The Road Less Traveled

Astrophyllite returned to the Ancient Sky Arena with her bubble containing White Azeztulite’s gem. She walked up the stairs and looked out towards the crumbling arena ring. She looked to her right and saw her bubble containing Pink Opal’s gem right where she had left it. She smiled as she walked over to the bubble and picked it up. She walked down the bleachers to the arena ring. She walked out into the middle of the ring and popped the two bubbles. She watched as the two gems levitated into the air and as both the bodies regenerated. White Azezulite remained dressed in her same garments while Pink Opal was now dressed in a short pink dress with a dark pink ribbon tied around the waist and the skirt of the dress flared at the hips and ended at her knees. She wore pink ballet shoes and white socks that came to just below her knees and a light pink choker tied around her neck. Astrophyllite watched as they set foot on the ground and as new expressions formed on their faces. Pink Opal avoided eye contact with her and had a crestfallen expression on her face blank, emotionless. Astrophyllite turned to look at White Azeztulite whose face was twisted into bitter contempt and fury. She opened her mouth as soon as Astrophyllite made eye contact with her, but Astrophyllite raised up a hand to silence her. “I know that you are mad, but you will have to wait your turn,” Astrophyllite said with a smug grin. White Azeztulite shut her mouth and Astrophyllite turned to look at Pink Opal. “Now that you’ve had your time out, are you ready to be a warrior?” Pink Opal glanced up at Astrophyllite and she could see the emptiness in Pink Opal’s eyes. She stared at Astrophyllite before turning to look back at the ground. Astrophyllite sighed, disappointed that she was still not ready to fight. “Very well,” Astrophyllite said. “Go sit over on the bleaches.” Pink Opal remained silent as she slowly walked over to the seats and sat down. Astrophyllite shook her head disappointedly as she watched her, then she looked at White Azeztulite who was still glaring at her furiously. Astrophyllite smiled and said, “Nice to see you again too.” “HOW DARE YOU! How dare you EVER use myself or another gem like that! Whoever first taught you CLEARLY failed to teach you any regard to your fellow gems. What give you the right to emotionally guilt someone into fusion for your own ends and then the very moment they become unnecessary, you poof and bubble them for storage like some kind of tool!” Astrophyllite laughed at her outburst. “Why, it was you who taught me the basics of being a gem.” White Azeztulite’s eyes narrowed and focused on Astrophyllite in a way she had not seen in a very long time. This was the look of her first instructor, not merely angry, but entering a state of transedent rage that burned so intensely it consumed almost all other emotions except for the ocean of disappointment that bubbled and boiled into a thunderous storm behind her eyes. “Then you clearly never listened to a damn word I said, or gave a flying fuck about any of my lessons on morality or etiquette you self-centered, self-righteous, self-serving, miserable excuse for a sentient being! You don’t even deserve to be called a gem and I am embarrassed to have been the one to fail at teaching you the very basics of a proper society because I clearly didn’t notice I failed to teach you anything!” Astrophyllite snorted as she regained her composure. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before.” “Oh, yes, I’m sure you have. From every gem you ever took advantage of.” Astrophyllite chuckled softly. “Actually it all came from the same, annoying little gem. I was actually a well behave soldier.” “Oh, yes. Good tactic. You were only following your orders when you manipulated me into that fusion and then disposed of me when I was inconvient! Shift the blame to someone else, right? So let me guess, it was all that Lapis Lazuli’s idea and you had to do what she said. Oh, woe is you who cannot think on your own. Fancy that, an Astrophyllite who can’t think for herself. Wonderful irony there,” White Azeztulite screamed as she waved her arms about at Astrophyllite. Astrophyllite burst out laughing at Azeztulite. “You are a sad, sad gem. Aye, it was her idea and trust me, I didn’t want to fuse with you either, but time was of the essence.” Azeztulite screamed as she slapped Astrophyllite across her cheek with all her might. “This is not funny and I am not a sad gem! What you did was irreprehensible!” she shouted, panting as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “You should never use your fellow gems like that! Not EVER!” Astrophyllite rubbed her cheek, her eyes alit with joy. “Aye, I know, but if I left you out, then you’d try and stop us from bringing back Fluorite.” “BECAUSE THAT LABRADORITE WAS USING YOUR FEELINGS FOR YOUR DEAD FRIEND AGAINST YOU!” she shouted at the top of her lungs and in a tone Astrophyllite remembered from her youngest days when Azeztulite would yell at freshly emerged young gems when they did something reckless that could have seriously harmed their gems or gotten them into a lot of trouble if someone else had found out. “Aye, but it worked. We have Fluorite back in our lives. She’s just as she was before,” Astrophyllite explained calmly. Azeztulite stopped. Astrophyllite could see her entire rage fueled train of thought go careening off the rails as her mind locked up and attempted several times to restart itself, parsing the impossible statement she had just been given. After two minutes of silence, she blinked slowly and relaxed her angry posture. “What?” she asked softly and quietly in a far off voice. “Yes. Fluorite was reformed thanks to Labradorite’s efforts. Even I had my doubts, but they were blown away when I saw Fluorite standing before me again.” “Co…could she…do it again? Would it be…repeatable?” Azeztulite asked in a shocked and stuttering