Nora held that crystallized silver alloy mirror in her hand under the glow of the moon. Since the first repair session together with Adrian, the random noises had been replaced by a hum that was barely perceptible in moments of silence.
She could tell that the thing was still effectively damaged, seeing how the gem inlay remained broken with a crack in its center extending across almost the entire structure. Well, leaving aside that from time to time the mirror showed images of things without much coherence, such as a field full of thunderous noises and female voices she did not recognize, but so muffled they gave no clear context of what was happening. That by itself did not say much, but she knew it was most likely a recording from some moment of the Earth Gem Rebellion.
That did not truly worry her. Despite the mountain of emotional baggage she had to carry because of her mother's actions, deep down she knew they were necessary for this world to be free from tyranny. So, she could look away from these types of problems. But even so, she felt uncomfortable with all the acts committed toward that end. Many times she wondered if she would be able to make such an important decision if she found herself in need. Would she be able to cross that line?
Putting those complex thoughts about the actions of the distant past aside, she had had a good week in general. With the tourist season looming, businesses were full to the brim, and the teenagers in her group of friends were busy to the point of extreme exhaustion. Despite all that, messages went back and forth between them, sharing what was happening in their daily lives at work and outside of it.
For her part, she was still stuck in one of her father's businesses, but not as much as the first week. That was because she was taking new fencing lessons from Pearl. Clearly, she already knew how to handle a sword in broad terms because that was one of the first things she was taught; unironically, she had held a sword and shield before she even lost her first baby tooth. But even that amount of time paled in comparison to the thousands of years of weapon technique that the gems had accumulated throughout their lives. She had to remind herself that despite being almost as strong as Garnet, she did not possess that vast life experience.
In other news of her life, Pearl was acting strange, almost like a pressure cooker on the fire. She did not know what would happen when it exploded, but as a good friend, daughter, and teammate, she had to be there for her. Pearl simply acted as if nothing were wrong when she was clearly overlooking things; she did not even scold Amethyst for eating the expired food from the refrigerator, something that had never happened in the house. This might seem like a silly sign, but the stars know that Pearl is obsessed with order, cleanliness, and neat things, so that happening was a very clear sign that she was not well.
So those were her days, marked by helping her father, who did not need help, but still made him happy to be with her, and intense training that left her aching all over while she worried about one of her mother figures without knowing how to help her. In small moments, she would recharge her "Mysterious Mage" battery when Adrian visited her, making a small, different spectacle each time so as not to bore her. Sometimes she wondered how his mind could create such nonsensical things while still making everything work. Seriously, a goose in a detective hat riding a burning tractor next to a horse that, every time it performed a random action, caused a floating sign to appear saying "Juan," all while he held a bouquet of roses made of pizza.
Total madness. However, she could say with total certainty that she loved those kinds of romantic gestures mixed with an absurd sense of chaos. Beyond that, it is how he plans the gestures; he does not always abuse magic, but rather, he does not use it as if he knew when to stop, only to unexpectedly surprise her at the least expected moment of her day with some of his supernatural mischief. This led to a strange dynamic in which they are a couple that acts with the normality of one, yet without being one for many reasons shared between the two, something that complemented them even more when they interacted with other people outside their intimate circle because, hello, half alien girl with a supernatural mage boyfriend.
But leaving that last perspective on her romantic relationship aside for the moment, today was one of those rare days when he did not visit her, but mostly because she was too tired to even get out of her bed in any way other than crawling across the floor. Even if she wanted to see him, she knew she would fall asleep at any moment of the encounter, so she told him not to come, much despite wanting to recharge her batteries with a kissing session while being pushed down.
With those thoughts flooding her sleepy mind, Nora slowly fell asleep, her last thoughts giving her a glimpse of dreams ranging from the sweet taste of pure love to imaginations of more carnal pleasures under the touch of her beloved.
...
Pain. More than five thousand years in which I felt nothing but pain. The pain of being seen as a traitor, the pain of being reduced to a mere object, the pain of my body slowly failing, the pain of the prison they confined me in worsening my body. Without seeing, without interacting, there was only me with that incessant noise of failures. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, I wanted all of this to stop, I wanted this to just end, but I could do nothing. Unable to even move, unable to do anything but record everything I saw, but even that could no longer console me, for I was trapped among piles of other discarded things just like I was.
That was until I could feel someone picking me up. I could not distinguish who or what, but it did not matter; I was too trapped in the background noise for my thoughts to register the gem energy near my form.
Time passed. Without knowing if it was a short or long time, I felt another figure, this time unrecognizable by its energy, touching my form. I expected pain as was habitual, but it never came. Instead, do you know what happened? The noise disappeared. The pain inexplicably dimmed with every touch given to me. For the first time in five thousand years, I was able to cry in the lonely darkness of my silver prison. I was able to think clearly even if that generated more pain than I could ever feel. I was able to scream in frustration, cursing the Diamonds even if no one could hear me. I was happy for an instant until reality hit me like the voice of an Emerald: I was still trapped and broken in this glass prison.
But this time the prison at least functioned as it should for my severely shattered mind. I was able to "see" who was holding me while I felt how more and more parts of this place were being repaired under their touch. Their form was different from that of common gems; skin of a pure white color but without that characteristic touch of light, hair dark as polished coal, features firm and more similar to those of the Quartz warriors but still fundamentally different. Their eyes were dark but denoted many emotions... love, compassion, joy, peace, heaviness, and relief.
She did not miss how with each new touch her prison became less and less restrictive. She did not know how to feel about it. No one in all the time she had been trapped as a TRAITOR in this mirror had shown even an ounce of concern for her... perhaps as her first show of freedom, she could give thanks.
Those were her thoughts before seeing the clear gem-like figure behind her savior. It was smaller than she remembered, with slightly different colors, but at the end of the day, a body shape, face, and features that she would never, ever, even in her greatest suffering, forget... a Rose Quartz. She immediately fell silent, the words of gratitude swallowed in her metaphorical mouth while fear oppressed her.