CHAPTER 16 - A Cheap Trick
Diamond could feel that assimilating Pink Pearl had more of an effect than he had expected. It was faint, but he was different. Gems held an almost disproportionate amount of energy, and now he had even more of that.
He felt stronger, and with a clearer mind. A plan began to brew in his mind. All he had to do was to test out his hypothesis, and he thought he was the perfect test subject.
No need to choose. As the two hulking forms of light came out of his body proved, he could be in multiple places at once. One of them would work.
Little Homeworld was mostly quiet, and the clone made no noise as he approached main street. Bismuth and Peridot probably knew about Diamond already, but he was counting on the idea that some people hadn't gotten the memo. Now for the matter that Diamond didn't know where they lived.
The sound of drums resonated in the clone's mind. A flutter in his heart, an alien sensation of nostalgia. Ah, perfect. Maybe not specific moments, but it did internalize feelings. The clone flew towards the direction of the music, eventually arriving at a small cottage, two floors and painted with all three primary Gem colors.
The music was coming from the bottom floor. The clone remained somewhat formless, peering through the window. Yellow Pearl was playing loud, disharmonic beats all by herself.
She looked focused, lost in her private time. It was probably the first time she had something to focus on that wasn't work, or the in-betweens where Yellow Diamond had been unavailable.
The clone thought Blue Pearl must be around somewhere. Maybe out running errands, if Yellow was alone. No matter. Soon that wouldn't be a problem.
First, an exploration of a premise. Diamond was the combination of all that he absorbed. He was a perfect, ancient type of Gem that did not exist for millennia, and only came about when different parts of a full Diamond came together.
Formless light could penetrate clear glass easily. The clone waited until Yellow Pearl got up and turned around to leave before settling its shape. A form made of light, first colorless, then yellow, materialized inside the room.
"What…?" Zappy said, noticing the glow.
Second, it seemed that he could not only access all the abilities of the Gems that made him up, but he could also control Light forms of them. He had only done so with versions of himself and, recently, of Pearl.
But he knew he could do more, much like he had done to impress the leaders of Homeworld. The Diamonds had lost most of their personality in the fusion process, but they just became diluted parts of him, and he remembered them. They were somewhere inside his mind. A few adjustments, some assumptions, a healthy dose of improvisation on the part of the clone…
Yellow Pearl gagged in surprise, falling to her knees. It couldn't be.
"Yellow Diamond." She whispered, tears filling her eyes. Her Diamond stood tall and powerful, crossing her arms and looking down on her. "You… you're alive."
Light-Yellow Diamond kneeled, to look at Zappy closer. The fact that the room wasn't that well-lit made her look ever more divine. With any luck, the Pearl wouldn't realize that it was because she was literally emitting light.
His constructs were part of him. He could cut them off completely and let them run autonomously, as he did with Light-Diamond. In that case, they would remain loyal yet distinct from his thought process. But if they remained connected to him, if they were just an extension of his will, then they were also an extension of his power.
"Pearl," Light-Yellow Diamond said.
Diamond himself could almost hear it in his mind. This took far too much focus, especially with the other clone still looking for its target, but this whole thing shouldn't last more than a few minutes.
"Oh, how I've missed you."
"Really?" Zappy got up, holding her chest like it was going to burst. Her tears flowed to the ground. It was going great. "W-where have you been? How is this possible? Did something happen to Steven Universe?"
"Steven Universe is fine, but he needs help. That is why I am here." The giantess extended her hand to Zappy, who recoiled as if it was burning. "We need your help."
"H-how can I be of service? I'm… I have no more connections, no nothing, I'm just living my life here."
"The situation is extreme, Pearl. It's imperative that you do as I say. For this to work, we must become one."
Her hand floated close to her old assistant, who didn't seem to quite know what that was meant to entail.
"Don't be afraid. I would never hurt my precious assistant."
A shadow passed by Yellow Pearl's face, but the clone thought nothing of it. This was clearly still working, she just needed to—
"No."
"What?" Said the clone.
Diamond felt its confusion. This was new. The Gem didn't quite understand what was going on.
