So this chapter happened, though I'll admit it's not exactly what I wanted and it is certainly no "Little Rebellions" but finally we get to the part of the story that's going to have wide ramifications in a future...sequel...that should be started sometime after we finish this story! Thanks to everyone who has left comments and faves so far! and to everyone whose reading this! I hope you enjoy the chapter and what comes next. See you tomorrow!
Pearls were made to stand around looking nice and hold your stuff for you. They sang, they danced, and no one expected much more from them. Though that wasn't neccesarily true amongst all gems.
Many used their Pearls to do basic administrative tasks. Yellow Diamonds Pearl often fielded her diamonds calls and summarized reports. White Diamonds first Pearl had sifted through reports for future colony sites and even made suggestions on utilization of their resources.
Even Pink Diamonds former Pearl had been tasked with keeping an eye on White Diamonds 'temporary' human and ordering the materials necessary to keep him alive. So when the first flood of several thousand requisition requests, status updates and court cases appeared in the inbox of Domina's portable terminal Pearl took one look at Domina's overwhelmed expression and offered to sift through a majority of the work herself.
This meant of course that Pearl's stripped down account, that she rarely used for anything more than ordering supplies, was much more active. And that meant that she nearly didn't notice a message sent without a subject line, and without a return sender appear in her inbox amongst a swath of requests for beryls for Blue Diamonds court. Domina was asleep in the next room. After she had nearly passed out on her own terminal several time in the past hour she had decided to go to bed. So Pearl was alone, and she opened the message.
You have what we Need.
help those Unseen.
in what has been forgotTen we wait.
Until the cycles have Passed number eight.
Pearls first reaction was to wonder who in the stars name sends secret messages in cryptic poetry. Her second reaction questioned the capitalization. And her third and much more delayed reaction, that came just before she was about to press 'delete', was that the message was encoded. What made it worse was that she recognized the code from briefings she had attended with her first Diamond.
It was a basic cipher that the rebellion had used to communicate with traitors on the empire's side. The capitalizations combined with word number gave you a set of coordinates on a map that in descending orders of specificity, showed where the meeting was supposed to take place.
In this case a place that was 'forgotten' which, once she double check against a map, was the old kindergartens in the place where the three districts of homeworld met.
Now a proper pearl would inform her owner in an attempt to prove her worth and to save her own nacre. But Pearl knew that if she told Domina about this Domina would want to check it out herself. And she had her suspicions that if she showed up to a clandestine meeting with a diamond in tow, it wouldn't go well for any parties involved.
Her own gem's pinkish light illuminated her way as Pearl descended into the forgotten caverns of homeworld, by her own calculations she would have at least 4 hours to get there and back before Domina awoke and noticed she was gone. The tunnels twisted and turned and finally opened into a large empty cavern. Pearl glanced around with a frown and was about to project a map from her gem to double check her location when someone grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth.
"Are you alone?" A voice said lowly, it clearly belonged to another pearl "I'm going to move my hand so you can answer, please don't scream." after a beat the hand moved.
"Obviously I'm alone, who are you?"
"I told you she'd come." another Pearls voice said. This one soft and not much more than a whisper but Pink Pearl recognized it. She attempted to turn but was held still by the pearl who had grabbed her initially.
"Don't move." The pearl said, before moving her hands, inspecting Pink Pearl for any tracking devices, the familiar voice moved into view.
"Good to see you again Pink." Blue Diamond's Pearl said.
"Blue I thought you were off planet."
"I was, my diamond's ship needed refueling. Jet, leave her alone, I trust her."
"We can't be too careful" The pearl behind her said warningly
"I know, but it's only the three of us, that much is clear."
"Blue what is going on." Pink Pearl asked turning to divide her attention between the two gems. Jet was black, her outfit actually similar to Pearl's own, with ruffled elbow length sleeves and a short skirt, but her leotard was one piece instead of two. Her gem was on her left eye and she looked far more intimidating than a pearl had any business being.
"Yellow has told me you've become essential to White Diamonds administration."
"Domina's. White Diamond is gone."
"Well that's a matter of perspective isn't it?" Blue asked. Jet looked confused but didn't question either of them.
"Perhaps, but if you met her herself you would know she is nothing like White Diamond."
"Very well, but what I said previously is true?"
"I..suppose. I've been simplifying things for her, she has to sleep and take care of biological functions so there's less time for her to tend to matters as normal."
"That does make things simpler for us."
"You still haven't told me what 'us' is Blue." Pink said with a frown. Jet shifted uncomfortable, looking at the entrances to the chambers for any signs of more gems.
"Since the rebellion failed there have been many that saw how much it destabilized the authority." Blue began, "and they have thought that if the situation was handled with a little more... finesse then perhaps some real change could be made."
"So we're talking about treason then."
"Obviously,"
"Why in stars name would I want to be involved in this. If you don't remember that 'destabilization' is what landed me in white diamonds court in the first place." Pink said her voice rising just a little bit.
"Yes I know Pink, and trust me when I say your involvement will be purely from the shadows, more so than even mine is."
"We don't need numbers." Jet said speaking up for the first time. "We have numbers, there's many Pearls, ownerless and otherwise that are more than willing to help."
"Jet is the rebellion's commander. She was a fan of the renegade," Blue smiled slightly at the other pearl. If Jets form could turn any darker Pink was sure it would have. "What we need is supplies."
"The fleet is constantly upgrading weapons and technology." Jet said. "If you could redirect even a fraction of what they decommission to us we could start to stand a chance against the authority." Jet said. Pink Pearl frowned.
"What's in it for me?" Pearl said. There was a pause and Pink looked directly at Blue, attempting to make eye contact through the other gem's bangs. "I'm not White, Blue, I may have her position but I have no inclination to join some rebellion that's almost certainly doomed to failure."
"You don't care about the rest of the Pearls or about any other gem under the Diamonds tyranny?" Jet asked the disapproval obvious in her voice.
"Do you remember what happened after the last rebellion?" Pink Pearl asked spinning to face the black pearl. "Do you remember every Rose Quartz disappearing suddenly? Do you remember the crack down on Pearls travelling alone? Do you remember an entire planet just wiped out for daring to host a group of rebellious gems? It happened less than half a century ago! It's too soon and it's too dangerous!"
"We're not talking about charging at one of the palanquins, or sabotaging kindergartens Pink." Blue said. "We're going to be careful, and we're going to be as unseen as any pearl is. Please. Will you help us?" She brushed her hair aside slightly and looked at Pink pleadingly, "Yellow say's your diamond has been miserable since she got here, this could be a way to free her from all this. We both know that the system is bad for every gem involved in it. Help us take it down."
Pink Pearl didn't say anything for a long time. She remembered the smiles from Domina that had stopped in the months they had been on Homeworld. She remembered the fears from the fleet about who their hybrid child was going to turn into. And she remembered feeling helpless every time Domina attempted to argue with yellow diamond on some part of Homeworlds caste system. Pearl sighed.
"Fine. But If it seems like I'm going to get caught I'm done, I need to be there for her." She said. Blue nodded.
"I understand, Jet will fill you in on what we need and where it needs sent. And Pink? Thank you."