~O~
Chapter Seven: Hall of Mirrors
Lapis and Peridot returned to the temple that morning. Lapis seemed reluctant to do so, but it took some assurance from Garnet that it would be fine. And another line of "Steven misses you" certainly seemed convincing enough.
Pearl could see them walking through the snow. Peridot had seemed fond enough to wear a green sweater and scarf. Lapis was wearing a wool hat over her head and blue scarf. They seemed to be chatting happily with one another.
So far so good.
She looked over at Jasper, who was languidly lying on the couch with her nose buried in the book she had been given. It made Pearl smile.
"Hold on..."
Pearl looked over, surprised. "What is it?" she asked, at Jasper's confused and irritable tone.
"Huh? Nothing." Jasper seemed suddenly very abashed now. She picked up the book and offered it to Pearl. "Just... Do you have more?"
Pearl beamed happily and clutched the book tightly to her chest. Finally! Someone who could appreciate literature! Even if it was Jasper. "I most certainly do!"
Jasper murmured thoughtfully. A rare smile touched her lips.
As Pearl wandered to her room, happily humming to herself, Jasper caught sight of Peridot and Lapis out by the beach. Her eyes widened slightly and she made her way outside.
The sight of Jasper approaching caused Peridot and Lapis to immediately freeze in their steps. Peridot couldn't believe the condition of the larger gem. So they had been right after all. Jasper was almost completely healed.
Except for that disgusting green mess on her arm.
Lapis' eyes widened in distress. Seeing Jasper walking toward her. Remembering all the terrible things she had done - and herself just made her act purely on impulse.
An enormous ocean fist slammed into Jasper's midsection, sending her flying into the water with a grunt and a cry. Peridot jumped in surprise.
Lapis' features were twisted with emotion. She raised one hand, clenched it into a fist and the watery limb slammed into Jasper's head, seconds as she tried to climb back out of the water.
The sound was heard by the other gems and Steven. They hurried outside and were startled to see Lapis in the middle of attempting to hold Jasper down in the water.
"Lapis, what are you doing?" Steven cried. "Stop!"
He tried to tug at her arm, but she was a lot like Garnet in that regard. Immobile. She was still as a statue, eyes wide and distant. There was a quiver in her lower lip, a wounded sound that escaped her, unbidden. She looked...afraid.
Jasper managed to surface only for a short time from the assault. She groaned and smiled weakly, disoriented from the powerful blow to her head. "I suppose I deserve it." she said, choking out streams of water. "After what I did."
Another vicious slam of the ocean fist.
"Lapis, that's enough!" Garnet shouted.
Peridot held her head in two hands and danced around frantically.
Lapis seemed caught in a trance as she watched Jasper struggle for several moments. She looked like a trapped animal, writhing desperately on a leash. Finally, she snapped out of her daze when Pearl rushed to the scene.
"Jasper!" she exclaimed.
Lapis released her control over the water, and it dumped onto Pearl and Jasper, completely soaking them in frigid cold. Pearl shivered a little before she took Jasper's arm and helped her stand. Jasper shook her damp locks a bit and jerked her arm from Pearl.
"I don't need your help!" she spat, suddenly back to her usual self.
Steven looked up at Lapis in confusion and hurt. "What did you do that for?" he asked.
"I-I don't-" Lapis struggled to answer, but she didn't know.
Jasper glared at Lapis through her soaked locks as Pearl walked her back to the house. Then, she smirked and looked at the others.
"I told you, didn't I? She's a monster." she hissed, spitting water from her lips.
Lapis wavered and her hands went to her face. Peridot reached out to comfort her. "Hey, don't listen to her, let's just - "
Lapis smacked her hands away and made a small sound. "No, she's right..."
Garnet murmured her discontent. But she had known this might happen when the two had come together after so long. Most of what she had seen led to this. That was how it was and how it would always be destined to end.
She had hoped she had been wrong.
She never was, of course.
O
Pearl dried Jasper's hair with a towel while the larger gem had taken a seat in front of the fireplace. Jasper was sitting with her hands in her lap, legs crossed and head low. She hadn't spoken a word since they returned to the temple. Pearl sighed, fussing over her mane of hair. She plucked a stray piece of algae that had some how gotten entangled in Jasper's hair.
"Honestly, why do we both having conversations if this sort of thing happens?" she mumbled, glancing upwards as if the incident had been more of a minor bother than anything else.
It really hadn't. Truthfully, Pearl had been worried about Jasper before Lapis. She didn't know what compelled her to rush to her aid like that. It had just been instinctive. A natural reaction to save another gem in danger.
But it had been Jasper.
What had urged her to really go and help her?
Meanwhile, Jasper drifted away. Into another darker memory.
The sound of glass shattering made Yellow Diamond's pearl jump with a gasp of fright.
