LOG-093.

  "This...really has gone better than I thought it would."

  Greg chuckled softly at that, adjusting his shirt and leaning on the edge of the table stacked with refreshments. He turned his head toward the lanky Gem beside him, her newly 'acquired' mask keeping her extended mouth hidden.

  She stood with her arms crossed, one foot tapping as her gaze swept over the crowd, an eclectic mix of local residents, Gems, and alien birdfolk all mingling together on the sand.

  Across from them, Rose's friend continued to mutter to herself, occasionally glancing out at the mass of Beach City's population, new or otherwise. Both he and Quille had questioned whether the tall Gem was alright, but she'd merely waved them off, adjusting her visor and mentioning an abundance of 'weird timelines', whatever that meant.

  Possibly concerning prophetic visions aside, if he'd been told he'd be hosting a welcoming beach party (Quille wanted to call it an acclimatisation celebration, but that sounded weird) for not one but two alien races just a month ago, he'd...probably shrug and ask for a sample of whatever the person telling him the good news was using.

  Shaking the loose thought away, the young man kneeled down, carefully triple checking that the last of the speakers he'd been finagling for the past hour were appropriately plugged in.

  "Yeah well, you know how it is. People don't realise just how much they like to party until they do!"

  He paused, thinking for a second as he stared at the crowd again.

  "And they really do like it, I think."

  There was already some light music being played here and there, but it was mostly coming from handheld stuff that the resident partygoers had decided to bring along.

  Across the beach, a blonde woman swathed in neon glow bands was tearing up the makeshift dance floor with a portable disc player, surrounded by a boisterous group of orange and red rock ladies and an equally rowdy flock of alien bird people. Someone had even brought a bubble machine. As random spurts of iridescent orbs floated over the scene, Greg couldn't help but smile.

  Eventually, he turned back to the thin Gem next to him, gesturing vaguely at the bustling scene in front of them. "And man, they're really getting into it, huh? Pretty sure this is the biggest turnout I've had for something I've thrown together. And honestly, it's not even my best work!"

  "Your work?" His 'relationship tutor' arched an eyebrow, what sounded like the faintest smirk tugging at her lips from behind the mask.

  Greg laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Okay, okay, 'work' might be a bit of a stretch. But still, it's a good crowd! They seem happy."

  The tall figure hummed in agreement at that, though her attention was snagged by a flash of movement near the temple, her eyes narrowing slightly at something. Greg followed her gaze but saw nothing out of the ordinary, just more people gathering near the snacks.

  "Well." The rocker said, clapping his hands together. "The real event starts soon anyway. Let's see just how crazy things get."

  ---

  Shit shit shit.

  "What do you mean she broke the door?"

  My sharp question echoed through our cloudy surroundings, drawing a frazzled glance from Rose. She was hunched over the warped remnants of the temple's glowing exit, her fingers trembling as she tugged at strands of flickering light embedded in the doorframe.

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  "It's not broken, Viridian! Bismuth just-she helped build the temple. She knows how to make certain things work...and how to make them not work."

  The rest of us stood in concerned silence, our gazes bouncing between the glitching door and the disguised Diamond's frantic attempts to open it. A jagged burst of light sparked from her hands, and with a strained grunt, she yanked the doorway back into shape. The frame shuddered ominously, but stayed intact.

  "Got it!" She exclaimed, a relieved smile spreading across her face. "Come on, we can still catch up to her."

  Without waiting for a response, the rebel leader darted through the doorway. Vanilla just shot me a stern look before shrugging and hurrying after her. I sighed, muttering under my breath as I followed.

  Rose was already halfway across the room's exterior by the time I stepped through, her gaze locked on some kind of lights outside the temple's entrance. But something made her pause mid-stride, and when she turned back toward us, there was an odd expression on her face.

  "...Did you plan this?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

  "Plan what?" I frowned, stepping closer. "What are you talking...oh. Oh no."

