Me, Myself, and Him

Epilogue

Peridot POV

Pain.

That was the only way I could describe my existence as my eyes shot awake.

I tried moving my head around to get a better view of my surroundings, but it was stuck in place, along with the rest of my body, by the piles of rubble on top of me.

I managed to move my functioning Arm enhancement into a position where I could move some of the debris off of me. My head was no longer trapped, and neither was my upper half. I tried to prop myself up into a better position, but when I went to move my left hand, I froze.

And then I screamed.

I had completely forgotten about the damage that had been inflicted on the limb. I quickly fell backwards, and clutched my hand with my other limb.

Whatever that weapon I had done to my hand, it left a constant feeling of burning and pain. I tried desperately to push my two finger back together, but it only made the pain worse.

Maybe... I should just... let go...

No. I have to get up. Find Lapis, and then get back to Steven. He can heal me. Just get up.

I used my functioning limb to move more of the rubble from my legs. Once free, I laid there on the cold, rocky floor for a while, simply waiting for some of the pain to dissipate. Eventually, I clumsily stand myself up, putting my weight on my legs.

I slowly stumbled around the Galaxy Warp, looking for any sign of Lapis. It was eerily quiet. There was no sounds other than the ocean crashing against the platform.

"Lapis?" I called out, hoping to get some kind of response.

The cure had to have worked, right? I couldn't see the full effect before I was rendered unconscious, but it seemed to do something to Lapis.

Right?

I kept on walking, hoping to finally find Lapis, when my foot hit something on the ground, causing it to clatter forwards. It didn't sound like another piece of the decaying ruin. No...

It sounded like a Gem.

My entire body froze and my eyes went wide. I didn't want to look down. I had no idea what I was going to see when I looked down.

I was afraid of looking down.

I slowly moved my head to the floor, bracing myself for whatever might be on the floor.

It was... an eye?

No... It was THE eye. The one that was stuck in Lapis' Gem.

I slowly bent down and picked up the mysterious object, making sure not to make direct contact with it. It could still be contagious. I used my floating claws to observe the object. It seemed completely inactive in its current state, but just to be sure, I created a small bubble around it.

What had caused it to... 'pop out' like this? If the cure had worked like it should have, the infection would have disappeared. Not manifest itself into another form.

Unless...

No, she wouldn't have.

I quickly stood up, spinning around frantically.

"Lapis? Where are you? Lapis, please respond!" I yelled.

Nothing.

I started walking around the Galaxy Warp, looking for her. She had to be around here, somewhere.

She has to be.

I kept looking until I came upon something. It looked like the weapon that was used in the fight, but it was covered by something... blue.

No.

I made my way towards the object, moving slowly. It was covered in three different shards. They were blue, and the moonlight reflected off of them, making them shine in the moonlight.

They were Lapis Lazuli shards.

"No... No, this can't be happening..." I said softly.

I knelt down, putting the bubble in my hands to the side. I slowly moved my hand to pick up the small shards.

"No, Lapis... You didn't..."

I clutched the shards tighter. My entire body started shaking, and tears started to pour from my eyes.

"P-please, Lapis... Please tell me you didn't... This isn't happening to me right now..."

I let out a breathy laugh.

"Y-Yeah, that's it! This isn't happening right now! I'm asleep, having a horrible nightmare! S-Soon I'll wake up and Lapis will be there and she'll be okay! And t-then, we can live our lives happily together! This... This can't be real. It can't be..."

I brought the Gem shards closer to my chest, practically hugging them. More laughs escaped from my mouth.

"Please wake me up, Lapis. Please. I d-don't like this anymore. Please wake me up. Please be okay."

My laughs soon turned to sobs.

"This can't be real. This can't be. Please don't leave me here, Lapis. I can't do this without you. W-Who's gonna take care of the Barn with? Who am I gonna m-make meep-morps with me? Please don't be shattered."

My grip got tighter and tighter, until suddenly, I heard it.

*CRACK*

I looked down, opening my claws to reveal that I had broken the shards even more than before. Five shards now sat in my hand.

I let out a wail of anguish.

"NO!!! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!! YOU CAN'T TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!!!" I screamed to the sky. I don't know who I was screaming to, but someone needed to be held responsible.

Someone.

I cried harder and harder, covering the shards in my tears. I brought them back close to my chest.

"THIS CAN'T BE REAL!!! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME ALONE LIKE THIS!!! PLEASE COME BACK TO ME, LAPIS!!!"

I cried and cried until I physically couldn't. Everything was aching, my hand burnt and pained, but I didn't move. I couldn't.

This wasn't a dream. This was real. I failed her. I let her become like this. I couldn't save her. I had the cure and I still didn't save her. It was all my fault.

I shattered her.

I shattered my Lapis Lazuli.

"Please come back to me, Lapis..."