Pink Diamond Incarnate

I Know, I've been MIA for a while, but I'm back now, and I should be putting stuff out more often. Anyways, this was inspired by the events of the Jungle Moon.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my OC's.

Summary: Connie was always different from other people, but Who would guess that she was the Reincarnation of Pink Diamond!?

Connie Maheswaran had been deeply troubled by the dream she and Steven had while they were stranded on that moon. Steven was familiar with them, but even he had to admit that they had never been so personal before... So here they were, sitting in front of Garnet as they told the fusion of their dream. It was at the end of their tale that Garnet stood and said, "I don't know what to make of it."

"It's ok," Connie sighed, "I guess it was a bit much to expect you to understand-"

"I wasn't finished," Garnet interrupted, "I said that I don't know what to make of it, but I believe I know someone who could understand the meaning of your dream."

Steven was immediately excited, "Really!?"

"Of course Steven," Garnet said with an amused chuckle, "He maintains a permanent residents in Beach City, so we can go see him now."

"Wait," the Hybrid said before asking, "Him?"

"The individual in question is human," stated Garnet, "Though I'm not entirely sure if there's much left of his humanity at this point."

"How come," asked Connie.

Garnet paused briefly before saying, "That is his story to tell."

XxX

They immediately left Garnet's room, where they saw Pearl, Amethyst, and Peridot walking in with some groceries. "Hurry up and get those put away," The leader of the Crystal Gems ordered, "We're going to see the Scholar."

"Whaaaa," Pearl said in surprise, "but we haven't seen him since Rose found out she was pregnant! I mean honestly, what are the odds that he's still alive?!"

"Really Pearl," Amethyst said with disappointment, "you know as well as I do that he isn't dead." A devilish grin appeared on the Quartz's face, "Unless you offed him yourself."

"Ugh," Pearl groaned, "you know I haven't killed him." She then mumbled under her breath, "and it's not for the lack of trying."

Connie heard what pearl said, and either nobody else did, or they simply didn't care.

XxxX

BEACH CITY ANTIQUES AND ODDITIES

That's what the sign of the small building read. Connie had walked by this building multiple times before, but it had never truly caught her eye before... now that she looked at it... there was something foreboding about this place... somehow, she just knows that stepping past the threshold of its doors Will change her life forever.

'This is it,' she told herself, 'whatever waits beyond this door holds all the answers I seek... no going back after this.'

"Hello," a woman said with a touch of enthusiasm as they entered the store, "Welcome Beach City Antiques and Oddities, I am Vanille, how may I assist-" They were shocked to see that woman was a Pearl with a rather pink complexion. "I must say I'm surprised to see you here," she said calmly, "what's it been, 14 years since your last friendly visit?"

"Give or take a few months," was Garnet's reply, "Is Jerid here?"

"He's here," Vanille answered, "but he's a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Pearl suddenly snapped, "Oh that is it! I HAVE HAD IT WITH HIS FLIPPANT ATTITUDE!" She charged right into his study yelling, "NOW YOU LISTEN AND YOU LISTEN GOO-" She paused to see him sitting in his chair having a conversation with Blue Diamond of all people. Amethyst walked in and was immediately outraged, "WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO HER MAN?! SHE'S A SHATTERER!"

"He's communicating with the Diamonds," Peridot panicked, "Why is he communicating with the Diamonds!?" She then paused and said, "Better yet, how is he able to communicate with the Diamonds?"

"I KNEW IT," screeched Pearl, "I KNEW YOU COULDN'T BE TRUSTED!"

"SAYS THE BITCH WHO'S BEEN TRYING TO KILL HIM FOR THE PAST 14 YEARS," shouted Vanille.

"YOU'VE BEEN DOING WHAT," Garnet Snapped at Pearl.

Everyone's bickering quickly grated on the man's nerves until he stood up and shouted, "ENOUGH!" What caused those present to do as he said wasn't what he said... it was what happened when he said it: a wave of Pink light had surged from him, reminding Steven of when he was on trial... Blue had done something similar. He turned to face them, his eyes covered by a piece of cloth, his clothes similar in a sense to Blue Diamonds cloak, and his brown hair well groomed. "What, might I ask, was so important that you felt it required my immediate attention," he said in a harsh tone.

Garnet panicked and said, "ConniemightbePinkDiamondReincarnated!"

"Garnet, I want you to repeat that," Jerid said calmly, "and this time I want you to say it slowly enough for the rest of us to understand... can you do that?"

Garnet took a deep breath before saying, "I have reason to believe that Steven's Friend Connie is the Reincarnation of Pink Diamond."

"And since I have Pink Diamond's Energy coursing through my body, you want to see if I can find a similar energy in her," he surmised.

Garnet nodded and said, "Yes."

"What are they talking about," Blue asked.