Yellow had thrown a glass object at Jasper - probably a vase, but Jasper hadn't really noticed - hitting her in the face with it after she had foolishly spoken against her wishes of returning to Earth. The wounds of her sister's loss had been left raw. Open and stinging.
"YOU were at fault for her shattering! So now YOU will be the one to fix it!" Yellow bellowed loudly enough to rattle the windows of her halls. Her eyes were wide and frightening, nothing like the calm, military leader she was. "And you DARE question my orders?"
Jasper stared down at the hand she had used to cover her face. She was leaking bright orange fluid from the assault. She hadn't expected it. It was so sudden. Needless to say, Yellow too seemed abashed by her own outburst.
She stared down at her enclosed fist, her eyes slowly widening. Her own outburst had obviously shaken even herself. But she immediately cleared her throat, calming herself and speaking evenly. She ran a hand through her hair once, clearing her throat.
"You will go to Earth. There will be no further debate on the subject."
"Yes, Yellow Diamond..." Jasper said, head still lowered.
"Clean yourself up. And don't look at me like that. You're a soldier, not a dewy-eyed courtesan." Yellow Diamond scolded. "What did you expect? You always get what you've deserved. Look at you! I cannot believe they had once called you 'perfect'!"
Jasper lowered her eyes. Her voice found the strength in it that she needed.
"Forgive me, Yellow Diamond. I will never disobey you again."
"Good." Yellow waved her hand. She smiled, but it was not friendly. "I expect such from a loyal soldier. Now, off with you."
Jasper glanced up now at the pearl who dried her. A very unecessary task given she could will the dampness away with her gem, but she really had no argument to it. Her lips were pursed as she focused on an offending spot on Jasper's cheek.
"Lapis has every right to her feelings, but we agreed that this was for Steven. Honestly..." Pearl was muttering.
She pulled the towel away, catching Jasper's stare.
A blue flush touched Pearl's cheeks. She hadn't expected the glassy-eyed stare from the larger gem soldier. Jasper hadn't realized she had been staring either. It was entirely too intimate for either one of them. Pearl cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Well, I should go outside and restore order." she said. "Could you stay here, please?"
Jasper sighed. "I suppose."
Pearl smiled a little, but it was an odd one. It made Jasper furrow her brow as she watched the smaller gem depart. What was that all about?
She took a few moments, sitting there in boredom before she stood up and wandered to the window. The other gems were outside talking together. Lapis seemed to be arguing with them and stamping her foot. Jasper raised an eyebrow.
"...no, no, YOU decided! I never decided anything!" Lapis hissed, furiously.
"Lapis, we understand that what Jasper did was monstrous. But - " Garnet began.
"But NOTHING!" Lapis shouted, her voice high with rage and disbelief. "She isn't like us! Jasper's can't change and you know that by now! They're set in their ways and they won't ever forgive anything!"
Steven looked at her sadly. "Lapis, she's done so well..."
"And what's stopping her from doing what she did all over again?"
"Just give her a chance!"
"GIVE HER A CHANCE?" Lapis couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Look at her, Steven! She will NEVER BE ONE OF US!"
Those words carried multitudes of severity that felt worse than the biting cold outside. Steven looked shocked by her words. Then, he sensed Jasper watching from the window and looked up. His eyes widened and he watched as she lowered her head and disappeared.
Oh no.
Steven found Jasper lying near the fireplace once he walked into the house; she was watching the flames and said nothing. She didn't seem bothered by the words she had heard from Lapis. Just...more serene than Steven was used to seeing from her. Lion had chosen to take a spot behind Jasper, offering the slightest comfort.
"Jasper, I'm sorry you had to hear that." Steven said. "I know this is going to take some time."
A non-comittal grunt and shrug was his only answer.
"You didn't deserve that." Steven said, taking a spot beside her.
No response. Jasper constantly stared at the flames.
O
Steven was piling up another "Together Breakfast" that following morning. Garnet and Amethyst watched as he did. Amethyst had already seen him do it, so it wasn't really a surprise.
Outside, Pearl was trying to clean out the rooftops of excess snow. She grunted, struggling to reach with a broom. Jasper was nearby and saw her condition.
Pearl gave a yelp as she felt herself bodily lifted high enough for her to reach. She looked down in surprise and flushed blue when she saw Jasper holding her up.
"What?" Jasper said, shrugging. "You're too small."
Pearl clutched the broom hard enough that it nearly snapped. She clenched her teeth, staring up to the heavens with a grimace.
"I am NOT TOO SMALL!" she snapped.
Just then, Garnet approached them. "Jasper. Pearl." she said.
Jasper was so startled, she dropped Pearl and the smaller gem yelped as she fell in a shoveled pile of snow. It left only her long, stalk legs and arms sticking out. She uttered a groan of embarrassment and stuck her head out, still covered in snow.
