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 Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:25 pm
 It was time. Anxo had come of age and as such was invited to make a pivotal decision that would change the course of his future. As a hybrid, he could choose to align himself with the Guardians of his mother's kind, or the Water of his father's. A huge decision, but one Anxo made handily. The Water had called to him ever since he was a boy. Despite his mother's warnings, he had often played by the seashore, wriggling his toes in the sand and wishing that the water would change them into a graceful tail like his father's.
He hoped that after this ritual was complete, the Water would see fit to gift him a tail.
The first thing was to search for a pearl. Not just any pearl; his pearl. Once he found it, he'd return to the Palace and push it into the Water in the Queen's chamber. Then it would turn into a quintessence, and he'd drink that, and then he'd be a real Naiad. Or something. He'd really thought he'd hung onto every word when they'd explained it, but perhaps a combination of nerves and excitement had prevented him from retaining everything.
No matter! The first thing was to find that pearl. He went out from his grandmother's home, some distance from the Palace, to search the lakebed. He wasn't super clear as to whether the pearl would just be lying about, or whether he'd have to harass some oysters to find it.
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Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:39 pm
After some amount of searching, Anxo was left to conclude that his pearl was currently located in an oyster. From familiarizing himself with the area around his grandmother's grotto, he knew that there were a few oyster beds not too far away. He began with the closest one.
All the oysters were closed up tight, and huddled together in a colony. Gingerly he touched them, hoping one would open to reveal his pearl. No dice. Would he have to pry one open? That seemed barbaric. They were so peaceful and snuggled up; he couldn't bear to disturb them.
He moved onto the next bed.These oysters were just as closed up as the last ones. What was he to do? He shuffled around in the oyster bed for a moment, just incase there were any loose pearls around (hah!), and then sighed and moved onto the next one.
This next bed was a considerable distance from Kelebek's grotto, and by the time he reached it it was beginning to get dark. He hoped his pearl would be here! He approached the bed and ruffled around in the cluster of oysters, apologizing to them as he did so. Finding nothing, he sighed and laid in the sand next to the bed. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked them, running a finger gently along the edge of one. "This was supposed to be the easy part. Maybe the Water doesn't want me after all." He wiggled his toes in the sand, wishing they were a beautiful tail. He let his mind wander, imagining for a moment that he did have a tail, and what it would feel like against the soft, squishy sand, and how it would be the same pink and orange mottled color as his legs and feet.
He felt something against his foot and retracted his toes from the sand. An oyster, sank into the mud? He sat cross-legged and reached forward with his hands into the sand where his toes had been. Something small, and hard, and round. He retrieved it and shook it off. It gleamed pink in the waning light. A pearl. His pearl.
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