pacexlikexaxghost

[pacexlikexaxghost]

magical girl (gender neutral)

[pacexlikexaxghost]

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verses & mains page.

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[pacexlikexaxghost]

Pearl looks up when Valor starts to move, tilting her head. Flicker is still resting, so she assumes that the requisite for sleep has not passed yet.

She swiftly puts her screen back together, and creeps over towards him.

❝Why are you awake?❞ She says softly, at barely more than a whisper. She doesn't want to disturb Flicker, but Valor being awake is puzzling, after the lengthy explanation given for why he and Flicker need to sleep. ❝Do you not need sleep?❞

Hm. Maybe they needed to get a third cloak. Or at least some actual blankets. He had no idea how to make any of those from scratch, how to properly preserve animal furs, but if they were able to trade with the nearby humans despite the language barrier . . .

Titan he dreaded the thought of actively going up to any stranger to ask for one, though. Pearl was different. Pearl overrode that, because they were in a very bad situation that he needed to rescue them from. But a random person he knew nothing about? He was going to avoid that as long as possible.

"Thank you," he said, taking the cloak and wrapping it around himself before lying down to sleep.

Or at least trying to. The cloak certainly helped in feeling safer, but he couldn't stop thinking about how much danger they were in. How easily some other gem could just walk into the cave looking for Pearl and find them all. It wasn't as if they had any defenses other than, what, a curtain of plants? And if the only two people who could fight were out of commission, asleep, when they came in, then they'd be far too late to do anything about it.

Titan, what the fuck did he get himself into?

He couldn't get to sleep. It just wasn't happening. He was tired, and he so desperately wanted to, as he listened to Pearl taking apart their screen (he hoped they'd be able to put that back together, because it was an essential tool in learning each other's languages), but the threat loomed over him, and he just couldn't.

He gave up a few hours into the night. Rather than say anything to Pearl, however, he crawled over to the mouth of the cave and silently sat down there, forming his staff and setting it on his lap. He felt better keeping guard. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to be able to sleep anyway.

[pacexlikexaxghost]

Everything she's ever known and thought? She hides her face in her knees and mutters, ❝More than you know.❞

Pink Diamond is better. Pink Diamond is nicer. Pink Diamond is a little bratty, but she means well. She's trying to be better. She never wants to hurt anyone. She cares so much about everyone, every little creature she meets. Even a defective hand-me-down pearl.

Pearl staked so much on that conception of Pink Diamond, even before she became Rose Quartz. And it's falling apart.

But it still doesn't feel like it could have been intentional. Not unless every word that ever came out of her mouth was a lie, and Pearl can't believe that.

The question about the month gets Pearl to lift her head and look at Valor puzzled for a long moment. ❝... Valor, it's been a bad month for thousands of years, for both me and Garnet. We can't just... drop everything for an entire month every year. Besides,❞ she sighs.

❝Steven doesn't know, and he'd have wondered why we hadn't gone out there yet if we tried to put it off until August. ❞

Valor was sitting again by the time she came out, having taken his shoes off to dip his feet into the water and slowly kick them beneath the surface, feeling the current of water.

"'Course," he said. "It's not like I don't know what it feels like to realize that someone you've dedicated your whole life to has actually hurt you a lot." At least Pearl didn't also have to deal with a murder attempt on top of that, but really the revelation itself had affected him more than the injuries themselves. Either way, it had been a bad time overall for him.

He cast his gaze up to the ribbons over the fountains. ". . . It's like your entire world has been ripped out from under you. Everything you've ever known and thought."

After a moment, he turned back to Pearl. "Why did you go out there today, anyway? Isn't it a bad month for you?"

[pacexlikexaxghost]

Pearl holds tighter to the cloak for a moment when Valor asks for it back, but it's not hers. He needs it for his sleep for some reason, and it's not as if she needs to hide while inside the cave.

So reluctantly, she removes it and returns it to him. Diamonds, that really did help her feel less vulnerable. She hesitates a second, then retreats to sit against a wall of the cave.

She's fiddling with the edge of her screen as they settle down to sleep, and she hesitates, tracing her fingertips along a faint seam. She's always wondered how this worked. How most things around her work, but she's never been able to find out.

Carefully and slowly, she takes it apart, gingerly inspecting every piece and how it all goes together. The circuitry is very delicate, and she doesn't touch most of it, but she inspects every inch she can see.

There must be a logic to how this works, and she's certain she can figure it out...

He hesitated for a moment longer, but then conceded with a sigh and an, "Okay." Followed by a nod at their thanks.

With the light now off, Valor nudged Flicker gently. "Hey. Are you awake?"

"Mmmnnnnn."

