Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the far end of the afternoon. The sky being a bright orange fading into violet. The wind flows through the sky, giving a gentle breeze. The individual blades of grass being blown. The occasional trees being blown, their leaves on their branches flying away into the sky every now and then. The temperature feeling like the perfect day to take a walk. Overall, the weather feeling nice.

“Where are they..!??!?” The peppermint gem exclaimed. Phos scratching their head in frustration. They had been looking for a specific crimson-red gemstone for a long time. Inspecting every nook and cranny, unfortunately leading to no avail.

Getting recommendations by other gems to talk to them and left with no other choice, (besides talking to Dia but that sort of failed) Phos decided to search for Cinnabar.

As Phos approaches a cliff, they started thinking of giving up and going back to the school. Sighing in disappointment, “Why did I even try? It’s not like Shinsha’s gonna pop outta nowhere!” Phos threw their clipboard onto the grass and kicked it in frustration, not really going far. “Stupid encyclopedia, stupid sensei…” Phos mumbled to themselves.

After a while of Phos silently cursing to themselves for having this job, they groaned and finally decided to get back up and leave. As they went down to retrieve their clipboard, unbeknownst to them, a sunspot appeared behind them.

Phos, hearing odd music behind them, turned around. “What is th-...” Their words being cut off and their confusion slowly being replaced by a combination of shock and fear. The sight had made the peppermint mineral speechless.

The sunspot continued to develop, turning into a relatively large army of lunarians. A bunch of them preparing their bows then shooting a barrage of arrows towards Phos. Phos puts their arms up to protect themselves, albeit not going to do anything.

.

They suddenly got pushed back, landing on their butt. Phos landed their eyes to see their original objective: Cinnabar, right there in front of them with a huge wall of mercury to shield both of them from arrows.

“Of course they come, the moment it’s you ! Three-and-a-half!” The crimson gem shouted at the peppermint before focusing back on their mercury poisonous wall.

“Why..? My existence kills everything..!” Cinnabar said in despair, their eyes widened and their body slightly twitching. “I don’t want to fight… I don’t want to-” Cinnabar was cut off by them vomiting mercury from the overload of stress.

Phos, seeing all of this happening, was overwhelmed. The sight of being despised by Cinnabar and them vomiting soon afterwards felt as painful as a spear piercing through their body. Phos, having slight interest in the crimson gem, felt incredibly sad and guilty when they realized this is technically all their fault…

As the wall fell after Cinnabar’s throw up, the huge puddle of mercury turning into an army filled with a bunch of humanoid figures. Cinnabar jumping high out into the air and covering the huge amount of lunarians with their mercury, taking out the threat.

“SHINSHA!” Phos shouted as the crimson gem fell. Cinnabar desperately tried to grab onto the edge of the cliff but their fingers slipped off. Phos instinctively used their clipboard for them to grab on.

Cinnabar grabbed onto the clipboard but their hand they slipped off, taking the clipboard with them, somehow not causing Phos’ arms to fall off with them from the sudden pulling impact of it.

Phos, covered in the poison, looked down hopelessly. “N- no… no…. N-!” “I never asked for help…” Cinnabar abruptly interrupts Phos, their right hand holding the clipboard that fell down.

Cinnabar threw the clipboard onto the grass, the last page being stained with their mercury because they touched it. “Shinsha!!!!” Phos leapt onto them in relief, not caring about the poison at all. The green gem hugged the red gem hard. Cinnabar got surprised and as if anyone would, they pushed Phos off.

Phos’ arms shatter from the push and they fell backwards, their head snapping off from their neck. The other one flinching in surprise, before sighing and putting on their gloves. They collected the unconscious Phos and went back to the school.

A while later..

As Phos regained consciousness after being put back together thanks to Rutile. “Do you remember who I am?” Rutile asked. “Yeah, a quack.” Phos responded with a spice of annoyance. Rutile got ticked off from this obviously, “Looks like your memory’s distorted, better carve that out.” Rutile raised their chipper up. “A good doctor! A good doctor!” Phos covered their head with their arms in fear.

After Rutile smiles and puts their tools away, Phos went on to ramble what happened earlier. “Shinsha… They saved me, even though they didn’t want to fight… and.. they probably hate me for doing that ” Phos sighed and looked really down in the dumps, maybe they shouldn’t have hugged them out of nowhere.

Phos was in their room and now in their bed, tucked in. Before sleeping they were shaking around in frustration, wondering what Shinsha thinks about them now. What’s even worse is that they knew that they were going to do their job about the encyclopedia which they HATE doing. “This is the worst day ever..!!” Phos screamed into their pillow.

Eventually, the peppermint somehow fell asleep after all the chaos they faced…

The next day/afternoon

Outside once again, bright orange sky being identical to the one yesterday. There isn’t a breeze this time around. The grass swaying left and right occasionally. Everything relatively the same.

Phos was working on their encyclopedia, writing random things into their clipboard. Whatever they saw that was remotely, or even not important at all, they wrote it down. Continuing to do this, starting since morning. Of course, they hated it but what else can they do?

“So boring…” Phos sighed in dissatisfaction. Setting their clipboard down right next to them before putting their head into their knees, wrapping their arms around their knees as well. Groaning heavily, contemplating if they should just stop and head back to the school, it was getting late anyway so it would be the perfect excuse to leave.

…

“Oi.”

Phos let out a short scream of surprise and turned around to suddenly see Cinnabar there. Feeling scared of all the negative possibilities that could happen right now-

“Are you finished here..?” Cinnabar said in a slightly hinted annoyed tone.

“It’s not like I want to do this! It’s my job!” Phos retaliated fairly quickly. “Anyhow, why are you here!? It’s dangerous here! Helio got taken away, y’know!”

“Yeah…”

Phos hummed in curiosity, tilting their head to the left a little bit.

“I’m waiting until I’m gone… On the moon, I may finally be of use…”

“I’ve always waited, yet they didn’t arrive.”

“But when you arrive, they suddenly appear.”

Phos had their mouth agape in shock, they were left completely speechless. Their eyes widened a bit and body stationary.

“I envy you, being wanted by them..”

The peppermint gem looked down, a bit saddened. Still being so still that a butterfly landed on their arm and didn’t fly away because they didn’t move. They couldn’t muster up anything to say, nor the feeling to say anything at all.

Cinnabar then broke the short but long feeling silence, “Two species on the south beach, three on twin shores, and one on the white hill. Nothing that important or major. Now don’t disturb me, stop getting in my way.”

Cinnabar started to walk away…

“Wait! I want you to help!” Phos pleaded as they stood up and clenched their fists

“Don’t want to.” A quick rejection by the crimson gem.

“W-well, I wanted to find a job that you could do and is fun! Please! I’m begging you! I need you! ” Phos quickly elaborated, not even thinking about what they were saying, just spatting their true intentions/feelings out.

“So please! Don’t say that you’re going to the moon!” Phos finally shouted, soon starting to slightly sobbing out phosphophyllite-liquidated tears. Letting them drift off their face and landing on the grass. Phos falling to their knees, then falling onto their side before crying into their hands after considering that possibility.

Cinnabar, as they walked away, stopped for a second and turned around to see Phos laying there, crying hopelessly. Cinnabar felt their heart be tugged, pulled, absolutely yanked at the sight of this. 

They felt horrifically guilty and wanted to apologize, even shedding a few tears, but they didn’t have the courage or communication skills to say it. They clenched their fists, mad at themselves for not being able to apologize but knew that they wouldn’t do anything about it. Cinnabar then left, wiping their tears away.

“I’m sorry Phos…”

…

A few hours later, Cinnabar couldn’t sleep because of a random noise that kept on happening. They found the source of the sound, Phos’ clipboard. It made their eyes widen a bit, especially after what happened.

“Careless idiot…” Cinnabar said before walking away but getting one quick glance back at the clipboard. The pages flipped to reveal the last page, the mercury hand stain imprint. Their eyes widened fully as their mercury started to uncontrollably swirl around them.

“I want to be freed from the night…”

“But it won’t happen…”

“I refuse to believe them…”

“I refuse to believe Phos …”

A single tear was shed from the crimson’s left eye.

-----------

Ever since that interaction between the two, Phos had been oddly depressed. Gaining the attention of everyone overtime, the other gems entering their room to ask if they’re okay or if they wanted to talk but the outcome was always the same, a strict and straight rejection accompanied by an un-phos tone.

It had gotten worse and worse. Even Bort and Kongo were starting to get worried and started joining in with the questioning if Phosphophyllite was mentally okay. Then it got so horrible that Phos had to be carried outside to get some decent direct sunlight.

Occasionally, the rare times were Phos did go out of their room out of their own will. They were obviously questioned a bit before the questioners being held back by other gems to give the peppermint gem a little bit of personal space.

Then one day, a highly-reflective diamond entered the room. “Hey Phos.” Dia said softly before letting themselves sit on Phos’ bed next to them. “How’s everything going?” Getting no response besides Phos curling up a little bit more. “Phos, can you talk to me..? If you want me to leave then I can.”

Still receiving no response from Phos, Dia sighed softly before starting to stand up, getting off of their bed. Then suddenly the diamond felt an arm grab them, preventing them from leaving the vicinity. Phos grabbed onto Dia..?

“Stay… I want to talk…” Phos said in a raspy voice. “I.. need to talk…”

…

“Okay, we can talk.” Dia smiled before sitting back down on the bed, Phos sitting themselves up to converse with them correctly. The peppermint hugging their knees looking hopelessly at Dia. “What’s going on?” The shining one asked.

“... I-... I just…. argh!!!” Phos scratched their hair in frustration before calming themselves down. “It’s just… I can’t really say it but… I feel like I’m gonna lose someone…”

“I don’t want to lose them… I don’t want to…” Tears starting welling up within the green’s eyes. “I-..!”

Phos couldn’t handle it anymore and broke down int tears, crying into their hands. Dia flinched a bit in surprise before quickly hugging the green gem within their arms, causing Phos to hug back and cry into their shoulder. 

Phosphophyllite felt horrible right now but did feel good about getting some of it off their chest, lightening the mental load on their shoulders. Soon enough, they let go of Dia before smiling a bit. Phos cleared their throat and somehow said,

“Thank you…”

Dia soon left the room afterwards, happy that they could cheer up the young gem.

