Third person pov

The moment Shota was gone and off to work, Atlantis found himself scrambling out of the water and slipping the necklace over his head. There was no hesitance this time. Last night, he'd talked to Aizawa a lot. Atlantis had found himself asking whether or not Shota would want him if he had legs and could walk around like him. It was a small fear he had, but it had been quickly put to rest. Shota had snorted at him like it was a dumb query to make, telling him there's no one else in the world he'd ever want. He talked about all the things they'd do, and all the places they'd go. It made Atlantis feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. He had no idea what a cat was, but he also wanted to get one with Shota from 'The Shelter'.

Shota always kept a spare bag of clothing tucked away nearby. Atlantis found himself fumbling his way over to it, almost falling over several times along the way. His legs shook precariously as he dropped to his... knees? Yes, as he dropped to his knees in front of the bag. If he was going to be walking around the beach, it was probably best to do it with clothes on. Shota always wore clothes, only shedding his shirt when he wanted to hop into the water. Other than that, he always had some sort of bottoms on. The few others humans he'd seen from a distance had also been clothed. It made sense that he would be too.

He managed to wrangle one of Shota's jackets on. He'd been fascinated by the zipper when Shota first showed it to him, but now he was just frustrated. How did you get one side to connect to the other? Shota had always made it look so easy, but fumbling with it now, he had no idea where to start. He was pretty sure it started at the bottom, then slid up. How complicated. Maybe he could simply leave it unzipped, for the time being? Bottoms seemed to be what mattered most here.

He found a pair of black swim trunks buried inside the bag. His life flashed before his very eyes when he tried to put one leg in the hole, and he found himself tipping backwards and right into the sand. His eyes must've been as wide a sand dollars as he laid there, just breathing and staring up at the sky. It was a painfully nice day. The perfect day to learn how to walk. If only he could get his legs into these foolish openings. Shota's waist was wider than his: far more bulky and muscled. He'd have to pull the odd string things to make it tighter.

Having legs was weird. He could feel that they were a natural extension of himself despite never having them before. His mind and the rest of his body was accepting of them. They just... didn't know how to operate the things. They were lighter than the tail that was usually there. He could move them, but the pair wanted to move as one, like his tail did. Legs were supposed to operate separately. Like arms, but... not. He didn't really know. All he knew was that he was struggling. Struggling, but... excited. 

It was easier to get the bottoms on while he wasn't standing. Atlantis brushed as much sand as he could off his body, nose crinkling. He supposed he could wash it off in the water, but it didn't matter to him much. He literally slept in a pit of the stuff. On the surface, it didn't feel as soft. The individual grains were rough, and were getting into places Atlantis didn't even know existed. Oh well. If Shota dealt with it, Atlantis could too! 

He managed to tighten the two strings and tie them, securing the swim trunks and leaving him awkwardly standing there and wondering where to start. He'd always been somewhat awed with Shota's legs, so it's not like he'd never seen the way they moved before. The sea seemed to snicker at him as he tried to balance there in place, feet planted hard in the sand and arms outstretched. It was amused. He could not blame it. 

If he was on land, did that mean other mermen and women were as well? The thought made his heart soar. Maybe they weren't extinct at all! They could easily hide out amongst humanity, with their supernatural abilities passing as these 'quirks' most humans were said to have. Even now in his human form, Atlantis could still feel his magic teeming beneath his skin just as it always had. That was not gone. But it wasn't a quirk either. Shota would've been able to erase it otherwise. 

When Shota walked, it was one foot in front of the other. That's how it generally seemed for creatures with legs. He decided that's what he'd try. It's not that his legs felt weak or anything, or even brittle. In fact, his legs felt rather strong. Like they could push him into what Shota called running with ease, and he could simply take off across the sand. His mind didn't agree. It had no idea what to do with these two, new mystery limbs. Whenever he tried to move one, the other wanted to move with it. As though they were still conjoined into one and covered in scales.

The sun was hotter when you were up and moving out of the water, but Atlantis didn't much mind. He continued to work at it. It wasn't all that hard once you got the hang of it! Like jumping out of the water. At first it felt hard to get enough power to break the surface with that much force, but once you did it once, it became so much simpler. This was like that. Only... god, he had legs. These were legs. Legs that he had on his body. They were attached to his torso. Legs. He had... oh my god, legs!

Atlantis let out a little squeal. The oceans waves were a lot happier today, the tide reaching further as it tried to curl around his feet. His feet! The crystal sitting against his chest happily hummed, satisfied with his joy over this whole situation. Atlantis knew it was too early in the day for Shota to come by, but he still couldn't wait. He was going to freak when he saw! But in a good way. Hopefully.

Atlantis continued in his walking, striding up and down the beach. At first his steps were small and stilted, his arms out to act as a balancer. He graduated from that to bigger steps, though he fell over a few times while doing those. The sand was soft, and the water would often times race out to meet him and break his fall. It would push him back up and wait until he was steady before receding, like it had a mind of its own. Atlantis was glad the sea wasn't mad at him for wanting to be on land. He was glad it wasn't rejecting his wishes, or forcing him to stay.

