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White Azezulite and Pink Opal materialized on a warp pad housed within a rather cozy log cabin. Looking around Azezulite smiled and nodded to herself, this was defiantly her sisters style. Opening the front door she led herself and Pink Opal out into the tropical island jungle and began to explore. After only twenty or so minutes of hiking Pink Opal spoke up “So what are we even looking for?” she groaned.

“The entrance to whatever home my sister will have built here, hopefully it won’t have a lock” Azezulite responded while Pink grumbled something about that being obvious.

“And if it has a lock?” she shot back.

“we cross that bridge when we come to it” Azezulite replied calmly.

Pink grumbled to herself again this time loud enough to be clearly heard “And why’d I have to get dragged along for your wild goose chase.”

Az rolled her eyes and repeated herself for, honestly she’d lost count “Because I am responsible for you, and I am certain that you would run away and get yourself into trouble if I left you to your own devices, and I have very little interest in having to rescue you from something that could have been prevented by just keeping you at my side” she lectured. Again. She didn’t even think the words they had been said so often now and she was sure her tone was probably dead by this point. It was not long before the two of them found the entrance to Smokey’s cavern complex, it was a large stone door fitted into a rock formation, clearly the entrance to a cave network. As Azezulite approached and showed her gem to the door, the door did not respond “Damn.”

Pink smirked “oh look the door to the secret underground bunker is locked. Well you tried, guess we have to leave now” she said in mock surprise as she slapped her checks and gasped.

Azezulite was honestly considering the idea of poofing pink and bubbling her while she did this but thought better of it as she silenced that dark voice “She’s using a local cave system Pink Opal, and since this is an island there’s likely more than just the one entrance we’ll simply need to look for another way in” Azezulite said as much like a school teacher explaining the solution to a logic problem.

Of course Pink Opal could not leave it at that. “And what if there’s not?”

Azezulite responded calmly, oh so calmly “Then we wait out front and I ask to be let in to see Scarlets remains. It’s far from ideal but if that becomes my only option then that is what I will do” she said between clenched teeth as she kept exploring the island ahead of pink opal so she could not see how she was grating on her. Eventually after several hours of searching Azezulite found what she wanted, a large open entrance that faced out to the sea partially hidden by the islands mountain formation. Smiling she lead pink opal and herself back to the warp pad cabin where she found a tree with reasonably large branches that could support the two of them. “Alright so now we wait I suppose” she said at last.

Pink Opal looked around “So we wait here for her so you can ask?” Azezulite shook her head and pointed up at the tree branches “You have got to be kidding me” she groaned.

Azezulite shook her head again “come on, up you get” Pink grumbled but eventually made her way up into the tree branches where Azezulite joined her.

“So you want us to wait here for your sister to leave? Do you have any idea how long that could take? I mean I didn’t even see a second entrance so once she goes then what? Break down the door?” Pink complained.

Azezulite responded to her maturely as she began explaining and correcting Pink Opal “yes, we wait for her to leave. And we will wait for however long it takes, and there is a back door you simply weren’t paying any attention when I found it.”

Pink grumbled but was able to mostly behave herself. Of course over the next five days as the pair waited pink did little more than complain and gripe about everything she could think of to complain about always quilting down when Azezulite told her to; no small number of times Azezulite honestly reconsidered the idea of poofing and bubbling pink while she waited and did what needed to be done. It would make things so much more peaceful. But that was wrong she reminded herself each time. Finally though, after five days Azezulite saw two gems, Smokey Quartz and a pink haired pearl step into the warp pad cabin and disappear. “Alright pink lets go before they come back.”

“Hu? Oh we can finally get out of these horribly uncomfortable trees? Great. Let’s go rob from that sister you love so much” shot back with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

Azezulite lead pink opal to the mountain side of the island and pointed out the nicely tucked away giant ocean facing cave entrance “see? It’s right there.”

Pink Opal glared at White Azezulite. “You want me to swim? I am not jumping into the ocean just so you can rob a grave and get some gem brought back to life because you feel guilty” she said coldly.

Az smiled at pink as she looked her in the eyes and placed both hands on the other gems shoulders “Now, Pink Opal, surly you can agree that getting a little wet is more than worth it to revive a gem who was wrongly slain and who deserves a second chance at life, right?”

Pink glared back at Azezulite “No. I don’t. They are dead and it’s not my problem or my fault, so if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather stay warm and dry thanks.”

Azezulite remained smiling “I tired. No one can say I did not try and be reasonable about this” she said sweetly, and for a moment Pink Opal believed she had finally won, but only for a moment as Azezulite then shoved her backwards and down into the water below, waiting a second she jumped after Pink’s tumbling form prefomring a more elegant professional dive. Once in the water Pink grumbled and glared daggers at Azezulite who simply smiled and dragged pink with her into the hidden cave dock and up onto the granite dock.

“Fine. WERE HERE!” Pink shouted as she looked around “now what?” she demanded.

Azezulite looked around with her “Now we start looking around to find where my sister would have put Scarlets remains. Then we hopefully leave out the front door before they get back, otherwise we need to swim again” Pink growled at Az who simply walked forward in a determined manner and began leading the way down hallway after hallway. While, to Pink Opal the search was long, tiresome and monotonous lasting an eternity, the truth was Az searched rather fast given the size of the complex, she would open a door, pop her head in, look around and go down to the next room repeating the process at every door, the entire process only lasting around forty minutes or so before she finally found the room she had been looking for, a library, most of the shelves empty but, visible from the rooms entrance, was a shelf behind the desk filled with silver canisters. Walking in Azezulite looked through the canisters reading the names to herself until she found the one she wanted, a simple silver tube with the name ‘Scarlet’ engraved on it, opening the tube she confirmed the shards of a broken red pearl, then resealed the tube and tucked it away in her jacket. “There, now was that really so bad Pink Opal?” she asked.

Pink didn’t dignify that with a direct response as she huffed “there, were done, can we go now?” Azezulite rolled her eyes and then began looking for the way out, thankfully the exit was much easier to find then the library and in only a handful of minutes they were out and headed to the warp pad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azezulite and Pink Opal returned to Labrodites forest, and after a short walk found the gem in question along with her daughter “So back again, are you here to waste more of my time or did you actualy bring what I needed?” she asked sarcastically.

Azezulite smiled and bowed her head as she revealed the canister, and true to her nature, Labrodite rudely snatched it from Az’s hands without a word, and opened it up “yep, those are gem fragments. Alright lets go get this done” she said in a board and slightly irritated tone, to be honest, Lab had been hoping these two wouldn’t come back, oh she wanted Azezulite to tutor Hypnonite, but she didn’t want to actually have to help bring back another damned gem, it was so damn time consuming. But a deal was a deal. “alright, well, let’s go” she grumbled before looking to Hypno and saying in a far cheerier tone of voice “Come on Hypnonite, Mommy’s going to teach you how to be a god and bring back the dead”

Hypno stopped chasing the butterfly around and looked to her mother a giant smile on her face as she ran towards her “Yey that sounds fun. What’s a god?” she asked.

Azezulite rolled her eyes, “A god, really?”

Labrodite lead the way to the warp pad “let’s see, I made Hypnonite, a brand new type of gem, I can bring back the dead, and I can take life with just as much ease as I bestow it, what would you call me?” she said teasingly.

