"The sea of stars."
The oldest merfolk say the sea was once the sky. Before the first dawn, there was no horizon to divide heaven from the deep. Above and below were one endless sea of light, where fireflies drifted between constellations and the first odes of creation sang through the silence, but when morning came for the first time, the heavens rose, holding the sun and moon into the heights, and the world was forever parted into sky and sea. Yet the stars could not bear such a farewell, so they left behind their reflections beneath the waves.Ever since, every star has had two homes: one above the world and one below it, where they shimmer in the dark waters of the Sea of Stars. Sailors believe they are only reflections, but merfolk know they are memories of an older world, still calling to those willing to listen. It is said that, on the rarest of nights, a child is born between those reflections, bearing both the longing of the heavens and the sorrow of the sea. Such souls belong to neither world. The sea claims they dream too much of the sky, the sky says their hearts beat with the tides, and so they spend their lives searching for a place that feels like home, never knowing whether they are chasing a distant shore...or a forgotten star.…
