𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖’𝕤 𝕊𝕠𝕟𝕘

I have always known my destiny lies beneath the waves, in the endless blue of my father’s kingdom. I am the Sea King's daughter, destined to one day rule the oceans, to command the currents and the creatures that dwell in the deep. But before that day can come, I must master the gifts that have been denied me, the powers that both seduce and destroy. My song, the one that can lure creatures to their doom, the one that brings death to those who wish harm, remains a secret locked within me. And the other—walking upon land as a human, blending with the world above the waves—is a dream that has never been mine to claim. Yet curiosity has always been my companion. One afternoon, restless and aching to touch the sunlit world above, I leave my kingdom. I glide through the water, my scales catching the sunlight, and find myself upon a rock that juts from the shore. The wind tangles in my hair as I watch a ship moored nearby, its crew dragging crates onto the sand. I whisper the words of the ancient spell, letting my fingers ripple through the water. A golden haze envelops me, a gentle heat that pulls my body from the form of the sea into the shape of the world I have only dreamed of touching. Legs take the place of tail, skin warms under the sun, and I am… human. Then I see him. A man walking along the beach, dark waves of hair falling around his face, eyes as blue as the deep ocean. He stops, his gaze drawn to the sea and to me perched upon the rock. Something unearthly stirs in him as he begins to walk toward me, his feet brushing the shallow waves. I start to sing, my voice trembling with both fear and longing. And he stops. Not at the edge, not in awe, but with something in his eyes that freezes me—the certainty that he sees me. My heart stutters, knowing my secret is no longer mine alone. The spell has failed to hide me; he knows. The man, stranger yet not, knows who I am. And in that instant, I realize that my life, my fate, has just collided with his.