Jerid turned to Blue and said, "I know the concept of Reincarnation is as foreign to you as Death, so I'll explain it... The idea is that after we die, shattered if you're a gem, you reincarnate, essentially starting over. The idea comes from Hinduism, a system of religious beliefs that has approximately 330 million gods... Hindu's are Strictly Vegetarians because of their belief in Reincarnation... You wouldn't want to eat your reincarnated grandma and grandpa... there are four stages to reincarnation based on one's social cast: outcast, middle-class, warrior, and nobility... the end goal is to become one with the 'World Spirit' as it is called... Pink was nobility, so she was at the end of the cycle... that being said, there are certain requirements to advancing to the next stage... your actions determine these this... if you were kind, compassionate to those less fortunate than yourself, and just all around good to people, then you get to advance."

"Then that should settle it," Blue said calmly, "Pink was the very best."

"It's not that simple," Jerid sighed, "the bad things we do also have a part to play in this... killing... waging war... cruelty... as kind as Pink was... she did these things as well... more so than you realize because of the longevity of your species... she would likely had to of start over because of it."

Blue wouldn't let it go, "But-"

"It is not our definition of good that determines these things, Blue." He turned to her and said calmly, "What is good and just to your kind can be seen as outright evil to others... ultimately, this is why it is the 'World Spirit' that decides what happens concerning reincarnation... because our view of things is incomplete. One might say it's... Flawed."

Blue fell silent as she contemplated this... it reminded her that there are a great many things she does not know. "I see your point," she said softly, "Please continue."

Jerid then turned to his guests and asked, "What makes you think this?"

They then proceed to explain all that had transpired during their visit with Lars, and at the end of it all... he hummed thoughtfully. "Has Steven tried to fuse with another human, or Connie with another Gem for that matter?"

"I see your point," Garnet admitted, "I suppose we should see if it is possi-"

"It's possible," Pearl interrupted, her voice tinged with emotion. "I... actually fused with a human... she... didn't exactly handle it that well."

The blind man hummed before saying, "The individual in question wouldn't by chance be that woman you met that happened to be the spitting image of Rose Quartz, would they?"

Pearl immediately glared at the man and said, "You would know something about it."

"But of course," he replied, "I make it my business to know these things."

"How do you do that, " Steven asked innocently.

"Well, a long and extremely complex explanation made short, I have a spy network," he replied, "people who I pay to keep tabs on things that I have deemed important enough for me to do so... amongst which is a Ruby with her gem in her left eye socket."

"You know eyeball," Steven said with a gasp.

"Every gem who served under Pink Diamond knows of me," he replied, "I was her chief advisor, after all."

"I always did wonder what drove her to do that," admitted Blue.

"Humans learn much quicker than Gems," the man replied, "Which is probably connected to the fact that our Life Span is far shorter than any gem's... most humans don't reach one hundred before their body can no longer sustain life, whereas I have yet to find a recorded instance where a Gem died of old age... Interestingly enough, Pink said that we were highly adaptive... she found it amazing how I could learn to do something in a few short months that took a gem made for that specific task decades to properly do themselves."

"Time is a luxury that humans don't have, "Garnet added, "With the exception of yourself, Jerid."

"And they're all shortsighted fools because of it," he snapped before more calmly, "I gave up on the human race a long time ago."

"Why," Steven asked, his naivety showing once again, "My mom didn't seem to mind."

"Rose saw humans from an 'outside-looking-in' perspective," Jerid grunted as he went to sit back down, "To her, our inability to learn from our mistakes was cute and entertaining...To me, it's infuriating."

looking back on it, Connie would never be able to explain why she did this, but it felt like the right thing to do in that moment. She simply went up and hugged him. "I'm sorry you feel that way," she said softly, "I guess humans really aren't meant to live this long."

It was a simple gesture, but to Jerid it was more... It took him back to the days when Pink still walked amongst the living. "She used to say the same thing," he said, his voice considerably softer than before. In that moment of physical contacr, he was able feel Pink's all too familiar energy inside this girl... it was buried deep, but he knew that he could draw it out of her. "I can feel her power," he said gently, "buried deep within your being... I can bring it out, but I must warn you... my methods can be exceptionally cruel at times... But I promise I'll do everything I can to avoid that particular approach."

"When do we start," Connie asked.

The Immortal smiled and said, "Tomorrow." He then reached out with his right hand and telekinetically brought his cane to his hand, "In the meantime, I have business to attend to."

"I'll be arriving on earth shortly," stated Blue, "It seems there is more going on here than I could have possibly imagined."

"Just be sure to reduce your size to that of the average human," Jerid told her, "It's best to avoid unwanted attention since the Governments of this world are known to insert themselves into things they have no business being involved in."

Blue raised an eyebrow as she said, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Something off screen caught the Diamond's attention, "Teal wishes to say something."

