The sea did not attack again.
That was the first strange thing people noticed.
By morning, the water had pulled back from the streets. Flooded roads slowly appeared again, cracked and broken, but real. The giant creatures were gone. No whales on highways. No tentacles on buildings. Only deep scars where they had passed.
And silence.
Not the deadly silence from before but a tired one. Like the world had screamed itself empty.
Rafi sat on a rock overlooking the city. His feet were wrapped in torn cloth. Smoke rose from broken buildings below. Sirens wailed far away, weak and confused.
"Is it… over?" he asked.
Marco stood beside him, arms crossed. He looked older somehow. "For now."
Anna sat nearby with Leo asleep in her lap. She hadn't stopped holding him since the sea pulled back.
Lila stood at the edge of the hill.
She hadn't moved much since waking up.
Her clothes were dry, untouched by water. But when she breathed, the air around her felt damp, like the ocean was too close. Thin blue lines still glowed faintly along her wrists, fading slowly, like dying stars.
"Lila?" Marco said carefully.
She turned. She smiled but it wasn't the same smile as before. It was quieter. Deeper.
"I can still hear it," she said.
Rafi tilted his head. "Hear what?"
"The sea," she replied. "Not waves. Thoughts."
Marco swallowed. "And what is it thinking?"
Lila looked toward the horizon. "It's watching. Waiting to see if we mean it this time."
News drones buzzed overhead. Cameras captured the ruined city, the broken coastline, the people standing in shock. Across the world, screens showed the same thing cities damaged but standing, oceans calm but dark.
A reporter's voice echoed from someone's phone:
"Global leaders confirm the sea creatures have withdrawn. Scientists call it a miracle. No explanation yet."
Lila closed her eyes. "They won't understand. Not really."
Rafi frowned. "Why?"
"Because this wasn't a disaster," she said. "It was a warning."
Soldiers arrived hours later. Rescue teams followed. People were taken inland, given water, food, blankets. Questions came from everywhere.
"How did you survive?"
"What did you see?"
"Was it a weapon?"
Lila said nothing.
That night, they stayed in a temporary shelter on the hills. Wind rustled through torn tents. Fires burned quietly. People whispered instead of shouting, as if the sea might hear loud voices.
Rafi couldn't sleep.
He found Lila sitting alone, staring at a bowl of water.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Listening," she said.
He sat beside her. "Are they coming back?"
She didn't answer right away.
"They will," she said finally. "If we forget."
Rafi hugged his knees. "I don't want the world to drown."
"Neither do I," Lila said. She touched the water in the bowl. Tiny ripples spread, perfectly even. "But the ocean doesn't hate us. It just wants balance."
"What if people don't change?" Rafi asked.
Lila looked at him then really looked.
"Then the sea will walk again," she said softly.
Far away, deep under the surface, something massive shifted.
Not rising.
Not attacking.
Just reminding the world it was still there.
And this time…
It was waiting to see what humans would choose.