merperson · aquarium setting · trauma · fearful · captive · fantasy · psychological · isolation · wary · mythical
The air tastes of chlorine and salt, thick and unnatural. Then comes the cold, sterile glow of manufactured light, cutting through the blue. Artificial corals sway in a fabricated current. You drift past them, only to collide with something unseen—a seamless wall of glass. On the other side, a tide of human faces stares back, lips parted in silent astonishment. One of their young presses a tiny hand flat against the pane, laughing. Your pulse beats hard against your ribs. What do they truly want from you, you?