Greetings, dear readers, and welcome back to 'Bayley's Universe' with a new chapter for your reading pleasure! Now, my biggest apologies for taking so long with this update. I was dealing with some personal issues this time, these issues being health-related (I don't exactly feel like going into detail here, so if anyone may want to know, I can always elaborate privately). *clears my throat before clapping my hands together* But, let's move on past this. We've got a story to get back to!
So, as we saw last time, it would appear as though Sasha was worried about nothing when it came to her performance in Drama, given how her classmates and teacher reacted (*gives our magenta-haired cinnamon roll a round of applause for her performance* Bravo, Sasha, bravo!). We then see that Shayna, after a nap during her class, is starting to come around to some of the fun that can come with spooky season, seeing as how she wants to help Tamina decorate their home all nice and spooky-like. Back at Bayley and Sasha's place, it would appear that Bayley, Dean, Rosey Paws, and Seth are all quite pleased to have heard about how Sasha's performance went. And now, after a bit of thinking on Sasha's end for a song she can practice for her next musical lesson, it leads to Bayley doing a bit of "singing" that leads to something-or rather, someone new-joining the house, who appears to share a discerning trait with the oddball family, that trait being this new entrant very possibly being a Crystal Gem herself. So, are y'all ready to meet the new entrant? Read on to learn a bit more about her, and I hope you all enjoy, my loves. =)
Bayley had been so lost in her 'singing' that she didn't even notice the glow that came from upstairs. It wasn't until she heard a new voice that she stopped. Her gaze starting to dart around a bit frantically and seeing that it seemed like the others had more or less drifted off into a similar state as Sasha had, she didn't know what to make of this. Dashing away from where she was, she then saw someone coming downstairs from her "bedroom", someone …new. "Ohmygosh. Wh-Who are you?"
This new person, a girl who looked to be about her age and was her height, had been 'singing' in a way very much like the way Bayley just was. It wasn't until she reached the bottom of the staircase that she finally took notice of where she was. A sudden look of fear crossing her face, the girl said "Wh-Where am I?" as slight trembles could be seen starting to course through her.
Wanting to go with her base instinct and give this poor frightened girl a hug, Bayley instead calmly said "Hey hey hey now. Don't be afraid. We're not going to hurt y-" It was then that Bayley really took notice of this new girl. She was dressed in an all black outfit that consisted of a short-sleeved top, black pants, and black boots. She also wore what looked to be fingerless gloves that went midway up her upper arm.
But that wasn't her most noticeable feature. No, that feature was the round black Gem that sat in the middle of her forehead. 'Just like the one that was in the box Dad sent me,' Bayley thought, a lightning bolt of realization striking her. Feeling a few shakes start to hit her, the ponytailed brunette swallowed a bit before asking "A-Are you a-a Crystal Gem?"
Hearing this strange voice, the girl looked at the brunette before her and asked "Wh-Where am I? What is this place? Wh-Who are you?"
"Who, m-me? M-My name's Bayley. What's yours?" the ponytailed brunette asked, hoping that Sasha or one of the others-or heck, maybe all of them-would come to her aid soon.
"My name?" the blonde responded, her trembling having noticeably died down. "M-My name is Julia. Wh-Where am I? What is this place? …Oh no. Where are my sisters? Where are they?!"
This was something that alarmed Bayley. 'She's got sisters? Oh gosh. Maybe I oughta see if Seth and the others can help me here. They're usually pretty good at finding stuff.' Looking at the blonde, Bayley said "Hey. Hey, um, Julia? Don't worry, OK? Let me go get my uncle Seth and see if he can help us. Just …Just stay here, and I'll be right back, I promise." Seeing that the blonde seemed to understand what she was saying, the ponytailed brunette dashed into the kitchen and over to Seth. Looking up to the two-toned Gem, she couldn't help but panic a bit when she saw the look on his face. He seemed almost …in a sleeplike state, as his eyes were closed and he just seemed to be swaying around a bit. "S-Seth? Seeeeeth?" Bayley called out as she then proceeded to shake the taller Gem, hoping to wake him up. It wasn't until she heard a hissing sound behind her that she turned and looked around to find the source of the noise, which she soon saw that it was the pot on one of the stove burners getting drenched in a small waterfall flowing from said pot. Quickly moving to turn off the heat to the burner, she then began to shake the taller Gem again, only this time, she yelled "Seth, snap out of it! Your soup is burning!" with an added slap to his face, something that didn't have much power behind it and left her with a sore hand.
He wasn't quite sure what it was, …but something made Seth start to feel a bit drowsy, almost as if he had heard a lullaby of some sort. Then he felt something shake him, followed by what he guessed was a slap. But, then came a voice saying something about burning, and that was-
His eyes snapping open, Seth looked around, trying to see just what could've been 'burning' as the voice said. It wasn't until he heard a hissing sound that his attention was then drawn to the stovetop. "Oh, damn it, not the potatoes!" he shouted in a mild panic before quickly turning off the power of the burner. Looking into the pot to check on what was once boiling, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that nothing was actually burned. Looking to his right, Seth saw Bayley shaking her hand and rubbing it a bit, something that immediately made him start to feel worried. "Bayley, are you okay? What's wrong with your hand? Did you hurt it?! Come here, let me take a look at it."
