With the sound of the Warp Pad going off, Sapphire, Ruby, Lavi, and Button all were out and with their sets of photos all in hand. Their rather distracting visit with Discord may have been a random and questionable one, but Discord did do them one service by getting them these pictures, at least Sapphire thought so. Though if they were to admit it - and they would - their visit to Discord's crazy realm of stoats and rats was rather unneeded. Then again, Lavi and Button probably would never unfuse otherwise, whether they wanted it or not. Sapphire was happy for it either way, and once off of the Warp Pad, they were over back to the barnhouse. Sapphire's Future Vision told her that he would be here.
As for the barnhouse itself, at the moment it was pretty active actually, in it's own way. The Off-Colors were back at the barn, but they also found Spinel there too. Impressive that the two were still together, and by the look on their faces, still pretty calm and looking pretty happy all the same. Spinel was over by the farm fence, meditating it would see, as the other Off-Colors were chilling out and waiting for Rhodonite to come around. However, Jade and Flint were also there and waiting, Flint pacing around a bit, and not even noticing the four other Gems coming in straight away.
"Hello everyone," Sapphire said.
"Sapphire? Well, nice t - who're they?" Flint immediately asked. He recognized Ruby and Sapphire surely, but Lavi and Button were a bit new to come around for him. However, the Off-Colors were a bit more shocked to see the two standing there.
"Wait," Tiger's Eye said, hopping down and going over to the pair. Lavi and Button stayed close to eachother, as Sapphire went over to Flint. Jade joined Tiger's Eye in seeing the two, though she wasn't as invasive as Tiger's Eye was, the curious Gem down on her four legs and looking her over like a curious dog.
"... Hold on a minute. Do I know you two from somewhere?" Tiger's Eye asked.
"S-Stop that," Lavi said blushing, she and Button both a bit uncomfortable. The other Off-Colors were surprised at this as well.
"....... Rhodonite!" Padparadscha gasped, her reaction delayed as always, but just as much of a reveal as it would normally be. Flint, Tiger's Eye, and Jade were expecting a little more of unfusing from Sapphire and Ruby over Lavi and Button here, personality in consideration and all.
"You two were Rhodonite? ... W-What happened to make you unfuse?" Jade asked.
"Discord," both Gems said in unison. The Draconequus may have not met everyone, but it was a name that got tossed around a whole lot, so they were at least vaguely aware of what the creature could do. And if Discord could separate Lavi and Button from eachother, it had to be a pretty strong hit to do so, or a LOT of persuasion whichever.
"I always wondered what you looked like split. So, which one's in charge of Rhodonite, Pearl or Ruby?" Tiger's Eye asked, not missing the opportunity to ask. If Rhodonite was anything to go by, this would probably be the only time they'll ever see these two.
"You don't need to know!" Lavi snapped.
"It's nice to see you two after so long Lavi, Button." Fluorite said, going over to them both herself. As if she wasn't intimidating before as they were Rhodonite, now both Gems were smaller, and felt a bit meeker looking to her, but Fluorite still wasn't going to hurt them here, and instead gently rubbed Button's head with a smile on her face. Button was humbled, but eventually a smile formed on her own face, feeling safe with Fluorite. Pretty cute, and far better than the realm they were just dumped into.
Anyway, as they were dealing with Lavi and Button, Sapphire and Ruby went over to Flint, holding the pictures.
"So where were you two, I wanted to have a word with you on -"
"Already taken care of, Flint," Sapphire replied, suddenly showed Flint the series of pictures that Discord had for them. All pictures were pretty good on their own, and all pretty well detailed in their own right. As Sapphire had seen the specialties and importance of these pictures, Flint didn't see it straight away himself.
"And where'd you get these?" Flint asked, slightly confused.
"Discord." Sapphire simply replied, before she began to stroll away towards Lavi and Button. Flint however couldn't see what the main deal was with each of these pictures, as they seemed completely random to eachother, and had little relation to the problem they had, or the case Flint got stuck with.
