They both walked peacefully, wrapped in the silence imposed by the calm sea. Connie said nothing, seeming too absorbed in what she saw, until Steven, seeking to break the stillness, smiled a little and asked what she thought of the sea. She looked at him for a moment, responded a little quickly, "It's great," and then, somewhat more timidly, added with a spark of excitement, "I've seen lots of fish and I even saw a dolphin jumping."
Steven nodded with a satisfied smile, then looked at her again and asked if she wanted to go deeper. Connie hesitated for a few seconds, but finally nodded. In her mind, she was thinking that if she was already there, it was best to get to the bottom. Besides, he asked her first, which showed he wasn't a bad guy. Well, it's not like I've met many, Connie reflected, placing a hand on her chin in a thoughtful gesture.
Steven didn't notice, too focused on what he was about to do. You'll wonder what I'm doing, she thought, feeding her habitual schizophrenia. What I'll do is lower the bubble's gravity, a trick he'd learned a long time ago, though he still didn't quite have it down. He knew it would take more concentration than usual, and he'd probably end up wanting a good nap when he got home.
Carefully, he began to lower the bubble slowly so as not to scare Connie. She watched him, fascinated, as they slowly descended into the depths, watching the hues of the water become darker and more mysterious. The fish swam around the bubble, shimmering like flashes of light in the ocean blue. Connie looked like a little girl discovering something new for the first time, amazed and attentive to every detail.
Steven was impressed too, but not in the same way. In his mind, he repeated to himself that just a few days ago he'd seen a giant worm spit acid, and in fact, he'd come across far too many of those gem worms lately. A slight shudder ran through her body, though it soon dissipated when a horde of fish surrounded the bubble, creating a luminous dance that captured Connie's full attention.
Her eyes were so wide and bright, she looked as if she'd just discovered how to run before learning to walk. Steven let her enjoy it for a few more seconds, silently observing her, as if he wanted to record that moment of pure fascination.
I'm over-exaggerating my imagination, I thought, a drop of sweat trickling down my temple. Several minutes passed like this, while Connie, with excitement etched on her face, explained to Steven each species of fish that appeared before her eyes, describing the corals of different shapes and colors, almost as if she were reading a living book. Steven listened attentively, although deep down he already knew much of what she was saying. Still, seeing her speak with such enthusiasm gave the atmosphere a different energy, as if everything had become brighter and more special.
It seems that now I am schizophrenia and it is me. What a strange way to see this, I thought, sweating again at the strange examples I could think of. However, between thoughts and internal laughter, a bad feeling began to take hold of me. And it wasn't good at all. Every time I felt that shadow on my chest, something dangerous ended up happening, so I started to pay much more attention to my surroundings.
Connie, without noticing, continued her animated explanation while pointing at a sunken ship that appeared before us. It was small, but she still found it fascinating, and she kept turning her head to look at every detail. I, on the other hand, looked away toward the depths. Something caught my attention, even though it was too far away and barely distinguishable.
I frowned. It was a tube... yellow? Pink? Orange? I couldn't quite understand. I whispered in disbelief, "What's that?" Connie heard and turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow behind her glasses. "What, another ship?" she asked, not noticing my alert tone.
I shook my head slowly, feeling a chill. "No... it's like a cylindrical tube."
And then, just as we began to approach this strange thing, it moved.
We both tense up, the air in the bubble became heavy, and Connie's heart seemed to stop. "Uh... huh?" she stammered nervously. "Did that boat just move?"
I wasn't smiling anymore. The expression on my face turned serious, cold. The feeling stabbed at me like a dagger. "It can't be," I thought, feeling regret for having gone so deep.
The ocean floor trembled. And a gigantic worm emerged from the sand, not as colossal as the green one I had faced days before, but large enough to make our blood run cold. Its body shone with sickly gleams, and a gem throbbed inside. The slime dripped in thick, poisonous threads, melting the sand beneath it.
"A gem and a slug again," echoed in my head, my aura turning somber as I clenched my fists tightly.
"Only slugs have appeared to me these days," I said aloud, startling Connie and even the worm leading us. Oh my God, I only see worms. Can't I see a bird, a rhinoceros, or some ancient beast from the Mayan civilization? I was ranting angrily, while Connie watched me, confused by such a complaint. The slug, on the other hand, stared at us and suddenly launched itself at us. Opening its mouth, it caught the bubble in the middle of its attack. Connie was terrified and excited at the same time to see how the bubble held up. I, not paying much attention, continued complaining that my life was full of slugs, that they should call me Slug Steven. Meanwhile, I rested an arm on Connie's shoulder to keep her from falling, while the worm forcefully dragged us along the coast of Beach City in the middle of the ocean.
Connie, noticing that the bubble held up without any problems, just looked at me with a mixture of confusion and astonishment. Finally, in her doubtful little voice, she asked while pointing with her little hand at the creature, "And this... what is it?"
I looked at her after I'd let out my anger and responded calmly. "Well, you saw I can summon things, right?"
She nodded, still with a hint of disbelief.
"She's a gem," I continued, "something similar to what I am."
Connie looked at the slug trying to devour us and then looked back at me, frowning. "Well... you can't tell," she muttered, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead.
I just smiled and lifted my shirt slightly. Connie instinctively covered her eyes with both hands. But curiosity won out, and she left a tiny space between her fingers to peer at what was hidden.
