We walked along the shoreline, the waves curling toward my ankles as if guiding us to Saminda.
“Why are you set on Saminda?” Carlosa asked. Her shadows trailed through the seafoam, curious and restless.
“Our next steps lie there,” I said.
She stopped short. “Giovanna… there’s something you need to know.”
I turned to her. The sand swallowed her boots. I’d told her to take them off, but she refused.
She was so stubborn—endearing. After all the bloodshed I had seen across other worlds, her fierce anxiety was almost sweet in comparison.
“What do I need to know?” I asked, glancing out at the ocean. The tide swelled toward me, drawn like a breath.
“There’s a prophecy,” she said, trying to stand taller. If her shadow had been at full strength, I might have believed the confidence. But it was busy playing with the foam around my heels, making her look more playful than ominous.
“Ah. Yes. The prophecy.” I pointed my finger to the sky and began to pace at the water's edge. Kicking up water as I walked.
She blinked. “You know about the prophecy?”
I paused and looked at her. She stood as if she was carrying the world. Leaning slightly to the left. Carlosa truly believed this prophecy.
“I know the version you speak of.” I let the words fall gently, though I felt their weight settle on her shoulders. Then I went back to pacing at the ocean’s edge.
“A maiden seer of Ilina—” I kicked the water; the water stopped and formed a faceless woman. “Will drown the sun with the darkest night.” Going behind the woman, I grabbed the water and threw it over the woman. The two waters combined and flowed back into the ocean. “The cold will leave Celentra hollow, a void of itself.”
Carlosa’s breath hitched.
I stepped closer, the sea brushing my calves. “Carlosa… prophecies are never the whole truth. They’re fragments. Shadows of shadows. Echoes off of walls from voices that should mind their own.”
Her eyes searched mine, fear and hope tangled together.
“I want to uncover the truth,” I said softly. “All of it.”
Carlosa’s shadow stilled, freezing mid‑curl around my ankles. That alone told me how deeply the prophecy had sunk its teeth into her.
“Uncover the truth?” she echoed, voice thin.
“Yes.” I stepped closer, letting the tide wash over my feet. The water glowed faintly around my skin; it always did, though I pretended not to notice. “Prophecies are not chains. They are warnings. Or misunderstandings. Or half‑truths. Honestly, I have found that most prophecies are a mix of all of them.”
Carlosa swallowed hard. “But this one… it says I’ll drown the sun.”
“It says a maiden seer of Ilina will,” I corrected gently. “And even then, we don’t know what drowning means. Or what sun. Or what night.”
Her eyes darted to the horizon, where the sky met the sea in a thin, trembling line. “You’re not helping.”
“I am,” I said softly. “Just not in the way you expect.”
She let out a shaky breath. Her shadow crept back toward her, curling around her boots like a frightened animal.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” she whispered.
“I know.” I reached out and took her hand. She didn’t pull away. “That’s why you won’t anymore.”
Her gaze snapped to mine, startled. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because the sea told me.”
Her breath caught.
“Giovanna—” She started.
I turned toward the water. The waves surged higher, brushing my knees now, tugging gently at my clothes as if urging me forward.
“There’s something in Saminda,” I said. “Something old. Something forgotten. Something that will tell us what the prophecy really means.”
Carlosa hesitated. “And you’re certain it’s there?”
“I’m certain it’s calling.”
The wind shifted, carrying the scent of salt and something deeper, stronger this time, as if impatient.
Carlosa’s fingers tightened around mine. “Giovanna… what if the truth is worse than the prophecy?”
I smiled, small and certain. “Then we face it together.”
Her shadow rose at that, not fully, not with its old strength, but enough to curl protectively around both our ankles.
The sea surged again.
I stepped forward, letting the water climb higher.
“Come,” I said. “Saminda is ready to speak.”
Carlosa swallowed, squared her shoulders, and stepped into the waves beside me.
And the sea welcomed us both.