Onward and towards.
For a split second nothing happened, all was still and silent, then a small hairline crack appeared in Jasper's gem and all hell flooded forth.
Topaz's eyes widened as he heard the crack in the gem like someone had shattered glass right next to his eardrum and his head filled with pain and agony, it nearly caused him to faint his mind assulted by his friends torment but he pulled it together. Then the flood came, the roaring of water in the distance was small at first like hearing the ocean before you even got to the beach but it was quickly growing louder as Steven pulled himself up. "Mode change White diamond!" Just in time too as the water washed over them, its weight seemed to triple by the second as the force of all the worlds ocean's pressed down on them. Topaz huffed feeling the instinctive need to hold his breath. Luckily he didn't need to, swimming as quickly as they could they soon found what was causing it. Both looked on in horror as Malachite summoned more and more water.
Diamond cursed as he pulled Onion out of the water and up into the bubble shield he'd created. They'd managed to find and help everyone right before the flood gates had opened and it was good timing too because the pressure alone would have smashed them into paste. Seeing as how she was fine now Diamond liquified and slid off of Connie's body leaving her safely in her mother's arms. Looking outside it was bad. "Stay here and be safe, I'm sorry in advance." Diamond phased out the bubble before kicking it sending it skipping like a stone as he stood on the water. "Great what now?" Shifting back into purple he quickly spied the gems and Peridot trapped in a gravity well so he quickly used his powers to send them shooting to the surface of the water and towards the few rock towers tall enough to still be above water.
There was a problem though, Peridot couldn't swim, at least not the right way, she was just to heavy. Diamond quickly shifted to white and dove in after her as he saw Steven and Gopaz tackle Fake Topaz. "Wait my limb enhancers!" Diamond shook his head as he broke them. "They're to heavy you stay down hear any longer you die." He quickly pulled them to the surface and spied a small crack in Peridot's gemstone but a blast of energy fixed that. The water was getting heavier but luckily they were able to get above it, Diamond shifted to white before pouring his magic into the stone tower making sure it wouldn't crumble. "You are very small." Peridot huffed glaring at them. "Shut it clods!" Diamond grabbed her inspecting her gem for injuries. "You not hurt, that's good." Peridot seemed nervous being this close to a precursor but Diamond let go before diving in. "Stay safe no matter what, i'll look after Steven." Diamond rocketed smashing into an unprepared false diamond back and forcing him down. "Topaz go!" He nodded before rocketing off and landing on Malachite's face. "Don't worry i'll help the three of you."
He knew he could do this but he never tested it so he took a moment to prepare himself before he touched his gem to Jasper's and dove into their mind.
Topaz looked around at the dark and bleak colors of the main mind of Malachite, it was in a word horrid. The world around him was black and green like the fog had blocked out the sun. He stepped around for a bit noticing the disrepair and sighing deeply. "Who to find first?" It was easy to find when you could summon it forth so he did and a pale mirror greeted him. "To Lapis then." He stepped through expecting the worst.
He wasn't disappointed the entire place was like one giant kaleidoscope and a hall of mirrors wraped together and no matter what step he took in any direction he could tell he was getting no closer or farther away from where he entered. "This place is madness and suffering the only way to escape, is to become empty." Topaz refused to accept that. "Gem change Lapis Lazuli!" Topaz's gem sank into his body reappearing on his back as his skin morphed and changed. It became clear and running like he was a waterfall as the water seemed to make op everything contained in his armor. "Will the connection, let the voice be heard." Topaz screamed, screamed until even his throat would bleed and the mirror started to develop cracks, then they grew as the pitch rose and the world shook, then it shatered, no sound no eruption, it all just broke away and vanished. "Gonna spit red because of that." Topaz groaned out hoarsly rubbing his raw throat. Now there was only one way to go, forward. "Lapis!" It was dark now but he could move as he pleased so it wasn't hard to find her. "Lapis, come on we need to go find Jasper!"
The way she twitched told him he was heard but she ignored him. "Why would i want anything to do with her?" Topaz shrugged. "Because if we don't fix this you'll both die, Malachite is so unstable it's literally impossible for you two to exist like this, YOUR GEMS ARE LITERALLY FALLING TO PIECES!" She seemed angered by that. "Maybe i want it this way maybe i want to die and i'll take her with me." Topaz tilted his head Lapis was angry that he got but something was off, like it was being fed. "Sorry about this." She didn't have a chance to repond before Topaz blasted her in the face. Lapis recoiled before shakng her head as she willed herself to stay conscious. "Feel better now?" Lapis shrugged. "I guess, i dont really know." Topaz frowned before walking to where he came in Lapis following him. "So it was two fold." She raised an eyebrow. Topaz turned sensing her confusion. "I mean what he trapped you in, the world you were in was one of your greatest contempt and yet the world we're in is one of apathy." Topaz shrugged. "I bet he was hoping that if you made it out of a place of hatred and loathing that a place of numbness and apathy would pacify you. I dont know having these powers makes we more insightful on the way other telepaths manipulate the mind."
