A/N: I just published Chapter 7 but I'm 99% sure no one was notified because I already had something there that I just replaced so please do yourselves a favor and go to the previous chapter if you haven't already because I don't want this double feature to be ruined by spoiling this for yourselves so gO AWAY UNLESS YOU ALREADY READ IT MKAY THX BAI

My Red Princess Chapter Eight

"Duchess! DUCHESS!"

Strawberry Quartz put down her spoon. "What now?"

"Sapphire is missing!"

"Serves her right." The gem sipped her coffee.

"Duchess, this is serious! What if she's hurt?!"

"Do you want me to send out some Pearls?"

"Oh, yes, please!"

Strawberry Quartz rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked to the Pearl Quarters and picked out two Pearls to search.

"Sweep the kingdom." She told them. "Don't miss anything."

She started to leave, but remembered something. "And be sure to check by Geode Estate. You remember what happened the last time she was there."

💎💎💎

"Daddy! Daddy!" A young girl's voice echoed. She was just a silhouette in the mist.

"There's my little princess!" A grown voice said.

A giggle was heard as the man picked up the little girl.

Suddenly he set her down.

"Daddy?"

"I need to go." He said seriously, walking into the fog.

"Daddy?" She repeated quietly, then yelled. "Daddy!"

He was suddenly hit by something and he retreated into his gemstone. The girl ran over and could only watch as a weapon came down and smashed him into pieces.

The nightmare of her father and the fight he sacrificed himself for ebbed away as sunlight gently hit and warmed up Ruby's eyelids, stirring her awake from her deep slumber and back to reality. She yawned and rolled over, opening her eyes. "Ah!"

Sapphire was sitting on the opposite side of the bed, hands in her lap and fully clothed. "Good morning."

Ruby clutched her heart. "Moon goddess, I forgot about you. Jeez, how long have you been sitting like that?"

"A few hours."

"Dang."

Ruby got dressed and went down to check on Amethyst and breakfast.

Carnelian was at the table while Andesite was standing. Pearl waited at the kitchen window. Amethyst was just finishing up Andesite and Carnelian's meals. She put them on a tray and slid it to Pearl. As she was walking to the table, Andesite stuck out her foot, tripping her. Pearl somehow managed to get the tray on the table, but she fell. She winced and rubbed her knee, when Andesite stepped forward, shaking her head.

"You could've dropped and ruined the meal! What were you thinking?!" She rolled her eyes.

Pearl looked at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry."

Andesite sneered. "My neighbor's Pearl was much more well-mannered than you. I can't believe my brother got stuck with this trash."

Amethyst slammed down the ingredients in the kitchen. "Trash?!" She stormed out of the kitchen. "Trash?!" The gem shouted as she raced towards Andesite.

Pearl jumped up between them. "Amethyst, wait! Don't!"

"Pearl, move!"

"No! I...I know I wanted you to fight Spinel, but I realized that kind of behavior gets you nowhere. It's so easy to act first and think second. That's what I really need."

Amethyst stopped. "Okay, fine." They started to walk away.

Andesite smirked. "That's right, move along, fatass."

Amethyst was about retort when Pearl suddenly pivoted and used a powerful right hook on Andesite. "Nobody calls her fatass!" Pearl growled, fire in her eyes.

Andesite stared at her in surprise before her eyes rolled back and she collapsed. Amethyst gasped and Carnelian screamed. Ruby could only watch.

There was a thud as she hit the floor. It echoed and everyone was silent with shock.

Pearl's anger turned into realization, and then it became panic. "Why did I do that?! Oh my Moon Goddess, when she wakes up, oh, she's going to tell Green Tour-"

"What's going on?"

Everyone looked at the doorway, in which stood a confused and baffled Steven.

"Who in the absolute hell is THAT?!" Carnelian shouted."

"Bad time?" Steven asked sheepishly.

"What, are you housing even more people?!"

"Hi." Sapphire said.

Carnelian's eyes bulged. He turned slowly to Ruby. "Care to tell me what is really going on?"

