Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Xisuma was wearing his helmet. Even though she was not part of the small group who knew medical details of the hermits, Pearl was aware that this was not a good thing. It was obvious in the concerned glances that Etho used to throw towards the admin whenever he wore the blasted helmet for hours on end. It was obvious in the whispers and nudges from Doc that where probably supposed to be subtle. It was obvious when Bdubs would offer to bring Xisuma his oxygen tank to replace it.

“Xisuma!” Pearl yelled out as he rushed past her. Xisuma didn’t turn or acknowledge her. Pearl frowned. That was unusual. Xisuma was usually sociable and willing to stop for a leisurely chat.

Pearl jogged the few paces that X had gained on her, before slowing to match her pace with his own.

“X?” She tried again, “Is everything okay?”

Xisuma jolted as if this was the first time he was noticing her presence.
“Pearl.” His voice was breathy and strained, “Not a good time, sorry.”
“Right, no worries, X, of course.” She began to peel off and leave him to it, but an insistent tugging at the back of her mind screamed that something was wrong.

“Wait,” she sped her steps up again to realign with his, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Xisuma faltered for a second, his pace stuttering and causing him to stumble. Pearl reached out halfway to catch him if he were to fall.

“Actually...” Xisuma paused, clearly mentally fighting with himself, before he sighed in defeat and fully stopped, turning to face her.

“I’m trying to find Skizz, Joel and Impulse.” Xisuma ran a hand across his chest. His fingers tapped nervously, “Mumbo and Gem, too if you come across them. But Impulse, Skizz and Joel are the priority.”

“On it.” Pearl said, mock saluting him before taking a step back and beginning to head out eastward. Impulse would often disappear off to the caves on the other side of the small apple orchard that flourished, despite the fact that no one bothered to care for it.

“Pearl,” X called, “If you find any of them, bring them to the meeting room? And send me a private message. Nothing in the public chats, okay?”

“Okay.” Pearl agreed. Usually, she’d push, or question, but something in Xisuma’s tone made her falter. It wasn’t just that he sounded serious. He also sounded sad, in an overwhelmed, stressed sort of way.

As she moved, she thought back to anything that might help her figure out this strange insistence and secrecy of Xisuma. If there was an active threat to the server, it was excepted protocol to override any individual-specific, past- trauma secrecy in the interest of keeping everybody safe.

It was common knowledge throughout hermitcraft now that Impulse had some kind of troubled past. Before, he had never mentioned it, and seemed to encourage the idea that he was just an innocent who had never experienced nor been around trafficking or abuse. He had seemed too in tune with his hybrid server-mates to be assumed fully human, but Pearl herself appeared fully human in the day, so she had never drawn any assumptions over whatever might or might not have been going on with Impulse.

As soon as Skizz had been rescued, that illusion had pretty much shattered. It was obvious that the two knew each other, and through general day-to-day interactions, it soon became clear that Skizz had no experience of the world outside of captivity. And that meant only one thing. That at one time, Impulse was very heavily involved with hybrid captivity.

But, Impulse never spoke of it and for as long as she had called hermitcraft her home, there had been a mostly unspoken rule that you do not dig into people’s pasts, and you do not push them to talk. So, Impulse remained a mystery.

Skizz and Joel, on the other hand, were less of a mystery. Granted, they had little choice in that matter, given that their rescue had been so messy and time-critical that secrets were a luxury that could not be afforded. Still though, the hermits didn’t know everything. Pearl knew that there was a Master who had been particularly cruel. She knew how beaten and malnourished both Skizz and Joel were when they arrived and Skizz’s scars were hard to miss. She knew that something had happened involving potions, given that Etho had come around to everyone’s homes to examine their stock, taking away some of the golden, glittering ones with him.

And of course, she knew never to address Joel in a way that could be interpreted as an order. Over the nine months that he had been living on hermitcraft, there had inevitably been a few incidents, and it still sent a shiver down Pearl’s spine at the thought of the curse that was so heavily embedded within Joel that there looked to be no hope in freeing him from it.

Eventually, Pearl reached the mountain face.

“Impulse!” She called. Her voice echoed, rebounding his name several times across the expanse of rock.

“Impulse, are you there?” She tried again. Once more, her voice ricochetted around, the only answer being a warped repetition echoing back.

“Imp-“
“Pearl?”
“Gah!” Pearl jumped at the voice. She turned. Impulse stood behind her, over her left shoulder. In his hand was a pickaxe and a bundle that looked to be full of rocks.

“Hi?” He raised the hand with the pickaxe awkwardly, extending his ring and pinky finger in a sort-of half wave.

“Impulse!” Pearl let out a breath, suddenly feeling that surge of panicked worry that was written all over Xisuma not twenty minutes ago.
“Pearl.” Impulse raised an eyebrow and cocked his head, “Is everything okay?”
“I- uh,” Pearl drew in a breath, “I need you to come with me.” She said.
“Um, okay, sure.” Impulse shrugged, “Let me just dump this in a chest, and then-“

“No, it’s urgent,” Pearl interrupted, “We don’t have time to go up to the caves and back.”

Impulse frowned, then bent and placed his things on the ground.
“Okay.” He said again, gesturing for her to take the lead. She did, setting off at a pace that Impulse initially struggled to match.

“Pearl, what’s going on?” He asked, “You’re starting to worry me. Is it Skizz?”
“I- No. Well, I mean-“ Pearl paused.

“Pearl?” Impulse asked again.
“I don’t know.” Pearl said, “I’m sorry, but Xisuma was so stressed and there was no time to ask.”

Pearl looked down at her communicator as it buzzed against her thigh.
“X is waiting for us.” She said.

Impulse toyed his lip between his teeth for a second.
“We need to go now, Impulse.” Pearl was getting anxious.
“Hold on tight.” Impulse said.
“Impulse, wha-“

Black leathery wings emerged from Impulse’s back, growing until the sheer blackness of them seemed to drag the light out of the air around them.

Impulse wrapped his arms around her waist and then suddenly they were airbound. Pearl was not proud of the way she shrieked, wrapping her limbs around Impulse like a koala and burying her head into his neck.

“Impulse!” She screeched, “What the hell!”

