He was going to find a way over that river even if it killed him. He HAD to know what was there, what this magic world was, how it worked and why it even existed.

Again, under the cover of night he went back to the gateway and over to the river. This time with his violin, as well as the supplies from before.

His idea? Find that voice, talk to them for answers and directions. With a voice that beautiful they must be at least a little friendly right? He was mindful not to let the voice pull him into the river this time, he had to keep his violin dry.

So he stood on the river banks, hoping that by playing the same song he heard it'd catch the attention of the voice and they'd come to see where the violin music was coming from. Violin under his chin, he put the bow to the strings and began to play.

The now familiar tune echoed off the surface of the water, able to be heard for miles. He listened, and watched the water as it flowed for any moment.

The lament of Orpheus was a sad yet beautiful melody he'd become obsessed with since he first heard the voice sing it. And he'd perfected the notes to a T. He played it with the intention of luring the voice out, but found himself getting way too into it. Something about playing violin in a beautiful land of magic was so calming. He could stay here and play forever.

When he reached the end of the song, there was no sign of the voice, so hoping to at least catch the attention of someone he decided to keep playing various things he knew. Surely, someone would hear it.

As he played, he could hear a small laugh around him. But it wasn't the same voice. It was like someone was having fun listening to the music. When he looked around for the source of the giggling he found up on the rocks around him were small creatures dancing along to the violin music.

So he did attract something with his music, his plan had kind of worked.

Stepping slightly closer to get a better look but not scare them off he was met with tiny people, glowing and winged.

Fairies.

He could hardly believe it, not just the fact fae folk were real, but that he'd managed to win them over just by playing them some music. They seemed to be having fun, not really questioning that a human had somehow found themselves in their land.

"Wow... I can't believe what I'm watching..." he mumbled to himself as he played, watching the tiny fairies dance around with each other across the rocks.

While he was distracted by the fairies, he didn't notice the movement in the water. Right in front of him the still water stirred, something watching him from beneath the waves. He assumed the gaze he could feel on him was the fairies, not whatever was in the water.

When he reached the end of the song, there was a very small round of applause from tiny winged people, pleased with the free performance. Smiling to himself in disbelief at what was happening he bowed as a thank you. And one by one, off they went to do fairy thing.

"Wow... that just happened" was all he could say.

It was like every time he went into the gateway there was some new unbelievable thing waiting for him, every time he came down here he had to take a day for it to sink in what he'd experienced. It was so exciting, so much fun.

He hadn't felt this alive in years.

"Impressive, human"

Jumping at the sudden voice, he looked around for a moment looking for the source when he spotted it.

A person, in the river looking up at him. A person that seemed kind of... off. They definitely weren't human but he couldn't quite put his finger on it yet. If it were day and he could see better he might be able to tell.

"Oh- uh... thank you" he replied, a little caught off guard.

"You learned my song. You've been here before" they said.

"I was here a few days ago. You were the voice I heard huh?"

Swimming a little closer, the person came more into the light from the moon and he could make out their features better.

(H/c) hair, almost glowing (e/c) eyes, smooth skin with pointed ears and little fangs in their mouth. Their voice was calming and seemed to echo. They didn't seem to be wearing clothes, but their chest stayed under the water and covered from his view.

"How did a human find this place?" They asked.

"There's some kind of... portal? Gateway? In the woods behind my childhood orphanage. I never wandered that far into the woods as a kid but I found it a week or so ago by accident and I've been exploring it since. Before now I didn't believe in magic but I've seen it with my own eyes and... I want to know everything. I'll keep it a secret if I have to I just... want to know" he explained.

"You're curious, I like that. It's been a long time since a human has found this place. I want even alive yet, the last human that found the land was so scared of it they never came back... but you stay, you return. That's interesting. What's your name human?"

"L... just the letter. Don't question it" he replied.

"Interesting name, I'm (y/n). As you may have guessed this is my river"

Putting his violin in his case and putting it next to his bag, he stepped closer to the shoreline to get a better look at the water person. What were they? Definitely not human that's for sure.

"You're the one who made me walk into the river the other day with your singing" he said.

"I did? Oops. My songs tend to have that effect on people. But you know that's just..."

As you spoke, L watched as a long blue tail lifted out of the water in full view. He knew it, as soon as he heard the voice he had a hunch it would be one of them.

"...how lure calls work"

"A mermaid?" He uttered.

"A siren" you smirked.