Lapis had wondered what the world was like outside her cell, she watched the eerie glowing green lights that illuminated her life. She could barely see outside the glass that held her back.
Occasionally after some intense concentration Lapis would see movement, shapes moving about in the darkness, always watching, always listening. Lapis would try to remember where she was, how she got there. All she could remember was her name and if she tried to remember anymore a sharp sensation would pierce into her head.
With a blink she ended up watching something go into her mouth, with a silent scream she blinked once more. It would be over.

She was alone again…

—

Lapis opened her eyes and looked round the room idly. 'I am no longer in that tank, I will no longer get hurt.' That's what she told herself. But she would have to thank Peridot and Pearl for that, if they never found her she would still be rotting down in that basement. Lapis frowns and she holds the necklace that Pearl gave her, she doesn't know why she's thinking of the basement so suddenly. Perhaps reading that earlier document on Peridots computer had something to do with it.

"She stormed off?!" Lapis heard Peridot yelp at Amethyst, her voice clearly conveying her confusion. She turned to face the two standing by the front door, Amethyst's face was red and she was huffing constantly. It was like any moment that she'll charge at something.

"That's right! Agh! she's such an idiot!" She flung her hands into the air and then crossed them dramatically, "She's always been like this too! She just doesn't listen!"

Lapis frowned a little. That definitely wasn't the Pearl she knew, then again she only knew her for a few days. Briefly the image of a calm and composed Pearl sprung into her head, holding her protectively despite her being the one that needs protecting. The thought made Lapis blush. 'I can't be thinking about her, not right now… She's still mourning her dead loved one for goodness sake!' Lapis mentally slapped herself and listened to the ongoing conversation.

"Do you think we should go after her?" Peridot asked,

"I don't care, she can go ahead and keep doing whatever!" Amethyst replied,

"What…" Peridot stared at her, "What is that supposed to mean?!"

Lapis continued staring at them from the sidelines. She needed to stay and question Peridot more about what she is or about what she was meant to do, but if all Peridot was going to do is try and convince Amethyst to go after Pearl then she would rather leave it for later. Lapis glanced again at Amethyst, she was starting to get on her nerves.
She stood up and walked by them through the open door.

"Where are you going?" Amethyst asked her with a huff,

"I'm going to check on Pearl." Lapis replied bitterly and walked off.

The forest was very peaceful, scary, but peaceful. It managed to clear Lapis's head long enough for her to notice that Peridot followed her.

"Why are you?-"

"I think Amethyst needs some time to cool down," Peridot replied,

"No kidding," Lapis huffs.

"Oh! Umm... Can you wait a minute? I want to show you something," Peridot wrung her hands and gave an awkward smile. It was pitiful at how hard she was trying, 'What does she want?'. Lapis raised an eyebrow and followed her to a pile of dirt. Lapis recognised the area and that this was where she and Pearl met the strange technician. "I uh, wanted to bury this thing and forget about it... But I feel like you need it more..."

"What are you on about?" Lapis asked tilting her head slightly, she watched the shorter girl brush away the dirt frantically till a small wooden box was visible. She pulled it out and gave it to Lapis, she was sweating nervously and her lips were in a straight line. Her wide eyes watched Lapis open the box and inside Lapis found something she did not expect.

She pulled out an old tape of some sorts, 'DON'T TOUCH' was scribbled to the fading label. Lapis looked up to Peridot who was looking away with a red, flustered face.
"Why did you bury this?" she asked,

"Well..." Peridot hesitated, "It's my old notes... From when I was working on those disgusting experiments and when I first came here... To the surface..." She quickly cleared her throat and began walking along the trail again, "Just take it! My ignorance back then was... embarrassing... SO DON'T GIVE IT TO ANYONE!" She barked, "especially Pearl!"

Lapis smiled and quickly joined her again.

They walked side by side silently until they reached the familiar pathway of Beach City, Lapis noticed Peridot was nervously clenching her hands and would sometimes wriggle uncomfortably. She deduced that there was something Peridot wanted to ask but was to hesitant due to the earlier event.

"Are you okay Peridot?" Lapis asked her gently,

"I… W-well…" Peridot blushed a little, "I know Amethyst seems… Well… Troublesome… But she really is a good person."

"I know." Lapis grumbled and watched the sea draw nearer,

"You know?" Peridot frowned,

"I may not like her that much, but I know she only wants the best for Pearl and…" Lapis paused and looked back to Peridot, "What do you think of Pearl?"

"At first? Terrifying. I felt threatened to be even in close proximity to her." Peridot hummed, "But now I guess I show respect to her. As a regular person, she is very capable."

