Naomi's Necklace

I was given a pendent at a young age. I don't remember who gave it to me, or why it was given to me, just that it was in my possession. Just trust me when I say it's anything but an ordinary necklace. The charm strung across the thin metal chain was shaped like a waxing crescent moon, the starting point of the lunar cycle. Now, none of this could make sense to you, or all of it. It doesn't matter to me either way.

If I were to think back on my oldest memory, all that would be viewable would be the voice of my mum, telling me never to reveal the power of the moon to anyone. Especially your ordinary mortal being. I lost my mother in an accident years ago. She drowned thanks to a lost spirit in the river. I know that much, at a pathetic minimum. It's only significant because I know nothing of my father, only that he left the family days after I was born. I was told the fates of my parents by close family friends . . . But clearly, they weren't that close, otherwise, I wouldn't have been in the neglected state I was in currently.

Suddenly, I was left without family, and left without a home. I had no siblings or distant relatives. I was left utterly alone, with nothing but a single memory, and a charm that hung as an outcast on a chain around my neck. Never revealing the necklace from underneath my dress, I held the pendent close, and always hidden from view. Somehow I knew that if the moon trinket was to be exposed, something entirely unforeseeable would happen. I was sure of this, and not once did I move the necklace from out beneath its hiding spot. That is, before today of course.

It must've started with the note on my doorstep. Of course, it wasn't my doorstep, it was the orphanages. I was going to fetch the mail for the imperious headmaster. I was about to step out into chilly mid-winter air when I noticed a slip of silver paper rolled up and sealed with blue wax.

I bent down and picked it up, but didn't dare read it. Not yet, at least. I raced out to receive the mail from its shabby wooden box, only to find a single parcel. It wasn't very large, rather, it was only a foot or less in size. The package was mysteriously labeled with my name, Naomi. I brought the package into the main room, where many children played quietly together under the watchful, stern gaze of numerous staff members.

Once I got permission to go to my room, I opened the box on my bed, ignoring the stares from the other children that shared the room with me. After the tissue paper covering the cardboard was ripped away, a message written in ink was displayed on the top. It said, simply, open without the company of others. Even if it's a bit of an odd request, and considering that I don't even know who might have even thought to send this to me, I step outside and through the hall to the library. The library was always empty since the majority of the kids staying in this orphanage didn't have an education. I stepped behind a bookshelf just in case though.

I kneeled on the cold wooden floor and set the box down in front of me. Hesitating, I reach out slowly and pull the tape off the top of the package. Laying inside was a stuffed animal. It was an adorable little lion, soft yellow with an orange mane of fluffy fur. She had a key attached to a chain around her neck that looked like pure gold. Imagine the price I could get if I sold that thing.

I blink. What was this thing doing here? I poked its cheek uneasily. Its eyes opened. Wait... what? I try not to scream.

It sits up and says, almost gleefully as a child, "Hello there, Naomi!"

It seems to unfold mini wings from behind it and flies up to my shocked face.

"What are you?" I cry, "Are you an animal or a toy?"

"A creature of Hecate!" It responded happily, "The name's Kamaria, which means 'beauty of the moonlight'."

"Hecate?" I say quietly, completely deflecting my initial surprise for the moment.