Chapter Text
White Pearl stumbled out of the TV shop, unnerved by the terrified yet bewildered stares the shopkeepers and customers gave her. (How did she know what those even were? They had nothing like that back on Homeworld.)
She lifted a hand to brush her hair out of her face— not because she had any in her face, but because it was a firmly ingrained habit. Only, her fingers met a hard, plastic surface. Not smooth, loose hair made of hard light.
What??
White Pearl lifted her other hand and proceeded to feel all over her face with both hands. Plastic. Glass.
She rushed to the shop window to look at her reflection. The only thing that resembled her in the slightest was her white and blue bodysuit. It did not, however, fit the body she was in. For one, she had a television for a head. A television!
(How did she know what a television was? She had never seen one before, especially not on Homeworld.)
And her skin was a dark blue color. Her fingertips ended in sharp claws glowed a soft blue in the dim red light.
At least she had her eyes. One green, one blue. The colors took up the entire eye now, and she had small blue pupils. But they were still her eyes.
“What is going on??” she muttered to herself. Her voice. She had her voice.
It was both her body, and yet also not. And this place… it wasn’t any place she had ever been on Homeworld. Not that she ever really went anywhere. She only went where Her Diamond went.
Speaking of which, where was Her Diamond? And how did they get separated?
Legs trembling with growing anxiety, White Pearl began to walk down the street. She didn’t know where she was going, but she hoped that by at least walking, she could figure out where she was.
One step at a time. She was White Diamond’s Pearl, after all. She was perfect. She would find a way back to her.
Her fear began to dissipate, and with every step she took she stood straighter, taller. Even as she watched the inhabitants of this city stab, shoot, maim, and even eat each other, she never faltered.
She was perfect. They were not a threat to her. In fact, as she strode by them, these bipeds seemed… afraid of her, and immediately dispersed. She was baffled by this. And yet… it filled her with a strange sense of elation. A sense of power. It excited her. It almost put a bounce in her step.
She took in more and more of the city and as she did a strange, heavy feeling began to creep in. Like she had walked these streets before, hundreds of times. Like this place was a second home.
Was… there more she had forgotten, than just how she got here?
White Pearl stopped as she reached a path that led up a hill towards a towering, brightly lit building. It was massive. And it looked important— perhaps someone of a higher status lived there? And if someone important lived there, maybe she knew where she was. How she got here. How to get home, to Her Diamond.
White Pearl walked up the path. Dread began to fill her, and she slowed her stride. Had she been here before? Was there something about this place that was bad? Dangerous, even?
No. She needed answers. Whatever was here, she knew she could face it. She had to.
White Pearl resumed walking, and stopped in front of the statue that stood in the courtyard. It was of a creature she had never seen before, on four legs, with fur and horns and wings. She got the feeling that this statue… was in its honor.
How did she know this? She had never been here before.
White Pearl smacked the side of her head. “Focus,” she muttered. She approached the decorative twin doors and knocked.
“One second!” a cheery voice called. White Pearl could hear the sound of heels hitting carpet as the person behind the door grew closer.
The door swung open, and out stepped another biped. She was shorter than White Pearl, and had long, blond hair tied back in a twice-banded style and wore a clean, red suit.
She froze, eyes wide, upon seeing the Gem.
White Pearl tried to offer a reassuring smile. “Hello! I don’t suppose you could tell me where I am? And how I got here? I must get back to My Diamond.”
“Wha—?” Her face scrunched with confusion. “Vox, you… sound different.”
Vox? The name sounded familiar— but it wasn’t hers. White Pearl raised an eyebrow.
“My name is White Pearl,” she said blandly.
“Oh! Of course, uhm, sorry…? My name’s Charlie. Charlie Morningstar.” Charlie stepped out of the building entirely and shut the door. “How about we walk and talk? I could use some fresh air!”
Charlie sounded and looked… well, anxious. Afraid, even. Like she wanted to bolt. But why?
Still, she seemed willing to help. White Pearl would be a fool not to accept it. So she nodded her agreement, and immediately saw a shift in Charlie’s posture. Her shoulders relaxed and her body seemed less tense.
Interesting…
She stepped aside, and allowed Charlie to pass. White Pearl then walked alongside the strange biped, following her lead.
