This chapter's been pretty much ready since January, but I'm a dummy who can't ever plan out a writing schedule, let alone an upload one. Anyway, hope you enjoy! (Reminder: Moonstone and her components are owned by Artifiziell over on Tumblr, go show her some love! She's an incredible artist, and generous enough to allow other artists and writers to use 'em)
Moonstone finds Nebula's concealed shuttle shortly after Gamora leaves - an aging Kree model, she says, hastily outfitted with stealth technology. It must've jumped through the open warp gate used by Gamora's Necrocraft - a maneuver which could've easily had them smashed to quantic bits if done wrong, apparently. If nothing else, Pidge appreciates just how…dedicated Nebula must be.
"I'm afraid this is where I take my leave." -the Gem says, as soon as she gets the transport working. "You need to find this 'Matt Holt' - and even if you didn't, I heard you're dropping Ruby off next."
"Not fond of your former rulers, I take it?" -Pidge asks.
"That's one way of putting it." -she sighs. "Listen, if I get anywhere near a functioning Gem colony, I'll be shattered on the spot. As much as I'd like to gallivant around the galaxy with you guys, I'd rather keep my stones intact, thank you very much."
Pidge winces. "Geez. Just what did you do?"
Moonstone gives her a sad smile. "I existed." -she says. "Normal Moonstones don't look like me. They don't have extra eyes, and they're not nearly as tall. And, of course, they don't have two gemstones."
Lance crosses his arms. "I've been meaning to ask about that."
"I'm surprised you didn't." -Moonstone says, and then she glows, the same way she did when she shape-shifted, but her luminous form doesn't only shrink this time; it separates, into two distinct, smaller humanoid shapes. Moonstone's external clothing falls to the ground, and when the light subsides, two Gems stand in place of her.
The taller one is light blue, though a shade darker and more saturated than Moonstone was; she's about Pidge's height. The other is bright yellow, and maybe just a hair taller than Ruby.
"Hello, Paladins. I'm Albite." -the taller one amiably says.
"And I'm Orthoclase!" -the shorter one proudly proclaims.
Pidge shakes her head. Add voluntary amalgamation to the already insane list of Gem powers. Lance blinks, confused. "Wh-where did Moonstone go?"
"Moonstone is a fusion." -Albite pleasantly explains. "She's a powerful avatar of our combined forms and attributes, and a physical representation of our bond."
"I'm guessing that kind of force multiplier is a no-no on Homeworld?" -Pidge says.
Orthoclase shrugs. "S'not that simple. We wouldn't be able to fuse if it wasn't part of our design."
"Fusion is a bit frowned upon, if a common enough practice - Ruby squads will meld together to form larger, more intimidating warriors, Zircons will fuse to allow for instant debates, that kind of thing." -Albite says. "Fusing for pleasure, however? And with a different Gem type entirely? It's a crime against the Diamonds' perfection - an unforgivable disfiguration of their Light, as it shines through our forms, instantly punishable by execution."
"And that's all Ruby knows, I bet." -Lance surmises. "She thinks your fusion is some kind of...hybrid monster. Er, no offense."
Albite nods. "Like Moonstone said, she's indoctrinated. Which is why we'd like to ask you to help her."
"Alb and I never joined the Crystal Gem Rebellion." -Orthoclase confesses, almost guilty. "But we knew they were in the right the moment Rose Quartz proudly presented a fused Garnet among their growing ranks - the same kind of messy, experimental cross-Gem fusion Moonstone used to be, when we first fused with each other."
"Homeworld's grip on their subjects has always been too tight for us to be able to do for them what Rose Quartz and that Garnet did for us, that day - inspired us to go rogue and live out our days as Moonstone, but most importantly, free from the Authority. But this Ruby...I think she might listen. Not to us, obviously, but…"
"We organics have a 'corrupting influence' on good, loyal Homeworld Gems, huh?" -Pidge asks, rhetorically.
The smaller Gems smile at her, and fuse back into Moonstone, whose formerly poncho'd-over torso bears the broken, jagged halves of what could charitably be interpreted as a Diamond insignia. "That, you do." -she says, donning her clothing once more.