The first thing Connie noticed was the gem embedded in my stomach, a small gleam that made her doubt reality itself. She watched me with wide eyes, as if checking to make sure this wasn't a dream. I lowered my shirt again and continued explaining in a low voice, trying not to scare her more than necessary, that these creatures were a kind of corruption of gems.
She looked at the luminous stone again and then asked me what I was doing with them, still with that mixture of disbelief and curiosity. I simply asked her to look and closed my eyes for a moment to concentrate. Calmly, I pretended to direct the bubble in a specific direction, and the current surrounding it obeyed. The slug followed the wake as if lacking free will in its deformed form, and so we approached the beach again.
Sensing the proximity of the surface, the slug suddenly released us, probably believing it had caught a round fish to let it die on the shore. We both fell to the sand; I jumped up and, without thinking, broke the bubble on one side to pull Connie out and secure her inside the undamaged half. I left her protected while I exposed myself completely.
How I did it brought a clumsy smile to my face; schizophrenia had given me a quick, strange, but effective idea. The only thing I hadn't mastered yet was the spikes, though this wasn't the time to complain about that. Summoning my shield, I decided to attack head-on. I ran toward the creature, holding the luminous shield, and threw the shield toward a rocky rise to confuse it. As it bounced off a sharp stone, the piece spun and struck the slug's forehead. The impact staggered it, and the enraged beast slid across the sand to rush at me.
I saw the speed of its attack and prepared myself. I held the shield in front of me, holding fast as the slime tried to drag me away. The immense mouth grazed the surface of the shield, pulling at it as if it wanted to crush it, but the shield held. From the sand, with my full body weight, I pushed the shield like a lever, guiding the creature's charge. I used the force of the impact to divert its trajectory and force its momentum to crash into a nearby rock face.
The roar was tremendous, and the creature groaned, the sound echoing among the waves and the shore. For a moment, all was silent except for Connie's gasp inside the bubble and the rock creaking under the beast's weight. My heart pounded; I knew this wasn't over, but at least we'd gained some respite.
The sharp rock appeared in front of me at the last second, the same one Pearl always used to sharpen her spear. You may wonder why I needed to sharpen something that seemed impossible to dull, and believe me, I did too. When I asked her, her answer was as simple as it was strange: it was your mother's favorite rock. At the time, I stared at her blankly, unable to comprehend her logic, but that fleeting memory faded as reality forced me to act.
I guided the creature directly toward that rock, and as the charge was almost through our throats, I curled into a ball in the air and created a protective bubble just as I was swallowed. The slug, elated by what it believed to be its prey, didn't notice it had sealed its own doom. The impact was brutal; the beast was completely impaled on the edge, and a dry sound, followed by a white flash, shook the entire coast. Sand and rock fragments flew like a blinding cloud.
Connie watched the scene with stars in her eyes, mesmerized by how the monster that had seemed invincible seconds before suddenly vanished. When the dust settled, I appeared from the mist, my clothes torn and my gaze serious, holding a gem encapsulated in a pink bubble. My expression was somewhere between sadness and exhaustion; I sighed and walked over to Connie, showing her the bubble.
This is what I do, I murmured. She, still fascinated, leaned a little closer and asked what the sphere was for. "To prevent it from emerging in its monstrous form," I answered bluntly. Her curiosity didn't stop there, and she wanted to know if there was a cure. "Not for the moment," I said in a grave tone, looking at the corrupted stone that vibrated weakly in its pink prison.
To ease the tension, I took something out of my pocket. "Oh, right, this is yours." I handed her a red bracelet. She blinked in confusion, not understanding. I smiled a little and explained that I had lost it in a parade, that I thought I'd seen it in the crowd and decided to keep it. The memory came back to her suddenly, and with a faint smile, she took the bracelet and placed it on her wrist. A few seconds of silence passed, and finally she said thank you.
I nodded with a smile and asked if she enjoyed the trip. Connie reacted immediately, as if awakening from her amazement, and responded enthusiastically. Yes, yes, it was incredible, exciting. Then she lowered her voice a little to ask if this happened every day. Slugs? Yes, I replied tersely, looking out to sea. There are plenty of corrupted gems, although many are on the loose, uncontrolled.
To close the encounter, I lifted the bubble, and the trapped gem disappeared in a soft flash, freed from our sight but not from its corruption. Connie nervously tried to find the words to ask for my number, but the watch on her wrist struck the time, and anxiety made her hesitate. The moment slipped through her fingers, like waves breaking on the shore, and she remained silent, her cheeks barely flushed.
Hey, I said, confused, isn't it late? Your parents might worry, I added with a smile, and gave her my number in case she wanted to talk later. She silently wrote it down. "Well," I said, "see you, maybe we'll see each other later," and walked in the opposite direction with my hands in my pockets.
Connie stood still for a few seconds, then excitedly murmured that I was her first friend. I smiled to myself for a moment. "Well," I thought, the day wasn't so bad; at least that monster was weak. Seeing as my shield wasn't much use as a weapon, I thought maybe I should get a rifle or a sword, something more powerful, and I managed a half-smile at the thought.
Suddenly, I heard a splash and looked toward the house, freezing. The gems were being held by another creature, but this time the slug had water tentacles that coiled and tugged tightly. Garnet remained expressionless, Pearl was terrified because she couldn't do anything, and Amethyst, for some reason, seemed to enjoy the sensation of being dragged through the air.
I sighed, summoned my shield, and spoke quickly to myself, organizing the strategic schizophrenia that sometimes saves my life. Without another thought, I launched myself at the creature, determined to recover the gems and protect whoever I could.
End of Chapter 9.