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"Rose, why are we going to the library?" Pearl asks, hurrying to catch up with Rose, "I'm supposed to be preparing the report on W8890's sixth facet and-"
"Don't worry about it," Rose laughs, patting Pearl's back, "You'll have plenty of time to finish your report when we get back, okay?"
"Okay... but can you at least tell me what we're doing here?" Pearl looks at Rose's hands unlocking the door worriedly, "Am I even allowed be here?"
"Of course! You're with me after all, right?" Rose smiles at her and opens the door, gesturing for Pearl to go in.
Pearl nods and steps in, keeping her head lowered. She'd heard things about the library and how wonderful it was when she was younger, but this was the first time she was seeing it at all. She'd never even seen pictures it and no one she knew was able to describe it to her. The glass floor was cold and so polished and clean, as though it hadn't been stepped on for centuries, that she could see her reflection in it and the reflection of the night sky through the glass roof.
"It's been years since I last came here," Rose says, closing the door behind her, "Isn't it beautiful?"
Pearl's eyes widen as she raises her head and take in the view of the infamous library, shocked at the sheer size of the place. From the relatively small door she didn't think the library was that big; after all, just how many ancient ruins and books about old Homeworld astronomy and astrology could be left since the Diamonds came into power?
The domed building, located at the end of a series of old complicated, maze-like corridors, is made of clear glass and cloudy crystal walls to keep the interior of the library hidden. Crystal bookcases tower over them like spires, names, dates and symbols carved into them. The bookshelves are filled with slates, slabs and sheets of rock, glass and crystal, all from a time before gems used technology to document things.
"How are we supposed to find our way around?" Pearl asks, following behind Rose as she walks down some steps and makes her way towards a bookcase, "Is there a map I can pull up?"
"I told you I used to be friends with some astronomers," Rose turns around and winks at Pearl, "I used to spend a lot of time here with them, mapping out what galaxies and planets we've conquered, documenting constellations, before they moved the astronomy department closer to Blue Diamond's quarters. I doubt anyone's done any moving around, so it shouldn't be too hard to find what we're looking for!"
"I see," Pearl says, closing her tablet, "Um... what exactly are we looking for, if you don't mind me asking?"
"You'll see."
Pearl nods, not pursuing it any further. She was still getting used to Rose's little spontaneous adventures and how mysterious she could be. It was a big change from the strict schedule she was used to when she was a technician and even when she was Larimar's assistant. The idea of just getting up and going wherever whenever she wanted was so alien to her and even though Rose obviously had a lot more freedom than her, she wasn't so sure all important gems sometimes just decided to leave work or a meeting to go to an ancient library for the day.
As she follows her down aisle after aisle, Pearl glances at some of the shelves every now and then, amazed at how their ancestors recorded all their information. She couldn't imagine what it was like to be a pearl back then, having to hand-carve reports and timetables and messages into stone or crystal or glass. She wondered if pearls even existed back then, and if they did, did they have the same purpose as they do now? Maybe pearls being slaves was always just how it was, or maybe it was the Diamonds who put that practice in place? It was hard to imagine a time where pearls weren't just servants, but she couldn't really ask. Rose wasn't that old and she didn't want to risk getting crushed.
"Here we are!" says Rose, finally stopping at a bookcase with some symbols carved into the side, "All you've ever wanted to know about ancient Homeworld beliefs about space!"
"Ooh... thank you...?" Pearl says, giving Rose a confused look, "Am... I supposed to be taking notes?"
"If you want, but that's not really why I took you here, Pearl," Rose giggles and continues, "You seemed interested in all the stuff I was telling you about space on the trip a while ago, so I thought maybe I'd take you here so you can learn some more interesting things about space, seeing as you like gem history as well. Things that you definitely wouldn't be able to find on the current archive system."
"So I'm allowed... hold them?" Pearl whispers, looking at the crystal slabs nervously, "What if I drop it? Or someone finds us? Or-"
"It's fine , Pearl! I locked the door behind us and you're a sensible enough gem, right? Just be careful and it'll be fine," Rose picks up a slab and hands it to her with a comforting smile on her face, "This one is written in ruins, like most of the others, but the drawings are nice to look at. That was my favourite thing to do when I was here, look at all the old art and sculptures."
