Fresh From Homeworld

My Name is Kambaba Jasper

     It was the worst possible time to reform. The next thing Chrysoberyl knew, she was falling through the sky. She screamed in surprise and fright. "SAPPHIRE! SPINEL! ...PEARL?! ANYONE!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, though she knew no one could hear her. Her friends were nowhere near, not even her peridots, topazes, or citrine. She was alone. Yellow Diamond hadn't been kidding. She really had been thrown to the earth. There was no chance she could survive a fall such as that, especially with her gem already cracked. "Help..."
     She screamed one last time as she as hurtled to the earth. The approaching ground grew closer and closer. She whimpered right before she hit the ground, destroying her form, worsening her crack... This was the end.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~
     Merlinite heard a scream. It was high pitched and full of fear. She had heard those kinds of screams before. With she being a general for a Homeworld army,  she was used to the pain-filled screams of fallen gems on the battlefield. But there was no fight, there was no war, and there shouldn't have been any gems around. Perhaps it was a lousy human again, though Merlinite didn't usually come across humans. Gem or not, Merlinite was curious.
     Maybe it was a member of her crew. Then she could crush those worthless gems to pieces. Those despicable beings had fled the earth, leaving her behind. They never came back. She grew a deep hatred for Homeworld after that. She had been alone on the earth for a month. Nothing calmed her nerves. Rumors stood that the Crystal Gems were still alive. They would surely kill Merlinite if she came near. But it was only a matter of time before she would be discovered by those cruel, rebellious gems. She was on her own.
      Or was she? That scream from before... and then it was eerily silent. Merlinite decided that she had better check it out. She headed to where she had heard the screams. As she approached the place she thought the being was, a bright light shone. Merlinite shielded her eyes from the light. But she knew that light anywhere. It was a gem. And she was regenerating. The reformed yellow gem fell to the ground with a moan. Her form flickered and her limbs appeared to be different lengths. She held her hand over her gem protectively. Was it cracked?
     "...what?" Merlinite mumbled. What was a gem as important as a chrysoberyl doing there alone?
     When Chrysoberyl saw the foreign gem towering above her, she let out a squeak of fright. This gem was as tall as her citrine. Her hair was black, short, and curly, and her skin was cloudy gray. Her gem was located on the top of her foot. Chrysoberyl was much smaller, only as tall as a mere pearl.
     "Are you with Homeworld?" Merlinite simply asked. Chrysoberyl shook her head weakly. "Then what are you doing?"
     Chrysoberyl opened her mouth, but no words came out. Her form froze and blurred for a second. "Gem," was all Merlinite could make out of the words the chrysoberyl was able to say after.
"Cracked, isn't it?" Merlinite asked as she pulled the chrysoberyl to her feet. "Quite unfortunate, really. What's a chrysoberyl like you doing on earth without a command for her diamond?"
"You see, its kind of a long story," Chrysoberyl said, slurring her words. "What are you doing here?"
"Left behind by my crew. Stupid gems. Stupid Homeworld. They've lost my respect. I... I don't really know what to do about it, actually. I've been here for a little while. But with my team, I was actually doing something! Training for battle was my job! I trained other gems as well. It was amazing. But my comrades left the earth in a hurry when the cluster nearly emerged. They didn't even check to see if I was with them. So I've decided that if they don't need me, I don't need them. Fair?"
"Wow. I guess so," Chrysoberyl answered. Merlinite looked at her, implying that she wanted to hear Chrysoberyl's story. "Fine." Then she stumbled due to her legs constantly changing lengths. "Sorry, I- there has to be a way to fix this!" She gestured to her gem.
"I... I heard that the leader of the Rebellion, Rose Quartz, had the power to heal gems. If we can find them, she can heal you. If we can convince her, I mean..."
"You want to help me? I thought you hated Homeworld gems."
"Well, you're not a Homeworld gem anymore, are you?" Merlinite questioned, though it sounded more like a statement. "Now please, tell me how you got here." Chrysoberyl nodded and began to tell her story as they started to walk toward where Merlinite believed the Crystal Gems to be. Her gem crack continued to spread ever so slightly.
~~~~~~~~~
"Merlinite, did you hear that?" asked Chrysoberyl, stopping in her tracks. She thought she had heard voices.
"Hear what?" Merlinite answered with another question.
