TWENTY

How long has it exactly been? Damn, I lost count with the inconsistent periods of daylight and darkness.

I think I'll not fret on it, I thought as I jumped from floe to floe, breaking each one before leaping off to the next, that doesn't really matter, does it? Though, could be at least two full days. Who knows?

Looking around, I can see Antarc breaking their share of floes at a much faster pace than me, even when using Phos' sword while letting the peppermint gem use the saw-like sword this time. Somewhere close by, I can clearly see the aforementioned peppermint gem, just watching us while having that sword resting on its sharp edge on a block of ice.

No problem with that, I guess. At least we're in no rush.

I returned my focus to the job before me, breaking up yet another floe.+

"Antarc! Dan!"

"What's the matter?" the ice gem asked as both her and I came to Phos.

"I can't take this!" was the flustered reply from the peppermint gem.

"Whining again, are we?"

"The ice floe just spoke to me."

"Yeah, they do that."

"What?" Phos and I asked in confusion, me turning my head to face Antarc.

"According to Sensei, these ice floes are minerals just like us, so we can vaguely make out their voices. Though, the truth is that they make word like sounds, but we can't understand them."

"'This hurts.' 'This is too much.' 'I wanna go home.' I understand everything they say-" Phos managed to reply before being cut by the chilling screaming of an ice floe.

Phos had launched up to the both of us, grabbing onto one leg from each of us, shaking in fear.

"This won't do," Antarc declared.

-------------------

"You understand the speech of the ice floes?" Sensei asked.

"Yes," Phos replied. "My memory may have been impeded when I lost my legs, but I clearly recall Dan and I being able to talk with someone from the sea, King Ventricosus of the Admirabilis."

"As do I," Sensei confirmed.

"Yep, that's right," I reaffirmed. "But I didn't hear the floes speak, I didn't notice or focus on anything other than breaking them. Ehh, not really, most of the time at least, but that was just when I looked at Antarc and Phos for a little moment, that's no harm done, right?"

"That's insignificant," Antarc said, "there's nothing wrong with that."

"Ah..."

Still, I wonder how Ventrico is holding up now...

"That's it!" Phos suddenly shouted, slightly startling me and prompting Antarc to raise an eyebrow. "Why don't I just try getting to know these ice floes and ask them to stop shouting all the time?" she went on, showing a confident smile.

"Enough," was Sensei's reply as the ice gem sighed and lowered her head in dismay at the peppermint gem's suggestion. "The ice floes do not speak of their own will. Instead..."

Sensei stepped forward and placed a hand on Phos' head.

"They are naturally disposed to reflect the anxieties of others, and further exacerbate them. They are but 'dregs' of creatures from the beginning of time. Still your heart while in their presence."

"'Kay," was the reply from the peppermint gem as Sensei lifted his hand and turned towards Antarc, putting it on the ice gem.

Antarc smiled softly.

"Phos and Dan are keeping up with me more than I would have expected," she reported, earning a pleased look from Phos.

"While I know that there is no hope for such," Antarc continued, "I can't help but wish Phos had arms to match those legs."

The peppermint gem looked down at her own legs.

I remained silent. Who am I to interfere here?

-----------------------------

Reflect the anxieties of others...

We're back at work, after that short break. With a single stab, I broke apart yet another ice floe, sending its parts crashing into the sea.

As I leapt onto another floe, I decided to take a little rest. There's no need to rush now, I'll slow down for a bit.

I sat down, placing my sword beside me.

I closed my eyes and allowed my head to rest on my arms.

"Nicole."

Huh?

I immediately sat up and popped open my eyes, looking around.

There's nobody.

Yeah, I must be hearing things.

I slumped back down.

"Nicole."

"W-what?!"

"What are you going to do?"

"Do what?"

"What happens when everyone knows you're a human?"

"H-huh?"

"Sensei can kick you out because you're not a gem, you know?"

"That's bogus, he won't ever do that!"

"But you don't know that. You've also seen his reaction to the word 'humans', what do you think he'll do?"

I stared at the floe.

"Even if he doesn't," it continued, "what will the others think?"

"They won't mind, I'm sure!" I retorted, getting a bit worked up.

"Then why do you bother hiding your true origins from everyone else?"

