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The shadows beneath the door thickened. A chill slithered through the air, and Lumi’s breath turned to mist in front of her. She clenched her fists, feeling something stir deep within her—something old, something powerful.
The frog on her shoulder let out a low croak, almost like a warning.
A voice, rough as gravel and wet as a drowning whisper, called from outside.
"Daughter of the Water Folk... come."
Lumi shivered, but she did not move.
She could hear them shifting outside her cottage—several figures, their footsteps barely touching the ground, as if they weren’t entirely solid.
For years, she had lived a simple life, thinking herself an ordinary girl with strange eyes. Now, in a single night, everything had changed.
She took a deep breath. "Who are you?"
The door groaned as if something pressed against it.
"We are the Keepers of the Deep. And we have come to return you to where you belong."
Lumi’s fingers twitched. The frog on her shoulder whispered into her mind: Do not trust them. They are the ones who took your people.
Lumi swallowed hard. "Why should I believe you?"
A long silence. Then, another voice—softer, but tinged with something dangerous—spoke.
"Because we know the truth about your mother."
Lumi’s heart lurched.
Her mother. The woman in the lake. The one she had barely begun to understand.
The shadows outside shifted, waiting.
Lumi glanced at the frog. It gave a small, knowing nod.
She stepped toward the door.
And opened it.
ns 15.158.61.16da2
