THREE

"Huh? Something new?" A brownish-multibraided-haired gem pondered for a moment. "I only know about the stuff I use. But hey, I want to fix this chair, so could either of you two just hold that there for a while? Oh, you must be Danburite, I'm Sphene. Welcome to the family."

"Oh! Nice timing, Phos!" That was Red Beryl, who strode in while Phos was holding onto the chair, unable to move. "Can you model this for me?" the red-haired gem asked, holding what seems to be fabric.

"I heard you're working on an encyclopedia..." a green-and-short-haired commented to Phos, not paying any special attention to the black robe Phos was wearing and the stars placed on her hair. "We're running low on hemp this year, so don't go wasting paper!"

"Hey," I asked the grumpy-looking Phos, "who's that?"

"This is Peridot," was the reply to me, "she's in charge of making paper."

"Ah, you must be the newcomer! Danburite, right? Want to make some paper?"

"Ah, no thanks, maybe sometime later!"

"I know all about glues and powders," Rutile said while holding onto a knee section and hand of what seems to be the Helio that Goshe mentioned earlier today, "but you want something no one has used before, huh?"

Phos and I had run away from Red Beryl's clutches (mostly Phos dragging me along since I wasn't involved with Red Beryl's modelling). I didn't know gems could pant or even breathe for that matter, but here am I and Phos, catching our breaths. Phos was using a chair as support, slouching over while standing, while I was sitting on the floor, lying on the side seats.

"Cinnabar out on night watch might know something if you ask," Rutile suggested.

"Oh come on!" Phos suddenly shouted while looking up at Rutile, which startled me. "Wouldn't you know more than anyone? Are you just brushing me off cause you're busy, you quack?" She complained while she stood up and walked closer to the doctor.

Right, "they." Damn, we all look like girls, save from Kongo-sensei, so why don't we simply use "she", "her" and other feminine pronouns?

Meh, I'd rather not question and go with the flow, I have a cover to maintain.

"That mouth of yours... Perhaps it's in need of an emergency operation," Rutile commented as they used Helio's hand to attempt to touch Phos' mouth.

Phos immediately backed away and used the notebook to cover their mouth.

"Ew! Don't use that hand!"

"I mean," they continued, bringing down the notebook, "I know Cinnabar walks every nook along the shore, but it's always night, right? Can Cinnabar even see anything? The rest of us are no good at night."

"Indeed," Rutile confirmed, "the rest of us feed off the sun and are not built for the night, which makes things dangerous. But Cinnabar..."

She paused for a moment.

"Cinnabar's endless silvery poison pulls in the faint night light and allows for patrols at night. But, the Lunarinas have never shown themselves at night."

"What?" Phos asked. "Then why even have a lookout at night?"

"No matter how unlikely, that is Cinnabar's job. If you two do go out there, be careful."

"It's not like I want to go visit."

"Phos probably knows this already, but if any part of you comes in contact with the poison, light will no longer pass through it. It will have to be chipped off from you. And you will lose all the memories held within these chipped pieces," Rutile warned, showing the knee section piece of Helio.

"But that's just surface damage, right?" I asked. "Wouldn't it be superficial?"

"It all depends, young Danburite. Those memories that you lose could be next to useless or the most important pieces of information for something much bigger. Just be careful out there."

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

"Hey, you! Quit wasting time on that useless job of yours and help me discover something grand!"

"Wow, you'll let me help you, O Great Master Scholar?"

"Indeed."

"And just like that, I'll make Cinnabar my helper."

That was Phos talking to herself, imagining a conversation with Cinnabar.

"Hey," I asked out of concern, "are you okay? The job didn't drive you insane, did it?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," reassured Phos before they continued on with the self-talk.

"Then I'll finish the encyclopedia, make some grand discovery, earn everyone's admiration, and then everyone will realize that I must have what it takes to join the battle," she mumbled while slowly forming a smile.

"Eheheh..." I replied. If she slips into insanity, I guess it'll be time for me to save her. No, them. Whatever.

"Oh yeah, that's it! Benito!" They suddenly shouted and turned round, startling a passing-by blue-short-haired gem behind us.

"Now I do believe your room is next to Cinnabar's," Phos asked with a fake, business-like-sounding tone. "Lead the way!"

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

"What's your deal?" the one Phos called Benito sighed, the three of us reaching a room with broken window shutters. Looking in, I could see that the room was completely empty, save from large puddles of a silvery liquid on the walls, floor, window seats...

