Of Gems and Demons

Gem Glow

Beach City

It was a bright sunny day in the small town of Beach City, with all of its residents just going about their business. The focus, however, isn't on any of the residents of this small town.

The focus was a young man, who looked to be about 17-18 years old, who was sleeping peacefully on the back seat of a bus. He appeared to be a mix of American and Chinese decent, with short spiky black hair, with a couple of green streaks in it, while wearing a black jacket over a red shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. The oddest thing about him wears that he had a large bandaid sticking to his left cheek. His suit case was in the seat right next to him and he was using it to prop his feet up while resting his head on the window.

He was woken up from his slumber when the bus jolted and the door creaked open. "Alright, kid, this is your stop." The bus driver said.

"Okay, thanks." The boy said as he got up and grabbed his suitcase before exiting the bus. He gave a wave to the bus driver as he drove off, before looking at his surroundings and inspected the town.

It was nice, about as nice as any other small town he's been to. He can smell the salty air from the ocean close by, hence the name of Beach City most likely. He spotted an arcade, a couple of restaurants on a pier in the distance, and a fast food place called the "Beach Citywalk Fries" in the distance.

Seeing that caused his stomach to growl, as he didn't have that big of a breakfast. "Might as well." The young man said as he walked up to an open window where a young boy with blonde hair and wearing a sleeveless shirt was sitting at.

"Welcome to Beach Citywalk Fries." The boy said with a smile. "What can I get for you?"

The young man looked through the menu up above and made his choice. "I'll take some chili cheese fries, please."

"Coming right up." The boy said as he called out in the back. "Hey dad, I need chili cheese fries up here!"

"Coming right up, son!" A man called out from the back, most likely the chef.

"Family business?" The young man asked.

"Yeah, for about as long as I can remember." The boy said with a chuckle before he held out his hand. "I'm Peedee. Peedee Fryman."

"Nice to meet you, Peedee." The young man said as he shook the boy's hand. "My name is Shane Leeland."

"So, you moving into Beach City?" Peedee asked as he noted the suitcase by Shane's side.

"Not exactly. I just arrived here today because I'm looking for some people." Shane said with a chuckle, before an idea came to him. "You lived here for awhile, right?"

"All my life." Peedee answered.

"Well, maybe you can help me." Shane said as he pulled out piece of paper from his pocket. "Maybe you can tell me where these people live."

"Well, almost everybody in Beach City knows each other. Who are you looking for?" Peedee asked.

"They're called the...Crystal Gems." Shane answered as he read the name from the paper.

Peedee's expression changed to surprise. "I've heard that name before, those are the name's of Steven's caretakers. He won't stop talking about them whenever he visits."

'Steven?' Shane thought in confusion before speaking again. "And where can I find them?"

"Just go over to the farthest side of the beach. If you just head right at the bottom of the cliff, you'll see a beach house. That's Steven's house." Peedee instructed with Shane nodding along. Peedee then reached back and gave Shane his order. "By the way, here's your chili cheese fries."