Azezulite closed her eyes and focused on her ‘happy place’ as she realized what sort of gem she was going to be working with as she tutored Hypno “A god Hypnonite, is a fictitious creation invented by most organic life forms, typically they attribute the creation of the universe to said god, and believe that it has a special and important plan made just for them, is capable of preforming impossible tasks, and has created a special place they can go to after they die just for them where all their wishes and desires would come true and they can live with all their dead friends and family forever and nothing is ever bad there.”

Hypnonite thought about it for a moment “That sounds stupid, contradictory, and boring.” She summarized.

Az smiled and nodded “it is” Labrodite however made a set of mental notes.

After they arrived at abandoned Russian research institute Labrodite had commandeered she went to work, dancing between controls and showing Hypno everything she was doing, carefully explaining as she went. As they waited for the drill Labrodite decided to run down the basics “So, this isn’t an immediate thing. It’ll take time for the gem to reform, even with my magic accelerating the process, and this is only step one, it’s ALSO where my services on this will end; step TWO is all you!”

White Azezulite glared at Labrodite “And what prey tell is step two?”

Labrodite smirked “oh I forgot to mention? You need to immerse the gem in healing water for about a minute. You’re going to want about a cup or so of Rose Quartz’s healing tears”

Azezulite’s eye twitched “And where would I get that?”

Lab smirked “No idea, not my problem” Pink Opal smirked rather triumphantly as she watched Labrodite begin dashing all of Azezulites hopes, unfortunately Labrodite decided that she didn’t like that look of smug satisfaction on Pink Opals face so she added “But that Pink Opal probably knows where Rose put the fountain filled with her healing tears.”

Azezulite nodded “I see, thank you. And about how long will this process take exactly?”

Labrodite shrugged “depends on the gem.” When the drill returned to the surface with its core sample Labrodite broke it open and carved out a recess to put the gem. As she poured the contents of the silver tube into the crevasse she had carved she looked the fragments over and began piecing them together very carefully “Huh. It’s a red pearl. A defective one at that” she said as she noticed the incredibly misshapen nature of the pearl.

Pink Opal practically jumped from the corner of the room she had been sitting in with Hypno poking her in the cheek constantly. “WHAT!? WERE DOING ALL THIS FOR A DEFECTIVE PEARL!?”

Labrodite ignored her “well, my process won’t fix her gem shape, but it’ll smooth out any internal defects, not sure what that’d mean in a case this bad. Honestly I thought pearls this misshapen were just thrown away or shattered.”

Pink Opal marched up to the pair and looked at the carefully pieced together red pearl, it wasn’t round at all, it wasn’t even elliptical. The thing’s shape was amorphous and lumpy, the surface was covered in valley’s and ridges, there was a fold along one side, the thing was the most flawed, defective, misshapen lump of anything Pink Opal had ever seen, and White Azezulite had put her though all this, waiting in a damned tree for days, and throwing her into the fucking ocean all to bring back a flawed defect that probably didn’t even know how to count past three? “You put me through all that hell for this piece of garbage!? Whoever broke this pearl did the universe a favor!”

As soon as the words left Pink Opals mouth Azezulites hand was in motion, and pink felt herself falling to her knees, hands clutching at her cheek as she looked up at White Azezulite “You will not speak ill of a gem I am going to great lengths to have revived, you will not speak ill of the dead unless it is grounded in their past actions, and you most certainty will not insult members of my family, living or dead, in my presences.” She glared daggers at the fallen Pink Opal “Do I make myself clear young lady?”

Hypnonite ran around pink to Labrodite. The White Azezulite was scary when angry but she enjoyed what she had just seen. It looked like fun. She wanted to try slapping someone so hard they fell down. Pink Opal glared back at Azezulite “Yes Ma’am.”

For her part Labrodite laughed at the exchange as she resealed the core sample and placed it back in the drill to be redeposited, a good supply of her magic infused into the rocks and pearl to accelerate things and let her know when the process was done. She left the pair alone as she finished the last of her actual work, closed her eyes and got a bead on how long this would take. Surprisingly a week or so shy of a month “Well as adorable as that was, your gem’s been re-seeded, she’ll be ready in about three-ish weeks. And you’re going to want that healing water otherwise well, it won’t be pretty.”

Azezulite nodded and looked at Pink Opal “Well Pink?”

Pink stood up “Well what?” she snapped.

Azezulite took a deep calming breath and exhaled slowly “Would you please be so kind as to take me to this fountain of Rose’s healing tears so that I might procure some of the water to use in properly reviving Scarlet?”

Pink Opal wanted to say no, she wanted to tell Azezulite that she could go screw herself, and she wanted to say she doubted that the pearl could come out any worse than it already was, but she also didn’t want to get hit again so she huffed “Fine” and began leading the way.

After quickly filling the silver tube with water from Rose’s healing fountain Azezulite made a second trip to Smokey’s island and carved out a message for her on a stone tablet indicating a location and time to meet. Afterwards she returned to the Russian research lab and waited with Labrodite for Scarlet to reform.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the appointed time Labrodite smirked “She’s done~” she sang as she began the process of bringing up the core sample “And just so you know, at this stage of the revival she’s only slightly better than a corruption, so if you don’t plan on immersing her in Rose’s Tears before she breaks out of the sample, you’re going to need to poof her and then dump her gem in the water” she reiterated.

Azezulite nodded “I understand. Let’s get this over with” Labrodite smirked, it would be interesting to see how this gem handled seeing whatever monstrous form her friend took. As soon as the sample was up and in the open it began shaking and glowing as Scarlet started to regenerate, the light of her forming body tearing apart the weakened stone around her just as any developing gem would, and like clockwork the core sample exploded, a vaguely humanoid shape emerged, long misshapen claws on one hand, a giant blade wrapped in tentacles forming in the other, a long thick prehensile tail for balance, digi-grade clawed feet, but before the form could resolve into any real detail and before Scarlet could recognize her surroundings White Azezulite began shooting the forming gem in its head until the formation process stopped and it poofed, reaching out a hand Az quickly caught the gem before it could fall, then gently slid it into the canister “Don’t worry Scar, aunty Az will make sure you’re alright” she whispered then looked at a rather shocked Labrodite “thank you for your services. When I return to your forest I will be ready to start Hypnonites tutelage. Pink, let’s go” she said and began walking away.

Labrodite smirked. Alright, so, Maybe this White Azezulite wouldn’t be so annoying to have around after all, she thought as she licked her lips remembering the cold, calculating look on Azezulites face as she heartlessly shot a gem she supposedly loved without even giving it a chance to finish forming. That was cold. And beautiful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon returning to Smokey’s tropical island White Azezulite lead Pink Opal to a scenic out cropping of rocks by a cliff face, then carefully poured out the contents of Scarlets tube, catching her gem as it slid out with the water, then very carefully she set it down on a cloth, seconds later her pearl began to glow, slowly rising up into the air and rotating on all its axis before light began to pour out of it and the gem itself stopped moving, a few seconds later and a proper gem had materialized dressed in a short sleeved button up white dress blouse, and a matching pair of black dress pants, and combat boots. Like most pearls she was thin and tall, standing roughly six feet, however unlike most pearls Scarlet had a stronger looking toned and athletic build to her with some muscle detail visible under her relaxed crimson arms. Her hair was a short, bright reddish-orange mess that tapered into reddish purple tips and looking like she had recently gotten out of bed and given no more thought to her appearance then to lightly straighten out her hair by hand. Her eyes were a dark blood red which matched her claw like nails, and as she finished reforming a smile crept on her lips revealing a large snaggel toothed incisor on the top right side of her jaw.

