in your footprints

Seren

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

The water that rushed in over her feet was cold, and before long the chill was shooting up the legs like so many pinching fingers. Seren laughed and rushed in and out of the waves, in high spirits even though the weather was less than stellar. This beach was different from the one around the house. White sand stretched on seemingly forever, and there were no cliffs in sight. Just swaying palm trees and the vast horizon, from whence white-capped waves rolled in with relentless persistence.

Here, the sea had a different color, and Seren was quite hopeful that the shells would be different too. Bigger, perhaps, and brighter in color. More blue, because so far she had not been able to find one with a color that satisfied her artistic sensibilities.

Spotting a likely candidate, the girl rushed out into the receding tide and stooped to pick up an oyster shell. Turning it over, she was disappointed to find that the innards was white. Beautifully shimmering of white mother-of-pearl, and a delight at any other time. But it really didn't fit the criteria for this particular treasure hunt, and with a sigh she let it drop down to the beach. Left behind for some other aspiring pirate to find.

"They are all white or pink," she complained to her helper, though it was light hearted. "Did you find any blue ones?"

Come with the night the science of fighting
The forces of gravity

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

"Not yet captain, but I shall continue m'search." The Alchemist replied, straightening and offering Seren a stiff and perfunctory salute. Breaking character and grinning, Remi shook his head to indicate that genuinely no, he hadn't found anything yet.

"Did Safrin say it had to be naturally blue? I wonder if we couldn't paint it.." Strange that despite being married to a demi-god of Safrin and speaking with her child, that Remi really had no deep insight into what the goddess may or may not want. That she'd agreed to give Seren a dragon had been surprising enough to hear; he wasn't about to question the objects required for such a task.

Seren

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Seren laughed and saluted back. Remi made for a good pirate. He even looked the part, despite the disappointing lack of peg leg and parrot. If only Sunjata could have come too, this might have turned into a real adventure.

"'A seashell, as blue as you can find'," Seren quoted, repeating her mother's instruction almost word by word, inflection - or stark lack thereof - included. "I think it needs to be real. There are blue ones. They're just harder to spot."

Hands on hips, the little girl stared at the wide expanse of beach with a stern expression, like it had purposely hidden the treasure from her.

"Maybe there are some under the sea?" Turning her gaze out to the frothing waters, there was a hopeful look about her. It was cold, but... maybe she could get used to it.

Come with the night the science of fighting
The forces of gravity

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

'Alright, if you say so." Remi agreed with a roguish grin. And it wasn't as though Seren was wrong, there indeed were blue shells. It was obviously just a matter of finding them.

"Under?" Glancing out at the waves and then back again, the Alchemist tilted his head. "You mean if we were to just sweep up the ocean like a blanket?" It was actually a rather lovely image. 'Or I suppose we could swim, if you aren't too much of a chicken." Remi raised a challenging brow at the younger demigod as he stepped boldly into the water, having to absolutely resist the urge to shiver and withdraw his foot immediately.

Seren

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Her eyes glowed with intrigue at the idea. The picture Remi painted in her mind was very interesting, and she turned that speculative gaze on him this time.

"Can you do that?" she asked, rather curious. He could use a lot of interesting magics, so Seren didn't discount the possibility.

The dare was too much though. "I'm not a chicken!" she protested with some outrage. "Last in is a pudgy Ramphire!"

And just because she could, (it was not cheating) Seren let lose her gravity pulse on Remi, to try and pin him in place with the weight of worlds as she ran laughing into the sea, plunging headlong in beneath the waves.

It was cold, and she gasped when she came up again, spitting and coughing, the back of her throat burning. She had a good deal of learning left to do on this whole swimming thing... particularly when it came to diving.

Come with the night the science of fighting
The forces of gravity

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

Once, he could have. Partially anyways. Now though the Alchemist just shook his head, hiding the lingering sadness he felt over all that he had lost behind a low chuckle.

"Oh no you don't!" Remi called, but instantly found that his legs seemed to weigh far more than they ought. With a roguish grin knowing Seren was to blame, he continued to struggle valiantly and dramatically. When her magic suddenly ceased to root him to the sea given her coughs, Remi moved himself instantly to her side, scooping her up into his arms so she could catch her breath.

"I know you want to remove the water to find the shells, but drinking it is hardly the way." Remi pointed out with a soft grin, waiting until Seren had her breath back.

Seren

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

She hadn't swallowed any water, and the spluttering stopped almost as soon as the burning in the nose subsided. Taking a deep breath, Seren grinned weakly at Remi, looking rather snug and comfortable where she dangled in his arms.

"I won," she pointed out, smug and not above gloating. Never mind that she almost drowned herself in the process. "Let's go, RamphiRemi! Into the sea!"

She pointed a majestic finger towards the water. Already drenched, with the dark hair a matted snarl of tangled curls around the face, she saw no reason not to have a proper look under the sea now. She could hold her breath a lot better than she could dive.

Come with the night the science of fighting
The forces of gravity

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

'Well since you won, you better lead.' The Alchemist said easily, finding it rather charming how even at such a young age Seren could already match her father's wit. Rather than swim with her or allow her to cling to him, Remi raised the girl up easily and tossed her into the waves. Before she might retaliate, the Alchemist dove down as well. Adrenaline raced through him as the bite of the water overtook his senses for a moment, making him feel like laughing and screaming both.

