The sea didn't move.
That was what scared everyone most.
No waves.
No sound.
Just a perfect, flat line of water stretching across the horizon like glass.
As if the ocean had frozen in time.
Rafi stood beside Lila at the boundary the sea had created. The sand ahead was wet but untouched, like nothing dared cross it.
Soldiers had set up fences behind them.
Metal. Guns. Drones.
All pointed at the water.
Marco kicked one of the poles. "They still think this is a war."
"It's fear," Lila said quietly. "Fear makes people stupid."
Far away, ships waited. Huge gray navy ships. Engines rumbling. Weapons ready.
"They're testing the line today," Marco added. "Sending unmanned boats first."
Lila's jaw tightened. "They shouldn't."
"But they will."
A small robotic boat rolled forward on the water. Cameras blinking. Antennas spinning.
Everyone watched.
News drones hovered above. Broadcasting live.
The boat crossed the invisible boundary.
For one second
Nothing.
Then the sea reacted.
Not violently.
Not angrily.
Just… erased.
The water beneath the boat vanished.
Like a hole opened.
The boat dropped straight down and disappeared without a splash.
No explosion.
No wreckage.
Just gone.
People gasped.
"What the hell…" Marco whispered.
Rafi's hand grabbed Lila's sleeve. "Where did it go?"
Lila felt the answer inside her bones.
"It wasn't destroyed," she said softly.
"It was rejected."
Behind them, officers started shouting.
"Send another!"
"Try a larger craft!"
"Test the perimeter!"
"They don't understand," Lila muttered.
The sea wasn't attacking.
It was setting rules.
Like nature saying: No further.
Suddenly
Pain hit her head.
Images flashed.
Fast.
Cities underwater.
Missiles hitting the Sea King.
The Heart shattering.
The ocean rising higher than mountains.
Extinction.
She staggered.
Marco caught her. "Lila!"
"They're going to provoke it," she breathed. "If they fire… everything ends."
As if hearing her thoughts
A siren wailed.
One ship powered up its weapons.
"They're launching," Marco said in horror.
The sky went silent.
The sea went darker.
And far below…
Something massive opened its eyes.