voice. “Probably, but I must warn you first if you are determined to do this. She’ll demand payment for anything that requires her to do something and making a deal with her is like what the humans refer to as making a deal with the devil,” Astrophyllite warned. Azeztulie nodded. “That’s… no that’s more than acceptable. Where would I find her?” she asked in a more controlled, hopeful, and excited voice. Astrophyllite sighed. She was tempted not to tell her, but she already warned her about making a deal with the devil. “In the forest we fought her in; it’s her home. She’ll likely be located within its heart, probably high up in the trees watching as the prey enters the lion’s den.” Azeztulite nodded. “Where’s the warp pad? I… there’s a lot of gems I need to see about bringing back if I can… or one it that’s all she’ll do.” Astrophyllite raised an eyebrow at her statement. She had no idea what Azeztulite was talking about, but she wasn’t about to start caring. She was about to direct her to the warp pad when she remembered Pink Opal was sitting on the seats. “Before you go, I’ll need you to do something.” “I think I have done quite enough for you as it stands,” she remarked as she shot Astrophyllite a frosty glare. “This is more for her than it is for me,” Astrophyllite said as she pointed to Pink Opal. Azeztulite stopped and sighted as she looked to where Pink Opal was sitting. “Alright, what does she need?” she asked as she looked over Pink’s features, taking in all the signs of prolonged stress and anxiety that had built up. “She needs some tough love, the kind you have to offer as an instructor to young gems.” Azeztulite sighed and nodded. “Fine.” “Good. A few things to know. She absolutely refuses to fight and was once a member of Pink Diamond’s court.” Azeztulite winced at what Astrophyllite had said. “Since you said I taught you, you realize I’m from Silver Diamond’s court, yes? We don’t exactly see eye-to-eye with the way Pink Diamond ran her courtly proceedings, you know?” “Um… no. I was a lowly grunt in Silver Diamond’s army. So, I had very little to nothing to do with the court and all its intrigues. However, you’ll find that she is… unique,” Astrophyllite said with a sly smile. Azeztulite rolled her eyes. “Fine. Introduce us. Let’s see how long I can go before she finds me an uncultured barbarian.” Astrophyllite smiled and started to walk over to where Pink Opal was sitting with Azeztulite following her. She stopped in front of Pink Opal and stepped off to the side so that the two were directly in front of each other. “White Azeztulite, this is Pink Opal. Pink Opal, this is White Azeztulite. White Azeztulite will be your new guardian.” White Azeztulite preformed a half bow to Pink Opal. “I am most pleased to make your acquaintance, Pink Opal, and I swear upon my honor that I shall do all within my power to protect you from physical harm not of your own creation.” Pink Opal remained sitting down and staring down at the ground. “…sounds great,” she mumbled. Azeztulite took a deep breath and reminded herself Pink Opal was not of the Silver Court and had not come from one of Silver’s kindergartens. “From this day forth, I shall protect and instruct you until such time as you are able to properly fend for yourself. I rather hope that we can get along as I sense this may be a long process for the both of us.” “Sounds like fun,” Pink Opal said as she rolled her eyes, keeping them trained on the ground. Straightening back up from her half bow, White Azeztulite continued. “I understand that there are a number of differences between the way things are handled between the different courts of the Diamonds, bit I always believed it was universal for you to at least make eye contact and return the gestures of someone taking on a protective and educative role over you. Or did Pink Diamond’s court not dwell on manners the way Silver’s court did?” “I don’t know. Maybe?” Pink remarked as he sighed. Astrophyllite walked over to Azeztulite and placed both her hands on Azeztulite’s shoulders and said, “Oh, yeah, she’s also a spoiled brat.” Azeztulite’s left eye twitched in a way that Astrophyllite knew rather well from being on the receiving end of what was to come. “I see. Well, then, come with me. I have things I need to attend to, but your first set of lessons I suspect shall be on proper manners and why they are important.” She then turned to Astrophyllite and said, “To the warp pad, please.” “Alright,” Astrophyllite said with a smile. “Follow me.” Astrophyllite started to head up the stairs followed by White Azeztulite. She stopped and turned back at Pink Opal to see if she was following along. “Pink Opal,” Azeztulite said as she saw that Pink Opal was still just sitting there. Pink Opal grumbled as she stood up and joined White Azeztulite. Azeztulite nodded and continued after Astrophyllite and looking back to make sure that Pink Opal was still following them. They all stepped onto the warp pad with Azeztulite and Pink Opal on each side of her and warped them to the forest that Labradorite called home. “This is as far that I take you, Azeztulite,” Astrophyllite said with a serious tone to her voice. “If you are truly doom driven, then you will continue on this path alone. I’ve made my bargain with the devil and paid my dues and so I will not tread the path of darkness again.” Astrophyllite stepped back behind and hold out her hands behind them. She took a deep breath in and placed her hands on their backs, shoving them off the warp pad. Pink Opal fell face first onto the ground while Azeztulite caught herself before she fell. She turned to glare at Astrophyllite, but as she did the warp pad activated and Astrophyllite disappeared into the light. Azeztulite grumbled and swore under her breath as helped Pink Opal up. She looked around the silent, misty forest and took a deep breath. Whatever may come, she had to find Labradorite, no matter the cost.