“You said your name is White Pearl?” Charlie asked.
“Yes,” White Pearl answered.
“And you don’t know where you are or how you got here?”
“That’s correct,” White Pearl answered. “The last thing I remember is My Diamond commanding me to reorganize the digital library. Then in the next moment, I’m walking out of a store with a television for a head.”
“Who is your Diamond?”
“I’m the one asking the questions,” White Pearl said, growing a bit annoyed with Charlie. Time was of the essence. The sooner White Pearl knew where she was and how to get home, the better.
Charlie looked at her with a deadpan stare. “Okay… so you wanted know where you are? You’re in Hell. As for how you got here, you sinned—”
“Sinned?”
“It means you did something bad,” Charlie explained. “Like… stabbing someone and stealing their wallet, for example! And then sometime after you sinned, you died and you got sent here.”
“I died?” White Pearl froze. “As in… I was shattered?” She didn’t know why, but her the center of her forehead suddenly stung with a sharp, stabbing pain. She could see in her mind’s eye the image of the pearl that once sat in her forehead now shattered.
She—
She saw a basement. A crowd of people. And then. A television fell on her head. There was a bright light and the audible crackle of electricity—
And people screaming.
Charlie stopped as well, concern now pulling at her features. She bit her lip, hesitating and clearly thinking hard about something, and then reached out, placing a hand on White Pearl’s shoulder.
The sudden contact pulled White Pearl out of the… vision? Memory? She didn’t know what it was.
“If that’s your word for dying,” she explained gently, “then yes.”
“Are… you dead too?” White Pearl asked. “Were you shattered?”
Charlie quickly shook her head. “No— there— there are others here who also died, but I’m not one of them. I was born here. There are other Hellborn demons too, but—”
She shook her head again.
“Can you get me out of this place?” White Pearl then asked. “I must return to My Diamond. I shudder to think how much she must be struggling with my absence.”
Charlie chewed her lip.
“Vaggi’s and my hotel is meant to help people redeem themselves so they can ascend to Heaven,” she said.
Would she kindly get to the point already?
“But maybe…” Charlie rested her hands on her hips and gazed at the concrete sidewalk they stood on thoughtfully. “If I could redeem you, maybe… maybe there’s a chance Heaven could send you back to Earth instead! I don’t know, I’d— I’d have to ask to be sure. They don’t even know what gets someone into Heaven, so they might not even be able to… no, no I’m getting ahead of myself! I’ll ask them, before I make assumptions.”
Was Earth another name for the Homeworld? It would… somewhat make sense, since Earth is another word for dirt. And under the city that sprawled across the planet, there was plenty of that. However, she wasn’t sure if she ought to be offended at the implication that the people here essentially called her world dirt. Homeworld worked just fine, thank you very much!
Before she could ask further, Charlie looked up and spoke again.
“If I find out Heaven is able to send you back to Earth instead of ascending you, would you give redemption a chance?”
“I… don’t know what I need redemption for, but yes,” White Pearl told her, clasping her hands in front of her. “I’ll do whatever it takes to return to My Diamond.”
Charlie nodded, making a weird face at that. “I have other people to talk to, too. You might— you look a lot like someone who tried to hurt them very recently, and I need to make sure you staying at the hotel is okay with them.”
White Pearl blinked. Was Charlie talking about this “Vox” she had mistaken her for? Perhaps that explained the confusion.
“I’ll still try to help you if not,” Charlie continued, “because I want to help everyone I can… but it would have to be outside the hotel.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small wallet. She rifled through the contents before pulling out a few green pieces of paper. It reminded White Pearl of something she had seen… somewhere before.
She didn’t know where. They didn’t have anything like this on Homeworld. She became aware of her growing unease once again.
Charlie held out the pieces of paper. “Take this and get a room at… that hotel over there.”
She pointed at a building behind White Pearl.
“That way you have someplace to stay in the meantime. I’ll come looking for you later after I talk to everyone.” Charlie offered White Pearl a small smile. “Okay?”
White Pearl smiled back, and gently took the pieces of paper. “Okay,” she said.
It wasn’t until Charlie walked away that White Pearl realized she forgot to ask what exactly she was supposed to do with the pieces of green paper she was given.