I've decided to completely redo this story. The concept will stay the same, but it will be an updated version, after I just watched the episodes from the Wanted event. So, I'm all caught up on the show. Enjoy!
"Man, did it feel good to sleep in my bed." Steven stretched and got up for the day, going through his daily routine for getting ready, then making some breakfast.
"Hey Amethyst, you hungry?"
"No, I'm good. I had some before." she called out, lying on the couch.
"So then...what do you want to do today?" Steven asked, sitting next to her.
"I dunno. How about we go exploring?"
"Alright...where?"
"Someplace interesting."
"Actually...come to think of it, I did find the place that Pink Diamond was shattered, a while back."
"Steven, we shouldn't explore anywhere dangerous. Doesn't Blue Diamond visit that place often?"
"Blue Diamond's back on Homeworld right now. Even if she left right now, she wouldn't be able to get there as quick as us." Steven explained. "Don't you want to see it, Amethyst?"
"...Alright, fine. But we're not staying there for long." She stood up, stretching. "Get ready."
X
It took them a few hours, but they finally got to the location of Pink Diamond's wrecked palanquin.
"...So this is the place, huh?" Amethyst asked.
"Yeah….wait a minute. Have you never seen this before?"
"No. Rose shattered her before she found me."
"Right…" she would ask them later about the theory during his trial. They investigated inside and in the immediate area, but found nothing.
"Steven, there's nothing else here. Let's just go find someplace else."
"But that doesn't make sense! Why would she land here in the middle of no...where?" He stopped when his hand ran across something on the mountainside. A symbol. The symbol of the Great Diamond Authority, but it was the new one.
"Amethyst! Here!" He called over. She saw the symbol and grabbed Steven.
"We shouldn't. If it's the new symbol, it's possible that it's still in operation."
"But this place is really remote."
"Away from civilization. Steven, we shouldn't go in. Or at least, let me go first." She placed her hand on the symbol, making it open an entrance in the mountainside. They walked in, and went down a large stairway before coming into a large rectangular room.
"What is this place? It looks at least a few thousand years old…" Steven spun around, looking at the ceiling and admiring his surroundings.
"It's definitely not new, and not in operation. But considering the symbol by the door, it was built after the rebellion…" There were large colored carvings on the wall, looking almost like professional paintings. Steven walked over to the left side, Amethyst following closely. They came up to two carvings, of two powerful looking green gems.
"Jade." Steven looked at the one on the left, a gem with a similar build to Amethyst, albeit taller. She was depicted as a female gem, wearing black leggings and a green dress, her gem on her navel, and black and green boots. She had green skin and short black hair, but with a green side-swept mop of long hair on her right side of her face, covering one of her eyes. She wore a yellow coat over everything.
"Variscite." Amethyst looked at the other one on the right, a male gem wearing black pants and green boots, a black shirt, and a green military vest over it. He had green skin and light blonde hair. He wore a yellow coat as well.
"Hey, there's a thing here. An indent." Steven said, pointing to the edges of both of them. There was a small silver half of a yin and yang symbol on each of them. They slid them together, making a click sound and locking them into place. The paintings started shaking before moving apart along with the wall, revealing another room. They walked in, seeing a new carving, taking up the whole wall by itself. It was Yellow Diamond.
"I still don't get what this place is for. All there is is these pictures." Steven placed a hand against the big one.
"Speaking of which...there are more." Amethyst now walked over to the right side of the big room, Steven following. This time the gems were blue. Steven read the one on the left.
"Kyanite." Another female gem, with blue skin, wearing a light blue dress, same color shoes, and short blue hair, around the same length as Lapis'. Her gem was on her chest. She did not wear leggings like the others, but wore a blue coat.
"Tanzanite." Amethyst examined the other one on the right, a dark blue skinned male gem who looked extremely intimidating compared to the previous three, and that's saying something. He wore white pants and black shoes, wore a purple shirt, blue vest, and an open blue coat over it. He had medium length dark blue hair, and his gem was on his chest. Once again, they slid the two pieces into place, and the wall and carvings moved apart, revealing another secret room, where Blue Diamond was portrayed.
"This is getting weird...I'm almost afraid to look at the last ones…" Steven mumbled, stepping back into Amethyst, who walked towards the last two. Unlike the first two sets, these two gems were different colors.
