Chapter 220 - Changes

"So that's what happened."

"Do you think my systems will come back soon? I really don't want to tell this to anybody yet since they would most probably just advise me to pick a change for my Stat-hut. But I don't want to change my systems. I only want Mr. Gemini and Lady," Gem said while keeping herself from bursting out of tears again.

"I think they'll be back. Don't worry," Von said and smiled at her for finally knowing that he's not the real reason why Gem was crying in the first place.

"I really miss them. I hope they'll go back to me soon," Gem said and was taken aback when she saw Von offering to her his handkerchief.

"Thanks," she said softly to Von who was just keeping a sympathetic smile for her on the outside but was actually dying and wanting to take a rest now on the inside.

"You know, this is also similar to what happened to my Stat-hut when it was first invaded by the Salamandite's system."

"What do you mean?" Von said, finally giving up on his desire to take a nap, and just sat on the bed beside Gem's while facing her.

"This light. The sudden changes in temperature. It also happened when Mr. Gemini first activated and linked itself to Lady," Gem said and gave the handkerchief back to Von while thinking about it seriously.

"O-Okay? Welcome…" Von said with a very low volume pertaining to the handkerchief that Gem gave back to her with her tears and just shrugged it off.

"Wait, what do you mean changes in temperature though?" Von added when Gem's words finally sank in his mind.

"The changes in temperature! This necklace and earrings became super hot when a problem arose by the time Mr. Gemini was invading the Stat-hut system. It even burned a maid's hands which made me discover about my healing slimes power!" Gem said and showed Von a ball of healing slimes from her hand just to prove a point.

"Okay, then? What happened next?"

"See this?" Gem asked and emphasized the snowflakes on her Salamandite crystal, "it's now turning into a very extreme cold, opposite from the temperature earlier which even burned my hands multiple times.

"Oh, careful then," Von said and held Gem's arms to push it back and away from the necklace which almost frost her fingers to death.

"Don't worry, I can just cure it right away," Gem said and put her hands inside the ball of healing slimes that she just showed to Von earlier.

"See?" she added after pulling her newly cured hands off of it, "but my point is, this is exactly the same thing that happened back then! Although that was mostly the earrings… maybe this time, it was the necklace's turn to burn? Or freeze?"

"So you're saying, there's also some malfunction going on between your two systems that's why it's reacting like this?" Von said, summarizing Gem's points which immediately made Gem nod at him aggressively.

"So how did you fix that? That first problem that you encountered with your systems?"

"I don't know. It just somehow got fixed by the time I woke up."

"Then there's a possibility that the exact same thing might happen to your systems this time around too."

"But I already slept and woke up. Nothing happened."

"Maybe tomorrow? Don't rush it, give them some time to fix their malfunctions. If I were you, I'd be more worried that these kinds of stuff happen in the first place. I mean, what if we were already on the battlefield and your systems just suddenly shut down? Wouldn't that put us at a disadvantage?"

"Hmm, you're right… But my system has nothing to do with my skills anyway, so I think we'll be just fine if that happens," Gem said carelessly while playing with her healing slimeballs.

"What about our comms? Do you think we'll be able to communicate properly on that battlefield?"

"No. But speaking of the battlefield, you know about the tournament ever since you became aware, right? Can you tell me more information about it? For example the kind of games we'll be playing or the kind of monsters we'd be fighting?" Gem said with a sudden change of topics and attitude which made Von feel a little bit unsettled.

"Fine, but only if you promise to give time for your systems to fix itself and not cry about it yet."

"Okay. I promise," Gem said with a squeaky smile before returning back to her pouty expression.

"Good."

"But only until tomorrow, if it still doesn't work tomorrow I don't know what I'm going to do anymore. I survived that life without systems back ten, but after having one, I don't think I could go back to that life anymore. It feels so lonely without them."

"I know, that's why I'm here," Von said and shook his head to remind himself of the question that Gem asked him to answer.

"Now about the tournament… why don't I just show you the stages so you can have a clearer idea of it for the future?" Von suggested and opened his stat hut. 

But then, after a minute of scrolling down and noticing Gem fidgeting in front of him, he immediately put his stat-hut down and just decided to explain the whole thing for her.

"Sorry, I forgot you didn't have your Stat-hut with you," he said.

"No, it's okay. I have my glass tablet over here, you can just show me what you're going to show me with this," Gem said and smiled before returning to her serious face and asking herself why she and Von were weirdly getting along so well.

"Okay then," Von said and opened his Stat-hut again.

And while waiting, Gem fell back into her whirlpool of not-so-pleasant memories with Von and compared it to what was happening at the moment.

"He doesn't look so grumpy anymore… and he became more understanding than just pure irritated by my mere existence. Did something happen to him while we were busy discovering stuff back at the Edelweiss?" Gem thought to herself before returning her smile when she noticed Von looking at her.

"Here," Von said and offered his hands which made Gem raise her eyebrows at her while still smiling.

"Your tab?" Von said, slightly getting annoyed by Gem's obviously fake smile to him.

"My tab? What tab?" Gem said and looked around her to find that 'tab' that Von was asking for.

But because Von did not want to spark another argument or ugly feelings for how Gem was acting, he just stood up and grabbed the glass tablet beside Gem on his own.

"Oh, that tab!" Gem said and laughed which irked Von's uncomfortable self even more.

"There you go," Von said and gave her back the glass tablet with the exclusive guide of the tournament from the last 4010's games.

"Thank you," Gem said with a smile that was now genuine upon receiving the tablet from Von.

But because there were still voices in Gem's head that were bothering her about the changes in Von's attitude, she quickly paused the video and put it down beside her, and looked at Von with a serious face.

"Did something happen to you? I know we were practically just together the whole time, but am I the only one who's weirded out by us suddenly getting along like this?" Gem suddenly said and leaned back while reminiscing the time she and Von would always get into a fight whenever chance they got.

"What's weird? We even played that game till the end, remember?" Von said, trying to brush it off like it was nothing but, in reality, it was really because of his sudden change of impression of Gem compared to his first impression that was not so good.

And of course, his newly developed resolution to be a mature prince of this island, not just for himself, but also for the sake of Demi and others.

"I know… But I just can't believe how different we are now than when we first met, I still can't forget about that time when we both almost died because of your ugly attitude, you know?" Gem said and showed him a not-so-pleasant expression with her tucked lips and slightly raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, that was not cool."

"Tch, who says you're cool now?" Gem said with an annoyed expression that slightly turned into a smirk while imagining what would happen if she said those exact same words before to the old Von.

"Tch," Von said and turned around to try and take a nap while waiting for Gem to finish the video he just recommended which made Gem laugh even louder.

"Is that still the exact same 'tch' you used to do when ignoring everybody? Because for some reason it's getting more tolerable now!" Gem purposely shouted behind Von before proceeding with the video while calming herself down.

"That's what you get for comforting a crying girl, Von," Von whispered to make the situation more bearable before finally forcing himself to sleep while Gem was now busy with the video.

"Thanks for this by the way," Gem said after calming down and even gave Von a blanket from the cabinets which he then accepted without any complaints.

"I'll be silent now," Gem added before wrapping herself around her own blankets and finally focusing on the video guide of the 4010's Dekadalaw tournament.