She was still there when that wicked Diamond came to collect him. She couldn't even bring herself to turn around, and so didn't notice her until she spoke.
"Are you lost, dear?"
Amethyst whipped around and came nose to nose with a terrifyingly blank smile. Gigantic pale eyes, easily as big as her — or Pearl, even — blinked back at her, batting absurdly long lashes.
The eyes locked onto her gem, clearly visible on her chest, and the great face pulled away. Her fake smile seemed to tremble a little as she pulled herself up, up, until she was standing straight, glaring cheerfully down at the tiny Gem. Amethyst caught a flash of pink in her huge clasped hands and turned away, despite how keenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood up in the presence of such a being.
"Come, Starlight," she heard the Diamond croon behind her, and a second later she almost leapt out of her skin as she noticed that creepy, cracked Pearl by her side.
The walls of a great white bubble materialised around her and she was floating, stumbling, disoriented, before she was dumped on a cold floor, and the bubble and the Pearl disappeared.
"Exem?"
She lifted her head groggily to come face-to-face with another Amethyst.
"Em!" the latter cried, hauling her to her feet. "What are you doing here? Didn't you go back to Earth?"
Exem — XM.
"X . . . XJ?"
The darker Gem shook her head. "L. What happened? Where—" she looked around. "—Where did you come from?"
"The— the Pearl," she stammered. "White Diamond's Pearl—"
XL gasped. "White Diamond? You saw her? What was she like? Did she send you here?"
"I— I don't know," she admitted. "She's— she's evil. She—" her vision blurred and shut her eyes against the memories trying to surface. "She did something to Steven. She changed his eye and—"
"Steven?" the Amethyst looked confused. "Oh! The human?"
"The small one." Amethyst nodded.
"What did she do? Did she shatter him?"
"I . . . I don't know." Her voice was a whisper.
"Well. . . he's organic, right? She can't hurt him."
"He's Pink Diamond," Amethyst breathed. "She can hurt him worse than anyone else."
XL froze and stared at her. "Pink. . . Diamond? Our Diamond? But she was shattered."
Amethyst shook her head. "The shattering was fake. She was Rose Quartz. Now. . . Now she's gone. Steven's her, now."
XL gazed at her for a moment, eyes wide, before she seemed to make up her mind. "I'll get the others. Holly Blue suspended me — I'm supposed to stay here. But I can be careful." She turned but shot her a playful look over her shoulder; it was strange seeing that expression when her body was so tense. "You can shapeshift too right? Any ideas?"
Amethyst just stared up at her forlornly, trying not to cry.
XL softened and kneeled beside her. "Hey. It's okay— well it's not, but . . . we can work out something. Okay? Just like we did with Pink before."
She was silent for a moment, but she nodded. ". . . Okay."
"I'll be back soon," the Amethyst told her, standing and striding for the door. "You just be careful. Hide if Holly Blue comes."
"Wait!—" Amethyst had lurched forward, grasping a handful of XL's uniform in her fist, before she let go and stepped back. "Can I . . . Can I help? I don't want to be alone."
XL shot her a wobbly grin. It looked out-of-place with the pity in her eyes. "Yeah, c'mon. It won't take long."