------------

Dealing with this behavior for around one week, with all the challenges and difficulties that everyone faced; Eventually, Phos recovered (Mostly thanks to the talk). Almost all the way, they’re still down but better regardless. Thankfully during all of this, no lunarians appeared during this timeframe.

Phos was now less annoying than they used to be, albeit odd, it was a nice change of pace. As Phos sat on a bench in a random hall, Euclase and Jade happened to stroll by. The peppermint gem stood up and walked to the two, semi-shyly tapping Jade on the shoulder, unintentionally startling them a bit.

“Gah!” Jade let out a shocked squeal. “Wh- Phos!? What are you doing here..?” Jade turned around and had a look of confusion on their face. Considering the state that Phos is in, Jade tried not to insult them as much as they did before.

“Jade… I need ideas…” Phos groaned before clinging onto Jade’s arm. “Is it possible to… restart..? Have a clear state…? Start over at a checkpoint…?” The peppermint gem looking down, looking a tad bit sad.

“What…? What are you talking ab-”

“Ahhh! I don’t want to think about this anymore than I need to.”

In the middle of all this, a tall figure fades in out of thin air, interrupting the entire thing. “Perseverance is the key to discovery.” Kongo said coldly. “If anything happens, report it to me immediately. I’ll be in the main hall.” Off they go, heading to the main hall, their footsteps fading as they get further and further away.

Phos then pouted, humming in dissatisfaction. “What is it…” Jade asked. Phos didn’t response and continued to hum, making Jade a bit ticked but they composed themselves. “You need an idea right? But why thou-”

DING!

A loud ringing noise accompanied a hit from a hammer-like tool. It sent shivers throughout Jade’s entire body. It felt like sharp nails being pierced into every part, every limb, everything. Of course, it felt excruciating.

Like anyone would, Jade shouted back, “What the hell?! Why the hell did you-”

“I’m only doing the hardness-test everyone takes per 100 years.” Rutile cut through their words with a professional tone. “Now if you would let me, I need to continue through the necessary precautions.” Slightly lunging onto dark green gem.

The victimized gemstone tried to resist, interlocking their fingers with Rutile and trying to push them back. Going back and forth, eventually Jade had succumbed to Rutile overpowering them. Causing them to have to go through the painful and brutal hardness-test.

Being forced through torture, maybe even absolute hell, Phos just stood there witnessing Jade’s misfortune. The light green gem stationary, what could they do anyway? In any case, they’re both powerless.

After Rutile finishes the test saying, “Yep, you’re still top-grade. Nice!” then leaving. All the while Jade suffers on the ground, groaning in pain, trying to forget it all. Then Phos extended their arm out slowly, surprisingly not tensing themselves up for the impact.

“Oh no, I don’t need to test you. It’s obvious your bottom gra-”

“Rutile!” Euclase gave a bump on the doctor’s arm before whispering in their ear. “You know Phos was going through something!”

Rutile’s eyes widened a bit, quickly realizing how rude they were being, swiftly apologizes to Phos, the light green gem accepting the apology before leaving the scene.

…

“Anywho… If you need ideas, you should talk to Dia… or maybe think of something yourself!” Jade finally responded to Phos’ question they asked a while back. “Help isn’t always going to be available, so try thinking for yourself.”

“Thinking for myself…?” Phos questioned before pondering to themselves. They were in a deep state of thought before something popped up to them, finally an idea! Their face immediately brightened before becoming a bit tense again. “Thank you Jade!” Phos happily ran off, hoping that this plan of theirs will work.

As their glassy-like footsteps changed to them stepping on grass, Phos ran through the empty field. Eventually stopping to take a breather, god they were slow. Then they ran again before taking another break. This repeating over and over again until they gave up and walked the rest.

The peppermint gem thought of the most sensible plan to fix all this conflict they had gathered up a while ago. To fix up everything with Cinnabar. The plan was fairly simple. Phos just needed to talk to Cinnabar. Phos just needed to communicate with Cinnabar.

Phos needed to understand Cinnabar.

…

Finally as they arrive at a random cliff, not the same one as last time. Phos realized that they didn’t know where the crimson one was. They really didn’t think this through. “Wait… How do I find Shinsha…?” They asked themselves.

Reluctantly, Phos searched the area to find this gem. Looking behind trees, under cliffs, hell even under some rocks. All lead to no avail and it eventually ended up with Phos laying down looking up at the bright orange sky, failing their objective.

It was now the late afternoon, the same sunset as always. Phos did continue to try to search for Cinnabar but every attempt failed miserably. “Ughhh! Shinsha, where are you!?” Phos shouted. They then gave up and started to leave, heading back to the school.

“Guess I’ll search tomorrow… but I guess that nothing’s gonna cha-”

“Hey.”

Phos turned around to see mercury floating around a certain dark red crimson gem, Cinnabar. Looking at each other, a silent standoff. Phos took a deep breath before asking a singular question.

“Can we talk..?”

Chapter Text

The wind passes through the two gems’ hair, making the shiny surface of them flow in the air. The silence grows bigger, the tension feels heavy. Cinnabar and Phos just staring into each other’s eyes. The sky orange as always, another afternoon, nothing special. Endless blades of grass swaying. Everything feeling relatively the same. Mostly.

The words “Can we talk..?” echoed within the crimson’s mind. Completely stationary, speechless, more quieter than Kongo’s meditation process. As they tried to muster up a response, Phos cut through the silence.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to, I understand, but I beg of you… let’s talk…”

“No… I don’t want to.” Cinnabar said without hesitation. They then realized what they said, knowing that they didn’t mean it, they didn’t have the communication skills to take back what they said.

Phos widened eyes slowly returned back to normal, looking down at the ground, a bit saddened at the rejection. “Please..?” They managed to ask. “If not, I’ll keep on trying until you sa-”

“We can talk…” a mumble came out of Cinnabar

The green gem didn’t hear this and assumed the other outcome. “I’ll take that silence as a no…” Phos started to walk away, disappointed although they knew they were coming back to ask them again. They just wanted to fix things up already.

Time seemed to slow down for Cinnabar, the time between each step Phos was taking away from them felt like hours. The steps being really loud, excruciatingly painful to hear. The scene around them fading to black, only highlighting the peppermint gem slowly getting farther and farther…

“ WAIT! ” Cinnabar shouted, using their mercury at their feet to fast travel and putting their arm on Phos’ shoulder before taking it off because they didn’t want to stain the green one with mercury. “Sorry but just, stay here please! I want to talk!”

All the imaginary side-effects that Cinnabar had seen suddenly faded away the moment they spoke their true feelings. Phos turning around in shock before softly smiling at them. “We can talk Shinsha, we can talk.” Phos reassured them.

Phos walked back towards Cinnabar, finally achieving the first step for their true objective. As the two stared at each other, Phos realized, where do they start? It’s tense already which makes it hard to start a conversation.

Cinnabar had a lot on their mind, like a LOT, but didn’t want to speak their mind. With them being the semi-shy, introverted bastard that they are. Plus the thought of them speaking is a waste of time.

Phos sat down, leaning their back to a tree. Cinnabar sitting next to them but keeping their distance. As the moments of silence, feeling like days, passed by: the two gems took a deep breath before (trying to) finally starting the conversation.

“I found a job for y-”

“Hey, I’m sorry fo-”

They both stopped.

“Shinsha, you can go first.”

“What..? You go first!”

Phos just stared at Cinnabar. Their eyes closely slightly, frowning a bit, knowing that Cinnabar should definitely go first, especially after hearing the start of an apology. Cinnabar slowly grew red, before crossing their arms and sputtering. “Fine!”

“Phos, I’m… I’m really sorry for making you cry… I was just caught in the moment and said some things that… aren’t pleasurable to hear…”

“All the mean things I said, I apologize for saying that… I- I just wanted to be alone.. I know an apology isn’t enough but I hope you’ll forgi-”

Cinnabar was cut off by Phos suddenly wrapping their arms around them, entrapping them in a hug. Cinnabar tried to push them away because of the poison mercury but it lead to Phos hugging harder.

“Thank you Shinsha…” Phos said softly. “Really helped clear up the misunderstanding! ha!” soon accompanied by a little giggle. Phos then released their grip on Cinnabar, ending the hug. Cinnabar showed signs of being sad when they ended the hug but brushed it off.

“Anyway, what were you trying to say..?” the crimson gem asked.

“Oh right! I found a job for you!” Phos exclaimed excitedly, even shivering in excitement. They were happy until realizing that Cinnabar can still reject them. Well, here goes nothing!

“Hm..?”

“And it’s fun too!”

“It’s fun..?”

“Of course it is! It’s because you’re gonna be my assistant!”

…

“Right…?

Cinnabar stayed absolutely quiet. Pitch silence. Nothing, just like the emptiness of the void. Phos started to get worried from the tension rising. Time slowing down. All of the sudden, Phos felt like this will make or break themselves, it felt like they were putting their life on the line. The green gem started to panic, their breathing picking up the pace, their eyes widening, sweat somehow dripping. 

“You know what…?” Cinnabar said, piercing through the deafening silence. “Sure, I’ll be your assistant.”

Phos then comically passed out, falling on their back, landing softly on the ground. Cinnabar turned around to see the source of the thud and seeing a dead-looking Phos. They almost panicked but quickly gained their composure.

Putting on their gloves that covered up to half of their forearm, the red gem then picked up the green gem, carrying them in a princess hold. Cinnabar blushed a bit from this, not wanting to cause rumors if anyone saw them.

As they carried the idiot back to the school, they started to actually pay attention to how Phos looked. Their shiny hair, the green eyelashes, the petite body and really fragile. Dang, Phos kinda looked attracti-

“NO!” Cinnabar shouted, shaking their head, blushing furiously.

Phos waked up to the loud shout and Cinnabar got shocked, dropping Phos on accident. Phos landing on their back surprisingly didn’t shatter. Cinnabar covered their blushing face before quickly apologizing for dropping the peppermint.

“Owww… What happened…? Why was I being carried…?” Phos barraged the crimson one with questions. Phos then saw Cinnabar covering their face and sat criss-crossed patiently waiting for them to answer their questions, not aware about the emotional turmoil they were going through.

Eventually after a while, Cinnabar was composed enough to tell Phos what happened. “You passed out right after I answered your question…” They then took off their gloves then shyly rubbed their right arm. “And I was going to carry you back…”

“Awww! Thanks Shinsha!” Phos smiled- “Wait what? You answered…!?”

