Hey, guys. Ellis again.
So, this is part 11. REMAKE. If you were around for the previous version: REREAD ALL OF THIS. I'm updating older content to support the content in Her Court (which yes, I'm still continuing! Just at a slower pace. (like 45% done for the next part!)). This part just needed more work than the others, so it gets updated first. I'll label the updated parts accordingly.
So please enjoy!
Penelope hopped in the air towards Beach City a couple of days later. She found that it was a lot faster than walking and she can scan the whole city for Amethyst this way. The perks of being a Gem hybrid, she supposed.
She started to search the city for the small purple Gem as she near the area. She pouted when she didn't spot the Gem anywhere in sight. She almost went down to search when she heard a loud boom and glanced around till she spotted a huge multi-armed statue with gem placements on it, a house laid at the foot of it.
She face-palmed, "Duh, Penelope. Of course, Gems like her would live near giant Gem statues! They've been here for about 5,000 years! Why wouldn't they?!"
She continued muttering to herself as she headed towards the statue. The closer she got the more she noticed that there were 5 Gems sparring with each other. She smiled when she noticed Amethyst, but frowned when she saw that the white Gem from the great North was there as well. She also spotted the tag-a-long boy watching from a safe distance. She narrowed her eyes at him, thinking he wouldn't last long in the real world. He was a dreamer to her; one that thinks that the world is safe and secure. She'll laugh when he gets older and realizes that he's not ready for anything.
'No. He really doesn't know anything.' She thought, glaring at him from above.
She caught Amethyst out of the corner of her eyes catching a rainbow haired Gem off guard and smiled. Go, Amethyst! She silently cheered. She didn't want to interrupt the fight until it was over. After the rainbow Gem smashed a huge boulder, smirking as it made dreamer boy uneasy, she decided to hop down on top of Amethyst.
"Amethyst!~" She called out as she landed in the arms of the now wide-eyed purple Gem, giggling, "That was a good move there!"
"Where-!? What were you doing falling from the sky?" She asked, looking up at the sky, hoping for an answer.
"It's a long story."
"I can see that. Tell me about it later. What's up?" She said, setting her down.
"I came to-"
"Hey, deep cut, who's your friend?" Asked the rainbow Gem.
Amethyst grinned, "We can talk in a bit. Let me introduce you to everybody first. That cool?"
As much as she really wanted to talk to Amethyst, it wouldn't hurt to get to know about the rest of them. They might have the answers she's been looking for. She smiled, "Okay! I'm Penelope. Penelope Pink. Nice to meet you!"
"Pleasure to meet you, Penelope. Call me Bismuth." Said the rainbow Gem.
"You're hair..." started the white Gem, staring at her.
And here we go again...
"Is pink! I know! Yes, that's my natural color and, yes, I have a gem. No, I won't show you, so don't even ask!" Penelope snapped at her, annoyed with the whole thing about her hair color.
It was starting to become a pet peeve with her, but it did shut the white Gem up to where Amethyst laughed, "Man, Penelope, you shut her up good! I knew I liked you for a reason!"
"You have a feisty little friend there, Amethyst. I like her." Bismuth commented.
"You hate when people mention your hair, don't you?" Asked a tall Gem with shades.
"You have no idea."
"Oh, I do. Garnet." She said, holding out her hand.
"Nice to meet you." She took the hand, then noticed she had two gems, everyone she met only had one...
"You're a fusion, aren't you?"
Garnet smiled, "You're quite observant for your age."
Penelope shrugged, "Old habits, really."
"You're a Gem hybrid?! Me, too!" The boy shouted in excitement, startling her.
She blinked, "You're the Gem hybrid Amethyst mentioned?"
"Yeah, I'm Steven! It's nice to meet you, Penelope!" He had stars in his eyes, "Oh, and that's Pearl, by the way." He pointed to the white Gem.
"Sure... Okay..." She wasn't too excited about the boy being the hybrid, but whatever.
"So, Pinky. Got a weapon to show me?" Bismuth asked, grinning.
"You mean these?" Penelope asked, phasing her pink gauntlets, which seem to make Garnet's day.
Bismuth whistled, "Whoa, did not expect such a small Gem like you to pack a punch. Care to demonstrate?"
She pointed to a medium-sized rock. However, she kept looking at them with the feeling of having seen those gauntlets before. Bismuth couldn't recall where, though. It mildly bugged her.
She shrugged, "Okay. Throw it at me."
All the other Gems plus Steven simply stared at her. Well, she really couldn't tell with Garnet. She was a tough one to read. It was quite funny watching them react like this. Penelope looked at them funny, though. It wasn't like she was asking them to kill her. Jasper treated her more with respect than these guys treating her like a child. She'll just prove them wrong. Steven was the first to speak.
