"Thankyou." Jasper said once the tears had stopped flowing long enough for them to collect themselves "We just looked so much like…"
"Carnelian" The name drifted into Peridots mind, blurting out of their shared mouth.
They felt Jaspers sudden confusion shiver through their body "How do you kn-"
Jaspers question cut off as the images rose into Peridots mind, diffusing into their shared consciousness. "Lapis" they both spat the word out at the same time, Peridot with shame, jasper with anger.

"I'm sorry! They just showed me… I wanted to know more about you" Peridot felt their body start to distort as anxiety crept into their voice.
But the only anger they felt was directed at Lapis "It's okay. I guess it makes it easier to explain this way." They stood slowly, lifting Alpha up onto their shoulder.
"I just, I never really ever felt like we unfused. One second we were together and then I was on the ship home. It was the first time I had ever been unconscious and I lost everything."
Peridot could feel the anger and sadness emanating from Jasper, the fear that drove their constant training and paranoia. The images of the battle Lapis had shown them swimming through their mind.

"THAT'S ROSE QUARTZ!" the sudden roar startled Peridot, making them cling tighter to Jasper, feeling the fragile bond of fusion stretching as Jasper dug violently through the memories.
"That's her talking… Lapis wasn't there? How could they have seen-" they fell to their knees, doubling over and clutching their chest as the yellow light exploded in the dreamlike images. Peridot letting out a scream as they separated, flinging each other across the room, the fusion breaking violently.

Peridot lay on their back, clutching their throbbing head. Eventually the pain started to die down and their vision cleared, propping themselves up to look over at Jasper, huddled in the corner. They looked so small and vulnerable, their colours muted.
Peridot staggered over, grabbing their shoulder and heaving with all their strength, rolling Jasper onto their side "Are you okay?" they started to ask before seeing Jaspers face, drenched in tears. A wretched expression on their usually confident face.

"It is my fault" they whispered "they sacrificed themself for me" pain twists Jaspers face as they slammed their fist into the ground, making Peridot jump back "WE PROMISED TO STAY TOGETHER! No matter what"
Peridot wrung their hands desperately, trying to think of what to say to calm the distraught gem
"Wh-wait! Lapis didn't show me anymore on purpose, maybe… maybe they're okay?" Peridot squirmed, knowing how lame and pointless that sounded when they remembered something important "They didn't retreat into their gem..." Jasper looked up at them, a look of confusion breaking through their tears and Peridot turned and started to sprint off, calling out over their shoulder "Just… just stay there! I'm going to talk to Lapis, maybe they're still on Earth! And then... then we can find them!"

Jasper said something quietly but Peridot couldn't hear, rushing through the corridors towards Lapis cell, grim determination in their eyes.
"LAPIS!" they shouted, skidding to a halt in front of the cell, lapis glancing up calmly "YOU HAVE TO SHOW ME WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE EXPLOSION!" They breathed heavily, catching their breath
"Let me go" Lapis said quietly, examining their fingernails
"Fine" Peridot gasped making Lapis look at them with surprise and glee
"And take me home"
"What, no! You know I can't do that. Just… Just help us! And then we can all go home"
"Aurgh!" Lapis shouts angrily "Don't you understand? You aren't going there to do good, Earth was the biggest fuck up in Gem history, you should have just left it alone but nooooo! You're just going to head back down to open it all up!" they throw their hands up in frustration stamping around the small cell.

"I don't care about that!" Peridot yells back "I just need to know what happened to those Gems, at the battle you showed me, please!"
Peridot calls up their screen, turning off the containment field, tears gathering in their eyes.
Lapis dashes forwards immediately, pushing Peridot up against the wall, the reflective sheen starting to cloud their eyes "Alright then, fine. I'll show you all of it."
Peridot could feel their stomach plummeting as they once again fell forwards into Lapis' memories

A sudden flash of light and they were standing in front of a wailing stone, Peridot only recognised the ancient technology from their history classes, slapping at it angrily "Come on damn it!"
A few bursts of deafening static exploded out of the stone as Lapis hammered the button before the voice that Peridot now knew to belonged to Rose Quartz started playing, filling the room.
"-and in this time I have grown to value these creatures and admire their potential. We cannot keep taking away their futures for our own selfish desires! For this reason I implore you all to join me, throw off the rules and regulations of the Diamond authority and embrace our own-"
The voice cut off as Lapis threw the stone to the ground, shattering it.

