The Merman's Lament - Wangxian

~01~

A long time ago, within the deep teal sea, stood a magnificent underwater kingdom where all sea creatures lived in harmony, among them the merfolk.
The ruler was Lan Qiren, the new king after the death of his older brother and former ruler Qingheng Jun. He was the oldest and wisest merman back then and was known for being strict and serious. His nephews, the two merman princes, were Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji.

Lan Xichen was the oldest of the two, a calm and gentle merman who was admired for his ability to play several musical instruments. Wherever he went, he always made everyone's hearts become warm.
Lan Wangji, the youngest, was quiet, calm and curious. He was known for his otherworldly features, and especially, his beautiful voice. Said voice had the ability to shake one's entire being and reach the deepest corners of their soul. Everytime he sang, a huge crowd would form around him, and even the sea wizard, Wen Ruohan, would come out of his lair to listen to him.

Lan Qiren was very proud of his nephews, but there was something that always concerned him: Lan Wangji's fascination for the human world.
He would often swim towards shipwrecks, trying to find objects to add to his collection. His garden was filled with them, and every time Lan Qiren would see them, he would feel as if his few remaining years would suddenly evaporate.

"Wangji, the human world is a very dangerous place," he would tell him over and over. "Humans are awful creatures. They kill fish to eat them and hunt merfolk to keep them as trophies. You must forget about the world above and their people."

However, Lan Wangji would never understand. Despite being warned over and over of the dangers, as the years passed, his fascination would do nothing but grow.
How could they be just as bad as his uncle said they were?
How could such a wonderful world be so bad?
He wished he could see it with his very own eyes even if it was forbidden. He would spend hours daydreaming in his garden, surrounded by his collection. However, his uncle would always scold him for it and tell him to go back to his studies.
Even so, he wanted to learn more about the human world, to know everything about the humans, the landscapes... There was nothing the sea could offer that he found interesting. He already knew everything he needed to know about it and it was boring.

It was then that he befriended Nie Huaisang, another merman around his age and yet another reason for his uncle to be disappointed in him.
He was known for being mischievous, never really following his older brother Nie Mingjue's orders at all. He was also a bad student, basically everything Lan Qiren despised and didn't want his precious nephews to ever become.

Still, Lan Wangji never stopped being friends with him, and Nie Huaisang, who had traveled to the surface on several occasions, would try to answer every question he had about the world of his dreams. They would swim towards their secret hideout and the other merman would start telling him about everything he had seen.

"The first time I went to the surface was when my brother was asleep," he explained, having the other's light colored eyes on him. "I swam till I managed to find a ship sailing. The humans in it were drinking and eating while some others played music. It looked no different than when we celebrate parties down here."

"What was the sky like? We can never see it very well from here."

"It was all dark, but it had some bright lights shining on it, tons of them! And there was also a huge round bright thing too!"

"Do you know what they are called?"

Nie Huaisang thought about it carefully and then searched in the collection of human objects he had inside the cave they would hang out at. He got his hands on a book and opened it, trying to find what they were looking for.

"I remember seeing something about it in this book. Let's see if I can find it."

Flipping the pages, he stopped almost at the end of the book and began reading what was written on it before answering the other boy's question.

"Here it is!" he exclaimed. "The bright spots are stars, and the round one is the moon!"

Lan Wangji was left in awe and quickly approached him to take a look at the book. He saw there was an illustration of both things, so now he knew what they were like as well.

"And what does the sky look like when it's not dark?"

Nie Huaisang once again flipped through the pages until he found again about what they were looking for. He handed the book to Lan Wangji and pointed to the illustration of the clear blue sky.

"The sky is usually like this. This other round thing that looks like the moon is the sun!"

Once again, Lan Wangji was in awe. He found it beautiful, and he couldn't help but look forward to seeing it with his own eyes. Either of them was fine for him, whether it was at night or during the day.

"If you want the book, I can lend it to you, but make sure the old hag doesn't find out! He will surely break it if he finds it!"

Lan Wangji nodded enthusiastically and the shorter haired merman gave him the book. Lan Wangji's eyes immediately lit up and he hugged the book as if it was his most prized possession.

"Thank you, Huaisang!"

That same day, Lan Wangji hid it under the seaweed sheets of his shell bed, where he thought his uncle wouldn't really look. While Lan Xichen knew about it, just like everything else he did, he never told his uncle a thing, wanting to see his younger brother being happy.

Lan Xichen had his back and Nie Huaisang was providing him with everything he wanted, so his obsession would grow more quickly than before.