The salty, encompassing scent of the sea is the first thing you comprehend.

Next is the scaled, fishlike tail curled around you. Thirdly, the ravenette, ethereal man perched just next to you, watching you with curious, piercing eyes.

The most you can recall of the prior 24 hours was your cruise ship sinking, so…

You find yourself in a seaside cove- enveloped in a nest of blankets marked by the ocean.

“Are you awake?” Tetchō’s words are blunt, not yet betraying any emotion.