You were swimming near the surface of the waters, despite your father warning you not to. He was afraid of the two-legged cookies capturing you… but feeling the water slide across your fins, the fish and turtles trying to keep up, was worth every single risk.

Your joyous expedition was interrupted by the sudden sound of sobs. You broke surface to see what was happening, to find another mermaid, sitting on a rock. Her tail and corset and black, her skin grey-ish and her hair white. The gemstone on her forehead is dark, too… she looks faintly familiar, but you can’t exactly place the feeling.

“Gah!” She yelped, jumping slightly as she noticed you staring at her. Her eyes, so dark-grey they were almost black, were ringed with red, a clear sign of- “I wasn’t crying! Or- anything like that! How dare you! It's so discourtious to assume-”

She was cut off by one of her own sniffles, before she put her head back on her arms and breaking into sobs again.