An ivory needle, carved from the cold crystalline blue of the water, rose on the horizon like a fearful claw. It reached toward a dream of its creator, but failed to touch it, lost in the immeasurable expanse of her mortal emotions. As if it were a dying giant, animals huddled inside it like parasites; a whirlwind of pure chaos where the stress of banishment turned them into crazed beasts, trapped in the frenzy of survival.
Silence. A silence as beautiful as it was disturbing, similar to the vacuum between the stars: an abyss inhabited by nothingness and by the death of those who dared to go beyond what their worlds could conceive. But this was not her case at all. She could not even choose to die on the way home; she could only remain locked on this godforsaken rock, the origin of the greatest traitor of her race, origin of the rebellion that killed one of the Four Matriarchs, origin of the traitors origin of the paranoia, origin of her fragmentation, origin of all the hatred she feels at this moment.
Resentment against the traitors who caused her tragedy, rage toward those who kept her as a mere mirror for millennia, madness mixed with the fear of not being able to return home, and finally, the cold and familiar calm of the water of this prison as she collapsed into its depths as if she were a piece of glass. She sank to think, to plan, to fabricate a false hope for herself beyond the illusion of the destiny she has chosen —no, the one she has had to choose.
She looked one last time at the brightest and most distant star of all in the cosmos, knowing it was not a real celestial body, but her home shining with the color of the Great Matriarch's creation.
Then, she felt something she vaguely recognized brush against her tower; a sensation of light, of meaning and coldness, a reflection of her own nature: Gems. Who else besides the Crystal Gems? No one, obviously. Rage ignited again in her gem while the water around her churned, transforming into mirrors of her madness; the light of blue and gold mixed like a wound closed by pure pressure but still bleeding.
...
Nora did not know when everything in the mission went wrong, you know? Well, she does know, she just will never admit it in this situation. Perhaps because of her stubbornness or for believing she was doing something good by freeing Lapis Lazuli —which she still maintains— but that is not what she refers to regarding her situation at this exact moment. Facing a version of herself made of water was at most a very great nuisance, but even greater was her annoyance when the damn thing reformed every time she crushed it with a directed explosion of force because, well, water absorbs impacts all too well.
She glanced at her companions and saw that the feeling was general. Amethyst let out screams of frustration every time a construct threw her through the air; Pearl looked overwhelmed by clones using her own water spears against her. Garnet, although firm, was stuck in a combat of attrition that did not allow her to gain ground. Only her father and Adrian seemed to be handling it better. Adrian made the clones collapse into simple puddles over and over again, while her father tried to help by firing bullets that, logically, passed through the water without damage. However, Adrian seemed to have "touched" her father's weapon; now, melodic thunders erupted from it that destabilized the ocean's form. Nora decided not to delve into how he did it; she needed to concentrate.
That was until the sound of a puff was heard near her while a slight cloud of light blue glow dissipated, and that was all it took for her to enter a trance she would not know how to explain to others.
"STOP!"
Her voice resonated in the space in all directions, making the water turn pink for a moment before melting and rejoining in its clear, transparent color, all this in less time than it took to return to normalcy as if it were eternity itself. All eyes were directed toward me when I began to approach the water tower before speaking.
"I do not want to fight anymore" I spoke loud and clear, observing how the water responded to know she was listening to me before continuing "I want to talk to you so I hope you do not try to crush me with the weight of the ocean" I finished before entering the water.
...
Closing my eyes and opening them again before inhaling seeking air, there she was with her back to me, observing the sky or something else. I took a moment to recover and, seeing that she would not speak first, I spoke.
"Why are you doing this, Lapis Lazuli?" I spoke calmly, getting her attention before getting to the important point "Taking the ocean for what?" I spoke without knowing her purpose. Was it revenge or something else? She herself did not know, but the options for doing this when you have been a recluse for thousands of years are, in the end, many, if you have the power to do it in the first place.
Lapis directed her gaze toward me, with those eyes lacking everything like silver mirrors. Her voice denoted anger, rage, and jealousy but with the touch of melancholy itself.
"I just want to go home" she looked at me as if that answer truly answered my question and was not already generating more unknowns in my mind. Unknowns answered almost entirely when she continued speaking "I am only using your planet's ocean because my gem is still broken; despite how well you and he repaired me, I am still broken."
