Gem sooner or later left Cogsmeade to head back to Dawn. Her empire needed its princess, and royalty weren't the kind to go missing for long without anyone realizing. Gem had of course built up a reputation of always moving around everywhere and never staying still for too long as a good excuse and safety precaution but she wasn't the type to push her luck. Soon she'd shapeshifted into her princess persona and was flying with butterfly wings back to her empire.
She found Scott there, leading some llamas who were hauling a cart full of wool. Oh right, I forgot about that trade we made the other day. Glad to see one of us remembered, otherwise someone would've gotten scammed. Reminder to not be too busy with hermit stuff to forget inter-kingdom trade. Gem landed in front of him and Scott smiled at her. "Hi, Gem," He greeted pleasantly.
"Hello, Scott," Gem smiled back. Then a movement in the nearby trees caught her attention, but she didn't flinch. "And hi to you too, Pearl." The cleaning lady sheepishly stepped out of her hiding spot. "Hi, Pearl," Scott waved. "Hello Scott," She mumbled. "What are you doing here?" Gem asked.
"I was worried about Scott, that's all." Pearl blurted. "I mean, now there's a crazy clone on the loose trying to kill people and I don't think anyone should be left alone." "I'm not alone; I had Owen with me." Scott said, patting the orange-carpeted llama that was pulling the cart. The other llama spat at him. "And I had this guy too."
"Wait, is llama saliva green?" Pearl blinked. "Yes." Gem and Scott said simultaneously. "And I cam handle myself, Pearl." Scott said. "I have my llamas and my fancy colorful crystal sword. I can handle myself." "False literally has her own Evil X now and you're not worried? She's a psychotic serial killer!" Pearl fretted. "Yeah, sounds familiar." Scott said casually. Pearl frowned at him.
"Come on, Scott, just be glad you and Pearl are friends again." Gem said, attempting to alleviate the mood. "Well, yeah, it beats her almost killing me all the time back in Double Life." Scott admitted. "So you do remember Double Life!" Pearl suddenly accused, poking her finger at him. Scott and Gem both froze.
"I knew you remembered! Why are you pretending you didn't?!" Pearl yelled. "Pearl, please be quiet," Gem whispered hoarsely. Pearl frowned but lowered her voice. "I want a good explanation and I want it now." She said stubbornly, crossing her arms. "I'm not allowed to tell you." Scott said quietly.
"Likely story," Pearl huffed. "The Scott I know doesn't listen to anyone." "Interesting choice of words there," Scott said, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "Oh, now you're making this onto a joke?!" Pearl hissed. "All that trauma and heartbreak and you're joking about it all?!"
"I'm not!" Scott protested. "You could've fooled me." Pearl said, scowling. "Look, Pearl, you don't understand what's going on here." Gem said gently. "Oh, you're in on this too?" Pearl said, suddenly rounding on the princess. "Just what is going on here that Scott pretends he doesn't even know me?! I literally forgave him for everything that happened on Double Life right after he blew himself up and I still can't get a happily ever after?!"
"Wait," Scott shot her a double take. "You... forgave me?" "Of course I did." Pearl said. "I'm not heartless." ," Scott looked like he wanted to say a great deal about that matter but he held his tongue. "But I guess it doesn't matter what kind of person I am. Because the universe or whoever is in m control of it really seems to hate me." "You're right." Scott surprisingly said. "They do hate you."
"What?" Pearl asked, taken aback. Gem was shocked as well, because she could only see one way this conversation was going. "The ones in charge of the universes. They hate you for trying to escape their world with the other evolutionists." "Wha-" Pearl started, and then she pieced it together with a gasp. "The Watchers?"
"Yes." Gem said, wondering where Scott was going with this and how much he would divulge. "Did you ever wonder why you were one of the people chosen to be in the life games?" Scott asked Pearl, who shook her head. "You'll notice some other evolutionists are there too. It's because the ones who run those games hate them for trying to escape."
"The Watchers made those games." Pearl said quietly. "Yes." Scott nodded. "How do you know?" Pearl asked. "You weren't an evolutionist. And how does she know?" She pointed at Gem. "Scott told me some stuff." Gem said, evading the truth. "Well, of course he told you before me." Pearl muttered. "You're not a psychopath like the clone False or our Gem or me from Double Life."
