Slowly walking up the rocky beach, I made sure not to step on the large starfish that I passed.

"Here? Here? Really!?" Pinchie excitedly asked from my shoulder.

"Hm. Should be here," I said. It honestly might not be. I'd not been here in… well…

Who knows how long it's been, honestly. Decades at least.

"Home! A home!" Pinchie happily said while making noise with a pincer. Three of them were clinging to me, my hair and shirt, so only one was able to be used to make noise at the moment.

Exiting the ocean fully, I stepped onto the rocky beach and glanced around. The island wasn't too big, but it wasn't small either. There were thousands of trees, and even a small hill looking mountain. One that was probably a couple hundred feet in height, judging by the shadow it was casting over half the island.

I headed for the northern section of the island. I had to walk deeper onto the island, into the thick forest area, since the beach I'd swam up to ended and giant boulders and trees blocked the path.

"Look! Pretty birds! Like colorful rocks!" Pinchie said as we passed a large tree. One that had dozens of multi-colored birds upon it.

"Hm… this area isn't very tropical, but it's still wilderness," I said.

"Tropic?" Pinchie asked.

"A term for a region down south, where more sunlight is found," I explained gently.

"Mhm…!" Pinchie danced a bit on my shoulder as we walked past the noisy tree. The birds were all squawking at us as we passed, likely not used to such large creatures on their island.

Glancing around at the grass I was walking upon, I noticed the patches that were longer compared to the rest. Odds are there was some kind of smaller herbivore here, eating the grass constantly. I could hear mostly birds here, and the hum of bugs, but not much else.

Though Pinchie really shouldn't have to worry about such predators, I still took them into account. Although a monarch, the crab was kind of small…

But where else would I take the creature? It wasn't like I could just put Pinchie in an aquarium or something.

I smirked at the idea, since it reminded me of some of the god's creations. One of the floating islands had that huge aquarium, with even giant sharks and whales. That had been neat, in its own way.

Such a memory… I'd not thought of that in a long time…

It didn't take long before I found the inlet I'd been searching for. On the north of the island was a small recessed inlet, not much a cove or even an inlet, but it was the best description of it. It was a recessed beach, that had a deep lagoon, as if something had scooped up a part of the island a long time ago. There were small beaches around the circular cove, but most of the lagoon was surrounded by rocky cliffs. Parts of those cliffs extended out into the sea, forming a small circle around the cove, which only further implied something had either impacted the area or gouged it out a long time ago.

And in fact, that was kind of what had happened. At one time this island had extended for many more miles north, though that was all gone now.

"Is this it!? Is it?" Pinchie asked excitedly as I stepped up to overlook the cove. We were a few dozen feet up, not far from where the hill descended to the nearest beach.

I nodded, and gestured to the lagoon below. "Can you see it, Pinchie?" I asked.

Pinchie tugged on my hair and leaned forward, dancing up and down while studying the clear ocean beneath us.

The water inside the cove was a brighter blue than the ocean that fed it. Plus it was clearer, clear enough to see the huge reef that encompassed most of the bottom of the deep lagoon. And right in the center of it, a faintly white existence amongst dark blues and greens… was a giant clam.

"What is it?" Pinchie asked excitedly.

"A giant clam. It's not like you, it's a creature of normalcy, but it is still unique in its own way. Not only is it huge in size, it's also old. Probably the oldest thing around," I said.

"Older than you?" Pinchie asked as I turned, and headed for the nearby slooped cliff so I could take the monarch down to the lagoon.

"Probably not, but it could be," I said honestly. I didn't think clams lived too long, but who was I to know? Maybe it was as old as the island itself.

"It's huge!" Pinchie said as we descended the hill.

"Very. It's bigger than these trees," I said as we passed one that was at least thrice my height.

"Will it eat me?" Pinchie asked worriedly as we reached the beach.

"Clam's are filter feeders. They eat the tiny stuff, as long as you stay out of it there's no way it'll harm you," I said.

"I eat the little stuff too!"

Smirking at that, I nodded.

Reaching the beach, I didn't just walk out into the clear and pretty water. Instead I stopped a few feet from it, near some rocks.

Reaching up, I held out my open palm before my shoulder and waited for Pinchie to step out onto it. Pinchie's tiny, but pointy, feet felt a little odd as they stepped upon me.

Holding Pinchie up a little, I gestured out to the lagoon before us.

"Of all the places I know, at least in this region… I feel this would work best as a home, Pinchie," I said.

The monarch danced around my hand a bit, looking every which way. "It is clear! The water! So pretty! And colorful!" Pinchie said.

"The clam, they're giant filters basically. Will keep the water clean and pure," I explained.