Pink Opal rolled her eyes and inwardly criticized everything about the red pearls appearance, the claws, the messy hair, the muscular build that might have been passible for a combat gem but was certainly unfitting for a pearl, the snaggle tooth, the cloths, not a single aspect of this pearl measured up, and then, sitting in front of its chest between its collar bones was that deformed hideous gem that gave rise to this mismatched degenerate form. Of course Azezulite didn’t see any of this, as soon as the pearl had finished forming and before it even opened its eyes she had rushed forwards and forced the thing into practical bear hug as she began crying her eyes out as if restoring such garbage was in some way a feat worthy of tears.

Scarlet returned the embrace on impulse before opening her eyes and looking around. This was very much not the world she last remembered being on, the biggest clue was the plant life, the last planet she remembered being on was so far into its development that it only supported lichens and mosses but there were tree’s here. Her mind also wandered to the last things she could remember which snapped her out of the warm and loving embrace she was in as she pushed away and immediately raised a hand to her gem. It was intact, but she distinctly remembered Black Azezulite shattering it her eyes widened as she stared into the tear stained eyes of her loving aunt, White Azezulite who grabbed Scarlet again and held her close and immediately began uttering reassurances “It’s alright Scar, you’re alright, She’s gone and she’ll never hurt you again, I swear. You don’t know how happy I am to have you back.” Scarlet wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, why, or how, but she was reasonably sure she was dead before, so she wasn’t about to question this as she returned Azezulites hug and cried into her shoulder. Pink Opal watched the pathetic display and mentally gagged.

As Scarlet, White Azezulite, and Pink Opal waited for Smokey Quartz to arrive Az took the time to catch her niece up on what had happened since she was shattered, and as Scarlet listened and waited she noticed a few differences about herself, she didn’t have near as hard a time grasping what was being discussed, and when she didn’t understand, she didn’t get nearly as frustrated by a complex answer, she wasn’t smarter but her mind felt clearer, like a fog had finally been lifted, everything she’d say that made her, HER, was still there was well, the anger, the determination, the beat it up first mentality, but everything felt more focused, as if the world was a giant blur of distorted fuzzy shapes and now it was suddenly very sharply defined with clean edges. Oh and she really wanted to beat the ever loving shit out of the Pink Opal auntie Az brought with her because it was written on her face how much she hatted defects, which was to Scarlet as clear a sign as any that she really was still her.

After a few hours of talking and being caught up on current events Smokey arrived, precisely at the time Az had written for her. Of course the moment Smokey caught sight of the trio of gems her jaw dropped and she ran towards them as fast as she could covering the distance in almost the blink of an eye, the moment she was within arms reach she gently touched Scarlets face, tracing her features, then circling her misshapen gem, eyes still wide in wonder as tears fell freely down her cheeks, she then grabbed her daughter and held her in the tightest hug Scarlet could ever recall. Smokey began sobbing as she stroked scarlets hair and held her close, and normally Scarlet would have made a large fuss about being fussed over, particularly in front of a gem she didn’t know but she couldn’t bring herself to tell her mother not to, not when she knew why. It didn’t take long before she herself started crying into Smokey’s chest, each issuing the other apologises, and platitudes and trying to take the blame for what had happened. After several minutes Smokey let go of Scarlet and turned her attention to White Azezulite, glaring daggers at her sister she demanded to know “Wh….” No, she knew WHY, that question was worthless “What did you have to do to bring her back?” she asked.

Azezulite would normally have tried to give a slightly coy answer but she knew this wasn’t the time or place for that so she answered honestly “Agree to teach some one’s daughter about her heritage, culture, and history, that’s all I swear” she said meekly.

Smokey glared at her wanting to know what else was involved in this, and to exactly what lengths her sister had gone to but she wasn’t about to question it either. “Fine” she said reluctantly accepting the answer “But if you end up needing help because you are in over your head…”

Aezulite nodded “I know, come running and you’ll clean up my mess for me, again” she said with a bit of sarcasm and bitterness.

Without warning Smokey grabbed Azezulite and pulled her into a hug with Scarlet “You know I don’t mean it like that, I just don’t want to lose either of you again” she whispered.

Az sobbed lightly into Smokey’s chest before excising herself from her sister’s arms “well, I’ll be leaving now” she said as she wiped away a few remaining tears then motioned for Pink Opal to fallow her, which for once she did without complaint, happy to be out of the presences of that defect.

After watching Pink Opal and Azezulite depart Smokey turned her full attention to her freshly resurrected daughter who looked up at her “So, Earth?” Scarlet asked hesitantly.

Smokey nodded “Yeah, things did not go well on world 211, I sent most of the surviving resistance leaders to other worlds.”

Scarlet rolled her neck as she closed her eyes “And used yourself as a decoy. Again.” She then glared at her mother “You know you’re REALLY not supposed to do that right?”

Smokey smirked “yeah, but you weren’t there to tell me how stupid I was being.”

Scarlet chuckled as she leaned against the cliff face “So, Auntie Az told me what happened with her and how I got brought back, but what about you?”

Smokey smiled “nothing much, planning, calculating, falling in love ,getting Az back to normal, building a secret base on a tropical island. Nothing to special.”

Scarlet nodded then stopped mid nod “Wait, in love!? WHO!?!”

Smokey smiled, she knew her daughter wouldn’t miss a detail like that. “Her name is Rose, and she is a pink pearl.”

Scarlet nodded and waved with her hands for Smokey to continue “and!?” she asked impatiently as she bobbed on her feet, an excited look in her eyes.

Smokey smiled, “Come on, walk with me around the island and I’ll tell you all about her” she teased as she began walking away forcing Scarlet to fallow after her if she wanted to know more. “Let’s see, she’s a pearl, she’s pink, her former mistress was that pink opal that was with your aunt, she did not treat Rose well, at all.” Smokey sighed as she recalled the state she found Pink Pearl in “She had Rose staying with other gems waiting for her return, would visit for a few days and then leave for decades at a time, I’m sure you know how that would have felt for a pearl” Scarlet nodded and winced at the anxiety she knew Rose would feel whenever her mistress left her for a long time. “Well, to make a long story short, Rose and that opal fused and dealt with a mad dog, a blood stone with an internal fissure from what I gathered, the opal threw rose away because Rose did the smart thing and shattered the blood stone when it asked to be executed, the opal even blamed Rose for everything.”

Scarlet gasped, not at the notion of killing a soldier that had gone mad from an internal facture, that happened, but from the idea that Rose’s former mistress would abandon her for it, and then have the nerve to blame her for the outcome. It left Scar clenching and unclenching her fists, she could only imagine the devastation that would have caused the poor pearl. “That….. That monster.”

Smokey nodded “she didn’t even bother to give Rose to someone else, she just threw her away” Scarlets breath caught in her throat at that, to be blamed and thrown away was bad enough, but to be so casually discarded? It was too painful to think about. Smokey read her daughters expression and nodded “Yeah, she was devastated. But she’s come a long way, she’s got hobby’s now, she loved flowers, walks through the forest, and spending time with me” she shrugged a little at that one, almost all pearls loved spending time with their mistresses “it took her a while to work it out in her own head, that pink opal did a number on her, but Rose realized she was in love with me and eventually worked up the courage to admit her feelings” Smokey said with a smile “And I have not meet a more compassionate, kind hearted, patient gem in at least the last fifty thousand years” she mused “she is adorable to tease as well.”

Scarlet raised a hand up “you ARE being nice with the teasing right? you know most gems can’t stand your teasing, and if she’s been as sheltered as I think from what you said….”

Smokey interrupted her “She turns the most adorable shades of red and pink when she blushes, and her face scrunches up or she gets so flustered it is beyond cute.”

