Pink stared hard at the splintered diamond screens in front of her, the faces of the other Diamonds staring back, awaiting what she was sure was her anticipated meltdown.

White, Blue, and Yellow, all in attendance as she was informed about what had been happening to her 'not-daughter' while they had been apart. Yellow's face betrayed little as she talked, telling her the simplified version of what had happened in the same voice she would have used to inform any of the others that a minor building had been destroyed and would need to be rebuilt. And she knew, oh how well she knew, Yellow's façade was because White was listening, watching, and she would never step a toe out of line in front of her glorious White Diamond. The coward.

As she droned on, a part of her began to wonder how long they would have kept it from her, if not for the fact it was one of her own subjects that had caused such grievous harm to one of their own. How long would it have been deemed unimportant for her to know because it would be another distraction from her colony.

"Pink," Yellow's voice boomed from the too-large screen, looming over her much the same way the diamond herself did, "are you even listening?"

Instead of lashing out with the stinging words that hung on the tip of her tongue, more than ready to strike down her overly arrogant seniors, Pink's hands gripped onto her skirt, jaw taut as she grit her teeth behind the thin line of her lips in self restraint. She refused to meet any of their eyes, her attention focused on a single cluster of stars just behind their heads, blurred by the light of the projected screens and distance, her distraction as she pushed down her anger, even as they prodded her for a response from their news.

White, the distant watcher, Yellow, weary but expectant, and Blue, the overbearing sympathizer. None of which she wanted to see. Pointed at her, or coming from them. The nerve of them to think they even could.

"The peridot," she said, surprised by her own strength to keep her voice steady, "What of her?"

Blue answered her before Yellow could, thinned lips left parted as eyes turned to look at her counterpart as she spoke, "She's been stripped of her rank and is being held."

"There will be a trial."Yellow added, her tone left little question that this had long since been decided and she would not have a say.

"Then I should come back to Homeworld for the trial."

"Not necessary."

That was enough to pull her eyes from those distant stars to glare at Yellow, her voice brimming with anger, "Excuse me?"

Yellow's eyes did little more than narrow at her, a silent challenge, or maybe a taunt, Pink was never really sure when it came from her, "Blue and I will be overseeing the trial."

"It's my gem-"

"She's no longer just your gem." Yellow ground out through bared teeth, her visible upper body leaning closer to the screen as she did, "She attempted to kill Orange Diamond-"

"And where were you!?" She yelled as the dam finally broke, pointing a finger at the other Diamonds, "Where were any of you when that was happening!? You were supposed to be watching her!"

Yellow rolled her eyes, "We have more important things to do then babysit. And she is old enough-"

"Nothing is more important then her! And you would agree if you cared at all about her!"

"Pink, that isn't fair!" Blue protested.

"Don't lecture me on fair when my daughter was nearly killed right under your nose!" Pink lashed out, somewhat satisfied by the older diamond's flinched response, "You might as well have signed off on it, for all the attention you gave her! I'm coming back to Homeworld, and nothing any of you say is going to stop me!"

"I believe that would be for the best." White agreed, unbothered as all eyes turned to her, her own gaze remaining on Pink.

"What!?" Pink gasped at the same time as Yellow and Blue shouted in unison, "White!?"

"The coronation will take place soon," the grand Diamond explained, "it will be better to have Pink here already."

"Really!?" Pink snarled, eyebrows arching down as she gestured at her with an open hand in furious question.

"Pink, don't-" Blue began, but was quickly silenced by Pink's own voice.

"The coronation!? Is that all you care about?"

"And," White cut in, eyebrows lowered in show that she wasn't so impressed by her outbursts, "it will be better for Orange to reform with someone she is so close to near by. You must still do your job."

