Epic War: A Gemological Nightmare
Part Two: Preparations

by Zenki No Omocha
August 18, 2001
 

    Aventurine and Pearl said their good-byes and headed to their respective
    homes.
    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..... I'm beat !" said Aventurine as she trotted up
    the shrine stairs. Her mind wandered on the stone a bit. Why was it
    bothering her so much now? It was just some stupid rock, but even so, it
    left her with a bad feeling. She reached the top and looked at the one in
    the garden.
    "Ridiculous.... hmmmph..." She scowled and stuck her tongue out at it, but
    then a rustling of clumsy footsteps coming from the upward trek quickly
    startled her.
    "Wh-who's there !" she cried out. The priestess Cat's Eye came fleeing
    upwards towards her, fell to her knees, and gripped on to Aventurine. She
    was short of breath and tremendously weak.
    "Cat's Eye ! Are you okay !?!?"
    "Ob-Obsidi..Obsidian.. I m-must see her.." she forced out.
    "Hang in there Cat's Eye !" cried Aventurine as she tried to help her up to
    carry her to the shrine. Cat's Eye was in a great deal of pain, and
    Aventurine realized this when she saw the great deal of blood soaking her
    robes concealed her arm gripped around her stomach. Aventurine tried not to
    panic as she carried the priestess.
    "Grandmaaaaaaaaaaa !! Grandmaaaaaaaa !! Help meee !"
    "Aventurine ! What are you doing out so la.... CAT'S EYE !! Are you
    okay!?!?"
    "She's hurt bad, Grandma !"
    Obsidian took the wounded woman into her arms and observed her injury.
    "Who did this to you?"
    "Ta-Tan-Tanzan.."
    "Shhh !! Rest now.. Aventurine ! Help me get her inside."
    "Yes ma'am." Aventurine did as she was told then was asked to leave them
    alone. She pleaded to stay with them, but her bid was unsuccessful.
    "Why do I have to be left out?" she fumed as she sat on her bed. "I hope
    she's okay." Aventurine leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "What on
    earth is going on?"
      The night was a cold, foggy one. The moon illuminated the mist over
    Shikigami-Cho, a perfect evening for the dawn of a horrifying new era
    thought Blue Sapphire as he and Ruby admired their quick work in freeing the
    demon lords Smoky Quartz, Peridot, and most importantly, the powerful,
    hate-monger Tanzanite, who had been double sealed due to his intense power.
    "Its wonderful, the smell of this stale air. Almost like death." grinned
    Blue Sapphire.
    "Aaa.." added Ruby, "I'm all excited !"
    "What do we intend to do?" asked Peridot as he and Smoky Quartz sat there
    staring at the bloodthirsty twins. Blue Sapphire turned from the sky to
    them.
    "Isn't it obvious? We will get our revenge," he growled as he clenched his
    fist tightly,"But first, we must find the others, and most importantly, free
    Red Diamond !!"
    "Heh heh, why free him?" asked the menacing purple beast Tanzanite. "He lost
    to an opaque one. He is weak."
    "We all lost to that ‘opaque one', dear brother Tanzanite. If Red Diamond
    couldn't win, what makes you think you could have done better? Tanzanite,
    you are soft and unfit for the ring of leadership"
    "Is that a challenge, little blue one?"
    "Perhaps so." he growled.
    "Knock it off you two !" hissed Ruby. "Look at the stars ! They are guiding
    us ! Divine Beryl is showing us where are brothers are stored !" He pointed
    out a few stars the demons held sacred and related them to where the others
    were found and the pattern they make with other holy celestial lights.
    "The hell did you figure that out you little shit?" muttered Tanzanite. Ruby
    frowned in response, but took the remark in stride. Obviously, brother
    Tanzanite wasn't the brightest stone in the bundle.
    "Topaz is to the north there, Emerald to the south, and the others scattered
    to the west, and there. There to the east is where we will find Red Diamond.
    Most likely he will be sealed on sacred ground and the most difficult to
    release."
    Blue Sapphire nodded then added, "We will have to free the others first.
    They probably are already gathering their most powerful priests to stop us
    and they will center to stop us around Red Diamond's prison."
    "Then we'll crush their brittle, weak bodies!" grinned Tanzanite.
    "But of course," smiled Blue Sapphire as he ripped off the head of a
    squirrel and munched on its carcass.The demons plotted out their moves
    carefully as the night dwelled on. Soon it would be their grand moment.
      Aventurine awoke the next day and dragged herself slowly out of her bed.
    She hoped that Cat's Eye would be better but it would take some time for her
    to wake up enough to go over for a visit. After a bowl of rice, she headed
    over to where Obsidian had taken the priestess. She slid the door open
    carefully and peeked in to see her grandmother sitting there on the floor
    talking to someone. A little further open and the door would reveal her
    older brother Jade with a deadly serious look on his face. Jade had left
    about a year or so earlier to train for priesthood at a shrine in Hokkaido.
    "Jaaaaaaaaddddeee !!" she yelled as she flung open the door and ran over to
    hug him.
    "Gyeeh ! H-hey, sis.. Don't squeeze me too tight! I'm still a bit tired from
    my trip." he smiled.
    "Heh, I'm so glad to see you," she smiled "but why did you come?"
    "Well," his face became serious.
    "Is it because of what happened to Cat's Eye?"
    He looked down, as Aventurine turned to Obsidian.
    "What's going on here, Grandma?"
    Obsidian stood up and walked out as Jade followed motioning Aventurine along
    with them. Outside they were greeted by Opal Triplet and another young blue
    haired priest from the shrine.
    "H-Hey, Aventurine.." he blushed.
    "Opal? You came back too? Geez."
    "Awww, you're so cruel to me !" he pouted.
    "With good reason... By the way, who's this cute little girl?"
    "Umm, I'm a boy m-m-ma'am."
    "Ah ha ! Sorry !" she giggled "Forgive me?"
    "Of course!" he smiled.
    "Good boy !"
    "This is Lapis Lazuli." said Opal Triplet. "He's come to help us."
    "Help... us?"
    "Aventurine" interrupted Obsidian. "Something terrible has happened. We want
    you to leave here
    as soon as possible. It's very dangerous for you now."
    "H-huuh? What's going on here Grandma !?!?"
    "Cat's Eye will be fine dear. You will be too if you go with Opal Triplet
    away from this place. There is no time to spare for explanation."
    "But Grandma !!"
    "AVENTURINE !" yelled Jade. "Do as Obsidian asks, please." He gave her a
    warm smile as she gazed upon his face. She was terribly worried and had no
    clue what was going on.
    "Yes ma'am." she said softly as she hung her head and went with Opal Triplet
    and Uncle Sardonyx.
    "But why do I have to go with these guys.." she fumed..
    They got into their car and quickly departed.
    "Will she be okay, Grandmother?"
    "I sure hope so. There is little we can do to prevent the other demons from
    escaping with Blue Sapphire being free."
    "Blue Sapphire?"
    "He has the power to break our seals. Lord Onyx never noted why, but he
    expressed extreme urgency in protecting that particular bounded beast for
    that reason. I can't imagine how he got free, but now is not the time to
    ponder these things.. Amethyst is helping Cat's Eye recover while the others
    try a futile bid in protecting the other sealed demons.. Now is the time for
    us to prepare."
    Lapis Lazuli looked on and heard her words carefully.
    "Blue.. Sapphire..." his eyes gazed up into the sky.