"What? It wasn't your mate's shell?!" Riley gawked at Kael.
Who could have imagined how intense this story would get?
Kael's expression remained calm. "Yeah," he said simply. "But it hadn't been easy for others to believe it, as you can expect."
Riley leaned forward, still looking like his brain couldn't quite process the information. "Was it really that impossible?"
Kael gave a quiet chuckle. "Unlike today, when you have all sorts of photographic evidence, back then no one even thought about the need for such a thing. In fact, some magical beings would've refused outright once they learned their likeness could be captured and left behind. Because to them, that would've been the perfect curse medium."
Riley blinked. "Oh. Well... that's true."
"So yes," Kael continued, "it had been difficult to prove even to my parents that the shells we were looking at really weren't the same."
