Chapter 21: The Phantom Command:

"Alm…"

"Grandpa…?"

Alm and Mycen were standing only a few feet apart, beneath the Ram windmill, which was squeaking in a Flostym breeze.

"Grandpa!" he cried. He wanted to run, but he couldn't move.

"You have grown much, as I had anticipated. But there is still much to do…"

The setting changed, so that they were standing knee-deep in an endless brown bog. The sun was on the horizon, so that the land was black and ambiguous like the bark of a great ebony tree.

"Are you ready?"

He recalled Mycen having said that, some time long ago.

"You haven't told me what I should be ready for," Alm said, even though his mouth hadn't moved. The setting changed again; they were on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a misty abyss. In the distance, however, Alm could make out the battlements and towers of a castle twice the size of Ram Village, obsidian-black even under the full moon.

"Grandfather, I said you haven't told me what to be ready for," Alm repeated, for his grandfather's figure was slowly disappearing.

"Are you ready, my prince?"

"Grandfather, what are you talking about...!"

"Are you ready, my prince?" a voice repeated, though it did not belong to Mycen.

Alm gasped as he woke from the dream. He had worn his armor to bed, and he could feel sweat clinging to the cold steel. The old mattress groaned as he pushed himself up, looking around the room and expecting to see the silhouettes of his friends.

He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself, his eyes watering as the odor of rotting wood invaded his nostrils.

Who was that?

The voice in his dream certainly wasn't Mycen's. He had never heard a voice quite like it, and yet it sounded familiar. Gritty, but imbibed with youth and power at the same time.

The voice in the dream gradually became too distant to recall, and Alm's thoughts returned to his friends. The moon had risen considerably since he had laid down to rest. Rose had stormed out hours ago, and though he had meant to follow her, he thought twice about it. One always had a right to be alone when they were frustrated, a fact he knew all too well.

Not only was she not back, however; Garnet and Carocol, who had gone their separate ways earlier in the night, weren't back either. It wouldn't have surprised Alm to hear that Carocol had finally gone off on his own, but Garnet and Rose's absence worried him far more.

Grabbing a raggy old traveling cloak at the foot of his bed, he prepared to head into town, until he noticed something in the window that hadn't been there before. A large opening, big enough for a child to crawl through.

Before Alm could even begin to imagine what could've gotten into the room, the perpetrator emerged with a screech from the shadows of the room and was upon him. The thing tried to wrap its slimy fingers around Alm's throat, but Alm noticed a silvery gleam at the end of his bed. With his free hand, he grabbed his sword and plunged it through the creatures head, closing his eyes as its foul life fluids drenched his face.

With a final, inhuman groan, the figure slumped over and collapsed onto the floor. He had little time to examine the attacker, however, for the rest of the window shattered, and three more figures crawled through the opening. The first figure to make it inside howled, beckoning the other two to follow as it crawled towards Alm like a four-legged spider.

Alm stood on top of the bed, slashing at the figure as it grabbed his boot. Another one joined Alm on the bed, roaring in his face and wrapping its arms around Alm's waist. Alm plunged his elbow into the thing's chest, but it didn't budge.

He felt something ram into his chest, slamming him against the wall and forcing him down; this was the third revenant. Alm heard the sick crunch of his boot connecting with the first revenant's jaw, but there wasn't much he could do about the other two. A slimy hand wrapped around his throat, the other revenant pinning his sword arm with its entire body. The smell of rotten flesh made his eyes water, his throat too dry to call out for help. There were a few more thuds, followed by more demonic screeching, and more of the things were upon him. He felt his sword slipping out of his hands, and he didn't have the strength to make a final, desperate slash…

There was a flash of orange light. The revenant's screeching in his ears deafened him, making the scene even more confusing. The revenants scrambled around the room like trapped flies, looking for a way out as the light burned their eyes. Alm's strength returned to him, but as he grasped his sword tightly again and prepared to rampage for his life, there was an explosion of wood and dust as the wall exploded. Men in the crimson armor of Rigel began to storm the room.

