Chapter Text
Spinel peeked out from behind a corner, narrowly escaping her targets’ notice. That was the benefit, she supposed, to being so much smaller; it was very easy to sneak around.
Not that Yellow and Blue seemed to have trouble with that, big as they were. The two of them had been disappearing, often at the same time, to the point where an entire day might go by without anyone seeing them. Spinel might have been able to live with that once in a while, but now they were doing it more often, and they always seemed to dodge the question when she tried to ask about it. The final straw had been last week, when she had tried to ask White— only to learn that White seemed to have no idea it was happening at all. These disappearances deliberately coincided with her meditation sessions.
So, the only sensible thing was for Spinel to investigate on her own.
In the hallway ahead, Yellow seemed to be counting some pillars while Blue observed. She found a blank space between them and paused, shoulders tense.
Blue reached forward and laid a hand on her back.
Yellow shook her head. She looked around the hallway for spies— Spinel shrank a little— and then raised her own hand to touch a blank space in the wall.
A section of it glowed, then opened silently to reveal a secret doorway. Yellow stared at the dark passage beyond, clenching her fists, while Blue shifted closer.
“We can always come back tomorrow,” Blue said softly.
Yellow shook her head again. “No. I won’t put this off any longer.” She took a breath, then stepped into the darkness, her heels echoing loudly through the Diamond-sized halls. Blue followed solemnly.
Spinel stretched her legs out into long, noiseless strides, reaching the door just in time with a strange mix of vindication and anger.
They were totally hiding something.
Through the door, she very nearly tripped when she had to stretch her legs a bit farther: they were going down a staircase. She flattened herself against the wall, just in case her shadow might be spotted. But she need not have worried: the door closed behind her, plunging them into darkness.
She saw only the faintest glow of gold up ahead; Yellow must be using her gem to light the way. Spinel did not dare do the same, instead letting the thunderous sound of the Diamonds’ footsteps be her only guide.
As she followed them down into the dark, the air growing cold and sterile around her, Spinel’s anger grew. How dare they all run off at once? Hadn’t they invited her here? Didn’t they want to spend any time with her? Was this some dirty trick to freeze her out, to make her leave on her own? Well, too bad— if they were finally tired of her, they could tell her to her face.
The spiral staircase was a long way down, and by the time the light ahead grew, Spinel was ready to hit something. She had not felt such fury since her first visit to Earth, that first time she’d realized she’d been abandoned.
The footsteps stopped, echoing as if in some sort of cavern.
“Well,” Yellow said, her voice flat and bitter, “let’s get it over with.”
There was a dreadful scraping noise, followed by a few small thunks, then the familiar shuffle that was Blue’s dress on the floor. Spinel crept forward until she could peek around the corner, and nearly gave herself away with a gasp.
Massive, grotesque creations surrounded them: canons, hammers, blades of all shapes and sizes. The walls, so far apart that Spinel could not make out the most distant one, were lined with weapons of every possible type; the floors were littered with cruel-looking machines.
They were in a giant armory.
Blue was taking things off the wall mounts, scanning them with some sort of screen she carried, and putting them back. Yellow, meanwhile, was working on one of the machines. She pried open a panel on its side, glared at the contents, then reached in and began violently yanking out wires. “Primitive design,” she scoffed, when the loud snapping sound made Blue turn.
Blue gave her a small smile and went back to her scanning. Yellow took hold of one of the machine’s huge mechanical arms and twisted it off. The horrible metallic screech made Spinel’s head hurt, but Yellow didn’t even seem to be making much effort. When she dropped it, the thing put a dent in the floor.
Then she just moved onto the next machine, while Blue kept scanning.
Spinel shuddered and ducked back behind the wall, her anger momentarily replaced by fear. Sometimes she forgot just how strong the Diamonds were, and what they used to be.
Not that she ever thought they would go back to that. But why, then, were they cataloging weapons and harvesting parts out of war machines? She heard more groaning and terrible metallic twisting as Yellow continued to work. Were they preparing for something? Was that why they kept sneaking off— was there something they didn’t want Spinel to worry about? What could they possibly need all this stuff for— surely not anything on Homeworld. Maybe they were planning to go away.
Maybe this really was Pink all over again.
It was that horrible possibility that drove her forward, out of the shadows and toward the gems she once thought she knew.
Now they were both looking at the same thing— or rather, Yellow was grimly picking apart some massive contraption while Blue watched her with concern. This one seemed rather like a giant toy, like a spinning top that Spinel and Pink had once played with. The imagery only made Spinel more upset.
It was Blue who spotted her first.
“Spinel!” she gasped, panicked as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t. “What are you doing in here?”
“I oughtta ask you the same thing—”
“Spinel?!” Yellow’s voice echoed strangely; she had contorted so that her head and shoulders were inside the giant top. There was an awkward clanging as she tried to extract herself.
