Yet again the Earth's sun had descended behind the ocean, and throughout these past few days, Jasper had never been happy.
Granted, she wasn't happy, but at least Rose, the runt and the servant had all departed. Sure, the fusion wouldn't take her three eyes off of her, but out of all of the members, she probably liked her the best. All that being down to the fact that she didn't speak a word. Finally, some silence in this pathetic base.
She had been spending most of her time running her fingers over the rough, uneven skin on her left arm, while also glaring at any Crystal Gem that walked past. Occasionally she'd pick up the shard of rock given to her by the human who Rose had brought over, swing it around with the chain looped around her finger, then dropped it again once she grew bored. That was a very good word to describe her mood. Bored.
She was bored of waiting. Tired of being trapped here on Earth, now with no hope of taking revenge on her arch nemesis. Actually, no, she did have a chance. Many, many chances, in fact. But even if she were to take advantage of that, there would be no future. There was no way she'd be able to return to Homeworld.
"I'll be back."
Jasper was snapped out of her thoughts when the fusion finally spoke, standing up from the plush seat beside the transparent pane built in the wall and reaching for the door handle. The quartz stared at her, puzzled.
"You're going to leave me unguarded?"
The fusion nodded. "Yep." She then shut the door behind her. Jasper blinked, bemused by the fact that she had just abandoned her post, before shaking the thought off once she realized that she really didn't care.
For a while, she stayed in that very place, sitting on the sofa while she dragged her eyes over the base. Eventually, her attention was drawn to the white case, standing upright and leaning against the wall. There was nothing special about it visually, however she had witnessed Rose and the defective quartz retrieve substances from it, then consuming them. It was disgusting to watch.
She had to wonder why they engaged in such a vile activity though. She had come to recognize Amethyst and Rose's new form as especially weak. Perhaps it was some gross method to add to their physical strength.
Either way, her curiosity was peaked, so she decided to stand up and walk over to the shiny case, kneeled down in front of it and wrapped on finger around the handle. She gave it a weak tug, and it opened up. Strange, no code needed to unlock it.
She squinted as she gazed at the unusual substances inside. They were all of different colours - some wrapped in a thin material while others were left naked. Some were more disgusting than others. The red chunks that dripped with some sort of liquid were especially gag-inducing. Her jaw hung open slightly as she scanned the solids and liquids, until a putrid taste drifted onto her tongue. She clamped her mouth shut and slammed the door, hearing the objects inside topple over by the force, then stood up to return to her post.
She hated the Earth. She hated the planet, and everything on it, whether they be living here, or something inanimate. She hated it.
Her body dropped onto the sofa again, and she let herself sink back into the seat, staring up at the ceiling. There were no benefits to this planet.
And she hated that.
She sat there, motionless, for a long while afterwards. Each time she would glance at the sky above her, she would see that hundreds more stars had appeared.
Then the door clicked.
It was the fusion.
She wasn't happy to see her by any means, but it was better than literally anyone else.
Almost anyone, anyway.
"I'm back," the fusion said simply.
"I noticed," she shot back. She watched her sit down on the seat across the room, settling something on her lap.
Curious, Jasper observed her pull out a small, black object with one side being shiny and the other a lot more dull. It looked like some sort of device - one that was very primitive looking.
Her suspicions were confirmed when the gloved hands pressed what she assumed to be a button on the rim of the object, lighting up the screen. She watched her thumbs and fingers tap and swipe the screen, until finally she wasn't interested anymore. Just as she turned away from the device, the door swung open, revealing the trio that she would've been fine with never seeing again.
"We're back!" Amethyst announced loudly, literally for no reason. She and Garnet were literally inches from where she was standing.
Rose let out a yawn. "As fun as that was… I think I'm gonna get some shut-eye. I'm exhausted…" She stretched her limbs out.
"Aw, going to sleep so soon?" Pearl teased, arching a brow. Leave it to Rose to own a pearl with such disrespectful behaviour.
