'Enforcer Noctilith will be here to see you shortly.' Lapis Lazuli mentally repeated those words as she mused over what the quartz escorting her had said before they left her alone in the stark white metal room - and for more than one reason. First of all was that this 'Noctilith' had certainly been taking their time, if she had to make an estimate then she guessed that she had been waiting here for nearly two hours at least.
Secondly, she had never even heard of a Noctilith before. Lapis briefly remembered about a time near the end of the rebellion, she had overheard rumours from a group of Peridots that had passed her by, though she heard little of their conversation she remembered how hushed and secretive they sounded. They had spoken of a project, supposedly with the goal of preventing future rebellions from ever occurring.
With that memory in mind Lapis wondered if the result of that project had been a new gem type, but at that thought her curiousity was replaced with unease. She had been mistaken as a rebel once before and the treatment she received upon arriving back in the Empire hadn't exactly been the most welcoming. The fact they had been referred to with the title of 'enforcer' did little to comfort her either.
She looked around the empty room for another time, and this time it started to feel a lot more like a prison cell. Though it lacked the destabilisation field around the door, it had all the other markings of a cell. Hard metal making up every surface, a plain undecorated interior and a security detail of quartzes making their patrols around the facility.
Lapis let out a resigned sigh as she realised how little chance of escape there was from here. She had little intent of being misidentified as a rebel and being turned into a prisoner again, and so she resolved to try and convince them that she was not. After seeing how the Empire had changed in the past few millennia she knew it was likely her only hope.
She started anxiously tapping her feet as a sudden jolt of nervousness began emanating from her mind, but it did little to help ease her. If anything the sensation began growing in intensity until it morphed into palpable fear, then from fear it evolved into absolute terror. Lapis' tapping soon grew more rapid and intense, then she started clenching her fist and closing her eyes as if someone was about to strike her. After waiting in custody for so long she had already started feeling anxious, but this was something else entirely, and she hadn't the faintest clue on where it had come from.
At last she heard the door at the front of the room hissed open, prompting Lapis to instantly halt her actions and stand to attention. But she could not halt her unnatural paranoia however, and it only appeared to increase in strength as the other gem that had just entered the room closed the distance between them. From their sheer presence alone it was not hard for her to understand that this was enforcer Noctilith.
Lapis tried to look over them as best as her suddenly ailing mind would allow. They wore limb enhancers like most era 2 gems - which she had quickly learnt was because they needed to compensate for the rationed resources involved in creating them affecting their final quality. But unlike them Noctilith did not look as if she really needed them. Even without them on she looked as if she could still match an era 1 quartz in height, though she did seem to have been built with a bit less bulk than one.
She found most of their physical form as mostly unremarkable. They possessed a drab dark grey coloured body, straight jet black hair tied in a near spherical bun and a simple uniform in the typical style most gems in service to the Empire wore - in their case the symbol on their uniform was that of a white diamond. Despite the fact that also they had a solid white visor that hid their eyes, Lapis could still feel Noctilith's withering gaze pierce through it and analysing every bit of her form as if to pick out any minute flaw they could find.
With the colour scheme of the location she found herself kept in Lapis was sure that she would have to meet with a gem of the white court, but that didn't mean she dreaded the prospect any less. Gems of the white court were few and far between but had a reputation for being unyielding, unbending and even uncaring at times. And this was even before the rebellion, she could only wonder in apprehension of how much more callous they would have grown after it.
What also caused Lapis concern was the massive dual tipped spear Noctilith carried, even from where she stood she could tell it was far longer than she was tall. Though what was strange about the weapon was how it did not match the colour scheme of the rest of the white court, or any of the mainly monotone palettes of the Empire. A mute, metallic grey thing it was, with thin lines across its shaft and dual blades that glowed a faint, yet eerie green.
Noctilith strode over to the middle of the room where Lapis was with silent authority in her step while maintaining her appraising stare. She stopped once a meter away from them and soon after the fingers of their limb enhancers floated off from the rest of the hand and touched down on the floor, prompting three squares of light to briefly emanate where they made contact. From these squares blocks of unshaped hardlight then rose up and solidified to form three structures - a plain table with two seats on either side.
