Hello everyone and sorry for the long, long wait! I got distracted with lots of other things while trying to write this chapter. There are only a couple more to go, so I hope you'll stick through to the finale. Without further ado, please enjoy!


Caustic


The Home had erupted into chaos as Pearl stopped breathing. Screams in various forms of horror had surrounded her and the place where Livewire once sat. Pearl willed her tears away, though it was hard. In the glittering cracks of her deceased friend's gem she could see purple splinters in hot sand.

Her feet moved of their own accord and before her thoughts caught up she was stepping backwards toward the exit, shoulders bumping into other pearls as they fled. She didn't take her eyes off the halves of her focus until she was forced to face the crack in the wall. A pearl she didn't know was pushing her and another nameless one pulled on her arm. They were all dashing for safety, but none of them knew where that was. Home used to be safety. Suddenly, they were all not so sure.

Even after Pearl cleared the exit and stumbled into the muddy alleyway, she felt numb. She didn't feel able to run. She didn't feel able to do anything. Several realizations were dawning on her at once, and it was a sensory overload.

Of course Mother had been playing a game all along. Of course, her brain repeated. Pearl felt her heart ice over as shame burned into her forehead. She felt stupid to have believed anything else. Mother had never been genuine, she could see through it so clearly now. Something about the oxalic acid had stopped her critical thinking in favor of craving the fix. Mother was the provider of that fix. Of course.

Pearl could explain away all her failures so easily, like ticks on a checklist, that she wondered if she had intentionally ignored the warning signs. In some instances, she knew she had. When Iolite, who had never been real, of course, had told her to leave her headspace, it was clear her head was trying to show her logic. Her subconscious had decided on a very painful choice in imagery. Perhaps she deserved that.

She blinked and returned to the living world, where the final pearls were crawling sluggishly from the Home, clearly still riding a high. Other pearls were holding them up by the shoulders. Pearl would have smiled if the situation weren't so dire; they were supporting each other.

So far Mother had failed to appear, and Pearl was grateful for that. It gave everyone time to escape and it gave herself time to process all that Livewire had shown in her final moments. It was a lot. She was starting to feel overwhelmed again.

A hand clutched her chest—whether in comfort or pain she wasn't sure—and she began a slow walk home, her real home. Rose Quartz would always be home.

Pearl felt like maybe she was ready to talk now.

Rain was just starting to pepper the walkways. Puddles were starting to form in the dimples of the pavement and scattered trash. Pearl hardly noticed. She focused on her feet instead, counting her steps. She didn't care if anyone saw her like this, not anymore. Livewire had torn her so far from reality that she felt as though she were floating above her body, watching her shadow snake across carved stone. It walked in the same steady beat as her aching feet.

Her silent trip home was stopped at the sound of shuffling limbs and quiet sniffles. She paused, curious, and followed her ear down a hallway covered by an awning overtaken with beautiful vines. The flowers blooming on them were drooping with raindrops. Pearl could just barely make out two huddled figures, deep within the tunnel. Despite the alarms in her head, she inched toward them. A lantern nearby twisted and flashed above them, and Pearl broke out into a run immediately.

"Tahi? Akoya?" She called out, more surprised than anything. The two figures became rigid, whipping their heads around to stare at Pearl. Their faces were mutilated with terrified expressions. Their perfectly copied hair had been soaked in the rain.

As Pearl got closer, more pieces to the puzzle became clear. Tahi moved to stand and Pearl caught the sight of three large slashes down her cheek dripping near-black blood. She fought the urge to turn around and run. Her friends clearly needed help. Even so her steps shrunk smaller and slower, as though they might break if she came too close. When the light flashed them again, Pearl caught more than she could have bargained for.

Sticky pink liquid was splattered over the floor, latticed walls and even the ceiling. It dripped from flower petals that acted as cups and crusted under Akoya's fingernails. She was on her knees and staring at her shaking palms and fingers slick with it. It would have made a lovely shade of paint if it wasn't so clearly blood.

Ice stabbed Pearl's heart for the second time as her eyes widened and her brain understood. Blood. Tahi clearly had blood to match the color of her gem, judging by the cuts on her face, which meant Akoya's had to be some variation on cream or a pastel. This blood wasn't theirs. As if to answer her question, a flicker of light took Pearl's attention and she followed it to the center of a hot pink puddle, where a gemstone laid scratched and dormant on cracked tile. Her breath left her.