"What's wrong this time?"
"Something on your mind?"
both Rutiles took a moment off of Lavi and Button and were quick to notice Flint and his pictures. Flint was taken off guard when they showed up, but quickly gathered himself.
"Don't worry, it's just these pictures," Flint replied.
"Can we see?" asked both Rutiles.
"Uh ... ok?" Flint asked, a little confused, but showed them the pictures anyway. Both the twins took a look at what pictures Flint had on hand.
These weren't just simple pictures that Discord gave them, but looking at them, these were pf particular events that had happened throughout their escapades, though these were more well known for the veteran Crystal Gems rather than the Off-Colors. Each picture had a date on them, and a particular name as well:
"Albino Diamond" - a screenshot with White Diamond standing in her throne room with the other Diamonds, and the ponies and Crystal Gems in frame as well, the good team more in frame as if it was to focus on them.
"The Call" - this one showed what looked like most of the Crystal Gems over in the Beach House, being told about the Cluster by Yellow Diamond in her message to them.
"Objection!" - just some random shot during the whole court session for the Crystal Gems and the Diamond Authority, again the frame more focused on the Gems.
A few other pictures accompanied these, and all seemingly during bigger events of their adventures, namely during the Gem stuff going on. A bit disturbing that Discord got a hold of all of these pictures, and Flint will REALLY have to have a talk to him after this, but Rutile was a bit confused over these pictures as well. Flint eventually was given the pictures back.
"Sapphire told me they would help with the case, but ... exactly what can be helpful here?" Flint wondered, scratching his head as he looking them over and over again, examining each and every picture. Sapphire would not give him these if they weren't important in some way.
"Speak to me, pictures. Speak to me," Flint thought, examining each and every single one a bit more closely, the twins peering in from behind him, each twin on each side of him as they two looked them over curiously. Then they found it. It took them quite a bit to see, but there was indeed some sort of connection in these pictures. Sure there was the events playing out, naturally, but one detail was more evident the closer they looked to the Crystal Gems. They all looked fine overall, but there was one Gem that caught their eye. It was Pearl.
Pearl, in each one, had her mouth covered. Usually with both hands, and it was during each of the more important events, notably with the Diamonds. It was still a rather vague detail, but probably the only odd thing they could catch as they were looking. Flint looked to both twins, and he straightened up each picture.
"Strange," said the right Rutile.
"I was thinking the same thing," replied Left Rutile, hand under her chin in thought.
"What're you doing, Pearl?" Flint wondered.
"Well ... maybe, she's just worried or scared," left Rutile suggested.
"Looks like you all were in some dangerous places," agreed right Rutile, but Flint was unsure. That could easily be the case, yet who's reaction would be to cover their mouth? Flint worked out some of the possibilities in his head for this, but there was one way to figure it out. Good thing that Spinel was not too far away to start this off with. Flint went off from there, and walked right over towards Spinel. Spinel was in deep thought, meditation at its height, and he had some questions ready for this fusion.
"Spinel, may I have a word with you? ... Spinel? ... Spinel, wake up!"
Well, so much for asking directly. Spinel didn't even flinch during the yelling, so whatever meditation she was doing must be very high up there. Flint will just have to wait, but this idea shouldn't be completely ignored.
~~~~~~
"Well, after some consideration, I feel that it should be made known to you all."
After some time, and while some Crystal Gems were away during the family reunion for AJ, Flint got a discussion together with some of the others. In this case: Jasper, Bismuth, Jade, Lapis, Fulgurite, Peridot, Star Quartz, Emerald, and Diopside. He would get Pearl to be apart if she were still here, though Garnet did suggest a bit differently since they already had plans. Their meeting place this time was at the barn again, and with the Off-Colors off and busy, they had it to themselves this time, at least for a little bit.
"So what's this about this time?" Jasper asked.
"Did you find anything big on the case?" Bismuth asked.
