Tempest Bound: The Fisherman's Lure

Chapter 10:Echoes of the Past

Consciousness of Seraphine slid outside the waking world. She felt herself sinking, the dark water closing in on her, chilly and weightless, until she was floating in an unlimited swath of gloomful blue. She felt a strange comfort, as though she belonged here, as though this black, limitless space were home. Her gentle cradling came from the ocean.

Then someone came out of the water mist. Heart pumping, she squinted to match the face she had only seen in memories and faded photos. Her father floated before her, his face austere and his eyes a mix of guilt and affection. As he reached out a hand and his fingers floated toward her, she experienced a tsunami of longing and loss.

Seraphine..." Over the lake his soft yet strong voice echoed. "You're almost at the Coral Crown, but be careful—it comes with a price."

Her pulse tightened. "What do you mean??" She whispered, but her voice seemed to sink into the depths, unacknowledged. "what price?"

But he shook his head and had sorrowful eyes. "That is a load not meant for humans. You must be able to grasp Negotiating with the water itself is the way one claims the Crown. One pact links your soul to your future. The water remembers always what it is owed.

She felt his words weigh strongly and forebingly drop over her as he spoke. She stretched for him, tried to grab onto him, but as the ocean currents swept him from her reach his picture fluttered and disappeared.

She started to cry and sounded desperate, "Wait!" "Don't travel!"

Still, he was fading; his form disappeared into the night and his last words hung like an echo. "Be warned, Seraphine." The Crown will call on you more than you know about. It never lets you go as well.

Seraphine gasped, woke up, her heart racing as she focussed her sight on the faint light bathing the ship's cabin. She was breathing heavily; her skin was moist with cold sweat; the words of her father still rang in her ears. She pushed a hand to her chest to settle herself back in reality and felt her pulse throbbing steadily.

Still, the dream's lesson stuck with her, motivating both dread and will.

Later on on deck, she found Rowan and Amara; their features weary but awake as the first light of morning flowed over the sea. Still, the stillness that followed seemed almost unsettling, as though the sea itself were holding its breath waiting for what would come next. Their trek had been dangerous and the night had been long.

Rowan said, "Seraphine," his voice gentle. You look disturbed. What went on?

She hesitated, staring from him to Amara, whose eyes were steady, curious as though she already knew what had stirred in the margins of Seraphine's consciousness. "I... had a dream," Seraphine said with shaky voice. "I went to see my dad. Saying the Coral Crown had a cost I might not be ready to pay, he warned me.

Rowan's tone grew serious as his hand rested silently on her shoulder. "Dreams are often a road for the past to reach us," he said gently. "Sometimes they highlight facts we are not yet ready to see."

Amara's eyes closed and she seemed to be looking at Seraphine's soul. "The sea has its ways," she remarked, sounding almost respectful. "Dreams, Seraphine are concepts from your imagination not only. These are the whispers of the water, a trial of your preparation for the truth.

Seraphine glanced at Amara, a flutter of discomfort churning in her stomach. The sea is testing me then?

Amara turned her head, her face inscrutable. "It reveals those it believes to be worthy glimpses and peaks of what is beyond their surface. Still, those that pay attention have to be ready for what they discover. Not merely treasure; the Coral Crown is a force as ancient as the sea itself, a relic connected to its power. Claiming it will only be feasible for those who actually understand its expenses.

Rowan's hand tightened on her shoulder, a wordless comfort that steadied her even if the weight of the dream still lingered in her memory. "Your father might have tried to claim the Crown without understanding its cost," he said, his voice a little mournful. "You are not bound to follow the same road though. One can draw knowledge from his mistakes.

As Seraphine nodded gently, her thoughts kept repeating her father's dying words even if the memories of his warning broke her heart. She knew the hazards and that her trip would push her in ways she couldn yet grasp. Still, her will was relentless in front of her nervousness. She had come too far to turn back; she could feel the Crown tugging her onward, a solid bond linking her to the secrets of the water.

Her voice crisp, she answered, "I cannot turn back now." "My father looked for the truth; I deserve to know what he came upon. All the same, given the expenses.

Amara's eyes softened and a sliver of respect danced there. Then you are more ready than I would have expected. People ready to go into the ocean without turning back are chosen by it. Still, keep in mind that Seraphine... The cost can be larger than what you would be ready for.

Rowan's face was shadowed with worry, but he said nothing; his silence speaks to the confidence he put in her. Though he could not protect her from the decisions ahead, he would travel with her into the depths, face the trials of the ocean at her side.

As they glided toward their destination, the light of day dwindished and a cold settled on the air. Amara's map carried them into the heart of the Abyssal Trench, where the ocean's power seemed to pulse beneath the surface, a live, breathing force silently watching them.

Then through the veil of black water Seraphine saw it: a massive, ancient edifice half-buried under layers of coral and seaweed, its soaring pillars stretching into the darkness. Long-forgotten, this city was a quiet homage to the ocean's control over time itself.

Rowan gasped fast and turned his head at the enormous debris ahead of them. "The Sunken Citadel," he remarked with a quiet voice. "This is where it began all.

Amara's face kept blank, yet a flash of identification passed over her features. "The roots of The Coral Crown are inside these walls," she said softly. Be careful though; these waters are under more protection than they have ever been. The ocean recalls those searching its secrets and does not pardon fast.

As they came, Seraphine felt the mark on her ankle flare with heat, a sudden, forceful pulse that seemed to fit the old stones of the citadel. She understood, instinctively, that it would help her to uncover the mysteries hidden under and pass across the limits protecting the ruins.

Her heart hammered as she prepared to enter the future, the weight of her father's caution weighing on her mind. She could not go back, though; she knew. The Coral Crown brought the truth she had been searching for.