Chapter 23

The royal platform of Thalassora, the capital of the Deep Sea District, glows in ethereal blue biolight. Aquatic spirits swirl in silence as five captains of the Universal Guard stand before Eaura of the Waves, an immense, graceful being formed of tideglass skin and flowing seawater hair. Her presence is calm, her voice a tranquil current.

EAURA:
You’ve come seeking the Sigil Fragment of the Waves. I assume you understand the weight of what you ask.

SHIZUKU:
We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t prepared, Eaura. We know it won’t be given freely.

EAURA (smiling faintly):
Good. I do not hand pieces of myself to even the most decorated guardsmen. The fragment resides within a living tidecore, buried at the trench bed of Tranchée d’eau sombre.

ALTO:
That’s the deepest point in Meeresboden.

EAURA:
Precisely. And it’s guarded by the Shinkai Dragon Whale, a beast that exists in constant flux. Shaped by the strongest emotion of the challenger.

ERIS:
So if we approach it in anger, we fight fury. In grief, we face despair?

EAURA:
You are quick to understand, Eris of the Warborn. But there is more. You must retrieve the fragment together, or the tidecore will refuse to yield. Division breeds failure.

ASCHE:
Is there a time limit?

EAURA:
There is only the pressure of the sea and your own resolve. The longer you remain below, the more your minds will bend to the tides. The longer you hesitate, the more powerful the Whale becomes.

BERWICK:
We’ve fought worse. But you’re not just warning us… you’re testing us, aren’t you?

EAURA (nodding):
You must earn the wave’s trust, Blood-Star Captain. My power does not submit—it surrenders when it sees its reflection in unity.

SHIZUKU:
Then we’ll descend. All five of us. No arguments. No hesitation.

EAURA:
Good. The sea watches always. Return with the fragment… or not at all.

As the captains turn toward the luminous drop point spiraling into the trench, a current sweeps past them, carrying Eaura’s final whisper like the surf across sand.

EAURA (faintly):
Let us see if the sea remembers your names.