Long ago, the world was a different place. There were three known planes.
The Domain of the Gods: The Kwamis
The Domain of the Sea: which was ruled by Merkind
And finally, the Domain of the Land: which was ruled by the humans.
They did not live in perfect harmony but they tolerated each other for the most part. The domains tended to keep to themselves. This was until the humans and merkind got into more and more confrontations. It started with merkind getting upset at the humans, not only polluting their home, but using the ocean for so much travel. With all their seafaring ways, it was starting to become dangerous for merkind to travel safely.
Slowly but surely, the two domains became more violent toward each other.
It started with merkind using their voices to drag people under and drown them. Then the humans started fighting back with their superior weapons and slaughtered merkind in large numbers. Those who were not killed were kidnapped and never seen again.
Eventually the Kwamis could not take the violence, and put an end to it by helping hand selected chosen from the two domains. They lent their strength to special chosen. These chosen were beings that were natural balances of each other and tended to be the best possible partners. The Kwamis themselves tended to work in pairs, and also tended to choose a merperson and a human.
Eventually, a truce was made and things went somewhat back to normal, but the relationship between the domains was strained.
After centuries, things started to get hazy. The domains of the Gods and Sea began to retreat among themselves and the humans started to forget their existence. Written word began to flourish and oral tradition began to die out. Few humans decided that silly orally told stories were not worth precious ink and paper, and began to be forgotten. Humans started to value things they could see and silly mythical stories were just that, stories.
Ladybug, Black Cat, Moth, Fox, Bee, Peacock, Turtle.
Those were the animals that the Gods would take to visit Earth, at least that is what the legends said. Ever since mankind was recording history, they recorded a tale of these tiny but powerful Gods. These powerful Gods can bond with humans and grant them vast amounts of power. All one had to do is activate their item, and they will have to help. Over time, most of the information was lost as mankind evolved and began to disbelieve the tales.
However someone desperate for power found something they shouldn't have, and now fully believes the myth. Someone who is now driven to find the most powerful of the Gods. Why settle for controlling one little God, when you can control more?
The ones that embody Creation and Destruction: The Lucky Ladybug and the Unlucky Black Cat.
There is a beautiful kingdom under the sea. It seemed to sparkle to its citizens and was full of pearls and gold. It was also protected by a magical barrier that kept humans from discovering the main part of the kingdom, where all the merpeople live.
There is a reason this spell was in place: for centuries, merkind has hidden in their kingdom from humans. For many generations, there have been laws that prohibit merkind to stay far away from the humans. The humans are evil, barbaric things who did terrible things to their kind.
In the beginning, merkind used to make themselves known to humans. However, after a century something started changing and the humans became more and more violent and barbaric. It was eventually decided that, to save their dying race, they should hide in their kingdom and not look for humans.
Rules were put in place for the safety of everyone. There are three main rules that everyone in the kingdom MUST follow:
1) Never be seen by humans
2) Stay away from nets
3) Never talk to humans
If a mermaid or merman gets caught breaking these rules it could end badly. From banishment to death, the consequences can be severe. The king claims it is for the good of the kingdom and most would agree.
Humankind is slowly evolving. They are moving away from the sea and starting to make bigger villages and cities. They have long since stopped believing in the Gods and in other mythical creatures. Things like mermaids and fairies only belonged in stories and were heard from the occasional drunk sailor.
They become more obsessed with sciences and the art of warfare. Their weapons and methods of hunting became more violent and efficient. Those from the domain of the sea became terrified and began spreading more and more distrust of humans, wanting all to stay away from the two legged demons of the land.
Author's Note:
I had my Beta Reader tweak this a bit. It should be a bit better now.
Also if you leave a review, it will be answered in the author's notes of the next chapter~