The world didn't celebrate.
That surprised everyone.
There were no parades, no victory speeches, no flags waving in relief. People were alive, yes but they were quiet. As if joy felt wrong after what they had seen. After what the sea had shown them.
Rafi noticed it first.
People spoke softer now. They stood farther from the shoreline. Even children who once ran toward waves stopped at the sand, staring like the water might suddenly stand up again.
The ocean had changed fear into respect.
Lila felt it everywhere.
Every step she took near water made her chest tighten not with pain, but with connection. She could sense currents shifting miles away, storms forming before clouds appeared. The sea didn't whisper anymore.
It breathed through her.
Marco watched her closely. "You're drifting," he said one evening as they sat near the shelter fires.
"I'm still here," Lila replied.
"But for how long?" he asked.
She didn't answer.
That night, the dreams returned.
Lila stood in a place with no sky and no ground only endless water below and above. The Sea King faced her, enormous and silent. Around it floated memories: sinking cities, burning oil, dying reefs… and then something new.
Humans building barriers of green energy instead of concrete. Nets being cut instead of cast. Cities stepping back from the shore.
Hope.
But fragile.
The Sea King spoke not in words, but feeling.
One world cannot survive with two rulers.
Lila woke gasping.
At dawn, she gathered Marco, Rafi, Anna, and a few others.
"I need to tell you something," she said.
They sat in a circle, the ocean visible in the distance like a patient listener.
"The sea doesn't want to rule us," Lila said. "But it won't be ruled either. Right now, I'm… a bridge. And bridges don't last forever."
Rafi's hands curled into fists. "You're saying you'll disappear."
"I'm saying," she corrected gently, "that balance has a price."
Marco stood. "No. There has to be another way. You've already given enough."
Lila looked at him, eyes soft. "So has the sea. For centuries."
That same day, governments made their move.
A global broadcast interrupted every channel.
A calm voice spoke of unity, survival, progress. Of new weapons designed not to attack the sea but to defend against it "if necessary."
Lila felt the ocean recoil like a wounded animal.
"They're planning war," she whispered.
Rafi stared at the screen. "But they promised to protect it."
"They promised control," Marco said bitterly.
The water surged slightly along the shore not violent, just enough to remind everyone it was listening.
Lila stood.
"I can't let this happen," she said.
Marco grabbed her arm. "What are you going to do?"
She looked at the horizon, where sea met sky. "Draw a line."
That evening, she walked alone to the water's edge.
Rafi followed, stopping a few steps behind.
Lila raised her hands. The ocean responded instantly, parting, rising not attacking, but revealing.
Across the world, the same thing happened.
Water pulled back in perfect circles along coastlines. Not floods. Not destruction.
A boundary.
A message.
In every mind, in every language, a feeling spread:
Do not cross.
The sea was no longer asking.
Rafi whispered, "What does this mean?"
Lila didn't turn around. "It means the world has one last chance to choose."
Behind her, the ocean shimmered calm, powerful, awake.
And far below, the Sea King watched.
Waiting to see which side humanity would stand on…
Before the water walked again.