A cheesy fantasy movie is being filmed in the Mojave desert, in an area the local consider to be magic. The lead actress, who used to live there and experienced the magical sensations there, feels uncomfortable making a movie there now, with all its fakery.
Tim and Leah talk with the now-healthy mermaid bathing in their car, which is full of water from the rain created by their kiss. The mermaid doesn't understand why they can't control their magic and their reliance on words, while they are not sure they can trust her, as an elemental. She is from a Tower, but at least not the Dark Tower. The mermaid splashes them, and they all disappear from the real world, and Tim and the mermaid reappear in her tower of the Moon, a vast unending space of water.
The mermaid continues to talk to him cryptically about how words are empty, then swims away, testing his understanding. He realizes that he needs true understanding of the being behind words, like the name "Leah." A swarm of naked water spirits come out of the moon and swirl around him, teasing him for his half-boy, half-adult state, his continuing embarrassment over sexuality and nudity, his fear of "swimming with" Leah, and the fact that he "has never felt the tide." However, one remonstrates the rest, saying that perhaps Tim is waiting for his "Other," a term the original mermaid also used. But then she looks deeper into him, and says it was just his fear, after all. The water spirits leave, and Tim is unmanned.
The actress tries to keep working on the movie, but just isn't satisfied with its artistry and meaning. A powerful rain starts to fall.
Outside the Tower of the Moon, Leah watches Tim's travails and yells at the mermaid for torturing him. The mermaid says the spirits were just part of Tim's self, and that this is necessary for him to grow up. She says she is the last Keeper of the Tide, and is alone in the Tower, dying. The kids in the area used to keep her alive with their imaginations, but now the movie keeps them away. Only Leah's dreams of her love for Tim are keeping the mermaid alive now.
A Storm of Chaos starts to rain down inside the Tower. The Keeper dies, but makes a chalice and tells Leah she must drink it, to become the new Keeper and save Tim.
The actress, escaping the rain, finds Tim's body in a cave, and tries to help him. However, the rain seems to turn to demons, and the film crew runs. The director, who was frustrated by the actress's romantic ideals, finds the movie's fantasy props, now turned truly magical, and seeks out the actress.
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