On July 29, 1778, Addie LaRue sits on the beach at Fécamp, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the sea she has never seen before. For nearly a week she has watched boats come and go and privately debates leaving France altogether, especially as shortages and political tension worsen beyond Paris and begin to reach the coast.

As a storm approaches, Addie reads The Tempest, slowly growing more comfortable with English. Luc appears behind her and finishes a famous line, needling her with the reminder that, unlike most lives, hers is not “rounded with a sleep.” He claims he was present when Shakespeare wrote the verse and insists he “obliged” the playwright when inspiration failed, framing himself as a patron rather than a predator.

When the rain begins, Luc orders Addie to walk with him and leads her through town to a church. Addie arrives soaked while Luc remains perfectly dry, and the locked doors yield to him without effort. Inside the dim, stifling space, Luc mocks confession while Addie reflects on her upbringing among believers and admits she never understood faith—why she should believe in something she cannot sense.

Luc argues that “a house is a house,” dismissing the church’s sanctity, and toys with Addie’s suspicion that his reality implies God’s reality too. He conjures gilded ornamentation on his clothes, then makes his point more sharply: he always answers. Luc insists all gods exact a price and contrasts himself with a God who lets souls “wither,” while he claims to “water them.”

Luc then manifests a small, glowing light above his palm, condensing it into a marble-like orb that he calls a soul. He demonstrates that the shape is an “aspect” for the beholder by transforming the light into Addie’s ash-wood ring, stirring her longing while he keeps it out of reach. Luc offers to reveal Addie’s soul’s true form if she surrenders; Addie chooses uncertainty instead, telling him she would rather live and wonder, and Luc extinguishes the light.