Okay, you clods. The author of this measly "fanfiction" enlisted the help of me, the great and wonderful Peridot, to introduce you to the next chapter. She wants these things called "reviews". So, make a review. It can't hurt, unless... is a review a weapon? You pesky humans and your forms of entertainment. Enjoy I guess. Like I really care.

Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG

Frisk brushed the dirt off some old panels.

"Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives, we surrendered to the humans. Seven of their greatest magicians sealed us underground with a magic spell. Anything can enter through the barrier, but only beings with a powerful Soul can leave," Frisk read aloud. Pearl nodded.

"Other humans like you have fallen down, and none of them were able to leave," Pearl explained.

Frisk continued. "There is only one way to reverse this spell. If a huge power, equivalent to seven human Souls attacks the barrier, it will be destroyed."

"If our king gets just one more Soul, we can destroy the barrier once and for all and live on the surface," Pearl said.

"But this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here. We will remain trapped down here forever," Fresk read slowly. They looked up at Pearl."That last soul… that's me, right?" Frisk asked.

Pearl's expression darkened. "If King Greg gets the Souls, he'll restart the war between humans and monsters. Even with our larger numbers and a surprise attack, the humans will just lock us down here again," She sighed. "It's strange, our human king wants to kill others like him."

"What?" Frisk exclaimed. "King Greg's a human?"

Pearl nodded slowly. "We had many human allies, but Greg was the only full-human to choose to stay with the monster's underground. Our gem magic sustains him, but it causes his Soul to fade. He can no longer live on after death and his Soul won't help shatter the barrier. He is equivalent to a gem in many respects, although he cannot absorb a human Soul."

"Why is he your king?" Frisk wondered, squishing a mushroom that lit up the path in front of them.

Pearl put her hands on her hips. "I don't know. Humans are illogical and emotional and are not suitable for ruling over a kingdom of GEMS. Rose thought he was so great, but she probably regrets that decision now," Pearl blabbered. "You know, I fought right beside her in the war. I was one of the first Crystal Gems. Together we rebelled against our Homeworld in the wishes of protecting the planet earth!"

"Pearl… do you hate humans?" Frisk asked, lighting up another mushroom. "I mean, you protected them, and then they hurt you."

Pearl paused for a moment. A small corrupted gem was about to jump out and attack Frisk, but noticed Pearl was there and gave a meek "hoi!"

"That's complicated. This-" She said, pointing to the space around her. "-is better than Homeworld rule. All humans and any other form of life would be dead, the earth would've been completely terra-formed and destroyed, and we wouldn't really be free. I wouldn't be Pearl, I would be a Pearl. But…" She sighed. "There were many kind humans, but I guess it's hard not to feel a bit of malice towards them considering what they did."

Frisk could understand. They were surprised about how nice the gems were, even though the humans had done so much to hurt them. "What's over there?" Frisk asked, pointing to a hidden path.

"Temmie village. A bunch of corrupted gems decided that they would like to make a town for themselves… it's an utter mess," Pearl grumbled.

Of course, Frisk dashed towards the village. And was greeted by a chorus of "hOI"s from all directions. Frisk started to sneeze.

"It's an allergic reaction!" Pearl exclaimed when she caught up to Frisk. She picked them up and held them close.

"Pearl!" Frisk yelled. "I can- achoo- handle this!"

Pearl gave an annoyed grumble and dropped the human child. "Thank you!" Frisk smiled. They noticed a shop to their left and entered in side.

"hOI!" The creature chanted giddily. "I'm Temmie, welcome to the TEM SHOP!" tem leaned over the cardboard box "counter" and saw the contents of Frisk's bag. "You got… LION RESIDUES?!" Temmie gasped.

"Uh, well, I haven't figured them out yet," Frisk said, trying to use one. Frisk's bag then filled up with even more lion residues. "You know what? Fine, I'll sell you the lion residues."

Temmie squealed and bought the lion residues. Frisk just had to leave one to use it and get even more to sell to Temmie, who seemed to want more and more. Finally, Frisk had gotten 500 gold out of the corrupted gem and decided to stop. Their allergies were making their nose run.

Pearl guided Frisk a bit further until she suddenly stopped.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot go further. It's an order from Ruby," She sighed.

"It's okay!" Frisk smiled. "I understand. Thank you." Frisk quickly hugged Pearl before running off and finding themselves face first in an echo flower.

"Behind you…" It whispered. Frisk whipped around to see Ruby standing behind them.