She rises to her full, inhuman height, and looks sadly at the stars. "I'm sure this comes as no surprise, but there is no life for Ruby to return to - Homeworld will have replaced her tenfold by now. Desertion is so rare a crime for Gems that she might survive long enough for a technician to examine her gemstone for defects, but her commanders would never risk further sedition by letting her rejoin her cohort. She'd likely be harvested afterwards - recycled into the production of another Gem, or used to power one of their machines. In any given case, a grim fate awaits her under the Diamond Authority."
"So, what do we do?" -Lance asks. "We can't exactly kidnap her and hold her against her will. Again, I mean."
Moonstone hums. "Rubies are known for being somewhat...scatterbrained. And really, the passage of time is so irrelevant to us Gems. Perhaps you could make the case for her freedom on the way to Matt Holt?"
Pidge smirks. What they'd do with Ruby afterwards, she has no idea - their lifestyle doesn't exactly lend itself to hosting guests at the Castle of Lions - but Ruby certainly deserves the chance to make her own life, out of the Diamonds' shadow.
Her response is cut off by a column of cyan light, shooting off from somewhere in the vicinity of the Lions towards the inky darkness of space. Pidge frowns, confused, but what's happened begins to dawn on her when she sees Moonstone's expression of pure dread.
"Was that…?"
Moonstone nods, gravely. "Ruby. She must've found a functional Warp Pad nearby."
Lance brings up a holographic image of Blue's cabin from his wrist, and it is indeed empty, save from a few scribbles left scorched on a metal crate, hastily set up on the pilot's seat. Moonstone narrows her eyes. "Can you read that?" -Lance asks.
The fusion hums. "Low-strata Gemglyph, yeah. It's been quite a while since I last read any, but I believe she says she's 'sorry for not waiting, but (her) Hessonite needs (her)'." -she says, then winces. "Damn. I didn't know she was serving a Garnet."
"I'm guessing that's...bad?" -Pidge asks.
Moonstone snorts. "Any Gem caste the Diamonds regularly choose to entrust with Light Prisms is bad news." - she says, then shakes her head. "Forget it. We need to focus on saving her."
She takes off, her long legs leaving them in the dust - so sudden that the Paladins are forced to activate their thruster packs after a shared look just to keep up.
"I thought you said you'd be shattered on the spot if you went back!?" -Pidge yells to be heard over the noise.
"Oh, yeah, for sure!" -Moonstone says, nervous for the first time since they've met. "But Ruby won't fare much better. I'll just have to hope my disguise holds long enough for us to get Ruby back…"
They make it back to the Lions in no time, but Moonstone doesn't stop. "We can't just leave the Lions, Moonstone!" -Lance shouts.
"Well, we can't take them with us, either." -she retorts. "Forget the fact that they're not fast enough to reach Ruby intact, the Gems would shoot them down immediately."
They arrive at the Warp Pad. "Maybe we can have them follow us?" -Pidge suggests.
Moonstone shakes her head. "We're gonna need them handy. I imagine we'll have to book it once we nab Ruby." -the fusion says, taking off her real clothing and weapons, and storing them in her gemstone. She then shapeshifts - she becomes shorter, and her sensible jumpsuit becomes a flowing tunic, her short, cropped hair becoming a long mane reaching past her hips. The tunic's long arms serve to hide the gemstone on the back of her hand, while the one on her thigh remains uncovered. Her expression becomes serene, like that of a monk.
"Whoa." -Lance says. "You look like a completely different person."
"This is what normal Moonstones look like." -she says. She stares at the gemstone on her thigh apprehensively. "This is the wrong cut for a Moonstone...we'll have to hope they haven't seen one in a while. They're reclusive enough."
"How long can you hold this transformation?" -Pidge asks.
"An hour, maybe?" -Moonstone says, dubious. "I've never tried to shapeshift for longer than a few minutes, but I should be able to hold it longer, owing to my fused state."
Moonstone steps on the crystalline platform, which glows and hums softly as it, presumably, recognizes the presence of a Gem. Pidge and Lance share one last worried look, before climbing on and bracing as a torrent of light whisks them away from this broken world.
As always, thank you for your attention! Make sure to comment or message me if you have any questions about this story. Look me up on Twitter as Darthkvzn or Tumblr as darthkvznblogs if you'd like - and on Ko-fi, as Darthkvzn, if you like what I do and have a coffee's worth of money to spare.