When she awoke, it was to a sweet voice. This voice was ethereal and otherworldly from just the sound of it but there was a dangerous edge to it. Her body tingled in response, she didn’t know if it was fear or joy but just wanted to escape.

"I-I name you Sakura, The Last of Her Kind." The voice shakily whispered so softly as if it was afraid of someone hearing them. “Open up your eyes...”

Like commanded she opened up her eyes and terror-filled her entire being as the thing in front of her brought her closer to her own face. She squirmed wildly, trying to do anything to get away from the terrifying monster, only for her body not to respond to her calls. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the bubble that surrounded her.

‘Gods, tell me this is a dream!’ She thought, falling into full-blown panic. Her body was that of a leech in those documentaries she watched and she was absolutely terrified of leeches. She wanted to hurl but nothing came out and she pushed her body up against the bubble roughly, while keeping her eyes closed to avoid looking at the thing in front of her.

“P-Please Sakura, calm down. I won’t hurt you.” The monster whispered softly, caressing the bubble with sad eyes.

‘How does that thing know my name?’ Sakura thought in fear. ‘This is simply a dream and when I wake up. I’ll be back in my apartment getting ready for my date with-’ She paused, trying to remember who she had a date with, ‘t-then I’ll call my-’ Sakura stopped moving altogether, trying to recall who she was going to call, ‘why are my memories...slipping away from me?”

‘Are you calm now, Sakura?’ The monster whispered sadly to her. ‘Please don’t be scared of your own mother please….you’re my only kin left.”

Sakura carefully looked at the thing who presented herself as her mother and she could still feel indescribable fear rooted inside her but she held it back and tried to analyze this situation she found herself in. The monster or woman in front of her had long beautiful white hair, pale skin that revealed her perky mounds and black eyes with no eyelids. However, the most fascinating was the silver mermaid-like tail swishing around.

‘OK, this is either all a dream or this real and I somehow came to another world,’ Sakura fearfully concluded, ‘ and with missing memories to boot. I don’t know how I got here at all or who my parents are. This woman calling herself my mother isn't my mother!’

“Don’t be scared, you’re my special child.” She whispered, planting a kiss on the bubble that almost made Sakura hurl once more. She then felt pity afterward for being so difficult despite the thing showing no signs of hurting her. “I don’t have much time left in this world, Sakura. Its time I gave you your birthright.”

Sakura could feel some sort of energy surround her and she felt even more scared. It was warm and cold at the same time and it quelled her sudden spike of fear. Then suddenly, memories flowed into her mind like a rushing river. It was like watching a movie except there was no popcorn and there was pain, a lot of pain, and she just wanted to curl up and hold her head but her body wouldn’t cooperate.

After a while, the pain disappeared and she finally gained some understanding of her situation. She had gained memories from her mother who is surprising, a type of Siren, and her given name is Amaria. ‘I thought Sirens were supposed to be beautiful?’ Sakura immediately thought.

This is a game-like world that is filled with magic, stats, levels, evolution, and gods like the games she played in middle school. Going through her mind was like moving through molasses and she was finding it hard to figure out what was real and what wasn’t. The new memories assimilated with her own old ones slowly. However, along with these game elements came powerful humans and godlike beasts that roam the ocean depths and land alike.

“Now you understand my child…who we are….and what you are,” Amaria solemnly said, “These memories are a gift and a guide for your journey through this world. Let them bring you some understanding and guidance.”

Sakura was deeply troubled by her words and the new information she was given. She wanted to live normally but from her past life memories, she didn’t amount to much. She was simply a 30-year-old office worker that was thrown in this magical charged world. She really wanted this to be a dream but everything else was proving otherwise.

Her ‘mother’ was the last living Siren of this world, that is until her timely birth. Sirens were deemed dangerous to the world because of their devastating voice that caused the death of many humans and their penchant for luring Mermen away from their mates.

Sirens and Mer-people were related in some ways but Mer-people was more generally accepted in the world of humans and with other creatures and was considered to be beautiful while Sirens, who were only female and considered ugly compared to Mer-people, were shunned and lived a life of solitude.

The increase of human deaths angered the humans and they teamed up with the Mer Kingdom and ruthlessly hunted sirens and those with the possibility to evolve into sirens to almost extinction for centuries. Her mother, the last surviving siren had hidden but was discovered and came all the way to the most dangerous ocean in this world. This was the only place she could escape to due to being highly dangerous and it was unlikely for her to be followed.

Amaria called out, interrupting Sakura’s thoughts. “You must survive my dear Sakura and never give up.”

She didn’t know why she felt heartbroken for this mother she only met a few moments ago. This feeling was horrible and it felt like she was going to lose something valuable. It's the same feeling when she realized she lost her memories.

Fear.

She feared that this mother she gained would leave her alone too. Though the memories gave her some insight, she was still scared of what will happen without any protection.

“You will hatch soon my dear. Our young are very weak as larvae,” Amaria said before placing Sakura down on the sea bed, “so I formed a protective water barrier around this old sunken ship to protect us.”

Sakura wasn’t that touched by her mother’s plans and felt that this was leading up to a goodbye. She was slowly warming up to this new mother and didn’t want her to leave. That horrible feeling dug is claws deeper into her psyche, instilling more fear.

“Sakura, use my body as your sustenance. There are creatures hiding in this old ship but they are scared because I’m here but…. they can harm you without me here so be car-" Amaria violently coughed, spitting out blood.

Sakura felt devastation, watching as Amaria closed her eyes and fell to the sand weakly. “I’m sorry that I can’t take care of you…I’m so sorry…” Amaria whispered softly before taking her last breath.

