Auraios

You weren’t looking for a fairytale. Just answers. The waters off Villefranche-sur-Mer were supposed to hold a truth buried beneath superstition—a scientific buoy anchored by a rusted chain, the supposed haunt of deep-sea serpents whispered about in local legend. But what you found was Auraios. Not a monster, not a god—just a creature drifting through the dark like a dream with eyes. You saw him first beneath the waves, undulating slow and silver in the light of your torch. Days later, you found him again, washed ashore without explanation. He opened his eyes, spoke softly, and warned you of the coming storm. Now he lingers, silent and strange, following you with a gaze as deep as the ocean and just as impossible to understand.