She felt more than heard the chuckle the rumbled through his chest.
“Hell, indeed,” was all that he said. All Pearl found herself thinking was that from anyone else, something like that would have been terrifying. But with Impulse, she felt nothing but at ease.

~~~

Pearl hoped that she did not look at windswept as she followed Impulse into the meeting room. But then, upon seeing the ashy, terrified look upon Joel’s face, she figured that was really the least of their concerns right now.

Impulse pulled out a chair and Pearl copied him, settling down in the empty space at his right.

“What happened?” Pearl followed Impulse’s gaze as he looked between Xisuma, who was now helmet-less, Joel, who looked like he was about to be sick, pass-out, or both, and Skizz, who looked alarmingly relaxed and indifferent.

“An encrypted player number has been in contact.” Xisuma said. Impulse paled.
“It’s him?” Impulse asked.
“We don’t know.” X replied, voice calming in a way that Pearl recognised from when he had taken her in.
“Of course it’s bloody him.” Joel snapped.
“There’s no way to know-“ Xisuma started.

Skizz laughed softly. They all turned to look at him.
“I appreciate the traffic control, X, but we all know it’s him. You wouldn’t have brought us specifically here if you didn’t.” Skizz said, “Plus, Joel still has that tracker in him, so even if he can’t get in, there is every chance that he knows we’re on this server.”

Pearl looked between them all rapidly, feeling increasingly lost in this conversation.

Impulse rubbed heavily at his wrist in a way that could only be an anxiety-induced habit. For the first time, Pearl noticed the thick scars that faintly covered his wrists. The kind that you got from repeated resistance against restraints.

Xisuma sighed, “Look, I brought you here in case the message meant anything to you before I told the whole server.”
“Okay.” Impulse took in a short breath, “What is the message?”

Xisuma looked down at his notepad and rubbed his brow before sighing and reading out the jotted down message.
“’I know you have my stolen equipment.’”

Pearl began to feel uncomfortable as the tension in the room grew stagnant. Impulse, Skizz and Joel all exchanged looks.

“Is that it?” Impulse sounded relieved.
“It’s signed ‘the Veterinarian’.” Xisuma shrugged.

Joel and Impulse both started, jerking almost aggressively to look at each other. Impulse’s hand shot to the back of his neck, and Joel’s arms wrapped protectively around his middle. Pearl looked over to Skizz, who’s indifference had morphed into a bewildered concern.

“Fucking hell, X, bloody tell us that first next time.” Joel’s voice was weak and lacked any bite to accompany the words. If anything, Pearl thought that he sounded closer to hysteria than to anger.

“Who’s the Veterinareyon?” Skizz asked, stumbling over the word as he so often did when they stretched over more than two or three syllables.

Joel flinched. Impulse stared stonily at the table. Hesitantly, Pearl reached to touch his wrist in a silent sigh of comfort. The small, almost inaudible whimper that Impulse let out had her pulling back.
“Please don’t.” Impulse said quietly.

“Impulse.” Xisuma pressed, softly, yet firmly. “I need to know if this person is going to be threat to you or anyone else.”

Impulse shook his head, before pausing as if to think. Then he shook his head again.

“What’s going on?” Skizz asked, “Impulse? Joel? I don’t understand. I’ve never met anyone called… that. I don’t understand.”
“You were good.” Joel muttered vaguely, moreso to himself than for anyone else’s benefit, it seemed.
“Impulse…” Skizz trailed off, seemingly at a loss.

“I- I never spoke to you back then,” Impulse said shakily, still staring at the table. Pearl felt his ankle press gently into hers. She pressed back, offering him the grounding that he seemed to he searching for.

“I never spoke.” Impulse said again, “I never warned you.”
“You did.” Skizz said, “You warned me enough.”

Impulse looked up. Pearl couldn’t look away when he did. His eyes looked haunted.
“I didn’t warn you of him.” Impulse’s voice was a whisper.

Pearl looked anxiously to Xisuma, as if he would have some great, profound guidance and tell her what she was supposed to do. Xisuma was not looking at her. His focus was entirely on Impulse and Joel, eyes flickering between the two of them, concern painting his features.

“Impulse.” X said again.

“Master took us there.” Joel said gently. Pearl was surprised at how calm he was. It was a direct contrast to the usual emotional states he was prone to.

“Kondo Burtley did?” Pearl snapped her head to the doorframe, where Mumbo stood, eyes wide and face pale.

“Mumbo.” Xisuma looked a little relieved. “Sit.”
Mumbo sat. “I’ve heard of the Veterinarian.”
“And?” X asked.
“Even my family won’t cross circles with him.” Mumbo said. “I didn’t think Burtley had the spine.”

Joel laughed a little manically, “He didn’t. I was delivered.”
“Me too.” Impulse added.

Mumbo shuffled awkwardly, “Xisuma, I think you need to call Hypno.”
“What?” X was clearly taken aback, “Hypno?”
Mumbo nodded, “It’s not my story to tell, but the Veterinarian used to work in a group. They called themselves the Surgery. There was a fire one day and only the Vet left alive. Hypno set that fire.”

“And why was Hypno there?” X asked.
“He was pretty out of it when I managed to get him to safety,” Mumbo said, “I think they used him as some sort of test subject, I don’t know. He kept mumbling something about equipment, but he refused to talk about it when he woke up.”

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

“Did I miss something?” Mumbo asked.

Xisuma slid over the note. Mumbo read it and hummed, leaning back, face serious.

“This was a long, long time ago, X. Why would he choose to look for Hypno now?”
“Why have I never heard about this before?” Xisuma dropped his head to his hands.
“Hypno insisted.” Mumbo said, “And Doc wanted me so dead back then, remember. I wasn’t going to rock the boat by going behind Hypno’s back.”

Xisuma sighed.

In sync, everyone’s communicators buzzed. Pearl looked down at hers.

|Hypnotizd| You look just like your Mama, Pearlie.

Pearl’s breath caught in her throat and before she could even fully comprehend the message, the world exploded into a painfully bright light and then all she knew was darkness.

Chapter Text

It was dark when she woke. Pearl knew this because of the soft, silvery glow that filled her vision, noticeable even from beyond her eyelids. It was a light so familiar and gentle that it bought her a few moments of peace in which she settled into herself as if waking up amongst her pillows and blankets. Comforting her further, her skin thrummed with the magical energy that always accompanied the moonlight.

In the back of her mind a faint echo of a headache lingered, but as she gained consciousness, the magical energy strengthened and by the time she had pushed herself up to her elbows the pain was nothing but a faint memory.

Blinking her eyes open groggily, Pearl sat up, reaching over to her bedside table for the glass of water that she kept there. When her hand instead collided with something solid with a metallic crunch, all remnants of sleep melted away.

If it hadn’t been for the glowing of her skin, she would have been sealed in complete darkness. Pearl pushed herself to her feet and ran a hand along the metal walls. The metal was corrugated, much like a storage container and after doing a full lap of the small space, Pearl found no ridges or gaps that would indicate the presence of a door.

A quick scan of the ceiling and floor resulted in similar findings.

The panic grew from a tight feeling around her rib cage until it had fastened its spindly fingers around her neck. Pearl rubbed across her collarbone and up her neck as if the action would loosen the grip.

Pearl stood uncertainly in the centre, one hand reaching towards the wall. She wanted to bang on the wall. She wanted to yell for help. She was also scared to draw attention to herself.

A crash to her left jolted her out of her frozen state of indecision.

“Pearl?!” The voice echoed and through the walls it sounded metallic and warped. It was kind of like how Pearl imagined a robot might sound.

“Pearl!?” A banging accompanied the cry this time.

Pearl hugged her arms around her stomach and ran her teeth over her bottom lip nervously. She wasn’t sure if she should reply. With the warped nature of the voice, she couldn’t tell if whoever calling for her was friend or foe.

It was only then that she realised that she didn’t even know where she was. Was she still on hermitcraft? Surely, she must be. Nothing could break through their security, right?

Pearl knew that security was something that Xisuma had been worried about ever since he had managed to update the firewalls to keep Joel safe. Given how unknown the technology in the tracker in Joel’s neck was, Pearl had understood his anxieties, but she also knew that if Xisuma would never have done anything that put the server at risk. Not even if the risk was miniscule.

“Pearl?!” Whoever was calling her sounded to be growing frantic.

A shiver ran across her chest as the air at her right collarbone seemed to displace in an icy twist. Pearl jerked away from it, her eyes scanning frantically. It was strange, desperately expecting to see something, except there being nothing there for her eyesight to catch onto.

“Pearl?!”

Pearl flinched, spinning around. It had sounded like the sound had come from right behind her. No one was there. Nothing was there.

Frustration bubbled deep within her gut and Pearl slammed her fists against the metal wall. She let out a breathy sigh and leant heavily on her forearms, resting her head against her still clenched fists. She swallowed, taking in a solid lungful of air and releasing it slowly. Consciously, she worked on relaxing all her muscles one by one.

Right. No use panicking. No use just standing around.

Pearl looked up, a flood of motivation washing over her. Unfortunately, that flood was short lasting. Upon doing another sweep of the room, hopelessness took root in her heart once more.

A strangled sob caught in her throat as she lifted her hands to grasp in her hair. Pearl continued to spin on the spot, rotating slowly at first, but then with increasing speed.

“Pearl?!”
“What?!” The scream that left her lips was foreign even to her. It caught in her throat and was at a pitch that Pearl didn’t even know she could reach. For a four-letter word, it splintered impressively in her throat.

“Pearl, you need to snap out of it.”

“Pearl, listen to me.”

“Pearl!”

Pearl closed her eyes tight, loosening her grip on her hair to press the heels of her hands roughly into her eyes. Another cold tendril wrapped around her wrists. Pearl jerked back, but this time the feeling wasn’t fleeting. The icy restraint remained around her wrists.

She tugged further, but the grip didn’t waver.

“Please, Pearl.”

Pearl sobbed again, relenting a little and allowing her hands to be pulled a way a fraction. The black stars that had begun to form dissipated and Pearl began to ease her eyes open, squinting against the bright light.

Wait, the bright light?

As if crashing all around her, her senses were flooded. Light stabbed through her eyes. Noise pounded heavily against her eardrums. Warm, slightly clammy hands pressed on her wrists so that she could feel her pulse ricocheting up her arms.

“Pearl?”
Pearl opened her eyes to see the warm, concerned gaze of Impulse.
“Impulse?”
“Oh, thank god.” Impulse bodily slumped, his grip on her wrists loosening until it was nothing but a gentle, grounding contact.

“What just happened?” Pearl jerked upright from where she was crouched on the ground. There were no metal walls around her. There was no darkness. Her skin still glowed as it always did, but so did the light bulbs and candles around the room.

The meeting room looked just as it had before she’d blacked out.

“What the hell just happened?” Pearl said again.

~~~

As it turns out, no one really knew that the hell just happened.

Xisuma was stressed to a level that had Pearl genuinely concerned for his heart.

Skizz was sat in the same seat that he was just earlier that day. He stared off into space, the muscle in his jaw twitching every now and then, but otherwise Pearl could have easily mistaken him for a statue.

Joel had left, by the looks of things.

Gem was muttering to Mumbo, following him as he paced back and forth, arms stiff by his side and back straight. He looked taller than Pearl had ever seen him before, but also somehow smaller.

Impulse was hovering in front of her, eyes full of concern and fear.

Pearl herself felt nothing but confusion.

“Impulse,” she said, her voice surprisingly strong for the swirling emotions that were steadily rising in her chest, “Impulse, what’s going on?”
“We don’t know.” Impulse was not a good liar.

“Hey, Impulse.” Pearl and Impulse both turned to look at the source of the call. Gem stood at the doorway, turning back from where she had just seen Mumbo off.
Gem made her way towards them before crouching down beside them.

“I think Skizz may need you.” Gem whispered. Looking over, Pearl winced before averting her eyes. Impulse swallowed nervously, nodding before pushing himself to his feet. Pearl watched as he crossed the room and slowly sunk into a seat next to his best friend.

Pearl looked back to Gem, who had settled down to her side.

“What happened?” Pearl asked again.

“You, Impulse and Joel just kind of dropped.” Gem said, her tone was factual and firm, but also gentle and supportive as if she were aware of the whirlwind going on inside of Pearl’s mind right now.

“Just us?” Mentally, Pearl was creating a side-by-side checklist of everything that tied her, Impulse and Joel together.
“Just you three,” Gem confirmed.

“What-“
“He’s gone!” Mumbo appeared back in the doorway, panting and grasping the doorframe in a tight grip.

“Who’s gone?” Pearl asked, looking back to Gem, who had sagged against the wall, brow furrowed.
“Hypno.” Gem confirmed.
“Hypno?” Pearl muttered, “Why-? Oh.”

The messages in chat sparked in Pearl’s memory. Hypno had typed something before they had blacked out. Hypno had called her Pearlie. The last person who had called her Pearlie was her Mama.
“Oh,” Pearl muttered, “Oh.”

“Pearl,” Gem’s voice flattened in the way it only did when she was deadly serious.
“Gem,” Pearl replied.
“I know that we aren’t supposed to ask about personal histories, but-“ Gem paused, “But, I have to ask.”
“Go on,” Pearl pushed. She had nothing to hide. She had always respected their rules, but had never had any personal reason to use them.

“Do you have any history with this Veterinarian?” Gem asked. Her eyes scanned Pearl’s face.
“No,” Pearl answered honestly, “I don’t have any history with hybrid trafficking either.”

Xisuma cursed softly from across the room.

“What do we do?” Pearl asked.

Several pairs of eyes fixed on her before looking around to everyone else aimlessly.

“I don’t know.” Xisuma whispered softly.

“Mumbo?” Impulse asked. His eyes were wide with desperation.
Mumbo fiddled with his fingers nervously.

“It would be very, very dangerous.” Mumbo said, “And it might all be for nothing. But, I think I might have a few contacts.”
“People who know this guy?” Gem asked, pushing herself up to a squat, leaning forward so her elbows rested on her knees.

Mumbo nervously glanced to where Impulse hovered at Skizz’s side.
“Mumbo?” Impulse pressed nervously.

“I would need to talk to Kondo Burtley.” Mumbo stared directly down at the floor, scuffing the toe of his shoes against it.
Impulse sucked in a breath. Skizz didn’t react at all. Mumbo pressed his mouth tightly closed.

“There’s no other way?” Xisuma asked.
“He’s the only one who I know for sure has had contact with him.” Mumbo sounded apologetic.

“Where even is he?” Gem asked.
“Jail.” Impulse said firmly.

Mumbo winced.
“He’s in jail.” Impulse said again. This time less firmly.

“Mumbo?” Gem pressed him.
“I- well, I mean.” Mumbo took in a shallow breath. “He’s at my estate.”

“What?” Impulse hissed.
“They let him free.” Mumbo said, “I was concerned that he’d go after his brother, or someone. I didn’t want to lose track of him-“

“So you put him up in a Lord’s mansion?” Impulse sounded exasperated. It was as close to anger as Pearl thought she had ever heard him.
“I mean, I-“ Mumbo shook his head, before straightening out his posture. “I was going to tell you. It just all happened so recently and then I-“

“Stop.” Skizz butted in weakly. “Leave Mumbo alone, he did the right thing.”
“Skizz-“ Skizz cut Impulse off with a hand to his arm.

“What I want to know,” Skizz said, “Is how Pearl is connected to all of this.”

Three was a moment of silence.

“I don’t know.” Pearl said quietly.
Skizz hummed, staring at her with a guarded sense of unease.

“I don’t know.” Pearl said again.

Chapter Text

Everyone was on edge. It had been a long, sleepless night. Pearl had gone home, after everything, but very quickly, the comfortable rooms and carefully placed décor began to warp into long, teasing shadows and watching eyes.

For hours, Pearl had tried to ignore the goosebumps that arose on her skin. She tried to shrug off the ever present feeling of being watched, but after hours of twisting and turning under the sheets, Pearl dragged herself up and admitted defeat.

Looking out the window, Pearl could see the lights on across the street at Mumbo’s house. The house that Impulse and Skizz still shared stood dark and silent, but Pearl could see the curtains shift in a way that suggested someone was pacing back and forth. Given his demon nature allowed him to see in the dark, Pearl assumed that it was Impulse pacing, presumably leaving the lights off so as to not disturb Skizz.

Pearl sighed, stepping back and allowing the curtain to fall back so that it was covering the window once more. She settled back into her mattress and propped herself up, squirming until she was comfortable where she rested against the headboard.

