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"You okay?" Garnet asked, peering back at Ro curiously. The strange glowing things were his first priority, but he supposed he also had to worry about his companion. It was his fault if he got sick or anything, since he insisted on following Garnet everywhere, but still. It wouldn't very nice of him to just ignore the guy.
Ro shrugged faintly. "I'm fine." he replied, shaking his head slightly and taking a deep breath. "It's fine." he sighed, looking around the area curiously to try and figure out what was going on.
"Alright, if you say so." Garnet turned his attention back to the strange thing he'd noticed earlier. With a few whistles, he summoned a bit of light so he could see. "Huh." Garnet stared at the stuff in confusion. This wasn't rocks. It looked more like an experiment. Something the Academy would be doing. But what was it doing down here? "Hey, Ro, do you know what this is?" He turned to the other boy.
Ro cocked his head faintly. "Ah, no. Why would I?" he replied, studying Garnet for a moment, then all the rocks, or whatever they were. He really had no idea what all this was, just that it was somehow magical in a way that his crystal did not like.
"I don't know. You just seemed like the type to know about something weird and fancy like this." Garnet shrugged, stepping closer to the experiment.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." A familiar voice made him jump. Garnet spun around to see Jo standing at the edge of the lake. She was staring past him at the experiment, a tired look on her face. "What are you doing down here, Garnet?" She glanced over at Ro, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What's he doing with you?"
"We were investigating the mold," Garnet explained, glancing at Ro. "And he just came with. Why, is there something wrong with being down here?"
"That thing is evil." Jo jerked her chin towards the experiment. "It's not safe down here. Both of you should leave."
At about that moment, the crystal in Ro's chest pulsed, hard, at an extra influx of energy, and one of his legs buckled beneath him. He let out a faint grunt, one hand pressing to his chest. He felt…wrong. The texture of his skin, the weight of his arms and legs, it all felt wrong. Too heavy. Too…too present, almost.
"Ro?" Garnet turned to look at him in concern. "What's wrong?" He didn't think anything strange had happened that would cause that reaction in Ro. Garnet himself hadn't felt anything unusual.
"Huh." Jo stared at Ro, eyes narrowed. Garnet had no idea what that reaction was, but he was sure it wasn't good. "This is why I said you should leave."
"Yeah, okay." Garnet started towards Ro, ready to help him up and get him out of there.
Ro took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes and working to do something he normally did not do; channel the energy from his crystal in order to work magic. Normally, he refused to touch that crystal for magic. It was too risky, since he relied on it to keep him alive. But now, it felt too full, too much. As if normally, he was powered by a sink, and now he was being powered with a firehose. His fingers formed the motions and his lips mouthed the words, and harmless displays of magic popped up around him. Soft illusions, translucent butterflies that flittered around the room, glowing softly.
(I am so sorry for Ro. He is not having a good time and I'm not making it any better.)
Garnet stopped in confusion, watching the magic unfolding around Ro. It was pretty, but he had no idea why it was happening.
"Oh, wonderful," Jo grumbled. Garnet turned to see her staring out at the lake with a very annoyed look on her face. "Stop it with that magic and get out of here, boys!"
"We're going, just let Ro do whatever he's doing." Garnet waved at Ro and all the butterflies he'd summoned. Jo shook her head and opened her mouth to say something else–probably about how they needed to leave, which Garnet had gotten the first time–but a bright flash interrupted her. A second later, a wave of magic washed over Garnet.
"He's here." Jo's lips curled into an angry expression, one Garnet had never seen on her before.
(lol oh no)
Ro's eyes flickered open, and he looked around at the two. He was still on one knee on the ground, just breathing quietly and trying to channel out that energy in harmless ways. Just little illusions. Glittering fireworks that popped about in tiny explosions, soft butterflies that left glowing trails that faded away after a little bit, constellations that rose to the ceiling and lingered for a while before fading. At the wave of magic, he grimaced, the illusions growing stronger as he poured more energy out of the crystal to compensate.
"Who's here?" Garnet asked, glancing between Jo and Ro. Both of them were freaking him out a bit. Jo because of her strange behavior and Ro because of… well, all that magic.
"Jo, your city is falling apart." A deep, dangerous-sounding voice echoed around the cavern, coming from the lake. Garnet peered around Jo, eyes locking on a group of three people somehow standing on top of the water. He was almost 100% sure they hadn't been there a second before. Maybe they were the reason there'd been that bright flash.
"Boy, stop it with your magic and leave!" Jo snapped, glancing back at Ro.
"Can you tell me what's going on?" Garnet exclaimed, watching nervously as the group slowly moved closer.
"If I stop the magic, my heart is going to stop." Ro said carefully. Sure, that wasn't technically the truth, but the truth was far too complicated and intricate to get into right now. Right now, the only thing keeping that crystal from shattering under the strain was the steady release of the excess magic. If the crystal shattered, he would fall apart right here, limbs slowly dissolving into the dirt he had been created from.
Jo stared at Ro, apparently taken back by his response.
"You're a strange person. Garnet, where did you find this boy?"
