Gray felt a sigh of relief flow through her as Smoke kept in time. Changing the plan on the fly was no fun for anyone - except strange Quartzes, usually. They twirled together, once, twice, and then Gray swept Smoke down into a low dip, and on the way back up they'd fused into a gleaming Iron Pearl, tall and lithe and utterly solid. A force to be reckoned with, to be sure, if ever anyone bothered. Iron looked over at the now-quite-little Lavender Pearl. What was she doing...
Lavender hadn't meant to, but her face fell a bit. She... She thought Rita would like to dance. She left her hand open, eyes huge and glistening with almost tears. "Please?" she mouthed at the other Pearl.
Oh goodness. The other pearl thought it was her. Rita shook her head again, no, it wasn't Lavender, she was just a defect. She held her shaking to her face and cupped her own cheeks, both to comfort herself and to show Lavender how unfit she would be to dance. Even if her owner forgave her she would just get others in trouble. A defective pearl danncing would be bad enough, but surely the other pearl would be punished as well. Not to mention without her Maggi would be destroyed in a matter or days. She mouthed "Sorry" at Lavender before letting a few heavy tears fall from her eyes and she hugged herself. Still, maybe if she did something her owner would realize Maggi was the better of the gems. She let go of her own torso and moved closer to Lavender and whispered, "How?"
"Take my hand." Lavender whispered back and smiled, gently. She didn't care if she was going to be punished. She didn't care about shaking hands. She wanted everyone to have fun, not just those who were given the privilege. She lead Rita through the movements at half tempo, slow enough for the other Pearl to follow, her touch light. Her gem lit up and she smiled widely, blushing a bit.
A gradual silence was falling through the hall. It had been quiet during the beginning of the music, naturally, with calm applause as the first set of fusions was completed, the three large Pearls honouring Blue Diamond in their dance around her Pearl. They had unfused and continued, moving into the cyclical fusion dance, but now ... ... a Lavender Pearl wasn't following the steps. The other Pearls had stepped in and continued, but there were now two Pearls - the Lavender, and a bright green Pearl - dancing alone. And it looked like they were about to fuse. Red Topaz frowned darkly. The atmosphere was rapidly turning sour, and muttering was starting to break out. Gems were stealing glances at the Diamonds - were they going to step in? Was this actually part of the plan? It couldn't be.
Looking at the dance floor, Carnelian was confused. The dance was changing-becoming something unplanned. Good a time as any, she thought, and altered her playing a little. The stately, elegant melody started to pick up speed. They were improvising, she would improvise with them.
Rita smiled and laughed as her gem began to light up as well. "Thank you," she said ignoring a loud cough she recognized as her master's cough of disapproval but that could wait. Right now all she cared about was the fact her gem began to light as well and she felt the pure joy of realizing that she was really doing this.
Lavnder giggled too, twirled the other Pearl and dipped her, pressing their foreheads together. A flash of light and they were taller, stronger, more. It felt warm and so, so close! A Pastel Pearl twirled, happily and fell back in with the other dancers.
Rose watched as Rita and Lavender fused, her heart twisting with longing as their gems lit up and then they merged into each other in a flash of light, and a larger Pastel Pearl appeared. Fusion...it looked so...so welcoming. So...wonderful. It looked like...being something, being part of something, stronger, together with someone else. Welcome and safe for once, no one telling you what to do or forcing you into things. She...she wanted to be a part of it so badly! She wanted to fuse, she wanted to be a part of this, and by the Diamonds, she was going to be. Rose glanced at Almandine for an instant, then ripped her eyes away from her mistress. It was too late now; she didn't care what Almandine was going to think. She took off through the crowd of Gems, dashing towards the other Pearls, and then took a flying leap...directly into Blue Pearl's arms. Blue Pearl caught her, seemingly out of habit, and spun her and dipped her, her pearl already glowing with a pale, soft blue light. It was Rose's first fusion, her very first, but she'd wanted it for so long, had seen so many other Gems fuse, that she knew exactly what to do. Rose's gem lit up with an answering pale pink light, and then...they fused in a brilliant flash of light. Suddenly, Rose was no longer just Rose. She was still herself, but she was also...something more. Someone more. Taller, stronger....together with someone, for the first time, as close as close could be. It was a shockingly intimate experience, and Rose very nearly lost hold of the fusion right then and there. She might have lost it all together had it not been for Blue Pearl. Somehow, the other Pearl held them together, kept the fusion going as Rose recovered from her shock at being not just her, but someone more. They were no longer simply Rose and Blue Pearl. They were Lilac Pearl, and they were together, and it was everything Rose could ever have hoped for. Almandine, for her part, was standing and staring, aghast, at Lilac Pearl. Her Pearl had dared to disobey, had dared to fuse, and not only that, she had fused with Blue Pearl. Blue Diamond's Pearl. "How dare she," Almandine hissed as she began to recover from her shock. She had witnessed Rose's dash through the crowd, the flying leap, everything, and she would not stand for this kind of disobedience.
