Lavender looked up at the gem. She remembered the renegade Pearl again. How fierce and fearsome she looked. Something inside her cleched like a fist and she got to her feet without the assistance of the other. "E-excuse me Ma'am, but seeing s this is mainly my error I have something, I have to attend to, immediately." And with that she sizes up the Black Opal that has Rose's gem, preparing to run and grab her friend.
Smoke shook off her stupor when Rose was poofed. "no," she whispered. This couldn't be happening. How could everything have gone so wrong? They were all going to be smashed for this, there was no way they could get out of this! And then Lavender stood up, ready to run, and it felt like something in her chest burst. Maybe... Smoke struggled to her feet.
Silence fell once again in the great hall. Every eye was trained on the pair of Diamonds sitting on the dais. The Pearl dancers had not dared to move from their places. The hall was a tableau of fear. Yellow Diamond's right hand clutched the arm of her throne, hard enough that it looked like she might break it. Her jaw was clenched and her body taut with held anger. When she spoke, it rang with every inch the same authority her earlier oration had had, but so quiet and tight that every other Gem in the room - Blue Diamond excepted - had to be very careful not to flinch. "This is a disgrace," she hissed, "a complete disgrace." She shifted, her knuckles grinding against the crystal of her chair as she leaned forward, both eyes pinned on Black Opal. "Opal, you will bring that putrescence of an organic Gem to me, this instant." The circles of Pearls parted to allow Black Opal through, up to the dais. The red-bubbled Pearl floated up towards Yellow Diamond, who was about to take hold of it when her comrade, usually silent, spoke, freezing the other Diamond's hand in mid-air. "My Diamond," said the veiled figure, "I urge you to reconsider your righteous anger." Yellow Diamond turned her head. "What? Why? You know as well as I do, my Diamond, that this is a breakable offense! For all these disobedient slaves!" "Certainly," she replied, "but while it is our right to decide the gravity of the slave's offense, we must also respect that a Pearl is the property of her owner. Almandine is not in any state to be deciding what is to be done with her belongings." Yellow Diamond's jaw twitched as she considered Blue's statement. "With all due respect," she ground out, "I disagree. An offense of this magnitude must be punished appropriately. Pearls are easily replaceable." Blue Diamond was silent for a moment, musing over this in her turn. "Very well," she finally said, "I agree with your judgment. This is not an offense to be taken lightly. I will pass sentencing, as is my right as the judicial branch of the Diamond Authority." Yellow Diamond nodded, satisfied that she would have her way, and sat back in her chair as Blue Diamond spoke again. "We hereby sentence the two initiatory Pearls - Blue and Rose - to be publicly crushed at sunrise in the Rebels' Square. Those other Pearls who fused into unauthorized fusions - Lavender, Seafoam, Smoke, and Gray - will be released into their owner's handling, with the expectation that they will be most severely disciplined for their inappropriate actions. Onyx, Pink Spinel, Smoky Quartz, and Amethyst: should these Pearls disobey again, you are to release them into our custody, and they will also be crushed." In the silence that followed, Blue Pearl rose from where she had fallen, and approached her mistress' throne. When she arrived, she bowed to her mistress, then straightened. In the blink of an eye, the towering Gem had created a weapon - an elegant rapier - and had run the tiny Pearl through. The small Gem was bubbled before it hit the floor. "You are all dismissed," Blue Diamond said.
Lavender had stared on in horror as Blue Pearl was poofed by her own Mistress. And then she heard a very angry voice shout her name. She didn't even hear Tourmaline. She couldn't think of more than just to run, right up to where Rose's gem was hanging between Black Opal and the thrones. She jumped, caught the gem out of the air and landed gracefully, cotinuing her run to the nearest door. Where to next? Amethyst would crush her to dust if she caught Lavender! Oh, if only she knew how to use a weapon... She ran off down the hallway she was in.
