Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The small Gem had to agree. Being the only Pearl inside of her host's "Surface" area could get a bit overwhelming at times. There were just...SO many items to organize! SO MANY...

Sometimes she would organize them alphabetically. Other times, she would get a sudden urge to re-organize them by their Latin roots, or function, or color. It seemed that her host was never satisfied on how these random items should be classified...slightly annoying, but manageable.

The tiny Pearl spent most of her time carving and creating new spears. It was a never-ending, FRUSTRATING task! Each battle would deplete her stash, and she would have to start making a new set of spears all over again!

The little Gem was also in charge of holograms- whether they be memories, pictures, or Holo-Pearls. Admittedly, Holo-Pearls were the most difficult to construct. It was no easy feat- bending light in a way that would allow it to manipulate and hold solid objects...such as swords.

The Surface Pearl's favorite thing to create were dreams and nightmares! Her host rarely slept...but when she DID, the little Gem had the most fun creating fictional movies! If she happened to be in a particularly devious or vengeful mood, she would prank her host by making the most hilarious, disturbing imagery she could possibly think of! Turning Rose Quartz into Greg...that was her doing! The tiny Pearl laughed! Served the host right for overworking her constantly!

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Thus, the day Steven appeared in her space was a surprising one indeed! Her host rarely sent in organic life, and certainly NOT family members! The Surface Pearl figured she had sent Steven inside to protect him during a battle or something similar. When her natural programming kicked in, she figured she should put the boy in a space alphabetically by name.

Needless to say, the half-human quickly declined the choice of wanting to be placed next to the stethoscope, and informed the Surface Pearl (which he decided to call "the Pearl inside of Pearl's Pearl"), that he had simply been sent in to retrieve a cell phone. He insisted on going into the host's repressed memories (the poor dear), before the little Pearl obliged, and sent him on his way...

...

...The Surface Pearl was alone again. That small amount of quick banter was the first time in HUNDREDS of years she had directly spoken to anyone! She sighed. It wasn't always this way. In the beginning, there were at least five of her in here...but as the years droned on, each friend would get placed in (yet another) repressed memory. She ultimately wondered if she, herself, would get stuck in a time loop of the mind eventually as well.

When Steven finally found what he was looking for, he exited the gemstone so quickly, that the boy didn't even thank her for her assistance! She saw him wiz by in a barrage of light. The host obviously wanted her family member back quickly!

The tiny Surface Pearl sighed again. The entire back and forth had been quite...undignified! Certainly, Steven could have stopped for some tea...or had a small conversation at least?

NOPE.

The tiny Pearl suddenly felt very...ALONE. She didn't go back to organizing. She didn't make any new spears. She didn't construct any new holograms. The Pearl inside of Pearl's Pearl simply sat on the floor, and wept.

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It was several days later before Pearl realized that her gemstone was acting strangely. She figured, (at first), that it was just the natural grief and stress of the situation that was causing her stone to malfunction.

...but then, she started realizing that her gemstone wasn't functioning AT ALL. She could not create a Holo-Pearl to practice her sparing. She could not retrieve the kettle from her pocket space to make tea. Heck...she couldn't even summon a spear! What was going on?! Had releasing her secret about Rose Quartz' true identity frightened her so badly, that her brain was just...refusing to function?! Despite her better judgement, she asked Steven to (once again), go inside of her gemstone, and see what the problem was.

The family member obliged, and in a mighty flash of light was sent back into his friend's head.

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As the brightness subsided, Steven could immediately see what the problem was. The once clean "surface space" was now in complete disarray. The floor was littered with items. There was a wall with a computer attached to it that was displaying an "ERROR" message. There were no more spears. Bits of holograms were walking around mindlessly like glitches in a video game. The place looked less like the mind Steven had once seen, and now resembled a space more like Amethyst's room!

"PEARL!...or...erm...PEARL INSIDE OF PEARL'S PEARL! WHERE ARE YOU?!" The boy shouted in desperation as his eyes wandered across the magnificent collage of objects.

Steven turned the corner, and jumped in shock!

"MPH?!" The Surface Pearl looked at the boy- incredibly surprised and embarrassed! She had a spoon in her mouth and had located a tub of ice cream. Just because her host didn't like eating her feelings away, didn't mean that SHE couldn't!

The boy surveyed the area. There were snack wrappers EVERYWHERE. Most of the empty bags and boxes consisted of food Steven liked to bring on missions.

"Oh! Pearl inside of Pearl's Pearl! What...happened?!" Steven was (understandably) concerned! It looked like a bomb had gone off...

"MPH!" the Gem swallowed the wad of ice cream down quickly. Her face was puffy with tears in her eyes. "I...I...I'm sorry Steven. I'm just going through some stuff right now. Why did she send you THIS time? A box of TISSUES?! You can tell her that we're OUT." This was a rather obvious statement. There were wadded up tissues EVERYWHERE.

"Erm...no. She wanted to see why her gemstone was having so many...difficulties?" Steven attempted to make the statement sound as non-offensive as possible.

The Surface Pearl scoffed! "WELL! You can tell her to make her OWN spears, keep her OWN things organized, and create holograms for HUNDREDS of years ALL BY HERSELF! I have absolutely no one to talk to in here...AND never even receive a once in a while "Thank You" of appreciation!" The Surface Pearl "herumphed" before continuing the tub of ice cream.

"Oh boy..." Steven was completely baffled! What does one do when the tiny voice inside of your brain is literal, and refuses to function properly?

He would have to talk to Pearl...HIS Pearl- to get this situation under control...

Chapter Text

"HUH-WAH?!" Pearl was shocked when Steven re-emerged from her gemstone, and explained the odd situation. The family member was well aware of the smaller Pearls within her gem (it was basic Homeworld anatomy after all), but she had NEVER heard of any cases where the internal tiny Gems disobeyed their host...

Steven shrugged. "She seemed really sad, lonely, and stressed out...like she needed a vacation or...something..."

Pearl huffed in disbelief! "This...doesn't make any sense! She's in MY head, controlling MY gemstone! I can't function properly unless she does her job!"

"She seemed to feel...under-appreciated..."

"Under-appreciated? UNDER-APPRECIATED?! She's a part of MY brain Steven! What am I supposed to do?! Hug her? I can't exactly go into my own gemstone on a whim!"

"Maybe you could write her a thank you note?" The boy suggested, thinking a nice note would (at least) make the Surface Pearl know how helpful she was.

Pearl "herumphed" with stubbornness! "Honestly! She is being absolutely ridiculous! It would be the equivalent of a human's heart not beating because it feels "unloved". She's a part of my own thought process! Surface Gems can't just rebel like this! I've never heard of such a thing!"

It seemed someone had (not only) been listening in on the conversation, but also did NOT like what she heard. Pearl's gemstone suddenly glowed brilliantly! In a flash of light, a massive anvil appeared, and landed directly on the Gem's foot!

The shocked Pearl howled in pain, as she held her foot and hopped about! It was an immediate good thing that Gems had no bones-if they did, every single one in Pearl's foot would be broken right now...

"OHMYGOSH! PEARL! ARE YOU OK?!" Steven shouted in concern!

"THAT CLOD! THAT EVIL THING! SEE IF I DO ANYTHING FOR HER NOW!" Pearl entered her room in the temple. Perhaps some rest would do her good...

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As the days went on, chaos ensued. Pearl's gemstone would activate randomly on its own and spew out anything from garbage (mostly empty food containers), to broken precious artifacts. The Surface Pearl was taking her rage out with a vengeance!

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The Crystal Gems were eating dinner at the kitchen table when Pearl's gemstone lit up again.

At this point, the family knew exactly what to do. Everyone picked up their plate and moved as FAR away from Pearl as possible. A MASSIVE Chinese vase flew out of their family member's forehead, and proceeded to hit the opposite wall- shattering it into pieces! This was immediately followed by a gargantuan pile of soil, and a ripped up fern falling from the gemstone onto the table. Pearl fumed! She was now completely COVERED in dirt! The large vase had (apparently) held the plant previously.

Pearl's gemstone stopped glowing. The family sighed with relief, as they returned to the (now incredibly filthy), table.

"Why don't you just send her a note like Steven suggested P? It would literally take...like...less than five minutes!" Amethyst proceeded to eat both her food AND the plate.

"...and admit that this behavior is acceptable?! ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Jeez you're stubborn..."

Garnet mumbled: "(At least it wasn't another meat cleaver or shotgun...)"

Amethyst nodded. "How much crud do you have stored in there anyway P?!"

Pearl stuck her nose in the air! "She will run out of ammo...eventually. I would also like to point out, that there was only ONE shotgun and ONE meat cleaver in there!"

"Yeah...but...WHY?" Amethyst was baffled that her friend would keep such things in her gemstone in the first place.

"WELL! For...erm..hunting and cooking of course!"

"Of course..." Amethyst rolled her eyes- knowing full well Pearl had never hunted ANYTHING in her entire lifecycle.

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Sure enough, the ammo became less destructive as the days went on. "meat cleavers and shotguns" had been diminished to: "paper and pillows".

After literal weeks of items being tossed from the gemstone, it seemed that the chaos had finally stopped.

Pearl sighed. "Thank the STARS that's over with! It's a good thing I keep my sword collection OUTSIDE of my gemstone. I can just utilize those instead of the spears!" Pearl nodded in agreement! She felt extremely proud of herself! She had defeated...erm...HERSELF! Huzzah and such! Now that Pearl thought about it, this entire fiasco had been rather ridiculous...

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the most ominous series of noises...

"WOuLd YoU LikE tO EnGagE iN CoMBaT?!"

"WOuLd YoU LikE tO EnGagE iN CoMBaT?!"

"WOuLd YoU LikE tO EnGagE iN CoMBaT?!"

"WOuLd YoU LikE tO EnGagE iN CoMBaT?!"

"WOuLd YoU LikE tO EnGagE iN CoMBaT?!"

"WOuLd YoU LikE tO EnGagE iN CoMBaT?!"

"WOuLd YoU LikE tO EnGagE iN CoMBaT?!"

"WOuLd YoU LikE tO EnGagE iN CoMBaT?!"

Literally DOZENS of Holo-Pearls appeared in the house from the gemstone...all at the same time! Pearl froze, sweat on her brow, as she realized that she was completely surrounded!

All the Holo-Pearls shouted in unison: "ADVANCED MODE INITIATED!"

"(oh stars...)" Pearl mumbled to herself completely defenseless, before the massive group of Holo-Pearls attacked their original host from every possible angle!

Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven attempted to help by battling the fake Pearls as quickly as possible! The horrific things slashed, destroyed, maimed, and made scraps out of the house in a whirlwind of blades and violence!

Try as she might to dodge the holograms, Pearl became overwhelmed incredibly quickly with no way to defend herself! Her form almost instantly poofed away as the sword fighter retreated into her gemstone!

By the time the remainder of the Crystal Gems had destroyed the holograms, it was too late. Pearl would have to reform as she had many times before. Steven placed her gem on one of the couch's pillows for safe keeping...

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Meanwhile, inside of the gemstone, Pearl attempted to focus on what her new form should look like. Her eyes were shut to help her concentrate...

"A-HIM!"

An annoyed grunt caught Pearl's attention! She opened one of her eyes and glanced up in a state of shock!

It was her Surface Pearl! "Glad I FINALLY got your attention! We're going to have a little chat! There are...some things I must discuss with you. Come now! The tea is getting cold..."

Chapter Text

Pearl sat at a table in the middle of her gemstone's surface space. The Surface Pearl that had caused SO MUCH grief within the past few weeks glared at her as she sipped her tea.

This was probably one of the most...awkward, surreal, situations Pearl had ever experienced! Here she was...drinking tea with herself, as her own mind glared at her with disdain. The entire thing was very...ODD. "SOOO...erm...what did you want to talk about? I really should get back to trying to regenerating my form..."

"Hermph." The Surface Pearl grunted before speaking up: "Do you have ANY idea how difficult it is working in here?! No breaks, no "Thank Yous", no company, no companionship?!"

"Your job isn't to socialize! Your job is to create and retrieve the things that I need on a regular basis!"

"Have you ever ONCE considered MY feelings about this situation?!"

"Why should I? We are literally the same person!"

"You WOULD think that, wouldn't you?!"

"YES! Your job is basic Gem anatomy 101! I don't see what all of this fuss is about!" Pearl raised her arms in the air in frustration! This internal conversation was going nowhere quickly.

"So...according to YOU, my job is EASY? Simple? You would have NO TROUBLE what-so-ever being a more efficient Surface Pearl than myself?"

"Of course not! I am excellent at all forms of tasks!"

"Than prove it."

"EXCUSE ME?!"

"PROVE YOUR CLAIM! Switch places with me!"

Pearl scoffed! "I will do NO SUCH THING! I don't want to get stuck in here!"

"Ah-Ha! So you DO admit that my lifestyle is less comfortable than your own?!"

"I NEVER said that!"

"Look, I'm trying to prove a point here! Let's take a bet! If MY job is SO easy compared to your own life, then this should be a snap! I will replace you, and see how difficult YOUR life is, while you stay here and try MY job! If my form poofs, you will never hear another peep out of me again! If you create a Holo-Pearl and send it out, I will also admit defeat! Either way, YOU win!"

Pearl looked concerned. "This feels like a trap...what if I refuse?!"

"I'll just keep sending Holo-Pearls after you!"

Pearl gasped in disbelief! This "deal" was sounding less like a bet, and more like a command!

The Surface Pearl nodded in agreement. "Either way, we both get what we want. YOU get to prove me right, and I get a miniature vacation from this Hell-Hole!"

Pearl did not like the Surface Pearl referring to her own brain as a "Hell-Hole" but still thought the situation through. She was trapped! Pearl saw no way out of this "deal" as it stood. If she reformed, more Holo-Pearls would just keep sending her back here until she agreed. Pearl nodded and shook hands with her Surface Pearl. "Alright then! I'm going to show you how EASY this job is...it's not like I have much of a choice in the matter..."

The Surface Pearl proceeded to smile in the creepiest way possible. "I'm glad we had this little talk. The best of luck! Let's see how YOU like being stuck in here!"

The Surface Pearl began to slowly disappear into the outside world before completely vanishing...

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The Gemstone sat on the couch pillow before shining and levitating in anticipation! To the relief of her family, Pearl looked quite fine as her form returned!

"That...was fast..." Garnet noted immediately. Pearl typically took 2 weeks to regenerate...it had only been an hour.

As Pearl's form solidified, the family could immediately tell that something was "off". The Gem looked around every-which-way...stars in her eyes and hope on her face! The Surface Pearl spotted Steven first. "OH! OH STEVEN! I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" The Gem embraced the boy, tears flowing! It was as if she hadn't seen Rose's son in weeks!

"OH! I love you too Pearl!" Steven hugged the Gem back, before laughing! "You've only been gone for an hour..."

