Just a Pearl: A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter two

It's been five thousand, four hundred and thirty years.

The memory is held close in her heart. The Pearl fighting, going against rules and breaking all of them- it's wrong, it's so, so, wrong, but to Blue Pearl it made her feel like she had a chance to be free. Free from those iron chains of slavery, of her purpose, her duty.

She is clasping her hands again. It is a daily routine, her default posture if she has no duties to attend to.

"Pearl," The voice, loud and gentle, like a cold wind, breezed over her. "Dance."

And she does. She does so elegantly, because one small step would fall into execution and bring shattered, or replaced and harvested. She dances carefully, with tentative caution, but does not show her rising fear, panic and anxiety welling up in her chest. She never does.

And when she is instructed to stop, she does. She salutes to her Diamond, bows, and walks back to the side, hands clasped again.

This is the life of a Pearl.

Blue Pearl bites back a giggle. Not much of a life, she assumes, for one that was made and built just for slavery.

Through her lacy blue hair, Blue Pearl dips her azure gaze to inspect her gem. It is circular, a perfect, smooth milky orbs embedded in her temple.

She wonders if what if those clasped hands were holding swords. What would her Diamond react? She imagines swishing and turning with precision and accuracy through the air, slicing perfectly to make a single kill.

She'd be shattered, that's what. Blue Pearl hides her emotions again, like she does so for the past thousands of years, and she is glad for once that her hair is covering her eyes. They seem to be wide with wonder.

Then an agate bursts in. A new report.

"My Diamond, the rebellion has infiltrated the ships!" The sentence is enough to make Blue Diamond's teeth clench tightly, as it does every now and then. She knows her Diamond too well.

"Send our best soldiers there. Now." Blue Diamond stands to her full height, a commanding force waiting to shatter every bit of those rebels to shards and pieces with her fist.

"My Diamond." The Holly Blue Agate leaves, and Blue Pearl notices that her Diamond is leaving the room, her footsteps loud and clear. She scrambles to follow her master.

"Leave me alo-" The familiar shout rang in her head, echoing behind a howl of anger. A Pearl- the Pearl- is brought to Blue Diamond, and Blue Pearl sees that the first time this Pearl is covered in scratches and grime, her gem an irregular oval.

"You," Blue Diamond hisses, and the Pearl glares straight up at her without flinching. "Throw her in the prison. I will deal with her."

The Pearl kicks and fights, her arms thrashing, and the Amethyst that is carrying her has to hold her down aggressively to prevent more kicking.

Blue Pearl stares at her with awe. The rebellious Pearl swiftly elbows the gem in his face, and more guards come to lead her out before she causes any more collateral damage.

The Pearl squirms, unable to move, Then all light goes out of her blue irises, much like Blue Pearl's, and her eyes are now emotionless pits of sapphire.

She is destabilized. The sizzling sparks fizzles out of the weapon, and the Pearl chips off piece into piece, breaking apart quite literally, until all it left is the smooth yet uneven oval.

"Once she regenerates, interrogate her. Do whatever. Torture her, make her spit out information in any possible way." Blue Diamond commands, and then they are back into the calm, peaceful room like nothing has ever happened.

The ceiling is open, a shroud of glass covering the top, revealing a carpet of black studded with glittering stars and orbiting galaxies of every colour. It is beautiful and real, as if Blue Pearl could reach out and scoop them to inspect every tiny little detail.

"My Pearl." Blue Diamond says suddenly.

"Y-yes, my Diamond?"

"You do know what I did was necessary, right? I wouldn't shatter you."

And Blue Pearl realizes that there may be a hint of uncertainty in her master's voice. Of course, if she'd pointed that out, she would be broken almost immediately.

"Yes, I understand, my Diamond."

She's afraid I'll betray her just as that Pearl did, Blue Pearl notices. She might even shatter me, to replace me with another Pearl. Because she's actually afraid... That I might rebel.

Rebel was the bitter taste of two syllable rolling off a gem's tongue, but to Blue Pearl, it felt like the peak of something new.

They stay in silence, Blue Diamond resting on her throne, her veil hiding her tense expression, and Blue Pearl clasps her hands again, righting her posture.

She is just a Pearl.