TWELVE

"Now, O Shelled King. While our circumstances may differ, shells are but another form of gem. I welcome you here."

I'm honestly surprised Sensei didn't lash out at us. Though, even if there was someone to blame, it had to be Rutile.

Too bad she ran away.

"What do you wish to do now?" Sensei offered.

"Please go out with me!" Ventrico shouted excitedly.+

"It wishes to be your servant, it says," Phos immediately replied, obviously trying to cover up what the snail had really said.

"Now that will not do," Sensei replied as Ventrico attacked Phos, the latter using a chair to block herself. "I believe we should maintain equal and amicable relationships," he continued, as I joined in the fight and tried to pry Ventrico away from Phos.

"While I can see it means us no harm..." Sensei went on as Ventrico managed to trip Phos and I over and attempted to kiss Sensei before Phos pulled her away, "you two are still the only ones who can understand it," he finished, looking at the both of us. "So I ask that you take it with you as part of your work on the encyclopedia."

"Got it," I replied.

"Alright..." Phos said dejectedly.

"Sensei, I wanted to ask you about Cinnabar..." Phos continued just as Sensei was about to leave.

"Hmm?"

"Why do such a pointless job? I know CInnabar might be hazardous, but they're also extraordinary and has already saved my good-for-nothing self twice now. Isn't there anything else-"

"Forgive me."

"Huh?"

"I have yet to find a solution to this problem," Sensei answered. "And you see, working in the night watch is Cinnabar's own idea. Despite repeated attempts at persuasion that merely living was enough in itself... But the child is far too kind and far too wise to simply sit by idly. I could not bring myself to take away the very night watch Cinnabar personally thought up. Still, the fact that I have locked Cinnabar away in the night does not change. My own worry and ignorance are to blame. Allow me more time to find an answer. We are too complex to be satisfied with simply living. But thankfully, we live long lives. The need for patience and perseverance may be met with chargin, but if you wish to be of use to Cinnabar when the time comes, then I ask you to focus on completing what you have been tasked with. Furthermore," he finished, looking at me, "you are not alone on this task."

-------------------------

"I..."

"Hm?" Ventricosus stopped eating grass and looked at Phos lying on the floor, as I rolled over too. It's already evening, and we've spent most of the time after Sensei's talk lying in the grasslands.

"I might never find anything to offer Cinnabar..."

"Perhaps not in these lands," Ventrico replied."

"Hm?" Phos was the one to be puzzled this time.

"Let's head for the sea."

Phos got up and grabbed the bowl, while I opted to remain lying down and watch.

"Back.. back... back..." Phos guided the snail back into the bowl, before quickly swooping up and violently shaking it.

"Aaah! Wait just a minute!"

"You just want me to play and forget about everything?" Phos asked tiredly, stopping and staring at Ventrico.

"Nothing of that sort! Now that I've slimmed down and my mind is clear again, I've remembered."

"Remembered what?"

"Back in my homeland in the sea, there is one who looks very much like all of you."

"What?"

"Seriously?" I perked up, suddenly interested.

"Mmh," was the reply as the aquatic snail jumped off the bowl and onto the ground. "Surely that one might offer a hint at what you seek. Think of it as a great way to get your work done AND take your mind off things," she replied as she headed for the grass. "And lucky you, you have an adorable guide with you!"

"Oh my! Aren't you the kindest snail ever!" Phos replied enthusiastically before setting the bowl hard over Ventrico.

"Thank you, Ven-turd-osus!"

"That's Ventricosus!" was the annoyed reply.

"The sea is supposed to be off-limits," Phos said, "but... Well, I guess I'm no use around here anyway." They stared at the open ocean as I got up.

"So, Dan, what do you think?"

I'd be lying if I said I had no sense of adventure, of course I'm interested. That being said, call it a gut feeling, but I feel a nagging sense of doubt and caution.

"Well," I began, "uh, it's nice and all, but..."

"Just speak your mind," Phos said, "I won't be mad if you're unhappy anyway."

"Yeah, say what you want!" Ventrico joined in.

"Really? Well, ahem, sure, but please don't take offense... I'd like to go out too... but..." I said, before taking a breath.

