Chapter Nine: A Difficult Choice
Alone in the tent, Peridot sat beside Spinel while the formally pink Mermaid rested from her procedure.
"…So...it appears you have learned nothing after all these years," began Peridot.
"What was I supposed to do? I got caught. He helped me get away," answered Spinel, unable to sit up and face Peridot properly. "…he's…not so bad."
"You all said something similar before and how did that turn out for you?
Spinel frowned, feeling her eyes burn, "why did you even help me with this?"
"There are so few of us left. It's best we all help one another, rather than fighting amongst ourselves. …and…I heard what happened to you after the war ended."
"Yeah, so you thought I got what I deserved and now you pity me?" Spinel asked bitterly. "I don't need—"
"—Pity you?!" Peridot shouted in disbelief as she got to her feet. "I don't feel anything like that for you! Not after you and the others betrayed us. It was all of you that got Lapis caught in the first place!"
"We never meant for anyone to get hurt, we were trying to- AGH!" Spinel had tried to sit up and turn to see Peridot as they snapped at one another, but when she tried to move, a stabbing pain shot through her spine.
"You shouldn't move," Peridot stated simply.
"Yeah…I figured that out…" groaned Spinel, carefully laying herself on her back again.
Peridot seemed conflicted for a moment, but she took a deep breath and her expression softened a bit.
"…considering what happened. …you were also a victim of that woman. She fooled everyone."
Spinel honestly didn't want to talk about any of this, but it's not like she could run off. She wasn't even moving and it felt like thousands of needles were stabbing at her newly formed legs.
"…Well…I hope that you find Lapis…"
"Oh, I already know where she is, the problem is getting her out," Peridot sighed miserably. "Lapis is being held at the Capital by the royal family."
"…for all this time?" asked Spinel in surprise. "Not that it's not a good thing, but why would they keep her alive for thousands of years just to have her?"
"Lapis is strong…and I'm certain they are using her against us in some way. Over the last few centuries, more and more mermaids have been getting caught too easily. They might be using Lapis to manipulate the waters in their favor."
Spinel felt sick to her stomach. Who knows what the humans were doing to Lapis to make her use her abilities. Why? What had they ever done to make the humans hate them so much?
"I've been posing as a human for a long time, trying to gather information and contacts that can get me closer to the palace where she is being held…and I'm finally getting close. …my point is you should cut that human loose before history repeats itself. Not just for your sake, but for everyone else's. I'm still angry at Lars for even allowing a human in here at all."
Spinel was quiet. She wanted to argue with Peridot, but wouldn't that be like rubbing salt in an old wound? It would probably just be a repeat of the past like Peridot said. After all, this conversation felt horribly familiar.
Peridot wasn't sure what to make of Spinel's silence, but she had said what she came to say. "…I'll be back in a little while to check on your legs. Even when your body starts to feel better, don't try to stand up, you'll just fall and make it worse." Peridot instructed as she left the Tent. The conversation hadn't gone as planned. Though she planned on trying to be a lot more pleasant, when she came in and saw that human acting so familiar with Spinel, her mood soured at once. It didn't get any better when she left the tent and the same human talking so cheerfully with the Rutile twins. She didn't say a word as she passed by them, sure that this human was no different than the one Spinel had met in the past. All Humans were the same. She'd lived among them for a thousand years now in her attempt to save Lapis and she still didn't trust a single one.
Peridot stepped into Lars' tent with an irritated groan.
"The talk didn't go well?" asked Lars as he looked over an old map.
"You knew it wouldn't, but I'm not here to talk about that. I want to talk about that Human you let stay in here. I tested the blood like you asked."
Lars glanced up from the map, "and?"
Peridot looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening before she turned back to Lars.
"You were right. Something is off about that boy. His DNA came across as human…but there is something else in there I can't identify. It's as if his genes have been spliced multiple times."
Lars sighed and rolled up the large map, looking slightly disappointed. "I had hoped it wouldn't be so serious."
