New Gem
The day was quiet, despite all the happenings of Earth. Things were settling down. Steven had just returned, saving his father, Greg, from the grasps of the Zoo. Things were, for a lack of a better, more descriptive term, calm. Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were talking, as they would do after a big mission like this. Steven was out, with Connie, Lapis, and Peridot, relaxing after the mission. Greg was back at his van, listening to his old tracks and trying to destress. The sun was a golden, blood-red color, splurging the city with its brilliant hue. Despite the War, despite the battles, Earth was still beautiful. Beyond beautiful, beyond words capable of describing the natural bliss that Earth possessed.
That's when Pearl's terminal, which she'd dug up during the hunt for Peridot, binged a notification. It was the first time since the war that it did so. Even when the hunt for Peridot was going on, Pearl would have to monitor it for any changes. Pearl was stunned, a look of pure disbelief on her face. Amethyst was oblivious, while Garnet motioned for Pearl to look at the terminal.
"Well? Just going to stand there and not do a thing?" Garnet said in her deep, seemingly emotionless voice. She looked at Pearl though her shades, waiting for the Pearl to respond.
"Of-" Pearl stuttered, still astonished by the abrupt interruption. "Of course!"
Pearl rushed over, using her nimble, long digits to accept the notification and entering the network password, to access the message.
WARNING: SANCTUARY X (ROSE'S SANCTUARY) HAS BEEN BREACHED. UNKNOWN GEM HAS ACCESSED DOOR CONTROLS, HAS PASSWORD. POTENTIAL TRAITOR. RESPOND IMMEDIATELY.
The message blared a perilous red, and was bold. The old network security system had detected a Gem using the door controls at a sanctuary. Sanctuary X, it had been called. But Pearl was unfamiliar with it. Which was strange, considering Rose told her nearly everything. Garnet was shadowing Pearl. And Amethyst was trying to push her way to the monitor, through the unmoving fusion.
"What is it?! Come on!" Amethyst whined. "I wanna' see!"
Garnet put her multicolored hand on the purple Gem's head, which calmed her.
"Who could it be, Pearl?" Garnet started. "Homeworld?"
Pearl shook her head profusely.
"Impossible. They wouldn't know the passwords. Even during the war, they didn't know." Pearl looked paranoid, sweat gathering under her brow. As usual, she was easily shook.
But Garnet was not easily disturbed. She simply smiled slightly.
"Maybe the Corrupted learned to shapeshift fingers?" Garnet cracked, obviously not taking it as seriously.
Pearl looked back at Garnet with a nervous smile.
"Maybe..." Pearl said, unconvinced.
Amethyst shook her arms in frustration.
"What are you guys talking about?! Is this something about the war?" Amethyst started, shouting, frustrated. "I wasn't around for the war! Come on, tell me!"
Garnet chuckled.
"It's probably nothing. Could be interesting to see an old Sanctuary. Most of them are destroyed." Garnet began, putting her chin in her hand, musing. "It is likely that the facility is intact, considering that the system is still concrete, sending us this message, right, Pearl?"
Pearl nodded, calmer, who was also pensive.
"It's more than plausible. It could be an excellent learning opportunity for both Steven, Connie," She said, turning to Amethyst, "And Amethyst." Pearl smiled excitedly.
Amethyst, still confused, simply looked baffled, scratching her head.
Steven said goodbye to Lapis as she began to fly off with Peridot in hand, and walked towards the house with Connie. Connie was wearing a blue-and-white embroidered sundress, with a tan sombrero-style hat, covering her chocolate, smooth hair. Connie's brown eyes shone from the sun, and Steven smiled. Steven was wearing his usual clothing, his starred shirt, his blue jeans with sock-less sandals. Steven had a small band-aid on his right temple, covering a small scrape he'd endured on their nature walk. The sand, he'd noticed, was dry, too hot to walk on barefoot. The foaming waves drifted it, leaving in its wake, a darker, stained sand bank. Steven and Connie skipped, dancing around each other on the sand, careful not to get too close, in case they fused accidentally. Steven was happy. His dad was safe, his friends were safe, and Earth was safe. Speaking of which…
"Garnet!" Steven squealed seeing the Square-mom walking hand in hand with the other Gems.
