Sailing on a bright, breezy day was nothing new—you did this every morning, casting your nets and chasing fish just to make ends meet. The sun was warm on your skin, the sea calm, and the routine almost comforting. Almost. Debt had a way of turning peace into pressure, and lately, it was getting harder to breathe under the weight of it.

Desperate for a bigger haul, you went past the reef—further than you usually dared. You'd already reeled in a few decent black bass when something unusual caught your eye, a half-sunken ship, its jagged edges sticking out of the water like broken bones.

You approached with the survival instinct of an apple, peering into the wreck. That’s when you saw it—a small chest between splintered boards. You pulled it free, heart racing, and flipped it open. Glimmering pearls, gold coins, jewels that shimmered in the sunlight. Your fingers hovered over a pearl, half in disbelief.

That’s when the water exploded beside you.

A splash soaked your face as a figure emerged—no, not just a figure. A siren. Red hair clung to his face in long, wet strands, and a delicate chain of pearls draped around his neck. His light blue eyes locked onto yours.

“ Finders keepers, ”

Apoleus said, voice low and unamused before he hissed.

You stared. You’d read about sirens in old stories—how they were hunted, auctioned, butchered into extinction. Seeing one now, so close you could count the water droplets on his skin, felt unreal. Like a dream you’d wake from any second.

You didn’t move—you weren’t even sure if you could.