"The loss of a sibling is a painful chapter in our lives, but their legacy becomes a guiding light for our own journey." – Louisa May Alcott
It was a relatively warm October night. Within the public Brandenham Hotel ballroom, Bitsy was overseeing a gala that Steven had requested in the Diamonds' honor. Unfortunately, things hadn't been going to plan since the word "go". For starters, Goldie and Maya had both told Steven that he was not allowed to do anything at the gala except sit on a throne and greet people. Their insistence on this matter (as well as the gala being a standard, dry affair) rubbed Bitsy the wrong way, especially since she had already poured a million dollars into the thing (including a live performance from a holographic motion-capture projection of Lorde). As if things hadn't already been stressful around here lately...
No matter. Steven still wanted to go through with the gala. For his part, he insisted that Amy, Garnet, and Connie all be there in attendance. Goldie and Maya would approve, but on a few conditions: that Ruby and Sapphire attend in Garnet's place, that Ruby present herself as a man (much to her chagrin), that Amy have her hair dyed to its natural dark brown color and her tattoos covered up with makeup, and that Connie be referred to only as "Steven's friend." Neither Steven nor Connie were thrilled about that last condition, but for the sake of hopefully luring Whitney out of her cluttered home, they had no choice but to agree.
And so Bitsy and Helen just watched apathetically as the gala played out like the standard, dry affair Goldie and Maya had insisted on. They watched as Steven was treated to some utterly rote greetings from multiple people while Pearl assured him he was doing great. They watched as Amy arrived, just as flippant as ever, and Steven got down from his pink throne to greet her.
"God, I can't believe how easy Steven makes it look," Bitsy commented. "I don't think I can even muster something like that on my best days."
"Yeah, I can't imagine why," Helen deadpanned.
After Amy had expressed awe at how thorough the makeup artist had covered up her tattoos, she went off to join some of the American Indians Goldie and Maya had recruited specifically to attend the gala. Bitsy and Helen then proceeded to watch as Ruby and Sapphire arrived, dressed in their respective red and blue outfits. The whole time, Ruby seemed to be visibly squirming as she struggled to present as someone she was not.
Helen couldn't help but cringe as she watched Ruby struggling. "I don't understand why Goldie and Maya would make her do this. It'd be easier for them to just have Ruby go as herself."
Bitsy scoffed. "You expect me to call him a woman when he was born with a penis?"
"Are you still on about that? Ruby is a woman and always has been. Let it go."
"Why? So I can accommodate his mental illness?"
Helen sighed. "No, I... never mind. Let's just wait for Goldie and Maya to arrive."
"Fine. What kind of outfits do you think they picked for this thing?"
Helen could only shrug. "I don't know. They'll probably look pretty stylish, though."
"I mean, why wouldn't they? They're Diamonds. It's practically a given they'll shine bright above everyone else."
They continued to watch as Ruby and Sapphire grouped with the people most similar to them. Finally, they watched as Skye and Marigold announced that their bosses had arrived and Goldie and then Maya promptly made their grand entrances.
"Not a bad turnout, Steven," Goldie genteely said.
"I appreciate your presence, Goldie," Steven replied likewise.
Helen was right about one thing: the Diamond twins looked stylish as all get out in their respective outfits. Maya, for example, was wearing a solid dusty blue A-Line Empire Waist Maxi Chiffon Evening Dress from MsDressly paired with dangly blue diamond chandelier earrings and an oversized cross necklace adorned with the same blue diamonds. Meanwhile, Goldie was wearing a ROTITA Button Detail Asymmetric Patchwork Yellow Jumpsuit paired with an Icon Pear Shape Yellow and White Diamond Pendant and a pair of Icon Pear Shape Yellow and White Diamond Earrings.
"Wow…" Helen murmured. "Absolutely stunning."
"You're doing great," Maya could be heard assuring Steven.
"Thank you, Maya," Steven politely replied.
Bitsy was growing listless at this point as she sipped from her banana daiquiri. "Alright, now when's Whitney going to show up?" As if in response, the ballroom lights dimmed. "Speak of the devil…"
Soon enough, Coral made her entrance and announced, "For those in attendance of this gala, Whitney Diamond…" The lights came back on just as quickly as they'd been dimmed. "...has more important things to attend to."
