Submission (#632) Approved

For most, the Betwixt Tides festival was about reverence. Tradition. Songs about moons and tides and forgotten sea spirits.
For Kairos, it was also about the coin he could make.
“This stone’ll double in price by tomorrow morning,” he said casually, twirling a glossy crimson gem between his fingers. “Triple, if I flirt hard enough.”
The crowded tent bazaar bustled with activity—merchants yelling over one another, festivalgoers ducking into makeshift stalls set up between driftwood beams, and some unlucky soul losing their lunch after trying a fermented sea slug smoothie. All lit under the eerie glow of the blood moon overhead.
Kairos fit right in. He practically glowed.
“Back in five!” he called over his shoulder to a grumpy old Tatsukoi artisan as he sauntered away from a half-haggled deal. He'd convinced them to hold a handful of rare coral pieces while he “asked a friend for advice.” (Spoiler: He had no intention of coming back.)
The moon had pulled the ocean back so far that entire reefs were exposed—places that hadn't seen open air in centuries. That meant treasures. And where there were treasures? There were buyers.
And Kairos?
He was the middleman with the silver tongue.
“I got claws and fins in five tidepools, and not one of them’s dry,” he smirked to a pair of passing festivalgoers, slipping a sparkling eel-scale pendant into one of their pockets with a wink. “Tell your friends. Kairos deals in moonlight finds—first come, no refunds.”
He wasn’t lying either. His satchel clinked with oddities: shimmerfish teeth, pearl-crusted feathers, glassy barnacle beads… and the crown jewel? That red moonstone. Still faintly warm. Still pulsing. And still… strange.
He’d found it in a tide pool earlier, not far from where a crowd had gathered to watch a ceremony. Everyone had been too busy being solemn and sentimental to notice him pluck it right out of the sand behind their backs.
But when he pulled it out again to admire it, someone else noticed.
“Oy. That doesn’t belong to you.”
Kairos turned, smoothly tucking the stone back into his sash. A towering, broad-shouldered Tatsukoi fisher loomed beside him, arms crossed and scowl deep.
Kairos gave his best innocent grin. “Doesn’t it? Finders keepers. Moon says so.”
“That’s a Red Moon Stone. They’re cursed.”
Kairos raised a brow. “So cursed you chased me down in a crowd to steal it?”
The fisher growled, but a group of curious onlookers had already started circling, drawn to the commotion—and the word “cursed.”
Bingo.
Kairos jumped up onto a nearby crate and held up the stone with a dramatic flourish.
“Cursed or blessed? Who’s to say?” he announced, letting the glow catch on his scales. “One-of-a-kind relic of the sea gods themselves, unearthed only during tonight’s blood tide! Guaranteed to make your wishes come true—or possibly summon a sea dragon! Step right up!”
The crowd loved it. Coins were already clinking in hands. Bets were being made. The towering fisher, now completely ignored, faded into the tide of laughter and bidding.
Later that night, Kairos sat perched on the edge of the docks, finally alone, counting his haul by moonlight. The stone was still tucked in his satchel, untouched and unsold. Not because he forgot, but because deep down… he was curious.
And if there was a curse? There was gold in curses, too.
He leaned back with a laugh, letting the ocean breeze ruffle his fins.
“Bring it on.”

Reward	Amount
Gold	5
Betwixt The Tides - Design, MYO, Item, and Pet Raffles (Raffle Ticket)	1