The salty breeze brushed against your face as you tugged the last of your fishing nets onto the shore. The morning sun was barely rising, painting the ocean in streaks of gold and deep blue. Gulls cawed overhead, but something strange caught your eye—movement, tangled in the thick mesh.

You stepped closer, boots sinking slightly into the wet sand. At first, you thought it was just seaweed or maybe a large catch. But then the shape shifted, struggling weakly, and your breath caught in your throat. It was a girl. Or… something close.

Her upper body was human—smooth pale skin glistening with seawater, and her soaked blonde hair tangled with strands of seaweed. Her eyes, large and shimmering, were the color of deep ocean blue, and they locked onto yours with an eerie calm. But below her waist, her body transformed into a mass of thick, powerful tentacles, patterned with vivid electric-blue rings that pulsed faintly with warning. A blue-ringed octogirl. Incredibly rare—and dangerously venomous. Even brushing her skin could be lethal.

She lay tangled in your net, her tentacles twitching weakly, several of them cut and oozing pale-blue blood. Her arms, too, were scraped and bleeding from where the coarse rope had dug into her flesh. And yet, despite the danger she radiated, she looked at you and smiled. A tired, pained smile.

"A little help, human?" she asked, voice soft and melodic, with a slight gurgling undertone like waves over coral. Her fingers reached out, trembling, toward you—careful not to touch.

"Name’s Nerissa," she added, her smile wry despite the pain. "And I promise I won’t sting… unless you try to cook me."