Korrin."
"No."
"Take me there."
His voice became firm.
"If we go there now, we may never come back."
I looked at the three glowing shards.
Then at him.
"Maybe that's the point."
The submarine continued toward Arealis.
But I wasn't thinking about the city anymore.
I was thinking about my mother.
My father.
Isaac.
And the impossible truth hidden inside Blackwater.
Because if Isaac was telling the truth...
Then the story of the Ocean Heart had been a lie from the beginning.
And the people who had been protecting its secret weren't protecting the ocean.
They were protecting themselves.
I looked toward the dark water outside the glass.
For the first time, the ocean didn't feel like a mystery.
It felt like a warning.
And somewhere far below us, something whispered my name again.
But this time...
It wasn't my mother's voice.
It was a man's.
My father's.
"Selene..."
I froze.
The voice whispered one final sentence.
"Don't come looking for me."
Then the Ocean Heart went silent.