Deep, deep under the waters of the world, farther than man can reach; there exists a magical kingdom far beyond the realm of human comprehension. For it is not only the fish and dolphins that dwell there, but all creatures of the water who in that great city are equals, and who’s greatest pleasure is to be carried by the current.

Down in the deepest part of the deepest ocean where even the sun’s olden light can not penetrate, lies the capital of this world of water from which humans are estranged. In this city where glowing fish provide the only light, the great rows of buildings are crafted from the finest coral sand and shells from the seabed. It is as if these structures have a life of their own as they filter nutrients out the water, the coral growing with the city, it’s coral colourful and vibrant under the light, the waters warm from the natural hot springs on the outskirts of the city.

Though the buildings are beautiful in their ornate splendour, that is not the real treasure of the city. No, the real gem of the under-water kingdom are it’s governing residents, the merpeople, creatures that are half human and half fish, who’s singing near the surface is so enchanting it has led many a sailor to his doom.

It is said that no one who encounters a merperson’s song returns to the shore breathing. Yet, despite this very few humans, with the exception of sailors, regard merpeople as real. Most think them a myth and story told by drunken sailors to enchant the ladies.

This doesn’t at all offend the merpeople at all. In fact they prefer to be considered myths and are banned from ever surfacing for man would surely ensnare them as he does fish. Instead they govern the sea from under the waters, their mysterious songs reaching up through the waves to the ears of men on ships in passing.

Now, the ruler of the merpeople is a great and fair king whose long hair and beard are grey with age and display his great many years as ruler, for merpeople live far longer than humans, spanning centuries with one life. However, this wise king was far from alone in the palace in the center of the city whose walls sported the most brilliant coral and pearls that the sea had to offer, it’s windows made of rough glass forged at the bottom of the sea in the underwater volcanoes. No, this king had five daughters and a son bestowed upon him by his wife before her death. She had passed away before any of the children had reached sixteen, the victim of a rogue shark with a grudge against the king.

The five girls were the beauties of the land, with long locks of gold and silver, whose voices were so unearthly that they could’ve charmed the angels far above the world of men, fall in love with the owners of those voices.

These five sisters would hold concerts for all the creatures of the sea, wearing necklaces of the finest pearls and with the vibrant flowers of the sea woven into their long hair, which drifted lazily with the current across their bosoms and framed their faces. There was always at least one sister singing and enrapturing melody somewhere in the palace, captivating the large audiences that their voices drew, for the world of water was one of peace and happiness where sorrow was non-existent.

However, there was one exception to the constant joy, which prevailed among the merpeople. The youngest child of the mer-king, the son for whom the queen had died bringing into the world right after the attack from the shark, was overcome with emotions foreign to the world in which he lived. This boy, who had recently become a teen, would have none on the happiness his sisters were so contented themselves with. No, even despite the efforts of many he preferred to brood in the deepest waters where no light giving fish dared accompany him. He would lay in a bed of anemones and think about life, both his and in general.

The prince always carried with him a great guilt as he concluded that it was his fault that his mother had died. Had he not been created she would still be reigning along side his father; caring for his five sisters. As well he was ashamed of his appearance, for he was so drastically different from all other merpeople and it was no secret. And though everyone was pleasant and courteous in his presence he knew that they were not comfortable being around him.

Unlike other mermen his fish tail was a long and delicate thing with shining purple scales and deep purple fins. Crimson hair accentuated by blonde bangs filed to fall around his shoulders, instead preferring to flow back from his head as if it were the crown that would never be his, for he was the youngest. His eyes too were an abnormal color, not the deep blue, green or brown of others, but a deep ruby surrounded by thick black eyelashes.

All other merpeople had tails of blue and green, hair of gold and silver and grey with the elders. Why did he have to be so different? He would lament as the current brought food to the plants on which he lay so silently.

And though he had the most beautiful voice out of anyone in the kingdom, eclipsing all his sisters, he refused to sing, retiring to his room instead to write poetry with the ink of a squid upon the hide of a dolphin long dead. The poems he wrote were sad yet enchanting, as he would recite them on occasion to a few passers-by. Yet on a whole he preferred to be alone.

The only animals brave enough to disturb him were the seahorses. Those small curiosities would swim in through the gaps in the coral and regale the teen with their stores, for seahorses were the storytellers of the sea. They told the young prince of how a wise seahorse who lived a good and peaceful life may grow into a great and mighty dragon that could soar through the air above and perch on land, doing whatever they wished. Of humans too they told him, for many a seahorse had been taken as a pet by the ones who could not breathe in the water. However, a seahorse is as crafty as it is creative and could convince its owner wordlessly to set it free.

As those small creatures swam around him, content to lay in the prince’s hair, they would speak of the places of land, and of the sun and the sky as well as day and night. They told him of many other things with which the prince became fascinated, longing more and more with each day; each story that he could see those things for himself; with his own eyes.

He would listen to them for hours, sharing his supper with them when it was delivered to his door and letting them guide him to the wrecked ships of the humans. They would tell him of how magnificent the vessels were that skimmed the surface of the water, propelled by an invisible current caught in giant gills. They told the prince too that one day, when he reached the age of sixteen they would take him to the surface, despite the laws, for one hour if he swore not to tell a soul. For this rule was the most important and sacred of all rules.

