Pyrope (Fusion, ACiAR)/Biography

## Biography

Rhodolite and Almandine had been best friends since their escape to Earth around the third millennium BCE. They couldn’t be more divergent in terms of personality, fighting strategies, and personal struggles, yet they bonded on terms of core values, goals for peace, and caring for sapient life. Rhodolite's mental instability and steadily laid back attitude about problem-solving near-perfectly complemented Almandine's straight-laced nature only addled with paranoia and battle fatigue; as much as they disfavored each other's defects at times, they cared for each other like family, the both of them being Earth-Born garnets from different Kindergartens.

For all their similarities and closeness, however, the two never thought of themselves as anything more than cousins and battle partners, until they aided Mesopotamian sailors fighting against a Gem Shard mutated hydra. The massive hydrozoan, like the mythical Hydra of later Greek myth, defied death and healed from even fatal wounds. Neither human nor garnet action could keep the beast at bay; it was hungry for anything it could get its tendrils on.

Rhodolite would have ended up part of the hydra's lunch if it weren't for Almandine plunging after her as they entered the beast's mouth. The sailors watched in horror yet relief as the hydra gurgled, swelled, and exploded, revealing a gigantic woman bursting forth, holding an inactivated Gem Shard. The remains of the giant hydra reformed into colonies of tiny hydrae that peacefully swam away.

It was only after bubbling and storing the shard that the giant woman realized what happened: she was in fact Almandine and Rhodolite bound together. She didn’t feel like Almandine and Rhodolite bound together, yet she felt Almandine's determined feelings, and thought Rhodolite's weird thoughts. The fusion waited until the sailors and the hydrae dispersed before separating back to the two addled magenta gems.

Rhodolite thought about the experience for days afterward; she liked being a fusion, though Almandine didn’t feel comfortable becoming something that was her, yet wasn't her. Just as the fusion was also Rhodolite, yet not her as well, Rhodolite enjoyed being out of her head and adopting another persona, one that was the embodiment of her relationship. Unbeknownst to Rhodolite, Almandine surmised that she secretly enjoyed having a functioning brain, in part at least; in her opinion, this fusion could possibly adjust Rhodolite back to some sense of normalcy. On that assumption, Almandine humored Rhodolite's desire to fuse for fun and friendship more than combat.

The newly christened Pyrope, a giant garnet of great personal power, adjusted to her new form with grace and glee. She had much more agility and spirited movement than either of them had, and Rhodolite was animated, yet Pyrope had the poise and discipline of a dancer and acrobat, focusing Rhodolite's raw energy into amazing feats of impetus. The only unfortunate thing was her tremendous size, which was her only reminder that she was a fusion; another was a curious power to double the number of her arms, which occurred without much conscious thought and aided in the occasional battle against ne'er-do-wells. In spite of her components' willingness to live separate lives, Pyrope gave a third life to the both of them, allowing them a unique perspective beyond either of their comprehension apart.

Almandine's plan to fuse Rhodolite to normalcy came out during the 1920s, to Rhodolite's disgust. They had been friends for thousands of years, and Pyrope for more than a 3rd of that time, but Rhodolite never relented in her madness. If anything, Rhodolite took to the rapid evolution of human technology and lost herself in it. Meanwhile, Almandine became more spiteful toward anything that reminded her of her time in Pink Diamond’s court, eventually devolving to cringing at the sight of champagne and pearls. Rhodolite nearly wanted to break the relationship because of this perceived hypocrisy, but it took yet another accidental fusion in the midst of battle to realize something: the only one that stayed sane through the ages was Pyrope, who could take things as they came and had no obsessions or strange beliefs – she was an uncarved block.

Through the 20th century to today, Pyrope remains Rhodolite and Almandine's "meditative" fusion, what they become if they both have strong issues which they cannot solve by themselves. Though Pyrope never shares the secrets of her components between them, she might allow them to think about their actions enough to open up eventually. Her current hobbies include using public pools and beaches as soak tubs, dancing for an audience, and digging holes for pools, basements, and mines.

## Source

* SU Fusion OC Reference - Pyrope on deviantART