A few weeks has passed since Hope took part in Little Homeschool's program. She was a little nervous when she started her first lesson, but she grew more confident with each of her lessons. Her excitement grew when each lesson was done. Her last lesson over sharks went surprisingly well with Amethyst's help. She explained the history about them, the species that exist and what to do to help the humans in a shark based situation. She was pleased that everyone was enjoying this. Even Jasper was having a nice time. Her current lesson she's getting ready for is one of her favorite topics: Marine Mammals.

After she was done with helping Blue Lace making deliveries, she reviewed her lesson that she was going to do in the week. She even did some grading for the assignments she created. Jasper is doing well. Not only did the orange gem do them perfectly, she went the extra mile to help anyone who's having trouble understanding and venting that anger by fighting (with the permission of Garnet, Amethyst and Bismuth after what happened to Steven). Hope smiled at the thought. She, Volleyball, Peridot, Lapis and Larimar had been able to help her get over what had happened with Aunt Cassie and Bluebird Azurite. They would check in on her every day to make sure that she wasn't going back in her depression. She soon went to the diner where Larimar and Volleyball would meet her for lunch.

The trio sat down and began to order their usual meal. Hope ordered her hot dog with fries. Volleyball had her salad and Larimar had her onion quiche with anchovies. The three of them talked about their plans today. "Since we don't have much to do this week," Volleyball said. "Why don't we go to the movies today after class? I heard the latest film is pretty good."

"Let's see if Jasper would like to come." Hope said. "I do owe her a lot." She rubbed her neck and cringed when she thought of what she nearly did. Jasper helping her with Eyeball made her feel like she wasn't alone. "She may have issues with change, but her sense of honor really shows that she's not heartless. I never want to see Bluebird ever again." She felt Larimar and Volleyball hug her. The warmth of her embrace made her eyes tear up. "I love you guys."

"We love you too, Hope." Both Larimar and Volleyball said. They wrapped up their lunch and headed back to Little Homeschool. Once they arrived, they began to go through the daily motions of classes. Hope was trying everything in her power not to be over excited about her latest topic. She even did a pop quiz for everyone on the Marine Mammal identification. Jasper had a hard time not to laugh at the apparent excitement. Everyone was really enjoying this topic including the ruby and nephrite from before.

Once classes were done, they met up with Jasper to discuss movie plans with her. In her tsundere manner, Jasper agreed. The group got their movie and began walking back home together once they were done. Mr. Universe was going on vacation so he let Hope housesit the place while he was gone. Hope invited the group for a sleepover, though they didn't do much sleeping.

Night fell on them as they were about to reach the beach house. "That was a great movie." Hope said. "Thank you for telling us about it Volleyball."

Volleyball blushed. "Aw shucks! It was nothing!" She grinned. Even with her scars, Volleyball was still a pretty pearl.

"I loved how the actors make it so real. Popa was my favorite!" Larimar said. "I just wanted to hug her all day!"

Jasper laughed. "You go for anything that's cute."

Larimar looked up at the orange gem. "I kind of saw how you went gaga for Genny. Even though you say you prefer warriors, you seem to have a soft spot for petite things."

Jasper blushed. Then, she glared. "If you tell anyone about this…" She huffed in annoyance. "Whatever. I'm just glad Hope is doing better." Then, she looked up at the sky. She remembered how Garnet came to her one day and asked her to be careful. She had seen a vision that they were going to be swallowed by a shadow and then come across Eyeball and Aquamarine. There was still no sign of them. "It's been a long time since we last saw them. I still have a hard time believing I let myself get played like that!" She hit a nearby rock which crumbled into a million pieces.

Without warning, a black blob came flying out from its hiding place and stood in front of Larimar. It shook violently. Larimar gushed. She loved small things. "Ooooohhhhh! You're soooo adorable!" She picked it up and nuzzled it. "You're just so squishy!"

Jasper only grunted. "Put that down Larimar. You don't even know where it came from."

Larimar frowned. "Jasper, it's just a cute squishy thing. You get so suspicious at times." She tried to move her hands away when but they stuck to the creature. Without warning, her hands suddenly turned black. She screamed in horror and frantically tried to shake it away. "I can't get it off! HELP!" The black around her hands spread down.

Hope looked on in horror. This was the exact thing she had seen in her nightmares. She couldn't lose one friend. She lost everything else. She just can't. "LARIMAR!" Hope screamed. She ran over to the little blue gem. She frantically clawed at the black matter unaware of strange shadows that slipped under her and encased Volleyball and Jasper in the dark void.

