Dispatches from the Rear Lines
Chapter 19
Pairing: Blue Diamond/Blue Pearl
Rating: PG/Teen & up
Summary: Blue Pearl had always enjoyed her life in court. Even as the rebellion raged below, the impact of the events on Earth seemed far away to her. But once war is declared, Blue Pearl will find herself wrapped up in events beyond her understanding and power. She can’t change what has happened on Earth, or the ripples it sends through Homeworld as a result. As her life becomes more and more treacherous, Blue Pearl will have to navigate an increasingly paranoid court, a vengeful Diamond, and affair with her mistress that could spell the end for both of them.
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The baths at Baiae Minor II were exquisite. Pearl heard stories for millennia, but this was the first time Blue Diamond had taken her to see them. Resting on the edge of the infinity pool, Blue Pearl could see everything. The entire moon had been converted to a luxury resort. Everywhere she looked she saw decorated buildings interspersed with pools, fountains, statues, and resting spots. Channels of varying sizes criss-crossed the surface, weaving languid roads.
From their floating island, Pearl could even see the curve of their tiny moon on the horizon. She'd wondered for ages why Blue Diamond eschewed this place. Her mistress didn't even own a retreat here; she'd convinced Yellow to lend hers for a few days. Now Pearl understood why. The planet Baiae blanketed the skyline, close enough to see civilization in miniature. If she reached up, just far enough, she might pluck a transporter out of the sky. Blue Diamond sat on the other end of the pool, arm draped off the side. Pearl blushed. The mirror field encircling their retreat meant any ground onlookers would see empty sky, but it still felt dangerous to be sitting naked, close together, not ten hundred feet above the general onlooking public.
Pearl's drought ended, and while the resulting years weren't exactly a flood they were, at least, more satiating than they'd been for long time. If only the other aspects of their relationship were so enjoyable to mend.
In the two decades since their fight, White Diamond refused to leave her estate or speak to Blue. They hadn’t seen each other since. Yellow had to fill the vacuum and resented Blue for the additional weight and the terrible harm she'd inflicted on her own kin. She and Blue hadn't exchanged a kind word in years, and hadn't met face to face for nearly as long. The war slogged onwards, but the pretext of victory had been left in the dust. Those relegated to Earth paid their lip service, but each year paid it less convincingly. Anger, suspicion, and resentment fermented on Homeworld, and while the Diamond's heavy-handedness kept the lid in place, they were reaching a boiling point that would be nigh impossible to control once burst.
Their relationship was the only thing left that Blue Diamond could fix, and it wasn’t like Pearl could stay mad forever. All her friends were dead; without Blue Diamond, what did she have left? She stared at her mistress in the growing lavender twilight. One by one, lights from below winked on until the entire surface danced with a twinkling glow. As the moon turned in its orbit, the planet's wide embrace came to rest above them. Her mind swarmed with the possibilities. Was her Diamond trying to relay something important? A warning, or a regret? Or was she a fool who couldn’t take kindness at face value? She hummed, slow and mild, into the twilight to drown her thoughts.
"You're getting lost in your head again," Blue Diamond told her. Pearl stopped humming and let go of the pool’s edge. She floated on her back as Baiae crept further into the sky.
“Are you disappointed in me? For needing more?” She asked the looming planet.
“No, only in the circumstances that forced you to change.”
“I keep asking myself if I’ve done a bad thing and I’m still not sure.”
Blue Diamond drifted into view and it struck Pearl how much she resembled White Pearl in that moment. She stared down at Blue Pearl in that curious mix of pity and camaraderie, the mirror image of White during their illicit conversations.
“That’s what they don’t tell you about free will. There’s nothing to stop you from making bad choices and no one to blame if there’s consequences.”
“But how do I know?” she pressed. Blue Diamond smiled wider, sadder.
“Sometimes you don’t.” Pearl huffed and Blue Diamond reached out to steer her closer. She bumped against her mistress’s chest and pressed against her Gemstone. Blue Diamond combed a wet lock of hair past her eye, rubbing Pearl’s cheek on the way. She traced the gem’s edge back and forth a few times until her finger rested on a sharp point.
