Chapter Nine: Old World

Homeworld, Aquarius Sector.

The Soul Evaporator descended through the sky towards the docks near Emerald's place of residence. Setting down among the other ships, the three sole inhabitants disembarked.

As they walked down Homeworld's crowded streets, Pearl couldn't help but look up at the stars again. It wasn't just that she was worried about Goshenite. She wasn't solely worried about Tenrit, or Nines, or anyone fighting the Interlopers somewhere out there. She was more concerned with Gemkind as a whole.

If Tanzanite noticed her unease, she pretended she hadn't. Onyx, however, caught on fairly quickly. "You okay, little buddy?" she asked the pink Gem.

"Huh? Oh, it...it's nothing," she responded. "I just wish I could do more to help, that's all."

"Don't we all?" said Onyx.

And they did. But as much as each of them wanted to do more for their home, for their people, orders were orders. They soon arrived at Emerald's place, retreating within.

The house was quiet. It had been for the past few months, and apart from then, it had been quiet for centuries before. Emerald had never been one to throw lavish, extravagant parties (that was Morganite's job), but she sometimes allowed company over. This was before Pearl had come into the picture, of course. But Onyx and Tanzanite still had memories of those days.

Sitting around and reminiscing would accomplish nothing, so Pearl excused herself to the basement. Granted, talking to EMerald wouldn't have accomplished anything either in the long run, but void if it wouldn't make her feel better. She descended the staircase to see the beast that was once Emerald lying down behind a layer of two-inch-thick glass. She approached the still form of her former guardian, leaning up against the glass wall.

"Hey, My Emerald," she said softly. The monster didn't stir; she must have been asleep. "So, my time on Chiron Beta Prime was pretty eventful. I met with some old friends. Then some off-colors showed up. Goshenite tried to fight them, but I know you wouldn't have. Right?" When there was no answer, she continued. "But then, things got even worse. Some Interlopers arrived, if you can believe that. Everyone had to work together with the off-colors to fight them, and then Goshenite let them fix their ship and leave. The off-colors, I mean, not the Interlopers. I figured you'd like that."

Emerald stirred slightly in her sleep. It almost sounded like she was urging Pearl to continue. So she did.

"Apparently, this bigshot Interloper was there, too. His name was Primax Teptromina, or something like that. We managed to beat him, but he said he was coming back. I…" She turned around. Emerald had woken up, her numerous eyes fixed on the Gem on the other side of the glass. She hadn't made a sound. "...I wish you were back, My Emerald. Things would be so much easier with you here."

"Pearl?" Tanzanite's voice could be heard calling out from upstairs. "Where did you go?"

"I'm down here!" Pearl called back. "I know it seems weird that I'm the one complaining," she continued to Emerald. "After all, you're the one stuck here. Unless…" Pearl stood up, stepping back to get a better view of Emerald and her containment.

She heard the footsteps before she saw Onyx appear. "I told her you'd be down here," the large Quartz said. "Room for one more?"

"Oh...sure," Pearl said. She had fully expected Onyx to try and bring her back upstairs, but this was a welcome change. "I'm sure Emerald enjoys the company."

Onyx met Emerald's gaze, but didn't seem to pick up any emotions in the many eyes. "I'm...sure she does," she said. She sat down on the floor with her legs crossed. "So, about what you were saying earlier. About doing more to help...you do know you don't have to, right?"

"But I want to."

That was exactly the reaction she had expected. Onyx sighed. "Yeah, I know ya do. I know you really want to fill Emerald's shoes, but at the end of the day, you're just a...okay, not 'just' a Pearl, but you still are a Pearl. And I know Emerald wouldn't appreciate me saying this, but Pearls aren't really supposed to do much of anything."

Pearl placed a hand against the glass. She seemed to be looking at Emerald, but she was really examining her reflection. "I won't argue with you, Onyx. Because I know you're right. Pearls aren't supposed to do anything. And yet...I feel like I'm different. I can't say exactly how, or why, but it's just a feeling I have."