“Yeah…?”

“Repeat it! I think I passed out before I got to hear!”

“No way in hell I’m repeating myself!” Cinnabar got flustered. They turned away before whispering, “Boss…”

Phos eyes lit up almost instantly hearing that. They couldn’t control themselves and jumped up, hugging Cinnabar, tackling them to the ground. A loud thud was heard as they both landed on the grass.

Obviously getting harshly pushed off, Phos rolled over a bit. They giggled before the two stood up. Phos looked down at themselves, surprised that they weren’t stained with some mercury. “Woah! How am I not stained..?”

“I can control it a bit… still not perfected.” Cinnabar answered. Phos smiled softly before extending a hand out, standing a bit proudly. “Welcome to the team, assistant Shinsha!” Phos giggled happily. “Yeah, thanks boss.” Cinnabar accepted their hand and shook it.

Finally, a (possibly) fun job and maybe a new friend for the crimson loner.

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Ever since Phos had recruited Cinnabar, everyone else started seeing the duo more. Cinnabar was getting accepted by the family. Being able to start conversations with others without the possibility of scaring them away because of the mercury, thanks to them learning how to control it better.

So far, so good. With them researching random stuff along shores, hills, cliffs, anywhere that had things that weren’t documented, they went there. Overall, it was peaceful. Finally, Cinnabar had found something they didn’t mind doing. Something that was… Fun .

…

It was another day, no breeze this time, just Phosphophyllite and Cinnabar conducting research for the encyclopedia. Picking up random species and writing it down. Phos’ drawing and handwriting was horrible but it did improve overtime. Cinnabar took over on documenting...

It really did feel like Phos was actually the assistant, the both of them knew that, but Cinnabar did insist on being the assistant. They felt heavy pity for the mint gem, now believing that this one cannot do anything at all, even something as easy as this.

Then Phos forgot something back at the school. “Shinsha, I forgot something! Can you come with me??” Grabbing onto their arm, clinging onto to them as expected. Cinnabar sighed before patting the mint on their head. “Fine, just go, I’ll catch up in a bit…”

Phos smiled before happily skipping off back. They originally had a bad feeling about going alone and that’s why they asked Cinnabar to come with them, but they brushed it off. They couldn’t rely on Cinnabar all the time. Right…?

…

Upon arriving, Phos was walking through the halls, turning to their left to admire the blue sky. “Shinsha’s missing out.” They muttered under their breath, both a disappointed and smug tone added to it. Continuing to walk, finally finding the clipboard.

“How did I forget this? And not realize for an hour?” Phos mumbled to themselves. They picked up the board, and brushed it off. They turned around to walk back to Cinna-

“WATCH OUT!” A shout from Bortz echoed through the hall.

Phos turned around, eyes widening at the sight of a giant gooey-ish snail. Trying to run, but obviously failing immediately, being swallowed up by the snail’s gooey body.

Unbeknownst to Phos, they didn’t hear the bells ringing or any warning that Lunarians were here and executing a huge attack on the school. 

While the other gems were trying to fight of the snail, they had to consider Phos being in there, not being able to completely decimate the snail. 

Somehow now getting the news, Cinnabar started to run back to the school. They were really worried about Phos, especially since there was something happening there and the mint gem got into misfortune often. “What happened now Phos…!?” They shouted angrily as they ran.

Finally, arriving there. “What happened?!” Cinnabar harshly asked Euclase who was close by. “Phos got swallowed up by… that…” Euclase pointed towards the snail and a couple of gems fending it off.

“They got… WHAT!?!?!” Cinnabar shouted. Their patience cracking a bit. Of course, they were worried but also kind of ticked on Phos somehow getting into this situation. The crimson gem then dashed towards the snail.

The solidified their mercury into a spear onto their arm, leaping with that same mercury but applied on their feet. Gaining height, the other gems fighting the snail were a bit surprised on Cinnabar’s arrival.

With a face expression that looked enraged, Cinnabar swung their mercury spear that was on their arm and sliced open the snail’s shell open. On their way down, they pierced through its body and somehow was able to pull out Phos still int he same condition way before melting, thankfully.

The snail immediately melting and dissipating, leaving a smaller version of it still living, which everyone ignored and focusing on Phos and Cinnabar.

“Not even five minutes as I wasn’t here and THIS is what happens?!?” Cinnabar scolded the unconscious Phos. Obviously lashing in anger, tensing themselves a lot. “God!” They put on their gloves before dragging the mint gem by their shirt, frustrated.

Other gems witnessing this entire thing didn’t interrupt at all. They all collectively stared as the crimson one dragged the dumb one away, probably to its room.

..

Entering Phosphophyllite’s room, Cinnabar stopped dragging the body when they were both near the bed. They then lifted Phos off the ground and gently set them on their bed, soon covering them in a blanket and tucking them in.

“What the hell Boss….” Cinnabar sighed, pulling in a stool and sitting on it, observing the unconscious one. Once again, observing them. Just thinking about it made them a little bit red before shaking her head, removing the red hue.

After watching for a while, they decided that it was time to leave. Cinnabar stood up and as they walked out the room, they said, “Don’t ever let that happen again, I was really worried…”

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Phos started to mumble and open their eyes, only to wake up to the smaller version of the snail, now an axolotl, that swallowed them on their chest. Eyes widening immediately before pushing it off and onto the wall. “WHA-! What…? WAH!?” The mint gem exclaimed multiple times in confusion.

“Ow! What was that for?” The snail responded.

“You were on m-... You can talk…!?!??”

“Yeah…?”

Phos did not hesitate before scooping up the creature into a wooden bowl, running out of their room, and threw them into the pond outside the school. They did not want this axolotl that almost just dissipated them to be near themselves at all.

“WHA-” The axolotl shouted before splashing into the water, struggling to float before sinking. Soon after appearing on the edge and climbing back up. “You didn’t need to do that…”

“What do you want…” Phos asked reluctantly, slowing falling onto their back, laying down with their arms behind their head to make a pillow. “I just want you gone…”

“You want me gone? Well, perfect! I needed a favor anyway.” The axolotl said. “I just need you to come with me to the sea, preferably I want you to come with for a while.”

…

Yeah, the Phosphophyllite decided to agree to these terms. Arriving to the sea, they walked in with the axolotl. The sea creature often asking them questions if they were useless but surprisingly, Phos didn’t feel useless at all anymore. Well, besides the fighting aspect.

“Now you want me to follow you?” Phos asked, letting go of the bowl. They were currently turned around, facing away from the axolotl to pick up some shell. When the mint gem turned around again to face the axolo-

“Yeah, if you would please.” The ‘axolotl’ pleaded gently. The axolotl turned into a similar shape as Phos, the humanoid-like body type. “Oh I forgot to introduce myself, name’s ventricosus. Now c’mon.”

Phos was a little shocked but shrugged it off and continued to walk through the sea. Stepping on sand and pushing it back to move. “So you landed here and want to get back with your people…?” Phos asked. “Something like that…?”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Ventricosus said. “If you’re still surprised about my appearance, it’s just similar to yours, that’s all.”

“So the snails were jealous of us and became us? Trying to be as cute as us??”

“...”

“Y’know, you’re undisciplined for a gem. Now I wonder how they deal with you all the time…”

“You know something… Tell me!”

“Surprisingly keen as well… Fine.”

Phos gets off a smirk for finally convincing the creature to tell them about the stuff they know about, been pestering them for a while for them to spill the tea.

“There’s a legend. This world was once habited by ‘humans’. Living on land, these creatures survived the planet being struck down six times. On the sixth time, they decided to return to sea: becoming spirit, flesh, and bone separately.”

“They survived even after being split up…?? Harsh…”

“Not really, it was a figure of speech. To be accurate, they split up into three species. My people, the Admirabilies, assumed to come from the Flesh. From them, we inherit a cycle of reproduction and death when we built upon our knowledge.”

“Now the bones, were said to make agreements with other life forms, gained long lifespans, then returning to land.”

“Isn’t that…” Phos trying to connect the dots.

“It’s just a legend passed down and I can’t say anything more than that.” The sea creature put a finger onto the gem’s lips, shushing them.

“But that’s how we came around!”

“Yeah, sensed as much. The spirits found incorrupt lands, now lingering for the other two: flesh and bones, trying to bring a revival to this human species. Just how they do.”

“Spirits, Lunarians… They’re doing this to become human again..?”

“I cannot say, it would be ludicrous for us to return how ‘we’ originally were. Their ways aren’t really acceptable. But like you said, we can only move forward, right?”

The sea creature started to swim further, with the peppermint gem following it. With the snail saying, “We have to fight for ourselves and for the ones we love…”

“Why..? Why does it have to be this way..? If this was true, then wasn’t the spirits apart of us before?”

“Meh. The Lunarians have no enemies but still desire for battle, never being satisfied.” Ventricosus paused. “Maybe this represents what we were, what humans were, that huge impatience of theirs.”

“Then we both changed for the better.”

“Yes, we did…”

--------------------------------------- Meanwhile -----------------------------------------------

Cinnabar was currently waiting for Phos to show up, tapping their feet repeatedly. “Where are they…? Wait… No…” Their eyes widen considering the possibility of the mint gem oversleeping, again. Groaning, they started walking to the school.

Upon arriving, as they walked to Phos’ room, they saw Dia looking confused at the door. “What’s wrong Dia?” Cinnabar asked. Dia turned around, surprised the crimson gem was here before responding back, “Shh, come with me.”

Cinnabar nodded before walking with Dia, keeping a bit of distance between them. They walked over to ‘Phos’ sleeping in bed. “Everyone yelled at you, didn’t they?” Dia said. “I’ll ask master to cheer you up, soooo-!”

Dia lifted the blanket to uncover a body double. Phos wasn’t here. “What!?” Cinnabar immediately shouted. “Where are they..!??! Wait no… NO! There’s no way they’re skipping out again !” The red gem realized what could’ve happened, of course they were ticked.

“Just find them, they couldn’t have gotten far.” Cinnabar muttered with hints of disappointment. The diamond instantly took initiative and ran out, soon telling everyone and sensei to make a search party for Phos.

All Cinnabar could do was hope they were fine…

Although it was Phos .