Falling back asleep now felt borderline impossible, so instead, Pearl just sat, resting her eyes and thinking. It had been a long time since the memories of Mama and her tower had been raw, however thinking back on them still filled her with a painful grief.

But now, that grief was something that she supposed she must finally face.

Thinking back, Pearl tried to sift through her memories and think of anything at all that might indicate some connection to the Veterinarian.

Mumbo hadn’t really been able to tell them much about him, so she didn’t really have much to go off of. He had told them that the Jumbos had only used his services a handful of times when there was no other option, but otherwise they avoided all contact with him. Pearl shuddered to think what it was that a man could do that was too far even for the Jumbos.

Mama had never spoken with Pearl of other humans. She had never even told Pearl of her own father. Now, Pearl wasn’t stupid. The idea that this mysterious Veterinarian might be her father had crossed her mind. In fact, the fantasy-novel lover in her had pretty much jumped at the idea of her very own chosen-one moment, however the realist in her scoffed at the idea.

By the time that the sky began to brighten with dawn, Pearl had regrettably come to only one conclusion. They had to find her tower.

Her childhood memories that might uncover something – anything – for them to get a lead on this man were all but lost to her and time, but perhaps, if she could find her tower there might be something there to tip them off. Or, even better yet, if Pearl could find the village that Mama was from, there might still be some of her old possessions. Perhaps someone at the seamstress shop where she worked would remember her, remember if she had had any dealings with a strange man.

Now was just the matter of getting the others on board with her plan, which, admittedly, was less of a plan and more of an extremely far-fetched daydream.

As predicted, Xisuma was dubious. He didn’t want Pearl to go at all, but she insisted that she was going to go, whether it be alone or otherwise.

As such, this was how Pearl had found herself as the indirect instigator of the current disagreement that was getting louder and louder by the second.

“You set out into the hub, and they’ll be one you in the blink of an eye.” Xisuma hissed.
“This guy hurt me too, I want to help.” Joel bared his teeth, but his hands tremored slightly. All bark and no bite, Pearl thought.

“Joel,” Xisuma pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes, “You have a tracker in you. And the man who put it there has no bars or prison guards to stop him from following it to you.”
“I can take him.” Joel snarled.

“Joel.” Impulse tried the soft approach. Joel shut him down pretty quickly with a sharp look.

“We belong to him.” Skizz said, “Legally, Joel, we are his. If you think anyone in the hub would do anything but aid him then you’re deluded.”
“Not to mention, all he needs is one order and you’re on your knees.” Etho said, tone factual and emotionless.

Joel said nothing. He stared at Etho, as did everybody else around them. Joel himself was yet to feel comfortable enough to bring up his curse, and to Pearl’s understanding, they were supposed to stand back and let Joel take charge of that particular narrative.

“Etho.” Xisuma reprimanded in the same way that a mother might warn their child against antagonising their sibling.

“What?” Etho glanced quickly to their admin, before bringing his eyes back to softly rest on Joel. “Look, I’m just saying, there’s no use trying to help if the result is just one more of us in need of rescuing.”

Joel held his ground for a couple of tense seconds before his shoulders sagged, and even from several feet away, Pearl heard his sigh of acceptance.

“It should just be a quick trip.” Pearl cut in, trying to alleviate some of the awkward tension that had filled the room.

“Right,” Xisuma folded in on himself, sinking down into a chair and resting his forehead on his clasped hands. It was clear that he had been up all night, and from the state of most other people in the room, Pearl would have said the same for most of the others in the room.

“Mumbo going would arise suspicion in a small village with no business.” Xisuma said, sounding as if he were just repeating thoughts that he had run through his head many times before.

“So therefore, Gem can’t go in case someone recognises her.” Xisuma continued.
“I’ll go.” Impulse said, raising his hand halfway as if he were in class. A few quick blinks of his eyes, and Impulse’s horns and wings flickered from view, cloaked with his demonic magic.

“We’d be inconspicuous.” Impulse added, “Just two travellers looking for a place to settle. Maybe passing through on our way home. Nothing noteworthy or attention grabbing.”

“It’s risky.” Xisuma said, “Just two of you. What if-“
“We’ll be fine.” Impulse reassured him. “Besides, it’s not like we’re defenceless. I’ve been learning more runes and have an actual handle over my magic now. Nothing will go wrong, X, you’ll see.”

“What if your glamour slips?” Skizz nervously tracked his eyes over Impulse.
“It won’t.” Impulse reassured. “I-“
“But someone might have iron, or-“ Skizz cut himself off this time.
“I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.” Impulse patted Skizz on the shoulder, “Like Pearl said, it’ll be quick. We aren’t breaking in somewhere. We aren’t breaking anyone out of anything. We’ll both look human. There is little that can go wrong.”

Xisuma pointed a finger at both of them, “You keep in contact. You send me regular updates. And no detours.”
Pearl mock saluted, “We’ll be safe, X, I promise.”
“You better be.”

Mumbo sat down beside X gingerly and rested a hand on his shoulder. X leaned into the contact.

“Everything will be okay.” Mumbo spoke gently, “Impulse and Pearl will be fine. Maybe they’ll even find something useful and then we can get to Hypno all the quicker for it.”

~~~

Pearl and Impulse took a day to prepare. Skizz and Joel hovered nervously around them for the most of it. Joel said little, but his eyes swam with the nervousness that Pearl could only assume was related to this Master that had tormented the three of them. Where Joel’s eyes lingered on the faint scars that wrapped around Impulse’s wrists, Skizz’s gaze was everywhere. He was an untapped energy source, constantly fidgeting and shifting, attention flying from point A to B to C and back to A again.

Gem lingered around too, although she portrayed no anxiousness as Joel and Skizz. Instead, her presence was grounded and still. She watched Pearl prepare with a focussed set to her jaw. Occasionally, she would dip out and return with a pouch of first-aid from Etho, or a freshly sharpened blade from her armoury.

Pearl appreciated the quiet company. Gem put Pearl’s own frazzled nerves at ease and made her feel more prepared for the emotional journey that she was about to take.

It also helped that it was Impulse at her side. He was one of her best friends and was never judgemental. If she was going to choose anyone to dig up her past with, Impulse was an obvious choice.

A small group waved them off, early in the morning. They were each given small pouches of food, tucked into the saddlebags of the most surefooted horses that Pearl had ever encountered. Bdubs had presented the two horses proudly, bidding them as much a heartfelt farewell as he did Pearl and Impulse. Except, Pearl noted with a small (and surprising) flicker of jealousy, the horses each received a sugar cube, where neither Impulse nor Pearl received a sweet treat.

When they set off, Impulse kept up a steady stream of small talk, and with each passing minute Pearl relaxed more and more. Perhaps a trip down memory lane wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Chapter Text

Pearl hadn’t really thought about the in-between. Her mind had been hung between her nerves about leaving the safety of hermitcraft and her trepidation at returning to the tower. It was probably for this reason that, the long, mind-numbing trek between the two destinations felt almost offensive.

Their horses trudged forward in a mesmerising rhythm that Pearl had fallen subject to a couple of times, losing her focus to the point where she had almost slipped off sideways if it hadn’t been for the stirrups at her feet and the panic that launched behind her sternum.

Impulse too looked to be feeling the effects of the journey. He shuffled in the saddle more and more, and rolled his shoulders as if he were itching to let his wings reappear and to take off.

To make things worse, they were teased and taunted by each and every portal that they passed. Although the portals existed to transport you quickly and easily between points, cutting out the long journeys between hubs and servers, they were also risky. Perhaps if there had been a larger group of them – or if Pearl or Impulse were actually as human as they currently looked – they would have opted for that mode of transport, but as it was, a few extra days on horseback looked to be the only sensible option.

Originally, Pearl had been grateful for the opportunity to just sit back and think.
On the road, there wasn’t much else to do.

The past few days, weeks, however long it had been, had felt like a rollercoaster. Pearl had thought that her past was firmly in the past with no chance of leaking forwards into her present. She had never felt the anxieties of still ever-present threats looming over her shoulder that she knew some of her friends battled with. Now that she had experienced it, she wasn’t sure how they hadn’t gone completely mad.

“I can practically hear your brain working from over here.” Impulse said that night, laying on his back, fingers weaving through the flames of the campfire as he stared up at the stars.

Pearl watched him for a while.

“You know,” she said, “If anyone comes past, they’re going to know you aren’t human if you just casually leave your hand in the fire.”
Impulse smirked, “Maybe they’d think I have a thing for the pain.”
“Yeah, I’m not so sure about that.” Pearl mocked.

Impulse huffed a soft laugh.

“I still don’t know why you insisted on the campfire.” Pearl carried on, latching onto this interaction in an attempt to quieten the rapid downwards spiral that her thoughts had taken. “After all, I am literally a walking, talking night light.”

Impulse laughed. Taking his hand from the flames and brushing off some soot-looking stuff that had formed there.

“It’s cold.” Impulse whined. “I’m made for the nether, Pearl. The giant balls of lava don’t take breaks there.”
“What?” Pearl wheezed, “Giant balls of- what are you-?”
Impulse laughed, kicking his feet a little. He looked a little bit like a cat that had fallen on its back, and Pearl could help the smile that pulled at her lips.

“The sun, Pearl!” Impulse looked at her incredulously, as if she were the one making crazy statements.
“Oh of course,” she rolled her eyes, “silly me, of course you mean the sun, how could I be so stupid.”
“Thank you.” Impulse said, turning to grin at her in the way he did when he wanted to absolutely make sure that the other person knew he was kidding and not just being a jerk.

Pearl laughed softly under her breath, feeling ever so grateful for Impulse who had taken time to be by her side even whilst he had every right to want to cower and hide right now, given the current circumstances with his previous master.
Impulse smiled back at her, her fond expression mirrored back at her in his eyes.

~~~

It was midday when they arrived. The waterfall thundered, rumbling in a familiar way – if louder than she remembered, now that she thought on it. The sun shone, lighting the tower in a warm glow from its position high in the sky.

Mountains set the backdrop of the clearing. While the lower half were painted with a soft shadow, the top shone a pinky-yellow. The bottom of the valley was coated in mossy greenery. When she was younger, the shrubbery and flowers were neat and cheerful. Now, they had been swallowed by dull weeds and ivy-coated trees. Leaves and twigs lay cluttered over twisted roots and fallen acorns.

It was still beautiful. But while it was familiar, it was not the same.

In contrast, the tower was near identical. The sandstone bricks had always been cracked and weathered, but they still looked strong and safe. The tall plants that climbed the trellis still looked healthy and radiant.

Pearl’s eyes followed the plants up to the bulk of the tower. The dark wooden framework that held her old home looked like an old Tudor building. The windows were frames with ornate carvings which rose up to join the eave, wrapping around the tiles until the reached the point at the top.

The tiles of the roof were purple and inconsistent, yet charming, just as Pearl remembered. A bird’s nest nestled on the top of the chimney, bursting to a point at which Pearl was surprised that there was no debris falling down.

“Everything alright, Pearl?” Impulse asked, softly and kindly.