"Jasper!" she growled.
Jasper actually chuckled a little at her condition.
Garnet did not share in their amusement. "I've located a corrupted gem. It's dwelling in the mountains and rumor from the human population nearby is that it terrorizes travelers."
Pearl managed to her feet. She looked down and noticed the broom had been snapped in half. Giving a sound of annoyance, she discarded the remnants aside.
"Alright. Let's go." Pearl replied.
"I'll go too." Jasper said.
Garnet nodded and walked into the temple with the other two following her. Well, Jasper's strength would serve as a benefit. From her understanding, the gem they were going to face was a powerful one. Though somehow shadowed in a sense in the back of her mind. Sometimes, that was how she saw it. There were few corrupted gems who were powerful enough to stay hidden from her.
Pearl smiled a little. "Well, Jasper has helped before. Maybe she could be useful in another mission."
Garnet was silent for a moment, contemplating this. "Very well." she finally replied. "We could all use a little extra muscle."
She produced her gauntlet on her left hand and punched Jasper's shoulder. It was almost a playful gesture from her, one that warranted a grunt from the larger gem. Jasper looked almost offended, but she caught the smile on Garnet's lips and rolled her eyes.
These Rebels were so strange.
"Steven!" Garnet called. "Mission time."
Steven smiled brightly and jumped up. "Great! Is Jasper coming?"
"Yes, she is."
Jasper met Lapis' stare and the gem held her ground, glaring back at her. "Then I'm going too."
Garnet and Pearl looked at each other. This would certainly prove to be a problem if Jasper and Lapis decided to fight one another. Jasper would no doubt want a little payback after what had happened at the beach.
"I don't know, Lapis. You should stay with Peridot."
"No. I'm going with you." Lapis said, giving Jasper another look. "In case she tries anything."
Jasper gave a bark of amusement. "Really? Shouldn't they be watching for YOU then?"
"Alright, enough." Garnet ordered, standing between them. She looked toward Amethyst and Peridot. "Peridot, hold down the fort until we get back."
Peridot gave her a salute. "Right. I can handle things from here!"
"Don't microwave anything that isn't food." Garnet warned.
Peridot groaned with boredom and hung her shoulders in a rather dramatic display. "Fine." She snorted now, walking away. "I microwave ONE circular music disk and she never lets me hear the end of it..."
Garnet looked at the others. "Alright. Let's go."
They stepped onto the warp pad and Jasper glanced down at it with interest. "So this is where the magic happens..." she remarked.
And with the sound of the warp activating, they were gone.
O
The warp pad sent them deep into a dead forest.
Pearl looked around with surprise. She ran her fingers over a dry, bone-white branch that crumbled at her touch. This reminded her of the Injectors in the Kindergartens. How they would drain the life out of the earth around them. This was typically a common result.
But something about this felt...different.
"We're close." Garnet told them. "Let's keep moving."
Jasper snorted wryly. "How does she know?"
Steven walked alongside her. "Garnet has Future Vision." he explained.
"Future...Vision?" Jasper doubted that very much.
Amethyst laughed and nodded. "Yeah, she pretty much knows everything."
Then again, she knew that the fusion was made up of a Sapphire. She knew that the gems of Blue Diamond's court did indeed have such abilities, albeit flawed as they were. She frowned curiously, but didn't think about it any further.
They spotted peculiar architecture not too far from them and once they reached it, it was clearly of gem origin. The murals bore intricate designs of First Era Gem history. The columns were eroded from time and lack of care. Vines had ensnared most of the structure as well as several statues of a gem.
Pearl pulled some vines away and her eyes widened.
"White Diamond..." she whispered.
The words caught up with the others, who turned to her. They saw the likeness of White Diamond in the statues. Steven hadn't heard anything of the other Diamond mentioned from anyone. This was the first time he'd even heard her by name.
"Wait, White Diamond?" he queried, looking at each face expectantly.
The rest of them seemed uncomfortable and unwilling to speak about her. It took a moment before Pearl focused her attention to the building nearby.
"I wasn't aware that she had temples here." Pearl said, concern in her voice.
Jasper scoffed, shaking her head. "Don't you Rebels know anything?" she said, in a bit of a sneer. "White Diamond placed research halls everywhere on this miserable planet. She likes to study things. Obviously."
"But this was Pink Diamond's colony. Why would she have allowed it?" Pearl was curious.
"We don't QUESTION the Diamond Authority." Jasper reminded them, her gaze darkening. "They do things and we follow along. THAT is the whole point."
She looked up at a set of double doors, depicting a mural of gems holding mirrors.
"This is probably a training facility, from the looks of it." she continued. "If we go inside, I won't be surprised if we find traps. White Diamond used them a lot in the pre-war days."
Garnet produced her gauntlets in a flash. "Alright, we'll head inside and deal with whatever comes our way." she said. "Stay close together and let's find the corrupted gem."