"Citrine." Steven read the one on the right, a male gem wearing black pants and shoes, a black shirt, an orange vest, and a white coat over it. His skin was orange, and he had orange-blond hair that was medium length and somewhat of a bed head style, kind of unkempt and wild. He had orange gems on his palms.
"Amethyst, what about the other one? Amethyst?" After a few moments of silence, he turned to her, concerned. She had her hand placed against the left craving, her hair covering her eyes, her mouth slightly open.
"Amethyst, are you alright?" he asked, grabbing her arm, startling her.
"Oh! Um...yeah. Yeah, I'm alright. It's nothing, just studying the picture. Onyx." She said, showing the last of the carvings. A beautiful gem with gray skin and long wavy black hair was shown, with a hand on her hip. She was wearing short black boots, black leggings, a dark gray dress, and a white coat. Her gem appeared to be on her chest, like Amethyst's. They moved the symbols together for the third time, and the paintings split apart, revealing a final room, with a tall figure, the same size as the other diamonds. Her skin was white, and she wore a white military uniform, along with a silky white cape over it. Her hair was spiked up and white as well.
"Who the heck is this?" Steven asked.
"I don't know...I've never seen her before…Steven...let's go. This place makes me feel uncomfortable…"
"O-Ok…Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"Yeah...I just need to rest." The two nodded at each other and left, heading back to the temple.
X
"Steven! Where did you two go?" Pearl asked, as the two warped back.
"We went out for some fun. You finished your mission?"
"Yes. There was an old signal coming from a crashed homeworld ship. It turns out it was nothing...thing hasn't been used for centuries, just a fleeting moment for the technology to come back to life." Garnet answered.
"So, what did you guys do for…? Amethyst?" Pearl asked, seeing the gem walk back to the warp pad.
"Where are you going?" But before she got an answer, she was gone already. Steven stared at the pad concerned.
"Steven? What's up with her?"
"I don't know...all she said before was that she wanted some rest."
"Before? Before what?" Garnet asked.
"Ummm…" Steven clamped his mouth shut. Amethyst didn't want them to know about where they went.
"Steven." Garnet said somewhat forcefully. He started backing up slowly.
"Steven!" they both yelled.
"We went to an old gem temple!" he blurted out, as everything became quiet.
"What?!" Garnet asked.
"It was my fault! I suggested it, and convinced her to take me…" Steven said. "Don't blame Amethyst."
"We won't. It's you who should know better! Don't you know how dangerous that could be?"
"Yeah...but nothing happened...actually, the same as with you guys. It was old and abandoned."
"Where was it?"
"Near Pink Diamond's palanquin. In the mountainside."
"You didn't tell us you went there! Steven, that's where Blue Diamond showed up last time!" Garnet yelled, making him shrink back. She sighed and shook her head.
"We'll discuss that later. What did you find?"
"It was strange...it was just a few rooms full of carvings. Carvings of different gems, in full color. We didn't recognize any of them, other than the two diamonds." They thought about them before Garnet slowly turned back to him.
"Steven, how many carvings were there?"
"There were...9 in total. Three pairs, and three more that were by themselves."
"...Pearl. We should go investigate this place ourselves. Steven, why don't you go get either Lapis or Peridot to help you find Amethyst?"
"Alright."
"We'll be back later." The two warped away, and Steven left for the barn.
X
"Guys!"
"Steven!" Lapis called out. "What's up?"
"I need one of you to come with me. Amethyst went off somewhere and the other two are busy. Can you help me find her?"
"Yeah. We'll both go with you. Peridot! Come on, we're going out!" She called. They walked back to the temple together, and went onto the warp pad.
"Do you have any idea where she went?"
"She probably went to her Kindergarten." They warped there, and began to look around.
"So...why did Amethyst come here in the first place?" Peridot asked.
"I'm not really sure. We found an old gem monument earlier today, and things were going fine, until the end. Something we saw seemed to put her off, and she's been kind of distant since then."
"What did you see?" Lapis asked.
"A few different murals. They were paintings of different gems, most of which we've never seen before."
"What did they look like?"
"Let me think...two of them were green...two of them were blue...one was orange...and one was black."
"Green, blue, orange, and black…" Lapis repeated the words a few times to herself before stopping short.
"Lapis? What is it?"
