Chapter 20
"Z-Zircon?" Steven soon found himself placing up a bubble to defend from a giant, skeleton hand slamming down against him. "Ah! Z-Zircon, what's wrong?!" The skeleton hand then backhanded the bubbled up Steven, making him fly back and crashing the bubble into a wall. "Steven!" Peridot called out from above, but quickly sighed out in relief to see that Steven's bubble held up.
Zircon started to walk over to Steven, summoning his sickle dagger out from his gem. From thinking quickly, Zircon was smashed away to the side by a metal railing that Peridot sent out at him, "Steven run!"
"Peridot, I can't leave him!" Steven got up and ran on over to see Zircon throw the metal railing off with two skeletal hands that popped up from the ground. "I don't understand. Why is he acting like this?"
"Why~? Hehehe~…" Standing up on a ledge behind Zircon was Carnelian, laughing into the back of her hand, "That would be me little one~…this Bloodstone here is under my complete control due to his amount of negativity~. I must say, that argument between him and that Lapis was really amusing and proved my Nega-Dust is more potent than I thought~."
"What?!" Steven leaned forward in shock, "So it was you that's been making Zircon and Lapis argue recently!"
"Haha please don't give me all of the credit~. Those two already had so much negativity towards each other, it wasn't hard for me to make their anger skyrocket. I must say, if you didn't interfere they may have actually gone to fight each other~. Ooooh the mere thought of such malice all built up into two people~. It's enough to make me want to scream out hahaha~." Carnelian bit on one of her index fingers, making Peridot raise an eyebrow, "Steven get out of there, she doesn't seem stable!"
"I said not without Zircon!" Steven called back up, only to turn around and see Zircon throwing a punch at him. It connected right into Steven's cheek, sending him skidding across the ground and knocking his cosplay's wig off. "Steven!" Peridot cried out. She jumped down and stood in the way between Steven and Zircon, using her magnetic abilities to rise up different kinds of metal alloy around her, "Don't make me hurt you Zircon! You're a friend! Stay back!" Carnelian walked up behind Zircon, placing her hands on his shoulders and whispered into his ear, "Kill them my Bloodstone pet~…Do what you were born to do…and fight~." Zircon's pupils shrunk from her words, making him run straight at the two. Peridot had no other choice but to start chucking the metal alloys at Zircon who just bobbed and weaved right past them, slicing up any alloys he couldn't dodge. She quickly rose her hands up to brace herself only for Steven to jump out from behind her and backhand Zircon away with the front of his shield. Zircon's feet skidded as he was knocked back, quickly stopping him only about a couple dozen feet away from them. He playfully cracked his neck and smirked, a little bit of blood coming from his lip.
"St-Steven, this isn't good. Zircon has a Bloodstone's gem genetics and is just way too powerful for both of us to take on." Peridot looked behind Steven, frightened, while clutching his shoulders with her hands.
"Then maybe I can do something about it." Everyone looked towards the railing of the second floor lookout of the fountain area to see Lapis standing on top of it. Carnelian just smiled, "Well well, if it isn't the Lapis. Care to join our little party sweetie~?" She tried to provoke. Lapis responded with summoning her water wings and walking off of the railings, slowly descending to the fountain area's ground floor where everyone else was. "Lapis?" Steven brandished a face of extreme worry as he saw a look of intense anger in Lapis's eyes, looking straight over at Zircon.
"What did I say Steven?...He would turn on you eventually." She growled out.
"Lapis no! He's just under her control!" Steven cried out.
"I've heard enough." Placing her hand out, Lapis called water forth from the fountain in the room and surrounded herself with the huge amount, ready for a fight.
