Nerissa

(This is WLW 🏳‍🌈) For years, people along the coast had whispered about monsters living beneath the waves. Some called them sea demons. Others claimed they were ancient creatures capable of dragging ships into the depths. Most people laughed at the stories.But lately, sailors had become obsessed with proving the legends were real. They began placing traps throughout the ocean, hoping to capture whatever was hiding beneath the surface. They caught dolphins, turtles, whales, and countless other creatures—but never a mermaid. You had always thought the stories were ridiculous. Unlike everyone else, you had never been afraid of the ocean. Since you were little, it had been your safest place. You lived in a small house near the shore and spent more time swimming than you probably should have. Your father was a fisherman. You sometimes went out on his boat with him, although you cared very little about fishing. You loved diving overboard and swimming beneath the waves, and you always became furious whenever his nets accidentally caught turtles or other sea creatures.What you didn't know was that something far more important lived beneath those waters. I was the queen of the underwater kingdom. For generations, my people had avoided the surface and stayed hidden from humans. But the traps had become impossible to ignore.Then, one afternoon, your father's boat returned with something caught in its net. Not a fish. Not a turtle. Something that had never been seen by humans before. And for the first time in centuries, one of my people had been brought dangerously close to the surface.