“You shouldn’t be here.” Blue didn’t seem angry, only worried. Somehow that only made Spinel madder.
“And why are you here, huh?” she demanded, pointing her finger accusingly. “What is this place? You can’t just sneak off and not expect—”
“Spinel.” Yellow had never used that tone with her before. “Get out.”
“But—”
“This is not going to be an argument,” Yellow snapped. “Go back where you came from right now.”
Rage burned in her throat. The day had finally come— she had been stupid, stupid to let herself think that it might not. They had grown tired of her games and they didn’t want her anymore. Diamonds were all the same.
Her chest felt tight, like it couldn’t contain her gem. She was such a moron.
“Fine,” she spat, determined not to let them see her lose form. “Fine, I’ll go.”
“Spinel,” Blue said softly, while Yellow groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“What? I’m going, okay?!” She turned to run for the exit, only to trip over the extended leg of one of those awful machines. She was so pathetic, she couldn’t even leave without humiliating herself. With a wail of frustration, she kicked it as hard as she could. The machine part, already mostly broken, tilted dangerously on its hinge before it crashed to the floor, hard enough to rattle some of the shelves.
After that, it all happened very quickly.
The spinning top-looking thing Yellow had been working on began to tremble, and then its insides began to glow. It creaked into motion, beginning to turn.
“Go!” Yellow shouted, and she sounded angry now, but when Spinel would remember this moment later, she sounded afraid.
Blue scrambled towards her, and Spinel was not fast enough; the world turned stuffy and cyan as a bubble encased her.
“Let me out!” she shrieked, as Yellow attacked the thing with her power— a dreadful mistake.
The top whirled to life, sending out a bright pink shockwave that looked like a circular blade. Before Blue could send the bubble off, she stumbled to her knees, while Yellow landed on her back; their forms had been cut off at the ankles.
They only had time to turn, reaching for her and each other as the top kept moving, sparking and shrieking and spewing burgundy smoke. Before the terrible machine choked and died it released one more attack. Spinel’s bubble floated safely above it; she pressed her hands to its surface and screamed as the pink blade of light sliced the two Diamonds cleanly in half.
Their forms held for just a moment, stuck on those horrible expressions of surprise. Then they gave in, dissipating at the exact same time in an explosion powerful enough to shake the entire room, kill the lights, and pop Spinel’s bubble.
She landed hard on a broken floor, alone in absolute darkness.
The door to her own room slammed shut behind her, but Spinel could not collapse on the floor as she wanted to; instead she carefully unwound her arms from the woven shape they had held through the entire journey up here. They ached terribly— it took a lot to strain her malleable form, but this had done it.
The two massive gems landed as softly as she could manage. It was profoundly disturbing, seeing them like this— they seemed too large to be real and yet too small to be themselves.
She forced herself to look closer. Diamonds were brittle, she thought, feeling sick. That was the trade-off with harder gems— they were less easy to scratch but more easy to break. And Diamonds were hardest of all.
What if they shattered because of her?
She wound her arms tight around herself, squeezing, trying to keep herself in one piece. Her entire form was hurting, worst of all in her chest. But she couldn’t fall apart, not now. Yellow and Blue needed her. For the first time ever, Spinel was needed.
With trembling hands and watery eyes, she inspected the oversized gems, turning each of them over as gently as she could. There didn’t appear to be any physical damage. Even when she looked closely, feeling over them for any hairline cracks or blemishes, she found nothing.
A few times, she had to wipe her tears off. Why couldn’t she be the one with healing powers? Was that why they didn’t want her around anymore— they realized she didn’t belong with them?
She sniffed and sank to the floor, ashamed. She was being stupid again. Stupid and mean and unfair. After all, hadn’t they reached for her? Hadn’t Blue’s bubble protected her? Hadn’t they put her safety before their own?
Spinel gripped her pigtails, pulling on them until it hurt. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They probably had a good reason for not telling her they were going somewhere so dangerous; they had probably known she would mess it all up and they didn’t want anyone to get hurt. And they probably had good reason for sneaking around, too— no one should know about a place like that, if even a Diamond wasn’t safe there.
She pulled harder on her hair. She should know better by now. She should be better. She had thought she was improving, after all this time, and yet it still happened— she had let her dumb feelings get the best of her again, jumped to conclusions and hurt people who didn't deserve it. And all she could manage to do about it was wallow in her own misery.
There was a knock at her door, making her jump. “Who is it?” she called, hoping her voice would not give away her distress, knowing she had never been able to hide her feelings even at the best of times.
“This is Zircon!” came the muffled response. “I need to speak with you at once!”
