Chapter 2: Emerald
"Where… am I?"
Connie had just woken up in a strange landscape. It looked similar to the Prime Kindergarten without the gem-shaped holes and injectors, but everything was a shade of cyan. Everything was covered by a light fog.
"So you're the human who allies with the Crystal Gems. I must admit; I'm rather impressed."
Connie turned around, and there, several feet away, was a gem. Her outfit comprised of a light blue top with teal stars on the shoulders, sky blue hair, cyan pants, and skin of a slightly lighter shade of teal, with no shoes. She had a square, teal gem on her chest.
"Who are you? Why am I here? What is this place?"
"I am Emerald. I was a Crystal Gem back during the war, but I had gotten captured. Recently, I had tried to escape, but I was caught and shattered."
"Wait, but then…" Connie said, not really sure what to say.
"Us Emeralds have a unique ability," she began. "If our gem is shattered, we can choose to send out our gem to an organic being, giving them the gem and powers of the original Emerald. That's why you're here. I have chosen to transfer my gem to your body, so you can further help in the fight against Homeworld. Don't worry; there's no downside on this for you, although I will cease to exist. Take good care of my gem, kid."
And without another word, Emerald was gone.
...
The next morning, Connie woke up to her parents in her room, with wide eyes.
"CONNIE, WHAT ON EARTH IS ON YOUR CHEST?!"
Connie looked down, and right there, just below her neck, was Emerald's Gem.
"It wasn't a dream…" Connie said, more to herself than anyone else.
"What? What wasn't a dream?! Connie, what in the world is going on here?!"
Connie sighs. She figured that her parents watching as a gem materialized on her chest would freak them out. This is going to be a long morning.
Later that day, at the Temple…
As Connie finished telling Steven and the gems the events of her strange morning, everyone was left speechless. Even Garnet was left in complete shock. And if there wasn't the gem on Connie's chest to prove it, they would've thought she was crazy.
"I've heard of things like this before," Pearl mumbles, "but I never thought that Connie of all people would get an Emerald's gem. Even just finding an Emerald is extremely rare, and a teal one is nearly impossible to find. It's lucky that this Emerald was a Crystal Gem, since it means she could help us one last time."
"Wow!" Steven exclaimed. "So… now you're like me; half-gem, half-human? That's so cool! How does it feel, Connie?"
"It feels… weird. I don't really know how to describe it. But I'm pretty excited about it. I'm also curious about what my new powers are, too."
"I must admit," Garnet adds, "even I couldn't see this coming."
"And guess what?" Connie says. "After a lot of talking, my parents agreed to let me move in with you guys!"
Steven was ecstatic. "AWESOME! Now we can hang out as much as we want! I'll try to help you figure out your new powers, too. Besides, since I'm half-gem too, it should work similarly, right?"
"Uh, not to rain on your parade or anything, but where is Connie even gonna be staying anyway?"
"Amethyst's right. We don't exactly have a lot of space here." Pearl says, with a thoughtful expression.
"Oh! I have an idea!"
"Yes, Steven?"
"How about we share my room? And we'll take turns on sleeping on the couch and sleeping on my bed until we can get a bed for Connie."
"Alright."
"Garnet, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"…Yes."
"Awesome!"
"Now, Connie, just so you know, we'll be taking a break from sword training and focusing on your new powers instead."
"Okay, but I still have to go to school, though. Tomorrow's Friday though, and since there's never school on Saturday and Sunday, we'll have plenty of time to train."
...
The next morning, a pink portal appeared in the outskirts of the parking lot of the school that Connie went to, as Lion hopped out with Steven and Connie riding on his back. Steven was intrigued by how big the building was.
"Whoa! Your school is huge, Connie!"
The school was a large building easily taking up at least two acres for the building alone, which was well needed as some 1,200 students went there. The building had two floors and a rather sizable parking lot. The school was a center for grades 6 through 12, so there were plenty of students who drove their own cars to the school. There were two main areas of the school, the north wing was for grades 6-8, and the south wing for grades 9-12.
As Lion walked up to the school, Steven and Connie continued to talk.
"So, what's school like, Connie?"
"Well… I have eight different classes throughout the day. In each class, me and a bunch of other kids learn about various different subjects such as math, science, and history. School goes from 7:30 am to 2:58 pm. Classes are 47 minutes long, and we get five minutes between classes to go from one classroom to the next. We also get a 32 minute lunch break in the middle of the day. And before you ask, no they don't teach you anything about gem stuff."
"Sounds kinda cool." Lion was now almost there, so the pair had to get off and walk the rest of the way so the other students wouldn't be freaked out when they saw a large, pink magical lion. Connie turned back around to wave goodbye to Steven as she walked towards the building, but in doing so, she failed to notice the car of a half-drunk 12th grader speeding towards her.
"Connie! Look out!" Steven saw the danger, and ran towards her as fast as he could, forming his protective bubble around himself and Connie. Not even a second after, the car collided with the bubble, bringing the car to a sudden stop and sending the bubble with the two flying over towards the building. Luckily, it stopped just short of the school, although the commotion caught the attention of several of the students. Steven dismissed the bubble, as the crowd that had gathered around the duo had started murmuring.
"Connie! Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, Steven, I'm fine." Connie said, feeling a little dazed at what happened. But as Steven helped Connie up, the murmurs of the crowd slowly turned into snickers, and when Steven walked back off as he yelled goodbye, those snickers turned into full bursts of laughter.
Later during lunch, one of the 8th graders walked up to Connie's spot outside on a bench under a tree and started teasing her. "Hey! I've got a question for you. What is a nerdy girl plus a fat boy?"
Connie largely tried to ignore the teasing, but as more kids joined in, it started to get on her nerves, especially when they made fun of Steven.
"Why are you friends with that fat magical kid, huh? I'll bet he's as stupid as you are a nerd. And you're a huge nerd." This comment sent Connie over the edge. "That's enough!"
"Ooh, looks like she blew her fuse. Is it because I called your boyfriend fat and stupid?"
"I said that's enough! You can tease me all you like, but call Steven 'fat' or 'stupid' again, and I will destroy you." Connie said, bitterness in her voice.
This made the others burst out in laughter. "Ha! You? Destroy us? As if!" To prove that she was serious, Connie undid her scarf and revealed the brand new emerald gem that was on her upper chest. The others, however, disregarded it as being fake. "So you glued a piece of plastic to your chest. What do I care?"
At this remark, Connie got up off the bench she was sitting on and proceeded to pick up a large branch that had fallen off of the tree and break it in half as though it was a pencil, proving the incredible strength that came with having a gem. "I'm serious. If you don't stop making fun of Steven, I will destroy you." She said, her tone slightly quiet yet very angry all the same.
Having seen Connie's immense strength, the others decided to back off before she broke their legs. Connie smiled to herself and continued eating her lunch.