"Pearl, it's like… two in the morning," Rose stated, rubbing her eyes. She chuckled.
"I know, I'm only playing. You get your rest, Steven."
"Don't worry, I will." She trudged upstairs, and noises of her gathering what she assumed to be her alternative appearance modifiers that she had carelessly scattered in her base, rather than using the storage within the pearl's gem. Instead, she had chosen to take up what could've been useful space for something completely unnecessary. Rose returned with the yellow fabric tucked underneath her arm, and she walked past Jasper with a tired look in her brown eyes.
"Hi, Jasper," she said drowsily. Her voice was despicable.
She made her way towards the room that was to her left, and shut the door behind her. Jasper dragged her gaze away and back to the others.
"Pearl," Garnet suddenly spoke, standing up. Before the servant could reply, the fusion held her arm out, the primitive device tightly gripped in her hand. "For you." She smiled.
Pearl stared at the object, while the runt's grin widened.
"Ohoho! Alright, Garnet!" she cheered, staring at the device estatically. Pearl eventually slipped it out of the fusion's fingers and commanded the screen to light up by pressing the button on the side.
"A phone?" She smiled gingerly. "Oh, Garnet, you shouldn't have!"
"Yes, I really should have." She held up a thumb - a gesture Jasper didn't understand. She assumed it was a gesture to store it in the servant's gem.
But she didn't do that. Instead, she pulled out a small white strip of material from her gem and held it out in front of her with her spare hand and began muttering to herself,
"Right… so I think you can add these codes to phones somewhere? Erm… how does Steven do it…"
Amethyst rolled her eyes and began directing her to different corners on the screen. It soon became tedious, and Jasper lost all focus on the two.
After a while of the four of them discussing instructions in how to use the 'phone', Rose once again walked past, now wearing her alternative appearance modifiers and carrying her original in her tiny palms. She stopped in front of her teammates, observing them with curiosity.
"What's going on, gang?" she asked. Amethyst turned around, grinning.
"Garnet got Pearl a phone! Now she can call her mystery girl." She wiggled her eyebrows, nudging her leader with her elbow. Rose's eyes grew round as she looked at both Ruby and Sapphire.
"Really? How'd you know she'd need a-"
"Future vision." A corner of her lip quirked up. Rose nodded knowingly.
"Right. Well…" She yawned again. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, guys!"
"Goodnight, Steven."
"Sweet dreams, Steven!"
"Seeya tomorrow, Ste-man."
As Rose made her way up the stairs, she murmured a,
"Goodnight, Jasper."
Jasper refused to reply. Especially not with that strange name that they wouldn't stop using.
She waited for those footsteps to fade behind her, replaced by the squeaking of the 'bed' Rose used to regain energy that she had somehow lost.
"Oh!" The excited squeal from the pearl caught her attention. She had a wide grin spread across her face, all white teeth visible. She'd never seen a pearl with such an attitude. It was disgraceful.
"Looks like you're all set, P!" Amethyst laughed, smirking. "You should go call her right now!" Her fists bobbed up and down enthusiastically.
Pearl pursed her lips. "Hmm… I don't know, Amethyst. Humans are usually asleep at this time, aren't they?"
The runt rolled her eyes. "Not a gal as cool as her. Sleep is for the weak!"
"So that's why you do it," Jasper mumbled under her breath. Literally seconds after she said that, the traitors turned their heads to glare at her.
"Ugh, way to ruin the mood," Amethyst mumbled, crossing her short arms over her chest. Pearl sighed.
"Just ignore her, Amethyst. She's just not willing to accept that she's lost."
The little quartz furrowed a brow at her. "Uh… yeah," she said quietly. "Say… why don't you spend some alone time with your new girlfriend?" The corners of her mouth quirked up again, her brow raised. The colour blue practically glowed in the darkness of the house upon the servant's face.