The group approached the doors and Jasper pried them open with two hands and a grunt of effort. The doors groaned open, spewing a stream of dust and stale air. Steven coughed a little, waving a hand in his face when a cloud of dust shot right at him.
"I got a bad feeling about this." he said, troubled.
Pearl produced her spear from her gem. "Well, we're not stopping the corrupted gem standing out here." she told them. "Let's go."
They made their way inside, gems glowing to accomodate them for the lack of light. The doors roared shut and a mural behind them depicted a very unsettling image of gems kneeling before rows of mirrors, seemingly in the thrall of pain. Replicas of them had emerged from the mirrors, vicious and frightening.
In the shadows of the structure, a single white eye opened.
O
Lapis was focused intently on Jasper, watching her every move.
But Jasper seemed less interested in anything other than the great span of a hallway they were walking through. It made no sense to her that she was here now, being treated like one of them. None of this made any sense.
She noticed too that Pearl was talking to Jasper more, and they seemed to be discussing things regarding gem life on Homeworld. Jasper answered some of her questions, though with much complaint and grimaces on her face.
"I don't like how quiet it is..." Jasper growled, so suddenly.
"I know." Pearl agreed. "Shouldn't we have run into something by now?"
Amethyst scoffed and thrust her arms into the air. "Why are the both of you so eager to get our butts handed to us?"
Garnet sighed. "We'll be just fine so long as we don't split up."
And as if right on cue, large spiked metal plates shot up from below them; blocking both their way out, demolishing several walls around and nearly catching Pearl's backside. And even worse, the walls had separated them completely.
Lapis and Pearl were trapped together, Garnet was alone and Amethyst, Steven and Jasper were together in separate fractions of wall. Jasper attempted to punch through the walls, but the metal seemed to hold strong. She cursed with frustration.
"Well, this is going to be a problem." Garnet said.
Jasper piped up from the other side of the wall. "I'm sorry, what was that?" she growled, "Did you say 'We'll be just fine if we don't split up'?"
Pearl sighed, staring upwards. "Okay, this is what we should have been seeing." she told them all. "Someone was expecting us. This isn't an ordinary corrupted gem. If any one sees anything, you know what to do."
A few affirmatives from the others. Lapis frowned at her. "Are you sure this is going to work?"
"No." Pearl told her. "But we need to stay - "
"If you say 'stay together' I swear by every star in the universe..." Jasper began, furious.
Amethyst seemed concerned. She glanced at Steven, attempting to offer comfort with a smile. Then, she called out to the others.
"Alright, we got it!"
"Good. Amethyst, keep Steven safe." Garnet called to her.
Steven didn't seem so certain about this. He felt an odd chill in the air and it wasn't from the cold outside or the dry, frozen air in this gem structure. It was something else. Something that felt off that made him on edge. Jasper must have sensed it too because she was unusually guarded. Her eyes were narrow, the glow of her gem casting unsettling shadows over her face.
"Alright, let's move." Garnet ordered.
And with that, they departed.
Somewhere in the darkness of the gem temple, a shadow darted within several rows of ancient mirrors. A pair of white eyes opened. A show of silver, dangerous teeth.
A grin.
O
"Okay, I spy with my little eye..."
Amethyst had been playing a game of "I Spy" while she walked alongside Jasper. The larger Quartz was growing increasingly annoyed by the game with each passing second.
"Wall and rock." she hissed.
Amethyst smiled. "You got it again!"
Jasper rolled her eyes. "Just keep quiet!" she ordered. "How have any of you managed to survive this long when you spend time playing stupid games?"
Steven smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes it helps to make people feel...less afraid about what's going on around them."
"Fear drives you in battle. It keeps you fighting. Why would you NOT want to feel fear?" Jasper found the logic pointless.
Steven didn't have an answer.
Jasper stopped now, coming in front of a massive plate of tarnished grey steel. She scowled impatiently and cracked her fingers.
"Alright. Let's break this wall down!" she said.
Amethyst grinned, thrusting her fists into the air. "Oh, yeah!"
Both of them transformed into spinning orbs of light and charged directly into the wall. Steven winced at the terrible sound that followed. The striking of metal on metal that actually sounded more like it hurt than anything else. He was proven right when Jasper and Amethyst returned to their normal shapes, holding their heads in both hands, groaning loudly.
"OW!" Amethyst yelled, grimacing. "That...really hurt!" She glared at the offending wall and even gave it a kick. "What is that stupid wall made of?"
Jasper winced, rubbing her forehead. "I don't know!"
Steven made a face. "Well, we're not going through that way, I guess."
"Maybe we should head back and try another way?" Amethyst suggested.
Jasper growled and looked around. Someone was here. Someone was toying with them and it made her angry. She punched the wall several times with her fists.
