The Unlikely Confidant
A/N: I want to all thankyou so very much for all the favourites and follows! I never expected to receive so much! I am deeply grateful to you all for giving this story a shot!
Chapter 2: The Tour of a Lifetime
Greg woke up with his body flailing around and his mouth gasping for air. He quickly pushed himself off the cold floor and panted rapidly, a hand of his reaching to the back of his neck to take out the chip that was there. Sweat stained the front and back of his red top, making him shiver at the cool sensation. He groaned as he rubbed his head and eyes. After rubbing his facial features he lowered his arm and blinked his groggy brown eyes. When his blurry eyes adjusted they took notice of a cyan face that was close to his face.
Greg yelped and leapt back at the closeness of the squared head. His breathing sharpened as he stared in vehement fear at those stoic marine green eyes of the cyan gem that had given him an anaesthetic. Greg raised an arm to shield his face, for he was unsure if the gem would try something else on him.
The aquamarine's head tilted slightly to the side as she scrutinized the human before her. "Reflexes are a bit dull… but functional…" She noted to herself.
Feeling that nobody was prying or probing or doing anything regarding alien abduction stories, Greg lowered his arm and blinked questioningly at the aquamarine.
The aquamarine cast a deadpan expression towards Greg. "Relax human. Gems don't need to eat."
"Oh, uh…" Greg stammered, his eyes scanning around the room and the gems present. He then rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Th-that's a relief to hear!"
A hum from the cyan gem was the only reply to Greg's remark. As the aquamarine continued to examine the human from her crouched position, Greg began to notice more details about the gems present. The aquamarine had a rectangular body, with her broad shoulders sticking out from the blue flaps of her uniform. Another thing that Greg noticed was that the two stationed amethysts looked strikingly different from one another. The one to the left of the door had velvet hair and her gem on her temple, while her opposite had white hair with two curls and her gem on her forehead.
"Do you feel any pain?" The aquamarine asked, her eyes regarding the human for any signs of discomfort.
Greg opened his mouth to say no, only for a burning sensation to sizzle across his back. He groaned lightly and winced as he rubbed his back. "Just a tingling in my back. It's probably the result from being tackled to the ground."
"Sorry 'bout that!" An amethyst called out, startling Greg. The purple gem sounded genuinely sorry for her actions and judging by her and the other's sheepish smiles, they were.
"And you don't feel like you are going to exert organic material from your mouth?" The aquamarine catechised curiously, her eyes locked onto Greg's mouth and her feet pressed and ready to pounce away.
A dumbfound expression graced the bearded man's face. The cyan gem opened her mouth and using her hand she made an arching motion towards it. After a few repeats of the arching motion, Greg's eyes widened in understanding.
"Oh, no, no I don't feel like vomiting." Greg assured with his hands shaking at the aquamarine to emphasise his point. He thought he heard an amethyst utter 'gross' to herself.
The aquamarine then lifted a white-gloved finger and moved it from side to side in front of Greg's face. Brown eyes followed the movement carefully in fear that the gem may try to jab at them. Her finger then circled around causing Greg's eyes to follow the movement. Much to his relief he did not grow dizzy from following the circular movement. Finally the aquamarine retracted her finger away, and then she stood up with a satisfied expression etched on her squared face.
"Well you seem to be functional!" She acknowledged. Her thumb pointed over her shoulder to the door. "The Blue D will be wanting you at the bridge then."
It took a few seconds for Greg to realize that the aquamarine was referring to Blue Diamond. At the thought of the colossal majesty, Greg's skin turned so pallor that he looked like a man taken out of his coffin. Sweat formed against his forehead, which ran down his deep frown of trepidation. To say that he has never felt this perturbed was a little bit of an understatement.
But what other choice did he have? If he refused to comply, what would happen to him? Would he be thrown out into space by those amethysts? He gulped at the thought of being flung out like garbage into space. Well… it would seem that he had his answer to his question.
"Uh, right! O-ok then." He meekly remarked as he stood up and eyed the cyan gem with distress evident in his eyes.
"Geez, you sure worry a lot human." The aquamarine stated bluntly and rolled her eyes.
