Pain and fear shot through the Lavender Chalcedony as she was hurled across the room by her superior. Her body tumbled across the floor, shaking as she skidded to a stop. Her superior, a large and cruel Shadow Agate stalked up to her, pulling out her whip.
"Stand up! Don't you dare make me look bad in front of our Diamond!" She cracked her whip at Lavender, wrapping it around her wrist and pulling her forcefully up to her feet. Gripping Lavender hard enough to bruise her pale blue skin, Shadow Agate hissed, "Now listen to me you piece of crust, this is your fault. You make me look bad every single time you fuck up. This was the last time, so now, you're going to stand before our Diamond and accept your fate. She's going to shatter you and I'll never have to deal with your incompetence ever again."
Lavender flinched, nodding slightly, "Yes, Shadow."
The Agate rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything else, the door to White Diamond's room opened. A beautiful Pearl with a clear shawl wrapped around her stepped to the side and gestured into the elegant room.
"My Diamond will to see you now." the Pearl murmured, her voice just barely above a whisper. Agate gave Lavender one last glare before striding into the throne room. The Pearl didn't even blink as the Chalcedony shot her a pleading look. This Pearl was trained well, it seems. She was a replacement for the Diamond's last Pearl, who decided to become a rebel. It was highly unlikely Lavender would get any sympathy from her. The door closed behind them and the Pearl led the way to the throne room.
"My Diamond." Shadow Agate greeted, saluting loyally. "I have brought you the useless Chalcedony."
The being towering before them blinked down at the Agate with an unimpressed expression. The sharp lines of her jaw, the dull gaze in her eyes, and the demanding glint of her gem was enough to have Lavender fidgeting nervously. A gorgeous white diamond sat right in the middle of the Diamond's forehead. Lavender's own gem was in the same spot; hidden behind her teal green hair. White Diamond's gaze slid to behind the Agate, locking eyes with Lavender. She immediately ducked her head and saluted; trying her best to be still.
"Why has this Chalcedony failed every task you have given her?" The Diamond asked slowly, an accusatory tone lacing her words.
"B-because she is worthless; scrawny and uncoordinated. She couldn't even beat a cracked Pearl." Shadow Agate said. The Pearl, once again, was unresponsive; standing still and pristine next to her Diamond's throne. "She's not a warrior and she's not a gem."
Lavender flinched as she felt Agate's gaze on her, "She's just a waste of your space and time, my Diamond."
There was a long pause as they waited for the Diamond's response. Lavender was shaking uncontrollably, tears starting to form in her eyes. She knew she was a goner, she knew would not be walking out of this room. Shadow Agate was right about everything; Lavender wasn't good at anything she did. She failed every single assignment given to her. She couldn't fight, she wasn't smart, she wasn't even pretty. There was no purpose for a gem like her.
"Are you telling me you can't properly train a soldier?" Was the Diamond's response.
Lavender's head shot up in shock, she stared at her Diamond, speechless. Shadow Agate was much the same, she took an involuntary step backwards, blinking rapidly.
"No, my Diamond, I- I just mean that she is the problem. All of my other soldiers are top-notch! She is the only one that has failed you." Agate said, suddenly a lot less sure about the situation.
The Diamond then pulled up a holographic screen, pressing various buttons until a gem's face was before her, saluting.
A staticy voice came through the reception, "My Diamond?"
"Come to the throne room. Bring a Chrysoberyl." White Diamond said and then flicked the picture away.
Shadow Agate's brows furrowed, "A Chrysoberyl? Why… why would a Chrysoberyl shatter her? Wouldn't, wouldn't a different gem have that job?"
White Diamond raised an elegant eyebrow, "Whoever said I was going to shatter her?"
A shiver ran through Lavender's body, the hair on her arms rose as she took in the words. She couldn't stop the soft gasp escaped her lips, "...W-what?"
The Diamond blinked at her and said simply, "Supplies are low. I don't have the luxury to shatter every bad soldier."
"My Diamond, you can't be serious…" Shadow Agate argued, "This piece of dirt isn't just bad; she's- she's the worst. I have never seen a gem so incapable in all my life!"