"It's bedtime. Can you move to your bed?" Flicker nuzzled deeper into him, and he sighed. "Okay."

Gently, Valor scooped Flicker up and brought them over to their makeshift bed. He draped their cloak over on top of them before looking to Pearl. "Can I have my cloak?" Wait, no, he hadn't taught them that word yet, had he? He lifted a corner of Flicker's and said, "Cloak. Can I have my cloak? Just for tonight. You can have it back tomorrow." Their cloaks were the only blanket-like things they had, and he already knew that he'd feel far too vulnerable to sleep without one.

[pacexlikexaxghost]

She nods slightly. She's glad he did explain, especially for the possibility that Flicker might come to her in the event they have a nightmare.

❝See you in the morning,❞ Pearl echoes, then turns her focus back to watching the outside.

She already didn't like the idea of sleep, but dreams and nightmares make it seem so much worse. Stars, is she glad that she doesn't need to do that.

"Yeah, if you're not used to it, it's pretty weird." He paused, before admitting, "Actually it's just pretty weird in general."

Valor sighed. "Yeah, it sucks. But I should be able to now. Just . . . figured you should know what's going on, since I'll be doing this a lot, and in case Flicker ever comes to you after having one."

Though Flicker coming to her might only happen if Valor was already out flying, since otherwise he'd already be right there next to them to comfort. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time they'd woken him up because they wanted comfort after a nightmare.

After a moment, he stood up. "I'll see you in the morning?"

[pacexlikexaxghost]

Pearl stands up when asked how she's feeling, and smiles faintly.

❝Better. Thank you. Best not waste any more time, no? Daylight will only last for so long.❞

She strides forward, and picks up the blanket she threw forward so it wouldn't be in the water.

He blinked at the burst of steam and looked back to her in surprise. But then he processed her words, and offered her a small smile. ". . . Thanks. That's . . . good to know." He was about a year and a half away from it now. It felt both so long and so short at the same time. A year and a half away from Belos. Away from the coven.

And now they were here, in the demon realm, and while he didn't actually know how old Belos was, this was probably still too far back for him. They wouldn't have to hide their faces here. They were safe.

. . . That was probably the one singular thing he wasn't looking forward to when they eventually got back to their own time. Not only was Belos still there, but he was emperor. It was going to be so dangerous for them to actually venture into any towns.

But he'd have his family again. And if the gems had lived for thousands of years, and they had a stable portal, then he'd probably still have his friends, too. They might not be able to travel freely in the demon realm, but they would be able to visit the human realm should they at all feel cooped up at home.

He let out a breath and looked around. "We should probably start finding a place to settle, before nightfall hits. How are you feeling?"

[pacexlikexaxghost]

❝But I love Halloween! Scary stuff doesn't bother me, I promise!❞

❝Steven, you've been scared by that mystery show with the dog,❞ Pearl says dryly, shaking her head. ❝I'm not saying you're not allowed to go; just not unsupervised.❞

Steven groans. ❝Fiiiine.❞

Pearl looks back to Valor, and smiles. ❝I'm going to get you two home, I can promise you that, now. It's just a matter of time.❞

"Alright." That was good to know. They couldn't exactly help with finding a gem like that, but if Garnet finding portals would take even longer, then overall it wouldn't make much of a difference anyway.

"Oh, yeah. I don't know if Belos made any changes to them at all after he came to power, but back in my time there were a lot of convoluted laws about what was legal when and in what situations. And what's legal and what's socially acceptable don't always overlap, either. Cannibalism is pretty solidly illegal though and you guys look close enough to witches that unless you happen to piss off someone with a hungry pet, you should be fine with them."

He looked to Steven. "At the very least you should be supervised until you get a good understanding of what situations are dangerous there." He paused. "If you even want to come in the first place. The best way I can describe the Boiling Isles is . . . what the human realm might consider fantasy horror. I mean, we literally live on a giant decaying corpse. Not everyone here can stomach that. To put it into perspective, Halloween is one of the most nostalgic times of the year for me."

[pacexlikexaxghost]

The moment Valor reenters the room, the door shuts behind him, and Pearl exhales softly in relief, and sinks back under the water for a moment, before heading back to the dry floor, hugging her knees.

❝... I really can't thank you enough, for all of this. For coming. For staying.❞

She's feeling better than she was outside, but the spike in anxiety at Flicker's brief presence goes a long way to show that she's still far from good.

Valor nodded at Pearl, then led Storm back over to the warp pad and picked her up. Flicker cast the spell to warp them back and once they'd landed, Valor set Storm down and sat down next to her to give her a good rub down. "Good girl! All done! It's over now!"

Flicker crouched next to her and offered her some treats they'd brought, which she eagerly took.

