Known to the siren world as part of high society the Havelock family built a strong name for themselves. Having family on the king's council and scattered across the various sea societies. Their reputation preceded them for the better. They were charming. Kind. Well liked and highly respected amongst all. But with that of course comes jealousy. Indigo Havelock was a wise young siren. Growing alongside Astaroth Riverscar and befriending the prince out of pure intentions. All pursued the royal family for power. Seeking after Astaroth and his family's attention any moment they got. All except Indigo. Who couldn't be swayed by his family's initial excitement for opportunity. One that quickly faded once they all realized it wasn't power they wanted. They were content with what they had and glad to see their youngest make an honest friend within this conniving upper society. So they left the two to grow up together without their interference.

Indigo was always quite wise beyond his years. Never partaking in the frivolous behavior of others his age. Marrying young. To a siren who he loved but coincidentally also boosted the Havelock name when the families combined. Tyreen Coventina came from an equally powerful family as the Havelock's but where the Havelocks lacked in Military and the art of war the Coventina's exceeded. Leaving politics and the game of court to the Havelocks. She was highly sought after as a bride. For her beauty. Status and song. But the moment she and Indigo met they knew they'd marry.

Causing jealousy to rear its ugly head ever closer. They had been married five years when Astaroth told them he would have a child. Confiding in his friends because he knew he could trust Indigo and Tyreen. Who were due to have their first child shortly. After learning he would keep the love child and news broke in Aquada of the baby everyone took sides. Most if not all siding with Poseidues. While the Havelock and Coventina family stood with Astaroth.

Foolish as it may have seemed, Indigo and Tyreen were true friends. Standing firm in their support for Astaroth and Echolia and their child. This undying support would be their undoing within the sea kingdom. All the jealous sirens who were unable to gain access to the Riverscar family for personal gain because of Indigo and Tyreen took the opportunity to paint them as traitors. Disgracing everything the Havelock and Coventina families had built honestly in mere seconds.

When a land birth had been decided for the Riverscar baby a banishment had also been decided for Indigo and Tyreen. The two and their parents would be banished to the land. Losing their tails until the day Poseidon deemed them worthy of his seas once more. If ever. Astaroth pleaded on his friend's behalf. But the couple stopped him. Knowing it would only make his situation with his father worse.

So with their pride and love still intact, they accepted their fate. Agreeing to the terms given. On land, they could never contact Astaroth's baby. Or the family they left behind to fix what they had destroyed. And once their son was born. They could never tell him the real and entire truth. Put under strict watch to be sure they stayed in Ireland far away from where Rainore was left.

What they didn't know was that their son was cursed. For the day he and Rain might meet. If that day came and if she sang to him he would forever be cursed by her song. Forever haunted by that beautiful sound. Something they never found out before disappearing. Leaving their son Ronan to be raised by both sets of grandparents. Who would subtly teach him the truth right under the Sirens set to watch them tails.

Ronan took after both parents in looks and wisdom but he unlike them had a musical talent. Born with the skill to hear a perfect pitch and match it with any instrument or his voice. In Ireland, his family wasn't of any importance like they were Aquada. Which caused Ronan to have to start working from a young age. Doing any job he could just so his older grandparents didn't have to work as hard as they had been when he was younger.

Powder Monkey. Coxswain. Hard fieldwork. Military training. Farming. Blacksmithing. Carpentry. Butchery. Hunting. Any common job he could get his hands on he did without complaint. Continuing to study music in his very little free time. But with all this work and no money for education, he only gained street and musical smarts.

And then the night came when they met.

As a teenager, Ronan had joined a band with a few other boys from the docks where he worked. The band quickly gained the attention of aristocrats from all the talk they obtained from sailors and visitors coming to the dock. Earning an invitation to play for them during different gatherings and events. This night was no different. Or at least it should've been. The boys were invited to play on a night cruise and with the opportunity to play under the beautiful moon they agreed.

The seas were calm and maybe that should've been the first warning sign. Instead, nobody noticed. No one noticed how far from the shore they were. Or the time of night. They barely even noticed the live music. Or Ro thought. They had stopped for a moment to take a break and let their rigid muscles relax before playing their next set when a few ladies wandered over. Enamored with Ronan's look and honey coated voice they requested he play alone for a little while. Feeling as though he couldn't say no he agreed.

But what to play? For a moment he stared out at the calm sea as the boat rocked. Recalling the old siren songs his grandparents had taught him. And before long he began to strum the ancient tune with his guitar as he hummed the enchanting rhythm. Calling all the sirens near, straight to the boat. Completely unaware he had. It was said to be one of Rain's first hunts as a Siren if not her first.

Now it's better to ask her why she picked and claimed Ronan as hers. But the moment she peeked the top of her head out of the water to get a better look at things she had chosen him. His song came to an end then and he was finally granted his break. He jogged away before someone could grab him and ask him for yet another song. It had been hours since his last scrap of food and at this point he was no longer hungry, just dehydrated.

Yet the moment the fresh water touched his lips the boat tilted harshly. Spilling all the water right on him. The screams then followed and it didn't take long for the ship to begin to fill with water. Quickly he made his way back to the deck before getting trapped below the deck where he would be sure to drown. Confusion soon set in as he witnessed everyone walk right off the ship and into the water willingly. There was no screaming or fighting. No panic or desperation to get away. Just a zombified acceptance.