"So you're thinking the same thing I am?" asked Peridot.
"I am, but since there is no way to confirm it right now, we have to be cautious. We have to take those two with us to keep an eye on him."
"I'm not going to let that thing roam around when we have all these mermaids to take with us. Let me sedate him and take him back to my workshop. I'll keep him there until I confirm what they did to him."
"We are not going to stoop to their level," Lars insisted. "Besides, we don't know if Steven's even aware of this. He might be innocent."
"-and he might be—"
As Peridot tried to argue with Lars, they felt a large tremor beneath their feet that threw them off balance. They looked at one another in a panic and both turned for the door. Leaving the tent, they witnessed smoke seeping through the camouflaged door that protected their camp.
"It's a raid! Off Colors, we're leaving!" shouted Lars, calling his crew to his side.
The other mermaids had already begun to panic when the tremor rattled the ground. Rutile had planned to pull Steven along with her, but just after the ground began shaking, Steven immediately ran off towards Spinel's tent.
"Steven?! What's going on?!" Spinel asked frantically, sitting up despite the terrible pain.
He wasn't able to explain fast enough before a loud explosion caused another tremor, knocking most of them to the floor. Steven scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, "We have to go! I'm sorry!"
He knew it would hurt her, but she still couldn't walk on her own. They could each hear armored footsteps rushing the camp, forcing Steven to ignore Spinel's gasps of pain when he scooped her up into his arms. Unfortunately for them, it was chaos outside the tent now.
Soldiers in golden armor were scattering around the camp to capture the mermaids they had hiding here and whoever was helping them. Lars had called everyone to his side in order to escape, but making a direct rush for his tent seemed impossible now that the soldiers were making their way there. Steven had to think fast, frantically looking for a way out.
"Spinel, this way," shouted Peridot, running hand in hand with Lars, trying to get to as many mermaids as they could. Lars' eyes were glowing a white hot light, and with an echoed shout, a large pink circle appeared in the middle of the floor. Without hesitation, the Off Colors jumped down into the circle, a few others still struggling to get there.
Steven wasn't sure where that hole was going to take them, but they had no other choice. He had to get Spinel there. Turning on his heel, Steven made a dash for the Lars and the others.
"Steven! Look out!" Spinel shouted, spotting a soldier coming up behind them fast.
"GAH," Steven exclaimed painfully as the soldier grabbed his collar to pull him back and slam him against the ground. Though he did his best to keep hold of Spinel, another soldier had grabbed her arm and forced them apart as he fell back.
"I got this one," the guard shouted, tossing Spinel over his shoulder which prompted a painful cry from her lips.
Steven panicked as he watched the guard turn to walk away with Spinel and though he wasn't keen on hurting others, he couldn't allow the soldier to keep him down. As he pushed one soldier off of him, two others came to their comrades' aid, finding it difficult to hold Steven down.
Spinel was trying to look back at Steven, but everything hurt so much. Her newly formed legs were worse than useless. Each nerve burned her from the inside and her entire body ached as if she had been thrown against a large boulder many times. She was trying to concentrate and summon her scythe, but the pain was too much. As she wracked her brain for some sort of solution, she felt a stabbing pain at her ankles. Someone had grabbed her and pulled back as the guard carrying her was falling to the ground. Feeling as though she had been bashed against another rock, Spinel was on the floor, watching as Steven was pinning her captor to the ground. She barely had time to smile before Peridot locked her arms under Spinel's shoulders to try and drag her body towards the warp circle that Lars had made.
Peridot knew that this must be hell for Spinel, but she didn't have the strength to lift her completely. She was forced to drag her along the ground as best she could.
"W-Wait! Steven's still-" Spinel tried as she watched more guards rushing towards Steven.
"We have to go while he's keeping them busy!" Peridot insisted.
"The portal is closing! Hurry up!" Lars demanded as he helped another Mermaid into it, waiting anxiously for Peridot and Spinel.
