Chapter 82: Wet Negotiations"I think we should talk to it," Grace announced over their sad breakfast of stale bread and dried meat that looked like it came from a questionable animal.

    Diana choked on her water, coughing like she’d just swallowed a bug.

    "I’m sorry, what?"

    "The Tide. We should try talking to it." Grace poked at her food with the enthusiasm of someone being forced to eat roadkill. She hadn’t realized just how bland Linaria’s food was until she went to heaven. Though, comparing Linaria’s food to "literal paradise" may not have been fair. "Like normal people."

    "It’s not people. It’s a fucking water demon that’s turning villagers into fish," Diana pointed out, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

    "It’s a sentient entity created by Eternia," Grace corrected, "just like we all are. And it appeared in my dreams as a woman, so..."

    Meridian looked up from her scrolls.

    "You want to attempt diplomatic relations with a primordial entity of corruption?"

    "Why not?" Grace shrugged. "Stabbing the waves hasn’t worked out great so far."

    "Because it’s insane?" Diana threw her hands up like Grace had suggested they all strip naked and dance around the fire. "It’ll drag you into the water and turn you into a guppy!"

    Grace looked around their pathetic little camp.

    Diana with her sword and resting bitch face. Petriel still shivering like a chihuahua despite it being morning. Meridian with her useless scrolls that hadn’t done anything to help them. They weren’t exactly winning this fight through traditional methods, and the new moon was right around the corner.

    "Look, we’re at a disadvantage here. We’re surrounded by water, which it controls. It’s been around since Eternia’s time. And it’s already got half the village. What have we got to lose?"

    Diana opened her mouth, closed it, then sighed like a teenager being asked to clean her room.

    "Fine. But I’ll be right behind you. The second it gets weird, I’m stabbing."

    "When is it not weird?" Grace muttered.

    ---

    The temple looked different in daylight. Less ominous, more pathetic. Algae and barnacles clung to the once-grand archways, and the collapsed dome looked like a broken toilet bowl.

    Grace stood at the water’s edge, her teammates positioned a safe distance behind her. Diana with her sword drawn, Petriel clutching her healing kit like a security blanket, and Meridian with a fresh scroll and quill because of course she brought academic supplies to a potential fight with a water... monster... thing.

    "Hello?" Grace called, feeling like an idiot. "Tide? Can we talk?"

    Nothing happened.

    "I know you’re there," Grace tried again. "Come out."

    The water before her began to bubble and churn like a hot tub from hell. Diana tensed, stepping forward, but Grace held up a hand to stop her.

    The surface broke, water rising and shaping itself into a humanoid form. First legs, then hips, a torso, arms, and finally a head. But this wasn’t the monstrous entity Grace had expected.

    It was a woman. A blue, translucent, smoking hot woman.

    She looked like Eternia—if Eternia were made of water and had been crying for a thousand years. She had the same facial structure, the same generous curves, but her eyes were entirely black and pupilless, like two pools of oil. Her blue "hair" flowed around her head like it was underwater. And her chest...

    [Holy crap, those are bigger than Petriel’s. And that’s saying something.]

    The Tide’s body was mostly humanoid but semi-transparent, with occasional tendrils of water that would emerge from her back and sides before being reabsorbed. She wore nothing, but her form was just translucent enough to maintain some mystery.

    "You called," The Tide said, her voice rippling like water over stones. "How unexpected."

    Grace swallowed hard.

    "I thought we should talk. About what you’re doing to the villagers."

    "What I’m doing?" The Tide tilted her head, water droplets falling from her chin. "I’m offering salvation. Freedom from pain. Unity in the depths."

    "They didn’t ask for it," Grace pointed out.

    "Didn’t they?" The Tide smiled sadly. "I hear their prayers, you know. Their loneliness. Their suffering. Their desire to escape. I answer what your angels ignore."

    The group looked at each other. Had they ignored this place? Grace hadn’t been around long enough to know.

    "The fisherman who lost his wife and child to fever. The widow whose children left for the city. The young girl bullied for her stutter." The Tide’s voice grew softer. "I listen. I answer. I embrace."

    Grace shifted uncomfortably.

    "By turning them into water zombies?"

    "By transforming them into beings who will never have to be alone again." The Tide moved closer, her feet not quite touching the sand. "They join me. Become part of something greater."

    Behind Grace, there was a sudden commotion that sounded like two cats fighting in a bag. She glanced back to see Diana tackling Petriel to the ground. The healer had been walking toward the water with a glazed expression, completely entranced like she’d just spotted the world’s biggest chocolate cake. S~ea??h the N??eFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    [What the...?]

    "Petriel, snap out of it!" Diana growled, pinning Petriel beneath her.

