Chapter Text
They don't have to wait too long, as the black almost immediately fuzzes up, dissipating quickly; leaving a rough outline of a person with hues of blue and white. The figure comes into focus, blurry edges becoming sharper as they finally get to see Euclase, eyes knitted with a hand outstretched and placed lightly on their shoulder. “Fluora? You alright?”
A lingering phantom of tears and screams tries to pull them back into their head, dragging the world into darkness. That is, before they feel the well pressured hand on their shoulder seem to be ripped off, the loud coherent gasps of gems anchoring themselves back in reality.
“B-Bortz! Let go of me!” They hear Euclase gasp, tugging at their arm in a futile attempt to free it from the black gem's grip. Bort scowls in return, yanking Euclase closer to their face.
“Listen. We know how these things happen now. We need to get rid of them before it gets worse again!” Euclase yanks at their arm again, cracks forming from the two forces literally ripping it apart.
“This isn't Phos though! It's still Fluorapophyllite!” Euclase tugs again, the crack on their arm growing further. “This could be different; they're just a bit shaken up that's all. Maybe if we—”
“No, Euclase. Did you not hear what I said?!”
“Please Bort, we can't lose another gem!”
“If they find a way back we'll lose even more! Do you not remember Yellow? Alexandrite? Dia—”
“Quiet.” A deep voice breaks through the chaos as the tall figure walks out of the swarm of gems surrounding him. A somber tone etches the well sculpted face, eyebrows furrowed in worn lines of their old authority.
“This is enough bickering between you two elders. Is this really how you want to set an example for the juniors? For their first action when it comes to a dispute is to argue with their hands?” They glare, eyes digging into the two. They both slink down almost immediately and go silent, Bortz releasing their hold on Euclase, scowling.
Sensei can only sigh, their anger dissipating into disappointment. “Bortz, I understand your worry. But it is far too dramatic as of now.” Sensei nods towards the black gem, leaning down to pick up pieces of Euclase on the ground. “And I also understand your thoughts, Euclase. But Bortz has a point.”
He guides the blue gems hands gently into a cup shape, dropping their fragments inside with soft crystal clinks. “I know I am not the leader anymore so I will not intercept into most discourse. But, sometimes it seems I have no choice but to intervene. Which is why–” His now free hand softly rests onto Fluora's head as he looks back at the crowd of gems. “I think the best course of action for now is that Fluorapophyllite should be monitored throughout the day. No gem is to interact with Fluora unless permitted.”
Sensei pauses for a moment, watching every pair of eyes staring expectantly at him. “Is anyone displeased with my decision?”
A hand raises up as the gem walks out of the crowd. “Kongo, I have a request.”
Blue Topaz—Fluorapophyllite's partner—begins. It seems they had gotten over most of their relative shock. “Fluora was my responsibility. Them falling was entirely my fault, so I request at least letting me monitor them for the first couple days to make up for my mistakes.” They end with a low bow, big round eyes staring at him practically begging for their request to be answered and fulfilled. “I know Fluorapophyllite the most out of anyone here. I-if something is off with them, I'd be the first to know.”
“But then Fluora would also know all the ways to sway you into doing their bidding. If it is correct that pieces of Phosphophyllite got stuck within them, then do not underestimate the Lapis inclusions.” Jade calls out from within the crowd, hands resting on their hips and a stern expression on their face.
Sensei hums at the statement, eyes shutting for a moment. “That is also correct. But Fluora isn't Phos. Nor will they be Lapis.” Bortz's mouth snaps open, about to protest before Sensei lifts a hand, silencing any noise. “But it is not a crime to be cautious. Topaz, I will let you monitor them. But,” He opens his eyes again, face covered with harsh lines from the sincerity of their glare. “You are to seldom talk to Fluora, and you will always be accompanied by someone else. Do I make myself clear?”
Blue Topaz's worried frown doesn't seem to budge at the compromising deal Sensei offers. “And if Fluora…” Topaz starts.