"STUPID. STUPID." she snarled. "I'm not going to fall for - "
Beneath her, a trapdoor opened and she was sent plunging into the darkness below with a shout. Amethyst and Steven quickly rushed toward the opening in the floor.
"Jasper!" they cried.
They found Jasper below, unharmed but up to her waist in slurry. She grimaced and shook some from her arms before scowling.
"Whoa, it smells really bad!" Amethyst said, cringing and holding her nose with one hand.
Steven did the same, recoiling.
"It smells horrible. This is horrible!" Jasper growled.
"Wait!" Steven said, peering into the hole. "You can smell?"
"I can... What does that have to do with anything?" Jasper bellowed, indignant to the question. "I am in a hole filled with recycled sludge and you..."
Steven raised two hands. "Okay, okay!" he said, "Just stay calm. We'll get you out."
Amethyst produced her whip and tossed it down at Jasper. The larger gem jumped and swiped to reach it, but it was just barely within reach of her fingers. She cursed furiously and Amethyst smiled.
"Wait! I have an idea!" she said.
She produced a second whip, tied the end to the first and lowered them down to Jasper. The gem smiled with satisfaction and grabbed the whip. Steven and Amethyst took turns trying to pull her up, groaning with effort.
But where the two whips had been wrapped together unraveled and Jasper was sent falling back into the slush with a yell and a loud splash. Steven and Amethyst winced at the sound before looking back down at her.
"Hold on, sis!" Amethyst called down. "Maybe I can stretch down to you!"
"Oh, don't bother, runt!" Jasper spat, out a stream of slurry with a few coughs and angry grunts. "I'll find my way out myself!"
Steven sighed, shaking his head. "What can you see down there?"
Jasper stood up and the two watched as she looked around. She made a thoughtful sound and shrugged her shoulders.
"This looks like a draining tunnel of some kind," she replied, evenly now. "It should lead somewhere. I'll keep walking until I find something."
"Okay, just be careful!" Steven called down to her.
"Yeah. Right..."
Steven made a worried sound. Jasper going on alone without them bothered him a bit. Not because she couldn't handle herself. She was a gem warrior with thousands of years of training under her belt. But he was worried about what this place could hold. What it could do to affect all of them if Garnet had suggested they stay close.
"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Steven asked, looking at Amethyst.
The other gem sighed. "I don't know. But we should keep moving."
Steven nodded.
O
Pearl and Lapis wandered through a dark corridor, passing rows upon rows of mirrors. Their reflections danced wildly around them. It made Lapis remember the days of how she had been trapped in the hand mirror. How she had been forced into servitude...
No, that was the past. She was free now. There was no reason to dwell.
"Pearl, why are you helping Jasper?" she suddenly asked.
Pearl sighed impatiently, her eyes wandering around the corridor for signs of danger. "Lapis, should we really be doing this right now?"
"I just need to know." Lapis argued. "After all that she's done, why are we trying to save her?"
Pearl stopped walking and Lapis nearly collided with her.
"Lapis..." Pearl began, quietly now. "I know how you must be feeling. And I know this is hard for you. But you have to understand something. This is Steven's wish. He wants to help fix what Rose had done. And he believes this may help Jasper in the same way it helped you and Peridot. So regardless of how we may feel, we need to be supportive."
Lapis had no argument there.
The mirror beside her reflected her image, but it turned and watched her go in a way that should not have been possible.
"Lapis..."
The gem froze, turned and looked over her shoulder. "What was that?" she asked.
Pearl turned as well, looking around the room they were standing in. All she saw were her reflections off of the mirrors. Nothing else.
"I don't know." she said. "Stay ready."
Suddenly, a wall shot up between them, separating the two gems. It was a thick, metal plate with a mirror on two ends. Lapis gave a cry of surprise and Pearl barely shouted her name before she faced the reflection of herself with concern.
"Lapis, I think I know where we are now!" she cried.
"What?" Lapis shouted back. "Where are we? Pearl!"
Her reflection in the mirror rippled, like someone sticking their finger into a pool of water. Lapis watched the sight with confusion and unease before backing away. The reflection took on her image, but something was wrong. The eyes looked...darker. More malevolent.
"I have seen your heart, Lapis Lazuli. Because it is mine." The reflection spoke, whispering the words with a near seductive, feminine drawl. It was in her voice, but carried with it a secondary pitch, like the hissing of snakes.
"W-What is this?" Lapis cried, frightened.
She backed away, into another mirror and the same reflection stared back.
"You enjoyed it, didn't you?" the Mirror Lapis said, "You won't dare admit it, lest you seem the monster. But you loved how powerful it made you feel."
Lapis' hands shot up to her ears. "Stop it! Shut up!"
Pearl frantically tried to reach her by shooting beams of light into the mirror in front of her. But to her shock and horror, the cracks that formed from her blasts closed up and sealed, returning to the pristine mirror's form.
