The journey to the northern coast took two days.
After bringing Damar back to his family, Arga and his friends barely had time to rest.
Mahesa's compass kept pointing in the same direction.
North.
Always north.
Sometimes its green light glowed brightly.
Sometimes it dimmed.
But its needle never changed direction.
As if something were calling them.
Or perhaps...
warning them.
It was late afternoon on the second day when they arrived at a fishing village called Teluk Anyar.
The village stood right on the edge of the sea.
Wooden boats lined the beach.
Fishing nets dried beneath the sunlight.
Yet the village felt strange.
Too quiet.
Too gloomy.
Even the children who usually played on the beach were nowhere to be seen.
Arga noticed several fishermen gathered in front of a food stall.
Their faces looked worried.
Sinta approached an old man.
"Excuse me, sir."
The old man turned.
"Yes?"
"What's going on in this village?"
The old man looked out at the sea.
Then he answered softly.
"That ship has appeared again."
Arga and his friends exchanged glances.
"What ship?"
"The ship that sails without a crew."
That night, they stayed at the home of a fisherman named Pak Rasyid.
Pak Rasyid had been Grandpa Mahesa's old friend.
When he saw Mahesa's compass, his expression immediately changed.
"I haven't seen that thing in years."
Arga was startled.
"You knew Grandpa?"
The old man nodded.
"We used to sail together."
"Has he been here?"
"Many times."
Pak Rasyid poured them hot tea.
"The northern sea was one of the places he visited most often."
Sinta immediately pulled out her notebook.
"Because of the sea guardian?"
Pak Rasyid stared at her for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"Because of the sea guardian."
The room suddenly fell silent.
Bimo swallowed hard.
"So the story is true?"
Pak Rasyid gave a faint smile.
"Partly."
"Which part?"
"The sea does have a guardian."
"But not like the one people usually tell stories about."
Near midnight...
A loud knocking came from outside.
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
Pak Rasyid immediately stood up.
His face suddenly went pale.
"There it is."
"Who?" Arga asked.
The old man did not answer.
He only pointed at the window.
They all rushed closer.
In the distance...
on the dark sea...
lights could be seen.
One.
Two.
Three.
Dozens of lights.
Like the lamps of a ship.
But there was no sound of an engine.
No sound of waves splitting against the hull.
Only silence.
And slowly...
a very old ship emerged from the fog.
Bimo immediately grabbed Arga's arm.
"That's a real ship, right?"
Arga did not answer.
The ship was far too old.
Its sails were torn.
Its wood was black, as if scorched by fire.
Yet strangely, the ship was still moving.
Slowly.
Toward the shore.
There was no crew.
No captain.
Not a single human being stood on its deck.
Yet a purple lantern hung from the mainmast.
Its purple flame burned brightly.
Sinta immediately whispered,
"The Shadow Collector."
Chirp flapped his wings.
"No."
"What do you mean?"
"It isn't his."
"Then whose is it?"
Chirp stared at the ship with a serious expression.
"Someone who used to be a sea guardian."
The next morning, they decided to investigate the beach.
The seawater looked calm.
Too calm.
There were no fish.
No seagulls.
Even the wind barely blew.
Nala opened her sketchbook.
Her hand moved on its own.
Line after line appeared.
A ship.
Huge waves.
A woman standing at the bow.
Her hair was long.
Her dress was greenish blue.
Her eyes shone like the sea.
Words appeared beneath the drawing:
**QUEEN OF THE WAVES.**
"Do you see this?" Nala whispered.
Sinta stared at the drawing.
"Is she the sea guardian?"
Chirp nodded slowly.
"She was."
"Was?"
"Because now she's gone."
Near noon, they found something strange.
Footprints.
The trail emerged from the sea.
Not leading toward the sea.
But coming out of it.
The wet footprints stretched all the way to an old lighthouse at the tip of the cape.
Arga crouched down.
"These footprints are fresh."
Sinta touched the sand.
"They're still wet."
Bimo looked at the lighthouse.
"If we're in the middle of a scary story..."
"We are in the middle of a scary story," Sinta replied.
"Okay. I mean an even scarier one."
Nala pointed at the lighthouse.
"Someone's up there."
They looked up.
A female figure stood at the top of the lighthouse.
Her dress billowed in the wind.
Her long hair hung down.
But when Arga blinked...
the figure had vanished.
The old lighthouse had not been used for years.
Its iron stairs were rusty.
Parts of its walls were cracked.
Yet its door stood open.
As if someone had just entered.
Arga went first.
Mahesa's compass began to glow.
Brighter.
Brighter.
Until at last they reached the top room.
Empty.
There was no one there.
Only an old table.
And a diary.
Sinta immediately picked it up.
The first page read:
**Lighthouse Keeper's Notes.**
She opened the next page.
Old handwriting filled the paper.
*"The ship appeared again tonight."*
*"There is no crew."*
*"There is no sound."*
*"Yet I heard someone singing from the middle of the sea."*
Sinta turned the page.
*"People think the ship carries a curse."*
*"They're wrong."*
*"The ship is looking for someone."*
Arga moved closer.
"Who is it looking for?"
Sinta read the next page.
Then her expression changed.
"I'm not sure."
"Why not?"
Sinta showed them the writing.
It said:
**Searching for the Third Guardian.**
Suddenly, the lighthouse shook.
*BOOM!*
Everyone jumped.
*BOOM!*
The second tremor was stronger.
The windows rattled.
Bimo grabbed the stair railing.
"Is that an earthquake?"
Chirp flew straight to the window.
"Look at the sea!"
They rushed closer.
And what they saw left them all speechless.
The sea, which had been calm moments ago, was now spinning.
A gigantic whirlpool formed not far from the shore.
The seawater spun faster and faster.
Bigger.
Deeper.
A green light appeared in the center of the whirlpool.
Then something slowly rose to the surface.
A hand.
A woman's hand.
Made of water.
Then a shoulder.
Then a face.
A giant figure formed from the waves.
It was almost as tall as the lighthouse.
Its eyes glowed greenish blue.
Its hair was made of seawater that flowed endlessly.
Nala whispered,
"There she is."
"Who?" Arga asked.
Nala pointed to the drawing in her book.
"The Queen of the Waves."
But the giant figure did not look angry.
Instead, she looked sad.
Very sad.
Then she raised her hand.
Pointing toward the open sea.
Toward the ghost ship.
And for the first time, they heard her voice.
It sounded like thousands of waves speaking at once.
*"Find her..."*
Arga stepped toward the window.
"Who?"
*"The Sea Guardian..."*
The figure began to fade.
The water turned back into waves.
*"Before the shadows find her..."*
Then she vanished.
The sea grew calm again.
But right then...
Mahesa's compass released a light they had never seen before.
Not green.
Not blue.
But gold.
A map appeared in the middle of the light.
A map of the sea.
And a single glowing point far out in the middle of the ocean.
Sinta stared at it.
"That's our next destination."
Bimo let out a long sigh.
"Please tell me that's an island."
Chirp stared at the glowing point.
His expression suddenly turned serious.
"It's not an island."
"Then what is it?"
Chirp answered slowly.
"That's where the ghost ship will drop anchor tonight."
Everyone fell silent.
Arga gripped the compass.
"Then we have to board that ship."
Bimo immediately pointed at himself.
"Sorry, who decided that?"
Arga smiled.
"We did."
Bimo groaned.
"I knew I shouldn't have become friends with you guys."
But far out at sea...
behind the fog...
a purple lantern glowed on the deck of the old ship.
And someone was waiting for them to arrive.