It was quiet inside the hover. Pearl could appreciate that. Compared to what happened in Seaglass, even the fact she was crushed against Tiger's Eye and Amethyst didn't bother her.

What did bother her was that Greg was in the front, sitting next to Rose. Sure, he looked shaken, but he also hadn't been in the house the entire time the Quartzes were in. He hadn't seen what had went on.

On that thought, neither had Pearl.

Everyone was quiet. Pearl could see that Ruby was guiltily touching her hand. Rose's eyes were wide, like she was in shock.

Pearl couldn't see Sapphire, but she certainly felt the cold radiating off of her.

Finally, she rested back into her thoughts. She ignored the fields flying past her. She wanted to ask them. But what would their reactions be? She thought on it for a few seconds, but no ideas came out besides angry.

She'd been shouted at before — not by Rose of course — but she was used to it.

"What happened in there?" she asked, her hands automatically reaching for her veil.

There was an even more uncomfortable silence, until Two gems spoke up at once. She couldn't get all the words, but she heard "We fused," and "Cracked a Gem."

Pearl stiffened. She looked around the hover. Someone had fused? It certainly wasn't Amethyst who'd fused, nor Tiger's Eye. They'd been with Pearl. She stopped for a second and gaped.

Ruby and Sapphire? She felt a tug of disgust in her stomach. More at Sapphire than Ruby. Ruby'd shown her nature that night, so Pearl wasn't surprised. But Sapphire? A high-ranking rare gem, going off and fusing? She felt a bit sick.

On that note, if Ruby wasn't above fusing, she certainly wasn't above cracking a Gem. She sat for a second, tugging at her veil. "She wasn't shattered, was she?"

Rose turned, and the hover shook before it steadied and kept on going. "She might as well have been."

She noticed that nobody in the car was speaking. She could see a small flicker from Ruby, which was promptly put out by Sapphire.

Why should she have been shattered? What did Ruby do?

Peridot chimed in immediately like she was reading Pearl's mind. "Well, when a gem cracks and goes unhealed for long enough, they go through a process that almost makes them bestial. Lemme see what it's called." Her arms opened up to show a bight screen that nearly blinded Pearl. The hover quivered for a second before levelling out again. "Corruption, I guess. That's the only term I could find."

Pearl had to look around Tigers' Eye to see Peridot. The green-skinned Gem's face started out curious. Her eyebrows and mouth turned downwards as her eyes flickered over text that Pearl couldn't understand. Finally, her brows shot up and her mouth gaped open.

"Oh my stars," Pearl heard her whisper.

What was going on that made her look like this? "Tell me!" Pearl said.

"To a Pearl?" she scoffed. "No thanks."

Underneath Pearl, Tiger's Eye shifted. "How about to a Quartz?"

She had to glance at Rose to see if she would approve of it. She just seemed stiffer than before.

Peridot sighed. "Fine. Gems, when corrupted," she began, "regain their form, but not as bipedal creatures. They reform into monsters. Some studies prove that half-shattered Gems still have consciousness, and are… trapped in their new forms… trying to escape forever…" She paused and glared at first Tiger's Eye then Pearl. "Do you want me to keep going."

"I've seen worse," Tiger's Eye said, but Pearl wasn't feeling up to it.

"Fine. The studies also show that there's no way to get a Gem out of this state short of shattering them. There. That's all I can say without showing you pictures."

Pearl receded back into her seat, clutching the velvet tightly. Tiger's Eye didn't seem to say anything either.

A chuckle broke through the new silence. Pearl stared in shock as Ruby soon was doubling over from laughter. Flames popped off her fingers and her nails glowed. "Serves them right!"

Pearl shuddered. "How could you?"

"Come on. Their existence killed all of them!"

Tiger's Eye stiffened and Pearl shrunk back. No. She shouldn't crunch. "Oh yes, because Quartzes were the ones who shattered—"

"Stop!" Rose shouted. Pearl immediately shrunk in her shoulders and stared at Rose. She turned around to face all of them. "Just… please. Stop talking. Please." She sighed and turned back around so she was facing forwards.

Pearl watched the grass fly by them, long enough to rub against the bottom of the hover. It seemed to whip by in the wind as well, almost glowing silver under the moonlight.

"That's exactly what they did," Ruby muttered. Pearl twisted to glance at her, but first met an angry glare from Amethyst. "All those Kindergarten Quartzes. They were literally ordered to shatter us. But what do I know?" she said, flaring her hands out. "I'm just a grunt-soldier. Only good when fused."

Pearl blinked at her, pursing her lips. Was she mentioning small insults aimed at her like they had been aimed at Pearl? Why? They resonated off of her, but she didn't say anything.

Just a maid. Some pretty frills to brighten up her mistress' estate. She'd heard all of them before, but had only assumed it was a Pearl kind of thing.

To think about it, she'd forgotten the days where she had been poking fun at Rubies in her own mind.

She turned her face up to Amethyst. She grimaced, trying to apologize, but it didn't come across like it had any bit of friendliness to it. She curled her large lips up, like she was telling Pearl to "Screw off," or whatever human words she wanted to use to tell her to go away.

She turned away, leaning back onto the chair. Stars, she just wished she could be at their new base already. There, she might have something to wrap her head around. For now though, it was nothing but her, the other Gems, a human, and unbearable awkwardness.

AN: Alright, I wholeheartedly apologize for not updating in so long. I moved though!

Also I'd really like to state that given the recent episodes, I understand pretty much all of my headcanons about the Gems are wrong. Blue Diamond is Lapis theory, the Rubies being shattered... yeah. Sadly, I cannot change these parts of the story. But yeah, these are some canon inaccuracies that I'm 100% okay with, lol. :)