@Pathfinder Hogan picked up his necklace and took the box of what he though would be cigarettes,He put on his necklace around his neck opening the box seeing their was one cigarette inside of the box."Thanks..." He said to Johnny pulling out the lone death stick and lighting it with a nice sized zippo lighter.

He took a deep breath of the death smoke watching the two talking waiting to speak afterwards.

"Spinel! I'm so glad you found us and that you are safe. This is Melanite an..." spoke excitedly only to have her words screech to a halt. The smile on her face dropped in an instant as panic filled her, her eyes widening in fear as she thought of Sodalite and Evenkite on a HomeWorld ship. She hadn't really liked the thought of Reggie being on Blood's ship but the human had seemed a bit friendly with the other so that was by choice but the other two were probably more wrong place at the wrong time. She didn't want to jump to conclusions but all the what if that could go wrong were speeding through her head. If she had a need to breath she would be hyperventilating by now since she was already in a full blown panic attack. Eve was neutral so she would be safe and if Reggie was an ally to Blood then that was no worry but Sodalite had chosen her.

Blood had said the second they chose her that they would be enemies. She knew the possibilities of being enemies to HomeWorld. She wanted to go on Blood's ship, defend Sodalite but at the same time she knew she couldn't. She wasn't sure if she could anyway. She wasn't even sure if she could face being on that ship yet but she would try her best. She would give everything if it meant Soda living.
"Where was the last place you saw them? Can you show me? After you show me the place they warped from please take Melanite back to the temple. I don't want either of you in any danger...this could get ugly." she said, worry in her voice before it went to more serious. She needed to focus and push her fears aside for now.

"Come with us Reggie." Were the first words that came out of her mouth directed at the human. In truth, she did not trust, him. Evenkite trusted him, however, and she was her friend. She assumed that Eve would feel even more comfortable if her human friend was with them as well, and not with Bloodstone, Chromite, and the deadly machines. "You can live in the temple, not your bag." Reggie could be forgiven for him current alignment with Bloodstone, but her main focus was Evenkite's safety and sanity.

However, within the confines of her mind, she desired to know more. More about the machinery that was used against them, more about gemkind and how they actually worked, more about homeworld.

"Of course I can, just come with me and I'll show you where I saw them." Spinel began walking in the direction she came from, towards the spot where she'd seen the others warp into the ship. "I know you don't want me to risk my safety, but one of the nice things about me is that I can do my job without being anywhere near the danger. Are you sure you don't want me to back you up?"

@Akayaofthemoon@21308
Melanite waved at spinel, then looked up at Aqua, she watched her for a moment and her eyes widened and her face showed awkward surprise at how she began to panic and freak. When she started to hyperventilate she tried to calm her down by placing a hand on her shoulder, and even went so far as to motion into showing Aqua how to breath normally. When Aqua finally calmed down, she was incredibly confused, what had happened? why did she lose her cool all of a sudden?

More relieved that he’d like to admit now that the older man was off his case, and thankful that Johnny didn’t go the route that many others did once hearing that he didn’t drink, Gilles drew his attention away from the older man and back onto Johnny.
"Knock yourself out,” he had told the stranger. I hope he does, hopefully he’ll have a sense of humour knocked into him as well. He bothered not hide the soft chuckle that arose as this thought crossed his mind, which only intensified when Johnny voiced his concern over him.

“I ain’t putting myself down. I embrace being a loser. Cheer up, okay? Don’t be worried over someone stupid like that or someone stupid like me when your home’s a mess and you’ve nearly got yourself killed, silly.”

A few more chuckles escaped him before he went silent once more. A few moments later, he spoke once again, “If I’m not a bother, I don’t mind helping you find them. In fact, you probably don’t need to tell me how they look like,” he paused, digging out his video camera.

"I think I might’ve met one of them before.”

It was his latest recording, so Gilles found the clip he was searching for very quickly. Holding it between them so that Johnny could get a good look, he played the clip, a brief but clear video of the strange glowing figure he had seen on Johnny's van not too long ago.

"That one of them? I know it's creepy to you that I've got this on camera, I was sort of recording something and your van went by, and I was too tempted to not. I thought it was pretty cool, heheh..."

