Noelani was always wary of potions since her family was not familiar with such things and her grandparents especially cautioned her against the strange bubbling brews that others could sometimes come and offer in the little village near where she grew up. Once a pair of boys had bought some potions from a wandering merchant and gossip spread through town that they had grown purple thorns from their skin and had to go to a healer in the city to help cure them of the potions’ effect! Another time someone had thought about a love potion which ended up in a spat and managed to actually ruin a friendship…the stories of potions gone wrong were numerous so it was no surprise that had always avoided such things. That was until now.

Now Noelani was staring at a shelf full of strange bottles with different colored liquids shimmering inside. She knew what she wanted, had heard stories from others but never had dared try it before. Her family was full of experienced divers who did not need magic or potions to help them explore the ocean floor for rare pearls that they sold in Oban markets, but they had never needed to be underwater for as long as Noelani wanted to be at the current moment. Nanami had mentioned a special grove that was deep underwater and while Noelani had proven that she could swim for great lengths, there was no matching how much more the locals of Kahi could do when it came to exploring the ocean depths. So Noelani was now looking through the shelves for a potion that she had seen once a long time ago as a youngling who was curiously browsing through a merchant’s stall before her parents ripped her away from what they considered dangerous. “Is this it?” Noelani pursed her lips as she continued moving bottles around in her search. She would ask the question multiple times as she explored the merchant’s inventory, some of the potions making her nearly gag simply at the sight of them. Potion of slipperiness? More like just a bottle of nasty sludge. She thought as she looked at a dark amber bottle that had like a sticky black substance inside, the bottle heavy even as she lifted it from the shelf to move it to the side. Strangely enough it was in front of a clear bottle shaped like a rather different form with a rose-hued liquid inside that Noelani swore had golden specks floating throughout with little heart bubbles. Though once she looked closer and realized the potion’s purpose the hybrid simply flushed before moving on. Who wanted to rely on a potion to charm someone like that?! What would be the purpose besides an awkward memory in the morning unless you planned on using the potion for the rest of your…commitment? Fling? It just wasn’t right! “No wonder someone had put that behind the sludge, I can see why that would be more appealing than the charming potion.” She murmured to herself as she continued her search, the hybrid roaming across the stall to the other side. Maybe the Kahi wouldn’t have this particular brew since they didn’t need such things? The very thought made her heart sink before she forced herself to continue on just in case. Maybe a foreigner had already asked for such a potion or had swapped with the merchant before? Noelani knew that she wasn’t the first person to wander these markets that wasn’t from Kahi so surely there was hope!

Eventually after going through several strange bottles, some with various colored goop and others with what even looked like animal claws and other not so pleasant things floating in the mixtures, she finally located a bottle with a cloudy green liquid. “It’s almost the same as the one I saw a long time ago.” Noelani knew there was something in particular that she was looking for which would seal the deal and after gently shaking the bottle back and forth, the swaying motion shifting the cloudy liquid around, she finally saw the bubble floating in the potion. “Aha!” It was almost like a little jelly fish and shaking it around caused the bubble figure to float up before sinking back down into the cloudy depths of the bottle. This had to be what she was looking for! “Potion of water breathing.” Noelani let out a sigh of relief as she noticed the tag scribbled in the local dialect with some awkward common letters below it that she could read. Hoping that the risk would be worth it, Noelani quickly made her way towards the merchant to pay for the potion.

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