"We…" A timid voice croaked, somehow piercing the roar of the torrential downpour despite its near-whisper. It took Pearl a moment to realize that it had been Akoya who spoke. "I didn't…" She usually spoke with such purpose and calm, but all of that confidence was gone. She sounded frail and lost, and like she'd been screaming for hours. "I…"

Pearl looked up at Tahi, searching her face for answers, but she found none. She was instead distracted by the small trails of black that were marring her features, coming from scratches that had clearly been gouged by a desperate hand. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing.

"Tahi," Pearl said, surprising herself with her voice's composure, "what happened?" It came out more like a demand than a question. Tahi flinched violently and Akoya heaved a dry sob below her. They were silent in their standoff while Akoya gasped through frantic breaths, never taking her eyes off her trembling hands. Pearl looked behind Tahi to find another spattered pool, this one of rich purple, and saw it caked over Tahi's legs and chest. The colors mixed in a pretty swirl where they met in the middle. The second gemstone was no longer in one piece. Again, Pearl fought the urge to disappear.

She didn't get the chance to question them further. From around the corner, a flurry of bright lights was advancing with the whine of a warning whistle not far behind. The authorities were here. Someone had seen or heard what they'd done.

There was no time to think before Pearl grabbed both Tahi and Akoya by their collars, yanked them back with her, and cried out for them to run. She could feel them stumbling and struggling behind her, but she had no time to look back. The authorities would be there soon and the hallway was a straight shot both ways. They had to clear the corner in time to remain unseen.

Drunk with adrenaline and fear, Pearl dashed to the only place she knew to be safe where they would be hidden. Tahi's legs were buckling out from under her more and more frequently, and the lights were still following them. She thrust them forward, shoving them into the familiar crack in the wall while chanting, "come on, come on, come on!" Pearl plunged through as she heard the sirens turn another corner. The dark cloth that covered the opening from inside muffled them.

She continued her chant, this time quietly in an attempt to be more soothing, as she dragged them to the nearest couch. They sat down without looking, eyes vacant and far away. Akoya's fingers were still splayed in front of her, twitching from overexertion. Pearl gave them a long moment to compose themselves, but it seemed as though they would never be able to speak on their own. She shut her eyes and breathed deeply to clear her mind of panic. She had half hoped she'd open them again to find it had all been a horrible trip, and she was still lying on Rose Quartz's plush furniture. She almost wished it had been part of a high. Almost.

"Okay," Pearl exhaled, holding her hands up to her mouth in an attempt to convey calmness. "I need to know what happened."

As if on cue, Akoya burst into hysterical tears immediately after Pearl shut her mouth. The experience was so unnerving. Her steely, cool complex had completely melted away into a frailty she'd never have imagined on her placid features. She held her head in her hands, not caring that she'd smudged another's blood all over her skin. Tahi remained deathly still.

"I don't know." Tahi whispered. Her voice was monotone, a far shade from its usual perkiness and lilt. They were expressing their trauma in two dramatically different ways. "We had left the Home not long ago, sobered up. We failed to sneak past our owners without them noticing. They'd never caught us before." Tahi swallowed. "They were very angry.

"I remember that they'd started hitting Akoya for disobeying the law for being unaccompanied, and were coming for me too, but something in me changed. It was really sudden. Just," she motioned a clap and wide sweep of her hands outward to imitate an explosion, "and suddenly I was staring at you. I had Charoite's blood on my hands. I-I think I shattered her." Tahi shuddered. "I have no memory of the time in between."

Akoya nodded, lifting her head from her hands to reveal pink handprints over her cheeks. It was like war paint. "I remember Rhodochrosite hitting me, and then nothingness."

Pearl took a moment to process things and noted the way sirens seemed to push and pull like waves from outside. They were patrolling. Not knowing what else to do, she placed a hand on both of their laps, attempting to comfort them. They seemed to appreciate it, and Akoya covered Pearl's hand with her own. Pearl tried to ignore the crusty blood that was flaking off onto her skin. She needed to be strong for them.