Topaz led and Lapis followed watching as the ground underneath his feet seemed to heal and mend. The effect spread out fronm there increasing in speed as more ground was covered. "I can only fix so much in here, you're needed, you both are, if this is gonna get any better." It seemed like they'd been walking for hours but that was how it was with the speed of thought , it was relative to how much thinking you did. In no time they'd come to a field of dead plants. "It should be here." Topaz focussed and a door appeared. "Look before we do this we need to talk." He stepped forward putting his hand on the doorknob. "I menat what i said about Jasper, there's more to her then you're willing to admit. She has a shell around her its her shield against all of this. J-J-Just don't be so quick to demonize her okay." He opened the door and in a flash they were here.
There they were the sight of the gem wars. Topaz looked around him the death and destruction clear to him as he took it all in., there wasn't any blood but to him it was littered with corpses and screams of the dying. Speaking of screaming he realized he was screaming, the sounds in his head raging like an armies march. His head lurched and his balance collapsed as he could hear and feel life slipping away from him. The lives and light of so many glowing gems snuffed out only sparks remained and they were going out. This place felt like a cycle the moment the war ended playing again and again it was hell. As soon as it came it went and Topaz shakily got to his feet barely noticing Lapis pulling him up. "We need to hurry." His feet seemed to disaggree with him so he leaned on her as they walked. "I can't believe this place, its to much, Jasper's feelings were bad enough, but this it isn't even real just a pathetic imitation meant to hurt her and it brings me to my knees." Lapis looked around distastefully at it all. "She's probably reveling in it enjoying the death of so called warriors." She didn't speak further feeling Topaz's sharp glare as they continued onward he managed to stand on his own now getting used to the area around him as they walked but as they got closer it affected him more so his movements slowed. Eventually they got to hill overlooking an oval crater like a ditch if not for the contores it was just to smooth.
Jasper was at the center just staring at the ground. "so this is what happened." Topaz felt renewed by the proximity so he carefully slipped down the edge as he got closer. He rested his hand on her shoulder and she turned to acknoledge him, it was clear she'd been crying. "I'm sorry, i don't need to be a telepath to know how much she meant to you." Jasper stared down at the broken shatted black gem on the ground fresh tears breaking out. "Sh-she wasn't the only person i lost. W-when we were deployed w-we had a squad of five. We bonded with the other three the only way you really could, by fighting along side them. W-we l-ooked out for each other we just worked and it felt so good to know them, they saved my life and hers several times but then we ran into her." Topaz glared at empty space seeing a fusion impose itself over the empty land it was easy to see, it was Rainbow Quartz.
"They bought us time while we fused, it didn't matter she shattered them easily, i never even had the chance to learn their names, we were just flung out here so fast we couldn't even introduce ourselves before we were fighting for our lives. But they were my friends, they were family, and she killed them. Then as soon as our fusion was complete we fought her, we fought with everything we had, we beat her, but i hesitated." Jasper slamed her hand down smashing up the smooth surface of the ground. "I, i didn't want to kill her, we'd killed gems in the heat of battle we knew we couldn't hold anything back, but this was different we'd beaten her she was defenseless so we thought, in that one second of thought that one act of mercy she stabbed us in the back and shattered Onyx's gem." Topaz looked at the destruction around him. "So this is what happens when a fusion dies?" Jasper nodded. "This is what was left when i came to." Topaz frowned staring off into space yet also glaring sharply as he took all that in. He understood perfectly that war was an area of black and dark gray at best when it came to morality but he couldn't help but feel his respect for Pearl and Rose, mostly Pearl shrink slightly.
She talked about the war so romantically to Steven but never seemed to acknowledge the destruction and death she'd undoubtably left in her wake. Infact he could sense no regret nor anger it was all a haze of glory for her. Topaz stopped to consider that was he really sensing enotion from a memory that wasn't even his? And not Steven's emotions but Pearls? He shook his head such questions were beyond him at this point. Topaz moved in front of the gem before putting his hand in the soil and digging out the earth. He carefully slid the gem in the pocket of earth and slowly placed the soil back on. "What are you doing?" Topaz looked up slightly. "Its called a burial, humans do it to respect their dead. They even do it for all but the worst of them. Even enemies deserve a proper burial." Topaz created a small tombstone before jamming it into the earth in front. "Time to bury old pain." Jasper looked down at it before slowly rising wiping her face. "Don't you dare tell anyone i was crying." Topaz snorted chuckling slightly. "Okay, i promise." Lapis was in the same spot but seemed to be in deep thought. "Can we, um bury the others?" Topaz chuckled. "Sure, it wouldn't seem right to not pay our respects."
SCENE
IT felt good to include this like it really gives true depth to Jasper's character. I also think that it adds a bit of a darker twist on Pearls recollection of the war and all that was left in the wake of it all.