Gem caught Scott glancing at her significantly and she rolled her eyes. She had to keep up appearances as a pvper elf, after all. He couldn't exactly blame her. It was part of her persona. "Pearl, you're not a psychopath now, and that's what matters." Scott said gently, and Pearl smiled softly. "Just don't tell anyone about the Watchers." He added, shifting to a more serious tone.
"What would I have to tell? You barely told me anything." Pearl pointed out. "Just don't tell anyone we even had this conversation." Gem said. "There are powerful forces at play in this world and maybe countless others. There's a war going on behind the scenes and we can't tell you anything more, got it?"
Pearl didn't look like she understood but she nodded anyway. "Good," Gem sighed, as the cleaning lady walked away to pretend she had never seen either of them at all.
"Well, that was a close one," Scott remarked. "Yeah, but I'm not entirely sure I trust Pearl." Gem admitted. "Why not? Isn't she a soupervisor with you and Impulse?" Scott asked. "It's just that... she seemed to be, you know, going on about Double Life a lot." Gem said. "And you know better than anyone how she was in that game." Scott nodded.
"Look, just leave that wool on my doorstep, okay?" Gem asked, gesturing at the delivery cart. "Why? Where are you going?" Scott asked as Gem started to walk away. "I'm just checking that Pearl can be trusted." Gem called back. She hid behind a thick line of trees and then shapeshifted into her elf form and went to find Pearl.
"Hi, Pearl," Gem greeted as she soon ran into the cleaning lady a few minutes later. Pearl was startled but hid it well. "Aw, hi to you too, Gem," She said. "What are you doing around these parts?" "I was looking for Scott," Gem said, shrugging casually as the lie slipped through her mouth like butter. "Grian burnt my carpet and I need a new one."
"Ah, relatable," Pearl said, snapping her fingers. "Grian burned my rug too. How are we all still such good friends with that maniac?" "Because he's Grian and everyone's friends with him." Gem said, chuckling as she remembered other times Grian had burned down some more important things than a carpet. "So anyway, have you seen Scott?"
Gem expected Pearl to hesitate, to briefly consider whether to tell her close friend and soupervisor about the weird interaction she'd had with Princess Gem and Scott. Instead Pearl lied, straight up lied. "Nope, haven't seen them since the meeting." Pearl said easily, like she was telling the truth. But Gem knew better.
"Oh. Thanks anyway." Gem said, and waved goodbye as she activated her elytra and flew off. Half of her knew that Pearl had just lied to one of her closest friends but Gem didn't feel that bad about it, considering it was she who'd asked her to lie. Now she definitely knew that Pearl could be trusted, and briefly wondered whether to open up to her like she did Scott. In the end, she decided against it, though. The less people who know, the better.
Gem turned back into Princess Gem and went to claim her wool, which was dutifully lying patiently on her doorstep just as promised. Satisfied, Gem put the wool away and went to find her logbooks to note down the exchange and then afterwards collect the honey that she would pay Scott with.
On her way to the greenhouse, however, she ran into a certain someone. Impulse. "Hello, Impulse," Gem greeted. "Hi, Gem," He said. "Isn't this a little late for a sun princess?" Gem quickly glanced up at the sky to see he was right; it was getting darker. "Yeah, I was busy with a wool shipment. How's that tower of yours going?" Gem asked. Impulse looked confused for a second. "Uh, it's going fine, but how did you know I was building a tower?"
Gem would've kicked herself if she could. I'm Princess Gem! Only elf Gem was supposed to know that! "I have my ways," She said instead, smiling mysteriously. Impulse looked slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, okay. Er, have you seen my Gem?" "The elf? No, haven't seen her anywhere around here." Gem said, just as Pearl strolled out of the woods.
"Hello, Impulse, Gem!" Pearl said, and the other two returned the greeting. "Have you seen Gem anywhere?" Impulse asked her. "Which one?" Pearl asked, glancing at Gem significantly. "Uh, the one who's not her," Impulse said, catching her look. "Obviously." "Yeah, I saw her, she was somewhere around here a few minutes ago but flew off." Pearl said. Impulse looked at Gem again. "You didn't see her but she was around here?"
