23
A heart true in aim will rise
I wanted to find this map for him, but my heart ached with sorrow, thinking how there was no other alternative ending. He needed to kill his father before he could speak of this place, before he could bring pirate ships to this island, or worse, before he sold his own son to the sovereigns and this place ended up in ruins—if he hadn’t already done so.
He had to face this reality, just as I would have to face mine when I found myself in front of Diego.
But now that I knew the truth, as long as I was still here, there would always be a small spark of hope that he could free himself from this chain in some other way.
Statues of the Gods stood tall, casting long shadows in the golden light, silent witnesses to the centuries that had passed. My eyes flickered from one to the next, searching, but the overwhelming grandeur made me feel small .
“I don’t know where to start looking,” I whispered, my voice barely audible, afraid to disturb the quiet reverence of the space.
Calico stepped closer, so close I cold feel the heat of him against my back. His voice was low when he said, “May I?”
I turned, blinking at him. “What?”
“Touch you,” he clarified, the words a soft rasp as his hand hovered near my neck.
His eyes met mines, and for a moment, everything in the temple—the statues, the light, the air itself—seemed to still.
My breath hitched. I hadn’t been this close to him since…well, since that moment three days ago, when everything between us had almost changed. When he kissed my cheek. Gods, I needed to stop thinking about that kiss.
Slowly, I nodded, unable to find words. “Aye.”
He smirked so widely that I almost smiled too. “Aye?” He raised a brow. “All right, pirate,” he said, laughing. “I’m going to open the compass and I’m going to be here if anything happens.”
“I’m not afraid,” I said.
He smiled and brushed his fingers against my neck as he stepped closer, so close I could feel the rise and fall of his chest against my back.
Then, he exhaled—a soft, controlled breath of air that danced over my skin, sending warmth and a dizzying sensation flooding through me.
I felt the compass hum against my chest, awakening, and as my eyes fluttered, something beyond sight stirred inside me .
The vision was immediate. When I opened my eyes, they weren’t my own anymore—they belonged to something older, something ancient. In the distance, a towering statue loomed, dominating the farthest end of the temple. Thalassa. Her marble figure was immense, carved with such exquisite detail that the white stone looked alive. Her long, flowing hair cascaded down her back like waves, and her dress seemed to ripple in the sunlight as if caught in an eternal dance with the ocean.
The waves beneath her feet crashed upward, molded into stone ships that seemed tossed by the force of my presence, her bare feet anchored among them. And carved in a plaque among the waves, a paragraph that said:
“When shadows rise and kingdoms fall,
A firstborn’s arrow shall heed the call.
From the blood of monarchs,
They will end the reign the evil brings.
In secret born, in twilight’s veil,
Their aim shall strike, and none prevail.
The waters’ curse shall be undone,
When the archer’s mark
Meets the sun.”
She was wearing a veil that captured my breath. Thalassa’s Veil—a flowing sheet of marble that draped over her head like a wedding veil, blending seamlessly into the stone waves at her feet. The veil whispered of ancient magic, of promises made and broken by the sea.
Then I noticed it. The statue’s hand, raised high, was pointing at something.
I blinked again, my vision clearing, and Calico’s voice cut through my daze.
“What do you see?”
My gaze snapped to the direction of Thalassa’s marble hand, following where the Goddess pointed. My heart pounded as I walked towards it, my feet moving before my mind could catch up.
Calico followed me, and we reached the far wall where the sun’s rays caught the stone at a peculiar angle. And then I saw it—a heart, not carved into the wall, but projected. The sunlight hit something just right, casting a perfect heart-shaped shadow across the marble, as if the temple itself was guiding us, showing us the way.
I swallowed hard, glancing at him, my voice barely above a whisper. “Well… I think this is it, Captain.”
“It has to be something else.”
The wall stood before us, solid and unyielding, its marble surface revealing nothing of the secrets it supposedly held. Calico ran his fingers along the stone, frustration simmering in his voice as he muttered about the map, but my focus shifted. I felt it—like the pull of a tide I couldn’t see, something deeper than instinct.
Down, Lady Love .
I draw my gaze downward. My knees hit the cold stone as I knelt, hands trembling slightly as I brushed away the dust from a small plaque, hidden and long forgotten.
My fingers traced the letters, heart pounding as I read aloud, “The heart, true in aim, must sink before it can rise, for only in drowning will the seas be saved.”
Suddenly, the ground beneath me shifted, the marble tile trembling.
My breath hitched as it began to descend, my body sliding with it into the unknown depths.
I gasped, panic seizing me—I didn’t know how to swim.
“Calico!” I cried, fear thick in my voice, as the world began to tilt.
“Donna!” His voice cut through the chaos as he lunged forward, his hand outstretched just as the tile began to close over me. With a desperate leap, he dove in after me, just before the marble sealed shut above us.
