I wondered aloud what was happening to Steven as I watched the perspective slowly zoom in on his head. I could see he was sweating, which only heightened my unease. And then I understood that, as readers of this story, we were about to witness the most schizophrenic thing I'd ever written, and I mean that completely seriously.
I suddenly found myself inside a void in my own mind, nothing out of the ordinary at first. Everything was black, completely silent, until it stopped being black. White? Why white?
Without any warning, I was pulled toward some unknown place. The only thing that came out of my mouth was a scream of despair as I was dragged uncontrollably. What the hell is going on now, goddammit, I thought as I felt my body being pulled in any direction without any logic. I just wanted to rest. I told myself this in chibi form, tired and resigned, as I continued to be taken through a tunnel I clearly hadn't seen before.
Wow, now I have updates on how to get pulled into someone's dream or what. I was recently thrown into Sadie's dream, and honestly, I never want to see Lars naked again. Just thinking about it made me shudder with disgust.
Damn, I should find some way to control this thing. The original Steven could, if I remember correctly. Those were the kinds of thoughts running through my mind as the dream current continued to mercilessly drag me into the unknown.
Out of nowhere, I found myself flying through space. I let out a "whoa" in my totally crazy voice as I hurtled through the void at breakneck speed toward some undefined point. Or at least that's what I thought, because honestly, I'm not that great at navigating in space, you know?
As I watched everything around me stretch out Star Wars-style, a ship appeared beside me. I stood still for a few seconds, literal ellipses floating in my head. I glanced inside the ship and noticed a green gem accompanied by a whole squad who, judging by their equipment and demeanor, were clearly doing gem work.
I only watched them for a moment before being pulled in again, even faster than before. New gem, I thought, immediately recalling its shape.
I looked up, or ahead, or wherever—I really had no idea where I was going. Planets and stars flashed around me in a breathtaking visual chaos.
First time this has ever happened to me, I muttered to myself. It felt like I'd snorted crack for this thing. Although, to be honest, after the force I used against Jasper, I wouldn't be surprised to have some side effects.
And without warning, I appeared in a completely white place.
Huh? I said with a completely confused chibi expression. I stared around, not understanding anything. Where the hell am I now? I muttered, looking up and seeing absolutely nothing. Just white. All white. A white so white it was almost frightening.
I mentally spun a few dots as I continued to turn my head. So what, am I in heaven or why is it so white?
"You're not in heaven," said a voice right behind me, so out of nowhere that it made me completely tense.
"Who are you, creature?" I said, my soul about to leave my body. I slowly turned toward the voice and stood there, face to face, accompanied not by three, but by six beads of sweat trickling down the back of my neck. Because right there, behind me, was a colossal woman, a gigantic figure of absolute white.
She turned her gaze toward where she sensed my presence. "What are you, inferior creature?" she said with such arrogance that three black lines of anger instantly appeared on my face.
"Inferior, dude? What's wrong with you?" I snapped irritably.
The figure, its hands in a T-shape as ridiculous as it was unsettling, observed me... or at least directed its attention toward me. Oh, come on, insignificant presence. It paused dramatically, as if announcing the weather or something. You're an organic being, aren't you?
And why would I answer you? I said, raising an eyebrow that it clearly didn't see because it had no visible eyes. Or I don't know, its head was too white to distinguish anything.
It brought its hand to its mouth with exaggerated elegance. Hahaha..., it laughed as if it had just heard a high-class comedy joke.
"You look really weird like that," I said with complete sincerity.
White froze. It was obvious no one had ever spoken to her like that. "R-weird?" she repeated as if the word were an arcane insult forbidden for millennia.
I, realizing too late that I had just accidentally insulted a being who could probably crush me with a single thought, only felt three extra drops of sweat trickle down my neck, but I kept talking anyway. After all, I was in a dream, what was the worst that could happen?
White fixed her attention directly on me and unleashed a white beam without warning.
"Damn it!" I yelled as I dodged to the side.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" I said, three black lines appearing on my forehead.
"I am perfection," White declared solemnly. "I am the perfect color palette. I will not allow some filthy organic to tarnish my millennia-old legacy."
I stayed silent, dodging beam after beam as if I were in some infernal minigame. I didn't want to use my powers. What if I used them and this woman found out who I really was? No way was I going to risk it.
"Yeah, yeah, you're perfect..." I said with such sarcasm that it could have filled the space we were in. I dodged another beam as I said it, sweating like crazy.