Pastel watched Blue Pearl and Rose fuse. How incredible! How beautiful! She cheered, clapping her hands, enthusistically, before resuming the first dancing pose, marvelling at how different but similar every movement felt. Even with the plan going halfway to shards, she should still try to salvage this and next would be another big fusion, right?
Iron Pearl stayed in step and kept dancing, but inside... This was a huge shake up. However bad it was, there was still a chance that this wouldn't go too wrong. The new Pearl fusion was, frankly, beautiful. There was something about her, something Iron couldn't put a finger on. Maybe this could impress the Diamonds, enough for both Pearls to be safe. As it was, there wasn't anything to do but follow the plan, and keep dancing. It was time for the next fusion, wasn't it?
The dozens of slim, iridescent Gems broke off into further circles - just like the plan had been. The three double fusions - Lilac, Pastel, and Iron - were at the center, and they joined hands briefly. Then it was off to the races, in the final sequence of moves. Plié, arabesque, pirouette, grand jeté. Pas de chat, jeté assemblé, attitude en pointe, balancé. Grand rond de jambe jeté, brisé, a series of chaînés, demi-détourné. All three Pearls moved to éffacé position, each facing in towards each other in a three-pointed star. Then into a fast series of fouettés, finish with a port de bras on a sissonne, grand plié. Finally, the trio of iron, pastel, and lilac started turning pirouettes, faster and faster and faster until their movements were a blur - then an abrupt leap into the air, where they joined hands, then arms, then foreheads, and then the light was too bright for anyone to see what was going on-- The remaining Pearls sank into deep arabesques surrounding the final fusion - a pale Violet Pearl with hair rivaling the greatest Quartz, clad in a dark purple chiffon skirt and sporting pearls on her right forearm, right hand, left palm, and a gorgeous trio over her collarbone - as she floated to the floor. The silence was absolute.
Almandine broke the silence as she strode forward, approaching the Violet Pearl. "Rose Pearl! I know you can hear me. Unfuse this instant! How dare you disobey me!" She glowered up at Violet Pearl, speaking to Rose, who she knew was in there somewhere. The silence of the surrounding Gems was deafening as everyone waited for the Pearl's response. Surely, surely they would unfuse, and then the Pearls would be shepherded off to their mistresses, the disobedient Pearls punished, potentially even broken for their offenses. After all, for a Pearl to disobey--well, it was unheard of! Especially Pearls of such high-ranking members, and a Pearl who belonged to a Diamond...they'd have to be made an example of, before this sort of thing started to spread to the other Pearls. Rose came back to herself a bit at Almandine's words, and very nearly lost her connection to the others, which would have destroyed the fusion--but she hung on. She used this moment, though, to take control of one of the fusion's arms...and reach down and grab Almandine, lifting her up to face to face height. And then Rose Pearl was gone again, part of Violet Pearl. The Gems began to mutter amongst themselves uneasily. Never had they seen a thing like this--a Pearl, daring to fuse against their mistress's will, and then daring to do what was tantamount to a threat? After all, if Almandine was dropped from this height, she would be poofed. Surely the Diamonds would step in now? Surely someone would do something? But no one moved. All that happened was the uneasy muttering of the crowd. Almandine was livid. Not only did her Pearl dare to disobey, she dared to continue to be disobedient? "Put me down!" Almandine very nearly screeched. "Unfuse this instant and put me down!" And then Violet Pearl spoke. "No." Jaws dropped. Silence fell. Nearly everyone in the crowd was aghast. A Pearl, saying no? To their mistress, to a high-ranking aristocrat? How dare they! And then--well, Rose could never really say what happened. Maybe it was an accident. Maybe it was on purpose. Maybe it was her fault and maybe it wasn't, although she'd certainly believe it was her fault. But whatever the case--someone squeezed just a bit too tight. And there was a pop, and then Almandine's gem was clattering to the floor. She was gone. And for an instant, Rose was overwhelmed with joy, pure, unadulterated joy. She finally had what she'd always wanted--freedom. And then she realized what she'd done. What she'd forced the others to do. Not only had they fused against their mistresses' wills, they'd poofed a high-ranking aristocratic Gem. She'd poofed her owner. A breakable offense, surely. Horror set in, and Rose split apart from the others, coming fully back to herself as she processed what she'd just done, how much trouble she'd gotten them all in, what was surely about to happen to her-- And then she was falling through the air, herself again, in