Coal had said 'town' but 'city' would have been more appropriate. Even walking along the path before reaching their destination, both gems could see the sprawling buildings and the palace placed upon the hill where White Diamond, empress and 'unifier' of them all, lived and ruled.
What would have normally been a beautiful city had a perpetual cloud of war over it. The last few years had required peaceful blacksmiths to make weapons over their household wares and brought medics closer to the battlefield. Some had even left the city entirely, which meant more sick and more expensive treatment from those who stayed.
The citizens were quieter than usual that day. Even the enormous marble statues of White Diamond standing before the city wore dour faces, looking down on anyone entering with shadowed eyes. The false diamonds inside their foreheads didn't shine either.
Both versions of White resembled one another to an uncanny degree, but wore different clothing. One presented her in her armor, imposing and war-like as she stood upright with her sword extended. The other had her in thin robes replicated in marble, standing just as erect, but somewhat more welcoming. The artist made her arms extend as if ushering in travelers and citizens who would return as all roads lead back to her kingdom. Despite the informal outfit, White Diamond showed power in her shapely arms, presented as both a goddess of beauty and war.
Coal and Pearl passed, glancing back to them as they walked.
"I'm surprised no one had vandalized those by now."
"Oh, Pearl. I don't think anyone would dare."
"It's awfully tempting, considering her glare. Think about it. You probably wouldn't get caught if you came late enough at night when it was nice and dark, and just—you know, drew a mustache."
"If you were going to risk treason I'd hope you could be more creative than that, but I know that you won't. Right, Pearl?"
"Oh, I would never. I'm just saying, if someone did…"
"It wasn't a mistake taking you here, was it?"
"I wouldn't dream of offending our beautiful, sparkling, luminous, luxurious, adamantine, uh…splendid, sparkling, wise, sparkling Diamond! I just love the way her hair resembles an unkempt bush. It really represents her propensity for understanding nature!"
"I don't think she chose what her hair looks like, Pearl."
"She chose not to do anything about it."
Coal laughed and they continued inside the city, where the Quartz guards standing before the marketplace nodded them in after odd glances to one another. No matter how many times Coal and Pearl entered, they would always receive looks of confusion. The guards would welcome them by furrowing their brows at Coal's size, and then at the existence of her Pearl. It wasn't as though many beggars could afford to commission servants, but they never bothered accusing Coal of stealing. Each time, they allowed them into the marketplace, where both would collect more bizarre looks.
The marketplace was as rich in judgement as it was supplies. A sea of multi-colored gems in the midst of buying and selling would all turn in unison to wonder about that enormous woman and her little Pearl. Sometimes their faces would scrunch at the look of their dusty clothes or their naked feet and Coal and Pearl would catch them turning to one another, clinging in groups and whispering about the larger's height, or the state of their clothes, or what sort of gem Coal was. Pearl would scrunch up her pointed nose back, just as offended, and they would continue further in.
As promised by the wealthy appearance of White Diamond's statues, her city contained everything from fruit to meat stalls, pharmacists, cobblers, carpenters, tailors, and street food vendors, to gemologists who specialized in creating Pearls and other such service gems. They passed one such Pearl on display, white as milk with visibly smooth skin and a tuft of hair similar to White Diamond's. The sign next to her read that she was soon to be sent to the palace, but the shop owners could create a Pearl to resemble whoever commissioned her for any gem of any color for the reasonable price of 1000 gold pieces. In passing, Coal took Pearl by the hand as the miniature White Diamond looked on, expression blank and ready to have any and all assumptions grafted onto it. Her creator sat beneath the shade of their tent, staring unabashedly at both Coal and Pearl.
Toward the end of the market, where gems stopped selling and began living, lay their destination—an inn run by a Topaz with enough back problems for three gems. She stood outside as Coal and Pearl approached, leaning against the outer wall of her establishment as if it could bear the pain for her, so tall that she nearly trumped its height. She sparkled and greeted them with a wave as she walked toward them upon stocky legs.
"I was just thinking of you two!"
Unlike many gems, Topaz was nearly as tall as Coal, making her fit well inside her embrace as they met. Despite Coal's gentle hug, Topaz stole and crushed her in her enormous arms, nearly lifting her from the ground. "How have you been?"
"We've been fine!" Coal managed with collapsed lungs. "How have you been?"
"I've been hanging in there. You know with this silly war going on, I haven't been getting as much business, but I've been doing well enough." Topaz released Coal and looked at Pearl. "Don't go thinking I forgot about you."
"You better not have."
Topaz accepted Pearl a little more carefully, succeeding in picking her up and not flattening her organs. Carrying her, she turned to Coal. "Let's go in, shall we? I was just about to put on some tea."
