Chapter 7 - Lapis Lazuli
When Pearl woke up in the morning she had to stop herself from falling out the armchair she had fallen asleep on. The room was lit up by beams of sunlight and she considered it to be very picturesque, the sea gently lapped at the sand and a nice breeze was coming in. Pearl had almost forgot that the house was literally from the pits of hell, 'Just when will Garnet be done? How much longer do I have to wait here?! I want out!'
Pearl took a beep breath and then she slowly looked at the figure still asleep on the couch. The events of last night flashed through her head and she could feel her heartbeat get faster as she stared at the girl.
Cautiously standing up, Pearl hisses at the sharp pain in her arm. Looking down she remembered the incident with the scalpel and huffs with distain.
Stubbornly Pearl climbs up the stairs to her small room, thankful that the stairs did not creak too loudly. Opening a drawer she grabs a change of clothes and a towel, she pauses for a moment and decides to grab another shirt and pants 'I don't think it will fit exactly, but it's better than nothing.' she tutted. On her return to the living room nothing had changed, the girl was still asleep and the panel locked tightly. She glared at it and noted to herself to avoid it at all costs.
'This is what I get for venturing into creepy basements! Mysterious people, holes in walls, surgical equipment!' she thought bitterly, 'never again.'
Pearl left the clothes for the girl beside her and walked into the bathroom, the lights flickered slightly as she finally took her shower. It was a pang of normality in an otherwise abnormal situation. The water was clear and clean, washing away the dust and dirt of the nightmare she endured and Pearl sighed in joy that there was no deep cuts like last time… Then she looked at her arm and grunted 'Of course, there's always something I forget…'
She peeled the make-shift bandage off the wound, the rag was covered in a dark brown substance. 'Dried Blood…' Something to thank would have been that the cut stopped bleeding, if Pearl had never agitated it. Yet again the dark red liquid mingled with the water that traveled along the other various bruises and scratches dotted around her body. This time it was real.
Pearl stepped out the shower and took a small 'medical bag' from the counter, it wasn't that impressive of a med kit. She pulled out some proper bandages and chuckled a little darkly. She never in her life expected to be using the bandages that she would use for fencing or dancing accidents to secure cloth on a bleeding, deep cut made by a surgical scalpel. Pearl also took out some rubbing alcohol and wearily stared at the needle and thread.
She groaned as she realised that the cut was far too deep to leave it alone. Taking out a lighter, she flicked it on and ran the needle through it, carefully with some tweezers she threaded it and looked down to her injury.
'Why am I doing this to myself? Sure I can do first aid, anyone can! I'm not a doctor.'
She groaned and dropped the needle, the cotton and alcohol will have to do.
After patching herself up and dressing, Pearl came out of the shower and surprise, surprise, the girl was a heavy sleeper. She smiled slightly at the peaceful face the girl had, in the daylight she could see her features clearly, she had a small perked nose and dark hair that seemed to shimmer blue, it complemented well with her very slight tan. But Pearl then blushed, she had been staring way too long 'but was she always this pretty?' she dismissed the thought though, most of her friends where attractive. Especially… 'Her'.
Pearl sighed sadly and walked into the kitchen area and began making herself a cup of tea. She was eager to distract herself, with a quick glance back, she decides to make two cups instead.
After some waiting, the tea was made and Pearl wondered if it was best to wake the girl on the couch. 'I don't want to scare her…' 'Then again I don't want her sleeping all day, I want answers…' 'But she must be exhausted…' 'Then again, the couch…' during this thought process Pearl heard movement behind her and jumped in surprise. Looking back she found the girl was awake and wearily taking in her surroundings.
"You're awake," Pearl stated with and she walked up to the girl with the tea. She frowned in concern when the girl flinched as she approached, "Here, I made you some tea." She gave the girl the light cup as slowly and comfortingly as possible, trying to hide her confidence that the berry tea will sooth her.
"Thank you," she replied, graciously accepting the cup with shaking bloodied hands, "thank you so much."
"It's just tea," Pearl blurts out as she sits in the seat closest to the girl,
"What? No!" she sharply replied, and visibly frowned at her tone, "I mean… you saved me!"
"Oh…" Pearl sighed, taking a sip of the tea, 'It's been rather eventful recently…'
"Who… Who are you?" The girl asked cautiously.
"I'm Pearl," The fencer replied, taking another sip of tea.
"Pearl… It's nice," the girl commented and made Pearl blush slightly,
"T-thank you?" she replied,
"I'm Lapis, Lapis Lazuli," She finally introduced herself,
"That's a nice name… Lapis…" Pearl murmured, it rolled easily off the tongue.
They went into an awkward silence and the girl, Lapis, stared strangely at her cup.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked, 'does she not like tea? Is it me? Have I done something wrong again?'
"Oh! No it's um..." She awkwardly stared at the cup, "I've just never had... This... Before. All the liquids I've ever drank have been..." Lapis paused and Pearl could see she was hesitant to continue,
"Just... Take your time," Pearl replied awkwardly, she had absolutely no idea what to say or do, "it's called tea and it's better to drink while it's warm... Unless you want to drink it cold, some people drink it cold-" Pearl stopped herself, she was beginning to ramble and that made her get even more flustered than she was originally. She took a sip of her drink and seen Lapis watch her intensely. It was as if she was analysing the movements she made and judging them silently, whatever she was doing it made Pearl blush.
