A Fire Ablaze
Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!
"Stop!" An authoritative voice shouted above the singing. They knew her…they all knew her…perhaps the oldest peridot to still be alive. Old and ancient, but lovely as though she'd only emerged from the ground yesterday. This was the one Peridot and her friends had nicknamed 'Big Boss'. "Yellow Agate is on her way down here, so if you all don't want to face severe – and I mean VERY severe – punishment, you will cease this protest and turn all technology back on this instant!"
Peridot heard Bright Eyes softly whimper and she felt nervous herself. They both knew how little Homeworld thought of them…how serious their 'punishments' could be. Peridot would never forget the sting of an electric whip on her back. The sharp apparatus that had been forced down her throat emitting a great shock powerful enough to change her voice forever would always be with her.
"This isn't just a little protest," Spark told their supervisor confidently. "I'm sure you feel it too – how unfairly we're treated."
"All you have to do is your job without complaint and you'll be treated just fine."
"And if our job hurts other gems? We're told we have no choice, but I do – I have a choice. And I choose not to force anyone else to do something they don't want."
Big Boss approached Spark and in the dim light from a few of their gems, Peridot could see she looked different than she remembered. Her lightweight dress had been replaced by a standard uniform and her hair she used to let flow loose was braided behind her. Her eyes had a dull quality as though she'd been sleep deprived, though that couldn't be the case; grown gems didn't require sleep, though some liked to do it. And Peridot realized that even their supervisor was being worn down; whether she agreed or disagreed with these rules and policies, it was her job to uphold them.
"Then I hope you are prepared to face Yellow Agate," Big Boss said darkly, placing her hand on Spark's cheek. "Because this little stunt has given the pearls hope – thousands of them all over Homeworld are abandoning their owners and refusing to work."
In the dark, Peridot smirked; this is exactly what she'd hoped would happen. She caught eyes with Amethyst who stood on the other side of her. Amethyst held her whip, just in case. With her free hand, she reached over and squeezed Peridot's arm.
Spark moved and pushed her boss' hand away. "We don't deserve to be beaten or tortured or used as pawns in Yellow Diamond's plans!"
"That is exactly what you are!"
"We can be so much more than that! We can have so much more than that!"
"No, 5XF, that is not possible!"
"Spark."
"Excuse me?"
"My name is Spark."
Big Boss raised her hand and brought it down violently to strike Spark, but as the smaller peridot held her arm in front of her, their supervisor was surrounded by a yellow light and thrown back so she fell to the floor. Spark looked in amazement at her limb enhancer. "It's never been that powerful before…"
Their supervisor quickly recovered and stood, her hair messy and her uniform singed in a few places. "You still haven't gotten those things fixed?!"
Spark was still staring at it and ran a floating finger along the yellow stripe. "But I have…multiple times."
"It's not the limb enhancers…" Peridot said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Amethyst asked.
"It's her – she has electrokinesis."
"Uhhh…"
"Electric powers…and I think her limb enhancers actually keep it weak most of the time."
Big Boss gave an amused smiled. "Well, I'll just have to leave you at the mercy of Yellow Agate."
"Go ahead. I am not afraid, but you are. Because if we don't stop, I'm not the only one Yellow Agate will punish. Isn't that right?"
Fear crossed the older peridot's eyes for a moment. "You cannot leave Homeworld without technology."
"It seems we just did," Spark countered. "And if Yellow Diamond wants it restored, she'll listen to us and ensure we're no longer made do things that are morally wrong and promise that we'll no longer be mistreated. I mean, our restrictions make no sense. Why aren't we allowed to fall in love? Or have names? Or sing?"
Big Boss surveyed all the peridots looking at her expectantly. What were they expecting? A story? She had plenty of those; a whole history of those. And songs. And fables. She had known love and music and names…but she was forbidden from telling them.
Peridot was the first to notice that Big Boss was close to cracking. If she truly was the most ancient peridot among them, then she had to know the reasons. She moved Amethyst's hand from her arm. "Let me go to her." She hadn't raised her voice in song for a while…it was unpleasant enough to her; she couldn't imagine what others thought of its nasal quality, but she needed to use the words – the song – her love had taught her nearly one thousand years ago…
Wandering child of the earth
Do you know just how much you're worth?
You have walked this path since your birth
You were destined for more
There are those who'll tell you you're wrong
They will try to silence your song
But right here is where you belong
So don't search anymore
"You…" Big Boss' voice held disdain.
