I swallowed my saliva simply thinking about it. How do I take care of a rock? Or rather, how do I care for a rock? 

What did it need to eat? What were its necessities? I didn’t even have a minor idea. I had so many questions. 

 

Questions?! Questions… I needed questions to research… I suppose that part of the research is knowing how to take care of it… Huh. 

 

So difficult! Well then I suppose my first goal is to know how to care for a rock. Well I was planning to care for it anyway. Wait, doesn’t this mean it's like a pet of sorts? Pet rock… Hmm…

I raised my eyebrow looking at it. Well I mean, it doesn’t bite and it’s not aggressive. It’s pretty well-behaved, all things considered. Although it was simply a rock⁠— No, it was Remilia, my pet rock. I nodded to myself in satisfaction. 

 

Remilia, my pet rock… It didn’t sound bad. Even more so, it made me feel wuzzy inside! Well, I suppose I had reached my first objective. 

 

Once upon my time I had asked my father for a dog to research as a living being. Well, I don’t need a dog now that I have a mighty rock! 

 

Take that! Everyone will die of jealousy. Although there was something that bothered me slightly. A rock was just that, a rock. I mean; it wasn’t eye-candy nor awe-inspiring. Now that I think about it. The pets of nobles had clothes and such, right? 

I suppose I could also dress up Remilia so she looks better! A fine rock of pure rock bloodline! Nn. Magnificent! I nodded to myself yet again. I was truly brilliant with all this! 

 

And so. Everyone will quite literally die of jealousy after this! Thus, I got to work. 

 

Some hours of dedicated work passed, and at the end I simply nodded my head in pride after seeing my work. Sure I wasn’t the best at sewing, but this job in particular was estellar, it felt like seeing the best work of the kingdom! Befit of the Queen and King, and now Remilia! 

I kind of wish I had clothes for rocks, but in the end I had to make my own. However, it was amazing! A creme dress with golden sutures akin to expensive ornaments! 

 

Well truth be told I wasn’t an amazing fan of the color, but it’s not like I could choose the color of my curtains on a whim. Moreover, researchers didn’t need material possessions to be truly happy. Minimalistic is the only way. I nodded to myself yet again. 

That’s why there were no servants in my home, and we all lived in a modest way. Each researcher served the kingdom in a loyal manner, and they were compensated in a fair way. It was an arduous job after all. 

Well, Remilia was a fine rock. But there was something that I found quite weird. I remember that some dogs didn’t like the dresses or the clothes they wore and sometimes they would break them apart. However. Remilia hadn’t moved the entire time! 

 

Maybe she didn’t like it?! No, no, that wasn’t right. Even before it hadn’t moved. I had heard something similar once upon a time, some living beings just couldn’t move, perhaps it was the way they were made or even disease. 

Then. What happens if Remilia doesn’t like her dress? Nothing! She can’t do anything to solve her plight! In that case… I gulped and shook a bit.

Was I not technically abusing Remilia against her will? No… I was… a filthy… 

 

ROCK ABUSER?! No! I couldn’t allow it. And thus, Remilia said goodbye to their dress.

 

Well now that I think about it. It really wasn’t that important, I mean, it didn’t need it because it was an incredible rock. Any person that wanted a rock would die of envy! 

There was something more important than clothes or social status after all. Survival! I had to feed Remilia, but… 

 

What did a rock eat? 

 

Well, food was the main thing. Remilia was my pet in some way, but it was also a research subject. It was my proof as a researcher! 

There were a lot of things that I had to research about her. But I didn’t have a grand idea about what I should research. I guess I had to call in the professionals. I rushed to the kitchen.

 

“Dad!” I exclaimed seeing him. 

“Emily?” He turned around with a bit of confusion. I guess I never call out to him for anything. Normally I was… Researching! Maybe in the forest or other places! But even though I didn’t want to admit it, my father was a bonafide researcher. There wasn’t a better person to ask about this! 

 

“How do you research a living being?” I asked. “I want to know!” 

His eyes widened in surprise before thinking for a few seconds and then exhaling. Was it bad to ask that? 

 

“Well, it’s a difficult question,” he paused thinking. “Why don’t you sit down?” 

I quickly nodded in response and sat on the table with him, observing him while he drank some coffee and ate some bread. However, his eyes never lost me even though he had a weird gaze. 