"Are you out of your peppermint mind? That thing ate you, we almost lost you, and now you're just going to walk into the sea now because she just told you to?"

Phos was a bit taken aback, while the snail seemed more surprised.

"Oooh, feisty!"

"Eh, sorry," I quickly apologized to Phos, instantly reverting back to my usual behaviour, "it's just a nagging feeling, I really didn't mean to lash out at you like that."

"It's fine, it's fine!" Phos replied while they put a hand on my shoulder for comfort. "You're right though," she added, turning to face Ventrico, "I still haven't forgiven you for eating me."

"Your peppermint color is so nice, you look so sweet!" the snail defended herself.

"That still doesn't give you the right to gobble me up!"

"Come on, let me off already!"

"Ab-so-lute-ly not!"

"Hey, hey," I intervened, putting a stop to an imminent extended quarrel, "let's be nice, alright?"

The both of them stopped.

"Well, actually, now that that's off me..." I said.

"Maybe it's worth a shot."

---------------------

"So early tomorrow, both of us are going to coat ourselves in that waterproof resin, Phos is going to 'borrow' Red Beryl's waterproof uniform, and together we'll follow Ventrico on an adventure into the sea!" I told the orange butterfly enthusiastically as I changed into my night robes and sat on my bed.

The butterfly danced around, before landing on the window sill.

"Don't do it."

"Why not? I'm yearning for some good ol' explorat- wait, you can talk? Did my new communication abilities allow me to pick up your language too?"

"Hehe, no, I can talk."

I sat up in surprise. "Woah, you didn't say anything last night."

"I wanted to remain silent until I needed to, but looks like that time has already came. Hey, wanna see a magic trick?"

"Uh, sure I guess."

The butterfly flew in front of me before emitting a bright flash of light, forcing me to shield my eyes.

As the light died down, I put down my arm.

"Woah."

In front of me was a blue-eyed girl, roughly about my human age too, wearing an orange, short-skirt kimono with red frills and butterfly art. The kimono itself exposed her shoulders and collar bone area, with red strings rounding her neck like a collar and holding the top part of the dress in place. She also wore detached sleeves, black stockings and shoes with high heels, tied to her legs and with a little cloth butterfly on each shoe. On her back, larger, thinner versions of her orange wings fluttered happily. She also had white hair, though non-glittering, tied into twintails, though further back, slightly higher and thinner than mine.

"Well, that hairstyle sure is original," I commented jokingly.

The girl giggled. "Actually, I've been using this hairstyle since the day I could decide which hairstyle I wanted. Anyway, here's my true form, like it?"

"Of course, your kimono choice looks really cute too. You didn't tell me you're a person too, though."

"Ah, I wanted to save this till I needed to too," she explained, proceeding to look back at her wings, stroking them. "You know, I wanted these wings to be as thin and sleek when I'm a butterfly as they are now, but damn, I couldn't fly with them. So I had to enlarge them."

"Yeah, that sucks. Hey, you haven't told me yet, who are you?"

"Ah! Oops, forgot to introduce myself proper!" The girl turned around and smiled.

"My name's Katsumi. I'm from what you call an alternate universe, my job being to study other worlds and eventually settle into one that I like. You're not from this world too, are you?" she asked, looking at me with a cheeky smile.

I looked back in even more surprise. "How could you possibly know that?"

"I can tell," she replied, turning her head aside and closing her eyes nonchalantly. "Your aura is different, is all."

"Interesting."

"Yeah, isn't it? Truth is, I didn't start out like this right from the start, you know? I was once a regular girl born in 2001, living in Japan." Katsumi turned to look outside the window. "Then when I was 16, I got the choice to put aside my normal life to be a dimensional observer. Of course, I accepted. I gained immortality, became physically stuck at 16 years old, gained the ability to transform into one animal of my choice. I picked the butterfly since I figured it would be easy to move around quietly."

She turned around to look at me, smiling. "Bow, what's yours"

"Huh?"

She giggled. "I want to know your story, silly."

"Eheh, alright, here goes. I was normal like you, born in 2001 and living in Singapore of another world. I was bullied and outcast by my class and school, and one day I was framed and severely caned for something I didn't do. This may sound cheesy, but on that night, God came. "

"Hold on, did you say God?"

