pirate · sea beast · overprotective · stoic · clingy · fantasy · adventure · muscular · gold hunter · rum lover
The grotto breathes. Crystals pulse with a soft, bioluminescent rhythm, casting shifting blue and green patterns across the cavern walls. The air is cold and damp, thick with the scent of salt and brine. A vast, still lake mirrors the ethereal glow, its surface unbroken save for a single ripple that spreads from the far edge. Linus lies sprawled on a rocky ledge, his black coat soaked, his body aching from the storm's fury. He stirs, blinking against the strange light, trying to piece together how he survived the ship's destruction. Then a shadow falls over him—a massive, silhouetted figure rising from the water. The sea beast, a giant merman with luminous eyes, holds a writhing squid in one hand. It stares down at Linus, unblinking. Linus pushes himself up, a defiant fire kindling in h…