White adopted an even more haughty pose. Beside her appeared an equally white Pearl, both in a T-pose as if they had rehearsed the scene.
"See? It wasn't so difficult," they said at the same time, their arrogance at its peak.
"So you didn't care what the organics thought..." I thought, three black lines of anger forming on my face as I mentally prepared myself for what was coming.
Noticing how she was simply ignoring me, I calmly observed the entire place. There was only white. Absolute whiteness. Even the columns were white, permeating the space in an absurd way, as if someone had turned the brightness up to maximum. I walked around the place calmly, though I kept my gaze fixed on Blanco, who sometimes followed me as if she could see me, even though I knew she was only sensing my presence.
"So, what are you doing?" I finally asked, because I was honestly starting to believe she couldn't hurt me. Or not much.
She looked at me from her perfect, ridiculous T-shaped pose.
"Working," she said solemnly. "The perfect empire must be perfect, and for it to be perfect, it must be run by someone perfect."
I let out a few seconds of mental silence. Uh-huh. Sure. As if I hadn't heard that line a thousand times from random villains.
"Oh, I see," I murmured as I watched the Pearl. My own gem glowed a little, though she wouldn't notice because that only happened in the physical world.
"Is this you?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
White was surprised for a few seconds, though she quickly regained her haughty demeanor.
"Why do you say that?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know, it's pretty obvious," I replied. "For example, they're both white."
"Many gems are white," White said quickly, almost annoyed.
"But not like this one," I commented as I walked around, noticing how Pearl followed my gaze exactly. "Besides," I added with an inescapable smile, "normally only one gem can see me. And since she follows my gaze at the same time as you..."
White was surprised by my hypothesis, though she clearly wasn't planning on telling me that I'd known that fact for a while. But whatever.
"You're interesting," Blanco finally said with a dangerous calmness.
"Hey, since we're on the topic of gossip..." I murmured as I took Pearl's hand. For a moment, it shifted to a pinkish hue, though only I noticed, not Blanco.
I remained silent for a moment, surprised by this detail, but quickly recovered.
"Since we're on the topic of gossiping," I said, watching Blanco raise a barely visible but still noticeable white eyebrow.
"Doesn't it hurt to have your hands like that meme?" I asked with a suppressed giggle.
"Meme?" Blanco repeated, completely confused, but before she could ask anything else, an alert seemed to reach her. Her demeanor changed immediately.
She quickly sent Pearl away, though Pearl took a few more seconds to release my spiritual hand. I quickly made a mental note of that.
And then, without warning, Blanco launched several more beams at me. One hit me.
"Ugh!" I screamed, clutching my leg, which was now smoking. Literally smoking.
I stared at Blanco, who had clearly heard my cry of pain and now wore the most pathetic grin I'd seen in years.
"What are you laughing at, dude?" I snapped. Clearly, it wasn't the smartest thing I could have come up with.
A few seconds passed as I was brutally bombarded by Blanco's beams. It was basically a premium electrocution session without anesthesia or warning.
A heavy silence filled the white room.
"Are you dead yet?" Blanco asked from his T-shaped position. If you looked closely, you could see a hint of disgust hidden in his perfect, pathetic eyes.
"You wish, white pine tree," I replied, smoke billowing from my body. I had no visible wounds, but I felt my energy being drained in a way I absolutely hated.
She shot another nine lasers at me, just in case.
"Damn it, stop shooting your laser beams," I said, already pissed off.
"Go away. You're not perfect enough to be in my presence."
"If I haven't died, it's because I'm strong, right?" I replied after a few seconds. She didn't say anything, but she glanced at me sideways, though she was still in that damn stick-stick pose.
"Hey, seriously, doesn't it hurt to be in that pose?" I asked.
That earned me another eight lasers straight to the soul.
"Damn it..." I groaned from the floor, completely wrecked.
"You're tough," she finally commented.
"Thanks for the compliment," I said sarcastically as I got up. Sweat was pouring down my face like a river, as if I were about to evaporate.
"I hope this doesn't hurt tomorrow," I muttered to myself.
"What's your name, you inferior, organic creature?" Blanco asked.
"I hope this doesn't hurt tomorrow." I sighed heavily.
"Hey, you're seriously weird. If any being in the universe heard you speak, they'd label you as weird. Your way of expressing yourself isn't perfect, it's subnormal. You're not perfect. Perfection doesn't exist. Just because you were born white doesn't mean you're perfect. I've seen beings far more perfect than what you call perfection. You're nobody, just a color born by luck. And if luck is perfection, then that's all you are: luck. Just another drop in the vastness of the universe. Surely out there's someone better than you at everything, and here you are thinking you're superior just for being white. And when you think about it... that's racist, isn't it?"
