The moment the ancient guardian's eye opened beneath the trench, the ocean changed.I did not see it with ordinary sight.
Rather I felt it.
A pressure settled against my skin, gentle yet immense, like standing before something older than memory itself. The currents slowed around the imperial balcony, bending inward as if drawn toward a silent center and somehow, that center was me.
My breath came shallow because the guardian was watching me.
Its presence brushed against my mind without words. There was no voice, no language, yet understanding formed instinctively. It was not curiosity or hostility.
It was evaluation.
A being awakened after thousands of years… deciding whether I belonged to the ocean that had called me here.
Beside me, Azarus remained perfectly still, but I felt his awareness sharpen instantly.
"You feel it," he said quietly.
I nodded, unable to look away from the dark abyss below. "It's… judging me."