She sighed and let herself fall onto the water floor, looking at the stars with a longing that pained me to understand. I gathered the courage to use my power on her, to try to heal what was missing, but a hand stopped me. My heart skipped a beat seeing Adrian holding my arm. He shook his head.
From one moment to another, he simply decided to be an idiot who resolves everything by speaking as if he were the devil himself.
"If that is the case, say no more" he declared with that supernatural tone, that "wizard" cadence that hides the fine print of an eternal contract. There was no malice in him, but a kind of distorted empathy, as if he saw in Lapis a reflection of his own punishment. "Consider it done, Ocean Witch" he finished, bowing and closing one of his eyes in that theatrical and unnecessarily meaning-filled esoteric way that he liked so much to show off as if it were a joke or a very elaborate circus act. "̶͖̼͗J̴͙͕̩̑̒͘u̵͉͌s̵̯̺̓ẗ̴̗͙́ ̷̗͌͌̍͜h̷̼̊̇̕ǫ̶̳̯̕l̴͎̂͋͝d̷͔͉͆̂͋ ̴͖̠͆̌͘o̴̯͖͊̊͛ͅn̵͙̰̎͜t̴̟͇̾o̶̲͐͝ ̶̩̃y̶̳̭̓̌o̸̖̾̎̌u̶̮̬͛r̶͙̗͊͒̿ ̸̜̠̈́͛́w̸̜̾i̵̼͘l̶̡̢̜̽l̴̨̗̼̎,̷̪̣̙̀̆͌ ̶̬̩̻̅́f̵̨̰͚̑̇o̷̲̯͊r̵̢͈̯̾̉̿ ̶̨͖̅́ȉ̸̧t̸̗̀͠ͅ ̶̟̠̈i̸̗̙͉̿͊̚ś̶̰ ̸̘̏t̶̤͉̎̕h̵̬̀è̷͛̅͜ ̶̻̮͌̓͝o̵̼̞͆͐n̷͙͋́ļ̴̛̻̈́y̵̓͜͝͝ ̵̺͚̄̌̕ẗ̸̲̠́h̸̫̐̍̌ī̴̠̘n̶̨̮͂g̷̬̮͊̚ ̵̮̠̜͋t̶̟̾͒̑h̶̹̝͛̔͘ä̴̭́̍̕t̴͓͗̕ ̵̰̟͐̕m̸̛͓̮ă̵̞̣͈ḱ̸̗̗̏͜ẹ̸͔̬̈́̒̂s̵̥̀ ̴͚̑u̶͚̻̩̔ș̴̣̀̈͠ͅ ̷̹̺̀͐ẘ̵͕̫h̶̨̰̿́̉ö̶̤̻̺́ ̵̖̼̫̓͆̏w̸͙̌ē̷̢̘͆̌ ̶̢̧͖̃̉̉a̴̺͓̕̚̚r̸̡͍̔e̷̞͙̻̎͑͛.̵̪̳̼̎̅"̷̱̂̃́ The sound that came out was not his human voice or anything like it; it was just a dream, a sensation I did not understand but that was there on the tip of my tongue like one more hallucination, but with him nearby, reality might as well be an illusion.
Then his smile was softer now. Before I or Lapis could even respond, he extended his hand, which glowed with a tiny point the color of the stars, so beautiful but at the same time incredibly ephemeral. The light touched Lapis's gem before it glowed in a pure blue color that radiated through the entire place as if it were a true star. The metal that held her cracks together liquefied as if it were pure water, embedding a new form around her like a gold ring between her gem and her body, embedded as if it were machinery.
