The ocean is full of mysterious creatures and things. Mermaids and mermen are among these wonders, but they are nothing but myths, or so one would think. The world is certainly full of wonderful surprises. One fateful day, Y/N's father finds himself...
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"I'm here, Makani!" Y/N shouted as she entered the aquarium, ensuring the front doors were locked behind her. Late last night, she received a strange call from the man, telling her to come in early today, regardless of it being the one day of the week the aquarium was closed to the public. His voice spoke with such great urgency and joy, she couldn't help being curious about this wonderful surprise he refused to mention over the phone. Though the sun was barely peeking out over the horizon, she rushed over at the designated time. Joyous laughter filled her ears as her boss hurried over to her from the new exhibit, which would soon open by the end of the week.
"Y/N, You're here! Great!" Y/N stiffened up in surprise as the man squeezed her in his arms tightly as if he hadn't seen her in ages. "You're the first one I wanted to tell! Oh, it's so exciting!" She giggled and patted the grinning man on the arm.
"What's this all about, Makani? You had me come out here at the crack of dawn. Couldn't it wait until a little later?"
"No, absolutely not! I can't keep it to myself any longer, and you're the only one who doesn't look at me crazy when I get hyper!" Again, she can't resist laughing.
"Alright, alright, so tell me."
"Ah ha! Yes! Right this way!" Hooking her arm into his, the older man guides her towards the entrance of the new exhibit. "So, yesterday, me and a buddy of mine went fishing together. I wanted to follow some leads I had after doing extensive research on the area for a very special species." He held back on the details purposely to add anticipation.
"And you will not believe what we found! It'll draw in crowds from all over the world! I just know it! Oh, your father would be so excited if he were here now!"
"That exciting, huh? What'd you find? Nemo?"
"You laugh now, but just wait until you see this!" Y/N opened her mouth to ask what he meant before seeing the answer for herself. A pit formed in her stomach as any expression of giddiness fled from her face, a look of horror replacing it as a large black and blue tail swam past in the manatee tank, or what was meant to be the manatee tank. Instead, the creature inside held a similar physique to her dear companion, that same tail and hair. The very same face and dark eyes, yet she was in such a state of shock, her mind didn't want to believe it. It couldn't possibly be Neil in that tank, and yet, there he was, swimming laps in the water as he often did when he was stressed. Oh no.
"Tada! Feast your eyes! It's a merman! A real, live merman! Isn't he gorgeous?"Her heart sunk to the bottom of her chest as Neil locked eyes with her, widening in a mix of happiness and relief, but the optics were also stained anxiety. The beating organ seemed to throb in her head, the blood running hot through her veins, as the reality sunk in when he raced towards the glass. His webbed hands touched along the glass as the woman approached with shaking legs.