"She almost died." Pink countered, her volume dropped to that of something closer to normal, but the anger on her face spoke well enough without it, "For just one moment could you forget about that stupid party and think about her. She's more important than any ridiculous-"

"Silence!" White inhaled through her nose, taking a moment to gather herself, though the silence that settled in between was enough to unnerve the others before she continued, "Of course Orange is important, but so is this ceremony." White's finger rose to her lips, silencing the words she could already see forming in the younger gem's mouth, "Ah Ah, let me speak, Starlight." She tutted, "We must keep our image strong, perfect, as if nothing is wrong. If we stopped now, if even a single rumor of what that Peridot did, or how long she was able to do what she did to our precious gemling before she was stopped, it would be a smudge on our Empire. Doubt sown through the ranks for centuries, millennia. We must keep moving on. We can not afford the alternative."

"But-"

"You have been away from your home for too long, Pink." White said, voice taking on a sweet, understanding tone, though Pink was hardly soothed, "But surely you haven't forgotten what happens when we don't keep up our image?"

Pink lowered her eyes, fists clenching at her sides, "No White. I remember."

"Good." White gave a single nod of approval before her eyes moved to look at Blue and then Yellow, "I expect the three of you to handle the rest of the details yourselves. I have other important matters to attend to."

All three remained frozen as White ended her feed, the largest diamond display that she had been occupying blinking out of existence with her departure, though her presence still lingered in the room after, not so quickly forgotten.

"You said..." Pink began, but paused as she squared her shoulders, her rage simmering down even as she turned to look up at the two remaining screens above her, "You said she had been poisoned? Have you taken another scientist from my Zoo? Have you managed to heal her yet?"

Blue and Yellow turned to look at their respective screens of each other, something that did not go unnoticed by Pink, or how Blue opened her mouth only to have Yellow immediately speak before she could get a word out, "We have...assumed, given what we know, in her current state, that she would heal herself."

"Or at the very least, not continue to worsen until she reforms." Blue added as she watched Pink's face morph from some semblance of calm to livid, "We can't know for sure until she reforms."

"You should've told me sooner!" Pink shouted, "What if that doesn't happen? What if she's only gotten worse while you waited?"

"We don't report to you." Yellow growled, "This isn't about you, and if it wasn't for Orange-"

"If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't be telling me any of this to begin with!"

"That's correct."

"You have some nerve, Yellow!" Pink yelled, pointing a finger threateningly at the much older diamond, "I'm a Diamond too, I deserve to know about things like this! If Zirconia wasn't dying, were you ever going to tell me?"

"It's a need to know subject, and your already so distracted with that silly gem rebellion on your colony, as if I was going to distract you further from making any more progress."

"Zirconia is my biggest priority!"

"Shut up!" Yellow snapped, the buzz of her power visible on her skin, "Don't say that ridiculous name again!"

"White forbade you from using that name, Pink." Blue chided, tone much gentler than Yellow's, though no less chastising, "You know what will happen if she hears you call her that."

"White isn't here! Stop acting like she's watching every little thing you do! Stand up to her-"

"That is enough. No more Pink, do you hear me? No more." Yellow seethed, "Don't you ever say anything like that in front of Orange. She doesn't need you influencing her to think she can talk back to White any more than she no doubt already does."

"Cowards."

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Pink grunted, her eyes lowering to glare at that little cluster of stars, "You heard White, I'm leaving now. Expect my arrival soon."

------------------------------

Pink.

Pink is the first color Orange noticed as she opened her eyes. Molten pink cloud tops as they bled into puffs of yellow and oranges, burning across the skyline as a perfect backdrop for the metallic towers and spires of her home. The neon lines of the city pulsed, like a heartbeat, muted by the rising sun of a new cycle.

Orange was confused to find herself standing there. When had she gotten out of bed? Had another moment slipped past her, forgotten and leaving her disoriented, feeling like she'd slipped out of her own time.

'No, wait.' Orange thought, eyebrows scrunching up as a muddled thought forced its way up, a fragment of a fragment of memory that she struggled to stay latched on to before it too wanted to slip away.

She could remember being in another room, a room that lacked this kind of view, grey and lifeless. A prison. And then it was the feelings that overwhelmed her, filing the dead space with a familiar feeling of dread, sluggishness, hopelessness, and being so alone. But, standing there, that wasn't what she got from this room. This wasn't the cell that had housed her despair.

