Pearl was in a total panic.
In her mind, she had made mistakes over the last few days, sure, but what she had just blurted out far exceeded any of them. This wasn't just a simple slip of the tongue; it was a catastrophe. She had revealed far too much in front of Steven, things directly tied to the Diamonds. Something that, if she were being honest with herself, she had never wanted to do... or maybe she had, just never like this.
And that implicated her Diamond.
Pink Diamond.
A truth she couldn't speak aloud—not because she didn't want to, but because a direct command from her Diamond physically prevented her. An order that remained etched into her core like an invisible chain.
As everyone climbed down from Lion's back, Pearl could barely focus on the Cluster situation. Of course it worried her, but there was something far worse: the looks Steven shot her every now and then. They weren't accusing, they weren't cold... and that was the most unsettling part. They made her completely nervous. She didn't know what to do, what to say, or how to justify what she had blurted out without thinking.
She watched as Garnet walked away with total calm, as if nothing was wrong, leaving her behind.
*Betrayal,* she thought with simmering fury, directed more at herself than anyone else.
Even so, she reacted quickly. She had to get out of there.
"I'm heading out," she said, starting to walk toward her room.
She didn't get far.
A hand planted firmly on her shoulder.
Pearl didn't need to turn around. Her body went rigid instantly. There was a brief exchange of words she barely managed to process, because the next second she was being hoisted off the ground as if she weighed nothing at all.
Before she could protest, the door slammed shut.
From outside, Amethyst shot her a mocking look, clearly enjoying the moment. Lapis frowned, uncomfortable and annoyed by the scene. And Peridot... Peridot went into an absolute panic, suddenly left without Steven as a buffer.
Pearl, for her part, could only think one thing as she was carried away without a shred of dignity.
*This time, I really blew it.*
---
I dropped her without being particularly careful.
Here, in this room, I called the shots. Pearl knew it. She was powerless.
"Alright," I said calmly.
My mother's hologram appeared at my side, projecting itself with that soft, familiar light. Pearl went completely stiff the moment she saw it.
"Ro... Rose..." she murmured, her voice barely a whisper.
The hologram looked at her with profound sadness—the kind of look that carried more weight than any verbal scolding.
"It's time, isn't it, son?" she asked.
"Yeah," I replied, materializing a chair and sitting down casually.
Rose did the same. She materialized another chair and, with a simple gesture, made one appear right in front of Pearl. Pearl looked at it as if it were a divine command. She didn't hesitate. She sat down immediately, her body seemingly running on autopilot.
The three of us sat face-to-face.
...
...
...
"So," I said, breaking the silence as I stared directly at Pearl. "You're going to tell me what the Diamonds are."
Pearl nodded nervously, darting a quick glance at Rose's hologram as if seeking permission.
And yes, dear reader, I know what you're thinking. Why did I leave my mother's hologram in here? Simple. Rose had ordered Pearl to never say a word. But this... this was a near-exact representation of her. To Pearl, it was practically the same as having the real Rose standing right in front of her. It would make talking a lot less impossible. And who knows, maybe I'd uncover something I didn't know myself.
"Well..." Pearl began uncomfortably. "The Diamonds are..." She sighed and looked up at the holographic clouds on the ceiling, as if they might provide an answer.
She sighed again.
"The Diamonds are the highest-ranking Gems on Homeworld."
I watched her, resting my cheek in my hand, completely focused. Rose's hologram mirrored my posture almost automatically. Pearl looked at both of us and offered a sad smile.
"They're the ones who give the orders. They're the ones who... rule, you know?"
"And what do they order?" I asked, maintaining my posture.
...
"They order the colonization of other planets," Pearl responded, looking at me with a serious expression.
I kept silent for a few seconds. I could tell she was getting more nervous, probably thinking I was angry with her.
I looked up.
"I assume colonization is to create even more Gems, right?"
Pearl nodded.
"I see," I said, humming softly as I processed the information.
The chair creaked slightly as I adjusted my weight. This was only just getting started.
---
"What's the hierarchy of the Diamonds?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Pearl fell silent. I noticed her body shudder slightly, as if the question carried more weight than it seemed.
"Well..." she finally said. "There were four Diamonds. Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond, White Diamond, and... and... Pink Diamond."
I stared intently at her.
"And what does each one do?"
"Each one controls a different sector," she explained, looking down. "I couldn't tell you exactly which ones, because they change constantly, but every Diamond serves a specific function."
"You said *were*," I pointed out, raising my eyebrow even higher.
Pearl nodded, obvious fear in her eyes.
"So... is one of them gone?" I asked.
Silence consumed the room for several agonizing seconds.
I looked up toward the ceiling.
"You know, Pearl?" I finally said. "I really thought we were a family by now."
Pearl's head snapped up, confused, but I didn't give her time to reply.
"I thought you guys—Garnet, Amethyst, and you—trusted me. I truly believed we had reached a point where you could tell me about Homeworld." My voice began to lace with venom before I could stop myself. "But no. You don't tell me anything. You keep me entirely in the dark."
My hand began to glow with a pink tint. I noticed it. So did she. Pearl stared at me in shock, her face filled with obvious regret as I let everything out.
I shook my head and took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure.
"But whatever," I continued, my voice dropping lower. "If you guys don't trust me... how am I supposed to trust you?"
Pearl tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come.
"I know, Pearl," I said softly.
She froze. She tried to hide it, but she failed.
"Know what, Steven?" she asked, trying to mask her fear.
I glanced at her sideways.
"That even now, you still don't want to tell me," I answered with a hint of fury, forcing myself to maintain control. "This pink form... it's amplifying way too many of my negative emotions."
...
...
...
"I've been having dreams," I continued after a few seconds. "Dreams where I'm not myself, you know?"
