Consequences

24 - Shelter, Shelter, Guess Who's Back Again?

Amethyst leaned back, body pressing into the warm sand. Sometimes, getting away from the world and relaxing was a nice way to relieve the weights on her shoulders. Most of the time, it didn't work, especially with everyone being occupied by something.

But now, everyone was keeping to themselves, not really having anything to do. The city was abandoned and quiet, and the air held a tenseness that was uncomfortable for Amethyst. Absently, she wondered if anyone else could feel it, or if it was just her.

Sighing, Amethyst leaned upwards, shaking the sand from her hair, and wiping it off her arms. The air smelled salty, as usual. The sky was slightly cloudy, but nothing unusual.

The weather had been normal for the past week, since everyone had left. So had the ocean. And the shows on TV.

Yet, everything felt different.

The Crystal Gems were isolated in the town of Beach City. The wind blew hollow, without the echoes of laughing people, or the scent of pizza in the atmosphere. Then again, all of those senses seemed to linger, like a ghost.

Besides the fact that everyone was gone, Amethyst looked around, realizing nothing had really changed... on the outside.

But on the inside, everyone was just waiting, paranoid, unsure of how to be prepared. They knew Homeworld was here, and here to attack. The diamonds had made that painfully clear.

"This blows," Amethyst said, as bored out of her mind as ever. She looked towards the temple, looming over the beach like a guardian, and considered her options.

She could go back inside, and continued to be bored... or, she could go against Sapphire's warning to stay close, and stray to walk around town. She could explore, or go check and see if the arcade or amusement park still had power.

It didn't take long for Amethyst to be making her way up the beach and onto the wooden planks of the boardwalk.

Yawning, the purple gem looked around, eyes scanning for anything interesting to distract her mind. There was some trash hovering over the ground, blowing in the ocean breeze. Amethyst watched a soda can role halfway across the boards.

Then, Amethyst's eyes was caught by the arcade's colorful opening. She ran into the area, looking around, deciding which game to try out.

She decided on the ski ball, sadly remembering in the back of her mind how Steven had shown her this game a while ago.

"Crap," Amethyst muttered. "I forgot, you need coins for this."

She kicked the machine, duly hoping it would activate it, but it didn't. Amethyst sighed, disappointed, and left the arcade.

She began walking down the boardwalk again, not really having an aim in mind.

A seagull gazed at Amethyst from a bench, curiously. It cocked its head to the side, as if asking for food.

"Sorry bird, you're not finding any fries on anyone right now," Amethyst said, before chasing the seagull away. The movement didn't quench her lack of entertainment, and Amethyst groaned loudly. "Ugh, there's nothing to do!"

She continued walking down the line of buildings, looking into the locked up, lifeless stores. She shivered, despite it being warm out. The empty boardwalk was eerie, like a ghost town or something.

Amethyst startled suddenly, as a rusty, metallic sound echoed from somewhere far away. She couldn't identify where, but Amethyst immediately became curious, and stood on her guard. A bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.