Sparkly

Right

Relaxing on the couch with a cup of tea on the table in front of her, Crystal wondered if it was right to rummage around in people's dreams. These were murderers, but that was the kind of justification Quartz used when killing. Just because someone was doing bad things didn't mean it was okay to do anything to them.

"It IS for the sake of preventing more killing. I wouldn't be doing this otherwise. And invading someone's privacy is not even comparable to killing them." Crystal said firmly, but the voice in her head warning her that it was a slippery slope, that if she kept this up she'd become like Quartz, was still there.

Darius was out on a late shift for a grocery store job he'd recently gotten, so Crystal was alone on the living room couch.

She let her gaze drift to the ceiling for a moment, dropping into the past.

She'd been alone for almost twenty-five years now.

When she was nineteen, Caroline had gotten married to her then-girlfriend Susan. It hadn't taken more than a year for them to have the conversation about kids. They had agreed it wasn't going to work out, since Susan had wanted kids and neither her or Caroline were about to give up on or delay their career plans.

Since then Caroline had reconsidered her reasons for wanting to meet someone. She had a great group of friends, and she'd never met anyone that seemed perfect when she'd dabbled in dating later on.

Caroline laughed at the hastiness of her youthful self.

She still couldn't believe she'd done something like get married before asking important questions like kids.

Shaking her head, Crystal pulled herself out of her reminiscing and closed her eyes, focusing on the task at hand. She was more concerned about Quartz than Amethyst, so she reached out toward Quartz first.

Amethyst seemed to be purely evil, but selfishly motivated and not particularly ambitious. Quartz had a burning drive to fight evil in the way she saw as right.

Feeling a link to Quartz, Crystal gently sank into a dream. She felt that Quartz was awake and aware even when she started. That was disappointing, Crystal had hoped to slip quietly in while Quartz was unaware of her. Then perhaps Crystal could see Quartz's dream and possible details about where she was before the dream changed into the scenery that appeared in this kind of communication.

Quartz was standing in a shallow sea of cold white water. There was a slight fog that blurred the edges of the vision and it was snowing lightly.

"Have you come to discuss the Gem Squad?" Quartz asked, crossing her pale arms.

Crystal wondered if she'd end the communication if Crystal said no. Maybe, possibly, Crystal could reason with her.

"I've come to talk about what you did. It's never okay to kill people, Quartz. We didn't know anything about the situation. Those people could have been blackmailed into it. They could have not been planning to harm their hostages. They could have never murdered anyone before. And even if they were murderers, it was never our place to carry out judgement on them. We are not the law. We're regular people who have been gifted with the power to help people- if we use it carefully and never go thinking we're god." Crystal pleaded, looking into Quartz's skeptical pink eyes for some trace of empathy.

"They knew what they were getting into. Are you calling the Gem Squad to meet again, Crystal?" Quartz asked, waving a hand as if to sweep Crystal's words aside.

Crystal closed the distance between her and Quartz, Quartz becoming clearer and solider as she did.

"Are you saying you'll continue to kill people no matter what I do?" Crystal asked, her heart beating hard, dread coursing through her veins.

"You won't stop me, girl." Quartz said derisively, meeting her eyes.

Crystal grabbed Quartz's shoulders, trying to gather up the will to try to kill her, but she wavered. Was it really right? Was there some other way? Maybe she could put her to sleep.

Quartz grabbed Crystal's throat and put a hand to her chest, where the blue crystal would go in her regular form.

Choking, Crystal tried to detach herself from Quartz as Quartz's hand sunk into her chest, merging unpleasantly with her.

Crystal couldn't feel her body in the real world. She struggled and tried to push her power at Quartz, but she couldn't feel it.

"Let her go!" a high, angry voice demanded.

Quartz's eyes widened, and she pushed her hand deeper into Crystal, trying to find the source of her power and take it.

A wave of amber split around Crystal and washed into Quartz's ears, pushing angrily into her head.

Quartz tried to pry herself out of Crystal, separate herself so she could pull away to safety, but as she was struggling her eyes turned amber and she went limp.

"I promised I'd never kill anyone else, and you're not about to make me break that promise." Darius said with Amber's voice.

He raised his voice and commanded her,

"You'll never hurt another person."

"Do you really think that will work?" Crystal panted, pushing Quartz away from her and trying to feel her real body again.

"I left one of those pieces of gem that usually floats around Amber with her, so if she tries anything I'll find her again and..." Darius said, trailing off as he took Crystal's hand and pulled her back to the real world.

Darius immediately transformed into his real form.

"I'm sorry. I hesitated, and you had to risk yourself to help me. Do you feel okay?" Crystal asked, also calling her gems back to her chest.

Darius closed his eyes.

"I hate that body, but if it's just for a bit, I don't think I'll lose myself. Still. You have to be more careful with yourself. I'll back you up when you go to face Amethyst." he said firmly, though his face said he dreaded it.

Caroline was tempted to take him up on his offer, after what had almost just happened to her.

"No. You shouldn't have to transform. This isn't your responsibility, it's mine." she said.

Darius frowned.

"I won't transform unless you become unresponsive. But I'm not letting you try this alone again." he insisted firmly.

Finally, she nodded.