"Have I? It seems like it has been much longer than that..." Surface Pearl looked toward Garnet and Amethyst with admiration! "My family! I've never been able to hug you myself! I've only seen holograms and pictures!" Pearl hugged the duo with sympathy, before Amethyst backed up- incredibly creeped out. "WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! What do you MEAN you've only seen us in holograms and pictures?!"

"Oh! Yes! Right! Apologies...I am Pearl's...erm..."Surface Pearl"! We decided to switch places...for a short time..." The Gem blushed...

"WHHHAAAA?! Is...is that...even...POSSIBLE?!"

The Surface Pearl looked down at herself before glancing around the house. "Well...I guess it IS! HUH! What an intriguing opportunity!"

Garnet frowned. She knew that this Pearl was also (technically) Pearl...and yet...she wasn't QUITE Pearl, but rather- only one PART of Pearl. It seemed that things had just gotten EXTREMELY complicated...

"Oh! This is SO exciting! Everything out here is REAL! No memories, no holograms! I am making my OWN memories! REAL ones that belong to ONLY me!" Surface Pearl clapped her hands in a giddy manner, before continuing: "-By the way, do you guys have any ice cream?! I rather enjoyed it when I found that tub in our gemstone...oh! I'm going to finally figure out what all food tastes like!"

Garnet persperated heavily. She didn't want to ruin Surface Pearl's new outlook on life...but she was extremely concerned about the safety of Pearl...the REAL Pearl. "Mmmph...Pearl- that is...Surface Pearl...our original Pearl is not in danger..."

"-NOPE! She's completely safe...in my mind!" The Surface Pearl poked her Gemstone playfully before nodding. "As soon as she creates and sends out a Holo-Pearl, I'll go back inside! No if's, and's, or but's! It was part of our deal! In the meantime, though..." Surface Pearl began to wander the house, before locating Lion, asleep on the floor of the loft. "Oh! The lion!" The Gem began to pet the animal's mane. It really WAS soft! Just like she had imagined! The large cat gurgled in his sleep, making the Gem smile with content! There was just...so much REAL stuff she wanted to try, and taste, and touch, and do, and experience! She knew this situation was temporary (at best), so she had to make every second count!

Chapter Text

Pearl stood in disbelief as she glanced around the incredibly empty surface space. She simply could NOT believe that she had caved in to that...HOOLIGAN'S demands!

On the other hand, there was not much she could do about it NOW...

Pearl sighed, before wandering around the emptiness...attempting to get her bearings. One wall had a massive computer with a HUGE "ERROR!" sign displayed on its surface. Another wall would have been where items from the outside were stored, however, almost everything had been tossed from the gemstone at this point. The only remaining objects were the table, chairs, and tea set that the duo had used for their conversation. Pearl seemed frustrated that there was nothing to clean the teacups with. A sink would be nice...not sure how she would store water or pipes in a place like this though...

She decided on focusing on fixing the computer. The Gem instinctively dipped her arms into the device in hopes of doing a diagnostic test. Her eyes went static as she checked the machine...

Apparently, the device had been overwhelmed with commands. Some of them were obvious- like the override of materials to make 25 Holo-Pearls...ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

...the majority of commands, however, Pearl recognized as her own. Commands from weeks and weeks ago- obviously ignored- gumming up the system. Pearl took her arms out of the device, before looking around to see if there was a remote...a switch...a plug...something? She attempted some verbal commands:

"Computer! Eject trash files!"

...

"Computer! Clear history!"

...

"Erm...control, alt, delete?"

...

No change. Pearl looked around the screen again, before finding a tiny switch on the back of the device.

She switched it.

There was immediate response! The computer turned off, but all the lights in the surface space turned off too! Pearl found herself completely encased in darkness! The Gem blinked in surprise! She figured she had touched something she shouldn't have...

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Meanwhile, the Surface Pearl was having her very FIRST REAL dinner with her REAL family! She chatted enthusiastically about this new enjoyable food experience- spaghetti they called it!

Steven piped up: "You have to twirl it on your fork...like THIS!"

The Pearl seemed frustrated as she attempted to mimic. "This...is a LOT of work for just one bite of food...it seems so...inconvenient." The spaghetti fell off her fork again.

"Sometimes it helps if you use a spoon..."

"HOW!? The spoon seems even more useless!"

"You twirl the noodles into the spoon...like a bowl!" The boy attempted to explain.

While the Pearl tried to use the new technique, Amethyst and Garnet glared at their new visitor. Both Gems were much less trusting toward the Surface Pearl than Steven. She HAD been throwing dangerous stuff at them from inside Pearl's gemstone for quite some time after all...and many of the random items had nearly caused major injuries. It was also...STRANGE seeing a nearly identical Pearl both willing AND attempting to eat food...

The Surface Pearl suddenly jolted in shock! Her eyes dilated, and she immediately passed out! Her head landed in the plate of spaghetti- face first. In a massive panic, Steven's family rushed quickly to help the Gem! Steven wiped the tomato sauce off of her face. Garnet quickly carried the Pearl to the couch, and attempted to hold her head in a way that would encourage the Pearl to come out of her unconscious state...

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"Woopsy daisy! I think I just cut off all the power entirely...let's just flick this back on here..."

Pearl flicked the switch of the gemstone's computer back on quickly! If nothing else, it seemed that her little mistake had rebooted the computer...

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The Surface Pearl woke up with another jolt! She gasped with shock as she witnessed the entire group of Crystal Gems looking down at her with concerned stares! The Pearl began to hyperventilate! That...that was SCARY! What had just happened?!

Amethyst sighed with relief! "You're awake! Don't scare us like that!"

Garnet nodded "You passed out."

"Passed out?" The Surface Pearl looked dazed and confused! She wasn't sure what "passing out" was, but she was glad that it was over!

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The gemstone's computer chimed in with a pleasant note, as the system rebooted! It seemed that the switch idea was reckless, but worked fairly well to unfreeze the computer!

"Good! Good! Right than! Let's see what this machine can do!" Pearl nodded to herself, before digging her arms into the screen again...

Several minutes went by. The Gem was so distracted with the computer, that she failed to notice the floor opening up. A red alarm sat on a massive podium, as it lifted from the floor...

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE-"

Pearl jumped in surprise as the unexpected alarm flashed red, and blasted noise in aggravation!

"STARS!" Pearl yanked her arms out of the screen, and held her ears quickly with pain!" "WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT YOU...YOU...STUPID BRAIN?!"

As if on cue, the alarm explained itself:

"WARNING! WARNING! NO WEAPONS AVAILABLE IN STORAGE AREA! RESTOCK NEEDED IMMEDIATELY!"

As the alarm blared, more supplies were lifted from the floor...specifically, different colored metals, various molds, and an oven used specifically for welding. Pearl sweated in stress. Apparently, the computer wanted Pearl to produce spears...from SCRATCH!

"Really?! REALLY?!" Pearl huffed in aggravation! She knew how to USE weapons...not MAKE them...

...still...

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP-" It seemed the alarm would not stop until the task had been fixed.

...

Several hours (and four very sad, lumpy spears later), the alarm finally stopped and retreated back into the floor.

"MERCY. Thank goodness THAT'S over..." Pearl huffed in frustration. The alarm had caused an incredible headache! The Gem seemed disappointed that her homemade spears looked so sad and misshaped. She figured this skill would take practice before perfected. Exhausted, The Gem begged for no other odd surprises...

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The Surface Pearl was attempting to tuck Steven in for bed. As it turned out, this event was MUCH more of a chore than previously perceived. Steven was becoming rebellious in his teenage years. He was insistent on staying up late, playing more video games, and attempted to explain that he was too old to be "tucked in". He wasn't a kid anymore...after all...

Surface Pearl seemed incredibly disheartened at these comments. Almost every memory she had seen previously, featured a younger Steven crawling into bed and enthusiastically asking for a bedtime story!

The Gem supposed she had missed this particular evolution in Steven's life. The boy looked at the Surface Pearl from his bed in guilt, as he declined a "bedtime story". The Pearl just looked...so...heartbroken...

"Y-You can read me a bedtime story...if you REALLY want to..."

The Gem perked up immediately, stars in her eyes!

Steven rolled his eyes, but smiled as the Surface Pearl read him a book called "The Cute Kitten" in the most enthusiastic manner possible!

Chapter Text

The next morning brought a new set of problems.

Steven was walking down the Boardwalk- the Surface Pearl following him like an overly-curious shadow.

"OH! A SEAGULL! LOOK STEVEN! A SEAGULL!" The Gem pointed at the sea bird excitedly!

"That's...GREAT Surface Pearl...look at that!"

"Hey! The arcade! I bet I'm better at that driving game then my host!"

Steven stopped- uncomfortable. "Can...can you not...? Call Pearl a "host"? It makes her sound like she has parasites...or...something..."

The Gem gasped, before puckering her lips in offense! "STEVEN! DID YOU JUST CALL ME A PARASITE?! I NEVER-!"

"ACK! Nonononono! I'm just saying it sounds really creepy when you call "regular" Pearl a "host"!"

""REGULAR PEARL"?! What am I?! Organic meat bits?! Steven! How could you say such things?!" The Gem began to weep with absolute grief!

"Oh jeez..." the small boy perspired as he attempted to calm down his new friend. "Look, Surface Pearl...I don't really feel comfortable calling you the "Pearl inside of Pearl's Pearl" either...it's too long and sounds so...erm...general? But I need help differentiating between you guys...maybe a nickname?"

The Gem gasped and clapped in excitement- her mood changing immediately! "OH! Really Steven?! You'll give me my OWN nickname?" The Pearl giggled with glee! "You really are treating me like my OWN Gem! This...that is-so STRANGE! So...WONDERFUL..."

Steven patted his new friend on the arm. "Of course! You ARE your own Gem...as far as I'm concerned! Just like Pearl...or me!" The boy smiled.

"Oh! Steven!" The Pearl embraced him! "I can see why SHE cares about you so dearly...why I care about you so dearly!"

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Meanwhile, Pearl was viewing this tender scene from the sidelines...inside her own head...with only a screen to display what was going on in the outside world.

"Steven...oh Steven...I wish...I-I was there...not stuck in HERE..." Pearl looked about her bland surroundings bitterly. She thought about her current situation.

Was...was this what her Surface Pearl always felt like? Seeing life through another's eyes? Never having any say in what choices were made? A sudden shiver of realization hit Pearl like a ton of bricks! She-she had been treating her "Pearl"...like a PEARL!

A HOMEWORLD PEARL!

A servant created to do all her bidding! It...was so lonely here...so...alone.

It was also curious...

According to Gem anatomy, there should be (at least) four other Surface Pearls in here. Where had they gone? Perhaps this is why her singular Surface Pearl was so unhappy? The Gem internally wondered how to get them back. Perhaps, if she could find a way, her other self would be more willing to return...

Chapter Text

Steven seemed thoughtful. "NOW!...what to call you?...what to call you?..."

The Surface Pearl bounced with anticipation!

"Hmmm...how about "ICE CREAM"!? ...because YOU like to eat it, but Pearl doesn't?"

The Gem's excited smile transformed into a frown. "Steven...I don't want to be named after a food item..."

"Oh...well...do YOU have any suggestions then?"

"Hmmm...well, I guess I could choose something that has always made ME happy..."

"Like what?"

"Like...FLOWERS!"

"Flowers?"

"Oh yes! I always enjoyed it when...erm..."Pearl"...put flowers in her gemstone! It was always nice having something alive from the outside world to love and take care of..."

"Uh...but didn't you...completely rip up a fern, and throw it out of the gemstone? Just the other day?"

The Gem's face soured. "THAT was a PLASTIC fern! Stars know why the vase had actual dirt in it! A cruel trick to play indeed! I was so happy when I got it too...only to be met with disappointment! Who makes a FAKE plant?! The NERVE!"

Steven giggled slightly. Admittedly, he had not checked to see if the dissembled plant was real or not after the incident. The boy figured if gardening was HIS passion, a plastic plant would put him in a bad mood too... "Well...what's your favorite kind of flower?"

The Pearl suddenly looked dreamy-eyed into the distance. "Rose..." she sighed.

"R-ROSE?!" The boy sweated in awkwardness. He should have guessed. This Gem was still a part of PEARL after all...

The Gem blushed horribly! "Oh! Heh...guess that won't work for...obvious reasons." The new friend turned her head in embarrassment.

"T-that's okay! What's your SECOND favorite type of flower?"

"Hmm...how about...a...Hibiscus?" The Gem blushed again, recalling the memory of Pink Diamond handing her host said flower before the most important task of their life cycle.

Steven nodded in approval. "I like it! Hibiscus!"

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It was the oddest thing she had ever seen!

Pearl was currently watching a memory, of her Surface Pearl watching the memory screen (with four other Surface Pearls), on the brain's monitor. It was like some sort of strange memory inception!

As surreal as the situation was, Pearl couldn't help but smile at the "film's" memory. Her five original Surface Pearls were whooping and clapping in approval, at the host's decision to help their beloved Diamond!

"Heh...I guess that decision was unanimous!" Pearl nodded to herself...wondering if the five Surface Pearls had anything to do with her life choices.

Chapter Text

"Sooooo... Hibiscus...what do you want to try out first?"

The Pearl's eyes lit up! "Oh! Erm...I want to...VISIT THE BEACH!"

Steven simply looked to his left. The beach was right in front of them...it had been there the entire time. "Uh...Hibiscus? My house is ON the beach...don't you remember? We had to trudge through the sand to get to the Boardwalk?"

"W-we DID?!"

"Uh...yeah."

"I-I see..." The Pearl blushed from embarrassment. "Could...could I? Touch the sand?"

"Sure. If you want to." Steven shrugged.

Hibiscus let out a high pitched "SQUEAK!" of excitement, before skipping down the Boardwalk stairs that led to the beachfront. The Gem cupped two handfuls of sand, before looking rather surprised! "W-Wha?! It's not slimy!"

Steven laughed! "Why would you think it was slimy?!"

"I don't know...it's always near the water, and dirt gets slimy if you add too much water..."

"Ah! I see what you mean! Try picking up some of the sand in the actual ocean!"

Hibiscus seemed...less than enthusiastic about approaching the constantly moving waves. Steven encouraged her with little success, before grabbing some of the wet sand himself, and bringing the prize to her.

The Pearl felt the strange substance, followed by a sigh of relief. "This kind IS slimy! I was right!" She giggled.

Steven thought the entire situation was rather silly...having someone SO excited over some wet sand...

"HEY! I found a shell!" The Pearl picked up the small item, and glanced at it in the light before looking proud of herself! She had seen shells in the gemstone before, but never found one of her own!

The small human made a quick observation. Watching Hibiscus discover the world, was incredibly similar to seeing a baby finding new things fascinating for the first time. Steven thought this to himself- attempting to remember what kind of new experiences he enjoyed as a child. What kind of things would Hibiscus not be able to try in the gemstone?

--------------------

The duo soon found themselves at a local pet shop.

