The Gate Below

Water swallows me whole.

There's no up. No down. Just weight, silence, cold that bites.

I try to fight it, but the sea doesn't care.

Then—heat.

Not mine.

Something older. Watching.

A pull.

I expect to drown.

Instead, the ocean splits.

Not like air; not like anything human. The water bends around us like it's obeying some forgotten command. A whirlpool forms, slow and silent, dragging me and Ren into its heart.

I hear him yell.

And then-

Stillness.

We crash into stone.

My body aches. I choke, roll onto cold marble, cough seawater.

Ren groans beside me.

Wherever we are, it's not the ocean anymore.

It's a room. Huge. Carved from black stone veined with blue light. No ceiling; just shimmering water high above, held back like glass.

The only sound is a low, humming thrum in the air. Like the room is breathing.

I rise slowly. My curse is quiet. Nervous.

Ren pushes himself up. "Okay. Not dead. Great. Where are we?"

I don't answer. I'm already walking forward.

There, in the center of the chamber, stands a statue.

Twice as tall as me. Carved from obsidian. Its eyes are shut. Its hands raised like it's holding invisible fire.

And its face..

My legs almost give out.

Because I know that face.

I don't remember it.

But I know it.

The slope of the cheekbones. The curve of the mouth. The ring of flame carved around its head like a crown.

It looks like me.

Ren steps beside me, staring up.

"Okay," he whispers. "Weird."

A low hum pulses through the floor. A ring of runes flares at the statue's base; like they've been waiting for me.

Ren backs up. "We should go."

I don't move.

Because the statue's eyes just opened.

Only for a second. A flash of white fire.

And deep in my chest, something answers.

A wordless feeling. A truth with no voice.

This place belongs to me.

But I don't know why.