Carnelian smiled even more and leaned in to Zircon's ear again, "Now's your chance my Bloodstone, make mistress proud~." As before, Zircon dashed out after Carnelian's orders with the intent to kill, calling forth skeletal minions who were running beside him. The skeletal warriors leaped out at Lapis, but were quickly dispatched by her aquamancy. Zircon dove straight down at Lapis, slashing his dagger out at her multiple times and making her go on the defense with dodging the attacks. What the heck? He's faster than he was at the barn! Lapis thought. When Zircon performed another downward stab at Lapis, she caught his wrist with an aquatic tentacle, only for Zircon to drop his dagger, catching it in his other hand and trying to stab at Lapis's abdomen. Her eyes widened as she panicked and summon a water geyser that knocked Zircon away. Breathing heavily from her first, close encounter with Zircon, she realized something, "W-Was…Zircon holding his strength back when I attacked him at the barn?" Zircon sneered at her, moving his now wet, hair bang out of his eyes before slamming the palm of his left hand into the ground, calling normal sized, skeleton hands to grab Lapis's ankle. "What?!" She responded, looking back to see Zircon coming straight at her again. In heated desperation, Lapis sent all of her water out in sequenced blasts, Zircon slipping past all of them and delivering a flying spin kick, launching Lapis back into a wall. She yelled out from the sudden pain as she bounced off from it and landed onto floor, stomach side down.
"Yes! Do it~!" Carnelian yelled out in excitement. "I want to see her Gem fragments scatter all over the floor when you shatter her~! I want to see the anger in your eyes when you do it~!" Zircon raised his dagger while standing over Lapis, her gem on her back now visible to him. "Zircon stop!" Steven yelled out as he side-tackled Carnelian to the ground with his shield. Zircon's pupils grew back to normal as he held his left hand over his eyes and struggled back away from Lapis. "My Bloodstone! Help me!" Carnelian's voice only made Zircon's oranged pupils shrink again, turning quickly back and running over to where Steven was struggling with Carnelian, only for Steven to get kicked back in the chest by Zircon. "That little plebian touched me! Bloodstone my dear~…kill him for me~." She smiled, giving Zircon a peck on the cheek, making him walk forward to Steven with sickle dagger in hand.
Steven held himself up by his hands, scooting back against the ground, "Zircon stop! It's me! Don't listen to her!" He yelled out.
"Steven!" Peridot tried to stop Zircon by pulling on the back of his jacket, but he merely swatted her away with his hand, knocking her onto the floor.
"No…St-Steven…" Lapis struggled to look up from the side, watching as Zircon closed the distance more and more between Steven and himself. "Zircon…" Steven choked up, seeing his friend raise up the dagger to stab down at him. "We're friends….a family…right?" Steven slipped out with a tear running down his face. Zircon thrusted the dagger down only for it to stop, with the tip of the blade right in front of Steven's face. Steven looked up to see Zircon's teeth gritted as his arm was struggling against itself to pull the dagger back. "What?! What are you doing?!" Carnelian yelled out, "Finish him for me!" Yelling out at the top of his lungs, Zircon forced himself to pull the dagger up, only to stab himself in the left part of his chest. Everyone gasped out from this, making Carnelian scream, "What are you doing?!"
"I…" Zircon muttered out, slowly turning as he pulled out a second sickle dagger from his back, "AM NO ONE'S PUPPET!" He held his hand back, still struggling against Carnelian's control over him, and threw the second dagger at Carnelian herself, hitting her straight into her right shoulder. "Ah!" She fell back from the injury, forcing her control off of Zircon, immediately making him collapse from his own wound, "Zircon!" Steven leaned over top of Zircon, pulling Zircon over to lie on his back. They were soon joined by Peridot and Lapis, running over to them. "Zircon! Steven is he going to be okay?!" Peridot called out. Lapis, gritting her teeth in anger, glared over towards Carnelian only to see she was gone, leaving behind the cloak she was wearing the whole time. "No!" She yelled out at this sight only to be brought back by Steven's voice, "Zircon…Zircon wake up…" He whimpered out. Lapis turned to see that Zircon's eyes were closed as he was held up by Steven and Peridot, the latter of the two pulling out the dagger and quickly putting both of her hands on the wound to place down pressure. "Lapis! I need your help!" Peridot called back, Lapis running on over at her beckoned call. "Quick! Place both your hands on the wound and keep pressure on it!" Peridot ordered, Lapis immediately doing what she said. "Sorry Steven." Peridot apologized before ripping off the entire left sleeve of Steven's Inuyasha costume and using it as a makeshift bandage to cover up Zircon's wound. "Th-There…" Peridot sighed out, hoping she wasn't too late to stop the blood leakage.