Smoke gasped in shock and terror at Blue Pearl being poofed. She and Rose both were set to be crushed? Smoke was horrified by that. She didn't want anything to happen to them! Her determination led her to became steadier on her feet. She needed a plan, a way to get out of this or failing that, a way to distract Smoky Quartz's anger that wouldn't endanger her fellow Pearls. She definitely didn't expect Lavender to take a flying leap and steal Rose, running off. She turned to Gray, and tried to give her a meaningful look. They couldn't stay here, could they?
Yellow Diamond quite literally could not believe her eyes. The Lavender Pearl had just run up to her and stolen the Rose Pearl. She was so appalled that it took her several seconds before she could react. But when she reacted, everyone's Gems vibrated in sympathy as her voice boomed out. "Seize that Pearl!" she roared, pointing down the service hallway. Several of the new Quartzes leapt into action, taking off in pursuit - a Chrysoprase, a Jasper, and an Amethyst were amongst them. Yellow Diamond herself might have been tempted to follow, but Blue Diamond caught her wrist as she was getting up, and she looked back over her shoulder. "The Lavender Pearl will be caught, and she will be brought to us in due course. We will simply crush three Pearls at dawn." Blue Diamond, her Pearl floating over her other hand, was implacable. "We have far more important matters to attend to than the disobedience of slaves, my Diamond." Yellow Diamond huffed, and acquiesced with a nod. The two swept out of the hall, Yellow striding and Blue gliding along the length of the oblong to the exit, the Gems parting before them and saluting respectfully.
Red Topaz was shocked and appalled. Events like this were not supposed to happen. "Black Opal," she ordered, "we are leaving."
"Oh my gosh," Tektite gasped, "a Tourmaline? What are you doing talking to me?" Seriously, what was with all these higher-level Gems deigning to notice her existence today? She was trying to be sneaky, dammit! Speaking of dammit...dammit, she had just broken one of The Rules. Don't be rude to higher-level Gems, she'd been told, and she tried really hard not to be. Actually, outside of the Emerald who supervised her division, Tektite tried to avoid higher-level Gems, period. (And if she was honest, she tried to avoid Emerald as much as possible too. Emerald was terrifying, though Tektite couldn't quite place why.) "Stars, this was such a mistake," Tektite whimpered, curling up into a ball, face buried between her knees.
She was too small to fight off a Quartz, and didn't have the training. But if she could catch up to the lavender Pearl, maybe give her an escape route-it was worth trying. She could outrun the larger Gems at least, and both of them could hide places the others would hopefully not know to look. She snuck around the platform the musicians had been placed on and darted off down another hallway in search of Lavender.
Rita could leave. She could go right back into Pink Spinel's custody and would most likely be beaten and bruised but allowed to go back to her daily life. Then again, she didn't want to anymore, especially not after seeing those memories from Blue Pearl of the renigade pearl. They all could be so much more, just like that. Well maybe not just like that, not for her as a defective pearl, but she could be so much more. Lavender needed help at the very least. She wasn't going to let that wonderful pearl she fused with be shattered. She could hear Pink Spinel yelling at her to return but really, why should she. Instead she just placed Maggi on her shoulders, muttered, "Hang on", and ran off after the Lavender. Sure that if they could fuse again they would at least have a fighting chance at survival.
Gray, upon unfusing, had slowly gotten to her feet, watching the drama with Rose Pearl and Black Opal carefully. She had withheld a gasp when Rose was disincorporated; she had held her breath as the Diamonds discussed their fate; she had twitched involuntarily when Blue Pearl had literally walked up to what she had to have known was coming. Smoke was looking at her. She blinked slowly, and shook her head almost imperceptibly. She could almost hear Onyx fuming, but she knew that Onyx was likely to see sense - Gray had followed her orders. Would it not have been worse for the dance to end in a miserable jumble? In any case ... Onyx was unlikely to want to have another specialized Pearl grown and trained in piloting. It had taken enough bribing and intimidating to get Gray through her flying courses. Onyx's hand came down hard on Gray's wrist. "Time to go, Pearl." The last word was spat out. Gray held onto her willpower and didn't flinch. Onyx let go and started walking towards the exit, and Gray followed closely behind.