Orange turned, taking in and looking around at the very filled room. Knickknacks, objects, things she had forgotten about that had been given to her but had been lost to colony bases she had never returned to, and never would. There were many shelves, filled to the brim with tiny little things, nearly hanging off the sides of the edges and yet remained on the shelf. Things were stacked, obviously with no place to put it, making the displays she normally enjoyed putting together appear cluttered, weighted down with too many things all at once. It looked more like a junk pile than any proper display she had seen.

On the desk was a statue, a familiar one from a while back, broken now, but carefully laid out on the slab as if to keep it safe.

The room itself was filled with bright light, much brighter than she normally kept it.

Pursing her lips, Orange looked around the room and sighed, "Yeah, this certainly isn't my room."

So if this wasn't hers, and she could (mostly) remember taking leave of her physical form, that must mean this had to be in her mind, right? Or gem, however that worked. Which meant- "Hello?" Orange called out, voice loud and carrying in the large room, "Zirconia?"

She waited, glancing around the room in every direction, unsure just where her mischievous counterpart could pop up.

"Zirconia?" She called again after an uncomfortably long moment of silence, spinning around but finding nothing but more empty room and knickknacks, not even a rustle or stray sound but her own movement to be heard in the room, "Are you...are you here?"

It was weird, she thought, unsettling. A room filled with so much of her past, but there seemed to be very little life anywhere. No noise from a city out the window, nor the beat of footsteps from guards, no background sounds at all. She half expected her twin to come bursting through the room, laughing at her, or maybe even shape-shifted, but nothing, and no one appeared to her.

"Are we...did we finally become one?" She questioned out loud, brows pulled together in concern and confusion, "Or have I pushed you away again?"

"I never know where I stand with myself, honestly..." she grunted under her breath, moving from her spot towards the bed, leaning over to check the other side closer to the wall, as if she could possibly be hiding, and then under the desk, which she recognized was just ridiculous.

Standing up straight and leaning on the cluttered marble top, Orange narrowed her eyes, the pit in her stomach dropping as silence still reigned heavy, her eyes searching for anything that was a sign that this was all some stupid game, before finally snapping, "Zirconia, this isn't funny!"

"If you come out, I promise I won't be mad." She tried to reason when her anger didn't work, eyes bouncing from one spot to another, hopeful, "Please, I don't like it here...alone."

When nothing happened, and she forced herself to come to terms that Zirconia wasn't just messing with her, it made her wonder where she was. Was there even anything alive here? Surely there had to be something!

"Maybe-" Orange gasped, pushing off the desk and sprinting to the window, nose flexing as she pressed her face to the glass, eyes searching the landscape for a sign that it wasn't just her, or maybe something to indicate why she was alone.

She had briefly noticed the buildings, but she hadn't taken the time to look for anything else in between. She had been so taken by the lights, the people hadn't mattered.

But now, pressed to the glass, Orange's eyes searched, taking in the city and it's changes, taking in every detail she could, because she was afraid to miss even one bit.

Around her, much to her relief, the city wasn't exactly as she remembered it. What had formerly been a broken husk of her city, burnt and battered and beaten lifeless, had been reformed; spires and buildings had been rebuilt, tall and pristine, the bridges stood strong and communication towers were teaming with power. There was still destruction, broken towers and withering pylons, large pieces of scorched rubble that had been gathered and piled, but it was something. A work in progress with a lot more hope than there had been before. And while Orange couldn't make out anyone outside, she could tell that there was something alive here, even if she couldn't see it.

Smiling, Orange leaned back, reaching up to rub her nose, only to stop as her eyes focused from the city to the distorted reflection of herself staring back at her. Looking down at herself, Orange's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at hands that looked the same as she could remember, and yet they weren't. Looking further down, she inspected with growing unease as she realized she looked thinner than she remembered too. She had always been bigger than most other gems, both in size and height, but this was different than the bulk she had put on through training. Head snapping back up, the young gem stared hard at her reflection, making out as much as she could until it dawned on her what was wrong.

"I'm a child!?" She gasped, stepping back from the window as she reached down, feeling her body and noticing the distinct differences from the one she knew now. Short, stocky limbs, overly large tunic that hung open to allow her gem to breath and thick belt that held it in place. Even her gem seemed too large in her smaller chest cavity.