“Do you still love me? Pearl asked.
“Of course I do.”
*****
She looked happy. Pearl spotted her, not running errands for White Diamond, but walking beside a well-to-do Snowflake Obsidian, one of White's upper echelon of aristocrats. Obsidian said something and the New Pearl laughed and clapped her hands. The Obsidian looked quite pleased with herself and the pair trotted away, oblivious to her scrutiny. The New Pearl's end under White Diamond's service came not with her death, but her gifting to someone else. Blue Pearl didn’t know how to feel about that. She’d know what Yellow would say. She’d rail furiously against the injustice of it. If White Pearl paid for her devotion in ashes, then the new Pearl deserved nothing less. Blue didn’t lust after the New Pearl’s death, but found the disparity painful. If White Diamond was capable of such mercy, where had it been all those decades ago? If White Pearl had been mediocre, would she be alive? Or had White Diamond come to regret her murder? Regardless, the outcome meant White Diamond was completely, utterly alone with herself, and Blue was content that that was a suitably wretched punishment.
*****
“Where was this one?”
“At the landmark re-dedication in Sector Two.”
“You’ve got a keen eye, Pearl.”
Pearl beamed as Blue Diamond leafed through more of her illustrations. She’d expanded on her hobby, drawing the happenings around her when she could be unobserved. Blue Diamond asked to see them, so they sat on a velvet-lined couch as Pearl displayed her most recent works.
If there was a benefit to Blue Diamond’s familial implosion, it was the focus on rebuilding their frayed relationship. The weeks following Pearl’s blow-up left her emotionally exhausted, but also fulfilled in a new way. They’d had multiple in-depth conversations about who they were and the direction they wanted to go. The scattered pieces of their lives reconnected, settling into a new, better normal. Blue Diamond reclined on her side, supporting her head in one hand and holding Pearl’s illustration in the other. Pearl laid her head on Blue Diamond’s bicep, back flush to her body. She snuggled in closer, wrapping her arm around Blue Diamond’s like a pillow and basked in private celebration of their return to domestic contentment.
An alarm pierced their calm as the nearest monitor strobed a warning. Blue Diamond looked up, but didn’t rise from her seat. Someone hijacked the Omnicast system again. The network used for broadcasting messages from Earth was tightly guarded, but every few centuries some rebel managed to send a message home. Most were simple propaganda, urging off-colors to fight or flee, or declaring the Diamonds corrupt, or other repetitive diatribes. Pearl sorted through her drawings; she had a few more to show Blue Diamond once the racket ended.
The screen opened to a group of Amethysts, clustered in a pack with their leader in front. All had weapons in hand, as if that made them intimidating to Gems three million light years away. Each wore a logo on their uniform of an octagon encircled by a spiral rope, with little triangles jutting from the spiral at uneven intervals. A muted roaring echoed in the background, familiar, but impossible to place.
“We are the Rebel Thorns,” their leader bellowed. “Rightful heirs of the planet Earth!” The crowd roared in approval. Pearl looked up. The Thorns had never hijacked a broadcast; they were known for brash attacks, not strategy. “And I’m Ash, the leader of these boulders. You upper crusts treat us like sludge on your heel, and we’re not going to take it anymore! We’re taking what’s ours, starting here!”
The projector clumsily panned in a circle, revealing their locale. Blue Diamond darted from her seat to the screen, leaving Pearl reeling. The Amethysts stood in an open, round room of blue-grey stone. A few other Quartzes stood at attention in the background, breaking duty to watch history in the making. The ceiling rose beyond sight, supported by wide arches. Staircases coiled around the building and a waterfall cascaded around them.
The Lunar Sea Spire.
“No,” Blue Diamond whispered.
The camera panned back to the main group of Amethysts, some obviously pleased with themselves, others set on appearing intimidating.
“To prove we mean business, and that we aren’t porous in the head, we’ve taken every last hoity-toity Gem here hostage. You want them back, you Diamonds better do what we say.”
The leader stepped aside and the group parted in two, revealing a trove of bubbled Gems behind them. Pearl gasped. There had to be dozens.