If Pinchie understood, or cared, they didn't seem to register it. Instead the monarch nearly fell off my hand as they tried to look down, in a hurry to check it out for themselves.

I knelt down, gently letting the monarch clamber off my hand and onto some rocks. The small monarch hurriedly stepped to the edge of the rock, to look out to the gentle waves crashing into it. The lagoon was peaceful, but it was still connected to the sea. It had tides and waves, which right now were gentle but still likely wild to one as small as Pinchie.

"So clear…! So pure!" Pinchie said while examining the waters.

"Mhm," I nodded, unsure if I should explain the reason for the water's clarity again.

The small monarch seemed simple in some ways, but intelligent in others. So I didn't want to be rude and assume it didn't understand, when it likely did and was just… happy. Happy and simple.

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Simplicity didn't outright mean idiocy, after all.

Pinchie walked off the rocks and onto the beach instead. I followed the small monarch as it stepped out into the waters, but not so deeply that it submerged.

"This far out in the sea will keep you from being bothered by humans, too. I bet you can go decades without seeing even a ship on the horizon out here," I said as I glanced out to the sea. It was dark, thanks to the storms, but not so dark I couldn't see for miles. There wasn't a sail in sight.

"And so full of life!" Pinchie exclaimed.

Glancing down, I found the small crab dancing in front of a small shell. It wasn't moving, but I could tell from the sand around it that it had just been crawling. It was likely some kind of crab or snail. Maybe a limpet? It was still, likely hiding from Pinchie who was dancing around it.

"The corals will be full of life, Pinchie. Plenty of food for you, and with their great numbers you'll be able to blend in and be safe as well," I said as I looked out to the colorful lagoon. Even from here I could see the schools of fish all over the place.

I felt as if I was trying to sell beach-front property to someone. It was kind of silly, since I was basically trying to sell a beach to a crab… and you'd think that not be too hard.

Yet I knew if this failed I'd likely be forced to spend more time on this than I wanted to, more than I was willing to. And I wasn't sure what I'd do if…

"I love it!" Pinchie though put an end to those thoughts as the crab turned around and bubbled up at me.

"Do you?" I asked, feeling a strange sense of relief upon hearing so.

"Oh yes! Splendidly!" Pinchie declared.

Frowning at Pinchie's fancy word, I nodded. "I'm glad to hear so."

Pinchie made happy little noises, dancing a bit before my feet. "Thank you ever-so much! Forever my friend you will be!" Pinchie happily declared.

I couldn't help but smile down at the happy little monarch. Hearing it so… purely say such a thing made me glad I'd not culled it.

Kneeling down, I ignored the wave that washed past Pinchie and my feet. Pinchie didn't even budge from it, even though it had been almost big enough to cover the small crab completely.

"I'm glad you're happy, Pinchie. I'll not visit often, maybe not for years at a time, but I'll make sure to swing by occasionally and say hello," I said.

"Please do! I'll gather treasures to give you, as thanks!" Pinchie declared.

"Treasures…?" I asked. What an odd thing for a monarch to say. I wonder if its creator had said such a thing.

"Little pretties! Like this…!" Pinchie then reached behind with one of its claws, grabbing at something behind its shell. A moment later it was holding out a red shell, one so vibrant it stood out even in the red claw that held it.

Smirking softly, I reached out to accept the tiny shell that Pinchie offered.

"Why that is a lovely color indeed. Are you sure you want to share it?" I asked as I studied the small shell. It wasn't even as big as my pinky's fingernail, but it was rather colorful and detailed. Nothing was in it, though.

"Tis'! For you! As thanks!" Pinchie happily said. Lots of little bubbles came from the monarch's mouth as it danced a bit, likely from excitement.

"Thank you, Pinchie. I shall cherish it, hopefully as much as you do your new home."

"Hehehe!" Pinchie laughed, sounding oddly human for a moment. I'd recognize that embarrassed giggle anywhere. That had likely been Pinchie's first experience at being thanked in such a way.

It was hard sometimes, to remember these creatures could be so… young, in their own ways.

Closing my hand around the tiny gift, to make sure I didn't accidentally drop it without realizing it, I nodded down to the small crab.

"Then I shall be on my way, Pinchie."

"Ah yes! We both have stuff to do! May we both fulfill our purposes well!" Pinchie happily declared.

Smiling at the crab, I nodded. "Yes. Let's hope we do."

Standing up, I watched Pinchie turn around and face the lagoon. The small monarch wasted no time in stepping forward, walking quickly into the clear waters without hesitation.

