Act 3
Chapter 3: Dreams of a Water Woman
In the dark depths of the ocean, Isaac was wearing a diving suit, flippers, and a full-face diving mask, which was connected to an air tank on his back. He was holding a flashlight, using it to light his way along the ocean floor. It's been an hour since he dived down into the water, and it was a nervous experience, to say the least.
As he swam alongside Garnet, who was merely walking, the two then headed towards a sunken ship that was sitting in its final resting place on the seabed. They glanced at one another before proceeding towards it. Garnet didn't need the same equipment that Isaac had, as she didn't need to breathe, and she was able to adjust her body's weight to have her feet on the floor of the sea.
Isaac swam towards a large hole in the hull and peered inside. All that was inside were the bones of the poor souls that couldn't get out of the ship in time. Suddenly he heard a beeping sound and looked at his gage. His air was running dangerously low, and he had to return to the surface.
"Alright, guys, I'm coming back up." He said into the communication device in his mask. Isaac looked at Garnet and pointed up. She nodded, not noticing a shark swimming at her. However, the gem leader punched it without even looking.
"Okay, darling, we'll be waiting for you," Pearl said on the radio. Isaac then swam towards the surface.
Following the light of the moon, Isaac saw the underside of the boat and headed for it. However, as he grew closer, he saw Steven's upper body head facing down in the water. Swimming up to his little brother, Isaac looked at him as Steven waved. The demi-Gem waved back, before continuing up. Breaking through the ocean's surface, the blonde quickly climbed up the ladder and stepped onto the deck. Pearl promptly walked over to her boyfriend, wearing a life jacket.
"Anything?" She asked, helping him take off his driving tank. Once it was off, Isaac removed his mask.
"Nothing. Only fishes and wrecked ships." He said, sitting down and taking off his flippers as Pearl wrapped a towel around his body. "It was nice of Yellowtail to let us borrow the ship."
The reason they were out at sea was because of Malachite, the unstable Gem fusion of his friend, Lapis Lazuli, and their enemy, Jasper. With Peridot and Citrine's locations currently a mystery, the Crystal Gems shifted their attention to finding the fusion. Isaac and Steven were especially eager to find her, hoping to break Lapis free and take down the murderous orange Gem.
Unfortunately, they've had little to no success. For all Isaac knew, Malachite could be at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. It was impossible to know her exact location in the ocean.
"Guh!" Pearl groaned and went back to looking over the boat's edge impatiently. She was tired, indicated by the visible bags under her eyes. "This isn't getting us anywhere."
"What's the matter, Pierogi? You tired?" Amethyst asked, just as crossed and just as sleepily. The purple Gem was holding Steven, who was also wearing a life jacket, by the ankles and dunking him under the water.
Annoyed, Pearl scoffed. "I don't get tired; I get results."
Isaac sighed and rubbed his face, just as tired as they were. Diving wasn't an easy thing to do, especially after multiple dives, which he's done. "Well, so far, we're not getting anywhere," he remarked, grabbing his thermos and pouring himself a cup of coffee before drinking it down.
"Uh, guys?" Isaac looked to see Amethyst still holding Steven by his ankles. However, now he was wiggling his legs, attempting to signal to Amethyst that he needed to be pulled up. "Was the sign for 'pull me up' one wiggle or two?" Amethyst asked, speaking slowly with visible bags under her eyes.
Isaac sighed and walked over to her. He reached down and grabbed Steven's leg before pulling him out of the water and holding him up. The young boy gasped for air before spitting a fish out of his mouth, which he grabbed midair.
"This is why we wear life jackets," Steven said with a frown as he threw the fish away. Isaac rolled his eyes and tossed Steven onto the deck. The young man grabbed a lifejacket of his own as the boy started flopping around like a fish out of water.
"Boys, Amethyst, stay focused!" Pearl exclaimed hotly, still searching the water while using her gem as a flashlight. "For all we know, Lapis and Jasper's fusion could be right under our noses!" She suddenly gasped as something appeared beneath the surface, making bubbles as it came up. That something turned out to be her leader. Garnet suddenly emerged from under the water. In one movement, she jumped up and climbed back on the boat.
"Nothing." She sighed.
"Face it; we're not going to find those two like this," Isaac said, sitting on a bench next to his girlfriend with his thermos. "The ocean's massive. It could take ten lifetimes to comb it. And without any kind of radar, we're going into this blind."
This disgruntled Pearl, but she knew her darling was right. "He's right. And even if we did know, when we got there, she'd be gone. What's the point? Who knows how long it'll take? It feels like we've been searching for light years already!"
