Fish-Man Island, Ryugu Kingdom, Coral Apartments.
The sprawling complex, built along the coral reefs at the bottom of Mermaid Cove, resembled a colorful honeycomb set into the deep sea.
Sunlight filtered through the roots of the giant Sunlight Tree Eve growing near Fish-Man Island, becoming mottled beams that pierced the water and cast shifting patterns across the apartment walls.
Because the light faded with depth, rents followed a strict vertical scale. The top-floor suites, which received the most sunlight, were the most expensive homes on Fish-Man Island;
the farther down one went, the dimmer it grew and the cheaper the rent became.
Outside the shell door of a top-floor apartment, a mermaid who had received the divination she wanted thanked the fortune-teller inside. Looking thoroughly satisfied, she climbed onto a sea turtle carrying a midsize transparent canopy.
The turtle swept its broad flippers, carrying her slowly down into the coral passage until she vanished behind a curtain of swaying seagrass.
After seeing off her last visitor of the day, Shyarly gently closed the shell door. Its hinge gave a crisp click as she locked it.
She swam back to her bedroom, where jellyfish lamps set into the walls gave off a soft glow.
She had barely lain down on the couch covered in soft seaweed when an inexplicable flutter stirred in her chest.
"Is something bad about to happen again?"
Shyarly sighed. Her tail, deep-sea blue in front and pearl white behind, gave a listless flick, sending up a trail of tiny bubbles.
The last time she had felt such a powerful premonition, she had seen the arrival of the Great Pirate Era sweeping across the world in her crystal ball.
Every sudden premonition meant a glimpse of future misfortune.
She dreaded it, but if it concerned the survival of