He had pulled his horse to a stop behind Pearl’s so that she was free to take the first steps closer if and when she felt like it. Just the small consideration in his actions made her feel as if she might have the confidence to move forward.

~~~

Pearl’s chest was heaving by the time she reached the top. Impulse seemed completely unfazed, but judging by the unusual movements through the air as they climbed, Pearl had a sneaking suspicion that Impulse had cheated and used his wings to carry him along.

Every corner and surface was full of childhood memories. There were Pearl’s old sketches, Mama’s half-finished embroidery projects, just lying around as if they were going to be picked up and continued any second now.

Emotion settled heavily in her throat as she ran her fingers over each and every ornament.

“Pearl?” Impulse called from the small adjacent room. Pearl had always used it as somewhat of a storage.
“Yeah?” Pearl called back distractedly.
“I think I’ve found something that you might want to see.” Impulse said back after a brief pause and the sounds of papers moving.

Hesitantly, Pearl made her way over. As much as she had been the one to suggest this whole outing, the idea that maybe Mama had been involved with the horror stories that Pearl had heard about this Veterinarian.

Impulse was sat in the centre of the room. He was surrounded by a semi-circle of papers. Mama’s looping script coated some, the others clearly sporting images of photographs and the odd pencil sketch. In his hand, there was one particular photograph, on the back of which was a few scrawling, scratching looking words in a hand that Pearl didn’t recognise.

Pearl stepped over the careful piles that Impulse had laid out and settled down beside him to peer over his shoulder.

Impulse shakily pointed to the man in the photograph. “That’s him.”
“That’s Mama with him,” Pearl added.

Impulse didn’t look up from the picture. Pearl couldn’t bring herself to look back at it.

~~~

Pearl and Impulse had found a few letters that mentioned procedures.
Experimental prescriptions to treat morning sickness, free treatments as long as Pearl’s Mother understood that he was a hybrid specialist and hence not a maternity doctor. There would be no fee, but likewise if something went wrong then he would not be liable.

Impulse looked ill the more they read. Pearl felt oddly indifferent.

They had been walking in silence for around fifteen minutes. They were on their way to the local village to see if anyone there knew anything. Impulse had actually been the one to break the silence.

“I wasn’t ill when I was at the Vet.” He said. “Most of his work was health related. The other hybrid there were all ill with fevers or broken bones. I was completely healthy.”

“What did he do?” Pearl asked.

Impulse shivered.

“You don’t have to talk about it.” She said.

Impulse just took a breath, not acknowledging the out that she was offering him.
“He put some wiring in my spine,” Impulse said so softly that had the air not been so still, Pearl might have missed it.

“It’s still there actually,” Impulse said, “Etho offered to have a look a few weeks ago when I actually told everyone the truth and he found out it was there. It’s so entwined with my nerves that trying to touch it might be fatal.”

Pearl didn’t say anything for a second, taking in the information.

“What does it do?” Pearl asked, just as gently.

Impulse smiled bitterly, “It was a layer of control. I- um, he was scared of me, being a demon and all. So, it was something to make me- docile. Or to punish me without having to engage. It was like a shock.”

“What a dick.” Pearl said.
“You can say that again,” Impulse huffed.

~~~

“I thought you might come back.”

Pearl stiffened. Impulse stopped dead, the colour draining from his face. Turning, Pearl saw the beaming face of the man whose picture she had seen just less than half an hour ago.

All that Pearl could think was: shit, shit shit, shit.
“Pearl,” Impulse’s voice was tight and low, “Run.”

And then he was falling. His muscles contracted and spasmed. Muffled noises came from him as he tried to stay quiet, but eventually, the screams were ripped from him.

Pearl just stood in silence as she looked down on him. She felt as if she was existing in a plane outside of both time and space, as if her body and her mind were two separate entities, neither of which able to process what was happening.

A wing spasmed, hitting Pearl weakly in the leg. She looked down at Impulse, who through his suffering must have lost the hold on his magic. Pearl winced.
Impulse’s wide yellow eyes met hers. Faintly, he mouthed “run.” Pearl ran.

Chapter Text

Pearl did run. It took a solid couple seconds of eye contact with Impulse for her self-preservation to kick in and for her to turn on her heel.

Impulse’s wide eyes had glowed yellow as he panted at the feet of the Veterinarian. The intensity of the yellow in the usual warm brown flickered as the convulsions of shook through his muscles.

It had only taken one shock to down him, something that Pearl had found disturbing. Impulse was strong and stoic when it came to pain, everyone back home knew this. To an onlooker, it looked as if he simply absorbed pain and used it to fuel him further onwards.

So, to see the demon laying so helplessly on the floor was what spooked Pearl more than anything else. Even after the shock had stopped, Impulse’s breath still hissed through his teeth and his muscles still shook, either from pain or from small sobs, Pearl couldn’t be sure.

After a beat of silence after he had swallowed his scream, he had looked up at her. His wings were out and so were all of his demonic features, even the ones that he usually kept tucked behind a glamour. His ears had lengthened into sharp points, the underside chiselled as if piercings had ripped through the skin. His shoulders had sharpened slightly, almost as if the bony set to his collar bone was protruding from his chest. Small horns similar to the ones on his head sat on the top joint on the centre of his wing, piercing through the leathery skin. These were all features that Pearl didn’t know belonged to Impulse. Features that he hid even when they all thought that he was holding nothing back.

Those golden eyes were swimming with pain and fear, and Pearl felt those emotions clutch at her own chest as if they were leaking out of Impulse and into her like some kind of metaphysical virus.

It was all of this that drove Pearl to run when he told her to. Normally, Pearl wouldn’t be the one to leave someone behind. But this, this was something that Pearl was not cut out for. She knew that she couldn’t endure what Impulse could. And judging by the relief in his expression when she took the first stuttering step away, it was also the best thing that she could have done for him.

Her heart was breaking as she ran. Even more so when there was absolutely no movement that suggested that she was being followed.

Faintly, in the distance, the Veterinarian’s voice rumbled.
“Nice to see you again.” He said unpleasantly. The cadence made Pearl’s skin crawl, even with the safety of the distance between them.

She couldn’t help but look over her shoulder when her aching lungs forced her to stop. The Veterinarian was crouched over Impulse, one hand pressing down on his right shoulder.

In the wild blonde curls of the Veterinarian, two worn round white ears sat. They were torn and the fur that was on them was thin and unkempt looking.

Pearl stumbled back as if the realisation had physically pushed her away from him.

The Veterinarian was a hybrid.

~~~

Pearl didn’t remember most of the adrenaline fuelled journey back. She had tethered Impulse’s horse to the saddle of her’s and the thundering of hooves acted as a powerful distraction from the swirling mess of thoughts that were flying through her head.

Night must have come and gone by the time comforting, friendly hands were pulling her from the horse and bundling her in a blanket. Gem whispered in her ear and held her close as she carried Pearl across and through a set of doors until she was deposited on a soft warm bed.

“Pearl?” Gem brushed some hair off her face where the sweat on her forehead had caused it to stick.

“Pearl?” Gem said again, “What happened, Pearl?”
“He’s a hybrid.” Pearl said.
“What?”
“He’s a hybrid.” Pearl said again.

“Who?” Gem’s voice trailed off as she turned to look at someone over her shoulder.

Pearl gripped Gem’s arm to bring her attention back around.

“The Veterinarian is a hybrid.” Pearl said.

She searched Gem’s expression with razor sharp focus. Gem blinked a couple of times before her eyebrows slanted upwards and her mouth formed a semi-comical ‘o’ shape.

“Sleep, Pearl,” Gem patted the back of her hand, “You must be exhausted. We’ll handle everything else.”
“M’kay.” Pearl heard herself say before the lights were turning off and doors were swinging closed.

She would have liked to say that sleep came easily. That maybe she knocked out solid for twelve hours, or maybe her muscles relaxed gratefully after the long ride home.

But instead, Pearl lay awake, exhaustion gnawing behind her eyes. Impulse’s grunts of concealed pain rang in her ears and echoed around her skull. His golden eyes flashed through her vision every time the lantern outside the window flickered.

Pearl sighed, pressing the pillow over her head as if she could meld into the mattress and become one with the bed. She knew that she had done the logical thing. One of them needed to get back home and share what they had found. Impulse was unable to do that and not to mention, he had asked her to go.

All that in mind, it still didn’t feel good. It didn’t feel good to imagine the infinite possibilities of suffering that Impulse could be experiencing right now. She didn’t know enough about his past to know if there was someone looking for him. She didn’t know if Joel, Skizz and Impulse’s old Master would be there, taking him back.

Impulse wouldn’t give up Skizz and Joel, of that she was certain. No amount of torture or pain would have him leading some kind of forced raid upon their home.