I looked down. Even if it's amplified, what the floe saying was true.

But I picked up my sword and lifted my head.

"I'll wait till that day comes," I replied, stabbing the floe as hard as I could.

As I watched the ice fall into the sea, I began to think about a major issue I should have seen right from the start.

If I'm really caught, what do I exactly do?

Would everyone still see me the same way as usual?

What if Sensei ends up hating me?

I shook my head.

I'm living a new life now, my past shouldn't bother me like that.

But why does it?

I looked around, trying to find Phos.

Ah, there she is- wait, what is she doing?

Without a moment's hesitation, I sprinted towards the peppermint gem, who was staring into a crack in the ice.

As I approached her, I stared in shock as she lifted up her arms, about to put them inside the hole.

"Phos! What are you doing?!"

The peppermint gem looked up in shock and fell back.

"Dan... What am I thinki- woah!"

Phos had slipped right next to a bigger hole.

"Phos!"

I tried to grab her as quickly as possible, but she still ended up a bit in the water.

The floes just had to smash in right at that time, sending a massive splash of water upwards with a bang.

I immediately pulled the unconscious peppermint gem out and looked.

Everything below her elbows was gone.

I fell back.

"Phos!" a shout came from behind me.

Antarc rushed over, also shocked at the scene.

"Your arms... Dan! Stay here!"

Antarc leapt into the icy cold water.

I sat there, staring into blank space.

I sat there while Phos lay beside me.

I sat there when Antarc finally came back, her right hand off but being held in her left hand.

I stared blankly as Phos came back to consciousness.

I stared blankly as Antarc pulled me back to the school.

-------------------------

"Reporting in. Both of Phosphophyllite's arms were lost."

Sensei stared, wide-eyed.

"The failure is all mine. I am terribly sorry," Antarc finished.

"Wha?!" was the reaction from the peppermint gem. "W-w-wait, this was clearly all my own fault."

The pencil Sensei was holding hit the floor.

"I scoured the area as completely as possible, but..." Antarc continued before faltering.

She gripped her broken hand harder, shaking.

"Never mind, I'll be more thorough this time!"

The ice gem turned around and ran, but Sensei was faster and stopped her, his arm blocking Antarc's path.

He went on to envelope her in an embrace.

"This was all due to a lack of caution on my part."

"No... It was because I'm not used to working in a team and was reckless. I've never made such a blunder before..."

Antarc rested he head against Sensei's arm.

"I don't know what to do..."

Sensei carried the ice gem up as she descended into sobbing.

Looking at the three of them, I guiltily turned around and stared into the floor.

Had I noticed it earlier...

Had I been faster...

Had I stopped listening to the floe earlier...

None of these wouldn't have happened.

I'm solely to blame.

What could I have done...

I began to think of better scenarios that I could have made things go for.

Me seeing Phos slip and reacting in the nick of time...

Me smashing the floe up early and joining Phos before everything happened...

I could have prevented all of this.

I said I'll protect Phos.

What kind of protection am I giving her?

"I'm... useless."

I felt a hand on my head.

"An untrue statement," a voice behind me went.

Turning around slowly, I noticed that the hand was from Sensei.

"B-but... I could have been faster..."

"What has happened has already happened, young Danburite; do not wallow on it or else we'll never get anywhere. You have done what you've could and surely have prevented something worse from happening."

I looked up.

"I... I don't know what to say..."

"Then do not say anything," Sensei replied, rubbing his hand on my head. "In some occasions, silence comes before words."

"..."

I looked at Sensei.

"Now, we must not dwell on the past. We still have agate left, but Antarcticite and Phosphophyllite have both agreed to go to the Chord Shore."

"Chord Shore?"

"Indeed. The Chord Shore is where all of you were born, with the exception of you."

Sensei removed his hand and put down Antarc, who was still in his arms the whole time.

----------------------------

"I'm sorry."

"No, Dan, you're not at fault here! We've gone through that a few times already!"

Both Phos and I trudged through the snow together, Antarc still ahead.

"You were very fast, Dan. You saved my sorry body two times already, you know?"

"I wish you didn't lose your body parts though..."

We continued walking.

"Still, Phos, what were you thinking back there?"

"The floe told me to let it break my arms off, so that I can get stronger ones."

