The nearby fireplace popped and crackled, thanks to the new wood log that had just been added to it.

It honestly wasn’t really that chilly, but I was glad for it. This large room was a little… cold, to a point. But I think it was more so the air between us, than the actual air itself, that was cold.

There’d been an awkward silence between us all as we returned to Landi’s palace.

Vim sat down, done with his fire, and sighed as he reached over to move the tiny table in-between us three. To make it more centered.

It was a small box looking table with weirdly thin legs. It had a weird design on its surface. It looked like a huge snake coiling around itself, endlessly. It was interesting, but not as interesting as the glowing rock that was in Vim’s hand. Half hidden in his palm.

He’s not let that thing leave his hand once. Even earlier, when he had helped Landi’s soldiers pour oil into the canyon he hadn’t let it go. As the day went on, and grew darker, it was a little interesting to see that it somehow... dimmed, even though the world got darker. It seemed bright, yet it glowed with an odd darkness that made it harder to see all the same.

My eyes kept getting drawn to it. As if it was… somehow special. Important. Beyond understanding. It was actually a little concerning how much I wanted to stare at it.

It wasn’t that pretty honestly. The glow was a strange dark color, somehow, and it… pulsated in a weird way. As if breathing. It made me feel as if I should be on guard around it. Unlike that giant glowing crystal back at the Armadillo’s house, the Monarch’s heart felt wrong... not beautiful.

Yet even though I didn't like it, I was more aware of it than not. Even if I got distracted, and looked away for some time, I always somehow knew where to look to find it. I'd blame the fact that Vim was holding it, and thus my eyes were drawn to him, but it was more than that.

Once Vim stopped messing with the table, deciding it was now positioned properly… he then casually placed the glowing rock onto its center.

My jaw clenched as I watched the little glowing thing roll a little… then come to a stop. Before it went completely still, my eyes darted to my left. To Landi, who sat just as close to it as Vim and I were.

Landi didn’t reach for it. A surprise, honestly.

We three were sitting around the small table, in chairs of wood. They stood out among the more common stone furniture here. Other than the crackling fire nearby, there really wasn’t anything else in the room. In fact it was a little weird how big of a room it was, to have so little. There were other chairs, and smaller tables, scattered around… but not enough to justify this massive stone room.

“What’s this room used for?” I asked, unable to contain my interest.

“Nothing. It’s one of many. I had them bring some of the furniture in just so it wasn’t empty,” Landi answered.

She sounded… sad. She hadn’t even looked at the heart within grabbing distance of her, and instead was leaning back in her chair with a look of exhaustion. She was just staring off into the distance with empty eyes.

Maybe she was tired. She looked dirty. She and Vim had spent most of the latter half of the day setting the canyon ablaze. I had been there, but had stood back and watched mostly. I didn’t like the smell of the oils they had used. Nor had I been confident enough to bark orders as Landi had.

It was now night. There were large, open windows, on one side of the room. Windows that were basically just holes. They had no glass, or anything to stop the wind from blowing in. They were partly why the room was cold enough that Vim had lit a fire.

I liked how I could see all the stars beyond those square holes. The dark stone, and the somewhat unlit room, made it seem as if there were square holes of stars just outside the room. It looked pretty.

Almost as pretty as the gleaming little star not far from me…

Once again I realized my eyes had drifted to the heart, and I blinked and looked away from it. I turned to look at Vim, who had sat back and laid his right leg over his left knee, relaxing.

“Hm…?” he smiled at my glance, and I smiled back at him.

Try to draw my eyes now, silly little glowing rock. I dare you.

“Stop flirting in front of me. It makes me sick thinking of what I almost did,” Landi complained.

Glancing over to her, I smirked at her. She thought that little exchange had been so flirtatious? Really…?

That meant his smile had looked as good to her as it had to me. That was wonderful to hear.

“You’re lucky I’m a calm man,” Vim said to her.

“Yes. I’m sure,” Landi sighed.

“I was pretty calm too, right?” I asked happily.

Vim nodded, and Landi smiled at me. “You were. But I think you were more shocked than angry,” she said.

Well… that was true. I hadn’t expected Landi to actually threaten me at all.

Especially in such a way.

“I used to fight with my sisters, you know. Next time you just need to ask,” I said to her.