A single white eye stared back at her.
Pearl gave a shout and jumped back, just in time to see her reflection appear in the mirror, the same as Lapis'. She shook her head slowly, mumbling.
"No, no, don't..."
The Mirror Pearl simply smiled.
"I'm so cold, so alone without her. I want to be shattered, but I'm so afraid..."
"You're not real!" Pearl shouted, firing another shot at the mirror.
It shattered it into splinters, but it simply pulled itself back together once more.
"I was where I should have been. Every day, I was doing what I was made to do. Until SHE made me doubt myself..."
"SHUT UP!" Pearl shrieked.
Lapis was circled by many Mirror Lapis', and they all stared cruelly at her, judgement in their eyes.
"Why did you join them? Did you think they would forgive you for what you did?" a Mirror Lapis sneered. "Hide away and it all disappears?"
Lapis was starting to cry. "No! Please stop!"
"You can hide the truth from them, but not from me." a Mirror Lapis chuckled. "I know you greatest dreams...and your fears."
A cruel laugh in multitudes reverberated through the air.
Below, Jasper had wandered through a tunnel system filled with rows of mirrors. The reflections she cast on them didn't vanish as she passed. They watched her go, eyes narrowing menacingly.
The sound of Pearl and Lapis' cries reached Garnet, who frantically tried to make her way toward them. But a mirror shot up from the ground, stopping her. She paused, her eyes widening as a reflection of Sapphire appeared in it.
"Why did you choose her if you knew who she was?" the Mirror Sapphire asked, her voice blunt and cold in comparison to who she truly was. "A simple ruby. Nothing special. You could have had anyone else. Anyone better."
Garnet's gauntlet fist drove through the mirror, shattering it to pieces. She scowled furiously, panting in an effort to calm herself.
"It's a lie, remember that. I love you and I always will." Sapphire spoke more through the fusion than Ruby, sensing the stress in their union.
"I know. I know." Ruby spoke now, panting with effort.
The mirror regenerated itself as it had with Pearl. The reflection showed only a brief shadow with white eyes and silver teeth. It darted away with a furious screech.
"This isn't an ordinary corruption." Garnet murmured to herself.
Elsewhere, Jasper was punching the stone wall several times. She gave a final shout and drove her fist through it, destroying the wall and sending her stumbling into another room. A gush of slurry poured out with her. She took a few moments to clear her throat and look around.
This room resembled a training hall. The ceiling was high, there were tables pushed in corners and weapons that lined the walls.
What was more peculiar to her were the rows of mirrors on the ceiling, the walls and even the floors. One looked like it had been smashed by a fist. Jasper picked one up and frowned at a long crack that had been made down the middle. She stared into it for a few moments before a white, wide eye stared back.
Jasper gave a yell and tossed the mirror to the floor.
"Jasper!"
The gem looked up when she saw Steven and Amethyst rush into the room.
"Are you okay?" Steven asked.
"I'm fine." Jasper growled, annoyed by their constant concern. She looked around the room at the various mirrors. "But we have company."
All around them, every mirror reflected a single white, angry eye. Amethyst and Steven stared back in horror and watched as the mirrors reflected like water. Finally, images of themselves were revealed. Colder, darker images.
Mirror Amethyst chuckled with a sneer. "Jasper isn't the only one with a dark side, it seems."
Amethyst recoiled with a frightened sound.
Steven looked at his mirror self. This one looked...sad. Broken and lonely. The eyes of Mirror Steven were sunken, weak and sickly.
"They're all gone..." he mumbled. "And it's all my fault..."
Jasper looked at herself in the mirror and the reflection chuckled. "You know who I am, don't you? Who am I, Jasper?"
Jasper snarled. "A pitiful, cheap trick!"
"I know your heart, Jasper. I see it." Mirror Jasper said, her voice unnaturally soft. "Who would love a gem like you? When they see what lurks beneath your heart? Least loved by all for what you truly are."
Jasper drove her fist through the mirror with a shout of rage. "Shut up!"
The glass shards fell, but rebuilt themselves as they had before. The Mirror Jasper chuckled, amused by her efforts before it took the form of Pink Diamond.
Jasper withered at the sight.
Steven struggled to smash the mirror before he looked over and saw the illusion. His eyes widened in horror and he noticed that Jasper was frozen still.
"Jasper!" he cried. "Don't listen to it!"
The Mirror Pink Diamond's face was wrong. Everything about it was wrong. She curled her lips with a sneer, her eyes darkening.
"I was better without you, you know." she said. "Happier."
Jasper shook her head slowly, eyes filled with pain.
Amethyst struggled to hold back an emerging shadow from her mirror. It looked...decayed and lifeless. Screeching hatefully. She wrapped her whip around it and tightened the hold, shattering it into gray dust. More emerged, glaring at her with loathing.