It was at that point that Tektite realized that people were leaving. Pearls were leaving. Good. That was as good an excuse as any to get the hell out of there, and she took that excuse with gusto, running after them. Not to capture them--of course not!--but to join them. Maybe they could be her friends, at least. Most of the Pearls she'd met had been nice enough...
Celestine pivoted as the Pearls began to break away from the groups, splinters of blue light appearing around her wrists and ankles as she crouched down and sped forward after the Lavender Pearl. Pearls - they shouldn't even want to escape, so why... She had to ask them. And she could outpace any groundpounding Quartz any day. She flew forward.
Lavender dashed through hallways, breathing heavily, Rose's gem clutched in her hands. Where now, left? She took the corner with a bit of stumbling but kept her speed pretty well. Eventually she found herself quite lost. Were there still gems in pursuit of her...?
Meanwhile, not too far away, Baroque Pearl stood. That was mostly what she did. She'd just stand there in her display case, looking pretty, occasionally being taken out by Coral for an outfit change. She didn't understand Coral at all. Most Pearls, from what little Baroque had gleaned, were used for slightly more than decoration--they were dancers, handmaids. She'd even overheard a story about a Pearl who had become a soldier, though she wasn't sure she believed it. But no, Baroque was little more than a fancy doll, occasionally dressed up particularly nicely for special occasions. More than that, she was defective. Or maybe not, since Coral had ordered her that way. She had ordered her with a slightly deformed gem, one that left her unable to form arms--in their place were stumps ending in an odd sort of pixellation. And unlike most Pearls, she hadn't been programmed to be able to speak. She had picked up a few things from her owner, and when Coral was away, she'd practice talking. The words sounded odd, strained somehow, but at least she could make them. And she could understand them. That was what mattered, as far as Coral was concerned. She would've loved to get out more often, to see the world--the universe--beyond Coral's home. But for now, she simply stood in her case as ordered.
Smoke stood still as Gray was pulled away. Smoky Quartz might be furious at her, but there was a higher chance that she'd assume it was every Pearls' fault buther's. After all, it would be too much of a blow to her ego to admit that her Pearl could be rebellious. Actually, since Lavender had escaped (and all Smoke could think to that was 'please let her get away safe, please') she might even be a bit glad to have something to hold over Amethyst's head. That didn't change one thing, though. Smoke was still determined to escape. She'd just do so in her own way. When Smoky Quartz walked over, she stood still, as if she was still unable to function. Smoky Quartz grinned terribly. "There you are! So glad I requested something sensible, could have ended up with something flighty and ridiculous. And escape-prone, apparently." Smoke was uncomfortably surprised when Smoky Quartz actually picked her up to leave. Apparently, she had decided that it was better to keep a close eye on her Pearl when so many were 'misbehaving.'
Celestine raced after the Lavender Pearl, weaving through hallways. She flew over the Pearl's head as she closed in. "Wait, hold up. You - why did you do that?"
"She's my friend! She's... We were fused! I can't just let them shatter her!" Her breathe is going ragged and she ends up in a deadend. She frantically looks at Celestine, clutching Rose's gem to her chest.
"You!" Rita yelled at Celestine as she watched the other gem also run towards Lavender. The other gem had said something but Rita was too worried to hear it. All that mattered was this gem wasn't a pearl, so she must be one of the countless gems that wanted Lavender dead. "If you want to go through my friend you'll have to go through me!" Not that she had any weapons, or skills, or much of anything, but you'll have to go through me sounded impressive. Maybe if she could distract the gem Lavender could get further away, yeah, that would be enough. This was something bigger than Rita, something more dependent on Lavender Pearl and Rose Pearl than her, all she needed to do was help her escape. It was just a shame that Maggi was still on her back, but still, both of them were worth much less than what Lavender and the other pearl were to whatever the hell was going on.