Onyx shifted uncomfortably. The last Pearl who ended up feeling 'different' wound up as Rose Quartz's second in command. "Emerald did a lot for you," she continued. "She did for all of us. But you don't have to be the one to fill her shoes. None of us do."

"I'm not trying to be Emerald, I'm just trying to do my part for Homeworld!" Pearl said. "Like I did on Moridius. If I hadn't broken out of the Reef, the Interlopers would have taken the planet. If I hadn't fused with Emerald, and taken down Zirconium, then who knows what-"

"Wait, hang on, what!?" said Onyx, getting to her feet. "You...you fused? With Emerald?"

"W-well, yeah," Pearl said. "We kind of didn't have a choice. Zirconium was trying to crush us, and Emerald kept telling me everything was okay-Why's it so wrong?"

"Pearl…" Onyx said, slowly approaching the pink Gem. "Gems of two different types aren't supposed to fuse. Ever. You and Emerald could get in serious trouble for this if anyone finds out."

"But it was only once, and it was an emergency!" Pearl protested. "I don't see why-Wait, you won't tell anyone, will you?"

Onyx shook her head emphatically. "No, no, of course not. I would never. You and Emerald are my friends. I just wanted to make sure you know that something like that isn't supposed to happen. It can't happen."

As she processed this, Pearl found that her reflection was glaring back at her. "But why? It doesn't make sense!" She began pacing back and forth through the room. "Why does Homeworld hate mixed-Gem fusions so much? Why do they hate off-colors so much? You know, Emerald once told me that the Earth War probably wouldn't have happened if Homeworld didn't treat off-colors like trash!"

"Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't, I don't know," Onyx said. "But what I do know is that there's nothing we can do right now."

"But I hate being so helpless!" said Pearl. "The Interlopers are out there, tearing our colonies apart, and we have to just sit here on this planet while-" She fell silent. "What if...we could do something?"

"Like what?" asked Onyx.

Pearl continued. "That Cairngorm that was with Goshenite, I've seen her before. She works for Maxixe, but she would go up to talk with Goshenite sometimes. So if she's friends with Goshenite, and works for Maxixe…"

Onyx didn't follow.

"...then she'll have access to all sorts of classified data, and she'll be willing to share it with us!" Pearl finished. "What do you think? Onyx?"

Onyx wasn't listening, or at least wasn't looking at Pearl. Her gaze had traveled up towards the ceiling, where it rested on a trio of green bubbles, each holding a gemstone. One was a Topaz several sizes too small, one was an Amber-colored oval, and one was black and looked like several shards forcibly stuck together. "I knew her," she said.

"Which one?" asked Pearl.

"That one, the Onyx," Onyx said, pointing at the mutilated black Gem. "You remember her, right? Onix, from Zirconium's group."

"I remember all of them," said Pearl. "Emerald didn't have the heart to turn them in after she defeated Pythoriax."

She waited a brief moment to be sure Pearl was done, before continuing. "She was actually my commanding officer," Onyx said. "Bravest Gem I ever knew. I actually thought she had been shattered after she disappeared, but I guess she fell in with the wrong crowd." She looked directly at Pearl. "It's a real shame. All she wanted was to be free. And after all she did for Homeworld, she couldn't be. She still can't be."

"So, what are you saying?" asked Pearl.

"I'm saying that you, me, and Tanz are going to do everything we can to beat the Interlopers," Onyx answered. "It's what P7K would have wanted."

Pearl beamed. "I knew you'd come around eventually, Onyx," she said. "But if we're gonna do this, there's something I need from you first."

"I need you to let Emerald out," Pearl said, pointing at the monstrous figure behind the glass wall.

"Pearl, have you lost it!?" Onyx said. "I know you love her, and I'm sure she loves you, but she's not herself right now. It's too dangerous."

"I will do it." Both of them turned to see that Tanzanite had made her way into the basement, unnoticed.

"Uh...how long have you been there?" asked Onyx.

