Ocean Kisses

Research

keralis pov

Once we were back on land, I couldn't stop obsessing over the necklace XB had given me. It wasn’t just curiosity—it was this gnawing, persistent need to understand what it was and why he had chosen to give it to me. Something about it felt... significant, like it held some sort of meaning I was supposed to uncover.

I started by digging through my bookstore, pulling out every book I thought might remotely help. Guides on gemstones, jewelry-making, maritime folklore—anything that might give me a lead. But after hours of poring over pages, I came up empty. None of the books mentioned a gem like this. The seashells were just as much a mystery. They didn’t seem to be tied together in any traditional way, and every time I examined the necklace, it felt like the seashells had been grown into place rather than crafted.

Even my own notes were useless. I had a section dedicated to rare artifacts and unusual finds, but there was nothing in there about a gem like this. I started to wonder if it was something so rare, so obscure, that no one had ever documented it—or worse, that it didn’t belong in any book because it wasn’t from this world.

When the books failed me, I decided to get a second opinion. I brought the necklace to a few jewelers in town, hoping they could tell me something, anything. But even that was a dead end.

“Looks like some kind of sapphire,” one of them said, squinting at it through their magnifying glass. “But it’s too pure. No inclusions, no imperfections. I’ve never seen a sapphire like that before.”

Another jeweler ran their fingers lightly over the seashells, clearly fascinated. “These shells shouldn’t hold together like this,” they murmured. “You say you didn’t glue them? Or thread them together?”

“No,” I replied firmly, keeping my fingers protectively over the gem.

They frowned. “Strange. It’s almost like the shells grew around the gem.”

I nodded, but I didn’t say anything about the warmth it gave off. That felt... too personal, too odd to share. How could I explain that the gem didn’t just look beautiful, but felt alive in some strange way? Like it was tied to XB, or maybe even me.

When I refused to take the necklace off for a more thorough inspection, the jewelers became even more perplexed. “If you won’t let us examine it properly, we can’t give you a definitive answer,” one of them said, clearly frustrated.

I didn’t care. There was no way I was taking it off—not because I didn’t trust them, but because something deep inside me warned against it. The necklace wasn’t just a gift; it felt like a tether, a connection to XB. Taking it off would sever that bond, and for reasons I couldn’t explain, the thought of doing so filled me with a quiet dread.

As I walked back to the bookstore, the necklace resting against my chest, I couldn’t help but wonder what XB had meant by giving it to me. Was it a token of gratitude? A message? Or something else entirely?

And why did it feel like it was watching me, waiting for me to figure it out?

That night, I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, my thoughts refusing to quiet. The faint sound of the city outside drifted through the open window, but it only served as background noise to the whirlwind of questions racing in my mind. Sleep never came; it felt impossible to rest with everything that had happened.

My hand unconsciously moved to the necklace, resting against the gem that sat lightly on my chest. The warmth of it pulsed steadily, like a heartbeat, rhythmic and soothing. For a moment, the chaos in my head began to quiet, the warmth easing away my worries one by one. It felt alive, almost as though it were trying to comfort me, to tell me everything was okay.