Lapis squinted her eyes and tried to focus. It had been 7 months. She'd only been able to keep Jasper imprisoned at the bottom of the ocean for 7 months. She frowned, sighing. Jasper had retreated into her gem after finally overcoming Lapis and unfusing with her, and Lapis had searched for her but couldn't find the yellow-orange gem. That might have been for the best. she thought, grimacing. I'm not even sure what I would've done with it. She closed her eyes tightly. The pressure from being underneath so much water might keep Jasper in her gem for a little bit, but Lapis had no way of predicting how long it would subdue her.
The water gem opened her eyes, and took a few steps away from the ocean. She hadn't been aware of where she was, but looking around, she was right in front of the temple, and she did not want to run into the Crystal Gems. She didn't know what they thought of her, and didn't want to run to them, only to run into a fight she might not be able to win.
She clenched her fist. I have nowhere to go, she realized. But anywhere away from here and away from Homeworld is fine..
She spread open her watery wings and started flying away. She just flew forward, not knowing where else to go.
4 days later..
She'd been flying for a short time, but she was getting tired, and was starting to drop altitude. She landed on the water, standing and licking her dry, slightly cracked lips.
"Take what you need and go, she told me," she heard a voice say distantly. "They won't give you any trouble, she told me!"
Lapis frowned and looked upwards, shielding her eyes from the bright, unforgiving sun. Green metal glinted, reflecting the sun, and something light green and yellow seemed to be dangling from a tiny helicopter propeller. Oh my stars, that's Peridot! Lapis thought, widening her eyes.
For a brief second, the blue gem thought about calling to her, but realized that she had no idea where Peridot's loyalty at the moment. Was she still loyal to Homeworld? Was she looking for Lapis? The blue gem didn't have to make a decision anymore as the technician turned around, just noticing Lapis.
"Hey!" she called, rapidly descending towards Lapis Lazuli.
Lapis's eyes widened as she considered flying away. She spread her wings. "Don't attack me!" she yelled in response.
"Attack you?" Peridot inquired, raising an eyebrow. By now, she was close enough to Lapis to speak at a comfortable distance. "Why would I atta-" she suddenly seemed to be analyzing the water gem. "Have you teamed up with the Crystal Gems?"
"No," Lapis said, taking a few steps backwards, her feet planted solidly on the deep blue water. "Stay back." Her hand was outstretched, prepared to use the vast amount of water surrounding her to attack the green gem if necessary.
"My whole life is overrun with idiots," Peridot muttered, facepalming. "Listen, Lazuli. I have no intention of harming you. You are my informant, so I thought if I found you or Jasper, I would be able to see if you were any closer to finding a way to return to Homeworld so we can come back with reinforcement, especially so we can eliminate the Steven, as well as the Crystal Gems."
Lapis narrowed her eyes. "I have no disagreement with Steven or the Crystal Gems."
"If you are associated with Homeworld you automatically have a disagreement with Rose Quartz's new form and the Crystal Gems."
"Perhaps I am not associated with Homeworld."
"Hm," Peridot said thoughtfully. "I see. Who are you associated with, then?"
"Myself."
"That is... wise," was the careful answer. "It seems that you can only trust yourself these days."
Lapis did not respond, eyeing Peridot carefully. Was the green gem considering cutting her ties with Homeworld?
"Where are you going?" the blue gem asked, changing the subject.
"I don't know yet. I was looking for you and Jasper, and thought the three of us would figure something out from there. Where are you going?"
"Somewhere away from everyone," Lapis said truthfully. She didn't want to lie and get in trouble for it later. "I don't want to be close to Homeworld or the Crystal Gems."
Peridot narrowed her eyes. "You are indeed associated with only yourself."
Lapis made a quick movement with her hands, raising up some water, prepared to attack.
"Ugh! This dumb planet makes everyone so intolerable!" Peridot yelled in frustration. "I do not want to attack you!"
Lapis frowned, taking a small step back. The petite gem suddenly felt a surge of anger. "It's not like I want to be here either! All you care about is yourself! You want everything to come easily for you and complain when it doesn't instead of just doing something about it! That's why I don't want to return to Homeworld. All it has become is a lot of gems, sitting around, dependent on technology instead of their brains, or their strength, or their weapons! Tell me, Peridot, have you ever even summoned your weapon before? Do you know how hard it is to come back after thousands of years and recognize nothing about where you used to call home? Do you know how it feels," she said, taking a deep breath. "To come back and find out that the gem you are split off from, is dead?"
Peridot, who unfortunately took everything literally, responded to to all of the questions.
"Whether or not I have summoned my weapon before is none of your business, no, I do not know how it feels, and, I am not split off from any gem. Homeworld stopped allowing that 500 years ago because they felt it created too many emotions of friendship and love, and those feelings are a waste of time."
Lapis stared at Peridot with an unreadable gaze. "Unbelievable." she deadpanned, spreading her wings and preparing to fly away. As she lowered her arm, the water suspended in the air crashed back into the ocean with a loud splash, a lot of it getting on Peridot, who began flickering unstably, visible bolts of electricity shooting out from her body.
"gEt it OFf oF mE!"
Lapis paused, looking down with a stare of incomprehension and shock. "Um.." she said.
"I hATe wAteR! ThiS Is ExACtLY whY I-" she continued muttering to herself, her voice heavily distorted.
"Are you okay?" she asked, hesitantly.
"nO!"
"Do you need to retreat into your gem or something?"
"nO!"
"What's even happening right now?"
"YOu goT wATer oN mE!"
"No kidding." Lapis smirked, somehow finding this situation very amusing.
"uGH, I jUSt nEed tO geT THiS oFf oF mE," Peridot said flatly, noticing Lapis's smirk. "LaZULi, thIs ISn'T fUnNY."
Lapis burst into laughter. "Peridot, your voice!"
"CaN yOU jUSt nOt evEn lOok At mE riGhT nOw?" Peridot said in frustration.
"Fine," Lapis said, turning away, still laughing. The technician was still muttering to herself, and Lapis couldn't stop laughing at the distorted voice. She sensed movement behind her.
"What are you-" Lapis began, cutting herself off. The sight she saw was everything she had not expected. Peridot had taken her boots off, trying to dry the metal on the outside of them with the hand who's fingers were not currently operating as a propeller. Her legs were surprisingly skinny and had mechanical joints. Lapis could even see a few nails or bolts or something, and she was glad, because she sure as heck wouldn't have known what to think if the technician had legs and feet widened dramatically like her boots had implied.
"i HaTE mY LiFe." she groaned when she was aware that Lapis was looking at her.
"So.. are you a robot?" Lapis asked.
Peridot's body warped again, and she lost her concentration, falling into the water, and Lapis could faintly hear an 'aaAAaaAaAArRrrrRRrgHHhHHh' from underneath the blue surface.