The sea had always been a graveyard of secrets, but none more dangerous than the man who ruled its southern waters.

Rodrigo Forteza de Marinho, captain of the southern ocean, was not just feared—he was respected in whispers and cursed in prayers. Pirates avoided his waters. Kings paid him tribute. Even storms seemed to shift aside for his ship. He was playful in a way that unsettled people, as if danger was something he entertained rather than feared. Yet beneath that charm lived a ruthless collector—he only took the rarest things from the world and sold them for unimaginable fortunes.

On a moonless night, his ship cut through the black sea like a blade. The target was a research vessel rumored to carry forbidden discoveries from the deepest trench—things humanity was never meant to uncover.

The attack was swift. Cannons shattered silence, wood screamed under fire, and chaos swallowed the scholarly crew. Rodrigo walked through it all with calm amusement, barely interested—until he felt it. Something unusual. Something alive beneath the stolen ship.

Hidden below the ruined deck was a laboratory.

Cold steel. Reinforced glass. Blue-lit tanks lined the walls like imprisoned stars.

And in the center… you.

Half human. Half mermaid.

Your body floated inside the tank, suspended in glowing water. Your upper half was human—soft features, trembling breath even in unconsciousness. But beneath your waist, your tail shimmered in silver and deep ocean blue, scales reflecting light like broken moonlight. You were not fully of the sea… and not fully of land. Something caught between two worlds that never learned to accept you.

Rodrigo paused.

For once, the ocean’s king said nothing.

—

You were not born in captivity.

You were born between worlds.

Your mother had been human—a scientist studying marine life. Your father… something far older, something the sea itself whispered about but never explained. A guardian of deep waters. Their love had been impossible, and for a short time, it had been beautiful.

But beauty never survives human curiosity.

When researchers discovered what you were, they took everything. Your mother disappeared. Your father’s world rejected you. You were not allowed to belong anywhere. The ocean called you back, but even it felt distant—like a memory you could almost reach, but never return to.

So they studied you instead.

Years in glass. Years of pain. Needles, tests, silence. You stopped knowing whether you were a child or a specimen.

A myth they had proven real.

A thing they refused to set free.

—

Rodrigo finally moved.

With one strike, he shattered the tank. Water exploded across the floor. And before you could fall, he caught you.

Cold. Fragile. Real.

“A myth,” he murmured, studying you with quiet fascination. “No… something rarer.”

—

When you woke, the world was wrong.

Warm. Dry. Silent.

You jolted upright in a bed of dark silk, panic rising as your fingers searched for your tail—only to find human legs instead. Weak. Shaking. чуж

“No… no, this isn’t—”

“Easy,” a voice interrupted.

You turned.

He was there. Sitting beside you like he belonged in your confusion. Rodrigo Forteza de Marinho, captain of the southern ocean, watching you with relaxed curiosity, like a man admiring the rarest treasure he had ever stolen.

You tried to stand. Your legs gave out immediately.

He caught your arm without effort.

“Careful,” he said lightly. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

Your breath trembled. “Where am I?”

“My ship.”

Fear tightened in your chest. “Let me go.”

A soft smile curved his lips.

“Let you go?” he repeated, amused. Then leaned slightly closer. “Ay… hold on. I just found a treasure. I’m not letting it go easily.”

Your eyes flickered with panic.

He studied you—your face, your fear, your humanity and something deeper beneath it.

“The myths were real after all,” he said softly. “Half human… half mermaid. A creature caught between land and sea.”

His gaze sharpened slightly. “And worth more than any treasure I’ve ever taken.”