"Why ya got the camera for?Takin viddya's of people?" Hogan asked Gilles quietly puffing a good sized ring of smoke out his mouth and into the blue sky above.His blue eyes staring over at the two younger men watching them strangely as a hawk would over food.The necklace around his neck swaying back and forth in the warm breeze against his tall body.

Mayor Coss was completely turned around. He had no idea where he was and where the group of gems were, and the man was left to wander around until he could find someone. He didn't know how it happened. One moment he was with the gems, and the next moment he wasn't. He was supposed to be leading them to the temple, but even he didn't know where he was at the moment, and he could only hope that the gems were able to make their way there.

A thought occurred to him and the man stopped. His son had shown him the videos of the Beach City Crystal Gems fighting. He had seen that they caused great damage to the town. He sighed. These Gems were going to cause some problems. They were going to save the world, yes, but they would cause a great deal of destruction along the way. One of them even stole the ocean for an unknown amount of time in order to leave orbit and return to their home planet. The ocean returned, however, so that was good. He continued to walk, contemplating how the other people of Mohs would be able to take the news of intergalactic, metaphysical gem-and-geode-based beings living near the town and protecting them from a foe of the same race.

"Why ya got the camera for?Takin viddya's of people?"

Chuck stopped as he heard a voice. He traveled in the direction of where the voice was, and came to see three people, none of which were the Gems he had been leading.

"Hello? Can any of you tell me if you've seen a group of multicolored beings with gemstones on their person? Also, where I am?" He asked them. hoping to set himself back on track.

Amber was honestly still taken aback about this whole thing, he couldn't muster any words so he merely went along with what was told to him. When it finally came to having to do something, in this case looking for a way to get into the actual temple, Amber managed a hearty "Lets do this!" After that exclamation the orange colored Gem began to look around for anything that could be used as a way to get up to the temple. His search may have been unsuccessful, but it was quite entertaining to watch as he lumbered around the landscape and fumbled with anything that even resembled a button or switch. After managing to break the branches off a dozen trees and upturn countless rocks Amber heard Emerald call out that he found something. Dropping the boulder that he was currently looking under Amber made his way over to the two other Gems. "Should we give it a pull?" Amber asked as he scrached his chin, if it was just him he would of pulled the leaver but seeing as the other two Gems were right there he didn't want to risk getting them hurt just in case Zircon's comment about things blowing up turned out to be right.

Aquamarine took a deep calming breath before letting it all go, her sights determined on figuring out how to get onto Bloodstone's ship or at least hoping they found a way off of it. She would be there waiting for them either way, hoping that none were hurt or that Blood would be lenient on them just this once. It was probably a long shot but he hadn't attack her earlier...he had even spoken to her a bit so maybe...no, she couldn't afford to think that way. She shook her head to rid her thoughts,now that she had finally calmed and set some of her emotions of the past aside, she felt the hand on her shoulder and saw the look of confusion on Melanite's face. The other gem hadn't seen Bloodstone's not so nice side or how he was when fighting so of course it would be a strange reaction to see from Aqua, getting in such an upset.

She smiled at the young gem, giving the hand on her shoulder a light squeeze before her attention turned to Spinel and she nodded. "Thank you Spinel, please lead the way and we shall both follow."Aqua replied. They walked a good ways, following Spinel until they had reached the last spot they had been seen. She noticed there was no warp pad and frowned a bit, bending down to touch the Earth that had been disturbed by Chromite's warp. She didn't like the thought of another HomeWorld gem being around or helping Blood but there was nothing she could about that. Aquamarine stood, looking at the two young gems before her and shook her head softly,"I know you can be out of the way of danger if need be though that will never stop my worry over your safety but I need you to watch over Melanite right now. I need someone to protect her and get her to the safety of the temple since she cannot summon her weapon yet. I am counting on you to protect her for me and do what I can't since I need to try to get to Sodalite, Evenkite and even Reggie. I promise that I am tougher than I look and I will be alright without back up. Night is falling fast, I would be more at ease if you made it out of Kindergarten before it gets darker than it already is."