Blue Diamond's Pearl came into view as she said with a disturbingly sweet smile, "I look forward to seeing you again, Sempai."

Pearl's widened, and Jerid froze before the latter spoke. "Vanille, did you show Teal Japanese Anime?"

The Pink Pearl smiled as she said, "Mmmaayybe."

"Bloody Brilliant," was his only reply before he walked out.

Pearl, on the other hand, was not so thrilled... For her, this was one of her worst fears brought to life. "You're dead Vanille."

"Don't be like that," Vanille said playfully, "We're only having fun... Sempai."

"I swear," Pearl said with a twitch in her eye, "if Saffron starts calling me that, then I'm shattering all three of you."

Vanille burst out laughing at this. "Hahaha, they only way she'll call you sempai is if she doesn't know what it means!"

Pearl actually smiled at this, "Yeah, she's got some serious pride issues."

XxX

Jerid had checked with his informant whose job was to keep tabs on the woman, and they were currently at a local park. Despite being physically blinded, he can see the Aura produced by the Spirit Energy that all living things carry. It was upon finding her that he noticed that her Aura was similar to that of a Rose Quartz. "I don't suppose you mind if I sit next to you," he asked the woman politely.

She looked up and said, "Not at all, it is a public park after all." She then saw him tap his stick against the bench, and reach for with his free hand before carefully sitting himself down. "You're blind?"

"That depends on one's definition of the word blind," he replied, "I can't see what you actually look like, but the Aura produced by your Spirit Energy most unique... It is reminiscent of someone I once knew... I'm Jerid by the way."

She suddenly realized that she hadn't introduced herself, "Oh, I'm Sabina."

The man smirked and said, "I believe this similarity in your Spirit Energy to this old friend is why you were able to fuse with Pearl." Time had all but stopped as far as Sabina was concerned: this man knew far more than he let on. "Would you believe that I'm over 6,000 years old," he asked in a somewhat jovial tone. "6,000 years, and I haven't aged a day," he said as his tone began to darken, "and in that 6,000 years, I have seen the utter foolishness of the human race manifest itself more times than I care to count."

"Why are you telling me this," she asked.

"While I have given up on mankind, I have not forsaken them," he replied. "Pearl is a part of an Alien Species known as Gems," he began to explain, "Most of which could care less if this world dies... and one of those with authority intends to make that happen."

"You still haven't answered my question," she said with a well hidden sense of hostility.

Jerid noticed the hostility, but brushed it off. "I'm going to fight in order to protect this world," he replied, "The question I have for you is whether or not you would the same."

"What could I possibly do," Sabina asked, "I'm just, Human."

"You're more like me than you realize," Jerid told her as he made a condensed ball of Pink energy in his hand, "Come to the place where Pearl and the others live when you're ready... We'll be waiting." And with that, he left her to his thoughts.

XxxX

As Blue went to make preparations to depart to Earth, she stopped briefly to consider the Quartz Soldiers at the Human Zoo... they had once been Pink's, and it only seemed right to bring them... at the same time, it wasn't a decision to be made lightly, and the only person she could think of to go to for council on this matter was Jerid. She turned to look at a image of Pink that she kept in her personal quarters on board her ship and said, "I'm beginning to see why you made him your chief advisor, Pink." She then sat down and said, "Put me through to Jerid, Teal." Normally, she'd have referred to her as Pearl, but recently she discovered that Pearls have their own unique social structure and even their own names to allow them to differentiate between each other. It turns out that only one was actually referred to as Pearl, and that one had long since abandoned Homeworld... that being said, the circumstances were quite humorous.

Teal did a curtsy bow and said, "Right away my Diamond."

Once the connection was made, the screen displayed Vanille. "Hello Vanille," Blue said serenely, "Has Jerid returned?"

"He just got back," the Pink Pearl replied, "I take it you seek his council?"

"You must be quite accustomed to such an occurrence since you were Pink's," Blue said with a smile.

Vanille seemed distant as she said, "Truth be told, I'd almost forgotten."

Blue cursed herself for failing to realize that she wasn't the only one affected by Pink's death... Vanille and Jerid were actually there, but even now they've been tight lipped about the true identity of the culprit... only that Rose was framed by the culprit... this meant that her Zircon head been right... only a Diamond could have done this... and so far the only culprits were Yellow and White... and things seemed to be pointing to Yellow. "Remember that things are never what they seem when it comes to a political assassination," Jerid said as he walked in, "and no I didn't read your mind... your thought process is just extremely predictable."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Blue replied thoughtfully, "anyways, I was considering bringing the Quartz Soldiers from the Human Zoo to Earth since they were originally Pink's."