'This was so weird,' She though, mind going frantic with every new detail she realized had been changed about her, 'What is this? What's going on?'

"This is not happening!" She shrieked, turning away from the window, looking up from her hands to the doorway.

This had to be Zirconia's doing, or some sort of nightmare she was stuck in until she woke up. If it was the former, then she would have to find her counterpart and get her to fix this. She was never going to be this weak child again, and it pained her to see it reflected back other in the window.

Sprinting at the door, Orange nearly ran into it before she remembered she'd have to unlock it herself, stretching some to lean against the wall and smack her hand against the reader to have the doors hiss open for her. Stepping out, she half expected to see Five and Seven standing there, probably amused by how she looked, but her stomach dropped a little when she poked her head out to see no one there at her door, watching over her. It was still just her. Taking a deep breath, resolving herself that there was at least someone else here, she merely had to find her first. But where?

"If I had free reign of this place, where would I go?" Orange questioned out loud, head tilted down as she tapped her finger against her bottom lip while she thought for a moment.

The arena? No, no one to watch, right?

The gardens? No. Only her mother took her there, and it had been a long, long time. Were those plants even alive anymore?

One of the other palaces, maybe? No, no one she wanted to see there, what would be the point?

Or maybe-

Orange looked up, her eyes wide as her mouth fell open in a small gasp. "Our room."

Of course. If she could go anywhere, she'd want to be in her and Pearl's room, White's abandoned overlook.

With her destination in mind, Orange turned and began heading down the hall, her feet taking her without thought through twists and turns of halls she was incredibly familiar with, back ways she wondered if anyone but her and Pearl knew about anymore.

Taking a sharp left, a hall she knew would lead her to another hall that would then take her down to the next level. Orange paused, stopping just in time before she nearly stepped off into a gapping hole. Toeing the broken floor, Orange's eyed it, confused by the broken hall in front of her, flooring and reinforcement hanging at a downward slanted angle, the hole large enough that she could look down at the floor below to see even more damage to the floor and walls there. She watched as a loose stones crumbled from beneath her foot, bouncing off the broken platform to scatter below, the clattering sound echoing down the hall.

"What is-"

"There you are."

Orange spun around, fists up and eyes narrowed in a menacing glare as she rounded on whoever had managed to sneak up on her, only to freeze as her eyes traveled up the lithe body of a pearl. Her eyes widening as she was surprised to find another gem, and even more so that it was one so familiar to her.

"Pearl?"

"I've been looking for you. Now really isn't the time to play hide and seek, my clarity, nor should you wander the halls without an escort. Some of the walkways are still crumbling." Pearl chastised, though there was no bite to her tone, or true displeasure in her soft grey eyes.

"Crumbling? I can see-" She abruptly cut herself off, deciding it meant little in comparison to finding Pearl herself. "Nevermind that! What are you doing here, Pearl?"

Pearl tilted her head, thin eyebrows sweeping upward with confusion, "What do you mean?"

If Pearl was here, Orange reasoned, then perhaps this really was a dream. Or maybe a hallucination?

"Uh, just, I wasn't expecting to see you." Orange answered, hand lifting up to rub at the back of her neck, "Not that it's not good to see you, I mean. Umm..."

The corners of Pearl's lips turned up, that soft look in her eyes deepening, "You have been summoned. I am to escort you."

"Summoned?" Orange questioned, "By who-?"

"We shouldn't keep her waiting." The older gem interrupted, the corners of her eyes crinkling as if amused by the young diamond, and turned to lead her back the way she had come, "Please follow me, your clarity."

"Orange."

Pearl paused, stopping to turn half way to look at her in question, "Hmm?"

"I...just call me Orange, please." It was so odd hearing that from Pearl, even if this wasn't her Pearl. "No need to be so formal, you know?"

The corners of Pearl's lips curled, her head tilting as she considered her a moment, and then nodded, "Of course," she agreed, "Orange."