"This is wrong." Zappy said, clutching her fists. "You would never say that. You never said that. What's going on here?"
Oh, and Diamond assumed it was going so well.
The clone needed to improvise a narrative, a twist that would disarm Yellow, something that she trusted…
"There is work to be done Pearl, and I require your services one more time!" Light-Yellow pleaded, with a hint of exasperation in her voice. "I know you want to help me. I know what you like to—"
"Leave." Zappy stepped forward, looking Light-Yellow Diamond in her eyes. "I don't want anything to do with you anymore. I have a life now! I have friends now! I don't… I don't need you!"
She was trembling, red on the face, and absolutely livid. Light-Yellow Diamond recoiled slightly. What a disaster.
"Pearl, I did not teach you to act like this, and you will stop this instant!"
"Teach me? I'm not a hatchling! I'm not your property anymore! I never was! You just convinced everyone that was how things had to be!"
"Calm down—"
"I am not a thing you can do whatever you want to!" She yelled, taking a weapon out of her Gem. A trident. "I am not your thing! And there's nothing you can do to me now! I told you to leave my house!"
Diamond felt something deep within the clone that he was sure he did not put in there. Something about the way the Yellow light inside his mind computed information, almost like a hint of what used to be a full person. A single tinge of emotion piercing its way to consciousness.
It was regret.
"I never thought you were a thing." Light-Yellow said, in words strange to Diamond. "I never wanted to hurt you like this."
Zappy's tears flowed freely, but it didn't quell her rage. She just stood there, trident in hand, waiting for her last words to be acknowledged.
"Very well." The clone said, evaporating her light as suddenly as she came into the world.
Zappy was left incredibly confused, panicking in a room that used to feel so safe for her.
Far away, Diamond cursed, fully absorbing the clone's experiences. Plan B, then.
It didn't take it much to find Blue Pearl, coming back home from whatever she was doing. By some of the exposed art supplies, the second clone assumed she liked to paint the stars at night. No matter, of course.
The light made an image of Blue Diamond to intercept Blue Pearl. Having less to focus on meant he could even make her look more ethereal, almost like a specter. She sat a little to the side of the road, so that she looked like a mirage… surely this time would be better.
"My Pearl," the apparition said, listlessly. "Oh, how I've longed to see you again. Please, come closer, so that I can…"
Diamond almost yelled in frustration. She's not stopping. She didn't even stop! She's just going!
"Pearl!" Light-Blue said, raising her voice in surprise. "Please! I've come from so far away to talk to you, what are you doing?"
The Gem didn't even flinch. She was even smiling. Just kept on moving.
"I will not be ignored!" Light-Blue got up, energy on her hands. Maybe Pearl thought she was a fake? Maybe the theatrics had been too much? "You will listen!"
Finally, Blue Pearl stopped. She turned around, and without faltering her smile, she asked:
"Why would I?"
"Wh—?"
"You are not real. You cannot be." Pearly said, calmly approaching. "And even if you were, you no longer have power over me."
"Pearl, what are you saying? I came to ask for your help, we need—"
"You do not need me."
She raised her hand to interrupt the apparition, before she had the chance to say anything.
"You never needed me. I made life easier, yes, but my real purpose was to keep you company, because no one aside from other Diamonds would. You, who refused to move on after Pink Diamond's demise, and took out your own insecurities on others."
Light-Blue Diamond had no response. What was wrong with these Pearls…? It didn't expect them to be so… different from before.
"This is not the first time you have appeared to me."
What?, Diamond could almost hear the clone screaming in his mind. Its programming was breaking down, its thoughts being guided by something else. It had no idea how to deal with this.
Diamond wondered if this could be what was left of Blue, coming out to try to salvage this mission.
"You've haunted me in my lowest moments for thousands of years. Every night when it gets dark, I look up, and all I can see in the stars are the thousands of shattered Gem fragments, twinkling in your court, from Gems whose only crime was to be around you on a particularly bad day."