The inside of the inn was as quaint as the outside—small in the salon with a hallway leading from the left side of the house to the guest rooms. Most of the walls held multiple paintings that had been given to her in exchange for a few nights. Some had even been painted onsite by traveling artists, featuring Topaz in an array of noble poses. The portraits of her took a particular spot of wall, clustered together and presenting her in various outfits she didn't actually own. In one of them, the artists had curled her short crème colored hair and put her in a gown White Diamond might wear. Topaz wore both a playful grin and a laurel of golden leaves—the truth being that they had used a bed sheet and foliage from outside to replicate the look.
Amongst the paintings, she had pinned pressed flowers to the walls and poems her guests had written. She even owned a tapestry of nothing in particular but pieces of nature. A rainbow of threads existed within it of different colored flowers and plants that formed a fractal.
Coal tended to stare at that one for at least a few minutes whenever they came. Topaz told her that she had wanted it so badly, she let the gem who owned it stay for a week. She wondered if it was stolen, but accepted it anyway. Fortunately, no one ever came for it, or her.
Topaz went into the kitchen to put on the tea, which was tucked in the back of the salon, while Coal and Pearl sat at the table in the center of the floor. It stood low, prompting them to tuck their legs beneath it while resting upon the cushions. Coal's nearly didn't fit, but she made do.
"Where did you two come in from?" Topaz asked as she pulled multi-colored cups from the cupboards. Each of which had different origin stories to tell through their steam, no doubt.
"We were just wandering around, really. We helped a hurt Agate earlier, but we didn't stay in their village for long."
"How lucky that was! Their village didn't have any medics?"
"I'm sure they must have."
"Ah, well. No one can top your powers."
"They gave us a lot of goods too." Pearl added.
"We'd be happy to give you some, Topaz. I don't think there's any way we could eat all of it before it goes bad."
"Maybe you can't." Pearl leaned back, propping herself up by her slender arms.
Topaz laughed. "We know, Pearl. We've all seen you eat." She approached and set large glasses before either of them—Pearl's bright red and Coal's a tall orange glass meant for beer. Where she would sit, Topaz left a short but voluminous cup and returned to the kitchen to wait on the soon-to-boil water. "But really though, you're both alright? I worry about you out there."
"Oh, we're fine. Thank you, Topaz."
"You haven't run into any soldiers, have you?"
"No, not recently. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you hear stories all the time about gems being stopped on the road out of suspicion, or of fights breaking out between soldiers and civilians. I don't know." Topaz brought the tea. "Apparently, it's supposed to be over soon. White Diamond made an announcement the other day that she had just one village left before this campaign is over. I wonder when she'll own the entire world."
Coal leaned forward as Topaz sat down, pouring into each of their glances, beginning with hers. "Do you remember which village?"
"Oh, I think it was the Lapises," she moved on to Pearl's cup. "I didn't even know they had a village, but I guess they live pretty far out. Luckily she has that dragon…"
There was a pause in which all three sat still and their cups bled steam. No one drank, and Coal eventually answered, "If these tribes just wanted to join of their own accord, fine, but she shows up with her army under the guise of 'peaceful negotiations' and what choice do they really have?"
"Yeah, I know what you mean, but I have to say, my village turned out the better under White's management. It's definitely a lot wealthier, and hey, I ended up living here. I don't think we would have met unless it was for her. Besides that, she's a Diamond and—"
"Please stop. She's not better than everyone else just because she's a Diamond."
"Would you fight her?"
"I wouldn't fight anyone. I'm just saying that it's questionable she wants to unify all of these villages and have gems work together as equals—which they are, yet she'll be the first to say that her subjects are beneath her."
"When has she said that?"
"She doesn't need to say it. The pompous art around this city says it all for her."
Topaz laughed. "You're such a hippy. You are right, though. Those statues are pretty pompous. I wonder where she got them done. I'd love to have one commissioned for the inn."
The three laughed and moved onto other subjects over several cups of tea. As the afternoon transitioned into night, they caught up while Topaz recalled some of her more bizarre guests, and the visitors were eventually allowed to inhabit one of the vacant rooms.
As per their agreement, Coal and Pearl assisted Topaz with her back. Inside her personal room (which was also full of art), she lay upon her stomach as the two of them worked.
Pearl applied the salve she had taken from her swollen bag of goods and Coal activated it. The warmth from her hands dried it into her skin as they simultaneously swept away the pain. Coal and Pearl worked for about half an hour before finishing and Topaz rose without issue from the floor.
"You two are simply magical. You really have to come back more often."
"As much as you like," Coal replied. "Thank you for allowing us to stay here."
"Yeah, thanks," said Pearl.
The three of them left Topaz's room and prepared dinner, adequately stuffing their faces before bed. Then, both full and tired, Coal collapsed onto their mat on the floor with Pearl tucked into her side. Neither spoke outside the normal goodnights and slept like stones on an untouched mountain path.