Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

Eavesdropping

           Jimena flew around in the sky with her eyes shut, just trusting her feathers to know where to turn. She was too high up in the sky to not hit anything. Then again, that was what Grian had thought the day they crashed into each other. 

           "Hey, you watch where you're going!" Jimena's eyes shot open at the sound of Grian's jesting voice. "Grian?" She blinked, hovering midair to see him doing the same, smirking smugly at her. "What are you doing here?" "Looking for Gem from the sky," He said. "Have you seen her?" "The princess or the elf?" Jimena asked. 

           "The hermit," Grian clarified. Jimena shook her head. "I can help look, though," She offered. Grian smiled. "Thanks." So the two of them flew around looking for her. Unfortunately, they didn't find her. But someone else did. 

            "I found Gem!" Was the first thing they heard when they landed at Hermitopia. Bdubs excitedly pointed at a house poking out the side of Hermitopia. The door had swung open and two figures were exiting it. One wore a pink dress and a pair of fancy sunglasses; the other had deer antlers and a riding outfit. Bdubs hadn't found Gem. He'd found both of them. 

           "Gem!" Grian shouted. He flew up to meet them, although both were gliding down to the ground floor already. "Why'd you run off?" "To finish my interior?" Gem said like it was obvious. "At any rate, it's all done now, thanks to the help of the other Gem." Everyone was looking back and forth at the two Gems, comparing and contrasting them. 

           Finally Cleo said, "That Gem's taller." Everyone laughed. "Yeah, I'm the better Gem," The princess boasted. Hermit Gem rolled her eyes. "No, I'm definitely better," She said. "Why's that?" Princess Gem smirked. "Because I'll beat you in a fight," The elf said, pulling out her ax. Several hermits jumped back at the sight of it. Princess Gem studied it semi-warily. 

           "See? It's because you're a pacifist, you don't fight," Gem told her other self, although Jimena thought the wording felt weird. Like Gem was reminding the other one of something. Remind her of what? And why? Oh, I'm being ridiculous and asking too many questions again. 

           "Hey, Gem, we need to tell you something," Jevin said with a tone of urgency in his voice. "Yes?" Both Gems replied, not entirely in sync. The elf responded first. "Uh... in private..." Impulse added, looking pointedly at Jimena and Princess Gem. They frowned. "Why privacy?" Princess Gem asked. "Because..." Bdubs trailed off. "Uh..." "Hermit business," Grian said promptly. "Sorry, Jimena." 

           "Okay, I'm not wanted. Fine. I'm leaving." Jimena turned around to leave, and Princess Gem flew off too. "We're not being mean!" A couple of panicked hermits called after her. "Okay!" She shouted back. She didn't walk off too far, though. Team L.O.R.E. wanted to ask hermit Gem some questions, so Jimena wanted to make sure that she didn't try to avoid interrogation again.

           Princess Gem landed next to her. "Do you want to sneak back and hear what they're talking about?" She asked Jimena. Jimena blinked at her. Gem seemed... different. Jimena couldn't put her finger on it, but she acted differently in a way. She looked the same, sounded the same, but Jimena felt like she wasn't the same. This wasn't the Gem that didn't like her. This was practically someone else entirely. 

           "Sure," Jimena responded, feeling confused but trying to hide it. Princess Gem seemed to notice her facial expressions though. The two of them snuck back to Hermitopia and peeked through a hole in the chaotic cobbled-together wall to see what was up. 

           "Wait, let me get this straight," Hermit Gem said, looking like she was given a lot of information to process. "False has some evil clone drama going on?" "That one way to put it," Cub said mildly. "What?" Jimena whispered, shocked enough to say something even though it would make the hermits notice her. Princess Gem quickly shushed her.