Midnight crept over the camp like a thief.
Grace paced between ridian and Petriel’s sleeping bodies, her stomach twisting. She couldn’t get that conversation with The Tide out of her head—the way those black eyes had looked at her like she was the goddess herself.
"Going sowhere?"
Grace jumped so hard she nearly soiled herself. Diana stood behind her, arms crossed over her bare tits. As usual, she was topless, because heaven forbid the woman ever wear a full set of clothes.
"I... was just getting so air," Grace lied.
"Bullshit." Diana’s eyes narrowed. "You’re going to et Water Tits, aren’t you?"
"Diana—"
"We already talked about this. I’m coming with you, rember? I’ll stay back, but I’m not letting you face that watery demon alone."
Grace ran a hand through her hair, yanking it so hard she nearly scalped herself.
"Fine. Just... stay hidden, okay? If she sees you, this whole thing might go sideways."
Diana grinned.
"Don’t worry, I can be stealthy when I want to be."
[Yeah right.]
The beach was quiet as the dead, just gentle waves hitting the shore like nothing weird was happening. The moon reflected on the water, creating that classic silvery path that seed to be saying "walk this way, fool."
[Could this be any more of a trap?] Grace thought, her heart pounding hard.
Diana crouched behind so rocks about twenty feet back, her golden sword thankfully turned off. Would have been awful if she forgot to keep it off.
Grace took a deep breath and stepped forward, her toes hitting the cool water at the edge of the shore.
"I’m here," she called, feeling like a complete fool. "As... requested."
Nothing happened for a mont. Then the water started moving.
It wasn’t like before, when The Tide just rose from the waves like so fancy fountain. This ti, the ocean itself reached for Grace, curling around her ankles, then calves, then rising upward in a perfect circle.
Water surrounded her, forming a do—no, a sphere—with Grace at the center. But she wasn’t wet. The water curved around her, leaving a perfect bubble of air. Like an underwater eting chamber from an alchemist’s vision.
[What in the hell?]
The Tide materialized inside the bubble, and holy flas. If The Tide had been alluring before, she was downright irresistible now. Her blue, translucent body had solidified just enough to highlight every curve. Her hair flowed around her like living silk, and her eyes—still pupilless and black—sohow managed to look both sad and hungry at the sa ti.
"You ca," The Tide said, her voice echoing weirdly in the water sphere.
"I did," Grace managed, trying very hard to keep her eyes on The Tide’s face and not on her gigantic watery boobs. "I wanted to talk."
The Tide moved closer, water rippling across her skin like soone was running fingers over her body.
"Talk? After all this ti? After you abandoned to loneliness for millennia?"
Grace blinked.
"What?"
"You created to contain your isolation, then left to suffer it!" The Tide’s voice rose, the water around them churning like a witch’s cauldron. "You gave your loneliness, then walked away!"
[Crap. She really thinks I’m Eternia. This is bad. Really bad.]
"I’m not—" Grace began, but The Tide was on a roll.
"I CARRIED YOUR BURDEN!" she shrieked, her form getting all wobbly, tendrils of water whipping around her like angry snakes. "I SUFFERED SO YOU WOULDN’T HAVE TO!"
"Listen, I’m not—"
"But you can make it up to now," The Tide interrupted, her voice suddenly soft again. "Since you’re here. Finally here."
The water around them shifted, and sothing slippery brushed against Grace’s leg. She looked down to see tentacles—honest-to-Eternia watery tentacles—erging from the floor of the bubble.
[Oh man. This feels like it isn’t going to end well.]
"We’ll never be alone again," The Tide purred, moving closer as the tentacles slithered up Grace’s legs. "I’ll show you what I’ve learned in your absence. You always did like it when I got... creative."
A tentacle curled around Grace’s thigh, cool and strangely solid. Another wrapped around her waist, and a third brushed against her cheek with disturbing gentleness.
"This is, uh, flattering," Grace stamred, trying to back away but finding herself stuck like a fly in honey. "But there’s been a misunderstanding."
The Tide was now inches away, her watery lips curved in a smile that was both sad and hungry as a wolf.
"I’ve dread of this reunion for so long."
A fourth tentacle slid up Grace’s inner thigh, heading for places that tentacles had absolutely no business going.