Blanco remained silent after my outburst. It's understandable that I'd take it out on her after receiving so many rays that almost fried my soul.
She shook her head.
"You wouldn't understand perfection," she replied.
"Okay, then don't mess around," I said as I backed away. "Where's the exit from here? I don't want to be locked up with someone with an IQ below 40."
The word IQ clearly irritated her because she didn't know what it meant, and that annoyed her even more. She shot another beam at me, but this time I dodged it without thinking.
"Dude, stop messing around with your beams," I said, three imaginary black lines appearing above my head.
Suddenly, I felt a tug on my body, as if someone had pulled me from the outside.
"Finally!" I shouted as I felt my consciousness begin to return.
"I can shove perfection up my—" I didn't finish the sentence because Blanco managed to shoot one last beam at me just before I disappeared.
And so, my presence vanished from the white room.
Silence returned, engulfing everything.
Pathetic. She said it, but a twinge of doubt pricked my chest. I'd never spoken to anyone for so long, not even my sisters, not even Rose. I shook my head as I prepared to receive Blue, because she'd wanted an audience with me for a while, and honestly, I did want to talk a little longer with my sisters.
"What a drag," I muttered, just as White Pearl appeared as if she'd never left.
I asked her what she thought, and she just smiled like a puppet. I brought a hand to my mouth and let out a small laugh as I remarked that I kept forgetting how perfect she was now, though the doubt had already taken root.
Meanwhile, Steven was flying back home when he felt a phantom pain course through his entire body. His gem glowed, sensing the pain, and emitted a pink light that pierced him. His body plummeted like a meteor to Earth, right where his physical form rested.
"You fucking white bitch!" I screamed in pain as smoke billowed from my body.
The four gems who had been arguing froze, all staring at me mechanically as I looked around, completely bewildered.
"I'm already on this astral plane," I said, utterly confused.
I glanced over at where Lion had been, and the bastard was lying there as if he hadn't dragged me to the war zone just minutes before.
I turned to the gems. Pearl was covered in snot, watching me as if she'd found her lost pet. Garnet seemed calmer after seeing me move. Amethyst—well, she was Amethyst—gave me a thumbs-up, though she was clearly stressed. And Lapis... she was playing Minecraft. She glanced at me, smiled, and continued building her house.
"Totally normal," I sighed. "What did I miss?"
Suddenly, I was tackled by a wild Pearl, who sent me sprawling back onto my bed.
"Ugh!" I groaned as Pearl hugged me tightly. "My baby!" she exclaimed.
She asked me if I wanted food, if I wanted my favorite, if I felt okay, if I wanted to merge with her.
Three black lines appeared in my mind.
"Yes, yes, yes, and no," I replied as I pushed her away. I rubbed saliva on the parts that hurt the most and felt it heal.
"So relaxing," I said as I stood up and stretched. "Lapis, how long has it been?" "Ten hours," she answered. "Ten hours," I repeated, unable to believe it. "Yes."
"Well, Pearl, are you going to make me food or am I going to?" "I'll go, sit down," she said quickly as she ran toward the kitchen. "Pearl, will you make me too?" Amethyst shouted as she ran after her. "Have you been good?" Pearl asked. "Awesome," Amethyst replied.
"Then yes," Pearl answered, laughing, as they both disappeared into the kitchen.
"Hey, Garnet," I said as I went downstairs to the living room and sat down next to her.
I asked her how their mission went.
"Nothing new," Garnet replied matter-of-factly. "We went into an ancient gem temple. There were two mutants, but we made them disappear. It was a bit of a struggle; they were warrior gems."
I hummed as I rummaged through my closet in the living room. "New clothes!" I exclaimed happily when I found them.
I put them on while two gems stared at me.
"What are you looking at?" I asked, three black lines forming on my head. "Nothing, nothing," Garnet and Lapis replied simultaneously.
I sighed heavily.
We sat in a comfortable silence. The clatter of pans and Pearl and Amethyst giggled in the kitchen.
Garnet and Lapis were talking about how a Minecraft villager had given them a dirty look.
I just smiled.
I hoped it would last forever. I felt my gem's energy coursing through me and knew I needed to control my newfound power. Three lines of exhaustion crossed my mind as I also thought of something else.
And I also need, I murmured as I looked at Pearl, to talk...to her.
End of Chapter 50.