Valor watched her fondly for a moment before standing up. "I'll see you later, then?"

They nodded. "Take care. Of yourself, and Pearl."

"I will."

Once they'd gotten off the warp pad, Valor warped back. It was less than a minute since he'd been gone, and he stepped back into the room with a, "Thank you."

[pacexlikexaxghost]

❝You really don't need to do that,❞ she says forcefully. ❝I will be okay. I don't need soft.❞

Pearl doesn't want him wasting his time. She grabs her screen and powers it off, taking it's faint glow with it, leaving the cave a little darker.

❝...Thank you for wanting to.❞

"But we can. Softer would be better than hard, yes?" He knocked against the hard rock floor again. He wanted them comfortable, and this certainly wouldn't be the longest time he'd stayed up before.

[pacexlikexaxghost]

❝... you don't need to do that,❞ she says at once, her eyes widening.

Why would he want to put off an important physical need to do something so wholly unnecessary for her? Physically, she is quite fine as she is. More of a concern would be keeping herself occupied whilst they lay in a dormant state, lest she start to freak out for her mind going down paths, imagining worst case scenarios...

Valor watched as Pearl thought, really hoping that that was enough of an explanation. His ears perked when they spoke. "Yes!" Good, they understood! "So yes, we need to eat, and to drink, and to sleep. And we need to sleep now."

He paused. "But we can still make a bed for you first. Not for sleeping, but for a soft place to be."

[pacexlikexaxghost]

Pearl lifts a hand out of the water in greeting to Flicker, but she doesn't say anything, in fact sinking slightly lower in the water as fresh anxiety tightens her chest.

Stars, she's not ready to interact with other people.

❝I'll hold the door,❞ she says faintly.

She hopes the others don't get back while Valor is gone. She really hopes they don't get home while Valor is gone.

Valor nodded. "Thanks!"

As he returned to dry floor, Flicker peeked in the doorway. "Woah." They were immediately distracted by Storm, though, who trotted up to them with tail wagging. They scratched between her ears and set Valor's bag down just inside. They looked over at Pearl, concerned as to what could cause her so much distress as to have Valor stay for so long (he'd called it an emergency . . .), but said nothing about it, instead offering a wave in greeting.

"Things okay?" they asked as Valor approached.

Valor glanced back at Pearl, then turned toward them again. "They will be. Thanks for bringing everything and picking up Storm."

"'Course."

Valor looked back over at Pearl. "I'm going to help Storm through the warp but then I'll be back."

[pacexlikexaxghost]

Chekilli glanced over at Wing in concern. Looking at him, now knowing things he’d gone through and especially so how he thought of himself … It hurt. He hurt very much for him and he just … he’d do anything to take all that away from him. To take away all of Wing’s pain, all of the things that had hurt him. He doubted even wishing could do much for that, at least not immediately, but there were things he could do that might be able to at least start the natural process of healing. Such as counteracting those false and horrifying thought processes and just … covering him with as much love as he could possibly give him.

His staring was noticed, though, and he smiled softly at Wing as the other turned to look at him and smile back. Gosh, even just seeing that smile again, after hundreds of years, was enough to make him start to tear up again. He moved closer and gave him a hug, just … extremely happy to just have him back again. He’d thought he’d lost him … and yet here he was in front of him, alive, and in his arms.

After a bit he pulled away from the hug with a fond smile, before his expression morphed into something serious. “… We need to talk, Wing.”

Keep reading

[pacexlikexaxghost]

The quiet under the water might be the best part. The soft white noise above the water is wonderful in it's own right, but under the water it's all almost silent, and the already dim light is diffuse. Everything is just less, and softer, and easier under the water.

She sometimes wonders if her preference for the water is because she's a pearl; her very creation is tied to it. She was made in Homeworld's oceans, down in the reef.

Regardless, it just feels better. The cool currents rippling around her are just enough sensory input to stimulate her in the absence of the sound, but it's at all overwhelming.

She can metaphorically breathe easier here.

...

How did she never realize that she was still treating Rose like her owner? How did Rose never notice that and stop her? There's no chance it was intentional, but for this to have been accidental even...

Stars...

She pops back above the surface as Valor comes over to her on the surface, again having to take a moment to adjust to the shift in the light.

❝Is Flicker here?❞ She asks once she has her bearings. ❝I'll hold the door open for a few minutes.❞ She lifts a hand out of the water, and the door appears on the wall, and slides open, revealing the living room.

Storm finally looked up when Pearl pet her, though she still didn't quite seem to know what to do with Pearl now walking out onto the water as well. She trotted in place and backed up a step, letting out a low whine that shifted into a huff. Valor chuckled and pet her, stepping back onto dry land as he did. "It's okay. You handled the warp fine but this is what you don't like?"

