Beyond The Gem

Thirteen

     Five humans already lay on the ground, bloodied and their faces frozen in a scream. One Tanzanite spun his blade between his fingers and without looking, threw his arm to the side and launched his blade towards me. I ducked, barely able to bend back so far to allow the sword to graze the tip of my nose. My hair blew with the wind of the blade, and it lodged itself in the tree behind me as I stood and summoned a spear, throwing it towards the unarmed Tanzanite and aimed it straight at his gem.

     He gave me a cold smile and narrowed his eyes as my spear slammed into his gem, his form instantly disappearing and the gem clattering to the ground in a million pieces. His face burned into my mind, I sprinted straight for two humans that cowered in front of the remaining Tanzanites. I shoved them out of the way, the three of us tumbling to the ground. They gave me fearful looks as I pointed farther into the woods. "Run and don't look back. Don't worry...everything will be fine! This is still paradise. You'll be safe."

     The humans here were not very bright, yet as they turned and ran, one gave me a doubtful glance and disappeared with the other one into the woods deeper in the zoo. A blade whizzed past my waist, shredding through my skirt and pinning the fabrics to a tree. I stumbled forwards, then looked down and began pulling against the blade, attempting to remove it from the tree. I looked up and saw one Tanzanite approaching, holding his hand up in a demanding matter to the other one, who looked cautious. This was the first time they had different emotions...could one possibly be stronger than the other, or could he be the alpha?

     He snatched my jaw, scrutinizing my face with observant eyes. Tanzanite grimaced. "Such an ugly pearl," He spat, releasing my face from his iron grip. I tugged against the blade again, then attempted to rip the rest of my skirts to possibly free myself. "Why would someone choose such a deformed pearl?" A chuckle echoed through the woods as I froze, looking to him.

     "Say that again." I warned, and he smirked, a mocking glint in his white eyes.

     "You are deformed," He stepped forwards, continuing to speak. "You are weak. You should have never left the hole you came from." He jabbed a finger in my chest, his voice cold as ice. "You should have never escaped that ship. By using the controls, we were able to find you easily." I hadn't thought of that. The ship's logs...didn't they document what gem controlled the ship? They must've noticed that I controlled the ship to crash into Earth. He placed his hand on my head, right onto my gem. "And if you think that you and your precious Diamond can solve whatever mystery you think you've found, you're wrong. We're just doing business for her."  I felt his grip tighten, as if he wanted to crush my gem beneath his palm.

     With a yell, I threw my hands around the hilt of his blade and tore it from the tree, driving it through his abdomen. His eyes widened as he stumbled back, cursing. "You stupid  Pearl!" Leaning against a tree, he threw his hand towards me. "Get her!" He demanded to the other gem, but his eyes flashed blue for a moment and he hesitated.

     He looked between White Tanzanite and I, then shook his head and stepped towards me. I summoned a spear and held it up in a defensive position. There was a bright light that lit up the forest, and when I looked towards the Tanzanite against the tree, he was gone. White Tanzanite kicked my chest, knocking me onto the ground and my spear clattering into the pool of water nearby.

     He reared his arm back, then drove his blade downwards. I rolled out of the way and stood, leaping into the water and snatching my spear off the ground. I planted my feet on the bottom of the water, noticing Tanzanite smiling at me from above. He dipped the tip of his sword into the water, and before I could notice, white bolts of electricity moved down the blade.

     I instantly pushed myself towards the surface. How did he know how electricity and water worked? That was an Earth feature, was it not? I leapt out of the water, but not before electricity shot through my body and caused me to fall onto my side, groaning at the strange pain I felt everywhere.

     Tanzanite stood, cracking his knuckles. "Gems are similar to humans. They will have the same reaction when water meets with electricity. Did you not know that, Pearl?" I did not know that. Gems and humans looked alike, but Gems are much stronger, are we not? "Why can't you just understand that certain things have to be done?" He lifted his arm over my head, aiming for my gem with his blade. I was in too much pain to even move, even blink. How did such a thing keep me here, why didn't I poof? A hellish grin stretched across his face. "Such as taking care of someone who sticks their long nose where it doesn't belong." He threw his blade forwards, and I watched it come closer, unable to move.

     This can't be it. No...

     A long, white dress appeared in front of me as the sound of something hitting metal caused me to look up. It was Rose Quartz, holding out her shield. White Tanzanite cocked his head back, scoffing. "Who do you think you  are?"

     "I'm Rose Quartz," She threw her shield towards him, virtually slicing him in half and poofing him. His shiny gem clinked to the ground, bouncing into the water, and his blade disappeared. Rose balled her fists into hands. "And you do not  mess with my Pearl." She turned towards me, kneeling down. "Are you alright? You look terrible!"

     I managed to roll onto my back, clasping my arms around my stomach and wincing. Rose was silent, trying to imagine what to do. I couldn't answer - speaking, even that small action of rolling onto my back, made my body cry out in pain. Before I knew it, Rose scooped me up as if I was a child, leaping into the air and floating towards the broken window. She flew through the window, avoiding shards of glass, and placed me on the couch.

     "I'm going to poof you," She summoned her shield onto her arm. "Then you'll be able to tell me what happened. Stay as long as you like...I'm not forcing you to come back. Just...however long it takes you to get back to normal. Back to the Pearl I love." 

     "Love?" I shakily said as she placed the tip of her shield on my neck, pressing down and poofing me. There I was, inside my gem. I simply stood there, in shock. She loved me. She'd actually admitted feelings for me. We both enjoyed each other's company, and we both did have a different connection, but love...

     I smiled and a warm feeling filled me as I realized that I actually loved her as well.