Pearl carefully takes the slab and studies it, running her fingers over the ruins, tracing around the drawings of different sized circles with different designs etched onto them. She recognises the ruins; when she was working for Larimar she found a file about them while sorting things and memorised them while Larimar was busy at a meeting, but she knew she wasn't supposed to. Wouldn't Rose get angry if she knew how to read them? Pearls weren't exactly known for being scholars and she wasn't supposed to look through Larimar's folders like that.
"I wonder what half of these things say. Not even old Goldstone could read some of these," Rose says wistfully, running her hand over another, darker slab, "That's probably why they destroyed most of them, the readable ones anyways… Though I doubt some primitive ideas about space and some basic drawings of planets would do any harm."
"Well, this one talks about the moons and suns being goddesses, I think," Pearl says absentmindedly, running her fingers across the ruins and muttering the translation of the last few lines under her breath, "I suppose maybe the more easily translatable ones said something similar, and this one seems to imply the goddesses should be worshiped and revered as they're above gemkind."
Rose stares at Pearl and raises an eyebrow, "You can read those, Pearl?"
Pearl freezes and nearly drops the slab, but she tightens her grip on it and swallows, "Y-Yes, not that well though! I can just recognise a few words, I definitely wouldn't be able to translate all the things here!"
"Where did you learn those ruins? I haven't met a gem who could read ruins that old since… I don't even know," Rose comes towards Pearl and looks at the slab, "It's amazing really. And to think she didn't want you…"
"Um, pardon? Who are you-"
"It's nothing," Rose says quickly, waving her hand dismissively, "But honestly, how can you read these? Did they put ruins back on the syllabus?"
"No," Pearl says quietly, "When I worked for Larimar, I was sorting through her files and I found a document in one of her folders about the ruins and how to read them so while she was away I… read it and memorised it… I swear I wasn't going through her things without her permission! I was just-"
"It's okay, Pearl! It's really impressive that you were able to learn all that," Rose takes down a thick glass sheet with the same ruins carved into it and holds it up, "Maybe you could translate some of the others for me? I've been curious about them since I found them a few centuries ago."
"Of course!" Pearl puts the crystal slab back on the shelf and takes the glass sheet, feeling the ruins, "You won't… tell anyone that I know about these, will you? Or how I found out about these ruins? I'm just a pearl, I really shouldn't know about things like this."
"I promise I won't," Rose squeezes Pearl's shoulder and smiles, tapping her nose, "Our little secret. Now, did you figure out those ones yet?"
Pearl smiles back, "Yes, they seem to be talking about the idea of other gems, or maybe even a different species, living on other stars or planets and if we could live in harmony with them if we ever found them, but the little note here in the corner seems to be dismissing the idea of different species and more gems, I think. This little drawing is labelled as "other life", but I can't really make out what the drawing is of."
"Here, let me see," Rose says, looking at the sheet over Pearl's shoulder, "It looks a bit like… like gems standing on other planets? It's very worn away looking."
Pearl runs her hand over the drawing, feeling the almost faint carving sharp against her fingers, "It's so strange to think that our ancestors thought there was nothing else out there. And that all our moons and suns were other, greater gems…"
"And now here we are, gems all over the universe, killing every new form of life we find just to create more of us," Rose sighs, "But anyways, why don't we look at a few more and then head back so we can finish that report?"
"Are you sure we'll have time?"
"I'm sure! And even if we're a bit late I'm sure Sphalerite won't mind if I hand it in just a few minutes late," Rose grins at Pearl as she picks out another slate for Pearl to translate, "Don't worry about it. How about this one?"
"Hmm… I don't recognise these ruins but the drawings are really clear on this one," Pearl says, squinted at the picture before handing the onyx slate to Rose, "It looks like gems gathered around something."
Rose examines the slate, running a finger over the engravings, "I think it must have been some sort of worship ritual? Like how they used to do with the idols of the Diamonds."
"Maybe that.. sculpture-like thing in the centre is one of their goddesses? It has a crescent moon carved on its dress," Pearl laughs softly, "No wonder they destroyed most of these. I wonder why they kept these ones?"
"Well, there's hundreds of thousands of things in this library, I doubt they have time to go through every single one of them and find gems to translate them all and if they did, I don't think they'd really care enough," Rose smiles at Pearl and lowers her voice, "Their minions aren't as loyal as they'd like to think. But, uh, anyways! Why don't we go to the ancient history section before we go? Maybe there's some more things you can translate there?"