"Amethyst! She's not my girlfriend!"
"Not yet." Garnet lowered her visor from her face, only just so her eyes were visible. Her red eye winked, while she smiled.
Jasper had literally no idea what was going on.
Pearl's lips scrunched up as her blush deepened. "Look, I'm not- if I were to actually be involved with her romantically then I'd need to do a lot of research on that human custom… what was it called?"
"Dating?" Amethyst guessed.
"Yes, that."
"Well then, you better get researching." Garnet folded her arms. Pearl's hands dropped to her sides as she sighed.
"Now?"
"Whenever you want."
Amethyst stuck her tongue out. "As in, as soon as possible. You two are already so close." She practically sang those two last words. She then pointed towards the phone in her hand. "You can find all the info you need on the internet."
Pearl glanced at the phone. "Hm… I think I'll just figure out how to use it before anything, Amethyst."
"That's fair. Now-" She skidded behind her teammates, then gave them a light nudge forward. "You go and play with your new girlfriend, while you go take a break from guardin' duty. It's my turn to watch over Jasper tonight."
Pearl gave a her a look. "Are you sure, Amethyst? I mean, I don't mind-"
"No. Work out how to use that phone. I wanna hear you using all the pick-up lines you can think of!" She pushed her again.
"Uhm…" Pearl gave an uncertain look, before giving in and began walking towards the temple door. Garnet followed after her, not saying a word. The door parted by the gems' commands, allowing them to step inside. From what Jasper could see, leaning forward quite far, they had entered a heated red room, but that's all she could catch a glance of before the traitors disappeared behind the closing entrance.
As soon as it did so, Amethyst whipped her head around, dark blue eyes locking with amber. She scowled as she marched towards her.
"So, are you ever gonna not be an ungrateful bag o' dirt?" The defective quartz stopped on the other side of the table sitting in front of her, crossing her arms over her chest.
Jasper leaned back, arching a brow while giving her a bemused look. "I never was one in the first place, runt."
The purple gem scoffed, her lavender hair flopping over one eye. She didn't bother removing it.
"Keep telling yourself that, buff gruff." Her face scrunched up with disgruntlement. "You wouldn't be here if it weren't for us."
She stifled her laughter at such a statement. "And that's supposed the change anything in what way, exactly?"
Amethyst's eye twitched. "Uh, the fact that you're not gonna be trapped in a bubble as some corrupted form? That might be an ice-breaker."
Jasper rolled her eyes, tearing her gaze away from the tiny gem. "Well, it isn't."
From the corner of her eye, she saw her bury her face in the palm of her hand.
"Look, I get ya really hate us all, and I get your reasons to why that is exactly, but could you at least show some gratitude? Even the teeniest, tiniest bit? 'Cuz we're not really enjoying you sittin' in our house as you just stare at everyone who walks past either!"
The quartz soldier snorted. "If I bother you so much, then either heal me or poof me. Not that hard to figure out, runt."
She snarled. "I dunno if you've noticed, but we're doing just that. Healing you, I mean."
"Wow, really? You mean, you lot standing around eyeing me while I sit here, unable to move at will was you healing me all this time?" She sarcastically gasped, her hand on her chest. "Oh, my apologies! I don't know how I didn't notice!"
Amethyst arched a brow. "Who said you weren't allowed to move without our say-so?"
"No one. But you wouldn't let me either way - I'm your prisoner, no matter how hard you try to convince me otherwise."
She was sure of that, because there was nothing else she could possibly be viewed as right now.
Amethyst's arms slumped to her sides as she took a couple of steps towards the door. She grabbed hold of the handle, then swung it open.
"You can leave if you want," she simply said.
Jasper raised a brow at her, before glancing at the open door.
"What?"
The tiny gem shrugged, pouting. "Like, if you wanna go… then go. I won't stop you. Steven won't stop you. Pearl and Garnet won't know." She directed her to the exit with her little hands. "If you're so desperate to get out of here, then we'll let you."