Lapis turned their head towards the door, Peridot noticing that they seemed to be inside a much larger residence than the last time they saw inside Lapis' head. "ARGH!" Lapis shouts "WHAT?! You better have had some luck with the standing stones because Rose's damn propaganda is still jamming the network!"
"Ummmm... not exactly. No" a nervous voice called back, the door sliding open to show a Gem warrior standing there, pointing their weapon hesitantly at the tall Gem standing calmly behind them. "Rose Quartz is here, they want to talk to you"
Peridots vision swung around dizzyingly as Lapis leapt behind the table, flipping it to form a crude barricade and pointing accusingly at Rose as they stepped through the doorway slowly, hands raised
"What are you doing! Arrest her!" Lapis shouted as the Warrior Gem stepped back nervously
"They came here alone, they said they just wanted to talk to you and then they would surrender"

"Thank you Agate" Rose said, smiling warmly at the nervous looking gem before stepping closer to Lapis "Lapis, we've been here for years. Can't you see the beauty of this world? Can't you see how we are destroying it?"

Lapis stood up hands balling into fists "I don't care! I don't care about this stupid planet or your stupid revolution! I always hated this disgusting dirtball and now. Now I can't even leave because you and your stupid stupid stupid Rebels are blockading all the warp panels!" tears began to distort Peridots vision, gleaming at the edge of Lapis eyes.
Rose just walked forwards slowly, holding her arms out to them. "I'm so sorry Lapis. I never wanted anybody to be hurt by this… But you know that you are too powerful for me to leave you alone. The devastation you could wreak on this planet could undo everything we are fighting for." A cold look came into Rose's wide, caring eyes.

Lapis staggered backwards "No, GUARDS! HELP!"
They looked to the doorway which slid open to reveal a solitary Pearl. Sweating profusely and holding a long spear in either hand. Behind them Peridot could see small clusters of shattered Gems and discarded weapon stuck in the ground. "Rose, do you require assistance?" the Pearl asked, breathing heavily.
"No. You should go. This won't take long" Rose stopped in front of Lapis, their back up against the wall. The Pearl bowed and left, closing the door behind them.

As Rose looked back over her shoulder at the Pearl, Lapis leapt forwards, their wings flaring out behind them whipping around to strike at Rose's gem.
A pink shield, covered in familiar patterns burst into being in between Rose and Lapis, letting out a loud, pure note as their wings struck it, throwing Lapis back into the wall and shattering their wings into droplets of water.
Rose Quartz crouched down in front of Lapis, sadness heavy in her eyes as she pulled the smaller Gem into a tight embrace. Whispering in their ear "I'll try and send you home as soon as I can"

Then, Peridot felt their hand on Lapis gem, followed by excruciating pain, beyond anything Peridot had ever imagined exploded through their mind as Rose tore out their gem.
Everything went blank and Peridot was left floating in a sea of darkness, remembered pain still wracking their body as Lapis' voice drifted into their head
[Then she put me in the mirror. It made me one of the lucky ones. She intended to send me back to Homeworld to show everyone what happened and to 'give them a message'] Lapis' voice is thick with disgust [but the Galaxy warp was damaged before she could. So she just left me there… guess she didn't like reminders of all the nasty little things she and her precious Crystal Gems had to do to save their filthy meat monkeys.]
[But how did you escape then?] Peridot gasped, trying to clear their head.

Lapis laughed sadly [She had a change of heart… A big one]
Peridot didn't understand the joke. And considering how much their head still hurt they probably wouldn't have laughed anyway.
[Just show me what happened to Chalcedony!.. And the other Gems] Peridot added quickly but they could already feel Lapis smiling at them gleefully
[Ohhh, so that's who's asking is it?] lapis chuckled as Peridot felt a strange, sudden sensation, like having their insides being poured out. Memories swimming unbidden into their mind, flipping through them like pages in a book until the came to them looking down at Jasper, happiness spread across their face as their gems began to glow in unison.
[Wait, no! What are you doing?] Peridot tried to block the pictures from their mind, feeling Lapis hands reaching into their head, brushing their attempts to resist away.

