The Black Diamond – Josephine Renee

The rich are the strangest creatures.

    She looked out on a sea of alchemists. Feathered shoulders, sapling antlers, and suave saw-toothed grins greeted her on stage. The wealthy have an unparalleled standard of beauty.

    But no guest went so far as to change their heart, not as she had. She stood on a platform draped in nothing but low-cut strings of diamonds. They dripped from her wrists, shoulders, and hips.

    “Shall we start the bidding at 100 million?” asked the auctioneer to her left. “Thank you, Madam Shinra.”

    She stepped further towards the centre, a trail of diamonds in her wake. Below her neck, embedded in the skin, sat the largest recorded pink diamond.

    “120 to James Pearson, president of The Alchemical Society.”

    Although these celebrated collectors revered everything natural, nothing attached to her seemed real, from the plastic tips of her fingers to the heels at her feet. Everything had been altered for this performance. Including the 170-carat stone in her chest.

    “Now we shall interrupt the potential purchase of this alluring alchemistic alteration to verify its authenticity.”

    A man split her view of the crowd. Clad in leather and gold he drew from his metallic pockets a spyglass. Pushing the metal to his shamrock green crystalline iris he stared at her chest. Entranced he reached out, brushing his fingers along the gem. “It’s authentic.” He withdrew as if reminded of the jewel’s attachment to her.

    This close, she couldn’t help looking at his lip. It was branded with the alchemist’s symbol for copper.

    He noticed her gaze and judged her in turn. “Your debut is just like the Black Diamond’s.” As quickly as he’d dominated her vision he left, the copper of his skin as shiny as a new coin.

    The masses murmured amongst themselves and all she heard were whispers of ’the Black Diamond’.

    “If that isn’t an endorsement! That’s right folks.” Announced the auctioneer in that typical voice belonging to theatrics. “We all remember the Black Diamond’s debut. It was a one-of-a-kind masterpiece in human remodelling brought to you by ALCHEMY!

    To all those inspired augmented out there,” his voice projected louder and of a frequency that no mortal could compliment. “We have here, the Pink Diamond! Do I hear 170 million!” he roared.

    “Yes, to Edward Esquire. There is so much interest in the Pink Diamond, as there should be! This is our finest piece being presented tonight. However, I would like to draw your attention to other worthwhile displays.” As he said this, he motioned to a side of the wall that had been barred.

    The wall spun outward, revealing another girl no older than the Pink Diamond herself, perhaps 19. She stood in a golden corset that framed her neck and face and formed the rest of her bodice. It connected to a cage hooped skirt, that trapped goldfinch behind the bars.

    Her hair was a solid sheet of gold. So heavy was it that they had to fasten a brace to keep her head upright and place her upon a moving stage, so nobody would see the bolts at her heels that held her in place. The gold girl kept a permanent smile that nearly reached her eyes.

    “Shall we start the bidding of this beautification at 40 million!”

    The Pink Diamond’s waning attention was brought back to the auctioneer as he exclaimed, “SOLD for 150 million.”

    Just as quickly, the golden woman was wheeled away.

    “Now there is a final piece on auction today,” he announced with a hand stretched toward the Pink Diamond.

    The floor opened and dropped her into a clear glass pool. It rose above the stage. Her body sank with diamonds. Strips of light ran along the edges of the pool. The jewels hid nothing of her figure but shined ever brighter under the light that filtered through the water. The glowing glass magnified her and the other girl.

    “Hi,” she said as her head bobbed up from below. Black hair floated around her face. She looked unchanged, except for the splotches of red and the peeling of her face.

    She had patches of skin like a serpent in criss-crossed browns and yellows. She threw her arms up stirring the water and greeted the audience with a split-tongued open smile. The water cradled her body accentuating her scaled skin.

    “This is the last display tonight. Shall we start the bidding at 90 million?”

    She was eventually sold for 170. The Pink Diamond spent the whole sale trying to stay afloat. This time she couldn’t look away as the tattoo gun was brought out. Nor as they held the gun to the serpent’s lip. Marking her with the symbol for silver, a crescent moon. The Pink Diamond couldn’t help but wonder what range she would be selected for. The serpent slid out of the pool and jumped down to the stage, then followed her buyer with a glowing-red branded lip and potent, white-toothed, alchemical smile.

    “Now for our final round of bidding on this exquisite Pink Diamond. Do I have 200 million?”

    The auctioneer motioned for her to leave the pool. Diamonds dragged through the water. There was no easy escape from the slick glass tank. As she hoisted her legs up, the razor edges of gems stabbed into her thighs. She fell back.

    A curtain of red marked her decent. She’d slipped on the edge. Her weight was enough to crack the glass and her neck.

    Through the cracks, darkening water wept onto the crowd. While her body sank, the last thing she saw were diamonds resting on the bottom.

    Tendrils of red turned ink black and the rose crystal at her core, wilted. Veins of pink turned dark.

    “A one-of-a-kind Black Diamond…”

    Voices erupted from outside the tank and the last thing she heard was the muffled cry of, “500 million!”

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