Pearly stood right in front of Light-Blue. The clone felt disarmed, standing there in stunned silence. Pearly's Gemstone shined brightly, and a small canvas was materialized from her compartment.
"I come out every night that I can, and I try to undo the damage you have done to my mind."
She gave Light-Blue Diamond the painting. It was a beautiful starry sky, full of deep blues and purples. Every star was unique, stunning. Almost like they were all different tales, frozen in time at their climax.
"I have decided to dedicate my life to proving you were misguided. That everything in this world is worthwhile and beautiful, even things that you can't control."
"Pearl…" The clone said, in a voice completely separate from Diamond's. "I never… I'm sorry, I…"
"Goodbye, Blue Diamond." She turned around and started to walk around, never losing her smile. "I'm sure we'll see each other again, whenever I need to remember."
The clone stayed perfectly still, staring at the painting. After what felt like an eternity, the clone dissipated.
Diamond absorbed its memories and realized it had been memorizing every aspect of Pearly's art.
The Gem was flying over the ocean, the sky above him twinkling in a cloudless night. For a second he paused and looked at the stars around him. Pearly made them out to be prettier.
This was going so wrong.
He sighed. Plan B was a failure. Plan C would have to work.
"I don't understand." Steven said to himself, watching the screen. "What's he doing?"
"Whatever it is, it's nothing good." Captain Pearl replied, with tears on her eyes. "But I'm so proud of them."
Both were rising atop a cloud, going in the direction of the sun substitute for that place. Steven held complete control over the Room, but that was not a part of his domain. That stayed in Diamond's side.
"Um… Pearl?" He asked, awkward. "How did he convince you to join?"
She didn't answer. She simply lowered her gaze.
"I don't want to talk about it, Steven." She said, eventually, trying not to instinctively hold her own arms. "Maybe later, okay?"
He didn't hide the worry on his face, but something else caught his attention. The screen was suddenly very blue, almost like—
"Oh no." Steven said, despair building up. "Oh no no no."
"What?" Pearl asked.
"He's flying across the ocean. But there's only one person who would ever… Captain Pearl, do you know where—"
"Oh my stars, no." Whatever color was left in Pearl's pale complexion left her face when she put it all together. "Steven, we have to hurry, can this go any faster?"
The clouds started to rise so fast, Captain Pearl felt dizzy. The proverbial sun looked ever closer.
Lapis didn't know for how long she had been holding her head like that. Like it was about to explode. Sometimes she clutched her hair, dug her nails into her arms, or just stared at the seemingly endless ocean, wondering if this was just what normal would look like again. Looking at bright stars and still waters.
The Seastone wasn't in the exact same place as it had been when they found it. Maybe the station still moved occasionally, considering how strong the waves could be. She was certain there was a perfectly reasonable explanation, and that she could focus on that instead of crying.
She didn't want to cry over people, ever again. It had become a bad habit years ago, and she felt particularly proud of having moved past it. But, then again, this had been a day of unearthing old habits. Lapis hadn't ran away from her friends in so long she'd almost forgotten how it felt like.
It always felt like this was the last time, and that there would be no friends waiting for her if she ever decided to return.
As if reacting to thoughts she was about to have, Lapis heard something large flying towards her direction. She turned around, and there was the man of the hour, landing on the old structure with the usual grace. The flutter in her heart felt like it could be either panic or passion. She wasn't sure anymore.
"Lapis." His tone was grave and familiar. Like an older friend coming to check in on her. "I've been looking everywhere for you. I came as soon as I heard you were gone."
He slowly approached, and Lapis raised her hand to stop him. It wasn't a prelude to an attack, simply a call for privacy. The conflict had been building up in her chest for a while now, and she had to get it out.
"Peridot told me you're not Steven. Never were." She said, turning and looking at the ocean. Eye contact wasn't something she enjoyed partaking in, all that much. "Is it true? Did you lie to me?"
Diamond didn't skip a beat.
"No." He needed to get closer. She had to let him get close. "That's not how it is. Steven is a part of all that I am. I'm him, as well as every other Diamond."
