Greetings, dear readers, and welcome back to Bayley's Universe! Well, last time sure did see a fair amount of cooling down from the big fight (or should we say fights). So, now, we get to what Sasha and Shayna brought up last time. And that...*insert drumroll here*...story time! How will this go? Read on to find out and I hope you all enjoy, my dolls. =)
(Like with some previous chapters, the text in bold is an indicator of Mia speaking Korean.)
"We have a story to tell Mia. Remember?" Sasha cut in.
"Oh yeah, right right," the brunette nodded. Looking to the others in the kitchen, Shayna said "If you two want, you guys can come listen too. Guess this better be something we explain to everyone here."
Sharing a confused look with Dean, Seth was almost set to say something when Sasha cut in.
"Seth, don't worry. Just come listen to our story. Trust me, it's going to be a good one," the magenta-haired Gem said with a slight grin.
Sharing a look of slight confusion with the sandy blonde, Seth said "OK. If you say so" as he covered the pot with a lid and followed the others into the living room area, where he took a seat on the couch beside Bayley.
Making their way into the living room, Shayna and Sasha stood in front of the gathered group as they then launched into recounting their day at school.
"So. I'm sure everyone's wondering why we're all here today," Shayna began.
"Yeah. Just why are we all here? I'm fairly sure you two and your other friends wouldn't want a bunch of adults around while you guys do …whatever," Tamina said.
"Well, 'Mina, for starters, this all goes back to what happened between us at school today," Shayna said. Gesturing to the various wounds she had, the brunette said "So, y'know what I told you about my injuries? That much is true, but …what I didn't say is that I got into two fights at school today."
"Wait a second. Two fights? But…. How can you look so largely unhurt after being in two fights?! I know you're pretty tough, but surely, even that has its limits. …Doesn't it?" the woman asked.
A laugh escaping her, Shayna said "Oh, 'Mina. You oughta know by now that it'd take more than fighting some dumb human to really hurt me. No, my fights were sorta more on the level of me taking on two of my kind."
Seeing this as her turn to start telling their story, Sasha took off her backpack and, unzipping it, took out the still bubbled Gem. "Me and Shayna worked together to fight and defeat a Gem spider that left this behind. It was quite a battle too. I'm just glad it didn't try to lash out at us too much or else, chances are we probably wouldn't have been so lucky."
Looks of shock could soon be seen materializing on the faces of Seth and Dean with Roman having a similar look only not as apparent. Was Sasha seriously talking so casually about fighting a Gem beast? With a human no less and around other humans?! Being the one to break the silence, Seth cleared his throat before saying "Oh, th-that's cool. I'm guessing that's some kind of prize you won for beating something like that in a video game you both like to play?"
"No, I mean a Gem beast. I'm not too familiar with what Gem class this one is, but it took the form of a spider when Shayna and I saw it," Sasha said.
Seeing that it seemed like this two-toned male was going to say something else, Shayna cut in and said "She's not lying. I was actually the one that saw it first. Had it not been for me dealing it a few good punches and Sasha helping out with her whip, chances are we probably would've been in major trouble."
All Seth and Dean could do was blink in surprise at this. Was Sasha stupid? Was she seriously that irresponsible as to let this human child see her using her weapon? Before either Gem could say anything, they watched as Roman rose from his seat and walked over to where Sasha and her classmate stood.
That same feeling. He could feel that same peculiar feeling again. Just like with when Bayley had brought those other girls here. But, what could it mean? As he looked the standing brunette over, he couldn't help but notice the way with which she stood: Her posture wasn't the best, as she seemed to stand with a slight slouch. And, she seemed to be just like Bayley in a sense that she seemed like just a normal kid. It wasn't until he noticed what looked like a slight lump on her right arm that he asked "Hey, do you need something? It looks like you've got a fairly bad bruise on your arm."
Hearing this, all Shayna could do was laugh. Oh, the concern of this man, it was too funny, even if the looks on the faces of everyone else in the room didn't agree with that. Managing to find it in herself to stop laughing-lest she end up coming off looking like a possible psycho in front of everyone-Shayna said "No, I'm fine. But I appreciate the offer."
"A-Are you sure? It looks pretty bad," Roman said, feeling a bit worried for this child.
"Yeah, I'm sure," the brunette said, trying to hold back another laugh. "Actually, there's something I have to show everyone here that'll probably blow some minds."
This was something that only seemed to make everyone start to feel a bit confused. What is Shayna talking about? 'Blow some minds'? What could she mean by that, they wondered?
It took only a bit of thinking on her part before Lana rose from her seat and, quickly moving over to the brunette, said "Shayna, are you sure you want to do that? There are others in here that probably shouldn't know" with the last bit coming out a bit lowly.