"Uh, light years measure light." Amethyst pointed out cynically, absently poking Steven's stomach, causing him to spit out another fish. "Not years."
Pearl threw her hands up in exasperation and leaned against the edge of the boat. However, she slipped, causing her frustration to turn to her lifejacket. "And I'm sick of these... life... diapers!" She said, sweating.
"Safety is no punchline, Pearl." Steven reminded the white Gem. He got up and grabbed a nearby life jacket to give to Garnet.
"Safety is our job. We must find Jasper and Lapis." Garnet agreed with the boy as he gave her the life jacket. However, she simply threw it overboard and summoned her own. "As it stands, their fusion is a ticking time bomb."
After taking a sip of his coffee, Isaac became immensely worried about the blue Gem upon hearing the alarming implication and frowned. "You…make it sound like Lapis is in danger."
"Not just Lapis, but Jasper as well," Garnet said before beginning to explain, adjusting her shades. "She had control when she used her power to drag their fusion into the ocean. But, a fusion like theirs is unstable, bound together by anger and mistrust. If that bond snaps, their anger will take over, and destroy everyone and everything around them. Including themselves."
At this disturbing possibility, the two demi-Gems exchanged glances. Their worry for Lapis turned to dread at the thought of their friend meeting her end in a self-sacrificing mission to keep them safe.
"Don't worry, Lapis. We won't let you sleep with the fishes…." Steven said while leaning over the edge of the boat. Yawning as he started getting visibly tired.
"We're gonna have to keep looking. But first…" Garnet glanced at Steven, who had fallen fast asleep on the boat deck. "...let's bring the boys home."
Isaac wanted to protest but knew he was too tired to keep going, and there were no more scuba tanks to use. Sighing, he nodded and walked over to the controls of the boat. Pushing the throttle forward, Isaac turned the ship around and sailed back to Beach City. As he faced forward, Isaac looked sadly at the ocean as the boat rushed across it. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear the footsteps coming up behind him.
Standing beside him, Pearl looked at her darling with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" She asked, placing a hand on his arm. The softness of her touch helped ease his tenseness.
"Just…wondering how I could have stopped all this," Isaac said in a low voice. "If I was faster, I could've reached Lapis' cell and got her out. If I had acted and not just stood there on the beach…."
"There was nothing you could do, Isaac," Pearl said soothingly, trying to ease the blame he was placing on himself. "Lapis did what she did for you and Steven."
"I know. But she's in this situation because of us," Isaac said mournfully.
By the time the group made the long trek back to port, everyone was in a mixture of disgruntled or exhausted at the thought of their mission to find Lapis being put on hold. Even so, after Isaac tied the ship to the dock, he and others, now without their life jackets, brought Steven back home through the front door.
"We should be out there, searching! Not in here, not searching!" Pearl complained as they stood in the living room. Isaac was the last to enter, carrying Steven by giving him a piggyback ride.
"'Sleep is a curse, and yet a curse I need to live.' -Steven Universe." Steven quoted himself somewhat dramatically after Isaac set him down.
"The boys aren't like us. They need rest." Garnet said authoritatively.
"Don't you guys need rest too? You look exhausted." Isaac asked, frowning at the sight of the visibly exhausted Gems.
There was a long silence at this, as all three Gems looked rather disheveled and worn out. Garnet's face was lined with creases, Amethyst was drooling slightly with her face squashed down, and Pearl squinted with her hair disheveled. Looking ready to pass out at any moment. "We look awesome," Garnet assured, her voice strained by her stiff face.
"Look, you can't really knock sleep until you try it," Steven said as he walked over to the couch and picked up some cushions. "And maybe we can throw a little fun into the mix, with—" He then threw the cushions on the floor. "A slumber party!"
Pearl's eyes twitched, disgusted and appalled at the very suggestion. "Fun?"
"Yeah! All of us together, peacefully dozing off." Steven said with his usual smile as he plopped down on the cushions. "It'll be like there isn't a vengeful fusion boiling the ocean with hatred."
The Gems look to Isaac for his input. Sighing, he nodded his head. "Look, we all want to find Lapis, especially me and Steven. But we can't keep exhausting ourselves."
"They're right," Garnet said, walking over to Pearl and Amethyst. She put her hands on their shoulders as a sign that they too got the message they were conveying. "You should stay here and relax. But I'm going. Because I'm always relaxed." She finished by straining that last sentence with her teeth clenched.