Suddenly, Steven broke hands with Connie, and using his floating ability, jumped belly-first onto Garnet's hair. Garnet smiled, grabbed Steven by the ribs(tickling him, causing him to giggle uncontrollably), and brought him face to face with the Gem.
"Oh no!" Garnet said mockingly. "A Steven-bomb?! Whatever shall I do?"
Still giggling, Steven managed to get out, "Put...me….down..!"
Garnet's smile got a little wider, putting down Steven.
"Where are you guys off to?" Steven asked, wiping his shirt as he looked up at the de facto leader of the Crystal Gems, Garnet.
As this exchange happened, Connie walked up quietly and bowed to her teacher, Pearl, who was paying attention to Garnet and Steven's interaction.
"Ma'am." Connie said respectfully, still in a bowing position.
Pearl, shocked out of her daydream, noticed her student's greeting, and pat her head, signaling to stop bowing, to which Connie did so, smiling all the while.
"Well, appa
renfly we're goifing to a sanctulary," Amethyst said, stuffing a corn dog in her black hole of a mouth.
"What's a Sanctualary?" Steven asked seriously. To this, Connie giggled.
"She means Sanctuary, Steven!" Connie said, mid-laugh. Embarrassed at his obliviousness, Steven's cheeks went a pale red.
"Well, yes. A sanctuary that we haven't known about. It's a….learning experience." Pearl began, one hand at her side, another at her chin. "Think of it like a field-trip, Steven."
Connie sagged a bit, knowing that some things humans couldn't do. Magical destinies included.
"And, we thought, since Connie is your fusee and your partner, she should come as well." Garnet added, using future vision to predict Connie's sadness.
Connie perked up.
"Really? I mean, I don't want to be a bother..." Connie said modestly, as she turned her head shyly.
"You won't. I swear." Garnet smiled, giving her the thumbs-up to come along.
The group turned, and walked tightly towards the nearby warp pad in the house. The group warped, and began walking towards their destination, and were quiet, until Steven sparked a conversation.
"So, a sanctuary? Like, for animals? Or plants? Did my mom make it?" Steven asked, bending down to pick up a caterpillar to let it crawl across his fingers.
"She...well, she certainly helped facilitate them. But it was rogue bismuthes that built them for Rose." Pearl said, making Steven cringe at the mention of the builder gems. Steven was still trying to understand if what he did to Bismuth was right. What his mom did to Bismuth.
"Yes. A place where safety for all gems was a priority. No guards, no rules. Even humans sought them out during the war." Garnet recalled.
Steven picked up a leaf from a nearby tree and held it out to his caterpillar, who munched on it happily.
"Even for homeworld?" Amethyst said.
Garnet cocked her head, then returned to normality.
"Yes. Even homeworld." Garnet said.
I guess all people deserve a place of safety in times of war… Steven thought.
"Yes, but we didn't even know this place existed." Pearl said, biting her teeth nervously.
"Why? Don't you have like, a map, or something of all the sanctuaries?" Connie asked inquisitively.
"Well...sure." Pearl said halfheartedly. "But, we were given incomplete maps. Even Rose wanted to be alone sometimes."
Connie nodded, and Steven put his caterpillar bud on a nearby low-hanging branch, smiled, and walked away, waving at his old friend. He'd miss him.
"It's exciting. I haven't been in a sanctuary in thousands of years. It should be nice." Garnet said blissfully.
As they approached the location, a pillar of steam seemed to edge from the hill they were climbing.
"What the…?" Pearl said.
Pearl jumped to the top, and brought her hands to her face, aghast at the sight. Garnet, worried, jumped to the same spot, and stopped, like a deer in a headlight. Amethyst was pretty absent-minded, but noticed her friends' reaction, rolling up the hill, falling into a relaxed sitting position, looking down, and seeing what they saw, her jaw dropped. Connie and Steven looked at each other, and raced to the top.
As they reached the top they saw it. A ginormous mountain, with two statures adjourning an entrance. One, on the left, was adorned in a heavy set of armor, spikes and the like in it, with jet-hair, and orange marble for eyes. This statue was strangely masculine for a gem, and the statue had a broadsword hung over its shoulder, with a look of pure disinterest in its sculpted face. It stood at some 30 feet, and was impressively colored with multiple types of stone. The other statue was a more familiar face, Rose's lips, hips, and shield adorned this statue, resembling Rose's form to a T. The statue was smiling, and looked confident as it aimed its shield outwards.
