Chapter Text
It has been five years since this so called war began with the alien beings known as Gems. They seemed to come from nowhere. Henry’s hometown was destroyed about two months after it was deemed that they were hostile towards the human race. The military forces of the world have been doing their best to fight against them. They were not immortal, just very difficult to stop. A human gets attacked, they either die or become handicapped in the worst way. But when a Gem is attacked, they simply stop being and reappear as if nothing happened. Though this process is far from immediate, it has proven troublesome for the human race.
Henry had been travelling ever since he had lost his home, his family, his friends. Doing the one thing that he could do, survive. It wasn’t easy. Food has become hard to find since the invasion started, but he would always make do with what he could. There were moments where he was fearful that the wildlife had all been eradicated because of the invasion. But they seemed to be surviving much like the humans were, though probably far better. But the real story begins in the middle of the second year of the war.
It was late in the night, Henry was preparing some meat that he had managed to scrounge up during the day when he heard something rustling from the darkness. Perking up and staring intently into the shadows, waiting to see if it is simply a wild animal smelling his food cooking over the fire or something else.
“Who’s there?” he called out.
No response.
Slowly, he reached for his firearm as a precaution.
“Show yourself, this is your final warning,” he demanded into the night.
This finally gets a response as something starts exiting from behind the brush, hands held up to show that they mean no harm.
He does not lower the barrel of his gun.
“Who are you, dare I ask?”
The person hesitated for a moment. Henry could not see their face properly yet since it was covered. When they finally did speak, he was both shocked and a bit embarrassed that he was holding a woman at gun point.
“My name is Jess, sir. Please, I do not mean any harm towards you,” she began.
For someone facing the wrong end of a gun, she seemed unusually calm. Henry’s first assumption was that this was not her first time in such a situation. But if that were true, why did she not come forward sooner rather than wait in the darkness silently when he demanded a reveal in the beginning. He sets down the gun to show that he would not attack but still did not lower his guard. Firearms were not the only means of which he had to defend himself should he need to. He gestures for her to sit down and she does, in a rather uncommon manner that can only be described as graceful.
“Name?” he questioned.
“I have already told you, sir, my name is Jess,” she responded, slightly confused.
“No, what is your full name, miss,” Henry elaborate.
“If it is alright with you, I would prefer to simply be known as Jess, sir.”
“Okay, first, drop this ‘sir’ nonsense, it’s making me feel awkward.”
“I apologize for that.”
She appears very proper. Not something one would expect to see in the middle of all this.
“If I may, it is only proper for one to also introduce themselves after another has given an introduction.”
Henry was getting the feeling that the ‘proper etiquette’ deal was going to get really old really fast.
“Ryans. Henry Ryans,” he properly introduced himself, “Now tell me, where are you from, Jess?”
She hesitates again, as if not sure how to answer this. It wasn’t a difficult question. With the way she talked, he was sure she would say something like estates or what have you.
“I cannot say, Mr. Ryans,” she finally answers.
After so long of being alone, he couldn’t help but get twinges of paranoia the longer this conversation went. Was this woman, if they really were a woman, even human? Or was this perhaps one of those alien rock people that have been the bane of the human existence for so long. He wanted to push further, but part of him wanted to simply let it be. Perhaps it was because he was unsure how to even talk to another being after all this time. Perhaps he was afraid what would happen if this person really was a rock person. As he continued to ponder his next course of action, she finally removed her head coverings. Underneath the fabric was the face of someone who was tired, who was probably running from something. Her first feature that caught Henry’s attention was her nose. It was rather large and pointed, to say the least, almost like a beak. She did not appear any older than he was, maybe late twenties early thirties. Though her face appeared young, her eyes spoke of ages. His humanity got the better of him as he offered her some food. Though she was thin, she politely declined the offer. As curious as this was, he felt it better to not force it upon her and proceeded to ask a few more questions.
“Tell me, Jess, are you in trouble or something?”
“We are in the middle of a second Gem War, sir. If I may speak freely, we are all in trouble,” she replies smartly.
“Second?” he asked quizzically, “How do you know this isn’t the first?”
She covers her mouth as if to take back the words she had already spoken. But it was too little too late. Henry reached again for his gun.
“Explanations,” he demands, “Now.”
From the shadows, he heard a low growl. Far too deep and loud to be any sort of wolf or wild dog for that matter. Jess stood up suddenly and faced towards the noise.
“Please, calm down,” she said in a hushed tone.
The noise stopped but Henry could still feel that whatever it was was still out there, watching his every move.
“Seems you don’t need to worry about being in trouble. If you have a guard dog or whatever, have it come where I can see it. I don’t care for surprises, even less so with the tension of this so called ‘Second Gem War.’”
She nods, understanding how this looks and called her ‘friend’ forward.
Henry was not sure what he was expecting, but definitely not what came next. Out of the brush from where Jess first appeared, emerged a bulking mass the likes of which one only heard of before in stories told by old men back home. The closest thing that could be thought of to give it some comparison was that it was like a lion, though that does little to do it justice. The thing stood at least seven feet tall and nine feet long with a mane of white fur around its neck and down its back. Its mouth looked like it could gobble a person whole and use them as a chew toy. It had no eyes, yet Henry felt it was staring him down. On its front left shoulder was what appeared to be a gemstone of sorts.