Jasper squinted at the door - opened up just for her. The thought of escaping this cramped little base was more than appealing, as was the idea of never having to look at these Crystal Gems in the face every damn sunrise. Amethyst was right - she was desperate to get out of here.
And yet, she didn't move. Her finger didn't even twitch in anticipation. She simply stayed put.
"No," she replied dryly. Amethyst's face scrunched up in confusion.
"No?" she echoed. "It's not like I'm able to stop you."
She laughed at that, because it was true. "I'm aware, runt." She dragged her gaze away from the door. "But it doesn't matter where I go. I could run as far away from you Crystal Gems as I possibly could, but it wouldn't change anything."
She heard the door click, and small footsteps followed. Soon, the defect came into her view again, as she hopped onto the table sitting in front of her. Her face was no longer tight with anger, and was instead replaced with a look of curiosity.
"What d'ya mean?" she questioned.
The huge quartz debated answering any more questions asked from her enemy. She debated answering questions asked by herself. Because a lot of them, she didn't want answering.
Whatever, this was fine.
"Staying here is the only chance I have." If the little embarrassment wasn't sitting inches away from her, she would've shuddered at the confession. She chanced a glance with her, expecting her to taunt her for finally accepting her fate, but she wasn't.
She still looked confused.
Was she really this idiotic?
"I know," she suddenly answered, catching her attention. "I mean, the only other healing powers on Earth is Rose's fountain, but it wouldn't do much even if you were to find it." She drummed her fingers on the table. "So yeah, I get Steven is like, all you got right now, so…"
"So…?"
She shrugged. "I dunno, it's like you don't wanna be healed! So I just don't get why you even wanna stay here."
"I don't want to stay here."
"Okay, yeah, I get that." She took a moment to blow her hair out of her face, only to let it fall over her eye once again. "But if you don't want us to heal you, then why stay?"
Jasper fiddled with a spike sticking out of her arm. "I don't have anywhere to go."
"What about the kindergarten? Or the ocean? You seemed just fine living there before."
"You mean, before I lost? Yeah, I was."
Amethyst pursed her lips, then sighed. "I'm sorry that happened."
Now it was Jasper who was puzzled. And it showed. "What?"
"Y'know… that." She unfolded her hand towards her corrupted arm. "I get that it sucks. But here's the thing - you're lucky that Steven's healing powers worked so well. Last time we tried healing a corrupted gem, she couldn't even talk." Her eyes narrowed. "So I don't get why you're acting so horrible."
The older gem groaned. "Must I repeat every word to you? There's nothing to be grateful for."
"But-"
"Try to convince me all you want, runt. But I meant it when I said that I didn't want to be healed." She raised a finger and pressed it against Amethyst's forehead, much to her discomfort. "Why can't you just get that through that little head of yours?"
Once the huge orange finger was removed, Amethyst glared at her with a cold blue gaze. "Probably 'cuz I don't know why you wouldn't wanna be healed."
Jasper paused. She bit her lip, preventing herself from speaking another word to her fellow quartz, as she thought about what she should say next.
"Well, why would you want to heal me?" she retorted coldly. "It's because of you lot that this happened to me!" She held out her corrupted arm in front of her, but soon withdrew it when a sharp pain travelled from her huge fingertips to her head. She made sure not to show any signs of pain. Luckily for her, the little gem didn't seem to notice.
"Um… no it isn't. That was your fault," she replied bluntly. Jasper blinked at her, rage beginning to build up in her chest.
Then she thought for a moment.
And for a while longer.
Okay, perhaps it wasn't Amethyst's fault.
She then gritted her teeth and sighed.
"It doesn't matter whose fault it was," she muttered. "Because either way, I can't go back to Homeword."
Amethyst tilted her head to the side. "Why not?"
She tensed up, becoming more irritated by the gem's idiocy by the second. "Because of this!" She gestured towards the side of her form that was corrupted. "It's because of this that I'm one of you!"
