I didn't know what I was expecting.
Sand, maybe. Water. Something like a lake, but bigger.
That was all Kazen had said.
But when we finally reached the coast—when the road curved downward and the horizon opened up—I stopped walking.
Everyone did.
The world ended.
No—
that wasn't right.
The world opened.
Blue stretched endlessly ahead, a living expanse that reflected the sky so perfectly I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. Waves rolled in slow, steady breaths, their crests catching sunlight and breaking into white foam before dissolving again. The air smelled different here—clean, sharp, salted. Wind brushed against my face, warm and gentle, carrying the sound of gulls crying overhead.
I'd never seen anything like it.
"…That's a beach," Kazen said proudly beside me.
I swallowed.
"So that's the ocean…"
My chest felt tight.
Not from fear.
From awe.
Behind me, Class 1-S exploded into noise.
"That's HUGE!"
"There's no walls?!"
"Why is it moving like that?!"
"Is it alive?!"
Arion stared as if the sea might stand up and challenge him to a duel.
"It's bigger than the training grounds… combined…"
Aelira shaded her eyes, expression soft. "It's… beautiful."
Liam crossed his arms, trying to look unimpressed. "Hmph. It's just water."
The wave that surged forward immediately afterward soaked his boots.
Everyone laughed.
Including him—eventually.
Seraphyne was already sprinting ahead, shoes in hand, pink hair whipping wildly behind her.
"It's warm!" she yelled. "RAIN! IT'S WARM!"
Kai kicked off his boots and followed her without hesitation, rolling his shoulders like this was exactly what he'd been waiting for.
Theon crouched down, picking up sand and letting it run through his fingers slowly.
"…It doesn't hold shape at all," he murmured, baffled.
Liraeth poked a wave with her mace.
The wave poked back.
She yelped and jumped away as it soaked her leggings.
Kazen laughed so hard he nearly fell over.
I stayed where I was.
Watching.
Feeling something unfamiliar settle in my chest.
Peace.
Not the fragile kind that followed battle.
Not the exhausted silence after survival.
Real peace.
Varein stepped up beside me, hands in his pockets, eyes fixed on the horizon.
"…Hard to believe the world just… keeps going," he said quietly.
I nodded.
"Yeah."
We changed nearby—quickly, awkwardly, with far too much yelling about whose towel was whose. Kazen, of course, had prepared everything. Towels, food, umbrellas, spare clothes—more than enough for all of us.
When I stepped onto the sand barefoot for the first time, I flinched.
"It's hot!" I hissed.
Kazen laughed. "You get used to it."
I didn't.
I sprinted straight into the water like Seraphyne had.
The cold hit me instantly—sharp, shocking, stealing my breath.
I yelped and nearly stumbled.
They laughed at me.
Then I laughed.
The water swirled around my legs, tugging at me gently, like it was curious. Waves slapped against my knees, my waist, my chest. I splashed instinctively—and Kai immediately splashed back.
"Oh, you did NOT—"
The ocean became a battlefield.
Water flew everywhere. Seraphyne attacked from the side with terrifying precision. Liam tried to maintain dignity and failed immediately. Theon attempted strategy and got dragged under by a wave. Arion charged headfirst and faceplanted into wet sand.
Kazen stood farther out, arms crossed, grinning.
"This," he declared, "is why I love the ocean."
I chased him.
He dodged easily—until Varein joined in, wind subtly assisting his movements, splashing Kazen from both sides.
"Traitor!" Kazen shouted.
Aelira stood ankle-deep, letting the waves wash over her boots, ice aura flickering faintly along her fingers as she traced patterns in the water, freezing tiny shapes that melted seconds later.
Liraeth sat beneath an umbrella, shield planted in the sand, watching us all with a soft smile, occasionally tossing pebbles at anyone who got too close.
Instructor Aldred sat farther back, arms folded, eyes closed—but a faint smile tugged at his mouth.
Eventually, exhaustion won.
We collapsed onto towels and sand, laughing, gasping, soaked and sun-warmed.
I lay on my back, staring up at the sky.
No clouds.
Just blue.
"I didn't know the world could feel this big," I said quietly.
Seraphyne rolled onto her side beside me.
"You didn't grow up near water, did you?"
I shook my head.
"Ignis is all stone. Smoke. Fire. You look up and see walls, or ash."
She was quiet for a moment.
Then she smiled.
"Then I'm glad this is your first ocean."
Kazen returned carrying skewers of grilled fish and fruit.
"Eat before you collapse."
I took one hesitantly.
It tasted incredible.
Salted. Fresh. Alive.
As the sun lowered, we built something that could only loosely be called a sandcastle. It leaned. It collapsed. Arion insisted on fortifying it like a fortress. Theon tried to make structural supports. Kai knocked it down accidentally—then deliberately.
Laughter carried over the waves.
For once, no one talked about missions.
Or threats.
Or rankings.
Just summer.
When the sky began to turn orange and gold, I stood again at the water's edge.
The waves reflected the sunset, each one catching fire before fading back into blue.
I felt Kazen step beside me.
"So?" he asked. "Worth it?"
I nodded.
"…Yeah."
He grinned.
"Good. Because this is only day one."
I laughed softly.
Behind us, Class 1-S argued about dinner plans, about who snored, about who stole whose towel.
I listened.
I memorized the sound.
Because for once—
We were just kids at the beach.
And the world, for a little while longer, could wait.