Landi smirked at me, but she still didn’t break out into a laugh. She really was on edge.

“The purpose of this little discourse is to avoid fighting,” Vim reminded us.

“Yes. Yes it is,” Landi agreed with a sigh.

“I’ll be honest I’m still not sure why we were even supposedly fighting,” I said.

Landi lifted her hand, to rub her forehead. She brushed her long hair out of the way as she did, and I noticed most of her face had soot all over it. She needed a bath. “Because Vim takes every heart. I felt in danger, because I thought he had noticed the heart inside me… or was going to punish me for waking a Monarch,” Landi whispered.

Turning to Vim, I waited to hear his response.

For a small moment it seemed he wasn’t going to respond, but then he shifted and gestured at me. “That was no reason to endanger Renn,” he said.

Right…!

“What else was I to do? You’re a walking god,” Landi argued.

“I’d think attacking Vim would have had a less dangerous response than attacking me, honestly,” I pointed out.

Landi groaned, and Vim nodded.

I mean it was true, wasn't it? Vim was so strong... did he actually need to fear Landi? Or any of us, really? Even if Landi had attacked him with all her might, odds are he'd not have killed her. He may have hurt her, to stop her, but I doubted it would have gone past a few broken bones.

Smiling at the two of them, I curled my legs beneath me. It seemed I was a little cold, somehow. Maybe spending so long near those massive blazing fires in that canyon had made me more susceptible to the cold.

This desert did seem to get cold quickly at night, didn’t it?

That was probably why Vim had started the fire. He was strangely aware of such things, sometimes.

“The reason, for your information, that I take the hearts Landi… is because they’re things that corrupt. Just as their owners destroy and decimate, so too do their hearts. I take them to keep them from causing even more damage, or risk another disaster. Unlike their bodies, a Monarch’s heart doesn’t decay upon death. So they need to be disposed of properly,” Vim explained.

Huh.

“Then what about this one…?” Landi asked with a point to her waist. Or rather…

“Did Vim say it was in your womb…?” I asked, interrupting Vim’s response.

Landi glanced at me, and then nodded. “It is.”

“To be honest all this time I thought it was in her stomach. It wasn’t until Renn pointed out your true desire to me, that I put one and two together,” Vim said.

Glancing at him, I frowned at him. “How could you mistake the two?” I asked.

“Well it’s not like I can actually see it. I can just sense it,” he defended himself.

Hm… I wonder if it was like, from a unique scent or something. Or maybe he felt something akin to heat?

Vim then looked to Landi. “And Landi, the reason I’d not taken the one inside of you is for the same reason I take them myself. I take them to protect the world and those within it. You housing it keeps it contained. Its contamination and danger is currently sealed within you. The only one in danger is you, since you house it,” he explained.

Before Landi or I could ask or say more, Vim continued, “Now… one could argue that your temperament lately… your cruelty and strangeness, is because of that very heart. But to me that doesn’t matter. You may be degrading, and becoming different… but at no more rate than you would with typical age and wear, as anyone would. So I’ve not seen the need to relieve you of it yet. Plus… I think women should sometimes be a little rambunctious. It’s a good character trait to have, even if no one else ever seems to agree.”

I smiled at Vim, very happy to hear him not just say such a thing… but to so openly tell us his honest feelings of the matter.

“Wait… are you saying her personality is affected by the heart?” I asked.

Vim nodded.

How’d it do that? I suddenly didn’t want to even look at the the one on the table anymore.

“So… you’ve let me have it all this time? And it was fine? I hadn’t needed to keep it a secret from you?” Landi asked softly.

Vim nodded again. “Of course. If you can house that heart, and not succumb completely to its corruption… then by all means, keep it. Endure. Just one less heart I need to worry about, honestly. For now at least,” Vim said.

I nodded too. “Vim’s free-will,” I clarified.

Landi glanced at me, and I smiled at her. Surely she understood what I meant?

She held my gaze for a moment… then looked away, as if in disgust. I blinked at her as she took in a deep breath. “I wanted a child,” she then said.

“A… Monarch?” Vim asked.

Landi shifted in her chair, and reached over to grab its armrest. For support. She looked like she wanted to run away. “Yes. No. Maybe…? I wanted someone powerful. To protect me. To stand beside me,” she explained.

My stomach knotted as I realized what she was saying.