"Hope-"Volleyball tried to scream, but was cut off as she vanished.

Hope tried to look back but all she saw was nothing but darkness. Her movements became slow like she was swimming in maple syrup. Her breath hitched as she found herself having a hard time breathing. Her heartbeat echoed in the empty space. It felt as if it would last for an eternity. Suddenly, she felt something hard against her shoes. The darkness parted away to reveal a cavern. She was breathing hard as she found herself surrounded by red eyes. She frantically looked around to see Jasper shielding Volleyball and Larimar about to be shish kabobed by a spear belonging to a small serpent-like creature. She ran in front of Larimar. "Go away!" She yelled.

Larmar hugged her in fright. "Hope, are you ok?"

Hope nodded. "Yes. Are you?" She sighed when the little gem nodded. Then, she glared fiercely at her enemies. "Who are you?! What do you want with us?!" She saw one of them try to poke her. She snatched the weapon from them and slashed the nose of a nearby creature. She froze when she saw a familiar face standing in front of her. It was Aunt Cassie. "Aunt Cassie? W-what are you doing here? G-get behind me they'll-"

Aunt Cassie simply smiled. "Oh Hope," she said in a sweetly sick voice. "You're so naive. As usual. It's good to see you again." In a quick movement, Aunt Cassie ripped the spear from her hands. She raised her hand and snake-like creatures slithered over holding three gems. Her eyes turned pure red. She began caressing the three gems that she held under her.

It was Aquamarine, Eyeball ruby, a curly haired Lapis Lazuli and a blue gem that she recognized as Holly Blue Agate from the Human Zoo. They were held down by rope, but didn't seem to struggle. Their eyes were glazed and were full of sorrow as they looked up at her. Black veins appeared on their faces. Color drained from their bodies. Aquamarine looked far worse than the other two.

Hope looked at them in horror. She brought Larimar closer to her side. "What did you do?"

"Just did you a favor." Aunt Cassie answered. She pulled off a pitiful pose. "I felt so bad about what happened, I decided to get a hold of some gems that would give you so much pain. After all...we Beaouls have to destroy those that threaten life."

Hope's eyes widened. She notices Jasper and Volleyball moving closer to her. Her heart nearly stopped beating at the words her "aunt" just said. "What?"

To everyone's shock, Aunt Cassie began to take on a monstrous transformation. Her red hair turned black. Her ear elongated and sharpened at the tip to give off a bat like appearance. Eyes becoming bigger and red. A long tail jutted out from behind. But what scared Hope and the gems the most was the long fingers. The middle finger being the longest. She smiled with extremely sharp teeth. One would say that she resembled an Aye-Aye. "Ah...Much better. You've no idea how LONG I wanted to get out of that horrid form." She walked over to Hope and smacked Larimar hard enough to send her flying to Jasper and Volleyball. With a snap of her fingers, vines sprang to life and snared them. She quickly grabbed Hope's arm. "You know, we were looking for a being of two worlds with sorrow. One gem, one human because humans are so complicated. We heard of this Steven character, but he was a happy soul. It was just fortunate to find you. A small nobody with a gem, but no one cares about you. They all just pity you." She forced a strange black sword into Hope's hand. She turned the gem hybrid around to face the other gem. "As for these four, they are also nobodies. They have no love for anyone and no one even bothered to look for them when we caught them. How sad." The Aye-Aye witch placed a hand on Hope's shoulder. "I know that Bluebird was the worst. She destroyed that scarf you had as a child." She leaned in closer. "You could end this you know." She whispered. "On this very night, a wonderful thing will happen. Wishes get to come true. You could get your wish, Hope."

"My wish…" Hope had thought of her wish ever since Kindergarten. The desire to have a home she can go to. A place where no one will look at her weird and treat her like a freak show. She looked down at the blade in her hand. It was wicked-looking. Her body shook as she had a vision of red eyes glaring at her from the far corners of space.

"Yes...All you have to do is shatter them."

"Don't do it, Hope!" Jasper roared. "Remember what happened!" She was immediately gagged by a piece of vine.

Aunt Cassie leaned beside Hope. "Your wishes can come true, Hope. Just do as I ask and your pain will be all over." She shoved Hope hard. She tried to hide a smirk as everyone chuckled behind her.