Eventually, his skin began to numb itself to the water and though he sorely missed the ability to become an octopus, he supposed he could make do. 'Hey, can you do this?' Remi called, waiting until he had Seren's attention before diving back down. Reaching for the sand, the Alchemist balanced easily on his hands, his legs sticking out of the waters with his feet twirling in happy circles.

Seren

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Some things really just ran in the family. Call it natural ability. That said, the squawk that spilled from the girl as she was hurled bodily into the sea was less than graceful. At least she had the sense to close her mouth before she plunged in, and somehow she avoided swallowing the rest of the ocean. By the time she emerged back out, with water and hair rushing down over the freckled face like some parody of a mermaid, she was spluttering with laughter and outrage.

"You threw me! Do it again!" She began to swim back towards Remi, a little floundering and graceless, but covering the distance alright.

When he disappeared beneath the surface, replacing head with feet, Seren quickly rose to the challenge. Taking in a deep breath she plunged in, struggling somewhat to actually reach the bottom. Her small body was light and buoyant, always about to drift back up again. In the end, after having to get a new gulp of air, she resorted to magic. Weighing herself down, she got her hands into the sand and feet up... though only the soles of her feet actually made it up out of the water.

She wiggled her toes triumphantly at Remi.

Come with the night the science of fighting
The forces of gravity

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

As Seren's toes peeped above the surface of the waves after a try or so, Remi reached out with his fingers, miming a bite from some sort of fish or shark against her foot. Waiting for her to come back up for air, Seren would find Remi applauding victoriously for her efforts. "Now with that out of the way, let's see about this shell, shall we?"

So saying, Remi dove under the water, his eyes open to the cold salty brine despite how it would likely burn later. Using his fingers to brush away the sand as he kicked his feet, he peered into the darkened depths for a shimmer of blue.

Seren

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

The feet jerked sharply away from his pinching fingers. There was a moment of wriggling and splashing as the girl righted herself, and when she came back up the look she gave Remi was dark and suspicious. But the applause mollified her enough to forgive the prank.

"Yes, seashells! Come come little bluelings!" Like a mummer on a stage Seren sketched a sweeping bow at the sea, promptly lost her balance and dropped beneath the surf again.

She found it easier to just dive under in her search. Her eyes burned and both hands gained a nice collection of nicks and cuts as she groped for anything that shimmered the least bit blue. At one point she narrowly missed the barb of a sting ray that lay half buried in the sand, and became more cautious after that.

After a good while, she had found three candidates, and brought them up for closer inspection. One was a milky blue-white comb, one a spiral shell that had streaks more gray than blue, and the third a half oyster shell, with a rocky looking outside and innards that shimmered in a multitude of blue hues.

"I found these," she gasped, out if breath after diving so much. "You?"

Come with the night the science of fighting
The forces of gravity

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

What Seren would find when she surfaced was not Remi at all, but a smiling pink face. Having swam back to shore and set his body back away from the water's edge, he let his mind and body go limp, sending his ghostly-self out into the waves. Though Remi might not be able to compel animals to him anymore, once found, he could inhabit their minds. And having seen a group of pink fins just above the water had given him an idea.

Parting its jaws, the encantado controlled by Remi clicked brightly, swimming in a tight circle around Seren. In this form the Alchemist had no way of communicating with the child, but hopefully his meaning was clear enough: hop on. The hope was that with the dolphin's body, Seren could hold her breath and they could cover more ground.

Seren

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Seeing a dolphin where you expected your not-father to be was a bit jarring. Seren very much flinched, and gasped and swallowed a bit more water she would really not be feeling well after this. But she wouldn't be a nine year old girl if the sight of a smiling pink animal didn't excite her.

She looked around hastily, found Remi seemingly asleep on the shore - the lazy butt! he was supposed to help her! - and then carefully approached the encantado. Half expecting a shout from the beach to stay away, half waiting for the animal to dart off before she could touch it, Seren reached out a hand. Stroked the hide quickly, and giggled in sheer delight at the rubbery texture of its skin.

Then she reached for the fin and hooked her arms around it, boldly letting it take her off to wherever. Now, if this wasn't an adventure worthy of tales, she never heard one!

Come with the night the science of fighting
The forces of gravity

I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

The creature bore her touches with a shocking amount of patience and glee; though given who it was controlling the brain of the creature, perhaps it wasn't so surprising at all. Ronin and Remi had agreed to keep the majority of the Alchemist's abilities hidden from Seren from the time being, lest she ask about his deal with Ludo. Neither man was keen on lying to the girl even if it was to simply save her from the cruelty of the world, and so avoiding the issue seemed the best course of action.

As Seren grasped Remi's fin, the dolphin chirped brightly before surging forward through the water. Though he tried to keep his movements steady, the flutters of his tail did make the journey more rhythmic than even.

Eventually when he judged perhaps they were in a part of the ocean that might reveal the sort of shells they needed (or at least, a part they hadn't checked yet). The dolphin squeaked loudly, blowing air out of its blow hole in an effort to try and communicate that Seren needed to hold her breath. Only when he heard the girl do so would he dive down, pulling her towards the bottom of the seafloor so that their exploration could begin anew.