Greg opened the door to what he finally found to be the laundry room and stopped. There was the blue Gem, Sapphire.
She sat on the floor, holding a red gemstone in her hand. She clenched it against her chest, but stopped as Greg got closer inside. On the floor was her other hand, holding a large purple gemstone beneath it.
"Shouldn't be long now," she said, and Greg wasn't sure whether or not that was directed at her or him.
"Excuse me?" Greg asked, holding his shirt in his hands. He quickly put it back on before she could catch sight of the scars on Greg's back.
The Sapphire didn't even look at him. "The Gems I'm guarding. Once they reform in a few minutes, I have to tell Pink Diamond. Of course someone else, like Pearl, will be there to send for her when the time comes."
Greg nodded and sat down. "What's 'reform'?" He inched towards the water bucket.
Sapphire smiled beneath her white-ish hair. "These Gems here got hurt. Really, really badly. And because we're Gems…" She started to sound smug, but Greg tried to ignore it. "We stop wasting power on our bodies and fall back into our gemstones. If it isn't broken, that is. There, we use all our energy to heal. When we're finished, like this Amethyst here is going to be in a minute, then we reform our bodies."
Greg scratched the wood. "Understood." They sat in silence for a few moments before Greg stared at the water pump sticking out of the wall. "May —"
"Of course," the Sapphire said, scooting out of the way. Greg stared at her in confusion. "Of course you can use the bucket."
Greg nodded slowly and walked to the bucket. He pulled his shirt off and threw it in, hoping Sapphire wasn't looking. He grabbed the lever for the water pump and pushed it down. Water flooded the bucket, and Greg watched the Sapphire. She seemed to do nothing.
Greg sighed and looked down at his hair, which was starting to get submerged in the water. "It's quiet here, isn't it?" he asked beneath his breath.
"Nobody speaks unless spoken to." Sapphire flattened her bangs over her face and then sat quietly.
Greg nodded, feeling awkward. "So, what's it like? Back on—"
"Hard to navigate unless you know how." She didn't say anymore, but Greg thought he got the gist. He scratched his arm as the bucket got enough water for him to submerge the shirt. He waited for a moment. Was it hard to navigate because it was a massive city? Or was it some other reason?
He'd glimpsed a picture of an ominous, hollow-looking planet in Heliotrope's office once. Was that what Homeworld looked like?
There was a flash of light, and Greg pivoted to stare at it. The Sapphire had let go of the purple gemstone and it was now floating in the air and glowing. Greg stepped back and tripped over the bucket. He only caught himself by grabbing the pump. "What the?" he asked.
The gem seemed to be changing shape into a gem as short as Sapphire. It had short purple-white hair and violet skin, he noticed as the glow faded away. The gem fell to the ground and popped up. "What?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Where am I?" Her eyes rested on the Sapphire and she calmed down a bit. She only started to look angry rather than scared.
She sat down. "It didn't work did it?" she asked. She then whirled on Sapphire. "You were lying, weren't you?"
Sapphire shook her head calmly. "Like I said." She noticed Greg watching her and then stopped. "We'll talk later." Greg's shoulders fell slack in disappointment. "For now, we wait until Ruby reforms."
The purple Gem stared at Greg.
"She almost looks like Heliotrope…" Greg whispered.
"You're a funky Gem," she said. The Heliotrope idea was gone immediately as the purple gem crawled up to him and poked his sides. "Are you a… Pearl?"
Greg laughed. "What?" He shuffled away and stuck his hand in the barrel. "Wha—! No, I'm a human."
"Oh!" she said, stepping closer to him and looking at his nose closely. "So that's what you look like up close! Where's your Gem?"
Greg nodded and tried to get some space from the Gem. "Uh, yeah. Who… are you?"
"Oh." The purple Gem stepped away and gave a 'formal' bow. "Amethyst, at your service." She seemed to lighten up. "Well, at least I'm not dead." With that, she shot a nasty glare to Sapphire.
