Benitoite

Benitoite is a rogue Gem residing on Mars. She is currently fused with Gray Spinel, forming Sillimanite.

## Appearance

Benitoite is a somewhat small blue Gem, only slightly taller than Sapphire, with a slim build. Her Gemstone is on her right shoulder. She has a pointed nose, angled and catlike eyes with long lashes, and no lips. Her hair is in a short blue bob and styled to give her the appearance of having animal ears. She wears a short, navy sundress with knee-high navy boots with white diamonds on the heels, a white halo around her shoulders, and puffy shoulderless sleeves that cover her hands.

## Personality

Benitoite's main focus is, and has always been, herself. While she was willing to serve her Diamond, it was a desire for reward and fear of shattering that drove her service, rather than loyalty to the Authority. Consequently, when Mars was abandoned and she got left behind, she had no interest in remaining at her post. Benitoite usually acts calm, cool, and collected, but this is a façade she keeps up purely out of habit. In reality, she has some very strong opinions and feelings, and is more than willing to express herself when given a reason to.

## History

Around 6,000 years ago, Benitoite was sent to manage White Diamond's outpost on the desert planet. She performed her job without complaint, though she found it odd that a Gem of her purpose was made an overseer. When the Rebellion began, she thought nothing of it at first; this wasn't the first time Gems had attempted to rise up against the Authority, and they were always stopped with ease. However, she became concerned as it grew worse, especially when a Howlite was sent to the outpost and converted it into an asylum for captured rebels.

She considered leaving the planet against orders, but, fearing shattering for desertion, she dutifully remained at her post and hoped for evacuation orders. When the orders came, however, Benitoite was stopped from evacuating by a hypnotized army, who destroyed all ships in the outpost's hangar and dragged all evacuees, Benitoite included, back to their posts. The overseer soon confronted Howlite, accusing her of treason. Howlite claimed that someone needed to manage the remaining Gems on Mars. After explaining herself, the deprogrammer calmly threatened Benitoite with brainwashing if she continued to argue with her. Benitoite went quiet... and soon after learned that she could use her abilities to sneak out, which she did. Benitoite considered joining one of the other factions on Mars. However, she didn't trust any of them, and decided to instead go rogue, using her newfound ability to create illusions to terrify other Gems and steal what she needed.

## Abilities

As an Era 1 Gem, Benitoite has standard Gem abilities.

### Fusions

* When fused with Gray Spinel, they form Sillimanite.

### Unique Abilities

* **Illusion Creation:** Benitoite can create intangible images out of light. As a Homeworld Gem, she exclusively used this ability to show planets and simulate their surfaces to her Diamond. However, on Mars, she discovered she can use this ability to impersonate other Gems and project illusory copies of Gems and objects. For example, she snuck out of the Palace by disguising herself and her Spinel as Howlite and Herkimer Quartz, respectively, to fool her guards.

## Relationships

### Gray Spinel

While originally meant to simply keep her busy, Benitoite eventually found that Gray Spinel's loyalty would be of great benefit to her, and took her when she snuck out of the Palace. She has grown fond of Gray Spinel, and sees her as a friend and partner. She would even go out of her way to help the Spinel out of danger, and their bond is strong enough that they can fuse with little effort.

### Howlite

Benitoite has always had a rocky relationship with Howlite, seeing her as an unwelcome addition to the outpost. As Howlite sent her hypnotized guards to insure she didn't leave her post and forced her to remain on Mars against her will, Benitoite came to hate the fellow elite. To this day, she still harbors a strong grudge against Howlite and wishes her nothing but suffering. While she has no plans to storm the outpost or kill Howlite, she would not pass up an opportunity to inflict pain on her, or even cause her death.

## Trivia

* Benitoite's design inspired a second Benitoite drawn specifically for Gemsona-HQ's Monthly Gem Challenge of November 2019.
	+ This second Benitoite exists within the Mars AU, but is corrupted and bubbled on Earth.

## Gemology

* Benitoite is an extremely rare barium titanium cyclosilicate found in hydrothermally altered serpentine. It generally has a deep and rich blue color and fluoresces under UV light.
* Benitoite was first discovered around the San Benito mountains in California, in 1907, by a prospector who confused it for sapphire. It was studied by a mineralogist and determined to be a different mineral entirely two years later.
* Benitoite has a hardness of 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. This makes it a decent, if extremely expensive, stone for jewelry.
	+ Most benitoite gemstones are under 1 carat in weight and smaller than a pinky fingernail, but can still fetch prices in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars depending on the stone's quality.
* Benitoite is the official state gemstone of California.
* Metaphysically, benitoite is associated with the third eye chakra and is believed to encourage a higher state of understanding.

## Gallery

Benitoite (right) with Gray Spinel and the MGC Benitoite