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“I have someone I hold dear to, just like you to Cinnabar.” Ventricosus said. “So please, forgive me”

“Huh..?” before Phos realized it, they were immediately impaled by spears, chipping the entirety of both their legs off. Soon turning unconscious from the sudden piercing.

The snail looked down at them guilty, knowing that they wanted to do this. Watching as a net was casted, picking the mint gem up out of the water.

“I offer my companion in trade for my brother, Aculeatus.”

Chapter Text

As a few gems and sensei were talking about the disappearance of Phos, they were starting to consider the possibilities of what could’ve happened. Surprisingly, Cinnabar joined in the discussion.

“We have different pairs patrolling the shore, the white hill, and even our birthplace.” Euclase stated. “There has been no report of Phos being spotted yet.”

“What if Phos did go to the sea?” Rutile pondered.

Cinnabar twitched at the thought, being filled with immense worry. The other gems noticed this before Cinnabar quickly composed themselves.

“What if… Phos actually is doing their job-“

“IT’S PHOS.” Euclase and Rutile interrupted Jade. There’s no possible scenario where Phos did their work. Jade turned to Cinnabar for them to hopefully back them up on their theory.

The others turned to the crimson gem for confirmation as well. Cinnabar blushing at the sudden attention. Not being able to decline in words, they shyly shook their head in denial. Jade and Rutile then went into a slight argument after that…

“Shinsha, would you know where Phos could’ve gone..?” Dia asked gently. It was reasonable to ask this because of the sort-of recent change of them being partners. “If you don’t then, maybe Phos was trying to find something we don’t have around here..?”

“It’s Phos, there’s no wa-... actually they may do that out of boredom…” Rutile considered. “They are stupid enough to do that…”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours later, Morganite was still patrolling the shore along with Goshe. They were currently split up, looking for any sort of clues. As the light-pink gem walked along the shore, they found something within the sand. They found footprints .

“Goshe! Go get someone, anyone!”

“Why?”

“JUST DO IT!”

Goshe held their hands up in defence from the shouting before sprinting back. Their audible footsteps dissipating the further and further they go. Now all that Morganite could do was wait, just sit there and wait.

Goshenite on their way to the school in slight emergency, had bumped into Jade. They both stumbled on the ground from the impact. Goshe quickly stood up and apologized to Jade, extending their hand to pull them up as well.

“Hey so, Morganite discovered something I think, come with me Jade.” Goshe semi-demanded rubbing the back of their head giggling a bit after accidentally bumping into them.

“Oh. Uh- Okay.” Jade accepted with some hints of confusion. Goshe started to run back to the beach, signaling Jade to follow. The green gem obediently followed them, this was pretty important after all.

…

“Over here!” Morganite waved their hands to signal for them to come here. The duo arrived before suddenly seeing the sight of footprints on the sand.

“Could this be..?” Jade wondered.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phos suddenly wakes up, they were tied down. Hands tied, mouth covered, and just couldn’t really move. They were in a wooden bowl and looking up, there was the head of a Lunarian army. They were currently hearing Ventricosus and the Lunarian arguing for their negotiation.

“What do you mean you want more? Isn’t this enough?” The pink creature said. “Don’t go back on our deal! Return my brother to their senses first. Phos is clearly valuable enough for that.”

The Lunarian shot a fireball at Ventricosus, clearly indicating that they needed more for this deal.

“Fine. This trick wouldn’t work twice though. But if we used Phos as bait… Huh, yeah… Alone and perceptive..? Maybe Cinnabar will take the bait..” Ventricosus schemed.

Phos, hearing their assistant’s name, immediately tried to say no. With the material around their mouth they couldn’t talk. The mint gem looked at the pink creature and shook their head, showing that they didn’t want Cinnabar involved in this at all.

Surprisingly, Ventricosus took the hint and decided to finally take the gem’s side. “No, Phosphophyllite is all that I could do. The rest already are suspecting me of bad.”

Three Lunarian soldiers held up their spears with burning tips and lit the pink creature in flames for a bit before Ventricosus fell down from the pain induced, leaving them laying on the black cloudy ground, their left arm completely missing.

Suddenly, a huge black snail awakened which was Ventricosus’ brother: Aculeatus. The black snail, enraged, started chaos on the black cloud. The creature then slipped off the cloud, landing in the ocean which caused a humongous splash of water to arise.

A few soldiers tried to sneak up and attack Ventricosus but multiple black tentacles appeared out of nowhere and starting attacking the soldiers. “Here…” a voice said, before it revealed that Aculeatus, finally in control, was there. “I woke up for food, near my home, and my sister? Three in one! How lucky!”

“You… gluttonous snail…” Ventricosus said before taking Aculeatus’ hand to stand up. Pulling themselves up, they engaged in a little conversation before turning around slightly to spot Phos. The mint gem just laying there, really unsatisfied.

“Is that one of the bones?” The black creature asked. “Looks horrid… but has a beautiful color like the shallow waters. The Lunarians would definitely like them.” They then realized something. “Oh yeah, you used this one to rescue me, right? Really fortunate for you to do that and not let them be captured. For everyone.”

“Not fair…” Phos was able to get those words out. “How am I supposed to be mad… after hearing all of that..?”

“You have no quarrels with us after being used for negotiation?” Aculeatus asked. “Do you immortals fear nothing? You may never return home.”

“So? but in exchange, keep Shinsha out of this…” The peppermint gem requested.

“Deal.” The black creature started to walk towards Phos before being stopped by Ventricosus. They then stood up and looked over at the gem, “You’re certain..?” they asked. “Yeah, I forgive you.” Phos said. “I have no strength to fight back anyways…”

“I can’t help my friends like the way you do… so might as well be useful… What has been happening? I’m 300 today, y’know.. You’re probably younger than me and look what you accomplished.” Phos monologged.

Ventricosus picked up Phos with them saying their soft then whispering to the gem, “If we’re not willing to change, we’re no different than the Lunarians, right?” The pink creature smiled a bit. “Let us return.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We’re all ready Sensei.” Jade said as Rutile brushes a little more powder onto Jade. Everybody was there, looking at the ocean. Cinnabar was sitting under a cliff nearby, not really able to do anything because if their mercury mixed with the water in the ocean, a lot of things would die.

“Mind the currents, stay in pairs, and do not split up.” Kongo gave orders for the gems before the they went into the sea. “Yes.” Every gem said as they understood before stepping into the water.

Cinnabar looked at the gemstones, a sudden wave of guilt washed over them. “Please find them.” they mumbled to themselves before looking forward at the endless ocean, wondering where Phos could be and how they’re doing.

That guilt only increased as Cinnabar remembered all the times where they insulted and absolutely despised Phos. “Didn’t I tell you we’re better off without them?” “They’re a troublemaker, annoying, self-centered, nothing but childish ideas running in their mind. A useless fool who can’t do anything.”

Cinnabar shook their head, but all their thoughts will filled with themselves hating on Phos. Endless amounts of hatred. It hurt. The crimson gem changed, they knew that they changed yet, the flashbacks linger there. “It’s my fault…”

Phos conveniently washed up on the shore right next to Cinnabar, the mint gem being accompanied by two agate-filled ‘tooths” and a wooden bowl with a part of their face in it because it was chipped off. Cinnabar didn’t notice Phos until a sound was emitted with a depressed tone,

“Made it…”

Cinnabar’s eyes widened at the sight of Phos, wondering if it is really still the same Phos. “A- are you okay…?” They said with worry.

“Never been better.” Phos said sarcastically.

The crimson gem was about to bombard Phos with questions about what happened, but they knew that Phos couldn’t really talk in this state. They don’t even have energy to speak in the tone that everybody recognizes.

“Even at sea, I still couldn’t find a use for myself.”

Cinnabar paused at Phos’ next line. Their facial expression changed to one with huge shock. They tried to muster up a response to comfort Phos but stuttered doing so. “It’s okay Shinsha. No need.” The mint gem said. “I already saved you… didn’t I..?” This just made themselves feel worse.

They put on their gloves and pulled Phos out of the water, leaning their body against the stone wall. Then they sat down next to them, their head in their knees, their arms bringing their knees closer. The mercury around them started floating rapidly due to the overwhelming guilt.

Cinnabar was about to break, tears were already forming on the tips of their eyes. All of this could’ve been prevented if they were more open and actually asked if anything was on Phos’ mind. All of this could’ve never happened. All of this is their fau-

“You’ll be fine…” Phos cut off all of Cinnabar’s mind, hugging them which made the crimson gem snap out of their overthinking. Despite their natural instinct to push them off, Cinnabar accepted the hug. Finally, Phos fell unconscious.

Before Cinnabar could do anything, they felt this warm feeling inside them. They realized that whenever they were around this green, annoying, stupid gem.. They felt comfortable. Whatever they said was heard and whatever they did with them was fun.

They cracked a slight smile. Then finally realized that they needed to deliver Phos. Picking up the mint gem, they had to control their mercury to not stain the injured one. Even dragging the agate spikes/tooths and the wooden bowl with a piece of Phos’ face in it behind them.

“Sensei! Call everyone back!” Cinnabar shouted. Kongo didn’t turn around, this was a serious matter to find Phos. “No, I can’t. We need to find Pho-” They turned around to face Cinnabar to see the sight of the crimson gem dragging a hefty amount of different things, including the unconscious mint gem.

Thankfully, Kongo didn’t need to call them back because multiple, if not all, returned to the shore to take a quick break. Staying in the water really tires them out.

Once arriving on the shore, they almost instantly fell to the ground, moreover flopping onto the sand. Instead, they all collectively saw the one they were looking for in Cinnabar’s back, Phos.

“Where’s their… legs..?” Dia asked, a worrisome expression on their face. Cinnabar shrugged hopelessly before setting down Phos on the ground. Kneeling next to them the red gem said, “You said I’ll be fine… I’ll take your word on that.”

They then stood up, dusting the sand off their knees. Turning to look at Rutile, the pointed at Phos before nodding. Rutile got the sign with Cinnabar entrusting them to repair Phos.

With that, Cinnabar left the scene. Their footsteps fading away as they got further and further.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not even an hour in Cinnabar’s little cave and they’re panicking a lot. “What if for some reason Phos isn’t repaired?? Nah… Rutile’s good enough! Wait- what if Phos isn’t the same..? What if- GAHH!” The flustered gem scratched their hair in frustration.

