Submission (#180) Approved

[WC : 345]
‘Careful now’ Lian thinks, putting their hands together. The bloom of magic wells within, from their core, to their arms- and it freezes in their veins, ice moving in and up- cold and unforgiving.

‘Ah’, they think, mouth opening slightly and a bubble of air escaping. No matter what- they fail. Lian has watched the other guides move the winds and the waves, stir currents with ease- always getting where they need to go. They are daring explorers of the tides, loved by the salt and spray. Not them. Their heart is cold, their touch is ice, and even under the bright sun of a Serpent Bluff summer, they never warm.

They sink down to the sandy bottom of the lagoon floor, a small figure amongst the kelp and shells. Fish swim through absently, uncaring of their watcher.

‘Why not just do ice magic-’ They’d been asked in the past. As if of course other types weren’t working for them- it was as if asking the sun to rain. But they didn’t get it. They didn’t understand that Lian had tried that : ice magic came easy, unblocked, even aided by the frost in their veins: but what was the use of freezing the ocean? Anything they could turn to ice was fighting against the vastness of the lagoon itself. They could no sooner fight back the coming tide.

Tentacles curled around them, a mimicry of comfort. They are magic, yes, but using it? It feels impossible.

‘Once more’, they tell themselves. Because even still, even after all this time, the idea of giving up is unsettling. Lian does not want that- they want to explore outside of the lagoon. They want to see the curious creatures, the unseen of the deep where pressure and life meet. The ugly, the forbidden, the rumored: that is what provokes their curiosity.

More than anything else, Lian wants to go where few tide-touched have gone before. But with so little magic, will they ever achieve their goal?

They put their hands together, and try to channel magic once more.