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It had been Pink's idea, of course. It always was. Donning her disguise of a Rose Quartz, she had dragged Pearl along with her to a seaside village she had recently discovered, wanting to pay visit to the colony natives.
Humans. Pink Diamond's latest obsession. Pearl frankly couldn't see the appeal. They looked a bit like gems except they were fully organic, much weaker and lived pitifully short lives. But for some reason, Pink were entranced.
This was, however, the first time that she had decided to interact with the humans.
Pearl had been... apprehensive, to say the least. Not that she thought that the humans could pose any harm to them but it just felt inappropriate for someone of Pink Diamond's rank to mingle with organics.
Well, whatever made her happy, Pearl supposed. It wasn't her role to understand, anyway, just serve.
The humans, though initially surprised by their sudden appearance, had quickly accepted them with open arms, welcoming them and asking if they were perhaps there to partake in the celebration of the Mountain.
This had immediately caught Pink's attention.
"A celebration? For what? There aren't any mountains nearby."
The village chief had laughed (laughed at a Diamond! The nerve!) and kindly explained the occasion.
"Not that kind of mountain, my friend," he said as he combed through his facial hair with his fingers. "The Mountain of the Sea is our guardian, a friend and protector of our people, and every year he rises from the sea to pay us a visit. To show him our thanks, we prepare a feast to celebrate him."
Delighted with the tale, Pink had decided to humor the human and participate in the event. Pearl, of course, had simply followed her wishes. Despite this, however, she couldn't help but feel some doubt about the whole thing.
"My Rose, I am not sure this is... appropriate," Pearl said as she finally spoke up, finally alone now that the native humans were busy preparing for their 'ritual'.
Rose waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry Pearl. I mean, what's the harm?" She smiled as she toyed with the flower crown that one of the younger humans had given her. "Unless you're afraid of this 'Mountain of the Sea', of course?"
At this, Pearl couldn't help but click her tongue, something that was very unbecoming of someone of her rank. "No offense, my Rose, but I highly doubt there'll be anything worth seeing. I mean, a mountain, rising from the sea? The previous surveys of the planet revealed nothing of the sort. It's most likely just primitive superstition."
Simply humming in response, Rose gazed at the altar where the humans were now placing their offerings. It was an impressive piece of art, even when considering the human's lack of advanced tools. Reaching her height if she were her Diamond self, it depicted a hulking figure with reptilian features. It vaguely reminded her of a creature she had once spotted on one of Yellow's colonies, except with a less pointy snout.
"You're probably right," Rose finally admitted, "but it's still exciting, no? There are no celebrations like this on Homeworld. I've never seen anything like it before."
Pearl pursed her lips, not entirely pleased. "Well, it's certainly... different. At least the view is nice."
She was right. The altar where the ritual was held was placed at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean, a short walking distance away from the village. The water was crystal blue and the slowly setting sun painted the sky in a myriad of shades of pink, orange, yellow, purple and red.
Looking at it like this, Pearl supposed she could see why Pink Diamond adored the planet so. It certainly was beautiful.
"What's that?"
Pearls eyes followed the line of Rose's pointing finger and frowned. There, in the horizon, an isle.
"That's odd, I don't remember there being an island there befo-" Pearl cut herself off, her eyes going wide as she realized that whatever she had assumed to be an isle, not only was getting bigger, but also closer.
The village chief raised his arms and smiled. "My friends! The Mountain of the Sea is here! Let's welcome him together!"
In unison, the humans started waving and shouting hello as the shape got closer and closer and closer...
Pearl grasped Rose's arm and started tugging on it. When Rose didn't move, she put her whole weight behind it. Normally, she would have never done something so disrespectful but this was not a normal situation. Yet despite putting all her strength in it, she still couldn't move Rose, who instead stood firmly rooted in place.
"My Diamond-! Rose! We, we need to leave!" Pearl pleaded as she stared in horror as the shape got close enough that she could see that it was part of something even bigger. "Please, let's le-" Finally looking away from the shape, Pearl gazed upon the face of her Diamond, and instead of seeing her own fear mirrored in her expression, she saw delight. Like this was all a big spectacle for her amusement.
"The Mountain of the Sea," Rose whispered in awe.
The world turned dark, as the sun was blot out by the biggest creature Pearl had ever seen.
Pearl used to think that as someone that served a Diamond, she was used to feeling small. But this, this thing was totally different from what she had grown used to. To call it massive would be an understatement. This thing was gigantic. Gargantuan. Colossal. It towered over the cliff, peered down on them like they were pebbles.
The still coherent part of her mind thought that the name 'Mountain of the Sea' was pretty accurate after all.