Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe

Title: Viva La Vida

Summary: In which Amethyst ends up leaving the kindergarten after a few hundred years and gets picked up by the local village. Now, considered a deity of war and good harvest, her world is turned on its head when another being like her appears in Green Growth.

Chapter Title: Blessing

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majishan- Thanks!

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Amethyst felt a familiar pang of heart wrenching regret as she bowed her head all the way to the stone floor of the burial site in the underbelly of Green Growth, feeling it touch with a stirring of rightness. She was made to be this low, it almost felt like, although she knew that couldn't be farther from the case.

Zadi's grave plaque was rough and faded, the edges crumbling with age. Her sadness seemed to only grow stronger. It felt like yesterday the woman had passed.

"Rest in the Heavens, Zadi." She gently traced the faded name with her stubby fingers. It was practically gone now. "I wish I could be more like you, but I don't die so easily. May the Gods keep you safe and protected, and please watch over me in these trying times."

She rose rather unwillingly, knowing the Gods' Adviser would be waiting. The original had passed before Zadi had breathed her last, but the title had been handed down for generations now.

Green Growth was a bustling city. Amethyst was a fully-realized Goddess. So much had changed in the last few hundred years. It felt like no time at all.

"Goddess of harvest today." She breathed, ascending the stone steps and into the comforting warm scents and sights of spring-new life. "Goddess of war tomorrow."

Amethyst knew it was a bit harsh, but she wasn't particularly a fan of her current adviser. Wiry and hollow-checked, he seemed less interested in helping the world blossom and more into expanding as far as they could reach. Amethyst loved a good tussle, but this continuous warring put her people at risk.

"It's our destiny, my Goddess." He'd always say, smiling big enough to show teeth. It was such a familiar grin it made her heart bleed. She missed her adviser, the one who saved her from scavenging in the wilderness and gifted Zadi to her. "We have a Goddess; surely we deserve to rule the world."

She knew his heart was in the right place; his mind, however, obviously wasn't, but her people seemed to support his harebrained ideas. She felt a sort of binding commitment to them, to helping achieve their goals and dreams, and she couldn't argue what they so earnestly desired. A Goddess she may be, but Amethyst had to put those who had loved her from the very day they entered the world to claim milk from their mother's first.

Green Growth had long moved past its wooden cabins, sporting gleaming stone walls and a bright city filled with colorful flags and banners. Amethyst longed for simplicity for simplicity's sake.

Maybe this was why she kept sending herself into the fray to lead the charge. Maybe, in her confusion and stress towards the quick development of her people, she had begun to long instead for something she could better understand. War.

The Adviser ran a hand through his brown hair as she appeared out in the clearing. The carriage- drawn by two workhorses- sat open for her arrival. "It's bad luck to go to a grave before heading into battle." He admonished.

"It's a good thing I'm immortal, then." Amethyst snapped, climbing into the plush chair and setting her boots on the other one, forcing the young man to sit squished in the corner. "I know what I'm doing."

"Of course, my Goddess." He rapped on the thin carriage wall. It jolted into motion. "Before we leave, we've got an appointment with a farming family. They've donated money in exchange for your blessing. It's a lovely year for crops, as it has been for many years- with your permission, as it were."

Amethyst felt a personal insult by this young man's impudence. She was half-tempted to push him out onto the stone streets. It was no less than what he deserved, even if it would cause attention. She clutched her hands into fists. "Speaking of permission," She grit out between clenched teeth, eyes flashing, "how dare you decide the path I take? You may be my adviser, but this is my world. I'll do what I want with it, when I want. Do you understand?"

He shrunk under the weight of her words, but there was no guilt to his person as he replied. "I meant no offense, my Goddess. I know how much you prefer the rural areas. I considered it to be a decent sendoff."

"And now you know never to consider when it comes to me." She returned primly, then stubbornly fell silent. If he was going to assume, then she was going to let him stew in his own juices. He needed to learn.

Amethyst was a Goddess. She had to draw the line.


Amethyst's bare feet met the dusty ground with a satisfying slap. She breathed in the comforting smells of the farm, lifted her arms, and danced.

As much as she loathed to admit it, The Adviser hadn't been entirely wrong in his actions. She did love the farming community that clung to the edges of Green Growth like a burr, perhaps more than the bustling city itself. It stank of body odor and various animals' excrement- but it also seemed almost identical to the little village she once knew.

Perhaps she had been a little harsh, she reflected. He really was trying his best, and she knew she could be needy. Even still, if she gave him an inch, he'd take a mile, and she had too much of a reputation to keep up for that.

Amethyst twirled, feeling her mood lighten as she witnessed the small green shoots beginning to poke out of the soil spin by. She didn't ever quite discern how or where to pray to her family in the Heavens, if at all, but she knew their guidance flowed through her. How else could she tell, like she had for years and years before, that this harvest will be more bountiful than the rest?

She mentally scoffed at those first few years; how unsure she'd been. What else could she be, Amethyst pondered with a leap, feeling the roots beneath her as clear as day, nursing the good and severing the bad, but a Goddess? To think she'd ever had any doubt of who she really was.

Her last step seemed to almost quiver in the air once placed, and Amethyst bowed to it. Dancing for the good harvest never seemed to take anything out of her, oddly enough- instead it only made her feel more alive, more powerful. Dancing always had that effect on her.

It was almost like it was all in her head.

Amethyst heard a rustling in the hut bordering the plantation and a small girl pushed herself confidently into the green grass, most likely after yanking free of her parent's restrictive arms. She had raven-black bobbed hair and curious blue eyes. Amethyst found her button nose and freckles endearing as she raced over to her with a gasp of awe.

"Wow!" She said. Her eyes look almost like stars.

"Ilya!" A man- her father, presumably, or maybe a family friend- cried, grabbing her by the shoulders. He bows his head. "Forgive her, Goddess. She's young."

"She's very brave to approach me. I like that." Amethyst gave the distraught man a soothing smile and held out her hand, palm up. "May I?"

Ilya put her small hand in Amethyst's. Even as a child, she easily reached the top of her head in height. Amethyst examined the thickness and callouses to them. These weren't the hands of a woman who sewed and did laundry, that's for sure. "Ah, I see a warrior in this one. Makes sense."

The Adviser cleared his throat, looking noticeably flustered by this turn of events. Amethyst idly wondered when he'd pulled his lazy rear out of their carriage. "When you're ready, my Goddess."

"Alright, alright. Stop ordering me around." In a much better sense of humor, she placed a quick kiss to the girl's forehead. "You have my blessing, little one. I hope to see you amongst the other soldiers I fight with one day."

Ilya breathed, voice small and childish yet. "I'd be honored, Goddess."

Author's Note: A gem always had trouble keeping up with humans, after all. Have some ironic and bittersweet Amethyst so confident in who she is. Amethyst dances to protect the plants, or something like that. Really she's just dancing. Plot will soon come.

-Mandaree1