"Lan. Tamina already knows. And Mia saw me and Sasha when we fought that damn spider. You know better than I do that eventually other people were gonna find out. Best to just let the cat out of the bag now before anyone else found out and tried to expose us," Shayna said with a sigh as she went to pull up her right shirt sleeve. Adding with a slight laugh, the brunette then said "Besides. Maybe we'll look like superheroes to Sasha's family."
"But, Shayna," the blonde said, feeling uneasy about this. Should they really let everyone here know? Sure, Tamina had accepted them when they first started living with her after she saw they meant her no harm, but could the same be said about the people here? She almost tried to say something in response to this when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Having a feeling who it was, Lana said "Really, Nia? You think the same?"
"Well, normally, I wouldn't really agree with doing stuff like this, but …you can't deny Shayna's right here. And who knows? Maybe they'll be cool like Tamina was when she first met us," Nia said.
Hearing this come from Nia was a surprise, and yet also something that made her think. She had a feeling that during their time here others would in time find out about them and what they really were. And if those that found out were as nice and kind as Tamina had shown herself to be in the time they had come to know her, …maybe it wouldn't be so bad letting others into their world. "OK. I suppose we can tell everyone here. But, they have to promise not to speak a word of what they see here to anyone."
"Don't worry, Lana. My family and Mia will keep your secret. Won't you all?" Sasha asked as she looked over to Bayley, Seth, Dean, Roman, and Mia.
Nodding her head, Bayley made a motion like she was zipping her lips and broke the zipper off, which Sasha took to mean that she'd keep what happened next secret.
Still feeling confused at what the girls were even saying and seeing similar looks on the faces of their guests, Roman said "I think I speak for all of us back here when I say that we promise not to say anything about …whatever it is that you have to show us, Shayna. So, feel free to show us."
Hearing this surprised her, largely because she didn't think telling everyone gathered would go so well. A laugh escaping her, Shayna said "Thanks for that. Helps make telling other people easy." Taking a breath before letting it out, the brunette pushed up her shirt sleeve to rev-
"Holy crap! You're a Ruby?" Dean couldn't help but shout at what he and the others were now seeing.
All Mia could do was sit in total surprise: Sticking out a bit from Shayna's upper right arm was a red octagonal gemstone that didn't look much bigger than her fist. Finally managing to find her words, all the blue-haired teen could say was "Whoa."
A light laugh escaping her, Shayna said "Yeah, that's one way to react to seeing my Gem. And that's nothing on what Lana and Nia have to show you all."
Still feeling surprised by this, Mia watched as Lana and Nia followed suit moving their shirts to help expose and give a similar sight as Shayna just did: Lana pushed the collar of her shirt down to reveal a pale pink gemstone on the left side of her chest shaped like a half moon, and Nia did something similar to what Shayna did except in her case, she pushed up her left sleeve to help with revealing a triangular-shaped gemstone that was a slightly dark orange shade.
At that moment, no one was feeling more surprised than the three older Gems in the room. For the longest time, they thought they were the only ones of their kind on this planet. So, at first no one said anything. Until, in a move that surprised everyone, Dean grinned and said "Well, all right! Damn awesome stuff here!"
Giving Dean a quick punch on the arm, Seth then said "Yeah, I agree. This is all some pretty cool stuff to learn today. If not, pretty surprising."
Grinning upon hearing this, Shayna laughed a bit before saying "Well, thanks. Not every day we've met humans that are so cool with finding out what the three of us really are."
"Well, if I can say something here, the three of us ain't quite human either," Dean said. Seeing the look of disbelief on the brunette's face, the sandy blonde decided to give their guests a surprise of his own as he pulled down the hem of his black t-shirt to reveal the Gem that sat in the middle of his chest. "Man. And here I was thinking we'd never come across any others during our time here."
"Well I can see why you say that. After all, it's not like there's a sign pointing at the planet saying 'Come meet the Gems!' That probably would've been bad for the others that live here."
"Yeah, good point," the sandy blonde agreed. "So, …exactly how long have you guys been here? It's just amazing that we never sensed anything that felt like other Gem energies before."
"I guess it's just something we've gotten the hang of over the time we've been on this planet," Shayna said with a shrug. "Hasn't been that long, but better we don't get too much into that today. Pretty long story there."
"No worries. At least you let the big cat out of the bag," Dean said. "Besides, probably wouldn't be best to drop anything else major on the humans among us."
