((Hey again everyone!
I'm back with the second chapter of Gems of the Caribbean! Sorry it took a while longer than usual, my life's been chaotic. Please do tell me how I can improve in the future, or just any thoughts you have while reading. I love to hear feedback!
Thank you all again, so much, for reading my stories.))
It was beginning to rain lightly in Beach City. The hanging place was no exception, the crowds covering up with coats, rags, or whatever they could find to be saved from the down pour. The rain, however, did nothing to quell the excitement and anger flooding the people. They yelled and screamed and occasionally threw things at the Crystal Gems, who still stood on the wooden platform, still with the nooses around their necks, and still staying quiet.
The executioner was at the lever on one end of the platform, rigged to open the trap doors that the Crystal Gems were standing on, and gravity would do the rest. The mayor, drenched in his suit, was listing the crimes and misdeeds done by the crystal gems. Garnet was listening, making notes of errors, and reflecting on the worth. She looked up, at the crowd, her stoic face never faltering, never showing fear, even with her shades broken on her face. She scanned the crowd, looking for something, something it seemed only she could see. With a sigh, like she couldn't find it, she looked back down. As the mayor continued, the flames of anger in the crowd only grew. Even the three present queens of the Four Queens seemed to begin to scowl, staring at the Crystal Gems with eyes that, if they could kill, would have everyone in the hanging place dead by now.
As the list finished, Garnet raised her head again, and looked to her sides, at her sisters in crime. There was a break in the mayor's speech, and Garnet took the chance. She took a deep breath in, and sang a word.
"We…."
Amethyst and Pearl raised their heads, half in curiosity, half in shock at hearing Garnet speak. After a moment of hesitation, they pitched into the song, adding gasoline to the inferno that was the crowd.
"..Are the Crystal Gems…"
As they kept singing, the crowd was in uproar. The mayor turned to look at them, and took a step back, falling off the wooden platform, to which no one was paying attention or any care for. All eyes were on the criminal women and their song.
"..we'll always save the day, and if you think we can't, we'll always find a way.."
The Yellow Queen stood up from her throne, looking Garnet dead in the eye. Her face was one of fury and rage. Still, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl sang, getting louder to drown out the crowds yelling.
"..That's why the people, of this world, believe in…Garnet….Amethyst..and Pearl…"
The Crystal Gems went quiet, as if a fourth singer's entrance was due, but late. Tears started to form in the eyes of Pearl and Amethyst, like a truth had just come to them.
No longer bound by the spell of a song the Crystal Gems were singing, the executioner moved to the lever, and put their hands on it. All attention was drawn to it, like a funnel. The crowds and the queens waited in anticipation, willing and expecting death to come for the Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl to come in moments. What they did not expect was for the executioner to let go of the lever, and pull off their hood, revealing her face, in all its vitiligo glory.
Jasper smirked, drinking in the shock of the crowd. She had a black eye, but not because of the vitiligo, but from a punch from a recent fight. She dropped her hood, and just as the mayor got back up to the wooden platform, she kicked him off it again, with one swift hit to the chest. He hit the ground with a loud thud, and the White Queen stood.
"Seize that traitor, and kill those pirates!"
Guards that had been situated around the thrones of the Queens and began to rush through the back of the crowds, the higher class of Beach City. All the common people in the hanging place scattered, knowing that things had gone horribly wrong. The guards moved through the almost stampeding mod with difficulty, until the reached an optimal point. A front row of them dropped to one knee, and aimed their rifles up at the terrified Crystal Gems and Jasper, who showed no emotion on her face. With a loud crack, a gun is fired, and everything goes still for a moment. Red splotches appear, contrasting the white shirts of the guards, and they all slump forward. Standing behind them, is a woman in a rather fancy, if not a little dirty green dress. Her blonde hair was all over the place, like she'd been electrocuted one too many times. In her hand, she held a duck foot flint lock pistol, with just enough barrels for each of the guards. The smug grin on that mad scientist's face showed off to the world that she was proud of what she'd done. Peridot had saved the Crystal Gems.
The Yellow Queen stepped down from the platform her throne was on, her sword unsheathed, and her eyes filled with the hatred one could only find in hell. She barged forward, looking Peridot dead in the eye. Peridot's face dropped from victory to defeat, as Yellow loomed over her, ready to swing down with her sword.
((So, another chapter down!
Thank you so much for reading! I'll be writing the next chapter pretty soon!))