It was as if everything had gone silent as Spinel was being forced away while Steven was doing his best to keep the soldiers from following them. Her body was screaming and she knew it was difficult for Peridot to drag her away, but were they really going to escape and leave Steven behind? She could vaguely hear him telling them to hurry and leave. Why? Why was he willing to go this far?
"Lars! Grab Spinel!" Peridot shouted, sure that she wouldn't be able to get there on time.
As Lars rushed over to them, Spinel panicked and forced her body to move. It felt as if her bones were breaking as she jerked her arms away from a shocked Peridot. Though she knew it was pointless, Spinel got to her feet, falling to her knees almost immediately, tearing up from the painful shocks that shot through her body.
"Spinel! Get back here!" Peridot cried out. Lars had to hold the small mermaid back, knowing that she'd get caught if she tried to grab Spinel again.
Steven was stunned, watching Spinel struggle to get to her feet.
"What are you doing?!" he shouted, pinning down another soldier after knocking out a few during the scuffle.
"I'm not leaving you behind, you—you idiot!" Spinel replied, barely finding the strength to speak through the pain. "You're coming with us!"
Steven had been all set to stay behind to give them all time to escape, so he was fine holding the soldiers back, but if Spinel didn't get away, it would all be pointless. Unfortunately, while he was distracted, the soldier he was pinning down had reached his knife, thrusting it into Steven's left side.
"STEVEN!" Spinel screamed, watching helplessly as he doubled over in pain, the soldiers finally getting the upper hand. One stayed to hold him down on the ground, while the two that were left conscious headed for the portal.
"I'm sorry," Lars shouted forcing Peridot to jump into the portal with him. He had to close it before the guards got in and found the other mermaids. He didn't like leaving anyone behind, but he couldn't put the others in danger.
"Spinel! The Capital-" Peridot's words were cut off as the portal closed, leaving Steven and Spinel alone with the remaining guards.
With the portal gone, the soldiers turned for Spinel to drag her away. Steven could only see their blurry figures as they neared the weakened mermaid. If they knew about the Gem, they could easily take her out. His body felt a little cold as his blood seeped slowly from the knife wound, but he couldn't allow himself to pass out now. Once one of the guards pulled Spinel by the hair to lift her up, something snapped inside of Steven.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Steven screamed, alarming everyone as the ground beneath him crumbled, a bright pink wave of light rippling from his body and knocking out the remaining soldiers.
Spinel was left sitting on the ground, staring wide eyed at Steven as he panted for breath, barely realizing what he had just done.
"…wha…?" Spinel breathed, unable to process what had happened. She looked back at the guard that had grabbed her hair. He was bleeding. They all were. From that light? How was that possible and how did it miss her? It was all strange, but she'd have to save her questions for later. Steven was losing consciousness from the blood loss and she was still too far away. She knew that her legs would get her nowhere, so she used her elbows to drag herself along the ground. It took nearly everything she had left in her, but she eventually made it to Steven's side, taking a moment to catch her breath before she tried to get his attention.
"St-Steven…say something…" she pleaded breathlessly, trying to roll him over onto his back so she could remove his shirt and examine the knife wound.
"…you're….o…kay?" asked Steven, barely able to keep his eyes open.
As looked Steven over, Spinel wasn't sure what to do. His eyelids were threatening to fall, but she could see now that his eyes had changed color. They were pink now. Was it because of the light as well? She shook her head and forced herself to focus on the task at hand. "I'm fine," she lied quickly, pulling up his shirt to find the wound, but was stunned once again to see that it had already closed up. He must have just been weak from the blood he already lost. This was all so confusing, but she was in so much pain and so relieved to see that he was no longer in immediate danger, that she just couldn't bring herself to do anything more. Leaning over, Spinel rested her head on her arms over Steven's chest, needing a moment to gather her thoughts and rest her aching body.