Overworld: The generation of heroes Volume 1

7. The Blue Pearl Necklace (Darla's Pov)

Oliver's room was more optimistic than Aunt Farah's. He had posters of detectives and characters from crime & mystery series; he had been obsessed with murder mysteries and true crime since he was 12. There were a lot of pictures of him with his mom, dad, and best friends too, especially Lumina, or 'Loomey', which is her nickname and what Sandy calls her. As I admired his bright room, I noticed his bedside table: there were crime & murder mystery books, a framed picture of him with him and a girl with dark skin and dark brown hair with green streaks, a charm with beads saying 'best friends' on it but the most unusual thing was the fact that Uncle Nathaniel's brooch was standing beside the photo. Nobody ever kept the brooch except Uncle Nat, so I felt something suspicious was going on. I noticed how the cover of his duvet was covering the side of his bed, which never did. He liked having duvets that didn't hang over the sides of his bed. I then remembered, the box. What if the box was placed in Oliver's room instead of Farah's??

I crouched down, pushed back the duvet, and dived under the bed. It was dark, and musty, with tissues, sweet wrappers, and even plastic bouncy balls for some reason. As I moved my hand, I felt something odd, something octagonal. I tried dragging it out, but it was too heavy for me to use with one hand. I came back out from under the bed, and dragged the object out, and my face lit up in shock and joy, the box. It was a black, octagonal box with orange patterns and a picture of some hybrid-god looking man on the lid, just like mom explained to me. I immediately opened it, revealing a circle with 6 borders and a circle in the middle, each with a jewel inside, except the top right one. "Strange," I thought. "Anyways, I just need to take them- what am I doing?? These belong to Aunt Farah and Uncle Nat- But mom said to get the box- No, I'm done with her stupid orders, I'll take them myself, actually no just one, just in case Oliver finds out. Which one would he most likely not be able to spot??" I looked all over the jewels, trying to figure out what to take.

"The earrings??" I said to myself. "No, even though they're small they're too colorful. The spiral green thing? Maybe not, the shape is too unique. The choker? I'll pass, they have jewels on them. What about the hairclip? Hell no, that's in the middle." As I placed the hairclip down, I pressed down a little bit more on the orange circle, which revealed a small hole in the box. Confused, I put my hand in it, I felt another circular object, with the sounds of metal rattling softly against my hand. Intrigued, I lifted it up, revealing it: it was a flat circle with blue padding and a symbol of a white swirl on a black dot. On it was a chain necklace with a giant blue pearl attached to it. It was strange why this one was hidden away in a secret compartment and not on one of the borders or circle. As I held it, a powerful blue flash blinded me, and a silhouette of a small creature appeared before me.

It was an indigo-purple colour with blue hands and a jellyfish-like skirt-shaped bottom for legs. It had blue eyes and had 3 stringy aphoges with a blue gem glowing attached to each end of the strings. It also had a weird blue symbol on its forehead, shaped like a triangle with a circle around the point and 2 wavy lines through the middle. "Greetings, user," it spoke in a high voice with a hint of fear. "User, what do you mean user?" I replied, confused. "Oh yes, you're new to Talismans," it continued. "my name is Spexx, and I am an Airidan, which are creatures that cannot be seen to humans." "So this means I'm not human??" I asked interrupting. "No, no, you're definitely human," Spexx responded. "but a while back, these pieces of jewellery helped us be seen by humans, but only if you wore it. These grant you a power and transform you into a different form, which awards you a weapon and special power." "Cool! I could be a superhero!" I exclaimed. "But what is this talisman's power? And why was it hidden away from these other talismans?"

"Well, it's a long story," Spexx began again. "this blue pearl necklace is the ghost miracle jewel, which is also known as the Talisman of Memory. It summons spirits from the past to bring someone's memory or to haunt them. This power has been misused accidentally and purposely, which has resulted in world conflict and suffering, hence why it is hidden amongst the rest of these talismans. I wouldn't recommend using this one much, as your still young and you could lose control if you don't follow the rules properly-" Just then, footsteps came from downstairs. "Hide, Spexx," I whispered, putting the necklace in my pocket. "we'll talk about this later." Spexx dived into my pocket and I silently and quickly entered the bathroom, turning on the taps. "Darla, sweetie, are you ok?" It was Aunt Farah. "your mother wanted me to check on you. You've been in there a while." "Yeah, just washing my hands," I replied, turning of the taps, and walking out. "We've got dessert next, why don't you talk to Oliver? He needs someone to talk to, you know."

"Yes, I know," I said. Aunt Farah smiled and walked back down to make dessert. I quickly hurried into Oliver's bedroom, placing the blue border back where it was, sealing it with the orange circle, putting the hairclip on it, and shutting the lid, putting it back under Oliver's bed and folding over the cover like it hadn't been touched, like it was when I first entered. I walked out, closing the door, with the Talisman in my pocket. I sort of completed my 'mission', but with a twist; I will decide what to do with it next, I found it anyway. Imagine what I could be...