Pearl's days were numbered.
She could hear the spiteful words from Blue Diamond's guards from the inside of her cell.
Can't wait to see Blue Diamond break her into a million pieces.
I bet she still thinks her master is coming for her. What a clod.
So this it what it takes for her to be a normal Pearl. Defective.
Finally, I won't have to listen to her yammer on and on.
She wished she could break the door down and poof every single one of them and watch their gemstones clink on the floor. But she couldn't.
There was just one thing she couldn't believe: Rose never came for her. She had always thought she was just as important to Rose as she was to her. She believed her liege would risk it all to save her, just like she would for her. Rose loved her, made her feel like an equal, valued her. There was no way Rose would just forget about her. She was different than other Quartzes; Pearl meant something to her. As if she would just abandon then and there.
Pearl refused to think that would be a possibility. It wouldn't. It would never.
It just has to work this time, Pearl thought confidently in her head. It has to.
She closed her eyes and choreographed moves accordingly. She summoned her light from her gem and pictured a weapon waiting to be unlocked from her core being. She imagined it materializing in her hands and gripping her fingers against it. It could be a sword, like the ones she used before. Perhaps it could be something smoother and lighter, something that might fit with her graceful design. Whatever it was, it didn't matter to Pearl. All she wanted it for it to do is to destroy any Gem she might come across.
Pearl's eyes opened to see her hands disappointingly empty. Her knees wobbled over and she collapsed against the cold solid floor in defeat. Maybe it could not be done, at least for a Pearl. She was specifically made to be a pretty little doll, not a warrior. There wasn't any weapon waiting for her to summon. She was made to stand around and take orders. She had no weapon, because she wasn't made to wield one.
"Blue Diamond wants to shatter me," Pearl said morosely. "This might be the end. I can never see Rose again."
She covered her face with her hands and let her tears fall when she was sure was alone. She wasn't going to let Blue Diamond's guards see her look so weak. It would add more fuel for the fire. She remembered the days when she was working under her old master. She let her control her every word, her every movement because defying her meant punishment. She loathed it when she did something wrong, whether it was a little blunder or a major embarrassment to her master's name. She still remembered being threatened and beaten every day until she had to force herself to rely on her master's approval to drive her.
Everything changed the wonderful Rose Quartz freed her from her life of enslavement. From then on, Rose had become the new center of Pearl's life, wondered by the way the Quartz treated her like an equal, showed her what the galaxy was like.
Now it looks like she's back where she started. Trapped. Enslaved. Powerless.
Once again, she was crippled and weak, kneeling at the mercy of a Diamond. Just like she was supposed to be.
No, a determined voice in Pearl's head chanted. I can't let this happen to me again.
Pearl removed her hands from her face, wiping off the tears that stained her cheeks. The despair she felt a couple hundred years ago as a servant turned into a flame of pure fury. A fire ignited deep within her scarred skin. She felt it crackle from deep inside, spreading from her chest and through her battered limbs until it felt like she was engulfed in an imaginary blaze.
She knew that fire. The fire that she felt when Rose told her come with her, grabbing her outstretched hand and walking into the unknown. She had snuffed out that flame for so long as a servant, but seeing Rose believe in her made it grew and grew until she decided to let it roar from within her. The fire that kept burning whenever a Crystal Gem had fallen, or one of Earth's magnificent forests were smothered to a crisp. The fire that came alive when she met Blue, her little beacon of hope in the darkness. The fire that died for a brief moment when she saw her go.
It didn't hurt. Not for a second. She knew that fire could get out of control, that it could destroy and burn. But it could also warm and heal, cast a flickering light in the dark. Pearl could control that flame within her, keep it poised and stable.
Not every inferno has to be destructive.
Pearl rose up and did her special moves that could summon the light from her gem. She thought of a petal dancing in the wind, the way it swayed and fluttered perfectly, despite being at the mercy of the breeze. The flower was driven by the gentle wind that moved it, but it was falling to its own pattern, standing out in the dust storm of pink that it fell with.
In a bright burst of light, a beam of light was released from her gemstone. Excited, Pearl grabbed it before it could vanish and claimed it. The light solidified into a physical form and transformed. It materialized into a spear, with a smooth, graceful shaft and an iridescent blade that ended with a sharp point. The spear felt weightless in her hands. She twirled it effortlessly.
A worry washed over Pearl immediately. She had never used a spear before. What if this was useless after all?