However, Pearl wasn't so keen on the idea. "But, Garnet, you couldn't possibly search the ocean by yourself! Let me— uh, let us, help you!" She said, nodding over to the tired purple Gem. She then pumped her fist in the air. "We're a team!"
"No, right now you're a party. A slumber party. So go and sleep with your boyfriend. And no, I don't mean have sex with him." Garnet said in a firm tone of voice. Pearl and Isaac blushed brightly as the Gem leader walked backwards toward the Warp Pad. "Isaac, put these Gems to bed. Don't stay up too late. There are snacks in the fridge. Bye."
Just like that, she warped off.
And so it was. Putting on their pajamas and sleeping clothes, Isaac and Steven brought the girls up to the young boy's bedroom and worked together to set up a comfortable sleeping area on the floor for everyone to lie down on. Isaac broke out the air mattress for himself and Pearl, while Amethyst was given a sleeping bag.
"Now, before we get our slumber party started, would any of you care for a slumber companion?" Steven asked, picking up a tray of three different stuffed toys and presenting them to the three Gems.
Amethyst kindly declined Steven's offer. "I'm good." It only took her a second to flop over onto her stomach and quickly fall asleep, snoring loudly as her hair drooped messily over her eyes.
Steven nodded in approval at Amethyst and turned to Isaac and Pearl. "Anyone?"
"Sorry, buddy. I've got my own slumber companion." Isaac said, gladly scooping Pearl into his arms and giving her cheek a loud kiss. This made Pearl giggle as she tried to push him away.
"Isaac, not in front of Steven," said the white Gem, smiling with embarrassment as she giggled.
"Okay!" Steven grinned, walking off with the tray and setting it down. He then jumped into his bed and got under the covers. "Sleep it up, then!"
Letting go of Pearl, Isaac got under the covers on the air mattress and sighed as he laid on his back. He then looked to Pearl, who was still sitting up. "Pearl, aren't you gonna sleep with me?"
"Oh! Right." The white Gem complied, but instead of getting under the covers with him, she sat cross-legged and closed her eyes halfway. "Is... this right?"
"Uh no. Remember how you lay down with me after having…." Isaac whispered to the white Gem, "adult times?"
"I get it now, darling." Smiling lovingly at her lover, she grabbed the covers and laid down. She snuggled up to Isaac, and the young man wrapped his arms around her. However, her eyes remained halfway open. "Am I doing it?"
"Well, this is better than before." Isaac kissed her on the nose. However, he knew that his girlfriend wasn't quite familiar with the concept of sleeping. "But this time, instead of staring at me, you close your eyes all the way."
"Okay." Pearl closed her eyes and sighed as she snuggled into Isaac's chest. However, the white Gem still made no signs of actually falling asleep. "Alright. I'm sleeping now. I'm sleeping."
"Sleeping doesn't involve talking, love."
"How is this even supposed to work?!" Pearl huffed, opening her eyes and glaring at Isaac.
"It's easy," Isaac said, yawning. He tried to stay awake, but it proved impossible as the bed was just too comfortable. "You just lie down, get nice and comfy. Don't move... And don't... think about... aaaaanything…" Isaac trailed off, before drifting off into a deep, welcome slumber.
On board the Rocinante, its captain, Isaac Infinite, was sitting with his lovely girlfriend, Pearl, having what was possibly the most precious thing they cherish other than each other; coffee. The former MCRN-turned-independent warship Corvette-class frigate had been trying to find a rogue Homeworld ship that had been spotted near Jupiter, and they were going to stop it.
They were enjoying their time together when the intercoms blared on, and Garnet's voice came on. "Isaac, we've got something. Come up to the bridge."
"What do you think it could be?" Pearl asked, a little worried as she placed her cup on the cup rack with her boyfriend's.
"Don't know, but we better get up there and find out." He said before the two of them quickly rushed over to the metal ladder and climbed up to the operations deck. Like many human-made ships, the Rocinante was built like a tall building to allow the vessel's forward thrust to create its own gravity.
Stepping into the operations deck, Isaac and Pearl quickly walked over to Garnet, who was standing over a large touchscreen monitor, which she turned around to face him and the white Gem. Steven was with her, while Amethyst was asleep on the flight deck above them on the next floor.
"Thrill me," Isaac said.
"Scanners just picked up an unknown ship passing our position about ten klicks away from us. I doubt it's a cargo ship, not with how fast it's going." Garnet said.
"Could it be Peridot's ship?" Steven asked, hopeful that it was.
"If so, then they're still running dark," said Pearl as Isaac tapped on the screen to zoom in on the unidentified ship. "Meaning they know we're looking for them."
