Templeschool

38. The Truth About Bismuth

Quick note for this chapter! Memories are in italics and underline. The video footage is in italics. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

"An old friend?" Pearl questioned as she tried to think of who Twoie was referring to. All of their friends had been corrupted or shattered.

The young man nodded his head. "Yup! I'm sure you remember Bismuth, right?" Garnet and Pearl gasped in shock.

Amethyst raised a brow in confusion at their behavior. "Nope! Never heard of her. Sure looks like you guys do, though. Why don't you share with the rest of us?" Amethyst rolled her eyes as the two quickly got in Twoie's face, asking all sorts of questions about Bismuth.

Pearl's voice rose over Garnet's. "Rose said she lost track of her after the Battle of the Ziggurat? How did you find her?"

Twoie held his hands out as he backed up. "Too close! Okay, The truth is, Rose never lost track of Bismuth." Pearl and Garnet shared a look of confusion. "Bismuth was bubbled after she attacked Rose."

Pearl let out a strangled noise of shock while Garnet clenched her fists in disbelief. There had to be some kind of mistake. The permafusion just couldn't believe it. "Bismuth was one of the original Crystal Gems. There is no way she would have attacked Rose. You must have misunderstood."

Twoie sadly shook his head. "She would if she thought Rose wasn't doing enough for the cause." The two looked at her in horror and disbelief. "Bismuth had created a new weapon called the Breaking Point. She brought Rose down to the forge one day and demonstrated it using some statues. It could shatter any gem, and she wanted to use it to shatter Pink Diamond." Pearl's hands flew up to her mouth. Garnet dematerialized her glasses in horror. Her three eyes scanned Twoie for any indication of a lie, but she couldn't find anything. He was telling the truth. "Rose disagreed with her; she thought shattering any gem was wrong. So, Bismuth fought her and lost. Rose decided to bubble her away, where no one would ever find her. I'm guessing she came up with that lie for you guys once you noticed she was gone."

Sometime during his story, Pearl had started crying silently. Garnet had turned away to stare at the ground. Although Steven and Amethyst didn't know Bismuth, both were looking away in discomfort. The discussion was as difficult as Twoie remembered it being when he had to bubble Bismuth. But it was a talk that needed to happen.

Garnet, back still turned to Twoie, widened her eyes as she realized something. "How did this turn out in your timeline." Twoie stayed quiet for a moment. He didn't like talking about what happened, especially because Bismuth was in a bad state of mind at the time. When Twoie didn't answer, Garnet turned to face him with her eyes narrowed. "You told us about Pink Diamond as an intervention. So that we could understand what happened before you brought Bismuth out. This means you're trying to prevent something from occurring. We need to know what could happen." The young man stiffened, cheeks glowing pink ever so slightly.

Garnet was insistent, but Twoie absolutely did not want to further influence their opinion of Bismuth. She was one of his best friends in his timeline, and he knew how much it hurt the gems to keep her bubbled after Bismuth attacked him. The large gem loomed over him. Eyes narrowed in anger and betrayal as Twoie refused to use the Breaking Point. That's what he was trying to prevent. And they were already hurt by learning of her fight with Rose. "She thought I was Rose and was pretending to not remember anything. She eventually realized that I was my own person, and we became friends." Although it wasn't everything that happened, everything he said was true. Twoie felt guilt clutch his heart as Sapphire's words about lies rang in his head. This wasn't a lie of omission, though; it was a modified truth.