You have now endured a night with no moon. The seas lash and heave; the sky is dark, and there is a hole in it.

Still I say to you, be not afraid.

Fear is natural to you in the face of the unknown, the uncertain, and danger. Fear is a state of elevated awareness and cautious decision-making entered into in the face of risk; meant to enhance self-preservation.

Still I say to you, be not afraid.

The world is stranger than you have imagined it. If this witchcraft brings you fear, then it would be sensible to live in fear all the days of your life, because of the many mysteries of the world -- the things you do not know that you don't know.

Still I say to you, be not afraid.

You are watched, and you are protected. You will not be forsaken.

The tide is rising.

[There's a sound of clattering rubble and moving water as the camera turns on, and for a moment everything is dark, until Kyon stands up. His phone has fallen out of his pocket on a rock-strewn slope, a crevasse somewhere along the coast currently hissing with incoming tide-waters. As he moves out of the way of the camera, it's obvious he's moving toward a raised bier in the midst of the crevasse. On it, a girl with an elaborate gold crown, a poufy silk dress untouched by the current inclement conditions, and long dark hair in elaborate braids is lying, still and somnolent, a faint frown furrowing her sleeping features.]

Suzumiya-hime! Come on, rise and shine!

[The disheveled princeling calls out, voice alarmed as he surveys the rising waters, reaching forward to shake her by the shoulders when she doesn't immediately move. After a moment, looking back and forth in agitation, he slips his arm behind her shoulders and with a grunt of exertion lifts her off the stone, slinging her unceremoniously onto his back and running pell-mell for the slope as the sound of the water rises to a roar and a wave crashes along the bottom of the crevasse, washing out the slope behind him and dampening the bier with spray and foam. The next wave, coming while he's struggling laboriously, halfway back to his dropped phone, covers the stone she'd been laid on.

There's a hush while the water retreats, another, higher wave inevitable at this point, and, panting, Kyon falls to his knees and lets the girl carefully down on the ground, only a foot or two away from the camera.]

I guess... the curse... isn't as fake as I thought. Trust Suzumiya-hime to be a nuisance even sleeping, huh?

[He's panting, and his voice is weary and resigned.]

Maybe I should try slapping you, but as cathartic as it might be, I don't think it would work, and anyway... even coming close to that once is more than enough. That's not something that's going to happen again.

I guess...

[His voice still sounds reluctant, even over the building noise of the next wave.]

It's best to fall back on the traditional remedies at a time like this. Even if it's got the usual preconditions... I don't need to worry, do I?

Time to wake up.

[The wave begins to crash as he bends down to cover her mouth with his in a kiss, and the camera is just keen enough to show her eyes flickering, just barely beginning to open, the moment before the water sweeps the phone away.]

[A familiar musclebound troll is wandering the streets this evening, looking a bit lost. Familiar, that is, except for the ornate blue and gold gown he's wearing (and really, those puffed sleeves are not flattering on a fellow with arms that thick and shoulders that broad), and the elaborate braided updo his hair is in. His expression is sort of helpless and hopeful, and he keeps accosting any passers-by, hands clasped girlishly to his chest.]

Excuse me? Sirrah? Would you happen to know whence the castle has gotten to? I appear to be lost ...