Land of the Blades

32. Dulled

—I want to see him.

Guided by Antarc and "Ghost", who apparently were a team now, I walked to what had been Sensei's meditation chamber and was now his resting place. He was placed in a platform on the center, and was surrounded by beautiful flowers either on the floor or hanging from the ceiling. "Ghost" told me that they had been making some progress on fixing him, but it was still not enough to revive him.

—It was you who keep all the flowers alive? —I asked, looking at Antarc.

—Of course, I want Sensei to have a nice view once he awakens.

—I'm sure we will be glad to see how much effort you did for his sake. I'm also a bit jealous you didn't put any flower on my room.

After spending a moment there holding Sensei's hand, I told them I was ready to meet the others. They had to point I was still not fully prepared, as my clothes were still all disheveled and loose. By the time I made myself presentable and went to the common hall, almost everyone was already there, looking at me with expectant eyes.

—It has been a long time since the last time I saw you all, and I can only blame myself for that —I said with a fake smile—, but let's forget about that and work together from now! With a new face, your beloved Phosphophyllite had returned, I hope you can accept me as your leader once more.

—You got to be kidding me —Bort growled. I was glad he was still here.

—Amazing! —Yellow and Dia exclaimed, the latter almost jumping over me.

I took a look at the crowd, and counted heads, just to be sure nobody else had been taken. Aside from the seven already mentioned, Benito, Eucci, Nepuchi, Zircon, Obsidian, Eighty Four, Thirty Three, Alexi, Sphene, Hemi and Melon were there. Goshe and Morga were there as well, but they looked somewhat different. Lastly, Jade was sitting on a wheelchair, but much more elaborated than the one we made for her a hundred and two years ago. Discounting Padpad, who probably was still sleeping in the infirmary, that was all of us. That was... all of us, right?

Plenty of my brothers came closer to me and started asking questions about my status, and I tried to answer them to my best capacity.

—You really look like Lapis, but it is still you, right? —Yellow asked.

—Of course it is me, who else would be this beautiful?

I saw "Ghost" mopping on a bench, saying that the precious images of the Lapis Lazuli he respected were vanishing before his eyes.

—Hmmm, are you having second thoughts about lending me Lapis' head?

—That was mostly my outer layer choice, but I didn't disagree with his reasoning. To be honest, I was half expecting Lapis to take over your body, but there is nothing we can do now.

I tried to smile reassuringly and held his hands.

—Listen, I might never live up to what Lapis was, but I'll do my best to be a worthy substitute.

—Do whatever you want... —he said pouting and looking away. Even if he wasn't my Ghost, he could still be cute as him sometimes.

I feel a shiver run through my back, a powerful presence I didn't recognize was approaching us. It was moving slowly, but it was already in the building, entering the room we were to be precise. I made a blade out of my alloy and jumped instinctively against it, stopping only when I saw the careless and tired face of the person in front of me. The smell of the coffee she was holding also brought memories that weren't mine.

—My my, so all this ruckus was because of you, Phos? It has been such a long time.

—Oh, I forgot to tell the witch about it —"Ghost" said with a deadpan tone and a sarcastic smile on his face.