He sat down at the edge, putting his fingers in the water and experimenting between tapping the surface as if it were solid and actually dipping them in. It was fascinating, how this worked.

When Pearl emerged again, Valor looked up from where he'd brought Flicker's contact up on his phone. "Ah! Okay, thanks for letting me know." He hadn't been planning on getting anywhere near any of the waterfalls in the first place, just in case, but that was good to know regardless.

When she disappeared again, Valor called Flicker, explaining as much of the situation as he could without going into much detail about what actually had Pearl feeling this bad, and asking them to pack him a bag and come pick up Storm.

He went back out onto the water again while waiting, trying to convince Storm that it was fine and that she could go on it as well. The animal communication spell helped a lot with that.

It was after about a half hour that he got a text from Flicker saying they'd arrived, and he walked out over to where Pearl was, waving to catch her attention.

[pacexlikexaxghost]

❝It is not normal for me. I would find that exceptionally... disorienting. I am very glad I do not need to sleep.❞

Pearl's used to everything she experiences being a neat, orderly series of events. The closest she gets to that is when poofed, and her consciousness isn't disrupted when that happens to process thoughts and memories, she just loses external sensory input.

She grimaces as he goes on to describe nightmares. If dreams are the processing of information, than for a dream to be so terrifying...

And for Valor to get them more often...

Oh, Pearl very glad she doesn't need to sleep. Experiencing horrible things certainly must make one more prone to nightmares...

❝... That sounds awful. I'm sorry. I hope you can resume your sleep now.❞

"Not really. Not for us anyway. But I guess it's just . . . normal, for us." He supposed it would be strange for someone who'd never experienced them before.

Did your mind process something unpleasant, then? Titan, there were so many unpleasant things for his mind to process. It was difficult enough when he was awake; he wished he didn't have to deal with it when asleep, too.

But he sighed and said, "You could say that. Unpleasant would be an understatement, though." He fidgeted with the loose fabric of his pant legs and cast his gaze to the sky. "Dreams that are . . . terrifying enough to wake someone up from sleep are called nightmares. Most people get them every now and then but I . . . get them a lot. It takes a bit to calm down from. Trying to go back to sleep too soon can result in just . . . seeing the worst of it again the moment you close your eyes, even if you're still awake. So I go out flying to distract myself. Usually I can get back to sleep after that."

[pacexlikexaxghost]

As Valor walks out onto the water, Pearl relaxes a little; she doesn't need to be anxious about what she does in her own room.

❝I suppose it must be very novel, if you've never experienced it before,❞ Pearl says, stepping out onto the water, petting Storm as she passes. And once past the shallow edge, she dives smoothly under the surface, floating under the surface, and everything goes blissfully quiet.

She turns over on her back, staring at the sparkling lights of her room, distorted and rippling through the water. The water is cool on her skin, and she can already feel the tension starting to subside a little.

She pokes her head above the water, blinking for a moment at the visual shift back into the air. "Just so you are aware, avoid going under the water right by the largest waterfall. Below it leads into Amethyst's room."

Valor gently put Storm back down the moment they landed and dug his hands into the fur around her neck to give her scratches. "Good girl! You're doing so well! Just one more time, okay? You're almost done."

He led her into the temple and was immediately distracted by the scenery. "Wow. This is pretty." It wasn't anything at all like he might expect a room to look like, though that shouldn't entirely be a surprise based off the small glimpse he got the last time he was here.

"Alright. I'll let you know when Flicker gets here, then."

He watched as Storm immediately went up to the water to drink. Magic water that could be stood on if you wanted to? Tentatively, he tapped the surface with his toe. It held firm. He slowly put the rest of his foot down, then crossed entirely over onto the water.

Storm stopped mid-drink to stare at him, snout still in the water.

Valor giggled. "Okay. This is really cool."

[pacexlikexaxghost]

It becomes them?

Pearl leans into one hand, considering what that might mean.

They are physical creatures, unlike her, so she supposes the atoms that make up their bodies must come from somewhere. But... Two to four times a day? She doubts that they are constantly growing larger for adding more mass to their bodies, and she can't imagine they lose mass that quickly either.

Ah! Some amount of it must be converted to energy, to allow them to function.

❝Like the magic in sunlight for me!❞

Huh. "Okay. That's good to know." They wouldn't have to worry about gathering more food to provide for Pearl then. That was helpful.

"We need to. We need to eat . . . two? Two three four?" He tilted his hand from side to side. "More than one time a day. And drink many many many times a day. We don't need magic. We need to eat and drink. It . . ." Oh, he was too tired to figure out how to describe replacing something. Eventually, he settled with saying, "It becomes us."