Chapter 8: I'm braking the ice
Sleeping at the back of a truck wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought. I was a bit cold, but I used Peridot as both a hot-water bottle and a plush. She didn't complain.
Earlier this morning, a friend of Steven's, Connie, joined us at the barn, with a box of donuts, which I was grateful for. Connie is absolutely adorable, and very smart. She might not be a witch, but Pearl is teaching her potions skills, and she is very talented.
In the meantime, Steven and Peridot take it upon themselves to teach me at least a spell everyday. Today, I am to learn how to throw an ice spell. Garnet thought it was a good idea, since I seem to have an affinity for water. She is currently thinking of a new plan, or so she said. Amethyst is somewhere, doing something.
I stand in the barn, in front of Peridot. Steven, beside me, tries to explain to me how to throw a spell. There's not even a spell, it's all about what you feel inside, which is even harder.
"So, do you remember how you felt on the beach yesterday? Well, think about ice, and close you eyes. If you're feeling cold, it's normal. It means its working. Then think about putting Peridot in a block of ice, and open you eyes to look at her, and hold up you hand toward her. Got it?"
I nod, and take a deep breath. In front of me, Peridot seems less and less confident.
"Can't we... hum... freeze a bunch of hay?"
I close my eyes, I think about ice as much as I can. Glaciers, and icebergs, and ice cubes, and icicles, and ice creams. I do feel cold, as if the blood in my body had frozen over. It's not a displeasing sensation. I open my eyes, and find Peridot in front of me, shivering in fear. I hold up my hand, and the icy sensation collects in the palm of my hand. I almost jump when a sudden ray of ice rushes out of my hand, but Peridot is the one of truly jumps, avoiding my attack with the shriek of a scared cat. On the ground and wall behind her, a small patch of ice appears. I smile with satisfaction, and Steven holds up his hand for me to high five, which I do gladly.
"Great! On you first try! It was so hard for me..."
I shuffle his hair with a smile.
"Of course it had to be, you were younger, weren't you? But it makes it even more impressive."
He smiles, then shouts:
"Peridot, come back, we'll do it again!"
But Peridot has hidden herself under the truck and is not coming out anytime soon. It's as if I were trying to take a picture of her.
"You'll have to do without me from now on! I'll be with Pearl and Connie if you're looking for me."
And with that she exists the barn in a rushed walk. Steven signs before looking back at my little ice spot.
"Oh, I have an idea! Want to see something funny?"
I nod, and he explains:
"Do the ice spell again, but throw it on this little patch of ice, okay?"
I close my eyes, and it seems a little bit easier this time to feel the ice inside of me. I do just as I did before, my palm toward my target. I'm not afraid when the cold beam leaves my hand, but I quickly crouch when I see it rebound on the ice. It flies toward the upper level of the barn, and we here the shriek of a cat, and the sound of cracking ice. Steven is laughing his butt off, but I'm a little bit more worried.
"Steven, what happened?"
"It's so cool, right? Magic rebounds on reflecting surfaces!"
We walk up the ladder, only to find Amethyst's tail trapped in a block of ice. She glares at us, which seems to stop Steven's fit of laughter.
"Hum guys, that was not fun at all! So get me out!"
We played baseball this afternoon, which wasn't such a good idea since we are absolutely not enough to make two coherent teams. Plus cats can't hold a bat nor throw a ball. Plus I'm very bad at catching balls.
Night is falling on the barn, and my magic practicing has exhausted me. I feel drained of all energy, even though I barely practiced an hour. I hope it gets better with time. I roll myself into a ball at the back of the truck, tug the blanket as close to me as possible, and wait for sweet sleep to come to me. I have barely closed my eyes when Peridot joins me, placing herself against my chest, which I still think she does on purpose.
I thought she was going to fall asleep, as usual, but she whispers:
"Lazuli, can I talk to you seriously?"
"Of course you can" I answer.
"We can't just wait to be found again by the Red Battalion. We have to do something to put an end to this crisis."
"I agree, but there is nothing we can do for now. The only one who could do something is Steven, but we need to protect him until he's ready. We can't just throw him in the lion's pit with no weapon to defend himself, you see what I mean."
"What I meant by 'we' is the two of us."
I frown.
"What?"
Peridot gets up and lays beside my face. Her emerald eyes look so big from this close.
"I have a plan. You see, before I was with the Crystal Gems, I was part of the Diamond covenant. I was sent to find them."
"Really?" I'm not as shock as I should, but maybe because everything has seemed possible to me for the past few days.
"So my idea is that you and me go back to Yellow Diamond, to trick her. She doesn't know who you are, so we can tell her I convinced you to follow me in her covenant. I just have to apologize profusely and hope she has a bit of mercy. She'll probably turn me back to human with enough apologizes. But anyway, once I'm human again, we can attack her, and possibly kill her, which will turn everyone else human again."
I ponder her plan for a minute. Part of me find it a good idea, and part of me, find it impossible, and stupid, especially this last part about killing her. But on the other hand, I do not have a better idea.
"So, are you in?"
I have heard better plans before, but I'm thinking, if this plan can put an end to this crisis, as she puts it, than we have to try. I chuckle lightly.
"This plan sucks."
"Alright, let's go! We have someone to pick up before we go."
I frown, wondering who that may be, and we walk out of the barn as silently as possible. The night is finally here, and only the moon illuminates our escapade. I can see the ocean, like a dark abyss, licking every so often closer to the light of the city. I thought we were going to take the warp-pad, but we don't. Instead, Peridot leads me to the rusted silo, and to the door on its side.
"Inside is my old co-worker, so to speak. Steven hexed her so she would be inoffensive, and we locked her in here."
I nod, and open the creaking door. The silo is empty and dark, if not for a pair of dark amber eyes, glowing with hatred.
"It's you, you pitiful thing!" a deep voice yells to Peridot.
"Please, Lazuli, pick her up for me, so we may go."
I give Peridot another look, but she doesn't seem worry about me walking inside a dark silo to catch god knows what. I take a step inside, than another, my legs trembling more and more. I keep my eyes on the small amber ones, but every step I take echoes around me as if to distract me. Only when I am close enough to see the small creature do I let out a giggle.
"Hey, what are you laughing at!"
I pick her up while minding her teeth, and can't help but smile. In my hands rests a big orange rabbit with evil eyes and a white tuft of hair on its head. She is giving me deadly glares, but I ignore them and hold her carelessly, like a plush.
"Steven really gave his all on this one."
"Alright, let's go!"
A/N: And this, ladies and gents, is the introduction of Jasper, I hope you're happy XD
But more seriously, guys, what do you think? We are now entering the final act, meaning next week will be the last. It's sad, I know. Also, if you were expecting any kind of commentary on last night's episode, I haven't seen it yet. So maybe it confirmed Lapidot, but I don't know! If you have read my profile you know I'm French, so I need to wait until the episode is posted onto the Internet, and then I need to wait for my sisters to come home from school, because we have this tradition of watching Steven Universe episodes together. So maybe I'll comment on it Monday, we'll see.
I wanted to give a very big thank you to MastersSkorpius for his review, and when I see the story stats for this story it really makes me happy to see that many of you like what I write, because you keep coming every time for more. So anyway, I'll see you Monday, we'll see how Peridot's plan works out, and until then you can review, follow, etc... By guys!