She gripped it tight and held it the way she had seen others used it. Suddenly, it felt like she held this spear her whole life, like she knew exactly how to use it. It was like an instinct trapped inside her was now released.
She knew how to use her weapon.
Pearl gave her new spear another twirl and aimed it directly at the stained wall that had enclosed her who knows how long. A spark of energy formed at the flawless tip of the spear and was released with a concussive force. Pearl was nearly thrown back from the sheer power of the blast.
But when she opened her eyes, she saw the prison door crumble before her, splinters of material flying through the air.
Suddenly, there was a shout from the end of the corridor.
"What was that?" a gruff voice roared, most likely a Quartz.
Pearl scrambled to her feet and fled her quarters, spear in hand. It wasn't long before she was faced with a group of Quartzes, shocked and furious.
Weapons were summoned and knuckles were cracked. Pearl was all on her own, and was surrounded.
You can't do it, a voice of uncertainty echoed from Pearl's head. It sounded a lot like Blue.
But Pearl kept her body stiff and poised, ready for battle. She held up her spear she had summoned from her core being, showing it off like a prize towards the bewildered soldiers.
"It can't be," a warrior whispered.
"That's not possible," another one spoke.
"Oh, believe me," Pearl said with pride as she twirled her spear. "It's possible."
"No matter," one Quartz retorted; Pearl could recognize this one as a Carnelian. She summoned a reddish-orange mace from her gemstone. "Time to put the little bird back in her cage."
"We're not afraid of you," a Smoky Quartz added.
Pearl let the fire inside her roar in her head, feeding her with the courage that she lacked for so long. "Trust me," she said boldly. "You are the one who should be afraid.
A small Moonstone burst into Blue Diamond's throne room. Her pale turquoise hair was disheveled and she was wheezing loudly from running apparently.
"My Diamond," she gasped urgently.
Blue Diamond paid no attention to her messenger's weak state. "You should be with the Quartzes, preparing the execution chambers," she said dryly. She turned ever so slightly to face the Moonstone. "What are you doing here?"
"The Pearl," Moonstone gasped. "She escaped."
That finally got her master's attention. Blue Diamond stood up abruptly, displaying her intimidating size for all to see. Her serene closed-lipped smile twisted into an outraged scowl.
"What did you just say?" she shouted. Her voice had the intensity strong enough to send the largest Jasper to her knees.
Her meek Pearl let out a soft gasping sound, suddenly letting her clasped hands fall to her side. Her placid expression shifted into something that resembled shock, unusual for a Pearl.
"Why isn't anyone dragging her back where she belongs?" Blue Diamond roared.
The Moonstone could barely gather her words. "She's overpowering the guards somehow. I don't understand it myself, my Diamond-"
"Where is she?" Blue Diamond gritted her teeth, riddling her voice with venom.
"I'll get to the security rooms immediately to track her," Moonstone stuttered.
"I'm coming with you," Blue Diamond replied, following the timid messenger. "Sound the alarms immediately. Let everyone know there's a dangerous renegade loose in the tower. Have all my guards scour the area. I did not go through all this trouble to lose now."
With all the commotion rustling in the throne room, no one ever seemed to notice a crafty little Pearl slip out through the back door.
If Pearl had a heart, she would say it was beating out of her chest.
Finally, she hasn't seen the sunrise in a long time. It was just as magnificent as she remembered. Cool, gentle air surrounded her and embraced Pearl like a hug, letting soft tendrils brush against her face.
Battle wounds marred her body. Not one of them hurt even for a second. Every Gem was so shocked at seeing a Pearl wield a weapon that it made it easier to destroy their physical forms.
She stood atop a wall guarding the heavily-secured base that was once her prison. Sirens went off in the distance and clamoring voices filled the air. Pearl paid no attention to the disaster behind her, instead focusing on the open expanse of land in front of her.
Finally, she thought. Finally free.
She looked beneath the wall she stood on. It was a long fall down, but with grace and poise programmed inside her, she knew she could easily scale down the dam.
But before Pearl could get a good foothold on the first stone, a hand seized her shoulder. It felt cool and gentle, if not also tightly-gripped. Delicate little fingernails dug into her skin.
Pearl turned her head to face a pair of frost-colored eyes. Her captor was about the height and weight of her, also sharing her lithe arms and pointed nose. Her periwinkle hair was swept away from her face, revealing a frighteningly calm expression.
Blue.
"Don't," she ordered Pearl.