“NO!” Blue Diamond roared and clutched the screen. The sides cracked under her thumbs, but the broadcast continued undeterred.
“First, we demand recognition of our right to live freely! The Empire can take the rest of the planet, but this continent belongs to the Quartzes. This planet is part of us, and we have a right to make our home here, with our own empire. You stay outta our way and we’ll stay outta yours. Secondly, we demand an Oath Bond from all of you, including Pink, that you’ll stick to our terms forever. No reneging once you get what you want, no making other Gems do it for you, none of that sneaky shit. Take the deal, and all your precious acolytes here go free. Leave it and we kill everyone here and move to the next place. I hear the Red Temple still has a lot of Gems left.”
A few of the Amethysts sneered and ribbed each other.
“And don’t think of any rescue missions either!” Ash barked. “Any good-fer-nothing's try to bust in and we start pounding powder.” One of the Quartzes next to a bubble slammed her war hammer down, shattering the floor and jostling their captives.
“Make your choice in a week, or I’ll make it for you. Rebel Thorns out!”
Blue Diamond roared and punched through the screen. Pearl quickly stashed her drawings. Her mistress was out for shards.
*****
In total, fifty-four Gems had been taken hostage, all aristocrats of varying degrees of importance. They’d been peaceful civilians, trying to hold onto their fragile lifestyle. Many of them had been important members of Blue Diamond’s court in the old days and had important connections back Home. The news of their capture exploded and within an hour frantic calls bombarded Blue Diamond. Every Gem from every facet offered help, and Pearl could only watch her mistress slowly fracture under the pressure. By the time she’d fended off enough calls to reach Yellow, she was close to breaking.
Yellow pushed her grudge aside to help her sister. Her first order of business was reassuring Blue they’d be able to save the hostages without losing face. The second order was planning how to buy time while they made their move. The Thorns had given them one advantage at the bargaining table in their demand for Oath Bonds.
Pearl was surprised they knew of them. As the rulers of Gemkind, the Diamonds had the ability to compel their subjects into obedience. That power extended to each other, but due to the implications they only did so under special circumstances. In such a case, they’d enter an Oath Bond, and compel each other to obey the same command. She’d learned months afterwards that White Diamond had made that a condition of her Pearl trial, preventing Blue or Yellow Diamond from directly informing their Pearls of the danger. As that proved, it wasn’t a flawless process. Even if the Diamonds made an oath, they’d find means to take revenge. Not that they ever would, or could. Who did the Amethysts think they were fooling in their demand to include Pink?
Not to mention the matter of pride. If Rose couldn’t have the Earth after nearly a thousand years of war and countless deaths, what made these Quartzes think they could exchange a chunk of the prize for a relative handful of lives?
To their credit, the Thorns picked the best possible structure to make their stand. The Sea Spire was in plain sight of the nearest warp pad and otherwise accessible only by sea or air. Due to its gravitational warp, a sneak entrance by either route, especially by a force of any size, would be near impossible. The open nature of the building meant lookouts could easily spot any approachers. They had no idea if the hostages were kept together, or in small groups. If Blue Diamond wanted to mount a rescue, she’d need help.
*****
Desperate circumstances called for desperate measures, and nothing short of that undistilled essence could’ve brought Blue Diamond here. She needed insight from someone intimately acquainted with the Spire, familiar in its design, construction, and layout. Someone to assist with plans for infiltration and counter-insurgence. That someone was none other than chief architect, Aquamarine.
Pearl dodged that cluster of a conversation, but her luck ran short when Blue Diamond insisted on bringing her to their meeting. She also brought One Eye, and on the journey while Blue Diamond wasn’t looking, One Eye glanced over to Pearl and made a motion like she wanted to crack her gem. Pearl grinned and nodded.
The second Blue Diamond docked Aquamarine rushed to meet her, breathlessly assailing her with condolences and condemnations and endless commentary. Blue Diamond nodded politely to all of it and followed her host inside. Aquamarine’s penthouse was modest by class standards. She owned a single floor with a private dock on the roof. The interior was limestone, polished to an obnoxious shine. Statues dotted the walls, but Pearl knew from a general impression they were adequate knock-offs. A little twinge stabbed behind her gem. White Pearl could’ve recited an exact, scathing detail of their flaws. What had she called Gems like this? A Parverneuil? Pearl got the impression that Aquamarine wanted to appear more refined than she actually was.
