Royal Rhodolite (Fusion, ACiAR)/Biography

## Biography

Rhodolite kept a good team, at least with Almandine's support, but there had been moments of doubt in the past, especially amongst the more "level-headed" of the Gem 16. Blue Garnet especially stuck out like a sore thumb against his rascally peers—not that he was any less of a scoundrel than them, at least in the eyes of Bios-Krystallos—but he was a noble warrior first and foremost, compared to his more casual and chaotic compatriots. Rhodolite especially noticed this, especially since it made him and Almandine so *compatible*.

At least Blue didn't take needless pity on Rhodolite's "condition", though he was a bit sore at first for her playing matchmaker. Ultimately, the two had a mutual "understanding": let Rhodolite be *silly* when necessary, and she'd be a better fighter for it. This would ultimately be put to the test when the two ended up alone on a floating island against a gigantic Violet Ruby. The Ruby, an Earth-mined gem that grew too large, blamed the Earth for her distortion, and vowed to take it out on any Earth defender in her way.

Rhodolite stuck to taunting the towering Ruby, making faces at her until those faces *stuck*. She ended up on the receiving end of more than one violet flame breath for her troubles, leaving Blue Garnet to deal most of the damage, and to little avail. Rubies were strong, but an oversized one was just *too much* for two little garnets, so even Blue took some heat until the both of them rolled off the island's edge as a fireball. Before the two could smash to the ground far below as melted aluminum silicate slag, something else landed for them...

Royal Rhodolite was the fire-forged fusion of two unlikely partners, and though their memory was lost from the flame, they knew they had to leap back up to the island and finish the fight. To their vague delight/confusion, the Violet Ruby they had been fighting didn't seem so giant anymore, much to the Ruby's shock. With their new weapon, the *kusarigama*, RR dispersed the Ruby's flames and sliced her body to wisps, leaving her gem to be bubbled for posterity and the Earth's protection.

Despite being a purely combative fusion, RR didn't defuse after the battle; in fact, they couldn't even remember if they had components. They had lost themselves in this new identity, which was probably for the best considering the scratched and cloudy condition of their component gems; it could give them time to regroup and heal before defusing. Still, when one battle made this large centaurian beast believe themselves *king* of the entire island, it's probably time to get some help.

Almandine arrived to provide such help 12 hours later, with navigational assistance from Grossular, only to find Royal Rhodolite's kingdom grown to epic proportions. With a castle made of mud and felled burnt trees in the middle of the island, Royal Rhodolite was not going to give up their kingdom for such a tiny pair of single-gem garnets. However, Almandine's pleas rekindled Blue Garnet's empathy and Rhodolite's friendship, and realizing the error of their ways, the two destabilized and blew apart.

After some gem-healing in a bath of garnet sand, Rhodolite and Blue Garnet were good as new again, not eager to allow themselves to disappear like that again. However, they soon realized, in the few desperate times when they needed to combine once more, they could not only retain their memories, but also utilize each other's unique quirks to RR's advantage, especially Blue's detection of weaknesses and Rhodolite's unrelenting energy to attack. Even knowing that, though, they fervently await the day they can restore their kingdom in the sky. After all, *it's good to be the king!*

## Behind the scenes

"Royal" rhodolites are rhodolite garnets showing excellent shades of purple. Royal Rhodolite's body exhibits most of the colors typical in "royal" rhodolite specimens, including "grape" garnets, making their fuse-stone a fantastical version.

## Source

* SU Fusion OC Reference - Royal Rhodolite on deviantART