Green Spinel woke up with a yawn, her arms stretching out a good eight feet passed her head. She looked around and giggled to herself.
Silly Spinel, she'd fallen asleep mid-performance! The kind audience members had brought her into the shade thankfully, so nice. She got up, preparing to put on another show. But then something occurred to her.
She wanted to visit her friends! She didn't recall ever actually doing so before, which seemed far too rude, even for a Green Spinel. But which of her friends to visit she wondered... ah! If she was to visit any of her friends, it just had to be White Corundum.
Of all of them, Spinel was quite certain she needed a hug the most. She coiled her legs together like a spring, winding up a few times before taking off like a rocket.
She could fly already of course, though she wasn't sure why, but a nice launch would give her more speed, and she had a lot of places to check for her friend.
Pink Lace held Maxixe close, allowing the aqua marine to vent to her.
They'd been at this for quite some time, Maxixe seeming to find it therapeutic to just let out all her feelings.
When she'd agreed to listen to her, even after seeing the crying fit, the agate had been expecting quite a bit of venom to be directed towards the others gems, particularly Lazurite who she'd always been especially rude to.
What she got was rather more of the opposite. The blue gem went on at length about knowing deep down about how much the other Gems looked down on her, even the lower class Gems like River. More surprising still was her genuinely considering whether or not they were in the right to do so.
"Why in the world would they do that?" Pink Lace questioned.
"You know why.." Maxixe pouted, "I'm weak. I'm supposed to be an Aqua Marine, but they only give me a low tech focus lens instead of the high tech wands because they know it would be a waste. I can't fly as fast as the other aqua marines, can't plan like them, can even intimidate like them. You all know, the Diamonds knew it, even Topaz knows it. And no one saying anything just makes it louder in my head. I don't know how to make myself stronger.. I just-"
Maxixe found herself suddenly cut off by the pink Gem pulling her against her body, unable to speak as her face was pressed into the Agate's bountiful chest.
"Sh, sh, sh. None of that now," Agate said comfortingly, rubbing the smaller Gem's back, "You don't have to live up to those standards, you never have frankly but especially not anymore. I know I can't speak for the others, but I've never looked down on you. Been annoyed with you maybe but never thought anything like that, and I wouldn't be shocked if it was the same for the others.
"I think you need to find a way to talk more openly with them. If you can actually communicate with them, maybe you can really start to grow. Maybe, just maybe, that's how you become strong."
Maxixe was quiet as she considered this, unsure how to feel. It seemed so simply, but it had never even once occurred to her. And yet... it made perfect sense.
White Zircon woke at the desk.
Where was she... ah yes, Prospitan archives.
This golden city may be garish but it had wonderful records. She continued to pour over the notes. She'd learned so much so quickly from them, and had the entire history of the war between Prospit and Derse down.
She couldn't seem to pin point a cause for the war, but the more she read, the more certain she was that there not being a cause may be the point in some metaphysical way.
As she read, she learned of the king and queen, and now they, employing scepters and rings respectively, merged with the powers bestowed on the sprites. This knowledge made it utterly clear that one or both of the Dersite royals would likely be the final enemy for them to deal with.
She wondered how she was to bring this information to her waking else, let alone to all the others.
No solution presented itself, and trying to make one herself proved equally fruitless as the Zircon's mind continued to wonder.
She found herself dwelling on the concept of the ring and scepter, artifacts allowing them to gain the traits of those the players had brought into the game. It was not fusion in the sense that Gems understood it, but it was a fusion of some kind she supposed.
She started to form a thought along the lines of 'no wonder they're the final enemies,' but it was cut off by her recalling that the Prospitan king and queen, by all accounts their allies, also incorporated fusion. As she mused on this, her thoughts began to drift to her primary allies.
While her waking self was unwilling to consider it, it was aching clear that Jade was neither a Forest or Yellow-Green, she was a fusion. She didn't know what she looked like or what she could do, but her thoughts seemed to fixate on it, imaging what the combination of Gems would create.
A new life form, maintained by a mutual connection that bolstered both the physical and mental strength.. the idea of it was rather alluring the more she thought about it..
