Chapter 226 - Move On

"Wait, what did you mean by that, Gem?" Lei asked which made Gem nervous as to why he was asking her about the lie that she had just shamelessly said.

"B-By what?" Gem said, pretending to not understand what Lei was asking about in an attempt to get out of the situation smoothly.

"Didn't you just say something about this not entirely my fault?" Lei asked in hopes that he could clear himself of the crime that he had accidentally committed, which made Gem sigh in relief.

"Oh! So that was what you were talking about?" Gem laughed awkwardly.

"Yes, what did you think it was?" Lei asked with his eyes narrowing at Gem.

"Nothing! Uhmm…" Gem said and looked at Petunia for permission to tell Lei what she just told her earlier.

"Go on," Petunia said in approval.

"Okay!" Gem said and started telling the two newcomers about Petunia's theory about the cloud earlier without hesitation.

"Really?" Lei said and looked at Petunia who was now the one avoiding his eyes.

"We're not sure yet. But can you tell us first about what you were doing before that cloud went out of the jar?" Gem asked Lei, somehow getting serious about the number of mysterious things happening subsequently in just one day.

"I was just trying out the trick that Petunia taught me with the jars…"

"What trick?" Von asked and went closer to the jar in Gem's hands that was still covered with ice to inspect the foreign thing closely, "And what is this anyway?" 

"That's one of the main ingredients needed to make the flight potion, apparently," Lei said and let Von inspect it even closer.

"It can float in the air even with the jar. That was why I let it float in the air and watched it while waiting for you to arrive. I don't really know what happened but I just noticed one of them landing close to the tree sink so I tried to make it float again, but the next thing I know, a part of it was already sucking water from the sink and the jar just exploded in front of my face," Lei said and took a deep breath after realizing how defensive and desperate he must have sounded like with that very long sentence of his that was very unusual for someone not talkative like him.

"So you're saying, you just let the cloud jars float in the air and watch it without doing anything? Then one of them purposely went to the tree sink to suck the water out of it?" Petunia asked as if Lei was saying nonsensical things.

"Yes! Exactly! I was even about to go to sleep since I found it boring to watch them, but then I heard the loud running water sounds and then I saw what that bottle was doing."

"But why is it that only one bottle acted on its own and went to the tree sink to suck water? I mean we found this one inside the puffed cloud earlier and it was surrounded by water but it was just staying inside its bottle peacefully, not even trying to get out of it unlike that one," Gem said with an air of curiosity.

"That's not even the main point here. These clouds are not alive. They don't have feelings, they don't think. These are just effects of the chemical compounds inside of them such as their ability to absorb water, float or create lighting. So how can I believe you that this cloud just somehow made its way to the tree sink and sucked the water out of it if it can't even see nor think?!" Petunia said which made the whole room silent and Gem looked at her as if she just countered herself.

'Wasn't she the one who just told me that this isn't entirely Lei's fault? Why did she suddenly change sides?' Gem thought to herself while looking curiously at Petunia and somehow making eye contact with Von who was also a loss for words at the moment.

"I-I don't know how it happened, okay? All I did was let them float and watch them as I took a slight nap but then things happened and I didn't know how to stop it. It was like a hungry monster starving for food!"

"Should we get out of here?" Von asked Gem silently while Lei and Petunia were still arguing in the background.

And even though Gem thought it was not a good idea at first to leave the two arguing inside the ruined laboratory, she just nodded her head and followed Von towards the hallway where they could finally have peace.

"Are you okay?" Von asked after giving Gem the space to calm her thoughts down.

"No,' Gem said in all honesty.

"Okay, I'll give you the time to let everything sink in then," Von said and was about to go back inside the room when Gem stopped her.

"Should we just look for another room like this one where we can finally make this flight potion? That's what we came here for anyway, right?" Gem said with a smiling face which Von immediately recognized as the same smile that she had been showing to him earlier before she burst out of tears.

"You can cry, you know?" Von said and offered her hand to Gem which she just looked at.

"W-What?" Gem said which made her tears fall back to her eyes for being clueless about what Von was asking from her.

"The jar, I'll hold it so you can cry properly," Von said and looked away to hide his flustered face from his sudden actions which caused them a little miscommunication.

"Oh!" Gem said and wiped her tears before giving Von the jar with a shy smile for suddenly feeling better after that small awkward moment between her and Von.

"L-Let's go?" Gem asked with a slightly cheerful tone to Von who just nodded at her to immediately get it over with.

***

"We went here to make that stupid flight potion! Not to clean this mess that you made!"

"What do you mean I made? Gem just told us about your theory, right? Why are you so mad!" 

"I don't know Lei! I'm just so tired! Gem almost died tonight! I almost died tonight! Do you think I could stay perfectly sane after experiencing such things?!"

"No… I'm sorry," Lei said and looked down to further show his apology.

"You know what? It's okay. Let's just continue on. Gem didn't die. I didn't die. Let's just go and complete that flight potion that you really want so much. After this, I don't want anything to do with you anymore, aside from being your teammate for the tournament. Come on," Petunia said with a cold and indifferent tone instead of her angry state and turned around which made Lei's heart sink even more.

"Wait," Lei said and stopped her from going away, "I thought you might need to know this… But you guys are more important to me than that flight potion. You may get the wrong idea that I don't really care about either of you but in reality, I'm just as heartbroken as you are. Not because of this stupid cloud, but the fact that I put your lives in danger. I'm really sorry, Petunia. I hope you can forgive me, just like how we've forgiven you for betraying us," Lei said with a pleading tone.

But because of the last words that he said, instead of making Petunia feel better, she just had another bitter taste in her mouth hearing those words.

"Liar, clearly all you care about is that greed of yours to finally be able to fly. Don't worry, I'll still help you make that potion, but don't expect our friendship to be fixed just like that,' Petunia said and tried flying away again but Lei stopped her.

"Wait! I'm not really good with words but that is not what I meant! I care about you and Gem more than I care about the potion. Not like what you were trying to imply. I'm really sorry if my words came wrong to you, and if I really did something wrong. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me," Lei said, which sounded more sincere and less defensive this time.

"I-I'll think about it," Petunia said and finally let go of Lei's hold.

"What should we do now? I'll do anything you tell me to do. If you tell me you want me to clean all of this by myself I'll do it. Just so you can know that my apology is sincere."

"I know, I heard you, alright?" Petunia said while acting as if she was annoyed even though all the negative thoughts were now slowly fading away from her mind.

"Okay. So…?" Lei said, still anticipating Petunia's instructions which only made Petunia roll her eyes with a slight approval of Lei's determination to make her forgive him.

"For now, let's just-"

"Guys! What are you still doing here? We found a room that's very similar to this room! Should we just go there and start making the flight potion already before Venedette looks for us at dinner?" Gem shouted from the door which interrupted Petunia's words.

But instead of answering, Petunia and Lei only looked at each other and walked out of the chaotic room together.

"Alright, let's go," Gem said and led them cheerfully to the other room where Von was already waiting for them with the cloud in a jar.

"Is that all we need to make the flight potion?" Gem asked Petunia and Lei after running and turning around playfully on their way.

"This is all that's left," Petunia said with a hint of sarcasm.

"But then, how are we going to make the potion if the ingredients are incomplete?" Gem asked.

"It's not really incomplete, they're just insufficient to make all the flight potions that we need for today."

"Then… Are we going to go back here soon to make more then?" Gem asked.

"Most likely," Petunia said and glanced at Lei who was still looking very guilty with those ingredients that were left for them to make use of.

"Hmm, okay, I guess that will do for now," Gem said and shrugged before letting the thought go.