TEN

Night had already fallen, and "Phos" was still asleep.

Dia and I had been watching the little creature all this time, still squatting there.

Dia picked "Phos" up, placed "them" back in the bowl and stood up.

"Let's go ask around a little more. Come on Dan, let's go."

I stood up. "Alright."

Looking back at "Phos", Dia looked at the large moon.

"I'm sure there's someone out there who needs you."

"Yeah, me..." I muttered in reply.

"... and Cinnabar," I suddenly realized.+

"Come on Dia, let's ask Cinnabar!"

Dia nodded in agreement.

"But where?" I wondered.

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

A few minutes later, we still couldn't find Cinnabar.

"I'm tired," Dia said with a yawn. I myself am starting to feel a bit tired too. So much for all those nights I spent late doing last-minute homework. Or reading.

"You take a rest first, Dia. I'll keep a lookout for Cinnabar."

"Mmm," she said as she lied down. "Look after Phos for me too, okay?"

"Alright."

Setting the bowl beside me, I sat down.

Looking up at the moon, I allow myself to let my thoughts out.

"That one's not Luna, is it? Too large. Must be one of the newer moons. Oh, there's a small one behind, that's Luna. Damn, the tide sure has changed a lot with 6 more moons around. So where do the Lunarins come from? They said 'the moon', but which one? Ah, I'm overthinking things agai-"

Some odd rustling noises caught my ear.

I looked forward, alert.

No, that won't work. I closed my eyes.

The rustling noises got louder.

Just when they're close enough, I opened my eyes and jumped up.

The bushes parted to reveal Cinnabar crawling out.

"Oh, it's you," I said. "You're attracted by Dia's glow, aren't you?" I said, turning back to look at Dia's hair reflecting everywhere.

"Huh? Cinnabar?" Dia said as she got up, sitting on her legs.

"What are you two doing here?" Cinnabar asked, puzzled.

"It's so dark, I must've fallen asleep" Dia said, shaking her head.

The reflection from her hair got too blinding as the brightest spots moved around, focing Cinnabar and I to cover our eyes.

"Y-you're way too bright!" Cinnabar commented.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you..." Dia apologized, before taking off her left glove, tying it around her hair and starting to look around for something.

"Get out of here!" Cinnabar told us coldly before turning around.

"Wait, Cinn!" I stopped her. "We need your help on someth- oh no, Phos!"

Noticing what Dia had noticed earlier, I immediately bent down and started looking.

"Phos is missing!" Dia told me.

"I know, my bad for not looking after her properly! Phos, where are you?!"

"Phos, where did you go?!" Dia called out anxiously. "What are we gonna do? Phos! Phos! This is terrible, what are we gonna do? Cinnabar! Don't go on without me!" Dia shouted as they grabbed onto the mercury-controlling gem. "You and I were both born on the same year, right? Help me look!"

"Absolutely not! I never want to see them again!"

"Sorry, I didn't keep an eye out for- oh, there you are!" I said, entering a bush and grabbing "Phos" up, earning myself a squeal from "them".

"Found em."

"There you are! Thank goodness!" Dia sighed in relief as they took "Phos" from me.

"Come on, don't shake around! Here, this way!"

"I'm leaving!" Cinnabar shouted in annoyance just before Dia showed them "Phos" in the bowl.

"Recognize anything?"

The creature started reacting excitedly at the sight of Cinnabar. I was doubting that was Phos, but now it seems like it really was Phos.

"Oh my, you seem so happy!"

"Is that your pet or something?" Cinnabar asked, pointing at "Phos". "You truly are strange. That battle maniac too. I'll never understand you diamonds."

Dia giggled. "This right here is Phos! Phosphophyllite! The very same one you rescued just the other day. Right?"

"Phos" squeaked in agreement.

"And that is why we need your help, Cinnabar," I said. "We're finding a way to turn Phos back to normal, do you have any ideas?"

"Explain why... Never mind, I don't even want to know," Cinnabar replied in shock.

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

"So... Eaten by some snail brought in by the Lunarians, and then turned into one?"

"That's the gist of it," I replied.

"Yeah, both Dia and "Phos" went.

"Do you honestly believe that is even possible?" Cinnabar asked.

"What?" I heard the creature went, but I placed it as my imagination.

"To be completely honest," I admitted, "I'm skeptical of this being Phos. No proof though, just a feeling."

"I see. Did you manage to break its shell before Phos was eaten?"

"Well, the Lunarians did just drop it down on us, and Bort went at it and opened a hole or two, maybe," Dia answered.

Cinnabar just left.

"Wait!" Dia called out. Passing the bowl over to me, Dia rushed forward and grabbed Cinnabar again.

"This is where you say 'I know how to turn her back', right?"

"Don't put words in my mouth! I said nothing of the sort!"

"Everyone else says it's better off this way! Do you feel the same?!"

Cinnabar paused, sighed and looking down.

I could see the genuine concern for Phos in their eyes.

"No..." she looked away. "I think we'd be better off without someone like that. Troublesome, selfish, self-centered and full of nothing but childish thoughts, a useless fool who can't do anything, but still imposes on others without a second thought. I hate it!"