Scarlet let out a light hearted sighed “The poor girl, falling in love with you.”

Smokey laughed “I’m not that bad” she became rather quite then and smiled slightly “You know, after I dealt with the Black Azezulite problem….. Az thanked me for turning her into that….. it. I wasn’t in a good place after that” she admitted as she looked at the blue sky “I tried to scare Rose away, told her to find someone else and that I was a horrible monster. The usual trip someone in a panicked depression dose, locked her out of the study and everything. But she wouldn’t have it. She went and got another gem to break her in and then she talked some sense back into me.”

Scarlet nodded in understanding, it didn’t happen often but she knew what her mother could be like when she became particularly depressed or blamed herself for something. “She sounds lovely” Scarlet whispered “I can’t wait to meet her” she then looked at Smokey “I’m still not calling her mom though. Only you get that.”

Smokey laughed and pulled scarlet into a half hug as they walked “Fair enough Scar, fair enough” from there the scenic walk back to the subterranean compound consisted mostly of Smokey telling Scarlet about things on earth or gushing over her beloved Rose depending on what question Scarlet asked.

“Alright Scar, I want this to be a nice surprise for Rose, so fallow behind me but try and stay out of sight until I signal you okay?” Smokey asked as Scarlet nodded her response. The two wandered the halls, knowing her love as well as she did the first place the two checked was the kitchen, which also happened to be exactly where Rose was, experimenting with new tea blends for Smokey to try. Entering the room as she normally did Smokey sat at the table and awaited her tea, and like clockwork Rose prepared and poured Smokey her cup, although she did note that her mistress was almost an hour early, she could only assume that her meeting with White Azezulite did not go as well as had been hoped. Before Rose could pour her own cup and take her seat Smokey began speaking in a solemn tone “I don’t think I ever told you much about Scarlet did I Rose?” she asked.

Rose shook her head, she hadn’t asked much as she didn’t care about a dead defect but she would be polite “No, but it’s alright I know she was your daughter and you loved her” she said with a vague idea as to why this would be the topic, Azezulite had stolen Scarlets remains, Smokey had said it was because she needed to mourn, likely their meeting drugged up old and unpleasant memories for the both of them. Smokey mad a small sad smile, and Rose moved to hug her “It’s alright Smokey, I know it must be hard” she said soothingly, she didn’t know what loss on this scale would be like, but she could imagine what it would be like if she lost Smokey now, and so Rose desperately wanted to spare her love as much of that pain as possible.

Smokey returned the embrace. “No Rose, it’s a long way from ‘alright’ Scarlet was my daughter, I loved her like I loved few other gems, she was brave, and more than a little impulsive, she didn’t have a lot of the traits you’d expect from your average pearl, but you know?” she looked at Rose tears welling up in her eyes “She was determined, if she had a goal, there wasn’t anything in the universe that would stop her, she’d figure out a way to accomplish it, and that grit really did see her through a lot of life’s problems. I think you’d have really liked her if you’d met” she said softly.

Rose nodded “I’m sure I would have” she replied.

Without a sound the door to the dinning and kitchen area slid open, and quite as a mouse in walked Scarlet, without even turning to look at her and perfectly on que Smokey smiled “Rose, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Scarlet, this is Rose” she said, introducing the two as she stood.

Scarlet gave a rather shy smile that showed off her long incisor and waved cautiously “Um. Hi” she said quietly, polite social interaction with new gems being something she had never been comfortable with. Rose froze as her mind raced, eyes wide in shock “It’s uh, nice to meet you, mom told me a lot of nice things about you on our um, on our way here” she looked at Rose then down to the side “it’s okay, I’m a grown gem, and I’m not very needy so I won’t get between the two of you. Promise” she said in a quite tone of voice.

Smokey then wrapped her arms around both Scarlet and Rose pulling them all into a hug as she nuzzled her face between the top of the heads of the two pearls. “My Rose and my Scarlet.” She said lovingly as she tightened her embrace, Scarlet returned the hug pulling on Smokey and Rose who remained petrified before she could no longer stand it.

“KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!” Rose screamed as she shoved herself out of the embrace and away from Smokey and that wretched defect. A look of horror and shock covered both Smokey’s and Scarlets face’s as Rose began panting and backing away from Scarlet “I won’t have it touching me, not something as defective as it is.” She said in a controlled rage.

Smokey looked like she was about to say something when Scarlet nodded “it’s okay. I understand” she said quietly, made a polite bow and then walked away leaving Smokey alone with Rose. once she was out of the room, and a few feet down the corridor she ducked into one of the unused rooms and began to cry. She was used to being insulted, reviled and hated because of her defects, but this still hurt, from what her mother had said, Scar was honestly looking forward to meeting Rose and becoming friends with her, she was honestly only prepared to be distrusted because she might be viewed as an interloper, after all, when this romance started, Scar herself was dead. Taking a few deep breaths she whipped the tears from her eyes. Normally she’d go out and look for a fight to blow off some steam but she couldn’t do that now, not without telling her mom what she’d be doing so she decide to wait in the empty room until she and Rose finished what was sure to be a great conversation. Slumping down the side of the wall Scarlet was left looking at her claw like nails, muscled frame, and otherwise mismatched un-pearl like body. She liked who she was, why couldn’t that be enough she thought.

Smokey looked at Rose as Scarlet excused herself “Rose. Sit” she commanded as she took up a seat at the opposite end of the table, rested her elbows on the table top, and held her hands in front of her face, her index fingers meeting to make a steeple. “Explain” she commanded the instant Rose took her own seat. Rose remained silent. “Fine. Do you think Scarlet will harm either of us?” Smokey’s voice was cold and distant, like some far off judge hearing a case. Rose shook her head, no. “Do you think she will steal me from you?” again, Rose shook her head. “Do you think she is a bad gem? That she will lie or somehow manipulate either of us for her own gains?” once more all Rose could do was shake her head. Smokey let out a deep sigh, her eyes never leaving Roses, never before had Rose felt intimidated around Smokey but now there was an almost overwhelming oppressive aura in the room. “Then tell me Why Rose.” Smokey commanded.

Rose broke eye contact “Because she’s a defect.”

Smokey responded instantly “That is not an answer” she said flatly.

Rose grumbled “Because defects are a stain on our society, their an embarrassment and insult to everything it means to be a gem.”

“Do you want Scarlet dead then?”

Rose shook her head “No of course not” she might not like defects but she wouldn’t have them killed just for that.

“Then what would you want done with her?” Smokey asked.

“Just… Just keep her away from me. I never want her near me, I don’t even want to be in the same room as her” she said.

Smokey raised an eye brow “So I should just tell her that whenever you enter a room she is to leave then? Or would you prefer a schedule that tells her when she can and can’t be in certain rooms, perhaps some rooms should just be off limits for her all the time, like our bedroom and the dining room?” Smokey ventured.

Rose nodded “Yes! That would be perfect” she said happily at the notion of a solution to keep her and the defect away from each other.

Smokey glared daggers at Rose “That was Sarcasm Rose, it is absolutely unreasonable for that to be a solution.” she responded flatly with barley contained furry that made Rose sink in her seat. “You and Scarlet are going to have to learn to get along, and you are going to need to get over this bigotry of yours.” Smokey then stood up and walked out to go find her daughter and see how she was doing.

Rose remained in her seat feeling terrible, she loved Smokey, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, but just the idea of being near a defect made Rose’s skin crawl and her stomach lurch. She couldn’t do it, she just could not do it.