Meanwhile, somewhere in between the Kindergarten and Mohs Town

Yesterday had been a boring and uneventful day for the spy, now going by the name of Candice Ghoste. She had received the mission to investigate Mohs Town and the area around it due to the strange reports about certain incidences that occurred in Mohs Town. She had set up hidden cameras and bugs around the town and set up an advanced surveillance stealth drone with a small camera and microphone (for the outskirts and the area that was apparently called the Kindergarten), all day yesterday. She certainly hadn't expected this day to have so much activity and events happening.

She watched everything happen through the video screen of her laptop computer and the many video screens of her surveillance program that received the video feed, from the safety of the motorhome she was given to live in and do her work in (if needed, she could get a hotel room as well, in case the motorhome was compromised). She had been prepared to call her fath-that is...the General, for military reinforcements when that large eye like object suddenly appeared, but stopped when a strange person appeared and fired at it, and seemed to cause the thing to disappear. After watching the strangers...who seemed to be in two different groups thus far, she called the General and reported everything to him.

After telling him about the strangers and the events that took place, she asked in her usual monotone voice "Sir. What are your orders?"
"Investigate the origin points of those strangers, tomorrow morning, when those things aren't there. If you encounter any of them, I leave your judgment to combat them or not up to your discretion, but do keep the Mohs Town citizens' safety in mind. Do you understand, Agent?"
"Yes, Sir. I understand, Sir,"
"Good. Those things...I'm sure they're going to get the citizens killed if we're not careful, Agent. But unfortunately, we cannot move without any proof,"
Candice could tell that her father didn't like the idea of having to gather any evidence before moving in to kill the chromatic strangers with fire. But she didn't say anything as he continued,
"Now, I'm sure I don't have to tell you this by now, but remember! Don't trust anyone, don't get too attached or close to anyone. Remember, you are a tool, meant to stand with the people and protect the people from the others,"
Candice answered with her usual monotone and business like tone, "Understood, Sir. Thank you, Sir,"

As usual, the thought was lonely, but if she could help people, then her own feelings and thoughts didn't matter. As much as she wanted to, she wanted to roll her eyes at the constant reminder the General always gave her before each mission. She didn't say anything though as the General answered "Good luck, Agent. I look forward to hearing your report tomorrow,"
The General soon hung up and she hung up her cell phone as well. She just hoped that this mission that she wouldn't have to kill anyone this mission.

@Akayaofthemoon@21308
Melanite looked up at Aqua then at Spinel, grinning at spinal she followed behind the two, making a 'gem-train' of sorts as she did so. When Aqua explained the situation she looked at spinel and smiled, was this a new friend now too? she liked this one too. Oh! a weapon? that also sounded cool, she began to wonder about that more then anything else in this ordeal.

Emerald listened to the others, and essentially what they had said was that he had clearance to pull the switch. He was glad that he wasn't alone, in case of unlikely explosions. He reached out towards the switch, pulled it down, drew his hand back and covered his face and gem with his arms before something happened. He braced for impact of...nothing? A panel next to the switch was pulled back into the wall, revealing a set of stairs going up. "Uh.....Hey, guys, it worked!" Emerald ran up the stairs and was so excited that he didn't notice that there was a crack in one of the stairs. He tripped on said crack and flew flat on his face onto the ground of the second floor.

She would not believe it. She would not tolerate it. No, she was done. Eve was already snapping, but this was something else. She asked two people for answers and got three people to reply, a bombardment of replies, all of which were unsatisfactory. And Bloodstone was once again ignoring her. All of the replies, along with the commander's lack of one, raised the anger in her, but this last comment...

" 'Us'." Her voice had gone down, but it was very clear from her expression, clenched fists, and glare that she was still seething. The single word started off in a mocking tone, but as she continued on, it was soon replaced by anger.

" 'Us'," she repeated, her pitch and voice rising steadily, "'Us'? What do you mean, 'us'!? Since WHEN was there still an 'us!?'" There is a 'me' and there is a 'you', but 'us' ceased to be once you so blindly decided to follow Aquamarine! And for what? Because she was NICE!? And you," she sharply turned and pointed an accusing finger at Reggie, "Got his word? Seriously!? What do you mean, got his word? That's your justification!? Y-You," she said, her voice broken by laughter of disbelief, "You, you who knows this guy is a liar, got his word and actually expected him to keep it!? Neither of you can be SERIOUS!"