"Well, good news and bad news: the good news is that we can say without a doubt that Rose Quartz indeed did not shatter Pink Diamond. The bad news is we still are low on suspects, so there's no one to pin it on ... However, we did find something out," Flint revealed, Jade taking the time to help them out and show them the pictures brought back to them.
"Eh, is there something we're missing?" Lapis asked, scratching her head. Diopside studied the pictures with her gem eye.
"Try to focus on finding Pearl in those pictures. Do any of you notice anything in common with them?" Flint asked. It took some a bit quicker than others to see it, but they soon notice that Pearl did indeed have her mouth clamped shut behind her hands in these pictures. However, that was still a bit unconvincing.
"Hold on, yeah. Pearl kept covering her mouth during all of these," Diopside noticed, her Gem eye taking in the details easily, and naturally quicker than the others had.
"Yeah, so?" Emerald asked.
"Doesn't that come off as odd to any of you?" Flint asked.
"Not really. I mean, ok, she has her hands over her mouth, but that's always been her ... thing," Bismuth answered. She found it pretty casual, but that just intrigued Flint even more, as Diopside studied up on each of the pictures some more along with Fulgurite.
"Her thing? Bismuth?" Flint asked, very intrigued.
"What're you trying to say, Flint, that she's responsible?" Jasper cut in.
"Of course not! However, out of everyone so far, she's been the most quiet about it. I mean, you've all shared your experience with the Gem war already, right?" Flint brought up, letting the others think for a moment.
"... You know, now that you say it, Pearl never brought up what she knew exactly. I mean, sure, she fought alongside Rose Quartz, but that's about it," Emerald realized, scratching her head.
"Well, there has to be more to it. ... Lapis, you were fused with her just this morning, did you see anything that could help here?" Flint asked. Lapis paused for a minute and thought it over more and more, but unfortunately for them all, she simply shrugged. Bummer.
"Eh, nothing, sorry. she and I had fun, but I never really saw much inside Pearl's memory," Lapis answered. Well, scratch that option off the list. Bismuth got up after that.
"Flint, stop that. K, so she's been a bit quiet about the Gem war. She's been apart of the Gem War, so have we. Who knows what she might've gone through," Bismuth made clear.
"Wait, were you?" Emerald asked.
"I was the blacksmith for the entire Crystal army!"
"For a few hundred years? I've been in the war, buddy, and I don't remember seeing ya once. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing most of ya in there. ... Except for Jasper over there. Where were you guys anyway?" Emerald said. That brought on some odd silence from most of them.
"Bubble," said Bismuth.
"Geode," Fulgurite added.
"Mirror," put in Lapis.
"I wasn't even made yet," Peridot stated.
"Same," Star replied.
"What's with all the captures?" Emerald thought, though he was also surprised that Peridot was actually younger than him, but that was something for later.
"Well, we know about her from Lapis at least. Right?" Jade asked, looking to Flint.
"Yeah, but she doesn't have much to go off of. No offense, Lapis."
"None taken," she replied. Flint didn't realize just how little they actually had for him. As it stood, the only one who mainly had any info regarding Pink Diamond at all was Lapis, and even then it was very lacking in detail.
"Look, if you want to talk to Pearl about it, you're going to have to wait: she just left with the others to join Applejack in some "Family reunion"," Jasper answered. So long as they can get some sort of answer, then he might as well wait for her. As much as he didn't want to.
.......
And wait they did, all throughout the day. Whatever this little event was going on back in Ponyville, it surely was taking their time, as some of them were waiting around over by the Temple for the Crystal Gems to come back later on in the day and to the night. They took their position just outside, chilling out over at the shoreline, some Gems looking up to the night stars, as some were playing around in the water. It gave them something to do to pass the time, anyway.
"Ok, did anyone hear how long this reunion's gonna be?" asked Flint, keeping an eye back to the Beach House.
"Be patient, please? They'll be back eventually," Jade replied.
