Chapter 90: Revelations and CelebrationsThe chamber opened up like some fancy ritual space. Grace held her sword out, scanning for threats while Petriel gasped behind her.

    "It’s beautiful," Petriel whispered.

    To be fair, it was. The walls glittered with blue crystals that caught the light emanating from Grace’s blade. In the center, on a stone pedestal, sat a perfectly round pearl that glowed with its own inner light.

    [That has to be it. The Tide’s Tear!]

    Grace took a step forward, then froze.

    The water in the shallow pools around the pedestal began to move. Not just ripple—actually move. It rose up, forming humanoid shapes that were way more solid than the water demons they’d fought earlier.

    Four figures took shape—three warriors with weapons made of hardened water and one taller figure who stood behind them. When Grace looked at them, she saw red numbers floating above their heads.

    [Level 35? Level 38? Level 42? That’s... not great.]

    The biggest one, the one hanging back, showed "Level 45" in blood-red letters.

    [Well, shit.]

    "Grace?" Petriel’s voice trembled slightly. "We should go."

    "We can’t," Grace said, tightening her grip on her blade. "If the Tide’s Tear can stop The Tide, we need it."

    The water warriors stepped forward in perfect unison. Their faces were blank, featureless masks, but their weapons looked plenty real.

    "Don’t worry," Grace said, shifting into a fighting stance. "I’ll take them down."

    "T-that’s great," Petriel stammered, "but, please, focus on the fight and not on grabbing my... my butt."

    Grace blinked and realized her free hand was indeed firmly gripping Petriel’s ass. She hadn’t even noticed herself doing it.

    "Sorry!" She let go instantly, her face heating up. "I didn’t—that wasn’t—"

    The first water warrior lunged at her, swinging a massive sword. Grace barely got her blade up in time to block. The impact sent vibrations up her arm.

    It hurt. It really hurt.

    [Right. We can’t actually be killed by these things, but they hurt. A lot. Plus, if we’re beaten, we might be mind-controlled or whatever by the Tide after.]

    She spun away from the attack, using her smaller size to her advantage. Diana’s training sessions kicked in as she ducked under another swing and thrust her rapier through the water warrior’s chest.

    Instead of collapsing into a puddle, the warrior merely stumbled back, the hole in its chest slowly closing.

    [Great. They can regenerate.]

    The second and third warriors advanced together. Grace activated her Stardust Veil, the silver arm guard extending to deflect a strike that would have taken her head off. She remembered Seraph’s lessons about fighting multiple opponents—keep moving, make them get in each other’s way, never get cornered.

    Grace danced between the warriors, her blade flashing as she struck wherever she could. But each wound she inflicted healed almost immediately.

    [This isn’t working. I need to find their weak spot.]

    Petriel had backed against the wall, hands glowing with healing energy, ready to help if Grace got hurt. The third warrior noticed her and changed direction, moving to attack.

    "No!" Grace threw herself between them, slashing furiously at the warrior. Her blade connected with its arm, slicing clean through, but another one formed instantly from the water at its feet.

    The Level 45 warrior still hadn’t moved. It just watched, like it was studying her.

    [Wait. The pearl. Maybe...]

    Grace dove between two warriors, rolling across the wet floor and coming up next to the pedestal. The pearl pulsed with blue light as she reached for it.

    "Grace, wait!" Petriel called out.

    Too late. Her fingers closed around the Tide’s Tear.

    The world went white.

    Grace stood on a beach. But not just any beach—it was the same one from her dream with Eternia and The Tide. Except this time, she was alone.

    No, not alone. A man stood at the water’s edge, staring out at the ocean. He wore ancient-looking armor, his helmet tucked under one arm.

    "You’re not what I expected," he said without turning.

    "Who are you?" Grace asked, approaching slowly.

    "Captain Maren of the Wave Guard." Now he turned, and Grace saw his face was older than his voice suggested, lined with scars and weathered by salt air. "Or I was, a very long time ago."

    "You’re one of those water warriors."

    He smiled sadly.

    "What’s left of us. We served the Lady of the Sea faithfully in life. In death, she gave us purpose."

    "The Tide," Grace said. "She turned you into those... things."

    "She saved us," he corrected. "When I was alive, I was alone. A soldier with no family, no home beyond the barracks. The sea was the only constant in my life."