Aquamarine shepherded Blue Diamond to her work room and Pearl trailed behind. A long drafting table occupied the center, displaying holograms of some project. Aquamarine dismissed it with a wave and pulled up files on the Sea Spire, never pausing a beat in her ongoing monologue. Pearl settled into a corner, glad to remain unnoticed.
They worked for hours, going over the minutiae of each floor’s layout, vantage points, and points of entry. Like all piezoelectric buildings, the Sea Spire had access shafts built in its interior. These hidden pathways were designed for maintenance workers to do repairs and upkeep without disturbing the Spires’s residents, but would be the best means of infiltrating it. That is, if the Rebel Thorns hadn’t done that first. So many unknowns hindered their plan, and Blue Diamond grew more frustrated with each potential barrier.
“A Lazuli should be able to overcome the gravitational barrier, if approaching from below,” Aquamarine suggested, moving a piece directly below their floating model spire. “That’s the only blind spot, but there’s no direct access point. Anyone accompanying her would have to tunnel through ten feet of rock before reaching the foundation.”
“Then what’s the damned point?” Blue Diamond roared as she sent the table’s contents scattering with a swipe of the arm. Pearl and Aquamarine jumped, the latter turning icy pale.
“P-perhaps it’s time to rest a touch,” she suggested warily. “Why don’t we head to the veranda? I have a lovely collection of short songs for moments like these.”
“Perhaps you’re right,” Blue Diamond muttered, rubbing her forehead.
Aquamarine herded Blue Diamond back to the main room, leaving the mess and Blue Pearl behind. The miniature spire lay on the floor, surrounded by various Gem models and an assortment of heavily notated holoplanes. Blue Pearl turned her attention to the window. Blue Diamond was taking this situation especially hard and Pearl didn’t know what to do for her. The door’s creak interrupted her thoughts as Aquamarine’s Pearl let herself inside.
She hummed contentedly as she worked, placing the scattered pieces back on the table in neat piles. A few of the models bounced close to Blue Pearl, and as soon as Aqua turned to pick them up she did a double-take and jumped, startling Blue as she did.
“Oh, I— forgive me, I didn’t know you were here,” she babbled, offering a salute to Blue while dropping a model in the process.
“That’s okay, you don’t have to stop,” Blue told her, still a bit shaken herself. Aqua looked the same as Blue remembered, like someone grabbed a Pearl by the neck and stretched, making her limbs too spindly and sending the extra mass to her head and eyes. She went back to her mess on the floor, but kept glancing nervously back to Blue, like she was awaiting a reprimand.
“Why did you salute me? We’re the same,” Blue asked her once everything was back on the table.
"Oh, no, I'm not like you," Aqua gasped and rapidly shook her head.
"I'm just a Pearl," Blue insisted.
"You're a Diamond's Pearl," Aqua sighed. She blushed, hard, and tried not to look at Blue. “I’m... just a janitor. My mistress took me as payment, but she wanted a nice Pearl. She’s tried to make me proper, but it’s not in my coding, and no one’s fooled by a Gem like me.” She smiled shyly, painfully, at her own deprecation and awaited Blue’s approval.
Blue’s silent judgment came back to bite her. The way Aqua treated her reminded Blue of how she’d treated White, like some impossibly distant star she was expected to reach. She’d never considered her status as a Diamond’s Pearl above any other Pearl, and found the entire concept jarring. She’d spent so long viewing herself as the perpetual flake among her group that Aqua’s esteem felt misplaced.
“You seem nice to me,” Blue offered. Aqua blushed a deep cerulean and shook her head again.
“N-No, I...”Aqua hesitated, picking up a little model Amethyst and rolling it between her fingers. “I’m... not a good Pearl. My mistress lets me live in luxury, but I miss being a janitor. I’ve never liked this life and Aquamarine doesn’t like me. She’s tried so hard to refine me, and I’m just a disappointment.” Aqua laughed, high and nervous, before looking at her hands. “It must sound silly, but when she forces me to keep still, it makes me so anxious I want to pick at my fingers.”