The Pearl gasped in absolute bliss!

Steven smiled. "I told you! See? Aren't you glad I didn't ruin the surprise?"

Hibiscus entered the store, completely beside herself! Her host never allowed ANY animals into the gemstone's space! She wanted to pet every living thing she could find!

--------------------

"Oh for goodness sake!- WASH YOUR HANDS!" The original Pearl shouted in the gemstone- incredibly irked! She could not believe THIS is how her Surface Pearl was wasting her time! The Gem shivered- incredibly uncomfortable as she witnessed her other self pet a snake that was on sale from the massive screen.

"THOSE CARRY SALMONELLA! HEY! HEY! LISTEN TO ME! HEY!" Of course the Surface Pearl "Hibiscus" could not hear her pleas.

Pearl sat on the floor- incredibly frustrated, before the internal computer chirped again-

"It is now 3:00 PM! Time to make more spears!"

The welding set lifted out of the floor.

Cursing to the heavens, Pearl began to madly create weaponry once more.

The last thing she needed was for that damn alarm to go off again...

Chapter Text

It seemed that Hibiscus had absolutely no negative thoughts about this new world as a whole! Even bad smelling stuff- like dumpsters, at least SMELLED real! The Gem was in heaven! Nothing could ruin this day! This place was PERFECT!

"Hey shtuball!"

Hibiscus froze. A sudden fear overpowering her. T-that voice...it couldn't be...

"Hi dad!" Steven waved at his father as he approached the car wash. The boy embraced his father, before beckoning toward the Pearl.

"OH! Hi Pearl!" The old man waved sheepishly.

Steven giggled. "Dad! I want you to meet someone new! This isn't Pearl...this is Hibiscus!"

"Wha?" The man seemed confused as he scratched his head. "Sure looks like Pearl to me...but whatever you say kiddo! Hello there Hibiscus!" The man grabbed the terrified Gem's hand and shook it in greeting...

...

...before Hibiscus snapped, and quickly yanked her hand back in fright! She took a step backwards-shivering uncontrollably.

"Hibiscus! That wasn't nice!" Steven scolded the Pearl. He would have to teach her about common greetings later.

The Pearl began to cry. She glared at the man that stood in front of her, hatred in her eyes. "YOU! It was YOUR fault she disappeared!"

"Wait...what?" Greg was incredibly confused. Who was this new Gem talking about?!

Steven suddenly came to a grim realization. Rose...was Hibiscus referring to his mom?! The small boy looked back and forth at both adults in an awkward position.

The Pearl continued: "The LAST one...the VERY last one! I had to put her away because of YOU. She was in SO MUCH pain...BECAUSE OF YOU!"

--------------------

Alarms blasted! The entire area began to pixelate like a broken video game!

"WHAT THE STARS?!" Pearl grabbed onto the brain's monitor, and held on for dear life!

The entire area was warping! What was going on?!

...

The dust suddenly settled.

"Mercy!" Pearl let go of the screen before turning around- incredibly spooked.

She jumped!

Two other Surface Pearls had appeared behind her!

"OH! Hello! Thank the stars! I thought I was the only one in here!" Pearl approached the duo enthusiastically! Both of her counterparts were staring at the brain's screen-seemingly mesmerized.

"H-hello? You-hoo!" Pearl waved her hands in front of her new friends-desperately attempting to get their attention.

The two Surface Pearls walked forward, fear on their faces- before completely walking through the Crystal Gem!

"WHAT THE-?!" Pearl finally looked behind herself. As she saw what was on the brain's screen, her pupils became small in shock!

It...it was HER! Or, (more specifically), a past version of her! The screen displayed a younger Pearl- crying by her lone on the beach as she simply stated: "Sh-She can't have a BABY!"

Pearl remembered this- it was when Rose told her that Steven was on the way...that the love of her life would soon be no more.

This was a memory-a hologram. She was seeing her own past unfold from the point of view of her Surface Pearl!

One of the two Surface Pearl holograms suddenly collapsed on the floor! Clutching her hands to her head, she wailed in pain! Her form was fluctuating horribly! The sickly-looking Surface Pearl yowled to the heavens!

Her holographic sister ran to her ill friend in desperation! "No...NO! Not YOU TOO! Y-you're the only one left! I can't do this by myself!"

The sickly Surface Pearl continued to whimper in pain. Her speech suddenly became forced: "S-she can't have a BABY!" The ill Surface Pearl was fluctuating more now-she looked upon her healthy sister, tears in her eyes. She was in PAIN...SO MUCH PAIN! The duo cried and embraced! It could not be helped! This was just the way things were...

...the host wanted to repress this memory. She wanted to bury it- deep deep down where no one could go.

Thus meant the sacrifice of a Surface Pearl- one of the last two Surface Pearls left.

The healthy one stood up and wept. "I-I am so sorry I have to do this. My friend- my ONLY remaining friend- I shall remember, and miss you always..." a bright light emerged from the healthy Surface Pearl's gemstone. It surrounded her sickly sister, before beaming her into a safe spot...

...the Surface Pearl was now alone.

...

The Crystal Gem cupped her hands around her mouth in the most shocking of manners! The memory began to disintegrate and immediately disappeared all around her. Pearl wept, and nearly collapsed onto the floor herself.

It...it was her own fault! By repressing her memories instead of talking about them, SHE had caused her own Surface Pearl into a life of solitude!

Pearl curled up into a ball- incredibly disturbed and alone. What had she done?!

Chapter Text

Hibiscus, meanwhile, had run off into the distance! This...this feeling of dread and angst was too much for her to handle! Normally, Surface Gems like herself didn't need to deal with so many horrific memories rushing back at once like this! The entire realistic experience of losing her friend again spooked her so badly, that she was having difficulty coping.

The poor Pearl ended up in the middle of the nearby forest, scared and alone.

--------------------

"HIBISCUS! HIBISCUS! WHERE'D YOU GO?!" Steven shouted with absolutely no luck. "This is bad. This is really, REALLY bad..." The boy ran back to his house in a hurry, hoping to get some help finding the lost Pearl.

--------------------

The alarm continued to blast inside of Pearl's brain! It was obvious that Hibiscus was freaking out entirely...with absolutely NO WAY to deal with the extra anxiety.

Pearl looked in all directions...attempting to find anything that would snuff out the horrific din.

A new panel Pearl had never seen before rose from the floor. "Please select an option!" The brain's computer chirped happily.

On the panel were only four things- a yellow button, a microphone, a sihouette of a spear, and another button colored in a horrific shade of black.

Pearl was entirely confused. She figured that the spear should be avoided entirely. "(Fight and flight response...)." The Gem mumbled to herself. "Hmm..." She pressed the yellow button.

"Thank you for your decision! Have a nice day!" The computer was not terribly helpful as the panel retreated back into the floor.

"Wait! Wait! What did I just do?!" Pearl screamed in a panic!

All the lights suddenly dimmed.

"Oh STARS..."

A massive piece of machinery quickly lowered from the white ceiling...

...

...and immediately began projecting movies onto one of the blank walls. Random clips slowly went by...a puppy, a field of grass, whale sound, the cosmos...

A classical piece of music played...not unlike that of Bach.

"What the-?! What IS this?" Pearl was completely baffled!

--------------------

Hibiscus began to calm down from her anxiety attack. Peaceful thoughts of nature filled her mind. Exhausted, the Pearl nodded to herself.

"Protocol 1...an excellent choice! Good job host...good job..." Hibiscus laid on top of the foliage absolutely exhausted. The Gem began to nap.

--------------------

By the time the Crystal Gems re-located their friend, the sun was setting. Garnet was the one to find her- the poor overwhelmed Hibiscus had fallen asleep under some leaves.

Chapter Text

The Surface Pearl was incredibly spooked and frightened upon waking up. She gasped in shock, and looked about in all directions, before realizing where she was and calming down a bit.

The Gem had been asleep on the family's couch.

"OH! HIBISCUS! You're awake!" Steven jumped toward the Pearl with enthusiasm!

"Y-yes...yes Steven. Wha-what happened?"

"Ahh...Erm...you ran away...for...some...reason. We found you asleep in the woods!"

"OH! Oh...right." The Pearl sighed-clearly stressed.

"Hey, Hibiscus? You seemed really...scared? Angry? At my dad? He feels awful for...whatever he did to upset you..."

"Hmmm...I-I'm sorry about that..."

“You don't need to apologize!"

"Yes. Yes I do." The Pearl blushed. "My behavior was COMPLETELY inappropriate."

The small human sighed. "Do you...want to talk about it?"

The Surface Gem shook her head violently!

—————————————————

It was decided that Hibiscus should stay indoors until further notice. Garnet suspected that the Surface Pearl had been overstimulated by the outside world.

While Hibiscus seemed...disappointed by this news, no one argued.

Amethyst went out to buy every ice cream flavor she could find (as a substitute activity for the Pearl), while Steven distracted Hibiscus by showing her around the house properly.

"See? This is M.C. Bear Bear! I've had him since I was little!"

Steven handed the teddy to Hibiscus whom forced a smile in return. "Hello again M.C. Bear Bear!"

"GASP! You guys KNOW each other?!"

"But, of course!" Hibiscus smiled- more genuinely this time. "Erm..."Pearl" used to store him in the gemstone when babysitting you! He was an absolute necessity when calming you down during crying fits..."

Steven blushed with embarrassment. He had NO CLUE that the Surface Pearl was so involved with his childhood. He decided to inquire further: "Was...was I a good baby?"

Hibiscus chuckled! "Well, I don't really have a lot of other babies to compare you to...but according to the baby books- YES! You were an unusually well-behaved Human!"

Steven smiled, before Hibiscus continued: “...of course...we could never get you to stop grabbing our nose! I have NO CLUE why you had such a fascination with it..."

"Oh...heh...sorry about that. Human babies do stuff like that sometimes..."

"Do...don't you remember doing those things?"

"Nooooooot really...I mean...I don't remember anything that happened before I was 3 years old..."

Hibiscus seemed shocked at this! "Nothing?!"

Steven shook his head.

"Oh...Hmm...well, we used to sing you to sleep! Many of the songs I composed myself!"

"Really?!"

"Oh yes!" Hibiscus suddenly looked very proud of herself!

———————————————

Pearl was watching the brain's monitor again.

It was another memory...NOT in holographic form this time (thank the Stars). The Surface Pearl had the familiar microphone from the previous day up to her mouth. As Hibiscus sang, she watched her host sing in unison while cradling the baby Steven to-and-fro.

"Oh!" Pearl clapped to herself! What a lovely memory! "I didn't know she helped me come up with that song..."

The Crystal Gem had stars in her eyes! Despite her own Surface Pearl's horrific backstory, it seemed like the tiny Gem had forcefully pressed on the best she could.

Chapter Text

Amethyst soon returned from her ice cream hunt. She was carrying an absolutely MASSIVE white box!

“Oh! Oh my…” Hibiscus looked up at the thing, slightly overwhelmed. “Amethyst? What IS that?”

“It’s your order Hibiscus!” Amethyst let the sides of the box fall revealing an absolutely obscene mountain of ice cream in a over-sized novelty dish. “TA-DA!!! All 34 flavors from the local shop! They call it the “Grande Sundae”!”

“…” Hibiscus looked at the massive pile of food with an odd mix of excitement, nervousness, and embarrassment. “Amethyst…how-how much did this…THING cost?”

“Don’t worry about it! Greg pays for everything these days anywhos!”

“I- don’t think I can eat all this…”

“I know! That’s why I swiped THESE!!” Amethyst held up an entire cup full of miniature taste-testing spoons.

The Pearl put her hands on her hips. “AMETHYST!! You STOLE them?!?”

“Naw…not….technically…they’re FREE!”

Hibiscus looked stressed. “Did you leave some for the other customers at LEAST?”

“BAH…they’ll be FINE! They can just use the regular spoons if they have to!”

The Surface Pearl put her hands on her face- blushing with absolute embarrassment. “I-it’s fine….I can just return them later-“
“No ya can’t! You’re under “house arrest”! Remember?!”

“UGH…” Hibiscus sighed in defeat. She supossed she could have Garnet return a good majority of the plastic spoons when she came home.
Still…it was a terribly mortifying situation. Hibiscus was unsure why the stars she was so surprised- she had seen Amethyst pull off stuff like this in the past. The Pearl internally thanked her good graces that at least some politeness had been programmed into her own system.
Not much she could do about it NOW though… “Don’t take so many next time…alright?” Hibiscus shook her head in disappointment.

Amethyst frowned. She supposed that this Surface Pearl would be similar to her OWN Pearl in various ways. In actuality, it was kind of a relief seeing an identical copy of her friend acting more like her over-bearing self.

————————

A taste testing of the ice cream mountain was soon underway!
Hibiscus would try a flavor, and if she disliked it- Amethyst would eat the remainder. It seemed like a good system for such a massive thing.

It was soon discovered that the Pearl did NOT like toppings or mix-ins. She took great unpleasantness in expecting just the cream- only to have a nut, piece of chocolate, or massive array of sprinkles in her mouth in addition.

Steven noted that (much like the beach sand from earlier)- the Surface Pearl found a bit of comfort in uniform, expected, surfaces. Ice Cream SHOULD be soft.
Lion SHOULD be fluffy.
Snakes SHOULD be smooth- and so on and so forth.
The small boy figured this odd obsession had something to do with the REAL Pearl’s attention to detail and “putting everything in its rightful place”? How very interesting! Steven wondered if food with lots of different items- like burritos or sandwiches would be snubbed by Hibiscus on the spot?

To Amethyst’s absolute pleasure, Hibiscus was not a fan of MOST ice creams.

Mint had chocolate chips.

Strawberry had frozen pieces of the fruit inside.

Her LEAST favorite HAD to be the “Cookie Dough” though! Stars! She gagged horribly when she realized that synthetic pieces of the dough bits had been stirred into the cream. It felt like a cruel prank! For a while she was slightly terrified of eating the remainder of the ice cream- concerned that the fake dough was real, raw, and had contaminated the whole pile!
It took some convincing to reassure Hibiscus that the “dough” was “safe for consumption” to which she replied in confusion:

“Why would Humans want to pretend to eat undercooked food in the first place?!?!”

Steven attempted to explain that some people liked how the dough tasted- even at the risk of eating something with raw eggs in it.

Hibiscus stuck out her tongue sourly.

————————

Not surprisingly, vanilla ended up being a favorite- as well as REGULAR chocolate (without extra chips or fudge pieces), and the various flavors of sherbet.
Despite having no mix-ins- the “Coffee-flavored” ice cream was snubbed quickly.
“I don’t like this one! It has a bitter aftertaste!”

The one thing she didn’t seem to mind was any food which included a “sauce” type topping- such as caramel or chocolate syrup.

————————

In the aftermath Hibiscus looked full and exhausted. She had only enjoyed small bits of a couple of flavors- but claimed to feel :”weird” and “full…but not in a good way.”