The world plunged into cool, suffocating darkness. I struggled, limbs flailing as water rushed up to meet us, swallowing me whole.
The chamber we were in wasn’t fully submerged—there was just enough air to keep breathing, but barely. I thrashed, the weight of the water pressing against my chest, terror consuming me as my feet kicked uselessly against the void.
“I can’t—” My voice was thin, trembling as I fought to stay afloat, heart hammering in my chest.
I couldn’t swim. I couldn’t breathe. The water was everywhere .
“I’ve got you.” Calico’s voice came from beside me, calm but urgent. His arms found me in the water, pulling me close. His grip was firm, steadying me even as I shook with panic, my hands gripping his arms as if they were my lifeline.
“I’ve got you,” he repeated. “Look at me, I’ve got you. Aye?”
I nodded.
“I need to hear you say it, love.”
“Aye,” I breathed, terrified.
I clung to him as if my life depended on it, and in many ways, it did. His steady arms wrapped around me, grounding me in the chaos. My heart raced, but the panic ebbed, if only slightly, because he was there—holding me, keeping me from slipping beneath the water’s surface.
He had jumped in after me without a second thought, diving into my fear just to make sure I wasn’t alone. That thought made my chest tighten, and this time, it had nothing to do with the water.
His breath was steady, although his eyes darted around the small chamber, searching.
“There has to be a way out,” he muttered, his grip on me still firm. His voice was calm, but I could feel the tension in him—the urgency as he tried to find a way out of the trap we had fallen into.
But then, I understood. It was not a trap.
Down, Lady Love.
“The heart, true in aim,” I said, catching my breath, “must sink before it can rise, for only in drowning will the seas be saved.”
He looked at me, searching for something in my eyes, an answer probably .
“The map,” I whispered, my voice trembling but sure. “It’s here, under us. That’s why we were pulled down.”
“I couldn’t care less about the map right now, we need to get out. You are trembling.”
“Listen, if we—”
“Save your breath. Please.” There was something urgent in the way his voice cut me. I shook my head, eyes flicking down to the inky depths beneath us. The fear crawled back as I imagined trying to swim into the depths where the map was. But at the same time, a new feeling filled my lungs, one more powerful than fear. I was going to do it. I could do it. And if not, I would drown trying, but I would do it for a cause greater than myself.
“I’m going down.” My voice broke slightly.
His gaze softened, but there was no hesitation in his voice when he said, “No, I will.”
He scanned the chamber, then shifted, carefully guiding my hand towards the wall.
“Hold onto this,” he said, finding a small rock jutting from the slick surface. “You’ll be safe here, just stay above the water.”
My fingers clung to the rock as if it were the only thing keeping me tethered to the world. Calico’s arms slowly left me, and I felt my breath catch, the absence of his steady hold making my heart race again. But I held on, determined to trust him.
Without another word, he took a breath and dove beneath the water, disappearing into the dark.
I held tight, my knuckles white as I waited .
Each second felt like an eternity, the stillness around me growing heavier. The water was cold, the weight of it pressing against my chest as I strained to keep my head above the surface. I counted my breaths, trying to focus on that instead of the rising panic threatening to choke me.
I took a deep breath. “Thalassa,” I whispered. “Please, bring him back.”
He will come back, Lady Love. He will. A heart, true in aim, will rise.
I couldn’t stop my uncontrollable breaths. The seconds stretched on, and still no sign of him.
My heart thudded louder, the silence unbearable. “Thalassa, please,” I choked.
And suddenly, the water rippled beneath me, and at the same moment, the marble tile above shifted with a grating sound. My heart leaped as Calico emerged, gasping for air, his arm rising to grab my waist in one fluid motion. His grip was strong, unyielding, and I felt my body relax instinctively as he pulled me close. With a final heave, Calico lifted us both through the opening tile, the water pouring away as we pulled back into the temple above.
We collapsed onto the marble floor, soaking wet and breathless. He lay beside me, chest rising and falling with heavy, ragged breaths, his strength worn from the effort.
And then I saw it.
In his hand, glistening in the dim light, was Thalassa’s Veil—a delicate, ancient fabric adorned with small, shimmering stones. Its presence was almost otherworldly, as if the sea itself had woven it .
I stared at it, eyes wide, my breath catching once again, but this time it wasn’t from fear.
“You found it,” I whispered, almost in disbelief, my eyes flicking up to meet his.
Calico, still panting, offered a slight smirk through his exhaustion, his gaze locking with mine.
“Of course I did,” he rasped, voice heavy with exhaustion, but something warmer lingered there in his eyes.
He still held me by the waist, and for a moment, neither of us moved. And the temple seemed to hum with the weight of what we had just uncovered.
You must reveal the secrets, Lady Love. Only a daughter of the sea can.