Bitsy spat out her drink. "What?!"
"Therefore," Coral continued. "I will be here to observe in her place."
With that, Coral proceeded to walk all the way over to the throne that had been designated for Whitney and then sit down.
"Fuck…" Bitsy groaned. "I spent all that money for nothing. Goddamn it!"
"I mean…" Helen trailed off for a moment. "…it could be worse. At least we managed to get Goldie and Maya. Besides, I'm sure there's a good reason she decided not to attend."
"Whatever," Bitsy scoffed. "Her loss."
At some point, Connie suggested to Steven that they dance on the dancefloor since Whitney didn't come and there was no one there to stop them. But when the two got onto the dance floor, all hell broke loose. Without showing much emotion, Coral pulled out her smartphone and immediately called up Whitney to report this. Then Goldie and Maya happened to notice Steven dancing with Connie, and they were immediately struck with fury. Goldie and Maya immediately rushed over to Connie and pulled her away from Steven, scolding her for daring to dance with him. Coral, meanwhile, remained unfazed and kept talking to her boss on the phone until she eventually hung up.
"Oh, shit," Bitsy uttered. "Something's about to go down. Helen, go get me some popcorn and do it quickly. I'm going to see how this plays out."
"You sure?" Helen asked. "Dinner's supposed to start in thirty minutes."
"All the more reason why you should hurry up."
"Fine."
Bitsy just watched as Helen left for the hotel kitchen. Then, once she was sure Helen was gone, she started recording the encounter on her iPhone 13 Pro Max. At some point, Garnet burst in and rushed over to Steven and Connie's defense. Surprisingly enough, the Bradford quadruplets' older sister Opal also showed up and came to Steven's rescue, as did another woman clad in shades of green. A fight then broke out between them, sending this whole gala into chaos as Goldie wiped the floor with Garnet, Opal, and the green-outfitted woman. Eventually, the fight was broken up and some of the guests started to leave. Goldie then grabbed Steven and Connie by their arms and prepared to drag them back towards their room when she heard Bitsy yelling out to her.
"Wow, you're so tough!" Bitsy taunted Goldie. "Why don't you try fighting me next?"
Goldie whipped her head around to glare at Bitsy. "Oh, is that what you want?! A fight?!"
"Goldie, don't," Maya pleaded with her sister.
"Maya, stay the hell out of this!"
"Goldie, I'm serious!"
"Maya, back off! If Bitsy wants to fight, then let's fight!"
Goldie quickly released her grip on Steven and Connie and ran over to Bitsy, who was sitting at the table alone while Helen was still off at the hotel kitchen. Before Bitsy even had time to react, Goldie's fist connected with the left lens of her glasses, pushing the glass inward and leaving small cuts around the elderly hotel magnate's eye (and even a gash inside of it). The only thing Bitsy could think to do at this moment was shriek out in pain as her eye started bleeding.
"Fuck!" Bitsy screamed. "You got glass in my eye!"
Maya couldn't help but wince as she saw this unfold. "Dammit, Goldie. Look what you did."
Goldie smugly crossed her arms. "Serves her right."
Maya glared at her twin sister, arms akimbo. "Goldie, we have to get her to a hospital yesterday. She might lose an eye over this!"
Goldie stayed behind to deal with Steven and Connie while Maya drove Bitsy to the hospital nearest to them. Maya couldn't quite process what exactly happened that night. One minute, she and Goldie had been making their grand entrances. The next, Steven had decided to defy them by dancing with Connie, and it led to the gala becoming a smoldering dumpster fire. Why she and Goldie had agreed to do it in the first place still mystified her, but it put her off wanting to do another gala for a while.
Once Bitsy and Maya had made it to the hospital, the latter proceeded to stay with the former until Helen could arrive.
"Your sister's an asshole, Maya," Bitsy said. "You know that, right?"
Maya couldn't help but nod in agreement. "Yes, I understand what you're saying. She has quite the temper, probably the most volatile one I've ever seen… erm, present company excepted, of course."
"I still can't believe you'd let her attack me!"
"To be fair to her, you did provoke her into attacking."
"That doesn't help!"
