Land of the Blades

1. Blades

I came to this world around three hundred years before that day, back when I was the innocent, naive, and cute me. I was the second most weak and fragile gem under Adamant Sensei's care, and the material that composed my body was very sought by the Lunarians, so fighting was not an option for me. It took me having a part of me stolen to realize something as simple as this.

I didn't have other talents either, but I wanted to help Sensei very badly, so I decided to become his personal assistant and follow him everywhere. This would mean not only I could carry a small part of his burden, but also that I would be safe all the time. Except when I accidentally bumped into him. I could also nap whenever he was "meditating", so that was a plus too.

That day, Sensei was summoned by the other gems to deal with a Lunarian that has appeared near the cliff of origins, the place where we all emerged. The weird thing is that this Lunarian acted a bit strange, keeping its distance and remaining over the water. Bort was fighting it, but they were just avoiding him. Their movements were so weird, it has attracted the attention of most of the gems that were patrolling by the time Sensei and I got there.

Sensei dealt with them pretty easily, and even the aggressive Bort calmed down a bit. Then the Amethyst twins made a surprised noise.

—Sensei, sensei! —the said in unison, looking at something that was lying on the beach—, we found a castaway!

Sensei looked towards them and froze, his eyes showing surprise and disconcert. My sight wasn't as good as his, so I had to get a bit closer to see what the Amethyst had found. It was vaguely shaped like us, with something that resembled a head, and two arms and two legs that were neither of the same size. It was grayish, and it reflected the sun's light, but it didn't glow like us. For some reason, it reminds me a bit of Obsidian's swords.

—Is that a gem? —Dia said, taking interest in the gray lump.

—It is an incomplete one —Bort claimed, approaching it—, at best it can be used to repair Phos the next time he breaks.

He poked the thing with his sword, hard enough to chip some of it away. I was about to ask Sensei to reprimand her, it has been months since I had break even once, after all. But Sensei wasn't next to me, where I had seen him just a moment before. Instead, he was next to Bort, pulling him while pushing the Amethyst away. For a moment, while Sensei was using his body to cover Bort, I saw the gray lump moving, not his extremities, but its skin. The next thing I knew was that a lot of spikes had emerged from it, barely missing the twins. Sensei has been hit by some of them, but they all broke and shattered.

—Are you alright? —Sensei gently asked to Bort, still carrying him in his arms.

He was cracked, and flustered, but ultimately in one piece.

—Y-yes, thank you —Bort said, a bit flustered.

—Ah, that's not fair, Bort! I also want to be carried like a princess! —Dia exclaimed, making his partner blush even more.

Sensei let him go and tried to stand, but failed for an instant. Some of the pikes had pierced through his clothes and remain stuck there, pulling him down. The back of his kimono was all raggedy now.

—Red Beryl isn't going to be happy —Dia said, inspecting the damage. Sensei moved his eyebrows to shown concern and a bit of regret.

—More importantly, what is that thing? —Bort said going back to his aggressive mode—, and how did it managed to turn into spikes!

The rest of the gems who had stayed at some distance until then started to come back with their swords unsheathed, but Sensei stopped them. My body started to move towards the scene against my better judgment, shielding myself with Sensei's body. I peaked from behind him and looked at the gray thing. All the spikes had broken and "melted" and the body seemed more liquid than before. It also looked more like us, even with something that looked like a face, if one squinted his eyes.

Just as I was doing so, the thing moved, just a bit, like trying to drag himself out of the beach. It then raised his head, and his eyes crossed with mine. Or at least, the one eye he had formed. Then he collapsed. Sensei walked towards him, surprising the rest of us.

—What are you doing, sensei?! —Bort worriedly said, we all must have been thinking the same.

—It only attacked because we hurt him —he said—, we are taking him home.