[Oh, did I forget to tell you? I can see your memories here as well] Lapis said humourlessly as they watched Peridot and Jasper fuse. [Urgh, so you still went after them huh. Good for you.] their voice took on a sarcastic tone as it echoed through Peridots head [Well I guess I have to help you now, I sure do want Jasper to get their happy ended afterall... Well, it might take a bit of remembering to see if I can recollect what happened to their little 'friend'. Why don't you join me for it?]

Peridot screamed soundlessly as they were thrown suddenly into the middle of a raging battle, all around them were Gems fighting and dying, tearing at each other with an insane violence.
And everytime one of them fell, their Gems shattering and their bodies disappearing, Peridot felt themselves jump into their mind and relive their last moments.
Peridot struggled to try and close their eyes but they couldn't, the pain of a thousand wounds flashing through them, darkness claimed them over and over as they felt themselves die.
And inbetween it all they saw fleeting glimpses, like an extra frame hidden in some ultraviolent animation, of monsters, clearly Gems but wrong and twisted.
Lapis' voice whispered in their head [They didn't die. What was done to them. What Yellow Diamond, your beloved leader, did to them was far worse]

Suddenly Peridot collapsed back, real pain mixing with the remembered horrors as they struck their head on the wall.
They looked around dazed to see Lapis standing in front of them, reeling back as Alpha clung to their face, pulling at their hair with its tiny legs.
"Ahhh! Stupid thing!" Lapis flailed around wildly, smacking Alpha to the ground and stomping on it and crushing the small Robonoid easily.
Peridots hand clutched at their chest, feeling a tiny part of themselves shattering with it, a connection they hadn't even realised was their breaking away.

Lapis staggered back, trying to wipe the goo off their feet "Ewwww… So does that answer your questions? Are you happy now?" they laughed manically, their face twisted with the same pain that still echoed in Peridots head.
Dimply Peridot became aware of a loud thumping noise, lolling their head to the side to see Jasper sprinting down the corridor "Peridot! Are you okay?"
Peridot slurred out a vague mumble, their mouth still not working properly.
Lapis continued to laugh as Jasper barrelled into them, punching the small gem so hard they flew down the corridor, skidding off the floor as their arms and legs thrashed around in a painful looking tangle.
Jasper crouched down in front of Peridot, shaking their shoulders "Are you okay? What did she do? I heard you screaming"
"She showed me… the war" Peridot finally spat out, struggling against Jaspers grasp to try and crawl over to Alphas broken remains.

Peridot fell over again as Jasper let them go, dashing over to where Lapis was standing unsteadily. Grabbing them and slamming them into the ground "THEY'RE JUST A CHILD! WHY WOULD YOU DO ThAT!?"
Lapis continued to laugh as Jaspers fists slammed into them "They asked!"
Jasper roared, increasing the intensity of their savage beating, hammering craters into Lapis' slim frame.

"Stop!" Peridot shouted out, standing unsteadily. Alpha's remains cradled against their chest "Just stop." They hung their head, turning away "Just put them back in their cell. It doesn't matter."
Peridot staggered over to Jasper and put a hand on their shoulder, trying to calm the furious gem "It's not their fault" Lapis laughter continued to ring out loudly now sounding completely insane as tears flooded their face "they just don't have anywhere to go anymore… I think they're jealous of you. Because you didn't lose your home."
Jasper breathed heavily, looking down at the small, crying gem cackling madly beneath them. Wordlessly they picked them up and tossed them carelessly back into their cell, Peridot calling up their screen and sealing it.

"Did you find anything out?" Jasper asked quietly "about Chalcedony?"
Peridot thought of the things they saw if Lapis' horrifying display. A huge Centipede like monster, acid dripping from its slavering jaws climbing a huge statue. "No" L-Lapis didn't know anything.
They didn't want to lie but they didn't want Jasper to go chasing the twisted memory of their partner. Right now they just wanted to go home.
"That's okay. Thanks. For trying" Jasper put an arm around Peridot's shoulder, ruffling their hair half-heartedly... Peridot didn't bother to fix it. " Guess I should go and do… something"
Jasper turned to go, stopping as Peridot grasped their hand "Lets just finish this. Together. We can get rid of the Crystal Gems. And Earth. Forever." Jasper smiled unsteadily down at them "Maybe then all the bad memories will go away…" Jasper lunged forwards to catch Peridot as they slumped to the ground, passing out.