"But when is "eventually"? If we're gonna play detective, I wanna actually start," Emerald groaned, staring off to the sky on the sand. The stars sure looked nice, but it wasn't going to cure any of their boredom just yet. ...
"COME ON!!!"
"Steven!"
The group took a look over to the Beach House on hearing Pearl and Steven come in. Guess they were just too far to hear the Warp Pad go off, but the screaming was heard loud and clear, and just who Flint was waiting to see. However, it didn't sound like they were very happy over it.
"Wait here," Flint instructed, before beginning to head off and putting on his camouflage cloak, making him disappear in the low light. Everyone else out on the beach decided to keep behind as Flint got himself right up to the door. With his cloak on, he was practically invisible so long as he didn't budge or knock over anything, or make any extra noises for that matter. Flint got himself just at the window, peering in just in case if his cloak didn't work, listening in to what was going on.
"Steven. I know you're worried about Connie. What happened with White Diamond, it isn't your fault. Perhaps it is best if she's out on her own for a while, it's probably her way of coping with the situation. I mean, she did just come out from the hospital," Pearl attempted to make a joke out of it, but it was clearly not working, even after Pearl chuckled at it.
"OK, bad joke. W-What I mean is that -"
"Ok, Pearl, Steven needs alone time now. ... You just go back to the party," Steven said, as he walked on upstairs and toss the covers over his head.
"Steven, I -" Pearl halted herself when her hand met her mouth. She got that removed, but she didn't speak anymore. Well, time does heal some wounds, and Pearl could only hope that Steven would be healed up over time.
"I'm sorry. ... Well, sweet dreams," Pearl replied. Without another word, silent Pearl went on out, and the sound of the Warp Pad signified her exit. Very interesting. Flint took some special note over Pearl covering her mouth before he too took his exit. Flint kept on his cloak until he got back to the other Gems over down the beach, just to be sure Steven and Pearl didn't see him.
"Well?"
"Let's give her until tomorrow morning. Now here's what we're going to do. ..."
~~~~~~
Their operation took into progress next morning, which to them was more than enough time to give Pearl to calm down and get herself together after last night. For this first shot at the plan, the first ones to do this was Star Quartz, Bismuth, and Flint. It took a bit for them to find out where Pearl had gone off to, and eventually they found her off in the boardwalk, trying to cheer Steven up alongside Greg apparently.
"Are we really doing this? Maybe it's not as bad," Bismuth quietly said.
"I never said it was. Ok, Star, you know what to do?" Flint asked. Star nodded to him, and she began to walk over to Pearl and Steven. Looking to them, the two were actually sharing some ice cream, Steven namely having a swirl as Pearl had vanilla, though Pearl wasn't exactly eating hers.
"You enjoying your uh ... food?" Pearl asked Steven.
"It's ok, thank you," Steven replied, a bit more humble than usual as he simply licked his ice cream. Both of them didn't even notice Star there until she stopped only a foot away, though Steven was startled when he did see her, tongue mid-extend. Steven and Pearl both looked over to Star Quartz standing there.
"Oh, hi Star," Pearl said, Star Quartz walking over to them.
"What're you doing?" Star asked.
"We're just having some ice cream. Want some?" Greg asked, presenting his piece to her. Star shook her head, but something else was on her mind, thinking about what happened last night.
"... Are you two mad at eachother?"
Well, awkward.
"Wha?"
"Flint saw you two arguing last night. Are you still worried about Connie?" Star sure was cutting right to the quick on this little problem, though even she could feel Flint banging his head in a wall somewhere. Pearl and Greg didn't want Steven to feel worse about things, but Steven just sighed.
"I-It's fine. ..."
"... That's not a very confident "it's fine"," Star stated. To Steven, Star Quartz was seeing right through him, but Pearl didn't want to add more drama to this.
"Now, Star, maybe we should talk about something -"
"Connie hates me!" Steven suddenly said. It had been long enough of silence for the kid, and Pearl and Star looked to him.
"Steven?"