"Huh? Why the sudden thought?"

"I... just want to become stronger, Dan. My three-half hardness is not going to be useful anyway..."

"No, Phos, I like the way you are now. I rather you stay like this instead of being someone different, you're the most cheerful one out of all of us. I don't want anything to change that. Not ever."

Phos stared at me, surprised.

"Eheh... what?"

The peppermint gem broke into a small smile.

"So that's what you truly think about me... Thanks."1

"Ehh?"

Phos giggled. "Just keep walking, it's nothing that you should worry abou-"

A heavy gust of wind hit us, knocking Phos off balance.

This time, I grabbed onto her just in time.

"Thanks again."

Antarc stopped ahead, allowing us to catch up and walk alongside her.

--------------------

"We're here," the ice gem said.

A massive, cliff-like rock loomed ahead the three of us. We're on a white beach, somewhere I've only went to once.

"Dan, this is Chord Shore," Antarc introduced. "We also call it 'The Beach of Beginnings', since this is where we were all born."

So this is where Rutile was referring to...

"Ah, speaking of which, why were you not born here? You're the only one that didn't come from here, from what Sensei told me earlier on."

The ice gem turned to face me.

"Ehh, I don't know..." I replied, feeling myself sweat.

Antarc sighed.

"Never mind that, now we need to find a suitable material. Follow me, you two."

We walked closer to the massive rock.

"Ancient organisms decompose in the sea, turning into inorganic substances, and spend up to hundreds of millions of years working their way through the earth... to be born again here," the ice gem explained.

Just as she was done, a small, red gemstone began to emerge from the rock, a good distance above us.

As the gem fully emerged, it fell and landed right in front of Phos, kicking up snow.

"It is only on the rarest of occasions that they are born like us," Antarc continued as both Phos and I ran forward, looking at the red piece. "And most simply wind up like that there. Such knowledge among other things is then taught to us by Sensei, and we are given work among our kind. And we become what we are today. Do you remember any of that?"

Phos nodded. "Most of it."

"Is that so?"

A sudden strong blast of wind behind startled both me and the peppermint gem.

Turning around, I noticed that Antarc had swung her sword like a fan, blowing off the snow to reveal small pieces of materials strewn everywhere.

These pieces are gold or silver-colored and rather plentiful around here.

I looked at one of the gold ones.

Wait.

What if...

"Hey, Antarc!"

"What is it?"

"Is this actual gold?"

The ice gem stared at me in surprise. "How can you possibly know that?"

Oh, drat, not again.

"I... I... heard about them before winter came! Yeah, I heard someone talking about it! Ehehe..."

Antarc continued staring at me.

I'm getting a sense of deja vu.

"Eheh, what?"

"You're a little odd, I'll give you that. But do you know what those silver-looking ones are?"

I looked around.

"Eh, nope."

"That is platinum."

"Ehh? Really?"

"Yes. There's nothing here but gold and platinum."

Antarc paused.

"This won't do."

"It won't?" Phos asked, looking at a piece of gold.

"Gold and platinum are both extremely soft and malleable. And more crucially," the ice gem explained, trying to lift up a larger piece of gold but giving up, "they're far too heavy. They're useless."

"Well shoot..." Phos sighed, looking down at the fold piece ahead of them.

"Even after they've made it all this way."

Antarc looked at her in a weird gaze.

------------------------

"Hey," I asked as Antarc prepared to fit a piece of gold into Phos' left arm, "I thought you said they're useless?"

"Well," Antarc replied, giving me a small smirk, "only one way to find out."

With a soft clang, the gold piece attached itself to Phos.

"I've affixed it temporarily."

"Mmh," was the acknowledgment from the peppermint gem.

"I'm going to let go now."

Phos' new "arm" hit the ground almost immediately.

"Oof!"

"I thought as much. But your body doesn't seem to have rejected it. Your inclusions might still take a liking to it. The only problem is that weight. We could maybe hollow out the inside or... hm?"

Turning around, Antarc noticed the sun was finally out, the clouds moving away.

Hey...

I stared at Phos.

Phos stared at her new material.

'Let's take it off for now," Antarc said, oblivious to everything happening behind. "We're heading back."

"Uh..." I called, "Antarc..."