"Long enough," Tanzanite replied. She slowly strolled over to a control panel next to the glass barrier. "Pearl, I have been monitoring your interactions with Emerald in her current state," she said. "Despite whatever factors may be affecting her mind and body, she does appear to recognize you. This is still, however, very dangerous, as she is incredibly unpredictable in this state. I will only release her if you exercise extreme caution-that goes for both of you." The pair agreed.

Tanzanite held her hand out towards the panel. All five of her fingers extended and snaked their way through the cracks and seams in the device, travelling through its inner workings. After only a few seconds, a tone sounded, and the glass wall gradually rose up to the ceiling.

Too busy focusing on the rising wall, it took Emerald a moment to realize she had been freed. Once she did, her attention turned to the trio of Gems on the outside. She recognized them, and yet, her monstrous form made processing this information difficult. She took a few steps forwards.

"Easy, Mera, easy," said Onyx, holding out a hand. "We're your friends. Right?"

Pearl, standing the closest, was the first one she approached. She leaned her snout closer to the pink Gem, giving her a few curious sniffs. A curious sound escaped her throat, sounding almost like a growl, but much gentler.

"She…I think she remembers us," Pearl said. She reached out a hand to touch Emerald's mane; the corrupted Gem made no effort to stop her. "Emerald?" Their gazes met. Behind her monstrous appearance, buried deep down, a faint glimmer of Emerald's true self was still visible.

"Alright, well, that's all fine and good, but what are we supposed to do with her?" asked Onyx. "I'd like to bring her with us as much as the next Gem, but wouldn't walking around with her like this raise some suspicions?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," said Pearl. "But I think I have a solution."

She stepped closer to Emerald's left foreleg, where her gem resided. Moving cautiously so as not to startle or upset her, Pearl placed both of her hands over the gemstone.

"I've never done this before, only seen it. But it should work if I do it right…" she said. She closed her eyes to concentrate. A pink glow emanated from her hands. Following this, Emerald's physical form was retreating back towards her gemstone. It wasn't as though she was being destabilized; merely reforming in reverse. By the time the glowing subsided, Pearl stood with a pink bubble in her hands, containing Emerald's gem.

"How 'bout that?" said Onyx, examining the bubble. "Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"Morganite showed me," Pearl answered. "Back in the early days of Era-2. She taught me a lot of things, actually."

"Now that Emerald has been safely contained, I suggest we make our leave," Tanzanite said. "We will need to acquire the fifth member of our party if we wish to proceed."

"Let's go," Pearl agreed. "Onyx, lead the way!"

Capital District. Goshenite's residence.

The last thing Cairngorm remembered before having her physical form vaporized was the beams from that Interloper superweapon barrelling down towards her. Now that she was back to her senses, she quickly scanned her surroundings. She seemed to be in a side room of some sort, with a handful of bubbled Gems around her. Three figures stood in front of her, one carrying another bubble.

"W-wha?" she asked, sounding somewhat dazed? "Where am I? Who are you all? What happened on CBP?"

"Goshenite's house, friends of hers, and they fought the Interlopers off, in that order," said Onyx.

Cairngorm nodded. "Okay, alright, I guess that sort of explains what's going on here. I don't suppose someone could give me a little more?"

"We'll explain what happened on the way," Pearl said, "but right now, we could really use your help. You work for the Grand Spymaster, right?"

"That I do!" Cairngorm said proudly. "I'm one of My Maxixe's favorite spies!"

"Highly doubtful, but we have no other options," Tanzanite said. "Goshenite has gone off to the front lines to confront the leader of the Interlopers in person, and we-"

"Goshie went to fight them alone!?" exclaimed Cairngorm. "Say no more, what do you need me to do?"

"We need to fight the Interlopers," Pearl said. "And to do that, we need information, most likely the classified kind. And to get that, we'll need your help."

"Doin' a little espionage work, eh?" said Cairngorm. She let out a small chuckle. "Lady, you came to the right Gem!"