Stretching out his new limbs and feeling the joints pop, Atlantis suddenly felt a sharp pain lance through his chest. It caused him to suck in a sharp breath of air, and his entire body tensed as he stumbled back and fell on his behind. The pain faded into a faint, urgent burn that had him gripping at his chest desperately. His eyes began to sting as they illuminated, tainting his world blue. Something was wrong. It hurt, and-

Shota.

The pearl.

Something was happening to Shota. He didn't understand how. H-He was at school, right? Teaching? He had said they had a training exercise today, off campus. That meant they were away from the main structure in which their classes took place, and were instead practicing their skills elsewhere. Had there been an accident? An attack? Panic seized him. This pain was not the normal type that would come with some simple emotional distress. This was not a mild injury. Shota was... it felt like he was dying. The pearl was screaming for help. It was alerting him, just like it was supposed to. He could feel it pulling at him, urging him forward. Before he even knew what was happening, warm, soothing salt water was lifting him to his feet and nudging him forward. The sea could feel it too. The danger. The fear. The hurt. 

Atlantis had never run before, but he was now. His heart was pounding wildly in his ears, and the bottoms of his feet stung as they slapped against the burning sand. He slid and wobbled his way up the incline that would take him to the street. The pearl was pulling at him harder. Atlantis felt like if he stopped or even slowed down, the pearl would try to drag him. It was urgent. The pain was immense, and Shota was dying. He was dying, and afraid, and angry. He could feel it all in his core. The necklace that gave him legs was angrily chiming, pushing him forward.

The street he stumbled into looked like the ones from the photos Shota had shown him in the past. He knew from Shota to stay out of the middle and to remain off to the side. There were these things called cars that could easily run you down if you lingered in the 'driving lanes' too long. They were metal boxes on wheels that were powered by gasoline. Sort of like boats, but these ones were for land, and rolled instead of sailed. He didn't have time to gawk over the vast difference he was already seeing. He could only run.

The pain got worse, and his vision tunneled. Something horrifyingly loud blared at him, like the horn of a ship at sea, only this one was painfully close. He jumped so hard he almost fell over, but the the pearl wept at him from a distance. He was far. He couldn't run as fast as he could swim, but he didn't have a choice. Dizzily, he continued on his way. His shoulder bumped against someone else's. It was jostling. Scary. There were other humans here.

He'd seen pictures of other humans. Like under the ocean, the land was diverse. Faces of every shape, size, shade, and composition watched him go with evident concern as he gasped his way down the sidewalk. He knew he had to be crying. Someone tried to ask if he was okay, but he panicked and started to run again, feeling dizzy and disoriented. The pearl had gone eerily quiet. The burn in his chest had receded, but not in a good way. He was losing. He was dying. The pearl was upset. Overhead, thunder boomed and caused most people to run for shelter as an abrupt rain began to fall. Despite being further from the ocean now, he knew it was teeming with rage and fear.        

The streets cleared. The rain felt like a blessing, washing over him and helping him to wake up. His feet hurt, but he didn't much care. He couldn't slow down. He followed after the pearl. He wasn't too far away now, rapidly gaining as he rushed down the downhill sidewalk. His body practically flew as his new legs worked harder than they should've had to this early on, taking him towards Shota. He couldn't lose him. He couldn't. He had legs now, and they were in love, and he didn't-

The pearl let out a shriek of relief and of pain, shouting for him from a distance. Shota was alive. Atlantis wanted to feel relieved, but couldn't. He was alone here, in the middle of a street, running aimlessly in the direction of Shota. He had no idea how this world worked. There were strangers left and right, watching him rush by with raised eyebrows and frowns. They scared him. This whole place, without Shota, scared him. What was the point of having legs if he wasn't around? 

The pearl was sobbing, and Atlantis felt like doing the same as he exited the street and found himself rushed through an area full of grass and trees unlike any he'd ever seen before. They weren't like the palms usually seen by the ocean. More thunder rumbled, and the pearl called to him, begging him to hurry. There wasn't much time. He had to come, and he had to come now. His legs were shaking, feeling as though they'd turned to jello. He felt dizzy. He shook his head, blinking rapidly. He had to breathe. He was panicking.

"Shota needs you." He whispered to himself. In, and out. In, and out. He moved a leg forward. "Don't let him down. Don't let him die."

His heart managed to steady its erratic beating. It was still racing, but it was no longer skipping frantically all over the place like a startled crab. Atlantis tilted his head upwards for a moment, letting the rain pour down over him. The lightning flashing above was a friend, and the thunder was an ally. The water pouring down sought to aid him. He wobbled in place, his balance off, and then took off once again. The pearl and the crystal around his neck cheered. Distantly, he thought he heard the Sea cry out to him encouragingly. He didn't have time to listen. All he could do was brace himself and run forward.