The ice gem turned around.

We watched in both awe and surprise as the gold liquefied and sprouted out of Phos' other arm. Somehow, the gold itself have increased in its amount, and it isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

"Uh..." Phos managed to blurt out, "I don't think I can..."

As the gold grew, a familiar black spot appeared behind Antarc.

"Antarc!" I shouted, pointing towards the all-too familiar dark area, "Lunarians!"

The ice gem turned back, before anxiously turning back to look at Phos.

"Hey... uh..." Phos uttered as the gold began to wrap around the peppermint gem, "I'm kind of getting engulfed. Wouldn't you say I'm being engulfed?!"

"W-wait..." Antarc looked in shock.

"Hey! What's happening to me, Antarcticite?! What is this?! What does it mean?!"

It's safe to say that all of us are panicking now.

"I don't-" Antarc wanted to say before abruptly leaping off to the side and grabbing her sword.

A spear landed at where she once stood on.

"I'm sorry..." Phos muttered as the dark spot enlarged further.

"Save it for once we're clear. Dan, stay with Phos!"

"A-alright!"

As Antarc leapt off to the cloud, I tried to reach Phos, now trapped inside the gold.

"Phos! Can you move?"

"Not at all! Dan, help me!"

"I'm trying!"

I tried reaching for Phos inside. Not working.

I tried to pry the gold away. No effect.

Soon, I was out of ideas.

"Phos, don't worry, I'll keep on trying till you're-"

"I WON'T LET YOU STEAL MY MEMORIES OF SENSEI!"

Started by Antarc's shouting, I turned to look at the cloud.

From what I can make out from here, there are floating "balls" of something red being attached to what remained of the large Lunarian via small strings.

I heard an enraged cry from the ice gem up there.

"What in the goddam- ah!"

I was thrown back by the gold.

Looking at Phos, I realized that the gold had formed itself into a box of sorts.

"Phos!"

I ran back to the peppermint gem.

"Hey! Are you okay in there?"

"Hey, it isn't that bad. But I can't move, help me out still..."

"Ehh? What do I do-"

A sudden hissing made me turn my head.

Noticing the cloud start to dissolve, I sighed in relief.

"Hey, Phos, Antarc did it."

I watched as pieces of Antarc hit the ground, the ice gem herself emerging from a pile of snow.

"Hey, Antarc!" I called out.

She just stood there.

"Hey!" Phos called out.

The ice jem just put her left hand on her face. What is she thinking about?

"Hey!" both Phos and I called out in unison.

Antarc finally turned around.

"Come on!" Phos sulked.

The ice gem limped over.

"Hey, Antarc," I asked the battered gem, "are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

She looked at the box.

"You've... changed."

"No, no, I'm inside..."

Antarc used her broken (and pretty sharp) right leg to kick the box. "Does this mean your inclusions liked it, or does it mean they didn't?"

"I can't move. Get me out of here, you two!"

Antarc sighed and put her remaining arm and leg on the grille-like opening of the box, beginning to pull.

"Hey, what's with the violence?!" Phos shouted. "Be a bit gentler!"

"Just deal with it!" Antarc shouted back, her cracking visibly heard.

"Antarc," I said, "let me do it, you're in bad shape."

"No; only room for one here, Dan."

"But you're breaking!"

"Trust me, I'm fine!"

"Careful!" Phos shouted from inside. "Watch it! You're gonna hit me!"

"Hush now!"

"Uwaaaaah! You scraped me! You definitely just scraped me!"

"Enough already!"

"Come on, take it a bit easier!"

"Yeah," I chimed in, "you're pretty damaged as of now."

"No, I'm doing it, just watch from the side! Phos, this doesn't even hurt, right?"

"Well no, but..."

Phos sighed as Antarc prodded her heels into the grille again.

"Still, I'm glad you're s-"

Antarc suddenly broke up.

For a few moments, I stared, dumbfounded.

The culprit, a spear, landed beside us.

Oh no.

"Antarc-" Phos choked out.

I saw Antarc put a finger to her lips before really falling apart.

Turning around quickly, a new Lunarian cloud had reappeared.

I stared at it for a moment.

I drew out my sword.

"Here goes..." I muttered, moving into a defensive position.