Despite the confidence she felt in the security of the server, the thought did the opposite of make her feel comforted.

~~~

Cub had worked some magic. Well, not real magic of course. The phrase had always been a favourite of Tango’s, and while he was helping her settle in, Pearl had often found herself confused after finding out an individual was not indeed actually magic.

A prime example was Etho. For a solid six months, Pearl had thought that Etho was some kind of druid. He had laughed in her face when she said as such to his face and for a further year following that interaction her cheeks would heat up in embarrassment when she would think about it.

Pearl shook her head to try and clear the exhaustion from her head and focus back on the task at hand.

Cub had worked some magic. He was proudly presenting a – considerably well put together – set of records from all the information that he had managed to pull from Joel whilst Pearl had been away and then Pearl herself once she had returned.

Joel had been completely horrified that the man who had done so much to dehumanise him and so many other hybrids was in fact one himself. Pearl agreed. She couldn’t fathom why someone would turn against their own like that, especially when hybrids were all just as vulnerable to the same undesirable fate.

According to Cub, the Veterinarian had been on the hybrid markets. The last record of a transfer of ownership was fifteen years ago when he had been purchased by a Duke (said Duke’s identity was so classified that even Cub’s hacking skills couldn’t uncover his name).

“He’s a rare hybrid.” Mumbo made a note on the margin of his copy of Cub’s findings (when they had arrived, Cub had printed out copies and laid them around the table as if there were in some corporate 9-5. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Pearl might have given him some static for it).
“I figure that’s why a Duke dished out for him even in the state he was in.” Cub licked his finger and thumbed through a few pages. “Ah,” he stopped, pointing down at his paper, “Page 4.”

Pearl flicked through to page four. On it was a photo of the man who she had last seen standing over Impulse. She frowned. The man in the photo was thin and scared looking. His eyes were sunken and cheekbone nurturing an impressive palette of bruises in blues, yellows and reds.

His hair almost looked brunette from the dirt and blood that was matted in it and the torn ear that Pearl had seen earlier was clearly freshly injured when this photo had been taken.

“Oh my-“ Mumbo flipped the paper over as soon as he caught sight of the photo.

The faces around the table echoed pictures of pity and pain. Pearl felt anger bubble up in her chest.

“Where was he before this Duke bought him?” Doc asked, voice gruff in the same manner it did when a new rescue mission landed on their doorstep.

Joel slammed a fist on the table and one look at his face solidified that he was feeling the same way as Pearl.

“This man is a monster.” Joel hissed. “We are not rescuing him. He is the enemy.”
“Joel-“ Doc began.

“He has Hypno, remember.” Pearl said, “He’s done something to Hypno. I saw him hurt Impulse just yesterday-“ Skizz winced, Pearl didn’t go to comfort him- “We can only assume that whatever he did to Impulse he did to Joel too.” – This time Joel winced.

“Maybe he was forced.” Joe offered.
“You didn’t see him.” Pearl said.
“He enjoys what he does.” Joel added, “Even Marley said so.”

“Who’s Marley?” False asked, leaning forward, curiosity lacing her features.
“Doesn’t matter.” Joel snapped, “The point is-“

“The Veterinarian was in the South-West for almost three years.” Cub said.

Joel’s mouth snapped shut with an audible click of teeth. A muscle in his jaw spasmed.

Mumbo’s communicator buzzed before anyone had a chance to break the heavy tension.

“Oh bollocks.” Mumbo cursed softly, standing so abruptly that his chair almost swung backwards and fell to the floor.
“What’s happened,” Xisuma stood to, a hand hovering out towards Mumbo in a way that looked like a parent trying to shield their child.
“I- oh shit.” Mumbo stammered. He handed X his communicator. “What do I do, Xisuma, what do I do?”

Xisuma read the message silently a few times before sighing heavily.

“Mumbo and Gem with me,” Xisuma said, gathering his papers and the few things he had brought with him, “Joel and Skizz too.”

He waited for the others to stand. Pearl shivered under the atmosphere. It almost felt like whiplash the way the mood had swung from hostility to fear.

“Pearl,” Xisuma looked to her, Pearl began to raise her hand in a wave but stilled the movement with an internal curse. Not the time Pearl, not the time.

“Pearl, if you can look through some of the stuff you brought back with you. Anything would be helpful now.” Xisuma then turned to Cub, “Carry on without us, just make sure to make a note of anything important.”

Cub gave a solemn nod, watching as the small group left. Scar leant to his side to rest his shoulder against Cub’s gently. Cub smiled softly and patted Scar’s knee.

“Do you want a hand, Pearl?” Tango asked.

Pearl nodded dumbly. She didn’t even know she had bought anything back. Impulse must have loaded the saddlebags before they left the tower. The thought that he had done so and she hadn’t even noticed made her want to cry even more.

Chapter Text

Her existence was foggy. She felt awake, yet not entirely aware. It was like that feeling you got just between tipsy and drunk where your core felt misaligned with your centre of gravity.

Pearl tried to hug her arms around her middle to ground herself against her mind, but her body felt non-existent. It wasn’t just that her limbs felt heavy or when she tried to move nothing happened, no – it felt like there was nothing there to move.

Alarm spiking her further awake, she tried again, only to find herself floundering before even initating the action. How was it that one moved? Only, Pearl couldn’t seem to remember. Her brain seemed to have forgotten the steps, forgotten about the bundle of nerves, muscle and blood that made up her body all together.

But then, there was a scratching pain poking and dragging. Although she remembered the feel of something along her back, this wasn’t that – it felt entirely different, despite logically her knowing that the pain was located where her back was.

It felt like it was clawing down her very soul. Like the damage was internal, spiritual, even, some might say.

She didn’t look down, but her vision swivelled anyway.

Where her body should be, there was nothing but straw, needles and a growing puddle of dark red blood.

When she screamed, her voice was broken and gritty, as if overused and under rested. It was a low baritone, rumbling deep and mellow.

Despite the moon poking through between the wooden boards over the windows, Pearl was swamped in darkness. There was no glow. Perhaps – she thought with a hysterical, pain filled burst of humour – perhaps, it was because there was no body left to produce a glow.

~~~

~~~

Tango was clearly methodical. His methods however made no sense.

Initially, he had been nothing but sweet, helping Pearl sort through the pictures and letters that Impulse had packed, however it hadn’t taken long for him to take over, clearly itching to solve some inefficiency that Pearl had overlooked.

Judging by the chaos of papers that he had created, Pearl wasn’t sure that she’d call whatever his approach was any better than hers.

“I don’t even know what we’re looking for.” Pearl said again for what must now have been the fifth time.
“Something might show itself.” Tango replied, as he had said the last three times.

“Clearly, Mama didn’t know him for very long,” Pearl pushed herself off the wall she was leaning against and sunk down into a pretzel of limbs. “And this was before I was born. What he was doing then was likely completely unrelated to what he was doing later.”
“If we find the roots-“ Tango began.

“Yes, yes, whatever,” Pearl was getting tetchy now. “The point is, I personally don’t care for his backstory, not while he’s got Impulse and Hypno right now and is probably actively hurting them.”
“You don’t know that.” Tango’s voice was tight and flat.
“I do.” Pearl snapped, “I do know that, Tango, because that man did not just shock Impulse to get him down, no, he stood over him as he shocked him again and again. You didn’t see the look in his eye, or what it did to Impulse, or-“

“Stop.” Tango’s voice was barely audible.

“No, you don’t get it-“

“Stop it, Pearl.” Tango yelled, head swivelling round to her. His red eyes were duller than usual, and the pale skin beneath them was pink and blotchy as tears began to drip before sizzling away once they landed on his cheek.

Pearl opened and closed her mouth a few times.
“I-“ she began, before realising that she had nothing to say.
“I’m-“ she tried again.

“Go,” Tango said softly. There was no anger, nothing forceful. But the word was soft and clearly laced with pain.
“I- ok.” Pearl quietly stood and made for the door. “I’m sorry,” she added, before slipping away.

Quicky, she sent of a message to Zed, telling him to come and take her place. Adding the words ‘Tango needs you,’ felt like a bullet to her stomach. Of course Tango would be hurting too, and Pearl could have been there for him, just as much as he tried to be there for her.

Either way, Zed would be better for Tango right now. And if there was anyone that could decipher Tango’s abominable sorting system, it would be Zed.

~~~

~~~

“She’s not even a hybrid you can’t buy her!”

The wails – for there was no other way to describe the raw pain and desperation behind the words – sung through the corridors. They were coming from the basement. Just the thought of the cold walls and biting drafts were enough to bring a chatter to her teeth.

“Leave her!”

The voice had turned pleading now.

All was quiet before footsteps grew closer. A cold hand closed around her throat and as if a cloak enveloped her in one swoop, all went dark.
Her body ached and tingled as she fought against the cold.

Her grunts of effort turned into agonising screams of pain as the coldness grappled her, taking control inch by inch.

“Stop hurting him!” The voice from before was now laced with tears.

Another scream joined hers.

A moment of silence.

“Leave Hypno alone, please.” The voice begged.

This time the cold hurt so much that it dragged all consciousness away with it.

~~~

It was always so cold. Even when he was lucky enough to be left in the glowing beams of the sun.

Wait. He?

No, Pearl blinked a half dozen times and mentally shook herself down, feeling so caught of guard that her mind was decidedly empty from any actual thoughts.

She settled back down, curled in the bay window, watching as the dust in the air danced through the beam of light. The sun licked at her skin and it was no longer cold.

“Are you sure you're alright?”
“Pearlie pop?”

Pearl hummed, looking up. Skizz stood over her, his face twisted into a concerned frown.

“He didn’t hurt you when he got Impulse, did he?” Skizz asked.
Pearl shook her head.

Skizz lifted her hand and checked the skin between her fingers.
“What’re you doing?” she huffed, trying to pull her hand back weakly.
“I’m checking for hidden track marks.” Skizz stated.

Pearl huffed, “I’m not doing drugs, Skizz.”
Skizz stiffened a little, glancing quickly over his shoulder before quickly shaking it off.

“I don’t think you’re doing drugs.” Skizz said, “I think you’ve been drugged.”
Pearl sighed, “I haven’t been drugged,”

“Then why do you keep disappearing off into the nothingness?” Skizz asked.
“What?”

“You know,” he waved a hand around his head, briefly looking up and lifting his chin, “the nothingness.” He emphasised.
“I’m just concerned.” Pearl admitted, “And I don’t know what to do.”

Skizz didn’t look convinced.

Pearl dug in her pocket for a second, before presenting Skizz with the photo that she and Impulse had first found back in the tower. She flipped it over so that the writing was visible.

Skizz took it. His eyes traced over the marking for a couple of seconds before he looked up, a strange vulnerable fear etched across his face.
“Pearl this might not be the best time, but I can’t-“

A door flew open. Pearl jumped, sitting further upright, but Skizz flinched heavily. Pearl looked over to check on him, and she was taken aback when he was not the quivering, jittery mess that she had been expecting after a reaction that was clearly trauma induced.

No, Skizz was standing tall. His wings were flared out, one protectively hovering in front of her. His hands were shaking, but they were curled into fists at his sides.

“Sorry.” Xisuma’s gentle tone seemed like a slight anticlimax. The adrenaline that had suddenly been pumped into the room hovered awkwardly in the air with no where to go.

“Sorry.” Xisuma said again.
“No, no, you’re good.” Pearl said.

Skizz dropped his wings, but stayed standing where he was. He chest rose and fell uniformly and his face was schooled so carefully behind a placid mask that Pearl couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking.

“There’s an important question we need to ask you both,” Xisuma said.
“What kind of important?” Pearl asked, stomach dropping.