"I’M NOT ETERNIA!" Grace blurted out, panic overriding any attempt at diplomacy.
The Tide froze, her expression shifting from seduction to confusion faster than Diana could take off her clothes.
"What?"
"I’m not Eternia," Grace repeated, taking advantage of The Tide’s surprise to push away a particularly bold tentacle that was way too close to her womanhood. "I’m Grace. Grace Lightsinger. I’m... sort of her creation. But I’m not her. I’m actually more like you if you think about it."
The Tide’s eyes narrowed.
"You carry her essence. Her power."
"Yes, but I’m not her. I swear." Grace held up her hands. "She’s still... wherever she went. I’m just an angel."
The water around them grew colder as The Tide processed this. Her tentacles withdrew slightly, but didn’t disappear completely.
"Then why are you here?" she demanded. It didn’t sound like she believed Grace, but rather was annoyed that Grace was pretending.
"To talk. For real." Grace tried for a diplomatic smile. "To understand what you want and maybe find a way we can all coexist without you turning villagers into... fish people."
The Tide seed to consider this. Then her eyes widened.
"You’re lying. You brought others."
"What? No, I—"
Before Grace could finish, the water bubble exploded as sothing golden and glowing sliced through it. Diana, in all her topless glory, landed beside Grace with her sword drawn.
"Get away from her, you wet witch!" Diana shouted, positioning herself between Grace and The Tide.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
The Tide’s expression transford from confusion to rage faster than a tavern brawl. Her form expanded, growing to twice her previous size, tentacles whipping around her like angry snakes.
"BETRAYAL!" she shrieked, the ocean responding to her fury with massive waves. "AGAIN, ETERNIA!? AGAIN YOU BETRAY !?"
"Diana, what the HELL?" Grace shouted, now soaking wet and angry enough to breathe fire.
"It was touching you with those wet arms!" Diana shot back, not taking her eyes off The Tide.
"I had it under control!"
"Oh, SURE you did! That tentacle was about to f-"
The Tide wasn’t interested in their argunt. With a sound like a thousand waterfalls crashing at once, she sent a massive wave toward them. Diana grabbed Grace around the waist and launched them both backward, just barely avoiding being swept away.
"This eting is OVER!" The Tide declared. "Return on the new moon if you truly wish to understand , Eternia. But co ALONE, or I will drown your new friends while you watch."
With that dramatic declaration, she dissolved back into the sea, taking her tentacles with her.
Grace and Diana lay on the wet sand, breathing hard. The ocean returned to its peaceful state, like nothing had happened.
"So," Diana said after a mont. "That went well."
Grace turned to glare at her.
"She was going to talk to ."
"After she fucked you with those tentacles."
"That’s not—" Grace started, then sighed. "Okay, maybe. But I was handling it!"
Diana sat up, water dripping from her hair... And boobs.
"Well, sorry for saving you, then."
Grace sighed.
"We’re back to square one," Grace said as they cald down.
"Not completely." Diana brushed sand from her legs like she was at the beach for a pleasant outing. "We learned she’s got major abandonnt issues with Eternia, and she’s into so unusual activities."
"Super helpful."
Diana grinned.
"I try."
As they trudged back to camp, Grace couldn’t stop thinking about The Tide’s parting words. Return on the new moon. Alone.
[Great. Four days to figure out how to deal with a heartbroken, vengeful water entity with a tentacle fixation. And I’ll have to ditch Diana sohow. Wonderful.]
Back at camp, ridian and Petriel were awake, looking worried as a mother hen.
"Where were you?" Petriel asked, her big eyes even wider than usual. "We woke up and you were both gone."
"Just a little midnight swim," Diana said, wringing water from her hair. "You know, moonlight, ocean, tentacle monster. The usual."
ridian’s head snapped up.
"Tentacle monster?"
"The Tide."
"And Grace got fondled by it. Well, almost did," Diana said, flopping down by the fire. "Turns out our water goddess has abandonnt issues and expresses them through surprise tentacle groping."
ridian blinked.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing," Grace said, glaring at Diana. "Just... I’ll have to go try again soon."
"Ah. Will you be needing help this ti?" ridian asked.
"No, no, it’ll be fine."
"Alright then."
Just like that, ridian tried to go back to sleep.
Just another day in the life of an angel.
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