Hope stumbled slightly, using the blade to balance her. She looked at Eyeball and Aquamarine. They looked up at her in fright. Did they deserve this fate? She then turned her glance at Holly Blue Agate and the curly Lapis. They did horrible stuff under the gem society. She also recalled from her history classes that humans did terrible things too. Would shattering four gems really grant her wish? A place that she would actually call home? She gazed at the blade. There was something about the solid black blade. It's sheen was unearthly. Skulls decorated the hilt. The crossguard with a vulture with wings outspread. The pommel of the sword had what seemed to be an Angler Fish arching its light and grinned for its feast. The design spoke of a dark history. Her heart froze. It was made of hate and greed. A cursed blade that seemed to strike anyone who is either innocent or small criminals.

Her whole body shook with fright. She began to remember Steven and some of the nightmares he had to face on his own. How he shattered Jasper out of anger and it only made him feel worse. She looked at Aquamarine. She was the worst out of all of them. The little fairy was cruel and sly, but she was powerless now. She could barely speak. Then, Hope realized something. The blade and these gems were nothing but a trap. "No." She looked at her Aunt Cassie. "I see nothing but evil in this blade. Yes, these gems have caused grief and harm, but I don't see the need to shatter." She took a step forward. Her heart thrumming in her chest. What she didn't notice was that her gem was beginning to glow. "History had repeated itself so many times that one would have a hard time counting them. I know that Aquamarine and Eyeball hurt me, but this is not how I want to deal with this. Also-" She glared at Aunt Cassie. "You KNEW this would happen. You set them up because you figured it would set off the edge!"

Aunt Cassie gawked at her. Hand to her heart. "Hope, I would never do that to you. You're my special-"

"Save it! All this time I thought you really cared about me. You never did! You kept pushing me to try new things instead of helping me with my problem. I was practically alone! Now that I have friends, REAL friends, I won't take the lives of anyone else because of YOU!" In one hard swing, Hope smashed the sword onto a nearby rock. It shattered into a million pieces. Her gem's light grew so bright that it blinded everyone that's there. In that brief moment, a weird dragon made out of light appeared and snatched all the gems up. It growled at the shadows. Every creature in the cave squealed in fright and made a frantic attempt to get away.

"No…" Aunt Cassie said. "It's...NOT POSSIBLE!" She ran to the nearest tunnel and ducked as a swing of claws missed her by a tail.

Before long, a cave exploded with light as the dragon flew out of the cave. It moved at a fast pace until it reached the ocean and splashed into it. The salty waves churned violent as it began to reflect the entire night sky. Suddenly, a strange hum vibrated in the waters. It caused whales and rays to swim close. Gulls hovering in the air as if they could hear the unsung melody. The air filled with a strange enchantment that would come straight out of a fairytale.

There was a period of silence. Everything is still. Then, a rainbow exploded in the sky. A large wave carrying it's cargo back to the front of the temple. Hope and the others burst out of the water like dolphins on a surf. She held both Eyeball and Aquamarine in her arms with Larimar holding on to her. Jasper carrying Holly Blue on her shoulders and Volleyball dragging the Lapis Lazuli. They walked onto the shore and sat down. They looked at the gems they rescued. They all felt weak and tired.

"That was close!" Larimar screamed. She coughed up a sea urchin before throwing it back in the water.

"What did those...monsters have to do with us?" Volleyball said. She cringed as she removed a starfish off her head. She then looked at Hope who was now staring at the sand. "Hope?"

"Hope." Jasper said. "Are you ok?" She knelt by Hope's side as she took notice of Hope's silence.

Hope let out a laugh. "I knew it." She said. "I somehow knew it was too good to be true. Why would any human parent want me? I was always different. A-a-a-and now, my friends were nearly taken away from me all because…" She found a piece of driftwood and aimed it at her throat. "Of my STUPID gem!" She pried the gem out in one swift movement and let it cradle in her hand. Her other hand went to her throat to cover it.

"Hope!" Larimar screamed. "Why did you do that!?" She, Jasper and Volleyball looked on in horror as Hope flung it into the ocean where it sank to the bottom.

That's a wrap folks! I hope you like it. If you're wondering what an Aye-Aye is, it's a lemur that's local to Madagascar and known to have a long finger that helps locate bugs. They are also known to be considered bad luck to the locals. I decided to make this character original based on this information because witches would be associated with snakes, cats and owls most of the time.

Also, if you've seen Change Your Mind, you probably know where this might go. :/