Fear (SVep)

Story
The streets were dimly lit. Through the rain and the darkness, Pink Spinel could see a figure waiting for her in the distance. It was midnight. It was raining. It was grim.

Above were the dull, neon signs as they flickered, some fading even still. Coming closer, the pink gem could barely recognize the pony tailed figure ahead. It was indeed the Moonstone from her mission with the other Pastel Gems just a few days prior. Her odd outfit made the rain slip right off of it; her hair seemed to shine even brighter under the far away signs; her hand twinkled slightly, signaling that she had just tucked away her light bow.

"So, you've decided to appear." Her silken voice rang out in the night, just as the bells did moments before Pink Spinel had come up to the alleyway. "If this is the Pastel Gems, I can tell you all that I know but that's it... What'll it be?"

The past of the gems she currently worked for seemed interesting to Pink Spinel, sure, but the history of the gem before her seemed almost too interesting to pass up. "Of course I want to know more about the Gems in Tokyo but I need you to answer one other question for me."

"Anything."

"Why are you so persistent on me?"

"Well..."

The white gem scoured the area for prying eyes or curious ears. After a moment had passed, Moonstone finally leaned over to Pink Spinel, grabbed her hand, and whispered, "Come with me, certain Jriev are more inclined to these stories than you think."

Pink Spinel was forced to hold Moonstone's hand the entire way to the warp pad hiding behind a Love Hotel. The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon as if it, too, were drawn in by the story to be told.

By the time the two gems had reached the moonstone's "humble abode", the white gem was changing her shape ever so slightly. "Being a Moonstone isn't always the best. You can sometimes get the side-effects of being sunburn prone."

"My question remains unanswered."

"Alright, fine."

Moonstone's Story
I think it started four thousand years ago? I could always be wrong but I think that's right. Anyway... Homeworld had sent out armies of gems to colonize the galaxy, to make more of their own kind, and to utilize the resources from each planet for the gain of the gems.

You could have guessed but a group of gems were against that idea but were forced to enslave humanity on Earth, work them to the death. That same group learned to read human writing and studied the history of humans. They began to see the error in their ways, stooping as low as the humans did. What was considered indentured servitude played out to be brutal enslavement in the eyes of the intelligent gems.

You know the story from there. Gems pulled out and Earth became a penal planet... a punishment plane.

But me? The earthquake, nuclear disruption when I moved... corruption. I came to Tokyo and was perfectly fine until they sent me off to Franceland and left me to die in its chaos. France has fallen and they blame gems who were given nothing more than a simple order. I'm not the first and you won't be the last.... Power is corrupting. They're becoming more absolute and that means that the Pastel Gems will absolutely corrupt.

The Room
"So, what you're saying is the Pastel Gems used to be a good group but now they're getting corrupted?" Pink Spinel asked, her mind wandering to the various other things that could have happened instead.

Moonstone nodded, standing up to close the curtains as the morning sky began to light up even brighter.

"But you said that you're not the first and I'm not the last..."

That sentence made Moonstone hesistate before drawing the curtains again to peek out.

"How many were there?"

But nothing came out of Moonstone's mouth.

"Tell me now!"

"FINE... over four hundred..." Moonstone muttered as she returned to sit across from Pink Spinel. Her face was written with disbelief and anger.

Pink Spinel was in shock. "That's... one thousand years and they go through one hundred gems? Ten years and they kick out a gem they don't like anymore? Admittedly, for a human, that's a long time but... for us gems, that's barely anything."

The blue gem rubbed her forehead. "You should get going. Cerussite will be waking up soon and you'll go on Morning Call with her. Go. Please."

Marching Home
Pink Spinel stormed into Morganite's public room once she came back from the morning duty with Cerussite. "The Pastel Gems only foster gems in needs? They don't offer any assistance otherwise?"

Prasiolite was already in the room, sitting in the right-most chair of the small area. She stood suddenly, summoning her chainsaw before ordering, "Stand down, Pink Spinel."

Unlike the other two, aggressive gems, Morganite sat calmly at her desk still. The beautiful city of Tokyo shone through the windows of the office, nearly blinding Pink Spinel. "There's something I..." Morganite began. She signaled for Prasiolite to call in Taaffeite and Angelite.

"There's something we need to tell you."

Credits

 * Moonstone
 * Pink Spinel
 * Ceru (mentioned)
 * Morganite
 * Prasiolite
 * Angel (mentioned)
 * Taaf (mentioned)

Trivia

 * Moonstone refers many real-world events or points of interest.
 * The 2011 Sendai Earthquake/ Tsunami
 * In turn, 2011's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disruption
 * Lord Acton's power quote.
 * Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.