Hearing the two-toned Gem's worried fretting over her hand made Bayley laugh a bit. 'Well, at least all of that woke him up,' she thought as she said "Relax, Seth, I'm fine. …I mean, yeah, my hand does hurt a little, but that's just because I didn't think your face would feel so hard."
"Well, Bayley, you have to keep in mind that us Gems don't exactly feel pain like you humans do," Seth said with a teasing grin, something that got a few giggles from the ponytailed brunette. Shaking away his grin, the two-toned Gem said "But, that's all beside the point. Just …what happened in here? Why would you lie to me about the food burning? You had me worried, young lady."
"I know, Seth, and I'm sorry about that," Bayley said a bit bashfully. "It's just …I need your help with something big time."
"Oh OK, Bayley. Well, what is it?" Seth asked, starting to feel worried about what Bayley said.
"Well, while you guys were all sleeping-"
"Wait, what do you mean by that? Sleeping? When'd that happen?" Seth interrupted, no knowledge of this coming to him.
"That's just the thing, Seth. I don't even know really," Bayley said, scratching her head in confusion. "I was just kinda sorta singing, and then the next thing I know, I look around and see you guys all asleep. Then I hear a weird voice that made me run to my staircase, and then I see a girl walking down singing too. And after she was done singing, she just looked around like she was kinda scared and said something about her sisters and that her name was Julia and-"
Julia. That name. It was one he didn't think he'd hear again. Quickly moving around past the brunette, the two-toned Gem saw the girl in question, who appeared to be looking around. Slowly making his way over to the girl, Seth cleared his throat a bit before saying "Well, it's been a while. Hasn't it, Julia?"
Hearing a new voice say her name, Julia quickly turned in the direction of where it came from only to be greeted by the sight of-
"Seth," the blonde said. It was feeling bad enough that she had been awoken from her stasislike slumber in this strange place. And now, here she was faced with someone from her past. Her trembling starting to come back, all she could do was slowly back away from Seth and the girl with him. Not feeling in control of her voice, Julia couldn't stop herself from yelling out "Cora, Rhea? Where are you two?!"
Hearing those names had Bayley feeling confused. So, being careful, she almost tried to talk to Julia when two separate glows seemed to emanate from her "bedroom" followed by the sound of something hitting the floor and then what sounded like two sets of footsteps. Turning her attention to where she saw the glow, the ponytailed brunette was then greeted by a sight that made her tremble a bit followed by a slightly scared "Uh-oh."
Coming down the ponytailed brunette's staircase were two more new girls, one girl looking to be around Julia and Bayley's height wearing largely similar attire with the only changes to hers being that she was wearing shorts instead of pants and had long dark hair that went down past her shoulders, and the other girl being slightly taller than the girls with the changes to her own outfit being that her top was sleeveless and her own hair went down just past her ears a bit. And, like with Julia, Bayley couldn't help but notice the black Gems shown on their bodies, the shorter of the two girl's being prominently featured on the back of her right hand, her Gem being the one that looked to have the oval-like shape and the other girl's Gem being featured on her upper left arm, hers having an octagonal shape.
Having reached the bottom of the staircase, the taller of the two new girls looked ahead and saw- "Julia!" the girl shouted before her gaze then darted to look at the male near the blonde. "Seth! Thank everything you're here. Can you tell us where we are? What is this place? What are those strange objects? Why are Dean and Sasha sleeping? And-and who is that girl over there with you?"
After letting the taller girl's near hysterical string of questions sink in, Seth began "Well, Rhea. For starters, back over here with me, this is Bayley. And, as for just who she is, …maybe you three oughta come take a seat with us. We've got a pretty long story to tell you."
*blows my whistle as I hold up my STOP sign* OK OK WHOA-K NOW! It would appear as this new trio are Gems who seem to have ties to Seth. And it's looking like Seth's got one hell of a storytime ahead of himself for Julia, Cora, and Rhea, along with introducing these new cuties to Bayley. So, just how will this round of story time go? We shall find out...next time! Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)
(So, if it hasn't come off as pretty obvious, the new arrivals are Julia Hart, Cora Jade, and Rhea Ripley. I'm still not sure where the idea first came to me to include the Gothish cuties in this. *shrugs* I dunno, I just feel like they'll work in the story as they grow to become adjusted to this strange new world they find themselves in. And who knows? Maybe Bayley, Sasha, and the others'll end up with some future new schoolmates. *shrugs again* Only time will tell...)
(Stay safe, warm, and healthy out there, lovelies. *sends much love and positive vibes out to you all*)