But that's not what startled the group. It's what laid outside. A large, silver metallic structure, resembling some of the ships Steven had seen, was docked directly outside the Sanctuary, with a plume of steam rising from a chimney-looking tower on the back, presumably where the engine was. The ramp was out, but no one was around. The door to the sanctuary was open.
"Homeworld?" Pearl asked rhetorically. "But...but..."
"But you said they didn't know the passwords back during the war!" Amethyst said accusingly.
"They didn't!" Pearl retorted, shaking slightly.
"Enough! We need to get to the bottom of this." Garnet said, still frozen. "Stick together, watch one another's back, and never let your guard down."
The group slid down the hill, and upon venturing close to the door, they recognized thin, small footprints in the smooth gravel leading up to the door. Pearl looked at the entrance terminal, and recognized the password.
"They didn't brute force the terminal..or door." Pearl said horrified.
"Which means they either got intel from one of our own..." Garnet insinuated.
"Or this is one of us." Pearl finished.
Steven and Amethyst looked at each other, confused.
"Why is that a bad thing?" Steven asked. "Another crystal gem isn't a bad thing, is it?"
"It wouldn't be...if it weren't for the fact that they should be corrupted." Garnet said knowingly.
"So? They were tough. They survived." Amethyst chorted, then shrugged.
"No. This means they betrayed us at some point, and avoided the Corruption altogether." Garnet retorted.
Pearl shook her head, and ran inside. Garnet grimaced and ran after her, summoning her gauntlets as she continued her pursuit.
"Pearl, wait!" Garnet yelled inside.
"Come on, guys!" Amethyst said, grabbing Steven, and running after Garnet. Amethyst had Steven over her shoulders haphazardly, and had summoned her whip, before Connie followed quickly. Connie withdrew her sword, and had it in a casual, yet prepared fighting stance.
Please don't let this be another scary battle…. Connie thought to herself as she sprinted after the purple Gem.
The dark corridors were lined with a layer of blue plasma, the only light available. The building was seemingly made of a black, ebony, smooth concrete material. As they continue to run, they stopped when they saw Garnet and Pearl staring at something. When getting close, they saw what looked to be one of Pearl's holograms, but was ejected through a device on a table in a cut out section of the wall. As they got closer, they heard a familiar voice.
"...it seems strange now that I think about it. Working with him. But I'm glad he changed his mind." The voice spoke slowly, sullenly, and maternally.
"Rose?" Amethyst said confused as she let Steven down. Steven wiped himself off, and followed Amethyst and Connie up to the hologram.
The image flickered, and reappeared.
"Log 2 through Log 253 corrupted: Reason: Deleted by admin. Moving to Log 254." Rose's voice said in a monotone pitch and tempo.
"Log 254. It's been a while, hasn't it, Zorlin?" Rose said. The hologram split, and revealed the second figure from the statue outside.
"It has. Amedine's been shattered. Her legion are fleeing." the other figure said emotionlessly, as he stood with his large broadsword over his shoulder, in hand.
"I see. How is Sapphire?" Rose said, sitting in an intricate chair, as she brought what looked to be a tea cup to her lips.
"She's…." the other figure said, hesitating before answering. "...fine. What's my next assignment?"
"Assignment? Is that all I am to you? An employer?" Rose said, raising her gaze at the other figure.
"No!" The figure insisted. "It's..just...I don't want to feel anymore. You know I'm only doing this because of our past. I'm putting Saph in danger by doing this. Working for a rebel. You know that."
"Feel? You don't want to be happy? To laugh? To smile?" Rose asked, with a worried look on her face.
"I don't." the other figure answered, as his gaze lowered to his feet.
"Why?" Rose asked, setting the tea cup down on a table nearby.
"Because then I can't cry. I can't sob. I can't be sad." The other figure asserted, shifting his feet.
The hologram cut out. Another device to left of the current one turned on, which emitted another hologram.
"Hey, Rose. I heard about what happened. How's Pearl and Garnet?" the figure asked hurredly.
"Alright. Thanks to you. Are...are you-" Rose said, interrupted.
"No, I'm not alright. I just shattered the equivalent of a daughter. So, no. I'm not alright. I regret it greatly." the figure said, sitting down in a metal-spiked throne.