    Grace felt a pang of empathy. She knew what it was like to be alone, to have nothing but a small farm and memories of dead parents.

    "The Tide gave us a community," Maren continued. "When we died, she gathered our souls and gave us form. We protect her treasures, guard her temples. We belong to something greater than ourselves."

    "But she’s hurting people now," Grace argued. "Turning villagers into water creatures against their will."

    Maren’s expression darkened.

    "She is lonely. Can you understand that? To exist for eons, to be used as a vessel for another’s unwanted emotions, and then to be abandoned?"

    Grace couldn’t say she understood those circumstances exactly, but she could certainly imagine it wasn’t good.

    "The Tide’s Tear," Grace said, redirecting the conversation. "What does it do?"

    "It was a gift," Maren replied. "From Eternia to The Tide. A token of affection, meant to ease her loneliness when Eternia couldn’t be with her."

    "Can it control her?"

    Maren laughed.

    "Control? No. The Tear connects with her. It allows whoever holds it to share in her emotions, to understand her pain. And perhaps, if used with compassion, to ease it."

    Grace looked down, suddenly aware she was still holding the pearl, even in this vision.

    "You feel it, don’t you?" Maren asked. "Her loneliness. Her abandonment."

    Grace did feel it—a vast, yawning emptiness that seemed to have no bottom.  sea??h thё ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "She’s not evil," Maren said softly. "Just... wounded beyond what most can comprehend."

    "Being ’wounded’ has cost a lot of people their lives here."

    "That tends to happen," he shrugged. "Hurt people usually hurt other people."

    Grace sighed.

    "I need to stop her from transforming any more villagers," Grace said. "Do you have any tips?"

    "Help her. The connection works both ways."

    The vision began to fade, Maren’s form becoming transparent.

    [That wasn’t as useful as I hoped it would be.]

    Grace gasped as the world snapped back into focus. She was on her knees by the pedestal, the Tide’s Tear clutched in her hand. The water warriors stood frozen in place, watching her.

    "Grace?" Petriel was at her side, hands glowing with healing light. "Are you alright? You collapsed and I couldn’t reach you!"

    "I’m fine," Grace said, standing shakily. "I had a... vision. I spoke with one of them." She nodded toward the water warriors.

    As if hearing her, the warriors suddenly dissolved, collapsing into puddles that flowed back into the shallow pools around the pedestal.

    "They’re... letting us go?" Petriel asked, bewildered.

    "I think so," Grace said, looking down at the pearl. "For now, anyway."

    It felt warm in her hand, pulsing with gentle blue light. She could still feel the echo of The Tide’s loneliness, a hollow ache that resonated with her own memories of isolation on her turnip farm.

    [You already know how... WAIT, was he talking about sex!? Because that seems to be the answer to everything lately.]

    "We should get out of here," Grace said, tucking the pearl into a pouch at her belt. "The tide will be coming in soon. The, uh, actual tide, not the Tide."

    Petriel nodded, but as they turned to leave, she suddenly grabbed Grace’s arm.

    "Um... before we go back..." Her golden eyes were wide, cheeks flushed pink. "Maybe we should... celebrate? A little?"

    "..."

    Grace blinked.

    "Celebrate?" Her voice came out several pitches higher than usual.

    And, instead of answering, Petriel grabbed Grace’s robes and pulled her in, pressing their lips together in the filthiest kiss Grace had ever experienced. Petriel’s tongue slid into her mouth, exploring with an eagerness that made Grace’s knees weak.

    When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing hard.

    "I’ve been wanting to do that since you rescued me from those water zombies," Petriel admitted, her voice breathier than usual, still holding onto Grace tightly.

    Grace’s brain had short-circuited. All she could do was nod and say:

    "We should... definitely stay and, uh, make sure there are no more water zombies. Uh, you know, so they don’t come out and attack anyone. Uh, not here though. Maybe by the entrance?"

    Petriel smiled, and it was a smile Grace had never seen on her face before. A very confident smile.

    "Definitely," Petriel agreed.

    The pearl pulsed warmly against Grace’s hip as they made their way out of the temple, reminding her of the connection she now shared with The Tide. She’d have to figure out how to use it soon.

    But first, she had some "celebrating" to do.