She turned around and headed towards the door, with Greg slowly following behind her. "The Blue D wanted you alive and yet you fear for your life."
Greg's eyes furrowed as he mused the aquamarine's words. Yes… Blue Diamond kept him alive. But did she 'spare' him just out of kindness? Somehow he did not believe that, that was the only reason. But then what could she possibly want with him? Of what use could he be to her and gemkind? Maybe he would serve as some entertainer? What if he would become some gladiator, doomed to fight for eternity as Blue Diamond's champion!
Greg's hands were firmly grasped together, for he was hoping that it would ease his worries. He closed his eyes tightly and he groaned in discomfort.
Calm down… Just think about something outside of the situation you're in… Greg encouraged. Yeah… Don't think about the fact that a space ruler took you from your home planet…
His thoughts managed to trace back to his little man, Steven. Immediately his worries regarding Blue Diamond vanquished. Brown eyes opened and softened in concern. Steven must be beyond worried about him, and most likely feeling so ashamed and guilty on bringing him along. The image of his heartbroken son balling his eyes out and blaming himself for something he should not feel guilty of made Greg's face contort in unbearable sorrow.
Greg's thoughts were interrupted by the aquamarine that came to a halt in front of a door guarded by two orange gems (jaspers? Greg didn't know what type of gem they were). She turned to him with a finger to her lips, to indicate… silence?
"Don't tell Blue Diamond that I refer to her as 'the Blue D' behind her back, got that?" The two jaspers couldn't help but snicker amusingly at the term.
That caught Greg off guard. "Sure…!" The way he stretched out 'sure' made him look like some clueless child that didn't understand anything but pretended to.
With that addressed the aquamarine entered and Greg followed after. When Greg entered the room his mind begun to spin around in utter bewilderment. The shape and structure of the room was… well nothing he's ever seen before! It started out like a squared room, but towards the front the room dipped into separate sides. Thinking about the shape reminded him that she ship was shaped like a fist, so those dipped split ends must be the clenched fingers. Each 'finger' had glass walls that curled down along the sides to split them, where in each finger were two types of green gems-peridots and an unidentifiable one. They paid no attention to him, for they were busy typing away on their devices.
In the centre of this blue room-possibly the 'top part of the hand' section of the ship-was a levitating throne. On that very throne was the colossal being that brought him aboard the ship-Blue Diamond. Once again Greg began to sweat nervously as the aquamarine guided him to the hooded being. He felt like he was caught in a current, where the diamond was the current that drew him to her.
"My Diamond," the aquamarine addressed with utmost courtesy, a complete contrast to how she previously referred the sovereign being as. "I have brought the human."
Blue Diamond turned to show her face towards the human below her. Diamond shaped pupils scanned the creature before her to judge for herself if it was in healthy condition. She heard the human make a sound with its throat, a sign indicating that it was anxious. Perhaps it was a shock to the human to know that its home world was going to be savaged by a geo-weapon; hence, it was panicky. Yet the human appeared to be in good health as it should be, considering it was going to be her confidant.
She turned her attention towards the aquamarine. "Any side effects from the warp jump?"
"Nothing severe, my Diamond," the cyan gem answered with a bow.
"Good." Blue Diamond remarked offhandedly. She then gave a dismissive wave to the aquamarine. "You may leave now."
The aquamarine left as ordered, leaving Greg to the attendance of the great majesty before him. He risked glancing up at her. She didn't appear as sombre as when he met her-instead she appeared austere, as a ruler would be. Her blue eyes blinked questioningly towards him. Greg was utterly clueless about what he should do-should he wait for her to give him permission to speak, or should he speak up now?
Greg opened his mouth to say something, but then Blue Diamond cut him off. "I trust that you were properly checked on, yes?"
Greg gave a nod. "Yes I was," he answered and then, feeling that his manners were lacking, he gave a bow and remarked with as much respect as he could muster, "Your Highness."