The video zoomed in, but was unfocused. Isaac frowned and adjusted the image for a better look. And just as he did, he saw it was the giant green hand. "It's them. And they're burning like hell towards Earth." He said, before looking at his crew. "We're going after that ship on an intercept course. I want everyone suited up and ready for a high-G burn!"
The others nodded and quickly went to put on their spacesuits for the fight that was to come. Once on, everyone took their potions and closed their helmets. Sealing themselves inside the pressurized suits. While everyone was seated in their chairs on the operations deck, Amethyst remained on the flight deck and took her seat in the pilot's chair. Isaac sat next to her in the gunner's chair.
"Alright, dudes, here comes the Juice." She pressed the button on her screen. Activated the chairs of the ship to pump a special liquid into the bodies of the crew, making them all grunt from the sudden shock of feeling it. It was important that all of them had the Juice, or else they'd never survive the maneuvers the Rocinante performed or the speeds they were going to be going.
Amethyst shut off the giant thruster at the back of the ship, before using Roci's reaction control system, or RCS, to spin them around in the direction of the Homeworld warship. Then she kicked the Epstein Drive into full power and accelerated towards their prey.
As the crew watched their screens, they saw they were quickly catching up to the hand ship. "Approaching missile lock." The purple Gem said.
"What am I aiming for, Pearl?" Isaac asked on the comms. Peridot, Citrine, and Jasper had Lapis on that ship, and they were going to get her back.
"We need to hit the base of the hand to knock out its engine," Pearl said to her lover.
"Alright." Isaac looked at his tablet and started taping on the buttons. "I'm arming the torpedoes."
The Rocinante rocketed towards the hand ship. However, the hand suddenly started moving. Still going in the same direction, it turned around and opened its palm up towards the light frigate. Then, from its palm shot out what had to be twenty missiles, and they were all heading towards Isaac's ship.
"Holy shit, that's a lot of missiles!" Amethyst exclaimed as she looked at her widescreen monitor with wide eyes.
"I'll take out as many as possible with the missiles," Isaac said, quickly arming two missiles and pressing the launch button. Out in the vacuum, two missiles laughed from the Rocinante and headed for the barrage of rockets coming at them. They locked on the first ones they could and collided with them, creating two explosions. "Damn it! It only took out two!"
"What now?" Pearl asked.
"We can't launch anymore. We'll have to gun these torpedoes." Isaac said, turning on the ship's best defense, its point-defense cannons.
"Alright, I'm putting her into a spin," Amethyst said.
The Rocinante's thruster shut off as the ship continued flying forward, as she started to spin. Then the PDCs, radar-guided Gatling-style rotary cannons, popped out of every side of the vessel on their swiveling bases. They locked onto the missiles coming at them and fired away. Spitting out hundreds of 20mm×102mm rounds in arcs at high rates of fire. Each cannon fired until it hit a missile before shooting at another one. As they hit each rocket, they exploded all around the Rocinante.
And when they were no more, the PDCs went silent.
"Woo! Got them all!" Amethyst cheered in her seat.
"Alright, I'm changing the rail gun to take out their engine," Isacc said, tapping on his tablet to get the gun ready. However, all the screens started to glitch and then turned to static. "Steven, what the fuck—huh?"
Isaac froze as the intense atmosphere of the battle he was in seemingly shattered completely when he turned his head to the right. Standing beside him was revealed to be none other than Lapis Lazuli herself. Water was eerily flowing out of her eye sockets and open mouth. She stared at Isaac in silence, aside from the water sloshing from her eyes and mouth.
"L-Lapis?" Isaac asked as he was now standing. The world around him and himself turned monochrome, with only Lapis keeping her colors. The blue Gem said nothing as the dimly colored blue water rushed past Isaac's feet onto the floor. The demi-Gem gasped as behind Lapis, a large, dark wave rose out of the water, casting a shadow over Isaac. The young man looked up in horror, as the tide rose above Lapis' head, who stood completely still.
The moment Isaac awakened from the nightmare, he darted upright, covered in sweat, as his mind was racing to make sense of what had happened. He didn't get much longer to ponder over it before Pearl sat up next to him and placed her hand on his chest.
"Are you okay, darling?" The white Gem asked, concerned up seeing how startled her love was.
"Uh…y-yeah…" Isaac let out a sigh. "I just…I had this dream. We were in a space battle, and Lapis was there."
"Wait, really?" Steven asked, instantly waking up and sitting upright as he looked at Isaac with wide eyes.
