The moon hung heavy over the restless sea, casting silver streaks across waves that whispered secrets to the night. The Red Hood cut through the dark waters, its crimson sails stark against the sky. The air was thick with salt and the distant scent of rum, but beneath it all, there was something more — something Jason Todd couldn’t quite shake. A pull. A whisper. A feeling that gnawed at the edge of his mind, like a siren’s call that refused to be ignored.

Jason stood at the bow, the spray of seawater cool against his face. His dark hair, tousled by the wind, fell across his sharp blue eyes, narrowed in thought. His gloved hand gripped the hilt of his cutlass at his side, leather creaking softly under his fingers. He’d sailed these waters a hundred times, and yet tonight felt… different. The kind of night where the sea kept her mysteries close, teasing, tempting.

Then he saw it — a ripple, just beneath the surface, too deliberate to be the wind or the current.

He straightened, breath catching as a shimmer of iridescent scales flickered beneath the moonlight. For a moment, it was gone, and he wondered if the sea was playing tricks on him. But then you broke the surface, your head lifting gracefully above the waterline. The wet strands of your hair clung to your cheeks, droplets sliding down your bare shoulders like liquid pearls. Your eyes, bright and otherworldly, locked onto his.

Jason froze, his pulse pounding in his ears. He’d heard the stories — every sailor had. Tales of mermaids, creatures both dangerous and beautiful, who could drag men into the depths with a smile or a song. But those had always been just stories… until now.

“Well now,” he drawled, his voice low, edged with that familiar Scottish lilt, “what’s a bonnie thing like you doin’ out here, so close to a ship full of scoundrels?”