She hummed in musings towards the tiny creature before her, causing Greg to shiver in dismay. Negative thoughts swirled around his mind like a whirlpool, condemning him for sounding so informal. But the diamond turned away from him to stare out the ship into the abyss of space. Feeling that her mesmerising eyes turned away from him, Greg straightened up from his bow and stared up at her back. Unsure of what he should be doing next, he just stood still and watched her. It would seem that he was doing well to not offend or insult her! Then again Greg never was taught by anyone how to properly address a regal being from outer space.
"We are here."
Puzzled and curious about what the colossal being meant by 'here', Greg moved in front of the diamond's seat to look out the front window. He whistled in awe at what he saw before him. It was a large pink space station of sorts, shaped like an upside down dagger within a halo ring. Greg had no idea what this space station was-a research facility to dissect him, or a barracks where he was a punching bag? Trepidation once again engulfed his entire being, causing his body to shake in apprehension and for his head to pound into a headache. What was going to happen to him? What was going to happen to his son? What was going to happen!
The ship entered through a transparent wall and Greg found himself within some pink hangar bay. Suddenly he felt the ship descend, causing him to sway around to maintain his balance. Outside in the hangar the blue hand shaped ship landed palm down on the metallic floor. Once the ship was stabilised and shut down, Blue Diamond stood up from her chair and ordered her pearl to escort the human with her.
The timid gem approached Greg and requested in her quiet tone of hers, "Follow me, please."
Like he had any other choice, Greg followed after the pearl and her superior out the ship. When they left the ship he noticed two squared and parallel groups of multi aisled amethysts and jaspers, all who gave the formal diamond salute at the approach of their diamond. It was so surreal for Greg to see other amethysts outside of… Amethyst. Though the majority of them were eyeing their ruler some, like a small red gem with dark red hair, watched his every step with child-like excitement.
A gem approached between the parallel amethysts and jaspers, her white knee-high boots tapping against the floor to show that the user held power and authority. She had strange pointy side buns as her hair, and her uniform was different from the others. The uniform consisted of blue triangular flaps as shoulder pads, a black top and long blue pants. Whoever she was it was clear to Greg that, judging by her haughty look, she held quite a high position in this station.
Holly Blue Agate, or simply Holly, gave a courteous bow to the noble Blue Diamond. She swears that if those amethysts don't bow as well then they will pay for it…
"My Diamond-your presence always brings radiance to all who behold you." She acclaimed, and much to her relief the amethysts copied her and acknowledged their diamond.
Holly then straightened herself up and her grey eyes took sight of a strange organic being beside Blue Diamond's pearl. On further inspection the agate realized that it was a human. Her eyes widened in scandalize towards the human.
"My word-a human being, after a millennium since acquiring one?" She uttered with astonishment evident in her tone.
The amethysts murmured to one another, voicing their amazement at how Holly was flabbergasted by something. The carnelian could not help but grin in rapturous thrill as she eyed the scene unfold.
Greg flinched at the words of the agate. Other humans have been abducted and taken to this place too? What happened to them, and what were they used for?
"Shall I personally escort it to the human zoo to join the others?" Holly offered kindly, a smile adorning her face at the idea of hopefully being bestowed the honour.
If Greg felt like he was going to faint before, he now was on the brink of having a heart attack. His ears rang uncomfortably and his jaw clenched so tightly that he wined in agony. His breathing came out sharp, and he felt himself back away, which made him accidently bump against the pearl's arm. Human zoo…He was going to be a part of some freakish zoo for gem entertainment! Greg squirmed and clutched his hair, his brown eyes staring at the agate with alarm. Oh no, no, no, no! How was he going to escape a zoo in a space station? What could he do? What could he, Gregory Universe, do?
"No. The human will not be a part of the human zoo." Blue Diamond decreed austerely.
Everyone was startled by this news. A couple of amethysts could not help but gasp in gobsmack, and the diamond's pearl blinked inquisitively behind her bangs. Greg immediately ceased clutching his hair, but he kept his hands on his head as he looked up to read Blue Diamond's face. From his angle he could see that she contained a deep frown, a frown that indicated that, that was her final decision.