💎💎💎

"So lemme get this straight: you snuck out to the ball thanks to the spirit of Rose effing Quartz, hid in a secret library room, discovered the disguised princesses of Homeworld, managed to blow your cover, and are now housing Princess Sapphire and her best friend, the child of Rose?!"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

Carnelian stared at his unconscious aunt and sighed. "Help me get her to Pearl's room."

After Carnelian, Ruby, and Amethyst carried her to Pearl's room, everyone sat in a circle on Amethyst's bed, trying to come up with a lie.

"We could tell her she got food poisoning." Steven suggested.

Amethyst shook her head. "Green Tourmaline would have me skinned."

Ruby lit up. "Maybe if we-"

"No." Sapphire said.

"I didn't even finish."

"I know what you're going to say, and killing her is not an option. Carnelian, that's a great idea."

Carnelian looked at her funny. "What? Oh, I know! We could tell her she fell down the last few stairs and hit her head! She probably won't even remember anything!"

"Good idea!" Steven said.

Everyone looked at Sapphire. She shrugged, hands on her lap.

A few hours later, everyone was enjoying a lunch done by Amethyst. Carnelian was telling a story about a petting zoo experience when he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Pearl asked.

"I heard something." He said quietly, staring at the ceiling.

Everyone was silent as they listened to the sounds of a hushed house.

There was a thud.

The group made quick eye contact.

There was an emotional shout.

Carnelian stood. "Andesite's up. Everyone, come on." He started walking, but he stopped and turned to Sapphire and Steven. "Actually, you two should better hide."

The orange gem led Ruby, Amethyst, and Pearl up the stairs to Pearl's room. He cracked open the door slowly and peeked in. "Hello, Aunt Andesite."

"Oh, hi, Carnelian. Come in." She beckoned him with her hand.

He went in and the trio followed.

"You! You punched me!" She shouted wildly at Pearl.

Pearl began to panic, but Carnelian stepped up to her bedside. "What are you talking about? You fell down the last few stairs and hit your head on the railing. You must've been having some pretty wild dreams, because you were really thrashing around."

Andesite stared at him, rationalizing inside her head. Everyone held their breath.

"I'm not sure. It felt so real."

"You know, if you're confusing dreams with reality, I could always get Uncle Diorite to come fix you up..."

"No, NO! You know what, I do remember falling! I'll be okay, no need to do that!"

Pearl exhaled in relief and exited. Everyone began to follow her.

"Wait! Carnelian, stay here with me!" She said, grabbing his arm.

Carnelian looked at the trio, fear in his eyes. "Don't go." He said quietly.

Amethyst and Pearl were already gone.

"Ruby, please."

The red gem shrugged and exited.

"Nooooo!"

💎💎💎

After dinner, everyone was sitting on Ruby's bed (not including Andesite, who'd gone back to bed). Pearl was knitting while Steven and Carnelian drew cats in the dust gathered on an old table. Amethyst, Ruby, and Sapphire were in a braid train, forming a triangle.

"Ow!" Ruby said.

"Sorry." Amethyst replied.

Ruby glanced at her from the corner of her eye and observed the skillful French braid Sapphire was pulling off on Amethyst. She looked back at her crappy simple braid and cringed in embarrassment.

Amethyst finished the fishtail she gave to Ruby and sat back.

Pearl kept on giving shady glares of jealousy to the braid train, slightly envious of the fact that all three had hair.

"Done." Sapphire said to Amethyst, completing it with a hair tie. Ruby stared at the symmetrical braid and back at Sapphire's lopsided braid. She internally groaned, worrying she would let down Sapphire. She was so caught up in the thought she didn't realize she was braiding in the wrong direction, undoing whatever braid she had done. She snapped out of her trance and noticed the braid remains. She bit her lip and hurriedly rebraided the hair. She finished and looked at the sloppy work with each hair group different sizes and regretfully finished it with a hair band.

Amethyst stared at it. "Ruby, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She said shamefully.

Sapphire stood up and walked over to the mirror. She carefully examined it.

