Through Your Eyes - Adelinta AU

Oh look, a random AU where Adelia and Jinta are gems because reasons.

Great.

Words: 1510

Characters: Adelia ((Moonstone)), Jinta ((Sunstone))

Adelia did not want to get out of bed- it was one of those mornings. She hated these sorts of days; they hardly constituted as days at all, but rather extensions of a horrid night preceding. Rolling onto her side, she stared at the empty space in the bed next to her. It seemed as though Jinta had already woken up- naturally, the sun always rose first.

She willed herself to sit up, but it didn’t happen. She remained glued in bed, flopping onto her back once again. Her gem, a smooth moonstone, pressed into the mattress beneath her. Why did she even bother sleeping? Had she really grown that used to life on Earth, that Jinta and herself would grow into this pattern? As gems they didn’t need sleep by any stretch of the imagination, but it had become such a custom to them that they did so without even thinking. It was all a part of the human facade, after all.

It had been so long since they’d begun this charade- having no place in the home world, they lived their days as if they were human. Sleeping, eating, even maintaining a job. It was easier that way; at least, to them it seemed easier than any other option they would have. Often times they forgot their former identities, as if they were distant recollections of a past life.

How the two of them met… it was actually a matter of chance, but that was an explanation for another day. In the moment, Adelia was no longer Moonstone. Just a tired young woman who could not bring herself to ride out of bed.

Moment’s later, Jinta walked in, a spatula in hand. Seeing she was awake, he smiled. “Rise and shine- I thought you were going to sleep the entire day away at that rate.” he teased her, though paused when she didn’t smile back. He furrowed his brow, wondering if it was one of those days. He didn’t understand it in the slightest, but sometimes it was all Adelia could do to even wake up in the morning.

“Something wrong?” he asked tentatively, crossing his arms. Adelia avoided eye contact, simply nodding.

“I’ll be up in a bit.” she murmured, trying to muster up the energy.

“Do you need anything?” Jinta pressed, knowing her answer already.

“No, no. Just give me a few minutes.” she muttered, and Jinta nodded solemnly, turning and pacing back into the kitchen.

Adelia had experienced the war much differently than Jinta had- having been a low-ranking commander for the Diamond Authority, he hardly saw battle, mostly dictating tasks from the home planet. Adelia, on the other hand, had been a prisoner of war, forced to take a side in a conflict she wanted no part of.

When Adelia did not rise even after another fifteen minutes, Jinta meandered back into the bedroom, finding her sitting on the edge with her legs dangling over. He didn’t know how to console her- he often said the wrong thing, if anything. However, he decided to at least try, offering whatever encouragement he could.

“Still having trouble? Take your time- we can do the errands later.” he said, hoping he didn’t say anything offensive.

Adelia stared at the carpet before laying back down. “I don’t think I’ll be going out today, my apologies.” she muttered, facing away from him.

“It’s that bad?” he couldn’t help but ask. Jinta then noticed that Adelia had begun to tremble slightly. With her back facing him, he could see her smooth gem, though with dark jagged marks stemming out from all sides of the gem and into her flesh. They were always there, no matter how many times she’d regenerated.

“You don’t…. Sunstone, you don’t understand.” she sighed, using his original name, to his surprise.

Jinta paused, pursing his lips. “You’re right, I don’t understand. I don’t get it at all, really. I… well, I don’t wish I feel what you do by any means, but I wish I could at least… well, sympathize.” he tried to reach for the right words.

Adelia was silent for some time. Jinta wondered if he should just leave, but right when he began to turn, she spoke.

“Do you really want to see what I see? I don’t think you do.” she murmured quietly.

“I think it would help me to understand you better.” he responded.

Adelia then pushed herself back into a seated position, facing Jinta.

“Fuse with me.” she directed him, staring at him with tired eyes. “At the very least, then we can go out- you’ll have to handle most of the physical activity, though.”

Jinta nodded, and hesitantly pulled Adelia to her feet, placing a hand on the small of her back so she would not fall. The two then danced slowly, with Jinta paying extra mind as to supporting Adelia so she would not fall. The two closed their eyes, and inhaling in unison, they merged into a single entity, Orthoclase. They didn’t stand out terribly this way, as they were still only about as tall as the average man, which was small for a fusion, but enabled the two to go about their day as one without raising too many heads. The only feature that made things difficult was the third eye, though they reached up and brushed their bangs over this.

Immediately, Jinta felt almost nauseous, so it seemed. It was like a sinking in the pit of their stomach, as if their bones were filled with lead. He didn’t think the ailment was anything physical, yet even their muscles seemed sore.

Jinta focused, trying to hone in on Adelia’s perspective. As much as it worsened his condition to tap into her dreary self, this was the point, and he persisted. Becoming aware of her vision, the world seemed almost overcast as he looked around the room. Trying to endure this misery, Jinta took prominent control of the body, adjusting their clothing before collecting their things.

The goal was to go to the grocery store, something they typically did together anyways, but usually as separate entities. However, today was a day for trying new things, so it seemed, and Jinta guided them outside, heading down the street.

At the sight of another pedestrian, Jinta felt their chest tighten, and they seemed to hold their breath, as if waiting to see what the pedestrian would do. Even after the person passed by them, they had a hard time calming down. This process repeated as each new being came into view, as if everyone and everything was a potential threat with the ability to harm. This fear and anxiousness overwhelmed Jinta, and they were jarred to think that this was how Adelia viewed the world- at least on days such as this.

Adelia’s presence seemed very faint, as if she wasn’t really there, but her essence was. That pained and fearful essence that consumed their body like a raincloud. Jinta could not even hear her- it seemed she was not even trying to communicate, and was simply a corpse occupying the body. This concerned him, to feel such negativity and sorrow. He didn’t like it one bit, and although they weren’t even at the store, he always wanted to go home. Was this how she felt so often? Some days worse than others, but always plodding along with lead instead of marrow?

Arriving at the grocery store, Jinta began to feel as though their back was hurting.

‘I want to go home. I can’t do this.’ Jinta could hear her thoughts as clear as day.

‘Okay. We’ll go.’

He didn’t even hesitate to turn on their heels, guiding them right back from where they had come.

‘Walk faster.’ Adelia pressed him, and she tried to contribute, but lacked the energy.

‘I’m trying.’ he thought, and truly he was. It seemed almost difficult to move though. He figured they may as well be wading through molasses- by the time they returned to the apartment, he felt as though they’d run a marathon. Closing the door behind them, they collapsed onto the couch, panting slightly from exhaustion.

Jinta could still feel their back throbbing, and voices began to chime in their head that did not belong to Adelia.

‘If you squirm one more time we’ll reduce your gem to shards.’ ‘You’re just a sacrifice that has to be made.’ ‘If you just shut up and stop squirming it’ll be over and you’ll be dead before you even realize.’

They were memories- haunting recollections that rattled around Adelia’s brain, now permeating into Jinta’s consciousness. The malevolent voices and throbbing pains were more than Jinta could bear, and they began to sweat in discomfort.

As they writhed, Jinta could feel the two of them separate, and sure enough, he was left lying underneath Adelia as she tensed in discomfort.

“Moonstone….” he murmured, trying to sit up, but he was exhausted from the excursion.

“Do you understand?” she whimpered softly, laying her head against his chest.

Sunstone paused, nodding slightly.

“A little bit.”