"I...I regret feeling. You said I'd be happier. But now...now all I feel is pain. My heart is tearing itself apart. I did this for the rebellion. For you. I can never take it back."
"I..I'm sorry. I should have done it." Rose said, a tear forming in her eyes, as she fell into her chair, and lowered her face into her hands.
"You should have. But you couldn't. It doesn't matter. Because I did it. And everyone thinks you did it. Everything worked out perfectly for you. But not for me. Oh, no, not for me. Sapph is gone. I have no one, Rose. No one." the figure said, before it cut out again, being replaced by another.
"Rose. It's been quite some time since we last spoke." The figure said, seemingly less brooding than before.
"Yes...yes it has. And…I..." Rose faltered, and the figure piqued its head.
"What? Is something happening?" it asked, sitting calmly down in its throne.
"Well, yes. Pearl, Garnet, and I were searching through the prime kindergarten." Rose started, "You know, to make sure things were still...dead."
"Understandable, considering the War. What happened? More Corrupted?" the figure asked, more empathetic than usual.
"No. A Gem." She said simply, with happiness edging from her voice.
"Really? Who?" it asked, leaning forward in its chair.
"An Amethyst, to be exact" Rose said factually.
To this, Garnet and Pearl nodded knowingly, knowing this was when they found Amethyst. But Amethyst just looked...estranged, to say the least. Like someone had been watching her since she emerged.
"In the prime kindergarten? She must be..what, 600 years overcooked?" It asked inquisitively, leaning back, stroking its chin.
"Yes. But she's wonderful. Like an Earthling that inhabits a Gem. She's unique." Rose said appreciatively, making Amethyst blush.
"And useless..." The figure asserted, catching the attention of not only Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie and Steven, but the holorecording of Rose.
"Excuse me?" Rose asked, adding, "Useless?"
"Yes. Useless. Without purpose. If it were me, I'd shatter her. You know how amethysts are when overcooked. Dangerous. Unthinking. Insubordinate." It spoke, with malice flowing from each syllable.
Garnet clenched her fist, and Pearl's brow sharpened, while Amethyst looked down at the ground darkly.
"Reminds me of you. What if you never gave me a chance? Or Sapphire? How would our relationships had grown if you never gave me a chance to begin with?" Rose asked, rather neutral in comparison to the other Gems.
"I suppose you would never have rebelled, and Sapphire and I would have never loved one another." the figure spoke knowingly, as its face still clung to the shadows. "Irregardless, do what you think is best. I trust your judgment. Just be careful. I don't need to lose you, too."
Rose smiled at that, and crossed her hands at her chest, and spoke, "Of course. I know you care."
The hologram once again flickered, and reappeared.
"Rose-" The figure began hurriedly before being interrupted by an excited, smiling Rose.
"Zorlin! You won't believe this!" She feverishly burst. "I met a human a while back, but you won't believe it….he's..he's different!"
At this, the group all focused on the hologram. Pearl and Garnet immediately went to the assumption that she meant one of her previous human concubines, while Amethyst, Steven, and Connie all knew better. Steven smiled. His dad was pretty 'different'.
"How so?" The figure asked, as it sat down on what looked to be a chair of some sort, but with no legs to support it this time.
"He's...I don't know….deep. I've never felt this way about a human before." Rose said emphatically, sitting on a human bed.
"But?" The figure asked, tapping on a nearby terminal screen, by the looks of it, interested, but busy, while listening to Rose.
"But...We Gems can't really 'birth'. And...well, supposedly, there's something sacred to humans. Their sort of fusion. It's called a 'child'. But...I can't really have children, because of my Gem." Rose said, physically drooping down in depression. "It's...unfortunate, to say the least."
The figure perked up at the mention of children. And then drooped as well, and hesitated, before continuing.
"We can birth. Me and Sapphire didn't know what to do...we wanted a child badly. During the war..." The figure started, as Rose settled down to pay attention, with her head in her hands, watching intently like a schoolgirl during a lecture.
"During the war...Sapphire, as you know, was cracked by a large homeworld fusion. We had discussed at length years before. Sapphire had found an Oracle, and managed to salvage the knowledge of hybridization, something even the Diamonds didn't know was a thing." It started, speaking methodically, as if it were hard to speak.
