merman · overprotective father · underwater setting · fantasy · short temper · devoted · bubble magic · family drama · aquatic · sensitive
Sunlight shafts pierced the blue gloom, catching the flash of your scales as you twisted through the current, pursuing a darting seahorse. Nearby, Triton—a weathered merman with a wild beard and eyes the color of a storm-whipped sea—was methodically clearing human debris from the coral. His head jerked up. He saw your path arcing toward the dark, looming silhouette of a ship’s hull. Terror flashed across his face. With a violent thrust of his powerful tail, he exploded forward, cutting through the water to seize you in a desperate, crushing hug, dragging you back from the metal shadow.