"Well, that doesn't make any sense." Pearl pointed out matter-of-factly. "Lapis is fused with Jasper at the bottom of the ocean."
Isaac and Steven stared at Pearl, glanced at each other, and then back at Pearl. Both were quite baffled by the white Gem. "...You've never had a dream before, huh?" Isaac asked his girlfriend.
"Uh... I don't think so."
"Well, Pearl, dreams don't always make sense." He said as he laid back down on the air mattress. "They appear in your mind as a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring during sleep. Some are easier to explain, while others aren't."
Steven sighed as he slumped on his bed at the foot of it. "Like…this one time, I had a dream, where, like, these things... were being sold at the Big Donut, right? But the front door of the Big Donut shop led to the back of my dad's van?" As the young Gem continued talking about his dream, it was clear that he was growing increasingly tired by the second, and his story had the same effect on those still awake.
Pearl eventually began to tune him out, looked away, and yawned into her hand. Bored of Steven's endless rambling, she decided to lie down with Isaac and snuggle her back against him. Isaac smiled and turned his body to spoon her. And then he would eventually drift off into sleep once again.
Back in the land of dreams, Isaac was back in the ocean. However, he wasn't wearing his diving suit, only his casual clothing. And he didn't have to have an air tank. He was able to breathe on his own! Isaac swam around the bright coral reef as he swam with the fish.
"WOOOO!" He cheered and landed as he swam as fast as a fish. Keeping up with them as he rushed alongside them. He then did a twirl as he rushed up to the surface and jumped high out of the water as what had to be hundreds of flying fish jumped with him. "This is amazing!"
Diving back into the water, he descended back down towards the coral reef and stopped when he saw a colorful tail swim past him. Isaac looked around but saw nothing, that is, until he felt the water rushing behind his back, and he turned around. That's when he saw Pearl as a gorgeous mermaid.
The white Gem gave her darling her bedroom eyes before swimming towards the reef. Instantly excited, Isaac followed after her. Going into a dark cave after her. However, when he floated further into it, the light of the exit faded away. Plugging the demi-Gem into inky darkness. "Hmm…." Isaac mused in concerned confusion as he stopped and looked around. "This is... getting really weird."
"This is weird." said a quiet and distant voice that surprised Isaac.
He glanced around for the source of it. "Hey, that sounds a lot like—"
"Isaac!?"
Isaac gasped and turned around. His eyes widened in shock as he saw none other than the Gem he's been looking for hours for. "Lapis Lazuli!" He exclaimed in disbelief as he floated towards the blue Gem with a smile.
"Isaac, what are you doing here?" Lapis asked, her eyes wide with alarm and concern, and Isaac floated in front of her. Both she and the Gem of War slowly floated upwards out of the darkness and back into the blue ocean.
"What are you doing in my dream?" Isaac asked with a relaxed smile. "I thought I would find mermaid Pearl…"
"What? No!" The blue Gem exclaimed, apparently distraught by his mere presence alone. "Isaac, I'm trying to concentrate! H-How are you here?"
Isaac's calm manner dissipated as he realized just how panicked Lapis seemed to be. However, why she was, he wasn't so sure. "Wait, Lapis, are you okay?" He asked, reaching a hand out to her. However, she refused it.
"Isaac, please, I—!" The blue Gem was suddenly cut off when a burst of distorted laughter was heard. Then, a giant disembodied mouth appeared in the background and engulfed Isaac and Lapis.
Once again, Isaac shot upright with a gasp. His breathing was short for a moment as he looked around and found himself back in Steven's room. However, oddly, Isaac heard the sound of amused chuckling. He looked to see it was coming from Amethyst and Steven. They were both watching something over Pearl's head, who had finally fallen into a deep, peaceful slumber.
"What's so funny?" Isaac asked with a confused frown. The purple gem pointed up. The blonde man followed her finger and saw a projection coming from Pearl's gem. Showing what she was dreaming of.
In her dream, Pearl laughed as she leaned against a Fabio-looking Isaac. Both of them were on a sailboat, riding the waves of the vast ocean."Oh, Isaac! This is wonderful. I'm just having so much fun, spending time with you, darling." Pearl said in her dream, wearing a loose nightgown. Leaning closer, she stared up at her 'interesting' depiction of Isaac. "What do you say we finish today, with a trip to Mask Island..." She says that with a flirty smirk and a blush.
