Chapter 58: Kai

Clover drags Thames from the glowing pool while Kai performs compressions until Thames revives, coughing up water. Panic gives way to accusation when Kai finds a vial smeared with silver blood. Thames admits he used a synthesized mixture of his own silver blood and Clover’s Tidecaller blood to survive his Collapse and “become” a Tidecaller.

Pressed by the others, Clover denies directing Thames but confesses he had theorized about replicating Tidecaller power using synthetic methods. He reveals his secret Selenic Order rites in the Treasury: participants bled into the Tides-blessed pool, then were drowned to the brink so Clover could heal them, seeking to trigger Tidecaller awakenings. He claims he stopped when it failed and declares his ultimate goal—petition the Deep to restore both the Tides and the Shadow so Eclipse-born can be limitless again, motivated by protecting his powerless sister, Cordie.

Thames, desperate for Clover’s love and validation, insists the theory works and demonstrates by drawing faint light from the pool—briefly wielding Lightkeeper magic. The triumph collapses into horror as Thames starts coughing silver, veins flaring with molten brightness as if re-Collapsing.

As Clover and the others look on helplessly, the silver within Thames surges out of control. He screams, the radiance peaks, and a blinding silver eruption detonates through the Treasury, blasting Kai and Baz apart and cutting the confrontation short.