Everything in the room disappeared but Pink Diamond. The false, blasphemous image of her. Jasper was frozen, unable to move as it sauntered toward her.
"Who would want you, Jasper? What are you compared to other gems? Nothing but a broken, flawed, woeful wretch. How could anyone love you?"
Jasper snarled, shutting her ears with two hands. "She wouldn't say that...!" she spat. "She wouldn't say that!"
Steven noticed Jasper's condition. He shattered another mirror with his shield and made an attempt to reach her. "Jasper!" he cried. "Jasper, it's lying!"
Mirror Pink Diamond smiled cruelly. "Who would take you? Who would fuse with you? You. Are. Nothing."
Jasper snarled, clutching her head. "SHUT UP."
Meanwhile, Lapis was frozen in front of her mirror, watching Mirror Lapis.
"You can pretend all you'd like, but it really rattles you, doesn't it?" Mirror Lapis said, smiling. "Pretend to be the sweet, innocent Lapis; but you cannot lie to me. You enjoyed hurting her, didn't you?"
Lapis held her head. "N-No, I didn't!"
"You can lie to them, but you can't LIE TO ME. The position of power at last. What you've always wanted. After all, you've been a slave for a long time. What better way to practice than having her at your feet. Chained. Beaten like a dog."
"I don't... I didn't like that!" Lapis began to cry through her fingers.
"You can't lie to me, Lapis. I see your darkness as I always have."
A blast from Pearl's spear shattered the mirror. Lapis snapped out of her daze as Pearl reached down to pick her up by her arm.
"Lapis, we need to go, now!" she shouted. "We have to find the others!"
"Pearl...I'm so sorry..." Lapis mumbled, disoriented by her own grief. "Please... I'm sorry."
"No time for that now!" Pearl told her. "You can be miserable back at the temple! Let's go!"
Lapis nodded her head.
The two gems hurried down the corridors, listening to the Mirror Versions of themselves constantly talking, mocking them.
"Run, Lost Pearl. Where will you go?" Mirror Pearl said.
Mirror Lapis sneered with amusement. "Will you go back to her? So you can pull her apart again? That is what you enjoy, isn't it? That is why you miss her."
Pearl winced and looked down at Lapis. "Don't listen to it, Lapis!"
"Listening to a pearl?" Mirror Pearl laughed sardonically. "A Pearl who doesn't even know who she is or what she wants?"
Pearl scowled, trying not to listen to the voices around her.
"We'll find you!" she promised.
Rose's reflection appeared in the mirrors now, freezing Pearl in mid-run.
"Why did you come to that place if you knew I was gone, Pearl?" Mirror Rose asked, her voice filled with sadness. Emptiness. Nothing like the real Rose. "It was as if you knew it would happen."
Tears prickled Pearl's eyes. "N-No, I didn't!"
"I think you did. A part of you knew that I would choose him over you. That was why you ran away. Why did you run away from me? I thought you loved me."
"You're not Rose. I won't fall for this!"
"Then who am I, Pearl? I hope you're prepared for the answer in the end."
O
Jasper had fallen to her knees.
Mirror Pink Diamond regarded her with that alien, cold stare. "I'm disappointed in you, Jasper. You disobeyed me. You failed. Instead, you came back to my palanquin, where I had fallen. Why did you? I had been shattered. Did you think I'd forgive you for your failure?"
Jasper withered under the crippling words from the false image. She couldn't hear Steven and Amethyst's cries to ignore what was being said. They bore such a weight on her that she couldn't move. She couldn't do anything. Her eyes prickled with evidence of tears.
"I-I tried..." she mumbled.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Mirror Pink Diamond sneered. "You tried? And look where your efforts have wrought. You are nothing but a failure. A broken, mindless beast gorging herself on battle and self-misery."
Despite it being a false image, the words spoken in the voice of her beloved Diamond felt like a knife being twisted in Jasper's being. Steven rushed to her side and wrapped his arms around her arm.
"Jasper, listen to me! It's NOT REAL!" he cried. "Please, snap out of it."
Jasper wasn't listening, even when he tugged on her arm in an effort to move her. She had tears streaming down her cheeks, but her face was contorting in rage.
"You will be shattered and the universe will do well by it." Mirror Pink Diamond sneered.
"Enough..." Jasper snarled.
Mirror Pink Diamond smirked at her, not phased by the chilling whisper coming from Jasper's lips. Instead, she moved through the mirror constantly, pacing around her victim like a cruel lioness.
"You are like a great, stupid beast who cannot stop feeding." she sneered. "Even after your master has told you no more."
"ENOUGH!" Jasper roared.
She charged at the mirror, shattering it to bits, but instead of tackling the Mirror Pink Diamond, she came in contact with a twisted, silver and white aberration with four arms, silver sharp fangs and white eyes. It screeched and hissed at her, snapping its teeth. Long white hair danced around its face in ribbons.