------------------------------

All eyes were on the sky as the dark pink heels of their youngest matriarch pierced the clouds, the happy and loyal gems mesmerized by the grand ship as it speared it's way through the sky to the awaiting docking pad over the Diamond's own palace. With it returned to its proper place, it meant all of their leaders were now on Homeworld, and that, in itself, was a joyous event.

Even more joyous about her return to them meant another day closer to the introduction of their newest Diamond's coronation, and many of them could not wait to see their newest leader. Speculations and claims already being passed around, rumors becoming like currency amongst the upper classes and soldiers alike, trading for anything to do with their soon-to-be leader.

Pink Diamond herself had little patience to wait as she exited her ship, Pearl beside her as she did her best to keep up with her long, purposeful strides, both back in their respective roles now that they were on Homeworld, though Pink gave that little thought as she cruised through her palace towards the center of the Diamond's Square, b-lining towards the throne room where the other Diamonds awaited her return.

The twists and turns of the throne room were easy to navigate, too familiar with too many memories she'd rather forget, memories she could be forgetting back on Earth, with the Crystal Gems. But, she reminded herself, her daughter needed her, and that thought alone could keep her here as long as she needed to be.

Brushing past the thick curtains at the entrance to the room, drawn to no doubt give the matriarchs inside some semblance of privacy, Pink's eyes zeroed in on the center where their thrones were placed. High up where they would always be seen no matter where you were in the room, and a much easier task when the ballroom was barren of glib spoken aristocrats taking up the space.

"Pink," Blue called her name as she stood up, arms open in a welcoming gesture and tone too cheery for the younger diamond given the circumstance that had brought her there to begin with, "Welcome home."

Yellow nodded her head into her direction, her own acknowledgment for the younger Diamond, "Pink."

Pink stopped her march as she reached her destination in front of them, eyeing the giant empty throne that separated the two senior diamonds, notably empty of one grand leader. "Where is White?"

"Busy with more important things." Yellow responded, as she expected, with the same defensive tone she always used when she excused White's absence.

Pink snorted, making no attempt to hide the sound from the other two, "Of course she is."

"Don't start!" Yellow raised her voice as she leaned forward, posture aggressive but hardly threatening to the younger Diamond any longer, though a part of her wondered what had already riled the older Diamond before she had even arrived to get her to blaze past admonish straight to outrage at her.

"Enough," Blue said, her tone warning without the need to yell, and enough to tamp down both of her counterparts anger before it could clash in the middle of the throne room. "Both of you."

Yellow turned to Blue, eyebrows pulled together as she gave the her a look of irritation, "But Blue-"

"No." Blue cut her off with a look of her own, satisfied when Yellow leaned back in her seat, lips pressed together in a petulant frown, "It's a hard enough time now as it is, we don't need to argue amongst ourselves. Orange wouldn't like that."

Yellow sighed, forcing a puff of air through her nose, but didn't argue, instead settling more into her chair as Blue stood up from her's.

"Here," she said as she stepped down from her throne towards the smaller diamond, her clasped hand unfurling to reveal the small gem held protectively in the soft cushioning of her palm, "I thought you might like to see her as soon as you arrived."

Immediately Pink's hand were reaching for it, taking it from Blue's hand the moment she crouched down to her, snagging it like a greedy child as she held it close to her chest, arms and hands protectively encasing it between her body.

"Oh, Zirconia...what have they done to you?" Pink asked softly to the gem in her hands, fingers curling to caress sharp edges and long flat plane of familiar facets. Pink knew every detail of this gem without looking, so when her eyes took in the dulled color and the darkened center, Pink's own gem felt like a lead weight in her stomach. "What's wrong? Why is her gem so...?"

"We believe it's a side effect of what was done to her." Blue explained, "We originally assumed it would go away by itself, as Orange regenerates in her gem. The Peridot's poisoning, we think, but we are unsure if we can purge everything. Her gem has remained dimmed, even after all three of us tried to heal her."

Pink looked up, mouth agape with surprise, "Even White...?"

"None of us could help." Yellow responded, lips thinning into a tense line across her face as her eyes narrowed at the small gem in Pink's hands, "White believes it is because of her organic half that we can't do anything."

