No Tail, No Cheats, No Clue

I don't know when I stopped sinking.

At some point, the sea vanished. The pain in my chest faded. The shouting in my head went quiet.

There was only black.

Not the scary kind. Not even sad. Just... still. Like the universe forgot I existed.

I floated in the nothing for a while. Minutes? Hours? No clue.

Maybe this was heaven.

Maybe heaven was just… a black loading screen.

Then — boom.

A sudden yank, like a cosmic fishing hook had caught my ankle.

I plummeted fast, wind howling past me even though there was no wind. No sky. No logic.

And then — SPLASH.

Warm.

Too warm.

Like I'd just fallen into a giant glowing bathtub made by mermaids with a mood-light fetish.

I panicked. I gasped.

And… nothing happened.

No choking. No salt burn. No panic.

Just… breath.

What.

I opened my eyes.

Still underwater. Still breathing.

"What the hell..."

My voice came out clear. Like the water decided to work as my personal microphone.

Around me: glowing coral reefs, floating jellyfish the size of beach umbrellas, shimmering towers in the distance like underwater skyscrapers made of glowing stone and pearl.

I blinked.

"Wait. Grandma? Is this heaven?!"

Pause

"…If it is, and you're here, come out. Show me. I look awesome in this lighting."

Nothing. Just bubbles.

I looked down. My clothes were… mostly intact. Jeans, or what was left of them. One sleeve was ripped clean off.

I probably looked like I lost a fight with a gorilla.

My hair floated in front of my face — longer than I remembered.

Definitely glowing, but still the same mint green I had before.

What the hell. Was I not even given a new body after dying?

Then I saw it.

A glowing tattoo curving over my left shoulder.

A circle made of feather on one side and a tree branch on the other, with a seashell at the base and a flame rising from the top.

I didn't have anything like that before.

It shimmered. Like it was… alive.

Creepy.

"Okay. So maybe this isn't heaven."

Cue theory number two.

"…Did I get isekai'd into a fantasy novel?"

I paused. Squinted into the distance.

"Sea world? Glowing jellyfish? No tech? Okay, cool. Maybe I'm in a game. What was the last thing I read…? Wait. No. That was a CEO romance. That doesn't track.

Unless the sea guy's name is Poseidon Giovanni and I'm his runaway bride."

I tried a few Ninja hand signs.

Nothing.

Called out "status window."

Still nothing.

I even blinked really fast like those dumb reels that claim you'll unlock your hidden system UI.

Nada.

"Okay. Rude."

"Of course this is happening. I spend years praying to get hit by a truck and wake up as a dragon princess — and now that I actually die, I end up in SeaWorld with no plot armour, no cheats, and no idea what I'm doing."

And that's when it happened.

A massive shadow slid past me. Something… huge.

I turned — slowly. Prayed it wasn't a shark.

It was a whale.

A freaking whale just… swam by.

Majestic. Peaceful. Regal, even.

And then it turned slightly.

I saw the pattern on its back.

White ridges. Like… letters?

No.

No freaking way.

They spelled out two words:

"WHALE PASS"

I gasped.

"You have GOT to be kidding me."

Apparently, this universe had jokes.

✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧

I sighed, turning in place. "Great. I die on Earth and re-spawn in Atlantis's fever dream."

The water was different here — it wasn't salty, didn't sting my eyes, didn't press in on my skin like ocean water back home. It didn't even feel wet, just... soft. Gentle.

Like breathing air through silk.

Everything was glowing like a full-blown underwater laser show — the kind they charge fifty bucks for at a planetarium.

Was this even the same world?

I glanced at my hands. Still five fingers. Still mostly human.

"If I had to end up underwater, couldn't I at least have become a cool mermaid or something?"

I wiggled my legs.

Still legs.

Still jeans.

No shimmering tail, no shiny gills, not even a Disney sidekick in sight.

As I floated, spinning slowly, trying to sort out where I was, something moved in the shadows.