No, no no no. White Zircon shook her head, attempting to snap herself out of this absurd line of thinking.
If this team contained a fusion she would work with them on sufferance, as all of them were needed to sort this game out. She took the thoughts and pushed them as far back in her mind as possible so she might forget them.
Or at least.. she attempted to.
Green Spinel had searched high and low for White Corundum.
She'd eventually realized that she was nowhere to be found on Prospit, and so, after consulting the clouds-which seemed to display images if one looked long enough-jetted off to Derse.
It was much easier to find her there, though she did have to dodge spears that the Dersites were trying to throw at her. It was easy for her to slip through the bars.
They may have prevented shapeshifting, but they shouldn't stop her stretching herself thin and snaking into White Corundum's rather charred room.
She was surprised to see it in the state it was in, and even more so to see Corundum in the state she was in. She hopped over to her and attempted to wake her to ask if she was okay.
No dice it seemed, as after several tries she was still out cold. Spinel pouted, but instead busied herself trying to clean the soot off of her.
But try as Green Spinel might, the soot clung to White Corundum, making her look more like ash corundum; which she was decently sure wasn't a thing.
Upset, but happy she had found her friend, she laid down on the burnt heap that had been Corundum's bed and settled for cuddling her to try and ease whatever dreams she was having, limbs stretching out to wrap around her protectively as they both rested.
Corundum sighed in her sleep, distressed expression softening ever so slightly.
Olive's drones orbited her, blasting away enemies as she continued to work on extraneous code to upgrade it on her personal screen.
As she wondered across the open wild land of LoFaH, she contemplated where exactly she was going. Certainly there was to be some large enemies she was to sort out, but she'd found no indication.
She'd found towns of course and had her drones scout out them as well as the inside of the large Hives.
It was fascinating, if slightly unnerving how the insectoid creatures continually worked and worked and worked until they collapsed, their only break seeming to be to indulge from a large vat of thick honey.
It seemed to fill them with much more energy, but it also seemed to effect their minds in some way she couldn't quite determine without having a sample. And as if on cue, the peridot felt something viscous and sticky squish beneath her foot.
Looking down, she found that she'd stepped on what could best be described as a vein of honey, a small flowing river of the stuff that seemed to be heading in the direction of the nearest town.
Her immediate response was to gather a sample for analysis. But, seeing the way it was flowing made it clear that it was coming from somewhere.
Setting her drones to only attack at her command, Olive proceeded, following the flow up towards its source. She first thing she found was where the honey itself came from.
A churning pool where some of the bees, much smaller and with a wild, glazed over look in their eyes, seemed to brew the stuff continuously. But watching the process, they seemed to be making normal honey.
Olive knew little of organic things but could easily scan everything they were doing and detected nothing anomalous about it. Thats when she saw that the stream didn't stop at this churning honey pot.
Continuing on, the river was not honey but a clear, water like liquid. Intrigued, the peridot proceeded on, as it was clear that whatever this substance was, this is what was tainting the honey. It was a long walk, at the end of which she found what she could best describe as an abandoned sanctuary.
It was a small place, enclosed by a long untended brick wall and rusted fence.
Inside, the plant life had overgrown remarkably, and in the center of it all Olive found a well. A very, very damaged well. Within, the water seemed to almost shimmer, crystal clear and radiating.. something.
Olive couldn't fully comprehend what she was looking at as she gazed down into the water. But the wall was cracked in a dozen or more places, each having a steady stream of the liquid flowing out.
Olive could only presume each stream flowed into a honey vein and mixed with it, changing it. The water itself was harmless, perhaps beneficial.
Olive wasn't quite sure how she knew this to be true, but she was certain. But when mixed with the honey and other impurities, whatever effect it had changed. Olive rolled up her sleeves and set to repairing the well.
It took longer than she was happy with, as she was better with metallic materials, but soon all the leaks had been stopped. She still had no clues where to go next, but was quite sure she'd just made a big step in the challenge of her land.
Before she moved on, she took out a vial and filled it with the pure water from the well, just in case.