The sea was never meant to forgive.
That was the first lesson every child in Blackport learned.
The ocean didn't care about dreams.
It didn't care about courage.
And it certainly didn't care about fools.
"Jump."
The word echoed above him.
Kael stood at the edge of the broken dock, staring down at the dark water below. The night was cold. The tide was rough.
Behind him, laughter.
"You said you wanted to be a pirate," one of the older boys mocked. "Prove it."
Kael clenched his fists.
He was smaller than them. Thinner. But his eyes burned brighter than any of theirs.
"I will," he said quietly.
The sea roared below.
They didn't know the truth.
Kael wasn't afraid of drowning.
He was afraid of staying weak.
Without another word, he jumped.
The water swallowed him instantly.
Cold.
Violent.
The waves dragged him down like invisible hands pulling him into darkness.
He opened his eyes underwater.
Blackness.
Pressure.
Silence.
Then—
Something moved.
A pulse.
Deep beneath him.
Not a fish.
Not a current.
Something ancient.
Kael's chest burned. His lungs screamed for air.
But he didn't swim up.
He looked down.
And that's when he saw it.
A faint glow far below, deep in the abyss.
Blue. Flickering.
Calling him.
The glow moved closer.
Faster.
His body should have panicked.
Instead… he felt calm.
The glow reached him.
And then—
Pain exploded through his veins.
Kael screamed underwater, but no sound escaped.
The blue light shot into his chest.
The sea erupted above.
On the dock, the boys stopped laughing.
"What was that?"
The water twisted violently, forming a spiral around the exact spot where Kael had jumped.
Lightning cracked across the sky.
And then—
Silence.
The sea calmed instantly.
Too calm.
One of the boys swallowed nervously.
"He's dead."
The surface of the water shifted.
Slowly…
Kael rose.
But he wasn't swimming.
He was standing.
Standing on the surface of the ocean.
The water didn't swallow him.
It held him.
His eyes opened.
They weren't the same.
They glowed faint blue.
The mark appeared seconds later.
A thin, glowing symbol spreading across his collarbone like living ink.
The sea answered him.
A massive wave rose behind him without wind.
Without storm.
Without reason.
The boys stumbled back in horror.
"You… you're cursed!"
Kael looked at his reflection in the water.
For the first time in his life…
He didn't see weakness.
He felt power.
"What did you do?" one of them whispered.
Kael stepped forward.
The water hardened beneath his feet.
"I listened," he replied calmly.
The wave behind him grew larger.
Towering.
Terrifying.
And then he closed his fist.
The wave crashed down onto the dock.
Wood shattered.
Screams filled the air.
When the water settled…
Kael stood alone in the ruins.
Breathing steadily.
The mark on his chest pulsed once more.
A voice echoed faintly in his mind.
You are chosen.
He froze.
"Chosen for what?" he whispered.
The voice answered.
To claim what was stolen.
The glow in his eyes faded slowly.
The sea returned to normal.
But Kael knew something had changed forever.
Far out in the darkness…
A massive shadow moved beneath the waves.
Watching.
Waiting.
And in the distant horizon, aboard a warship flying the flag of the World Authority…
A man felt the shift in the ocean.
He looked toward Blackport.
"The Abyss Relic has awakened," he murmured.
And he smiled.
"Find the boy."