"That one can't control the poison, you know?" Benito commented as I looked up and caught a glimpse of what seems like Red Beryl disappearing up the stairs.

"Maybe it was just too much to bear, but Cinnabar's been gone for a while now."

"Benito, are you sure it wasn't because you said something mean to my little helper?" Phos sighed as she-no, they prodded into Benito while pointing at the blue-haired gem with both index fingers.

"Of course not!" was the reply, and I swore I could see Benito sweatdrop at the comment. 'Who do you think I am, you? And what do you mean, your 'helper'? Don't you already have that newbie as one already? Oh, right, sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Benitoite," they said with a smile as they offered their hand.

"Danburite, it's nice to meet you," I replied politely while shaking their hand. So that's her full name, Benitoite. Benito reminds me of some Italian guy, but I can't recall- oh. Mussolini. "Let's all get along together well."

"Sure. You're new and you're already much less annoying than your three-half friend here," I heard them mutter.

Benitoite sighed as she refocused her attention on Phos.

"Give up while you're ahead, Phos."

"Hm?"

"I know that, for Cinnabar, poison is like breathing for us, and that we have to stay away so as to not cause trouble. But still..." Benitoite looked down in shame.

"Just being near Cinnabar leaves me uneasy."

Phos looked down too, and I couldn't help but feel sad for Cinnabar too.

"Hey, wait," I said, suddenly thinking about something, "Benitoite, can I enter the room?"

"Oh, sure. But be careful not to touch the poison."

Entering the room, I immediately headed towards the nearest puddle of silver poison.

"Hey, Dan!" Phos called out. "What are you doing?"

"No big deal, just looking at this."

As I scrutinized the liquid, words began to run through my head, and my mind floated back into the past. A whirlwind of words consumed me.

"Be careful while using the thermometers, if the thermometer breaks don't touch it! It's poisonous, you can die! Just 0.1 milligrams is enough for severe poisoning, and it can be absorbed through skin."

"This metal is unique in the way that it's in its liquid form at room temperature."

"Old clinical thermometers used this metal due to its responsiveness to temperature. In fact it was so responsive the thermometers were designed with a little bend to prevent the liquid from contracting too quickly so that the temperature could be accurately read after being removed from the patient's mouth. Nowadays for safety reasons thermometers use alcohol, but environmental thermometers still use this metal."

"The ancient people around China and Tibet thought this metal will give prolonged life and good health to anyone who swallows it. Emperor Qing, the very first emperor of China, ordered his alchemists to make him a pill to give him immortality so that he could rule all over China forever. The alchemists made the pill using this metal mixed with jade and gave it to him, and the Great Emperor took it. He died less than a day later. It is said that his tomb is surrounded by this same liquid metal that was supposed to make him live forever. Ironic, a pill supposed to give him eternal life killed him in less than a day."

"Miss! My thermometer broke!" "Don't touch it! I'll get the sulfur powder!"

Touch it.

You clearly know what this is.

But you know you won't die.

You're now a gem.

It's only superficial damage you can chip off.

Come closer.

The sudden intrusive thoughts caught me during a daze, and I reached out without thinking.

Yes, come closer.

You've always wanted to know what it feels like, don't you?

It feels slivery and nice.

Touch it.

Touch the mercury.

Wait, what? No!

My hand stopped just centimeters away from the mercury.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"DAN!"

I felt two hands grab me, and in an instant I was thrown out of the room.

"Wha?" I managed to utter as I slowly got out from my dazed state while sitting on the floor.

"Dan, you were about to touch the poison! Luckily I pulled you out just in time!" Benitoite shouted. "What took you over?"

"I... I don't know. Sorry," I apologized as I jolted myself out of the daze.

Benitoite sighed. "Just don't do that again, alright? If you feel like touching it, stop yourself. It's dangerous for all of us gems other than Cinnabar."

"Told you this newbie's a weird one," Phos chimed in. "Here, let me help you get up."

"Thanks."

As I stood up, I muttered to myself.

"That's mercury for sure."

"Mercury?"

Oops, Phos heard me. Damn my big mouth.

"It's nothing, it's nothing! Anyway, we're going to look for Cinnabar now?" I asked as I attempted to throw off the attention on me from the two other gems.+

They stared at me.

"Eheh, what?"