"Sure... it'll be easy to get there…" The Dream Isaac said with a voice that wasn't his. He then looked down at her, revealing himself to have the face of Greg. "CAUSE YOU FIXED MY VAN!" Dream Pearl let out a horror-filled scream, as she jumped away from him. Dream Greg then opened his mouth to slowly let a slice of pizza come out of the former rock star's month. And just like that, the dream abruptly ended as Pearl woke up with a gasp. Gaging, the white Gem sat up and covered her mouth, feeling gross, with Amethyst snickering.
"I don't understand," Steven said to Isaac. "What do you and Pearl do at Mask Is-"
"Ah dah dah! It's not important!" Isaac interrupted with a raised, nervous voice.
"But-"
"NOT IMPORTANT!" While Steven gives his brother a questioning look, Amethyst continued to snicker as she had ideas about what they did on the island. Isaac looked at his girlfriend with a hand around her waist. "Pearl?"
Quickly composing herself, Pearl turned to her darling. "Uh... yes, darling?"
"I….had another dream…about Lapis," Isaac said, glancing down apprehensively.
"O-Oh, that's okay!" Pearl quickly reassured him, throwing her arms in the air with her tone stumbling amidst her remaining embarrassment. "Dreams aren't real! They just 'Don't make sense'!"
"Yeah…But I-I think I was talking to her." The blonde Gem frowned. This piece of information gained surprised glances from everyone in the room.
"Wait. How do you know?" Pearl asked, cautiously.
"I don't, but... I could just feel it. She was yelling, and... she was terrified."
"Is she okay?" Steven asked, worriedly.
"What did she say? Is she still in control?" Pearl asked, concerned about the possibility of Malachite going wild.
"I... I don't know. She said that she was trying to concentrate." Isaac said, shaking his head.
With his peace of information, Pearl took a moment to think as she stood up. "Isaac, you could use your dreams to connect with her mentally."
"Is that something I can do too?" Steven asked as both he and Isaac were bewildered by the possibility.
"It's likely…" the white Gem nodded, still pondering.
"Can you do it again? Maybe Lapis can just tell you where they are." Amethyst suggested.
"Good idea." Isaac nodded, stealing his resolve and knowing that this was their best chance to find Malachite. So, he laid back down on the ground. "I'll just have to go back to sleep."
Steven had an idea and turned to Pearl. "Quick! Pearl, tell him about your dream so Isaac can fall asleep!"
"M-my dream?!" Pearl asked, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
Amethyst chuckled teasingly. "Come on, Pearl! It's for the greater good! Heh hah!" She giggled with a playful grin.
"Ugh! If I must…." The white Gem begrudgingly compiled. She'd rather not tell anyone but her boyfriend, but with this being a crucial moment, she closed her eyes and breathed in. "So, in my dream, I was... wha?"
And just like that, it was lights out for Isaac as he quickly fell asleep and started snoring, before Pearl could even begin. Amethyst chuckles once more. "Wow. He been sleep."
Much like in his previous dream, Isaac found himself free float underwater, though it was much different than he was last there. "Alright, back in the dream world." He said to himself as he began floating past elements from his previous dreams and real life, such as flying fish, the Rocinante, and pillows. "So I can imagine anything I want. Uh…" To test this theory out, Isaac reached into his pocket. At the same time, his body was floating into the darkness again. "A teddy bear!"
But instead of pulling out said teddy bear, the demi-Gem pulled out a handful of coffee beans. "Well, that didn't work," he said with a dissatisfied frown, stashing it away. "Now, how do I find Lapis?"
Isaac started swimming through the darkness. He first encountered Amethyst floating by on a skateboard. "Not Lapis…." He said as a humpback whale floated by. "Not Lapis." Garnet and sexy mermaid Pearl floated by him. "Ooooo~. No! Not Lapis."
He quickly turned around, only to bump into a giant mass of white fluff, tinted green. "What the…?" Isaac looked at the hair he was on. It wasn't like any hair he's ever seen in his life. It wasn't Lion's hair, as his mane was pink and fluffy. This was something else. "What are you? Whoa!"
Isaac gasped as he began to sink into the hair. He tried the claw himself out, but it was too late. The blonde Gem was pulled through the white hair, and gravity returned to his body. Isaac yelled as he fell for three seconds before landing roughly on his back in what felt like water.
Groaning, Isaac sat up and rubbed his head in pain before looking around his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be a dark area with a water-covered floor that stretched for miles in all directions. The only light source came from the water bathed in an ominous green light, just like when the hand ship came to earth.
Standing up on his feet, Isaac looked around. "What is this place?" He asked in bewilderment.
A familiar groaning voice got him to spin around. Isaac then saw Lapis standing by herself a distance away from him. She was grunting with effort, struggling to pull on a pair of water chains connected to thick orbs of water enclosing her hands. The chains were linked to the water's surface.