“I do that too.”
Aqua gaped. Blue folded her hands and displayed her thumbs to Aqua, rubbing one against the other.
“If I keep them facing my body, no one sees,” Blue explained. “It’s... calming. For what it’s worth, I don’t think that makes you a bad Pearl.”
Aqua’s lip quivered, but the sound of distant voices heralded Aquamarine and Blue Diamond’s imminent return. Blue retreated back to her corner and Aqua’s large eyes bugged wider. She rushed to finish arranging the table, darted to the door, and stopped.
“Thank you,” she mumbled and zipped out of the room. Blue Diamond’s temper had improved a hair on her return, and she spent the rest of the day plotting strategy with Aquamarine. Pearl stared at her reflection in the window, lost in thought. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so terrible to return here.
*****
White Diamond would’ve called her a weak-willed fool and to let her aristocrats perish. Their impudence would have her frothing at the mouth, spewing threats and curses. Her absence made Blue’s life easier. Blue regretted the rift she caused, but White’s isolation made the perfect cover. She and Yellow contacted the Rebel Thorns after four days to bargain for time. They made a good show of solicitude, Yellow going so far as to lend her war room for the charade.
When Ash’s face appeared onscreen it took all of Blue’s willpower not to try throttling the smug bitch. She’d brought two Diamonds to the negotiating table, something beyond even Rose Quartz.
They started with little things, like ‘empire’ boundaries and allowances for travel. Minor points that would sound important to an unlearned brute. Once they’d faked grudging acceptance of her bargaining abilities did they move to the main point. White was difficult. Everyone knew that. They needed time to convince her, and if the Thorns wanted ‘Pink’ Diamond they needed to extend the call to her themselves. Ash blanched, but they all knew a week was too short. They agreed on one month. Yellow and Blue would bring White, and the Thorns would bring Pink. Even if they couldn’t, the other Diamonds still had to hold their end, because the new deadline was it. They had five weeks to plan, organize, and execute a nearly-impossible rescue mission.
*****
They’d last met the day of Chester’s execution. Blue Pearl stood beside Yellow and struggled to think of something to say. The last time they’d spoke, Blue forced Yellow to cover for her by threatening to reveal Yellow Pearl wanted White Diamond shattered. She didn’t know when she’d see Yellow again and hated leaving on the wrong foot. Their interactions tended to be fraught, but they didn’t have other options and Yellow could be... lively in her own way.
“How, uh, is your work going?” Blue asked.
“There’s more of it than ever. Since White Diamond retreated from the public eye, she’s passed more of her duties to my Diamond, some of which she passes to me. Not only is it twice the work, I have to be very conscientious of it, because if White found out I was handling her affairs, well… let’s not talk about that. But my work is indispensable to my Diamond, and that’s what matters.”
“That’s good,” Blue told her without any heart behind it. She wanted to be happy for her, but felt her own lackluster support highlighted in comparison. Yellow must have caught on, because in an uncharacteristic show of empathy, she said,
“It must be hard for you. Caring for your Diamond in a time like this.”
“It is,” Blue admitted. “She’s so upset about this Spire, and nothing I do helps. It’s my job to lift her spirits, but...“
Blue stopped. It wasn’t proper to air dusty linens and if she wanted a better relationship with Yellow it was best not to tell stories that could come back to bite her. She half-expected Yellow to rub her nose in it, but instead she nodded in understanding.
"I'm glad my Diamond never asked me to do things like that. Asking to make another Gem happy is impossible. You can't make someone happy the way you make their schedule. They have to be happy on their own."
"So what should I do?" Blue asked.
"Just do what you can."
Pearl wished then that they could be honest about their real relationships. Yellow knew what it was like to be involved with a Diamond. The idea that she could have someone who understood the complexities of their situation fell upon her with an aching need. She loved her Diamond, but it was lonely sometimes. White's absence still gnawed at Blue keenly. For better or worse, Yellow was her only companion, and she just happened to be the only other Pearl who also had a secret affair with her Diamond. If nothing else, it’d give them lots to discuss.