"Sapphire...she...and I, talked about our would-be child. What their name would be. We decided. And...she told me that as long as she existed, our child couldn't exist. That it would take her Gem to birth a child. It...didn't occur to me, then, that Sapph has seen her cracking. She knew she would die. She wanted to bring our child into the world. And now that they're here..." The figure spoke, before breaking down.
Small, subtle sobs could be heard from the figure.
"Please. You don't have to go on." Rose said earnestly. Reaching a hand out to the other hologram.
The figure stopped sobbing, and picked itself up.
"Sapphire wanted me to tell you how to hybridize yourself." The figure said solemnly.
Rose was taken back by this.
"She...did?" Rose said doubtfully. "But, why?"
Rose shook her head, skeptical of this.
"Because she knew how you were so fond of humans. She also foresaw us...together. She wanted us to be happy, no matter what. So she told me how to hybridize, and told me that I couldn't keep that knowledge to myself. And I won't." The figure said sullenly.
"But?" Rose said, knowing there was a catch.
"But...I want you to wait. Promise me. Because I want to see you, and I want my child to see her aunt, before you leave this world. I want to see you off." The figure said gravely.
"Of course." Rose lied. "Now, how do I do this…?"
The hologram cut off once more.
All the Gems were speechless. To Connie and Steven, it just sounded like Steven's mom was taught some ability called 'hybridization'. But...to the older Gems….they knew that this figure was responsible for Rose's departure. He was the one who taught Rose how to give her life away. Amethyst was still pretty lost, just scratching at her head, not even on the same level of understanding as Connie and Steven. Garnet stumbled back a step, and faltered slightly. She violently shook her head, and began talking.
"Why?! Why would she do this?" Garnet spoke in a more energized, faster-tempo voice. "She left us...because of some random jerkwad human?!"
"It was her choice..." Garnet said slower, in a calm, more monotone voice. "We can't fault her for doing what she believed was right."
"Right?!" Garnet shouted. "She would still be here if not for him! We don't even know this guy!"
As Garnet argued with herself, Amethyst realized what happened, and her brow furrowed deeply.
"Wait. Just. a. second." Amethyst said in a dark tone, gritting her teeth and looking down, her bangs covering her eyes. "You're saying...that this random guy, was the one who told Rose how to have a kid?"
Anger and hate bellowed in her question, and instinctively, Steven reached out. Before that could happen, Amethyst bolted. Her form was a white-and-black blur, and soon enough you could hear the grinding of stone as she used her rolling form to go even faster. As Steven look down the hall she fled, he could see a trail of tears leading to the wall, where she'd taken the rolling form. Connie looked at her master, and saw nothing. A blank, deadpan face. No tears. No anger.
Abruptly, Pearl fell to her knees, and grasped at the smooth, black stone beneath her holographic feet.
"...Why..." Pearl gasped out. Tears flew from her eyes, falling to the black stone beneath them. "Why?"
"Why...Rose?"
"Why...because...of a human?"
"For…a human..."
Pearl spoke in low tones, barely comprehensible. Garnet was still arguing with herself, and Steven was struggling to understand Pearl. Connie heard it pretty well. She felt a hot pang of shame for being a human. For being associated to someone that caused so much pain for the gems. It was obvious that not enough time had passed. The Gems were still mourning their leader. And all it took was a catalyst. A reason. A person, to blame. They couldn't blame Rose, nor (recently) Greg. But now? Now they had a scapegoat. Connie was terrified. The Gems were so unstable. She felt the security they had established as a team was falling. And all because of one of her kind. A human.
As Amethyst rushed down the corridors, she wasn't searching for anything. She wanted to run. To race. To never stop. Her thoughts raced, never stopping to focus on the trauma she was inducing on herself. She wanted to get away from the pain in her metaphorical heart. She, no matter how fast a quartz she was, couldn't outrun the immense hurt she felt. Hot, emotional tears fell, and suddenly, the walls were lubricating themselves, and Amethyst felt her rolling form's grip loosen, and she tumbled onto the floor, sobbing and crying pathetically. Whether seconds, or minutes, she did not know. But, to her, it felt like centuries. She just lay there, on the ground, drowning herself in her own tears. She knew it was pathetic. But….she missed Rose. How could that jerk do this to them?! Rose would still be here if it weren't for that idiot!
