What made the desert life bearable was the scorpion that led Livia and its group. She hadn’t known they lived in groups until she discovered dozens of them hiding near the spring. The ones that had initially shown wariness when Livia first arrived had grown familiar with her, coming to play with Tuktuk and touching her.

Tuktuk was the baby scorpion that had first brought Livia here. It had kept circling around her, so she gave it a name, and it seemed to respond as if it understood.

It was a fascinating creature. In this place where she had to endure time without purpose, Tuktuk became a small source of vitality.

Livia stayed near the spring and interacted with the scorpions. Despite their fearsome appearance, the scorpions were quite cute, and their actions were clumsy.

They weren’t particularly skilled at hunting, often losing their prey to desert rats or simply dropping it. Unable to merely watch, Livia occasionally helped them hunt. Then even a mother scorpion carrying two babies on her back began circling around Livia.

Seeing how it appeared to be asking for food, Livia gladly caught small insects and brought them. Fortunately, there was plenty of food for the scorpions near the spring.

The scorpions always repaid Livia’s help. For instance, they would give her half of the spider they had struggled to hunt…. Though it wasn’t something Livia needed, she smiled at their touching gesture.

How many days have passed here?

How much time had passed outside the trial?

Though she felt anxious, she also thought this moment wasn’t so bad. Everything was harmless. Nothing hurt or troubled her. When she zoned out, even the momentary sadness of remembering her family would blur. Though somewhat boring, it was peaceful. She wanted to stay frozen like this. So much that she thought it would be fine if this trial never ended. Just like this, for a little while, just a little….

Livia fell asleep peacefully with her forehead resting on her knees. Tuktuk approached and leaned against her.

The peace was shattered that very night.

As if waiting for her to let her guard down, an incident occurred.

“What, what’s happening? No! Don’t fight!”

Intruders entered the cave. It was another group of scorpions. The red-striped scorpions tore apart and killed the scorpions that had shared life with Livia. The mother scorpion carrying babies on her back, Tuktuk’s father who had torn and shared half a spider with Livia, the small group of scorpions for whom Livia had built homes with stone piles.

They all died, either torn in half or burst open.

The black scorpions rushed in recklessly to defend their territory, and the intruders also charged in, willing to risk death to seize this abundant territory.

Watching the scorpions die with a pale face, Livia helped the black scorpions drive away the red-striped ones. She stomped some to death, stabbed some with her knife, and in anger, crushed others with rocks.

The scorpions’ war was easily settled with Livia’s intervention. The black scorpions were delighted. They had saved their territory, their cave! Though words couldn’t be exchanged, she could feel everyone’s joy. Livia was happy too. Her heart, which had been pounding from the sudden, horrific battle between scorpions, wouldn’t easily calm down. It should be fine now. Yes, it would be fine.

Livia slumped down and blankly stared at the corpse of a red-striped scorpion sprawled near the spring. Her chest ached sharply.

However, the peace didn’t last long.

The poison spread by the dying red-striped scorpions had contaminated the spring. Several black scorpions died helplessly after unknowingly drinking the water. A small snake nearby perished as well.

They had to abandon the cave they had fought so hard to protect. Livia also couldn’t stay there anymore. She followed the black scorpions to another location. Fortunately, they found another cave. However….

Livia watched with a distorted face as grey scorpions confronted the black scorpions.

‘What is this….’

Watching the scorpions start another war for the fertile cave, something crumbled inside Livia. Though the black scorpions were fewer in number, they were strong, while the grey scorpions were more numerous but smaller. The scorpions fought fiercely again. It had to be fierce as survival was at stake. As Livia watched in bewilderment from behind, Tuktuk tapped her feet.

She seemed to hear Tuktuk’s voice asking what she was doing, telling her to come fight together. Though it must have been an auditory hallucination, at that moment it felt real. Livia stared blankly at Tuktuk before approaching the scorpions. This time, instead of fighting alongside them as before, she tried to mediate between the two scorpion groups.

The cave was large, and the spring was wide, so it seemed sufficient for both scorpion groups to live together.

“Scorpions, don’t fight. Fighting will only end up hurting all of you. Hey! This place is already large enough…!”

But the scorpions didn’t listen to Livia. No, it seemed they couldn’t hear her voice at all. It was natural. How could a human’s voice reach scorpions?

Though she had believed they had connected, it wasn’t true.

They were scorpions, and Livia was human.

The black scorpions won the fight. They easily claimed the other cave and gained access to cleaner water. But Livia wasn’t happy.

Not happy at all.

Every time she fell asleep, she worried about other scorpions invading. As she had feared, fights were frequent, and the number of dead scorpions increased.

Among that number was the small scorpion that had led her here.

Tuktuk….

Livia gently pushed the limp small scorpion. The scorpion was helplessly pushed aside by her finger. The one who would normally raise its pincers and wave them around thinking she was playing showed no response.

…Could it be sleeping? Maybe it had fallen into a deep sleep, exhausted from the fight.

“Tuktuk…. Tuktuk. Wake up. Okay?”

Livia waited. For this small scorpion to wake from its deep sleep and raise its pincers… Or to raise its tail sharply as if angry at being woken up. But Tuktuk didn’t move. Not the next day, nor the day after that, and not the day after that either. Livia had to acknowledge it belatedly.

Tuktuk was dead.

Now there was no scorpion to tap her toes. No scorpion to sting her gently with its tail when startled.

How had she become so attached to something like this….

Livia carefully placed the dead Tuktuk in her palm and buried it in a sunny spot. A tear dropped with a plop onto her hand as she patted the ground.

Livia was tired. Exhausted. Damn trial, cursed trial! Trial! Trial!

She was sick of everything – the cold that felt like it was separating flesh from bone, being isolated in darkness, spending time alone growing attached to small scorpions she couldn’t even communicate with, getting involved in the conflicts of beings different from herself.

“But it’s confusing.”

“Somewhere it must be very uncomfortable, irritating, and painful.”

The god of the sea was truly a bastard.

***

Livia no longer stayed close to the scorpions. They fought often, though some days were peaceful. Then they would struggle through their own crises and fight again. Livia observed from afar before eventually turning away from them.

Outside the cave was barren desert, and inside the cave, conflicts frequently occurred. Livia was just sick of it all and wanted to rest now. She curled up deep in the cave. A sense of helplessness overwhelmed her.

How much longer would she have to stay here…. Why was she here?

A long time passed. Livia tried endlessly walking through the desert, tried drowning herself in the deep water where animals gathered, but when she opened her eyes, she was back in this place.

Again, a long time passed. Or honestly speaking, she couldn’t tell how much time had passed. To Livia, it just felt like terribly boring and futile time crawling by.

When would this trial end? Livia felt she had aged considerably. Though she couldn’t see a mirror, she thought she must have become middle-aged or elderly. Livia felt herself growing weaker.

The fatigue of enduring for so long also wore her down. Though she tried hurling curses into the air and banging her head against the wall, this nightmare-like trial wouldn’t end.

‘Triton, what do you want from me?’

She crawled into the darkness and just endured time. She didn’t want to see anything – sunlight, desert, scorpions, animals, nothing. Her body, stiff as stone, ached.

Even passing wind made her skin throb, and even brief sunlight felt like it would scorch her skin. But what troubled Livia more than that was….

‘I’m lonely.’

The solitude. The helplessness of having to endure alone endlessly weighed her down.