(Maguro's POV)
Descending into the trench was like falling into the throat of something ancient that had forgotten how to breathe.
Even with my gills fluttering just fine, the pressure crushed against my skin like heavy regrets.
Commander Gaji swam ahead with his usual crabby confidence, mumbling to himself about cursed currents and how "deep places attract dramatic people."
Tuli floated beside me, nervously glowing like a haunted mood ring.
And Karu?
He was quiet.
Too quiet.
His scarf barely moved, and his eyes never met mine.
We were headed into The Veil Trench, a place that even sea ghosts refused to haunt.
The Sea King had told us the abyss below once held the Seal — the ancient lock that kept Vritra bound.
But now the trench was oozing with a corruption that tasted like copper and grief. Even the currents were wrong.
They pulsed like a heartbeat. Someone else's.
The silence made it worse. My thoughts got louder the deeper we swam.
What if I wasn't enough?
What if I lost my café?
What if Takashi replaced me with a cursed cappuccino machine that somehow did better latte art than me?
Suddenly, the darkness around us shifted. Shapes emerged — not fish, not plants.
Whispers rippled past my ears.
"Turn back... You don't belong…"
I clenched my fists. My scales prickled.
"No thanks," I muttered. "I have abandonment issues."
We reached the Ruins of Varnash, an ancient reef-temple half-swallowed by darkness. Pillars made of whale bones and obsidian coral arched above us, and glowing runes shimmered along the edges like sea-sick stars.
It was... beautiful. In a this-will-probably-try-to-kill-you kind of way.
"Watch for illusions," Gaji said, raising his pincer. "The shadows here prey on weak minds."
I nodded, then immediately saw a giant floating coffee bean blink at me from a pillar.
…Okay. Stay focused, Maguro.
Tuli cast a light ward, and the shadows hissed back like angry cats. Karu drew his blades but didn't say a word.
We moved inward.
Deeper.
Each room twisted a little more.
Once, we passed a mirror made of polished shell. It showed me… but not me. A version of myself still a tuna, crowned in coral, eyes glowing — regal, distant, terrifying.
"Who you could've been," the Bean Witch's voice echoed in my head.
I shook it off. "I already have a job. It involves bad puns and free Wi-Fi."
Then we entered the Chamber of the Fractured Seal.
At the center of the cathedral-like space was a circular scar in the seafloor — pulsing.
Breathing. Cracked. Black energy oozed from it like ink.
My breath caught.
That was it.
The Seal of Vritra.
A chunk was missing — fractured in a jagged crescent. And from it, something was leaking into the water.
Fear?
Magic?
Rot?
Or maybe just him.
Suddenly, the water shimmered with a golden flash.
A voice, theatrical and smooth, echoed through the trench
"Well, well... the tuna with legs finally arrives."
We all turned.
Floating above the seal was a figure draped in long robes of eel-skin and starlight. Their hair flowed like sea snakes, and their grin was sharp enough to slice coral.
They clapped once.
"Welcome to your failure."
"Who—?" I asked.
They bowed mockingly. "Syllaz. Sea-born. Exiled. Soon-to-be successor of Vritra."
They floated down lazily, arms spread. "You were supposed to seal this place, dear Maguro. Not turn into a barista."
"I make great coffee," I snapped.
"You were meant to rule waves. Instead you peddle caffeine to haunted furniture."
Tuli gasped. "How did you—"
"I read Yelp reviews."
Gaji growled. "You broke the seal?"
Syllaz shrugged. "It was already breaking. I simply... helped it shatter with style."
He raised a hand.
The shadows in the corners of the room shuddered—then attacked.
Tuli threw up a light ward. Karu slashed. Gaji launched himself forward with a roar.
I dove under a writhing shadow beast — sharp teeth, too many eyes, not enough personal space — and spun into a burst of pressure.
Water exploded outward, sending one of them crashing into a column.
Syllaz laughed, floating above us, untouched. "Oh, this is fun."
"Come down here and say that!" I yelled.
"I would, but I have an aversion to humility."
The fight was fast.
Blinding.
Tuli was glowing so hard she nearly exploded. Karu moved like a ribbon of blades — too fast, too perfect. And… too quiet.
Then I saw it.
Karu paused mid-swing. His eyes flashed black for a second.
I froze.
The shadows weren't just attacking.
They were infecting.
"Karu, snap out of it!" I shouted.
He turned to me. Blinked. Just once.
And then—
He attacked me.
I barely blocked the blow with a wall of spiraling current.
Gaji charged him, holding back.
"Don't kill him!" I yelled. "He's not himself!"
Tuli screamed as shadow tendrils wrapped around her waist, dragging her toward the seal.
I moved on instinct.
Surged forward.
Water swirled around me like threads of silk and lightning. I dove straight into the tendrils, slicing them with blades of pressure.
Tuli gasped and clung to me.
"You okay?" I asked, panting.
She nodded. "I—I saw something in the seal. It whispered to me. It knew my name."
I looked up at the seal — cracked, pulsing, alive.
Vritra wasn't just imprisoned here.
He was watching.
Gaji held Karu down, claws pinning his blades.
"Karu's cursed," he growled. "We need to break it."
I floated closer. "Let me try something."
I reached into myself — not physically, that would be gross — and called on my water magic.
I remembered the warmth I felt when I protected that child.
The pulse of the tide.
The rhythm of the sea.
I touched Karu's forehead.
And whispered: "Wake up."
The water around me pulsed with light. Gentle. Healing.
His eyes flickered.
Then cleared.
He coughed, looking stunned. "Did I… just try to slice your arm?"
"Only a little," I said, helping him up. "I won't hold it against you unless it happens again at brunch."
Above us, Syllaz frowned. "Ugh. I hate group therapy."
He raised both arms. The seal glowed brighter. The trench began to tremble.
"This seal will not hold another moonrise. Vritra will awaken. And your little coffee shop? Will be underwater real estate."
I surged upward, summoning a sphere of compressed current and blasting it at him.
He dodged—but just barely.
His smirk faded.
"You're stronger than I thought," he said. "But strength won't matter when the tide decides to drown the world."
He vanished in a whirl of black water.
Silence fell.
The shadow beasts dissolved. The seal… still pulsed, but dimmer.
Tuli floated beside me. "We have time. But not much."
Gaji sighed. "We regroup. We warn the King. We plan."
I looked down at the fracture.
And I knew…
This wasn't just about sealing Vritra anymore.
This was about what I was willing to become.
To protect both my worlds.
Even if it meant never fully belonging to either.
To be continued…