"You have your application on hand?"

"Aye."

"So, you're trying to join the Lenorian coast guard. Let's see what kind of qualifications you have. Shipmate, crewmember, bosun... seems like you have several years of experience aboard ship."

"That I do, sir."

"Hmm... what's this period here? It just says, "privateer," with listed duties as "searching for booty."

"Aye... I was a young lad then. All I thought about was plunderin' booty."

...

"I'm not going to comment on that. Welcome aboard, your training starts tomorrow."

--Conversation from a recruiting station, Lenorian Coast Guard. From: "Piracy, Rebranding And You: A Simple Guide." AC 1289.

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"So, guys... what do you think?"

I try to still my shaking claws as I look at Luna. The pressure has been building the entire time since we've left the dungeon and I'm this close to losing it. I've been threatened, shocked, stunned, bewildered and awestruck all in the course of a day in a half. I'm barely holding it together here.

Luckily, I don't seem to be the only one. Luna starts whisper shouting,

"What do I think? WHAT DO I THINK?!?!?! This is crazy! First, we leave the dungeon, and then there's a massive war going on, and then we get shanghai ‘ed into coming here, and then there's this giant city and EVERYTHING is strange and bizarre, and now we have to make a life altering decision to join an organization we hardly know anything about to fight a war we didn't ask for!"

I reach up and give her a pat to show my support. Her rambling diatribe actually makes me feel better. Frankly with how calm the two of them appeared, I was starting to worry that maybe I was just overreacting. I had kept it bottled in, but now that I have some agency, I'm struggling with the entire situation. First thing I ask her is the obvious question,

"What's a Shanghai?"

She snaps, "I don't know okay!" Throwing her arms up in the water she continues, "It just seemed like a good word to use." She lowers her arms and calms herself. She looks over at Todd and says,

"What do you think Todd? Did you expect any of this?"

Todd seems to think for a moment before whispering,

"TODD."

"Todd says that we should find out more. We have an idea of what the military might mean, it's combat after all. But what about the other option. We should ask the fish."

I wave a claw to concede the point as Todd takes the initiative. He turns to the seaman and loudly says,

"TODD."

I see the fish look over at our huddled group. Then something interesting happens. I can almost see the blood draining out of his face and he slowly swims over to us. He's looking at the urchin in shock and then he bows his mid-section at Todd. He speaks with a respectful tone as he straightens and says,

"I'm sorry elder. I was unaware of your status. Please forgive my disrespect."

The fish's strange about face wasn't helping my nerves any and I ask for clarification.

"Yeah, Todd here is in my sect as an elder. But I don't understand how you know that or what that has to do with anything."

A brief flash of confusion crosses the seaman's face and then is wiped away. He continues,

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"I don't know what a sect is, but I can tell he's an Elder just by the way he talks."

I wave a claw for him to clarify his response. He appears a bit bashful and keeps on sneaking glances at Todd. He says,

"Umm... well, the earliest dungeon monsters gained their sapience in a world that had almost no lore... no language. They find it hard to... to speak like you and I do. There's not a whole lot of them left. There's even fewer that are found these days. Forgive my asking Elder, but you... do you remember the dream?"

An awkward silence rings among our group as Todd seems to consider. Eventually he says,

"I... REMEMBER THE SACRIFICE."

The fish's eyes seem to glow in fervor as he says excitedly,

"I can't believe I found a new elder! What is it you wanted? Oh! To talk about civilian options! Let me go grab one of those guys for you!"

He quickly darts away and into the resettlement center. He emerges a minute later with an older female fish. Her dull blue scales ripple in the water as she approaches. I can hear her talking with the seaman, berating him quietly.

"This is highly irregular. If they want to talk, they can just come inside."

"Yes, but this is a new elder! The first in generations!"

"Well... I doubt that but let me see for myself."

As they approach, I bend down to Todd and whisper, "I think you might be a big deal."

Todd waves his spines in a gesture I recognize as a shrug.

The two fish approach and the lady says, "And which one is this new elder supposed to be?"

The seaman barely manages to gesture the urchin's way before he says, "TODD."

The lady seems a bit taken back by Todd's response. I don't blame her; his voice goes pretty deep. There's a flash of a spatial item and a sparkling stone is floating in midwater. The fish says, "If you would please Mr. Todd, I'd just like to confirm. There's been false reports in the past. Just touch the status stone and "will" your age category into it. It'll then display for all of us to see."