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White Azezulite and Pink Opal materialized on a warp pad housed within a rather cozy log cabin. Looking around Azezulite smiled and nodded to herself, this was defiantly her sisters style. Opening the front door she led herself and Pink Opal out into the tropical island jungle and began to explore. After only twenty or so minutes of hiking Pink Opal spoke up “So what are we even looking for?” she groaned.

“The entrance to whatever home my sister will have built here, hopefully it won’t have a lock” Azezulite responded while Pink grumbled something about that being obvious.

“And if it has a lock?” she shot back.

“we cross that bridge when we come to it” Azezulite replied calmly.

Pink grumbled to herself again this time loud enough to be clearly heard “And why’d I have to get dragged along for your wild goose chase.”

Az rolled her eyes and repeated herself for, honestly she’d lost count “Because I am responsible for you, and I am certain that you would run away and get yourself into trouble if I left you to your own devices, and I have very little interest in having to rescue you from something that could have been prevented by just keeping you at my side” she lectured. Again. She didn’t even think the words they had been said so often now and she was sure her tone was probably dead by this point. It was not long before the two of them found the entrance to Smokey’s cavern complex, it was a large stone door fitted into a rock formation, clearly the entrance to a cave network. As Azezulite approached and showed her gem to the door, the door did not respond “Damn.”

Pink smirked “oh look the door to the secret underground bunker is locked. Well you tried, guess we have to leave now” she said in mock surprise as she slapped her checks and gasped.

Azezulite was honestly considering the idea of poofing pink and bubbling her while she did this but thought better of it as she silenced that dark voice “She’s using a local cave system Pink Opal, and since this is an island there’s likely more than just the one entrance we’ll simply need to look for another way in” Azezulite said as much like a school teacher explaining the solution to a logic problem.

Of course Pink Opal could not leave it at that. “And what if there’s not?”

Azezulite responded calmly, oh so calmly “Then we wait out front and I ask to be let in to see Scarlets remains. It’s far from ideal but if that becomes my only option then that is what I will do” she said between clenched teeth as she kept exploring the island ahead of pink opal so she could not see how she was grating on her. Eventually after several hours of searching Azezulite found what she wanted, a large open entrance that faced out to the sea partially hidden by the islands mountain formation. Smiling she lead pink opal and herself back to the warp pad cabin where she found a tree with reasonably large branches that could support the two of them. “Alright so now we wait I suppose” she said at last.

Pink Opal looked around “So we wait here for her so you can ask?” Azezulite shook her head and pointed up at the tree branches “You have got to be kidding me” she groaned.

Azezulite shook her head again “come on, up you get” Pink grumbled but eventually made her way up into the tree branches where Azezulite joined her.

“So you want us to wait here for your sister to leave? Do you have any idea how long that could take? I mean I didn’t even see a second entrance so once she goes then what? Break down the door?” Pink complained.

Azezulite responded to her maturely as she began explaining and correcting Pink Opal “yes, we wait for her to leave. And we will wait for however long it takes, and there is a back door you simply weren’t paying any attention when I found it.”

Pink grumbled but was able to mostly behave herself. Of course over the next five days as the pair waited pink did little more than complain and gripe about everything she could think of to complain about always quilting down when Azezulite told her to; no small number of times Azezulite honestly reconsidered the idea of poofing and bubbling pink while she waited and did what needed to be done. It would make things so much more peaceful. But that was wrong she reminded herself each time. Finally though, after five days Azezulite saw two gems, Smokey Quartz and a pink haired pearl step into the warp pad cabin and disappear. “Alright pink lets go before they come back.”

“Hu? Oh we can finally get out of these horribly uncomfortable trees? Great. Let’s go rob from that sister you love so much” shot back with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

Azezulite lead pink opal to the mountain side of the island and pointed out the nicely tucked away giant ocean facing cave entrance “see? It’s right there.”

Pink Opal glared at White Azezulite. “You want me to swim? I am not jumping into the ocean just so you can rob a grave and get some gem brought back to life because you feel guilty” she said coldly.

Az smiled at pink as she looked her in the eyes and placed both hands on the other gems shoulders “Now, Pink Opal, surly you can agree that getting a little wet is more than worth it to revive a gem who was wrongly slain and who deserves a second chance at life, right?”

Pink glared back at Azezulite “No. I don’t. They are dead and it’s not my problem or my fault, so if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather stay warm and dry thanks.”

Azezulite remained smiling “I tired. No one can say I did not try and be reasonable about this” she said sweetly, and for a moment Pink Opal believed she had finally won, but only for a moment as Azezulite then shoved her backwards and down into the water below, waiting a second she jumped after Pink’s tumbling form prefomring a more elegant professional dive. Once in the water Pink grumbled and glared daggers at Azezulite who simply smiled and dragged pink with her into the hidden cave dock and up onto the granite dock.

“Fine. WERE HERE!” Pink shouted as she looked around “now what?” she demanded.

Azezulite looked around with her “Now we start looking around to find where my sister would have put Scarlets remains. Then we hopefully leave out the front door before they get back, otherwise we need to swim again” Pink growled at Az who simply walked forward in a determined manner and began leading the way down hallway after hallway. While, to Pink Opal the search was long, tiresome and monotonous lasting an eternity, the truth was Az searched rather fast given the size of the complex, she would open a door, pop her head in, look around and go down to the next room repeating the process at every door, the entire process only lasting around forty minutes or so before she finally found the room she had been looking for, a library, most of the shelves empty but, visible from the rooms entrance, was a shelf behind the desk filled with silver canisters. Walking in Azezulite looked through the canisters reading the names to herself until she found the one she wanted, a simple silver tube with the name ‘Scarlet’ engraved on it, opening the tube she confirmed the shards of a broken red pearl, then resealed the tube and tucked it away in her jacket. “There, now was that really so bad Pink Opal?” she asked.

Pink didn’t dignify that with a direct response as she huffed “there, were done, can we go now?” Azezulite rolled her eyes and then began looking for the way out, thankfully the exit was much easier to find then the library and in only a handful of minutes they were out and headed to the warp pad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azezulite and Pink Opal returned to Labrodites forest, and after a short walk found the gem in question along with her daughter “So back again, are you here to waste more of my time or did you actualy bring what I needed?” she asked sarcastically.

Azezulite smiled and bowed her head as she revealed the canister, and true to her nature, Labrodite rudely snatched it from Az’s hands without a word, and opened it up “yep, those are gem fragments. Alright lets go get this done” she said in a board and slightly irritated tone, to be honest, Lab had been hoping these two wouldn’t come back, oh she wanted Azezulite to tutor Hypnonite, but she didn’t want to actually have to help bring back another damned gem, it was so damn time consuming. But a deal was a deal. “alright, well, let’s go” she grumbled before looking to Hypno and saying in a far cheerier tone of voice “Come on Hypnonite, Mommy’s going to teach you how to be a god and bring back the dead”

Hypno stopped chasing the butterfly around and looked to her mother a giant smile on her face as she ran towards her “Yey that sounds fun. What’s a god?” she asked.

Azezulite rolled her eyes, “A god, really?”

Labrodite lead the way to the warp pad “let’s see, I made Hypnonite, a brand new type of gem, I can bring back the dead, and I can take life with just as much ease as I bestow it, what would you call me?” she said teasingly.

