Glittering Shadows

Chapter Thirteen

Third Person POV

While (Y/N) and Black Pearl took in Steven's home, the Crystal Gems – with the exception of Steven himself – huddled over outside, their brows furrowed and postures tense as they studied the newcomers from the window that allowed visibility into the kitchen.

They were not sure what to make of this Diamond and – more importantly – they wondered how she was such a big secret.

Sure, the myths about Black Diamond ranged from far to wide, with the concept of her being on equal footing as White, yet it still brought back the fact that she had no contact with anyone from Homeworld – except for her Pearl.

Could there be a reason White kept her so sheltered?

There were plenty of things the Crystal Gems could speculate about (Y/N) – One thing for certain was that the Gem was unique, just as their leader Rose Quartz had once been.

Different emotions ranged between the three, though they were watching the interactions between her and 'BP' – as Steven dubbed Black Pearl.

They were both fascinated by all the things that were in that house that were foreign to them, unaware of the hushed conversations the three rebel gems were holding between themselves while they explored the various objects lying around the house.

There was one item the Diamond picked up that happened to be a doughnut, with Black Pearl grabbing one as well, yet they couldn't help to be fascinated by the fried dough.

"What is this?" The Pearl asked, inspecting it from various angles and taking in its sweet scent.

"Um. . . That's a doughnut, BP." Steven explained, taking it from her hold as he split it in two and offered her to take a bite.

"What's the sticky substance there?" BP asked, once taking the offered half in her hold and reaching out for the icing with her pointer finger.

It was deep, red color of sorts – Black Pearl concluded while the Diamond went to take the 'food' item, as she heard Steven explain, to her mouth.

BP almost slapped it out of her Diamond's hand, thinking it was a crushed up Ruby turned into icing. Needless to say, (Y/N) looked at the other Gem, reading her mind as she felt herself starting to panic.

"Steven, please tell me that wasn't a Ruby I just ate in the 'doughnut'."

Oh, great Homeworld, she'd become a cannibal!

She was starting to get distressed, something which Black Pearl picked up on immediately – She went to calm her Diamond down, who was feeling guilty she ate what she thought was a Gem. On the other hand, Amethyst managed to overhear the conversation, and she couldn't seem to stop her muffled laughter from outside.

"Be quiet, Amethyst!" Pearl whispered, shushing the Gem by placing a finger over her own lips, signaling her to stop. "We're not supposed to let them see us!"

Meanwhile inside, Steven went to diffuse the notion by waving his hands quickly, trying to explain to them they were mistaken. "No, no, (Y/N)! It's not made from Gems – That's just strawberry jam! It's. . . It's just a type of berry or 'fruit' that grows here on Earth."

(Y/N) blinked while she recalled the sweet taste of the doughnut, thinking about how she did not notice anything off within it. She flushed in embarrassment when the human child began to explain what it really was and how that berry was used in the sweet treat.

"Yeah – Don't worry about it, (Y/N)." The purple gem snickered, entering through the door and sitting casually on the sofa, causing for the two others left outside to enter and for Garnet to send her a stern look. "If they did taste delicious, I'm sure Rubies everywhere would take that as compliment."

Garnet directed her gaze on her, mouth now turned into a frown.

"Cut it out, Amethyst – You were the same way when we met you."

This caused her expression to change, shifting her gaze back on Black Pearl and Steven trying to assure her that the blue jelly-filled doughnut was not a Sapphire.

"Still, it's weird to meet a Diamond like her. . ." The purple Gem carried on as she continued to observe her. "I thought you said they were all stuffy and stuck up – She's worried that blueberry icing she's eating is a Sapphire!"

"Knock it off, Amethyst." Pearl scolded her whilst Garnet shifted her eyes elsewhere, though there was a faint blush on her cheeks. It seemed like they were having an internal conversation with themselves for the moment, though she could not help staring at (Y/N).

"I'm just so glad there was not a living being in this doughnut." (Y/N) gave a sigh of relief as her Pearl smiled, taking another piece of fried dough with her eyes lighting up in delight.

"This is wonderful! I can't believe humans made something like this." Black Pearl glanced at her Diamond, who nodded in response – eating another one that had vanilla cream inside and giving a pleasant hum in reaction to its taste.

The Crystal Gems wondered how lonely it must've been for this Diamond not to interact with anyone on Homeworld or know of the other Diamonds, aside from White.

What purpose did White Diamond have for doing this, apart from protecting (Y/N) from rejection of her people?

Black Pearl never really saw anything that demonstrated compassion within White, but with Black Diamond, she seemed to show that to her.

It was odd amongst them all, to say the least.

Garnet glanced over at her while she was still eating with Steven and BP – It was safe to say she was perplexed with her arrival.

"Of all the stories I've heard about (Y/N). . ."

She could not place the correct words to describe how things were with rumours and White's reasons for her not introducing her to Blue and Yellow Diamond – It did not make sense whatsoever.

"Did Rose know about her, Pearl?" Amethyst spoke up, glancing over at her and breaking Garnet's thoughts, while Pearl found herself distracted as they were letting things sink in.

"She never did mention her. . ." The pale Pearl muttered, becoming lost in her thoughts. "Though, she was always quite secretive when it came to speaking about the Diamonds and their origins."