Well, he was just offering to let you go according to Chromite, so apparently he's not a complete lia-I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT. THIS IS STUPID, REGGIE'S STUPID, I'M STUPID, BLOODSTONE ISN'T MAKING ANY SENSE, JUST DON'T.

A few more harsh bursts of laughter, but there was a different tone to it now. Disbelief, now joined with Regret. Bewilder. Mockery. And yet genuine amusement as well.

"DAMN, and I thought I was an idiot! We're BOTH idiots! What the bloody hell were you THINKING!? Wha-what the bloody hell was I thinking!?"

No more laughter. No sound. Only the anger in her eyes and the sensation of her nails digging into her clenched hands remained.

"...What was I thinking indeed." Much quieter. Barely above a whisper.

What were you thinking? Nothing, apparently. Calm the bloody hell down, Eve. You sound just like Emerald right now. And Amber. And that's not a good combination.

Eve went silent once she came to this realisation. She let out a huff. A harsh, loud huff.

This isn't changing anything. You're letting your emotions get to you. Acknowledge them and then let them go. Don't let them cloud your judgement and take control of your words. You've screwed up, but don't need to keep screwing up.

There wasn't denying that. At the same time, she wanted to be angry. She wanted to continue to throw a fit. But there was no denying that, and the logical side of Eve, the side which didn't seem to be functioning so well ever since seeing Melanite with Bloodstone, began to take over. So she closed her eyes and thought for the first time in what felt like forever.

Eventually, the silence had come to an end, and with a gentle huff and a voice that slowly but surely softened, she spoke:
"Let's make something very, very clear, because apparently I haven't been doing a very good job at that." She paused to look up at Sodalite, no longer glaring, her fists unclenched.

"I am leaving the ship. Do not think for even a second that I will not. No offense, Bloodstone, sir. "

Then she paused once more, looking at Reggie.

"But I am not leaving without you. Bloodstone, sir, I'm only here to accompany Reggie. I will take no part in whatever offers you have for me. And if you have a problem with that, then by all means, I will leave this instant. But Reggie is still coming with me. I will drag him off here if I have to. And Reggie, sir...Please consider Blue Gem's offer. I don't trust Aquamarine anymore than I do Bloodstone, but you, as a human...You'll probably be safer off in her hands. She clearly cares more about your kind than her own."

With that said, she turned her back to Reggie once more and walk over to Sodalite, her face flushed yellow-green in shame.

You really took it out on her, didn't you? Poor kid risked herself to go find you. Really, Eve, that's awful. Can't get one thing right today, can you?

"I-I'm...I'm..." she stammered, struggling to find words, her eyes averted and her head hung low.

"...Sorry...That I snapped at you. Both before and earlier. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have yelled like that. I know you were probably worried about me, and by all means, I can see why. And I appreciate the sentiment, I really do. But you shouldn't have. By choosing Aquamarine, your concern should lie with her and the newborns. Whatever happens to me now is my concern and mine only. So please, don't risk yourself for me like that again. I'm not worth the trouble."

Any and all hope that Sodalite had harbored was now a smoldering pile of ashes, slowly being whisked away by the frigid wind that was Evenkite.

So that was what she thought of her. Just a newborn gem that immediately trusted the first person that smiled at her. Now, to all of the unnamable figures peering into this young gem's mind, she was not speaking literally. Aquamarine was one of the two largest pieces to this puzzle. She and Bloodstone were two halves of the same picture. Both of them revealed similar and the same things, but each had their own specific features and perspectives, both of which she desires to see. Had the encounter gone differently, maybe she wouldn't have stood where she stood now, maybe the one person she truly thought of as a friend wouldn't have made her reconsider the title.

She just wanted to help

Evenkite's words were getting increasingly worse, and it was becoming more and more difficult to continue to stand there. She watched as Evenkite looked at her and made sure that she was being understood clearly. As Evenkite seemed to relax, Sodalte became tense, her hands now becoming clenched.

