In the middle of the seas.
On small islands lacking trees.
You hear the wind blow amongst lonely boulders.
An eerie song will play giving you colder shivers than your significant other giving you the cold shoulder.
When you hear the song, don't pay it no mind.
Otherwise the sirens will get you, a boat with no crew other seafarers will find.
As Kamelotl swam to shore, or at least the edge of the skull, he noticed by the elongated maw that it definitely wasn't human. It had more of a canine shape to it, as well as teeth befitting a predator. The top of the skull was split open, not in a clean way but rather in a way that implied a tragedy had occurred. It seemed to have been shattered by blunt trauma given the uneven pattern.
The bizarrity of the situation came with the nest that looked to be made from mushrooms as a base. Huge mushrooms, the size of which varied from ceremonial tables and altars to the largest one in the very center. The core mushrooms were spectacularly enormous, usually the size of a hut, while at the heart of the fungal cluster, the Axis Fungi was as large as a chieftain's hut from a village.
The most common entrance seemed to be at the splintered mandibles front teeth. The shattered teeth made a cavern-like entrance available. Inside, it was illuminated from several sources. The skull almost seemed porous, like it had been eaten away over time, or maybe the liquid he was swimming around in had corroded it. "I need to get out of this weird lake, not only do I feel weird. It probably ate up that big skull." Through the pores of the skull entered the different colored lights, they reflected off of metals and mirrors causing a kaleidoscopic scene. "With all these skull-like pumpkins, it seems to be a theme," Kamelotl chuckled to himself.
The moment he pulled himself up, he noticed that the air in this place was thick with smoke. The scent was sweet and pungent with a smell of herbs and burning wood. Because of such a wide variety of aromas it overwhelmed him, he couldn't think, so he improvised and he conjured a sort of mask that covered his entire head including his gills. At first he made it seem like a plain wooden mask without any features to it, just to get by, he could feel that his head hadn't cleared. So as he took a few steps towards his new journey, he curiously observed the mirrors around him. The first thing he noticed were the variety of patterns, shapes, and colors. They enchanted him and the only thought that came to mind was "Breath taking."
He stood there, immersed by the visuals throughout the cavern. Even his pupils had become dilated and watery like he was about to burst into tears at any moment. In an obsidian mirror on the far side of the cavern, the smoke seemed to gather around it, it was a subtle shift that was only noticeable if you were paying attention. Clearly the one creature in the cavern was too distracted to notice, a face made itself visible in the mirror's reflection. Coming from that very reflection was a bone chilling cackle and a voice declared, "Found you!" Kamelotl, being lost in the moment, didn't hear anything. His newly made mask also made everything sound muffled, and even if it hadn't the boisterous music coming from within would've made it hard to hear anyway.
Lost in the moment of chaos and feeling inspired, he used his roots to construct a sort of outfit made to resemble the one that Xolotl had on when they had last departed. It was a loincloth of sorts called a maxtlatl, flower petals and seeds were added to form free flowing patterns that seemed to shift with his mood. His upper body was bare so you could see his torso with the beautiful engravings from his blessings. Around his neck, a Quetzalli was formed. It was the feather ornament around the neck he had noticed most gods had worn, since he had no feathers around him,he just used the roots and petals to appear as colorful patterned feathers.
The finishing piece, the helm, had petals of orange and green in a checkerboard pattern along the jaw. The nostrils were formed into vents, by combining roots and petals to form a mesh, where the fumes were then filtered into clean air but released pollen when he exhaled. His gills, already being made of roots, were also altered to produce an exterior mesh-like cover that made it look like a colorful jester's hat but instead of bells on the end they were Ayōxōchitl flowers. As he gazed at his reflection he gave a goofy satisfied grin, something akin to a child dressing themselves for the first time, which in his case was actually true. In a voice conveying full excitement, "perfect!" He proclaimed to himself since no one else was around to bear witness.
After so much excitement he felt his energy drain completely, he slumped against the wall eventually he started to doze off. After such a long day and and feeling like he had never taken a break since his birth. Except that moment before boarding the arc with cenotlacatl of course. He finally felt so exhausted he just slept. This sleep would mark the beginning of a whole new adventure. From the entrance the lake started to stir, from the depths several figures appeared. Sirens had appeared and when they spoke even the silence listened. "Little one, this one's divine energy is definitely strong enough for you to feed on." One of the sirens said while giving a sideways glance at what appeared to be a child sized silhouette.
"You two pick him up, please and thank you. We still have the meeting awaiting up above." She spoke to a few mermen behind her, well more like shouted because of the noise from the music up above. As they began to drag him away the image of the silhouette became clearer as they progressed into the cavern. It was some kind of water spirit and wasn't actually a child.
Her eyes took in the sight of this random being that was now a sort of sacrifice for her and smiled. It was a beautifully twisted smile, with a hint of madness in her eyes. She giggled and it sounded like rain falling on a pond, they all proceeded to ascend towards their destination. Kamelotl slept heavily and the ashlight didn't perceive them as a threat so nothing woke him. Matter of fact in his dream he felt like he was being gently swayed by the current. Every breath he took he released pollen making it seem like a trail of fairy dust floating behind their prisoner.
The cavern opened up and a slide wrapped around a mushroom leading down to them. Whereas the ascent was what looked to be stairs made of mushroom caps. "They certainly are strange, although the process of bouncing up there is entertaining to say the least." The group had expressions of wonder and anticipation, they awaited patiently for their leader to allow the journey to continue. "Sigh, fine let's get this over with." She said. Yet in her eyes you could see a hint of joy and upon her lips a smile widened as she took the first leap.