Ian x Reader

~Prologue~

<This book contains Siren's Lament spoilers>

Your life knew only two rules; the most stressed being that the ocean is off limits. That message had been hammered into your subconscious since the first time your infant eyelids fluttered open.

The ocean is off limits. That message would remain your life's principle basis until the last time your mortal eyelids fluttered closed.

***

_____, malcontent with her life as a wall-flower, began to notice her sheltered upbringing in middle school. Her parents were kind-hearted though, so she loved them dearly and didn't question their rules until after high school.

The first rule was strange, yes, but it wasn't impossible for _____ to follow. It was the second that now sent her overboard. This rule was adamant about non-platonic relationships. She was to have nothing to do with them. However, her parents couldn't keep _____ cocooned in bubble wrap forever.

College granted _____ a taste of freedom. On a spur of hormonal-induced teenage resistance, _____ went out and got herself a boyfriend. Take that, Mom and Dad.

Her parents sure did take that. They took that news all the way to the brink of fear. Out of concern for her safety, they harried for her to break off the relationship before she dove in too deep.

Similar to how her life had been before a boyfriend, _____ was not pleased. She stormed back to her college dorm room to spend time with her partner. Before she was able to blink twice, there he was, tangled up in somebody else.

Betrayal mingled with resentment and regret swirled into a sea of pent up emotions. A wave of rebellion slammed through the shelter her pure-intentioned parents had so tenderly built up around her shoulders. The precarious walls of childhood truth came crashing down, and from those ruins, the Kraken was released.

With sand sifting through her toes, _____ felt exhilarated. The ocean was the missing piece in her pursuit for freedom and answers. That was, until an unusual fish appeared.