Cairngorm

Cairngorm is a Gem who appears midway in the story and is one of the gems who accompanied Phosphophyllite to the moon, if reluctantly. They used to be the inner shell of Ghost Quartz, who had a multilayered structure and thus two personalities. After Ghost Quartz was taken to the moon, they became active in their stead. When Cairngorm was first introduced, their "skin" was pitch-black and they remained so for some time in order to better feed on sunlight due to their inclusions being fickle. However, shortly after, they applied powder to their skin much like the other Gems. They wore a winter duty uniform with juliet sleeves, bobby socks, and a pair of black tassel loafers. They have a very short haircut that was noted to resemble Antarcticite's, though Cairngorm's is more tame and combed to the opposite side. While not very noticeable, Cairn is slightly smaller than the other gems. Their weapon was the same scythe that had belonged to Ghost Quartz. When they took on Winter Duty, they began utilizing an ice saw similar to Antarcticite's. After Cairngorm arriving on the moon, Aechmea removes the remaining pieces of Ghost on their eyes, truly becoming themselves according to Aechmea. After this change, Cairngorm removes their powder again, returning the black skin they normally have. Their clothing then changes away from the standard Gem uniforms to clothing designed by Lunarians that often shows a lot of "skin" and are often cute and feminine that are usually worn with high platformed shoes. Aechmea remarks that he didn't believe that Cairngorm would choose these ones as Gems don't have any concept of sensual things. Ghost Quartz described them as "rude, violent, selfish" as well as annoying. Ghost claims that Cairngorm was in control of their body when they recklessly climbed onto a sunspot cloud and almost got taken by The Lunarians. They seem to be very tough and strict. When they lost Ghost Quartz, they were infuriated and blamed it on Phosphophyllite, punching them several times and causing them to repeatedly need fixing from Rutile. At first, they acted harshly towards Phos. But they began to soften towards the other Gem after Phos had a breakdown and had confused Cairngorm for Antarcticite. A few chapters into their introduction, Cairngorm began to act much kinder and gentle towards Phos and has become rather protective of them. When Phos lost their head to the Lunarians, Cairngorm even offered their former partner, Lapis Lazuli's head, to Phos. When Kongo seemed unsure of this, Cairngorm even began to offer their own head to Phos. However, during Phos's 102 year long rest period, Cairngorm reveals to Aechmea that they wished to be crushed by the ice floes into nothingness and cease existing, revealing that Cairngorm had suicidal thoughts. After Aechmea reveals that reviving the lower hardness Gems would not be feasible, Cairngorm offered to have a synthetic outer layer attached to disguise themselves as Antarcticite to calm Phos' trauma. Aechmea questioned Cairngorm's dedication to Phos and upon examining the Gem closely, he discovered that their eyes still contained traces of Ghost Quartz which was affecting Cairngorm's behavior. He told Cairngorm to wait there while he got his tools if they wanted him to fix them. Cairngorm wanted to wait and be free, but the remnants of Ghost tried to force them to leave and remain under Ghost's influence, and the struggle caused Cairngorm to break apart. Seeing this, Aechmea understood that Cairngorm wanted Ghost Quartz removed from their eyes. With Ghost Quartz's influence removed, Cairngorm's behavior changes drastically. They begin to act more emotional and eventually vapid, often fawning over Aechmea and clinging to him every opportunity they get. They show very little affection for Phos or even Lapis, claiming those feelings were the result of Ghost's influence. Cairngorm even rejects their own name, mirroring Aechmea and going by "Princess" instead.