"Yeah. Probably shouldn't leave the kiddos feeling more mind blown than they probably already are," Shayna said with a slightly nervous laugh as she scratched the back of her head. Clearing her throat as she looked to the blue-haired teen, the brunette asked "So, Mimi. Now that you know a bit about what I am, …what do you think?"
She honestly didn't know what to say about …well, any of this. Sasha showed off that rock again. Shayna, Lana, and Nia all just showed off what looked like big gemstones in their bodies with one of Bayley's uncles doing the same. And …just what was this talk about gems Bayley's uncle mentioned? So many questions bounced around in her thoughts until she decided to ask one of the first she could put into words. "Well, I just want to ask …what exactly did Bayley's uncle Dean mean when he said something about gems? Is that all part of some kind of trend I haven't heard of?"
"Actually," Roman said as he rose from his seat and walked to join Sasha and Shayna. "I think I can help explain that."
"O-OK," Mia nodded, wondering just what Bayley's uncle Roman could possibly have to add to this strange talk.
"Now. To put all of this simply, when Dean was talking about gems, he meant in a sense that there is a species of beings like humans but entirely different."
"Different? How so? What do you mean? Like …like aliens?"
"In a way, yes. The gems Dean and Shayna spoke of are a species of beings who all come from gemstones, like the ones you just saw."
"Come from gemstones? …Wait, how could that even be possible? I'm fairly certain you can't hatch anything out of a solid rock," Mia said, feeling confused about what the older man just said.
"Honestly, Mimi, that's something even we still don't quite know," Shayna cut in. "It's something that just …it just happens. After we've had enough time in the ground, we just pop out into the world."
"In the ground? …Wait. So, you mean to tell me that you gems all get buried alive to be born?" Mia asked, trying to make sense of all of this bizarre new information.
"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way," Shayna said, feeling a bit surprised by how the blue-haired teen seemed so interested in their story.
"Whoa. Crazy" was all the blue-haired teen could say as she let this information sink in. This all just seemed so strange. So, basically what she just heard is that three of her upperclassmen who also happened to be known as the school bullies and one of the uncles of another classmate were all pretty much aliens. 'But wait. Now that I know all of this, what's gonna happen to me? …Maybe I should try to run away like I almost did earlier. I just …I just don't know what to do he-'
"Hey. Mia, was it? Hey relax. Shayna and the others aren't going to hurt you. They may seem aggressive, but that's just part of the front they put up," a voice could be heard saying from the blue-haired teen's right.
Looking in the direction of the voice, Mia saw that it was the woman Tamina. She wanted to say something in response to this, but a look at her face helped tell her that the older woman wasn't lying. "Really? H-How can you be so sure?"
"I guess you could say it's something that comes from having lived with them for the past few years. I mean, it was pretty damn intimidating when I first met them, but after getting to know them, they softened up with me," Tamina said. "And I've shown myself to have a stronger stern side when the time may have called for it."
"Really? …But wait. How is that possible? Haven't you been scared that they'd try to hurt you?" Mia asked, wanting to learn a bit more about what Tamina's life has been like living with her upperclassmen.
"At first I was. It's like I said, it felt pretty intimidating when I first met them. I mean just imagine. You're heading home from work one night. And just as you reach your home, you get approached by a group of confused-looking teens."
"Well, 'Mina. In our defense, we didn't really know the area when we first got here. It just felt like some kind of crazy whiplash going from spending so much time in the woods to finding an area with so many people," Shayna piped up in defense of herself, Lana, and Nia.
"Just be glad I didn't turn you three away. At least I've been doing what I can to help teach you three about us humans."
"And we thank you for all you've done for us, Tamina. Really, we do," Lana added with Nia giving a nod in agreement.
"Ehh, it's no problem. Just doing what I can to help out people that need it. Now, if you all will excuse me, I should go check my pot to make sure the sapasui hasn't gotten dry," Tamina said as a way of excusing herself as she grabbed the bag she brought with her before heading into the kitchen.
"I can help out with that," Seth said as he rose up from his seat. "I'd actually like to know a bit more about this dish."
As Seth went into the kitchen to help Tamina, the group that was in the living room continued their conversation.
"So, Mimi. Any of that help clear things up for you?" Shayna asked the blue-haired teen.
"W-Well," Mia began before scratching the back of her head. "Well, I'd say yeah it did. …But, now that I know about you guys, …what are you going to do to me?"
"Do to you? Mimi, what do you mean by that?"
"You know. Now that I know you guys aren't human, isn't this the part where you use some weird gadget to make me forget about what I've seen or take my brain out?"
Doing her best to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape her, Shayna said "OK, Mimi, it sounds to me like you've seen a few too many sci-fi movies. Relax. We're not going to hurt you."