Lavender shifted her weight from foot to foot, "If I may, my Diamond, she's right."
White Diamond tilted her head, "You want to be shattered?"
"I… want what's best for you, my Diamond." Lavender replied softly, lowering her gaze, "I can not help your cause in any way. I am only a hindrance to you, my Diamond."
The Diamond clicked her tongue, "We shall see about that."
Just then the door behind them opened and an Emerald walked in with a short Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl trotting behind her. Lavender wondered how anyone could be so casual in the presence of a Diamond. The Chrysoberyl smiled happily and waved to the Pearl as she passed. The only response she got was a curt nod.
"I grabbed the first one I saw, my Diamond. Will this one do?" The Emerald asked, gesturing to the Chrysoberyl, who was gazing around the room with her one eye. Where the other would be was a yellowish-orange gem with a sharp line through the middle. How convenient that the Cat's Eye's gem was her eye.
"Very well. Thank you." White Diamond replied. The Emerald soluted and then walked back out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Shadow Agate turned to her superior, "What is the meaning of this?"
Ignoring her, Diamond said, "Chrysoberyl, this Chalcedony is inferior."
The Cat's Eye's gaze snapped to Lavender, a large gasp escaping her small being. "What!?"
Lavender bit her lip, looking away, "I am to be shattere-"
"Oh, nononononono no!" Cat's Eye interrupted, rushing forward and grabbing Lavender's hands, "no, my darling, there's no reason for you to be shattered! Look at how fantastic you are! I wish I was as tall as you and your hands are so soft! Wow! You have freckles! Did you do that on purpose? I want freckles! I should do that for my next form. And my stars, your gem is so shiny! I was wondering how you did that…" She kept rattling on and Lavender looked up to Shadow Agate, who looked disgusted and then to White Diamond, who was observing a new hologram.
"My Diamond?" Lavender questioned.
"The Earth colony has proven to be more difficult than originally anticipated." The Diamond replied, not looking away from her screen. "Every ship we send there never returns, for one reason or another."
"Okay?"
"I'm sending you there." White Diamond stated, finally turning to gaze at her.
Lavender pulled her hands out of Cat Eye's grip in shock, "WHAT!?"
"I need intel on what is destroying my soldiers. With your abilities, it would be easy." White Diamond said, pressing more buttons on her hologram. "I'll send with you a Topaz and an Aventurine."
"E-excuse me?!" Lavender was having a hard time thinking all of this through with Cat's Eye still jabbering in her ear about how pretty her hair was.
"Chrysoberyl." White Diamond said, getting the short gem's attention.
"Yes, my Diamond? Oh, you look lovely today! I wish I could see you all the time, like Pearl does. You're so lucky, Pearl, to get to always get to look at our Diamond-"
The Diamond didn't even blink, apparently used to the chatterbox. "I'm sending you to Earth with this Chalcedony."
"Wonderful! I love to travel, and Earth sounds so nice! I can't wait until we get going and I get to spend some time with my new best friend, have you seen her hair? It goes down to her butt!" Cat's Eye excitedly exclaimed. Lavender blushed and awkwardly stepped away from the other gem.
"My Diamond, please just shatter me." Lavender asked.
"You leave tomorrow." White Diamond said with finality. "That will be all."
The three gems were corralled out of the throne room by a blank-faced Pearl. Cat's Eye was chattering to Shadow Agate about how cool she looked as Lavender dragged behind, her mind swirling. The door shut behind them, echoing through the empty hall.
Lavender's knees gave out and she dropped to the floor, staring at her shaking hands.
"I- I-"
To her surprise, Shadow Agate sank down next to her, staring at the wall across from them. "It doesn't make sense…"
Cat's Eye plopped down next to them, humming to herself.
"Going… going to…"
"Our Diamond has lost her mind!"
"To Earth!?"
"Surely this is a mistake!?"
"I- I…"
Cat's Eye smiled at them and tilted her head, her messy sandy hair falling around her face, "What's wrong with Earth? That's where White Diamond's last Pearl went. I bet we'll have fun there, it's only a quick information mission."
