The light faded slowly, not all at once.
Rafi thought he was dead.
For a moment, there was no sound, no pain, no fear just a soft blue glow behind his closed eyes. Then he felt something warm under his palm. It wasn't water. It wasn't stone.
It was beating.
Thump.
Thump.
Rafi gasped and sat up.
They were still in the chamber.
The crystal Heart hadn't shattered completely. A deep crack ran through its center, glowing weakly, like a wounded star. Water pooled around it, ankle-deep, glowing faintly blue. The walls were broken in places, but the chamber still stood.
Lila was on her knees beside the Heart, hands shaking as she pressed them against the crystal.
"It's alive," she whispered. "Barely… but alive."
Marco groaned and pushed himself up. Anna sat against a broken pillar, holding Leo close. The blue woman one of the sea-people lay nearby, breathing hard, her glow dimmer than before.
Rafi crawled closer. "Why didn't it die?"
The woman opened her eyes. "Because… it chose not to."
Everyone froze.
"The Heart is not just energy," she said weakly. "It's will. Balance. Memory. It knows when the world is worth saving."
Lila swallowed. "And right now?"
The woman looked at Rafi.
"At you."
Outside the chamber, the world screamed.
Water thundered through tunnels. Far above, the Sea King's roar shook the ground again, closer now. Angry. Impatient.
"He feels the Heart weakening," Marco said. "He's coming."
"Yes," the woman nodded. "To end it."
Rafi felt something cold settle in his chest. "If the Heart dies… the world becomes ocean."
The woman nodded once. "Land will drown. Skies will rot. Only water will remain."
"Then fix it!" Marco snapped. "You're advanced, right? Do something!"
The woman smiled sadly. "We already did. Long ago. We hid the Heart beneath your cities so humans would protect it without knowing. And instead…"
She didn't finish.
Lila stood slowly. Her hands were still glowing faintly blue where she touched the crystal.
"You said the Heart chose us," she said. "Why?"
The woman studied her. "Because balance cannot be restored by force anymore. Only by choice."
Rafi frowned. "I don't understand."
Lila did.
Her face went pale. "The Sea King isn't wrong," she said quietly. "The oceans are poisoned. Overfished. Broken. We did this."
Marco shook his head. "So we just let the world end?"
"No," Lila said. "We give something back."
The chamber shook violently. A crack opened in the ceiling. Dark water dripped through.
"He's breaking in," Anna whispered.
The blue woman struggled to sit. "There is one way. Old. Dangerous."
"Say it," Marco said.
"The Heart can be healed," she said. "But only if a human willingly binds themselves to it. Becomes a bridge between land and sea."
Silence.
Rafi's heart raced. "What happens to them?"
The woman met his eyes. "They won't be human anymore. Not fully. And they may not survive."
"No," Marco said instantly, looking at Lila. "No way."
But Lila was already stepping forward.
"I'm a marine biologist," she said softly. "I spent my life loving the ocean while being part of what hurt it. If this is the cost…"
Rafi grabbed her arm. "You'll die!"
She knelt in front of him, eyes gentle but fierce. "Listen to me. The sea isn't evil. It's wounded. Someone has to speak for both sides."
The Sea King roared again right above them now.
"I don't want you to go," Rafi whispered.
She smiled sadly. "I don't want to either."
The Heart pulsed suddenly, brighter.
The crack began to glow.
"It accepts her," the woman breathed. "Hurry!"
Tentacles smashed through the far wall. Water exploded inward. Shadows filled the chamber.
"DO IT!" Marco shouted.
Lila placed both hands on the Heart.
Light burst outward.
Rafi screamed her name.
The blue glow wrapped around her body, lifting her off the ground. Water froze mid-air. The Sea King's roar cut off suddenly, replaced by a deep, echoing silence.
The Heart beat stronger.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Lila's eyes opened glowing like the ocean at night.
And somewhere far above…
The sea hesitated.
For the first time since it rose…
It listened.