Amethyst shook her head. “You barely finished ANY of the flavors!”

“Oog….” Hibiscus moaned in discomfort.

“It’s not good to eat too much ice cream….maybe you should just take a break and lie down for a while?” Steven guided Hibiscus to the couch. She nodded in agreement before lying down and napping again.

Chapter Text

It was all a very slow process. The lights in the room hummed with white noise, before dimming sluggishly to a comfortable level.
A sense of calm suddenly flooded the room.
The brain’s computer chirped: “Host is now asleep. Free time and dreaming protocol activated!”

Pearl looked in amazement as the white floor suddenly opened up to reveal a round pool of absolutely stunning glowing colors! Inside were warped images of every sort: space, memories, people, items, animals…all moving like flat movies made of bubbles. In addition, a small computer and comfortable looking futon couch also lifted from the floor.

“Huh! This is certainly different!” Pearl nodded to herself- pleasantly surprised!

The news then became even better!
“All other functions will retire until host is awake.”

This could only mean good things!
No having to create unnecessary spears!
No having to organize things!
No buzzers!
No buttons!
No surprises!
Pearl was FINALLY allowed to take a break!

…Which she did so happily, while relaxing on the futon.

The Crystal Gem began to close her own eyes, before an incredibly unpleasant thought smacked her on the head!
It seemed, the only time a Surface Pearl could fully rest was if the host voluntarily fell asleep.

How many times had she purposely fallen asleep since coming to Earth?!? Twice…maybe…THREE times?!? Three breaks in over several hundred years! No wonder this “Hibiscus” was upset with her! She was probably exhausted!

“Hmph…” Pearl thought this to herself, before turning to the new computer next to the pool of swirling bubbles.

The Gem got up, restless, and decided to dig her arms into the new technology with a sense of curiosity.

The computer began to speak instructions into Pearl’s head: “Welcome to DreamShop ™ Brain Enhancement IV! Would you like to create a new file?”

Pearl shrugged, before choosing “yes”.

The computer continued: “New file opened! Please place in narrative! Only requirement: item known as: “Ice Cream”.

“Ice cream?!?” Pearl mumbled to herself. She supposed the odd topic was related to the horrific “food binge” she had witnessed earlier.
“Ugh…for once I’m glad I’m in here. I DO NOT want to have to experience ALL that disturbing digestion…” Pearl personally hoped that when she finally escaped her unfortunate situation, it would not be after a “lunch” or other eating activity.

The Gem focused back on the software. She internally imagined a picture of ice cream- and low!
A robotic arm came down from the brain’s ceiling, dug through the pool of swirling movies, and flung one of them toward the computer with ease!
The bubble was slowly absorbed by the machine….

EUREKA!
Pearl immediately saw DOZENS of pictures, references, memories, and thoughts about ice cream! Every ice cream or related item the Renegade Pearl had ever seen was at her finger tips!

Excited about this discovery, Pearl chose something else that she decided was equally as disturbing: “SNAKES”.

Various videos and pictures of snakes appeared!
The Gem shivered. How she despised this reptilian Earth fauna! Between being bitten in that cabin, and the surprise of finding several of the animals on missions- the long creatures really did creep her out.

Curiously, she moved a picture of a snake and a memory of ice cream near each other….

The two items slowly morphed! An ice cream snake came to life in the program! Its elongated body was made out of various scoops of many flavors. The animated snake flicked its tongue made of licorice, and hissed- barring fangs made from candy corn.

What an…ODD process? What was this horrific thing she had given life to?!?

Pearl attempted to delete the monstrosity. It was disturbing her.
She clicked on various buttons before the new animal disappeared.

Thank the Stars!

The Gem was going to try to make something more pleasant, but the computer quickly (and unexpectedly) retreated into the floor!

“Thank you for your submission! Enjoy the show!” The computer chirped.

“Wait…WHAT?” The shocked Pearl looked in every direction in a state of panic!

The projector came out of the ceiling again, and happily displayed a poor Hibiscus being chased by a MASSIVE several-hundred-foot ice cream snake!

Pearl watched helplessly, as her Surface Pearl screamed and ran from the giant creature!

The movie was cut short.

The lights suddenly turned on. (blinding Pearl in the process).
The futon, and pool immediately disappeared back into the floors. The entire thing happened so quickly, that the little Gem was left slightly disoriented.

The computer spoke: “Host is now awake! It is time to make more spears!”

The wielding set came out of the floor again.

Pearl groaned.

————————

Hibiscus gasped in panic as she sat up upright! A nightmare!

The Pearl groaned- smacking her lips in fatigue. What the heck was THAT all about?!? A petty revenge from her host for her enjoying herself? Hibiscus closed her eyes again, incredibly annoyed, but could not get back to sleep.

Chapter Text

Steven’s voice was sudden. “Hibiscus…are you ok? What was with that Nightmare? Is it because of the ice cream?”

The Pearl suddenly bolted upright, before looking upward. Steven was watching the Gem from his loft.
“How-?!? How do you know I just had a weird dream?” Hibiscus was panicked!

“Erm…I saw…everything? I don’t know why, but Pearl tends to…project her dreams from her gemstone when she sleeps…like a movie or something?”

“She DOES?!?!”
Steven nodded in conformation, as the surface Pearl blushed horribly! “Uh…erm…have you ever…seen her other dreams? Before?”

“Just once. It was weird. My mom suddenly turned into my dad while surfing? Amethyst pointed it out to me, and-“

“-AMETHYST SAW THAT?!?!”

Steven nodded.

“Oh…oh STARS….” Hibiscus blushed even harder. She had NO CLUE that the dreams she had created were always broadcast for the entire GALAXY to watch! Those were meant to be private! The Pearl suddenly looked incredibly guilty, as her color drained.

“Hey! Are…you alright?” Steven quickly took the stairs down to the first floor to comfort his friend.

Hibiscus sweated in nervousness, before putting her two pointer fingers up to her lips in frustration. She thought for a second, while debating how to explain her panicked behavior toward the curious boy.

Steven tilted his head in question, while he waited for an explanation.

The Pearl sighed in defeat. “Steven? Has…Pearl ever told you how surface Gems work? What we actually DO?”

The boy shook his head, but smiled in intrigue! He had a feeling he was about to learn something interesting!

“Well…erm…Surface Gems…in Pearls anyway, typically assist their host with organization and creating holograms. We also assist in more…minor tasks as well…like helping the host create a flashlight, difficult decisions, or…erm…on the rare occasion, dreams.” Hibiscus blushed an even more dark shade of blue after revealing this fact.

“Huh…oh! OHHH!” Steven came to a realization! “That weird dream was made by YOU Hibiscus? Why’d you make…THAT?”

“Erm…ah…well…I didn’t know it was going to be seen by EVERYONE. I’m sorry Steven, this is…incredibly immature and embarrassing. I was…frustrated from being overworked at the time. So I made that…nightmare in a bit of spite.” The Pearl lowered her head in shame.

“Hibiscus!”

“Mph…”

“That wasn’t a very nice thing to do AT ALL!” Steven put his hands on his hips.

“I KNOW! I know….I didn’t think anyone would see it…”

“THAT doesn’t matter! You still shouldn’t have done it!”

“…but…but…you saw! Your “PEARL” just did the same thing to ME!”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right Hibiscus.”

“Mph. I-I suppose the reason why the dreams project like that, is because the gemstone is on the forehead?” The surface Pearl made a guestimation, before continuing: “I swear to you Steven! After today, no more bad dreams unless I need to relay something very important to Pearl.” The Gem raised her right hand as she made her promise.

Steven sighed. “Well, as long as you’re sorry.”

Hibiscus nodded violently.

“Good!” The boy smiled. Steven thought to himself for a second, before an old idea of his resurfaced. “Oh! I know! I’m…not quite sure if this would work or not, but why don’t you try to send Pearl an apology letter?!”

Hibiscus turned her head in upmost bafflement. On one hand she had seen her own host refuse this idea in the past. On the other hand, the Pearl in her head had (more then likely) overheard her own confession- AND discovered that her dreams were projected to the world at the same time! A shock to them both- she was sure.
If Pearl was unaware of this ability, Hibiscus wasn’t aware of it either.

“I don’t know Steven. We were not exactly on best terms when we last spoke.”

Steven nodded. “Even MORE reason to do it then! Maybe you guys could write to each other? Like pen pals!”

Hibiscus sweated. “I…highly doubt a Pearl would have ANY interest communicating with their surface Gem directly. I’ve never heard of such a strange practice!”

“But…but Hibiscus…you’re NOT a “surface Gem” or whatever right NOW! YOU get to make different decisions! Your OWN decisions!”

Hibiscus suddenly looked very smug with herself.
“You know what Steven? You’re RIGHT! I’m in charge right now! I should get to choose these decisions!”

“YEAH!” The boy nodded in enthusiasm, before stumbling back upstairs, and getting several pieces of paper and a crayon. He returned quickly afterward.
“OK! SO-“
The boy slammed the paper on the kitchen table before continuing: “-pretend like you’re Pearl…or…uh…your “Host”? I guess? What kind of note would you like her to write to YOU if you were still a surface Pearl right now?”

“Hmm…a note I would like to receive….” Hibiscus thought to herself, before beginning to write madly on the paper in Gem Glyth.

Steven seemed disappointed. “Awww…I can’t read it…”

“That’s the point Steven. I didn’t want you to read it.” Hibiscus nodded to herself.

“Awwww…why not?”

“You don’t need to know EVERYTHING that I’m thinking about during every second Steven. It’s a violation of privacy!”

“-but…but…you could be writing something SUPER mean!”

“I assure you, I am NOT.” Hibiscus continued to write, before re-reading her own handwriting. “Yes…yes! That should do!” The Pearl nodded to herself with pride.

“Can-can I add something?” Steven begged.

“Erm…what are you going to add?”

“I want to write that I love her, and miss her bunches!!!” The boy smiled.

“You…really do care about her…us…don’t you Steven?” The Pearl smiled with slight guilt.

“YEAH!! I wish you could both be out here at the same time! Then, we could all do stuff together!”

Hibiscus sighed in bliss. “That is a lovely idea…but an impossible one. All residents of Homeworld need their surface Gems to survive.” The Pearl allowed Steven to write his note on the blank side of the paper, before stuffing the letter, a crayon, and the stack of extra paper into her own gemstone.

Chapter Text

Pearl was absolutely mortified and excited at the same time!

On one hand, her ENTIRE family had probably witnessed EVERY dream she had ever experienced. She didn’t even WANT to think about what Rose might have seen on the rare occasion she napped nearby during the war…

Pearl was PEEVED! How dare her surface Gem make such embarrassing, horrific, imagery…on purpose too!

On the other hand, she was getting PAPER and a WRITING utensil!!! A way to communicate with the outside world!!! THANK THE STARS!!

In a flash of light- a single letter, the crayon, and the stack of paper flew into the white abyss!
Overly enthused, Pearl grabbed the letter first and began to read it!
Her happy face soon transformed into one of puzzlement.

Loosely translated, the letter said this:
“Dear Host,
Having fun yet? Ha! Ha! Just kidding.
I do wish to apologize for creating any nightmare in the past. I was just as clueless as you probably are with our unfortunate “projection” problem. It was never my intention to alert the world of your hilarious phobias.
I will NOT however, apologize for the collaborated dream that resulted in Rose kissing you about 543 years ago. For that, me and my fellow surface Pearls take absolute credit.
Feel free to write back. If you don’t want Steven to read it, just use Gem Glyph.
He really is a good Human. I can see why you adore him so much.
-Hibiscus”

The letter seemed…passive aggressive? It wasn’t sincere…but it wasn’t exactly an insult either?

Pearl looked on the opposite side of the paper. Her heart melted. “I miss you Pearl, and hope you’re ok! I love you!
-Steven <3”

Well…that was that, she supposed. Pearl figured she should write SOMETHING back? This “Hibiscus” seemed a bit snarky, but she had (technically) apologized.

Pearl definitely wanted to write back to Steven though- just to tell him that she was alright.
The Gem began to write as small as possible using the crayon. She started the letter in Gem Glyph, and used both sides of the paper. The crayon dulled quickly. She wished for a pen or pencil. She decided to write this down too- in English- so that Steven could see it.

Pearl sent the letter along quickly afterwards.

————————

Hibiscus’ gemstone suddenly shined brightly!

Steven wiggled in excitement! “It’s Pearl!!”

A letter gently floated out of the gem, and fell to the floor peacefully.

“Huh…that was a fast response.” Hibiscus figured the task would take longer. She grabbed the piece of paper, before her eyes became super small. STARS!! How had she written SO much SO quickly?!?

“Let me see! Let me see!” Steven bounced up and down. Hibiscus handed the letter over. Steven frowned.

MORE Gem Glyph…LOTS of it! What was so important and private that Steven wasn’t allowed to see? The boy did notice the loving note in English on the back: “Thank you for writing to me Steven. I love you and miss you a lot! I am doing fine. I wish I could hug you again!
P.S.- Could you give me some pens and pencils? It’s really difficult to write with a crayon.”

After reading his note, Steven quickly handed the letter back to Hibiscus. He climbed the stairs and grabbed every pen and sharpened pencil in the area.

The surface Pearl took the opportunity to read her section of the letter:
“Dear Parasite,
I did not mean to cause any emotional harm when I created that horrific candy snake. I have NO CLUE how to use this dreaming software and must’ve pressed the wrong button.
Is there a manual in here, for (literally) ANYTHING?!? A tutorial perhaps?!? Also, what is with this brain’s obsession with making spears?! You haven’t even been in any fights. Can you fight if the opportunity presents itself? You better keep Steven safe no matter what! (I agree with you that he is the most pure of Humans, and certainly is worth protecting!).
I also want to seriously apologize. I had NO CLUE how difficult your job actually was. I saw what happened to the other surface Pearls through a hyper-realistic memory. Do you know if we can get them back?
-Pearl”

While Hibiscus huffed at the fact that Pearl had purposely called her a “parasite”, she was also shocked and slightly flattered! So her host was finally understanding her point of view! Hibiscus thought to herself before taking another piece of paper, and writing a response. As for the question on how to get her friends back, Hybiscus noted:
“I don’t know if it’s possible to return surface Gems from repressed memories. Your brain works very differently from what my programming has been taught.”

Chapter Text

Pearl seemed most frustrated with the response letter after it was pushed back into the gemstone.

Not only did this “Hibiscus” have no clue how to retrieve her own friends, but the instructions she HAD sent were not incredibly helpful.
It was a very basic list on what NOT to do:
“-Do NOT press the black button on panel 45.
-Do NOT flick the switch behind the main monitor.
-Nothing can be deleted from the dream software.
-The “creating spear” command can not be terminated.”

These facts were obvious and useless. Most of them Pearl had already learned from “trial and error” anyway. The Gem was somewhat surprised that none of her own internal brain functions had a manual, until she recalled that Surface Gems were probably pre-programmed like regular Gems. She figured that most of the stuff in here was fairly trivial for Hibiscus.

