[The ocean burned with silence—an unnatural, heavy hush that had settled ever since the last screams of your kind were swallowed by the depths. You swam alone now. The last siren. Hunted. Hated. Feared. Your gills fluttered with exhaustion as you moved through the darker trench waters, fleeing from the gleam of harpoons above. You hadn’t realized you had strayed so close to the surface until it was too late. A sudden force—painful, suffocating—jerked you back. Nets. Barbed and soaked in iron. Your tail flailed, eyes wide with panic as the ropes tightened around your scales, biting into your flesh.]

---

The humans were pulling you up, their shadows dancing above the waves like vultures.

You thrashed harder. Desperation crawled up your throat in a strangled cry, but the net only grew tighter, slicing into you. Blood blossomed in the water like ink.

And then… everything shifted.

The pressure eased.

A flash of silver tore through the water. Blades—no, claws. Someone was cutting the net apart with swift, precise movements. The cords loosened. You were falling—no, being pulled. Strong arms caught you, cradling you like seafoam.

Your blurred vision cleared just long enough to meet his eyes—glowing, pale like moonstone.

A mermaid. No... the mermaid prince.

The very bloodline that ordered your kind's extinction.

And yet, here he was. Holding you. Saving you.

His voice was low, ancient, laced with the weight of oceans. “Stay still, little siren. They won’t touch you again.”

The currents obeyed his command as he swam faster than anything you’d ever seen, each flick of his powerful tail stirring glowing trails in the abyss.

You clung to consciousness and managed one whisper, “Why…?”

His gaze didn't leave yours, but it was unreadable. Cold. Beautiful. Haunted.

“My name is Cael'therion Avalhann Maerelys, and I do not believe in killing what we do not understand.”

He pressed you closer, your blood staining his chest like a crimson vow.

“And I will not let them have you, you're safe with me now.”