Peridot and Lion emerged from the portal to land in the Burning Room once again. The Gem frowned as they slid off Lion. The animal quickly bounded away.

"Aventurine?" They turned on their Gem light and directed it skyward. "Come out, I want to talk to you!"

"I'm not up there." A voice from directly behind Peridot made them squeak in fear, trip and fall into the water with a splash. Aventurine laughed.

"Whoa there, pieslice. Need a hand?"

The cloaked Gem extended their right arm, the one with the friendship bracelet. Peridot stared at it sceptically for a moment before getting to their feet on their own.

Aventurine withdrew. "I see. I broke your trust, and the only reason you're here is because you want answers. Though to be honest, I thought Steven would be the one trying to get my side of the story: he's a rose quartz, whilst you're a peridot."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Peridot crossed their arms, squinting in the dim light so as to see their companion better. "You're not making any sense; just, tell me something useful!"

"Something useful." The cloaked Gem grinned mischievously.

"Not- Nyah, you know what I meant, you clod!" The green Gem stamped their foot. "Tell me or I'll... I'll go back and tell the Gems!"

"Oooh, scary. But whatever, I'll stop messing with you. You wanna know why I betrayed you guys?" They paused. "I'm looking for someone."

"Looking for somebody?"

"My old friend Pearl, to be exact. I haven't seen them since we got captured." They tilted their face up. "I've been through this entire room, but she isn't here. And if she isn't here, then she's somewhere on Homeworld, and I'm going to find her."

"But you're wrong!" Peridot interrupted. "Your pearl could be anywhere, and even if they were taken back to Homeworld they would have been shattered for their crimes!"

"If you're so sure about that, then why didn't you keep a closer eye on me?" Aventurine snapped, then continued in a lighter tone. "But whatever, I'm not unique. It's not like an aventurine like me would have done any different, eh? Anyway I'm going to go now, so-"

Peridot started forwards. "Wait! You haven't told me anything!"

"I told you plenty."

"But it doesn't make sense!" The green Gem reached out and grabbed Aventurine's left hand.

"Hey, let go." The cloaked Gem tugged, but Peridot had a strong grip. "Seriously, pieslice. Don't make me hurt you."

"But there has to be more than that!" They demanded. "That's so... selfish! That can't be it!"

There was a flash of light from underneath Aventurine's cloak, and Peridot caught sight of a blade. Almost immediately they let go and stumbled and fell into the water, and looked up.

The dim red light of the Burning Room revealed a dark, cloaked figure walking towards them. Peridot cowered in fear, their trembling arms raised in front of their face.

The figure stopped just in front of them, and for a moment nothing happened. Then the figure raised their knife above their head, and Peridot shut their eyes tightly.

Thump. The green Gem flinched when they heard the sound, but it was immediately apparent something was not right. They opened their eyes.

"I'm... fine?" They sat up, and they saw Aventurine was still standing there. Then they looked across and saw a knife embedded in one of the red tubes lining the Burning Room. "You didn't... I thought you were..."

Aventurine offered a hand. "Yeah, yeah. That was fun and all but I wouldn't try it again. You never know how far is-"

The red tube stuck with the knife suddenly began to emit a high pitched whine, like a kettle with boiling water. The hilt began to tremble ever so slightly.

Peridot took the cloaked Gem's hand and jumped to their feet. "What is it doing?"

"I have no idea."

With the force of an explosion, the knife shot out of the tube just in front of a great cloud of steam. It hit Peridot's chest with the force of a wrecking ball, causing them to gasp and fall back onto Aventurine.

"Whoa, there. Are you-" The cloaked Gem noticed something off. "No, you're not. Let's get out of here."

Aventurine leapt up onto the platform, and ran out of the Burning Room. All this Peridot watched with a sort of shocked half-consciousness. Then they felt warm sand on their back, and they looked up.

The cloaked Gem was staring down at them, surprisingly calm given the situation. "Can I just say you have some poor dodging skills, pieslice! This is why we don't follow me."

Peridot blinked. Their surprise at the sudden turn of events was rapidly giving way to a sharp pain.

"You'll probably poof, but after that you'll be fine. I can drop you off by the barn; the Crystal Gems won't notice me. So, see you tomorrow." They waved.

Poof.