S

I slipped on a black, off shoulder shirt on a pale blue skirt and walked downstairs. I began searching for a pen and some paper, finally finding them in one of the kitchen cabinets. I quickly jotted down- "lapis needs help in park. Be back in a few minutes" on the paper. It was white with small blue flowers. I put the note on the fridge with a magnet and walked out the door.
The walk to the park was rather short and uneventful. It was just a 5 minute walk through the neighborhood. The sky outside was a dull, pigeon gray and it was hardly even warm. A cool breeze blew throughout the neighborhood. The sound of children playing alerted me that I was at the park. I immediately spotted lapis- she was nervously sitting on a bench in the front of the park. She anxiously fiddled with her blue dyed hair and the silver bracelet on her wrist.

"Lapis!" I called out. She looked up.

"Sapphire! Thank god, I need your help!" She said.

"I know. I got your text. Would you please tell me the full story of what happened?" I asked I delicately sat down next to lapis.

"Okay, so peridot was at steven's house and was walking to her car when she noticed that grey-haired person at school. The one that always wears that pentacle necklace, we all call them Dia for some reason, we can't remember why." Lapis said. I nodded

"I'm familiar with them"

"Okay, so peridot had gotten into an argument with them. When she was walking to her car, she saw them smiling at her from across the street. Suddenly she felt like she was going to pass out. She said her head and back hurt a lot. When she got into her car she passed out and when she woke up, black fluid was leaking from her mouth. She went to the hospital and had to stay overnight. When I was driving her home, I saw moon. She disappeared and in her place was this black pigeon. Peridot took a nap when we got home, but I could barely get up the stairs. I just got this sudden terrified feeling out of nowhere" lapis said. I was shocked. Never, in my entire lifetime had I heard about this. I sat back and processed what she had said.

"Lapis?" I said quietly, my voice shaking. "I think... That whoever they are... is going after you and peridot. And I think she might come after some of us, too. I'll do research on this to see If any other mythicals have experienced something like this" I said. Something came to mind, but I kept quiet about it. As I think back on it I don't know why, perhaps it would have helped...

We sat in silence for about a minute. Lapis eventually got up, though I didn't see her at first. She sat on my left, and I was partially blind in my left eye. I started crying. I placed my head in my hands as small, crystal clear tears ran down my face. Soon, I stood up, and walked home. The walk home was quicker, and slightly scary this time. I kind of expected to see that grey haired person in the corner of my eye. But I never did. I simply started running home, and when I got there, I shut the door behind me. I ran to me and Ruby's room, closing the door and sitting down on the bed. The crying continued. Nobody seemed to notice for a while, but after that while had passed, ruby walked in.

"Hey sapph, I-" she paused and gasped. Ruby sat down next to me, clearly worried,

"What happened sapphire?" She asked. I waited until I had calmed down a bit and told her what went down at the park. Ruby didn't say anything, but I could feel that she was a mix of shock and anger. Maybe a bit of sadness, but that was rare. It wasn't something I had picked up on with her in a while. She hugged me, which felt nice. She was warm and soft.

"Don't worry Sapphy. I'll find that grey haired beast-" she angrily began.

"No" I said firmly. Ruby was shocked.

"I know what you're going to say, ruby. I don't want you going after her. You know what she did to peridot. I don't want you getting hurt. Please, we'll find a way to handle this peacefully." Ruby jumped back. We were silent for a bit.

"Okay. I'll try not to find her and burn her house down" she said. We both giggled a little.

--------------------

PA

I snuggled into the couch, feeling slightly tired. Me, rhodonite, and the rutile twins were watching a movie. "The Sound Of Music" to be exact. The rutile twins, a pair of conjoined twins I lived with, were asleep of the smaller couch on the side of the living room. I was sitting by rhodonite, a very close friend of mine who took me in after... certain events involving my family. She had black, curly hair with a grey streak through it. She was dark skinned with a natural red-ish (almost burgundy) tint to her skin. Out of all of us, she was the tallest. And the one with the most anxiety. There used to be a woman named flourite with them, but she recently moved out. Fluorite did visit often though.

"Are you awake, paddy cakes?" Rhodonite mumbled. I nodded- clearly, we were both tired.

"Yes, why?" I said, turning to her. Rhodonite smiled.

"Do you want to prank the rutile twins?" She mumbled, the tired grin still plastered on her face. I giggled and sat up, scooting closer to her.

"I would love to!" I said. We both got up and split up. I went to my room to get a feather, while rhodonite went to the fridge to get some whipped cream. "Don't eat all of it." I told her. She rolled her eyes. I heard my phone buzz and I checked it.

TEXT FROM- IceAndCurls

ICEANDCURLS- I need you to come over tomorrow. You don't need to bring the gloves, or at least take them off once you get here. I know you don't want rhodonite to find out ♥️

I looked at the small, round padparadscha sapphire on my hand. I really wanted to tell Rho that I was a mythical... but it was too dangerous. She didn't need to be dragged into this.

-----

RHO

I grabbed the whipped cream and a spoon. I ate a bit before almost dropping the spoon when I noticed something on my upper arm.

Nononononononononono

On my shoulder was a small plume of black scales. I started panicking. Just to make sure the scales weren't anywhere else visible, I looked around me to make sure nobody was here.

Coast. Is. Clear. I thought. I slipped off the sweatshirt that I was wearing and checked the black, pale silver, and burgundy wings on my back. They were made of an odd hybrid between scales and feathers. I was unpleasantly surprised to find black scales on my shoulders and hips. Sure, the wings were retractable, but it was extremely uncomfortable to retract them. I paced back and forth nervously, my wings ruffling and shedding a couple scale... feathers.. (scathers? Feales?). I picked them up and tried to hide them behind pillows on the couch.

Unfortunately, I didn't notice padparadscha walking down the stairs.

"Rhodonite?" She said, clearly shocked. I whipped around to face padparadscha, slightly terrified. It was awkward and kind of terrifying for the person you are closest to, to see you in only a bra and leggings with wings on your back that she never knew you had.

"P-P-Paddy cakes! I- I can explain-" I sputtered out. I waited a few seconds. Padparadscha had gotten a serious head injury once, so now everything is a bit... delayed? For her. I hope that's the right term. She smiled.

"Don't worry" she said, taking off the gloves she usually wore. I never really knew why she wore them.

"I'm mythical too" she said, showing me the round, peach colored gem on the back of her hand.