Nereus

It is said that everyone who looks into their family history will find a secret sooner or later...

A fluffy sea-keldine was shaking his tail nervously. His head, majestically crowned with a pair of coral antlers, was shaking as if he couldn't believe his ears. Then, he stood up suddenly, narrowing his eyes with despise. His voice echoed like a thunder in the room:

"You lost IT?!? After I told you to be careful?! How do you even dare to come here and look into my eyes? Get out!"

Having never seen his king so angry, the servant tried to excuse himself. "I beg for your forgiveness, your majesty..."

"Out NOW!" shouted Nereus.

The blood drained from his face and his body started shaking. A wave of contradictory thoughts overflowed in his mind, leaving him to face powerless the feeling of despair. He started panicking, wondering who could have stolen that object and why. Fighting very hard to clear his head of all those meaningless scenarios, Nereus regained his characteristic calmness. The regret of his exaggerated reaction towards his loyal keldine sprouted deep down into his soul. "I will apologise later, now I have to find a way to prevent this chaos from being unleashed" he thought.

What was the missing object and why it was so important you may wonder.

Nereus wasn't always the keldine he is now. He was, in fact, just an ordinary one as the many others. For this reason, he respects his subordinates very much and tries to offer them the best conditions. Back then, he was known as Konan, a common wanderer famous for his remarkable swordsmanship.

Born in a modest family, Konan was permanently on his own, striving to earn his living. Although he was honourable by nature, he had often to lie, decieve and manipulate in order to survive.

After he built his own life, Konan returned home, but his family wasn't there anymore. All he could find was a letter addressed to him.

His mother stated that he was, in fact, adopted and that he must find his real family as soon as possible. According to the letter, he was found , sad, lonely and vulnerable on a rainy night. They couldn't let him outside, in cold, so they took him home with them.

Being the only child, his encounter was always considered a blessing by his mother. That is why she was constantly reluctant towards this subject. At the first glance, Konan doubted that what he was reading was true, yet, he started the search for his possible real family. He took one of the books to hide the letter inside, then a secret passage opened.

Visibly urprised, Konan debating whether to enter or not. He was afraid not to remain trapped there.

After a long debate, he enrered in the obscurity of the tunnel. It smelled like mold and wet rocks, yet, some fresh air was coming from somewhere.

At the end of the mysterious corridor, all he could find were the portraits of two keldines, a written story and a small chest.

"Once upon a time there lived the most beautiful keldine princess that ever existed ever. She had everything a mortal could desire, maybe even a bit more. As nothing is perfect, she discovered what was the only thing she hadn't possessed already- the love.

Her palace got crowded in suitors from the all corners of the world, yet, her heart was secretly belonging to a prince of the water already. Her father compelled her on choosing a wealthy husband with good reputation, but she was unhappy.

One day, tired of others telling her what to do, the princess met the love of her life. They sacrificed everything for some moments together, then disappeared, forever."

Although the story was shortly presented, it was more than enough for Konan to understand who his parents were and what happened to them.

His sight moved to the little locked chest. It was the first time he saw it, but it was so familiarly looking. A paw shape was painted on it, carefully and visible emotional, he put one of his paws over the drawing. The markings started glowing and a click symbolized that the chest opened.

Inside, he found an impressive diamond, polished perfectly, embodying a spectacular one of a kind necklace. He was sure that it once belonged to his mother. Next to it, a short note saying:

"Dear Nereus,

I am sure that you will find this one day, and you will put The Eye of the Sea to a safe place. It is a very powerful artifact that confers the ability of controlling the sea and the storms. We both know how dangerous it would be to fall on wrong hands. For this reason, I assured you are the only able to open this chest and retrieve it.

I am sure we will meet again one day, son.

With love,

your mother

When he tried it on, an ice cold sensation overwhelmed his body, from the top of the nose to the end of the tail, as if he was just splashed with freezing water. Some translucent fins were decorating his tail and front paws, with unusually long claws.

Nereus, that saw his face reflected in the shiny chest, seemed unimpressed by his change of aspect, as if he was expecting already. He noticed that he was still able to breathe, which was thw only thing surprised him a bit.

Nereus was sure that his place was in the ocean, her mother's favourite place, so she choose that kind of life. He was on cloud nine since he was able to explore the water depths without drowning.

The marine creatures recognized him as king, probably because of the necklace's powers. Nereus took it off and put it back in the chest, considering it was too dangerous to keep it within everyone's reach, but now it was gone. Whatever it was, he must find and get back the necklace.