The defect squinted. "You're saying that you're a Crystal Gem?"
"By the definition, yes," she hissed. "I'm just like you - a defect, some sort of disgrace to Homeworld."
For a moment, Amethyst had no reaction. Then, her face dropped. Into a look of pity. Oh, how low Jasper had stooped to be pitied by this puny embarrassment.
"Don't look at me like that," she growled. Expectedly, however, she didn't obey, much to her annoyance.
"So… you're not leaving because we're your only chance you won't be a 'defect'?" She used quotations for that last word with her fingers
Jasper gave her a slow clap. "Congrats, you repeated what I literally just said."
But she was too lost in her own thoughts to hear her.
Suddenly, she leaped forward, landing on the couch beside her, next to her normal arm. The gem being so close was unnerving, so she shifted away from her, before she spoke.
"Why do you think you're a defect?"
Jasper's lip curled. "I figured it was obvious enough for anyone to work out?"
"Tell me anyway."
She saw little point to this. At this point, she was repeating her own words over and over again.
"In the state I'm in, I can't serve the Diamonds. I'm no longer fit to do so." Her hand was now on her lap, curling up into a fist. "It's a shame. Back on Homeworld, meeting me was an honor. It has been that way for many, many years." The corner of her lip quirked up as memories came flooding back to her, ones that she had somehow forgotten about. "From the moment I left the Earth's crust, I was what you would call the ultimate quartz. I was practically worshipped, considering the fact I was made in that mess of a kindergarten." She scowled. "How curious that I came out perfect in the Beta Kindergarten and you came out small in the Prime Kindergarten."
Amethyst muttered something under her breath in response. This amused Jasper for a short while, before she frowned again.
"But now? I'm just as much as a disgrace as you are."
Silence dropped on them both. She could hear the faint breathing of Rose somewhere behind them, but other than that, there no sound.
"You we're a big deal on Homeworld, huh?" Amethyst then spoke up. Jasper arched a brow.
"I was. But I'm not anymore, am I?" Her hand trailed up her corrupted arm, nails scratching the rough, gag-inducing skin. "I would've been better off bubbled away. Gems like me - if you could even call me that - fail to fulfill our only purpose."
Another silence that dragged out longer than it really was.
"I dunno. You're still pretty big to me."
That's not what she meant.
But it was also very, very true.
She couldn't hold back a chuckle.
"That's not saying very much, runt," she jeered, giving her a sly glance. To her surprise, Amethyst was laughing along.
"Yeah, well, it's saying something, right?" She shrugged, before hopping onto the floor. "Look, what I'm trying to say is… we're really trying. I'm sorry we don't really know how to heal you completely… but we've never been able to, to be fair." She folded her arms as she stared at the ground. "Just uh… keep hoping for the best, I guess?"
The bottom of Jasper's eye crinkled up. "What else can I really do?" she asked rhetorically. Despite that, she still got an answer.
"I dunno. If you find anything that you find fun or whatever, tell me." She then turned her back towards her, walking across the room, letting the faint light reflected from the moon brush over her messy little bush she had for hair. Jasper stared at her as she stopped in front of the white crate, before swinging it open with little effort.
With her stubby fingers, she grabbed a long, narrow, red container with a thin lid. She swung the crate door shut, allowing a loud slam to ring throughout the base, then she hopped onto the counter and began squirting a red substance into her mouth.
It was still disgusting. She had to look away, cringing as she did so.
"Maybe explain to me why you do that," she spat.
The sound of liquid splattering onto her tongue stopped, and she took that as a sign that she could face her again, only to grow even more discomforted by the eager eyes of the defect, her dark-coloured eyes practically sparkling with anticipation.
"Ohohoh, you betcha I can!" she squealed giddily.
Jasper let out a frustrated groan.
I'm already filled with regret. I really don't need any more.