Alm fought back a rueful laugh, as he considered the prospect of fighting both Rigelian soldiers and the undead. Recognizing the greater danger living soldiers presented when compared to dead ones, Alm raised his blade towards the Rigelians. To his surprise, however, the soldiers instead brought their weapons down upon the undead. It took only half a minute for the soldiers to bring the revenants down, leaving a mound of rotten flesh in the center of the room.

Before the soldiers could officially declare their victory in the bizarre battle, Alm grabbed the knight closest to him from behind and backed against the wall, placing his sword over the knight's throat.

"The hell are you doing?" one of the men yelled. He had a long, white beard, and his armor was charred and scuffed all over, the mark of a berserker.

"That's my line," Alm said through gritted teeth. The knight in his grip began to pant nervously; he couldn't have been older than a squire. "How did you find us?"

One of the priests in the party ignited a Torch staff, bathing the now very crowded bedchamber in orange light.

"Holding a boy hostage? That's not very Zofian of you."

Alm's heart beat furiously as Fernand entered the room, electing to use the doorway rather than stepping over the remains of the wall. Berkut appeared to have a hostage as well; Alm recognized the old woman that had greeted him when he arrived in Goldstarch.

"You'll all pay dearly for this, unholy traitors!" she screeched. "Duma shall feed me the flesh on your faces, and the rest will go to the maggots!"

"Do shut up," Fernand said, observing the pile of corpses. "You've caused enough trouble tonight as it is."

"Where are my friends!?" Alm bellowed.

"We're right here, Alm."

Rose, Garnet, and Carocol stepped into the room, undeterred by the presence of the Rigelian soldiers.

"Any reason you're trying to slice a human's head off?" Garnet asked coolly, but the squire gulped nonetheless. Alm slowly loosened his grip on the boy, until he shook free and crawled along the floot until he was hiding behind the berserker.

"Perhaps I shall explain…" Fernand started, but Alm cut him off.

"No, Rose can."

Fernand's eyes flashed at being interrupted, but he nodded at Rose to continue.

"Alright," Rose said, stepping in between Alm and the soldiers. "Fernand tells me he came here to protect you."

Alm cast Fernand a bewildered look.

"Okay, you win. Explain."

"My orders came from the emperor himself. He sensed you were in danger, and so dispatched me and my best men to find you."

"Why?"

"As Rose said, to protect you."

"You and the crown prince have been hunting me down since before I even crossed the Rigelian border, and now you're both trying to protect me?"

"The crown prince has nothing to do with this. As I stated, the orders came from the emperor himself."

"Why?" Alm repeated. Fernand uttered an exasperated sigh.

"I have been told that I cannot tell you why. To be frank, I have no idea why either, but the emperor's word is law."

"This won't make Berkut very happy," Alm said with a smirk. Something flickered in Fernand's stoic expression.

"I am his most trusted vassal," he responded automatically. "Surely...he will understand."

"Next question," Alm said, nodding at the woman. "What's the deal with her?"

As soon as Alm referenced her, she managed to shake herself free of Fernand's grasp, but two knights grabbed her by the arms before she could charge at Alm.

"You false-blood! I will feast on you first!"

"This is Abola, a high-ranking priestess of the Duma Faithful. She's known as the Flesh Doctor. She lured you here so her revenants could devour you."

"Charming," Alm said. The woman spat at Alm's feet. "Any reason you want my flesh?"

"She wanted ours too," Carocol said in a light tone Alm hadn't heard from him before.

"On the contrary my pink friend, your flesh was an unintended garnish for the main course. Duma himself desires the boy's flesh."

There was a collective shudder in the room. Even Fernand cast Abola a nervous glance.

"Duma himself wants me dead?"

"Yes, and I oh so nearly carried out his demands," the woman said, before directing her venom towards Fernand again. "But these traitors decided to interfere."

"I did so only at the behest of my king," Fernand said, in the same frightened voice he used in the presence of Gilgamesh.

"Duma will not discriminate, noble brat," Abola snickered. "And I shall be free in time to tell him of your betrayal."

"Take her outside," Fernand said to the two knights. The sounds of her cackling persisted until she was taken downstairs

"My work is complete, boy, and I shall return to the capital," Fernand said, adjusting his cloak in an attempt to compose himself. "I understand you will likely follow, something the emperor has anticipated as well, but know this. When next we meet, it will be on the field of battle, and I will be serving the crown prince."