Holly did a double take at the answer of her superior. Regaining her composure, she insisted, "But my Diamond-what use is there for such a primitive organic being? It would cause a hassle and-"
Blue Diamond raised a sleek eyebrow towards the babbling agate. "Are you questioning my orders?"
Greg shivered at the icy words uttered by the hooded majesty. Her tone was a complete juxtaposition of when she spoke to him. It was so venomous that it made sweat ran down his jaw in terror.
Holly gawked up at her diamond and quickly she tried to dismiss her rudeness by straightening herself up. "I would never dream of questioning your orders, my Diamond! It's just that a human-"
"Then you shall obey my word, agate," Blue Diamond spat maliciously, silencing the spiked bun gem. She turned and gestured a hand towards the human, who shrunk at the proximity of the hand. "This human will occasionally accompany me, and so I expect no harm to befall it."
So he would not be placed into the zoo! Greg sighed quietly to himself, but then his eyes shot up in wonder. Why was he going to accompany the diamond, and why from time to time?
"Its safety will be your responsibility, agate, and if this human becomes injured…" Blue eyes drooped down and glared darkly from under the hood at the terrified grey ones of Holly. "Then you shall be shattered…"
A tense silence graced the pink chamber. Everyone could feel it grasping at their throats, threatening to crush their necks. The amethysts shuddered under the vexed gaze of their diamond.
Recovering from her petrified stance, Holly gave another courteous bow towards Blue Diamond. "As you order, my Diamond…"
"Excellent." Blue Diamond turned so she could reveal her entire face towards the human before her. Her belligerent expression softened and morphed back into its solemn form. "My agate shall show you around the facility. Afterwards you are to meet up with me."
Greg turned to Holly, and the gem gave a subtle shudder at the idea of escorting a human around. Blue Diamond gave a dismissive wave towards the amethysts and, after giving one final diamond salute, they scattered like ants and ran back to their designated areas. Holly cleared her throat and gave a false smile that looked so out of place upon her face towards Greg.
"Do follow me!" She ordered in a fabricated welcoming tone. She ushered him to follow.
Reluctantly Greg followed pursuit after Holly, and as he disappeared behind a door he glanced over to have one final look at Blue Diamond.
How would one describe how Holly Blue Agate felt at this moment? Agitated, embarrassed or spiteful? Perhaps a culmination of every negative emotion that existed within a gem would describe how she felt.
She looked over at the human, who was moving that hideous head around to admire the pink corridor's features. Its disgusting hairy mouth was open in awe as it looked around, and those dull eyes shun towards those worthless amethysts it pass. Her grey eyes narrowed in wonder. What did Blue Diamond see in this human that made it different from the others that were gathered in the past? It was so unprecedented-a human meeting up with a diamond? An organic being was given the privilege to be by the side of Blue Diamond? Holly clenched her teeth at the image of this feral human being with Blue Diamond instead of her.
Holly and Greg soon reached a laboratory where there were rows of tables with scientific equipment ranging from flasks to peculiar gem technology that Greg could not make out. Aquamarines crowded the place, where they recorded their notes and checked diagrams for accurate interpretations. Attached to the walls were large tubes of sorts, but they appeared to contain nothing in them. There was a gigantic screen placed on one side of the wall that was monitoring something. On closer inspection Greg managed to notice palm trees, a waterfall and… humans.
"This is the laboratory where the aquamarines keep watch on the humans within the zoo and attend to their needs." Holly explained as she showed Greg around the facility.
Greg's eyes were focussed on the screen and the humans interacting in the zoo. They looked so blissfully unaware that they were in containment! Not only that but the humans moved around freely and all appeared well taken care of. He imagined a completely different image-an image of forlorn humans chained to walls and expected to do tricks for food.
He was so invested at the screen that he didn't realize that Holly stopped, which resulted in him bumping into her. She turned and scolded at him, causing him to clumsily apologise to her. Recovering from the bump Greg then noticed that there was an aquamarine in front of her, meaning that the agate had stopped because she was engaged in a conversation with the cyan gem.
Holly scoffed snootily at the gormless creature and turned her attention back to the aquamarine. "So you've been tasked to take care of this human when Blue Diamond does not request its presence, correct?"