Lapis then slowly brought the cup to her lips, Pearl blushed even more when she realised that the girl was copying her exact movements and in a way it made her feel exposed. Pearl watched her slowly take a sip and put the cup back down, never had she been this eager on a response.
"It's... Sweet." Lapis replied, "I like it."
That made the dancer softly smile.
They continued drinking their tea in silence, but unlike before it wasn't awkward, they simply were too tired to say anything. However Pearl did notice that Lapis watched her arm with slight guilt, she looked down wondering if it had bled through the bandage yet.
"It's alright now," Pearl said softly,
"But-" Lapis tried to no success and wrapped the sheet around herself, Pearl jumped as Lapis coughed as soon as she got more dust in her face from the sheet. Her hands were also still covered in dried blood. 'My dried blood...'
"Oh! Umm… You can have a shower and wear those clothes," Pearl said, pointing the pile as she stood up with the empty cups, "I'm sure they'll fit you."
"Thank you," Lapis replied with a faint smile as she picked the clothes up and stood up slowly. Pearl took the empty tea cups to the kitchen and kept her eyes off Lapis, resisting the urge to glance back as she heard the sheet fall onto the floor and then proceeded to beat herself up over the fact that she even considered looking back at the girl. As soon as the bathroom door closed, Pearl huffed and seen only the discarded sheet.
Pearl looked at the sheet with a frown, it was covered in dust and it was speckled with dried blood 'My blood... Why is it always blood?' By the time Lapis exited the shower wearing the black top and white pants Pearl gave her, the sheet was folded neatly and put into the cupboard 'If I was allowed to burn things, the sheet would be no more,'. The fencer blushed slightly at Lapis but nothing in comparison to how she blushed before. Her social inexperience was tormenting her.
"You look nice," Pearl complimented, the girl shyly smiled in response and they both fell into a silence. Pearl watched the girl at the corner of her eye, Lapis was torn between looking around the room and staring outside the window. Eventually she ended up leaning against the couch and staring through the blinds, enthralled by the sea.
"Where are we?" She glanced at Pearl, the captivation of the sea still in effect,
"We're in Beach city," The taller girl responded, joining Lapis at the window,
"It's so… Bright," Lapis commented, "and… warm."
Pearl smiled slightly until a buzzing was heard, she pulled out her phone and found a text message from Garnet. Lapis looked quizzically at the phone and looked slightly nervous by it.
Pearl tapped on the screen and brought up the message,
"Weather's looking good, Amethyst is visiting you today, meant to be a surprise." Pearl froze slightly and continued reading, "Have to help Greg with Steven, Will move in about a month or so." Having a silent panic attack Pearl sighed and checked her calendar.
Friday, of course Amethyst is the one to be sent to check on her a day before, Pearl groaned.
"Is there something wrong?" Lapis asked, she clearly noticed Pearl's not-so-inner turmoil,
"I have a friend coming over," Pearl replied, "She's a very annoying friend that doesn't know you're here."
"Oh…" Lapis understood, something Pearl appreciated,
"But she won't get here until six I'm guessing, that gives us around eight or nine hours," Pearl predicted, "so that gives us enough time to get you home.
"Home?" Lapis paused, "I don't have one."
This little rescue just got even harder. Pearl excused herself and brought down her laptop and then sat it onto the counter, Lapis floated around her and then finally sat down on the bar stool beside her. Pearl knew this was definitely illegal, but she had a gift for finding and tracking people. After nearly three hours of searching with the little bits of information from Lapis, she found nothing. She was wasting valuable time with no results, with a groan Pearl removed herself from the servers and replaced a few codes, no-one would know that she was even there.
Lapis Lazuli was a ghost, in better words, she does not exist. No birth records within the country or any other likely country she may have been from, no missing person claims of any age with her name on Police records, no social media or any affiliations with her name. Pearl rubbed her temples, even Lapis herself couldn't provide any information on who she is.
"How long were you in there?" Pearl asked,
"A long time," Lapis responded,
"Do you know who that short girl was?" Pearl tried again,
"No," Lapis responded, causing Pearl to sigh, "but…" Lapis began, Pearl instantly perked up, "She let me out the tank once and placed that thing in her hands in front of me…" 'that solves the case of the mystery caller,' Pearl thought as she turned her laptop off, "But... She sealed me back in there. I wanted out and she kept me there." Lapis sighed and Pearl frowned, 'If I never liked them before, I certainly don't like them now.'
"Do you remember not being in the tank?" Pearl asked as she came back down again,
Lapis went pale, a memory she apparently never wanted to remember, "It… hurt…" She mumbled out and then covered her face with her hands.
Pearl could literally slap herself right now, "No! no!" Pearl walked over to Lapis and cautiously placed a hand onto Lapis's shoulder, she felt her flinch and then shiver. "I never meant it like that… I wanted to know about the life you had before getting trapped in that place."
But Lapis wasn't listening, she was rocking herself with her face and hands buried into her knees "They… They left me there…" Lapis said from under her trembling palms,
"Who left you?" Pearl asked, Lapis stayed silent, "The one we encounter down there?" She seen Lapis shake her head, "then who?"
"THEM!" Lapis cried out, Pearl could see tears run down Lapis's arms and she was breathing heavy. Without thinking, Pearl hugged Lapis, earning a sniff from the panicking girl in her arms.
"They won't get you here," Pearl confidently said, "I'll make sure of it."