"I'm not upset about what happened with that monster although, yeah, a lot of that was really messed up. But my relationship with Connie is even more messed up. I left her behind to surrender to Homeworld after promising we'd face everything together. I'm sure I really hurt her, more than just her arm. I've been calling and texting her for a week, but she hasn't responded once. ...Connie might never talk to me again." That last part was met with some tears coming down his face, him looking down to his feet. Pearl and Star looked to him with some concern, now fully understanding his side of the story. Steven's emotions would've been a lot worse if Star Quartz's calming aura method wasn't keeping him level headed to some degree, keeping him there and not bolting off in his emotional huff.
"Schtuball, if this was about Connie, why didn't you say anything sooner?" Greg asked. Steven recoiled.
"I was embarra..."
"You were embroidered, embroiled, emboldened to talk to your old man about your problems?"
"I was embarrassed, okay? You and the Gems all like Connie, and I was worried that if you heard what happened that you'd be mad at me too," Steven replied. Sure, Garnet wasn't upset with him, but that was still just one Gem compared to an entire team.
"Oh, Steven, of course we're not mad," Greg sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "And I'm sure Connie's not mad, either. Well, at least I'm sure she doesn't hate you. That whole handing-yourself-over-to-Homeworld thing was definitely a high-stress situation. It really scared all of us. I'm not exactly over it either, but I guess carting you off here for some ice cream to spend time with you is my way of dealing with it. Maybe having some distance from you is Connie's way."
"But the last thing I did was send her some dumb texts and messages," Steven retorted.
"Where is your phone, anyway?" Star suddenly asked. Pearl clammed up on that answer, and simply sighed, before her stone started to glow again, bringing out Steven's phone from her inner inventory. Star took a look at it as Steven groaned.
"I bet she didn't respond yet. My last message to her was some dumb joke about tennis balls."
"Tennis?"
"Told you," Steven sighed.
*Bing*
Bing? A Bing?! Steven thought he was hearing things, but that was indeed, in all truth, a Bing. and there was only one thing that could make that Bing, and that was his phone! However, Steven thought that this was just Ronaldo again, so he wasn't too thrilled. ...
"Connie has a pretty funny face."
He wasn't dull anymore.
"L-Let me see!" Steven gasped, almost yanking the phone out of Star's hands. His eyes widen in surprise, and sure enough, there was Connie! Connie actually responded. And what did she have to say?
I forgive you, Steven. I'm very sorry I made you worry all week. Meet me at Brooding Hill, and we can have a picnic together. I really missed you.
"... This has been fun, guys, now if you excuse me, I got somewhere to be that just came up. Thanks for the ice cream!" and sure enough, Steven was off and running, a lot happier, and tears coming down his face, this time of joy. Connie was not hating him! Greg and Pearl were especially glad for it that Connie had forgiven him after everything. And when that was done, Star turned and began to walk over back to where she came ... just to see Bismuth and Flint again. Flint had a bit of ... mixed emotions.
"... Did I forget something?"
"Maybe we should try something different. Thanks though."
.......
"I predict that this is going to be a compelling story," Padparadscha said, about in the middle of it.
After their visit to Equestria, the Off-Colors were back to the barn home, and in this particular situation, the other Gems were in quite some luck now, as Pearl had went on by to the barn and was actually telling them some stories. And by the time Flint, Bismuth, Jasper and Emerald arrived, Pearl was going through details of the Gem war fight, having a scabbard in her hand that housed Rose's sword. Old callback to years prior.
"Rose Quartz led us to glorious victory! The odds were against us, and our hearts were uncertain. (lays scabbard on her chest dramatically) But we chose to fight alongside Rose, and here we made our stand against Homeworld."
"Fascinating," Fluorite said. Padparadscha looked off and saw the trio of Gems coming over to them.
"The quartz soldiers were probably surprised seeing a Pearl beating them up, huh?" Tiger's Eye asked.