Azezulite closed her eyes and focused on her ‘happy place’ as she realized what sort of gem she was going to be working with as she tutored Hypno “A god Hypnonite, is a fictitious creation invented by most organic life forms, typically they attribute the creation of the universe to said god, and believe that it has a special and important plan made just for them, is capable of preforming impossible tasks, and has created a special place they can go to after they die just for them where all their wishes and desires would come true and they can live with all their dead friends and family forever and nothing is ever bad there.”

Hypnonite thought about it for a moment “That sounds stupid, contradictory, and boring.” She summarized.

Az smiled and nodded “it is” Labrodite however made a set of mental notes.

After they arrived at abandoned Russian research institute Labrodite had commandeered she went to work, dancing between controls and showing Hypno everything she was doing, carefully explaining as she went. As they waited for the drill Labrodite decided to run down the basics “So, this isn’t an immediate thing. It’ll take time for the gem to reform, even with my magic accelerating the process, and this is only step one, it’s ALSO where my services on this will end; step TWO is all you!”

White Azezulite glared at Labrodite “And what prey tell is step two?”

Labrodite smirked “oh I forgot to mention? You need to immerse the gem in healing water for about a minute. You’re going to want about a cup or so of Rose Quartz’s healing tears”

Azezulite’s eye twitched “And where would I get that?”

Lab smirked “No idea, not my problem” Pink Opal smirked rather triumphantly as she watched Labrodite begin dashing all of Azezulites hopes, unfortunately Labrodite decided that she didn’t like that look of smug satisfaction on Pink Opals face so she added “But that Pink Opal probably knows where Rose put the fountain filled with her healing tears.”

Azezulite nodded “I see, thank you. And about how long will this process take exactly?”

Labrodite shrugged “depends on the gem.” When the drill returned to the surface with its core sample Labrodite broke it open and carved out a recess to put the gem. As she poured the contents of the silver tube into the crevasse she had carved she looked the fragments over and began piecing them together very carefully “Huh. It’s a red pearl. A defective one at that” she said as she noticed the incredibly misshapen nature of the pearl.

Pink Opal practically jumped from the corner of the room she had been sitting in with Hypno poking her in the cheek constantly. “WHAT!? WERE DOING ALL THIS FOR A DEFECTIVE PEARL!?”

Labrodite ignored her “well, my process won’t fix her gem shape, but it’ll smooth out any internal defects, not sure what that’d mean in a case this bad. Honestly I thought pearls this misshapen were just thrown away or shattered.”

Pink Opal marched up to the pair and looked at the carefully pieced together red pearl, it wasn’t round at all, it wasn’t even elliptical. The thing’s shape was amorphous and lumpy, the surface was covered in valley’s and ridges, there was a fold along one side, the thing was the most flawed, defective, misshapen lump of anything Pink Opal had ever seen, and White Azezulite had put her though all this, waiting in a damned tree for days, and throwing her into the fucking ocean all to bring back a flawed defect that probably didn’t even know how to count past three? “You put me through all that hell for this piece of garbage!? Whoever broke this pearl did the universe a favor!”

As soon as the words left Pink Opals mouth Azezulites hand was in motion, and pink felt herself falling to her knees, hands clutching at her cheek as she looked up at White Azezulite “You will not speak ill of a gem I am going to great lengths to have revived, you will not speak ill of the dead unless it is grounded in their past actions, and you most certainty will not insult members of my family, living or dead, in my presences.” She glared daggers at the fallen Pink Opal “Do I make myself clear young lady?”

Hypnonite ran around pink to Labrodite. The White Azezulite was scary when angry but she enjoyed what she had just seen. It looked like fun. She wanted to try slapping someone so hard they fell down. Pink Opal glared back at Azezulite “Yes Ma’am.”

For her part Labrodite laughed at the exchange as she resealed the core sample and placed it back in the drill to be redeposited, a good supply of her magic infused into the rocks and pearl to accelerate things and let her know when the process was done. She left the pair alone as she finished the last of her actual work, closed her eyes and got a bead on how long this would take. Surprisingly a week or so shy of a month “Well as adorable as that was, your gem’s been re-seeded, she’ll be ready in about three-ish weeks. And you’re going to want that healing water otherwise well, it won’t be pretty.”

Azezulite nodded and looked at Pink Opal “Well Pink?”

Pink stood up “Well what?” she snapped.

Azezulite took a deep calming breath and exhaled slowly “Would you please be so kind as to take me to this fountain of Rose’s healing tears so that I might procure some of the water to use in properly reviving Scarlet?”

Pink Opal wanted to say no, she wanted to tell Azezulite that she could go screw herself, and she wanted to say she doubted that the pearl could come out any worse than it already was, but she also didn’t want to get hit again so she huffed “Fine” and began leading the way.

After quickly filling the silver tube with water from Rose’s healing fountain Azezulite made a second trip to Smokey’s island and carved out a message for her on a stone tablet indicating a location and time to meet. Afterwards she returned to the Russian research lab and waited with Labrodite for Scarlet to reform.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the appointed time Labrodite smirked “She’s done~” she sang as she began the process of bringing up the core sample “And just so you know, at this stage of the revival she’s only slightly better than a corruption, so if you don’t plan on immersing her in Rose’s Tears before she breaks out of the sample, you’re going to need to poof her and then dump her gem in the water” she reiterated.

Azezulite nodded “I understand. Let’s get this over with” Labrodite smirked, it would be interesting to see how this gem handled seeing whatever monstrous form her friend took. As soon as the sample was up and in the open it began shaking and glowing as Scarlet started to regenerate, the light of her forming body tearing apart the weakened stone around her just as any developing gem would, and like clockwork the core sample exploded, a vaguely humanoid shape emerged, long misshapen claws on one hand, a giant blade wrapped in tentacles forming in the other, a long thick prehensile tail for balance, digi-grade clawed feet, but before the form could resolve into any real detail and before Scarlet could recognize her surroundings White Azezulite began shooting the forming gem in its head until the formation process stopped and it poofed, reaching out a hand Az quickly caught the gem before it could fall, then gently slid it into the canister “Don’t worry Scar, aunty Az will make sure you’re alright” she whispered then looked at a rather shocked Labrodite “thank you for your services. When I return to your forest I will be ready to start Hypnonites tutelage. Pink, let’s go” she said and began walking away.

Labrodite smirked. Alright, so, Maybe this White Azezulite wouldn’t be so annoying to have around after all, she thought as she licked her lips remembering the cold, calculating look on Azezulites face as she heartlessly shot a gem she supposedly loved without even giving it a chance to finish forming. That was cold. And beautiful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon returning to Smokey’s tropical island White Azezulite lead Pink Opal to a scenic out cropping of rocks by a cliff face, then carefully poured out the contents of Scarlets tube, catching her gem as it slid out with the water, then very carefully she set it down on a cloth, seconds later her pearl began to glow, slowly rising up into the air and rotating on all its axis before light began to pour out of it and the gem itself stopped moving, a few seconds later and a proper gem had materialized dressed in a short sleeved button up white dress blouse, and a matching pair of black dress pants, and combat boots. Like most pearls she was thin and tall, standing roughly six feet, however unlike most pearls Scarlet had a stronger looking toned and athletic build to her with some muscle detail visible under her relaxed crimson arms. Her hair was a short, bright reddish-orange mess that tapered into reddish purple tips and looking like she had recently gotten out of bed and given no more thought to her appearance then to lightly straighten out her hair by hand. Her eyes were a dark blood red which matched her claw like nails, and as she finished reforming a smile crept on her lips revealing a large snaggel toothed incisor on the top right side of her jaw.

