I thought it would be a good time to talk about the mermaid au, at least what there is so far
the mermaid being this guy of course :D
and then we've got Ingo and Emmet, who are humble fisherman, likely residing in Humilau City. they take their catches to the local market, live a pretty humble but nice life, etc, etc
one day Emmet comes across an injured mermaid (Volo) and decides he's gotta help. so he somehow gets him back home and sets up a tank for Volo to recover in.
but there's two problems with this:
one, mermaids and humans can't communicate with each other very well.
two, Volo is incredibly distrusting of humans.
Emmet does his best to try to get Volo to warm up to him, offers him nice fish meals (you can bet your flounder he can cook a great fish dish), tries to find a way to communicate, but it's really just a shitshow.
Ingo isn't so on board with any of this, either. it's clear to him that this is way too much for them to handle, they're way in over their heads, and he becomes thoroughly convinced of that when Emmet ends up getting poisoned by Volo (Volo's fins having venomous properties and such)
Emmet reluctantly agrees that, yeah, this is too much for them to handle, so that's when they both decide that they need to send Volo to a facility that can help heal/rehabilitate mermaids…
and, as luck would have it, there is one! a group called the Aether foundation runs one close by. so yay! they send Volo there, knowing he's in good hands, he can heal properly, return to the ocean and continue to live his happy mermaid life.
except… well… let's say that the Aether facility… isn't the paradise it makes itself out to be, not the best place for mermaids to be well cared for and to recover…
Lusamine really wants mermaids in order to unlock secret properties they hold
and yeah just… not a good place for poor ol' Volo. he goes through some Bad Things (tm) there... and it makes him realize that, well... maybe Emmet wasn't so bad.
Emmet was honestly trying to help Volo and that helps Volo to see that... maybe he can trust Emmet.
so, he thinks of a way to escape.
and that's all there is so far! maaaaaybe more come in the future? 👀