"Probably," Pearl replied smugly. What a better time to bring up the subject than now?
"Here comes more Gems," Padparadscha said after a bit. Only then did they all see the four show up.
"What's up, Pearl? Telling about your adventures I see," Bismuth said with a smile, seeing Pearl holding the scabbard.
"Well, since they've never had the privilege of seeing it, I thought it would be fare to tell them what they've missed," Pearl explained. Pretty basic enough of a reason, although it had been a while between their first steps on Earth and now. Then again, better late than never for this sake.
"Oh. you all enjoying the story?" Emerald asked.
"You bet! So many different fights, advances, disadvantages, who'd of guess she would go through so much? Pearl got a little quiet at a point, but other than that, it was fine," Tiger's Eye explained, Pearl feeling herself recoil on what Tiger's Eye said. A bit odd to hear, but maybe it could help them out in some way.
"What part's that?" Jasper asked, though at this point, they knew Tiger's Eye would answer right away, and now was no exception.
"The Pink Diamond bit. Rhodonite brought it up, and suddenly Pearl wasn't saying a word." And all of a sudden, Pearl was doing it again: her hand brought up to her mouth once again, same as all those pictures, and same as her conversation with Steven.
"Tiger's Eye," Rhodonite snapped, making her flinch a bit. Well, on the bright side, they don't have to think about bringing it up now, but seeing Pearl clam up like this wasn't gonna make it any easier for them to get some special information.
"You ok, Pearl?" Bismuth asked, though Pearl didn't remove her hand from her mouth. It took her a bit to remove her hand.
"I ... I'm sorry. But I just have some ... trouble. With that subject," Pearl meekly admitted, though her hands were still hovering over her mouth, as if they were waiting to clamp again. Jasper helped bring her hands down gently before she spoke to her.
"You still feel shocked about it, huh?"
"Eh ... yeah. I'd rather not talk about it," Pearl said, her hands covering her mouth again afterwards.
"I know it's a hard subject, but it can't hurt if you could say a little something about it," Flint said, but this time Pearl didn't remove her hands. Earlier it was understandable, but why was she still clamming up this much? Eventually, Pearl did calm down and just sighed.
"I uh ... I was about done anyway, so ... I'll just be going," Pearl decided, and she went off on her way. Not exactly the answer that they wanted to hear, but clearly this was a subject Pearl had a harder time with. Clearly if they were gonna get anywhere with the Gem, it'll need some more effort.
"This'll be harder than I thought," sighed Flint.
"Ok, Flint, maybe you shouldn't pester her. I know you want more information, but if she isn't willing to talk about, then you shouldn't keep trying her," Jasper stated. Still, Flint was especially suspicious.
"but she did this before, and so precise. ... There's got to be a way to get her to talk."
Then Emerald got a particular idea.
.......
"You sure you know what you're doing, Emerald?" asked Flint, as Emerald concentrated the drink for the full effect, once he and a few others got back to the Beach House.
"Hey, you want Pearl to talk without getting her mouth clamped right? I see this all the time: they drink this and they'll tell you anything anytime anyday. That and then some," said Emerald, swirling the drink in his hand so it'll mix well.
"Whatever it'll take to get this to work. All those other witnesses didn't give us much, this has to do something. Pearl's the closest we got," Flint sighed, but he had a very bad feeling about this. With a little swirl, the drink was finally complete. And just in time too, as they heard the Warp Pad open up from behind them. Flint, Peridot, Fulgurite, Jasper, and Emerald saw their main chance, and Fulgurite took the drink and ready to serve.
"There you are Pearl, how ya doing?"
"Well, actually I've been trying to relocate some more Gems. Shouldn't you be out and helping Bismuth right now?" Pearl questioned. Fulgurite needed to get to the subject, and she showed Pearl the drink.
"In a bit, but first try this out," Fulgurite suggested. Pearl grew a little suspicious over this offer.
"What's this?"