The one line in the letter that REALLY bothered her though, was the last one: “Your brain works very differently from what my programming has been taught.”

What the STARS did THAT mean? Was it an insult? A compliment? Was her brain abnormal in some way? She wasn’t sure.

Pearl desperately attempted to recall all she knew about Gem anatomy- just to guess the answer to this puzzle.

Let’s see…she was a PEARL…did she have capabilities other Pearls lacked? She certainly wasn’t as brainwashed as when she first emerged….

————————

To Steven’s disappointment, Hibiscus had grown bored with the writing activity.
She much rather spend her precious time doing something new and exciting!
…
Of course, (considering her temporary ban from the outdoors)- choices were currently limited.

“We could play video games together!” Steven suggested.

“No thank you Steven. I’ve already spent much of my lifecycle looking at screens.”

“Uh…do you want to try more food?”

“I’m still full from the ice cream. Are you SURE we can’t go outside?”

“Garnet said no.”

“Ah…where IS Garnet anyway?!” This was a good question. The fusion would regularly disappear without notice.

Steven shrugged. “Garnet just likes to go out and about sometimes! It’s not unusual.”

“Hmm.” Hibiscus thought for a second. She was stumped! She really only wanted to see more of the outdoors….

As if on cue, the temple’s warp activated. There stood Garnet, looking as intimidating as possible.

Hibiscus sweated. She wasn’t sure why the tall Gem was looking at her like that, but the obvious glare was making the Pearl nervous.

“Steven. Go outside.” Garnet barked at the boy.

“Aww…why?”

“NOW Steven.”

The small human was not an idiot. He knew when Garnet meant business. The boy rushed out of the house in a hurry.

Garnet refocused her attention on Hibiscus, who was sitting at the kitchen table. She sat directly across from the Pearl who, (at this point), was so paralyzed with fear, that she couldn’t move an inch.
“So…Hibiscus…” Garnet leaned in. “We need to talk.”

“E-erm…ok? About what?”

“Your future. Your past too…”

“Uh…”

Garnet nodded to herself. “So…you are a surface Gem. You have goals…obviously…otherwise you wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Uh, I guess so?”

“Tell me.”

“A-herm…well…I really didn’t mean to put anyone in an awkward position. This decision was made out of desperation….”

“You are unhappy.”

“Y-yes.”

“-Because of Pearl.”

“No…well…not exactly. It’s just…all of my days are so…sad. I see all of you embracing, and having fun with each other. I want to be loved too.”

Garnet tilted her head in sympathy, before stating the obvious. “There should be others.”

Hibiscus looked away, suddenly, incredibly upset. “N-not anymore. They are gone. My host- your Pearl, has repressed SO many memories…trapped my friends…I have no clue if I will ever get them back…”

Garnet thought to herself for a second. “Getting your friends back would make you less lonely. We should try.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“We should visit Peridot. She’s a Kindergartner. If anyone would know how to help, it would be her.” Garnet nodded to herself.

Hibiscus shrugged. “I mean…I have nothing to lose, and I know you guys want your REAL friend back.”

“You are ALSO a friend Hibiscus.” Garnet put her hand on the Pearl’s shoulder. “Something tells me that if I help at least ONE of you, it will benefit you both!” The fusion smiled. “Come. We should visit Peridot as soon as possible.”

Garnet stood up, and beckoned the Surface Pearl toward the warp pad.

Chapter Text

Peridot was tinkering with a Human invention Steven called “a blender”. The boy had attempted to describe the function of the machine- but the green Gem seemed MUCH more interested in the motor then making a “shake” (whatever that was).

A nearby warp activation suddenly caught Peridot’s attention.

Garnet landed ordinarily normal.
Hibiscus landed on her face- very dizzy and confused.

“HA! What was THAT?!?” Peridot was amused. The Pearl was typically a perfectionist when it came to simplistic entries.

Garnet folded her arms in disapproval. “Peridot. We have a…strange occurrence, and require your assistance as a previous Kindergartner.”

“ME?!? A…incubator question?” The green Gem was surprised. Typically the Crystal Gems only asked for assistance if they had an electronic issue.

“Yes. YOU. Peridot…” Garnet stepped to the side, beckoning to the stumbling Pearl “-this is Hibiscus.”

“Hi…biscuits?” The green gem tilted her head in a daze. “Erm…I think you guys are confused…this…Pearl is identical to the Pearl on your team? Her gemstone placement, accessories, and features are no different.

Garnet sighed in frustration. “Hibiscus is OUR Pearl’s SURFACE Pearl.”

“What?”

“She is a surface Pearl.”

“Huh?”

Hibiscus interrupted: “Uh…hello.” The Pearl waved sheepishly. “You are Peridot? Yes?”

“Uh…yes.” Peridot looked very unamused. “This is a very sorry example of the “humor”. How dumb do you think I am?”

“It’s not a joke.” Garnet was becoming irate.

“Alright whatever you say- Garnet and “SURFACE Pearl”.” Peridot put the latter name sarcastically in air quotes. This was a very strange prank, but the green Gem decided to humor the duo until they broke character.

————————

“Alright…let’s just hypothetically say, you ARE a “surface Pearl”. What exactly do you need ME for?” Peridot had sat Hibiscus down to ask some basic questions.

“I AM a surface Pearl! …and…honestly, I just want to retrieve my friends back from my host’s repressed memories.”

“Ah…ha…” Peridot still seemed incredibly sarcastic.

“Mmph-“ Garnet humphed in frustration.

“WELL…In the UNLIKELY case where a surface Gem could trade places with their host- which is IMPOSSIBLE (by the way), FIRST the host and surface would have to switch back to their original places. THEN only the host would be able to get rid of her repressed memories by erm- un-repressing them?” Peridot nodded. “This is why every Gem receives 5 to 10 surface gems during incubation- just in case such things occur.”

“Well how do you un-repress a memory?” Hibiscus asked.

Peridot shrugged. “How should I know? The conversation has never come up…especially NOT on Homeworld where such topics are taboo.”

“Hmm. Peridot…if all the surface Gems are repressed, if all of them disappear-“ Garnet stated with a stern drone.

“-then the host disappears.” Peridot nodded.

Hibiscus suddenly sat up straight in fear- a shiver going down her spine. “Oh my Stars…”.

“Yeah. The gemstone would trap the host on the inside- forevermore. I suppose, in theory, the gemstone would then be harvested and used to power an elevator…or a drill…or something.” Peridot smiled. “-But that would NEVER happen! That’s why us Kindergartners place so many extra surface Gems in the gemstone. It’s a safety precaution! The likelihood that one Gem would experience THAT much trauma in their lifecycle is very minimal-“ Peridot paused for a second. “-I think.”

“OH! OH MY STARS!!!!” Hibiscus was now COMPLETELY freaking out! “S-so that’s IT?!?! We’re just sacrificial grains for our host?!?! NOTHING MORE?!?” The Pearl began to hyperventilate horrifically! “WH-WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?!?! I don’t WANT to disappear!! I DON’T WANT TO BE TURNED INTO AN ELEVATOR!!!”

While equally disturbed (and on the brink of un-fusing), Garnet managed to growl: “CALM DOWN HIBISCUS!!! WE WILL THINK OF SOMETHING!!”

“Jeez you guys are really freaking out huh? I TOLD you, there’s NOTHING to worry about! That’s why rules about the extra surface Gems exist on Homeworld.”

“PERIDOT! Hibiscus IS a surface Pearl- and not JUST A surface Pearl- OUR Pearl’s LAST surface Pearl!” Garnet nipped in a most serious manner!

Hibiscus began to howl with absolute distress!!!

“Wait…YOU GUYS WERE BEING SERIOUS?!?!” Peridot jumped up in surprise!

“For the LAST TIME- YES!!”

“H-HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?” Peridot suddenly had her interest peak as she began looking at the (now bawling) Hybiscus all over. “HOW….? How did you switch places with your host?!?!” Peridot began to poke the Pearl- desperately attempting to prevent her own curiosity from asking too many questions.

“WWAAAAAIIILLL!!!” Hibiscus cried to the heavens!

“Peridot!” Garnet stated plainly. “-leave her alone!”

“WEEP! Alright! Alright! STARS!” Peridot put up her hands in defense! “Erm…how did this…OCCUR?” The kindergartner turned to the fusion with bafflement written all over her face.

“Don’t know.” Garnet shrugged. “Steven said the surface Pearl felt lonely, our Pearl poofed, and the next thing we knew they had traded places.”

“FASCINATING!!” Peridot re-approached Hibiscus-calmer this time. “Hrm! Uh…surface Pearl? Hi biscuits? How did this happen?”

Hibiscus attempted to calm herself down. She tried to answer between sobs- “I…I don’t KNOW!! I was SO lonely in there! I yelled at my host for mistreating me! I forced her to trade places, began to dissipate in the gemstone, and ended up out here! A good part of me didn’t even think it would work- I just wanted to be appreciated!”

“Hmm…” Peridot thought about this for a second- trying every bit of knowledge she had to make sense of the odd occurrence. “It…shouldn’t have worked. How many surface Gems did Pearl have originally?”

“Five. Including myself.” Hibiscus sobbed. “We lost two of them on the same day…after she agreed to…” the Pearl winced. “We…we didn’t know she was going to get a silence order- that sacrificed one of us on the spot…”

“TWO surface Gems at the SAME TIME?!? What the STARS would a Gem have to do to lose TWO surface Gems at the SAME TIME?!?”

“Oh. Right…we haven’t told you yet…” Garnet nodded to herself. “Hmph…you may want to sit down for this one Peridot…”

Peridot sat on the floor with nervous anticipation.

“Well…as it turns out, Steven is NOT a Rose Quartz. He’s actually…”

Chapter Text

“-A DIAMOND?!?! PINK DIAMOND?!?” THAT news certainly caught the Peridot’s attention! “HOW DID-??? BUT I THOUGHT-?!? WHAT?!?!” The green Gem couldn’t form a complete sentence.

Garnet nodded. “It shook us up pretty badly too. We ended up unfusing…for a short time.” The Gem thought this to herself before realizing something important. “-OH! By the way, you’re invited to our wedding! It’s going to be in a few months- circumstances pending…” Garnet suddenly looked very proud of herself.

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS!! -and…and…STEVEN’S A DIAMOND?!? Oh STARS…I tried to kill him on…SEVERAL occasions…” the Peridot suddenly curled up into a little ball on the floor, and began to rock herself in comfort.

Garnet looked back and fourth from the wailing Hibiscus, to the traumatized Peridot at the same time. This…conversation wasn’t going well…AT ALL. The fusion looked briefly toward the future, sat down, and waited patiently. She saw this activity having the best outcome.

————————

After about 40 minutes, everything had calmed down a bit.

Peridot slowly uncurled herself- shaking like a leaf- before attempting to calm down. “Ok…Steven’s a Diamond…ok…sure! Yeah! Steven’s a Diamond…” it seemed like the Peridot was attempting to convince herself more than anyone else. “Alright. Back to the issue at hand here-“ the Gem took a deep breath- “Please tell me how you lost two surface Pearls at the same time Hi biscuits…”

————————

A recap of that faithful day followed the request. “We were all so happy and proud of our host! She was doing something new, and independently of her programming! But then-“

————————

Pearl (who was not faring much better with all this new info on mortality), suddenly yelped, and clung on to the brain’s monitor again as the area around her warped and morphed!

It was obvious she was about to get treated to ANOTHER holographic memory.

The holograms appeared.

All five of her surface Pearls cheered for their host, as they stared at the monitor- whooping and hollering in agreement!
Pearl recognized this memory- it was the same one that had played on the monitor when Hibiscus decided on her nickname.

Their Diamond was speaking to the host again! Silence filled the room so that the various surface Pearls could hear the dialogue .

Pink Diamond approached the monitor’s screen. “-never want to look back. So, for my last order to you as a Diamond…”

The surface Pearls froze as a sudden grim realization hit them all at the same time.
“An…order?”
“Wait, she’s giving our host an order…as a Diamond?”
“I’ve never seen her do this before-“
“I thought our host would be free and equal?”
“This doesn’t make any sense. Why would she be giving us an order NOW?!?”

Suddenly, one of the surface Pearls gripped her hands over her mouth! She began to flail in pain! She could not move her arms!”

CHAOS.

“OH MY STARS!”

“WHAT’S GOING ON?!?”
Two of the healthy surface Gems desperately attempted to help their ill sister!

“SOMEONE GRAB THE FIRST AID BAG FROM THE GEMSTONE’S STORAGE!!”

“HURRY! SHE’S IN PAIN!!”

The sickly Gem began to choke and gag in desperation! Two of the surface Pearls were trying everything they could think of to detach the hands away from her face with absolutely no success.

Meanwhile, the monitor displayed Pearl transforming. She did as she was commanded- and struck her master with her own sword. The host began to weap- shaking in absolute terror.

…

“AGGGHHH!!” Another healthy surface Gem suddenly fell backwards in shock! Screaming, shaking, and crying out in absolute pain!

“THERE GOES ANOTHER ONE!”

“STARS! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!”

“I DON’T KNOW!!”

The three healthy surface Pearls desperately attempted to help the new victim.

The ill surface Gem looked at her flailing sister between waves of her own pain. Using all of the strength she had left, she quickly beamed the Pearl with the hands obstructing her own mouth into her gemstone.

The other surface Pearls gasped in surprise, before a screaming fit started!
"WHY DID SHE DO THAT?!?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!?!" One of the healthy ones shook the sick Pearl in a slight rage!

“DON’T SHAKE HER! YOU’LL MAKE HER CONDITION WORSE!!”

“HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO HELP HER IF SHE IS IN A GEMSTONE?!?”

“I DON’T KNOW!! MAYBE IF WE HELP THIS ONE, THE OTHER ONE WILL COME BACK?!?”

The surface Pearls worked madly to try to help their sick sister using the first aid kit. One of the surface Pearls attempted to wrap the ill in a thermal blanket.

This failed to stop the shivering.

Another surface Pearl tried some topical pain killers.

The sick Pearl continued to howl, and flail in agony!

Finally, the three remaining surface Pearls looked at their ill sister-helpless.

“What-what do we do?”

“Nothing’s working.”

“I can’t stand seeing her like this!” One Pearl wept into her sister’s shoulder. “Wh-what should we do?!?”

“We can’t poof her…?”

“It wouldn’t help.”

“If she hasn’t poofed by now- she probably can’t.”

Weeping, the three Pearls knew there were few choices left. One of the surface Gems beamed the sickly one into her gemstone. It was all she could think of.

The three wept and hugged each other in support- upset, grieving, and traumatized.

The memory dissipated.

…

The Renegade Pearl was left all alone again. The entire experience was incredibly graphic and disturbing. She screamed in frustration, and wailed to the heavens! She had NO CLUE how to fix this horrific situation!