Carocol drew his sword. The sound of screeching steel prompted the remaining soldiers to draw their arms as well.

"Sheathe your weapons," Fernand said. "No blood will be shed tonight. This is only a warning. Come, we return home."

Carocol and Fernand locked eyes as the latter maneuvered around him and out the door, the soldiers in tow. As soon as they were gone, Rose wrapped her arms around Alm.

"Oh you poor thing! I should never have left you alone, I…"

"It's fine Rose. We're all struggling for different reasons. Fate may have brought us together, but I understand that our causes and struggles are ultimately very different."

Alm turned to Carocol. The sharpness in his features had lessened considerably.

"I suppose I owe you an apology, Carocol. I have kept you from your ambitions."

Carocol smiled, and Alm was surprised to see that it was not one of malice or sarcasm, but of genuine empathy.

"There is a lot we need to discuss," Rose said. "But for now, we should get some sleep. Although…"

Rose put a hand over her nose, as the stench of rotten flesh finally overcame her.

"Who's gonna pick up this mess?"

The answer came in the form of the glowing gem in Rose's hand. Alm watched in awe as it floated towards the ceiling, cycling through many different forms and shapes, before finally the light died away, and Pearl was once again in the flesh. She looked a bit different this time around: her hair was a bit longer than before, and her attire was a lighter shade of blue.

"Ah, very nice. This is a good length for my hair...Gah!"

She jumped back as her eyes fell upon the pile of corpses on the floor. Garnet grabbed her shoulder and smiled, which seemed to reassure her, although she still gazed rather uncomfortably at the remains of the inn wall and put a hand over her nose.

"Uh, what did I miss?"

Rose moved across the room and wrapped her arms around her in response, laughing through her tears. In that moment, Pearl forgot about the strange scene around her, and returned the embrace with a giggling laugh of her own. Garnet joined in and, upon meeting her gaze, Alm knew he had little choice and joined in. He was pleasantly surprised when a fifth set of arms wrapped around them too.

"Wakey wakey, Jasper…"

It was the last voice Jasper wanted to hear after failing a mission, second perhaps to the Diamonds. Her eyes opened to the familiar striped ceiling of the handship, although it seemed to be a different shade of green than she remembered, almost a yellowish color. Aquamarine's wingbeats lapped against her eardrum like the tide of a small pond. The little blue gem landed behind Jasper's head and leaned over, so their eyes met.

"You brought me back to the handship?"

The little blue gem giggled, dodging as Jasper reached out to choke the answer out of her.

"A handship, yes, but not the handship I'm afraid."

It only took a moment for it to dawn on Jasper where she really was. Before she could point it out, a tremendous force lifted her off the ground and slammed her against the wall. The hand lifted Jasper's chin, so that she was face-to-face with a sneering Yellow Diamond.

"You actually...told her…" she gasped, as Aquamarine circled Jasper's head like a hungr mosquito.

"Shut up," Yellow bellowed, her face now only an inch from Jasper's. "I could shatter you for this act of insubordination."

"My Diamond...I...urk!"

She was compressed against the wall even more, so that she could barely breathe.

"Be silent! I have no interest in hearing your excuses. You are supposed to set an example for the other quartzes, and instead you disobey a direct order and charge carelessly into enemy territory. What did you hope to gain, Jasper?"

"R...revenge…" Jasper gasped.

"You are not a vigilante, you are a gem soldier. We are a cut above such petty organic emotions. Thankfully for you, the happy power to grind your gem into dust still technically resides with...with Pink…"

Yellow's hold on Jasper lessened slightly at the mention of Pink.

"But I assure you, if you were in my court, your shards would be floating through the cosmos."

She stared Jasper down for a few moments, before allowing her to collapse on the floor of the ship.

"Pick yourself up, it is time I filled you in on our next course of action regarding the Earth."

"Wait a moment!"

Aquamarine stared indignantly at Yellow Diamond.

"I brought Jasper back here so you could punish 'er! Why are we including 'er in our strategy briefing?"

"I'm sorry," Yellow Diamond began. Jasper couldn't help but smirk as Yellow grabbed Aquamarine by the wings and lifted her into the air, regarding her like a frog would stalk a juicy fly. "Are you questioning my authority?"