Jasper snarled with effort, grabbing the corruption and shoving it violently through the floor as she had with Garnet on her ship. Steven and Amethyst quickly hurried to catch up with her.
"Jasper!" Amethyst cried. "Steven, we have to catch her!"
Jasper tore through the floor, passing Garnet, Pearl and Lapis just as they were making their way through the corridors. They looked shocked and also made their way down to her, scaling down lengths of debris and fallen mirrors.
"Who am I? Who am I?"
Broken, shadowed images from the mirror repeated the same message over and over, as if disoriented. Steven watched them, listened to the messages with confusion. What was it trying to say and why did it repeat the question over and over?
Jasper crashed through the floor and into a pool of slurry. She had trapped the corrupted gem beneath her and began beating it with her fists.
"SHUT UP!" she screamed, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
Pearl and the others finally made it into the pool and could only watch in muted shock as Jasper continued beating the corruption over and over.
And over.
And over.
The sickening, wet smacks of fists contacting flesh echoed through the silence of the room. The corruption's screeched of agony had long since been silenced.
"SHUT UP!" Jasper continued to scream, but her voice was changing, becoming more high with pain and she was sobbing now through the rage-filled cries.
Lapis looked away with a grimace of pain and Pearl covered her mouth with two hands.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
Garnet and Pearl quickly made their way over to her, pulling her from the corrupted gem - while she was still screaming "shut up" - who immediately disappeared in a poof of smoke. Steven bubbled the gem immediately and looked over at Pearl, who was holding Jasper's head in her arms, attempting to comfort her.
"Shhh," Pearl soothed. "Shh. It's okay, Jasper. It's alright."
Garnet walked up to Steven and took the bubbled gem. She held it up to her face, studying the rough white corners of the square-shaped gem housed within.
"Petalite. Of course." she said.
Steven watched as Pearl gently swayed back and forth, soothing Jasper with gentle petting to her head as if she was comforting a child. Lapis had been watching the sight strangely too. But she said nothing.
Jasper's screaming had stopped. She was not arguing to Pearl's comfort and her sounds died down into weak hiccups and sniffs.
"Petalite was a gem serving under White Diamond." Garnet said. "They trained warriors and other gems to push free their negative energies and fears. White Diamond believed that emotions were a weakness among gems, so she strove to have them evolve passed them."
"So what happened to her?" Steven asked, still watching Jasper.
"The same thing that happened to all corrupted gems, Steven." Garnet continued. "Petalite possibly observed so much evil. So much pain and despair that she was consumed by it. Began to use it as a weapon to hurt others. She became the very opposite of what she was made for. She became so consumed by the reflections of others, she could no longer see who she truly was."
Steven stared down at the bubbled gem sadly.
O
That evening, Jasper was sitting alone near the window, just watching the moon outside. Pearl walked up to her and sat down. She opened her mouth to speak, but Jasper spoke first.
"I don't want to talk right now." she hissed, her words grating out of her.
"Mm," Pearl murmured softly in response. "That's alright. No one blames you for what happened. We all understand."
Jasper glanced at her briefly, her look unreadable.
Suddenly, she punched the wall with one fist, scowling angrily. The abrupt action jolted Pearl where she sat and she watched Jasper stand.
"What is WRONG WITH ME?" Jasper suddenly shouted.
She began to pace back and forth now.
"I'm supposed to be the strong one! I'm supposed to be a great warrior and I let some useless Petalite use everything against me!"
"Jasper, Steven is asleep." Pearl tried to speak up, but Jasper continued to pace and rant.
"And on top of that, I'm here with my ENEMIES!" Jasper thrust her arms in the air, "WHAT AM I DOING?"
Pearl sighed, standing. She gently took Jasper's hand and the action made Jasper tense with surprise. She glanced down briefly at their connected hands, seemingly trying to understand the contact.
"It's a strange thing, Jasper." Pearl agreed. "I remember when liberation was frightening for me too. But this is a sign of personal growth. A sign that you're not entirely lost."
Jasper didn't answer. She didn't know how to.
"Jasper, it's not about what everyone else wants from you." Pearl told her. "Not Steven, not me. None of us. It's about yourself. It's about what you want. And what do you want?"
Jasper opened her mouth to answer, but her response fell short.
She didn't know what she wanted.
No one had asked her. No one had spent time with her as Pearl, Amethyst or Steven had. Jasper had no idea what it was that she wanted.
She simply stared down at their joined hands, stared at the strange pearl. The one who had clearly proven herself to be more than just a slave.
"I don't know." she finally said.
Pearl smiled warmly. "That's okay. You have time."
Jasper raised an eyebrow at that.
No more words were exchanged between them. They simply looked out at the moon together in silence.