    Petriel struggled weakly, her eyes fixed on The Tide. Diana straddled her hips, holding her wrists to the sand.

    "You’re... heavy..." Petriel mumbled, still not fully aware.

    "And you’re being mind-controlled by Water Tits over there!" Diana shot back.

    Their struggle got increasingly awkward. Diana’s thigh slipped between Petriel’s legs, and the healer made a sound that was definitely not protest. Diana froze, suddenly very aware of their position.

    "Uh," Diana managed eloquently.

    Petriel blinked up at her, a small amount of awareness slowly returning to her eyes.

    "Diana? Why are you...? Oh."

    Their bodies were pressed together in a way that would have made any passing villager think they were about to fuck right there on the beach. Diana’s leg was still between Petriel’s thighs, and their faces were inches apart.

    Neither moved. Both started breathing harder.

    Meridian, meanwhile, was frantically scribbling notes, muttering something about "psychic influence" and "susceptibility factors," completely oblivious to what was happening next to her.

    Grace turned back to The Tide, who watched the scene with an amused expression.

    "See? Your companions are lonely as well. They should join me too," The Tide remarked.

    Grace shook her head.

    "Look, I understand wanting to help people who are suffering. But you’re taking away their choice!"

    "Am I?" The Tide’s eyes fixed on Grace with the intensity of a predator. "Or am I simply answering the desire they’re too afraid to voice? The longing to let go. To surrender."

    Something brushed against Grace’s mind—a cool, slippery presence, vast as the ocean. The Tide’s voice continued, but her lips weren’t moving.

    I would like to speak with you properly. Alone. There is much we could share.

    Grace blinked, startled by the mental intrusion.

    "I—"

    Right, Eternia? Grace’s eyes widened. You always did say I could be... persuasive~

    The Tide smiled, water rippling across her features like someone had tossed a pebble into her face.

    "Think about it. I will be waiting."

    With that, she dissolved, water splashing back into the sea as if she’d never been there at all. Grace stood frozen, sand tickling her toes, the medallion cold against her chest like a chunk of ice.

    [... So, she thinks I’m Eternia, huh? Crap.]

    Behind her, Diana had finally scrambled off Petriel, both of them looking slightly embarrassed and slightly out of breath. Meridian was still writing furiously, filling an entire scroll with observations.

    "So," Diana said, trying to sound casual while brushing sand from her knees, "diplomatic meeting successful?"

    "I think so?" Grace wasn’t sure what to call it. "She wants to talk to me. Alone."

    "Absolutely fucking not," Diana snapped.

    "Fascinating," Meridian murmured, finally looking up from her scroll. "The entity appears capable of targeted psychic influence. It affected Petriel but not you, Grace."

    "Or you," Grace pointed out.

    "After yesterday’s... incident... I took precautions." Meridian tapped a small golden amulet around her neck. "Divine warding."

    Petriel finally sat up, looking dazed but no longer entranced.

    "It felt like being pulled into a dream. A really nice dream. Like, really, really nice."

    "We need to figure this out before the new moon," Grace said. "We have five days before the mass transformation."

    As they walked back to camp, debating strategies and safeguards, Grace’s System finally chimed in:

    「New Quest Objective: Commune with The Tide alone during the midnight tide」

    Grace nearly tripped over her own feet.

    Apparently, Eternia thought this was a wonderful turn of events.

    Fantastic.

    ---

    The walk back to camp was awkward as hell. Diana kept shooting suspicious glances at the ocean like it might grow legs and follow them home. Petriel couldn’t look Diana in the eye after their beach wrestling match. And Meridian kept muttering about "fascinating aquatic manifestations" and other nerdy things.

    Grace sighed. As annoying as the situation was, though, she knew she couldn’t turn back now. The villagers needed help. Her companions needed help. And somewhere beneath the waves, an ancient being created from Eternia’s loneliness was waiting for her.

    "So what’s the plan?" Diana asked as they reached camp. "Please tell me it doesn’t involve you skinny-dipping with the water monster."

    Grace winced.

    "Uh..."

    "Oh for fuck’s sake," Diana groaned, throwing her hands up. "I knew it! You’re going to go meet her, aren’t you?"

    "I think it could be a good opportunity!" Grace replied, not wanting to mention the floating words.

    Diana’s face went through about five different emotions before settling on resigned irritation.

    "Fine. But I’m following you. And if you start growing scales or some shit, I’m pulling you out."

    "Fair enough," Grace agreed.

    As the sun began its descent toward the horizon, Grace watched the distant waves with a mix of dread and curiosity. The Tide was waiting. And Grace had questions.

    Lots of questions.