"I guess it was noth-" Chrysoberyl froze mid-sentence as her form flickered again. "It must have been nothing," Chrysoberyl started again. Her voice was switching octaves uncontrollably.
Merlinite tensed when she heard the voices. "No, you heard right." The voices were jumbled and getting louder.
When one of the voices became clear to Chrysoberyl, her hand snapped to Merlinite's wrist. She looked up at the general. "Fuse with me," Chrysoberyl hissed, yanking Merlinite down behind a tall bush so that they were out of sight.
"What! Are you out of your mind!?" Merlinite hissed back frantically.
"I know who those voices belong to. Well, at least one of them. Those are the Crystal Gems!"
"You're sure? Hold on, you've seen the Rebellion? You're that old?"
"Yes, you aren't? Now come on, we don't have much time."
"You must be kidding. We can't fuse! And why would we want to? We don't need that kind of strength. If they're unreasonable, I can take them on myself, can't I?" Merlinite asked.
"Not a chance. They have a fusion themselves. A fusion of two different gems. There's a pearl and a rose quartz, too. I believe there's more as well. If we fuse, our combined strength will overpower them for sure! You know! You've fused before, haven't you?"
"Yes, I have, but I seriously doubt you have before. And with your gem cracked as well..."
"Please, Merlinite. We'll be safer this way." The voices of the Crystal Gems grew louder.
"Fine. Stand up, Chrysoberyl." Merlinite took her hand and pulled her up. "Now I'm not sure that this is going to work, at least not how I'm used to."
"How did you fuse with other merlinites?"
"We linked arms. Like so," Merlinite said, then linked her arm with Chrysoberyl's.
After a few seconds, Chrysoberyl said, "Nothing's happening, Merlinite. Are we doing something wrong?"
"Well, you aren't a merlinite. To fuse, you have to be totally in sync with the one you're fusing with."
"In sync..." Chrysoberyl pondered. "Then... let's just dance."
"Dance? You aren't serious, are you?"
"I am. Now let's hurry. We haven't much time. Trust me." Chrysoberyl took a few steps back from Merlinite, which was tricky, considering her unstable form due to her cracked gem. "I'll do my best, and I trust that you'll do the same." Merlinite nodded.
Chrysoberyl twirled, her weight placed on the heel of her foot, her yellow hair flying about her shoulders. She looked back at Merlinite, who looked very confused. "What, have you never danced before?" Merlinite looked sheepish. "That's fine, just follow my lead," Chrysoberyl laughed. She twirled once again and smiled as Merlinite tried balancing from foot to foot. Chrysoberyl skipped forward and spun around again, almost losing her balance in the process. Merlinite laughed. She was getting the hang of shifting her weight, almost in a rhythm-like fashion. "You've got it!" shouted Chrysoberyl. Then she covered her mouth in realization. Her slightly glowing gem, lost its light. "They heard us."
Chrysoberyl was correct. The voices nearby had died down, followed by a 'what was that?'.
"Hurry, hurry!" Chrysoberyl hissed. She quickened her skips and spins as Merlinite stepped forward, her feet shuffling rhythmically. Chrysoberyl's damaged gem glowed yellow, and the gem on Merlinite's foot started to glow as well. She grabbed Chrysoberyl's hand and pulled her close.
In a flash of white light, a towering gem was formed. Her hair was curly and flowing, and she had three eyes on her face. Four arms protruded from her body. Merlinite and Chrysoberyl both had had diamonds on their outfits when they were apart, but Kambaba Jasper had a reverse diamond on hers, looking something like an hourglass. "We did it," she whispered. "Arg," she hissed as one of her hands flew to her shoulder. "Are you alright?" She asked to no one in particular. "Yes, I'll be fine... Who am I? Chrysoberyl would probably know..."
She heard shouts from below. Looking down, she saw them. The pearl, her mouth gaping, a short, defective amethyst, the fusion from the war, a peridot, a lapis lazuli, and a small human boy.
"Giant woman!" the boy cried out in wonder.
"Get back, Steven!" the Pearl shouted.
"Yes. We'll handle this," the fusion stated.
"But I can help!" the boy, or Steven, protested.
"Woah, she's bigger than Malachite," the lapis lazuli noted.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" the peridot called up.
The new fusion took a deep breath and stood firmly. "My name is Kambaba Jasper."