Spinel glanced at the two huge gems on her floor. “Uhh, just a sec!” She cast around wildly for something to hide them. There were windows in her rooms, with a few sets of curtains she could draw for privacy; she stretched up and tore away the opaque ones now, piling them carefully on top of the two gems.
She opened the door just wide enough to poke her head out. “What’s up, doc?” she asked, in what she hoped was a normal tone.
Luckily, Zircon seemed to be occupied with her own problems. “What do mean what is up?” she wailed. “That explosion just twenty-three minutes ago! The whole palace shook!”
“Oh, yeah, that was so weird!” She laughed awkwardly. “But nothing’s broken, sooo…”
“So?!” Zircon looked ready to start tearing out chunks of her own form. “Gems are terrified! The council needs an answer for them! There are very few beings who should be able to cause that, and the Diamonds are nowhere to be found!”
It was a tremendous effort not to look behind herself.
“I’ve tried both their offices and their direct lines,” Zircon went on. “No one’s seen Yellow Diamond or Blue Diamond since yesterday. But all three ships are still here, so they can’t have gone off-planet. You're the only one who sees them after hours— do you have any idea where they’ve gone?”
Spinel held on tightly to her smile. “Not a clue! Have you tried White?”
“Oh, she’s useless for this sort of thing!” As soon as she said it, Zircon flinched and clapped a hand over her mouth. “Please don’t repeat that.”
Spinel shrugged. She enjoyed White’s company immensely, but the largest Diamond was not exactly her first choice in a crisis, either. As soon as she thought it, she felt guilty all over again; what right did she have to think such a thing?
Zircon sighed, oblivious to her inner turmoil. “You really don’t know?”
“Nope, sorry! But I’m sure they’ll turn up soon. Maybe they’re already dealing with whatever that weird explosion was!” It was, after all, not a lie.
Zircon frowned at her, eyes narrowing just a little. “Perhaps you’re right,” she said slowly. “Well, when you see them again, I would very much appreciate it if you let them know I need a word.”
“Can do!” Spinel chirped. “But I’ve got my own stuff to do— bye now!”
She shut the door quickly. There was a long, painful pause, then Zircon’s footsteps gradually receded.
Spinel let out a huge breath. Crisis averted, for now.
She locked the door and hurried to the pile of curtains, checking over the gems compulsively. They were just as pristine as before.
How long could she keep this up, though? She had no idea how long it would take a Diamond to reform.
Another six thousand years, maybe?
Her eyes began to burn, her chest throbbing around her gem. She couldn’t go through that again. She couldn’t. She couldn’t.
But they needed her.
She slapped herself in the face with both hands. “Snap out of it,” she ordered herself. “You got work to do.”
She looked around the room. There were sheer curtains on the windows as well, to grant her privacy without blocking the light. She drew those now, then repositioned Yellow and Blue so that they could take in as much as they needed.
She stood there a moment, fidgeting.
She couldn’t leave, could she? She couldn’t leave them alone.
Slowly she sank to her knees, her still-sore arms pooling around her like loose strings. Her chest was hurting again. How long would it be?
She sat like that for some minutes, not a sound in the room but the rustle of the curtains. She was so scared and ashamed that the surface of her form prickled. She hugged herself again, curling in a bit, only to realize that it wasn’t her— the air around her was beginning to crackle and spark, as Yellow’s gem slowly rose off the cushion.
Spinel had just enough forethought to get Blue out of the way before it became nearly impossible to move. The power in the air made her whole physical form hurt, and it was all she could do to keep form as the golden light took shape, growing arms and legs, sparking as it stretched out toward its former glory— and then stopped short. It dimmed and solidified, and then Yellow came down, landing hard enough to crack the floor where Blue had been.
For a moment Spinel could only stare; Yellow’s new form was very different.
The spikes on her head were gone, replaced by a floof of white-gold curls that brushed over the top of her bare, thin shoulders. Her gloves and the raised heels of her shoes were gone. Even her face had changed— her eyes seemed wider, somehow, and Spinel realized that the dark creases at the corners had disappeared.
Aside from the size and color, she looked like a completely different gem. Especially with the way she looked around the room, blinking in confusion as if she had never seen it before.
“H-hey, Yellow,” Spinel managed. “I’m—”
Yellow’s attention snapped to her, and the larger gem gasped. “Oh wow,” she exclaimed, with a disturbingly uncharacteristic grin. She lunged forward, landing with her hands on either side of Spinel, her huge face looming over her in a way that had never been so frightening before.
“You’re so small!” she giggled. “What’s your name?”
“Wha— Yellow, it’s me! It’s…” Horrible realization dawned on her, as she looked into those wide, innocent eyes. This was not the Yellow she knew.
That machine— the giant spinning monstrosity that could take down a full-size Diamond— it was a Rejuvenator.