her own body. She landed, hard, right in front of a Black Opal. Somehow, she survived the fall and didn't poof--but she knew what was coming next. Rose looked up and met the other Gem's eyes.... And then she bowed her head and waited, trembling. There was nothing to be done. She would be poofed, and then broken, and she accepted this--there was nothing she could do, nothing she could say, no words that could make this better. She had dared to fuse, had dared to go against her mistress, and had then poofed her mistress--she would be broken. And then it hit her. She wasn't the only one who would be broken. "WAIT!" Rose flung one hand over her gem, protecting it from being broken as she looked up and met Black Opal's eyes. "Wait," she repeated softly, her voice pleading. "P-please. Please. You--you have to help the others, please, please help them, they had nothing to do with what I did! It--it was all me, I poofed her, they had no part in this! I took control of the fusion, I made them do it--please don't let them be broken. Please." She locked eyes with the other Gem, her eyes begging Black Opal to have mercy, to take pity on the poor Pearls who'd done nothing wrong. Lavender, Smoke, Gray, Rita...they would all be broken, and it was her fault--unless she could get through to this Gem. Maybe, just maybe, they stood a chance then.
As the huge Pearl fusion destabilized Lavender found herself on the floor rather abruptly, shivering. Oh shards. Oh. It was all her fault! If she hadn't broken the choreography... But... she remembered something. A pale Pearl wielding swords, terrifying and deadly and graceful as a storm. She held the memory close and stumbled to her feet, trying to get a feeling for the situation... A lot of the highranking gems were really, really mad...
Red Topaz's jaw had dropped at the insolent Pearls' unauthorized fusion, just as everyone else's had. But now, as her friend's Gem clattered to the floor, she wrenched her mind back into working order. This would not stand. This could not stand. This would not be allowed to go on. Luckily for everyone involved, her incredibly strong, highly trained Opal was in perfect position. "Black Opal!" she roared, her clear diplomat's diction ringing against the walls, "Disincorporate that Pearl at once!"
Smoke fell, hitting the ground in a heap. She was in shock, practically. That was something, something new. Something different, something terrifying. But the way she, they had felt, that sensation of strength, of being more, of being someone important. It stuck to her, filling every bit of her. She couldn't move or speak, too busy trying to process. And there had been more, too. A different Pearl, in her-their memory. A Pearl as deadly as she was beautiful, her grace used for fighting in a way that almost still seemed like a dance. Smoke had a sudden longing to be like that, to have that confidence and power even unfused. There was no way to have planned for this, this shook everything she'd known and been, down to her core. She didn't know how she felt or what to do.
Pinfire kept her face calm as her master snapped at her, and reached up to her Gem, drawing her sword in a fluid motion. She met the Pearl's eyes. She felt for the poor Gem, but - no. Not now. Her sword flashed forward. She reached out, catching the falling Pearl as her physical form disappeared into air. She looked up at the Diamonds, her free hand forming a red bubble around the Pearl.
If only I'd known... Tourmaline was transfixed, in equal parts admiration and horror and rage. If she'd realized the Pearls enjoyed and wanted this she would have been thinking clearly instead of cursing the Homeworld's perversion. She would have realized what a perfect distraction this was. She would not have played Kindergarten pranks. Oh, no. She would have planted ordnance. While everyone (including Tourmaline herself) had been distracted she might have destroyed Yellow Diamond, might have broken the chain of command, might have done could have would have done any of a thousand and one things, and now it was too late to do anything, even to save the pink Pearl. But the lavender Pearl she had admired earlier--the one who had started it all--was shivering in a heap on the floor. Cursing the Matrix and the Law, she slipped briefly into the shadows and shifted her shape just a little, blurred her colors and covered her gem in a flurry of draperies. Then, while everyone else was still watching the black Opal, she reached for the hand of the lavender Pearl. "If you don't want them to shatter you, come with me. Now," she hissed.
Carnelian was frozen. She held her flute to her lips, unsure what was going to happen. She wanted to help the Pearls somehow, but any movement might draw attention to her too. Then she caught a flurry of motion out of the corner of her eye: a Gem she couldn't identify reaching for the lavender Pearl, but to help or hurt she couldn't tell. She lowered her flute, gripping it like a club and waiting.