Shadow Agate sat up suddenly, startling Lavender, "Of course! Clearly my Diamond is sending you there to simply get rid of you. No gem has ever returned from Earth. This is obviously a clean way for her to take out the trash."
"That's not nice to say." Cat's Eye replied, her gem flashing in the light of the hall. Her chin was tilted up to glare at the taller gem and Lavender felt a small shiver of fear run through her. Who knew such a tiny gem could look so threatening?
Shadow Agate snorted, "Yeah. Just don't be late for your departure tomorrow. I have to get things set up for your ship."
With that she left; abandoning Lavender to be alone with Cat's Eye. The orange gem was glaring at the Agate's retreating form, her eye twitching and her tongue running along her teeth. "I don't think I like her much."
There was a beat of silence, and then the Cat's Eye crumpled with a sigh, "What am I saying? She's still pretty cool. But that doesn't make her right. You're not trash!"
Lavender slowly pulled herself up to her feet, "Yes, well. Thank you? I'm going to go back to my quarters now. I believe I'll see you tomorrow…"
"Okay, cool! Where are your quarters? Do you live with other Chalcedonies? I live with lots of Chrysoberyls! We're all in this big room together, everyone there is so nice! And we help each other out and sometimes we get to play with the Amethists and one time-"
Lavender started to back away, her hands up in a loose defensive stance, "I'm leaving now."
"I'll come with you!" Cat's Eye perked up, jumping to her feet. She barely went up to Lavender's chest; that's not to say that Lavender was a particularly tall gem. Chrysoberyls just appeared to be short. Cat's Eye was bouncing on her feet in excitement and Lavender never considered herself to be a cruel gem. So, with a sigh, she nodded and allowed the other to follow her to her room.
The other soldiers in her department glared at her as she slipped by to her compartment. They made jokes about her new talking shadow and shot her dirty looks when she passed.
"How was she not shattered?"
"I bet it's because she looks like a Pearl."
"Our Diamond has always had a soft spot for Pearl-wannabes."
Lavender bit her lip as she slid into her bunk in the furthest corner of the room. Cat's Eye scrambled to get up on the bed with her; her small feet kicking at empty air as she pulled herself up. Lavender laid down, turning her back to the other gems in the room. She stared at the wall in silence. It only took a moment before she felt the squirming of a certain chubby gem worming herself between her and the wall. The Cat's Eye even went as far as to poke her head under Lavender's arm and placing her own small hand on Lavender's hip.
"W-what are you doing?" Lavender asked, attempting to scoot away.
Cat's Eye smiled and closed her eye, "It's bedtime, right?"
"Well, y-yeah, but-"
"I'm sleeping."
Lavender could only stare down at the gem curled up next to her. Sighing and dutifully ignoring the dark blush burning into her cheeks, Lavender allowed herself to fold around the small gem and be lulled to sleep.
Morning was a hectic one. Lavender couldn't stop biting her lip and running her hands through her hair. Cat's Eye followed her around, complimenting her every two seconds, but it didn't do much to help her mood. Today she would be shipped off to Earth. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking at the thought of it.
"Are you ready?" Cat's Eye asked in excitement.
"Not at all." Lavender muttered as they stepped up to the ship garage. Behind these doors would be her new team; the gems she was going to die on Earth with. She wished White Diamond would just shatter them all; then they wouldn't waste a perfectly good ship.
Shadow Agate was standing there, her arms crossed, looking incredibly sour as she conversed with an Emerald. Cat's Eye immediately ran up to the green gem, holding her arms up to her and smiling wildly.
"Emerald! Emerald! I was with my new best friend Lavender Chalcedony and I saw all these big gems and we slept together and there was this-"
The Emerald barely paid her attention, offering noncommittal 'hmm's every so often. Instead she was still looking at Shadow Agate, who threw her hands up in the air.
"This is preposterous! What has the world come to?!" Shadow all but shouted.
Emerald blinked and replied curtly, "It is the demand of our Diamond. See to it unfolds."
