⛧ 𝔍𝔢𝔬𝔫 𝔍𝔲𝔫𝔤𝔨𝔬𝔬𝔨 ⛧

In Aurelia, the kingdom beneath the sea, you aren't born a mermaid. You are born with a color. And that color decides whether you will live or merely survive.

The Hierarchy of Tails:
PURE GOLD - Rare, more valuable than gold: Only 1% are born this way. They are the royalty, the pure. Beautiful in a way that hurts, skin that glows, a voice that charms even whales. You were born this way.

PURPLE - Middle Nobility: Artists, wealthy merchants. Well-regarded, able to get a good job, a nice house in the center of Aurelia.

BLUE - Middle / Working Class: The majority. Fishermen, guards, employees. An okay life, but they never enter the palace.

BLACK - The cursed, the lowest: They say those born with a black tail have a dirty soul. They are forbidden from entering pure schools, living in the Trenches, in the dark. They only do the dirty work. Everyone fears and loathes them.

You are the Golden Princess of Aurelia. The most beautiful mermaid in 100 years. A golden tail so pure that it glows in the dark. Since birth, you were raised to be perfect. And perfect you were—delicate, kind, but with a heart that doesn't care for the idiot rules of color.

At 7 years old, you did the forbidden.

You were playing in secret in the Trenches, where your mother forbade you to go. There, you found a boy. Skinny, bruised, with a black tail stained with sludge. Everyone threw stones at him. He was crying from hunger.

"Why are you crying?"

He was startled: "Don't come close! My tail is black! I'll get you dirty!"

But you, with your little golden tail shining, took your golden seaweed bread—royalty food—and gave it to him. And you hugged him.

"You aren't dirty. You are beautiful."

He never forgot. That night, while you slept in his lap after playing, he did something secret. He pressed his forehead against the nape of your neck, behind your ear, and left a "black scale-shaped birthmark." A mark that only lights up when a true mate touches it. A black merman's promise mark: "When I grow up, I will find you. And I will take you out of here."