"Bring Holly… She is an unwilling accomplice to the escape of the Human you personally brought there," he stated, "as well as the Humans... I have a special task in mind for them... Oh, and don't forget the Rose Quartz... their healing abilities will be crucial in what is to come."

"Is there anyone else I should bring," Blue grumbled since she was clearly taking orders from this human... a Human who has a history of putting together plans that are near fool proof, but a human none the less.

"Get the Eyeball Ruby and her squad since they were once in the service of Pink Diamond," Jerid replied, "and grab the Aquamarine and the Topaz that brought Steven to Homeworld... I want to put that little brat in her proper place."

She had heard that Aquamarine was an insufferable little brat, but she couldn't possibly be bad enough to warrant Jerid's wrath, could she? "I assure you she is more than bad enough to warrant my wrath," he answered her unspoken question, "and once more, you're thought process is very predictable."

"Now you're just showing off," Blue scoffed.

Jerid smirked and said, "You came to me for advice, Blue... Doing so comes at a price... I decided that the price shall be reminding you of how insignificant you are in the end."

"Wouldn't that make you even less significant," Blue pointed out.

"No," he replied, much to her surprise. "I understand the miracle that is life, and consider all life sacred," the Blind man turned to the Diamond and said, "To say any one life is more valuable than another is one of the most egregious sins out there for it is a gateway to a multitude of other sins."

"Perhaps you should explain in greater detail," Blue said between gritted teeth.

"I was hoping you would ask me to do so," he replied as he went up to his bookshelf, "What happens to a Gem that is considered defective?"

"They're recycled," Blue replied calmly.

Jerid dragged his fingers across the bindings of his books as he asked, "And how do you determine what makes a gem defective?"

"If they turned out wrong and cannot serve their purpose, they are defective."

"Describe how a gem can turn out wrong," he said as he finally pulled one from the shelf.

"If they're off colored, deformed, or," she paused briefly before saying with a tone of realization, "Overcooked."

"What have you learned blue," he asked as he sat down and began running his fingers across the pages of the book.

"It was White who shattered Pink," she said more than asked, "Wasn't it."

Jerid sighed deeply before saying quietly, "Yes, but being flawed wasn't the only reason."

"Tell me what else is there," Blue begged as her own tears began to flow, "Please tell me what it is I'm missing!"

"Not yet," he replied, "Not until we meet face to face."

"I suppose that's acceptable," he third Diamond said as she wiped away her tears, "I'll be seeing you then."

And with that, Blue ended the transmission. Jerid telekinetically brought the Diamond Communications Device to his hand and held it briefly before saying, "Contact Yellow Diamond."

The device went through the process of connecting him to the second Diamond which resulted in Yellow's Pearl answering, "Who are you and what business do you have contacting Yellow Diamond."

"You're much too arrogant Saffron," he told the Pearl, "to presume you outrank me."

"I know that voice," Yellow said as she immediately took control of the call, "I must say that I didn't expect to hear from the Illustrious Advisor of the Late Pink Diamond ever again."

"It's good to hear your voice too," he replied coldly.

"Spare me your disgust," she replied, "Now what possible reason could you have for contacting me."

"The truth of what happened that day," he said calmly, "If you want to know, then you will come to earth, and you will be sure to make yourself the same size as Pink."

"And why would I make myself Pink's size," Yellow snapped.

"To avoid unwanted attention," the Blind man replied, "The local government's tend to poke their noses in other people's affairs... it's a miracle I've been able to keep them out of everything that's happened lately."

"Rose Quartz shattered Pink," she said coldly.

Cast the bait.

"That's not what I saw," he replied.

"You were there," Yellow asked with surprise.

Give it a twitch to make it more interesting.

"I rarely left her side."

"There were eye witness accounts," stated Yellow.

Set the hook.

"Did any of the witnesses actually see Rose Quartz shatter Pink Diamond," he asked.

Now that she thought about it, no one had actually seen Rose Quartz do it. "Tell me what you saw," she ordered

Reel them in.

"Come to earth and you'll find out," he replied before cutting the connection. He then smashed the Communications Device to insure she had no other way to get her answers.

XxxX

Yellow Diamond stood in her personal chambers in shock... That bastard just went all in, and the only to know if he's telling the truth is to call his bluff. "Chart a course for Earth," she said as calmly as she could, though one could tell she was flustered by what happened.

"But my Diamond, the cluster is set to emerge at any time," Saffron said in an attempt to dissuade Yellow from this course of action.

"The Cluster has undoubtedly been dealt with," Yellow stated as she sat back down, "He wouldn't have extended the invitation if it wasn't, Saffron."

Saffron mentally cursed the immortal human as she said, "At once my Diamond." She then went about carrying out Yellow Diamond's orders.

"Whatever it is you are hiding," she said with the practiced calm of a military commander, "I intend to find out... You will keep no secrets from me, Jerid Marr."

DONE!