“I want to go check up on them but… UGHH! They’ll be fine probably!” Cinnabar crossed their arms, tapping their feet nervously before finally being able to calm down. “Yeah… Phos will be fine…” A slight smile appeared on the red gem’s face.

Then they suddenly remembered that Phos didn’t have their legs. The foot tapping and the slow breathing pace increasing started again. “WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO FOR PHOS’ LEGS!?!?” 

Cinnabar, without thinking, got up and climbed out of their little cave-hideout. Again, they composed themselves, “No, they’ll be fine… they’ll be fine…” They took a deep breath, calming themselves down…

The red gem decided to go on a walk. Looking at the dark, night sky, Cinnabar was able to take their mind off Phos’ situation. Yet, only for like a minute because their thoughts were filled with that green gem.

“Why am I worried about them..!?” They shouted internally at themselves. Groaning and scratching their hair in frustration, they lost their balance and fell to the ground. Cinnabar just laid down on the grass, trying to regain their thoughts. Deciding to talk to themselves…

“Why…? They’re going to be fine... I know it… but then why is there this feeling... where I want to see them..? Why do I want to see them..? Why does it hurt when I’m not with them..?”

“Maybe I should talk to someone about this feeling… For now… I’ll sleep on it…”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phos was laid out on a table with white cloth over it. They had recently woken up, only to see the sights of horror on a couple of gems surrounding them. Loud footsteps being heard and crushing the school, cracking pillars from the impact.

Kongo was approaching and they were NOT happy with Phos at all. With them going out to the sea and even after they explicitly said no, they were furious.

“I just applied glue! Ughh…” Rutile looked annoyed, knowing they were going to do more work on repairing the mint gem. Everyone surrounding Phos going into a slight blind panic at the sight at a frustrated Kongo.

“Can’t do you something Jade-”

“EVERYONE RUN!” The dark green gem commanded. Immediately, most of the surrounding gems fled, not wanting to see the potential wrath of Kongo.

“You little coward!” Rutile grabbed Jade’s tie, gripping it tightly.

“Sensei already found out! I’m trying to protect others!” Jade retaliated, smacking Rutile’s hand off their tie. “Hell, you should get out of here too!” Grabbing onto the other’s shoulders, they tried to push Rutile away.

“But-”

“If you crack, who the HELL is going to repair you!? NO ONE!” The green gem shouted.

Rutile sighed before walking up to Phos. “Good luck Phos… I actually mean it…”

Everyone hid relatively far from the soon-to-be punishment area for Phos, hiding behind pillars to hopefully not be shattered from the sheer impact that was going to occur.

As Kongo was slowly getting closer and closer to the poor mint gem, Phos was also slowly getting more afraid and afraid. Looking up at Kongo before they stopped right in front of them.

“You.. isolent…

FOOL!”

Kongo’s shout had mass impact, completely shattering Phos’ arms off and corrupted their body structure. Phos saying “sorry” as it happened. The mint gem sliding off the table along with the white cloth.

Three witnesses, Euclase, Jade, and of course Rutile were bewildered at the sight. Then suddenly at light speed, Kongo held Phos in their right arm and caught their arms that were broken off with their left hand.

“The sea… was frightening…” Phos managed to say after enduring the small lived frustration of Kongo.

“I will hear your full report tomorrow.” Kongo responded back.

“I’ll try harder tomorr-”

“And, in addition, I hereby cancel the production of your encyclopedia. I’ll leave it in the hands of Cinnabar.” Kongo interrupted.

The three witnesses all collectively gasped before accompanied with a horrified look on Phos’ face. “Wh- WHAT!? But Sensei!!!” Phos immediately started to whine and argue with Kongo.

Jade sighed, “I’ll go tell Shinsha about this…” The dark green gem started to walk away before being stopped by Euclase. They shook their head, signalling them to not do this. “I think it would be better if Phos delivered the news to Shinsha…”

Jade backed out and nodded, agreeing with Euclase. As all of this was happening, Rutile was trying to put the angered Phos down to repair them. Kongo and Phos arguing still, with Kongo now calmed down and attacking each of the mint gem’s arguments with logic.

…

The next day, after calming down Phos a lot, Rutile had finished repairing the fragile gem. Jade and Euclase sitting down near the repairing, being there essentially watching over them. (In a worryful way)

“Now… what do we do with your… legs …?” The doctor asked. This was a problem, Phos was in a predicament where they lost their legs. “I mean there’s two agate things and it’s probably compatible with your body… Are you okay with that?”

“I don’t care…” the mint gem said with an emotionless tone. “Do whatever you want… it’s not like anything will change…”

“Yes or no.”

“... fine…”

Rutile, getting the approval they needed, started to chip the big agate branches. Trying to shape them into legs that looked similar to everyone else’s. Sweeping the pieces that landed on the ground every once in a while.

“Rutile… how do I stop being useless…?” 

“And why would you ask this question…?”

“It’s that I lost my job… and I just… don’t want to be a burden… I want to be helpful…”

“Well Sensei is-”

“To Shinsha…”

Rutile was shocked from Phos’ response, almost dropping the materials they had in their hands. Shaking their head a bit, they continued. “Sensei is worried about you, with you being the youngest out of all of us. Even so, whenever you do something without Shinsha, it wears everyone else down…”

“Maybe I should just break into pieces to apologize…”

“Do not ! Think of this as your final task on the job! Tell me, where did you get these agate things, I’m hesitant to attach them…”

“A… Ru… Russet shell..?”

“Huh, shells do petrify into agate…”

“They don’t look like it can be my legs… hell, would they even move..?”

“They’ll be on you and that’s that.”

…

After attaching the new found replacements for Phos’ legs, Rutile, Jade, and Red beryl helped guide the mint gem to walk. With Euclase watching them. “Up, there we go. Take it easy.” Rutile said.

The moment Phos stood up and the others let go of them, they immediately fell down, not being able to control their legs. “Ack-” Phos groaned in pain. They got lifted up again.

“I think you should rest in the sun.” Euclase suggested

“Yeah, it would be best.” Rutile agreed.

And so, not even a minute later, Phos was sitting on a chair outside. They were alone, just sitting there. Dressed in a robe, their legs having a swirly pattern of ‘skin’ and agate. Trying to absorb the sunlight into their legs to make it accustomed with Phos’ inclusions.

They were spacing out, recalling random things in the past before stumbling upon a certain memory that happened literally last night. “I hereby cancel the production of your encyclopedia.” Kongo’s words echoed in Phos’ mind.

Phos didn’t really mind losing their job for a while, they were used to being… useless after all. “I’ll leave it in the hands of Cinnabar”. The other half now echoed in their mind. For some reason, at the mention of Cinnabar, Phos felt devastated. They couldn’t find random creatures on the shore or hills and document them with Cinnabar anymore. They couldn’t tell Cinnabar stories as they worked anymore. They couldn’t stumble over a rock and fall to the ground then be made fun of by Cinnabar anymore. They couldn’t giggle or laugh with Cinnabar anymore. They couldn’t have fun with Cinnabar anymore. Phos couldn’t do any of this without disturbing their work.

Phos couldn’t hang out with Cinnabar.

Just at the thought of that, Phos uncontrollably broke down in tears. No sobbing, no whimpering, no movement, just Phos crying and their tears falling down their face then some tears dropping onto the grass.

Their vision was fading, everything that was surrounding them was being replaced by a white fog, a void-ish feeling fog. Slowly but surely enclasping the environment around them, until it was just Phos and nothing. Each tear landing sounded louder than anything else. Continuing to get progressively louder and louder with each drop.

“It’s my fault…” Phos started to talk to themselves. “I shouldn’t have… helped them…” A guilty and broken smile started to appear on their face. “I was bad enough to begin with…”

Phos, out of sheer despair, stood up. Not even bothered by the discovery that they could move their legs. “I should… disappear…” Phos then ran so fast that the only thing tracing them is a light green blur.

With no one paying attention to the mint gem, no one witnessed anything that happened. Phos leaving scott free…

-a few hours later-

A decapitated Zircon was laid down on a table, Yellow diamond treating them for a while as Rutile was sleeping. The two oldies held a conversation about the light orange gem, everything going fine until…

“Phos is… gone…” Rutile said.

Yellow immediately started running in the rain, trying to scout for Phos. Stopping by Dia and Bortz on the way to ask them to help. As the diamond continued to run, they felt the need to ask a certain someone to help them as well. Surprisingly, they found them fairly quickly. Thankfully, Yellow didn’t need to spend much time finding them.

“Hey Shinsha, I need your help.”

Cinnabar turned around giving them a semi-pissed off expression before taking a small breathe and dissolving back to neutral. “What is it?” said in a bland but curious tone.

“Phos is gone. They had recently gotten leg replacements. I need you to help me find them”

Cinnabar gave a look of confusion before remembering a random conversation they had with the mint gem. “If I’m ever gone, I’m probably at that spot on the shore where you found me, under that cliff. Don’t tell anyone though!” They were about to tell Yellow where they could find them but stopped.

“I’ll help you Yellow. God, they’re always up to trouble.” Cinnabar said although they were actually really worried on why they were gone.

“Thanks.”

Yellow then swiftly left the scene. Cinnabar stood there, taking a deep breath. Then walking to the spot that was mentioned by Phos before. “What happened now Phos…? What happened..?” They spoke to themselves as they used their mercury as an umbrella to not get wet from the rain, although it didn’t really matter.

…

Phos sat down then laid down on their back on the sand. The shore pushing water up to their feet. The mint gem looked at the stone cliff above them. Having the most blandest expression they ever had in a long time.

“I should disappear… I don’t bring any purpose anyway…”

“I never do…”

“And I never will…”

Phos took off their robe leaving them completely… yeah… and folded it up neatly, placing it beside them. They then stood up and felt an urge to enter the sea once again, to leave this land again. “Should I stay..? What benefit will it be if I’m here…”

Before long, they gave a slight nod then started walking uncontrollably, each step kicking up some sand then splashing some water. Slowly going further and further. To Phos, the sea had its own gravitational pull, like being dragged into it.

Phos hopefully thought that this was goodbye.

…

“PHOS!”

Chapter Text

Cinnabar was making their way to the spot. Stepping in the wet grass, staining their shoes a bit. “What could they be up to now…” They mumbled to themselves. Considering the possibilities Cinnabar thought they were running away or researching for the encyclopedia.

or in the sea-

“No no no! There’s no way Phos will do that again!” Cinnabar said in denial, shaking their head to get rid of the gruesome thought. “Right…?” Uncertainty crawled on their back, everything feeling cold suddenly making them shiver.