She had put the heart of a Monarch into her womb, in hopes it would help her give birth to someone… like her. Like us. Like Vim.

Someone strong and long-lived.

“Thus the harem,” I said, understanding.

She nodded, and actually sniffed. “They’re all stillborn. No matter if I bear a child of a beast, or man. Half the time they’re never even fully formed,” she said.

My eyes started to water as I stared at a woman who was far too proud to look so weak and broken. She suddenly looked…

Frail.

The same woman who had just been willing to openly invite Vim’s wrath. One willing to risk her life, literally… now looked like a beaten woman, with a broken soul.

“You should have come to me, Landi,” Vim said softly.

“Oh? So you’d give me a child?” Landi asked, perking her head up.

“No. But I could have warned you against your path. You’re not the first to try what you’re doing. But… I suppose this is my fault, too. I should have realized what you were doing. It’s obvious… now that I think about it,” he mumbled as he looked away from her. In shame.

I studied Vim’s look for a moment, and the way he looked hurt. He was… genuinely bothered. Upset. At himself. He was blaming himself for Landi’s trials.

Looking away from him, I looked to the little table in the middle of our seats.

The glowing thing was pretty… but small. About the size of my fist. It wasn’t a perfect orb either, which was odd. I could have sworn that the one I had seen him give Bray all that time ago had been a perfect orb in shape.

This one though had a weird… line along its side. It glowed oddly, separated from the glow coming from within it. Was that… a crack? It looked like one. It looked as if the light from within was trying to leak out of it. It’d not shock me at all if it started to actually leak… something, from the way the light pulsated. It was as if it had water inside it or something.

“Sure, Vim. I should have gone to the Monarch Slayer. The hunter of Monarchs himself, the only one known to exist, and ask and beg him to let me use a Monarch’s heart. For something he so obviously doesn’t agree with. I can see it now, O’ Vim, mighty protector and slayer of Monarchs… how do I give birth to the very thing you slay on sight?” Landi said accusingly.

Although I didn’t really like how angry she sounded, I still nodded. “Yes Vim, I can understand her hesitation to come to you. From her perspective I could see how she decided to keep it all a secret,” I said.

Landi glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, and I noted the tiny smile that snuck onto her face.

“Why would I impose my will against such a thing, Renn? I thought you knew me better,” Vim asked me.

Looking to him, I smiled at him. “I do. I know that you’d not have forced her against such an action… I’m just saying… I can see it from her perspective,” I said.

He huffed at me, but smiled all the same.

Vim then reached out with his foot, the same one that had been resting on his knee, and tapped the table with it. The little glowing rock wobbled, but stayed in the center. “Why this one…? Did you… think another heart would help or something?” Vim asked.

Hm… right. She had one already. I sneaked a glance to Landi’s waist again.

Did she really have one inside her…? I mean, they weren’t that big… but still…

Must hurt.

“I don’t know. I’m grasping at straws. I had thought… maybe another would help, yes. Also, I think the one inside me has grown weaker. I used to feel it all the time, as if it was burning me from the inside. Now I don’t even feel it anymore, unless I push real hard and feel that it’s still there,” Landi said as she lowered a hand to push on the very spot she spoke of. It took a lot for me to not stand up and go try and touch it too. Landi would probably let me, but right now such a thing would have been awkward a little… “I mean it makes sense. After so long, maybe it’s… lost its power or something,” Landi added.

I nodded, that made sense. Vim had said a hundred years…? That was…

“It hasn’t. They’re basically indefinite sources of power,” Vim said.

Landi and I looked to him, and he nodded as if to dare us to argue with him over it.

“How though?” I asked.

“Doesn’t matter… that means it’s not the hearts, but me. I’m the issue,” Landi whispered.

Then she broke.

I flinched as the very proud, and even stronger, woman started to cry.

Hesitating, I was about to sit up and reach for her… but didn’t need to. She sniffed and quickly contained her sobs. “It’s not fair, Vim,” Landi cried.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“No. It’s not,” I agreed.

A hundred years.

Likely more than half my life. Or real close to it.

I tried to imagine spending so long… trying for a child. And failing each time. In such a terrible way, too. To not only be unable to bear a child, but she said stillborn? And not a few either?

Just… how many attempts? How many times had she had hope, seeing her belly swell, only for it to end with despair?