"I...think I know who those murals were of. At least, I have an idea. I could be wrong, but it's a strong possibility. Steven, have you ever heard of the Gem Lieutenants?" Peridot almost tripped over herself.
"Lapis, you shouldn't talk about them!" she protested.
"Why?! Who are the Gem Lieutenants?!" Steven asked. Both of them calmed down and looked at him, taking a deep breath.
"Don't get me wrong, I've never met or even seen any of them personally, but...everyone's heard of them." Lapis began.
"Same. Let's keep walking." Peridot led the others, still looking for Amethyst. "The Gem Lieutenants are the leaders of Homeworld's military forces. They're called such because they're the right hands to the Diamonds, and are second in the hierarchy, with the Diamonds being the only ones superior. Each diamond is assigned two lieutenants. The three weaker ones are ranked as Generals of the armies. The three stronger ones are designated as Head Lieutenants, and are in charge of their partners, and are the right hands of their respective diamonds. They are ranked as Commanders."
"So...going by the military ranks we have on earth…" Steven thought.
"I'm not familiar with them."
"They're pretty similar. So...a Lieutenant would be like a Five-Star General...and the Diamonds would be like presidents."
"What's a...president?" they asked at the same time.
"Well, Mayors are like leaders of cities. The president is the leader of the whole country. He's like a mayor for everywhere at once."
"Then the diamonds aren't really like that. They work together as a group. They're kind of like a council."
"I'm not so sure about that…"
"Amethyst!" Lapis called out, finding her near her hole. They ran over to her, but she didn't move at all.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We came to find you!" Steven said, hugging her. "What's wrong?! Why have you been acting like this?"
"...Old memories…." she mumbled.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"That painting that I touched in the ruins...I know her."
"What? You do?! Who is she?!"
"She's...my older sister…"
X
"My Diamond, are you feeling alright?"
"Ah, Tanzanite. Yes, I'll be alright. Thank you for checking on me." She slouched in her throne.
"...Permission to speak my mind?"
"Of course, you don't even have to ask."
"I'm worried that you're not emotionally stable right now. You're still shaken up over Pink Diamond's death, but still want to perform your duties in the war against the Crystal Gems. You can't do your job effectively as long as you're caught up in this depression."
"I know...Yellow keeps pestering me about this."
"She doesn't know how to comfort you, she's just yelling at you."
"Yes...I might go ask White for advice."
"Heh...I'm not sure she'd be much help either, and you know that I'm not good at this sort of thing. Personally, I'd ask Onyx or Kyanite for counseling."
"Yes...I think I should do that. In the meantime, I'll call on Yellow to have one of her Lieutenants go down to earth."
"Understood. Do you need me for anything else?"
"No. You're dismissed for the time being." He bowed before walking out towards Blue's conference room, where high members of her court gathered for discussion. Kyanite sat in one of the chairs.
"She may want to talk to you."
"Of course. Have you seen the others around today?"
"No, not really. Onyx almost never leaves White Diamond's side, though, so she's probably up there with her."
"Yeah…."
X
"That'll be all for today." Variscite nodded to some young gem soldiers who were going through training.
"Thank you, General!" they responded, bowing. A few of them gasped when they saw Onyx walk over. Hushed whispers began.
"Is that Commander Onyx?"
"What is she doing here?"
"She's so pretty…"
"Hey, it's not nice to talk about your superiors behind their back." Variscite scolded.
"O-Our apologies, Commander!"
"It's alright." she laughed. "Are you guys working hard?"
"Yes!"
"Good. Then hard work deserves a good rest. I will resume your training the day after tomorrow. Go rest up." They smiled and ran off to their barracks, laughing.
"So, why did you come all the way out here?"
"Yellow Diamond has assigned you and Jade to Earth."
"Hm? That's sudden."
"Yes. But after so many failed attempts from our previously sent gems, we figured it was time to send someone both competent, and strong, there. Your orders are to capture the Crystal Gems on sight, should you find them. However, Rose Quartz is of the utmost importance. Search for her, and bring her back."
"Understood. We'll leave immediately. You don't mind taking over my classes?"
"No, of course not."
"Thank you. I should start getting ready." He walked off, while Onyx watched the young gems run around, playing with each other.
"...Stay safe, Amethyst….."
End.