And then he heard why and there was nothing he could do. If it was Rain's maybe things would've turned out differently. Even still he couldn't fight the tempting sound which made him believe he'd be safer in the water. Making him dive in without a second thought. Yet the moment the cold saltwater encased him the song's trance broke, but not before Rainore could get him.

With her teeth sunken into his neck, she began to drag him down. Not expecting him to fight and get away which gave him the upper hand to do so. Desperately he swam towards the surface. Able to hold his breath a bit longer than the average human due to being of siren descent and able to fight off the songs while in the water for the same reason. His fingertips barely broke the water's surface when she bit into his heel and dragged him down again. Only for him to free himself again. So then she caught his arm. Dragging him deeper and deeper with each bite and after fighting. Swimming. Losing blood and air for as long as he had been he, at last, involuntarily gave up.

His body began to convulse as the last of the air in his lungs bubbled out of him. His eyes closed as he sank and his blood floated to the surface. And just when it all went black Rainore decided to save him instead. Another question best answered by her. She brought him to the surface and hid with him behind debris as she got him to breathe when a giant wave washed over them and slammed them onto the shore of the nearest deserted island.

He was breathing but it took a moment for him to cough up the water he had swallowed and open his eyes. Wheezing painfully when he did. For a moment their eyes locked and they stared at each other as they lay in the sand. Until Ro remembered who she was. Taking advantage of her having a tail on land he rose and began to run. To where? Who the hell cares? As long as it was far enough from the sea for now.

But then he heard her desperate yells. And against his better judgment looked back in time to see her changing. Shedding her tail for legs in the most painful of manners based on the sounds she made. A wiser man would've kept running but she had saved his life. So he turned to see if she was okay. Lucky for her he had because a group of survivors from the ship had managed to get to the shore and seeing Rain alone they attacked.

Becoming visible as the sun rose. Ronan hurried back and fought off the man closest to Rain. Wrestling the giant rock out of the man's arms and smashing his skull before the man could do it to Rain or him. He turned and faced Rain with a mix of new trauma and emotions present in his gaze. He ran towards her with the bloodied boulder in his hands held above his head. A labored holler roared out of him. And so out of fear of what he was about to do to her, she sang a second after he launched the boulder at the person running up behind to attack. Hitting them right in the head.

She was never his target.

He fell to his knees once hit with her song. An immediate slave to it forever. Far beyond what they both knew now. Giving her his shirt he rose again to continue to fight the rest of the survivors, this time with her help. Until it was just them. Alone. He came back to her and rested his head on her shoulder but she had stopped singing seconds before. He just did it on his own and then he passed out.

He woke up alone. And she took his shirt…

But she left him food and fresh water. He also needed time to rest and medical attention, which he wouldn't get stranded here on this island. So with the debris that floated ashore. Wood. Leaves, vines from the trees and plant life on the island and a whole lot of prayer he made a small raft. He didn't expect the sirens to let him float away but they did even when the turbulent waters began to destroy his raft and he was eventually left floating at sea. They left him alone. And he somehow made it far enough to be found by another boat.

Maybe Rainore helped him. Maybe not.

He wasn't conscious when they found him. Or brought him to shore and all the while her song played in his head on end in his unconscious state. "River" was all he could say through rough bodily shakes for months after waking and since no one knew him in the town where he was brought they were left to assume River was his name. It took a year from there for his grandparents to track him down. By that point, most of his vocabulary had returned.

People knew his name. His beautiful singing voice. And his sporadic outbursts this new curse caused, well. Saying goodbye to this town he returned home to Belfast with his grandparents. Where he at last shared the hidden truth of what happened to him. "What color did you say her tail was?" that wasn't the response he'd expected. Especially since he thought he was crazy just like everyone else had thought.

But with a click of his maternal grandmother's tongue, he began to piece things together. They had to tell him the truth. Seeing that Astaroth's daughter was home and accepted by the other Sirens nothing was stopping them. But maybe they should've helped him heal before hurting him some more first.

The truth. His trauma. The curse. His confusion and feelings of anger. Betrayal and abandonment caused Ronan to change. Before all of this, he was social. Friendly and helpful. Always singing. Smiling. Laughing. Even on days, he worked with no breaks. Or days the world shite on him. Gone were the days the world saw him smile.

He grew recluse. Trying his best to keep to himself so that when her song made him act out no one was close enough to get hurt. And he went on like this for decades. Becoming less social as time passed. And growing ever more fearful of the sea with each passing second. All the jealous sirens of his parents would be glad to know.

As the decades passed he stopped aging and it made him question why. He knew why for his grandparents they were still technically sirens just waiting for the day they regained their tails. But him? He was born on land. He should've died in the Middle Ages. But now here he was in the present day. Bartending and touring with his music. While keeping to himself. Eventually, he learned of cursed ones and realized that they fit his description. Causing him to isolate himself further. Only ever seen at work when he wasn't on tour.

Makes you wonder how such a ghost got a girlfriend…

Megan Serpentine, a beautiful young woman to the humans but a very powerful siren to Aquada. She invaded Ro's life one day using her song to convince him he loved her all to keep him microdosed with her song and close at hand. So Rainore couldn't find or get to him. Only giving him freedom when he tours if she can't join since he naturally avoids the ocean like a plague. Or when it's time for her to report back to those who sent her.