"But you're not Steven. You don't act like Steven. I… I always knew it wasn't so simple, but you never said anything, and…" She turned around, slightly irritated. "You're dodging my question."
Diamond faked a sigh.
"I know. And I'm sorry. Yes, I prefer to be known as Diamond, not Steven. But…" He stopped, as if deciding if this was a good idea. "… but you had to know that."
She looked at him with a mix of shame and annoyance.
"I… thought maybe you just changed. And I liked the change." She turned around, mostly to hide her face. "I didn't want to think you were just using me. I didn't want to think you were lying to me. Stars, you still have Steven's voice."
What would Lapis react best to right now, Diamond thought. Would acting more Blue Diamond help? Or… ah, yes, how about the new addition to the frame? What would she say?
"I'm sorry, Lapis. I thought you wouldn't want to associate with me if I wasn't him." Diamond took a step forward, and when Lapis didn't recoil, he continued approaching. "I didn't want to be alone."
One glance at her. She's paying attention. By the stars this empathy thing was useful.
"… I kept thinking I was trapped in this life, like I was a slave to other people's choices. Steven's choices."
It made him feel absolutely awful, but he couldn't pretend it wasn't fascinating.
"That's…" She hesitated, her mind slowly recontextualizing some of what she had been through. "But… why did you take me to Homeworld? Why did you spend all this time with me? You could have had anyone help you out, and you said…"
"I said I needed you." Wait for it. Wait for the right moment. Ignore your heart sinking into the ground. "I inherited a lot from Steven, Lapis. My feelings towards everyone here are formed from them, to a point. And my feelings for you…" Look into her eyes. Make sure she's looking into yours. The greater good. "… they were like nothing I've ever felt."
Lapis didn't answer. Now.
Diamond gently reached for her hand, and felt her emotions flooding his psyche. All her confusion, her sorrow, sadness, and most importantly—
Got her.
"Lapis, I needed you then, and I need you now." Pink Pearl's empathy flowed from his words like miasma. He could feel her opening up every time he stopped talking. "I believe in everything I said about Homeworld. But it wasn't good enough. They undid everything we achieved."
"Yes… I heard." She said, somewhat mesmerized. "I couldn't believe it."
"But we can fix it. We can do it together." He approached even more. He saw her face blushing, and held her hand with a firm, yet caring grip. "We can do anything together. And I want to be together."
"Diamond, what are you saying…?"
He smiled. Plan C worked. Diamond held her waist and sealed her lips with a kiss.
The cloud had stopped a while ago. They were as high as the Room was, and what illuminated it — the Light of the Diamonds — was as close as they could get through the Beach's powers. Steven was carrying Captain Pearl on his arms towards it for the rest of the way, when a familiar sound caught his attention.
"Pearl," Steven said, startled. "Did you hear that…?"
"Just keep going, Steven." She replied, focused. "We can't help her right now."
"I… I should stop him. We can do this later, I have to—"
"Steven." She held his face, forcing him to face her. "If we stop now, he's eventually going to do something to stop us. If we don't reach it…"
"But Lapis—"
"I chose to be here." She said, trying not to choke up. "Even if he threatened me with the worst thing he could do, he couldn't make me want it. Lapis chose this because she wanted to. We have to save everyone else."
Peridot could probably get to the main Little Homeworld Warp with her eyes closed, but the lack of Gems out on the streets was incredibly unnerving. She usually liked it quiet, but the whole town felt afraid. Every Gem knew what a Diamond gone wrong could do, and it wasn't pretty.
The text emergency alarm had come an hour ago.
'Be Indoors. Don't Leave Your Home. If You See Steven, Let Us Know. Don't Talk To Him.'
Peridot's phone was still on her hand with the message open. She was trying to ring Bismuth, but the Gem hadn't picked up yet. She had committed herself to install equipment a bit far from the city, obviously before Lapis decided to escape. It took her awhile to get back.
But it was fine. All she had to do was get home, and not die to a maniacal godlike Gem who apparently got tired of their games.
It was with these cheery thoughts on her mind that she noticed movement, out of the corner of the eye.
