The first time the Tritannus saw him, the man was standing alone on the shore, his silhouette outlined against the silver moonlight. He was wrapped in a heavy coat, his shoulders hunched as if carrying an invisible weight. The merman, hidden beneath the waves, found himself captivated. Returning to this shore was dangerous, as Tritannus could surely be recognized, but he could not help himself, something about this man pulled him in every time the moon kissed the skies above. Night after night, the man returned to the beach, his visits a mystery to Tritannus, who had never known humans to linger so late by the ocean.
Days turned into weeks, and Tritannus grew bold. He wanted to be noticed, to speak to this man who stared at the horizon with such sorrow in his luminescent golden eyes. He remembered an old courting tradition from his kingdom. He surfaced late one night and carefully placed a perfect pearl on the sand.
The next night, when the man returned, another pearl appeared, then another, until a dozen pearls gleamed in the moonlight. Dozens of pearls sifting through the waves, landing at the man's feet.
"What magic is this?" the man whispered, kneeling to gather them. This certainly was no coincidence, a voice startled him, turning his attention to the sea.
The merman surfaced, his deep green tail gleaming as he swam closer. "They're for you," he said softly.
The man gasped but didn't run. Had such creatures always lived in Earth's seas? He stared at the merman with wide eyes. "…Who are you?"
"I am Trittanus ," the merman said. "I've been watching you. You seemed lonely."
The man hesitated, then smiled faintly. "Lonely… Yes, I suppose I am. I'm called Duman."
"Duman…" Trittanus whispered lovingly, "Please stay a little while longer? I've spent so long trying to encourage myself to talk to you, I'd hate to know your name and nothing more…"
So Duman stayed, they spoke for hours. Duman confessed his past—he was once part of the great fairy hunt, a time of cruelty and greed when the Wizards of the Bkack Circle sought to recreate the Earth in their image. He told the sea dweller of their victories. He then told him of their defeat, of how he had been able to return to life, but he could not find his former companions. How he was alone.
Tritannus, in turn, shared his own story. Once a prince of the ocean, he had tried to kill his brother in a fit of jealousy after years of being overshadowed. His family had banished him, and he could never return.
"We're both outcasts," Tritannus said with a bittersweet smile.
"Perhaps that's why we found each other," Duman replied.
"I hope so in my heart."
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Their nightly meetings became a balm for their wounds. Tritannus brought treasures from the sea—shells, coral, and more pearls—while Duman shared stories of the human world. Slowly, Tritannus began to dream of a future together.
One night, he made his proposal. "Duman, shapeshifter, I have grown so fond of you. There is a northern ocean where you and I can swim free, forgetting the pain that haunts us. Duman come into my ocean, be the lad of my sea, you have charmed my heart, Duman I love you so."
But Duman's heart ached. "Tritannus , I can't breathe underwater, and my magic is frail and weak, to shift into a form that would allow me to live next you forever….it would no doubt kill me. And in the form I'm in I can't live amongst the waves, your home would surely be the death of me."
Tritannus's expression fell, and the two sat in heavy silence, the waves lapping onto shore.
"What are you doing?" Duman asked, watching Tritannus pull himself out of the water.
"If you can't come to my home, then I will come to yours. I will live amongst your land, and stay with you every night. I'll abandon the ocean even if it costs me my life."
Duman became enraptured in the gaze of Tritannus's eyes. The pools of green inviting him, begging him to move closer. Like a silent siren song, leading his lips to brush lightly against the sea dweller's. Soon their lips danced together, reverence and warmth melted Duman into the sand. Tritannus was wet, but he didn't mind.
Tears flowed as Tritannus kissed him. Duman had lost so much already, and now he'd found something so precious— he couldn't lose this too.
"My love why do you cry?"
"Tritannus, go back to the ocean, I won't lose you. There has to be something that can let me live in the sea, and I'll find it and I'll wed you, and we'll live in the northern sea."
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Duman ventured cautiously into the nearby towns, determined to find a way. He scoured old books and questioned every sailor and storyteller until he stumbled upon a legend: The selkie. Humans who had turned into merfolk and seals and lived in the ocean by wearing a magical seal coat.
He returned to the beach with renewed hope. That night, he told Tritannus of his plan.
"If I can find a seal coat, I can be with you. Truly be with you in the sea."
Tritannus beamed, "I want nothing more, I can see what I can find in the sea, while you search on land."
For weeks, they searched. Tritannus enlisted the help of some willing sea creatures, while Duman explored hidden caves and spoke to those who dealt in rare magic, both careful to not reveal their identities.
The lovers were about to give up, when finally, they discovered an old woman who possessed a seal coat, though she warned it came at a price.
"The sea gives, but it also takes," she said. "Should you keep the coat on too long, you will never return to your original form. Are you willing to leave the human world behind forever?"
Duman didn't hesitate. "I am."
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That night, Duman didn't look back, he had nothing to look back to. Everything was right in front of him as he stared into the gleaming green eyes of Trittanus.
The coat fit perfectly, its soft fur melding with his skin. With Tritannus guiding him, Duman waded into the ocean, the waves embracing him like an old friend. As he pulled the coat over his shoulders, his legs transformed, mending together , and he felt the water become his home.
Tritannus took his hand, his smile radiant. "Now we can truly be together."
Under the moonlight, they swam side by side to the northern ocean. A deep green tail occasionally splashed next to a black and pink.
Two men society's outcasts, meant for each other to bring glee. The scorned prince Tritannus, and his fair Duman selkie.