“If we learn Fluora is of no danger to us, then they will be able to resume their duties freely.” Sensei smiles softly. The gem's frown loosens, they smile back and give a quick bow. “Thank you Sensei. And who is… the other gem?”
“The gem will cycle through day by day. But Bortz will accompany you tonight as they seem to be the most… troubled with Fluora's new condition.” Sensei eyes the black gem, catching their face as their eyelids flutter open, mouth agape and jaw dropping. But they don't say anything, scrunching their face and staring away with their arms crossed stiffly—probably because they know they'd brought this upon themselves.
Silence drifts over the room for a moment before Euclase claps their hand, careful to not spill the shards they still cupped. “Well, that settles it. We will plan out the new timetable for everybody in a couple days. Everyone is dismissed from the meeting, please continue each of your jobs and don't go near the closed off area!”
The moment they stop talking, chatter seems to grow like a spring floral bloom. Different coloured heads scatter from the infirmary; some immediately running whilst some others dismiss themselves with a bye or a thank you to the leaders.
Eventually only Sensei, Euclase, Bortz, Topaz and Fluorapophyllite remain. Euclase turns to smile at the group. “Well, I'll be just over there with Bowenite to help patch me up. You guys get going now too alright? Fluora must be exhausted from today!” They don't wait for a response; choosing to hurriedly leave the group and leaving just the 4 to stand there quietly at each other.
“Go on now.” Sensei huffs, eyes shutting as he eyes the remaining gems to the door. He doesn't wait for them to leave either, as he strides with great weight through another door. Topaz purses their lips grimly, beginning to pick Fluora up from the table; trying to heave their partner bridal style like the many other times they have had to carry them back to their room after an accidental break that rendered them too tired to move.
But as Topaz tries to pick up their relatively light partner; they realize they can't. They heave again, only to feel their arms stretch to their limits and they only let go after they hear a crack within themselves, gasping and sputtering at the failed attempt. It was as if they're stuck onto the table with hard dried glue. A soft blue tint begins to grow on their face in embarrassment.
They glare over at the stronger gem, eyeing the black diamond down as the other merely watches the entire scene with a glint of amusement. Finally, the other moves, eyes rolling while they groan. “Don't look at me like that. I can't help either; the alloy is incredibly heavy. Plus you need to stop spoiling them, they're almost 500 now.”
Topaz frowns, looking up at Fluora. They check their face–unfamiliar glazed eyes of nothingness meets theirs. They can't help but feel pity for them. How could someone like this pose any real danger? Fluora never was dangerous before; now they can't imagine them doing anything, really. Could they really walk right now?
“Hey, Fluora,” Topaz nudges the other, poking at their downturned head until they respond. “H-ha..? Topaz…?” Fluora looks up, eyes focusing back in as they rub their face.
Topaz smiles grimly, placing a hand behind and infront of them, guiding Fluora off the table and onto their legs. “Let's get you back to your room.” “O-oh. Okay.”
They step onto the floor, leaning onto Topaz. The latter makes a grunt and squeaks before a crack, forcing Fluora to release the weight they had put on the other as quickly as possible. They frown, a look of worry etched on their face. “T-Topaz? What happened? Why are you cracking?” They reach a hand out; pieces of themselves seem to flake off as it makes contact with the other.
Once again they pull back quickly, holding the hand that had touched the other and slowly, carefully, flipping it around to investigate the tips of their fingers. A thin mint green layer of theirs had fallen off, a dusty gold coat shining under the cover. They don't say much, eyes quivering at the realization of what this all truly meant for them. They had truly made a grave mistake.
Topaz's frowns even harder, watching as the usually loud and dramatic Fluora only scream with their eyes. Topaz wishes to say and do so much when they see the state of their partner. “It's alright”, “You just gotta stay in bed for a couple days.”, “there's nothing to worry about.” They want to reach a hand out and touch their shoulder, reassure them of their safety.