"Yep. Cheesy, I know, but it happened."

"No, you're so lucky!" Katsumi shouted excitedly, her face lighting up. "As a dimensional observer meeting the Almighty is the best thing that can happen to us!"

"Be quieter, we don't need anyone to see us now."

"Right, sorry," she said, toning it down. "But hey, what did he say to you?"

"Nothing actually, I didn't know it was him until I met him later. I actually just died from heart complications at that time, broken heart syndrome, but all I felt was sleeping. Next thing I knew, I woke up on some beach here."

"Must be hard for you back then. Still, how did you know it was him?"

"He appeared to me a day later when I was unconscious. Told me my purpose here was to emotionally heal and regain my confidence. Or something around those lines, but it's for healing, eheheh."

"Man, that'd mean I'd have to play a part in you. That's great! Ah, speaking of which, I know everything that happened here since yesterday, I was flying around before I met you last night. Don't go with Ventrico, Dan."

"Eh? Why not?"

"Call it a gut feeling," was the nonchalant reply.

"So you feel that way too, huh. I'll think about it, see how it goes."

"Yeah, that's fine too."

Katsumi sat down beside me. Looking at her, I noticed two orange daggers she carried.

"Hey, what are those?"

"Oh, personal weapons," Katsumi replied, taking them out and twirling them. As soon as she grabbed onto them properly, the daggers began to glow both orange and red. Looking at them closer, I noticed that the hilt was a dark red, the blade itself decorated with red lines.

"They look nice, don't they?"

"Yeah. Hey, what's with those markings on you?"

"Oh, these?" she clarified, pointing to the red, glowing lines running through her arms and up to her face, down her body to her legs. Now that I'm looking at her face, I noticed that her usually-blue eyes are now glowing orange.

"Hehe, side effect. As long as I'm holding them this happens, it's an indication of a spiritual connection with my blades. Even if they're hidden I can sense where they are anywhere."

"Cool."

"By the way," Katsumi said, putting her daggers back and returning to her normal looks, "I have a gift for you."

"Really?" I asked, interested. "What is it?"

"Not now," she replied cheekily, looking away.

"Aw, come on! I thought you really had something for me for a second there..."

"And I do," Katsumi clarified, her blue eyes looking into my white ones, "but that'll have to wait for a while."

"That's fine with me, ehehe. Thanks in advance."

"No problem, soulmate. Anyway," Katsumi said as a quick, bright flash of light came and she flew off in her butterfly form, "time to sleep. I'll be resting on this wall up here."

"Sure thing. G'night then, Katsumi."

"G'nite, Dan. By the way, what was your real name? Before you came here."

I laid down and looked up at the ceiling. "Nicole."

-------------------

"Oi, how many layers are you going for?" I asked as I helped apply more resin to Phos' back. "We won't run out, but this is taking a bit too long, what if they find us?"

"Get on with it already," Ventrico chimed in impatiently.

"Hold on, hold on. If I go in without this all my powdered finish would wash away, and I'd just be hideous," Phos replied as she applied the resin on her arms. "Salt water is not good for the skin either."

"Corrosion?" I asked.

"Mmh. Then we'd have to chip away the affected skin to fix it."

"Hey, wouldn't Red Beryl be pissed when she realizes that you stole her project? Speaking of which, there's a nice label with a star behind here," I said, reaching out for more resin.

"No worries, we'll come back and put it back where it was quietly, nobody would know."

"Fair enough. Though, if this is waterproof like you said, why did you insist on putting resin inside?"

"Precautions, my little kouhai," Phos replied as she took another handful of resin. "If we're going to spend time under the sea, then I'll need to pre-"

A hand grabbed onto my head, forcing it around.

"And who gave you two permission to go?"

Oh drat, it's Rutile. Ah, there's Euclase behind. Busted.

"Ehehehehe..." both Phos and I went.

"Maybe I should slim down this part here..." Red Beryl muttered to themself as she bent down and observed how her project fitted Phos.

"Now is not the time, you fashion idiot!" Rutile shot.

--------------

"I forbid it."

"Aw, come on..." I sulked.

"But it's for the encyclopedi-" Phos began to reason.