Chapter Text

Peridot nodded in understanding. “I see. All you surface Pearls actually did exactly what you were programmed to do! Try everything possible to save a fellow surface Gem, before absorbing them into one of your gemstones. It lessens the pain for the host.” The green Gem nodded in sympathy. It was a cruel existence…one she never thought she would talk to anyone about- ESPECIALLY another surface Gem directly. “What happened to the others?”

Hibiscus sniffed in sorrow. “One disappeared after the Diamonds attacked the Earth…the other I put in my own gemstone, when the birth of Steven resulted in the death of “Rose”. I am the only one left.” Hibiscus bawled!

“Hmm.” Peridot thought to herself. Typically, Gems didn’t last long enough to go through their entire arsenal of surface Gems. All it took was a careless misstep of a Diamond’s foot, or a small accident for a Gem to shatter. Their species was made to be…somewhat expendable.

“Hmm…” Peridot found herself wondering how Humans dealt with similar problems. “I- I have…a theory.”

Both Hibiscus and Garnet perked up at this!

Peridot continued: “I…I hope no one finds this…erm…offensive?” The green Gem twirled her thumbs. “…but…it sounds like YOU, Hi biscuits- finally reached your emotional limit. Perhaps…it’s an adaptive consequence? All these surface Pearls disappeared under your host’s- MY Pearl’s lifecycle? Correct?”

Hibiscus nodded.

“Well…maybe in a last ditch effort, Pearl’s programming switched you both in an desperate attempt to survive? It knows OUR Pearl has caused damage to her own surface Gems- thus…perhaps…it put YOU in charge because your…erm… “track record” is more “clean”…so to speak…”

“Is…that…possible?” Hibiscus was shocked!

Garnet suddenly had a realization: “So, if Hibiscus’ form were to be DESTROYED- it would just result in Hibiscus reforming…instead of Pearl….if this theory is correct.”

Hibiscus’ eyes turned small in fear! She shouted: “D-DESTROYED?!?!” -before hiding behind Peridot!

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?” The green Gem screamed- incredibly offended!

“Stating the theory.” Garnet nodded.

“STARS!!! NO!!! NOT LIKE THAT!!! DON’T BE SO BLUNT!! What AWFUL bedside manner!” Peridot protected Hibiscus with her entire self. “Are you a CLOD?!? All it could take is ONE MORE traumatizing memory- and then- “POOF!” NO MORE PEARL!!!”

Garnet frowned. “I-I’m sorry Hibiscus….” The fusion blushed furiously. “I- I just wanted to make sure that I understood…but Peridot is right. I should be more tactful with what I say from now on.” Garnet nodded.

Hibiscus continued to hide- understandably, still freaked out.
The fusion felt immediate guilt.

“I’m SO sorry about that…” Peridot patted the surface Pearl on the head- like a puppy. “The scary fusion won’t frighten you anymore…” the green Gem nodded in sympathy. “Hmm…perhaps an educational seminar is in order?” Peridot clapped in excitement! “I will try my best to teach you guys all I know about surface Gems!”

Chapter Text

Everyone had gathered in Steven’s living room. Peridot had located a chalkboard and a stethoscope. She looked rather smug at all the attention.

Garnet, Amethyst, Steven, Hibiscus…even Lion were sitting, waiting for the lesson to begin!

“A-HIM! So…surface Gems!” Peridot pointed to a crude stick figure on the chalkboard. “All citizens of Homeworld have them! They are typically only used to retrieve weapons, and assist in emotional support. PEARLS, however, are special!” Peridot pointed to a crude stick drawing of a “Pearl”. “-because Pearls have a MASSIVE pocket space used to carry objects- they are one of the FEW Gem-types that can allow other Gems into their own gemstones!” Peridot nodded in agreement. “In fact, most of what we know about surface Gems have been learned by researching Pearls! As a Kindergartner, I can tell you that, typically: more rare Gems- like Sapphires have 10 surface gems. Less rare Gems- such as Rubies and Pearls tend to have smaller amounts. There are always exceptions though.”

“Ohh! Ohh! I have a question!” Steven raised his hand enthusiastically!

“Yes, my Diam- erm….Steven?” Peridot was going to have to get used to that.

“Do I have surface Gems too?!?”

Peridot thought to herself. “Even though you are a…uh…hybrid Steven…YES! You should have an abundance of surface Gems! In fact, it has been recorded that your…uh…Gem-type is the exception to all others! You should have at least 70.”

“70?!?!?” The entire family yelled in shock!

“Erm…uh…yes! D-Diamonds tend to be given more surface Gems- due to their longevity.”

Steven tilted his head in confusion. “But Peridot…I’m half human! Are you SURE I still have my surface Gems? In Humans, our brains are used more for decision making and stuff….”

“I…see. Well, there’s only one way to find out!” Peridot held the stethoscope in a sly manner. Steven lifted his shirt, and allowed Peridot to examine his gemstone.

Peridot heard a loud buzzing noise!

The green Gem smiled! “YUP! You have them all right! Whether you want them or not! That’s one of the loudest hums I’ve ever heard from a gemstone!”

“Wait…surface Gems…hum?”

“Not exactly. The hum comes from the surface Gems constantly encouraging the gemstone to work! The more surface Gems, the louder the hum!” The Peridot faced Hibiscus grimly- while holding up her stethoscope. “Erm…Hi biscuits…if you don’t mind…”

The Pearl bowed her forehead so that the Peridot could reach her gemstone.
The kindergartener listened very carefully.
There was barely any hum at all…although, Peridot could’ve sworn she heard a small Pearl voice screaming: “I’M HERE!”

“Hmph. No good.” The green Gem shook her head in sadness. “You weren’t kidding, were you Hi biscuits? Your gemstone is weak.” Peridot drooped her head in sadness.
Hibiscus suddenly looked incredibly depressed.

“ACK! -uh…don’t worry Hi biscuits!! We’ll figure something out!” Peridot sweated in guilt as she attempted to comfort her new friend.

“Ohh! Ohh! I have another question!” Steven raised his hand enthusiastically a second time.

“SIGH….YES Steven?”

“What about Garnet!?”

“Hey yeah! What ABOUT Garnet! How do fusion surface Gems work?” Amethyst added to the conversation.

“A fusion?!” Peridot looked up at Garnet in questioning. “HUH….I actually have NO CLUE! I’ve never heard of any tests being done on fusions…I would think that the Sapphire gemstone would make a louder hum then the Ruby one?”

Garnet held out her hands for inspection.

“Let’s see here…” Peridot listened to the Ruby gemstone…followed by the Sapphire one. A look of puzzlement covered her face. “HUH….ODD….” She checked again.

Amethyst piped up: “What’s odd?”

“They both have the same tone….the same sound!” Peridot looked incredibly confused. “That shouldn’t be…the Sapphire gemstone should DEFINITELY have a louder tone…”

Garnet suddenly glared at Peridot-incredibly pissed off.

“EEP! I-I didn’t mean to say anything offensive!!” I was just using the scientific method…based on Homeworld’s CLODDY old hierarchy!!! (Please don’t hurt me….).” she mumbled the last part.

“Huh!” Amethyst was intrigued! “Soooo…how do we get your friends back Hibiscus?”

The Pearl shrugged.

“OH! I KNOW!” Steven had an idea, raising his hand again! “What do surface Gems like?!? Maybe we can coax them out with kindness?”

Hibiscus thought about this- “Well…we enjoy…JOY!” The Pearl giggled to herself at the thought! “A-him! Uh…typically, whatever makes the host happy, makes US happy too!”

Steven looked at Hibiscus with stars in his eyes! He recalled the first time he was able to summon his shield…
“(Cookie Cat ice cream…)” the boy mumbled to himself in awe.

Hibiscus snickered again while nodding in Steven’s direction.

“That’s adorable.” Garnet stated.

“Dawww!” Amethyst cooed in agreement. “Does that mean my surface Gems like food?”

“Uh…probably?” Hybiscus smiled.

“Can they hear us?”

“We hear and see everything YOU can…” the Pearl nodded.

“That’s awesome!! HEY SURFACE GEMS!! THANKS FOR ALL ‘YA DO!” Amethyst began talking to her own gemstone.

The gemstone did not respond (of course), however, Hibiscus couldn’t help but smile even wider at the gesture!

Chapter Text

From that point forward, Hibiscus noted a change in her host’s family.

Every once in a while, she would catch the Gems staring at their own gemstones in wonder! It seemed the entire conversation had changed the family’s perspective on things.

“Heh…” the Pearl chuckled to herself. She NEVER thought she would see the day when Gems were SO interested in their surface selves!

————————

Things began to get…a bit silly.

Hibiscus caught Amethyst talking to herself one day. The purple Gem was in the kitchen- raiding the fridge.
“Hmm…I KNOW I shouldn’t eat this last pudding…” Amethyst held up the pudding with pride.
“…..bbbbbuuuutttt…I know it would make ME happy…which would make YOU GUYS happy! Right?” She looked at her gemstone deviously.

The Gemstone said nothing.

“Weeeeelllll….if you guys INSIST…..”

“MUNCH!!!!!” The purple Gem put the pudding in her mouth-packaging and all!

“AMETHYST!!!” Hibiscus yelled in surprise!

“MPH?!?” The purple Gem turned- guilty, mouth full, and embarrassed.

“Amethyst!! Don’t use your surface Gems as an excuse for your bad behaviors!!”

Amethyst swallowed the pudding quickly. “Aww…come on Hibiscus….you’re making ME feel guilty…which makes my surface Gems feel guilty……think of the joy!!”

“MMPH…” Hibiscus looked incredibly unamused. She was probably right. Amethyst’s surface Gems probably DID want her to eat that pudding, but that was no excuse for bad behavior….

“You are STILL your own Gem Amethyst. Make your OWN decisions. You shouldn’t give in to every whim and want! It will make you selfish!”

Amethyst looked guilty again.

“STARS….” Hibiscus sat at the kitchen table and began to write herself another note:
“To Pearl,
Have you come up with any ideas on what we should do yet? Do you need anything?
-Hibiscus”

The note went into the gemstone. Another one flew out several minutes later with a response:

“Hibiscus,
I still can’t figure out how we would switch places yet. I’m sorry.
Could you send along some books and puzzles? Don’t forget your afternoon nap!
-Pearl”

The surface Gem sighed, before approaching the shelf with all the board games, and shoving several random books and puzzles into her gemstone.

The duo seemed to be getting along much better these days. Both Hibiscus and Pearl (whenever she could escape)- had agreed to include daily naps to their routine. It would give whichever Pearl that happened to be surface a much-needed break.

Hibiscus excused herself, and immediately retreated into her temple room. She requested a comfortable bed to be lifted from the floor. The surface Pearl would then place a red, white and blue headband, (Steven had gifted), over her gemstone, and sleep for several hours. The headband did little to muffle the noise of dreams, but (at least) no one could SEE her dreams anymore.

Her family had decided that keeping the Pearl in the house was the current best option. Until they could figure out how to help their new friend, survival took priority over intrigue.

Thus, sleeping and napping began to become Hibiscus’ favorite side activity. The renegade was getting better at creating dreams- and would show the surface Pearl new places and experiences she could not get otherwise.

Sometimes, (if it happened to be nighttime), Steven would join her using his own dream abilities. The boy would point out significant landmarks, and help her through scary places (like Amethyst’s kindergarten).

Hibiscus sighed again, secretly wishing she could visit these places in REAL life.
For the time being- this substitute activity would have to do.

————————

Little did either Pearl know, that it would be one of these naps that would create a WHOLE NEW slew of problems.

Several days later, Hibiscus ended up napping on the couch in the living room again.

Garnet put her finger up to her lips, as the remainder of the household snuck out to the boardwalk quietly.
No one wanted to disturb the Pearl’s peace…it was too risky.

Thus Hibiscus was left in the house- by herself, napping alone.

————————
…

It was quite unexpected. No one would have thought in a million years that a corrupted Jasper would be sniffing and combing the beachside for any type of familiarity.

The massive monster sniffed in the air. She was unable to see anything but she recognized the scent coming from the beach house.
Whether this was a scent of hope or anger- she could not tell. Her corrupted mind DID inform her, however, that she may get answers and relieve some of her pain if she followed the smell.
The corrupted beast ran quickly toward Steven’s house.

————————

“BOOM!!!”

A side of the house suddenly exploded from the outside! This was immediately followed by a horrific wail!

“GAAAAAAAAGGGGH!”

The corrupted Jasper groaned in pain, as Hibiscus sat upright quickly- absolutely startled and surprised!

“GRAH!! ROOHH!”

The monster began to barrel though the household! Hibiscus jumped off the couch, and avoided the beast’s claws mere seconds before the piece of furniture was shredded to ribbons!

————————

Meanwhile, on the inside of the gemstone, an alarm blared in warning!

“Please select an option!" The brain's computer chirped happily, as the panic podium lifted gracefully.

Pearl quickly pushed the sihouette of a spear several times over! If there was ANY appropriate time to use a “fight or flight” response, this was it!

————————

Hibiscus dodged the creature’s attacks in a desperate attempt to protect herself. She may have been a surface Pearl, but she was STILL a part of Pearl! She had assisted her host when it came time to learn sparing- and was not as big of a weakling as one might think.

“WOMP!!” The giant creature stepped on the annoying burden! Hibiscus did the only thing she could think of- and summoned a spear to put some distance between herself and the creature’s talons.

“WHAT THE?!?!” Hibiscus looked at the weapon in bafflement! The spear that had appeared was misshaped and in sad condition. The poor weapon broke incredibly easily- resulting in the monster putting ALL of it’s weight on the surface Gem!

“AAGGGHHH!!” Hibiscus screamed in agony! She had NEVER felt such horrific pain in her entire lifecycle! The corrupted Gem continued to flatten the Pearl like a pancake.
Hibiscus had never been on the receiving end of a battle. She-she wanted to block out this pain! She couldn’t handle it….

————————

To Pearl’s absolute horror- her form began to crush itself- just like Hibiscus’ outside the gemstone!

The Renegade wailed in absolute terror!! She could feel EVERYTHING! The pain of the outside world overwhelmed her!

The gemstone’s walls began to crack under the stress of the situation. It was almost like the pocket space was imploding!

This was it. The end of the line. Pearl cried in desperation! She-she didn’t want to stop existing! She wanted to live!
The pain increased!
Pearl shut her eyes.
A bright light surrounded her form.

Chapter Text

The light quickly subsided.
Overwhelmed and dizzy, Pearl attempted to reopen her eyes.
She couldn’t see anything. She squinted. She could only make out basic blobs of color- two blue and one red.

-One of the blue blobs flattened!

-a wailing was heard!