In habit, they do. They pull a hand out to touch the other, mouth moving wide to say something, to clear the other's evidently clouded head. They would've, if not for a hard force slapping their arm away, tugging them roughly by the back of their collar and having them collide into a hard wall just soft enough to leave them dazed but not cracked.
Topaz makes an odd noise, falling forward as they rub the back of their head from where the collision happened. “Topaz.” the thing behind them began saying. Ah, it's just Bortz. They growl, striding around Topaz and up behind Fluora; body never losing its tight military posture. “Had Sensei's orders fallen on deaf ears?”
Nobody answers their question, Topaz merely glancing away with their gaze screwed to the floor. Bortz grunts again and shoves Fluora forward, kicking their legs to force them into a walking motion. “Start walking.” They hiss. “Or we won't even give you this single chance.”
Fluora, who's still too dazed by everything, obliges meekly, head hanging low as they let out a whimper. Each time they try to lift a leg, it feels as if they're pulling a dead weight, and each time they set a leg down; it feels as if a piece of themselves collapses within them. And honestly, it wouldn't be a surprise if that was really the case.
But mostly, they're worried about how heavy their legs feel. The freedom of their movement feels slow, limited. The singular agate leg that carried them like a storm didn't help at all, the effects of it seeming to completely be nullified by their new materials. If they really were to be let out, how would they even go back to being a scout?
The walk to the dorms is mostly silent, aside from the tapping and chattering of distant gems going on with their day. Topaz acts strangely, ignoring Fluora no matter how much they pester them—although Fluora isn't acting much like themselves either anyways. Mostly, Fluora's frustrated by the ever looming presence of Bortz behind them, standing highly like a vanguard; poking holes into the back of their body.
They spot a few gems as they walk past, many they remember were their friends or even fellow classmates they had once sat beside during lectures. Yet, they felt nothing for them, their face staying in a neutral expression even as they instinctively wanted to smile and greet the others. And they noticed—these gems didn't acknowledge them either, choosing to ignore them as if they had never met. It hurt.
Suddenly they stop, the action pushing Fluora out of the growing noise within their head. They look up and see a familiar archway of a door, recognizing every single little crack and imperfections splayed across its walls.
It was their room.
“Get in. And don't try anything, if I see you take even a step out of this place not even Kongo will save you.” Bortz crosses their arms again, glaring at them with their fists clenched tightly. The strong glare makes them meekly oblige, trudging slowly towards their eventual prison.
They pass Topaz, giving another pleading glance at their partner. The other looks away at first just like the other times since they had left the infirmary, but before they completely step into the room, Topaz whispers near-inaudibly at them.
“I promise I'll get you out of here as soon as possible.” They whisper, quickly looking up to check where the Black Diamond was. They sigh, relieved to see Bortz still having run off not too far, scolding a pair of juniors who had brought too many jellyfish to carry all on one trip. They look back at Fluora and fan their hands, hushing the mint green gem inside as they watch Bortz walking back from the scene grumbling.
Fluora doesn't wait to hear what the two were starting to talk about, immediately slumping into their bed and rolling over. The relief of the heavy gold alloy lifting from their legs is an indescribable feeling of satisfaction, although the thoughts keep swimming around even as they shove their face into the darkness of their pillow. It just won't shut up.
Lapis… Phos… they had heard of these names before. They had always thought it was just an old kids tale made to scare the juniors to stop them from being too reckless. But, it was real.
They roll back over, looking at their hands. More pieces of themselves seem to flake off almost seamlessly, revealing the heavy gold alloy that they kept seeing everywhere they went. A white figure flashes in their vision, but too quick for them to catch the features of their gem. So instead of choosing to keep facing the truth of reality, they shut their eyes–trying their best to try and rest with much difficulty as the buzzing noises wouldn't shut up.
The buzzing noises of words. Many words.
Phos…
Who was he?
What happened to him?
What does this have to do with them?