It didn't take a detective to figure out that Cinnabar really felt the complete opposite of whatever she just said.

"Cinnabar..." Dia started. "Did Phos confess some feelings for you or something?"

The mercury around Cinnabar twitched.

"Why would you ever think that?!" They yelled in shock as they turned back. "I've always hated how you think of everything as some sort of romance!"

"But that's exactly how it sounds like!" Dia retorted, taking the bowl from me. "You know, that was the most you've spoken in the last 100 years."

Beat.

Cinnabar turned round, folding her arms.

"Tsun-de-re, are you?~" I said, deciding to mess with Cinnabar just a bit.1

"W-what does that even mean?" Cinnabar asked, staring at me.

"Well," I answered,slowly walking behind her, "a tsundere hides her true feelings for someone under a tough face, mostly because she's too shy to openly show it. So," I got closer to Cinnabar, feeling myself smile a bit too much and lowering my voice a bit, "are you?"

Cinnabar immediately turned round, folding her arms again. I already saw a blush forming on her face even before she turned.1

"T-there's nothing of that sort with me! Why would I care about someone as useless as Phos?!"

"Whatever you say, my friend."

Snickering in my mind, I decided to just let them go for tonight. I don't want to hit any berserk button and genuinely piss her off.

"Do you like that?" Dia asked "Phos", who eagerly nodded.

"Oh yes, you have terrible taste!"

"Hey!" Cinnabar shouted, turning her head around. "What is this thing anyway?"

"'What'"...? Dia wondered.

"Dan's intuition is right, that there is just one random snail. Shell dwellers like those eat rocks to repair and strengthen their shells. Look," CInnabar explained, motioning for us to look at a small red snail.

"The shells on the ones here are red because they feast on the red cliffs. But the ones on the shore," Cinnabar explained further, walking to the edge of the cliff overlooking the beach, "are white like the beach itself."

Dia turned to look at me. "Hey Dan, if you said you woke up here, is you being white related to what Cinnabar just said?"

"Hehe, no, of course not, I'm no snail."

"That loud-mouthed good-for-nothing..." Cinnabar went on. "Might as well stay down there in the pond. All mint-colored."

"Dia," I came to realize, "Remember those green cracks?"

Dia nodded, slowly coming to figure it out themself.

"That is the real Phos! Dammit, how did we overlook that?"

"So you mean..." DIa asked Cinnabar for further confirmation.

Cinnabar just stared ahead.

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

"No we won't! Thanks Cinn! You're the best!" I yelled back as Dia and I ran back to the school.

"You mean, Phos was turned into part of that shell?" Dia exclaimed. "If we carve out the mint-colored pieces that are mint colored..."

"...then we can piece back Phos!" I finished.

"Of course!" Dia replied, taking off the glove she was wearing over her hair. "Because we can never truly die!"

Call it intuition again, but Dia and I started running back at the same time.

"Don't do it! There's no point in saving that one!" I heard Cinnabar shout.

"There is!" I yelled back. "For me and for you!"

"Bring Phos back as much as you want; you'll still end up with a useless good-for-nothing!"

"No we won't! Thanks Cinn, you're the best!"

As we approached the woods, Dia leapt up and swung across the trees. I opted to just run around them on the ground.

"So, Dia!" I shouted so that she could hear me. "What's the plan?"

"We call the others up and drag the shell out!" was the reply I got.

"Cool! Why not you call them up and I get the rope? It'll be much faster!"

"Sure! Go ahead, I'll catch up later!"

"I'm going as fast as I can already!"

As we cleared the forest and approached the school, a black figure jumped down. That was Bort.

Both of us slowed down for some reason.

"We found a way," Dia told their partner, "I think we can save Phos!"

Wait, why did I stop? I'm anxious to drag that damned shell out of the water.

"Sorry Bort," I decided on a whim, "no time to ask for your permission, I need the rope!"

Boldly, I ran past them and entered the school, making a straight beeline to the doctor's corner.

"Rutile! Rutile!"

"Yes, yes, is it an emergency?" the doctor replied, getting up from her rest.

"Kinda. Do you have rope?"

"Yeah, they're on that shelf. What do you want to do with it anyway?"

"Oh, just pulling the shell out of the pond, Phos is trapped inside it."

"Really?" Rutile asked me, surprised.

"Yeah, Cinnabar told Dia and I that snails eat rocks to heal their shells. Since that snail ate Phos, those green cracks on the shell are most likely parts of Phos. Speaking of which, give me a hammer and chisel too, I'd need to chip them out."

"No, leave that to me. Take the rope," Rutile said, passing me a full yarn of thick rope.

"Alright! Thanks! Dia is waking everyone up, by the way!"

Rolling the yarn towards the pond as quickly as I can, I pushed the rope in before jumping down into the pond myself.

Sinking to the bottom, I landed beside the massive shell. True enough, the center crack had a green, gem-like appearance from the inside, glittering from the minimal light coming from the jellyfishes around.

Now that is Phos.

"Well done, Nicole," I felt myself think, "you've got the rope. Now how exactly are you going to tie the shell up yourself?"

Beat.

"Oh, bummer."