  The distant hum of music drifted through the open corridor, growing louder as I moved forward. The faint thrum of bass, the chatter of voices, the unmistakable sounds of some kind of celebration. My stomach sank, and not even the familiar novelty of the feeling helped make it any better.

  I ignored the sound of Brim and Vermilion making their way out of Rose's room, instead focusing on the Stars damned festival apparently taking place less than a few meters from the temple.

  "When did this...Dianite. Oh for the love of-"

  I paused, hands already raised to grip at my hair at Brim and I's four armed self's propensity to get caught up in things, then slowly lowered them while taking a deep breath.

  "Alright, focus. She can't have gotten that far, and she's a fairly big Gem. Maybe she's-"

  "There!"

  Cut off, I turned at the sound of my Batchmate's excited tone, following her outstretched arm and glancing at our rogue blacksmith blatantly shouldering her way through humans, avians and Gems alike, though she was matching some of the Retaliator's crewmembers' confused looks glance for glance.

  Holding back a curse, I began to jog forward, waving everyone else along.

  "After her!"

  ---

  "Lace?!"

  Bismuth's voice boomed over the festive chatter, though few seemed to take notice. She moved through the crowd with purpose, her massive frame parting the throng like a hover skiff cutting through the air. One hand was cupped around her mouth as she called out again, her eyes scanning every face she passed.

  "Biggs? Lime! Twisty?! Anybody?!"

  A pair of Jaspers caught her eye, both decked out in Imperial uniforms, chatting with an energetic human who was showing off some kind of glowing gadget. Bismuth promptly stomped over, clapping the two on their shoulders.

  "New recruits!" She said, her voice tinged with approval. "Love to see it. Listen, have you seen any of the older crew around here?"

  She'd get a little annoyed at the clueless expressions they gave her, but...schist, they still had their old lightforms on! She couldn't blame em for still feeling a little lost. If they were fresh recruits, they probably didn't know half the rebels by name yet.

  The thought that they were actual Homeworld soldiers came and went as it always did when it came to fresh Gems joining the cause. Imperials wouldn't be hanging out with humans and celebrating...whatever this was, so that cut out that paranoid idea fairly quickly.

  Shaking her head at the thought, the blacksmith waved their perplexed stares off, stepping past the pair and their curious human friend, glancing around once more.

  "Come on, where is everyone else? There's gotta be someone-"

  Right up until her eyes landed on a familiar silhouette.

  "-there! Cracking finally!"

  Practically marching forward like some jumped up loyalist Agate, Bismuth manoeuvred past a few more Gems (had they taken the beta Kindergarten while she was out or something?) and pulled herself up on the fragile looking stage her focus was standing on, stepping past a long haired human who yelped as she passed him.

  "Garnet!"

  The union in question turned to stare at her, jaw slowly falling open.

  "B-Bismuth!?"

  Any other time, she would have let out a long laugh at the normally stoic Gem looking so shocked, but she didn't have time for games right now. She had to figure things out and settle all this nonsense, after all.

  Grasping her fellow rebel by her shoulders, Bismuth stared at her counterpart seriously.

  "Long story-we'll get into it later. Just listen, right now I need to know whether you were in on this or not. You were practically always around Rose, right?"

  "Uh, excuse me? Big...rainbow hair lady? Sorry to interrupt, but you're ah...broadcasting straight into the micropho-"

  The fusion nodded, even as Bismuth ignored the human hesitantly tapping at her arm. She'd deal with whatever the friendly organic needed after this.

  Leaning forward, the Crystal Gem's eyes narrowed, her voice a low, urgent whisper.

  "Did you know that Rose was Pink Diamond the whole time?"

  Garnet stiffened at her words, right as the blacksmith finally realised that the question had just echoed out across the entire damned beach for whatever reason.

  The fusion's eventual response was quiet, even as most of the crowd turning deafeningly silent helped make the singular, bewildered word just that much louder.

  "...What?"