Glittering Shadows

Chapter Nineteen

After the eventful day of meeting with Peridot, I was finally able to rest at ease. The session of questions directed at me had left me exhausted enough to perform the act of 'sleeping' again, without having to put too much effort into it - I had simply closed my eyes the moment I let my head rest against the pillow.

As I returned back to the barn, however, my worries and panic quickly resurfaced when seeing Peridot speaking with whom I was told was Yellow Diamond.

Looking for a place to hide in, my eyes shifted from corner to corner, until I realized I had no place to go to.

Taking in a breath, I prepared myself to use one of my powers, concentrating the energy on both my wrist - where my gemstone laid at - and my hands, slowly forming a thick shield of darkness around me, making sure I was at a distance far enough not to be spotted by her. I then tried to reach out for my Pearl with the shield, though she took a step back.

Is something wrong, My Diamond? Something seems to be troubling you.

I faced her, a frown showing itself over my face as I looked back to where Peridot stood at - I could see that the rest of the Crystal Gems had gathered near, while the green Gem looked at Yellow Diamond with what appeared to be uneasiness. She seemed troubled, just as the others near her were.

I am just worried they might be in trouble. . . Come with me, friend - I want to see what is happening between them.

My Pearl nodded firmly at my words, joining me inside my shield as we proceeded to walk towards them, stopping once we had a clear view of them and what they were saying.

"Are you questioning my authority?!" Yellow Diamond exclaimed.

"I'm. . , questioning your objectivity, My Diamond!"

I could feel the tension growing between them as I observed the way the rest of the group looked at each other, then back to them.

I felt my Pearl reach out for my hand to comfort me, my worries not once failing to be sensed by her.

"What do you know about Earth?"

"Apparently more than you. . . You clod!"

The Gems near her gasped at Peridot's outburst while Yellow Diamond glared at her, shutting off the communication signal as she was left to ponder - or rather, 'freak out' - over what she had done.

"What did I do?!"She panicked while dropping into a fetal position on the ground, hearing her continue to murmur incoherently.

I watched her lay down on the floor, groaning in frustration while the Crystal Gems congratulated her for what she had done - a scene entirely different from the one I witnessed back at the Moon Base. I remained hidden from the others for a bit longer while my Pearl and I stared on at the scene, though it seemed that Peridot was having an internal turmoil over her display with Yellow Diamond.

It was my first time seeing another Diamond aside from White. Yellow was said to be intimidating, though I doubted she would be on par with White. Yet, she had an aura that was threatening all the same – The stories were true about how little patience she had.

Steven and the others were ecstatic at her display of rebellion towards the higher ranked Gem.

As for the green Gem, she was still in an anxious state about how she'd mouthed off to Yellow, but I couldn't help to crack a smile while stifling a giggle of my own.

I could not describe how seeing another Diamond aside from White would feel like, but she was tense and strict from what I could gather - Although when it came to her being around Blue, most said she was different around her.

My gaze was soon brought back towards everyone present, while the smaller Gem regained brief communication with the Diamond, still hoping to reason with her, yet – from where my Pearl and I were standing – it did not seem like she would listen.

"You thought you could change her mind?" Garnet spoke, though we could both tell from her voice she was showing that Peridot had made her proud.

Before now, I did not think anyone would find it positive to see a devoted Gem speak like that to a Diamond.

But that did not stop them from showing their support for the green Gem.

Amethyst was praising her, using the nickname of 'Pterodactyl', explaining how awesome it was that she insulted 'Yellow D'.

It was an insult Amethyst knew Yellow and her Pearl would hold a grudge on for quite a while, knowing that she was still fuming in her throne room – Somehow, I felt a little sorry for her Pearl. She kept repeating how she could not believe she did that, before she handed her Pearl the device she used to contact Peridot.

I knew that those were used for communication, though I figured she sent off the detonator, probably hoping Peridot would be foolish enough to still hold it.

After the Pearl explained it would detonate soon, Pearl and Amethyst panicked as they passed it back and forth to one another.

Breaking the middle of their back and forth toss was Steven, quickly placing the device in a bubble to seal it, the vibrant red pulsing more violently as seconds passed.

Garnet, however, immediately stretched her hands out and summoned her heavy gauntlets to send the pink bubble skyrocketing in the air – where it burst into a bright explosion.

I couldn't help feeling concerned for Peridot, who was very much distressed from her earlier actions, yet with that, she had truly become a Crystal Gem – which made Steven proud to see he was wrong about earlier events.