"He found me. Are you going to answer my question?" Garnet asked, not wanting to take his eyes off the strangers. Now that they were closer, he could see it wasn't three people, but two people. The one leading had a black umbrella, which Garnet had mistaken for a third person the first time he saw them.
"Not right now." Jo turned her attention back to the strangers. "You're not allowed here, Lord of Nightmares."
"Oh, I absolutely am," The person with the umbrella–apparently the owner of the scary voice–said. "You hang out with strange people these days, Jo." He stared at Garnet for a second, then turned to Ro. "Strange people," he repeated, tracing something in the air. All the extra magic in and around Ro dissipated, relieving the pressure in the crystal. Garnet had no idea what he did, but he was sure that it was Old Magic.
"What did you do?" Garnet demanded. It seemed he cared about Ro's well-being now.
Ro exhaled as the extra magic left, and he was back to his normal levels. The crystal still felt strained, and he was sure that if he reached into his bag all the crystals he kept there would feel different as well, but it was a different sort of strain. As if it had been stretched and now wasn't sure how to return to its normal size. He pushed himself to his feet, swaying for just a moment as he found his footing again, his gaze moving to the two strangers.
"What did you–" Jo glanced over at Ro, then shook her head. "You're not allowed here, Seven, The Rules–"
"The Rules say nothing of the sort. I'm able to leave my kingdom if I want to." The man with the umbrella (whose name was apparently Seven, which Garnet was pretty sure wasn't a proper name) nodded to his companion, a person with wild red hair and a very terrible sense of fashion. They quickly pulled a very thick book out of seemingly nowhere and started frantically flipping through it. "Juliet, I thought I told you to bookmark the page."
"I forgot, okay?" The red-haired person (Juliet?) exclaimed. "I'll find it, I swear."
"Never mind that, then. Why are you here?" Jo asked, waving her hand angrily at the book.
"I'm here because your city is dying. It's affecting my kingdom." Seven glanced at Garnet and Ro. "Apparently mere mortals," he continued, eyes narrowing at Ro on the word 'mortals', "can sense this better than you."
Ro's breathing was still a bit quicker than normal, and he flexed his hands by his sides, keeping his gaze on Seven and Juliet. This was all very strange, and he had no idea what was going on, but he wasn't going to run away from it. Not until he had some sort of answers as to what on earth had just happened to him.
Garnet had no idea what was happening either. He was pretty sure Jo had called Seven 'The Lord of Nightmares', which couldn't be true. That was the ruler of the Underland and probably the scariest person he could think of meeting. He wouldn't be up here, and he certainly wouldn't bother with the city's well-being.
"I know damn well my city is dying," Jo snapped. "You sensed it too?"
"All our realms are connected. Of course, I sensed it," Seven said, as if the question Jo had asked was a stupid one. "Why'd you two come down here? I thought mortals didn't bother with the city." He turned to Garnet and Ro, pale green eyes curious.
"There was mold," Garnet blurted out. "I just followed it."
"I was just following him." Ro replied, gesturing to Garnet without taking his eyes off of Seven. This person could not be the ruler of the Underland…but then, none of this could be happening and yet it was. Who was to say this wasn't the ruler of the Underland? Or, perhaps, this was all an elaborate trick.
"Huh." Seven nodded slowly. "You two must be close, to follow him all the way down here."
"I really think you should go." Jo waved her hand dismissively at Seven. "We can deal with this on our own."
"Which is why you still haven't dealt with it?" Seven asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
"I'm working on it." Jo turned away from him. "You should go back to the Underland. You have dead people to rule over."
"I have people who can rule in my stead for a while." Seven sighed heavily. "Let's at least talk about this, Jo."
"Can I just…" Garnet raised his hand. Jo and Seven both turned to face him, which he didn't particularly like. Jo was fine, but there was something dangerous about Seven's gaze. "Are you really the Lord of Nightmares?"
"I am," Seven said, his voice slightly amused. "Were you expecting more of a monster?"
Ro cleared his throat faintly, but didn't say anything. He was perfectly willing to just let Garnet handle…whatever this was, precisely.
"I mean…" Garnet glanced over at Ro, wondering what he was thinking. He'd followed Garnet around the city for a while and was now face-to-face with one of the most powerful beings in the entire city. In fact, since Jo was here, the two most powerful beings were standing with them. He knew Jo liked him, but he didn't want to anger Seven at all. "…No."
"You don't have to lie. I know what my reputation is up here." Seven smiled slightly at him and turned back to Jo. "Jo? Talking?"
"Fine." Jo sighed heavily and snapped her fingers. Garnet felt a strange weightlessness in his chest and the next thing he knew, the entire group was sitting in a booth in what looked like a restaurant. Garnet wasn't quite sure why she'd brought him and Ro along, but maybe she was just flustered by Seven's appearance and forgot they were there.
Ro jerked slightly at the sudden change, clearing his throat and looking around the restaurant, then turning his attention back to Seven and Jo. He didn't speak, just leaned back in his seat a little bit.