Gemdust, it’s what we call that incident. Our understanding of Gemsoil changed by that incident. Nothing was gained, all was lost in that incident. How we perceived each other got altered by that incident. History started with that incident. Gemdust, it was the end of beginnings.

Survivors write history. I would’ve preferred my precious teacher to write this history, but as a survivor, it is my responsibility. Though I do not believe I bore any importance in that incident, I will introduce myself for accountability. My name is Yengi, a diamond who dedicated most of her life to following and recording the life of Buzzing Nest. In this text, I will describe the events of Gemdust from my own perspective.

Bridgegarde, Gemdust, First Leaf of the Sevenclover.

Words of the rebellious diamond Aine had reached Buzzing Nest. More than his actions, Aine’s reasonings were more interesting to my teacher. They were curious about the diamond’s mind and his motives. So we arrived at Bridgegarde shortly after Aine’s revolution gained speed. Though I was born in Bridgegarde, my city looked so foreign.

When we reached the city center, the sheer number of people made moving almost impossible. Slowly we made it toward the center of the conflict. Bridgegarde, the city of unity was split in two. It wasn’t hard to see the head of the rioters, he was standing right in front, leading the revolution head-on. On the opposite side of the city center was the Gemsoil Protection Force. The group was only shouting their nonsensical ideology, they weren’t doing anything illegal so the force was standing idle.

Buzzing Nest insisted on speaking to Aine so we pushed through the crowd and threw ourselves in the belly of the beast. Aine was a diamond with no unique qualities to his look, except his eyes. His eyes were shining like the diamond that was surrounding our hearts. Though they weren’t literal gemstones, they were sparkling enough to make a gemstone jealous. He stopped leading the slogans when Buzzing Nest approached him. My teacher led with curiosity.

“Why?”

Aine gestured at his cohorts to continue their chants without him. As the city center was quite loud already, Aine got closer we could understand each other more clearly. He didn’t wait to think before answering, I didn’t expect someone with such a narrow mind to think before speaking anyway.

“To live as one. No gods, no walls, no boundaries. Diamond, pearl, ruby, sapphire, emerald, catseye, alexandrite… No more. Human… One name, one soil.”

Even if that answer satisfied Buzzing Nest, their curiosity continued to ask questions. Questions about the actions, motives, and personal life of the young diamond. I do not want to share this conversation further, because I do not want to spread Aine’s destructive and dividing nature more than this.

Bridgegarde, Gemdust, Second Leaf of the Sevenclover.

Buzzing Nest and Aine was deep into a conversation when another head joined it. This was a young catseye named Dreaming Wolf. After the incident, I’ve had time to personally talk to this individual. He is a good soul, he was just fallen to the manipulations of Aine. Do not let this coarse first impression make you think ill of him.

Dreaming Wolf was Aine’s weapon. He obeyed Aine’s every word, and he was strong beyond belief. He was silent during the conversation until Buzzing Nest quipped at Aine. Quips and smug mockery were always present in Buzzing Nest’s conversations, it was a habit that frequently got them into trouble. The wild-spirited Wolf jumped between the two, gemcraft was pouring out of him like a waterfall. This slight show of aggression was more than enough for the Gemsoil Protection Force to intervene.

Members of the Gemsoil Protection Force quickly positioned themselves circling the rioters. They stood on standby, readying themselves for any possible conflict. Since we were next to Aine, we got stuck with their group. While the force didn’t affect the group’s will or spirit, the arrival of the pearl representative of the Gemsoil Heptagon caused waves. Known for her cold-blooded and strict resolutions, Great White’s policies were the very opposite of Aine’s.

Eventually, this chain of this event snapped. A blazing flare that painted the city center air to crimson captured our attention. But the flare misfired and wandered off from its route, heading straight toward the rioters. Before another word even escaped from us, the city center had turned into a warzone.

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Bridgegarde, Gemdust, Third Leaf of the Sevenclover.

I could see it in his eyes, Aine was waiting for this exact opportunity. He rallied his followers to attack under the name of self-preservation. The wild Dreaming Wolf quickly leaped away from us. The way he brutally mowed down the Gemsoil Protection Force members was too much for me to even glance at. I was scared for myself, and maybe even more so for my teacher Buzzing Nest. But I couldn’t see any emotion on their face. Yet, their words carried seeds of anger.