The red Gemstone flashed and was now floating. So this was… Ruby? She popped out in a flare of bright orange light and Greg had to shield his eyes. The Ruby had vaguely cubical hair and was a bit shorter than Sapphire. She dropped to the ground and coughed. She leaped to her feet and her hand flashed. A stone gauntlet appeared. Greg backed against the wall.
Ruby stared at him and bared her teeth. She leaped and Greg's heart stopped. Halfway there, Amethyst barrelled into Ruby and slammed into the bucket.
It toppled over, pouring soapy water all over the floor. It was only enough water to fill an eighth of the bucket, but it was enough to cover half the floor and soak the rug in the centre.
"Why'd you do that?" Ruby shouted at Amethyst. "She's obviously hostile!"
Greg slammed his hand against his forehead. "Oh my God…" he whispered.
The door slammed open and Greg jumped. He tripped over the toppled bucket and fell onto the wall.
"What in the stars'—?" she started, then fixed a glare on Greg. "You should have gone and grabbed Pink Diamond, before…" She made wild motions with her hands. "This! Happened."
"I know, but the purple one — Amethyst — was all over me, and…"
"You know what?" she said, squaring her thin shoulders. "It doesn't matter. I shouldn't even be bugged by this. You can clean this up while I go grab…" She stopped and stared at the two fighting Gems on the floor, then at Sapphire. "I'll go grab Pink Diamond, yes…"
With that, she closed the door. Greg could barely hear her running over the two Gems ready to burn down the estate. At least, the Ruby was ready to, with her square hair on fire.
"Can you calm down?" Greg asked, clenching his fist. He reached over and pulled the bucket out. "You guys got me into trouble, and all I did was be here!"
Amethyst turned to him and blinked. "Oh." She looked down and glared at Ruby. "Well, if Ruby didn't try shattering you…"
"We don't get shattered. We just get killed," he tried to explain, but Ruby pushed Amethyst off of her. She seemed much more calm. Well, at least less angry.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry." The flames started to die down in her hair. Far less angry.
What was with the sudden attitude change?
"I can help clean this up…" she said.
Greg didn't want to turn down the offer. He grabbed his shirt out of the puddle and wrung it out before sliding it back on. "It's alright, but I'd like the help."
Ruby threw some flames at the water in front of Greg, boiling it. "Be careful. You don't look to comfortable with heat." She threw more blasts of flames at the water until it was only a thin layer that Greg could mop up. There was still a thicker puddle of water, but it was slush next to Sapphire. She smiled lightly and stood up. Ruby threw another blast of flame at the floor where she was.
Greg braced himself for a flame, but the water only evaporated again. Steam now filled the room, and Greg couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed at his own clumsiness. "Sorry for the whole situation," he couldn't help saying. He was raised to be apologetic to everything. "If I wasn't here, you wouldn't have leaped at me."
Ruby laughed a bit, sending a flare up her arms. "It seems you aren't so hostile after all." She held a flaming hand out for a handshake. "Apology accepted."
Greg didn't take it for fear of burning his hand but nodded and grunted in agreement.
Then Pink Diamond came in. Her dress seemed different, but maybe Greg was just noticing it now. It split in the centre to allow her more leg space. It also made her look scarier… more powerful.
"They've reformed, I see?" she asked.
Greg and Sapphire nodded.
Pearl strutted out behind the Diamond and made motions at Amethyst and Ruby.
Even Greg felt his blood run cold.
Pink Diamond rubbed her chin and looked down at the scene in front of her. "You know what?" she asked. "I don't think you're too important right now."
Greg felt his chest loosen, and he sighed pent up breath.
"In fact, I think there's something that we need to do. All of us."
Greg looked behind Pink Diamond to see Pearl blanche even whiter than usual. "My Diamond, we have to interrogate them!" She cast a hateful glare at the two new Gems.
"But we don't," she said, holding her hand out and kneeling down. She seemed to stare right into all their mortified stares. "This is new to me, but more new things are coming."
Greg, Amethyst, and Ruby all tried to take the giant woman's hand at once. All their hands seemed to fit. She tightened her grip as best she could and stood up.
A grin seemed to curl her lips. "Come along. We've got something to do. All of us."