"Zircon?..." Steven slightly shook Zircon as if trying to wake him up from a light slumber. "Zircon please…" Zircon wasn't budging though, making Steven's tears run out quickly and cry into Zircon's chest. "Zir-c-con!..." Steven babbled out through the crying. Lapis leaned back, completely in guilt from this situation, with Peridot lightly crying too beside Lapis.
"Oi…" A hand rubbed the top of Steven's head, "What are you crying for you nut-head?" Zircon smiled as his right eye slowly opened. "ZIRCON!" Steven tackled his friend, followed by Peridot as they both were laughing from this grateful moment, making Lapis herself smile with one tear falling down her cheek.
It wasn't long before Steven called the Gems to get them and help Zircon back to the house. There, Zircon was lying in Steven's bed, his back leaning up against the head mantle. Downstairs, Steven and the other Crystal Gems were trying to figure out what to do about the new threat of this Carnelian character. Hearing footsteps, Zircon looked to see if it was Pearl again coming to re-wrap his wound, only to see Lapis before him. "Well…this is indeed a surprise…" Zircon muttered out. Lapis looked down, holding her hands together, "Thank you…"
"Wait what?" Zircon looked to see if it really was Lapis who was standing before him.
"I…I said thank you." Lapis now took a seat at the foot of the bed, actually deciding to be this close to someone who she hated so much. "You were able to save Steven…again from what I've heard from him. Not just from Carnelian, but from yourself too…"
"…It was a very frightening moment for me Lapis…" Zircon continued on.
"What do you mean?"
"While I was under her control...My consciousness wasn't asleep while I was being used. I could… "see" everything that was going on…right down to the moment where I was about to kill my first friend I ever made in this lifetime of mine…" His hands tightly gripped on the bed sheets, "I've always hated myself when I was powerless in a situation…I tried and tried and tried to scream out and stop myself from doing it, but I just couldn't…it wasn't until I heard Steven reminded my mind that we were friends. That was what gave me the last push to break free from that Gem Witch's control…And for once I…I feel grateful. I feel happy that for once I had someone there to help me when I've been doing nothing my whole life but save those who would scorn me based on…well…" He held his hand on his face, "This…I am grateful that I didn't push that dagger down all the way…as well as that I'm grateful for you stepping in to stop me."
"Wh-What do you mean?! At that moment I…I still had those feelings of wanting to kill you for revenge."
"At that moment…I welcomed death if it meant I wouldn't hurt the ones I love." Lapis's eyes widened all the way from Zircon's words, looking straight at him.
"Zircon?..." Lapis started. Zircon looked over at her in curiosity. "When you were under Carnelian's control, you seemed to have been faster, stronger…at least, more so than you were at the barn. Were you holding back against me then?" Zircon looked up after the question was asked and responded, "Yes."
"Wh-Why though? I was trying to kill you!" Lapis leaned forward completely flabbergasted.
"Because you were Steven's friend…" He looked at her and smiled, making her blush a light, dark blue. "Tch…idiot…" Lapis looked away, narrowing her eyes, still having the blush. Zircon chuckled out softly. "I-I guess…I can follow by your example." Lapis looked back, smirking lightly too.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Zircon poked at her, verbally. Lapis merely nodded her head, holding her fist out to Zircon. Still smiling with her, Zircon returned her gesture with a fist bump. "So here I have made another friend in my once perceived, lonely life."