Pink Opal rolled her eyes and inwardly criticized everything about the red pearls appearance, the claws, the messy hair, the muscular build that might have been passible for a combat gem but was certainly unfitting for a pearl, the snaggle tooth, the cloths, not a single aspect of this pearl measured up, and then, sitting in front of its chest between its collar bones was that deformed hideous gem that gave rise to this mismatched degenerate form. Of course Azezulite didn’t see any of this, as soon as the pearl had finished forming and before it even opened its eyes she had rushed forwards and forced the thing into practical bear hug as she began crying her eyes out as if restoring such garbage was in some way a feat worthy of tears.

Scarlet returned the embrace on impulse before opening her eyes and looking around. This was very much not the world she last remembered being on, the biggest clue was the plant life, the last planet she remembered being on was so far into its development that it only supported lichens and mosses but there were tree’s here. Her mind also wandered to the last things she could remember which snapped her out of the warm and loving embrace she was in as she pushed away and immediately raised a hand to her gem. It was intact, but she distinctly remembered Black Azezulite shattering it her eyes widened as she stared into the tear stained eyes of her loving aunt, White Azezulite who grabbed Scarlet again and held her close and immediately began uttering reassurances “It’s alright Scar, you’re alright, She’s gone and she’ll never hurt you again, I swear. You don’t know how happy I am to have you back.” Scarlet wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, why, or how, but she was reasonably sure she was dead before, so she wasn’t about to question this as she returned Azezulites hug and cried into her shoulder. Pink Opal watched the pathetic display and mentally gagged.

As Scarlet, White Azezulite, and Pink Opal waited for Smokey Quartz to arrive Az took the time to catch her niece up on what had happened since she was shattered, and as Scarlet listened and waited she noticed a few differences about herself, she didn’t have near as hard a time grasping what was being discussed, and when she didn’t understand, she didn’t get nearly as frustrated by a complex answer, she wasn’t smarter but her mind felt clearer, like a fog had finally been lifted, everything she’d say that made her, HER, was still there was well, the anger, the determination, the beat it up first mentality, but everything felt more focused, as if the world was a giant blur of distorted fuzzy shapes and now it was suddenly very sharply defined with clean edges. Oh and she really wanted to beat the ever loving shit out of the Pink Opal auntie Az brought with her because it was written on her face how much she hatted defects, which was to Scarlet as clear a sign as any that she really was still her.

After a few hours of talking and being caught up on current events Smokey arrived, precisely at the time Az had written for her. Of course the moment Smokey caught sight of the trio of gems her jaw dropped and she ran towards them as fast as she could covering the distance in almost the blink of an eye, the moment she was within arms reach she gently touched Scarlets face, tracing her features, then circling her misshapen gem, eyes still wide in wonder as tears fell freely down her cheeks, she then grabbed her daughter and held her in the tightest hug Scarlet could ever recall. Smokey began sobbing as she stroked scarlets hair and held her close, and normally Scarlet would have made a large fuss about being fussed over, particularly in front of a gem she didn’t know but she couldn’t bring herself to tell her mother not to, not when she knew why. It didn’t take long before she herself started crying into Smokey’s chest, each issuing the other apologises, and platitudes and trying to take the blame for what had happened. After several minutes Smokey let go of Scarlet and turned her attention to White Azezulite, glaring daggers at her sister she demanded to know “Wh….” No, she knew WHY, that question was worthless “What did you have to do to bring her back?” she asked.

Azezulite would normally have tried to give a slightly coy answer but she knew this wasn’t the time or place for that so she answered honestly “Agree to teach some one’s daughter about her heritage, culture, and history, that’s all I swear” she said meekly.

Smokey glared at her wanting to know what else was involved in this, and to exactly what lengths her sister had gone to but she wasn’t about to question it either. “Fine” she said reluctantly accepting the answer “But if you end up needing help because you are in over your head…”

Aezulite nodded “I know, come running and you’ll clean up my mess for me, again” she said with a bit of sarcasm and bitterness.

Without warning Smokey grabbed Azezulite and pulled her into a hug with Scarlet “You know I don’t mean it like that, I just don’t want to lose either of you again” she whispered.

Az sobbed lightly into Smokey’s chest before excising herself from her sister’s arms “well, I’ll be leaving now” she said as she wiped away a few remaining tears then motioned for Pink Opal to fallow her, which for once she did without complaint, happy to be out of the presences of that defect.

After watching Pink Opal and Azezulite depart Smokey turned her full attention to her freshly resurrected daughter who looked up at her “So, Earth?” Scarlet asked hesitantly.

Smokey nodded “Yeah, things did not go well on world 211, I sent most of the surviving resistance leaders to other worlds.”

Scarlet rolled her neck as she closed her eyes “And used yourself as a decoy. Again.” She then glared at her mother “You know you’re REALLY not supposed to do that right?”

Smokey smirked “yeah, but you weren’t there to tell me how stupid I was being.”

Scarlet chuckled as she leaned against the cliff face “So, Auntie Az told me what happened with her and how I got brought back, but what about you?”

Smokey smiled “nothing much, planning, calculating, falling in love ,getting Az back to normal, building a secret base on a tropical island. Nothing to special.”

Scarlet nodded then stopped mid nod “Wait, in love!? WHO!?!”

Smokey smiled, she knew her daughter wouldn’t miss a detail like that. “Her name is Rose, and she is a pink pearl.”

Scarlet nodded and waved with her hands for Smokey to continue “and!?” she asked impatiently as she bobbed on her feet, an excited look in her eyes.

Smokey smiled, “Come on, walk with me around the island and I’ll tell you all about her” she teased as she began walking away forcing Scarlet to fallow after her if she wanted to know more. “Let’s see, she’s a pearl, she’s pink, her former mistress was that pink opal that was with your aunt, she did not treat Rose well, at all.” Smokey sighed as she recalled the state she found Pink Pearl in “She had Rose staying with other gems waiting for her return, would visit for a few days and then leave for decades at a time, I’m sure you know how that would have felt for a pearl” Scarlet nodded and winced at the anxiety she knew Rose would feel whenever her mistress left her for a long time. “Well, to make a long story short, Rose and that opal fused and dealt with a mad dog, a blood stone with an internal fissure from what I gathered, the opal threw rose away because Rose did the smart thing and shattered the blood stone when it asked to be executed, the opal even blamed Rose for everything.”

Scarlet gasped, not at the notion of killing a soldier that had gone mad from an internal facture, that happened, but from the idea that Rose’s former mistress would abandon her for it, and then have the nerve to blame her for the outcome. It left Scar clenching and unclenching her fists, she could only imagine the devastation that would have caused the poor pearl. “That….. That monster.”

Smokey nodded “she didn’t even bother to give Rose to someone else, she just threw her away” Scarlets breath caught in her throat at that, to be blamed and thrown away was bad enough, but to be so casually discarded? It was too painful to think about. Smokey read her daughters expression and nodded “Yeah, she was devastated. But she’s come a long way, she’s got hobby’s now, she loved flowers, walks through the forest, and spending time with me” she shrugged a little at that one, almost all pearls loved spending time with their mistresses “it took her a while to work it out in her own head, that pink opal did a number on her, but Rose realized she was in love with me and eventually worked up the courage to admit her feelings” Smokey said with a smile “And I have not meet a more compassionate, kind hearted, patient gem in at least the last fifty thousand years” she mused “she is adorable to tease as well.”

Scarlet raised a hand up “you ARE being nice with the teasing right? you know most gems can’t stand your teasing, and if she’s been as sheltered as I think from what you said….”

Smokey interrupted her “She turns the most adorable shades of red and pink when she blushes, and her face scrunches up or she gets so flustered it is beyond cute.”

