“Ollie, I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Peri.”

The blonde woman only reached up to the giant white-haired man’s chest when she hugged him. She had crows feet and his beard had gone completely gray, but they still recognized each other after all these years…

“I knew you wouldn’t die! Bastard!”

“Of course not, hahahaha~!”

Peridot and Oliver stood in the middle of Verde Village. The place had been rebuilt and renovated a lot. Rather than a village, it was more like a full-blown town now. With a few factories in the distance and some short high-rises nearby. Their little two-story building and yard was exactly the same as it used to be though.

“I waited for you, Ollie.”

“You probably should’ve just moved on.”

“Screw you! Bastard!” She punched him in the face so hard that his lip ripped open, “How can you say that?!”

“Peri, you really should’ve moved on.” Oliver turned his head slowly and his green eyes burst into orange flames! Then his hair turned to ash and his skin charred black in an instant… Not just him, but everything around Peridot was destroyed!

Somehow she was perfectly fine as the whole mountain was burning around her! Peridot glanced down at her hands and realized that they were glowing bright orange, her arms were made of stone… She looked over and saw that handsome man with brown eyes, black hair and deathly pale skin.

“You’re such a disappointment, Jade.”

“Papa?”

“You could have been a God! But you threw it all away for what?!”

“Papa, what are you talking about?!”

“You were my greatest masterpiece! My perfect work! The key! I could have become a God! If only you weren’t so useless! So slow! Not enough time! Never enough time!”

She reached out and watched Celadon’s body turn to ash as the entire mountain burst open! A huge hand made of gray metal reached out of the peak, grasping toward the sun, before turning into a blinding light! Those crystalline eyes shattered, her stone flesh melted into magma, then vaporized into gas! Then her consciousness was swept away by a terrifying maelstrom and noise!

“Aaaaaaaah~!”

“Jade, wake up!”

*Booom~!*

“No! No, please, aaaah~!”

“Jade, wake the hell up! Now!”

“What-what happened?! Oliver?! Where am I? Where are we?!”

When those glowing green eyes opened, the stone girl saw pulsating flesh and blood everywhere around them!

“We ‘should’ be in a dusty tunnel!” Oliver picked her up off the ground and shook her shoulders violently, “You started having a nightmare and it turned into this shit-show!”

“I did this?!” She looked around in confusion at the arteries, veins, capillaries, skin, muscle and other random organic tissues everywhere… It was extremely chaotic and confusing. Some places looked like the inside of creatures, while others were the outsides, even having hair.

“I’m a statue, I mean, I’m not even a ‘Statue’ anymore! I’m just Stone! How can I turn a normal tunnel into this mess?!”

“Well I sure as hell hope it’s ‘you’ and not something else, because I’m not the one doing it!”

“Maybe it’s the ghost of Papa! He’s trying to get revenge!”

“Revenge on who?! For what?! I’ve never even met the guy!”

The fleshy ceiling bent down under the weight of the rock and stone above it. Sharp crystals pierced through and lots of crimson liquid splattered all over the two of them!

“Ollie! Run! We don’t have time to talk about this now!”

“Obviously!” Oliver sprinted up the slope with a single-edged pick in each hand. Easily stabbing them into the ground, walls or ceiling as he climbed through the slippery tunnel. His hard-hat, mask and air tank got in the way, so he released them… Then he took a deep breath and was shocked.

“We’re almost there! Jade! We’re almost to the surface! Hahahaha~!”

“Don’t jinx us!” The stone woman didn’t even bother crawling on her hands and feet. Instead, she just hovered and shot up the meaty tunnel like a bullet! A very, very slow bullet, but at least she was keeping up behind Oliver pretty easily.

It wasn’t long before they escaped from the collapsing fleshy slope and the ground evened out a lot. It was a tight fit, but neither of them felt like ‘digging’ anymore. Not only could they feel the cold fresh air, they could even see light shining in through the small crack ahead!

“We’re free! Hahahaha! Finally! We made it!”

“Yay~! Ehah-ehah-ehaahahaha~!”

The two of them emerged from the darkness, into the blinding light! They were stunned for a moment, then looked up and saw two huge legs! After centuries of weathering, it was still possible to see part of a ‘waist’ above those long legs… But that’s about it. No finer details. That wasn’t important though.

“Look! Ollie! We’re at the top of the mountain!”

“I can tell!”

The cold wind was howling and caused the shirtless man to shiver a bit, while Jade also cooled down from her previously overheated state. They walked past the ‘Greenstone Pillars’ and walked around the upper half of the creepy statue that was buried under a bunch of ice, snow and rocks. Then they reached the edge of the cliff and looked down at the mountain below.

“Wow! I’ve never been so high up before!”

“Neither have I…” Oliver trembled, “I think… I might be afraid of heights.”

“Ehah~!” Jade grinned and hovered a meter off the ground, “What’s there to be afraid of? If you fall, I’ll catch you!”

He rolled his eyes and looked at her glowing orange hands, “If you catch me, I’ll die!”

“Not with my hands!” She retorted and conjured up some stone rings, which wrapped around his wrists and ankles. Then with a little effort, he was lifted up into the air while struggling. With a wave of her hand, he started floating up above the rocks and forests below!

“No! Nope! Stop! Seriously Jade! This isn’t funny!”