I wake up, gasping. Eyeball pulls away from me, her eyes widening. "Amethyst, are you okay?!" I groan. "Eyeball, why am I the one who has to deal with this?" Eyeball raises an eyebrow. "What? We're doing this together."

My eyes well up. "That's not it. I just...encountered Eloc."
"What?! Amethyst, what happened?" I groan as I get up. "We'll talk about it later. Right now, we need to find Malachite and Bismuth."

We hear panting and we turn our gaze to an approaching figure. "Eyeball! Amethyst!" Bismuth rushes up to us, smiling. "Thank the stars I found you two." She frowns looking back and pointing in the direction she came.

"Malachite is down there somewhere. I could use some backup to even the odds." We nod to Bismuth and she gives us a thumbs-up. "Great! Let's go." She walks off down the path and we follow her to hunt down Malachite.

"Sorry for worrying you guys by the way. I had no idea that this forest is so big." I groan, facepalming. "Well duh! All forests are big!" Eyeball puts a hand on my shoulder. "Well, at least we made it, right?" Bismuth shakes her head.

"Not yet. We still have a ways to go." I tear up, remembering the events of what took place inside Malachite. "So, I found Lapis and Jasper just before they fused into that ugly uppercrust. They were like kissing and all that and my heart..."

She grits her teeth. "Couldn't be more broken right now." I smile. "Hey, we'll get her back. Don't worry about it."
"Well, I don't know if we can. I never really hung out with her that much. And Lapis has been with Jasper much longer than I could've imagined." She curls her hands into fists.

"I mean months trapped at the bottom of the ocean versus a single week, not even! She chose her over me because she cares more about about that uppercrust than me! Not to mention herself over her own personal needs!" She slams her fist into a tree.

"And I...just need someone to be with...so that I know that there really is a light at the end of tunnel!" I walk past Eyeball to meet up with Bismuth face to face. "Bismuth, she does care about you. Lapis is forcing her into Malachite because wants the same thing you do."

"Well how do you know that?!"
"Because I saw Lapis and Jasper inside Malachite as the rain was pouring down." Bismuth raises an eyebrow. "Say what now?"

"Look, Jasper wanted to give you a chance and she's upset that she didn't. Lapis is manipulating her by telling her that you can't give her what she wants and that you are no better than Malachite is." She tenses up.

"Oh! Well I certainly am better than that putrid, vile beast! I'll show her!" I pat her back. "We'll show her." I give her a smile to reassure her and she smiles back. She wipes her tears. "Okay. Let's do this!" She runs off. "Bismuth, wait!" We run to keep up with her.

The forest glitches again. "She's close." We pant as we make our way down the path. A roar blares down in our direction. "We're almost there! Hurry!" Bismuth motions us forward as we rush down towards a giant green mass in the distance.

Jasper's voice echoes in my head once more. "Lapis, we should stop. What are we doing here?" Lapis shushes her. "Forget about it. At least as Malachite, we'll be okay." Jasper glares at her. "I will not let things end like this."

Lapis snaps a glare back. "I have no one else! Thanks to Amethyst, Peridot has been shattered! And it's all because she couldn't control that demon inside of herself! I could lose you next and then I will have no one!"
"Lapis, I...don't care about that."

I can hear thunder rumbling as Lapis cracks her knuckles in her trembling fists. "You will."
"I will not! There is someone out there who truly cares about how I feel! You don't know me or care about me at all! You're a monster, Lapis!" Lapis grits her teeth.

"I've seen you long enough to get around that fact! What good is Malachite if this is all she will ever be?! All you've ever done was take everything out on me and you've always hated me since the day I took you in as prisoner! That isn't love!"

She tears up. "That's flipping abuse! I don't want it anymore than you do! I wish I never met you! I wish I've never met this gargantuan dirtpile! I've had enough! Now let me go!"
"NEVER!" Wind whips the trees and lightning crashes down from the dark green sky. What came next is the rain.