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"Do you seriously think you can keep me down here forever?!? As soon as I break free, I'll grind your gem into dust!!!"
That was the gist of what could be heard under the ocean's surface for at least the last week. The loud snarling tone that was usually followed indefinitely by a far less ravenous voice telling that one to shut up. It was loud enough for many fishermen to catch wind of on quiet nights at sea, but those nights got considerably more catastrophic when the voices sparked large tides, normally depending on which voice was speaking.
When the softer voice spoke, the water shook firmly, not causing anything too unmanageable, but still rocking the water. But when the brazen voice piped up from the deep, waves from all direction crashed and swelled, signaling peril for whichever ship was unlucky enough to be within its thunderous proximity.
No human could ever understand the nature or origin of this strange phenomena, they just chalked it up as yet another strange happening at sea. Most of the fishermen were too weathered mentally to theorize this, to them it was just the sea itself conspiring against them again. Quite the opposite, it was those forces in the depths that conspired against one another, unknowingly causing stirs on the surface.
One lone being resided in the crushing fathoms, a fearsome monster held under lock-and-key by the water, putting up a valiant, if not entirely unproductive struggle. However, it was not one single personality being held captive in the ocean, there was prisoner and there was a warden. If you had know these two personally, seriously not questioning how you could, you could feel a palpable sense of irony in this situation. The irony was not lost to the prisoner, but knowing only made her angrier.
"You little runt! Let me out of here, RIGHT NOW!!!" called the savage voice.
"Oh yeah? What could you possibly do to me?"
The creature's face contorted into an infuriated snarl, bobbing her head spastically. Her consciousness was trapped in the same physical form as her oppressor, unable to harm her for risk she could harm herself just as severely. It was almost starting feel like it would be worth it.
Jasper's voice continue to snarl and struggle, until it was interrupted by the voice of her captor.
"Don't you get it?" Lapis asked contemptuously,"As long as we're together, you're under my jurisdiction. No way out!"
Jasper scoffed and strained a little more,"We'll see about that!"
In moment's notice, the shared form of the two gems started to fizzle and illuminate, a sure sign that Jasper was trying to break free from their mutual prison. The fusion was unrecognizable for a few long moments as light pierced its way through the dark trench, giving a shimmering brightness far above the ocean's top.
The struggle was futile as the water shackles tightened impossibly tight around the now dissipating form. Loud screams from the more savage gem pierced the area for miles around, scaring what little sea-life dared to tread there anymore. The scream formed back into a shared voice and the glowing form began to dim, turning back into the recognizable amalgamation. With a resigned grunt, the form stood stark still.
Quiet. For the first time in days, the sea was calm, unperturbed. All that could be heard now was faint whimpering.
"Are you done now?" asked the quiet tone of the water gem.
Instead of the thunderous breaching she had expected, Lapis could feel Jasper comply. The fusion hung her head low, settling into her confines as she sighed pitifully.
"I guess I had this coming for a while, huh," Jasper grumbled, much to the surprise of her other half,"All the terrible stuff I've done, I guess." It was the first time she felt at any kind of peace since before she even boarded the freighter to Earth.
"All of this could have been prevented, Jasper. All you had to do was side against Peridot." Lapis chided dryly,"You had a choice, you know?"
Jasper brushed off the statement and stared off into the cold void of her trench prison. She knew it to be true, but Peridot was hiring work and the higher-ups insisted she do some supervision work for one of their major operations.
It wasn't pretty, but it was a living.
"You know, you weren't supposed to be involved. All of this coulda been prevented if you wasn't weeding around our operation." Jasper spoke,"I thought you hated Earth anyways. What harm could it have been if a few billion humans were wiped out?"
It was true that Lapis hated Earth and she REALLY didn't care for the Crystal Gems either. They were her oppressors for centuries, treating her like just another mindless corrupted gem until she just couldn't take it anymore. She hated everything about Earth, but she owed a debt, a debt she was hellbent on keeping. Keeping Steven safe was top priority to her, for he healed her when nobody else would bother helping. He was her savior. But that wasn't her only motivation.
"That isn't the point! You and your kind ruined Homeworld and killed thousands of innocent gems! If I have to stay on this terrible planet forever, I will! I'm not letting you cause more trouble!"
Jasper growled, growing slightly more belligerent, but not acting on her anger. It just wouldn't do any good.
"Whatever helps you feel superior, brat. It's not like it was JUST me doin' all this! It's just what I was made for!"
"Then why do you act on this if you know what you're doing is the wrong thing?"
The amalgamation closed her four eyes and let out a loud yell. "IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!!"
Lapis muzzled the brazen voice, offering her own in return. "Then who's to blame?!?"
"I don't know!" Jasper almost cried,"For Goddess sake, I don't know!!!"
Lapis scoffed and rolled her set of eyes. "Why would you comply to such ridiculous orders? Do the ends justify such unnecessary means?"
Jasper sighed and shook their head, seeming genuinely full of grief (or for her, some kind of facsimile). "It's just what I was bred for. All I am is a pawn in Diamond's self-gratifying game of domination and superiority."
She looked down. "Maybe if I had backed out of this mission, I wouldn't be prisoner in this goddamn body with you."
Lapis rolled her eyes and loosened the binds around their body, just the slightest bit. "Well well well," the blue gem uttered,"Looks like somebody regrets their terrible decision making. But I still can't let you go, you know this right?"
Jasper nodded and relaxed herself entirely into their body. Surely a struggle would be a big waste of time and just what would she get on the outside? More abuse and persecution? She'd just be better off down in the ocean.
"Yeah," she muttered,"it's for the best, I suppose. At least I won't be alone forever. So Miss Warden, how about we wait out our sentence together."
Lapis cracked a smile on their face, happy that her prisoner has moved past her rebellious stage. It sure made things easier on both their parts.
"I'd like that."
They say that after that night, the sea had been uncharacteristically quiet, frighteningly tranquil. The beast that could sink a fleet with one argument had been sedated indefinitely. Sailors and fishermen had thought up many theories of what these horrible events spawned from, some say it was a prehistoric beast, others say it was the scorned souls of dead sailors.
But little did they know that it was just two people who couldn't get along. Two people who had finally compromised upon their shared prison sentence.