I saw Adrian direct a look at me, as if he understood that he should not be doing this—not him—but that he would do it over and over again, these things for me. Without fully understanding why? Why am I that to him? T̸̨͋h̸͖̍a̵̘̋ț̷̔ ̶̺͝w̴̭̅ą̶̌s̸͛͜ ̷̯͑ǎ̸̹ ̸̊͜q̷̗̌ǘ̷̲ë̴̗́ś̴̝t̷̺̍i̶̝̔ợ̶ṇ̵̏ ̵̢͐b̵̯̿e̴̥͛ỵ̷͌õ̸͖n̵̪̕d̷̩̅ ̵̦̏h̵̫̀i̶͎͆s̴̖͠ ̷̞̚l̷̞͝o̷͎̾v̷̪͆ę̴͛ ̴̻͆t̵͖͛h̶͓̄a̶̦̋t̵̰̚ ̵̲̍İ̸̠ ̷̥͆a̶̢͑s̸̳̋k̴̗̽ė̵̱d̴̦̾ ̸̢̎m̸̊͜y̴͓͝s̴͙̅ȩ̷̽l̷̩̽f̸̱̑,̶̨͆ ̴̜̊n̴̡͛o̵̱͠t̶̺̋ ̵̞̈k̷͇̀ǹ̶̹o̸̙͠w̴̝̆i̶͈̐n̴̰̽g̶̟̃ ̷͙͛t̶̺̒h̸̗͛a̸̲̓t̷̩̍ ̷̪̈ĭ̵̙n̸͗ͅ ̴̡̀t̵̮͋h̸̲̿ȇ̵͚ ̷̐ͅf̷̗͋ù̵̗t̴̩͘ú̷̺r̷͓͌e̴̳̽ ̷̤̔I̵̡̔ ̷̮͆w̴̞͐ǒ̷͚u̷̍͜ĺ̷͜d̷̩͊ ̷̥̇d̴̮̄ȋ̸̙s̶̥̀c̶͖̀ǒ̸̖v̷̺̅ě̷͙r̴̛͙ ̴̲̂i̸̮͐ṭ̷̏ ̸͔̋w̴̫͌a̷̹̍s̵̖̕ ̵͕̌s̸̲͝o̶̦̕ ̶̩̂t̴͚̚h̵̗͑a̴̧̾t̶̝̄ ̴̰͠I̵̻͆ ̵̙͌ŵ̸̱ȯ̴̢ù̵͉l̵̰̅d̶̮̈́ ̴̗̇ǹ̴͓o̸̪̽t̴͍̐ ̴̫̈́c̵̡̿å̵̧r̷̞̈r̷̻̈́y̵̘̐ ̵̭͐ẗ̸̝́h̵̡̄ẽ̸ͅ ̷̫͘g̷̯͑u̶̲̽i̷̠͌l̷͖̚t̶̩̂ ̸̘̇o̸̺̐f̷͓̎ ̷̟̕ȧ̴͖l̴̳̓m̸̪̽ő̵̠ś̸̖t̵̝̚ ̴̲̾s̶̀ͅt̴̃͜ä̸͇́r̷̤͗t̷̥͛i̴̱̐n̶͖̈́g̶̘͗ ̵̳͌ȧ̷͕ņ̴̛ǒ̴̹t̵̻̎h̸͕͂ḙ̶͋r̸̡͒ ̷͚̇w̷̻̅a̵̞͊r̵͔͐ ̵̗́a̵̛̩ğ̸̺a̴͍͝i̷͈̊n̶̡̔ŝ̴ͅţ̶̑ ̵̫̂t̴̻͒h̸̡́e̷͓͛ ̷̞̏Ḣ̷̱ö̷̪́m̵͈͒ḙ̷͋w̵̪̿ò̸̻ŕ̵͉ľ̶̟d̴̡̊.̸̜̚
I looked at Lapis Lazuli, formed and extending her wings while floating; she looked at us with more wonder and emotion than I had seen in anyone before almost screaming from sheer overflowing emotions.
"Thank you for everything, ﾚの尺り のｷ ﾶﾑᄃんﾉ刀乇丂" she said while looking at him with a strange title coming from her mouth, as if a second voice added something new to the conversation, but it being a nonsense that grated on the ears as if it were not something that should be heard by me in my clouded mind before looking at me "Thank you as well, 刀乇W ﾚﾑりﾘ のｷ ﾚﾉｷ乇" she finished before taking off toward the sky. As the tower collapses, he holds me and I hold him, asking while we both descended as fast as our powers allow.
"Is it a bit like how you feel?" I said to nothingness without looking at him but knowing he heard me "Do you also want to go home?" I felt his voice as we moved.
"I will not deny that I feel nostalgic for things I do not remember" he spoke before continuing "but how can I yearn for something I do not know what it is like? It is a contradiction. I wish I could see that place, but how do I know this is not already my place?" he finished, and I could only think about it for a long time in my life. I did not know what to answer. Adrian was that: a bundle of contradictions that fit together in an impossible way. Someone who cared for everyone but acted like a madman; a god playing at being a person in the universe's greatest stage play. Someone so broken he looked like a single piece in the puzzle he embodied.