middaeg | Your voice,

And those are your...rulers? Or nobility, for lack of a better word?

[Feeling this out.]

That's right. [Lapis nods helpfully.] They rule over all Gems. Or did, until recently.

Until Steven broke up the hierarchy, right?

Were all of them as cruel-seeming as this one was?

I... guess. Depends on who you asked. Depends on when you asked. Blue Diamond was known as merciful by us court Gems. It probably wasn't that way to those who weren't a part of her court. [But she shakes her head.]

Its... you won't get it, since you're not a gem. [And it's frustrating to know that, because it makes it harder to explain things.]

We're all created specifically for our Diamonds. It wouldn't make sense for us to go against them. Or it didn't, back then.

I think I can follow. Some noble houses have smaller houses that work for them, and have for a thousand years or more. In a sense, those houses exist to serve the main house.

[House Vestra, comes to mind.]

[She doesn't really understand it at first, mostly because she only knows the word "house" as pertaining to a place where humans live, but she does recognize that it's not being used that way.]

I think that's... almost it. But Gems can be traded between Diamonds if need be. I was made for Blue Diamond, but Pink Diamond had need of my abilities, so I was to be given to her for a time to help complete her colony. Is it like that for your "houses"?

House can also refer to a bloodline. So, House Hresvelg, for instance, would refer to my bloodline. So yes, actually.

But... you all serve someone else, right?

[She's trying to wrap her head around it.]

Ah. I suppose technically that would be me. I rule Fodlan, so I'd be the equivalent of Blue Diamond, in this instance.

.... You're not very intimidating.

[The Diamonds had height, stature. Prowess and powers behind them. Edelgard has... none of that.

She's very small.]

But I guess that doesn't matter much to humans, does it? You aren't like us.

Perhaps not to you.

[Edelgard shrugs.

She's not a Gem. But a lot of people find her extremely intimidating.]

We don't place intimidation high on the list of traits we look for in rulers.

Well... No, ability to lead comes first, but the Diamonds are... pretty intimidating? There's other Gems who're made to be intimidating in particular, but the Diamonds are intimidating for an entirely different reason. [Like being rulers. Like being the reason that Gems exist to begin with, like the fact that she was made for Blue Diamond, was expected to serve her loyally- did serve her loyally.]

Well. Know that Fodlan society is structured in such a way that the ruler has similar social standing to one of your Diamonds. But, that's changing. I intend to do what Steven did, more or less, and abolish the hierarchy.

[That's the gospel truth!]

Well, I guess that's easy if you're basically a Diamond yourself. There's no way anyone would listen to someone who isn't in charge to begin with, honestly.

[... She wouldn't have.]

Maybe where you're from. It took a war to make it happen in Fodlan. But honestly, let's...not. We're going to go round and round in circles again.

[Oh, she has a right comment for that too, but thankfully Edelgard heads her off before she can make it, and instead, Lapis just shoots her a dirty look.]

Alright. Fine, what else then? Feel like snooping through more of my memories?

No. I hadn't intended to in the first place. I just...felt this pull towards one of the mirrors and it turned out to be yours.

[She looks away.]

I apologize for intruding, Lapis. I did not mean to pry.

[She watches Edelgard carefully, like she's trying to decide how much of that is the truth, and how much of that she's just trying to get out of trouble.

Eventually, Lapis just sighs and shrugs, letting it drop for now. It's not worth the time.]

Well, if there's anything you feel like knowing about Gem society since my creation, it's probably better to see it than have me explain it.

[If she's looking closely, she'll certainly see that Edelgard is truly regretful. Or an amazing actress.]

What do you think I should see, Lapis? If...you're offering, I think I'd like to know more about Steven, since he's clearly important to you, but only if you want to show me something.

[Either way, she's dropping it for now.]

I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to. [She's a simple gem like that.] What about Steven? [Lapis does find it a little bit amusing that she's asking about him, rather than Gems. He's... been such a small, yet large part of Gem Society as a whole.]

[Edelgard shrugs.]

Show me your favorite memory of him. What made you like him?

My... favourite memory of him, huh?

[That's easy enough, and Lapis grabs hold of the dream, forcing it to her will and using it the same way she'd used to be able to use water, to reflect her memories.

The scene shifts, and the inside of the house on the beach is present this time, though notably, Lapis isn't, and the memory plays out, though Lapis looks on uncomfortably, she's silent.]

[When it's over, Edelgard looks down at the ground, confused...and not at all sure what to make of that. It seems like Lapis is baring a piece of her soul, and she's not sure why, exactly. But she'd seen some of those same people in the other memory. Apparently they came around to her?]

...I'm sorry you were trapped in that mirror.

[She breathes in, taking in sea-salt air.]

I'm glad he set you free.

It's... fine now. [She'll never really accept what happened to her, and she knows that, but she's... fine with it. Better now. What had happened needed to happen.]

Steven is just that kind of person. Even if he is half Diamond. [That last part is said as a slight joke, even if she doesn't think Edelgard gets the gravity of it still.]

He did more than just set me free, though. He healed my gem when it was cracked too.

[Likely, she does not. Likely she never will, but she understands from context that it's incredibly important.]

...Did he? What does a crack mean, exactly? I know you said that your gems are a part of you, and I assume it's more like a soul or something than a bone.

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