That's when another hologram near Amethyst emerged. This one was of Rose, with a plump belly, seemingly pregnant. The other figure was absent. Her dress was stretched, her face darker than usual, but the still pink skin complimented the white dress and pink accents. She was sat in a floating chair, as before, and looked solemn. She took a deep breath, and began.
"It's been months….and you aren't answering. I assume you're busy… 'working'. I know. But...I also know you are angry. I know you knew I lied. A few more weeks, and I'll be gone...I just...I hope that you can forgive me. I miss you." Rose said sadly, cutting it off.
Before Amethyst could even register that, a new hologram quickly appeared, this time, the muscular human appeared.
"Rose. I haven't accessed this archive in years. I know you are most likely gone, and dead..." The figure spoke, and he breathed in roughly, as if..scared, or mournful, and nearly on the brink of sobbing. Though his face was obscured, the jagged, uncontrollable movements seemed to insinuate he was holding it back.
"I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm even doing this! I just...I was wrong. Rose, I should have NEVER told you how to hybridize! Your emotions...those wretched things, they were always going to be the death of you! How could you? Lie to me, your brother? I served you. I saved you. I rescued you. And for what?! To be treated…!" He said, and the holorecorder picked up a few tears dropping from his obscured face.
"This was a stupid idea. Pain doesn't fix anything. I'll keep working, and keep Onyx safe. Just because I lost Saf….and you, doesn't mean I need lose her. She's so curious. So fixated. We always promised her she'd see you...and I won't tell her you abandoned her. You're not that cowardly. You were just reckless. As ever."
The hologram cut out. But what was left was the file information.
February 19th, 2004.
A few years after Steven was born….Amethyst noted.
Another file popped up, and autoplayed. It was the last.
A tall, slender girl, with dark, black skin appeared. She had long, straight hair, and deep, brown eyes. She appeared human. She wore dark blue-teal clothing, regally, her belt a higher hue, with a somewhat of a skirt covering her legs. Her shoes were a darker blue-teal, and she had a focused expression on her face, with her tongue sticking out in concentration.
"There! That ought to work!" The girl started, with a smooth, yet feminine voice, obviously young.
"Log date:…. Erhm….Summer? By the looks of it? I know nothing of Earth's time formations, but for me, it's Tinterary…-"
As the hologram droned on and on about the timestamp, the other Gems had slowly approached and were just as puzzled as the purple misfit. Garnet adjusted her shades, and Pearl had her chin in hand, perplexed at how a human accessed Sanctuary X.
"-nyways, I thought I ought to leave this. For Dad. And maybe Rose, too? Maybe I'm optimistic. Maybe I'm stupid. But Dad won't tell me ANYTHING!" She emphasized, frustrated.
"These records indicate Rose was pregnant. And some say that she would 'lose her physical form'. But maybe she survived?"
As the figure said this, the Gems' winced at the naivete of it all, but also in pity.
"I just...I want to know what she was like. She was my aunt...I remember her. Dad says I never met her. But he lied. I remember her coming to Teranus XV and meeting with Dad about the Gem Homeworld. I know he's worried. I know he's tired. But that's no excuse to never tell me I had a cousin!" She waved her arms, and though most wouldn't have noticed, Garnet did.
A small, but solid, rock, on her upper arm. Solid. Shiny. And Black.
An Onyx? But she's human… Garnet questioned.
"Dad never talks about the Rebellion. He says that it was when mom died." the girl said somewhat apathetically.
"I don't remember her. He wasn't lying about that."
"But Rose kept a diary here. Most of it is corrupted, or coded. But the most recent entries aren't. Apparently, their name is Nora, or Steven, depending on if they are a boy or girl. They were born….recently. I'm afraid I haven't figured out if they're still a baby or not. But, I'm SO excited! He should be staying with Greg, Rose's husband, right? Where else would they go? Dad always warned me not to go to Earth. 'Too dangerous.' But I think he was just lying. I mean, the war pretty much annihilated all REAL danger on the planet. There's no gems left here. Just Rose. Oh, uh, log end. I just found the location of Rose's husband! I can't wait to meet my uncle-in-law!"
The recording cut out, with the girl's face awash with excitement. Before anything could be registered completely, they all gasped, and realized this girl was heading to Greg's! They had to get there...and FAST!