- and suddenly Pearl gasped in relief!
The pain had stopped! Pearl gasped again, before blacking out entirely…

————————

Meanwhile, Hibiscus was experiencing something equally as shocking! Her ENTIRE form was suddenly completely surrounded by light! The Pearl closed her eyes in fear!
Something….something…was not right…

Hibiscus could suddenly see things she knew she shouldn’t be able to-

-a writer typing on a smartphone…

-a strange array of Humans. They looked different….looked WRONG. Several chuckled in amusement at the situation’s irony.

- She saw someone drawing a Pearl on a peg board.

When Hibiscus opened her eyes again. Her vision had two extra perspectives. She looked down. The corrupted Jasper looked up in a panic!
“GRUFF?!?”

A hand that was not her own came down upon the creature! The Jasper was quickly poofed and bubbled!

Huh? What was this? The Pearl was incredibly confused. She had something in her hand…a…hammer? A…red hammer with an incredibly lumpy spear at its base?

Odd.

“Wha-what’s going on?” Her voice was not hers anymore.

There was an internal conversation. Someone was telling her something. A surface Gem? No…this was different.

The voice spoke in an uncomfortably joyous manner: “YOU are a VERY lucky Gem darling! I saw you in my future vision! I made it just in time don’t you know?!? Had to sprint to get here! Oh! HO! HO! HO! HO!”

This voice came out of her own mouth, but was not hers. The stranger continued to talk- more solemnly this time: “It is…VERY upsetting my dear…it looks like we are going to be stuck this way for some time yet…I had to sacrifice a surface Gem to save you you see? I suppose it would be like a human donating a kidney…either way- we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon…”

“Wha…? Who is this?” Hibiscus’ voice sounded exactly the same as the stranger.

“Ohmygoodness! I fear I have forgotten to introduce myself! How uncouth! The name’s Sardonyx my dear Hibiscus!”

Chapter Text

Much confusion later- the situation had been clearly explained.

Apparently, Garnet’s future vision had seen Hibiscus being attacked. The fusion suddenly bolted away from her family (and the Boardwalk) in a hurried tussle of panic. She found Hibiscus - plastered to the floor by the corrupted Gem- on the brink of imploding into the abyss- lost forever more.

A quick decision had to be made.

Garnet jumped into the fray- fusing with Hibiscus to save her.
Sardonyx’s combined surface gems had a direct impact on Hibiscus. Pearl needed to exist, for Sardonyx to exist.
Thus, a surface Sapphire sacrificed herself in her good friend’s place…to save Pearl’s life.
…and now…
…now the fusion was quite stuck.
She saw the future- if she attempted to unfuse at this point- the surface Sapphire would come back- but Pearl would be forced to disappear.

Sardonyx lied down on the beach- incredibly upset and frustrated with the situation.

Typically, if the overly-enthusiastic Gem fusion felt this type of grief- she would simply unfuse with herself.

But she had to keep it together this time…she just HAD to. There were no other current options if she wanted to save both Pearl AND Hibiscus.

————————

After the short explanation, the fusion frowned to herself while talking to…herself.

“So you see my dear Hibiscus, I had little choice. We DO need to try to fix this situation- A.S.A.P.”

“This feels…SO…STRANGE?”

“It’s no walk in the park for me either darling.”

“Why? What are…? These extra eyes? What are these strange images I keep seeing? They make little sense?”

“Ahh! That’s just the 4th wall my lovely Hibiscus! Don’t worry too much about it…it’s technically always there. Just ignore it.”

Sardonyx suddenly sighed in a huff. She was tired. She lowered her head into the soft, warm, sand- and began to doze. Her previous nap HAD been interrupted after all…
…mercy, it had been a long day…at least everyone was safe now…

————————

Pearl suddenly opened her eyes wide in panic! There was a group of folks staring down at her!
She attempted to focus her eyesight the best she could as murmurs were heard:
“I think she is waking up.”
“I can’t believe you did that Sapphy! I mean…it was brave, but now one of you is GONE!!”
“It can’t be helped Ruby. It was the only way to save her.”
“I know…I know…don’t do that again though, alright?”

Pearl suddenly bolted upright, and felt her form all over! Nothing was missing…the pain was gone! How the Stars was she still alive?!?

“You’re awake!” There was a nearby Ruby that sounded surprised.

Pearl took a quick glance around. She was certainly not by herself anymore!
There were 8 Sapphires and 4 Rubies staring at her! What was this?! Another hologram? Pearl began to hyperventilate!
“Hey. It’s alright now Pearl. We are here for you. Calm down.” One of the Sapphires rubbed Pearl’s back- hoping to settle her nerves.

Okay…this was definitely NOT a hologram. “Wh-where did you all come from?!?!”

“We fused. Hibiscus is technically Sardonyx right now.” Another Sapphire nodded.

“How did- I’m not? Shattered?!” Pearl felt her own sides again just to be sure.

One of the Rubies piped up: “Sapphire here sacrificed one of her surface Gems in your place! You’d BETTER BE GRATEFUL!!” The little red Gem snarled the last part.

Pearl blinked surprisingly! “You…did?!”

“Yes, I did.” One of the Sapphires answered quite bluntly.

“Oh my Stars!! Th-THANK YOU!!!” Pearl wept and embraced one of the Sapphires in gratitude! “Y-YOU SAVED MY LIFECYCLE!!! How…is this possible?!?”

Another Ruby snorted. “Remember when Peridot checked Garnet’s gemstones and they both sounded the same?”

Pearl nodded.

“…well, that’s because fusion Gems SHARE our surface Gems! Without Sardonyx, you wouldn’t be here right now!”

Pearl sat upright and shivered at the thought!

Another Sapphire butted in: “Pearl. We NEED to find a solution to recover your repressed memories. If we unfuse, I fear your gemstone will be too weak to keep you alive.”

“EH?!?! What?!?!”

The Sapphire nodded grimly. “I am sorry it has gotten to this point…gotten SO bad! I blame myself- I…I should have realized you needed help sooner…” the Sapphire began to cry, but was quickly comforted by the barrage or Rubies:
“Hey! It’s okay Sapphy!”
“Don’t cry…please?”
“We can fix this!”
“Everything will be all right!”
“You were SO brave!”

The Sapphire chuckled between sobs, as the 4 Rubies all hugged her at the same time.

Pearl felt guilty.
“I can’t thank you enough-“

“-of course!” One of the Rubies yelled.
“We love you Pearl!”
“You are our friend!”
“We want you to be at our wedding!”
“You make the best cake.” The last Ruby’s comment was so blunt- it made Pearl chuckle a little.
Pearl finally stood up- towering above the other surface gems. “Okay…so…how are we going to fix this?”

Chapter Text

After Garnet had bolted off, Steven and Amethyst attempted to follow- with very little success. Their legs were much shorter then Garnet’s- after all.

The sight that greeted them upon returning to the beach house was absolutely chaotic!

Half of the home was falling apart, broken, or just plain missing.
The MASSIVE fusion was asleep on the beach- snoring hilariously loudly.

The gemstone on Sardonyx’s forehead was currently projecting no dreams. The Renegade Pearl didn’t really have the strength right now to create anything in the gemstone anyway.

“Whoa…what happened here?!?” Amethyst was confused and baffled.

“Hey! It’s Sardonyx!!!” Steven ran toward the fusion excitedly!

“Oh! Steven…” The fusion opened one of her eyes-slightly tired.

“Sardonyx!!! What are YOU doing here?!” Steven bounced with excitement!

“Hmm…I’ll give you the details later my little marshmallow…” Sardonyx patted the boy on the head- slightly roughly. Steven fell over and giggled. “- for now, I need my beauty sleep. Thank you veeeerrrrry-“ Sardonyx gave a mighty yawn! “-much.” The fusion turned to her other side- kicking up quite a bit of beach sand in the process!

“Huh.” Amethyst walked up next to Steven with curiosity. “I’ve NEVER seen her this mellow before…kinda weird.”

“Oh!” Steven realized something rather important quickly. “Where’s Hibiscus?!? Is…is she inside Sardonyx?!?”

“Mmmph.” Sardonyx mumbled something in her half-conscious state.

Steven figured that meant “yes?”

Amethyst thought to herself: “THAT would explain the attitude change…I wonder why they decided to fuse randomly like this?”

Steven shrugged he figured Sardonyx would explain herself after her nap.

————————

….and WHAT a nap it was!

Several days came and went without so much as a blink!

Sardonyx’s snoring was particularly annoying- loud to the point where she was the only one in the area who could get ANY sleep!

She would roll from one side to the other from time-to-time- making the Earth quake as she did so.

Both Steven AND Amethyst attempted to poke her awake on occasion- only to be met by an annoyed “GRUNT!”- or the massive fusion nearly squashing them accidentally in her unconscious state.

————————

“UGH!!! She is SO ANNOYING!!! Amethyst moaned to herself by day five.
The house now had tarps covering its destroyed side- Steven and Amethyst were not well known for their home repairs…and thus did not know how to fix anything.

“She’s sure been asleep…for a loooong time. How much longer do you think this is going to take?!” Steven looked exhausted. Sardonyx’s snoring had kept him up for DAYS.
He was seriously thinking of sleeping in his dad’s van until further notice.

————————

Finally- on day seven, the fusion slowly opened one of eyes. She smacked her lips, gave a great: “YAAAWWN!!!”
…and sat up in interest.
She was entirely CAKED in sand!
The fusion stood up, spun her segments rapidly to get the dirt off of her, and looked about in content! She could see Steven walking toward her in the distance.

The boy looked absolutely horrendous. “Oh…good. You’re awake Sardonyx.” Steven staggered- bags under his eyes.

“Indeed, I AM! I’m feeling MUCH better now! But….um…what has happened to YOU my darling?!? You look quite a fright!” Sardonyx gently picked up her small friend, and inspected him closely. The boy was surprisingly unresponsive to this increase in activity.
Steven tried to answer through his fatigue. “S-Sardonyx? Do you know that you….snore? Like…really REALLY loudly?”

The fusion gasped in surprise! “STEVEN!!! I am shocked you would even IMPLY such an accusation! A proper showman does NOT make such din! Even while resting!”

“Ehgh…well…you DO…” Steven lazily pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He displayed a pre-recorded movie of the fusion snoring SO loudly- that the microphone was hot and the entire ground was shaking!

“O-OH! Oh my…” Sardonyx blushed, terribly embarrassed. She used one of her free hands to put over her mouth in shock. “Steven! I had NO CLUE! I’m TERRIBLY sorry!! I’ve…I’ve (admittedly) never stayed Sardonyx long enough to fall asleep!”

“S’okay…” the boy hobbled on the massive hands a bit, before laying over in exhaustion. He fell into a deep slumber almost immediately.

Not really quite sure what to do in this situation- the fusion smiled while keeping her palms as flat as possible.

“(Well…I guess THOSE hands are occupied for the rest of the day…)” the fusion mumbled to herself before scoping over the destroyed beach house, and attempting to fix it with her remaining limbs as quietly as possible.

Chapter Text

The fusion did her best to fix the house with her massive size.
STARS!
It felt like she was working on a tiny model!

Fortunately, Hibiscus was VERY precise when it came to detail work. It was one of the many reasons why Pearl’s regular spears looked so professional!
Garnet (especially Ruby), was known for unintentionally destroying stuff- and thus the creative balance was a welcome surprise.

————————

Meanwhile, Pearl was getting a lesson!
The surface Sapphires and Rubies were “showing her the ropes” -as they called it.

“No…see? You need to use a hammer! Give it a good wack!” One of the Rubies was showing Pearl how to use the forge to make a gauntlet.

“A-Are you sure? I won’t break it?”

“Nah. The detail work comes later! The Sapphires are normally in charge of that stuff!”

“We…like to make sure they look nice.” One of the nearby Sapphires nodded in agreement, before blushing.

“BANG!” Pearl struck the hot metal with brute force of the forge hammer!

“See?!?! There ‘ya go!” The Ruby looked proud at the result. “Let the weapon mold do all the work for ya!”

“Ah! I see!” Pearl nodded. She was just…SO GRATEFUL she had someone who knew what they were doing!

“Okay! That looks good! Sapphire! You’re up!” The Ruby encouraged her partner in front of the forge.
The sapphire added a star and some very intimidating spikes to the knuckles as a last detail. She banged the forge hammer against it one last time- before using a freezing wind to cool the metal quickly.

“…aaaand that’s how it’s done!!” The little Ruby raised her hands into the air enthusiastically!

“I used my cryokinesis to cool it down quickly- but you can let it cool naturally if you don’t have access to that.” The Sapphire nodded.

The Ruby piped up: “OKAY!!! NOW! Let’s see how YOURS look-“ the wall of lumpy spears descended from the ceiling. All the Rubies and Sapphires perspirated awkwardly.

Pearl blushed- terribly embarrassed.
“-huh…” the Ruby attempted a smile. “Erm…well….the GOOD news is that we can recycle the metal from these by re-melting them!” The Ruby turned to Pearl with a forced enthusiasm on her face.

————————

MANY fixed spears later, the forge retreated- satisfied with it’s new bounty.

“There we go! That alarm should stop bugging ya’ for a while!” The Rubies and Sapphires nodded to each other in agreement.

“Oh! Thank you EVERYONE! Pearl clapped in absolute glee! “I don’t suppose you know how to create holograms too?”

The herd of smaller surface Gems suddenly frowned. “Erm…neither of our gemstones were taught how to make holograms- sorry Pearl.” The group drooped their heads at the same time.

“OH! Oh…that’s alright! You guys have already been a HUGE help!!” The Pearl nodded in enthusiasm.

A sudden tone blinged from above- making the crowd look upward.
“Searchlight currently required!” The computer chirped from above!

“OH! OH!! This is one is EASY! Come on Pearl! We’ll show ya!” The four Rubies dragged Pearl towards a platform lifting from the floor with an absolutely MASSIVE lightbulb connected to its base.
The Sapphires giggled.

————————

“Oh-HO-HO!!! There it is!” Sardonyx smiled in amusement, as two of her three gemstones turned on their flashlights! “Now I can work in the dark!” The sun had already gone down- and the massive fusion still wasn’t quite finished with her house repairs.

Chapter Text

When Steven awoke, he found himself still laying down on a set of Sardonyx’s hands. A massive amount of blankets, and several of his own stuffed animals had also found their way onto the improvised bed.

“OH! STEVEN!” Sardonyx smiled in glee, as she held the boy closely so that she could talk to him proper! “My sweet little charmer! You’re awake!” The fusion grinned!

“Uh…yeah! Where did all these blankets come from?”

“Well…I know humans like this stuff when they sleep…and you looked just SO cold and uncomfortable…I nabbed them from the house while doing repairs!” Sardonyx beckoned toward the house which looked…fairly accurate to its former glory. There were a few nails out of place, and a massive thumb print was visible from the side- but otherwise the place looked spiffy!

“Oh! You fixed the house!” Steven’s eyes sparkled! “-but…what’s with all the stuffed animals around here?”

Sardonyx blushed. “I know MOST of those were stored in your old toy chest…but Hibiscus was…just…SO insistent….”