“Even if Phos felt down, why would they go back..?” They tried to attack their worry with logic. They started to calm down as they were trying to find a reason why, not finding any reason to return to the water.

“Yeah… Yeah! There’s no possible way that useless gem would leave!” The crimson gem reassured themselves. This was probably some goofy runaway from Phos, nothing more. Nothing mo-

“ Useless gem”

Those words echoed within their mind. Connecting the dots, Cinnabar came to a conclusion. Their eyes widening, they starting desperately running to the shore, hopefully getting there in time before the worst thing imaginable happened.

Each splash of water accompanying the crimson gem’s steps, Cinnabar trying to get there faster. Accelerating more and more by the pure overwhelming emotions, the speed accelerating so much that their speed had made themselves to the blind eye, a dark red blur.

“You saved me once! Why do I have to pay back the favor!?” Cinnabar said to themselves. They started tearing up a bit which hindered their vision a bit, they wiped it off their eyes before finally arriving.

Seeing Phos slowly walking towards the sea, Cinnabar couldn’t help but say…

“PHOS!”

Phosphophyllite turned around, a bit surprised from hearing them. “Hmm..?-” The mint gem was cut off by the crimson one suddenly tackling them into a hug. Both of them falling down and somehow glided far enough onto the sand. The impact of them landing cracked Cinnabar’s legs, thankfully they didn’t break off

“Shinsha, your le-”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!”

Phos was shocked from the outburst of Cinnabar, soon accompanied by the one slightly sobbing into their chest. The mint gem didn’t know what to do, nor what to say. They were still trying to process everything that was currently happening.

“Wh- What’s wrong with you…?”

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!?! WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO GO OUT TO THE SEA AGAIN!?!?” Cinnabar got up and starting aggressively shouting towards Phos.

Phos struggled a bit to stand up. “Well, I feel li-”

“WHY ARE YOU LEAVING ME AGAIN!?”

Finally, after that one sentence, Cinnabar broke down into tears and Phos came to their senses respectively. Phos’ bland expression on their face turned into absolute horror, realizing how they made Cinnabar sad and how they didn’t realize it.

“What am I doing… It’s my fault again, huh…” Phos let out an empty giggle. They walked up to Cinnabar before hugging them, patting their head. Cinnabar, without hesitation, hugged them back, crying into their chest again.

Phos was getting stained with Cinnabar’s mercury because they couldn’t control it with the outburst they’re having, but it was irrelevant to them. Phos shed one tear, sighing a bit. “I can’t be crying at all, isn’t that right Shinsha…” Wiping it away, they felt the crimson gem’s head nod up and down against them.

Phos continued to comfort the one they essentially just tortured…

…

After about an hour or two, Cinnabar finally managed to calm down. The two were sitting on the shore, Phos having the robe on after the composed Cinnabar got really flustered seeing an undressed Phos.

The mint gem then remembered about how they kinda gotten fired from their job for now. They took a deep breath, scratching the back of their head a little bit. Dang, and to add more onto the load. They thought to themselves. Phos was about to speak but then-

“Please, don’t do that again…” Cinnabar mumbled to themselves

“Repeat that..?”

“I said… Please… DON’T DO THAT AGAIN!”

“Okay okay! I won’t!”

Cinnabar took a sigh of relief, smiling a little bit as they were reassured that Phos was going to stay with them. They didn’t want them to leave. Phos was really entertaining to the crimson gem. If they were gone then…

“Hey I have something important to tell you…”

“Hmm..?”

“I can’t work with you…”

Cinnabar visibly twitched. After losing Phos basically twice, they were going to lose them again?? No no no, they cannot let it happen. They harshly grabbed and gripped on Phos’ shoulder, looking into their eyes with a really threatening look. Their mercury suddenly flowing behind them to accompany the death stare.

“Why.”

Phos visibly looked scared. No, they looked horrified. This unlocked a new tier higher than seeing Lunarians, immediate goosebumps. Phos pushed themselves off Cinnabar before falling down, literally crawling backwards to get away.

Cinnabar saw this and realized how intimidating they were being, they took a deep breath. The mercury dissipated mostly. They looked down at Phos with a look demanding for an explanation.

Phos was still visibly shaken, hugging themselves in a fetal position as they shivered in fear. Cinnabar sighed before getting a bit red and hugging the mint gem, obviously this calmed down Phos.

“Explain, now.”

Phos turned bright red, unable to say anything. They looked at Cinnabar and signaled to what their doing. The crimson gem joined Phos in turning red. They both realized that they were unintentionally cuddling (Mostly because of Cinnabar hugging Phos earlier).

They both turned around in panic, their backs facing each other. “S- sorry..!” Cinnabar apologized. “N- no, it’s okay… I can explain now…” Phos responded.

The mint gem recovered fairly quickly from the unnoticed cuddling and started to explain.

“Before being repaired… Sensei was walking towards me…”

“Sensei?”

“Yeah. Of course, they were mad. Eventually, they shouted at me…”

“What did he say..?”

“Something along the lines of, YOU INSOLENT FOOL! ” Phos said in an imitating voice of Kongo. It was surprisingly similar but higher pitch. “Then they said something about my report about the sea…”

“Mhm…”

“Then… word for word… I hereby cancel the production of your encyclopedia. I’ll leave it in the hands of Cinnabar… ”

Cinnabar’s eyes widen exponentially. Taking a slight breath afterwards, they picked themselves up and offered a hand to Phos. “There’s no way I’m letting my boss get fired. Get up.” 

“Wh- Why..?”

“I’m not losing you again. Now get up.”

Phos felt themselves blush a bit before accepting Cinnabar’s hand. After standing up, Cinnabar forcefully grabbed Phos’ hand and started running back to the school. They (mostly Cinnabar) were not going to let this decision of Kongo go down.

…

Eventually, they stopped running because Phos couldn’t control their legs and kept running way too far. They resorted to walking instead so Cinnabar could actually walk with them.

Phos looked down and realized that their robe was getting loose. They then looked up at Cinnabar, asking them a question. “Hey, can you tie my robe? It’s falling off.”

Cinnabar was confused at first, turning around. “Why..? Can’t you do it yoursel-” They saw the robe not even tied on Phos, barely on their shoulders, showing everything . Of course, they redden up swiftly turned back around and covered their face.

The mint gem looked confused, the gears in their brain trying to turn. Then they figured out why Cinnabar looked away. Phos blushed a bit before smiling deviously. “Nooo, I can’t~” They said in a teasing tone.

“Shut up! I know you can!”

“I actually can’t. Please help me.” Phos said in a bland tone with a disappointed face. Mostly disappointed at themselves. “My knots are horrible, they can’t stay up for more than a minute. Here look.” Cinnabar turned and the mint gem proceeded to tie a knot to keep the robe up. Soon after tying it, the entire robe fell off of them.

Swiftly picking up the robe and putting them on themselves, Phos apologized for the sight they had given to Cinnabar. The crimson gem obviously turning way too red. The mint gem put the robe on themselves, using their hands to prevent from falling. “It’s either that or… you get me some clothes.”

Cinnabar sighed, their anger taking over their current emotions for a brief moment. They walked towards Phos and tied the robe onto them, tight. “ACK-!” Phos grunted as it was moreover wrapped around them then tied around. “C’mon, let’s go.” The crimson gem demanded. Phos nodded obediently before walking behind Cinnabar.

Thankfully the rain stopped by this time, but most of the walk was silent, they duo approaching the school bit by bit. Nothing being exchanged between the two. It was just them, silence, and occasionally one of them stepping on a twig.

On the way there, Phos found a flower, a pretty one at that. They stopped and went down to pick it up. Having this flower in hand, they ran back to catch up. “Hey Shinsha! Stop real quick!” The mint gem said in an urgent tone.

Cinnabar turned around. “What is it-” They were interrupted by Phos putting the flower on their ear. Phos then took a few steps back as Cinnabar was a bit stunned. “Wow! It looks cute on you!” The mint gem said before closing their eyes and smiling, giving them two thumbs up, accompanied by a little triumphant giggle.

The crimson gem blushed a little, rubbing their arm a bit. They smiled. “Thanks.” They said in a gentle tone. Phos eyes widened as this was the first time Cinnabar ever spoke like that or even thanked someone. “Now return the favor by getting my job back!” Phos said in a giggly tone.

Cinnabar sighed. “Yeah, I got you boss.” Surprisingly, they even gave a thumbs up. Phos smiled fondly before grabbing Cinnabar’s hand and running with them to the school. “You’re the best assistant.”

…

Finally, they arrived. Cinnabar wasted no time and stormed into the middle of the hallway before… “SENSEI!!!” They shouted loudly. It echoed through the halls and the gems nearby looked in confused and/or flinched from the sudden sound. Even Phos flinched a bit which cause Cinnabar to swiftly apologize to them.

Nothing was heard besides the sounds of the other gems whispering to each other, asking each other why this was possibly happening. Dia was walking up to them. “Hey, what’s wro-” They were interrupted by loud footsteps.

Phos signalled to Dia to move away. “Trust me.” They whispered to them behind Cinnabar’s back. The diamond trusted the phosphate mineral and back away from the situation. Phos themselves backed away a bit, but still a bit close to Cinnabar.

Kongo approached Cinnabar. The crimson gem didn’t flinch at all of their semi-intimidating presence. “What is it.” Kongo asked.

“What is this I hear about Phos not being able to work?” Cinnabar asked in a harsh tone.

Before long, the two got into a one-sided heated argument. Cinnabar mostly the one shouting at Kongo, demanding them to let Phos work with them. Kongo, of course, only giving their reasoning on why they shouldn’t.

Phos was just sitting by on a bench, witnessing the entire thing. It felt like one of those unskippable cutscenes where a relative was arguing with a stranger and you had to wait until they were done. Pulling out their clipboard, they made little drawings of random stuff like themselves and Cinnabar hanging out to a rock with a smiley face. 

Giggling to themselves as they drew. Surprisingly, a group of gems surrounded Phos, seeing the drawings of the red and green gem duo made them say “awww” collectively. Phos, as anyone would, blushed a bit at this before proudly bragging about their drawings. For once, their drawings were actually readable and pretty good to look at.

