The white sands of the beach made for a picturesque scene as the sea's shallow ripples danced about the man's feet.
He was an odd man. His eyes shone like ocean pearls, luminescent and kaleidoscopic. His nose as tall as a tidal wave. His lips cupid-bowed and pleasantly pink. He was more a sculpture than a man.
As the sun's harsh glare beat down on him, the man's delicate eyelashes fluttered open, revealing his gentle gaze. Dazed and bedraggled, the man blinked as he sat up, barebodied and disillusioned.
Slowly, as the man took hold of his surroundings, he finally caught sight of something strange. His feet. The man had feet.
Frightened, the man ran for the sea. Only to bounce back, trapped in the earthly prison that was the human realm.
Breathing heavily, the man recounted a tale his late mother had whispered to him as a goodnight story:
Once upon a time, there was a boy without a tail. He had been born with feet. They were flat but sturdy, able to spear through the sea whilst still able to allow one to stand.
That boy had ventured to a foreign realm known as land. On land, there were thousands of boys like him. All of which went about their lives on feet, using them to walk, swim, and even command magical devices.
The boy, enchanted by land, and enamoured by ideation, became the first merman. After many years spent on land, the boy finally returned to the sea, where he built a kingdom inspired by that above. He was their king, Haiyang.
As the man looked at his new found appendages, he slowly felt a smile stretch across his rosy cheeks. Eyes twinkling, he let out a joyous laugh.
"It seems like I'll be following in your footsteps after all, Father. I wonder, what adventures await me next?"
Grinning, the boy stood up, and with unsteady footsteps made his way towards the heart of land, the city.