"I see…" Lapis smirked, 'There's nothing regular about Pearl.'

"What do you think of Pearl?"

"I think she's wonderful," Lapis said without hesitation but blushed soon after, "I mean, she's strong and very careful… About everything… But she's really sad." Lapis sighed softly, "I don't want her to be sad."

Lapis glanced at Peridots cocked eyebrow,

"Stop it," Lapis grinned, "Pearl does the exact same thing so it's unoriginal."

"I'm not copying! We're surprisingly similar!" and at that Lapis thought about Pearl; tall, elegant, graceful, a bit bird-like. Then she thought about Peridot; short, clumsy, a little cat-like, she is almost considered cute. Like a 'small slice of pie'. Lapis grinned in amusement.

When they finally reached Beach city, Lapis was greeted by the friendly face of Mr Fryman. He was carrying a heavy looking bag that Lapis could only guess was potatoes.

"Morning Mr Fryman," she greeted and stopped walking,

"Oh Morning Lapis!" He put down the bag and wiped his forehead, "hope it's a nice day today." He said and then noticed Peridot hiding behind her,

"That's Peridot," Lapis answered his question before he said anything, "We're going to see Pearl."

"Oh…" He sighed a little, "she's not in the best of moods… do you two know anything about it?"

Peridot looked up at her, distress written all over her face. Lapis herself wanted to know why Pearl was behaving a little strangely, but she would rather ask her herself instead of theorising.

"No, sorry," She stated bluntly,

"Well then, nice seeing you," He picked the bag up again and smiled, "I need to get these inside, I'll manage though, have a nice day!" He then waddled away with a bright red face, Lapis shook her head a little. 'When will that man learn not to take too much at once?'

Leaving the boardwalk she spotted the lonely house. It looked small and pleasant like it always had but she felt her anxiety build each step she took towards the entrance. Only a few knew of the horrors of this house and it's basement, it's a secret that she would keep forever if she could. 'Can I?' Now that was an interesting thought, but Peridot snapped her back into reality.

"So he was interesting…"

"He means well," Lapis replied and continued walking to the house, worry started to set in. She knew something bad will, or has, happened. It was unexplainable, a 'gut reaction' some might say.

"You never told him the truth." Peridot looked up at her, she never had an accusing tone as it was soft and curious,

"I didn't want to wait any longer."

"Wait? What do you-" Lapis noticed Peridot glance up at her with concern, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Lapis reached the front door and stopped for a moment.

She lifted her hand to chap the door and hesitated slightly, she couldn't hear anything coming from inside. 'Perhaps she isn't home.' Lapis bit her lip and jolted a little when she felt Peridot touch her arm.

"I'm fine…" Lapis shook her hand away and knocked on the door.

No answer.

"Is she in?" Peridot looked through the window but failed as the blinds were down.

"Pearl?!" Lapis called through the door, but when there was still no answer she turned the door handle and slowly opened the door.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Peridot whisper-screamed, "That's breaking and entering!"

"Oh? you of all people tell me that?" Lapis smirked and Peridot frowned with a blush, "Relax," Lapis walked inside as Peridot crept in after her, she looked prepared to jump through a window if she even thought about a siren or security guard. The taller girl grinned when she seen Peridot hide behind the counters instinctively. She should be cautious too however, Garnet set the rules and even if Pearl was considerate there are many others that wouldn't hesitate to throw her in another prison. 'I don't want to be trapped again.'

Lapis looked up the stairs, the curtains where open and she could see that there was no one in the bedroom. The kitchen was clean like always but yet again empty, the bathroom was unlocked and surprisingly it was empty. Lapis brought two fingers to the bridge of her nose.

"She's not here…"

"No… take a look at this…" Lapis followed Peridots voice and found her looking down into the basement, Lapis got shivers as she approached the opening.
Peridot looked up at her and gave Lapis a shred of fabric whilst slamming the basement closed. Her face was pale. Lapis examined the fabric, it was a nice teal colour and it felt familiar, it was speckled in red drops and from the metallic smell of iron, Lapis knew it was blood.

"It's… Pearl's." Her heart lurched and her hands shook ever so slightly. "It's from her shirt! -just… What could have happened?" She looked at Peridot a little accusingly, "Where did you find this?"

"It was stuck on that basement door." Peridot pointed to the hatch. Lapis looked at it and she went pale, 'I can't go there again! I just can't!' "Lapis? Lapis!" She turned to Peridot who was supportingly holding her arm,

"I- I must go after her…" Lapis felt like she would collapse at any moment, but worrying about Pearl made her even sicker, "call Amethyst, get her over here… Now."