“Important enough that I will ask although I should not.” Xisuma said. He looked firmly at Skizz, “But still, it is just a question. You can say no.”
By the determined set of Skizz’s shoulders, Pearl figured that if it were something regarding the rescue of Impulse, Skizz would not be saying no.

~~~

“So, your friend wants me to pair with Impulse?” Skizz asked. "Like some kind of heaven and hell collectible set?"

“Not my friend.” Mumbo leant forward, leaning against the back of the chair in front of him. He was the only one standing in the room, everyone else sitting around the same table as they had been earlier that morning. Zed was sat firmly at Tango’s side subtly holding a pack of tissues, but given the friendly hug she had shared with Tango, Pearl was fairly certain that there was no bad blood between them.

“It’s very important that you know he is not my friend.” Mumbo reiterated.
“Master was your friend,” Joel stated, “Maybe not you, but Lord you, yes.”

Mumbo winced, but nodded anyway, “So imagine the level I’m at when I say that this Duke is not my friend.”

“How does he even know that you know where Skizz is?” Joel asked.
Mumbo glanced over to Joel, worrying a lip between his teeth, “I assume Impulse talked.”

“No.” Skizz said firmly, “He wouldn’t.”
“Well maybe Hypno did,” Doc cut in, “Or maybe Impulse talked to protect Hypno. It doesn’t matter.”

Pearl suddenly felt very cold.

“I want to go.” Joel said after a brief silence.
“No,” Mumbo said.

“Think about it,” Joel said, “This Duke wants rare things, right.”
Joel made a ‘tada’ expression and gestured wildly around himself.
“Just put a command on me like before, make sure I can’t talk.” Joel said.
“No.” Mumbo said again.

“It’s better than sending Skizz.” Joel bit back.
“No,” Skizz said this time.

“Yes,” Joel insisted, “You just got out for the first time in your life, man. It might be more useful to send someone with experience of both sides of this whole thing.”
“It’s not worth the risk.” Mumbo said.

“But it is to ask Skizz?” Joel rose to his feet. “That’s not-“
“Quiet, Joel.” Mumbo snapped.

Joel’s words died in his throat. He stared up at Mumbo, mouth still open, eyes blown wide. Slowly, he sat, flexing his jaw before clenching his teeth and leaning back.

Everyone stared at Mumbo.

“No one is going.” Mumbo said.
“We need to send someone.” Xisuma pressed, “You know I don’t like sending in decoys unless absolutely necessary. Mumbo, this is absolutely necessary.”

“I can’t do this, Xisuma.” Mumbo snapped. He took a few steps back, hands flying up to run through his hair. He turned so that his back faced the group.

“I have no power if you do this.” Mumbo warned. “I’m a Lord. I’m maybe the most powerful Lord.”
He turned back and rubbed his sternum with one hand, “But I have no power over a Duke.”

“You don’t need to have power over him.” Doc said, tone cold and clearly annoyed as he looked at Mumbo, his gaze occasionally flickering to look to Joel.
“I do.” Mumbo insisted, “He already had Impulse and Hypno. We can’t give him anyone else. Let alone someone who has to obey, or who has been rewired to obey since birth.”

Mumbo slammed a fist to the table, sending a few pens flying. Skizz flinched and sunk in on himself. Joel snarled threateningly. Doc rose, eyes furious.

“Mumbo-.”
“No.” Mumbo was scary. Pearl had never before thought Mumbo to be scary.

“He and I are professionally neutral.” Mumbo said, “If I do anything to upset that balance then my entire reputation is ruined. Then, all my work here is ruined. Then, we never help anyone else, we will never help Impulse and Hypno.”

“It doesn’t always have to be your burden,” Gem said softly.
“Doesn’t it?” Mumbo snapped, “Because I put my neck on the line every single day around the most dangerous people out there. And the one time I say no, it’s too dangerous; no one listens.”

Joel raised a hand. Everyone looked at him.
“Yes?” Xisuma said awkwardly. Mumbo’s face suddenly went ashen.

Joel cleared his throat, “If we’re sending anyone in, why not send the one person we know that the Vet won’t hurt.”

Several people exchanged looks.

“From where I’m sitting,” Joel looked over to Pearl and slid a photo, “It looks like our most powerful bargaining chip is Pearl.”

The photo was clearly well loved. The edges were bent and the image faded slightly. In it, the Veterinarian was holding a baby gently in his arms. To a stranger, it might look like a sun flare, but a lump formed in Pearl’s throat when she realised that the baby was glowing. Pearl wondered how she hadn’t seen this photo yet.

‘To Pearlie,’ read the messy handwriting on the back, ‘Your Mother said that she’d give you this when you are older. I call myself Sid. I was the one who helped your mother through her pregnancy. You may not be mine, but I love you, Pearlie. I’m sure you’ll understand when you’re older, but after hurting so many people, it has been an honour to help bring you into this world. Your Mama is getting sick, Pearl, and if you need someone then I am here for you. Just look around for the Duke’s Veterinarian. If I am still his by the time you read this, then I should be easy to find. Ask for Snowdrop and you will find me. I will always protect you.’

“What?” Pearl looked up, tears in her eyes.

Joel looked like he was having a ruthless internal battle.

Mumbo sighed, “I think that’s an even worse idea.”
“How?” Pearl asked, “Surely if I can go and no one gets hurt then that’s good?”

“If the Vet is the Duke’s hybrid, then you will just be leverage.” Mumbo said, “Trust me, I know how they control hybrids, and a relative or a relationship is the easiest way to put someone in line.”

Xisuma winced and Pearl was pretty sure that Mumbo pretended not to notice.

“Okay,” Joe spoke for the first time, “What do you suggest then, Mumbo?”

Mumbo shifted and Pearl thought she saw a dark red seeping through his shirt underneath the blazer. She blinked at it was gone.

“I think we offer him a business deal.” Mumbo said. “No selling each other into slavery, just a simple business deal.”

“He still knows you have Skizz though,” Cub chimed in.

Mumbo smiled, his features twisting gracefully into a merciless grin.
“That just means he’ll want to be in my good graces.” Mumbo sat for the first time, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on the table and his chin rested on his hands, “Once we’re in with the Duke, then it should be easy to get in with his hybrid.”

Skizz swallowed nervously.

Somewhere in the back of Pearl’s mind, Hypno screamed.

~~~
“Pearl, please,” Pearl spoke in Hypno’s voice, “Please, if you can hear me, I don’t have much time. He’s planning something horrible; I have no control when he takes over. Please, Pearl, if you can hear me then please, do whatever it takes. He has my essence, Pearl, he has it. Get me out. Get the doll, get me. And I don’t know how much more Impulse can take. Please help us, Pearl. We really, really need it.”
~~~

Pearl floated above the scene, once more feeling nauseous by the disconnect between her body and wherever Hypno was pulling her mind to.
Hypno himself was shackled to the floor. He lay prone shivering and gasping for breath, eyes glossed over a blinding white that glowed in the moonlight.

Impulse knelt over his boneless body, concern glossing his features, unable to help with his hands drawn tight behind his back, bound by iron chains. Blood coated one side of Impulse’s face, cascading down from his hairline.

Out of the reach of both of them, a pristine doll sat innocently in a sealed box, a small chain like you might find on a dainty necklace keeping it firmly secured to the bottom, preventing it from bobbing up to the top of the water.

Hypno coughed, blood-tinged water trickling from his lips. A redstone circuit went off and the water drained from the box. The doll sat, miraculously dry and looking as if it had never been touched. Hypno gasped as if finally able to get a lungful of air.

As Pearl’s mind came rushing back to her body, she just caught the white fog clearing from Hypno’s eyes. Blood gushed from his nose and Impulse sobbed.

The water in the box began to slowly rise again.
~~~
Pearl sat upright, back in her own body, her own mind. The coldness that must have leached over from Hypno had gone.

Her first thought was: ‘Oh shit, they’re in trouble.’
Her second was: ‘What the fuck just happened to me?’
The third: ‘What in the world was Hypno? And what else could he do?’

Chapter Text

“We need a plan of action.” False stressed, “We need one now.”

Pearl rubbed at her temples. She had told the others about what she had seen in the vision (or was it a dream? A message? A hallucination?). The explanation had been rough. It was stumbled through and confused and even she didn’t understand what she was saying half of the time, but the general point had gotten across, nonetheless.

“I still think our best option is to-“ Mumbo began.

“Wait.” Pearl took her hands from her face and began to pat down her pockets until she found where she had shoved that crumpled paper with the note from the Veterinarian.
“There.” She slammed her palm down on the table, pulling it away to leave the scribbled message facing up. “He’s given me a way to contact him. He’s essentially expecting contact.”

No one looked convinced.

“It could be a set up.” Ren said tentatively.
“I don’t think so.” Pearl said. “And even if it is, it’s no more risky than any other idea we’ve had.”

“Xisuma?” Pearl asked, looking over to the admin.

Xisuma had his face in his hands. Pearl didn’t think that she’d ever seen him look so tired. He was clearly stressed.
“This shouldn’t be happening.” Xisuma whispered under his breath.

“Xisuma.” Pearl said again, “I have an in, here. I can go to this Veterinarian without arising too much suspicion.”
“Didn’t he see you with Impulse, though?” Joe asked.
“Well, yes,” Pearl said, surging forward even as a chorus of sighs echoed around the room, “But, he also saw us leaving my tower. So, it wouldn’t look out of place if I now got in contact. He knows that now I might have finally gotten his message.”

There was a short, stoic silence.

“I think Pearl has a point.” False said, “We have to do something and it’s the only plan I’ve heard that has more chance of working than failing.”
“What if it does fail, though?” Mumbo asked nervously, eyes flicking from Pearl, to False, to X.
“Then we try your idea.” False replied, leaning back in her chair, arms folded, “I just think the longer we try and come up with a perfect plan, the less our chances of success.”

Pearl breathed in a shaky breath. It felt like she had won. But then again the gravity of the situation felt like it was yet to hit.

~~~

“Ready?” False leaned sideways so her head was slightly closer to Pearl’s from where they stood side to side.
“As I’ll ever be.” Pearl didn’t tell False that she was so nervous that she had circled back around to feeling absolutely nothing.
“If you’re not back before dusk and we have no word from you then we’re coming, yeah?” False clapped Pearl on the shoulder, giving her back a quick rub before stepping back.

~~~

She had never felt more watched than the few minutes it took to walk up to the Duke’s house. She stepped around the grand house, avoiding the main doors and following the gravelled path around to the servants’ entrance.

Pearl knocked on the door once. Twice. Thrice.

When the door opened, at first it was slowly and then the rest of it was thrown open.

“Pearl?” The Veterinarian sounded in disbelief.

Pearl held out the photo she had found amongst the files in the tower. The one that the Veterinarian had written her a message on.

“Sid, right?” Pearl tried to ignore the anger burning in her throat, and instead smile softly at the Vet.
“Pearl.” Sid said again.

“I’m sorry about before, when I ran.” Pearl said, “I didn’t know. I only looked through Mama’s files when I got home.”
“Oh, sweet Pearl.” Sid smiled a wide, wild smile, “I knew you’d come back to me.”

“Hi.” Pearl said lamely.

“Come in,” Sid said, stepping aside and ushering her in, “Please, come in.”

Pearl followed him in, heart hammering, eye twitching at having to give up the opportunities given through trust and Sid’s turned back.

She sat through an hour of blabbering. In order to keep the smile on her face, she blocked his words as he detailed his experiments and theories. She politely answered his questions when he had a moment of self-awareness and asked after her and her childhood.

He didn’t speak a word of Impulse or Hypno. Pearl had been explicitly told not to ask after them until she’d determined if he would be a threat to her. And while he seemed friendly right now, Pearl knew how scary he could be. She didn’t know what to think.

That was, at least, footsteps tapped their way louder and louder until they were right outside the door.

“Oh,” Sid turned, blinking as if he’d just awoken from some kind of trance.

The door opened. Pearl’s stomach sunk, anchoring her to where she sat, still as a statue.
In the doorframe stood a human who Pearl had never seen before. She swallowed nervously.

“You must be the Duke.” She said, when no one else made a move to speak.
“What is this, Snowdrop?” The Duke asked, eyes firmly fixed upon Pearl.

“This is a... friend, sir.” Sid/Snowdrop/the Vet said. It was the most meek that Pearl had ever heard him sound.

Pearl stood and held out a hand, “Pearlescent Moon.”
The Duke took her hand, shaking it briefly before dropping it.

“I must apologise for my hybrid, Miss,” the Duke said, “I do not usually entertain my guests in the below stairs. Please, you must allow me to show you the manor.”

“I would be delighted.” Pearl said. “Sid, are you-”
“Sid?” The Duke interrupted, voice cold.

Sid stared.

“I thought I told you to drop that nonsense, Snowdrop.”
“Oh, you must forgive me,” Pearl intervened, “You see I’m an old friend. Snowdrop knew my mother. Habits, you know.”

The Duke looked between Pearl and the Vet dubiously. He hummed before offering Pearl his arm and leading her upstairs to the grandeur of the house.

It had been going well. It had been going brilliantly. That was, until the sun began dipping and Pearl began glowing.

