28. Delusion

--- WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE ?!

And indeed. What Augustus hadn't expected was to find Peridot here. It seems that fate is kind to him today.

--- You ! You have destroyed the only Communication Node !

--- You tried to contact your HomeWorld !

--- Yes ! To get away from this time bomb faster !

--- What do you mean ?

--- Ha ! Why would I tell you anything ! You piece of organic stuff.

--- Because, I'm about to destroy your physical form.

--- Well, try it !

Her hands turned into a blaster and started firing at August. He began to dodge the shots and hide behind the rubble.

--- Do you know how much it cost me to fix the Knot?!

She was shooting at the shelter where Augustus was sitting. His voice came from behind him.

--- I don't want to know.

His cover collapsed and he quickly ran to the next one, dodging along the way.

--- I've used up all my resources !

--- I'm not interested in that !

As Peridot was about to fire again, a ticking sound sounded. She seems to have run out of energy.

Augustus was instantly on her side. He threw her over him and stuck her head right into the ground !

Now that she was unarmed, he began to remove her prosthetics. And he discovered something new.

Peridot was short. Very small. He calculated that her height reached to the middle of his chest. He took her prosthetics, buried them, and sat down at the burial site. He waited for Peridot to wake up.

Now that the silence had returned, he continued to stare at the stars and ponder.

" There is a gem race far away. If I need answers, I need to go there. But I am not sure that there is such a spaceship on Earth that will instantly take me there. And I don't count on gem ships at all. There was only one, and we destroyed that one. "

" I need to go there. I'm tired of the answers not coming close to me. I get lost in the routine. I lose my goal. It shouldn't be like this. Stop. "

He turned around and noticed that Peridot was beginning to recover.

" Right in front of me, a native of my Home World. She must have at least a grain of information. You just need to talk her out of it. "

At this time, Peridot fully recovered and seemed to notice the missing details.

--- Give me back my amps !

She walked directly up to August and started waving her arms and talking loudly. It was funny to watch. In the amps, she was bigger than him, but now...

--- Why should I give them to you ?

--- If you don't return them...

--- What then, eh ? Will you beat me with these tiny hands ? Boyus

--- Why do you need them ! Give them back to me.

--- Let me think....the answer is no, will it suit you ?

--- No !

--- Great ! I knew you'd understand.

--- What ? That's not what I meant...

--- Good. Technically, I can return the amps to you.

--- What do you want ?

" Gotcha ! "

--- I will gradually return the amps to you. There are only 4 of them. For each of them, I want an answer to my question.

--- Agreed ! Ask me the first question.

--- Wait

He quickly unearthed the amps and placed them next to each other.

--- What is the HomeWorld like now ?

--- He's thriving ! Every day we get more colonies. Our technology is developing at a rapid pace, we have already surpassed some races in technology.

--- Second question.

--- First the amplifier !

--- When you answer all the questions.

--- Haaaa !

--- Who now rules on the HomeWorld ?

--- There are only three courtyards. Blue, Yellow, and White. Each in honor of his own Diamond. At the moment, the White Court has the most power. Since White Diamond was the very first of them. The second place is occupied by the Yellow Yard. The yard of my Diamond. And the last place is the Blue Yard.

--- Tell me about the Diamonds.

--- Blue Diamond is currently not a member of the board. She mourns the Pink Diamond. My Diamond, the Yellow Diamond, leads the war effort and leads the entire army. It is the best of Diamonds. No one has seen the White Diamond for a very long time. She mostly sits in her ship and rules from there.

--- What is so good about Diamonds ?

--- Why? Why?! Because she's DIAMONDS ! The strongest, most brilliant, most intelligent of all the stones.

--- Is that all ? Is that why you worship them ?

--- What is the problem ?

--- What's the problem ?! They destroyed all the crystal gems !

--- Traitors !

--- Don't you dare say that !

He slammed his fist into the ground, causing a crater to form.

--- Iiiiiiii

--- They destroyed not only the crystal Gems, but also yours. They didn't spare anyone !

--- It was for a great purpose ! We are ready to die for our Diamond !

--- This is wrong ! You don't have to sacrifice yourself for THEM ! You are just an empty word to them. They are ready to destroy you just to win the war !

--- We are ready for this !

--- So you're stupid !

--- How dare you ! We were created for this !

--- No one was created to die ! You must decide for yourself ! No one should tell you how to live !

--- I don't want to hear your nonsense ! Ask your last question and give me the amps !

--- As you wish ! When there was a war for the Earth, did they conduct experiments on people ?

--- Of course! There have been many experiments, but I don't have access to this information. I've answered all your questions ! Now give me the amps !

--- Take it and get lost !

He kicked the amps toward Peridot.

--- Carefully ! They are very fragile !

Very quickly, she put them on and pointed the blaster at Augustus again.

--- You're my hostage now.

--- You don't have a charge. You're unarmed.

--- During this time, they are fully charged ! You're coming with me !

--- Okay, wait...

--- In your dreams !

A sharp voice came from behind Augustus, and then the whip threw the Peridot a good distance away.

--- I thought you'd forgotten about me !

--- Sorry ! But there is a small plus in this. We'll grab Peridot.

--- Cobblestones ! You can't catch me !

The fingers on her hands began to spin rapidly, like the blades of a helicopter. It quickly rose into the sky and began to move away from them.

--- Oh, wait !

Pearl took out her spear and threw it hard.

--- You can't get me...

Before she could say anything, Pearl's spear shattered her physical form. Pearl quickly bubbled the stone and sent it to the vault.

--- I'm sorry again, August. We forgot about you.

--- It's okay, just treat me to something delicious and we're even.

--- Agreed !

--- We're going back. We'll have to decide what to do with it.

After that, the entire team left this plain. There was only silence, the bright light of the moon, the ruins, and the soft whisper of the stars.