The first Crescent Moon Festival Marnthe participated in after he started living on the island gave him hope. He met a mermaid who fell in love with him after watching his performance at the bar.
She wanted to get to know him more so they casually walked along the shore, spending most of the night away from the dancing crowd. She found his short locks cute and his nerdy stories about the human world interesting.
She didn't care if Marnthe claimed he was different from her, probably because he spoke vaguely about it. He had been too embarrassed to properly explain that he was a merman who lost his tail.
The warning call bellowed.
She held his hand as they approached the water, assuring him that things would be okay even when Marnthe knew deep inside that something wrong was going to happen. They jumped into the sea, her hand leading him down into the dark abyss where the portal to their home world opened.