It was an unthinkable curse, in a way. One that made her…

I gulped as I realized that all of her banishments… all of her time spent alone, was because of this. This very desire.

She had been traveling around, forcing herself on men. Men of our race. To try and give birth to a child.

Had she had the heart before or after those ventures...? I wonder…

When had she resorted to it? If she’s had it for a hundred years… then…

My eyes squinted, and I looked away from Landi as she wiped her face with her sleeves. She was already getting her emotions under control.

If she resorted to the heart a hundred years ago, out of desperation… then…

That meant she’s been trying for far longer than that. Maybe even longer than I’ve been alive.

It was a daunting thought.

“Where’d you get the other heart, Landi?” Vim asked.

“In the whirlpool caves to the west. A giant sea creature had washed ashore in one of the inlets, dead already. I arrived to see the commotion, since everyone was talking about it. Turns out it had been a Monarch. I always assumed it died either of natural causes, or maybe it got into a fight with you and ran away before you could finish it… but still succumbed to its wounds. It had huge holes all over its body. One of them had the heart, gleaming in a pool of blood,” Landi said.

Whirlpool caves sounded neat. I wonder what that looked like.

“Hm… and it burned when you first… uh… put it in?” he asked, and I noted the way he had hesitated. It was cute when Vim was unsure how to phrase things.

“Very. It was like sticking a hot poker inside. I spent months curled up in pain,” Landi said.

I flinched at the image and the feeling it brought.

“Interesting. That means you were actually incompatible. It means you…” Vim went quiet, and then his eyes lowered. To the table.

We all looked to the orb, and I shifted in my chair. “Vim?” I asked.

He coughed, and shifted again. He lowered his leg, and leaned forward. As if to go into a deep contemplation, he crossed his arms for a moment.

Then he reached out and grabbed the heart.

Lifting the glowing thing, he held it out a moment and stared at it.

“You choose… and people die,” Vim said.

Landi gulped.

“I choose…” Vim lowered the orb, as if to put it in his lap. “And people die,” he whispered.

It was my turn to gulp as he turned to me, and so did Landi.

“So… let’s let her choose.”

My tail went stiff, and the hairs upon it sounded funny as they brushed against the chair’s brackets behind me. “Vim…?” I asked worriedly.

He nodded at me, and then held the gleaming rock out to me.

Feeling ridiculous… I slowly held my hand out.

Then he dropped the glowing thing into my hand.

I blinked, and almost dropped it. But not because it had been hot, or because it was heavy… but rather, the opposite.

I hadn’t felt any weight at all.

Holding the thing up, I wrapped it in my fingers as I worriedly held it carefully.

It had no weight. At all. I could feel it in my hand… but… It felt as if a tiny breeze could make it fly out of my hand.

“It uh… feels warm,” I said as I cupped the thing in both my hands. It was warm, but it definitely also didn’t feel as if it actually existed.

A feather was heavier than this thing. If not for the fact I could actually feel it, and touch it, I'd doubt it was even real.

Which was really weird. It was small, but not as small as that. And it felt… weirdly hard. Like one of the many gems back at Herra’s house.

Plus it was throbbing. “Does it have a heart? Inside?” I asked as it thumped. It genuinely felt like a heartbeat.

“The pulse is the energy inside it. The power. It’s one of the reasons we call it a heart, too. It acts as one, but also thumps like one, even though not an actual organ,” Vim said.

I couldn’t take my eyes off it as I spun it around in my palm… and eventually stopped as I studied the white line running down one of the little bumps.

“Is that a crack?” I asked.

“Uh… yes,” Vim said.

I frowned, and it seemed Landi had heard the odd tone too. She and I both glanced at Vim, who ignored us.

Deciding to let it be… I lowered the heart to my lap, and glanced at the two. “So… what do you mean then? Choose what Vim?” I asked.

“If I should be allowed to have the heart,” Landi said softly.

Oh. Right.

Right…

A weird tingle ran down my spine, and up and along my tail. I did my best to ignore it, but it was impossible. “Why…?” I asked softly.

“Vim’s stupid. But that stupidity is a kindness all the same… I guess I should try to win her over?” Landi asked Vim.

He gently waved at Landi to go ahead as he leaned back, once again relaxing.