With another shrug, a spike detaches from Todd and floats over to the stone. A gentle prick, and the spike returns, reattaching to his body. Above the stone, gentle light forms into a semblance of a screen. It just has two lines.

Name: Todd.

Age: 1750 years.

The lady fish visibly pales, her color matching the seaman and I hear her mutter "Oh, Charisma almighty." She jerks to us and her voice ratches up to a higher pitch as she says, "Oh! Uh! I'm... Uh... nice to meet you Elder!" She bends into an approximation of a bow and straightens. She continues,

"So uh, you were wondering about uh... civilian options, right? Uhm, actually... let me get someone more qualified to speak." She turns and bolts back into the building, kicking up a wave of sand in her passing. I see the seaman standing off to the side, and I ask him.

"Why didn't anyone recognize this beforehand?"

The fish replies, "They might not have believed it. There have been false reports in the past. That and... well, sometimes some creatures are injured in the head and that accounts for how they talk."

As I attempt to process this information, the lady fish exits with an older male fish in tow. His body is bent almost double, and his silver scales have faded to a dull grey. He swims slowly in the water as he approaches and then lowers to the floor. His eyes are glassy white from what I assume to be damaged vision as he squints at the urchin. Finally, he croaks out in shock...

"Todd? Todd, is... is that you?"

Todd freezes, and with the most emotion I've ever heard in his voice says,

"CHARLES... BEEN... A WHILE..."

Tears fall from the old fish's face as he breaks into laughter. "Been a while? Been sixty years it has. Come here you old bastard." The aged fish swims forward and lowers his head to touch Todd's spikes. I feel a flicker of mana and earth rises around Todd to pat the fish’s side. When they part the old fish says, "Come in, all of you. We'll sit down and talk."

Luna and I follow Todd as he moves ahead, remaining in silence as the old friend’s reminiscence.

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

"Hahaha, and then Todd tells me... DO OR DO NOT.... THERE IS NO TRY..." The old fish imitates Todd's voice as he laughingly tells old dungeon stories. It turns out that the manager of the resettlement center was once a member of the [Deepwater] Dungeon. Todd asks,

"THE... OTHERS... HERE?"

Charles seems to think for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I know of a few personally. You can go to city hall for better records. I know some passed on... some never made it out... some joined the military... some retired. You've been around a long time Todd."

Todd nods his spikes and then turns to us. I suspect I know what he's about to say. I've had a sinking feeling for a while now that is confirmed as Todd speaks,

"I... REMAIN HERE."

Luna starts talking, "Are, are you sure Todd? We made a great team, us three! I know Crabby wants to leave and I want to explore but you can always come with us!"

Todd speaks quieter, seemingly trying to console Luna as he says, "I... AM TIRED. WAR... FIGHTING... YOUNG PATH. MY PATH... FINDING OLD FRIENDS."

I can hear Luna's voice start to break and grow tearful, I pat her on the back as she says,

"Are you sure? I... I'll miss you, ya know?"

Todd replies, "AM SURE... WILL BE HERE. WILL MISS YOU TOO..."

Luna lunges off my back and gingerly gives him a hug. As they separate Todd says to both of us,

"TAKE CARE... EACH OTHER. THIS... NOT GOODBYE. JUST... FAREWELL. VISIT... WHEN YOU CAN."

My insides churn as I try to hold myself together. We've been through so much, the three of us. But I can understand Todd as well. I think back to the wall of carvings, the years and years of dungeon monsters who left their indelible mark on that place. Todd knew them all. He had his own path now... to reconnect and find those who went before him.

My voice breaks a little as well, but I hold myself together and say, "We'll definitely visit... Thanks for everything Todd and... and best of luck."

I carry Luna away as I hear Todd speak,

"YOU AS WELL.... SIR CRABBY."

As we exit the settlement office, Luna and I take a minute to recover from our roiling emotions. Once we've set it aside for the moment, she asks me, "So... did you want to check out the civilian option?"

I look through the window behind me and see Charles laughing with Todd, connecting with an old friend. I shake my head and say, "I think you said it best earlier. I want to leave, and you want to explore." I point to the recruitment office. "There's only one path for that."

Luna considers, and then nods an arm fiercely. She visibly perks herself up and then declares, "You're right Crabby! Todd has his own journey now, but us? We're moving forward!" Her false motivation is catching, and I find myself with a bit of a grin as I ask her, "To Adventure?"

She leans up off my shell and points dramatically towards the recruitment office. Everyone on the street looks at us in bewilderment as she yells as loud as she can,

"TO ADVENTURE!!!"