A Ballad of Empires - An Empires SMP fanfic

Chapter 1- A Conference of Corruption and Crystals (Gem)

Gem's perspective

I sat, fidgeting with my staff as I anxiously waited for the meeting to start. 

"How's Crystal Cliffs?" Asked my brother, Fwhip.

 "As usual. What about the Grimlands?" I asked him.

 "It's great. We've got plenty of new structures and buildings." He said, grinning.

I smiled. "Good to know my home land is well. Though, sometimes I wonder what would've happened if I stayed and became queen." I said, trying to catch a glimpse of the Grimlands from where I was currently at, Rivendell.

Scott had planned a meeting for all of the Emperors and Empresses to meet in Rivendell.

"I often wonder that too." Said Fwhip quietly.

 "Alright! Now that everyone's here, let's start!" Said Scott, smiling. We all waited for him to continue, but he didn't say anything until Jimmy finally asked him.

 "Uh, Scott? Aren't you going to say something?" Before Scott could reply, a silver haired girl in royal Rivendellian clothing ran into the meeting room.

 "Apologies for the tardiness." She said, curtsying. 

"I am Lady Silvia Major. Princess of Rivendell and the twin sister of Scott." She said. 

"Scott has a sister?! Also, if she's his twin, shouldn't she be queen?" Asked Joey.

 "It would seem like it, but Scott is older and according to our parents and the public, he has been blessed by Aeor." She said, looking at Scott's owl wings and sighing sadly. 

"But that's besides the point. I'm here today to discuss a few problems." She said.

 "Problems?" I asked her. 

"Correct, Gem. Unfortunately we all have been seeing some weird corruption looking stuff around the different empires." She said.

"You went to everyone's empires?" Asked Joel. 

"Yep, it wasn't too hard. Anyways, I asked you all to come because I wanted to test if the red stuff reacts to the crystals of the Crystal Cliffs." Said Silvia, looking at me.

"So, you want me to use my amethyst?" I asked her, pulling out some of my spare amethyst from my shoulder bag.

"Only if you would be okay with it." Said Silvia as she put the red vines on the table. 

"Of course, I only want what's best for my empire." I said as I put my amethyst next to the corruption. In a matter of seconds, the vines shrunk and decayed.

"Huh, interesting." Muttered Silvia. "Well, we now know that Gem's crystals are quite effective against this corruption. I don't have anything to say. Farewell." Said Silvia, sitting down next to Scott. 

"Hey, Silvia." I said, going up to her. "Oh, hey Gem." Said Silvia, looking up from her book.

"Where'd you get the idea to use my crystals?" I wondered.

"Oh, I just noticed that in your empire, there was less corruption where the crystals were near." Silvia told me.

"Wait- did you just say 'less'?" I asked, wondering why she didn't say 'none'.

"Well, there was still corruption. Just not as much." She said, scribbling something down.

"So, what you're saying is that the crystals aren't fully effective?" I asked her.

"Correct." Said Silvia.

"Oh." I said. "I honestly thought my crystals solved the problem." I said, sighing.

Silvia smiled weakly. "I wish they did, really." She said.

"Before I leave, you left this at my house the last time you visited." I said, giving one of her books to her before leaving in a rush. I caught a glimpse of her staring guiltily at the book I handed her. 

I wanted to go back, but I had things to do. So I used my staff to cast a teleportation spell and headed off to the Crystal Cliffs.