Quirking an eyebrow in disbelief upon hearing this, Mia asked "Are you sure about that? Don't think I forgot about what you did to me at school earlier."
"Yeah, I know I know. And honestly, I'm still trying to figure out why I even did that to you. This may not really mean much, but I really am sorry for what I did to you. I guess I just wasn't expecting you to stand against me."
"W-Well I guess you can take that as me taking a stand for myself." Swallowing a bit as she saw the look on Shayna's face, Mia continued. "Look, Shayna. I don't mind helping people out with stuff, like I have with giving you guys lunch money when you may need it. I just …I just don't want things to stay like they are between us. I just …I just don't want to keep feeling scared when I'm around you three that one of you might hurt me," Mia said, ignoring the slight tremors that seemed to rip through her.
"Mia." That was all Shayna could bring herself to say. Outside of Tamina and her teachers at school, she never had to deal with humans talking to her in such a way. And yet, …and yet she couldn't help but respect Mia for doing this. Taking a stand for herself, telling her how she felt about how things were between them, it all sounded pretty damn admirable coming from the blue-haired human girl. So, in a move that surprised Lana and Nia and that almost had Sasha go on the defensive for the blue-haired teen, Shayna moved to stand in front of Mia and simply held out a hand.
Mia finally did it. She finally told Shayna how she felt about how she had been treating her. So, it was something that surprised her immensely when the brunette moved to stand in front of her and simply held out her hand. She would've flinched at this had she not taken a look at the brunette's face: She seemed to be displaying a look that mirrored what she had said. And that was a look of apology. Feeling that it was safe to do so, Mia slowly took Shayna's hand before giving it a shake. Pulling her hand away, Mia asked "W-What was that for?"
"That was my way of showing you respect for what you did," Shayna said. Seeing the look of confusion on the blue-haired teen's face, she couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped her. "Mimi. It hasn't been all that often that I've dealt with humans talking to me like you did. If anything, most that I've been around seemed almost scared of me."
"Well to be fair, Shayna, when we first started going to school, most of the others there that did try to make friends with you didn't exactly get the nicest of greetings from you," Nia cut in to add.
"That-!" Shayna slightly snapped before managing to compose herself. Feeling her cheeks start to heat slightly, the brunette said "So I'm not the biggest social butterfly there is. It's not exactly easy stuff trying to interact with such huge crowds of people."
"Well, Shayna, maybe all of this here'll teach you to lower your guard around others," Lana said. "Look. You've managed to find it in yourself to forgive Mia for how you've been with her in the past. Why can't you just find it in yourself to forgive the others you haven't been too nice towards?"
She hated to agree here, but Shayna knew Lana was right. She knew that she was going to have to find it within herself to eventually apologize and try to make nice with the humans they lived among. …She just wasn't sure how to go about doing so. Taking a breath in before letting it back out, the brunette said "OK. I'll bite. Just how do you think I oughta go about forgiving people?"
"Well, for starters, don't be so defensive around everyone. I know that was all part of your combat training, but we're among humans here, most that aren't all too violent. Maybe those are signs that you can finally learn to not be so aggressive towards people," Lana suggested.
"Ooh, I think that's a great idea!" Bayley chirped. "I'm sure you'd probably be able to make up with everyone that you weren't the nicest to if you just did that, Shayna. Just take your time with it. After all, I'd imagine you'll probably have a lot of people at school to apologize to."
As she listened to the various suggestions from the other girls-Mia being a big surprise to hear advice from-it all sounded like a lot for Shayna to process, but she knew it would all help her out with trying to build bridges and make up with the humans she was less than friendly to.
While all of that was going on, in the kitchen, Seth was getting a lesson in the dish that their guests had brought to the house.
"And you say this is a noodle dish of your people?" the two-toned man asked as he watched the brunette woman give the pot a stir after checking the moisture level.
"It is, yeah," Tamina nodded as she stirred the pot, feeling pleased that the contents of the pot didn't turn dry while they were listening in to the girls' storytime. "It's something that my parents taught me to make as soon as they felt I was old enough to help out with the cooking. Been helping out ever since I was eight, and man am I glad they decided to help teach me."
"Wow. I'd bet that must've been a lot of fun to be able to do," Seth said, a slight pang of jealousy hitting him. For as long as he and the other Gems had been on Earth, it was always something that he secretly envied about humans was their ability to grow, to learn varieties of new things, to take control of and make their own futures. Which was something that he felt thankful for Natalya showing him, Dean, and Roman all those years ago. And which was something he made sure to help teach Bayley as she grew through the years. Shaking away his slight jealousy, Seth asked "So, I'm guessing the sapasooee is ready?" as he felt a slight cringe over how he pronounced the word.
