A/N: Welcome back, my lovely little readers! This is my second ToS multi-chap, and third ToS fic overall. I will start working on LaL when I can, but it's still awkward at the minute.

Anyway, this is a mermaid based fic - basically, all the angels are replaced with mermaids. Simple!

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia. It is the property of Namco Bandai.

The lands of Symphonia and Tethe'alla had always remained separated. It was rare for there to be interaction between the two, though there were reports of citizens of Tethe'alla being kidnapped or Sylvarant people being attacked. The two lands were constantly at war with each other, and it seemed a time of peace would never happen.

Tethe'alla was the land beneath the waves - a kingdom of beauty and peace. Each of it's citizens possessed a tail rather than legs, and were mostly shunned by the humans and elves.

In a town built by the sea, this was all mostly unknown to a young boy named Lloyd Irving. He'd been found abandoned near the water by his dwarven step-father Dirk, and had been raised by him ever since. He'd learned the dwarven language, craft and culture, before being exposed to the human side when he started attending school in Iselia.

A lot of the other children didn't like him, and called him an outsider. For many years, he didn't really have any friends, and spent most of his time learning to forge or practicing with the wooden blades his father had made for him. That changed, however, when a pair of elven siblings arrived in Iselia.

Genis and Raine had quickly settled in, Raine becoming the teacher at his school and splitting the amount of students one teacher needed to teach. When Genis was bullied both for being an elf and for being the teacher's brother, Lloyd was quick to step in and stop the fighting, generally taking the punches for him.

In return, Lloyd's fascination with elves was curbed by Raine and Genis. He would go home to Dirk, babbling about the various things elves did. Dirk listened with a patient ear, providing Lloyd with questions occassionally, and secretly felt proud of the boy for learning about three different races.

As with most villages next to the shore, Iselia's main income was fish and other sea creatures. It also meant that generally the kids would learn how to swim.

Raine wasn't their swimming teacher. Actually, she generally sat on the edge of the sandy beach, reading or watching her brother as he paddled about in the water with the other kids. It was the only time when menacing thoughts were pushed to the back.

Most of the time, Lloyd would skip the lessons. Today was an exception, however, as he came and joined Raine at the edge of the sand, still fully dressed.

"Aren't you going in the water?" Raine asked, surprised. She didn't know the boy too well yet, but from his attitude she thought he would love to play in the water.

"...I don't really like the ocean," Lloyd replied.

"Oh? I'm a bit surprised...but I understand how you feel. I've never really liked water," Raine agreed.

Lloyd nodded, gazing out over the sea, then looked up at Raine. "Professor...do you know anything about mermaids?"

Raine looked confused. "Why would you want to know about that? It's taboo, even in our culture..."

"I'm just curious. Dad doesn't know anything about them, and I know loads about dwarves and elves and humans, but nothing about mermaids. I figured you'd know, seeing as you're the professor."

Raine smiled. "I do know a little, but only what I've heard from rumours." Lloyd perked up, and she gazed out to the sea again. "Their cities are built with the coral in the ocean, and they manipulate it to make their homes. Their cities are apparently amazingly crafted, maybe even matched with what the dwarves can make. They can breath and speak underwater, and are fluent in our language as well as their own. They can also...communicate, in a sense, with the animals under the sea."

"Do they have a leader? Like, a church and stuff?"

"No, I don't think so. They have a ruler, or so I've heard, but they don't have a faith like we do."

"Do they have pets?"

"Hmm...I couldn't say for certain...but based upon our own culture, I would imagine they may be able to tame certain species to be domestic."

"I bet it'd be cool living underwater..."

Raine glanced at him sharply. "Do not think like that. We must live on the land, like our Goddess told us to. If we aren't careful, we may be drawn to the water and never leave it. Even if they are interesting, the mermaids are dangerous, and will drown you cruelly without a second thought."

Lloyd nodded slowly, lowering his gaze. "I guess...Well, anyway, I'm going to head home. Thanks for the lesson, Professor!"

Raine watched him run back up the road to his home, and sighed. He was so curious...She had probably told him more than she should, but when she got started, it was hard to stop.

Well, it wasn't like anything would come of it. Lloyd was just a human with an odd background.

He'd been pretty young when he realised.

Dirk had wanted to teach him to swim from a young age, so he'd taken him down to the beach, shown him a basic doggy paddle, then waited for Lloyd to try. For a while, Lloyd just sat staring at the edge of the water, gazing at the ripples on the sand and how the sun shone off it.

Eventually, Dirk had gotten tired of waiting and headed back to his house to do some more forging, giving clear instructions for Llody to not swim by himself - though paddling was allowed. Lloyd was happy enough with this, and spent a little while longer just watching the waves.

Finally, he stood and went to the edge, waiting for the wave to come rushing in and trickle over his feet. As it came in, he giggled; the sand tickled between his toes, and the sensation was quite nice overall. Then his legs felt tingly, and he blinked before losing his balance and toppling backwards onto the sand.

He started crying, rubbing at his head. Dirk soon heard his cries and came down to check he was alright, before stopping to stare.

Lloyd had a tail.

It was rather beautiful, in a way; an aquamarine blue that glittered like the sea itself. It joined at his hips and faded to his normal skin seamlessly. As Lloyd lowered his hands from his head, Dirk also saw the sets of gills on his neck.

Finally it sunk in that Lloyd...Lloyd was a mermaid.

How, Dirk wasn't sure. He hadn't heard of mermaids able to grow legs and walk on the land like humans, dwarves and elves could. The only answer he could think of was that Lloyd was half-mermaid, half-human.

He also knew that this could never be found out.

He quickly hushed the boy, checking he wasn't injured before explaining simply that Lloyd couldn't show or tell anyone about his tail, nor could he go in water when others were around. Lloyd quickly understood this, and Dirk grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around the tail before carrying Lloyd back to his house.

The tail disappeared pretty quickly once it was out of the water, and Lloyd was soon happily running around like normal. Dirk acted natural, but inside he was hesitant; if the villagers found out about this, coupled with the fact he was raised by a dwarf, Lloyd would likely be kicked out of the village if not killed.

He had to keep this a secret at all costs.

A/N: Just a setting chapter, really. The fun starts next chapter!

Review?