They sat in silence like that for a long while, Pearl coaching them through deep breaths and allowing them to decompress. She tried to think of a way to escape this mess, but nothing came to mind. She was worried for her friends' safety. She truly didn't know how they would survive.

Scratching and clawing sounds broke them all out of their stupor, Akoya letting a small gasp breach her lips in fright. The cloth covering for the crack in the wall was dragged open, and in the entryway stood Mother, of all gems, soaked to the bone and breathing heavily. Her eyes looked wild and her chest heaved with angry wheezing.

"You," she spat, poison penetrating Pearl's heart with the finger she pointed, "what did you do?"

Pearl was without an answer. "I'm not sure what you're asking." She narrowed her eyes, and Mother widened hers.

"My girls, my lovely girls," Mother moaned, pain in her voice clear, "the pearls that all once sat here, they all fled. Someone contacted the authorities when they saw them out without owners or higher gems. They swarmed. They're rounding them up, one by one, taking them in."

Realization overtook Pearl's features and she felt her limbs go numb. "What do you mean, 'in?'" She asked, fearing the answer.

"I mean in, as in for containment, and ultimately shattering! Pearls who disobey the law are not given second chances! The authorities shatter them and their owners get full refunds. They pick out a brand new pearl and go on with their day. They don't treat us as sentient beings for one moment. The pearls they have captured have already been sentenced to death, assuredly. So I ask you again," Mother's eyes held fire as she snarled, "what did you do?"

Pearl felt her knees knocking as they shook, but she stood anyway to face her. She pointed to the far corner of the room. "Why don't you ask her?"

Mother followed her finger and her eyes zeroed in on the pieces of her broken friend. Her face twisted into a new sort of pain, and Pearl winced despite how much she despised her. That had looked uncomfortably close to a real emotion. Mother stumbled through overturned chairs, muttering a chain of 'no's under her breath. When she came to the chair where Livewire's pieces sat untouched, she gasped. Pearl watched a shaking hand outstretch slowly, hesitant to touch her as though she could be broken any further. She froze, her quivering stilled instantly, and a chilling laughter rumbled quietly through the room.

Mother didn't turn around. "I suppose you know everything now, then." Pearl didn't respond, but she didn't need to. They both knew it was rhetorical. Silence rung between them, the twins still sitting across from Pearl and deathly still.

"I did love her, you know." Mother straightened her posture. "I'm sure that her visions did not show you that, but I did." A pause. "Livewire was meant to be an example to all my girls. That oxalic acid could do good things. The acid was stronger than I expected, though, and it ruined her. I turned the example around and used it differently, then. 'Don't overdo it, or you may turn out like poor Livewire here,' I said. I could still twist her to my advantage."

Pearl cringed at the thought. It didn't sound as though Mother cared at all, but maybe in her own twisted mind she felt that she did.

"I assume that Livewire did not give you the full story, since she was not aware of all of it." Mother turned around then, and her face was as composed as it ever had been, no sign of sorrow to be found. "I suppose you have the right to know.

"When I escaped my own home life, I had nowhere to run. It was much like Livewire's story began, but I had no help. There was no equivalent to me. I was on the run and alone, and very afraid. It was a long time of dodging authorities before I discovered the Home." She gestured to the room around them. Pearl didn't dare speak and the twins must have had a similar idea, because they were all taking the quietest breaths they could manage as they listened.

"Above all else, though, I was angry. I was angry at the way pearls were treated, are treated. We have as many feelings as any other gem, and yet we are treated with little to no respect. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted an uprising.

"The oxalic acid I discovered by accident. I caught two pearls high on it in an alleyway. When they realized I'd seen, they were horrified. It was clear they were hiding a dangerous secret. Not long after that I discovered a disjointed, disorganized family of pearls, all using this drug to escape. It made my heart ache, but it also inspired me."

Mother stood up and paced, an eye on Livewire at all times. She stayed a fair distance away from Pearl and the twins. "If pearls were going to use, they deserved a safe place to do so. I set up the Home and invited any pearl I found hidden in the streets to be safe here. It was a place for them to get high without fear of getting caught. I was doing them a favor, protecting them. It was then that I realized my need for an uprising and my desire to protect my fellow girls could go hand in hand."

