Aura Quartz almost felt bad for not being as excited as the crowd of other Quartzes being initiated today. Years and years of hard work and training, and Aura didn't feel the least bit accomplished. When her fellow classmates first emerged, they were a rowdy bunch of Gems with no concept of discipline and a need to wrestle and assert dominance. All Quartzes are expected to be that way at that age. However, Aura Quartz was different. She was cowardly, peaceful, a gentle giant, if you will. She had to fake her way into not being seen as defective, and yet she wasn't sure if that was even worth it.
During her training, she couldn't help but dream of being a normal Quartz, yet she hated the lessons she was taught. Sure, she was born with natural strength and was seen as normal by others because of her excellent ability to hide her true self, but her "mental defects" were what kept her from truly believing it to be true herself.
The group of freshly trained Quartzes she had been with since she emerged had changed. They were no longer as hyper. They walked with discipline and honor, their heads held high. However, they still kept their pride and delusion of superiority all through their lives and had developed a strong sense of duty to their Diamonds. In fact, it was even encouraged.
Sure, they deserved the honor of being blessed by the Diamonds. They deserved to be called their children, children of goddesses. Aura Quartz did not. She was nothing the Diamonds, the respected deities and rulers of Homeworld, wanted. Did it make her evil? The fact that she could see through this cruel religion of hatred and violence? Or the fact that she simply didn't belong in it? The thought burdened her heart greatly, but she remained stiff and expressionless as she walked in rhythm with the other Quartzes to the Diamond Throne Room.
Left, Right, Left, Right, Left...
Their manager, a tall Gem with green skin and hair called Amazonite, finally halted the group of Quartzes at the grand double doors. The crossroads in between two long hallways. Soon, the class would divide and go down the mysterious corridors, never to be seen again. As Amazonite pushed the doors open, Aura Quartz swallowed nervously and felt her body heat up and start to drip sweat. She looked to one of her friends and confidants, an Amethyst, who did not notice her nor look back.
Once the Quartz class filed into the throne room, Amazonite slammed the doors loudly behind them. A sign that meant there was no turning back. The three Diamonds looked from their thrones to the Quartzes, barely even interested.
Yellow Diamond was the first to speak. "Greetings. I see we have made another successful batch of Quartzes. Which Kindergarten?"
"The Southwestern Kindergarten on Hoth. It may just be the first and finest batch of Quartzes that hasn't come from Mustafar, AgniKok or Earth." A Peridot that had accompanied Amazonite said.
"Most of them look like they're going to Blue Diamond. Lucky. Some of these Amethysts and Agates look like quite the catch." White Diamond whispered to Yellow Diamond.
"Quartzes. Do you promise to stay faithful and loyal to your Diamonds and all their ways? Never failing, ignoring, or questioning an order as long as you live?" Yellow Diamond asked, staring intimidatingly down at the class.
"Yes, I promise." The Quartzes said in unison, even Aura. If anyone didn't agree, they would be shattered on the spot.
"Do you renounce all other ways of thinking and see them as defective, impure, and/or evil?" Yellow Diamond asked.
"Yes, I do." The Quartzes responded once more.
Yellow and White Diamond smirked with satisfaction before Amazonite directed each Quartz by Facet and Cut to their assigned Diamonds. Aura Quartz decided not to pay attention, seeing as it meant watching her friends leave her behind. At least, not until it was her turn to be called.
"Aura Quartz, Facet 2F8L, Cut 8XG. Blue Diamond!" Amazonite called out into the sea of Quartzes. Aura had remembered her facet and cut like the back of her hand, yet it took her a few seconds to respond and walk towards the pillar where Blue Diamond was. Her face was hidden under a hooded cloak, which was even more intimidating.
Blue Diamond looked at the screen hovering next to the right armrest of her throne, which read the stats of each Quartz. This would allow her to select commanders meant to lead groups to their posts.
Please not the Corruption Labs...Please not the Corruption Labs... Aura Quartz thought to herself. She couldn't stand corrupted Gems. She found them rather creepy, and feared becoming one herself.
"Aura Quartz," Blue Diamond spoke. She preferred to treat each Gem as their own person rather than label them by facet and/or cut. She gestured directly to her. "You and Citrine will be sent to monitor the Corruption Labs, along with Agate and Chalcedony."
Dang it! Aura Quartz cursed in her thoughts as she followed the much larger Citrine out of the throne room with Agate and Chalcedony trailing behind her.
"Do not let me down." Blue Diamond said quietly as the double doors closed behind them...
There's no sense in letting in anything new, because all you say there is to life is being faithful to you.
-Outline for an Aura Quartz solo I never finished.
Here is the Aura character study that eventually got cut, most likely because I thought it was too short. Well, it's here now!
Aura Quartz was always defective, but it wasn't until shortly before her initiation that she realized that she didn't want to live her life being something she wasn't, and that duty and destiny are not always the same thing. Especially in her case. The ceremony felt incredibly forced for her, and she feared that one slip up would leave her shattered, like every other defect.
Next is the Fire Opal and Carnelian one, which shows them taking over a distant planet and running into a few complications along the way. For my Skimming the Surface readers, this next chapter is also planned to be really big, so it should take awhile. As for Flowers and Ash, I have some stuff coming up as well.
'Till then!
REVIEWS ARE ENCOURAGED!