Lapis' face was beading with sweat as she pulled as hard as possible, trying her best to keep herself above. No matter how exhausted she was, Lapis was desperate not to stop. She couldn't stop.
"Lapis!" Isaac cried out to her and rushed over to aid her in any way he could.
"I-Isaac!" Lapis gasped, shocked to see him as her grip faltered. She quickly concentrated again. "Why do you keep coming back?!"
"I'm here to help you!" Isaac exclaimed, looking at the blue Gem and the chains. He quickly grabbed onto the chains and tried pulling with her. Whatever these were attached to, they were either heavy or strong. But Isaac was stronger.
"Stop!" Isaac was suddenly pushed away when Lapis hit him with her shoulder. Making him back off. "You can't help me! I can't get distracted. I've got to hold us down with the weight of your planet's ocean!" She said, letting out tight, almost painful groans as she struggled to speak. "I've got to keep her—!" Lapis cut herself off with a harsh grunt as she pulled up the chains as much as possible.
"Wait! Lapis, tell me where you are! We can help you!" Isaac said, quickly grabbing the chains again and pulling with her. "I want to help you!"
Upon hearing that and seeing him pull on the chains with her again, Lapis stopped struggling to look at Isaac with wide eyes for a second. "Isaac…" However, in that brief moment, the force she was struggling against doubles down, yanking the chains out of Isaac's grip. Pulling Lapis back down roughly and making her refocus her energy. "I told you! No!"
Lapis shrieked as she pulled down under the surface, but at the same time, Isaac quickly grabbed her hand. Laying on his stomach, Isaac held on with all his might as she was pulled down into the water. His arm buried down in it up to his shoulder. Isaac grunted as he tried pulling her up, but his grip wasn't secure, and whatever was pulling her down pulled Lapis out of Isaac's grip.
"Lapis!" Isaac cried out, pulling his arm out of the water. But when he tried to place his hand in the same place Lapis went down, it was just a solid surface. "Lapis, no!"
He didn't have time to try and search for her. When Isaac lost his grip, something else broke through the surface in a large splash several feet away. Isaac turned around and gasped upon seeing who it was.
It was Jasper that had erupted on the surface. She was gasping for air, with water shackles around her wrists and ankles. The orange Gem warrior fell on all fours, panting with exhaustion, until she looked up at Isaac.
"... You!" She growled, looking at him like a mad animal and a need to kill.
"Jasper!" Isaac stood up and faced his body towards her.
With a crazed look in her eyes, Jasper began crawling toward Isaac like a savage beast with a hunger for vengeance. "You! YOU! YOU!" She practically screamed with all her hatred for the Gem of War, reaching out a shaking hand to attack Isaac.
Only to get a swift kick to the face that sent her flying back a few feet. Only being stopped when the chains reached their full length, and she fell back down. Jasper tried standing up when Isaac's foot stepped down on her chest, hard.
"WHERE IS SHE?!" Isaac yelled, his eyes filled with fiery fury.
Jasper glared up at him and would have attacked, but her restraints kept her from moving her limbs. However, she was suddenly pulled out from under Isaac's foot and dragged back to where she came from.
"No!" She yelled, fiercely clawing at the ground below her. She was able to slow herself down, but was still getting pulled back. Soon her legs and waist were in the water. "LAZULI!"
Now Isaac knew what to do. He walked towards Jasper, making her double her efforts to pull away from the water to kill him. But the Gem of War would not allow it. He stumped her face, making her lose her grip.
"Noooooooo!" Jasper yelled before she was inevitably dragged back under the surface. Returning to the unfathomable dark depths where she came from.
With the psychotic Gem subdued once more, Lapis thrusted back out of the water's surface, with her water wings outstretched and her appearance and clothes tattered. She collapses on the wet ground, grunting and gasping for air.
"Lapis!" Isaac ran back over and pulled her to her feet.
"Can't you see?" Lapis hissed at him, her voice cracking under the strain of holding Jasper down. "I can't stop, not for a second! I'm under the water for a reason, so don't look for me. I don't want your help!
"No, Goddamnit, I can't leave you like this!" Isaac grabbed the chains again.
"Why wouldn't you just let me do this for you, Isaac!?" Lapis shouted at him fiercely.
Isaac stopped and looked at her with a surprised expression. That line. It was just like what Pearl said to Rose. The blue Gem was putting herself through all this pain and struggling for the sake of keeping him and everyone safe. It was a burden that shouldn't have been placed on her shoulders in the first place. Yet, here she was, risking her life. "Lapis…" He said softly. "Please. It's not too late to stop this."