"Twilight found this kind a "truth-seeing serum" the other day, and she just dropped it off while you were away. We talked it over, and if anyone could use it to handle our little case, it might as well be you," Fulgurite explained. Pearl took a look to the drink.
"Twilight would've told us something, wouldn't she?"
"She was a bit busy. you know, being a princess and all, working on the cases, she doesn't have too much time to explain things right now."
"Hmm ... well, Twilight did mention she used a potion to find a tree of friendship before ... Well, can't hurt to try."
"Exactly. And make sure to drink every last drop of it," Fulgurite advised. If it can help them out, then Pearl was as willing to solve this case same as anyone else. Pearl felt a little reluctant at first, but eventually she closed her eyes and began to drink down every last drop. Pearl waited for a moment or two with the result of the drink taking hold of her mind. Gems do have a strong tolerance to this, but this was extremely concentrated, and not even Pearl could end up immune to the drink. They all stood back from her to give her some space, waiting for some sort of reaction from her, the cup sliding out of her hand and landing on the floor. Pearl simply stared off ahead of her, eyes wide as if she was seeing the mystery girl for the first time again, a blue hue starting to show on her face.
"Uh ... Pearl? How do you feel?" Jasper asked. Pearl needed a minute to try and get herself together, but when she saw Jasper, her mind started to wander a little ...
"OH my. R-Rose!"
"... What?" all of a sudden, Pearl was hugging Jasper tightly, a big smile on her blue face. Well, the buzz from the drink was REALLY getting to her head, and much of the Gems had no clue what to say here, Pearl looking right to Jasper's body.
"Why aren't you so soft, Rose? You were so soft and warm before," Pearl asked, poking Jasper's stomach, her voice a little tipsy.
"EMERALD?"
"What, it's a side-effect. go on, ask her," Emerald insisted. Flint groaned, but, he went up to her anyway.
"Ok, Pearl? Do you know anything about Pink Diamond? Anything at all?" Flint asked, not cutting any corners here. Pearl took a moment to stop trying to find "Rose's soft torso" to try and answer his question.
"Well ... she's pink and ... she's a diamond."
"... Let me rephrase: do you know anything about her being shattered?" Flint corrected. Unfortunately, her hands were back right up to her mouth again, Pearl looking overly shocked. ... and they didn't get off her mouth. Again. Flint, hand to forehead, just left a big groan. This was simply getting nowhere, and her tipsy state wasn't making it any easier.
"This isn't working," Jasper sighed.
"What's not working? You ok, Rosie?" Pearl asked, hugging her again. Jasper simply sighed, and actually did some ... modifications (is that the right word?) to her body to make it feel softer and less muscular. Pearl felt it, and closed her eyes.
"There it is. So warm,~" Pearl cooed, cuddling her. If Pearl wasn't off her mind right now, then this would be WAY creepier than it already was. Emerald prepared to go, but Flint grabbed him by the shoulder before he could go.
"How long does this last?"
"Well, according to Gem intake from her ... previous escapade with this human liquid, I would have to guess ... a few hours," Peridot answered, probably the only one who could actually answer it accurately.
"Can I kill him?" Jasper bluntly asked.
"Ye - no! ... We'll wait until she comes back around."
~~~~~~
that afternoon, Pearl finally came around back to normal, but for the moment by herself, she was walking along the beach, now having a bit of a headache from Emerald's attempt to make her talk. She needed a bit of time to think it over without getting a bigger migraine.
"What on Earth happened back there?" Pearl asked herself, having little memory of her "cuddling with Rosie". As she was going along, she found a nice, quiet spot on the beach for her to think over what actually was going on here. She perched herself onto a seaside rock, and gave a long sigh, just before another pair of Gems found where she walked off to, and this time Flint wasn't with them. That didn't mean Pearl was happy much, her headache bugging her more than anything.
"You alright now, Pearl?" Lapis asked, Pearl having her hand on the side of her head
"Yeah. ... Oh, what's going on with him today? I know he wants to solve this case, but ... did he send you two after me?" Pearl asked.
