The sea had no eyes - but it watched.
Elara floated beside Dravion, their path winding through coral arches and light-filtered tunnels that shimmered like the inside of pearls. Every turn revealed something new - a garden of jellyfish pulsing with slow rhythm, statues carved into rock with features worn smooth by time, and a temple up ahead glowing faintly with ancient magic.
"This is the Temple of the Sea," Dravion said, his voice almost reverent. "It's said to be where she - the Sea - once wept her first tears. They say her sorrow gave us merfolk life."
Elara stared at the temple. It pulsed with an energy unlike anything she'd felt before - quiet, ancient, sacred. Her mark tingled faintly.
"Do you worship her?" she asked.
Dravion gave a nod. "In our own way. We remember her. The old stories are fading... but some of us still believe."
They moved closer. Elara hesitated at the entrance, but something about the place called to her - something deep in her bones.
Far away, hidden within a chamber of shifting shadows and magic-stained coral... he watched.
Vaelros stood before the magical shell - a wide open shell that showed visions of whatever he desired. Within it, Elara drifted, her presence stirring the tides. His pet serpent, Zeirith, coiled around his arm, hissing softly.
"That mark... shouldn't exist anymore." one of his underlings muttered - a hunched figure cloaked in drifting threads of shadow.
Vaelros's voice was low. "She bears the mark. That alone makes her dangerous."
"Shall we eliminate-"
"No," Vaelros cut him off, eyes still locked on the vision. "We observe. Do not approach her until I say so."
Zeirith hissed again, slithering toward the shell. The image wavered. Vaelros's expression darkened.
"That mark... how does she have it?" he murmured.
"Keep watching her. Something about her feels... familiar. But I don't know why."
Back within the temple...
Elara stepped forward and touched the edge of the altar. Her mark pulsed gold. In a sudden shimmer of light, the ground beneath her shifted, revealing a hidden path spiraling down.
Dravion stepped protectively beside her. "What is this?"
"I don't know..." she whispered. "But it's calling me."
The passage led to a small cavern lit by soft blue glow. In its center floated a pool - mirror-like and still.
Kaelen stirred beside her, his glow pulsing softly - a quiet shimmer, like the sea itself nodding in agreement.
"A memory pool," Dravion murmured. "It shows what the sea remembers - what we've forgotten."
Elara knelt. As soon as her fingers touched the water, it rippled - and the vision bloomed.
Two figures - a man and a woman - stood at the edge of a cliff, their marks glowing brilliantly. The woman held a child.
"She must live," the woman said, voice trembling.
"We'll protect her until the end," the man replied. "Even if it costs us everything."
The image wavered - flames, waves, wings. Screaming. Then silence.
Elara gasped, stumbling back.
"Those were..." she choked, "my parents who I never knew I had."
Dravion caught her as she nearly collapsed. "You saw them?"
She nodded, shaking. "They sent me away, to another world. To live."
Kaelen hovered close, glowing brighter. Then, like a burst of light, he shifted - his tail lengthening, tiny wings unfurling, his body now sleek and luminous.
Elara stared. "Kaelen...?"
He was now larger. Majestic. Still gentle. Still hers.
Dravion smiled faintly. "He's evolving. As you are."
They stayed in silence for a while, letting the cavern pulse around them.
When the memory faded and the glow dimmed, they swam upward once more, the silence between them filled with questions neither dared ask. Elara wavered.
"Where will I go?" she asked. "I can't stay in the marketplace. They don't want me."
Dravion nodded.
"There's a place near the coral cliffs. Old, quiet. It belonged to a traveller who left moons ago," he said softly.
"It's safe... and for now, it's yours, if you want it."
She blinked, voice small. "Can I really stay there?"
He offered a gentle smile. "I hoped you'd stay."
She didn't reply - but her silence was soft, not cold.
When they reached the small reef home, she looked around, touched the coral frame, the soft light orbs inside. It wasn't grand, but it was safe.
"Thank you," she said.
"Rest," Dravion said. "There are many who will come asking questions in a few days, the elders will want to meet you as the whispers of your arrival have reached far and wide - to the royal family and the high court."
But Elara's thoughts didn't quiet.
That night, as Kaelen curled beside her, the mark on her shoulder pulsed - and the dreams came again.
A temple burning.
A crown split in two.
And a voice, deep and sorrowful:
"Daughter of fire, sea, and wing... awaken.
Far away, Vaelros stood by the shell once more - Watching. Waiting.