Just behind the coral shelf.

Too quick to catch.

But I felt it — the weight of someone watching. A ripple that had nothing to do with currents.

I stilled.

Squinted.

Nothing.

But I wasn't alone

Something was watching me.

I was just starting to accept that I might be stuck in Sea Heaven, glowing like a traffic cone, when it happened.

Something slammed into me. Full speed.

"ACK—WHAT THE—"

I spun. Flipped. Did a full underwater somersault like a drowned acrobat.

When I stopped tumbling and looked up, there it was.

A… dragon?

A dragon.

But not like, fire-breathing or scaly or terrifying.

No. This one was pink.

Like, baby-shower, bubblegum, Valentine's glitter pink — with gold-edged fins, long sleek limbs, and a tail that curled like it had attitude. His eyes were glowing teal and he looked pissed.

"Seriously?" he snapped. "You just float around like that? No spatial awareness?"

"Excuse me," I gasped. "You hit me!"

He snorted. "Yeah, well, you were in the way. I don't normally expect random mortals to just hover in front of coral highways."

"Mortals?! Okay, whoa. Are you a dragon or a sassy sea iguana?"

He flared his fins. "I'm a Saelkyn, thank you very much. Which is like a sea dragon — but sleeker, smarter, and way better looking."

I stared. "You're pink."

He tensed.

Uh-oh.

"Don't start," he warned, eyes narrowing. "Everyone starts with the pink. It's coral blaze, thank you. And yes, I've been mocked since hatching. So if you say 'cute,' I will drag you to the trench and leave you there."

"Totally not cute," I said immediately. "Horrifying. You terrify me."

"Good. Keep that energy."

We hovered awkwardly for a second.

"…You can talk," I finally said. "Like, actually talk."

"No, I'm sending psychic Morse code through your fillings," he deadpanned. "Yes, I can talk. Most living things can. What, do you expect me to squeak like a dolphin?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised."

" But, you speak English in this world?"

Is that what this is? You're the one speaking common tongue, not me. Be grateful — most creatures here just hiss, growl, or sing curses."

He circled around me, inspecting everything like I was a suspicious clam.

"You're from above, aren't you?" he said. "Figures. You smell like… land. And fear. And maybe expired shampoo."

"Rude."

"Also, you've got a sigil glowing on your shoulder like a bad tattoo from a magic rave. You have no idea what that means, do you?"

"Do you?"

"Nope," he said cheerfully. "But it's bright, and weird, and if you walk around flashing that, you're gonna attract attention — and not the good kind."

Oh.

"…Cool."

I hesitated, then looked at him. "Can I… come with you?"

He blinked. "What?"

"I don't know where I am. I don't know anyone. You're not trying to eat me, which is already a massive upgrade. So yeah. Let me tag along. Please?"

He stared at me for a solid three seconds like I'd grown a second head.

"You're not just going to leave me here, are you?"

"Tempting."

"I'll scream."

"We're underwater."

"I'll scream mentally."

Then muttered, "Ugh, fine. But only because you'll get yourself eaten before noon if you wander off alone glowing like a deep-sea snack light."

"Thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet. Just don't call me cute and we'll get along."

"…No promises."

His fins flared again. "I swear to the Tidefather, I will yeet you into a coral field."

"You'll what?"

"Nothing. Come on."

I swam after him — still confused, still glowing, still 98% sure I was hallucinating.

 I kicked hard, managing not to spin like a drowning starfish.

Not sure if it was adrenaline, my shiny shoulder-mark, or just sheer stubbornness,

but somehow I stayed afloat — even when the water pulled like a riptide.

Maybe the sea had decided not to murder me. Yet.

But hey.

If you're gonna get isekai'd, might as well have a pink dragon as your sarcastic sea tour guide and if this was my second life...

I was going to live it loud. Sharp. Unapologetic.

No more playing nice while the world burned me.

This time — I'd burn them back.

✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