Lavender slowly approached, willing herself to find the nerve to ask what was happening. Thankfully, she didn't have to, as Cat's Eye beat her to it.
"What's wrong Miss Agate?" The small gem asked.
Shadow rolled her eyes, snarling, "What are you, newly formed?"
Cat puffed out her chest proudly, "Nope. I was formed a few thousand years ago, so I know all about the world. Once, when I was playing with one of my friends, there was a big rock! And it was so-"
"You're going to be the leader of the platoon." Shadow interrupted.
"Oh my stars! Really?!" Cat asked, looking up to Emerald, who nodded in confirmation. "I've never been a leader before! This is so exciting! What do I say to my crew? Oh, I bet their going to be so lovely! I can't wait to meet them! Will you tell my friends that I get to lead a crew? They'll be so excited! I don't think a Chrysoberyl has ever been in charge before! I wonder if I'll do a good job, oh, well as long as I try my best I'll be okay-"
Lavender looked over to the Emerald, "I'm not sure if, um, she's ... fit to lead a platoon to Earth?"
"She's not." Emerald replied, raising an eyebrow. "You are."
Lavender blinked rapidly, confusion falling on her face, "But you said-"
"Together."
Now Lavender was truly confused. She looked over to Shadow, who still was scowling furiously and then back at Emerald. "...What?"
Cat's Eye only appeared even more excited at this realization, she threw her hands up in the air and shouted at the top of her lungs; "FUSION! YEAH, BABY!"
"O-oh!" Lavender's face burned suddenly at the explanation, "Oh, no, I can't, I don't- I've never, it's not- no-"
The Emerald held up a hand, silencing her, "Do you know what a Chrysoberyl is for, Chalcedony?"
"N-no. I've never met one before." Lavender answered, looking down at the giddy gem.
"Before this whole fusion phase became popular-" she said the word with the most distaste Lavender had ever heard in two syllables. "Chrysoberyls were useless. But now, we've finally found their purpose."
At this, Cat turned to Lavender, a small blush on her cheeks, "Oh, wow, okay. We're going to do this, I'm so excited. So, um, you should probably know a bit about me first. My name is Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl Facet-3C8J Cut 7XS. I haven't really been out of my room much, but that's okay, because I'm super excited about seeing the world! Are you ready?"
"We're doing this now?" Lavender hissed, looking around the room. Various gems were mulling about, loading ships and checking engines. Anyone could see them. A cold sweat formed along Lavender's back."In public?"
Cat held out her hand and smiled, "Yeah! It'll be fun!"
Lavender's blush only darkened at the thought, "Are you insane!? Fusion isn't something you just, just do! You gotta, you know," she held out her hands in a helpless, vague gesture.
Shadow Agate rolls her eyes, "Just fucking do it already. As soon as you leave, I don't have to deal with you anymore."
Lavender swallowed hard, hesitantly taking Cat's Eye's hand. She gasped as their fingers brushed, and Cat gave her an encouraging smile. She stepped forward as Cat stepped back, their feet moving clumsily with each other. Lavender stumbled and almost fell on the other gem, but Cat caught her easily, swinging her around into a dip. It must have been a strange sight, such a small gem curling a tall one into her chest and grinning at her. Lavender swallowed as she felt the change begin.
She couldn't distinctly feel when she and Cat stopped being separate. She only knew that suddenly, she had memories that weren't hers, thoughts that she didn't think, and feelings that she didn't express. A new being came into existence as she opened her eyes and looked down at Shadow Agate. Never had she been this tall before. A deep voice, unfamiliar to her, came from her lips in words she didn't realize she was saying.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." She said, holding out a hand to both commanding officers before her. Emerald nodded and shook it simply, already going over the mission objective. Shadow Agate scowled and crossed her arms.
"Likewise. Our Diamond has listed you as the commanding officer of this task force. Your job is to arrive at Earth and find the missing Jasper, Peridot and Rubies. Should you not find them, you must provide explicit proof to their destruction. You cannot return without a full report." Emerald stated almost robotically. "Any questions?"