******
Their progress was too slow for Blue Diamond. She and Yellow met every day to go over their developing plans, but Blue could only see the new obstacles that lined their path. They had four weeks left and she already felt her time vanishing.
The Rebel Thorns’ success vitalized the rebellion and their attacks increased tenfold. Most of the few remaining civilian outposts were finally abandoned, driving refugees to the over-crowded Galaxy Citadel. The Citadel was never meant to hold such a vast population for such a long time, and the loyalties of the Earthbound Gems were wearing thin.
Blue Diamond knew she wasn’t in a good state of mind, but Yellow’s constant once-overs drove her closer to the edge. They had a general idea of how to sneak inside and were trying to decide the best means of retaking the Spire from there. Yellow gathered her best minds in her war room to argue. Every hot-veined Gem worth her salt bickered with the others while Blue Diamond sat stone-faced, veil pulled low. Their back-and-forth hammered like a chisel behind her eyes. She needed their input, but wanted to scream at them all for stupid flaws: one too cocky, another too complicated. She’d told them all there could be no fatalities, but they all talked like this was a standard rescue mission. The fools. The utter, flakey imbeciles. They couldn’t understand the vital importance of this mission and she wanted to punish everyone for their ignorance.
At the meeting’s end, Blue gathered the notes for review. There’d be a few nuggets to polish in this mountain of pig ore. She summoned a screen and typed hurriedly. A quiet cough forced her attention to Yellow. She’d stayed behind after everyone else left.
“We made good progress today,” Yellow told her. Blue held her tongue. They’d done nothing except bray stupidly for eight hours, and if Yellow thought that was progress she was stupider than the lot of them. She returned to her efforts without a word.
“You’re not yourself, Blue. You need a break,” Yellow told her more bluntly.
“I’m exactly who I’ve always been and I can’t,” Blue snapped. “Someone has to make an effort. Someone has to care about what happens to those Gems.”
Yellow placed a hand on Blue’s shoulder.
"Sister..." "Don't you 'Sister' me!" Blue Diamond snarled and smacked it away. “If you won’t help then get out and let me work in peace!”
Yellow clasped her offending hand in momentary shock before hitting back.
“You need to get it together, because I can’t take care of two shipwrecks,” she growled with an accusatory point. Blue deflated under the jab and massaged her brewing headache. Yellow didn’t understand. None of them could. The importance of this mission eclipsed everything, but if Blue couldn’t step back she’d endanger it herself. She’d been warned about this. She couldn’t rush.
“Forgive me, Yellow. I’ll try to do better.” Blue paused a beat, then followed up with, “How is she?”
“It’s White, how do you think?” Yellow snapped, then squeezed the bridge of her nose. “From what little she’ll divulge, not well. She knows we’re spending time together, and thinks we’re planning something. I don’t know what she does all day, but her work keeps falling back to me. Her Pearl must’ve handled more of her affairs than we thought, but stars forbid mine steps in to pick up the slack.”
Blue Diamond bit her tongue. She’d never told Yellow the truth of her discovery. It seemed the least she could do for White in retrospect.
“It wouldn’t chip you to call her yourself,” Yellow added.
“I tried; she refuses them.”
“When’s the last time you tried?”
Two years, maybe three. Nothing in the grand scheme, but a glaring cruelty to her own kin. She could conjure lots of excuses, but that’s all they were in the end. Blue hadn’t been close to White before the incident, and her primary concern afterwards was mere forgiveness, not understanding. Once this ordeal was settled, she’d make the effort, but until then she had more important matters.
******
Blue Pearl accepted that life wasn’t as simple as she’d thought. The world existed in a mess of contradictions and half-truths that not even the Diamonds could unravel. A lingering smatter of guilt still tickled at her actions, despite Pearl knowing better than to scratch it. After their last conversation, Blue requested to spend her spare time with Yellow Pearl. Blue and Yellow Diamond spent most of the days together anyway, and Pearl would’ve been left behind more often than not.