The fingers flew up from the floor and back to Noctilith's limb enhancers before they moved again in a single circular motion, gesturing Lapis to take a seat. Once both sides sat down she felt the mounting pressure on her psyche suddenly cease. Though she noted that the moment her mind calmed the temperature of the room rapidly dropped and minute ice crystals began forming, despite the complete lack of moisture she had detected in either the air or on any of the surfaces.
To her surprise Lapis also began feeling mild discomfort in her gemstone as the water stored inside there began freezing too, the sharp ice crystals that formed now stabbing at her from within. She was at a loss on how to rationalise these events, but her focus was now directed elsewhere as she hoped to pass whatever invisible categories were going to be in the coming interview, for she had a strong feeling that her life likely depended on it.
Now that they had sat down Lapis could get a better look at the enforcer's gemstone and she now knew with certainty that it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was a small pyramid shaped object placed in the middle of her neck some distance below her chin. The stone itself looked like a smooth black rock that vaguely reminded Lapis of a snowflake obsidian, yet unlike an obsidian it had an unusual metallic sheen and was quietly thrumming with unknown energy.
Three fingers from Noctilith's left limb enhancer flew off to the side and formed a floating triangle that held her spear aloft. Then four fingers from her right limb enhancer flew in front of her to form a frame that began to emit holoscreen, which the remaining finger on that limb enhancer began swiping away at. Lapis watched on as pages upon pages full of detailed information on other gems rapidly whizzed by until it finally stopped on one file - hers.
"Lapis Lazuli, Cabochon-7N4R, Cut-9HG. Member of terraforming squad Sol-3. Last known mission: Temporarily assigned to Earth colonisation effort and tasked with making the planet's conditions as efficient as possible for gem cultivation and habitation." Noctilith laid out her life as plainly as one could state the time before pausing and intently waiting for a response. Lapis had no idea how to respond aside from doing a curt nod in confirmation, which finally prompted her to continue after a tense silence.
"You were presumed lost after the Crystal Gems launched a surprise attack to eliminate squad Sol-3, later intelligence shows that likely did this because they knew of your importance to the planet's colonisation." She let a hint of venom infect her tone at the very mention of the rebels before becoming impassive again. "Assumed status: Destroyed, or captured by rebels." Noctilith announced her supposed death as if it was simply a daily production quota.
"However, it appears your current status is contradictory to what is in the records. An explanation of the true events from your perspective is required to correct this." She finished.
"That is mostly right," Lapis nodded again. "When I was sent to Earth it was only meant to have been for a short stay, just long enough for me to transport all the water off-world. But only a few days after my arrival, the area I was currently working in had a battle take place and I was caught right in the middle of it, I tried to escape but I was ambushed and poofed by one of the rebels." Lapis recounted. Normally there would have been more sorrow in her tone, but Noctilith's presence terrorised her into speaking with flat formality.
"But what is different is that I was not shattered in the battle or captured, at least not by the rebels in the beginning. What happened was that after the battle my gemstone was found by a homeworld soldier who placed me inside a mirror, they thought I was one of the Crystal Gems. They interrogated me for months, asking me about battle plans, base locations or names of rebels. But I didn't know anything and I had no way to tell them I wasn't a rebel." Lapis continued.
"Later, in the evacuation of Earth I was lost in the panic. The person carrying the mirror was making their way to the Earth galaxy warp, but they dropped it and someone behind them rushed over it and stepped on my gemstone, cracking me in the process. After that the last thing I could see was the flashing of the galaxy warp as it activated and ships flying away from the planet before a brief, but bright light covered everything." She said with the slightest hint of misery. However Noctilith continued to indifferently type on her holoscreen - either having not picked up on it or simply not caring for Lapis' plight.
"For who knows how long I sat there at the galaxy warp, but I was trapped in the mirror and unable to move or free myself. Eventually one of the Crystal Gems - I think it was the renegade Pearl - came there, picked up the mirror and hid me away inside her gemstone." She added.
Noctilith immediately stopped typing and locked her head to face Lapis, noticing a few small details in her story. "You said you were cracked and later stored inside a pearl's gemstone, correct? Yet your form shows no sign of damage and you have somehow escaped, were you set free and repaired in some way? If so by who?" She inquired, causing Lapis to erupt in wide eyed panic.