"Who's there?" She asked, startled. Like a glow that she couldn't quite discern was coming from a lamp, or something that was moving.
Nothing responded. She looked around, trying her hardest not to look scared, and resumed her walk.
The Warp station was close now, and after that, she could just get home. She tried ringing Bismuth again, and the phone tried connecting. All she had to do was—
"Who was that?! I know I saw something!" She turned and yelled, convinced she'd seen a shadow move where there shouldn't be any.
Stars, it was almost midnight, she was just imagining things. Diamond was a huge bulky Gem, there's no way he could approach her without making a sound.
That didn't make the blue glow coming from an alleyway any less creepy. Peridot wished she had a weapon. She thought about pulling a trash can's lid on her direction, but then the light moved.
It was Lapis. Glowing in darkness like a ghost. Beckoning her to approach.
Peridot thought she was hallucinating. Lapis had left their place mere hours ago. What could possibly have happened?
The blue Gem walked inside the alleyway, and Peridot, against her survival instincts, followed her. The alley went into a larger area, closer to Peridot's objective than before. She didn't see Lapis anywhere.
"Peridot, don't scream." Lapis' voice said, from behind her.
"AAAH!"
The green Gem fell forward, managing to resist the urge to crawl back from her friend. Her phone fell on the ground, but she didn't have the fortitude to pick it back up.
"What do you want, Lapis?!" She asked, not feeling rude at all. She hated being scared. "And why are you glowing?"
"Peridot, I'm…" Lapis said, somewhat apprehensive. "I'm so sorry for keeping you out."
Peridot looked at Lapis with a mixture of confusion and shock. She made a sound that approached 'wha?' more closely than a real word.
"I never should have kept things from you, I never should have left, all these times. I'm sorry for everything. You deserve so much better than that."
Peridot got up, not breaking eye contact. This was so incredibly novel she had no idea how to act.
"It's… it's fine." She tried, almost as if checking if that sounded right. "I know these things are hard for you. But, Lapis, we really have to go—"
"Peridot."
Lapis approached her, her movements flowing like a waterfall. Peridot was almost mesmerized by how smooth she moved, and how confidently she advanced. Why was she doing this?
"I mean it. You deserve my best."
Lapis grabbed and held Peridot's hands, being closer to her than Peridot remembered Lapis ever being. She treasured her personal space so much, the only times she really allowed for closeness was for flight or playing. But this was different. Peridot couldn't stop staring into her eyes.
"Lapis, um, you're being weird." Peridot could feel her brain frying just by looking at Lapis' gorgeous eyes.
"No, Peridot, I'm doing what I should have done a long time ago." Lapis smiled. "I'm saying yes. I'm letting you in."
Peridot always thought her smile was beautiful. She tried not thinking about it, but something about this atmosphere… her feelings just kept coming out. This was every fantasy, every weird thought she'd ever nourished about how this moment could go.
"I'm not just apologizing. I'm saying things must change. You're so good to me, and you get nothing in return."
A sharp, screeching part of Peridot's brain was yelling at her. There was something incredibly wrong. Lapis never acted like this before, and the glow, and the timing, and why was this even happening right now.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm ready, Peridot." Lapis approached even more. Peridot had never been so close to another Gem before. "I'm ready for you. I'm ready for us."
Peridot felt her heart opening up for the first time as Lapis enveloped her body in a tight hug. Her faces were almost touching, and she instinctively knew that, soon, there would only be one.
"Lapis, I… I don't like fusion; you know I never…"
"You've never been through it, Peridot. You don't know how complete it can make you feel. It makes everything make sense…"
Peridot daydreamed about whatever incredible result would come out. Just like Garnet, just like Stevonnie, just like everyone else got to do before her…
Maybe she was wrong. Maybe this was okay. Lapis' way of apologizing for everything.
Bismuth wouldn't know what happened to Peridot for a long time.
Diamond's hypothesis was a simple one.
As Peridot's consciousness faded into his own, and the clone of Lapis Lazuli came back into the collective, he pondered over the results.
His clones were a part of him, like any of his limbs and weapons. Therefore, if his clones fused, the result would return to him.
