Chapter 67: Peridot and the Garden of Memories (3) [PART 2]
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7h
18
In that deafening silence, the familiar face of little Peridot was visible. Her hands were lightly pressed between her knees, and her gaze remained fixed on the darkness ahead, as if she were suppressing something within herself.
I looked at the lit door beside her, then back at little Peridot sitting on the floor, hugging her knees like a desolate child.
My breath caught for a moment, and something lodged in my throat at the sight of that inconsolable figure.
All I needed to do was walk out that door and live my life.
But what about her?
Unable to leave, trapped in a wretched, dark, and unstimulating place, she simply stared into the void. This was not life.
This little Peridot was trapped in an endless hell, and I was the one who served as the lock on her cell.
I felt that once I became aware of the circumstances, I could never live the same way again. I knew that the concept of children did not exist in Gem culture, but in my eyes, the girl in front of me was nothing more than a lost and lonely child with no one to comfort her.
I approached the door and touched it. It was a typical wooden door, similar to the one in the Maheswarans' house. At the top were three glass panes with rounded edges. The wood was dark and rustic, and the doorknob felt soft to the touch. For the first time, I was able to truly feel the sensation of touching it.
The faint scent of wood calmed my mind, easing the tension in my brow and lips that had stiffened with thought. I glanced briefly at the light, then closed the door.
I chose to stay.
The feelings of tension and boredom had long since left my body. All I felt were my clenched fists and stiff legs as I looked at the disinterested figure of the green-skinned girl beside me.
With light steps, I sat down beside her and looked in the same direction. The floor was slightly cold, and the view was the same endless blackness.
I quickly lost interest and turned my gaze to the emerald eyes of the girl beside me. Her eyes had no pupils. They were like mirrors, reflecting the darkness of this world. Her cheeks rested on her knees, and the air moved in and out of her nostrils steadily, without variation.
She completely ignored my gaze, but all I felt upon seeing her was deep curiosity. Empathy aside, it was the first time I had ever seen a Gem, and I could not help wanting to understand every aspect of her mind.
However, out of respect for the moment, I restrained these intrusive thoughts and chose a more peaceful approach.
"My name is Asha. And you are?"
The basis of any conversation is an introduction.
Little Peridot closed her eyes silently for a moment, as if trying to recall something. After a few seconds, she opened them and looked directly at me. I could see my nervous face reflected in her expressionless eyes.
[My name is Peridot Facet-3T6J Cut-9ZM.]
Hearing the long name, which sounded more like the designation of an electronic device, I could not help but frown. I had forgotten that part of the original series.
Generally, Gems do not have personal names. They are identified only by their type. Since each Gem shown in the cartoon was unique, this system worked well, but living in this world made me realize how flawed it truly was.
"So, Peridot, how long have you been here?"
It felt like a pointless question. After all, there was a good chance she, like me, was only a few years old. When I woke up, I was still in kindergarten. Still, I was not much of a conversationalist, and the topic did not really matter as long as it kept things going.
[Approximately 3,000 Earth years.]
But not even in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that such an unassuming question would have such a bombshell answer.
Peridot's answer made my eyes widen so much that I did not even notice the ridiculous expression on my face.
"Three... three thousand years? But how is that possible?"
Had I spent that much time on the abandoned world? No. I was almost certain it had been no more than three and a half years. I had worked day and night without rest to build an escape route, and Appraisal and Transmutation without limiters were incredibly powerful.
But considering that different planets experience time differently, perhaps I had spent far more time than I realized.
[3,000 years ago, my consciousness was generated. However, this body has existed for only 3 years since it awakened.]
"Oh... I see..."
Though my words sounded calm, I felt a sharp pain as I tried to process the information. As far as I knew, it was not normal for Gems to remain in kindergarten for so long, at most a few hundred years. But 3,000 years would explain my body size.
The longer a Gem took to emerge, the smaller its form would be. Amethyst from the original series was an example. She was the same height as Steven, a child, while others of her kind were more than twice her size.
I looked at my small hands, trembling at the realization, while little Peridot, oblivious to my state, continued speaking.
[When I awakened, I could see and hear through the projections from this space.]
Suddenly, a large screen formed in front of us. Around it, I could see rock formations shaped like Peridot's body, along with glimpses of the outside world.
Several Peridots moved about with limb enhancers attached to their arms, monitoring newly emerged Gems. The newborn Peridots were fitted with prosthetics to extend their limbs and were immediately assigned tasks, such as monitoring others, creating materials, conducting research, or writing reports.
It was as if they were born ready to work.
In the distance, a large, elegant yellow palanquin came into view, along with the silhouette of a massive diamond-shaped Gem beside a colossal yellow spaceship shaped like a giant arm.
"Yellow Diamond..."
*
Author's note
This is a long chapter, and I want the next part to be the last. I think it took me about an hour to write and revise some points. I don't know if you'll find it interesting, but I'm loving expanding the lore in these chapters.
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