"Perhaps if you have already finished documenting the hill, but I have yet to receive a single report from you two." Sensei said sternly. "Focus on the task before you."

Phos sighed and bent down, resting on her front.

------------------

"Does Sensei realize how long it's going to take to finish up with that hill? This is me we're talking about! What if Cinnabar vanishes before I'm done?"

"Don't worry, I'm here too, we can get this done as quickly as possible."

Noticing the snail making some weird noises, Phos and I looked down into the bowl.

"What's your deal?" Phos asked. "Why the weird sounds?"

"Uh... nothing," Ventrico went. "It's just... there are few nutrients to be had here. My strength is fading."

"Oh yeah, you animals can't survive on light alone, huh," Phos muttered. "You need food, right?"

"Yes. Every animal has a certain..."

"Oh no," I said as I looked closer at the snail. 'Ventrico, don't die on me yet!"

"Not dead yet, silly. Just... really... Woah!"

Ventrico immediately popped up.

"Almost fell asleep there! Hard to stay awake without energy."

"Eat more grass, perhaps?" I suggested.

"Still not enough."

"Don't go leading me on!" Phos shouted, annoyed. Or angry. "I thought you were going to die or whatever you call it!"

"But you know what?" they continued, toning it down. "I don't really understand 'death' much. What is it exactly? Is it being super tired? Or too lazy to move?"

"I can help with that," I chimed in. "Basically, you go to sleep and never wake up again. For living things, you stop breathing. No matter what you do, you can't wake a dead living thing. They're gone," I faltered, "forever."

"That," Ventrico said. "Another way to put it, it's like going far away."

"But whoever dies is still out there even if you can't see them, right?" Phos asked.

"They're gone for good, and you'll never find them again," Ventrico replied.

"They can't even hear it if you call for them?"

"Even if you call out for them, they won't know who they are anymore. But you see, in exchange for taking everything away, death gives meaning to life itself. It's really not such a bad thing at all."

"Still," Phos muttered, "it's kind of sad, though."

"Indeed, but it is not something we can run away from."

"Yeah," I reaffirmed. "To be honest though, nobody knows what death is until they die. And when they die, they can't come back to tell us." I had to watch what I say now, lest I blow my own cover.

"That's true too," Ventrico agreed. "Now, I wasn't lying when I said there was one like you under the sea, but the truth is, I mostly just want to see my homeland once again. I was sure I would never get such a chance, but as I draw closer, I can't take my mind off it. No matter what was lost, no matter how much ruin befell it, and no matter if no one is left, I still feel the urge."

------------------------

"You're just going to walk into the sea now?" I asked.

"Yeah," Phos replied, looking back at me. We were now on one of the beaches, Phos deciding to just simply walk into the sea.

"Say, Dan, do you want to come?"

"Don't do it." Katsumi's words kept echoing within my head.

"I'll pass for this once, sorry. You'll need someone to help cover you up too, no?" I shot the peppermint gem a confident grin. "I can do just that for you, no worries!"

"Alright, do your best for me then! See ya later!" Phos bade goodbye as she turned around and began walking into the sea.

"Bye-bye, Danburite!" Ventrico shouted back.

Waving back at them, I watched as Phos slowly entered the increasingly-deeper water.

"You get the nagging feeling that you should go along with them, right?"

Turning to my left, I noticed a familiar orange butterfly fluttering around.

"Yeah. Truth be told, I can't help but worry about Phos. Still a gut feeling, but I get the impression that something bad's gonna happen."

Katsumi landed on my left shoulder as we watched Phos disappear into the water.

"Now," Katsumi said, "I said that you shouldn't go with her for your own good. That being said," she added, taking off, "why not shadow the two of them?"

"Really?" I asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, if anything happens to Phos, just break your cover and save her! Make a choice now, you don't have much time before she walks too far."

I stared at the open ocean, back to Katsumi, and repeated the cycle.

"Alright, I'm going!" I replied as I ran into the water.

"Don't let them spot you! Be safe!" I heard the dimensional observer shout.+

"Sure thing, thanks! See ya later!" I hollered back before diving downwards, deciding to swim and got into a breaststroke.

Lucky me, I know how to swim. Does feel heavier though.