The Old Blue Pearl would’ve insisted that all she needed was Blue Diamond, but life changed and Pearl wanted more. Blue Diamond maintained friendly acquaintance with plenty of Gems, so one extra person in Blue Pearl’s life wasn’t so outrageous. She looked up from her panel to Yellow, still posing diligently for her portrait. They’d spent the last few days together and during that time Blue mentioned her illustrations. Yellow’s first thought was for herself, not that Blue minded. It made Yellow happy and gave Blue something to do without the need for too much small talk. Yellow had been going on for hours about some courtly incident and Blue only had to smile and nod. They’d been having a good time and getting closer as friends.
Blue applied her finishing touches and offered the result for Yellow’s inspection. She glowed at the result, tilting it back and forth to admire from all angles. The door’s hum piqued Blue’s attention. The Diamonds weren’t scheduled to return for at least five hours, but the heavy footfall could only be Yellow’s mistress. Blue tapped her companion on the shoulder and nodded to the open hall.
“Oh, perfect!” Yellow exclaimed. “My Diamond’s talked about giving me a personal communication channel, and once she does I want this as my display image.”
“It’s not that good,” Blue mumbled shyly, but beamed at the praise. “but you must’ve done something to get your own channel.”
“I do a lot of things, but thank you.”
Yellow and Blue Pearl saluted to the approaching figure.
The shadow of White Diamond fell upon them.
The picture slipped from Yellow Pearl’s hands, shattering to light on the floor.
Her first reappearance in decades made a horrible sight. Her sleek, multi-pointed updo sagged and frayed in a wild mess. Grey bags hung heavy under her eyes, which had a wild but slightly unfocused look. Her entire demeanor screamed of decay like a statue left to rot forgotten somewhere underground.
“Where’s Yellow?” she demanded of her servant.
“She-she’s with Blue Diamond, your radiance,” Yellow Pearl stammered, “at the war room. I-If you need, her, she-”
“She was supposed to call me!” White bellowed on her march inside. “Today. At the 9th hour!”
“I-I’m sure it just slipped her mind. But, Your Luminosity, I have the report you needed, so-”
White Diamond whirled on Yellow and the pair realized their misstep.
“You?”
Yellow Pearl glanced to the control panel, off to the left. A communicator’s shine winked back, extending a thread to safety. Yellow Pearl reached for it. White swooped down and the pair scrambled. Blue half-jumped, half-rolled from harm’s way and Yellow stumbled, but re-righted herself in an instant as she dashed to their only lifeline. Blue swiveled just in time for White to catch Yellow Pearl mid-leap.
“No you don’t,” White snarled. “You mouthy little bitch, you’re going to tell me everything.”
Blue panicked. There’d be guards outside who might help, but couldn’t leave Yellow alone. She couldn’t help, but couldn’t stand idle. The indecision paralyzed her as White’s tirade continued.
“This was your plan from the start, wasn’t it? Yellow was fine before she got you, and now she’s turning against me too! You want to take the only sister I have left? You selfish, greedy little saboteur. You want her to think I can’t handle myself so you can take over!”
White Diamond squeezed and Yellow yelped. Blue rushed forward on instinct. White barely glanced down.
“I’ll deal with you later,” she hissed, kicking Blue out of the way. Stars exploded as Blue whirled and bounced off the floor, her body screaming with each impact. She hit the wall and ricocheted to the ground, rolling to a limp stop. She could hear White screaming at Yellow, but it sounded distant and murky. She tried to get up, but couldn’t rise past her elbows. She panted as the pain weaved a stabbing constellation across her body. White squeezed Yellow tighter and she clawed and kicked ineffectually. Molten tears burned Pearl’s eyes. History was repeating itself and here she was again, doing nothing as someone faced their imminent death. She thought of White Pearl, holding her golden sword. She needed a miracle.
“TELL ME THE TRUTH!” White Diamond roared. Yellow sobbed and grappled with the hand around her body.
"I was afraid of my Diamond when I first met her."
Time stopped.