Great. He really was going to make me decide.

Landi sat up and took a deep breath, and then focused on me. She was suddenly fixated on me, as if I was her enemy now. Yet at the same time she was looking at me with hope. It was a weird look on her face… and it made me wonder if I too sometimes had such a look. For instance when I looked at Vim.

“I want a child. With that orb, I might be able to give birth to one. One that won’t just be a child, but something strong. Strong enough to protect me. To live alongside me. To live hundreds if not thousands of years, like me…” Landi said.

I blinked, and once again had blurry eyes.

Her plea was so, so, beautiful. Especially to me. In particular to me.

Her words resonated with me. My heart thumped in anxious anticipation... as if it was me we were talking about, not her.

Glancing at Vim, who looked so calm as if he wasn’t even a part of the conversation, I wondered if he realized… how similar Landi and I actually were.

He had to. Surely.

Her desperate desire was… so similar to my own. Nearly the exact same.

Which of course made me want to grant it to her… but…

Squeezing the orb in my hands, I felt it thump. As if to remind me, that I needed to take this seriously.

Take into account all Vim’s said. Not just here, in this room, but in the tent. And before. On our journey here. Every time. Every conversation we’ve ever had, even.

Vim’s a firm believer in free-will… but at the same time…

“Basically Renn… I want a Vim for myself. Surely you of all people understand?” Landi then asked.

My gut tightened and churned as if she had just hit me.

I did. I really did understand.

Gulping, I lifted the small thing. To catch Vim’s eye. “Vim… would this help her?” I asked him.

Vim clasped his hands on his lap, and studied me.

Was… was he going to just sit there? Silently? He surely wouldn’t act so childish would he and…

But no. He finally sighed, and I realized he had not been rudely making a point but instead pondering something.

“To be honest Renn… it might. Although toxic, and likely to corrupt her, they are also undoubtedly sources of pure power. The power of Gods. The very thing that created her, or rather her ancestors. With them inside her, especially in such a location and in such a way… it’s actually very possible that they could empower any fetus growing within her. In fact it might even be possible for a baby to form around the heart itself even, transferring the heart from her to the child. In which case… in a certain perspective, she really would give birth to a Monarch,” he said.

Landi perked up, and actually grew a huge smile. “Really!?” she shouted.

Vim nodded, but did so with a frown. “Yes. However… as you’ve undoubtedly experienced Landi… the odds are so slim it’s ridiculous. Your ability to survive their corruption is a testament Landi. It’s not natural. You’re one in a million, able to withstand them. The fact you haven’t broken or literally deteriorated and melted from the inside out is amazing. Although the child forming inside of you is your child, your flesh and blood, it’s still its own being. Its own self. That being might be more likely to survive a heart’s power and corruption, but it’s still… in the end, just a baby. Something little, weak, and frail. Not something suitable to endure the overwhelming energy of a Monarch’s heart,” Vim explained.

“Just… how unlikely is this possibility then?” I asked Vim.

“Incomprehensibly small. However, I’ll admit…” Vim glanced at the thing in my hands. “Another might increase the odds. More corruption would be an issue, but… it’d also vastly increase the odds of it working to begin with. What I’d assume is a child wouldn’t even be able to start getting formed under such a situation, with two or more sources of corruption. So any child that even begins forming… well…” Vim shrugged.

“If a child came into existence in the first place, it’d already be proof it was strong enough to endure,” I said, understanding.

Landi turned to look at me, hopeful.

“Yes. With that heart as well inside her, it’s likely she’ll not have to suffer stillbirths anymore. Simply because they’ll corrupt and destroy any embryo before it can even form. So when one finally does form, and a child is made…well… it’d probably be because it is able to survive, and reach full maturity… Though I’ll not comment if that child will be of sound mind or not,” Vim said with a nod.

“Have you known it to happen? Before?” Landi asked, excited.

“In a fashion. You lack a... certain vital ingredient, but it's not so great that it should make it outright impossible,” Vim admitted.

Landi turned to smile at me, and I smiled back… but only for a moment.

Right. Even if possible…

Did that mean it was right to give her the heart?

“What… what would be the reason you wouldn’t give it to her, Vim?” I asked, before Landi could make an argument that would just result in me handing her the heart here and now.

“It’s far more likely to just kill her outright,” Vim said.

