"Man's a complete an' utter nut. Keeps rambling 'bout animals and forests, superheroes and powers, whatever other bullshit that crosses 'is mind. Honestly, I don't know why they keep 'im 'ere. Should just kick 'im out, if ye ask me."

~Underground rebel.

Jade

"Ay, Time and Reality, welcome! Welcome to Rod's! That's me! How can I help you gems?"

The man gave them a toothless grin. He wasn't what Jade had expected, which is saying he wasn't an old man with a balding head and sweaty body odor. He was with very few teeth, yes, but otherwise appeared to be Jade's age, maybe a little older. One could've even called him handsome, in a different world, in a different time. The place wasn't what she expected either. It was surprisingly modern, except for the lighting. It was dim and green colored, for whatever strange reason.

"Greetings, Rod," Cily was calm and composed, her voice just as controlled and gentle. "How do you fare?"

Jade was already confused by his words.

"Uh, hi, Rod. What do you mean by Time and Reality? And how did you know we were gems?"

"Your respective colors. Green and red. And I could tell by the way everyone made way for you, it's not really rocket science."

"What science?"

"Nevermind," he gave her a devilish gummy grin, and Jade already felt uncomfortable, understanding what was meant by the man being crazy. Cily touched Jade's elbow, and she understood, zipping her mouth shut.

"Rod, we're here about -"

"The prophecy, yes. He told me."

Cily looked startled, despite her best attempt to hide it. Jade only noticed it due to her training, but she was sure the man's wily eyes caught the movement as well.

"Who is this he you mentioned?" came the question everyone was waiting for.

Reeve stepped out of a dark corner, as if he were there the entire conversation. His face was grim and solemn, the ugly scar glinting in the faint light.

"Hello Ruby. Jade."

Rod clapped his hands excitedly. "Always love a little drama," he chuckled.

°°°°°°°°

"Reeve," Cily took over. Jade was really confused, maybe talking wasn't really the thing to do right now.

"Didn't expect you to start working behind my back already, Ruby. And you too, Jade. I always knew Ruby had a big head, but you? Never crossed my mind. Maybe I should reconsider your freedom."

Cily sneered. "You don't own us, Reeve. You might think you do, might think you're so powerful, but without us? You're nothing. I know it. And I'll damn take advantage of it. You see, it's survival of the fittest. And you won't hurt us, because that will affect YOUR survival as leader."

He pursed his lips. It was clear he was trying his best not to get aggravated. Throughout the whole process, Rod watched with wide and innocent eyes. He was definitely enjoying what was happening.

Jade finally broke the silence.

"How'd you know we were here?"

"Athena. That stupid robot with her big mouth couldn't hide the fact that you knew about the prophecy. Never liked May. She always talked too much."

He licked his lips. It was much different than the way Keith did it. Reeve's was savage. "You don't have to worry about getting revenge. I dismantled her. Tore her into a hundred pieces. As I will do to anyone who stands in my way."

That last part was directed at Cily, who sneered again but didn't answer.

Poor robot/woman. This weighed heavily on Jade's conscience, even though it wasn't directly her fault. She shrugged off the guilt, succeeding for now.

"So," Jade started again. "What happens next?"

He sighed, obviously expecting the question.

"Rod's going to give you the prophecy. You already know about that, and you're going to find out sooner or later. Why bother hiding the secret?"

"Smartest thing you've said all day," Cily snorted.

He sternly waggled a finger at her.

"We're not done yet. I'm going to have a long talk with you about loyalty and respecting the chain of command."

She rolled her eyes and turned, pulling Jade behind her. They entered a dark room, where Rod had apparently disappeared into earlier.

°°°°°°°°

"I'm going to ask you not to touch anything," Rod's voice was barely a whisper over the hum of machinery. "These some pretty fragile pieces."

He waved a hand over a large box, muttering a few words, and the front face of the cube lighted up.

Cily gave a small clap, obviously excited, even Reeve smiled a little.

