Ramón Salazar is a 16-year-old boy who lives in the town of La Paz in Baja California along the coast of the Vermilion Sea. He directly addresses the reader and states that he is the only living person who has seen the Manta Diablo—a monstrous ray his mother used to threaten him with if he was naughty. The Manta Diablo is a well-known myth in the area; old men tell stories about having seen it, and Ramón’s grandfather, who was the most educated person in their town, claimed that he had seen the Manta Diablo numerous times. Father Linares is the priest who exorcized the Manta Diablo from the earth and into the sea over a hundred years ago. At the time, the Manta Diablo withered crops and sickened the air; when it went into the water, it became beautiful but no less evil. Ramón’s experience with Manta Diablo begins with the history of the “Pearl of Heaven,” which he now enters into.Ramón Salazar is a 16-year-old boy who lives in the town of La Paz in Baja California along the coast of the Vermilion Sea. He directly addresses the reader and states that he is the only living person who has seen the Manta Diablo—a monstrous ray his mother used to threaten him with if he was naughty.