STORY IS SET BEFORE LAPIS LAZULI IS INTRODUCED
The sound of crying fruit echoed quietly through the house. Steven seemed to sway back and forth, smiling as he watched an apple desperately hugging a pear. It was late, and Steven shouldn't be up, but they played reruns of his favorite episodes at 10:00, and he couldn't bear to miss them a tonight. He held his blanket close to his folded knees, he was to focused on the crying to shake th egrin off his face. Steven's ear twitched, he heard something other than crying, he quickly turned off the TV.
"I'm sorry I even brought it up!" Pearl burst through the door, her voice cracking slightly. Garnet followed behind her, her face twisted into a grimace.
"Quiet, you'll wake Steven." Garnet said, anger seeping through her whisper. Steven instantly hid under the covers, pretending he was asleep. Hoping he was convincing, Steven peeked an eye open again.
"Sorry, I just-" Pearl said, holding something in her hands.
"I understand Pearl." Garnet said, crossing her arms cooly.
"I just never though I'd find them, and, now I have, these memories..." Pearl said, fighting back tears.
"I know you miss her."
"I don't miss her! She was a liar, and a traitor, and she's a disgrace to the name Quartz." Pearl said, struggling to keep her voice down. Steven wondered who her was.
"Don't act like you didn't accept her, don't act like you didn't trust her and call her a Crystal Gem. We all did." Garnet said, cringing.
"Smoky Quartz was a lesson to us. A lesson not to always trust. That memory shouldn't be cherished, but it doesn't deserve to be completely forgotten. It's okay if you sometimes remember her, just make sure not to taint the memories with too much good or too bad." Garnet said slowly, Pearl arched her back over her closed hands. Steven strained to see as she opened her hands. A dirty white pair of gloves laid in her palms, it was wrinkled and long. Steven wondered what was so important about them. Steven wondered who Smoky Quartz was.
"Thank you Garnet." Pearl said quietly, and she bubbled the gloves away. They left with one last look at Steven's bed, and left Steven with tons of questions. Exhausted, Steven fell asleep.
"Good morning Steven!" Pearl stood over his bed, Steven groaned.
"Why'd you wake me up Pearl, you never wake me up." Steven said sleepily.
"Well, Steven. Pearl said smiling, "I wanted to show you a bit more about Gem culture today. I thought it would be fun, and educational!" Steven exploded into grin.
"Yeaa!" Steven exclaimed.
"Well, I'm glad your excited. I'll make breakfast and set up, and you can get dressed."
Steven jumped out of bed with energy Pearl had seen many times before, and raced into the bathroom. When Steven came out, sporting his usual starred shirt, pants and sandals, the smell of fresh waffle had filled the house, and a cardboard box neatly filled with fancy looking things was set on the counter.
"Ahh. good. Eat up, and I can start explaining some of these artifacts!" Pearl said happily. Steven nodded, taking a seat excitedly.
"This.." Pearl started, picking up something that looked like a clock, but with three crimson hands that moved up and down randomly in the circle, leaving streaks of red behind it. "This, is a scale of sorts, measuring your weight height and strength, just by looking at you! The small hand measures weight, the middle measures height, and the tallest measures power or strength, using the units: Marks." Pearl spoke passionately, waving her hands about.
"How strong am I Pearl?" Steven asked, flexing his arms on the seat.
"Well let's see..." Pearl said, holding the machine close to his forehead.
"Ahh, well. I just remember, the scale measures power now, it can't even begin to fathom your potential power." Steven nodded.
"Alright. Ah, you have 70 Marks of power! Very impressive." She said smiling. Steven flexed again, and smiled, peeked into the box.
"What's this?" Steven asked, pulling out a large smooth stone.
"Ah, that used to be a book of sorts. It will show you any story of your choosing! It will literally, put you in the story, making you invisible to the scene and chapters in front of you." Pearl said mysteriously.
"Books!" Steven shouted. Maybe he could ask about Smoky. She seemed like a sensitive topic, maybe later.."
Pearl giggled " Yes books. But only Rose could use it. Maybe with a bit more training, you'll be able to work it!"
"Can I keep it?" He asked. Nodding, Pearl took out another item.
When stars returned again to dance across a dark night sky, Steven took out the flat stone. He had been waiting all evening to try again.
"Okay mirror, would you please tell me the story of Smoky Quartz?" The thing buzzed violently in response, Steven closed his eyes, flinching. When he opened them, the stone had started showing him the first chapter, in a very long story.
I hope you enjoy this ongoing story!
I'm so sorry about the glitches, I now know how to fix it, yay! Thank you all for pointing out when they were glitching! Very much appreciated!
Pichu :3