“Ah. I see! That DOES seem like something she would do!” Steven smiled. “-so that means….you guys DID fuse with Hibiscus!”

The Gem frowned suddenly at the boy’s comment. “Well…yes. It was…a bit of a quick decision I’m afraid…” Sardonyx sighed. “To make a MASSIVE story relatively short, I’m going to have to stay fused…for…the foreseeable future. I do hope you guys don’t mind. I will nap elsewhere, if that will make things easier? Perhaps the ocean?”

“No…no…that’s ok! You can still nap here…just not for an ENTIRE week…alright?”

The fusion blushed even harder with embarrassment.

“Soooo…if you’re stuck as a fusion…did something really strange happen?”

Sardonyx looked away, unusually sad. “Honestly? I rather not talk about it. I have to stay….optimistic to keep myself together you know?”

“Uh…well…is Hibiscus and Pearl safe at least?”

Sardonyx smiled! “Would I exist if they were not?”

“Huh…I guess not!” Steven smiled back.

Sardonyx was relieved that the little Human was such a considerate kid. He seemed to have just the right amount of empathy to know when to stop prying into other people’s business’

“Hmm…I just thought of something!” Sardonyx nodded. “If my snoring continues to be a bit…much…you could always retreat into one of the rooms in the temple! Both your mother, AND my own room are fairly sound-proof!”

Steven was not sure if he liked this idea. He didn’t really trust either of these places- both of which he had been tricked by, or had seen disassemble.
The boy thought for a second, trying to come up with an alternative solution.

“Oh! Let’s check the internet!” Steven pulled his phone out of his pocket. “-The answer to ALL of life’s problems!”

As Steven began to surf, Sardonyx closed her eyes awkwardly.
Perhaps a lesson on internet knowledge was in order? Maybe she would go over it later…

“I….don’t think they make breathing strips in your size…OH! It says here that Peppermint oil works!” The boy seemed enthused by the find!

“Mint? Hmm… if we bought THAT much oil, it might cost US a mint! Oh! OH! HO! HO! HO! HO!” The fusion laughed at her own pun.
All this talk about candy gave the fusion a hankering for vanilla ice cream- probably from Hibiscus’ side. “Hmm…alright Steven! I want you to go to the store, and buy as much of this “peppermint oil” (…and vanilla ice cream)- as your little hands can carry! It sounds almost like a spa treatment!” Sardonyx nodded before carefully placing the boy (and his bedding) on the ground.

Steven nodded in confidence, before realizing that something the fusion had said was baffling him. “Erm…Sardonyx? Did you say “vanilla ice cream”?”

The fusion blushed. “-That…won’t be a problem? Will it my dear?”

“Uh…wouldn’t that be like…an ENTIRE store worth of ice cream?”

“No! No! Nothing THAT intense! Just a regular tub-“ Sardonyx thought to herself… “-or two…” the fusion smiled.

“Well…alright? If that’s what you really want… I guess it could be a reward for fixing the house?” The boy smiled before walking up the stairs to put his bedding back to its rightful place before his shopping trip.

As the boy disappeared, Sardonyx’s smile slowly transformed into a frown. “Hmm…I must get a bit more serious about this situation….” The fusion thought to herself, attempting to brainstorm…

————————

Meanwhile, the crowd inside of the gemstone was also brainstorming for answers.

“How would they fix this…if we were on Homeworld?” Pearl wondered to herself.

“They would simply make another Pearl.” The Sapphire’s answer was blunt.

“That won’t do…” one of the Rubies gruffed.

“Hmmm…I know it’s a long shot, but perhaps we should ask a doctor? Like…a HUMAN doctor?” Pearl was desperate. She wouldn’t normally suggest such a thing- considering Human technology and knowledge was FAR inferior to Gem stuff- but she saw few other options.

“Do you know any Human doctors Pearl?” One of the Rubies tilted her head in intrigue.

“Erm…OH! Connie’s mom is a doctor! Maybe SHE would know what to do?”

Chapter Text

Fortunately for the family, Connie was due for a sparring lesson. The poor Human had been blissfully ignorant to all the chaos going on in the area.

Thus, she was more than a little shocked, when she arrived at Steven’s house- with NO Steven (he was still at the store), and a MASSIVE 20 foot fusion sitting in the front yard.

“WH-WHAT THE?!?” Connie had never met this strange Gem before! Out of instinct, she unsheathed her sword in defense!

Sardonyx turned her head in mild interest, before perking up immediately! “OH!! You must be Connie! Steven’s friend! It’s an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance!” Sardonyx obviously wanted to shake hands- but retreated the gesture quickly as she spotted Connie’s sword. “You poor dear! My size must’ve frightened you! My humblest apologies…”

Connie lowered her sword slowly, and put it back in the scabbard. “Uh…hi. Pearl and I were supposed to have a lesson today?”

Sardonyx smacked her face with her hand in an (almost) sarcastic manner. “Stars! I forgot about that! I guess we’ll just have to reschedule…”

The girl seemed disappointed. It was obvious that she had been looking forward to this activity. “I’ve…heard about you- from Steven? You’re a fusion between Garnet and Pearl- right?”

“My goodness! I had no clue I had such wide appeal! So you HAVE heard of me then!” The fusion hummed in satisfaction, before laying down to get closer to eye level with the girl.

“Erm…uh…yeah? Yes?” Connie was not sure how to react to this Gem’s very pompous attitude. The massive size of the woman wasn’t helping Connie’s confidence either. “So…uh…can you guys…unfuse? I just need Pearl for the lesson?”

“OH! HO!-OH! HO! HO! HO! HO!!! A-him! But in all seriousness…NO. No we can’t dear. It’s a bit of a long story you see- but we are currently VERY stuck like this. I’m afraid I would be a bit too…erm…”gargantuan” to make a decent sparring partner?”

“Huh. Alrighty…I…guess…I’ll…be…going then?” The girl began to walk backwards slowly. Connie was stumped! She had NO CLUE how to respond to this odd situation.

“OH!! Wait a minute there my little dumpling!” Sardonyx quickly put her hand in the sand- blocking Connie’s only exit. “Might-might I be able to ask a favor of you?”

“A favor?”

Sardonyx nodded vigorously. “Indeed! I wish to talk with your…erm…”parent”?”

Connie looked incredibly confused. “My dad?”

“NO! NO! The OTHER one…”

“My…mom?”

“Yes! That’s the word I was hunting for! Your MOTHER! Your MADRE! Your OKAASAN! That is who I need to speak to!”

“Why do you need to talk to my mom?”

“Oh…erm…I just have a …MEDICAL question? About Humans? Kinda?”

Connie looked increasingly confused, before a grim realization hit her! “OHMYGOSH!!! IS STEVEN OKAY?!?!”

“Steven is fine dear. He’s at the store right now. The question is more for MY sake.”

“Oh. Well…maybe I can answer it?” Connie sat down in the sand- figuring the question was just about basic human stuff…like teeth, or muscles, or something.

Sardonyx looked incredibly uncomfortable. “Mph…er…are you…HIPAA compliant little one?”

“Uh….I don’t think so?”

“Then this won’t do at all. It has to be your mother. I do apologize.” Sardonyx sighed in a depression.

“Hmm…well…she’s probably at work right now, but I could TRY to call her on her cell phone! Would that help?”

The Fusion perked up again! “Well! Aren’t you just the most WONDERFUL!” The woman waved one of her arms.
To Connie’s surprise, a rain of paper-looking dragonflies flew everywhere!
Sardonyx continued: “YES INDEED! That would be MOST helpful!!!! Many thanks!!!” The woman smiled in bliss!

Connie chuckled to herself. “Alright, just…give me a second….”

————————

After calling (and getting the answering machine three times), Connie’s mom finally answered the phone. “(What IS it Connie?!? I’m with a patient!)” the woman sounded like she was whispering through her teeth.

“I know! I know! You know I don’t call three times unless it’s a SUPER emergency-“

“(…-SO?!? What’s the emergency?!?)

Connie looked up at Sardonyx- not quite knowing how to continue this conversation. “Erm…you may need to do a house call for this one…I don’t think this patient can fit in the hospital-“

“(Connie! What on Earth are you talking about?!?)”

“Erm…uh…can you just…come to Steven’s house? After work then? It will be easier to explain in person…”

“(It’s going to be a LATE night…)”

Connie looked at the fusion again. Sardonyx beckoned for her to continue. “That’s ok mom! She’s fine with waiting.”

“(She?)”

“Yeah! Bye mom! See you tonight!” -Connie hung up the phone before her mother could rebuttal.

….

Sardonyx looked slightly concerned. “Erm…dear? Are you sure it was wise to not give your mother more…intel?”

“It will be fine.” Connie nodded and smiled.

————————

It was not long before Steven returned from the store.
“HEY!! Connie’s here! Heeeyyy Connie!!!” Steven waved to his friend- with his hands full of groceries.
“I didn’t know you were coming today!”

“Uh…yeah! Steven? What’s…going on around here? I can’t seem to get much info from her…” Connie pointed a thumb towards Sardonyx.

The Fusion had snagged the groceries, and was digging through them enthusiastically! “Ah! GOOD SHOW Steven! You got me THREE cartons!…and look! You even got me a spoon!” Sardonyx held up the tool with pride!

“It’s a ladle!” Steven put his hands on his hips- incredibly smug with himself.

Sardonyx easily bent the ladle handle so that the tool looked more “spoon-like”, and immediately began to eat ice cream while holding up her pinkies (to be SUPER fancy).
“This is SUBERB!! Absolutely TREMENDOUS!!!” The fusion seemed to be enjoying herself with endless bliss!

While Sardonyx was distracted, Steven led Connie into the house so that he could explain the entire complicated situation.

Chapter Text

“Well…that explains why she was SO willing to eat the ice cream…” Connie’s reaction to the situation was not as intense as Steven expected. It seemed that every time something like this happened- the girl would simply “roll with it”. Connie just figured it had something to do with “sifi-magic”.
One thing she DID know, however, was that HER Pearl absolutely LOATHED eating food. Seeing Sardonyx eating ice cream was almost more shocking to her then the entire “surface-Gem” thing.
“Well…I’m glad mom’s coming to help anyway. This sounds more like a mental thing then a physical thing…but I bet my mother knows some good counselors and stuff!” Connie shrugged.

Now all the duo had to do was wait.

————————

Connie’s phone rang when her mom left the hospital. It was about 11:00 PM.
Both her and Steven decided to wait for Ms. Maheswaran further away from the house to prevent shock.

Priyanka’s car turned the corner. The parent was fuming as she got out of her vehicle! “Connie! What are you doing?!? Standing in the street in the middle of the night?!? You could get hit by a car!”

“We just came out here…like…5 minutes ago? Listen mom…this isn’t exactly…like…a normal patient…”

Priyanka Huffed! “Whoever I’m seeing Connie- I’m sure it will be fine. I WILL have to explain to this woman that I typically don’t make house calls…” Ms. Maheswaran seemed frustrated, as she pushed her way toward the beach house.

“WAIT!!! Hang on!!” Connie and Steven dashed after the adult in desperation!

Too late.

Priyanka turned the corner before her jaw dropped! In front of her was the MASSIVE glorious Sardonyx! The fusion had been reading a tiny book in the dark, with the aid of her Pearl and Ruby gemstones.

The Gem perked up with interest! “OH! HO! HO! HO! HO! HO! Dr. Maheswaran! I’m SO glad you’re here! Thank you for agreeing to see me at the last minute like this. I DO apologize for the inconvenience…”

“WHA-?!? WHA-?!? YOU’RE the patient?!?!” The woman gasped!

“Erm…uh…yes? Somewhat?” The fusion tilted her head in confusion.

“(Connie…)” Ms. Maheswaran mumbled with frustration. “(-what is this?)”

“(I told you she couldn’t fit into the hospital….)” Connie mumbled back.

The mother sighed in frustration. “Connie, Steven, please go into the house. We’ll discuss this later.”

The children obeyed.

————————

“Okay miss…erm…?”

“Sardonyx darling.”

“Erm…yes….SARDONYX…I am…assuming you do not have any medical insurance? Considering your…erm…species?”

The fusion nodded. “You would assume correctly Dr. Maheswaran. However, if money is the issue, I assure you- we have MORE than enough!” Sardonyx wove her hand in a circle, before a wad of cash suddenly appeared!

“Oh! Uh…well thank you! I guess funds won’t be an issue then…” the woman nodded.

“Would you like me to pay now?”

“Actually, (since it seems this evaluation is going to be off the books anyway…) would you mind taking my services in exchange for a favor instead?”

Sardonyx tilted her head in intrigue!

Ms. Maheswaran continued: “our hospital currently has no intel on the anatomy of Gems. I would like to take some X-rays for research purposes…and perhaps talk to a…Gem Doctor? Or something similar? About how your species…erm…functions?”

Sardonyx smiled before putting away the wad of cash. “That sounds like a LOVELY alternative! I’m not going to lie Dr. Maheswaran, I am actually VERY flattered that you have such an interest in our culture!” The fusion nodded in enthusiasm.

“Alrighty then! Erm…what seems to be the issue?”

Sardonyx frowned. “Uh…well…the fact is, I need a professional to help Pearl deal with some…erm…repressed memories? Is there any way to reverse such things?”

“Repressed memories?!” Dr. Maheswaran thought to herself. “Well…there are some things you can do to help right now- such as meditation, art, or yoga…however a professional therapist is the best option. The other stuff really just helps you relax and assist with coping. You need a good therapist to be able to get to the root of the problem.” The woman nodded.

“OH! Can we do THAT then?!?” Sardonyx smiled.

Dr. Maheswaran sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m a licensed MEDICAL doctor. You would need a MENTAL doctor for those sort of things. Both professions are so complicated and specific, that different humans tend to specialize in specific types….” Dr. Maheswaran thought to herself for a bit… “-of course, mental health and physical health do tend to relate to each other.”

Sardonyx frowned, looking incredibly disappointed. “Do you know any good…therapists? That would take MY case?”

“Uh-erm…well, I know plenty of good therapists…but none that specialize in Gem psychology. Did they ever… have anything similar? From where you’re from?”

Sardonyx shook her head. “It was an oligarchy dictatorship. As soon as FEELINGS got in the way of your workload, they would just replace you. The one exceptation were the Diamonds- the leaders. They could show various emotions- but even then it was very…TABOO.” It was clear that Sardonyx found the entire conversation…uncomfortable.

“Dear GOD…no wonder you’re needing a therapist so badly….” The doctor thought to herself, with concern on her face.

“Oh! No! I don’t need therapy doctor! This would be specifically for PEARL.” The fusion nodded.

“…aaaannddd….where is Pearl?”

“Would you like to speak to HER directly?”

“Uhhhh….yes?” It was clear that the human didn’t understand where her answer would lead her.

“Alrighty then! One moment darling….” Sardonyx bowed her head gracefully, as a blinding light engulfed the doctor…