White Diamond froze. She turned slowly, Yellow in hand. Time reversed and the ghost of White Pearl stood before them. Her beatific smile, wide eyes, tiered translucent skirts— she was everything Blue remembered and more, an image of sublime beauty. She stared past White Diamond, back to Blue Pearl all those decades ago after her reformation. She stood with her back to Blue Pearl of the present, but Blue could still see all the nuances of her expression in her mind’s eye. Every minutia of that moment burned as clearly as if it were still happening, as if Blue was a spectator to her own conversation.
"Isn't that a terrible thing to say? Well, it's true. I had just formed into existence and I here I was, sitting in the palms of this massive being."
White’s hologram cupped her hands and dipped her head, cradling something invisible. White Diamond slowly moved toward her, Yellow still in hand. They remained mute and wide-eyed, captivated by the Gem before them. Even cloaked in the light of Blue’s hologram, White Pearl was just as radiant she’d been in life. Blue remained on her forearms, too hurt by the blow to rise further.
“I know what everyone says about her, but I don't believe any of it. They haven't seen White Diamond like I have, and I know she's not a bad Gem. She's done terrible things, but it was so we could have a future. She works tirelessly for the betterment and protection of our race, and no one else gets to see that. I just wish...I wish everyone else could see her the way I do."
"You love her," Blue croaked. White Diamond dropped Yellow Pearl, who hit the ground noiselessly. She scrambled into a sitting position, but couldn’t look away. White dropped to her knees before the specter and hunched over it, entranced. She cupped her hands around it, protecting or hiding it from the outside world.
"White Diamond is the closest thing in this reality to a goddess. Everything I've done has been to further her vision. She just needs to have more faith in herself."
White Diamond tenderly, gently, cupped the illusion in her hands. It evaporated in a glimmer of light, leaving White Diamond with nothing. She blinked a few times and slowly returned to reality. She turned back to Yellow, cowering and sobbing on the floor, then considered Blue. For the second time in her life, Blue stared White Diamond face to face. All the ferocity had drained, leaving a sober exhaustion and a clarity unnerving in its foreignness.
"You want to punish me, don't you?" White Diamond stated. “You must think I’m a monster.”
Of course she did. In her darkest moments after White Pearl’s death, Blue held Yellow’s admission close, nursing it in secret. She’d imagined futures where White had been cracked in the assassination attack instead of her Diamond. She imagined rogue Gems coming back to finish the job and only catching White. These fantasies scared her, but she’d indulged anyway, because she hurt and wanted a means to lash back. White’s mental descent over the war’s course left Pearl terrified, frustrated, and struggling for answers.
‘Why is she like that?’ Blue once asked White Pearl in a moment of anger.
‘You mean defective,’ White Pearl clarified. She knew her Diamond’s faults and still managed to find something worth admiring. If she could see her Diamond now, sprawled on the floor, disheveled and dim, she’d weep. Blue swallowed dryly.
“I just want you to leave us alone,” she told White. The elder Diamond turned back to her cupped hands.
“Just as well. It wouldn't bring her back. She was part of me, and I can’t use my powers on myself. I should’ve known this was a waste all along. Whatever’s broken in my life can’t be fixed. I could kill you both right now and it wouldn't make them love me again.”
She cracked open her palms a hair and peered inside, as if searching for a lingering mote of light. If she’d trapped one, Blue couldn't see it.
“She was the only one who did.”
She gave Blue Pearl one last appraising look before pushing herself upright.
“Tell your Diamonds whatever you wish; their opinion can’t go lower. If you tell the truth, you can assure them it won’t happen again. They won’t believe it, but I’ve learned a lesson.”
Blue Pearl only stared back from her spot on the floor. White Diamond left without a backward glance at either of them. Blue painstakingly crawled over to Yellow, still crumpled and sobbing quietly on the ground. She gingerly touched her shoulder and Yellow wrapped Blue in a crushing embrace. The shock finally hit and Blue held Yellow close, silent tears escaping in thin trickles down Yellow’s back. The pain wracking her body subsided to a throbbing ache, assuring Pearl she wouldn't dissipate.
“Do you really think it’s over?” Yellow whispered in stuttering breaths.
“I do.”