"No, I was busy with a wool import from Scott." Gem said, realizing how much of a tricky and confusing web of lies she was now stuck in for the time being. And I was the spider. "Pearl can vouch for me." "No, I can't, I didn't see you at all today." Pearl said quickly, and Gem internally kicked herself again. "Oh yeah, Pearl was not here at all. Nope." Gem added, correcting herself. Impulse just looked even more confused and a tiny bit suspicious.
---
False checked one of the several clocks she had ticking creepily away on her wall. They all claimed the time was exactly six o'clock, except for one which was late by a minute. "You're behind the times, dear," False told it, taking it off its hook to wind it a minute forward. "There, all fixed now." There's some other things that need to be fixed, though. False heard the voice in her head and she stopped to listen to it.
"Is that... you?"
If you mean the crazy version of you from the dream, then yes.
"I remember you. You were talking to me the day I went to ask Pix for help."
Yeah, the day we killed him.
"Wait, you did what?"
Killed him. It was about time we attacked an emperor.
"Wait, if you were the one who killed him... were you the one who murdered everyone else? In Cogsmeade?"
It's about time you finally admitted who really did it.
"Why... why do I feel like throwing up?"
It's either because you're sick from hearing what I did or because your mind can't handle two personalities. Or a mix of both, who knows? You're the smart one. And you don't have to talk to me aloud, you know. I can hear your thoughts.
"It feels weird... You feel like my thoughts..."
Fair enough, because I am.
"But you're a different version of me."
I'm still you. Don't forget that. I'm who you really are. You are just the result of too much mental trauma and scarring and brainwashing.
"Are you sure? I don't want to hurt anyone."
Yeah, right. Deny it all you want to, I'm you. And you can't get rid of me.
Dazed, False felt like going back to sleep. And then she realized that was how her other self took control; when her mind wasn't active. That's not the only way I do it. Other times I do it when you're awake. False shook her head vigorously and went to take a walk outside to clear her head.
False had walked several blocks before she realized her hand was squeezed around her sword. "What are you doing?" She asked. It's not just me, you know. You're extremely paranoid. "I don't think it's me. Stop that." Remember, you can't get rid of me. "Shut up."
But then False caught herself zoning out while she walked and was soon far away from Cogsmeade and instead in the middle of nowhere. "You-!" She gritted her teeth. "Leave me alone!" You can't- "Get rid of me, I know, but just leave me alone, would you? It was bad enough with two Falses and now there are three of us?!"
There was always three of us. I was just too sunken into your subconsciousness for you to have noticed me. But slowly I came back to the surface and then your little trick with the computer chip just let me become a full personality again.
False just groaned. "Penny for your thoughts?" False whirled around at the sound of an unfamiliar voice speaking to her from nearby. No, not unfamiliar. Sitting on the hill next to her like he'd been there the whole time was Sausage, taking bites out of an apple. "How long have you been there?" False asked cautiously. "Enough to know that you have two personalities." Sausage said like he wasn't surprised at all.
False found her sword unsheathed and pointed at his neck, with her hand on its hilt. "Just go away." False said angrily, not knowing whether she was talking to Sausage or her other self. "But I have a penny and I'm paying to know your thoughts." Sausage said, flicking her a penny. "You do not want to know what's going on in my head." False warned. "Fair enough," Sausage shrugged. "You don't want to know what's going on in mine."
Should we kill him? False heard her other self muse. "Don't you dare," She warned. "He's a friend." Yeah, one you don't trust after you found out the L.O.R.E. team kept some secrets from you. "Don't make any good excuses or good points. I don't want to listen to you." False said stubbornly. Actually, I think you listen to me a lot more than you think you do. You're me and I'm you, after all. But I guess I can not kill Sausage, he's been mostly useful.
False just shook her hand vigorously until she dropped her sword onto the grassy ground, but a second later found herself picking it up again. Frustrated, she stabbed it back into its sheath and ran away, unsure where she was going. You can't run away from your problems. False wasn't even sure who was thinking that but she just ran away even faster.