This story begins a very long, long time ago. Before your great-great-great grandparents were even born, and before you and I were ever even thought about. This story begins in the island of New Zealand, but much longer before it was ever even known as that. In this tale, it was simply the Land. And in this Land two very, very different groups of people lived and prospered there. The first of these peoples where very much like you and I. They were called Lanosians, and they were very human, and lived in the very middle of the Land. They were very proud, and very prosperous in their time. The stranger of the two, the ones that were very unfamiliar to us and the Lanosians themselves, were the Palomosi.

Palomosi lived on the coasts of the land, and practically lived in it's waters. They looked human-like, but they had very unique characteristics. Their eyes tended to always be green or blue, and various shades inbetween. Their hands were webbed in between their long fingers, and small gills on their necks. Many Palomosi claimed that as soon as a child was born, they were thrown in the ocean and swam as well any adult Palomosi. The Palomosi had a spiritual connection with the waters, and couldn't bear to ever leave the coasts of the Land to move closer inland where the Lanosians lived.

Because of this, many Lanosians rarely saw Palomosi, and the few who did catch a glimpse of these strange peoples constantly told stories of them. Because the stories were oft told by word of mouth, many stories were changed drastically from their original tellings. Many Lanosians told of a people who were more monster than human. Adults whispered to each other about how the Palomosi were a crass, barbaric race who mated with fish. Parents told children stories of how the Palomosi could turn themselves into hideous sea creatures who could crawl out of wells and devour naughty children who didn't mind their parents. But one thing that the Lanosians were jealous of were the singing voices of the Palomosi. They could carry the sweetest tunes in all of the Land, and many say that the Landosians only said these foul things from the jealousy that they contained within them for the Palomosi singing voice.

But the Palomosi were indeed a magical race, more connected to the land and sea than the Lanosians ever were. That's when they knew something terrible was soon going to fall upon them. The Palomosi could often sense when a storm approached, but none before had felt so unsettled about an incoming storm than they had in those times. It was so unsettling that many indeed started running inland, trying to find shelter with the Lanosians or warning the ones that lived closer to the coasts to go inland because of something that was going to happen.

But the Lanosians ignored them, or did not allow them shelter. Many chased the Palomosi back to the coasts where they belonged. And soon, the day fell upon them, where the ground shook horribly, and a huge tidal wave much higher than anything they had seen before surged above them, and crashed onto the coasts and further in. Palomosi and many Lanosians alike were swept away in the dangerous waves of water. Many, if not all the Lanosians who were swept away in the waters died, but the Palomosi all took in their magical roots, and many turned into fish and swam away to the deepest parts of the oceans to continue there lives. But some seemed to only transform halfway, and have the tail of a fish but were still half human.

Some Palomosi, those who escaped to the inland and stayed hidden, did all they could to blend in with the Lanosians. They knew that if the Lanosians found out what they were, they would kill them or throw them out into the treacherous sea to join their (presumed dead) brothers and sisters. They would take sharp rocks and cut off the webbing from their fingers and used clays and other materials to plug up their gills. Many said that when they had children who looked too Palomosi, they'd end up doing all they could to get rid of the child, or do what they could to cover them up to make them look as Landosian as they could.

The Land was much smaller than it had been before, with the lands of the Palomosi now underwater. After many years, no one thought of the Palomosi or what happened to them, and the Lanosians moved closer to the coasts of the Land. They soon saw the benefits of the ocean, not spiritually, but for profit. They'd catch and sell fish, and anything they could find that could be worth money. They all prospered and created huge castles and villages, and the name Lanosians soon became a thing past. They were simply humans. But soon tales of what could only be Palomosi started popping up again, from the mouths of sailors who often ventured out into sea.

They told of these beautiful creatures with bright blue or green eyes, and the tails of fish who would come up above land and lure unsuspecting sailors with the sounds of their voice. The sailors who were lured were never seen again, and they could only presume that these strange people (who they called merpeople, or more often, mermaids) dragged the poor sailors underneath the water until they died. Many children believed that they were fair beautiful creatures who simply wanted to befriend the humans, but did not realize they could not breathe underwater. And even more people on the newly named New Zealand simply scoffed at the idea of merpeople existing. But there were very, very few, who said that a human who had a draw to the sea unlike any other feeling had the old Palomosi blood in their veins from the hidden Palomosi who had survived in the land.

But beneath the waters, there was an entire civilization. Huge spiraling underwater castles with the Palomosi that had been long forgotten swimming in and out of homes, bustling along their business just like the people in the land above them. This sprawling underwater city was simply known as Palmonia. They were as aware about the humans as the humans were of them. The original Palomosi who first arrived in the waters were long gone, much like the Lanosians were now a thing of the past.

Now the true story, begins in the huge castle of Palmonia. Of a particular blond merboy who many claimed had the sweetest voice of all the merpeople, but had a habit of breaking his eldest brother's very strict rules that were placed on the younger brothers. This blond merboy was currently sneaking out of the castle into the open sea where merpeople rarely ventured. His older brother had recently told him that he was no longer allowed to go out of the city, because of the dangers that there were.

But Anders, the sly merboy that he was, completely ignored his brothers wishes for no other reason than wanting to defy him. He found excitement in never listening to Mike, who was often to busy with ruling the kingdom to actually punish Anders properly for breaking the rules. He smirked as he reached the very edge of Palmonia, where the beautiful lights ended and dark blue abyss set in. He knew exactly where he was going, and he swam on.