As Kongo and Cinnabar were bickering, as Phos was getting bombarded with questions and compliments (for once) for their drawings. Everything seemed like it was another lively day at the school. Back to normal. Then suddenly…

“This job is fun!! It’s bearable!! Way better than the stupid night watch!!” Cinnabar took a deep breath. “All of these factors happen because of that… stupid … IDIOT!” They blindly pointed to Phos

Phos looked up from their clipboard, including the ones surrounding them. They were all collectively surprised at the outburst of Cinnabar. Even Kongo was a bit shocked from it.

“They may be useless to everyone else, but they’re the reason why I still enjoy being here.” Cinnabar looked down. “They’re…” The crimson gem starts tearing up, those same tears falling down, landing on the concrete floor. “Phos… they’re important to me …”

Without hesitation, Phos got up, ran, and hugged Cinnabar. A collective amount of aww’s came from the crowd of gems, soon silenced by Kongo. Kongo, seeing this sight, decided to take pity on the two. Especially after they considered how much they went through when Phos randomly disappeared twice. “I’m sorry, I apologize. I’ll let Phosphophyllite attend to your needs with the encyclopedia, Cinnabar.”

They then kneeled and whispered into Phos’ ear, “Take care of Cinnabar. I’ll entrust that to you.”

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Finally, everything was back to normal. Besides Phos having new legs, Cinnabar and Phos still worked on the encyclopedia. Occasionally, the mint gem would say random stuff to procrastinate and Cinnabar sighed before going along with it.

On one of these semi-work days, the two were just strolling around. Nothing really to document because it was either already documented or it was just some heavily useless thing, like a different kind of rock.

“Hey Shinsha, what was it like when you were a loner?” Phos asked a genuine question. Pondering about this for a while and tilting their head slightly to the left as they asked.

Cinnabar was slightly ticked off from the mention of them being a loner. They sighed before turning around. “It was… well… lonely…?” They said in a slightly confused tone.

“I mean I get that! But… nevermind! How about this, how did it feel when I forcefully recruited you?” Another question from the peppermint gem.

“I felt…” Cinnabar paused for a bit, taking a deep breath. “I felt relieved. I really did. At first I wanted to reject your offer because… well… it’s you.” Phos giggled a little bit from this. “But I am glad now. I feel needed now because of this job and it’s actually kind of fun… Thanks a lot, boss.”

“Awww! No need to say it!” Phos smiled before patting the crimson gem’s head.

“You asked me though.”

“Oh right.”

“Stupid…”

Phos shrugged before continuing to walk joyfully nearby Cinnabar. The red gem was a bit annoyed from the way Phos was acting but being with Phos was good enough so they couldn’t complain.

Phos then stopped which made Cinnabar raise an eyebrow. “Thank you.” The words came out of the mint gem. Phos turned around, smiling fondly. “Thanks for getting my job back. Best assistant out there.” They gave a thumbs up, a laid-back one instead of a cocky-overconfident one.

Cinnabar then, for once, giggled. They smiled back. “Can’t believe I’m doing all the work.” They shook their head in disappointment, still smiling. “Looks like you never change. Hardly working.”

Phos blushed a bit. “Shinsha~!!!” They ran up to them and starting pounding their fists into Cinnabar’s shoulders in embarrassment. Getting another giggle out of them. “C’mon, we gotta get to work now Phos.” Cinnabar said. Phos pouted before reluctantly agreeing, they needed to document something after all.

…

“Shinsha, wait up!!” Phos said desperately, they were distracted by a cool flower and was trying to catch up. Waving their hand in the air as they rushed themselves to Cinnabar. As they tried to catch up, they suddenly tripped on a twig. “Ah-!”

Cinnabar turned around, a bit annoyed. “How did you fall behind aga- AH-!” Cinnabar was interrupted by Phos falling onto them. Both of them falling down, surprisingly not cracking in any form from the impact, landing on the soft grass.

The two engaged in an accidental kiss. Phos pushed themselves up a bit then seeing the position they were both in. Phos was on top of Cinnabar… They stared into each other’s eyes for a while before both of their faces fluster into a bright red. The mint gem rolled off and the crimson one grabbed their chest. “I’m sorry Shinsha!” Phos apologized.

They duo both breathed fast, panicking a bit. Trying to compose themselves but it really wouldn’t work. Only after a few minutes, everything started to calm down a bit.

Why the hell am I so… red..!?! Cinnabar thought to themselves. They had this warm tingling sensation within their chest. A spike of nervousness suddenly arose and now they felt scared as they tried to think of how Phos thought of them. Why am I afraid…? What does Phos think of me now…!?

Why did I trip…!? WHY DID I TRIP!?! Phos screamed at themselves internally. They were so frustrated, asking themselves why weren’t they more cautious. I just accidentally kissed Shinsha!!!! UGHHHHH! They didn’t mind the kiss but they really were curious about Cinnabar’s view of them now.

Just stay calm. STAY CALM! Both of them thought to themselves. The duo both stood up. The silence was really tense before Phos just started rapidly apologizing, over and over again.

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!!!”

“It’s fine! It’s fine! Just pretend it never happened.” Cinnabar, surprisingly composed now, just brushed it off. Phos obediently nodded. “No one hears about this, okay?”

“Yes!”

“Good. See you tomorrow Phos.” Cinnabar looked serious before walking away. Heading to the school first. Phos really confused about what just happened, trying to decipher all the events while bright red. The moment Cinnabar was at a far enough distance, they started flustering hard. They felt their face get red, themselves shaking their head, and covering their face in embarrassment.

“Why do I feel like this..!?!?” They both said to themselves.

Chapter Text

After dealing with confliction with themselves for a while, Phos groaned loudly before getting out of bed. “Who do I talk to..!? What am I feeling..!?!” The idiot started shaking their head rapidly, trying to figure it out themselves.

Eventually, they got tired of it and ran out of their room. Their plan was to find anyone, ANYONE to talk to about it. This feeling was a first, mostly because they were basically the youngest out of everyone.

Running through the halls, they spotted Jade. Sliding across, slowly stopping themselves. “Jade!! I need you!!” Phos shouted. The gem president turned around, curious. Surprisingly, they weren’t with Euclase as of currently. “What is it now…” Jade asked with a bothered tone, placing one hand on their hip.

Clinging onto their arm, Phos started whining a bit. Jade sighed, “Another idea that you need?” they asked having a dissatisfied tone. The president thought this was just another day of Phos being annoying. Then they looked at them, seeing their facial expression surprisingly being somber instead of one of pouting like they were expect.

Releasing another sigh out of their mouth, Jade snatched their arm out of Phos’ enwrapment. Sitting down on a nearby bench, they signaled for the troubled one to sit down next to them. Of course, Phos obliged, leaning back on the bench, letting their head fall back.

“Tell me, what’s bothering you now?”

“... I-...” Phos was making signs with their hands out of confusion. Hitting their head once, trying to clear their thoughts a bit. “There’s this feeling where… I become jittery, every part of my body shaking…”

“And what causes this?”

“I don’t know but…” Phos shrugged before slouching and letting out a soft sigh. “After that … it happens near Shinsha…” Jade takes the emphasis of “that” into consideration, trying to figure out what was bothering Pho- “AHHH! Why did I do that…!?!” Phos started blushing rapidly and covering their face. Shaking their head, trying to deny the existence of the events.

“Oh.” Jade said. Their facial expression turning from one of deep thought to one of disappointment and realization. “That’s why.” They said to themselves. Getting up from the bench, occasionally side-eyeing Phos. “Stay here, I got someone who can help you.” They said before leaving.

Phos gave one glance at Jade walking away from them. Once they were gone, they groaned and leaned their head back over the back of the bench. Staying in that position for a while, pondering. They were thinking hard about the situation but soon enough, they blanked out. Having absolutely nothing on their mind.

“Uhhhhh” They groaned like a zombie. Suddenly, a few memories of Cinnabar started replaying in their head. That groan slowly turned into giggles, creepy ones. Letting those memories play made the mint gem calm down a bit and smile. Lavishing those moments… What if…

“AAAAAAA!!!” Phos shook their head rapidly, once blushing heavily again. “WHAT IS THIS FEELING!?!?!?!??!”

Euclase was brought into the predicament. Jade whispering into their ear for a bit, making the blue and grey gem understand what was happening. Euclase nodded before sitting down next to Phos.

As Phos was losing it, causing Euclase to be a bit intimidated from the behavior, Jade sighed. They dark-green gem snapped their fingers, getting Phos’ attention before pointing the same finger to Euclase. “I think they’ll help you. Bye.” They waved bye, leaving the scene again.

Phos looked at Euclase, a bit dissatisfied. “Am I that unlikeable that Jade had to get you?” They bluntly asked the other. Euclase immediately declined the allegation Phos made up about themselves. “No! You definitely have been more fun to be around!” The smart one reasoned. “I mean, everyone has gotten more fond of you.”

“Mhm. Yeah. Sure.” Phos stared unamused at Euclase. “I totally believe you.” Nodding their head slowly.

“Sigh… Anyways. Something’s bothering you, right?” They asked. They did trust Jade’s word, but wanted to double-check, just to make sure the information wasn’t wrong. It would be really horrible if Euclase misunderstood. “What is it?”

Phos flopped their arms up before they fell down again, a bit bothered for needing to repeat themselves. “I have this feeling where I feel jittery, every part of my body shaking. Something like this.” Phos mimicked the shivering.

“Why?” Euclase rested their head on their fist. Their arm resting on the crossed legs.

“Don’t know.” Phos shrugged, basically reciting what they said earlier to Jade. “It only happens when I’m near Shinsha, especially after what happened.” They were slightly annoyed so the blush on their face wasn’t as great like earlier, pouting a bit as well.

The silenced accompanied the two as Euclase nodded, making their suspicions indeed be true. “Ugh… Why did I do that..??” Phos groaned, looking down and covering their face with their hands, soon shaking their head in disappointment.

Euclase waited patiently for the mint one. Twiddling with their fingers a bit and humming as they waited, swaying side to side slightly. Looking pretty innocent.

Letting out another groan, Phos put their hands down. “So? You gonna help me?”

“Oh yeah, right.” Euclase said. “You said that this occurs near Shinsha, correct?”

