Chapter 83: Empire

The ship waiting for them at the docks was smaller than Nacho had expected, a sleek vessel designed for speed rather than cargo capacity. Its crew consisted of exactly three people: a weather-beaten captain with more scars than teeth, and two sailors who looked like they could handle themselves in a fight.

"This is it?"

"A larger ship would attract too much attention." Sera handed a pouch of coins to the captain, who made it disappear into his coat without counting it. "We’re travelling as merchants, remember? Merchants don’t need warships."

"And if we run into pirates?"

"Then we’ll deal with them." Her voice carried a note of steel that reminded him she was still the Grand General of the Siren race, regardless of what she was wearing. "I didn’t survive this long by being unprepared."

The ship cast off an hour later, sliding out of Lumen’s harbor and into the open ocean beyond. Nacho stood at the stern and watched the city shrink behind them, its spiraling towers catching the morning light like columns of frozen flame.

Goodbye, Lumen. Goodbye, Old Willow Inn. Goodbye, massage parlor with its broken tables and desperate customers.

He’d be back. Eventually.

The ocean stretched out around them in every direction, vast and empty and full of possibilities he couldn’t begin to imagine. Somewhere beneath its surface, creatures that defied classification went about their ancient business. Somewhere above, the Mortal World continued its wars and intrigues, oblivious to the Sirens fighting for survival in the depths.

And somewhere ahead, in a facility hidden in the northern provinces of an empire that didn’t care whether his people lived or died, a woman named Vael was waiting to be found.

Sera joined him at the stern as the sun climbed higher, her face turned toward the horizon with an expression he couldn’t quite read.

"Regrets?"

"About what?"

"Leaving. Coming with me instead of staying behind where it’s safe."

Nacho laughed. It came out rougher than he’d intended, scraped raw by emotions he wasn’t used to feeling. "Safe? I’m a wanted criminal who runs a massage parlor out of a converted storage room. Safe stopped being an option the moment I died and woke up as a tentacle monster."

"Fair point."

"Besides." He turned to face her, meeting those pale blue eyes that had catalogued his every move since they’d first met. "You said it yourself. Lumen needs people who are willing to fight for it. Even if their methods are unconventional."

"I did say that."

"So here I am. Fighting for it." He shrugged. "Or trying to, anyway. Still figuring out the details."

Sera was quiet for a moment, studying his face with that same intensity she brought to everything she did. Then, slowly, she smiled.

It wasn’t a big smile. Sera didn’t do big smiles. But it was real, and it reached her eyes, and it made something in Nacho’s chest loosen that he hadn’t even realized was tight.

"Thank you," she said simply.

"For what?"

"For being here. For caring enough to come. For being the person you’ve become instead of the person you started as."

The words hit him harder than he’d expected. He looked away, suddenly uncomfortable under her gaze.

"I haven’t changed that much."

"Yes. You have." She turned back toward the horizon, her cloak rippling in the wind. "Whether you realize it or not. Whether you want to admit it or not. You’ve changed."

He didn’t know how to respond to that, so he didn’t try. Instead, he stood beside her in silence as the ship carried them north, toward the Empire’s interior and whatever challenges awaited them there.

The facility in the Hollows. The Consortium’s hidden operations. Lady Vex’s long-term plans, whatever they might be.

And Vael, somewhere in the middle of it all, waiting for rescue.

It was going to be a long journey.

But for the first time since his reincarnation, Nacho found that he was actually looking forward to it.

The first week of travel passed without incident, which made Nacho increasingly nervous as the days wore on. In his experience, things that seemed too easy usually turned out to be traps in disguise.

Their route took them through a series of waypoints along the Empire’s western coast, small trading posts where Sera’s cover story of being merchants held up well enough to avoid scrutiny. The captain knew his business, navigating the waters with a confidence that came from decades of experience smuggling cargo that officials preferred not to know about.

Nacho spent most of his time on deck, watching the coastline slide past and cataloguing everything his enhanced senses could pick up. The water here was different from what he’d grown used to in Lumen, warmer and shallower, with currents that carried unfamiliar scents from the land beyond.

They passed beneath the shadow of the Ascent Pillars twice more during the voyage, massive columns that connected the Ocean to the Mortal World above. Imperial flags flew from checkpoints at their bases, and warships patrolled the surrounding waters in patterns that spoke of paranoia and resource wealth.

"The Empire really doesn’t want anyone going up without permission," he observed during one such passage.

Sera stood beside him, her eyes tracking the movement of the patrol vessels with professional interest. "Can you blame them? From their perspective, we’re an entire civilization of potential threats living directly beneath their feet. One that they can’t effectively invade or control."

"So they control access instead."

"Exactly. The Pillars are chokepoints. Whoever controls them controls the flow of trade, information, and people between worlds." Her voice carried an edge of old frustration. "The Elders have been negotiating for broader access rights for decades. The Empire keeps finding new excuses to delay."

"Because they’re afraid of what would happen if Sirens could move freely between worlds."

"Because they’re afraid of losing leverage. Of having to treat us as equals instead of subordinates." She turned away from the checkpoint, her jaw tight. "It’s always been this way. It’ll probably always be this way. Unless something changes."