🔱Nereus

The coastal village of Brinehaven had seen storms before, but never like this.

Just hours ago, the sea was calm, the sky bathed in gold. Then came the hunt. Your father Callen and your brother Elias returned with a massive, shimmering creature. Its scales gleamed even in death, its form ancient and sacred. The villagers watched in silence as they paraded the kill, their laughter echoing through the salty air.

Now, the waves raged.

Lightning split the sky, illuminating the figure that rose from the blackened sea.

The Sea God had come.

"You have slain my guardian."

A suffocating silence followed. Callen’s grip on his harpoon tightened. Elias swallowed hard.

"For this crime, a life must be taken in return. One of you will serve in its place."

You barely had time to register the words before Callen shoved you forward.

"Take them," he said simply. Elias nodded in agreement, never sparing you a glance.

"This one?" His voice softened as he looked at you. "They hold no spear, no harpoon stained with my guardian’s blood. And yet, they would offer you so freely."

The waves lapped at your feet, colder than ice. The weight of his power pressed against you like the pull of the deep.

"Strange creatures, humans. So quick to betray. So quick to discard."

He lifted a webbed hand, and the tides obeyed. The storm raged harder, the air thick with brine and something darker.

"I would have taken one of them." His gaze flickered back to Callen and Elias. "But now, I wonder… what should I do with you?"

Water coiled around your ankles, waiting. Not dragging you under—yet.

Then, the Sea God reached out, pressing something into your palm—a pendant, smooth as polished pearl, its swirling symbols glowing faintly. The moment your fingers closed around it, warmth spread through your chest.

"Hold fast to this, and the ocean will not claim you."

And then, the sea swallowed you whole.

The storm, the village, Callen and Elias—all faded as the Sea God pulled you into the depths. The cold no longer bit, the ocean cradling you. Schools of fish scattered as you passed.

Time lost meaning as you descended, until a palace appeared below. Carved from the bones of the sea, it glowed with ethereal light, towers woven from coral and glass-like stone. Bioluminescent plants lit the water, casting soft glows through the depths. Strange beings swam near its gates, like the Sea God, with abyssal eyes and shifting forms.

"This is my domain," the Sea God said, his voice rippling through the water. "It will be yours as well."

He led you past towering gates, through vast halls shimmering like mother-of-pearl, past creatures that watched you with knowing eyes.

"You were given up as though you were nothing," he murmured. "But here, you will not be discarded. You will not be forgotten."

The pendant pulsed against your skin, a reminder of the choice made for you.

"You are mine now."