Pearls

Chapter Twelve

Green walked away from Jasper's gem shards, which she had placed in the cool shade of her ship. It had seemed unnecessarily cruel to leave her lying where she had died.

She was heading towards the other, much larger battlefield, which was less of a battlefield now so much as a mass of exhausted-looking Pearls. There wasn't an Amethyst in sight- or at least, not one in her physical form. Hundreds of Amethyst gems littered the ground, making the reddish dirt sparkle purple in the sun.

As Green got closer, she saw that the majority of the Pearls were standing in a wide circle, cheering and booing at something taking place in its center. A fight? Green walked faster. Upon reaching the edge of the crowd, she craned her neck and peered over the sea of colorful heads to the spectacle beyond them.

The Fire Agate lay on her back, pinned to the ground. Four Pearls held her down- one for each limb. A fifth Pearl was approaching her slowly, leisurely, twirling a golden spear with easy grace. Coal.

Coal? Asked a voice in her head. Who's Coal?

That's right. Green remembered. Blue didn't know Coal. And suddenly she remembered that she was still a fusion, even though she no longer had any reason to be. She hesitated, knowing she should probably unfuse, but really, really not wanting to.

Still, better to unfuse before someone caught her like this. With a sigh, she let go, let the two parts of herself separate out, and Yellow felt herself slip back into the body she was used to. Shorter, fewer arms, more... yellow. She immediately felt a sense of loss. Being Green was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before.

Yellow opened her eyes, only to find her vision obscured by a mess of fine blue hair. Her face was pressed into Blue's shoulder and her hands rested on Blue's back, while Blue's arms circled her neck. Yellow could hear Blue's heartbeat pound, pound, pounding away against her chest as they both settled back into themselves. Yellow felt her face heat up. She almost pushed Blue away, but thought better of it. They had just fused. What was a hug, after that? Besides. It felt nice.

"We did it." Blue whispered to her, squeezing her shoulders. She clearly had none of the same qualms about the contact. "We really did it."

And yes, they really had done it. Despite the odds. Despite their opponents. Yellow felt an overwhelming rush as the relief that had been hovering at the edges of her conscious hit her like a train. They were safe. How extraordinary.

"Yes." Yellow breathed. She let herself enjoy the hug for a second longer before detangling herself from Blue, blushing redder than a Ruby. "Come on, let's go watch." Looking determinedly away, she grabbed Blue's hand and tugged her towards the front of the crowd. It was a bit disorienting to move, Yellow noticed. She felt like she should have another pair of hands sprouting from her shoulders, should be tall enough to see what was happening in the ring.

"Who's Coal?" Blue asked as they took their place among the hushed Pearls.

"A rebel Pearl I met at the base." Yellow told her, quietly enough that the murmur of the crowd kept her words from carrying.

"What kind of name is Coal?"

"That's what I said!"

In the ring, Coal herself stood in front of the Fire Agate, hip cocked to one side, an expression of disgust on her face. She was speaking to the Agate, but pitching her voice loud enough that all of the spectators could hear.

"...only what you deserve." Yellow caught her saying.
The Fire Agate squirmed, but her four captors held her fast. "That's ridiculous!" She shouted. "Why am I being punished for following the natural order!"