And Peridot remembered…she remembered that she once had a lovely voice and her supervisor hated her for it…for being better at singing than her. It seemed petty, but truly Big Boss did have a great voice. However, Peridot just couldn't hate her in this moment realizing she, too, had lost the things she'd once had. "They silenced me…don't let them do the same to you. Please, tell us what you know."
Her supervisor looked around nervously at all of them, then as if realizing they weren't going to give up on this and she was about to face Yellow Agate's punishment either way, she took a deep breath. "Peridots weren't always made to be technicians…long ago, before all this technology, we were scribes. We wrote down stories – historical accounts – of Homeworld's greatness, of our victories. We wrote other stories too – stories to figure out why things worked the way they did – stories of faith. Of course, this eventually lead to science and technology. Some of those stories are still kept in logs, safe in our computer systems. Some were passed down orally whether through speech or song. We were the music makers, the weavers of words. We had names. Then…technology took over and Homeworld found out how to hide memories. Those who were disobedient…" her eyes fell on Peridot "…had their memories buried. However, the music centers of the brain are not affected, nor are the emotional centers. A familiar song, the name of one's lover…even a strong emotion attached to that gem…could trigger someone to remember the things the Diamonds wanted them to forget."
Life and death and love and birth, Peridot's mind sang. And peace and love on the planet Earth. It was these words that started her remembering again.
"They gave us numbers; they forbade us from singing. All those songs – ancient and new – we were not allowed to teach the next generation – all of you. This is how they control you, but it's evident now that they can't crush your spirit. All you really want are to do the things peridots were originally meant to do. They changed the purposes of other gems too. When they started growing gems in Kindergartens, the large gems who were once the mothers, nurturers, protectors, were free to be warriors."
"You mean…like rose quartz gems?" Peridot asked, causing a murmur from the crowd behind her. Even mentioning them was forbidden.
"Yes…but the best mothers were actually jaspers, believe it or not," Big Boss said with a chuckle. "I know they don't seem like it now."
"Of course not," Spark said bitterly, remembering the events of earlier. "Not when you pump them full of chemicals, restrain them and make them breed. What of that program? That's one thing they need to stop. It hurts them."
Big Boss placed a hand on Spark's shoulder, wincing at a small shock against her fingers. "There was a time these things happened naturally…to those who were lucky enough to find love. Not every gem was maternal – that's why there were so few peridots – they didn't take adequate care of their young. Growing these gems in the ground proved to be slower, but with a greater yield. As more gems were grown in the ground as opposed to being hatched, well, they sort of lost the ability, but science has once again made it possible."
"But it's wrong," Spark told her. "Forcing them into this…taking their gemlings…if they're as maternal as you say, they're going to be pissed. Is that what Yellow Diamond wants? Her entire army of trained soldiers pissed off at her?"
A fake sweet voice broke into the conversation. "What she wants is all the technology turned on and every peridot back to their stations, except the three dissidents who decided to start this. She'd like to see them personally." Yellow Agate stared down all the peridots. "If not, there will be consequences. Is that clear?"
No one moved, instead they joined hands and stood their ground. Yellow Agate's eyes burned with anger and she turned it toward Big Boss. "You had your chance to get them to stop this protest and they're more united than ever! What happened, 6XB?"
Even their supervisor was not above being afraid and said something softly so the others could not hear.
"Speak up!" Yellow Agate went to hit her with her whip.
Big Boss caught it in her hand before it could cause her any damage. "I said: my name is Melody!"
Amethyst sprang forward and used her own whip to tie up a stunned Yellow Agate before she could react. Finally, Bright Eyes moved from her spot, slowly walking forward and inviting Melody to join them.
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Melody smiled and raised her beautiful voice, uniting with them in both song and cause.
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry gems?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes
Their singing was silenced when they heard heavy footsteps echoing down the halls. Peridot felt a sinking feeling deep within her as the warriors approached. It wasn't Jasper in her helmet, armor and cape that put her on edge, nor her thin counterpart, but the topaz with them.
They paid the peridots no attention, however, but continued marching on their way. Peridot wondered briefly what was going on until she heard screams from outside. She looked over at Spark as they both realized it was the screams of the pearls that had been protesting outside.
Yellow Diamond wasn't listening…they were no doubt next.
Notes: "Do You Hear the People Sing" lyrics from Les Miserables by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg.
(With one small lyrical change and some lyrical re-arrangement)
'Wanderer's Lullaby' written by Adriana Figueroa. You can find it on YouTube here - watch?v=70VlAyEUXYM