I flinched, but Landi didn’t. “I’ll take that chance, Renn. Please,” Landi said, without hesitation.

Yes. I know you would, Landi.

I know.

“Does... the heart do anything else Vim? To her?” I asked.

He nodded. “Since she's adapted to it, yes. She's likely now stronger, healthier, and less susceptible to diseases and other infirmities. Plus she'll likely stay younger, and live longer, than she would have without it. Though the degree a heart makes such changes varies person to person,” he said.

I frowned and glanced at Landi. “Then...?” I asked softly, and carefully.

Landi's eyes narrowed, but I was thankful she didn't look too hurt or upset with my inquiry. “I can't give birth, Renn. I tried for centuries. Long before I got the heart inside me. I'm infertile,” Landi said softly, admitting it.

Which meant she'd not be able to try giving the heart to a child after they're born and stronger, strong enough to risk the heart itself.

But...

Centuries...? So she really has been trying this whole time. The idea was daunting, and made me feel sick.

Feeling horrible, I nodded and glanced back at Vim. “Other than death… is there any other reason to not give it to her, Vim?” I begged.

“Well, I could give you a list of a few thousand names, yes,” Vim said.

Names…?

I frowned, as did Landi… as we both looked at him.

Vim nodded. “Not including the countless humans too, of course.”

“You mean the Society…?” I asked, shocked.

He nodded.

“How does my death endanger them, Vim?” Landi asked harshly.

“You can endanger them both through your death, and your success, Landi,” Vim said softly.

Landi flinched, and my mind whirled as I understood his meaning.

“You mean… the child could…” I started to say, but couldn’t finish it.

Vim nodded. “Absorbing a heart is not always something to be happy about, Renn. She wants to give birth to a Monarch… well… that’s exactly what she might do, in fact,” Vim said.

Wonderful…

“But…” Landi grabbed at her chair’s armrests. They creaked as she sunk her nails into the wood, gripping them tightly.

“I’m simply stating the truth, Landi. As you are,” Vim said.

Landi blinked, and I could see that she wanted to argue… but couldn’t.

After all she had to have realized it too.

Looking down at the source of all this discord… I wondered how such a tiny thing was so potent and dangerous.

I mean… I knew it was… but…

“Is dangerous to hold it Vim?” I asked, worried all of a sudden.

“Yes. But not for as long as you are doing so. You’re fine, Renn,” Vim said gently.

Oh. Good.

“He treasures you, Renn. He’d not have offered it to you if it could have hurt you,” Landi said softly.

I smiled gently at the woman who was staring at me with covetous eyes.

A long silence followed, and I found myself staring at the glowing heart in my hands.

There was so much I didn’t understand… but I wasn’t sure what to ask. Or say.

But… did my understanding matter?

Did anything but Landi matter at this moment?

She was desperate. Even if I didn’t give her the heart… even if she didn’t get it…

She’d still keep trying. And then would seek out another, the moment she could.

Even if it took her hundreds of years.

The result would be the same. The inevitable end, no matter if it was good or bad, would come.

Landi would spend her whole life to accomplish her goal. She’s already proven she was willing to dedicate everything for it.

So... would it not be better if she did it under Vim's watchful eyes? So that he could intervene if needed? If she did it under secrecy, far away... who knows what kind of trouble she could get into.

Glancing at her, I took a small breath. “Did… did you make this kingdom, Landi… for this reason?” I asked.

She nodded, but said nothing more.

I see.

Looking to Vim, I found him gently staring at me. Unbothered or surprised.

Either he had known, or had made that connection the moment he realized what was going on.

This castle. This nation. Everything… all for this.

This tiny thing in my hand.

So even if we didn’t give it to her…

Yet… did I have the right? To make this choice? For her?

“Why… why me…?” I asked the two of them.

“Why not you, dear?” Landi asked.

“I’ve no power. Over either of you. I can’t force any decision. Me choosing seems like… well…” I didn’t want to say a cruel joke, since to Landi it really wasn’t.

“Ah… she really is too smart for her own good, Vim,” Landi said to him.

“It’s why I find her so attractive,” Vim said.

“I’m being serious here, you two,” I groaned.

The two chuckled, and Vim gestured at me with a small point. “Renn, you make decisions all the time. Why is this one so hard for you?” he asked me.