She had zoned out a little after that. She didn't care at the moment, and her fists clenched even more so when Evenkite began to stammer. She wouldn't stand there and wait for Evenkite to get her story straight. She didn't wait for her to get out what she was trying to say, and walked out quickly and silently so she wouldn't have to hear what she had to say.

She walked out and away, going back to where the warp pad was supposed to be.

She just wanted to be alone.

Reggie offeredna small smile at the blue one's offer, but he knew already that if he didn't take this chance to satisfy his curiosity while he had it, the regret would eat him alive. Before he could say anything, however, Eve suddenly spoke up, low at first, but quickly rising in both volume and emotion as she spoke. He didn't really feel much hurt from the words she sent his way, as he had been expecting that kind of response and rightly deserved her anger. But evennhe couldn't help but flinch at the way she address the other gem, those words being a lot more harsh.

Instead of speaking up, however, he simply let the small gem vent out her frustrations, his face betraying nothing as she subsequently calmed down, stating her intentions and apologizing to the blue gem. His face remained stoic for a few seconds more before hensighed and turned around his back facing the two gems as he looked to the ceiling. He stood there for few seconds, silent as he'd ever been, before reaching up to wipe his face, rubbing his eyes with his arm.

"Boy, this has been a day, hasn't it?" Reggie said as he turned around, only to see the blue one walk by him, whatever words he'd been about to say dying in his throat. After she had left, Reggie just stood there for a second, contemplating what he should be doing right now. In the end, he sat down next to Eve silently, letting her absorb what just happened for a bit before speaking up.

"I know that you're hurting right now, Eve, but please don't give up on her if you still want to be friends. Just give her some space and time, then when yoy think you're ready, we can go back down to see her. You may have made a couple of mistakes, but you're still young and they're all fixable. In my 20 years of life, I've made more than my fair share if scew-ups," Reggie sighed, feeling a familiar urge take hold. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes, taking one out and lighting it before he took a long drag. As he breathed out a veil of smoke, a chuckled escaped his lips. "Case and point, I continue to do this even though it's bad for me. We all have to pay a price for our mistakes, Eve, but at least you can still make amends. Like I said, give her some time, then we can head back and see if we can mend things. If not . . . maybe she just needs more time. Just remember, you wouldn't want her to give up on you, so return the favor and don't give up on her, okay."

After he finished talking he pulled out another cigarette, and held it out to Eve. "I probably shouldn't do this, but you don't have lungs to ruin so see ufnyou like it. These can be very calming to humans, maybe gems can enjoy them as well but without the side effects. I know it's how I handle a rough day." Reghgie took another drag of his own cigarete, a humorless chuckle escaping his lips. Goddammit, I sound just like Dad. I guess kids do become like their parents in the end . . .I wonder how he would've handled all this insanity. Dad . . . I'm sorry . . , so very sorry. As the smoke rose and tears fell, Reggie could only see the outline of his damily estate wreathed by brilliant flames and choking smoke. I should've been there for them . . . I should've been there.

@Loony

Zircon glanced at Amber as he approached, and then back to Emerald and the switch. Zircon was going to slowly move her hand to pull the switch, but Emerald went for it before Zircon could move. At least it was done faster. The reason for the slowness, unknown. Perhaps it could be Zircon just unnecessarily overthinking it way too much. Psh, possible explosions. No. Damn it Zircon. Zircon still kind of wishes she hadn't said that, but it doesn't feel like there's a use for getting all regretful and/or mopey about it now. No harm done though, right? Hopefully. Seeing Emerald brace himself made Zircon slightly tense and slightly put her right foot back in reaction. When the staircase was revealed Zircon eased and made a quiet sigh of relief since they finally found it. Zircon watched Emerald run up the stairs, "Ey wait up!" The excitement caused Zircon to start running up the stairs to catch up. Zircon was eager to see what this temple had in store on the inside. When she sees Emerald up ahead trip and fall Zircon speeds up a bit, skipping and stepping over every two stairs as she goes up. "Easy there.." Zircon catches up with Emerald and slightly bends down while extending a hand to him to give him a hand up.