The Duke did not like that.

~~~

Pearl hit the floor with a harsh slapping sound. She managed to catch herself with her hands and forearms, but the relief that her face was saved dimmed quickly once the flaring pain in her wrists spiked.

“Ow, ow, ow.” She hissed through her teeth, eyes screwed tightly, shoulders tense.

“Pearl?”
Pain forgotten, Pearl sat up, “Impulse?”
“Oh thank-”

Impulse was cut off by the door opening once more. The Vet entered, eyes glowering and shirtless back sporting red marks that looked freshly administered. Perhaps a cane? Pearl was no medic, she couldn’t say for sure.

Impulse struggled, sending the iron chains that confined him clattering against the floor. He didn’t speak but his eyes pleaded loudly.

“What are you doing?” Pearl said for him. Impulse turned his panicked eyes on her.
“Sid,” Pearl insisted, pushing herself to her feet, “What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry, Pearlie,” Sid hissed, “I should never have brought you here. It was stupid. Stupid. STUPID.”

He roared, turning and punching the wall so hard that Pearl flinched, unable to believe that his hand remained uninjured.

“Sid-” Pearl tried again, “Please, what’s happening?”
“I won’t let anything hurt you.” Sid said, “But please, just don’t make it hard for me.”

Pearl didn’t know what to do. Sid slunk further into the room. He pulled something Pearl couldn’t quite see from his pocket.

“Are you going to come with me or do I need to use this.” Sid shook the item in his hand. Someone groaned.

Impulse shook his head slowly, eyes firmly trained on Pearl. Pearl met his eyes and bit her lip as the Vet pulled Hypno to his feet. He looked rough. Blood gathered under his nose and crusted the skin down the side of his face from his hairline.

“Sorry you had to see this, Pearl.” Sid sounded genuinely sorry. Pearl thought he was sick.
“Is he ok?” Pearl couldn’t help but ask. “He’s like us, right? He’s not human, Sid, why hurt him?”
“He’s not human,” Sid said, “Don’t be fooled by the body though. This is him, really.”

Sid held the item in his hand forward. Pearl peered closer. A small, creepily perfect looking doll sat in his hand.

“This is him really. This is his soul.” Sid closed his fist back around the doll. Hypno let out a hiss of pain.

Pearl gaped, unsure what to say or do.
“He’s just equipment, Pearl,” Sid gripped Hypno’s wrist. Hypno met her eyes briefly, but then closed them again, remaining still and quiet.

“I’ll get you home,” Sid promised.
“Thank you.” Pearl said. What else was she supposed to say?

The door swung closed behind Hypno and the Vet.

“What the fuck?” Pearl turned to meet Impulse’s eye. Impulse, who had a tear forming in his left eye.

“What are you doing here?” Impulse asked. The glow from her skin reflected on his face, encapsulated in his watery eyes.
“It’s under control.” Pearl replied.

“This better not be another Ren-Zed situation.” Impulse said.
Pearl laughed, “It’s not.”

“You promise?” Impulse shifted, clearly uncomfortable.

“Let me see those,” Pearl stepped around, kneeling behind where he sat to look at the chains.
The skin of Impulse’s wrists was irritated and raw.

“What does he want with you?” Pearl asked.
Impulse pulled away from her hands, turning to meet her eye.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Impulse admitted.

“Has he hurt you?”
“The Vet?” Impulse shifted again, “No.”
“And the Duke?” Pearl prodded.

“He seemed intrigued.” Impulse sighed, “Humans who deal in hybrids often are.”
“Mumbo said he’s in contact with Burtley.” Pearl said softly.
Impulse looked up, alarmed, “Skizz? Joel?”
“They’re fine.” Pearl said. Fine for now, she didn’t say.

“He thinks I stole something.” Impulse said, “Or maybe that I worked with someone to steal something.”
“From your Master?”

Impulse winced. Then nodded.

“I didn’t.” Impulse insisted, almost like a trigger response.
“I know.” Pearl said, letting Impulse sag into her side.

“It hurts.” Impulse said. “Iron. It hurns.”

Pearl didn’t know how to help. She just hoped the others came quickly.

Chapter Text

“So...” Pearl paused, attempting to gather her thoughts so that she could effectively put her thoughts to words.

Impulse grunted. It could have been discomfort, but Pearl saw the way his eyes flickered up briefly to meet hers. She took it as permission to continue.

“I never knew that Hypno was- y'know, not entirely-” Pearl paused, searching for the words.

“You want to know about Hypno?” Impulse sighed, worrying his bottom lip over his teeth. He shifted as if to lean towards her but hissed, jerking back as the iron bit at his skin. Pearl watched as his exposed skin around the cuffs let out a warbling, barely visible mist. She blinked and looked closer but whatever it was that she had seen was gone.

Pearl didn’t know what to say. She crawled closer to Impulse and raised her hands. Not knowing what to do further, she left her hands hovering above the metal, close but not touching.

“What was it that Sid had?” Pearl asked, aware that she was pushing the line a bit.

Impulse huffed something that sounded like a laugh, “Sid.” Was all that he said.

“That’s his name.” Pearl replied.

“He’s a monster.” Impulse said, voice lower and darker than Pearl had ever heard it.

“He’s also an owned hybrid.” For all that she hated Sid, Pearl was feeling oddly protective over him.

“The Duke calls him Snowdrop.” Impulse’s lip curled in a cruel, mocking smile.

“Well, his name is Sid.” Pearl snapped, “I bet your Master didn’t call you Impulse, did he.”

Impulse winced. “Low blow, Pearl.”

“No,” she pulled her hands back, “I don’t think it is. He might be hurting people too, but a part of him is still just a victim. He at least deserves his name.”

Impulse rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. But whatever you want to call him, he is pure evil. Don’t let any collar or bruise sway you.”

“How do you know he wasn’t forced?” Pearl asked.

“Trust me.” Impulse rubbed the nape of his neck. His eyes were far off and haunted. He didn’t even react to the pain that must have followed the audible hiss of the iron cuff against his skin.

~~~

Pearl assumed that Plan B was now in action. She had slept since the strange conversation with Impulse. By the looks of it, he hadn’t. Hypno still hadn’t returned. Neither had Sid.

The sun had risen, judging by the cease of the light that emitted from her skin, and Pearl was getting restless. She paced back and forth, trying to keep her footsteps light, but too angsty to really ensure that stealth.

The door swung open, clattering as it hit the wall. Sid stood there, shirt on, hiding those marks on his back, and a murderous frown painted upon his face.

“Pearlie, come on,” he hissed, “Trust me.”

Pearl looked back to Impulse who was blinking awake.

“Don’t.” Sid snapped, “The Duke doesn’t need him right now.”

Impulse nodded. It was a small action, barely visible. Pearl wanted to cry.

“Okay,” She said softly, and allowed herself to be led away.

Sid took her through a large corridor. Any other time, she’d have been unable to tear her gaze away from the grand ceilings and paintings, but right now that beauty seemed ugly when she knew that there was suffering hid behind those very walls.

“Don’t say anything,” Sid hissed. Pearl jumped and looked up at him. His face was steady, serious. He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Pearl fought her instinct to flinch away.

Instead, she nodded.

Sid opened the door. Pearl peered past and looked into the meeting room. A long, heavy-looking table stood proudly in the centre of the room, stretching across the length of the room. Around it were surprisingly few chairs, given the size of the table. The chairs were all gathered around the centre of the table.

On one side sat the Duke. Infront of him was an ornate tray with a teacup and saucer delicately placed upon it. Next to the teacup was a pot of sugar with a silver spoon. Sid walked past Pearl and steadily made his way over, only pausing when he stood slightly behind the Duke’s chair.

“Sit, Snowdrop,” The Duke commanded. Sid sat to his left, hands falling to the tabletop. He lounged as if confident in his space, however Pearl watched the careful way his eyes scanned the room, and his jaw held firmly still.

“I notice you don’t have your hybrid, Lord Jumbo.” The Duke dumped a spoonful of sugar into his tea, “Rather unproper to leave your symbol of seniority at home.”

Across the table sat Mumbo. Mumbo who was sat so straight that Pearl was genuinely worried that he might strain his back.

“She’s at the vet.” Mumbo said, “Her hoof was chipped.”

Pearl winced, hoping that Mumbo was lying and Gem was alright.

Mumbo turned in his chair. His eyes analytically scanned over her.

“I thank you for returning this one.” Mumbo clicked at her and Pearl stumbled forwards.

“She isn’t exactly of your usual standard.” The Duke said.

Pearl sat to Mumbo’s right as he gestured at the chair.

“Ah,” Mumbo hummed, “She’s not exactly a hybrid, as the others are. More of an investment, I’d say. Something rare.”

Pearl shivered.

The Duke leaned forward, “I didn’t know you were a collector, kid.”

Mumbo tried to relax. Pearl didn’t think he succeed all that well.

“I think you do, Sir.” Mumbo said curtly. “I do not appreciate being taken for a fool.”

The Duke laughed, “Oh, do share, boy, what is it that you think you know.”

“I know that you are in contact with Kondo Burtley.” Pearl did not understand Mumbo’s methodology. She distinctly remembered how adamant Mumbo was that this man should not be angered.

“That idiot.” The Duke huffed, “What of him?”

Mumbo smirked, relaxing and lounging back for the first time, “I found his Angel. You know that.”

The Duke arched an eyebrow, “I did not know that you knew I knew that.”

Pearl blinked, mind running laps to keep up.

“I know that you have his Demon.” Mumbo said. “I also have his dog. Demonic magic runs heavily in his veins. It’s something I’ve never seen before. But your Veterinarian here has.”

The Duke turned to Sid.

“Burtley was a consistent client, Sir.” Sid said.

The Duke hummed.

“I think I’ll be going now.” Mumbo stood, Pearl hastily did the same, “I’ll compensate you for your troubles.”

The Duke stood too.

“No.” He said.

“Excuse me?” Mumbo said, a hand instinctively reaching to shield Pearl.

“You see,” The Duke snapped, “I know some things too.”

“Pardon?” Mumbo stepped back, Pearl scurried to remain behind him.

“Don’t you think it’s funny that wherever you go, institutions begin falling apart?” The Duke stalked closer, “You get your hybrid from Turlam and then he ends up murdered? The 100 Gang begin whispering about the poor little Lord who attracted the attention of his Uncle. You know what happened to them? Dead. All of them. Patrick Jumbo, too. Curious.”

“Those rumours are nonsense.” Mumbo did not sound convincing. Pearl felt numb. She didn’t know what to believe. She could barely keep up with the influx of information – accusation, whatever it might be that was flying around.

“I know what you are doing, Lord Jumbo.” The Duke’s voice was taunting and predatory.

“What do you want?” Mumbo hissed. His hands were now on Pearl. He pushed her firmly behind him, holding an arm out behind him, ensuring that she was standing back.

“I want the Angel.” The Duke hissed, “I want you. And maybe I’ll consider not letting what I know slip.”

“Me?” It was the rawest and most terrified that Pearl had ever heard Mumbo sound.

“You’re the best trainer I know.” The Duke said. “You win pageants. You have the best skills in behaviour reprogramming that I know.”

Mumbo swallowed with nerves.

“Come back tomorrow, same time.” The Duke said.

“Yes sir.” Mumbo said.

And then, Pearl was being ushered out of the room.

Just out of the estate and Mumbo was speaking rapidly into his communicator.

“I need him taken care of.” Mumbo hissed.

“Yes, the Duke.”

“It’s serious.”

“Tonight.”

“Thank you.”