"Oh… uh. I, well- what happened was..." She silenced herself as she thought of the best way to explain the events without mentioning Steven. If she could sweat, then right now she would have been sweating bullets as she realised what she had just let slip. Though her freedom may depend on it, she didn't want to incriminate the only person who had even bothered helping her in millennia, especially not in front of someone like Noctilith.
Only a few moments of Lapis not speaking was enough for them to justify taking action against her, Noctilith brought all the fingers of her right limb enhancer back. She then directed her outstretched hand at her before tightly clenching it. The second the action was done Lapis felt an agonising pain strike her from the inside, she suddenly cried out in anguish and flinched so violently that she nearly hit her head on the table.
She barely held in her screams as she clutched her head and tightly shut her eyes in a fruitless attempt to shut out her most repressed memories as they were made to replay over and over again. It felt as if they had been forcibly ripped out from the deepest recesses of her mind and then shunted to the forefront where they were magnified to be even more vivid than when she had actually lived through them.
Even through the tumult unfolding in her mind it did not take Lapis long to realise that it was Noctilith's doing. She also quickly understood what this demonstration of power was for, It was to show her the futility of defiance. While it seemed that Noctilith did not touch the memories related to her final few days spent on Earth, Lapis now knew that either she would speak the truth, or the truth would be torn out of her.
Though her immense relief it seemed that while Noctilith made the demonstration quite potent, she only intended it to have been brief. It was not long before she retracted her hand away from Lapis and sent her right limb enhancer's fingers out to form the holoscreen again, but she made one final action to truly hone in the point.
"Withholding or falsifying important information to authorities will not be tolerated and shall be met with severe punishment." Lapis had to resist jolting in her seat as she heard Noctilith's voice whisper to her despite them not having moved their mouth at all. If this new gem type was how the Empire intended to stop any future rebellions then she had to agree, from what little of them she had seen so far, that they were horrifyingly effective.
"...I'm not even sure how to explain some of what happened." Lapis said after having taken a few breaths to try and steady herself. "B- but i'll try." She hastily added in an attempt to appease Noctilith, who thankfully took no further action and instead silently began waiting for the rest of the explanation.
"Around a few weeks before I arrived back on Homeworld the renegade pearl finally released the mirror from her gemstone, there was another member of the Crystal Gems there with her too at the time, but I don't think they were a gem." Lapis stopped for a moment to ponder. "Now that I look back at it, I think that they might've been a human." She mentioned, sounding somewhat unsure, before moving on.
"The pearl started asking me to show the galaxy warp, but I refused to show her anything - I think she was doing it to teach the human about gems. But because of my refusal to show anything, and the visible damage I had taken, I made her think that the mirror had broken. So she gave me away to the human thinking I was just a harmless trinket." Lapis said with hidden disdain, but still being careful not to mention Steven's name.
"So that's when I took my chance. I used the limited amount of clips of speech I had while in the mirror to talk with and then make friends with the human, but that did nearly backfire because he thought he'd fixed the mirror, so he went back to the Crystal Gem's base to show them. After that they tried taking me back from him but I convinced him not to."
Noctilith held up a finger to stop Lapis from talking any further before temporarily closing the document she was currently writing and moving on to open a file that contained what appeared to be a compilation of gems, all of them highlighted as being wanted as traitors and rebels. "Did any of the other individuals you saw present in their base match these images?" She asked as she turned the holoscreen around to face Lapis.
"Oh, here's two of them. But there was also one other, I only saw them for a few seconds but I think they were an amethyst." She told Noctilith as she tapped on the images that were labelled with the rather unflattering monikers of 'renegade pearl' and 'false garnet'. Though Lapis may have developed some amount of caring for Steven, she had nearly no qualms in exposing the other Crystal Gems for having kept her as their prisoner for so long.
Noctilith turned the holoscreen back to herself before then filtering out the individuals from the database based on the information she had given to her. Moments later she had already finished sorting the files and she turned the screen back around for Lapis to see if they recognised the third rebel she saw among them.
"No, none of these look like her." Lapis replied after carefully scrutinising each one, keen to avoid another invasive mental scrying.
"Was Rose Quartz present at all?" Noctilith questioned, straight to the point as ever.