Jade wasn't convinced. She had seen one just like it at Keith's place. It was just a fancy looking computer. She begun to open her mouth to say something, only to be silenced by a grave look from Rod himself. It spoke many volumes, and Jade figured he either meant 'speak and I'll kill you' or 'we'll talk about this later'. She sincerely hoped it was the latter.

He moved a small object on the table beside it, and it made a clicking sound. It was almost exactly like Keith had done before.

"Oh Riddly Box, tell me your secrets," he cooed. As if on cue, a page filled the screen. It was lines of digits and strange shape like letters, seemingly scattered at random.

"This is the best part," Cily whispered, leaning closer to Jade. "He can understand them. He translates them and extracts a message."

Jade watched, and she didn't even have to fake interest. The box definitely wasn't magical, it was just a strange computer, and she was sure of that. But the way Rod squinted his eyes at the figures, sometimes widening them as if reading a grave secret, his fingers tapping onto a tablet in his lap, now that was interesting.

"Here it is. Some of words aren't clear, so I fixed them the way I found logical. It's like crossword puzzles," he giggled, holding out the tablet.

Reeve reached out quickly and took the tablet. His eyebrows climbed up his forehead, the surprise and concern so genuine it was hard to believe he had read it before. He appeared to read it multiple times before offering it to Cily, who shook her head.

"No thanks. Once is enough."

That didn't make Jade feel much better, and something fluttered in her stomach as she received the tablet. She took a deep breath and began to read.

"Out loud, Jade dear," Rod said quietly.

Taking another shaky breath, she started reciting the prophecy.

"With them, the six in total,
the mind is no longer mortal.
When Glass and Steel collide,
in them do not confide.
Sapphire will fade into the night,
Diamond in a flash of fright.
Jade, always of great assist,
Lapis lost in fields of mist.
Ruby forever without a mate,
Amethyst in the hands of fate.
When the final moments arrive,"

Jade scrolled down with her finger.

That was it. Nothing more.

A trembling Jade handed the tablet back to Rod, who received it with a toothless grin and a thumbs up. She looked away, glancing at Cily. The blonde was glaring at the ground, like she was about to draw an energy blade and slash at it.

Reeve was staring right at her, grim and silent.

For a few minutes, the room was silent save for the mumbling of Rod, singing some weird tune about spiders and rain. Reeve finally broke the silence.

"What do you think?"

"I think this is pure shit," Jade blurted.

"Language, language, Jadey girl," Rod cackled.

"I mean, if you knew they were going to die, why didn't you just save them? You could've -"

"I'm going to interrupt you right there," came Reeve's cool reply. She pursed her lips and swallowed hard, fuming.

"We didn't know when the events were going to happen until Sapphire disappeared. Even until then, we didn't know if the prophecy were true in the first place. You want more obstacles? You have to find the gems as well. They don't just fall onto your doorstep."

"Stop talking like we're just objects," Jade snapped. "I'm a person, Cily's a person, just like you."

"You're much more than some object, Jade. And you're more than just a person, as well."

Jade found herself unable to argue. She didn't want to be a gem, never wanted this life, to be some... assistant.

"And you? You're not going to say anything, fight back? You're just giving in?"

She turned to Cily, firing questions at the woman. Cily fixed her with strange yet alluring red eyes.

"There's no fighting fate, Jade. When I was a child, my parents abandoned me. Decided to just bail and escape. They didn't want a daughter with 'red eyes'. They thought I was some sort of demon, sent to plague them for their sins."

Cily grinned, but it was without humor, more of a grimace instead.

"The first two turned out to be true. Perl tried to stop it, by the way. You did catch Muskel, didn't you? You thought it was a coincidence that his PortaZone was online, and that he had no guards stationed? Or that he was placed in a 'protected' chamber, all by himself? It was destined to happen.

"I'm destined to be alone. Forever," Cily said softly. "There's no changing that. I guess I deserve it, anyway, for all that I've done to manipulate her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not much of a cliffhanger as much as is it an unsatisfying end for this chapter, huh?

Anyhow, welcome back :D

Been a while, hasn't it? To make up, I'm posting this chapter along with the one before. Again, I'm sorry.

Of course, vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks for tuning in this week. Have a wonderful day.

#CilyberSaturday