"I'm sorry. I rushed it and didn't really think it through and-"

Sapphire turned back. "I love it."

Ruby turned even redder than she was to begin with. "Oh, I...it's nothing."

Carnelian walked over. "Do you guys have any more problems we need to work out?" Everyone plopped on the bed.

"We need to figure out what to do when Green Been and, uh, Fool's Gold return from vacation tomorrow." Amethyst said, struggling to come up with a nickname for Pyrite.

Ruby looked at her hands. "In order to do that, we have to get a solution to this: what are we going to do about Sapphire's mom?"

"What about her?" Sapphire asked.

"She obviously isn't going to accept you for the way you are. That rat wants to send you back to etiquette school."

"Don't call her a rat." Sapphire said softly and defensively.

"Why not?" Ruby replied, her voice rising. "All she's done is make you a robot. You don't have to put up with her!"

"Ruby, we talked about this last night. Drop it."

"No! I-I'm worried about you!"

"We don't need to worry about that."

"Let's face it, we can't keep you here forever. Green Tourmaline would find out sooner or later, so we need to work out a solution now so you'll be okay when you go back."

"My mother is not the problem."

"Sapphire, please! You're in danger when you're around her!"

"She's not going to kill me! Just leave it alone!"

"You have to live with her! The more you're around her, the more she's going to hurt you!"

"Ruby-"

"No! Do you remember what happened at that school and with your mom?! Remember what they did to ruin Black Agate, the disciplinary actions they used to ruin your eye, discovering your mother had you in an arranged marriage with Goldstone?! Did all that mean nothing to you?!"

Sapphire was silent. Her hands clutched tightly on the dress fabric. She started to tremble.

"Shit. Shit. Sapphire, I didn't me-"

She stood up and ran out of the room.

Amethyst shook her head at Ruby and exited.

"I'm gonna go do some dishes." Pearl muttered as she left.

"Hey, don't go!"

"I should check on my aunt." Carnelian darted out.

"Aw, c'mon! Don't be like that! Steven?"

"I need to find Sapphire." He said bitterly, leaving Ruby by herself.

"Guys?" She said quietly. She looked over at the mirror and took out the braid.

💎💎💎

"Get the door, you good-for-nothing freak!"

Ruby woke up to the sound of Andesite screaming at her. The room was dark. She had no idea how long she was asleep. Her head felt like lead and she itched her face to find droll all over it. She had those weird lines all over her arms and wanted desperately to be unconscious again.

Sluggishly, she descended down the stairs and opened the door.

Three Pearls in full armor were standing on the porch. Ruby couldn't even see any skin.

"We're looking for Princess Sapphire." The one on the left said in a gruff voice.

"She ran away after her mother introduced a new policy she didn't condone." The right one said cooly.

"I, um, have you seen her?" The middle Pearl said nervously.

Ruby stared at them. Their stories didn't match up with Sapphire's. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "No, I haven't seen her."

Left Pearl leaned forward. "You better be telling the truth, pipsqueak." She said.

Ruby nodded. "I'll let you know if I see her." She shut the door, then watched them leave through the peephole. "What are you up to?"

💎💎💎

The next evening, after silent meals due to tension between Ruby, Amethyst, and Pearl, Andesite put Ruby to work in the parlor.

The front door opened.

"We're back!" Green Tourmaline said loudly. Ruby rolled her eyes and continued dusting. She zoned out as she did the chores.

"Ruby."

The gem jumped in surprise, turning to see Green Tourmaline.

"I don't think I properly punished you for sneaking out to the ball." He clutched her arm tightly and dragged her to her room. He locked the door and left.

She listened to his reunion with Andesite and slammed her face into her hands. "Uh, dammit!"

💎💎💎

Pearl was sitting on her bed, cleaning up Andesite's things, when she heard something. She looked around, then heard it again. It was coming from the window. She went over and opened it, only to be hit in the face with a rock. "Ow!"

"Sorry!" Steven called up to her.

"Steven, what are you doing?!"

"I need your help. Sapphire's missing!"