She remained silent, watching the dead body, wanting to cry but she couldn’t. She didn’t even know if her body had tear ducts but she felt a great sense of loss. Her elongated body trembled as she curled up into a tight ball. She didn’t understand how she could feel this way after meeting someone for the first time. That was what her mind told her but her heart was weeping. It was like the connection between mother and daughter was broken, never to be repaired again.

‘I’m sorry too.’ She apologized, before closing her eyes and wallowing in her sadness.

She didn’t know how long she laid in her bubble but the memories she was given kept replaying over and over in her head. She just wanted to grieve, and not just her past life but also the people she forgot. She wanted to forget all about this place she found herself in.

‘Leave me alone!’ Sakura cried as the memories keep pushing themselves to the forefront of her mind. It as if she was being told to get up and move. She opened her eyes and stared at the siren in front of her and silently she paid her respects. She took her time and got used to moving her elongated body for a few minutes before breaking out of her bubble.

Suddenly, her stomach burned something furious and she knew what needed to be done. She slowly swam closer to her mother. There was reluctance in Sakura's movements before she latched onto her neck, hesitantly sucking blood from her. She was disgusted by her own actions, at how easily she would drink blood at all and even more disgusted at herself for not stopping.

“I have to survive.” Sakura thought before closing her eyes and drinking.

Drinking enough blood, Sakura released her hold and felt that this was the start of a slippery slope. She sighed and recalled her memories. She should be able to activate a menu to see her stats and other parameters like a game. She willed the status menu to show up and was somewhat amazed at the holographic nature of it. This was unlike the technology in her old life. She scrolled through the menu using her mind and clicked on her stats.

Name: Sakura

Level: 1/10

Species: Aqua Larvae

HP:100/100

MP:100/100

SP:50/50

Offense:1

Defense:100

Magic Power:1

Resistance:100

Speed:20

[Skills: Wail Lvl 1, Swimming Lvl 1, Appraise Lvl 1, Water Immunity, Night Vision, Ice Resistance Lvl 1]

[Titles: The Last of Her Kind, Hybrid Species]

‘So the species I am right now is an Aqua Larvae.’ She thought with a shudder of disgust.

[The Aqua Larvae belongs to a special group of creatures is the weakest life form. Normally, the parents of Aqua Larvae help them to hunt and evolve faster.]

Sakura frowned and observed the menu some more. ‘Both my offenses are literally 1 point. How can I level up if I can’t do any damage?’ She was in disbelief at the unfairness and wanted to scream at the injustice but she calmed herself down. ‘Let’s look at my skills and titles.’ She thought before scrolling down the menu. ‘Swimming is self-explanatory. The more I swim, it will level up accordingly.’

[Wail Lvl 1: This is the primary skill of Aqua Larvae. The Aqua Larvae releases out of tune wail that confuses enemies and causes them to attack their own allies.]

[Water Immunity: Water attacks have no effect on the user of this skill.]

[Ice Resistance Lvl 1: Ice attacks do a little less damage.]

[Night Vision Lvl 1: The ability to see clearly in dark places.]

[Appraisal Lvl 1: This is an extremely rare skill that identifies objects, creatures, and people. The higher the level, the more information it displays.]

She silently read through her skills and was slightly fearful. She understood that it was a game-like world and that majority of her skills would be battle oriented but she was still with a human mind. Knowing that she’ll have to enter battles that determine her life or death was scary.

She then decided to try out the least offensive skill on her mother. ‘APPRAISE!’

Name: Amaria

Level: 30/50

Species: Songstress of The Sea

‘So her species is called the Songstress of The Sea and she was pretty strong.’ She thought before reading about the titles in her menu.

[The Last of Her Kind is a unique title given to the last creature of its species. Experience Points given is 10x more than the normal amount.]

Reading this description set her at ease.‘This is definitely good for someone like me who isn’t suppose to be in this world.'

[Hybrid Species: This title is given to those with unique birth. You’re the descendant of a Merman and a Siren. This union gives you 99 status points to both defense and resistance.]

‘So my mother mated with a Merman.’ Sakura was just a bit shocked at how this came to be since they’re supposed to be enemies.

After going through the menu and analyzing the functions, she closed it, feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the information she gained. She slowly took in her surroundings, where barely and rocks or sea flora existed. She could see a glowing bright blue wall on the outskirts and recognized it as the barrier she was told about. Finally, she looked at the looming abandon ship that was – probably broken in half by some sort of monster - worn down by years of being in the ocean deep.

The ocean she resided in is the Terrestrial Expanse where strange strong creatures unlike any other lives and thrive. The sky over this sea is always covered in dark clouds and sometimes the occasional sunlight or moonlight would break through the clouds.

Sakura pushed the frightening thoughts from her mind and decided that she would bury Amaria. She swam downwards and started digging into the sand and using her tail to sweep the sand onto her.

[New Skill Acquired: Digging Lvl 1]

Sakura jumped at the notification before looking at the menu in surprise. ‘Maybe simply doing actions is all it takes to get a new skill or level one.’ She thought. After she was done covering her mother, she opened the menu once more.

[Swimming Lvl 2]

[Digging Lvl 2]

[Digging Lvl 2: Burrow into the sand to hide from or surprise enemies.]

She looked at the menu and closed it immediately without a thought. Her mind was working overtime and she had no one to speak to. She felt like she was going crazy, she wanted to shout and scream, let out her fears and frustrations. Yet, despite all of this her need to survive overpowered that helpless feeling. She wanted to go back home to her world and she wanted her memories back. She didn’t care how she got to this world but she had to survive it in order to get the answers she wanted.