Zanya didn't buy the upgrade immediately.
She sat on the sand at the edge of Mako's beach, knees drawn up, watching the way the moon fractured across the water. Ever since Atlantis had shifted from possibility to inevitability, the ocean had felt… attentive.
Listening.
The Dragon's presence rested at the back of her mind—quiet, contained, patient. The bond no longer pressed. It waited.
She opened the System.
[ACTION AVAILABLE — GRISHAVERSE RESONANCE EXPANSION]
[Option: Summoner Resonance — Water/Light Fusion]
She frowned slightly. "Light?"
[Clarification: Spiritual luminosity. Not solar.]
That tracked.
"If I do this," she said quietly, "I don't lose myself, right?"
The System did not reassure.
It informed.
[Core Identity Retention: DEPENDENT ON HOST BOUNDARIES]
Zanya exhaled.
"Figures."
[PURCHASE CONFIRMED]
[Grishaverse — Summoner Resonance (Water + Light)]
[Cost: 6,000 SC]
The effect hit like breath returning after a long dive.
Light threaded through the water—not bright, not blinding, but clarifying. The ocean around her stilled, surface smoothing unnaturally as her emotions steadied.
Then she felt it.
The water responded.
Her unease deepened—and the tide pulled back sharply, exposing wet sand in a sudden, unnatural retreat.
Her surprise spiked—and bioluminescent sparks rippled outward like startled stars.
Her calm returned—and the sea settled instantly, obedient.
"Oh," she murmured. "That's… not subtle."
[SUMMONER RESONANCE ACTIVE]
[Effect: Emotional State = Environmental Response (Water/Light)]
She clenched her fists, deliberately grounding herself. The ocean followed suit, easing into a gentle lap at the shore.
Hopefully she could live with this new change.
---
The bond shifted that night.
It had been emotional before—impressions, moods, the weight of his exhaustion bleeding through.
Now, he came to her before she even dreamed.
'Zanya.'
His voice touched her mind directly, clear and unmistakable.
She stiffened instantly. "That's new."
'I did not push,' he replied at once.
'You opened the path.'
She tested the boundary, thinking deliberately, 'Can you hear this?'
'Yes.'
Her jaw tightened. "We are not skipping steps."
A pause.
Then, carefully:
'As you wish.'
The bond deepened anyway.
She felt his awareness settle beneath her own—not merging, not overwhelming, but aligning like two tides syncing. Beneath thought. Beneath language.
Spiritual.
The word fit uneasily.
'You shine,' he said, wonder threading through the connection. 'The sea remembers this light.'
"I didn't do this for devotion," she warned.
'I know,' he replied gently.
'That is why it matters.'
The System interrupted with unexpected cheer.
[ANIMAL CROSSING — VILLAGER REACTION UNLOCKED]
[Reaction: "Love"]
Zanya blinked. "Excuse me?"
[Effect: Passive Charisma Increase]
[NPCs more likely to trust, assist, and emotionally invest]
She snorted despite herself. "That's… deeply inconvenient."
---
Later that night, the Labyrinth crystal orb activated on its own.
Zanya approached it cautiously.
The surface clouded, then cleared—not into symbols, but into a vision.
Two presences.
One bound in chains beneath a forming city of light and stone.
One standing at the shoreline of another world, salt on her lips, eyes lifted to a sky she didn't yet belong to. Her older self. Not Zanya, but Anya.
Time folded.
Not prophecy.
Recognition.
[LABYRINTH REVELATION — FATED INTERSECTION CONFIRMED]
Her breath caught.
"So we were always meant to meet," she whispered.
The Dragon's presence warmed—not triumphant.
Relieved.
'Yes,' he said softly.
'But not always meant to be free.'
Zanya closed her eyes, grounding herself.
"Then we'll do this right," she said. "Slowly. Carefully. Together."
The water outside shimmered.
The light dimmed.
The bond held—stronger, clearer, and far more dangerous than before.
And far beneath Mako, ancient currents shifted—not in alarm, but in acknowledgment.
Something old had just learned how deeply the sea could care.