Mother paused, back turned to them, always looking toward Livewire. Pearl wondered if this was the first time one of her friends had died. Mother fretted with her hands behind her back for them to see, as though she was considering if she should go on. Pearl hoped she would. As much as it was horrific that she would willingly allow pearls to come to the Home and damage themselves, she wanted to understand her reasoning.

After several moments of silence Mother turned on her heel to face them again, but she locked her eyes on Pearl's alone. "In my time here I discovered an extraordinary side-effect of the acid. While pearls are high, they are not in their right mind. They are neither here, nor there. They are stuck in between destabilizing and not. You are all aware of this." Her gaze flicked to the twins before returning to Pearl.

"Your owners can command you to do things without your control. I am assuming you all know this as well." Pearl made fists as she struggled to fight down a flashback to the rings. She remembered.

"While you are high, the mechanics of your brain and hard-wired controls go haywire. You get separated from your true self. It means that the commands you have been given have less meaning, and it leaves you vulnerable." Mother paused, a slight frown on her lips as she looked toward the twins to address them. They both flinched under her gaze. "You attacked your owners today."

The twins' eyes widened as Mother's words registered. Tahi tried and failed to speak and Akoya paled. "How did you-"

"Akoya, darling, Tahi," Mother said, her voice strangely soft, "Do you remember anything that you did in that time? Do you remember attacking them? I'm willing to bet you do not." Akoya stared at her, shocked. She shook her head slightly, unwilling to do any more.

"That's because I commanded you to do it." Mother said. They all stopped breathing abruptly. "While you are under the control of the oxalic, you can be controlled by anything, anyone. You have no recollection of it, but I commanded you to attack them. This was the original plan, for all my girls. We were going to attack our owners together and begin our revolution." Mother sighed listlessly, "But that's all out the window now, because of you." She stared at Pearl and she felt her heart stop. "My girls are being captured for slaughter, because you turned them the other direction. My revolution has failed."

Pearl was horrified. Had she been brainwashed too? She could never know. Was Rose Quartz in danger now, too? Had all of them, at some point, been manipulated? It all felt horribly, horribly wrong. Mother had controlled them from the start. All she could manage was a tiny whisper. "You're wrong."

"How so, love?"

Pearl's skin crawled at the pet name, but she surged onward. "I didn't do a thing. Livewire was the one to expose you. She saved us all from you. She showed us the truth."

Mother laughed, a sharp cackling sound. "Livewire didn't save any of you. She condemned you. The authorities are locking us up and they will surely kill us all. Tell me Pearl, which is better." She leaned forward, making sure that Pearl saw the rage festering in her eyes in sharp contrast to her manic grin. "A little nudge in the right direction from me, or a full-scale massacre from them?" Pearl felt her blood run cold. Though she wanted to deny it, she feared Mother was not bluffing. They really were going to kill them.

"Mother," Tahi uttered, and they all looked to her in mild surprise. She'd been mute the majority of their conversation. "I don't think you understand." She looked at Mother with defiance. "At least now we will die with dignity, not under the control of a cowardly monster like you."

"Oh, big words Tahi." Mother said, rolling her eyes. "I'd expect that from your dearest twin, not you. Perhaps your owners were more successful in making you clones than I had thought."

Mother knew she had struck a nerve and Tahi leapt from her seat to retaliate, but before Akoya could pull her back down with a frantic tug, sirens wailed closer than ever before, followed by loud clanging and battering on the wall. Before they could react beyond a jump, the cloth was torn down, and soldiers poured into the room with angry shouts and entirely too much noise.

They were yelling commands but Pearl couldn't hear them through the dread that clogged every one of her senses. They'd been caught. The authorities had found them. They were joining the others. Mother was right. It was over. Her mind shut down and her limbs shook.

Vaguely, she heard a gravelly voice yell at her to raise her hands, but her brain was too clouded with pure fear to process it. She was going to die, going to die, going to—

Pearl felt an explosion slam through her chest and shove her backward. She looked down long enough to see rivers of powder blue blood pour from her chest, and her mind went blank, body went slack. She was falling backward in what felt like slow motion, everything about her shutting down. Before she hit the ground, she felt herself disintegrate, and she disappeared into a sea of blue smoke and pure black.