Page 88 of Ocean of Sin and Starlight

Hello! I yell. Is anyone out there?

Oh my Lord, I hear another voice say in awe.

But this time, the voice isn’t just familiar.

It’s the voice of my heart.

The missing piece of my soul I’ve been looking for most of my life.

Maren! I yell.

Larimar! I hear her reply.

It can’t be. It can’t. I keep staring into the sea, expecting to be hallucinating, hearing things. It can’t be her or Nill—they both can’t possibly be here. Nill is a stretch, but Maren is an impossibility. She traded her fins for legs! It’s not possible for her to be a Syren again.

And yet, it was possible for me.

My heart clenches into a tight little fist, holding out all hope.

Maren, I’m here! I cry out.

And for the first time on my own, I pray. Oh God, if you exist as Priest thinks you do, please, please, please.

Let this be her.

There’s silence for a moment, and then suddenly, out of the murky waters, two shapes appear, swimming toward me.

One is a shark.

One is a woman in a dress, tattered at the end with a tail sticking out, pumping up and down furiously as she propels herself forward.

Details appear slowly and then all at once.

The red of her dress, standing out like a bloodstain against the deep.

Then, flowing black hair.

A teal-and-purple tail.

Her bright blue eyes.

Her wide, heartbreaking smile.

She’s so much older than I remember, not the girl I imagined in my head, but that doesn’t make her any less beautiful or any less her.

Maren.

I know I told Priest Syrens don’t cry underwater, but I feel the tears spill from my eyes anyway, carried off into the currents.

Larimar! she cries out. She swims right up to me and keeps pace with the ship, her hand on my cheek, marveling at my face while Nill circles around us, excitedly waving his tail back and forth. I can’t believe it’s you. I can’t believe we found you.

You were looking for me? I ask in surprise. I’ve been looking for you since the day you left. All this time, all those years, I’ve been looking for you. I try to swallow the lump in my throat. Asherah too.

I know, she says, but before I can ask how she could, she gives her head a shake, her expression pained, though her smile is soft. We have so much to talk about.

But how did you find me?

She nods at Nill. He helped.

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