If he hasn't already seen gem trees, giant mushrooms and fairies dancing for him, he'd have passed out at the sight of a siren.

They aren't the most trustworthy creatures in mythology. Known for drowning sailors and hoarding their treasures, but the fact he hadn't been drowned yet told him this siren wasn't too bad. Although he still proceeded with caution.

"You won't drown me will you?" He asked.

"Are you a pirate?" You replied.

"No. I'm a detective"

"You're safe then. We only drown pirates that have committed horrible crimes against us. That's the law of the seas, you come into our territory you play by our rules. You break them? We break your bones"

He didn't expect the creatures in this land to have human morals, so he couldn't say he was surprised that sirens do actually drown people. But he was surprised that they had a rule system about it. Only pirates that harm them, that seems fair enough. The water is their territory anyway.

"This place has different laws and rules than the human world does? I expected that. Although I didn't expect there to be rules of the seas but if it's your territory then I makes sense" L admitted.

"We respect territory around here. Sirens and merfolk rule the waters. Nymphs have their own lakes. The fae get the mushroom forrests and the dragons get the woods. There plenty of creatures down here that have their own territory, as long as you respect their land, they'll let you in and treat you as a friend. Magic can't work without understanding of one another" you explained.

This was all so interesting. Being human he'd only ever studied the way humans work, he'd never even considered magic creature. Hell he didn't even know they existed until recently.

"Well I definitely don't mean to disrespect anyone's land here. I'm just curious to know how all this magic stuff works. I never even knew it existed until recently and it's blowing my mind in all honesty. There's this waterfall of dust stuff that grated me a wish back there, and it told me if I wanted answers to head east. But east is across the river, is there some way I can get over there?" L asked.

"Ah, the wishing dust. There's lots of little fountains of it scattered around here. It's helpful stuff, fae love it because of how shiny it is. I'm afraid the only way over the river is by boat if you have one, otherwise you'll have to swim" you explained.

Well shit. L didn't exactly have a boat and he couldn't really sneak one down here without the orphanage noticing. How would he get over there?

"Ah... crap. I don't have a boat, would be pretty hard to get one here..." he said.

"I can swim you across if you don't mind getting wet. Although all your stuff would have to either be left behind or dragged along on something that floats. I wouldn't want your beautiful violin ruined" you replied.

He thought for a moment, how could he get across this river with his stuff and no boat? This may be a little conundrum. But he was a detective so surely he could figure something out. After a moment of standing there thinking, he got an idea.

"Oh... there's an old surf board in one of the storage closets at the orphanage. I could definitely sneak that down here. Then I could just sit on it with my stuff all dry and you could drag me across?" He suggested.

"My, you are a detective aren't you? Mr problem solver. If you bring it tomorrow night I'll take you there. Once you're in town you could probably borrow a boat for next time too, seems like you plan on exploring the land" you replied.

"I do, I want to know everything. I've been doing cases for 13 years nonstop. I'm so burnt out I just want something new and existing to do so finding this place was a blessing. I do have to babysit some kids later this month but once it's night I'm free to keep exploring"

Propping yourself up on one of the rocks out of the water to talk to him, he could finally see you fully.

Your ears were pointed and webbed, your nails long like claws, scales lined your chest to provide censorship and your tail was long and detailed with hip fins, a large fluke and a smaller dorsal. Exactly how he imagined a mer person would look, very human on top, all fish on bottom.

"You know L, it's so rare for humans to find this place I'm sure you'll cause a lot of buzz once people realise you're here. If you want to stay anonymous I'd recommend some kind of cloak or something to keep your features hidden. That way no one can tell what species you are, unless of course you want to become an overnight celebrity" you explained.

He was already a celebrity back home, just one that didn't show his face. He wanted to understand and learn about the land before people started asking him questions, so he'd opt for the cloak option.

"Hmm... probably I good idea. That way I can explore in peace. You're willing to keep the secret I'm human?" He asked.

"You know the saying, write your secrets in the sand, trust them with a siren. We can keep secrets till the watery grave dear. I'll be your guide, I want to see how this little adventure of yours goes. I haven't seen something this fun happen in years" you explained.

"You can go on land?"

"We can shift back and fourth. Mer people give live birth so we need legs for that, we stay on land while pregnant. Well, that's the evolutionary reason. We spend most our time in the water but we do take land trips when we need to get something or visit someone. If the waters get too cold we can go find warmer ones. Legs are useful to us, as long as we stay hydrated and swim at least once a day. But, we prefer the water"

L felt like he should be taking notes or something, all of this was so interesting. You evolved the magic to shift back and forth between legs and a tail? So that means merfolk were once water only species. How did you get around land then?

He had so many questions.

"That's interesting... you evolved the ability? So magic evolved over time the same way biology does? Amazing. Do other species do that? Wait how many other species are there?" He rambled.

Your echoey giggle made his heart skip a beat and his cheeks suddenly went red.

"Wait- I'm rambling it's just-" he stammered.

"It's ok, it's cute. Humans have always been rumoured to be cute with their curiosity and I guess the rumours are true. You're the cutest damn human I've ever seen" you complimented.

He froze up for a second, processing the compliment. He didn't get complimented much, it was new to him.

"O-oh... thanks? I guess I'm just kind of surprised all this is real. I've only ever read stories about it" he stammered.

"Tell you a secret, all your humans favourite myths and fairytales are based off humans experiences finding us. So some of your myths and fairytales are actually rooted in truth. Some have been warped and changed over the years off passing the stories down but a lot of them are rooted in truth" you admitted.

So all those fairytales he's read in that children's book have a bit of truth in them huh? Incredible, you saying that suddenly made something click in his head.

"Hang on in the 12 dancing princesses story they dance in a gateway just like the one I found... expect mines like a path rather than stepping stones..." he said.

"That's right, those gateways are how we used to study humans. We'd sneak up to your world through them and watch you. Once we were done they just lay dormant. Some got lost to time and some were torn apart for buildings. Sure enough a very very long time ago 12 princesses found one and that story is based off what they saw here" you explained.

"So all those other stories have truth in them too? Like sleeping beauty and Orpheus and Eurydice?"

"Exactly. They may not be a word for word re-telling, but they do have a root of truth"

Again, his mind was blown. That meant many humans had found this place over the years but it still managed to remain hidden as humans just thought all the stories were fiction. He was quite literally living a fairytale.

"And you know what L? Just by being down here you're writing your own fairytale. You can call it... the detective and the siren, or the woods behind the orphanage, or... L in wonderland" you teased.

He let that sink in for a moment. All the fairytales were rooted in truth, magic existed, and now he was living out a fairytale by sitting next to a siren and talking about magic.

This was by far the best mystery he'd ever stumbled across, he couldn't wait to find all the answers to this world like it was a cold case.

He didn't have much of a childhood, but at least now he could have his own fairytale like the ones in childhood bedtime stories.