I looked over at my mother's hologram. She remained silent, waiting. I knew this moment was bound to come.
---
"I've seen my mother, did you know that?" I finally said.
Pearl immediately looked toward the hologram.
"No. Not the hologram," I clarified.
Pearl frowned.
Out of nowhere, a glass hourglass appeared in my hand.
"You know what this is, don't you?"
"The Time Glass," she said in surprise.
"I saw her, Pearl. I know what she was like. I know who she was. I know why she fell in love with my dad. I know everything," I said with absolute seriousness. "I know what she used to be."
I stared directly at her.
"What she... used to be?" Pearl repeated, her eyes wide.
"Do it," I told the hologram.
The hologram shifted. Its form grew larger, more imposing, more... real.
Pearl's eyes threatened to pop out of her head. Pure panic hit her like a physical blow. She fell right out of her chair, scrambling several paces backward.
"What...?"
"What...?"
"This... no..."
She slowly looked up at the figure she had never expected to see again in fourteen years.
"My Diamond..." Pearl whispered, her voice trembling violently.
"My Pearl," the hologram of Pink Diamond responded.
Pearl broke down completely. Tears poured uncontrollably as she wept, practically reaching out for the closest thing she had to the person who had been her best friend, her soulmate, her everything.
I remained silent, waiting. Trusting that what I had planned was the right move.
After what felt like hours, Pearl looked up at me.
"You really knew?"
"I've kept it in mind for several years now."
Pearl's eyes went even wider.
"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked, her voice cracking.
"I waited, Pearl," I responded firmly. "I waited... and I waited... and I waited. I waited for you guys, or at least one of you, to finally answer my questions."
I stood up slowly.
"Every time I tried to find out something about my mother, about someone who could understand me, about this power..." I said, holding up my hand as it began to glow pink.
"This power whose limits I don't even know. I don't know if it will hurt me, if it will change my personality, if I'll experience human hunger, if I'll lose consciousness, or if there's some specific requirement to even use it."
I lowered it slowly.
"Not a single one of those questions was ever answered. The only one who tried to help me was Amethyst... and even then, she just did what she could because she didn't have the information either."
I looked down at Pearl, who was still on the floor.
"I know you miss her. I know what you tried to do when I was a baby."
Pearl went rigid in an almost painful way.
A few seconds passed, heavy with silence.
Then, a laugh broke out.
It was mine.
"Ha..."
"Ha... ha..."
"Hahaha..."
"HAHAHAHAHA."
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
The laughter just tore out of me. It wasn't mockery. It wasn't joy. It was the emotional release of someone who had carried the weight of unanswered questions for far too long.
---
"What did I expect, right?" I said, still laughing... though tears began to fall without my permission.
"You're Gems. You aren't human."
I grabbed my head with both hands, feeling everything I had repressed for years finally rushing to the surface all at once.
"You don't have the same feelings. And yet you claim you protect the Earth, that you protect humans... but I don't see how, if you can't even live among them, let alone understand them."
My breathing turned heavy.
"I don't get it. Five thousand years, right? Five thousand damn years, and I still don't get it."
I looked up, harboring a deep, quiet anger.
"Not you, and not Garnet. Amethyst is a lost cause, and..."
My eyes locked onto the giant figure looming before me.
"And you," I said, pure venom bleeding into my tone.
Pink Diamond said nothing. She was already accustomed to these facets of me.
"You brought a child into the world without even knowing if he'd have to carry your problems, your fears, and thousands of mistakes that weren't even his to begin with."
I pointed aggressively.
"Look," I said, gesturing toward Pearl.
She was still in shock, but hearing me, she slowly lifted her eyes to look at me.
"You left me a Pearl who is completely co-dependent. Depressed. Totally shackled to you. You left her like that... hopelessly in love with you, and then you just vanished."
Pearl flushed instantly, tears spilling over before she could check them.
I let out a long sigh.
"I really don't want any part of this crap."
I looked upward, as if the ceiling could grant me an answer that no one else was willing to give.
"Pearl," I said, my voice dropping lower but remaining just as firm. "I know what you've done. And let me tell you something."
The silence grew incredibly heavy.
"Pink Diamond approved the Cluster."
...
...
...
Pearl's eyes widened to absolute circles.
"What...? No."
She shook her head, utterly unable to accept it.
"She couldn't have approved that."
"She did," I replied bluntly. "Because she didn't even bother to look at the data. She was far too busy playing her alter ego as Rose Quartz."
Pearl fell completely silent. Her body was shaking.
"Are you serious?" she whispered.
"Dead serious," I said.
The room fell into an absolute, dead quiet, as if even the temple itself was holding its breath.
"And... what do you want me to do?" Pearl asked with extreme caution, as if any wrong word might shatter something fragile.
"I don't want you telling anyone else that my mom is Pink Diamond yet," I responded with a firm voice. "Not until we're completely done dealing with the Cluster."
Pearl gave a slow nod.
"Besides," I added, wiping away the stray tears that remained on my face. "I'm telling you this in confidence. You were her Pearl, so I trust you. You're the most trustworthy Gem I've got."
That didn't help.
Pearl just started crying even harder.
"And don't cry, Pearl," I said, though it clearly didn't work.
Then I saw her moving closer, and I knew exactly what she was thinking.
"We aren't fusing," I said immediately, locking eyes with her.
"Huh?" Pearl blurted out, completely bewildered.
"I know that face," I continued without missing a beat. "If we fuse, it'll be later. Not under these circumstances."
"Alright," Pearl responded, looking visibly deflated.
I stared at her in silence for a few seconds.
*They really have no clue how humans work,* I thought, as three black comedy lines appeared over my head.
**End of Chapter 53.**