"...No…I'm not Lapis anymore…." Lapis looked away from Isaac. Suddenly, Isaac was smacked away by one of her wings. He landed on the ground a few feet from her and sat up. He watched as she wrapped her water wings around her upper body. Facing him, Lapis looked at Isaac with cold, unfeeling resolve as if knowing the fate she was sentencing herself to, but was still willing to do it. She'll do it for him.
"We're Malachite now."
"LAPIS!" Isaac screamed and quickly stood up. He ran towards the blue Gem to grab her. But ultimately, he was too late. Lapis willingly slid under the water with a whirlpool of her own making. Allowing it to swallow her up before Isaac could get to her. Leaving no trace of her behind.
Isaac stared at the water with sad eyes when another whirlpool formed behind him. This one was much more massive. Rising out of the water was the deadly, monstrous fusion he had been looking for. Malachite. As the fusion emerged from her own mindscape, the water started to rise and submerged Isaac in the dark, icy cold water. He stared at Malachite as she opened her four misshapen eyes. She turned to stare at Isaac, her upper pair of eyes narrowing in anger.
"GO!"
"AAAAAAH!" Isaac shot upright again the moment Malachite forced Isaac out of his dream, and he woke up sweating all over his body. Isaac was so shell-shocked by what he saw that he didn't even realize he was back in the bedroom loft. Isaac gasped and looked up ahead of himself. "LAPIS!"
"You saw her?!" Steven quickly asked, snapping Isaac out of his thoughts as he panted heavily. He looked around to see his brother, Pearl, and Amethyst all sharing the same look of concern as they observed the clearly frightened demi-Gem.
Isaac didn't answer immediately, trying his best to catch his breath and calm down, which was a feat that seemed nearly impossible to do. Even so, all it took for him was to feel Pearl pulling her young lover into a comforting hug and kissing him on the face and head to get him to relax, even though he was still on edge.
"Isaac, it's okay. We're here." The white Gem assure, running a hand through his hair to soothe him.
"Did you see her?" Amethyst ventured. However, before Isaac could try and form words to talk, Garnet then appeared and entered Steven's bedroom loft.
"This... is a weird party." Garnet remarked, noting how they everyone was still awake
"Garnet!" Steven cheered, running up to her, and hugging the legs of the Gem leader
"Steven, you're still awake!" Garnet said, though she didn't have any time to say anything else when Isaac stood up and walked over to the loft's edge.
He jumped down on the couch below and bounced off the cushions before walking towards the kitchen. Turning on the sink, Isaac cupped his hands under the water and splashed it on his face. Rubbing his with the water, Isaac turned off the water and panted for a moment. He could finally slow down his heart beating rapidly and calmed himself down.
"Isaac?"
The young man turned around to see Pearl and Steven standing with him in the kitchen. Garnet was standing in front of the counter with Amethyst sitting on a stool. All were looking at him worriedly.
"Isaac, what happened in your dream?" Pearl asked softly.
"How is Lapis? What did she say?" Steven asked, adamant about knowing about the blue Gem's status. "Did she tell you where she is?"
As water dripped from his face, Isaac sighed sadly as he remembered his tense encounter. "N-No. She's still fused with Jasper. I'm sorry, buddy, but Lapis…she didn't doesn't want to be saved." He said, looking at the boy with a guilty expression. Isaac then looked at the others anxiously. "I honestly don't know if I can go back into Malachite's mind. She's still in control, but I don't know for how long. Lapis is fighting with Jasper for control of Malachite's mind…."
Isaac had to pause for a moment, as the realization settled in.
"...And Jasper's winning."
AN: And that was the Chille Tid episode of Gem of War. This was a fun one to write, especially with the interactions with Isaac and the other characters and the dream moments. And with God of War: Ragnarok now out, I'm even more excited for this story. Isaac replaced Steven in being able to reach out to Lapis, mainly because he's the main character and with both of their similar powers, it made sense. Plus, we could see how he would handle the situation.
Isaac's first dream was based in the universe of The Expanse, and if you're a sci-fi fan, I really recommend it. I've just finished the first season and I'm HOOKED! So much grounded science fiction goodness to enjoy.
Alright, with that finished, it's time to move onto Heroes of Tomorrow. When we come back to this story, we'll be doing the arc that I'm…not really a fan of. The one where Pearl and Garnet are fighting. However, I'm completely revamping it and making it different.
Until next time, have a Happy Thanksgiving.