"Father... Sister... forgive me," Arcadia whispered, her voice barely audible beneath the crushing weight of the sea.

  Darkness wrapped around her like a shroud as she sank deeper into the abyss—her body limp, her will fading.

  The depths welcomed her—cold, silent, endless.

  She closed her eyes, surrendering herself to the ocean's pull, ready to vanish beneath its suffocating embrace.

  But then—

  Something seized her arm.

  Her eyes snapped open.

  And there, suspended in the blood-dark water, was the last face she expected to see.

  Evelyn...?

  Her sister's body was a mangled ruin.

  Her left arm and leg were severed, a yawning hole gaping in her abdomen.

  Entrails floated around her like ribbons of death, blood weaving through the currents in haunting swirls.

  And yet, Evelyn's grip was firm.

  She pulled her sister upward, even as more of her own insides unraveled, becoming nourishment for the sea.

  Arcadia gazed toward the surface, trembling, her heart pounding like war drums.

  A new fire flickered within her—a desperate, fragile purpose reignited by the sacrifice before her.

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  With what strength she had left, Arcadia kicked against the depths, dragging herself—and her sister's broken hope—toward the light above.

  All sense had left her—sight, sound, pain—all drowned out by one burning truth, a single, unyielding desire to escape the ocean's hold.

  With a final, desperate push, she broke through the surface, shattering the silence with a gasp.

  She laughed—part relief, part madness. The sound cracked in her throat like glass.

  "Evelyn... we ma—"

  She froze.

  Fear and disbelief surged through her.

  The remains of countless lives were scattered across the ocean’s surface like forgotten relics, turning the water into a horrific blend of dark crimson and sorrowful blue.

  Homes, shops, statues, entire plazas—all lost or torn asunder. Broken structures barely rising above the waves—hollow silhouettes of a town Arcadia had once known, now forsaken to the depths.

  Her breath quickened. Her mind spiraled. Her senses rushed back with a jolt of overwhelming clarity.

  Evelyn… feels… light?

  Arcadia’s gaze flickered to the side—and then, her heart sank.

  All that remained... was Evelyn’s arm.

  A cold spike of panic pierced her chest.

  She screamed, flinging the arm away as her breathing grew ragged.

  "No! Evelyn!"

  In a frenzy, she dove beneath the waves, eyes wide, heart hammering.

  But there was nothing—only a crimson trail, accompanied by scattered organs, leading down into the black abyss below.

  The crushing weight of guilt and sorrow consumed her in an instant.

  She collapsed into herself, sobbing violently—her body trembling as the ocean drowned her cries.

  For what felt like an eternity, she lay there—adrift above the waves, inconsolable.

  The salty breeze stung her skin, but she didn’t move.

  Not until the distant, ear-splitting roar of the Hydra echoed across the sea.

  Arcadia’s sorrow twisted—warped—into unyielding rage.

  "This is your fault.

  You’ll pay—I'll make you suffer.

  Not one life will go unaccounted for.

  Not one!"