 

“Emily,” he started. “Do you really want to be a researcher?” 

What kind of question is that? 

“Yes!” I exclaimed hurriedly after he asked. He simply nodded in response. 

 

“Alright, then listen well Emily. Research is difficult and most of the time you actually don’t find anything, or maybe find things that have been found out already,” he paused observing my expression.

Naturally I didn’t even flinch. I already knew the perils and struggles of being a researcher! I had been dedicating all my time towards my dream after all. My dad simply nodded in understanding. 

“I see that you are serious,” he continued. 

 

“Of course! How couldn’t I be serious?! I am going to be a researcher!” I exclaimed in the most solid voice I could muster. 

To my surprise my father began laughing. I could feel rage building within me and my fists curling up. How was this possible?! Laughing at my⁠— Before I could say anything, my father continued talking. 

 

“I am sorry, you just remind me of your mother.” He chuckled. “The same way of looking at things and the same conviction. Alright, I will help you on the road of research.” 

Conviction? What was that? But more importantly. He said yes! 

 

“Therefore!” he simply nodded. 

“Therefore we are going to research a living being.” 

 

My eyes sparkled in emotion. 

 

“For starters. Emily, what living being do you want to research?”

“A rock.” I replied nonchalantly. 

 

He seemed to pause.  “A rock? Like… a rock? One of those? Stones?” He asked with a lot of confusion, but I simply nodded in response. However, contrary to my expectations he simply started massaging his forehead. 

“Emily, a rock is not a living being. Rocks don’t eat nor breathe, they don’t sleep, they don’t have habits, and they don’t have a food chain.” He mentioned the obvious, and my eyes went wide open. He was right! But he doesn’t know about this part. 

“It’s a Sage’s mission!” I said. He suddenly got serious as if jolted awake. 

 

“A Sage?”

 

“Yes, a Sage! LIke those ones you talked to me about! There was no doubt, it had a saintly appearance!” 

“What did the Sage say?” He asked with slight skepticism. 

“Well…” I scratched my head. “I asked for a living being to study and Remilia appeared!” He seemed taken aback. “That’s how I named my rock…” I said with awkwardness. 

 

“Well, why don’t we go see the Sage,” he said. “Bring… Remilia as well…” 

I simply nodded. At that moment when the sun shined, we went to the cave of fate. 

He didn’t look at him for long but he said it. “It’s not a Sage.” 

Wait what was he talking about!? I looked at him in confusion. He simply gave me a difficult look struggling with what to say. In the end he simply knelt down and looked at me in the eyes. 

 

“Emily, I know this is difficult. But your… rock. It’s not a living being, and this monolith is also not a Sage,” he said. But…

“But you described me the Sages!” It wasn’t possible. It had clearly answered my call! Perhaps a bit late, but nonetheless it happened!

 

He simply nodded. “Yes, I described them to you,” he looked at the monolith. “But even though their forms can always be strange they are always alive, no matter how majestic or awe-inspiring they look.” 

“Then… Remilia is not… alive?” I asked with slight difficulty. 

“It’s not alive,” he sighed. “While this place has spirituality. Sadly you will have to give up on the research of the rock.” 

 

His words felt sharp as daggers. It hurts! It wasn’t possible. Clearly there was something special. It answered my plight! 

 

“But it answered my call…” I said, slightly hollow. 

“It was probably just a coincidence,” he said. 

Coincidence?! It wasn’t possible! 

 

No! Coincidences do occur but they don’t feel like that! This was something else! I was chosen! I was given a mission! 

“It’s not a coincidence!” I shouted, my voice becoming shrill. 

My father’s gaze got serious. “Emily, if you want to be a researcher you need to understand that not everything is like we think!” He said with seriousness. 

 

I could feel my anger, and… No, definitely, it was a living being! I shook my head in denial. 

 

“Emily!!!” He bellowed. His voice thundering across the cave. “Do not laugh at researchers!” 

I wasn’t mocking them, nor laughing at them. “Learn that everything is not how we think,” I said in response. However, at that moment, my father snapped. 

 

“It’s not alive!” He said as he forcefully took Remilia out of my hands and⁠— Smack, she was smashed against the ground.  

Silence…