“What decisions do you mean, Vim? This is her life we’re talking about. Maybe even the lives of many others… the whole world, maybe,” I said as I suddenly wanted to hand the heart back to him.

Vim smirked at me. “Never stopped you before, Renn.”

I opened my mouth to argue… but paused as I stared at the man who had just said something very serious.

“Huh…?” I barely got the noise out.

He nodded. “Ruvindale. Those we met on our travels. Lumen. Those pirates. The little boy… Renn, you’ve made many decisions. You’ve done many things since we’ve been together, and not once have I seen you ever worry over you not being strong enough to make them. Why now does it matter?” he asked me.

“Vim…” I whispered in shock. Shaking my head, I felt ridiculous. “That… that’s not the same!” I said.

“How so?”

“I… I mean…” My mind whirled to form a proper response… but…

Well…

Blinking wildly, I realized Vim was likely right.

Maybe not in the truest sense… but yes… many of my choices, and actions that stemmed from them, had been without care to if I could enforce or even finish my choices. A few times I had even done things that would have, and even did, endanger others.

Me taking Amber to the humans, after being told not to. My attempt to convince Fly to join, even though I sometimes stepped out of bounds of the rules as to do so. Me convincing Roslyn and her crew to join, before even getting permission from Vim…

“This seems… more serious. It’s not my life I’m risking, it’s hers,” I whispered the only argument I could muster, after some thought.

Vim raised a hand, stopping Landi from saying something. She shut her mouth with a loud noise, thanks to her teeth. “That argument falls flat, when you reverse your positions Renn,” Vim said gently.

Ah…

My hands started to tremble as Vim laid out the most obvious thing for the whole world to see.

Holding his gaze, I realized he really did know. He really knew all along.

He knew I related to Landi, and if fate had twisted and been different... it could have been me asking for the heart, not her.

And yet still… he had given the responsibility to me…

Which meant…

Turning my head, to look at Landi’s pleading eyes… I wondered if this was to be my fate.

To be the one to decide the fate of others from now on. In his place.

Because he was so set in his ways. Because he placed me so highly in his mind, that to him I deserved… and was worthy enough for such a responsibility.

Well…

That was kind of what I wanted, I think.

To help him protect himself. From the very things he protected.

If it meant… being responsible like this… in this way… for everyone and everything…

Then… well…

I looked at the heart, and squeezed it. It thumped, and felt oddly warm… and I was glad I didn’t feel some strange desire to keep it anymore. I wanted to get rid of this thing as fast as possible. And not just because the responsibility of it worried me.

“It could kill you, Landi,” I whispered to my friend.

“I’d rather die than never be happy,” Landi answered.

“It could kill others,” I warned.

“Only until Vim culled it. It’d be a disaster, yes, but no more than I am already to the world,” Landi argued.

Staring into her eyes, her beautiful gleaming eyes… full of hope… I felt a little lost.

There was no point asking Vim what he’d choose. He’d never tell me. Because he wanted me to make my own choices. And he knew his choice might interfere with my own.

But what Vim hasn’t realized yet… or if he did, wouldn’t ever admit it…

Was that I knew him. Better than he likely realized.

I knew his choice already. How could I not?

He had given it to me for this very reason, after all.

He had let me choose. Knowing full well what I’d decide. Since just as I knew him, he knew me.

He knew I’d resonate and relate with her request. A request, when broken down… was one so simple and basic. Something that shouldn’t have affected, or avoided her, this long.

To Landi, the woman who shared a so similar desire as I. A woman who was more like me than I thought possible.

Rather… a woman I could have become. Had I not met Vim.

Squeezing the warm heart, I nodded… and then held my hand out.

“Really…?” Landi whispered worriedly. She couldn’t take her eyes off the heart, even though she turned her head to look at Vim.

“Hm,” Vim nodded, seemingly content.

See…? I knew he had wanted me to give it to her.

Landi said nothing else as she shakily held her hands out… and then gratefully took the heart from me.

She wasted no time and clutched it to her breast, as if it was already the child it’d grant her. As if precious beyond measure. More valuable than the entire kingdom she had built around her.

Smiling at her, I glanced at Vim, who I found to be smiling at me.

I tried not to acknowledge the worry in his smile... and then Landi rushed forward off her chair to wrap me in a hug.