"I'm not sure, but I didn't see her with the rebels any of the times they confronted me." She answered, causing Noctilith to subtly hum in mild irritation as she nodded for Lapis to continue her end of the story.
"When the false garnet was about to take me, the human struck them and they ran away from their base while taking the mirror with them. They hid behind a rock and asked me what to do, so I showed them images of how to take my gemstone out from the mirror. Thankfully they understood what I meant and they removed me, which finally let me take my physical form again." Lapis sighed tiredly as if she was still fresh from being released.
"After a short fight with the rebels I escaped to the ocean, but I was still cracked so I couldn't fly away from Earth. So Instead I tried using all the planet's water to build a tower back up to Homeworld, I knew it wouldn't work, but after being trapped for so long I had to at least try something." She said. Her grief, though diluted by fear, emphasising the last few words of her sentence.
"...The Crystal Gems along with three humans came to confront me. I easily held the rest of them off, but the same human from before talked me into letting them up the tower to speak to me. He promised that he didn't want to fight me, but also wanted me to give the planet's water back, and in return for it he would heal me." Lapis spoke after taking a few breaths to calm herself
"So I allowed him to try, and to my surprise it actually worked. Since he kept his end of the promise I kept mine, after that I let go of my control over Earth's water and flew back to Homeworld." She had been reluctant to add that final part, but Lapis knew the consequences for her would be far greater if she didn't.
"What method did he use to heal you?" Noctilith asked the moment she finished her story.
"Oh. He… he put his spit on my gemstone." Lapis awkwardly replied to the stone faced enforcer.
Once she wrapped up her recollection of events Lapis absentmindedly began to pay attention to the rapidly growing document that was on Noctilith's holoscreen. Paragraphs upon paragraphs speedily materialised - despite her typing with only a single finger - along with accompanying notes being tacked onto the more important pieces of information. With the speed they were making them at Lapis could only read a few of said notes, but what she managed to see was disconcerting to say the least.
'Theoretical: Rebels have possibly begun recruiting humans and informing them of gem technology.'
'Assessment: Likely an attempt to bolster their numbers or prepare a defence force intended to repel any force sent to Earth. Any mission to the planet should now be armed to deal with this.'
'Theoretical: Rose Quartz, by unknown means, has successfully spread her knowledge of gem repair to others.'
'Assessment: Rebels now potentially have multiple places to regroup and recover.'
'On incident 2-S3-A: The disappearance of the red eye sent to monitor Earth indicates that it may have been detected and destroyed by rebellion remnants. The rebels are now possibly alerted of the Empire's renewed attention of the planet and they may be organising defensive measures. These developments will prove detrimental to the success of the planned cluster monitoring mission, reinforcements for it will be required.'
Lapis would be lying if she said that she didn't at least partially care about Steven for what he did, and so she felt especially worried for his safety after taking a glance at the final note.
'Addendum: The capture and study of the human or other individuals demonstrating the ability of gem repair would be beneficial to the continued existence of the Empire. I suggest adding it as a secondary objective of cluster monitoring mission, or the creation of an independent mission with it as the main objective.' Noctilith finished typing. Afterwards she collapsed the frame of the holoscreen and brought her right limb enhancer's fingers back to the hand while her left limb enhancer's fingers towed her spear floating back to her grasp.
"Is there any more information on the rebels that you are able to provide?" Noctilith asked one last time.
"No, that's all I was able to find out." Lapis responded back truthfully. Yet, despite her honesty, as the words left her mouth she felt a small prickling sensation in her mind for a few seconds as Noctilith began a more gentle, but still quite invasive scrying of her thoughts.
"Your cooperation has been noted. However; you have informed me that during your time on Earth you worked with a member of the Crystal Gems, and while in this context it is not totally treasonous, you shall stay here until such time that a thorough investigation on you can be conducted." Noctilith said cooly to Lapis as she stood up from her seat.
"Wait, what?! But you know that I'm not a- a- reb-" Lapis found herself struggling to speak as that same sheer terror she felt when Noctilith first entered the room overtook her, she could only look on in despair as she helplessly sat in her chair, watching on while the door closed behind Noctilith. Leaving her to be once more alone inside the maddeningly plain room.