"Sapasui," Tamina corrected the man with a light laugh. "And yes, it is. Just let me boil the rice noodles, and it'll be all ready for everyone to come eat."
"OK," Seth nodded as he walked back into the living room to let the others know about the status of dinner. "Hey, guys. Just thought I'd come over to let you all know that dinner is almost ready."
"Sweet!" Shayna said with a fist pump. "Trust me when I say this, you guys are gonna love this."
"Can't wait to try it if it sounds that good," Dean said as he rose from his seat and headed into the kitchen.
A light chuckle rumbling in his chest, Seth said "Well, I guess that means everyone else can come over for some too. I'll help get utensils and plates and bowls out."
"Let me help with that, Seth!" Bayley hopped up from her seat and headed into the kitchen.
Seeing Roman stand and head into the kitchen himself had Mia thinking. Maybe she could stay long enough to at least have a taste of what was on the dinner menu for Sasha and Bayley's family tonight. Surely her parents wouldn't mind. Reaching into her pants pocket, she sent a text to her dad asking if it'd be okay if she had dinner at her friend's house. It only seemed like a few minutes passed before she got a reply that had her feeling a smile start to tug at the corners of her mouth.
"Of course you can, dear. Just remember what your mother told you earlier. And don't be too late coming home" came the reply from her dad. Sending a reply, Mia decided to go join everyone else over in the kitchen.
Seeing Mia go join everyone else, Sasha looked a bit to Shayna before saying "Well, it looks like your big reveal went well."
"Yeah, well, I figured it'd be best to just let the cat out of the bag and tell at least the group we got together here," Shayna said, scratching the back of her head. "Besides, at least I decided to share my big secret with everyone. Can't say the same about you."
"I at least decided to say I took part in beating the Gem spider. Besides, …I can't exactly really show my Gem because of where it is," Sasha said, a slight warmth touching her cheeks.
"Oh OK. No need to show it off. At least I know we've got allies here," Shayna said in a low tone of voice.
"Agreed," Sasha nodded. A soft meowing to her left soon caught her attention. Looking down, she saw Rosey Paws pad into the living room area. "Oh hi there, Rosey Paws. Got curious?"
"Mew," the cat nodded.
A soft laugh escaping her, Sasha bent down to pick up the cat. Giving the feline back rubs, she said "Well, since you're here, would you like to meet some others like us?"
Hearing this confused the brunette. "Uh, Sasha? Why are you saying all of that to your cat? I'm not sure how exactly that cat is like us."
A soft laugh escaping her this time, the magenta-haired Gem said "Oh, Shayna. You've got quite a lot to learn about me and my family. But, first thing's first. Let's go have some of this dish you all brought over here."
"Sounds good to me. And again, trust me. You're gonna love it," Shayna said, surprising the magenta-haired Gem with a grin.
"I'll be the judge of that for myself," Sasha said with a grin of her own as the pair and Rosey Paws went into the kitchen to join the others in their sapasui feast, something that would get many remarks and compliments on the taste and aroma of the dish-"Damn this is good! Any chance we can get the recipe?" Dean said with Seth adding "I mean, if you're okay with sharing your recipe, we'd like to know just how this is made. I mean, this broth is tasty, and the chicken and vegetables are cooked to perfection."
Looking around at the crowded table, Mia honestly couldn't believe just how her day went. It started pretty well only for things to go a bit south midway through the day …Then came just how her school day ended. Seeing a creature she had only ever seen in some shows and video games come out of nowhere and two of her classmates fight and defeat that creature, along with the madness that happened afterwards. And after all of that came something she wasn't expecting and that was her finally taking a stand for herself against her bullies and actually making friends with said bullies. 'Hopefully now, Shayna'll learn to work past being such a bully towards people. Although, I can say this. I'm just glad I was able to finally stand up for myself and tell her how I felt about her,' the blue-haired teen thought as she would join in on the conversation and ate her own serving of sapasui, a dish that she would also agree tasted pretty delicious.
Well, it looks like storytime went pretty well (if not something fairly mind-blowing for our blue-haired cinnamon roll). Our favorite trio of school bullies revealed their true natures to a pretty accepting bunch (Dean being the most chill about this), Mia finally made a stand for herself against her lead bully (and got a handshake in respect), and the sapasui was served to a crowd that really seemed to enjoy it. So, now that Shayna's gotten advice on how to change her overall attitude, will she actually try to put those words into action? *insert thinking emoji here* We shall see on that...next time! Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)
(Stay safe, cool or warm, and healthy out there, lovelies. *sends love and positive vibes out to you all*)