Beyond The Gem

Fifteen

     "Why are you fighting against whomever this Sapphire is? What does she look like?" I questioned, and White Tanzanite smiled.

     "Aren't you a curious one." He looked down upon the human zoo. "Sapphire isn't like your traditional blue sapphire. She's a sort of...green color, making me assume she's actually an Emerald rather than a Sapphire." He then turned his attention to the door that lead to Pink Diamond's closet, filled with various weapons and devices. He jerked his chin towards it. "The other Pearls are in there, by the way."

     Rose rushed for the closet, opening the doors and lifting a yellow, blue, and white gem in a foggy white bubble. She held out the bubble with a disappointed look on her face, and with a roll of his eyes, Tanzanite snapped his fingers, the bubble popping and the three other Pearls appearing. White Pearl was the first to speak. "What happened? I was in White's chambers and...now I'm on Pink's ship?" Before the three could turn around, Rose shifted into Pink Diamond, receiving an impressed glare from Tanzanite.

     Yellow turned around to Pink, grinning and then acting as if she hadn't seen the shift. "I was merely on My Diamond's ship, speaking to an Emerald about boarding one of Yellow's various colonies, when..." Her eyes widened when she saw Tanzanite standing there, arms folded and a disinterested look on his face. "You  stabbed me! You're a criminal to the Diamond Auth-"

     "Relax," Pink kneeled down next to them. "He's on our side now." She looked up to Tanzanite, standing. "So, I have another question for you. Why are you so special?"

     White Tanzanite took a moment to think, pursing his lips. "Maybe it's because I have a sense of humility in what I'm doing?" After the sidelong glance Pink gave him, he sighed. "I used to be a member of Blue Diamond's court. After I was captured by Sapphire, she changed me into this. Threw me back into a hole and forced me to change, to morph into another gem. Once I came out, her voice was in my mind, forcing me to tell people to kill and forcing me to kill gems. During the attack, some semblance of my...original self, I should say, pushed through for a moment." That would explain the flash of blue in his eyes for a moment. "But I don't think a Tanzanite has been poofed before. When you poofed me, I was able to break free from her grip. Perhaps she knew that, so that's why we travel in three, and if someone is poofed, we shatter their gem. No Tanzanite is ever alone."

     I pondered that. I'd seen a Tanzanite alone back on that ship, on the way to the match with Topaz. But after a moment...he was gone. "Can any Tanzanite appear and disappear? Out of thin air?"

     White Tanzanite nodded his head, as if it was obvious. "Definitely. A lot can summon portals and teleport as if it was a regular Warp Pad. Didn't you notice what the other Tanzanite did after you stabbed him? He summoned a portal and escaped while I attacked you."

     Before anyone else could answer, one of Pink's guards ran in through the doors. Tanzanite leaned back, holding his hand over his face while the guard spoke to Pink. "There's been a murder on the ship. One of your Agates, torn apart. We've lost sight of the fugitive, but we believe they're trying to get back to Earth."

     Pink and I exchanged glances, then I nodded. Pink followed the guard outside as I looked to Tanzanite. "What's that about, huh?"

     He gave a nervous laugh. "Strange, isn't it? Yeah, I might have told one of Pink's Sapphires to attack and destroy an Agate."

     Everyone in the room gasped. I slapped his shoulder, raising my voice. "Why? Pink's Agates mean everything to her!"

     Tanzanite smirked, rather smugly. "Oh, is that so? I thought you meant everything to her?" I grit my teeth and turned to the other Pearls. "Keep asking questions about the recent murder. He's not going to hurt us, but so help me, if he moves, shatter him." I turned sharply on my heel and joined Pink outside. It was time to move things along, and much quicker. No more riddles, no more puzzle pieces.

     She couldn't be a Diamond to get this done. She had to be Rose. We had to look for reinforcements to the Crystal Gems, the rebel movement we were launching. But we also needed other gems to do it. If murders like this were happening everywhere, if nobody was safe, then we couldn't just sit around. We had to make gems to help us figure this out.

     We had to open a kindergarten on Earth. And Tanzanite would provide us with information, whether he liked it or not. I tapped Pink on the wrist once I left the room, and she bent down. I whispered into her ear my plan, and she looked at me in awe for a moment. She then stood, standing tall, and waved her guard away. She nodded, and we set off for the nearest Warp Pad.

     We Warped to one of our only Warp Pads on Earth, deep in the wilderness, and she shifted into Rose, unsheathing her blade and summoning her shield. "Where should we start?"