Of course to their terms he agreed, knowing the risks his companions were taking even making the offer to begin with. The seahorses though thought that it was worth the risk as they saw how happy the prince became when they visited. And they knew too that his fantastical poetry was so akin to the human sentiment it would’ve been a tragedy to deprive such a kind soul who fed them from his own plate from at least getting a glimpse of the beings who were so like him.

Yet there was one other tale which the prince adored. That was the story of a majestic silver dragon with deep blue eyes that had been born no more than a mighty seahorse. This seahorse had fought off a pack of sharks that had threatened to devour a group of human sailors that clung for dear life to a wooden plank after their ship had been wrecked during a fierce storm.

You see this seahorse admired humans, their beauty and strength; loved these creatures that could both love and fight. He wished to be able to fight as well, to protect the other seahorses that were easy prey for the very same sharks. So when those sharks that could easily devour him in one bite threatened to eat the humans, who were helpless in the water, he used his love as his weapon for that was all that he had.

When the sharks came close he told them that he loved all of them, as much of a foolish act that anyone else would’ve thought it was. The sharks were so stunned by this, as they were creatures only able to fight that they left the seahorse and the men alone.

A great and powerful whale that was passing by at the time witnessed this event. So impressed was she with the little seahorse that she used the great power of the sea that ran through her to make the seahorse into a creature that was half man and half fish. She told the newly created creature, whom she called a merman, that now he could fight as well as love and he was given a voice with which he could make the humans happy.

So thrilled by this was the seahorse that he swam the short distance to the surface immediately and began to sing to the men who were unconscious and he began to pull the plank that they clung to, heading for shore.

The merman had continued to sing as he brought the men onto the beach near where the boat had been destined before it’s sinking. The wives of these men who lived in small cottages by the shoreline saw the merman and rushed out of their homes to greet such a spectacle, tear in their eyes at the sight of loved ones they thought dead. So thankful were they to the merman for bringing their husbands back they called to their daughters who brought wreaths of blue flowers which bloomed so profusely in that area and laid them in wreaths around his neck.

Having no other way to thank the girls for their kind gesture, which moved his heart, he once again sang. A beautiful melody ushered from his lips that captured each of the girls’ hearts to the point where they never wanted to leave his side. Yet the two did part ways as the day drew to a close. But before the merman left the shallow waters of the beach for the sea he promised to visit the girls often, a promise which he would keep.

Now, the sad thing was that the merman had been granted a long life by the whale for his brave deed and thus he failed to age as his human friends grew old day by day. And one by one the girls, who were now old ladies, took sick.

One day when he came to visit only one of the three girls who he had known for so long was waiting for him. She sat on the beach as she had done for years, her grey hair braided and a weary look on her face. She told the merman that the two other girls were dying, forced to stay in bed as they grew more and more frail, she told the merman that she too was dying and would soon no longer be able to make the trek down to the beach to see him.

The merman was saddened so greatly by this that he offered to give his own life so that his three friends may live. He knew that the scales upon his fish tail held magical properties and could produce an elixir that would be able to make the three women mermaids in his place, the three regressing back to their prime state which they had been when the four had first met.

Though saddened by the thought of losing the merman she accepted his offer and agreed to chop off his tail as he slept on the beach with the promise that she would always be kind and always sing her thanks to others.

That same night the merman beached himself and fell asleep on the wet sand just as he had promised. When the three old women staggered back down to the beach with much help from the other villagers they wasted no time in severing his tail and brewing the scales into a potent potion just as he had suggested, all the while crying for their friend.

After the three had swallowed the elixir they too became mermaids as promised. Their grey hair turned to gold and silver and they were beautiful in youth once more. They sang their thanks with perfect voices to the merman who could no longer hear them before the tried to head for the sea. Yet the greed of the other villagers overcame them at the thought of being forever beautiful and they too wanted to drink the elixir made from the scales. The three mermaids barely escaped from those who had formerly called them loved ones. They vowed that they would never again make contact with the world of the surface, having lived there all their lives. Instead they would help every creature in the sea as best they could in order to show their thanks to their beloved merman.

The merman however, had secretly lay awake through all this, the pain of death not deterring him from seeing his friends healthy once more. Yet the happiness he felt suddenly gave way to a great sorrow when he saw the humans’ jealousy and greed, and their willingness to kill their fellow man.

His sorrow was so great as he died on the sand that the same great whale that had granted him his body many years ago felt it as well. Once again she was swayed by the merman’s selfless act that she granted him an eternal soul with which he could attempt to teach humans the love that he felt so strongly, the love that he had died for.

As well the whale made many mer-companions for the three ladies and promised the soul of the merman as he rose from his dying body, that he would be re-born every 300 years as a merman and once every 1500 as a human. However between that time he would be a great silver dragon that could neither touch land, nor sea, only allowed to watch from high in the sky. The merman gladly agreed to this, thinking that being divorced from the earth was simply another sacrifice for a greater good.

And indeed the merman was reborn just as the whale said, and with no memory of his lives before, yet he did keep the great power of the dragon, which he periodically became and had come to love as his soul travelled down through the centuries.

The young prince wrote many a poem about the merman of legend and the mighty dragon he was said to become, all of which the seahorses loved dearly, the fairy tale also close to their hearts.