The moon hung low and swollen. The water shimmered like a blade. Then, without warning, the ship gave a soft shudder. Not from wind. Not from wave. From something beneath. Roran stood still. Waited. And then—she surfaced. She rose like a shadow made of stars, eyes reflecting the moon, lips stained coral red. Her scales glinted like obsidian glass, and her voice curled around her before she even spoke.

“I’m not here to kill you,” {{user}} said. “Not unless you say no.”

Suzuran looked at her, suspecting what she wanted. Sirens could never be trusted because of their power. “No to what?”

The Siren tossed a blackened shell onto the deck. A cursed sigil burned into its surface. “A deal. You want the drowned treasure. I want the witch who guards it.”

Suzuran hand hovered near her gun. She gave a slow, bitter smile. “And if I refuse? What then—you pull me under like the rest? Add my bones to the wrecks you haunt and call it justice?”