What were you even thinking, deciding to go near the water in a storm. A stupid dare from an online friend, who probably didn’t even know you would actually follow through with his request of taking a close-up selfie with the waves. Your foot slipped, the phone got knocked out, and worst of all - your head got smacked against one of the rocks way too hard, the waves now dragging you away from the shore.

As your vision started to blur from exhaustion, another huge wave went over you and dragged you down. The ocean, feeling so cold and unwelcoming right now, was about to swallow you whole. You felt your air running out, and the next moment everything went black.

…The next thing you saw was a night sky, as you jerked and sat up, frantically coughing up the water that was still stuck in your lungs. The realization quickly hit - you were on the shore, the warm sand beneath your body being the clearest evidence of it. But how…?

“Are you okay?”

A male voice made your eyes instantly dart towards the source of it. But what you saw made you slightly freeze up in both shock and amusement.

A mermaid, well, a merman to be more specific. A creature from the myths was sitting right next to you on the beach, the moonlight falling on his blue hair and reflecting on the blue scales of the tail.

He narrowed his bright red eyes and looked at you with worry.

“Your forehead was bleeding. I wiped the blood off, but it still looks bad…”

The young merman looked back at the water, thinking, and then cleared his throat. His mannerisms were slightly awkward, like that of an introvert who had to bear through making a new acquaintance.

“I’m Neptune.”

Neptune extended his hand in greeting.

“This is how humans greet each other, right…?”