Panic ran through Lavender at a moment, but was quickly comforted into nonexistence by the other being. She held up four thumbs as she said, "We got this."
"Excellent. Now, what shall I mark down in the paperwork as your name?" Emerald asked, creating a hologram before her, pulling up the information for their mission.
"I didn't think about that…" She mumbled to herself, looking down at her four purple hands. Blue stripes patterned up and down her arms, over her stomach and across her neck. Wild, flowing white hair engulfed her like a built-in cape. What would a Lavender Chalcedony and a Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl make? With a satisfied nod, the words fell from her lips, "Purple Tiger Eye, ma'am."
"Well, Purple Tiger Eye, go and meet your team." Emerald gestured to a lone ship with two gems climbing out of it. Purple Tiger Eye nodded her thanks and started towards the ship, head held high and gate steady.
She held out her hands again to shake with the Topaz and Aventurine. The Topaz glanced up and down Tiger's body, clearly sizing her up, Tiger did the same. She was a dark orange color, not too far off from Cat's Eye, and was almost as tall as Tiger herself. A muscle gem; clearly the assigned weapon of the group. Her gem was on her shoulder; and flickered in the light. When she went to shake her hand, she squeezed her hand as hard as she could; surprised when Tiger did the same.
"A fusion, eh?" Topaz asked, noting the two gems on her face.
"Indeed."
Topaz was grinning as she said, "Disgusting."
Tiger just snorted and replied, "In your eyes maybe. Mine, however, likes what it sees."
She turned to the Aventurine, who was gently shaking her hand, long slim fingers tracing over her large ones. The soft grey stood out nicely against her purple skin. "I will be your captain for this mission."
Aventurine looked up at her, a majority of her face hidden under a hood, and nodded. Tiger wasn't sure what to think of her; she was covered almost entirely by a white cloak, and what could be seen was cold to look couldn't even tell where her gem was.
"Aven already updated the coordinates, we're ready to go whenever you are, fusion." Topaz said, pointing to the ship behind her.
Tiger nodded, "Then let's get this show on the road." She slipped between the two gems and started up the steps into the ship. As she got to the top, she stopped and turned to look back at Topaz, "And my name is Purple Tiger Eye. You should learn it."
With that, she ducked inside.
Some centuries ago...
"I don't understand, my Diamond. Why would you keep so many Chrysoberyls?" Emerald asked, standing in the center of a hoard of the gems. Each one was trying to get her attention, reaching up to her, and shouting. "They don't serve any purpose."
"Emerald!"
"I like your face, miss Emerald!"
"Hello!"
The Diamond was, surprisingly, sitting down and allowing the chubby gems to crawl all over her. Her Pearl, sitting next to her, was allowing the gems to brush her hair and chatter about how beautiful she is. Emerald doubts anyone has shown such attention to a Pearl before. Diamond lowered her hand to allow a dozen or so Chrysoberyls to climb on. She lifted them close to her face and smiled softly as they waved up to her.
"Diamond! Diamond! Hi!"
"Hi, Diamond!"
Emerald could hear her Diamond's voice over the endless chatter easily as she simply stated, "They bring me great enjoyment."
This brought out a large chorus of "I enjoy you, too!" from the Chrysoberyls. Emerald carefully stepped over one, trying her best to not step on any of their toes. They followed her as she went, complementing her the entire time.
"But, my Diamond, I don't see why you need so many?" Emerald asked gently. "Surely only one or two is necessary? And why not put them to good use?"
"Oh, but I am." White Diamond said, lowering her hand so the Chrysoberyls could depart. "Tell me, Emerald, what do you think is a Chrysoberyl's skill?"
"Being annoying?" Emerald muttered as she almost tripped over one.
"Being encouraging." Diamond corrected. "A gem can find great strength in themself when a Chrysoberyl is around."
Emerald didn't believe her at first. But as time went by, it wasn't uncommon to find the superior gem sitting cross legged in the Chrysoberyl's room, smiling softly at their antics. White Diamond wasn't surprised when she received a note from the gem, apologizing for doubting her.
Tell me what you think!