"Seven," She murmured. "Seven human Souls. With the power of seven human Souls I will become a god. With that power, we can finally shatter the barrier. Our king… King Greg Universe… will finally take the surface back from humanity and give them back the suffering and pain we have endured," Ruby took a deep breath. "Understand, human? This i your only chance to redeem yourself. Give up your Soul… or I'll rip it from your body!"

"No!" Frisk cried out in fear. Ruby shook her head and summoned a fireball in her palm and a gauntlet in the other hand. The slowly stepped towards the small child. Frisk cowered in fear. They felt their Soul coming from their chest, just like when they're about to fight.

"Ruby!" The gem child from earlier jumped in from behind some sea grass. "I'll help you fight!" the kid looked back and forth between the two enemies. "Hey!" They smiled at Frisk. "You finally did it! Ruby's right in front of you! You get to see her fight!" Monster kid looked around. "Wait. Who's she fighting?"

Ruby growled and chucked the gem child away, stomping away from Frisk. "Hey!" The kid called out. "You're not going to tell anyone about this, are you?"

Frisk took a shaky breath. That was close. Really close. Too close. They just hoped that they could maybe find a place to hide before Ruby found them again.

Frisk walked up a narrow path filled with echo flowers playing a recording of what sounded like a boy and a girl, yearning to go to the surface.

Frisk travelled along a rickety bridge and noticed the gem child trudging behind them.

"Hey," She sighed. "I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I wanna ask you something."

"What is it?" Frisk asked.

"Well, I've never had to ask anyone this before, but… uh… you're human, right?" She asked. Frisk nodded solemnly. "Man! I knew it! Well, uh, I know it now, I mean. Ruby told me to, uh, 'stay away from that human'. So… uh… I guess that makes us enemies now? But I'm really bad at that," She balled up her fists. "Be mean to me. So I can feel good about hating you."

Frisk looked down at their feet and stayed silent.

"Urgh… So I have to do it? Okay, well, I, uh… I hate you! You're disgusting!" The child screamed. She rubbed her arm. "I'm… I'm such a wimp. I'm going home." She turned around and headed back the way she came. On her way, though, she tripped on a loose board and fell down the side of the cliff, barely sitting on the edge.

"Help!" She cried out. "I tripped!"

Of course, Ruby chose that exact moment to march into the room. Frisk gulped before rushing to the other child's aid. They grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up and set her down on the walkway. Ruby inched closer.

"Stop it!" The gem child exclaimed. "If you want to hurt my friend, you're going to have to get through me first!" Ruby slowly backed out of the room, shocked at what the child had just said. Frisk smiled at the other child. That was really brave of her.

"She's… she's gone" The gem child breathed. "Uh, thanks for saving me back there. I guess enemies was just a nice fantasy. I guess we'll just be friends instead," She paused. "Man, I REALLY need to go home." And with that, she scurried out of the room.

Frisk shuddered and braved forward, finding themself at the base of a mountain before hearing a familiar voice.

"Seven," Ruby chanted. "Seven human Souls and I will become a god. Six," She said, turning to the side. "That's how many we've captured so far." She turned back to Frisk. "Understand? Through your seventh and final Soul, this world will be changed. First, though, I need to tell the tragic tale of our gemkind." She turned away again. "It all started long ago…" She paused for a long moments and then turned back to Frisk. "No, you know what? SCREW IT! WHY WOULD I WASTE THAT STORY ON SOMEONE WHO'S ABOUT TO DIE! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Ruby ripped off her helmet, revealing her face and short dark hair pulled back by a ribbon. She smirked as she stared back at Frisk.

"You!" She cried out. "You're standing in the way of everybody's hopes and dreams! Sapphire tried to convince me that humans were cool, but now I see that you guys haven't changed at all! You're all a bunch of cowards! Hiding behind that poor child's back so you could run away from me again! And let's not forget you're stupid goody-two-shoes act. 'Oh look at me, making such a big difference by hugging random strangers!'" She exclaimed, voice dripping with sarcasm. "You know what would be more valuable to everyone. IF YOU WERE DEAD! That's right, measly human! You're continued existence is a crime! Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom! Right now, I can feel everyone yearning for the same thing. We've all been waiting centuries for this moment! But I'm not nervous. I'm an eternal flame, baby, and I know that when everyone dreams of the same freedom, we can't lose! Now human-" She scowled, eyes narrowing. "Let's end this. Right here, right now. I'll show you how determined us gems can be! Step forward when you're prepared to DIE! Hahahahaha!"

Frisk took a shaky breath. This was it. They slowly stepped forward. They were ready to fight with everything they had.