He dared not move in fear of provoking it, but spoke as calmly as he could.
“Story time, now.”
Jess was not particularly happy with the situation, nor did she appear angry. Rather, her face spoke of shame and sadness as she removed her jacket before she began explaining.
“I apologize for misleading you, human Henry. I really meant what I said when I stated that I did not mean you any harm. I am one of those so called aliens that have been causing your species so much grief these past two years,” she presented the smooth, circular stone that was embedded in her right shoulder.
“I was a Pearl commissioned for the personal use of one of Homeworld’s Agate generals. I have existed for thousands of years. I speak of this as the Second Gem War because it is and I have seen its predecessor before,”
“This being here,” she gestured to her giant guard dog, “Is a dear friend of mine. A Quartz soldier created for this current war. Back on Homeworld, this feeling of comradery between differing Gems is unheard of and looked down upon. But still, there was no one I had more trust in than her,” she continued with a smile as she gazed affectionately towards the beast.
“But something happened during the last battle she took part in,” her smile faded as she recounted the tale, “We know not what happened or why, but she was the only one to return. She was becoming what can only be described as corrupted. As she began to lose herself before her commanding officer, it was decided that she would be shattered as she had failed her duty and was no longer seen as useful. I reacted without thinking of the consequences and managed to get her out without any harm to her. My actions are considered treason to the Diamond Authority. So now, I am simply an ownerless Pearl doing what she can to protect something dear to me,” she concluded, stroking the beings leg as if it were a common pet.
Henry was at a loss for words. This was a lot to take in. For years he had viewed these attackers as nothing more than some demonic enemy and nothing more. Since very little was known about these ‘Gems,’ as Jess called herself, there was nothing more to go on regarding them. For the first time, he was hearing about something that makes them more understandable, in a sense. Once again, he laid down his weapon and sat back down.
“So you’re like me, in a way. A lost individual without a home or place to belong.”
She nods, agreeing with that sentiment it seemed.
They both sat in silence for a bit. Henry was slowly taking in all that he had just learned and sighed.
“Do you have a plan as to what you intend to do next?” he asked.
She shakes her head, “No, the two of us have been wandering ever since. You are actually the first being we have encountered since we began.”
“This is an open offer that you can turn down at any time, but would you like to travel with me? I doubt I’ll be the last human you meet and I can do what I can to make sure both of you are not attacked or troubled by them to the best of my ability.”
She was taken aback by this offer, “Why would you want to even be associated with anything to do with Gems to begin with?”
“Well, you see…” he was beginning to grow unsure as how to explain it. In reality, he was losing his mind being on his own like this, doing his best to survive. There were nights where he could not sleep because he blamed himself for what happened to his home. When he first heard of the invasion, he began preparing for the worst. Others simply laughed it off as a hoax, some random hype for god knows what. When the day did come, he was long gone. He did his best to get others out beforehand, but no one gave him the time of day. His family and friends would humor him and say that they were going to be okay at first, but the more he pushed the matter, the more they simply thought he needed professional help. He felt like he could have done more for them, that it was his fault that what happened had happened at all. It may be selfish but he felt that if he could at least help someone, maybe he could finally find peace of mind.
“Reasons,” Henry finally responds.
She did not seem to buy that but accepted it all the same.
“Very well, sir…I mean, Mr. Ryans.”
“Call me Henry, Jess,” he said with a smile.
“Thank you, Henry,” and for the first time since he had met her, she began to smile with the light of hope for her future.
“In that case, you should know that I am heading to a place called Beach City, or rather what might be left of it. In the past, I’ve heard of rumors of similar events like what is happening now taking place there. Maybe there is some sort of refuge there for beings like us. If we’re lucky, they will take us both in or at the very least I can get some supplies of sorts.”
Her smile dropped at the idea and she began to look uneasy once again.
“Are you sure that is wise? I may have been able to hide and blend in with humans thus far, but I have only been able to travel by night so that she can go unnoticed. People will most likely go into a panic when they see my Amethyst friend come anywhere near a population.”
Henry was puzzled by this. He had neglected to consider that possibility. Perhaps it would be better to retract his proposal and make his way on his own like before. Still, he had lasted this long by trying to remember the positives and being optimistic because he was fearful of how he might become should he lose that much.
“Don’t worry,” he reassured her, “I said I would do my best to keep you both safe and I do not plan on going back on what I said.”
She was still unsure about the outcome.
“Remember, we can go our separate ways whenever you feel like it.”
She continued to think on it. As this went on, the Amethyst corruption began to grow accustomed to Henry and started sniffing at his meal that began to burn as it was all but forgotten over the fire. He began to quickly remove it and salvaged what he could of the meat. The thing started to act oddly as he ate. He kind of found it amusing as it reminded him of a dog begging for food and tossed what was left of his dinner to the beast. The Amethyst caught it in its mouth, swallowed it whole, and simply sat like a content puppy, wagging its tail and panting in satisfaction.
It seemed that this made up the Pearl’s mind for her, seeing how accepting Amethyst was towards him. In all honesty, he was beginning to enjoy himself. Despite how intimidating she was at first, Henry couldn’t help but view the Amethyst’s current behavior as adorable. Jess accepted the proposal to travel with him to Beach City. Who knows, maybe there was no one there any longer and it will be just another ghost town. If the latter is true, one could only hope that the town had yet to be picked clean by looters.