The "Sea Serpent" cut through the boundless blue of the Endless Ocean like a green arrow. The first few days of the voyage were relatively calm. The sky was clear, the wind filled the sails. The crew was busy teaching Moaito and Sere the basics of seamanship.
Captain Anya stood rigid at the helm, her eyes scanning the horizon, her nose feeling the wind's direction. She told Sere about her father's passion for searching for the Eye of Water, the maps he drew, and the deep wound his final, failed voyage left in her heart.
"He knew there was something there," Anya said, her voice so light it was almost lost in the wind. "Not just a legend. And now, I know it too." Her eyes shifted to the Threshold Stone. "That stone... it says the same thing, doesn't it?"
Sere nodded. "Yes. It's calling us. But this call... is different. More urgent. Darker."
By the end of the third day, the weather began to change. On the horizon appeared an unnatural, stagnant haze resembling fog. The air suddenly grew still, the sails drooped. The ocean became flat and dead as glass. The normal ocean sounds—waves, wind, gulls—ceased. They were replaced by a grating silence.
"This isn't good," Anya muttered, her face tense. "This... this isn't natural."
The Threshold Stone on Sere's chest had grown abnormally cold and heavy. It was as if an icy hand was touching her heart.
Moaito came to the railing and looked into the water. The water appeared clear, but in the depths, a strange, pale, phosphorescent light flickered and died. "The Void's influence," he whispered. "It's in these waters. Corrupting the water itself."
Anya barked sharp orders to her crew. They took to the oars, trying to row the ship out of those dead waters. But the oars, when they entered the water, felt as if they were sinking into thick, sticky olive oil. Progress was incredibly slow and difficult.
And then, the fog thickened. A whitish, shifting wall surrounded them, swallowing sound and sense of direction. They could no longer see the sky or the ocean. Only the deck of the "Sea Serpent" and the ominous silence around them remained.
A young crewman screamed in terror, pointing at something in the fog. In the curtain of mist, shapeless, humanoid shadows appeared, watching their ship, then vanished. They weren't physical like Ash Hunters, but seemed like manifestations of pure fear.
"A Soul Mist," Anya growled, her face pale. "A sailor's legend. A place where the ghosts of lost ships call the living to join them."
Sere stood frozen with fear. This was unlike any threat she had faced before. It didn't attack directly; it just gnawed at their hope and will.
Moaito summoned Lumer and Umbra. But the light of the swords could not pierce this dense, spiritual fog, only illuminating a few meters ahead.
"This isn't a physical fight!" Moaito shouted, his voice muffled by the fog. "It's an illusion! A test!"
Sere felt the icy cold of the stone on her chest. The stone was trying to tell her something. It was trying to lead her to the source of this haze, to the Eye of Water, but fear was paralyzing her.
Then, a familiar, soft voice came from within the fog. Selene.
"Look," the voice whispered, seeming to come from all directions. "Look around. This silence... this peace... This is the absence of the noise and pain the world wants to be rid of. Here, nothing gets hurt. You lose nothing."
Sere squeezed her eyes shut. "Go away!" she cried. "You're not real!"
"But I am," the voice replied, closer now. "I am the part of you that wants what's best for you. This journey will kill you. Let it go. Stay in this peace."
In Sere's mind, the image of the small stone fish from Grimhold appeared. The old woman's face, Anya's faith in her father, Moaito's trust in her... These weren't noise and pain; they were meaning.
She took a deep breath and focused on the Threshold Stone. Instead of resisting its cold weight, she accepted it. She understood this coldness was a reflection of the corruption at the Eye of Water.
"No," she whispered, her voice no longer trembling. "I'm not seeking peace. I'm seeking life. And life is sometimes noisy and full of pain. But it is also beautiful and precious."
The stone instantly began to warm. The cold gave way to a warm, golden light. This light was not a shield, like at the Pinnacle of the Wind, but a beacon.
The light cut a straight path forward through the fog, in the direction the stone wanted to take them.
"That way!" Sere shouted, pointing for Anya. "Follow the light!"
Anya turned the helm without hesitation. The "Sea Serpent" began to advance through the tunnel of light Sere had created. The walls of mist seemed to shy away from touching the light.
After a few minutes, the fog suddenly dispersed. They found themselves once more under an open sky and a lively, blue ocean. Behind them, the ominous wall of haze stood as if it had never existed.
The crew, breathless, looked at each other and at Sere. On their faces, fear had been replaced by pure awe.
Anya stepped away from the helm and walked towards Sere. "You..." she began, her voice still shaking. "You saved us."
Sere could only nod, stunned by what she had done.
Moaito came to her side. "You see?" he whispered, in a voice only she could hear. "That's not the 'role' Lyrian spoke of. That... is your choice. And that choice makes you stronger every time."
The ocean stretched out before them. But they now knew that the greatest dangers were not those fought with swords, but those fought in the mind and heart. And the Eye of Water might be preparing the greatest trial for them yet.