“It seems like I’ve given you too much credit, Aine. This was never about your sparkling ideals or injustice. You just want to destroy, not repair.”

I remember vividly how Aine looked back at us. An overwhelming evil was bursting out of his diamond eyes. As if I was a little girl again, looking down at the endless abyss under Bridgegarde, learning what fear is. His words were mere drops of water in his ocean of terror.

“You are right. I never wanted to repair this broken mess. Gemsoil has been beyond repair for too long. To fix this corruption deeply embedded in our hearts, we have to rebuild. And to rebuild, we must destroy first. Together we will grow a brand new Gemsoil from its charred roots!”

For the first time, I saw Buzzing Nest be lost for words. Emotions of every color were running down their face. However, a reply to Aine roused from a new tone of gray.

“And that makes you an enemy of Gemsoil. A high-ranking one at that too. Which gives me full permission to do whatever it takes to stop you. Also don’t expect me to be talkative like my old old friend Buzzing Nest.””

The voice came from a towering woman clad in gray. Even her massive coat wasn’t enough to hide her bulking muscles and beastly physique. Her endlessly long whitened gray hair was tied to one big tail with multiple knots that was held by golden pieces. Her knuckles were all misshapen and her hands were a calloused mess. But none of these monstrous features mattered because of the beautiful gem on her forehead, an alexandrite in the most gorgeous purple shade of gray. While she appeared as a savior to me, Aine’s confidence was damaged by this sight. Still, his words didn’t seem to lose their spirit.

“I am pleased to finally meet the gray lady herself. You are just like tales that follow your trail. Most of those tales tell about your violent nature, so I do not doubt that you will beat me down to mush if you have to. Though I am surrounded by many comrades that will fight with me, I also do not doubt that this will stop you.

Isn’t it great? Here we have a daydreaming emerald who thinks witty questions are enough to stop a revolution. And next to them is a worn-out alexandrite who thinks she can punch down a revolution. Gemsoil truly is a land of extremes! So what will it be?”

By the time Aine’s monologue concluded, Buzzing Nest had gathered their composure. Naturally, they were against the gray lady’s way of violence. The situation quickly turned into an argument between three heads. But the chaos of the city center did not wait for them.

Bridgegarde, Gemdust, Fourth Leaf of the Sevenclover.

At this phase of Gemdust, the war between the Gemsoil Protection Force and the rioters reached its peak. Lives were lost in every blink of our eyes. The amount of carnage and chaos was too much for me. It felt like I was frozen in time, while the surrounding events continued to flow. My senses came to me with a blast. Before I heard the terrible roar of it, my vision was painted red by flames. I closed my eyes not to accept death, but to embrace it.

I opened my eyes to a gray scene. Gemcraft was flowing steadily from the gray lady’s forehead. While this monochrome dome of hers enveloped us, the flames rushed past us. However, it didn’t block the deafening roar of the explosion. I heard the despair in her eyes as she was shouting at Aine. I didn’t need to hear to understand the sheer anger in her words.

Bridgegarde, Gemdust, Fifth Leaf of the Sevenclover.

After a couple more blinks of my eye, the crimson sea around us got almost instantly replaced by wild waves. Overwhelmed by the speed of events, I could barely focus on what was happening in our gray zone. My ears were still ringing but I could hear enough to understand what was going on. Buzzing Nest had enough of Aine’s terror, they finally decided to take action. As they reached for something in their pouch, Aine was smart enough to not let this happen. Nevertheless, Aine’s motion toward Buzzing Nest was quickly interrupted by a tremendous punch in the face by the gray lady. This gave enough time for Buzzing Nest to pull out a flower bud of violet’s most sorrowful hue.

Bridgegarde, Gemdust, Sixth Leaf of the Sevenclover.

Buzzing Nest looked back at me, I heard the goodbye they were saying. Their gemcraft allowed Buzzing Nest to manipulate time by using the life essence of flowers. The more life a flower had, the longer the effect lasts. The violet flower pod was the neverbloom. An immortal flower that never grows. They were going to stop Aine by capturing them in a perpetual prison of time. Buzzing Nest gestured at the lady of gray to pull the gray curtain away from them. She knew Buzzing Nest enough to know to accept this farewell.

This is where the story of my dear teacher Buzzing Nest ends. One of the many stories ended by the diamond-eyed evil. What happened afterward is a history that belongs to others.