A couple of weeks have passed since the "incident". Most of the gems have resumed their usual schedule, but thanks to Euclase they've managed to conduct countermeasures to the Lunarian's expected retrieval of Phosphophyllite.

However, nothing happened since then. Not even any hollow sunspots have appeared or any anomaly of the sort. This sense of never before peace was... unsettling to the gems, who weren't used to change and the lack of contact between their now lost kin.

Some gems took the change really hard, as in they would sometimes crack themselves if thinking too much about it. That's why most resorted to pretending everything was fine and acted the same as usual in order to ease the other gems by giving the same sense of daily life they used to have. The only ones who had a significant change in their attitude were Rutile and Amethyst 33.

...Or was it 84?

Shinsha was amiss in his own thoughts as he patrolled the beach idly, his silver poison floating almost majestically. The sun was gleaming overhead, giving the same poison it's glistening shine. The sea was repeatedly pushing and pulling their waves across the white sand as shells and the like sometimes place themselves upon the very land the gems resided.

Amethyst, whichever one it was, has been dealt a heavy blow to his mind as Sensei found him in disarray, cracks everywhere as he pieced him back together. Ever since that day, his attitude turned a lot more... dependent on other gems, seeking second opinions and always indecisive on what to do. Bort commented back then on how this attachment is a weakness for upcoming battles but stopped midway because Euclase mentioned he had a job for him.

Job...

An annoying memory refusing to go away soon finds itself resurfacing once again upon Shinsha's thoughts.

That idiot... losing his legs and arms wasn't enough. He even lost his mind, attacking Sensei like that... no, maybe that was a side effect of Lapis Lazuli. It's all thanks to him that he turned into a liar. That day on the beach when I told him to not go to the moon. He definitely heard me back then... he lied about that... why?

The red gem's mind started to swirl with difficult emotions, gripping his peace of mind. He shook his head in annoyance and returned to thoughts further back.

'"Could it be that you lied about that too?"

An image of Phosphophyllite, before he lost his parts of his body, appeared in his mind. That dumb smile and unwarranted idiotic confidence that comes from seemingly nowhere practically beamed from the sea-green gem. Most notably from the memory, was his promise to find him a more fun job, a job only Shinsha can do.

The red gem gripped his shoulders in annoyance. Shinsha's poison started to spike softly in irritation as he discarded the thought.

Why am I remembering all that now?

Shinsha sighed to himself as he started to turn his thoughts to more current events.

Euclase mentioned that Phos said that we couldn't go back to the way things were. I fear that he wasn't lying about that.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.

The bells of the school resounded across the moors as the sun stood high after dusk.

"Ah. Morning assembly. *sigh*, I really don't want to go..."

Another change that happened was that Bort forcefully paired himself up with Shinsha. The poisonous red gem didn't offer much resistance before, but ever since that "incident", he's felt guilty over what happened to Bort and Padparadscha. Holding out his hand, the poison secreted off his own fingertips into a silvery liquid before detaching itself and floating in the air. He hated it. He didn't want to fight. He didn't want to hurt other gems, but he didn't outright refuse because he wanted to be useful to the others.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

What's more annoying is that everyone started to get closer to me. Don't they know I'm dangerous? I don't really want that happening to them... but, it is nice...

Shinsha quietly sneaked himself to the school campus, making sure to avoid any unnecessary confrontations with any other gems. He's been participating in these assemblies more and more often than not, but only from the sidelines, behind a pillar like he usually does.

"Is everyone here?"

Jade shouted so all the gems could hear. Euclase was standing aside him with a pamphlet of papers and board in hand.

"Let's see... Alex, Peridot, Zircon, Red Beryl, Neptune, Obsidian, Tourmaline, Hemimorphite, Sphene, Morga, and... Shinsha?"

The gem in question rose his hand across the pillar for Jade just to confirm his presence. All the other gems turned to look directly at the pillar Shinsha was hiding behind, causing the red gem to flush and disappear behind said pillar.

"Aww, he's just shy..."

"Shinsha, just come out, no one will be afraid."

"Shinshaaaaa~ I want to change you into your new winter clothes!"

Similar chants resounded across the group of colorful gems. Shinsha was too busy covering his face in embarrassment to join the group.

"Ahem!" Jade coughed to give an indication for attention, not that gems needed to cough, or breath for the matter. Most of these behaviors were imprinted by Sensei, along with other inherited defects like blushing, which even Rutile couldn't explain.

"Rutile," Jade called out while Euclase was writing Shinsha down on his list.

Shinsha peaked over the pillar to see Rutile.

His hair was unkempt and straight down, unlike the usual combed look. He wasn't wearing his usual lab coat, but in all black outerwear, even going as far as not putting on any powder since he insisted that "We can't worry about using precious resources like that in winter." It wasn't just his appearance that changed, but his attitude as well. He stopped being reserved and more outspoken and rash.

While Shinsha felt that this was a major shift in personality, the older gems reassured him that he was just acting like his old self again, although a little unstable when it came to the topic of Padparadscha.

"Here." Rutile simply replied, Euclase writing him down.

"Okay. Adamane?" Sensei raised his arm among the other gems, some still circling around him for affection and begging to "do that light thing again."

"Right." Euclase wrote and gave a thumbs up to Jade.

"Okay looks like everyone is here. Good. Let's begin." He took a sheet of paper from Euclase before speaking again.

"The weather should be mostly clear. The skies will be cloudy for a period in the afternoon, but there should not be any rain." Then Jade sighed as he turned over to the next page.

"As you all know, the Lunarians haven't shown up for a couple weeks now, not even once. However just because they haven't shown doesn't mean that we can slack off. We must be vigilant in our patrols in case they come to retrieve Phos. Euclase..." the green spokesperson then handed the pamphlet back to said gem in thanks.

Euclase then stepped up. "Yeah, other than that it's nothing different than last schedule. Except for when the time comes for the Lunarians to appear, Adamane must absolutely go hide in the Hollow Cape in case the other gems appear."

All the gems lowered their eyes at the mention of their past friends and allies. Sensei sighed an apology before the other gems started to cheer up to reassure Sensei it wasn't his fault. Euclase, however, didn't seem to join them in that statement while Jade started to approach different individuals discussing something.

Shinsha sighed as the conference, slowly turning back to hopefully avoid being assigned to any patrols, specifically Bort.

"Wait."

The red gem stopped midway before pausing to peak around his shoulder. It was Euclase.

"Y-Yes?"

"Hi Shinsha... Could you please accompany me with a few others for an important private meeting?"

"Me?" Shinsha was pointing at himself, in disbelief that he was even considered, no approved to go to a private meeting.

"What could you guys possibly want with me?"

"Well, it just seemed appropriate for what has occurred just this morning."

"So, something happened then and you need my help? Just like before..."

Euclase took a moment to decipher what Shinsha was referring to, but he ended figuring out that he meant the night raid, the day of the "incident". In the initial stages of planning, the gems had a lot of trouble deciding on how they could defend against their own kind, but Bort showed up with an idea to involve Shinsha and his poison. Eventually, the plan proceeded as planned and everything worked out somewhat, but Shinsha really didn't like using his poison to endanger those he cared about. Bort's hair was a sign of that.

Euclase then responded with a yes. "Well, this time most of us aren't sure on what to do, and we've decided on getting the smartest people together to deal with what's happening."

"Well, tell me what's happened." Shinsha crossed his arms, taking care not to have his poison accidentally float towards the other gem.

"Phos' head has woken up."