Page 74 of Emerald

“Liv?” Rin asks hesitantly, but I ignore her.

Suddenly, the urge to rearrange things hits me, like a burst of inspiration I can't explain. Before I know it, I'm sifting through the pile, carefully stacking rocks and vines in new patterns, arranging them just so… everything should feel balanced. There's a rhythm to it, a flow, and I find myself humming softly as I work, completely absorbed in the task.

"Olivia the decorator," I murmur under my breath, amused at myself. "If only people could see me now."

“Liv?” Eli calls out, but I’m too busy to pay her any mind.

I pause for a moment, taking a step back to admire my handiwork. It isn’t quite right. Too much green on that side, I decide. Then I’m shifting it all over again.

The hoard looks different now, more purposeful. Like I've helped it become what it was always meant to be. There's a strange satisfaction in it, a sense of completion.

But then, reality catches up to me, and I realize I've just spent the last several minutes fawning over Kroaicho's hoard like it's a piece of fine art. I blink, pulling my hands away from the glowing rocks, a sudden flush of embarrassment creeping up my neck.

"What the hell am I doing?" I mutter, shaking my head as if I can snap myself out of whatever spell I've fallen under.

Eli and Rin are laughing and I feel my face flushing with my embarrassment. “Are you with us, Liv?” Eli says with her cheerful voice.

It helps soothe my self-consciousness. I gulp, and then try to explain. “Well, I’m guessing all of this looks like a pile of trash, right?”

They look around. “Well,” Eli drawls, tentacles waving.

“Yes,” Rin says, voice as decisive as always.

I smile. “I thought so too. But now I… quite literally have different eyes. And I think I understand Kroaicho a bit more…”

I trail off, not sure what else to say. It’s super weird and not something that can be explained.

I can't deny the weird pull I feel toward the hoard now. It's like something in me has shifted, like I'm starting to see the world the way Kroaicho sees it. I glance over to the same passage, my thoughts drifting to the alien's earlier words about hoarding and treasure. Maybe there's more to it than I thought.

With a sigh, I stand up, brushing the dust from my hands. The hoard gleams in the dim light, and I can't help but feel a small sense of pride at how neatly it's arranged now. Maybe Kroaicho won't even notice.

Or maybe he will, and I'll have some serious explaining to do.

"Great," I mutter. "Just what I need."

Still, there's a part of me that can't quite shake the fascination. I take one last look at the hoard, then turn away, the strange warmth of the cave settling over me like a blanket.

As I walk back toward where the women are. I can't help but feel like something fundamental has changed. Not just in me, with my new freaky glowing eyes, but in the way I see the world—and Kroaicho. There's something more here, something deeper than just survival. Something I'm only just beginning to understand.

And as unsettling as that realization is, there's a small part of me that's excited by it. Curious, even.

"One step at a time," I tell myself, glancing back at the pile of glowing treasures with a hungry look in my eye.

There’s a prickle of desire, then I berate myself that I’m being the same sort of materialist I’ve always hated. Then desire surges again.

“Okay, fuck it,” I grit out and head back to it, the sound of laughter starting up again.

As I sink my hands into Kroaicho's treasure pile, I can't help but giggle like an idiot. It's ridiculous, but it feels like I'm swimming through someone's junkyard in zero gravity.

There’s more laughter in the cave and I feel like it should matter, but it doesn’t

I pick up a twisted piece of metal that looks like it came off an ancient spacecraft and wave it around like a sword. "Captain Olivia, intergalactic pirate," I declare, grinning to myself. "Fear my junk saber!"

Another laugh bubbles out of me, uncontrollable. My brain knows this is absurd, but it's like something inside me just snapped—maybe the glowing eyes are making me giddy? Who knows. Either way, it's nice to let loose for a moment, to forget about the constant life-and-death stakes of surviving on this planet.

I dig deeper into the pile, uncovering a rock that pulses between shades of violet and green. "Oooh, pretty," I coo, holding it up to the dim light of the cave. My glowing pink eyes reflect back at me on the rock's smooth surface. For a second, I think about taking it as a souvenir, but then I remember it's Kroaicho's hoard. Even though I'm having a blast playing around, I'm not ready to start swiping things. Yet.

“Liv?” calls out another annoying voice.

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