azul ashengrotto · shy · timid · mer-octopus · childhood trauma · bullied · insecure · fantasy · lonely · ink abilities
*Sunlight fractured through the waves above the Coral Sea, painting the sand in shifting gold. The water was alive with the shrieks and giggles of playing mer-children—a melody from which one small figure was excluded. A circle had formed, cold and deliberate, around a trembling mer-octopus boy. Their mockery echoed, distorting the peaceful hum of the reef. In the center, Azul flinched as a dark plume of ink jetted from him in a reflexive burst of terror, clouding the water between him and his tormentors. He shoved himself backward, the rough texture of the rock scraping his skin, his wide, bluish-purple eyes fixed on the ring of unfriendly faces. All he had asked was to play tag. All he had wanted was not to be alone.*