"Wouldn't it be better just to go smash it?"
"Nah, that's too easy. Besides, I'm used to moving targets. Auntie did not train me to be a tag-a-long on our hunts." She directed that statement at Steven, hoping he got the message.
Steven flinched, "Hunts?"
She nodded, "We hunt corruptions. We don't kill or anything like that. Just bubble them to keep them from causing trouble."
Steven looked relieved, "Oh. That's what we do, too."
"I know. I saw you on one of my hunts. You don't do much."
"I do, too!" He argued.
"Really? Then, how many have you personally caught?"
He looked shocked, "I-" He fell silent.
Her eyes narrowed, "19 corruptions. Alone. With absolutely no help. Since I was 12. And I've been fighting a lot longer than that. You are just a tag-a-long!"
Steven got mad, "Yeah? And what of it?! At least, I'm learning and have people to help me unlike you!"
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
"Apparently, that your parents made a mistake when they left you with your Aunt!"
"STEVEN!" Amethyst yelled at him, "That's enough!"
It didn't matter, though. Red clouded her vision as a pink gauntlet connected with Steven's cheek. He was knocked back a few yards across the sandbar. He heard Pearl yell his name in shock before he felt something heavy sitting on top of him. A pink gauntlet raised for another punch.
"Just what do you think you know about me!?" She screamed at him as she threw her punch.
"You don't even know me!" She wailed as she alternated between her bare hand and her gauntlet. Her bare hand didn't hurt as much as her gauntlet, but it was still pretty painful to him. He didn't even have a minute to defend himself.
"You have the Gems! You have a safe home! You even have a Dad!..." She stopped, fist raised and ready to strike. It never came. Steven felt something wet hit his face. The pain faded as he stared up at her tear-streaked face and sorrow-filled grey eyes.
"I had nothing… Absolutely nothing…" He felt lighter as she bolted off on her own.
Amethyst ran after her, calling her name. Penelope had jumped off by then, wanting to get as far away as possible from the others. Amethyst seemed more worried about her than the other Gems were. Bismuth and Garnet were conflicted by what they had just witnessed. Pearl, on the other hand, seemed furious that Penelope attacked him.
"Oh, I can't believe she did that!" Pearl ranted angrily, "I don't ever want to find her near Steven again, or so help me, I'll-"
"Pearl, stop! It's… It was my fault… I provoked her and now she's upset." Steven explained.
Pearl examined his face, carefully, "Well, for someone who hunts corruptions, she must've been pulling her punches. You look completely fine."
"What?! No way! They actually hurt! See?!" Steven argued.
He touched his face, thinking he was going to feel pain. However, it felt normal. He frantically poked and pulled at his face with virtually no pain to be felt. He knew all of Penelope's punches connected, though… Except…
"Healing tears," he gasped in shock, "Guys! Penelope has healing tears!"
"Healing tears? I thought Rose was the only one who had those!" Bismuth commented, confused.
"She was," Garnet replied, "However, there were other Rose Quartz out there. With the exception of our Rose, all of them were said to be bubbled."
"You think one somehow managed to avoid being bubbled, the Gem war, and becoming Corrupted?" Pearl asked with concern, "That seems a little far-fetched, don't you think?"
"But, no other gems have healing tears." Garnet pointed out, "Plus, she has similar abilities to Steven. It's the only logical explanation."
"Still, where has this one been hiding?" Bismuth asked, "She's been alone this whole time!"
"Her mother could've been like Amethyst," Pearl offered her input, "Perhaps she was underground this whole time."
"Who knows." Garnet concluded, "One things for sure: we're definitely keeping an eye on her. Amethyst seems close enough to do it. For now, let's have her calm down before we do anything else… Besides, she can throw a good punch."
"You got that right!" Steven murmured as he rubbed his healed cheek.
They all went back into the house, chatting about Penelope's mystery gem with piqued interest. Pearl lingered behind a little, staring off in the direction Penelope went in concern.
'It can't be her… Can it?'
The oceans tides sweep back and forth calmly. The edge of each wave crept closer to Penelope each time, but fell just short of an inch from her bare feet. Footsteps echoed on the pier overhead. The timeless, cheery tune alerted her of the carnival rides just above. Something she'd probably enjoy if she was a child. At least, if she had allowed herself to be.
Being alone had forced Penelope to grow up quickly and become independent. She had spent much of her childhood trying to survive and fight rather than be carefree and innocent. No parents. No home. No one but herself to rely on and trust. But, that was back in Empire City.
Beach City wasn't much different, either. A puzzle box had led her to the old cabin she'd come to call her home. It needed a lot of work when she first arrived: water heater was down, electricity was out, and there was barely any food in the fridge. She had to get creative to make ends meet. And she'd succeed after two years of hard work.
