Moonstone

Chapter 5*

Lunas P.O.V

I'm surrounded by enemies. The perma-fusion abomination can take me out in only a few hits. The Pearl should be weak and useless, naturally. The quartz is defective as well. If I get the atrocity to unfuse, I should be able to take them out, bubble them and send out a distress signal.

"So, Luna what's a Pearl doing as second in command for a mission?" Pearl smirked.

"I'm not one to twirl ribbons like you. I've been trained to be as powerful as a Quartz soldier." Pearl sneers as she walks off the Warp-Pad. It brings me great joy knowing keeping multiple Pearls is frowned upon, or I'd have to deal with this all day.

"I distinctly remember pummeling you." The perma-fusion remarks.

"You caught me off guard. I wasn't exactly expecting you." I am trying very hard to be nice.

"Thats the nicest thing you've said to me today."

My cheeks go red, not good. I'm showing weakness in front of the enemy. I need to remember my training, any emotion shown to the enemy will be used against me. "Thanks?" I respond, hoping she won't notice.

"Garnet, I think you embarrassed her." Pearl chuckles, "Anyway, we're almost to the barn. We'll be meeting with two gems."

We start our descent, walking upon grassy plains. I haven't seen organic life like this in centuries. It hasn't changed much, so elegant. Flowers and leaves come in many colors, soft terrain, it's beautiful. Sadly, it has no functional purpose. Organic life is a waste of energy. We could be using this planet to create efficient life forms for the betterment of our colonies. If it weren't for these gems surrounding me. If only we could have both.

We approach a structure; I don't even know how to describe it. Multiple other structures are sticking out of it, empaled into one another. The main building is the largest, primarily colored red. I didn't know what a barn was beforehand, but I didn't expect this. That monstrosity of a building was offset by a beautiful garden full of flowers and other organic life. Which might be the only type of taste these two mystery gems may have.

Running out of the barn was a Peridot, "Who is this!?" She squealed, "You can't just bring Homeworld gems to my house!"

"Hello, Peridot, I'm Pearl. They've been calling me Luna. If I may, where are your limb enhancers?" I asked. This gem appears to be from Era 2 due to her small stature. Are all of these 'Crystal Gems' defective?

"This is a Homeworld Pearl?" She gestured to me, speaking to my captures. "You are uh, quite outspoken! I assume you are trying to join?"

Before I can respond, another gem comes flying in. A Lapis Lazuli, surprisingly not defective. "Oh cool, new friend."

"I am not a new friend! I have been captured! I am not joining. I keep my allegiance to my creators!" I shouldn't have said that.

"Not new friend," Lapis lifted her arm and quickly unleashed a wave of water in my direction.

"Glegmeowwt!!" Water bubble, I should have expected this.

"Thank you, Lapis but could you put her down? I wanna talk to her privately before we head back." Pearl said, coming to my defense. That doesn't seem right. What would she want with me?

Lapis Lazuli releases me from my aquatic confinement. Pearl whispers, "Let's talk in the barn."

This place is a mess, with items piled on top of each other. The floors creak incessantly with every step. This cannot be a place for inhabitants of any kind-This has to be my execution site! Why else would she bring me here? I should have stayed with Moonstone and refused her order! But what if she told the Diamond when we got home? I would still be shattered!

Strangely, Pearl sat down. How is she going to execute me from the floor? What if this is a tactic to make me feel like I'm safe? The other gems are right outside I can't bubble her or send a distress signal without being spotted. I'm doomed!

"You seem to really like Moonstone, you jumped into her arms after all." Her face grew grim. "I used to be like that with my old master, I idolized her. I thought she could never do anything wrong."

What. Honesty might be the best course of action here. "Pearl, we are very different. My master didn't do anything wrong, I'm simply defective. The only reason I haven't been rejuvenated is because Blue Diamond took pity on me. Swept me up, gave me a mission, and gave Emerald a new Pearl."

"You don't care about Moonstone at all, do you?" Pearl's face grew from deep sadness to concern.

"I don't. Moonstone is a means to an end. If I succeed in my mission, I don't get rejuvenated or worse."

"Luna, you can stay here on Earth. You know that, right? We might be Pearls, but we are gems too."

"We can't. Moonstone is too important to the Diamonds. We'll only bring more destruction to a planet that is doomed to die. Besides, who would I serve? What would I do?"

The flowers, the trees, those silly little creatures that run around in the vast forests, it almost seems worth it. I can't. The cluster is soon to emerge, there's nothing we can do. I don't want to die, but maybe at this point, that's my fate either way.

"You serve yourself, Luna, choose a real name for yourself, or stay Luna, or Pearl. Learn about the beauties of this planet. It's scary, leaving everything you know for something that may only give you hope of something better."

She stood up and held my hands, I cannot describe the way she looked at me other than genuine. A look that told me this could be over, a fight for life that I didn't want to begin with. If Moonstone wasn't on Earth maybe I could say yes. Maybe things could have been different.