"No, no he didn't. We even told him you were still out of it so he would stop bothering you," Lapis reassured her. Pearl sighed in relief, but this was not the end of her ordeal. she still failed to talk about her situation entirely.
"Pearl. ... Look, I trust you with my Gemstone ... but ... it wouldn't hurt if we know," Bismuth said, trying to make it the nicest she can.
"Why do you want to know so badly?" Pearl asked, feeling her hand go to her mouth again. Out of anything she could say, she chose to pick those words? Guess it was time to come clean.
"Pearl, listen. We're all trying in our own way to handle this Pink Diamond case. We all want to be lifted of our ban and this crime, but the only one who didn't say anything about Pink Diamond ... is you. We all trust you, Pearl, you can tell us anything," Lapis said. Pearl moved her hand down, thinking about what she just said. Pearl trusted them, she really did, with just how much they've done together, especially with these two in particular. As somber as it was, none of them were ready for what happened next.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions you'd like answers to. About me, about Pink Diamond. There are things that are impossible for me to explain. ... But I want to! I -" her hand quickly covered her mouth again, Pearl pulling off.
"Lapis, I -" suddenly her hand covered her mouth again, this time more forcefully. Pearl began to double over, shivering as she tried to make herself remove her own hand from her mouth. This made Lapis jump up and stand over by bismuth, both gems caught off guard by Pearl. Pearl shivered, and her other hand tried to pry the first off of her mouth as much as she could.
"Pearl what's wrong?!" Lapis asked. Finally, Pearl yanked her hand off her mouth, panting and freaked out. Bismuth had enough of it, and went right up to her, grabbed Pearl, and gripped her arms tight.
"Come on, Pearl, I got you. Come on, talk, you can do it!" Bismuth said, but Pearl can't seem to fully say much of anything, as the more she tried, the more she seemingly was defying her, her arms gathering strength. Bismuth waited for Pearl to say what she knew, but she could feel her defying her every step of the way, her arms shivering and trying to move up to her mouth again.
"B-Bismuth, I ... I ..."
"Come on, fight it Pearl. We're here for you," Bismuth reassured her. Pearl's own body was not listening to her, or Pearl for that matter, and the amount of strength in her arms was intense, the hands actually, ever so slowly, moving up to Pearl's head. Bismuth tried to keep her arms down, but it wasn't enough: Pearl's arms forced themselves out of Bismuth's grip, but it wasn't her mouth that they were aiming for, as they suddenly gripped her neck.
*snap* .......
"... I'm sorry ..."
*POOF*
Bismuth and Lapis needed a minute to comprehend what just happened. bismuth could remember Pearl shedding a few tears just before she did herself in, and all that remained now was a gemstone down in the sand. Bismuth just stayed wide eyed, only barely able to comprehend she was so shocked, as she looked down to the Gemstone. Lapis and Bismuth paused and looked to eachother for a small moment, before Lapis picked up Pearl's gemstone. ...
"Bismuth! Lapis!"
And then came in the Crystal Gems, this time with Garnet in toe. The group of Gems skidded to a stop once they caught up with Lapis and Bismuth, only to find Pearl's own gemstone in Lapis's hand. Seeing just that made them realize what happened here.
"P-Pearl?! what happened?!" Fulgurite gasped.
"We tried talking to her, but ..." Lapis trailed off in thought as Garnet was given the stone. Flint looked up to the fusion, feeling slightly guilty for this.
"Garnet, I-I'd like to apologize. If I'd known, I'd -"
"Don't be."
Everyone there turned to Bismuth. She had her back turned to them, but she did turn around, suddenly having a face full of anger, enough to intimidate even Jasper.
"Bismuth, it's not his fault," Garnet said, not wanting Flint hurt. However, Bismuth moved passed her, and was standing right in front of Flint.
"Flint. You know her. Would she make this happen?"
"Who? Pink?"
"No ... White."
.......