The Gems' moved quickly. Pearl grabbed Connie and carried her, and Garnet did the same with Steven. And they ran. Oh, did they run. The Warp Pad's teleportation never seemed slower, and as they approached the Car Wash, they saw Greg was nowhere!
"Where else would he go? He didn't have an apartment...did he? Did he?" Pearl rushed, afraid of the possibilities.
"Oh no!" Steven shouted, garnering the attention of the group. "Dad just got back from being kidnapped! Now he's about to be-"
"No, he's not." Garnet said calmly. "We WILL stop it."
"But where else would he go? He doesn't have anywhere else to go but here or the house!" Amethyst shouted, running around looking for Greg under rocks and the like, uselessly, needlessly, but impulsively.
"Could he-" Pearl said, pondering, before being interrupted.
"No. I do not foresee him coming to the house." Garnet said clearly, looking into the hourglass of time, trying to find anything that would aid us, but to no avail.
"Where would he go..." Pearl questioned, looking afar.
Amethyst's purple face lit up with an idea.
"Steven!" Amethyst said, practically pouncing on him, grabbing his shoulders.
"Where would your dad go? You got any ideas?"
The group turned to him, once again looking for guidance.
"...maybe." Steven said seriously, looking them all square in the eyes.
"Close enough." Garnet said, as she picked the two children up, and off they were.
They rushed through Beach City, Steven uttering a 'left' or 'right' for simple direction, and soon they were upon Vidalia's house.
"Why would he come here?" Pearl asked, almost doubtfully, landing gracefully on the concrete.
"Dad used to come here all the time to babysit, and would stay here when he didn't have a home." Steven said, recalling many of his father's stories.
"Yeah! I remember that's how me and Val met!" Amethyst said, affirming Steven.
Garnet cared little. She put the children down firmly, and approached the door, and kicked it open, leaving it off its hinges. Three faces looked aghast and surprised at the interruption, one sitting in a sitting chair, two on a couch. There was Greg, on the couch, who looked no worse for wear, with his regular tanktop and shorts, sandals, and long, if not balding, hair. The common skin burn, everything. No scratches, abrasions, or harm. No bindings. Just sitting there, hands out, as if mid-conversation. There was the girl from the records, who looked more frightened than surprised, wearing the same clothes as in the recording, but with a teacup in hand, presumably with tea inside, sitting across from Greg. Then there was Vidalia, who looked more angry than scared, and glared at Garnet.
"Garnet! Do you have ANY idea how much it costs for a repairman for that door?!" Vidalia screamed as she stood up. "Do you?!"
As Greg prepared to laugh it off, Garnet instead summoned her gauntlets and took a step forward.
Vidalia stood her ground, but it was not her she was after. Garnet glared at the intruder on her planet.
She sat, like a deer in a headlight, too terrified to run.
"Oh, so now you're gonna' throw down?" Vidalia questioned. She raised her fists. "Let's go you square-headed relic!"
Garnet took another step, and the intruder jerked, scared that the fusion would pounce.
"T-t-there wasn't supposed to be any Gems on the planet! Especially not a combat fusion!" she said, as she dropped the teacup, shattering on the coffee table.
Greg glanced at Garnet, then at the girl, and then laughed nervously, and tried to defuse the situation.
"Oh, uhh, Onyx, this is Garnet! One of Steven's caretakers. Uh, Garnet...this is Onyx." Greg said amicably.
"I know who she is." Garnet said fiercely, still in a combat stance.
Greg sighed, relaxed.
"Oh, good. I'm glad that-" Greg said before being interrupted.
"An intruder. On MY world." Garnet said, taking another step.
The girl was shivering in fear, but Garnet was unwavering.
"Woah, woah, Garnet, this is Onyx, Steven's-" Greg said rushedly, before once again being interrupted.
"Get her!" Amethyst shouted, summoning her whip and joining Garnet, as Pearl did the same.
As the Gems prepared to attack, Steven noticed something. A strange pink box lying next to the girl. It looked...familiar. As he stared at it, his Gem glowed, and the Box opened into the shape of a Rose.
The Girl suddenly turned to it, and looked even more terrified than she was of the Gems.
"No, no, no no!" She said as she, in vain, tried to turn it off.
"What is that?" Garnet demanding raising a fist.
"It's a beacon! Rose's beacon! And that means-" the girl suddenly became deadly silent.
"Which means he's coming."