As he felt Peridot's knowledge of all things technological fill his mind, as he felt her telepathy become a part of his powers, and as he felt her pure, naïve love for her old roommate be stored where he kept all of his other emotions, he knew he'd won.
Diamond breathed easy, still at the derelict Gem probe. For the first time in a long time, he let himself smile.
Victory was finally looking like a possibility again.
"We're here." Steven said, ceasing their flight.
The Light of the Diamonds was warm. That far from Steven's influence, it felt like everything used to, so many months ago. Warm, all-encompassing, and just a little off. Like someone else's thoughts were stitching themselves into his.
Captain Pearl let go of his hand, and realized she could float, too. The rules of the Void started getting weirder around the energy. It could be Steven's influence, too. It didn't matter.
"Okay. Here goes." Pearl said, slightly afraid of the results. She touched the Light.
It was as if an entire species' worth of emotions was flowing into her. The touch burned her hands, but did much worse to her mind, and her heart. Images, feelings, thoughts and intuitions tried taking over her mind.
She'd felt it when trying to work with Diamonds, no matter which one. A Diamond's mind was a powerful thing. It was easy to get lost in it, to get dragged along in its current. With only one, she could manage, but with all four at once…
"Pearl, I'm here." Steven said, touching her hand. "We're in this together."
Steven's touch was like a surge of energy, but on her side. Suddenly it made more sense. The subtle differences between the workaholic, the sorrow, the need to control… and nostalgic, pure sympathy.
"They're all here." Pink Pearl said, her eyes and Gemstone shining in four colors. "I can feel all of them, Steven. You were right."
"But what's missing?" He asked, trying not to be lost in the ocean of minds that Pearl was swimming through. He could feel it, too. It made far less sense to him, but it was so… real. "None of this makes sense if he's telling the truth. There's no way perfection makes you this evil."
The more he touched Pearl, the more he felt a pull to join all those feelings. All of those thought patterns and ways of seeing the world made so much sense when he just stopped struggling. It was so easy to just let things work on autopilot, and just deal with whatever comes of it.
"Pearl!" Steven said loudly, trying to psyche himself out of his trance. "What do you see?!"
She didn't answer. She simply moved closer to the Light, bathing in its influence.
"One can be many." She said, in many voices. Steven recognized the tone. He'd hear it before. "Many can be one."
"This again." He whispered, afraid. "What are you doing to Pearl?"
"Many must be one." They said. "Y-you must be many."
"I'm not gonna work with you!" Steven could feel their frustration, their aching to be whole. But he couldn't understand. They had everything they needed, what could they possibly be talking about…? "You have all the diamonds; you have everything that Homeworld has to offer! What else do you want?!"
Pearl turned around, and the light in her eyes almost blinded him. It felt so… familiar, somehow.
"Needs you!" She grabbed his hand, bringing it closer to her. He thought she was going to throw him into the Light, but… she just made him look into her eyes, as much as it hurt. "He needs you! I need you!"
"What…?" He asked, incredulous. "Diamond needs me? Who's… who's saying that?"
Her eyes shined even more. He had to stop looking. His eyes closed—
And for a second, he saw.
There it was. His own face on a pink outline of his body. Wearing his jacket, jeans, star shirt. Completely deadpan stare.
It has always been there. Looking at him whenever he closed his eyes. Protecting him when he needed to be stronger. The one time they weren't together, it had hurt so much.
Pink Pearl screamed and let go of the Light. Steven held her, both floating around the source of Diamond's mind.
"It's you." Steven said, looking at the mass of light in front of him. The contour of himself was gone, but it was burned into his mind. "All this time, it's… it's been you."
Pink Pearl mumbled, coming back to her senses. "Where… are we? Steven…?" She startled awake, her mind racing. "The Light! Did we do it? Did we figure it out?"
Steven didn't answer. He just kept looking at the Light.
"Steven?" She asked, worried. She could feel his inner struggle but didn't know what to make of it. "What's wrong?"
"I know what we have to do." He said, finally. "I know what I have to do."