Spectrolite was no fool.
She knew that now Black Diamond was gone, White Diamond would turn her sights to the many defective and off-colour gems that Black had allowed into her court. She knew that she and a great number of her fellow gems were no longer safely under Black Diamond's care.
Now, they were just mistakes that White Diamond needed to fix.
She contacted those she knew personally. The ones most in danger.
The Iris Agate who could barely bring herself to punish or harm others, and the Ruby in Kyanite "fusion" (as Black Diamond had called her).
Then she looked for those who were close to Black Diamond. White Diamond said in her announcement that Black Diamond had taken her most trusted gems with her, meaning White would need to take out a few gems if she wanted to keep her story straight.
Black Diamond’s Pearl and her Quartz guard, and Black Star Sapphire were the obvious choices.
Spectrolite sent them all a message, to meet her in her respite chambers urgently.
It took a while, but eventually everyone had arrived. It was certainly a tense atmosphere. Some were grieving. Some were afraid of the future. Some were angry... well, one of them at least.
First things first, Spectrolite needed them to know the truth.
She told them all what she saw. What White Diamond had done to Black Diamond and Black Spinel. That she didn’t know where they were, if they were even still alive.
Black Star Sapphire took it the worst. She blamed herself. She should have known. She should have seen it coming. She was a Sapphire after all, one who specialized in foreseeing tragedy none the less.
If she couldn’t have foreseen this and saved her Diamond, what kind of a Sapphire was she?
She was a failure.
Ruby in Kyanite was conflicted, as she was with lots of things. Her form twisted as she became less stable. Her arms split into two each side, and she grew two new eyes. When she spoke, it was overlapped by the voices of her Ruby and Kyanite components.
Midnight Pearl didn’t believe it. She didn’t WANT to believe it. She’d earned her anger. She needed it. She’d kept it bottled up for so long, and it felt GOOD to let it out now. Why was Spectrolite trying to take this away from her? Trying to make Black Diamond out to be the victim in all this?
Silver Aura Quartz had to try and calm her down.
The two’s relationship seemed to have evolved past that of a Quartz guard and her charge, though exactly what it was Spectrolite couldn’t entirely say.
Iris Agate was afraid. It was a strange thing to see in an Agate, usually such powerful and imposing gems, but the fear and loss in Iris’ eyes was more than real. She was shaking, and barely fighting back tears.
Spectrolite gave everyone some time to compose themselves. She knew it was hard to hear what she had to say, to hear what had happened to their Diamond.
Once they had calmed themselves somewhat, Spectrolite told them her plan.
They needed to escape Homeworld.
It was their only hope if they didn’t want to be shattered.
They couldn’t try to escape to one of Black Diamond’s colony planets. Those were now under White Diamond’s control, and White was certain to undo all of Black’s efforts to keep the native life on those planets alive. They would be stripped bare, just as with all of White’s colony planets, and left as husks.
They couldn’t try to hide in the depths of Homeworld, among the chasms where the first gems emerged. Yes, they were uninhabited, but they were also frequently patrolled by drones that hunted for rebel gems who might be hiding down there.
And staying on Homeworld in White’s court was entirely out of the question. White Diamond was ruthless with her perfectionism. If a gem didn’t meet her exact standards, she would have them shattered, harvested, or rejuvenated.
No, the only choice they had was to steal a ship and flee Homeworld.
And so the plan was set in place.
Iris Agate had the most authority of any of them, so she was in charge of securing a ship for them.
Black Star Sapphire could look over the available ships, try to foresee if they may be destined for tragedy. Engine malfunctions, damage from space debris, or capture by Homeworld.
Silver Aura Quartz was just a Quartz drone, and would be able to take cargo on and off the ship without drawing suspicions.
After a ship had been chosen and filled with supplies, Spectrolite, Rubynite, Midnight Pearl, and Black Star Sapphire dissipated their forms and their gems were hidden in a supply crate. Silver Aura Quartz brought the crate on board the ship, and Iris Agate piloted the ship out of Homeworld’s atmosphere.
Once she had reformed, Spectrolite cracked her way into the ship’s interface and got rid of any tracking software that Homeworld might be able to use to track them.
They were free.
For the next few millennia, the 6 of them flew across the universe. They had no real goal, other than simply surviving. They would stop the ship on old or abandoned colony planets in order to stock up on anything they could get from the leftover homeworld tech left on the planet.
This way, they could stay more or less on par with the technology of Homeworld. They could intercept transmissions and keep up to date with what was happening on Homeworld.
Then the war for Earth began.
Rebel gems, fighting back against the restraints and cruelties of Homeworld.
It was exactly what they needed.
The group joined the Crystal Gems.
They fought back against Homeworld as best they could, fighting alongside the soldiers of Rose Quartz.
When the Diamond blast came, they were on their ship. Black Star Sapphire foresaw it only seconds before it happened. There was no time to warn anyone.
They returned to Earth to see... the aftermath. They couldn’t find a single surviving Crystal Gem.
They stayed on their ship after that, exploring the Milky Way and generally keeping Homeworld out of the galaxy as best they could. There was nothing left for them on Earth.
Nothing, that is, until they receive transmission about Black Diamond’s return
My gemsona! They’re an off-color Ruby whose vein got crossed with that of Kyanite. They were the first to emerge, but upon seeing the reactions of the overseeing gems, they immediately fled. They have no idea what happened to the rest of their batch, but they can only assume the worst. Goes by Rubyanite for short.
The reason they have a smothering glove is bc kyanite has heat-resistant properties!
was she originally just a throw away character i vaguely mentioned in one of my drabbles? yes. did i get overly attached to the idea of her and flesh her out into a full character for Black Diamond's court? also yes.