"N-no, of c-course not…"

If there was anything that could shake the disappointment of a failed mission, it was seeing Aquamarine squirm.

"While you did the right thing by reporting Jasper to me, you also did nothing to stop her. Not to mention, you have missed several important briefings, including the one where Pink's...accident was brought up. If you were my gem, you too would feel my wrath. Consider yourself lucky that Blue is still unable to govern in her current state…"

Yellow flicked Aquamarine away, watching her crash into the wall on the other side of the ship face-first.

"You both have failed in your missions, but unfortunately you are the only commanders available under the constraints of our current timetable. Do not fail me again."

Jasper and Aquamarine crossed their arms over their chests in the Diamond salute simultaneously, the latter casting the former a furious glance before Yellow continued.

"Jasper, we have obtained the remains of the other Jasper you fought a few days ago. While I would normally commend you for a job well done, your recent failure weighs far too heavily on me."

A container with floating gem shards emerged from the console in the center of the ship. Yellow shook the container, so that the shards scattered and bounced around.

"This may prove useful in the near future, Jasper. White Diamond, in her brilliance and undistilled luster, shared the intelligence of a creature living deep beneath the Earth's surface. She believes that a recent cosmic event may have awoken the beast, and that it will emerge very soon. We need to make sure that happens."

"Why?" Jasper asked, adding in a quick "my Diamond."

"I thought we had surrendered the planet to those Crystal Gems," Aquamarine added.

"We have, but that does not mean we cannot leave a parting shot...by destroying it altogether."

Aquamarine was just as confused as Jasper.

"You see, this beast is larger than any known beast in our alien files. Its emergence will be more than enough to shatter the planet from its core. That means everyone, from those pitiful organics, to our enemies, will be destroyed."

The thought of Rose, screaming as her precious planet was ripped apart before her very eyes like Pink Diamond had been, made Jasper's heart burn with a savage pleasure.

"Wait! I remember now!" Aquamarine piped up. Yellow glared menacingly at her for being interrupted, but nodded for her to continue. "A human had des-I mean, I was hiding in the rainforest one night when two weird humans approached my location. They were talking about something that could destroy the world...Do you think they know about it?"

Yellow Diamond leaned against the ship's window, which overlooked a bottomless orange canyon. Small balls of yellow light were illuminating within the canyon, which Jasper realized were lights from those organic gathering places called "cities."

"I suppose it is possible; after all, it is their homeworld."

"These humans wanted to use it too, but they said they only wanted to change the world, not destroy it…"

"And why didn't you report this to me?" Yellow Diamond barked, adopting her trademark stentorian tone once again. Aquamarine made the Diamond salute again, this time with trembling arms.

"Well, hehe...I didn't think it was important, since I thought we were leaving this planet altogether."

Yellow Diamond put a hand on her forehead.

"Why Blue ever appointed you…" she muttered. "You are supposed to report every finding to me!"

"I...I…" Aquamarine stuttered.

"If there are humans suddenly involved, you know the Crystal Gems will be as well. Jasper, that is where you will come in. I will allow you to command the first platoon, should we encounter any hostiles."

"Why does she get the first platoon? She disobeyed a direct order from the Diamonds!"

"Your violation of protocol has proven to be much more costly," Yellow Diamond fired back at the little blue gem, who blushed and landed on the floor with her wings depressed. "You shall command the second platoon, should the first fail."

"Yes, my Diamond," Aquamarine mumbled.

"Once the planet is destroyed, and the creature is weakened by the lack of atmosphere, White and I will capture it. Any further questions?"

Jasper knew better than to ask anything more, although she was curious as to what the Diamonds intended to do with the beast.

"In short time, this planet will be gone, and we can forget all about her…"

There was a dull pang in Jasper's heart, and from the silence that followed, it was clear that same pang had struck Yellow Diamond as well.

"You are dismissed," Yellow Diamond said, and without another word, she disappeared into her chamber. Jasper and Aquamarine stared one another down. Even though they had their differences, the reminder of Pink Diamond's death and the gravity of the mission before them forged an unspoken agreement between the two.

They would acknowledge each other once more when a single sob echoed throughout the ship, originating from Yellow Diamond's chamber.