The sea was cold here, yet Pinchie obviously didn't mind at all. It didn't take long for the colorful crab to disappear amongst the colorful reefs only a few feet out into the water. I had a general idea where the monarch was, thanks to sensing the heart within it, but didn't really know its exact location.

Sighing gently I stepped back and away from the beach. I needed to head eastward, and although it'd be easy to just swim out to the sea form here I didn't want to bother the lagoon. It was Pinchie's home now, after all.

Heading back to the beach on the other side of the island, I rolled the tiny shell that Pinchie had given me in my hand. The small thing was cool to the touch, and smooth. As if a tiny bead.

"From mighty monarch hunter to what…? A relocater? Someone who houses them…?" I whispered, and then shivered at the thought of being some servant or something of a god's creation. The mere idea of being some plaything to the gods made me sick to my stomach.

Shaking a bit, from disgust and anger, I did my best to keep calm and collected. I didn't want to break this island. Not only was it old, it was important now. This island would keep Pinchie safe, and also isolated. If this island got destroyed… who knows where'd the monarch would go. At least with it here I'd be able to keep tabs on it. To a degree, at least…

"Plus maybe one day I'd be able to track its creator down too," I mumbled as I rounded the large rocks from before. I stepped up to the rocky beach, and noticed the large starfish had moved a bit. Likely bothered by my earlier presence.

Glancing down to my hand, I studied the little red shell. It was an angled spiral, and the bright red of it gave the thing a strange polished look. Renn would like it. Hadn't she one time told me she had spent a few years living on a beach? Collecting shells and such? I wonder what she had done with all of them…

I blinked at the thought of her, and felt… tired all of a sudden.

I missed her. I'd only been gone for a couple weeks, yet I was thinking of her in a way as if I'd not seen her in years. It made me wonder if I'd even survive being apart from her for that long. Hopefully I never found out if it was possible or not.

Wonder how she was doing. Hopefully Light and the rest weren't bothering her too much… but I knew better than to actually think so.

"She's probably having so much fun I'm not even a thought in her mind," I whispered as I went to put the little shell into a one of my smaller monarch leather bags. To keep it safe, so that I'd not lose it during my swim back to mainland. I had a distance to go, at least twenty or so miles.

There was no denying I wanted to hurry back to Lumen. Not only did I want to see Renn… I knew there was a lot I needed to handle there. I needed to find out more on what Light was doing, and why they were being so active all of a sudden. Plus I had to prepare for stepping down… and soon we'd have to escort Randle and the rest up north, alongside Lellip and so many other little things…

I didn't know what was worse. I stuck around Renn and the others and nothing but drama and headaches appeared. Yet whenever I separated from her, the world became… worse, somehow. Why was it each time we separated, something bad happened? Not just to me either. She and the others were attacked by those bandits when I'd been gone, so it wasn't as if the disasters were limited to me. Which worried me greatly.

I'd been trying to slowly prepare for such disasters. Thus why I had asked Lilly to accompany us to Lumen, even though she wanted to go home. She needed to, really, with her family having issues and Lellip wanting to go meet her son. I was being… cruel to her, to keep her from such things. But who else could I trust…?

Merit maybe…? She did seem to really like Renn, for some reason. But could I trust her to do whatever it took to keep her safe…? Lilly would kill even our own members to keep herself and Renn safe, but would Merit…? A part of me said yes, but…

It was too bad Renn wanted to be so involved in the Society… otherwise I could just keep her safe somewhere quiet and isolated. Either at the Keep or Lilly's home. But who was I to try and stop her from enjoying the Society? Her utter devotion and desire to be so deeply involved in the Society was part of the reason I loved her. It was so rare for someone like her to be so willing to dedicate their lives to such a simple purpose. She had no grandiose plans like Light or Celine. No schemes or hidden purposes to her actions, like Landi. She just… loved the people in the Society, and wanted to always be with them.

Who was I to deny that? Who was I to not support such a thing…?

Yet here I was… wanting to step down…

Sighing at myself, I turned around and glanced at the forest. I could still feel Pinchie, even from here, though it was distant.

Damned creature. Hopefully I wasn't making a mistake leaving it alive. A part of me wanted to kill it, in hopes of drawing out the god who had created it, but I knew that was likely a folly plan. The god had abandoned Pinchie, finding the small and weak monarch not worth the effort or time. Killing it would likely not do much at all, since Pinchie was small and weak enough to die from even natural reasons. The god might simply think Pinchie got eaten by a larger fish, or caught by a human or something.

So culling it would only stop the potential danger it'd bring in the future. And make me feel better.

Neither were good enough reasons.

At least, that was what I was telling myself.

Stepping out into the ocean, I took a deep breath as I dived into the sea and went to swimming.

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