My time has come to begin the mission I was assigned as I transported myself to Garnet's Ship. Usually, Garnet would be in the main control room, yet she didn't seem to be here yet so I decided to roam the hallways of the ship to cure my boredom. What i surprisingly found was what I could only guess was a Rutile by the shape of her Gem and Colour, yet this Gem was... different. There were two of them on the same body, their Gem was moulded together, clustered.
It looked just like my own.
They soon noticed me and froze, unsure whether I was a threat or somebody of higher status than their own, trying to hide as I heard one of them stutter out,
"We- we will leave immediately we just..." I heard bickering amongst the two while I rolled my eyes and easily lifted them away from their hiding place with with a bubble of water,
"Why are Rutiles such as yourself not piloting this ship already?" I dropped them, they were surprisingly agile as they regained their stature. One of the Rutiles swallowed and looked down, the other clasping a hand to her side. Both of them then looked up after I had finished bearing an expression which could be easily identified as shock. Then they finally answered me,
"Aren't you... afraid of us...?" I lifted an eyebrow and showed them the back of my palm, exposing my Gem of Lapis Lazuli and a cluster of Pyrite attached. The two Rutiles seemed even more shocked. That was only one hatred of mine, being a Gem forged by both a lowly Demolitionist Pyrite and an elegant Lapis Lazuli Terraformer. My status was ever changing. To be honest, I would prefer no status at all, and for all of this hierarchy to disappear completely.
"I don't see any difference between you and I. I find the Gem manufacturing on Homeworld quite defective, as it has resulted in both me and you being malformed. I too, fused underground while still being created. The only difference between you and I is-" I put my hand behind my back. My hidden embarrassment of me being a cluster of two different types of Gems made me feel... lesser than other Gems in a way I was uncertain to explain. Yet the Rutile seemed to follow, one of them nodded while the other seemed a bit more defensive. I didn't want to continue with this conversation, I usually tried to stray away from personal matters,"Well... I believe you should return back to your station." One of the Rutiles stammered out a little a little,
"We... don't have a station. We're..." The other talked over her, probably out of exasperation,
"We're off-colour. We were being chased and tormented by Quartz Soldiers until we made it to the surface." The one that was mumbling before seemed to smile a little, she seemed a lot more accepting of me than the stoic other,
"We haven't seen the surface in so long! It was so bright... it was nice." The Friendly Rutile continued to look down and nodded. "But soon... they'll find us again. And then they'll-" She had been able to muster a smile with a few tears in her eyes while the Stoic one held her hand. I sighed, shaking my head before muttering,
"If you leave now they won't find you. Get off now and hide yourself in an energy compactor. You'll be dumped off near a kindergarten and I'm sure you can find your own way back, I presume? If all else fails.." I welded a knife made out of ice quickly, I couldn't believe I was actually helping an off-colour Gem such as themselves. They were a monstrosity to Gem kind. Yet... not to me I suppose. "Use this on any Gems you come across. Spiking their Gem or at least near a Gem will be sure to destroy their physical form temporarily." The four eyes of the Rutiles widened in shock, both were unsure what to say. I stepped to the side and let them pass, saying no more.
"We..." the Stoic one nodded, "Thank you. We wish you luck on whatever journey you fare. Maybe..." the Smiley Rutile nodded, "Maybe we could even see you again."
I watched as they quickly ran out the ship, the icy blade in one of their hands. I wondered what their future would be. Nothing good I presume, I'm surprised the poor Gems lasted a day.
I went back to the main control room, passing the two Lemon Citrines that guarded the doors that lead to my Garnet. Though I knew that I was above lowly Quartz soldiers, I always found them particularly humorous, especially when concerning Garnet. I had gotten to know these two by now, one tall and stocky Citrine with a short cut of creamy hair and a bright yellow gemstone on her forearm while the other Citrine had bright curls down to their knees which resembled the hair of a Rose Quartz rather than a Citrine, her Gemstone high on her chest.
They were muttering something to each other, giggling and still continued when I approached. The Long haired Citrine grinned,
"Oh, hey, hey Lazurite, listen to what 3LD had to, hahaha, to what 3LD had to say about Garnet!" 3LD, the short haired Citrine crossed her arms,
"Oh, nothing, just that you *have* to see Garnet's new hair... if it gets any bigger White Diamond will be having a contest with her on who has the biggest hairstyle, haha..." I wouldn't of understood their joke until I opened the doors, and there I saw Garnet reformed with a massive bunch of hair sat atop her head, so tall and long it clouded her vision and sagged on her shoulders. I found it extremely hard to restrain my laughter, Garnet turning her head to me with lips pressed tightly together,
"Hmph, would you like to share what you find so humorous, Lazurite?"
Oh I hated how that Garnet said my name like that. It just showed how much she despised 'imperfections' like myself. Me and Garnet have an... unstable relationship to say the least. She took one look at me, who was staring right back at her, before sitting down and fidgeting with the control pad, the shuttle hovering for a moment before leaping into space. We sat there for many minutes until I found the urge to break the silence,
"Soo, where is my assignment?" Garnet tapped a few more buttons and we set off at a fast pace, all stars blurring and merging so only bright lights flying past us could be seen,
"Oh, you're still present? Earth is your objective planet, again." Great, just great. I wasn't particularly fond on Earth, the whole controversies about it and it's distance from any other Gem Colonised planets made it frustrating if one had to call for emergency assistance. I was a Gem for my Pink Diamond, yet I always preferred travelling to others that belonged to White, Yellow and most of all Blue. As well as that, when anybody requires me to do work on Earth, it always has to do with those annoying Crystal Gems. "This mission is, as you know, to shatter a Crystal Gem Fusion of a Larimar and Pearl which is named Verdalite. Any other casualties are acceptable though the Verdalite is the main target. You may come in contact with Rose Quartz..." Garnet stopped to look at me, yet she turned back to staring into space, "Do not shatter her. Pink Diamond has ordered me not to cause casualties at all costs, I assume this is because Pink would like to dispose of the runt herself." Garnet sighed, and waved me off. "I would advise you, Lazurite, to practice training with Black Spinel. This fusion seems most aggressive." I turned my head, a fusion of a *Pearl* and a *Larimar*? What an odd couple, especially calling those Pearls aggressive,
"I don't think I follow. You say aggressive? For a fusion of a Pearl and a little Larimar?" Garnet's brow arched
"Very."