Blue's shoulders sagged, tears rimming the bottom of her eyes as she shook her head, "Or she doesn't want our help."

Yellow rolled her eyes, leaning heavily against her fist as she scoffed, "Blue, don't be ridiculous."

"But Yellow...." Blue started, then stopped, wiping her eyes as she nodded, her gaze moving from Yellow to Pink, "No, you are right. Maybe...maybe you could, Pink...?"

Yellow perked up at this, shrugging her shoulders in some lazy form of agreement to Blue, "You were the one who created her, after all. Otherwise..."

"Or we can try together and-"

"No." Pink cut her off, eyes never leaving the gem in her hands, watching the almost systematic pulses of light, like a throbbing beat, filled the center of the gem and then dimmed, only to come back to life and die out once more. "Let me."

With very little prodding, Pink felt the tears forming on her lashes, thick and heavy, filled with her essence and healing powers, her ability having already healed her little one once before, she had little doubt that it wouldn't again. She wouldn't know what she would do if it didn't.

Above, Pink could hear the collective gasp as the three watched her tears hit the side of Orange's gem, rolling down the sharp edges of flat facets at the pavilion until another one fell, catching on the crown to drip down the front face, and for a moment, the pit in Pink's stomach dropped, sinking with it her hope that she could actually do something, as she waited for anything to happen. And then all at once it began to glow, starting from where her tears had pooled against the flat edges, running up the tails of wet tracks until it began to travel along the thin spines of edges, chasing away the dull glow until it joined at the very center, combining and, as if giving it a boost of life, shined until it filled her hands in light, fading to leave the gem pulsing vividly with an orange color all its own, sparkles of light dancing around it as her tears reflected off its sides, glittering with life and power.

Yellow leaned forward, mouth agape as she stared, taking a moment to process and collect herself before uttering, "I can't believe that worked."

"Neither can I." Pink admitted quietly, one hand releasing Orange's gem to wipe at the tears still falling from her eyes.

"But-" Blue spoke, breaking the shortly lived happy moment, "She's not reforming."

"She no doubt needs more time." Yellow responded, "Orange has always been a slow reformer, you know that."

Breathing in deeply, Pink's fingers folded in around the gem, protecting it as she looked up at the two older diamonds, "I'm taking her back to my palace until she does."

"But Orange should-"

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Pink." Blue smiled, "She has always taken comfort in you. You might just encourage her to come back sooner."

"Yes." Yellow gave a short nod of agreement, crossing her arms as she thought on it a moment, "We don't have a month to wait. Contact us the moment she reforms."

Turning away from them, Pink glanced at Pearl, her round eyes wide as she looked up to her, the little unspoken question of if she was alright appreciated, which she gave a small nod to before looking down at the diamond in her hand. Crossing her other over it and bringing it to rest over her chest, her chin pressing against the top of it as she whispered, "It's alright my love. Everything will be alright, mama's here now."

------------------------------

"Stupid, stupid, stupid-!"

Nestled in the corner of the enclosed cell, Peridot sat with her back against the far wall, back bent and head lowered near her tucked in knees as her hands grabbed at her hair, tugging at it as she grumbled into her thighs angrily.

"This is all pointless!" She shrieked, her voice so loud the guards at the end of the cell block turned to look in her cell's direction, but made no move to check on her. "I'm a hero!"

"Quiet down!" One of the guards, a rather large Smoky Quartz yelled, her voice booming as it traveled down the narrow hall of the holding block.

"I will not be silenced!" Peridot screeched back, glaring at the buzzing wall in front of her, the sole thing that kept her in her cell. She wasn't meant to end up here, none of this was right. It was all so, so wrong. "I don't belong here! You're all fools!"

Both guards rolled their eyes, turning away from the cell block and back to each other.

"I hate this post." The guard to Smoky Quartz's right grumbled, a slightly smaller and thinner Prase guard than was normal, though she still got her job done, and that's all that their superior cared about.

"It's not so bad." Smoky responded, letting out a huff of air from her mouth as she leaned back against the wall behind her, "Most of the time they're quiet. They know why they're there, ya know?"