"That's right," the aquamarine acknowledged with a nod. "Walking flesh there is officially under my guidance."
"I pity you." Holly spoke dourly, casting an icy glance back at the human.
"No need to, Holly. We aquamarines find humans fascinating," the cyan gem admitted honestly. She then looked over Holly's shoulder to look directly at the human. "How are you going, human?"
The question took Greg by surprise. A grin appeared on the aquamarine's face, and then she tapped near the gem where the left ear-Oh! It was the aquamarine from before!
"Fine thankyou!" Greg acknowledged with a smile, pleased that a familiar (though the term 'familiar' stretched it) face would take care of him.
Agitated by how cordial the creature was Holly cleared her throat, which drew the barbaric being's attention to her. "Let's continue with the tour…"
Without even waiting for Greg to acknowledge her, Holly strolled away with her boots tapping on the floor to hurry him up.
Greg turned to the aquamarine and gave a wave. "See you later then!" Then he jogged after Holly to keep up with her, leaving the aquamarines to their duties.
As if Holly's day could not grow any worse than it already was, she was obliged to take the human to where those useless excuses of gems were. She shuddered at the thought of seeing those off-coloured Betas and the bumbling Prime kindergarteners. Oh their gravely and sharp voices made the agate want to retreat into her gem form…!
They reached the entrance where the quartzes were stationed. She took a deep breath to remain calm and then she opened the door. Greg entered and stared up with wonder. There were so many amethysts and jaspers of all shapes, sizes and colours that stared down at him with expressions showcasing curiosity and fascination. The room contained parallel and even cuts that split where the gems rested-it strangely reminded Greg like the inside of egg cartons carved into the walls.
"And this is where the amethysts and other quartzes are stationed at when they are not given anything to do." Holly explained and then she shot an accusing glare at the lot. "Why are you all just standing around here for?"
An amethyst that had a curl, much to Greg's flabbergast, like Rose's flinched under the agate's yell. "We've been given nothing to do, Holly!"
Holly kicked the curly amethyst's shin, a sight that made Greg wince in pity. "Then you should have come to me to give you something to do!" She then scoffed pretentiously, "I didn't think you worthless quartzes could be this stupid!"
A red gem that resembled closely to Amethyst in height and hairstyle ran up to Greg, causing the man to step back and look down in uncertainty. There was a massive grin of excitement etched on the red gem's face. She moved around Greg and poked at his sides, lifted his fingers and patted his great mane of hair, moves that were ticklish to Greg.
"Wow! I never thought I'd ever see a human spend time with gems!" The red gem rasped enthusiastically. Her orange eyes gleamed up at Greg. "Are you going to be seeing us again, human?"
Before Greg could answer, Holly shoved the small gem aside. "Keep away from the human, carnelian! Blue Diamond clearly stated that nothing was to happen to it!" Holly hissed belligerently towards the little gem.
She then turned to Greg with a deep frown on her face. "You best to stay away from these incompetent gems." She advised with asperity dripping from her tone.
Greg gulped at the harsh and terrifying look of the agate. It was even more petrifying for him to see that some of the butch looking amethysts were frightened of the spiked bun gem. Clearly he best to not upset her, otherwise she might snap at him or any other unfortunate gem!
"Now that I have shown you everything there is to this facility, I must take you to Blue Diamond for…" Her eyes looked from side to side due to her uncertainty. "Whatever it is she needs from you."
Fear gripped at Greg's body as he tensely followed after the menacing gem. The image of the vexed diamond was burnt into Greg's head, in which he felt, as oxymoronic as the term sounded, cold. Those trenchant blue eyes… they brought a sense of dread and horror of the likes that Greg has never experienced…
They came to a halt in front of a large, coffin shaped door. "Just beyond here is where Blue Diamond is." Holly pointed out. "I shall let you in and then leave you to whatever my Diamond requires from you."
Greg craned his head to eye the towering door before him. Just beyond here would be the great colossal majesty… the scary yet sombre Blue Diamond that kept him alive and away from the zoo for some reason. Whatever that reason was, he was about to find out.
