The stars twinkled from their places in the sky, shining and glittering millions of miles away. Pearl sighed, the tight feeling in her lungs going nowhere. She'd been dead for only a few hours now, the initial shock still strong. The girl got to her feet, gravity still planting her two feet on the ground, but not as strong as when she was living.
When I was living.
The words had a sour taste on Pearls tongue, as if they weren't supposed to be said in that order. She stepped over to her body, still in pristine condition. It looked as if any second now she would just get back up and walk away. But that would never happen, her heart and lungs stopped working hours ago. Pearl placed a hand on top of her dead body. She could still feel her dead fingers, waiting any second for them to heat up and have blood rush through them once again.
Walking away as fresh tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, Pearl looked up to the sky, dawn just beginning to crack the dark night. Flecks of pink, orange and red splattered against the blackish navy blue night sky, creating ng what could've been framed in an art museam. But at the same time, the colours were dull greys, just adding to the blackness of the sky. Sunrises weren't as beautiful now that Pearl was dead, something she feared would happen.
"I'm dead." Pearl said aloud, taking a stroll through the garbage dump. "I'm dead, I'm really dead." She repeated, the sounds of the words somewhat comforting. Pearl laughed, not out of joy but of insanity. "I'll never breathe again, never eat, never smell the roses..." Tears were now streaming down the pale ghosts face, leaving trails on her translucent skin. Spinning and dancing around in the garbage dump, she laughed and smiled, though smile forced and laughter fake. Her dancing stopped, the pale gam standing and staring into the greyish sunrise. "I-I'll..." She choked on her words, forcing them out of her mouth. "I'll never hold Steven again..."
The words came out in a squeak of a tone, barely making any sound at all. If ghosts could run out of tears, Pearl would've gone dry hours ago. She dried her eyes with the corner of her bloodstained sash, watching as the sun rose over the horizon. "Garnet is probably worried sick about me." Pearl strolled through the junkyard, closing her eyes and trusting her feet to take her where she needed to go.
Pearl was silent, gracefully and swiftly walking out of the junkyard and onto the short highway that led to Beach City. She opened her eyes, watching as the city drew nearer. Stopping in her tracks and rethinking her decisions, she heard the rumble of a van speeding down the highway. Pearl turned around, scared for a moment before she realized that she couldn't get any worse than she already was.
Then to her great surprise, the van kept driving, passing through Pearl. The drivers expression remained the same, as if he hadn't seen Pearl in the first place. The feeling of being passed through was not pleasant, as if someone had pushed all her organs along with the car. It made Pearl nauseous, though there wasn't anything to throw up.
The ghostly gem was still quite confused. "Can't you see me..." Pearl asked, more as a statement than a question. She continued down the highway, coming onto the Beach City Boardwalk. Standing smack dab in the middle of a crowd and waving her arms frantically, none of the pedestrians even batted an eye. Slightly frustrated, Pearl took a deep breath (which she really didn't need) and screamed.
"CAN ANY OF YOU SEE ME?"
Again, nobody noticed. The frustration in Pearls chest turned to sadness, realizing that she was forever invisible. The unpleasant feeling of being passed through shook Pearl up once again, which would have made her mad, but her eyes welled up once she saw who it was.
"Have you seen a slim girl, 'bout 5'7", short hair, anywhere?" Garnet, in her thick accent asked the young boy working the fry shop, who shook his head. The tall gem sighed. "Thanks 'nyway." She walked back toward the temple after a morning of no luck with finding Pearl, which was clearly starting to worry Garnet, as she was like Pearls mother; always looking out for her and caring for her.
Pearl trailed in Garnets footprints, following behind the Crystal Gem. She reached out an arm, when Garnet stopped in her tracks. Pearls hand was touching Garnets back, making the hairs on the taller gems neck stand up. Garnet turned around, rubbing her neck while scanning for what felt like a touch. She shrugged, as she saw nobody there, then kept walking towards the temple.
Pearl broke inside; Garnet couldn't even tell she was there. "Garnet... Why can't you just see me?" Pearl nearly screamed, grabbing hold of her hair with her fingers. The leader of the Crystal Gems kept walking, oblivious to the gem breaking down behind her. "Anybody..." Pearl dropped to her knees, making tiny indents in the sand. "I'm going insane here..."
Garnet turned around this time, squinting at what she saw as a thin white cloud, hardly visible in the bright sunlight. The tall gem had searched for hours all night for Pearl, so her eyes were quite tired. As she strained to see into the seemingly empty air, the shape of a person could be made out.
Pearls eyes lit up as another expression crossed Garnets face, but it quickly fell. Instead of the happiness or sorrow that was expected, she saw fear instead. From behind her visor Pearl could see her eyes widen, irises and pupils covering her eyes. "...Garnet?" Pearl asked, getting to her feet and taking a step closer to the taller gem, who opened her mouth and said,
"Oh my goodness."
