I held the phone against my ear, my stomach twisting with nausea. The world around me spun in dizzying circles. Freya’s voice rang through the receiver, frantic and urgent, but I could barely process her words. She was calling my name—again and again—until finally, her voice shattered the fog in my mind.

"Thalassa! Are you there?!" she yelled, breaking through my daze.

"This can't be true... It can't be true!" I choked out, my voice raw with desperation.

Freya's next words struck me like ...