Scarlet let out a light hearted sighed “The poor girl, falling in love with you.”

Smokey laughed “I’m not that bad” she became rather quite then and smiled slightly “You know, after I dealt with the Black Azezulite problem….. Az thanked me for turning her into that….. it. I wasn’t in a good place after that” she admitted as she looked at the blue sky “I tried to scare Rose away, told her to find someone else and that I was a horrible monster. The usual trip someone in a panicked depression dose, locked her out of the study and everything. But she wouldn’t have it. She went and got another gem to break her in and then she talked some sense back into me.”

Scarlet nodded in understanding, it didn’t happen often but she knew what her mother could be like when she became particularly depressed or blamed herself for something. “She sounds lovely” Scarlet whispered “I can’t wait to meet her” she then looked at Smokey “I’m still not calling her mom though. Only you get that.”

Smokey laughed and pulled scarlet into a half hug as they walked “Fair enough Scar, fair enough” from there the scenic walk back to the subterranean compound consisted mostly of Smokey telling Scarlet about things on earth or gushing over her beloved Rose depending on what question Scarlet asked.

“Alright Scar, I want this to be a nice surprise for Rose, so fallow behind me but try and stay out of sight until I signal you okay?” Smokey asked as Scarlet nodded her response. The two wandered the halls, knowing her love as well as she did the first place the two checked was the kitchen, which also happened to be exactly where Rose was, experimenting with new tea blends for Smokey to try. Entering the room as she normally did Smokey sat at the table and awaited her tea, and like clockwork Rose prepared and poured Smokey her cup, although she did note that her mistress was almost an hour early, she could only assume that her meeting with White Azezulite did not go as well as had been hoped. Before Rose could pour her own cup and take her seat Smokey began speaking in a solemn tone “I don’t think I ever told you much about Scarlet did I Rose?” she asked.

Rose shook her head, she hadn’t asked much as she didn’t care about a dead defect but she would be polite “No, but it’s alright I know she was your daughter and you loved her” she said with a vague idea as to why this would be the topic, Azezulite had stolen Scarlets remains, Smokey had said it was because she needed to mourn, likely their meeting drugged up old and unpleasant memories for the both of them. Smokey mad a small sad smile, and Rose moved to hug her “It’s alright Smokey, I know it must be hard” she said soothingly, she didn’t know what loss on this scale would be like, but she could imagine what it would be like if she lost Smokey now, and so Rose desperately wanted to spare her love as much of that pain as possible.

Smokey returned the embrace. “No Rose, it’s a long way from ‘alright’ Scarlet was my daughter, I loved her like I loved few other gems, she was brave, and more than a little impulsive, she didn’t have a lot of the traits you’d expect from your average pearl, but you know?” she looked at Rose tears welling up in her eyes “She was determined, if she had a goal, there wasn’t anything in the universe that would stop her, she’d figure out a way to accomplish it, and that grit really did see her through a lot of life’s problems. I think you’d have really liked her if you’d met” she said softly.

Rose nodded “I’m sure I would have” she replied.

Without a sound the door to the dinning and kitchen area slid open, and quite as a mouse in walked Scarlet, without even turning to look at her and perfectly on que Smokey smiled “Rose, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Scarlet, this is Rose” she said, introducing the two as she stood.

Scarlet gave a rather shy smile that showed off her long incisor and waved cautiously “Um. Hi” she said quietly, polite social interaction with new gems being something she had never been comfortable with. Rose froze as her mind raced, eyes wide in shock “It’s uh, nice to meet you, mom told me a lot of nice things about you on our um, on our way here” she looked at Rose then down to the side “it’s okay, I’m a grown gem, and I’m not very needy so I won’t get between the two of you. Promise” she said in a quite tone of voice.

Smokey then wrapped her arms around both Scarlet and Rose pulling them all into a hug as she nuzzled her face between the top of the heads of the two pearls. “My Rose and my Scarlet.” She said lovingly as she tightened her embrace, Scarlet returned the hug pulling on Smokey and Rose who remained petrified before she could no longer stand it.

“KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!” Rose screamed as she shoved herself out of the embrace and away from Smokey and that wretched defect. A look of horror and shock covered both Smokey’s and Scarlets face’s as Rose began panting and backing away from Scarlet “I won’t have it touching me, not something as defective as it is.” She said in a controlled rage.

Smokey looked like she was about to say something when Scarlet nodded “it’s okay. I understand” she said quietly, made a polite bow and then walked away leaving Smokey alone with Rose. once she was out of the room, and a few feet down the corridor she ducked into one of the unused rooms and began to cry. She was used to being insulted, reviled and hated because of her defects, but this still hurt, from what her mother had said, Scar was honestly looking forward to meeting Rose and becoming friends with her, she was honestly only prepared to be distrusted because she might be viewed as an interloper, after all, when this romance started, Scar herself was dead. Taking a few deep breaths she whipped the tears from her eyes. Normally she’d go out and look for a fight to blow off some steam but she couldn’t do that now, not without telling her mom what she’d be doing so she decide to wait in the empty room until she and Rose finished what was sure to be a great conversation. Slumping down the side of the wall Scarlet was left looking at her claw like nails, muscled frame, and otherwise mismatched un-pearl like body. She liked who she was, why couldn’t that be enough she thought.

Smokey looked at Rose as Scarlet excused herself “Rose. Sit” she commanded as she took up a seat at the opposite end of the table, rested her elbows on the table top, and held her hands in front of her face, her index fingers meeting to make a steeple. “Explain” she commanded the instant Rose took her own seat. Rose remained silent. “Fine. Do you think Scarlet will harm either of us?” Smokey’s voice was cold and distant, like some far off judge hearing a case. Rose shook her head, no. “Do you think she will steal me from you?” again, Rose shook her head. “Do you think she is a bad gem? That she will lie or somehow manipulate either of us for her own gains?” once more all Rose could do was shake her head. Smokey let out a deep sigh, her eyes never leaving Roses, never before had Rose felt intimidated around Smokey but now there was an almost overwhelming oppressive aura in the room. “Then tell me Why Rose.” Smokey commanded.

Rose broke eye contact “Because she’s a defect.”

Smokey responded instantly “That is not an answer” she said flatly.

Rose grumbled “Because defects are a stain on our society, their an embarrassment and insult to everything it means to be a gem.”

“Do you want Scarlet dead then?”

Rose shook her head “No of course not” she might not like defects but she wouldn’t have them killed just for that.

“Then what would you want done with her?” Smokey asked.

“Just… Just keep her away from me. I never want her near me, I don’t even want to be in the same room as her” she said.

Smokey raised an eye brow “So I should just tell her that whenever you enter a room she is to leave then? Or would you prefer a schedule that tells her when she can and can’t be in certain rooms, perhaps some rooms should just be off limits for her all the time, like our bedroom and the dining room?” Smokey ventured.

Rose nodded “Yes! That would be perfect” she said happily at the notion of a solution to keep her and the defect away from each other.

Smokey glared daggers at Rose “That was Sarcasm Rose, it is absolutely unreasonable for that to be a solution.” she responded flatly with barley contained furry that made Rose sink in her seat. “You and Scarlet are going to have to learn to get along, and you are going to need to get over this bigotry of yours.” Smokey then stood up and walked out to go find her daughter and see how she was doing.

Rose remained in her seat feeling terrible, she loved Smokey, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, but just the idea of being near a defect made Rose’s skin crawl and her stomach lurch. She couldn’t do it, she just could not do it.