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He was a tiny bubble, bobbing in the choppy ocean. Aimlessly floating along the currents. Scared. So alone. Not understanding or knowing how he came to be here.

He wasn’t sure how he knew, but in his mind’s eye, he witnessed the infinite world around him rocking and tilting, moving this way, then that.

His universe was a blue-green blur except for the larger, ominous shapes sometimes looming near.

Sometimes they lunged, as if they wanted to devour him, but the current carried him away—just in time.

Sometimes his little universe went dark, as if he had been devoured, but spit back out again.

His escalation of fear never lasted long, for it was kept at bay by the strange, glowing, metallic seed he’d wrapped himself around.

This seed was something he’d always had. It was a part of him. It was the only thing that soothed him. Sustained him. It was so cozily warm and safe. Protecting him. Guiding him to where he needed to be, although he didn’t yet understand where that was.

Then he was here, swirling around in a place where the colors were brighter, crisper.

Water continuously shoved him up against some slimy rocks and the sun sparkled above.

But the jostling soon took its toll. Making tiny cracks in his round, gelatinous, self-contained bubble.

The silvery seed he clung to mended these cracks, but with each new fissure, the repairs lessened.

He was getting tired, and very sleepy, despite the sun suddenly growing warmer, coming closer.

His drowsiness faded away when a shadow fell over him. Within, there was a pale face, distorted by the ripples of the water. Gentle energy flooded the life back into him, feeding him, lulling him, protecting him.

The face was replaced by the approach of cupped hands. His universe shook as he was scooped up. The face came closer.

He wasn’t sure how he knew, but this being was Calico.

“Affirmative, my little ocean-peep,” Calico greeted warmly. “We communicate jointly through telepathy, and your ability to echo locate. Hello, little one. So you are the source of this ancient magic drawing me.”

The sound of that cheerful, guttural voice should have frightened him. But it didn’t.

“Your siren’s song brings notes of beauty, but lucky for myself, you are still too young to mesmerize. It appears you have had a very rough journey.” Calico looked out across the ocean, as if scanning.

Nestled within his tiny bubble, he didn’t know how, but he sensed the wave of Calico’s telepathy curl about their little cove, then beyond. Searching. For something. Or someone. There was only silence from the beyond.

“You poor, precious water bean,” Calico told him. “Not even your song found them. Yes, you are so very alone. But no longer—”

Calico cut himself off. “Oh, my!”

There was a longer pause, where he was raised up to Calico’s eye level. He lost himself in the welcoming, colorful swirls of Calico’s cheerful, brilliant blues .

“You are a Compass-born, little one. I should have known by the resonance of your magical call! Oh, your Compass-seed is quite strong indeed.”

So that’s what he held onto for dear life. His Compass-seed had protected him all this time.

“I shall safeguard you for transport.” Calico gently poured him into a small glass tube.

“I think I shall call you Lune. Oh! I beg your pardon; this has been most rude of me. I have not properly introduced myself. My name is Calico, of the Breese phoenix forge. I am a god who is the physical embodiment of space-time, but I much prefer spending my days in the kitchen. Come, my dear siren fry-child, let us return home. I have a cozy beach house with a gentle tidepool which I think you will enjoy. You shall finish germinating where the current is not so harsh, and where I can guard you against the hungry.”

Lune. He liked that name very much. So he lessened his desperate terror-grip on the little Compass-seed that strained to protect him. He was no longer alone. He was finally safe. With a family found.