“Mhm”

Unnecessarily nodding their head a bit, Euclase made a few ‘hmm’ sounds, acting like they were figuring it out. “Okay… another question, has Sensei taught you the-” They cut themselves off, rewording the sentence. “Do you know what love is?”

“Love? That thing whe-”

“It’s like when I make out with Euclase.”

“JADE!” Euclase shouted. They immediately got up and started pounding their fists onto Jade’s chest in embarrassment. “Go away! You told me to handle this!” They said with a bit of anger. Jade nodded before leaving once again. Euclase sighed and sat back down next to Phos. “Okay, Continue…”

“Isn’t love that feeling where you really like someone and desire to be with them more?” Phos asked. “Why are you asking me th-...” Phos cut themselves off. They put a hand out towards Euclase, “Wait.” They said. Pondering for a while, the dumb idiot finally started to connect the dots, although taking a while, Phos eventually figured out why. “THERE’S NO WAY I’M IN LOVE WITH SHINSHA!” They declined.

“NONONONO!!” Phos stood up and started swiftly walking in circular patterns, trying to deny that they were in love with Cinnabar. Phos falling in love? That was something that was definitely not considered, neither on their agenda.

Euclase got up and started walking with Phos, patting their shoulder. “Hey, hey it’s fine! It’s not a bad feeling!” They tried to comfort Phos. It wasn’t working at all as the mint gem continued mumbling to themselves.

…

Finally, after a while of panic, Phos calmed down. They sat themselves down back on the bench. Euclase patting their back occasionally, smiling a bit out of pity.

“Th- There’s just no wa-”

“How about this, list everything on why you think you don’t like Shinsha.” Euclase interrupted.

“Well! They’re so mean! They literally hate everything I do! I’m always a displeasure towards them and it makes me a bit sad.”

Euclase waited patiently as Phos went silent for a bit. “Now what if Shinsha was gone? How would you feel?”

“I- I’d feel…” Phos paused. “Lonely…?” 

“Now, do you hate them?”

“Yes…” Phos said. “But… They’re bearable… We’d find random creatures on the shore or hills… I’d crack random jokes and they would laugh at them… I would tell them stories… I would be clumsy at times and then be made fun of by Shinsha… It was fun to be around them…”

“Mhm…?” Euclase mumbled, knowing they hit the jackpot. Phos was so easily manipulated. Now Euclase can slowly but surely confirm that Phos does indeed like Cinnabar. “And what do you think about them?”

“Like I said earlier, they’re mean!” Phos crossed their arms and looked away. “Anytime I do anything, they always laugh at me… probably because I’m clumsy, but that’s besides the point!” 

“Okay… Now-”

“What do I like about them..?” Phos mumbled to themselves, looking down, deep in thought. They completely forgot that Euclase was right next to them, Phos was lost in their own world and thoughts. “Shinsha…”

“I mean… I’m glad they’re always there. Shinsha’s there, listening to me when I tell them absurd stories and random struggles. Someone to always be able to rely on…” Phos smiled fondly as they continued to talk about Cinnabar. “On top of all that, they’re kinda hot …”

Euclase was about to interrupt them but stopped at the sudden mention of Cinnabar apparently being hot to Phos. They decided to keep quiet for now. Phos was really spilling all the beans, not knowing when to stop.

Jade was passing by once again, helping Alexandrite with their research a bit, carrying a stack of papers. Euclase got up and stopped the two. “Wh-” Euclase put a finger to Jade’s mouth, shushing them. Then they looked at Alexandrite and put a finger to their mouth too. The two showed obvious signs of confusion and was soon answered by Euclase pointing at Phos.

“Everytime I see Shinsha, I have this urge to barrage them with… what’s that word again?” Phos snapped their fingers a bit. “With… affection? Yeah, affection.” Phos sighed, them becoming a bit gloomy. “What am I saying? There’s no way Shinsha would let me hug them…” 

“Maybe I do love Shinsha…”

They shook their head a bit in denial, then accepting the fact that it could be a possibility. Looking down, they whispered to themselves, “I really gotta stop talking to myself… It’s making me consider it…” They shrugged. “Whatever, no one thankfully heard me say any of this…”

Phos got up and stretched, eyes closed. Mid-stretch they opened their eyes to see three flabbergasted gems. The mint gem immediately flustered up red, “I- I forgot I wasn’t alone… did I..?” They asked with a horrified tone and look.

Euclase, Alexandrite, and Jade all nodded in unison. With Jade the only one not having a look of pity. Phos eyes widen before they let out a despaired grunt and fell unconscious, way too bewildered at the situation.

Euclase rushed to assist Phos. Picking them up on their back, they walked back to Phos’ room to lay them to rest. “Jade, Alex, you two can continue doing your thing.” They said. The two nodded, walking away to Alexandrite’s office/room to put the stacks of paper in.

Dia stopped peeking and held their mouth, absolutely rendered speechless. Now with the newfound information of Phos potentially loving Cinnabar, they had to keep it to themselves. Still, they squealed in excitement for the mint gem. They went back to their own duties.

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Cinnabar was taking a stroll. Exiting their little cave, for once they actually decided to go outside during the day when it wasn’t a work day. Although the pretty rare occurrence, the thing rarer than this is Cinnabar isn’t composed, for once, when they’re by themselves.

“No… No!” They shook their head. “Why is that brat inside my mind…” Scratching their hair in frustration. No matter what they saw, Cinnabar couldn’t help but think about Phos, them being able to slip into their thoughts anywhere.

Walking along the shore: Cinnabar imagined Phos playing with the water. Seeing a path: Cinnabar imagine Phos running down it and telling them to hurry up. Hell even when seeing a rock, Cinnabar imagined Phos picking it up, naming it something like “Bub”, and showing it to them with a happy smile on their face.

Continuing to walk, they were completely unaware of their surroundings. All they could see and think about was that dang idiotic brat, nothing else. There’s just memories and lines said by Phos repeating inside their head. Then suddenly-

Dink!

Cinnabar fell back and rubbed their head. “Ow… Sorry.” They opened their eyes to see Bort and flinched a little from the intimidating look they gave them. They got up and dusted themselves off.

Still staring at the crimson gem, Bort asked, “Why are you here? You never appear during the day without Phos.” a bold tone as always with their eyebrows furrowed a bit.

“It’s nothing…” Cinnabar brushed them off. They were about to start walking away before surprisingly being stopped by the other. Bort grabbing Cinnabar’s arm, they harshly dragged them back with enough force to pull them suddenly and without breaking their arm off.

“Something’s wrong and it’s bothering me.” Bort said, their expression softening slightly but barely enough to notice a difference. “What’s wrong.” They let go of the other’s arm.

“Like I said, it’s nothi-” Cinnabar cut themselves off seeing a really unamused look on Bort’s face. They took a deep breath and sighed, letting themselves sit down. Looking out ahead, seeing the clear blue sky. “Fine…”

“Recently, I feel very off… I can’t even think straight. It even keeps me up that I have to tire myself out just to fall asleep…” Cinnabar’s expression turned a bit somber. “It makes me so… flustered. Everything becomes a distraction…”

“What is this damn feeling..!?” They shouted at themselves. “Whatever it is… it’s all being caused by that peppermint looking gem… Especially after they tripped and did all of that …”

Bort stood there, listening to Cinnabar, nodding occasionally while still looking as emotionless and serious as ever.

“It’s Phos of all things! What’s so special about them for them to be in my mind all day!?” Cinnabar shook their head. They started to think of Phos, trying to figure out why this was happening. Not even a second later, Cinnabar was resurfacing old memories with the other.

Spacing out a lot, Cinnabar was reminded of different times with Phos. The times they hung out together. The good, the bad, everything was being recalled. From the times that Cinnabar had fun playing in the water with Phos, to Phos purposefully walking into the sea, they remembered. It gave them a heartwarming feeling inside their chest.

A smile crept onto their face, blushing a bit fondly. Giggling to themselves a bit as they continued to recall all the interactions they had together. Staring out into the grassy field, they imagined multiple different things Phos would drag them into and they wouldn’t mind.

Bort took a quick glance at Cinnabar, seeing the other actually look happy and even blushing. Their eyes widened a bit from the discovery, widening a bit more after realizing why they were acting like that. Letting out a quiet grunt understanding this.

“Hey.” The black-haired gem said in a pretty serious tone. Getting the attention of Cinnabar, the crimson-haired gem turned around, their happiness turning into a neutral expression. “What.”

“Explain love.”

“Love?”

“Explain it. Give me your definition of it.”

“Well, it’s where one experiences feelings for another. Specifically the need to be with them?” Cinnabar said a bit hesitantly, not entirely sure their definition of love was correct but it was their definition of it.

Bort nodded. “Phos shouldn’t be here in the first place.” They said with a harsh tone. “They’re useless anyways. Total slacking 3.5.” Bort even managed to let out a giggle, unusual. “Why did Sensei give them their job back.”

Hearing all of these comments, Cinnabar couldn’t help but get a little bit frustrated, actually, very frustrated. “PHOS ISN’T USELESS!!” They got up and shouted at Bort. 

“They should’ve been gone.”

With that final sentence from Bort, Cinnabar had the biggest urge to defend Phos. “NO! They shouldn’t be gone! They deserve to stay!” Putting a hand to their chest, “They’re the reason why I like my new job! They’re the reason why I’m able to socialize with all of you! PHOS IS THE REASON WHY I’M HERE!”

Bort felt a little bit of pity for doing this to the crimson gem, but they had to do it. “And why are you defending Phos.” They asked.

“I- I…” Cinnabar fell silent, a few tears falling down their face. They quickly wiped them off before looking down. “I don’t want Phos gone… I want them here…”

“I want to stay with Phos…”

.

The black-haired gem just stared at Cinnabar with a look that clearly said, “which means?”. Cinnabar looked up at Bort, confused for a while before suddenly realizing. They blushed heavily and immediately went to denial. “No. No. There’s no way your hinting that I’m in love with Phos.” They said with a mixture of horror and shock in their voice.

“There’s no way I’m in love with THEM!”

Dia was somewhere near this interaction between Bort and Cinnabar. As they were talking a stroll innocently along the grass, they suddenly heard that line Cinnabar shouted in despair.

They covered their mouth with their hand as they gasped in shock. Stopping in place, they looked down with their eyes slightly opened more than usual.

“They’re in love with each other!?”