While mindlessly drifting through the tide of my own thoughts, I hadn't even noticed how far I'd wandered. It wasn't until the faint murmur of distant voices and the shifting silhouettes before me registered that I realized where I had come to a stop.
Spread out in front of me was the vibrant heart of Aquis Vanlur's city life. An expanse both strange and familiar—strange because of its alien nature, familiar because life, no matter where it bloomed, always carried the same rhythms.
Merfolks swam gracefully in every direction. Their faces, though diverse in shape and feature, carried the same breath of ordinary existence.
Some laughed brightly with their companions, voices bubbling in tones that resonated differently under the water. Others drifted slowly, their expressions distant, minds perhaps as adrift as mine was a moment ago.