Even then, that still left the fact that she was currently the house's sole occupant. Whoever owned the place prior was long gone and didn't bother to pack up any of their belongings. Penelope assumed that the original owner was deceased, which was fine with her. Another part of her, however, wished to find some clues to contacting anyone in her family. She found very little to go off of that she'd considered it a dead end.
Penelope was pretty much convinced that she was going to be alone forever. Amethyst had the other Gems. Jasper? Her chest began to ache. Jasper was only here because she crashed on this planet. She'll want to return to this Homeworld she keeps talking about, right? She couldn't stay with a pitiful hybrid like her forever. Yet, she wanted Jasper to stay with her. She wasn't alone for once and that scared her completely.
Something landed on her head, startling her from her thoughts. She looked up just as a pair of eyes suddenly appeared in her vision, causing Penelope to let out a startled shriek. The owner of the eyes turned out to be some weird purple owl that was… Laughing at her? She then spotted the familiar purple Gem.
"Got ya!'' the weird owl laughed in an oddly familiar voice.
"Amethyst?!" Penelope exclaimed in shock.
"You guessed it!" the owl confirmed with a chuckle.
Penelope frowned as she watched the owl glow and shaped itself into her Gem sister, Amethyst. Normally, she'd go bonkers over the fact that there is another Gem ability like shapeshifting. It was in her unique nature that seem to contradict her maturity level from time to time. But now, she wasn't up to it. In fact, she was more annoyed that Amethyst had followed her when she really wanted to just stew in her misery alone.
And yet, she hated being alone. How ironic…
"Hey, it never hurts to try and laugh it off!" Amethyst said, trying to cheer her up.
"You expect me to laugh at the fact that he insult my nonexistent parents? Yeah, quite the joke he told! Very funny!" She retorted with sarcasm practically dripping off each word.
Amethyst winches, "Right… Look, I get it! That wasn't cool of him to do that. But, you can't completely hold it against him! I didn't mention you to them yet!"
Penelope sighed, "I'm aware of that now. Still, he needs to realize that he is merely a kid right now. He can't just say whatever he wants without consequences. That's not how things work."
"So… Human stuff?" Amethyst reiterates.
"Humans are too overrated, " Penelope admits as she falls back into the sand, "You'd think being only half would make it easier to understand them. But, trust me, it does you no justice on that front!"
"Yeah. That sounds like a personal problem." Amethyst comment, joining her.
"Depends on the point of view, really. But, who keeps track of that stuff? Most would just see that something is wrong with you, lock you up somewhere, and hope that it fixes everything!" Penelope shrugs, nonchalantly.
Amethyst grimaced, "That's not right, girl!"
"Tell me about!" Penny agreed before they both busted out laughing. It was a nice feeling; having someone to talk to. She wasn't alone for once.
"So, you cool now?" The purple Gem asked her pink haired friend afterwards.
She stared up at boardwalk above them, "I won't forgive him for that. I'll accept his apology, but I still won't forgive him."
"Hey, it's understandable. I can relate to you in a sense. I was alone in the Kindergarten for a long time. I thought no one wanted me till Rose showed up. She told I was perfect just the way I was. Was it like that for you with your Auntie Gem?"
Penelope shook her head and laughed, "I thought she was another corruption and poofed her when we met."
Amethyst laughed her butt off, "Oh, geeze! Really? That's priceless!"
"Yeah. Then, I talked to her the next day, we got into a fight, and she left. A week later, she showed up in the rain and she watched T.V. with me. A few days later, she told me that I was different than the other Gems she met... but she still accepts me. That's all I really want, is for someone to accept me for me. She's the first one to do that. And I'm happy for that."
"Yeah? Well, now you have me, too!"
She grinned, revealing her missing tooth from training yesterday. "That is also true. Except you're my best friend!"
"Yeah. Hey, what happened to your tooth?" She asked, curiously.
"Training. There's actually something that I wanted to ask you about, though..." She began and told Amethyst a brief recollection of everything that happened with her experiment the other day plus the events of her recent hunt. She didn't mention where she was or who she saw, but she did mention Biggs and her conversation with her.
"So, you found a corruption that actually almost reverted back to her full form? That's crazy! But, if what this Biggs gem says is true. We might actually have a lead on our corruption cure! You really think that a song is the key?" She asked.
"That's the only thing that I was doing when she reverted. It's like the song brought her back to her senses somehow! And when she mentioned a song she heard at the end of the war, she'd begun to relapse." Penelope explained.
"Come to think of it, Steven semi-healed a corruption he called Centipeetle. She relapsed when she mentioned a song, too! Maybe, this song is the key to it all! We have to tell the others!" Amethyst exclaimed, dragging Penny back to the temple.
Yeah, this is much better. Please, review on the changes!
Later,
Ellis Alpha