Bllodstone watched the whole scene, it was sad. Blood knew how that felt, watching a close friend storm out and never come back. Although this was different, Eve may be friends with Sodalite again. Blood walked over to his scanners and picked up a piece of paper and a pen and wrote
Let Eve read this first:
Eve, I'm sorry for what happened but hopefully by the time you read this you will feel better. I know you don't want any offers but you are free to stay here for as long as you want. You are simply not allowed in the far back room through the ornated door and the room with multiple beds. If you go in my lab, just don't touch anything, but you are free to look.

Reggie's Turn:
You are also not allowed in the back room or the room with the multiple beds, but unlike Eve you are not allowed into my lab. I just don't trust your curious mind to not touch anything in there.

Blood then walked over to the two and handed them the note. "I don't want to bring this up at a time like this but I have to catch some sleep. Read this when you two have started to feel better." He then walked over to Chromite, "Don't let those two into the temple, but remember that one of the rooms in there is your's. I wonder, do you even remember what it looks like? Either way, good night. I'll see you in the morning."

Spinel

"Hello there, I'm Spinel." Spinel said softly. She led Melanite back to the temple as Aquamarine had said.

Chromite

Chromite hit a couple of keys causing the warp pad to send Sodalite back down and then immediately close. "Well then, I suppose that takes care of that. If you're going to be staying here, shall I find you two some suitable quarters?"

As she watched Sodalite go, ignoring her words, she felt her shame and regret turn into guilt. Then pain, a pain far worse than the worst of the burning sensations that came with the overuse of her powers.

And then she felt numb.

Everything she felt today, confusion, fear, anger, annoyance, regret, sadness, happiness, everything and anything, left in what seemed to be an instant, a weight lifted from her shoulders, leaving her numb to everything but exhaustion. She wanted nothing more than to curl up into the hole she had emerged from and sleep off all the nonsense that had come with today. And then, without the start she would've normally felt, she realised that it would be the first night in her short life away from the Kindergarten. Would the thought have made her sad? Excited? Frightened, embarrassingly enough? Whatever she would've felt, she wasn't feeling it. She felt nothing as Reggie sat down beside her and nothing as she listened to his words, responding to them with the same strange sense of detachment she felt while hearing them.

"I'm not hurt, Reggie, sir. I hurt Sodalite. She had every right to react the way she did, and I don't blame her for it in the least. I'm surprised she took it so easily. So I'm not hurt by it. And as for whether I fix my screw ups, who knows. At this rate, hell if I know anything anymore. Today's been a mess and now my mind is a mess too."

A pause.

"I won't give up on her," she said, absentmindedly taking the cigarette from Reggie without even looking at it, "But I won't blame her if she gives up on me. I know I would've. 'To hell with this bitch', you know?"

She let out a sigh and finally looked at the cigarette Reggie had offered. Not one thing she thought of could've explained how the hell this thing was supposed to help her, but she appreciated the sentiment and kind words too much to tell Reggie this. And then, her vision be damned, she could've sworn there was already smoke coming out of it. She felt once again. Shock. But then she blinked, and if there had been any smoke at all, it was now mixed in with the smoke Reggie had exhaled.

"We're pretty good at doing things that we'll later regret, aren't we?" She said after a while with a humourless chuckle, her gaze vacant, "Things that are bad for us."

She took the paper that Bloodstone handed out to them wordlessly, in the same hand as the cigarette, and somewhat registered his and Chromite's words.

Sleep.

"Sleep sounds great, regardless of whether I have suitable quarters or not, Chromite, ma'am," she replied, "You could stuff me back into Reggie's bag and there'd be no issue. Come to think of it, Reggie," she looked up at him, the first time she'd looked at anyone in the face since her statement on staying with him, "Isn't your stuff still down ther-"

Her words cut off. Were her eyes deceiving her again? She blinked. No, still there. For some reason, Reggie was crying. And she couldn't help but feel bad. Even responsible. Sodalite's treatment was entirely unjust, but Reggie's was somewhat justified. And he accepted that so simply, not even caring about how angry she had been with him, and had tried to comfort her despite this.

Yet he was the one crying.

It didn't make sense.

Maybe he was the hurt one.

Maybe, somehow, she had hurt him too.

"...Reggie?" The hand that had been holding the now fallen note and cigarette was now gently squeezing Reggie's own.

"What's wrong?"