Pearl wished that she was back in her version of the world where she didn’t know about this side of things.

~~~

Mumbo didn’t talk the whole way back home. When they arrived in the familiar streets of hermitcraft, she was bundled off to Etho’s medical centre and Mumbo was steered of by Xisuma and Doc, both of whom were talking desperately to him as his hands shook by his sides.

No one asked after Impulse and Hypno. Pearl was glad, she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to talk about them if she tried. Emotions were too high. Confusion buzzed through her brain so loudly that it almost drained the sound of Etho warning her of a sharp scratch.

And then... the world slowly faded.

Come morning, everything was calmer. That was, until Mumbo visited.

“Is everything okay?” Pearl asked, pushing herself up.

“Sort of,” Mumbo sighed and sat on the end of the hospital bed.

“You okay?” He asked.

“They didn’t touch me,” Pearl promised.

“Good,” Mumbo said. “Impulse? Hypno?”

“Not so lucky.” Pearl said, wincing.

Mumbo sighed again.

“What’s going on, Mumbo?” Pearl asked.

“The Duke is dead.”

“What?”

Mumbo smiled tiredly, no joy reaching his eyes. His hair was greasy, and shadows hung beneath his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all.

“It was an unfortunate necessity.” Mumbo said softly.

Pearl blinked. Mumbo waited for her to gather her thoughts.

“And Impulse?” She asked, “Hypno? Sid?”

Mumbo ran a hand over his face.

“The Duke had a will.” Mumbo said, “They’ve gone to Burtley.”

“Oh shit.” Pearl said. “All three of them?”

Mumbo nodded.

“The same old place we broke Skizz and Joel out from?”

Mumbo nodded again.

“He really just dodged any punishments?”

“’fraid so,” Mumbo sighed.

“And Impulse is back there?”

Mumbo nodded once more.

“Burtley knows The Duke’s theories?” Pearl asked.

“I don’t think so.” Mumbo said, “He’s been in contact ever since he managed to move out of my family mansion.”

“He knows you have Skizz and Joel, though?” Pearl asked.

“Yeah,” Mumbo slouched in something terrifyingly like defeat.

“What do we do now?”

“It feels like no matter what we do, it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.” Mumbo rubbed his eyes.

“Get some sleep.” Pearl said, “We’ll figure something out, Mumbo.”

Mumbo sighed, but didn’t protest. He made no movement, but his head dipped. Etho appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and guided Mumbo out of the room. Pearl watched as Mumbo followed aimlessly behind him.

Pearl sighed inwardly. How had everything managed to go so wrong?

Chapter Text

“They belong to me.” Burtley hissed over the phone.

“Do they?” Mumbo spoke. Cool. Calm. Collected.

“Come on,” an echo sounded as – Pearl assumed – Burtley threw something down on a table.

“I believe the angel was taken off of you by the law enforcement.” Mumbo said, “And the dog was sold to the southwest. You have no legal claim over either of them. And I went to a lot of effort to get them myself.”

“You have no legal claim either, my Lord.” Burtley hissed, tone betraying his polite word choice.

Mumbo paused. It was true, after all. Pearl still didn’t quite understand the whole ownership rules around the humans and their hybrids. Mumbo had tried to explain it to her before they were interrupted by Burtley’s call.

As far as she understood, Joel and Skizz were technically unaccounted for. While both were in the system after being legally owned, they were – as Mumbo described them – lost in the papers. Apparently, this was fairly common. Hybrids were prone to being misplaced. Either through escape, illegal trade, death or much more, they would end up somewhere other than where they were legally supposed to be.

As an example, since Burtley was arrested, his claim upon his hybrids was relinquished. Therefore, Skizz technically belonged to the state. Housing Hybrids was the main organisation, so it was likely that he should have gone there. Since he never arrived, it was likely his papers were signed off now and he was declared a closed case. Either way, were he to re-enter the system, it was unlikely that they would link his new contract to his old one, unless of course he or someone else were to prove he was the same angel hybrid.

Joel, on the other hand was more complicated. Where Skizz had been in the system since birth, Joel had been captured just before he was sold to Burtley. Hence, he had less of a file. His papers would just have record of two sales. One to Burtley himself, and the other to the fighting ring that Burtley’s brother had shipped him off to. But Burtley had chipped Joel. Something that even Mumbo had very little experience with seeing.

That meant that a simple scan of Joel’s neck would have his ID (for lack of a better word) flashing up. In simple terms, the only thing protecting Joel from his status as an owned hybrid was the hope that no-one would think to check him for a microchip.

Impulse would have been in a similar situation to Skizz. In fact, he was, when the Duke had him. The Duke had apparently filled paperwork for the legal ownership of both Hypno and Impulse as soon as he got them. But now that Impulse was back in the hands of his previous master, his old paperwork had now been added to his old one.

Pearl failed to see how it mattered, but Mumbo had sworn that it was important in protecting hybrids already in the system.

That made Pearl think of Gem. Gem who was technically still actively owned. Although it didn’t make much difference, it still made Pearl feel uncomfortable that Gem wasn’t legally free. She had no signed off contract after getting lost in a system. Gem’s fate was directly tied to Mumbo’s.

It was a lot. Before she managed to get tied up in this, she had just assumed that it was as simple as a collar marking ownership and the human which collared them marking their owner. She supposed that she had imagined it a crude trade to imitate the cruel nature of it. But no. It was a refined, sophisticated system. Perhaps the most sophisticated market across the worlds.

Anyway, that was beside the point. Mumbo had had a lifetime to get his head around the system. Pearl had had around twenty minutes. So, any attempt at an explanation from her was likely to be confused if not completely incorrect.

So, the conversation between Mumbo and Burtley was mostly going straight over her head. They were sat in the meeting room that had become a pinnacle of Pearl’s life recently. Mumbo was there, obviously, but so was Gem and Doc. Doc visibly seethed with rage, and Gem nodded along, seemingly understanding it all. Pearl supposed that she had had a lot of hands-on experience in the last few years since becoming Mumbo’s official hybrid and unofficial business partner in hybrid liberation.

Pearl tried hard to listen, but it was like trying to focus on a conversation in a foreign language. Despite picking up on words, on names, if someone asked Pearl to give a summary of the gist of the conversation, she wouldn’t have been able to.

Soon enough though, the legal argument seemed to have been won, one way or the other and Mumbo began speaking in sentences that Pearl understood.

“You register that dog and the courts will bring him straight back to me.” Burtley said. “That tracker in his neck very clearly marks him as mine.”

“Until you sold him.” Mumbo argued.

“It still makes my claim stronger than yours.” Burtley said.

Gem slid a note across the table. Pearl snuck a look. It simply said: ‘he’s right’.

Mumbo looked at Gem and then Doc, eyes wide with a what-do-I-do kind of look about him.

Doc scribbled frantically: ‘Keeping Joel away is the priority. That curse is bad news.’

“Lord Jumbo?” Burtley said. Clearly the silence had stretched on too long.

“Look.” Mumbo said, “Can we discuss this in person? I can be over this afternoon.”

“Fine.” Burtley agreed, “But bring my hybrids.”

And with that, Burtley hung up.

“Well shit.” Doc said.

Mumbo ran his hands through his hair and sighed.

“We can’t seriously consider bringing Skizz and Joel.” Gem said, “Surely not.”

“I don’t know what else to do.” Mumbo said.

“Why can’t you just deal with him like you did the Duke?” Pearl asked.

Mumbo winced.

“He has contracts over Impulse and Hypno.” Gem said.

“So did the Duke.” Pearl said, struggling to see the problem.

“That was an emergency,” Mumbo said, sounding defensive.

Pearl thought this also sounded pretty urgent, but she kept her mouth shut.

“So, what are we going to do?” Doc asked.

“I’m nervous that he knows something.” Mumbo admitted, “He was close to the Duke, after all. And he seems so much more confident than before. Like I don’t have as much sway.”

Doc sighed.

“We need to get Hypno out.” Pearl said. “He was in a bad, bad way.”

“Burtley doesn’t want to give either of them away.” Doc said, “So we need a deal that keeps up close to them until we can sort it out.”

“Why do I have the feeling I’m going to hate this?” Mumbo muttered.

“Because you are.” Doc studied Mumbo carefully before he carried on, “I propose you go in with a different deal. Something that he will be interested in.”

“We can’t offer Skizz or Joel.” Gem said again.

“No, of course not.” Doc said. “But what about an offer of training? I know Hypno. He won’t behave. Burtley won’t be able to handle that.”

“Hypno isn’t in a position to misbehave.” Pearl said.

“An extended offer, then.” Doc said.

“You’re not suggesting we leave them there?” Pearl said.

“I don’t know what else to do, Pearl!” Doc snapped.

“And what about Sid, while we’re at it?” Pearl pushed, “You’re just going to leave him there?”

“I have no sympathies for him.” Mumbo said, “He’s worse than most of the humans in the system.”

“That’s not true.” Pearl defended, “He knew my Mama.”

“You’ve changed your tune. Before, you were the most against him.” Doc looked at her, eyes narrowed.

“The Duke owned him.” Pearl said.

“Pearl,” Gem said softly. “You don’t know everything that he’s done. Even just to Joel. To Impulse. Think of what he’s done to others.”

“But-” Pearl tried.

“It was of his own volition,” Mumbo added, “I know it seems hard to understand without knowing everyth-”

“Then tell me.” Pearl demanded.

“It’s not my story.” Mumbo hissed, “I told Hypno I wouldn’t.”

“Hypno,” Pearl said, “He used Hypno for something at the Duke’s. Impulse wouldn’t say-”

“Pearl, stop.” Doc said.

Pearl felt like crying. She wanted to hit the table and throw things. She just didn’t understand.

"I just don’t get it.” She cried. “If Burtley is only going to make things worse then why are we even trying to deal with him? You can’t get Impulse and Hypno back. Infact he just wants to take more.”

“I know that-” Mumbo tried.

“No, listen,” Pearl stood from her chair and paced a few steps, “Why not talk to someone who can? Surely there’s some other way to-”

“We could just storm it.” Gem said. Pearl rolled her eyes.

“No, Pearl,” Gem continued, “I think you’re right. This isn’t something we can solve with talking. We need to just go in and take them back.”

“But-” Mumbo began.

“Think about it,” Gem cut him off, “He’s already got a criminal record now. It will be easy to fight against him. And if you’re not involved, Mumbo, then nothing can be pinned on you.”

“I am the very definition of involved,” Mumbo said, sounding exasperated.

“We can ask fWhip and the meadow lot for help.” Doc said.

“You can go in for the meeting,” Pearl said, “And then we can sneak them out of wherever they are. Joel and Skizz might know where they’re being kept.”

“I remember,” Gem said.

“You need to be with me.” Mumbo said. “Skizz and Joel are too. If we don’t want to raise suspicion.”

“Then who-” Pearl began.

“False and Ren.” Doc said. “When you guys broke Skizz out, False went back with Ren and did a full report. It’s how he ended up in jail. Her anonymous report about Skizz’s blood was enough to open the investigation into his pharmaceuticals.”

“So, she knows where they might be kept?” Pearl asked.

“I’m sure she does.” Doc said. And we can always ask Skizz if he has any idea where the new hybrids were kept initially.”

“This is going to go badly.” Mumbo said.

“Nothing since this started has gone to plan.” Pearl said.

“I swear we’re usually much more efficient than this,” Gem said, “We’re not amateurs.”

Pearl shrugged, beyond the point of caring, really. She’d be perfectly happy once this was all over to go back to playing the support role after the plan had already been formed.

“I say we kill him.” Doc said. “The guy is clearly a problem.”

“This is a disaster.” Pearl said.

“And we don’t know the hold they have on Hypno.” Gem said.

Pearl stiffened. She thought back to the wounds that covered Hypno. She thought of the strange doll that seemed so important. She thought of the way that Sid managed to control him. She thought of the mysterious way that he had called out to her.

Maybe it wasn’t just her. Maybe nobody knew what Hypno was.