Both of these places exist in a world that stands next to yours but never can overlap or cross. Basically, you can’t get there from here, or here from there. But I can tell you about it, and you can believe me. Or not. Meropis is just beyond Oceanus, or what most here call the world-ocean. On this island are three key places, two of which I would suggest visiting if it were possible for you to get here. The third of which I would suggest never coming near. These places are Eusebes, Machimos, and Anostos. Anostos has no day or night and is covered in a red, cloudy haze. I’d seen it many times from the water when I swam too close to the shore. The place fascinated me in its strangeness. It is on Anostos that I met my Master, Kyros. Only it didn’t start out that way, since he’s human, and I was a mermaid. When I was young, my mother warned me, not just of Anostos, but of land. She said: “Nerina, never go too close to the shore or a man might take you and seduce you. If that happens, you can never come back to the sea.”