Prase nodded her head behind them, towards the hall, "What's up with the defective one in there then?"

"Didn't you just answer your own question?" Her colleague retorted, raising an eyebrow at her, "She's defective, or cracked. Either way, whatever she did, she pissed off someone important enough to end up here."

Before Prase could respond, the doors to the detention center level opened, the guards turning to look as two other Quartz gems approached, a Citrine and Amethyst, the four passing looks between them in acknowledgment of each other.

All four turned to look back down the hall as Peridot continued to yell, making the two new Quartz gems chuckle together.

"She still going?" Amethyst asked, crossing her arms and nodding her head in the green gem's general direction.

"Hasn't stopped." Prase answered, the aggravation in her voice noticeable.

Citrine and Amethyst exchanged grins before looking back at the guards, "We'll watch over her, why don't you two go on break?"

"Yeah," the Amethyst agreed, wrapping her arm around the Prase's shoulders and turning her to the doorway, "Onyx Agate sent us to cover the rest of your shift. So you two go relax, alright?"

The two guards exchanged a look with one another before shrugging, moving to walk around them and away from their post, Smoky mumbling a bored warning to Citrine as they passed, "Ten minutes, before someone comes to check."

Citrine and Amethyst waved to their turned backs, large smiles on faces as the shorter gem called, "Thanks for the heads up."

As they watched the doors shut, the two Quartz looked around, insuring they were alone, before moving to walk side by side down the hall, ignoring the few gems that looked up from inside their cells to watch as they passed until they came upon the cell with the muttering green gem.

Hearing the sound of the buzzing curtain cut out, Peridot looked up, eyebrows scrunching up at the sight of the two Quartz soldiers staring back at her. "Who are you?"

Moving into the cell, making sure to block her in as the two moved together, neither answered her as they came to stop in front of her. Both grinned, wide and malicious, Citrine folding her arms as her counterpart cracked her knuckles.

It didn't take long for Peridot to put two and two together, scrunching herself up further against the wall as she stared up at the two gems with a growing sense of dread. "What are you doing?" She questioned, her nasally voice raising in pitch as she looked between the two much more muscular gems, a nervous chuckle escaping past her lips before she could tamp it down, "You can't hurt me, I'm a prisoner awaiting trial. If you-"

Amethyst punched the wall over her head, the loud boom silencing her before she could finish, the close contact making her flinch and duck her head in an instinctual response, though her eyes never left the gem hovering over her.

"We were given special orders." Amethyst grinned.

"Yeah." Citrine nodded slowly, chuckling to herself, "Orders we don't really want to say no to."

"What? Orders for what?" Peridot questioned, head turning to look from one Quartz to the other, "What are you gonna do?"

"Gonna make you regret what you did." Citrine responded, "You think no one but the Diamonds know?"

"Word travels." Amethyst laughed, "You got any idea how many gems you've pissed off? Huh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't-"

"I've served as guard for Orange Diamond for centuries." The Citrine sneered, leaning over from her left side, snarling at her, "How dare you try to shatter her."

"Oh no." Peridot squirmed, shrinking into a ball as best she could to get away from her.

"I was chosen to be apart of her court, and you were going to take that all away." The Quartz above her shouted, reaching down to grab her around the front of her body suit, "Do you have any idea what that could mean for someone like me? The rank I could get?"

"Your delusional if you think-"

"Shut up!" She hissed, slamming her back into the wall, "I'd say you'll see, but I think we all know what's going to happen to scum like you."

"You'll end up just like all those rebels that are caught."

"Probably worse." Citrine added, "No less than you deserve, though."

Peridot reached out, latching onto the arm that held her up, struggling to attempt to push her off with little effect, "If you hurt me, the Diamonds will punish you! I'm on trial! They'll know!"

"Yellow Diamond understands that certain things can happen to gems that try to hurt our Diamonds." Citrine shrugged her off, exchanging amused glances with her partner, "After all, what would we do without them?"

Amethyst nodded, chuckling darkly, "And we're going to teach you what happens to pesky little gems that hurt our Diamond."

"No! You can't do this! No!"

[Updated and corrected 6/10/21]