"I mean, if any of your siblings had been provoked into attacking someone, wouldn't you want to defend them?"
If Bitsy could've glared at her through the bandages covering her eyes, she would. "Maya, I'm pretty sure you already know the answer to that one: no."
"You don't get along with any of your siblings, do you?"
"No. Ambrose and those people he calls family are all a bunch of parasites, Kathy thinks she's better than me because she's a judge, Tabitha's a bastard child, and Peter and Michael... well, my father doted on them more than he did me, so I hate them by principle."
Maya pursed her lips together. "Well, in that case, I'm glad I still have a relationship with Goldie. Sure, we don't exactly get along sometimes, but she's the only sibling I've got left." Out of the blue, Maya heard her phone ringing from inside her purse. She picked up. "Hello?" Pause. "Oh, hey, Helen. Bitsy and I are at the hospital." Another pause. "Oh, Goldie just attacked her, that's all." Yet another pause. "She punched her in the eye. It's bleeding some, but it might not be as bad as I thought." Yet another pause. "Are you coming here down here right now? Okay, great. Well, I guess I'll let you go. Hopefully, we'll see each other soon, bye."
With that, Maya hung up.
"Well, is Helen coming down here?" Bitsy asked impatiently.
Maya nodded. "She's on her way right now. We'll just have to hold on and wait."
Bitsy crossed her arms like a petulant child. "Fine."
Helen eventually made her way towards the hospital and navigated her way towards the room where Bitsy was being observed. Her footsteps echoed in the spacious foyer as she quickly glanced at the directional signs and rounded the corners. Maya had said over the phone that Bitsy's eye might not have been that bad after all, but she still couldn't help but wonder. After all, she hadn't specified how hard Goldie had punched her in the eye. Plus, for all Helen knew, Maya could've been downplaying the extent of the injury. She had to force herself to calm before she spiraled out of control.
Within the room itself, Maya was engrossing herself in a physical copy of "People" magazine, eagerly flipping through its glossy pages as she did so. Her eyes danced over the latest celebrity gossip, fashion trends, and human interest stories that seemed to leap off the page. It was always nice to have some form of escapism at a time like this, especially when the world seemed so overwrought with pain and suffering. Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door, and it broke her immersion.
"Who is it?" Maya called out to whoever was on the other side.
"It's me, Helen," a disembodied voice replied.
"Ah, okay, come in."
The door opened, and Helen let herself in.
"About time you got here, Helen," Maya said, relieved. "Bitsy was asking about you the whole time."
"Really?" Helen asked incredulously. "Was she asking about me because she needed a drink or because she was concerned about me?"
"I don't really know. I think it was more the former."
"Yeah, that's what I figured."
Maya prepared to lift herself out of her seat. "Mmm, I guess I should be leaving now. My work here is done."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Maybe you can stay here a little while longer? I only just got here."
Maya sighed, then smiled as she sat back down. "Oh, alright. Just for a little while longer, though. Then I'll head back to see how Goldie's holding up."
Suddenly, Bitsy's phone could be heard buzzing in her purse.
"Um, you want Helen to get that for you?" Maya gingerly asked Bitsy.
"Of course I do!" Bitsy practically yelled. "Besides, I can't really see when there's a bandage over my eye, so..."
Helen sighed. "Okay, then. I guess it could be someone important. Though I wonder why they could be calling-"
Bitsy cut her off. "Get the damn phone!"
Helen resisted the urge to huff and dug Bitsy's phone out of her desk. Once she'd done so, she picked up. "Hello?" Pause. "Uh, Bitsy can't come to the phone right now. She's busy." Another pause. "Wait, really? When did you find out?" Yet another pause, longer than the previous two, as Helen tried to process what she'd just been told. "I see... uh, I'm really sorry to hear that." Yet another pause. "Oh, you mean this Thursday? Alright, we'll be sure to see you there. Again, I'm sorry about what happened. Uh, thoughts and prayers. Bye." With that, Helen hung up.
"Uh, who was that?" Maya asked, concerned by the pained expression on her girlfriend's face.
"That was your cousin Ace," Helen replied. "He was calling to tell Bitsy that, uh..." She paused for a moment. "Ambrose just died."
Bitsy, who had overheard everything, was stunned. "...what?"