Steven Universe: Echo in Our Minds
Chapter Two: A Similar Pain That Connects
My life had taken an unexpected turn for me, since I came back from the dead. Now that Rose Quartz was with me, I had amazing power, but I still must learn the ways of the Gem. There are still some small details that she's leaving out. Whatever they may be, I had to stay focused. Speaking of that, here is where I learned of the pain that connected us and how I met the puma, missing from my jungle…
After the tussle with the mutants, Echo had finally arrived at his destination. He stood outside the temple, and the house that stood in front of it. Echo was rather skeptical at first, for he never saw a temple with a house before.
"So this is the place, right?" Echo asked "When did you get a house, to go with it?"
"My husband, Greg, built it, long before my son was born." Rose said, appearing beside Echo "It's been here for quite a long time."
"You have a son?" Echo wondered "What's his name?"
"Steven Universe." Rose declared "A very special young boy. When he was born, however, I had to give up my physical form, in order to give birth to him, and pass down my Gemstone to him, which ended in my departure from this world."
"So you died after child birth?" Echo said, sympathetically "That's too bad. The kid must be having a rough life."
"Actually, from what I can tell, he's been living life easy." Rose smiled "He's made several friends and learned so much. I only hope that he is well."
"Only one way to find out." Echo nodded "Let's see if anyone's home."
Echo went up the ramp, and knocked several times, with no answer. As he gently pushed on the door, it opened slightly, and he opened it all the way, seeing the lights were out. Turning on the lights, he looked from one corner of the room to the other, seeing no one in sight.
"Looks like nobodies home." Echo shrugged, looking from one corner of the room to the other "Maybe they went out?"
"Perhaps…" Rose sighed, knowing full well where her old friends may be "I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you looked around. Only know this…" She pointed a ghostly figure towards the temple door "Do not attempt to interact with the temple door. The Gems may not take kindly to a stranger, poking around where he shouldn't."
"If you saw the life I was livin', you would see that I've been there and done it all, and never got caught." Echo grinned "But I will heed your warning. This time."
There weren't many rooms, however, because the house was somewhat small, so Echo decided to search a bit smaller, looking in the cabinets, under the tables and the bed upstairs, finding nothing. He looked inside the closet and was surprised to find a rather curious pink cannon, propped on a shelf.
"What's with this cannon here?" Echo asked.
"I see." Rose asked, much to Echo's confusion "Steven and Greg must've found one of my old Light Cannon's."
"Light Cannon's?" Echo frowned, not sure what use such a medieval contraption.
"An old cannon, from a long time ago." Rose declared, but frowned "But what was it doing here?"
Ignoring the question, Echo grabbed it by the barrel and dragged it out of the closet, carefully, but suddenly felt a strong sensation in his hands. His hands began to glow, as he saw a vision, as he screamed out.
The vision…
The vision he saw was of a plain that seems damaged after a great war. Rose Quartz stood out in the field, alongside Garnet and Pearl, as she stood before the thousands of her followers fallen corpses, as tears fell down her face.
"They all died with honor and courage." Garnet declared, putting a hand on Rose's shoulder "They did not die in vain."
"I know," Rose sighed, as she gazed at the battle damage "I just wish they could've been saved."
End of flashback
Echo reawakened, realizing he was lying on the floor, and saw Rose lying in front of him, face to face.
"What the heck was that?!" Echo gasped, as he struggled to his feet.
"A memory from the war." Rose Quartz sighed, as the two got on their knees "After the war, I lost many good Gems, those I had once considered close friends, like family even."
"So, just as I have lost my mother and brother to those monsters," Echo recalled, as he looked Rose in the eyes "You too have lost close friends in the war to them, despite the close victory."
"Yes," Rose nodded, as the two rose to their feet "Perhaps it's this similar pain of loss, that connects us."
"Hey dude."
Echo turned, to see Amethyst herself, sitting on the counter, simply giving him a smile that somewhat makes him uneasy.
"Hey, masked dude." Amethyst chuckled "What brings a stranger like you here?"
But as soon as she said that, Echo pulled out his shotgun and on instict, he fired several shots at her, but Amethyst managed to dodge the shots, as the bullets left several holes in the wall. Echo fired another shot, only to shatter a vase, and accidentally tipped over the television set in the process. The struggle continued, making quite the mess of the place.
"Dude, calm down, will ya?!" Amethyst yelled, as she dodged another bullet, and ducked behind a couch "I was just wondering if you needed help with something!"
Echo tossed over the couch, pointing the barrel of his shotgun at Amethyst, who was backed against a wall. Usually, she wouldn't be afraid of just any human, but Echo was certain something different. He had a look in his eyes that could strike fear in the heart of the Devil himself, if Satan had a heart.
"The only thing that could help is if you shut your mouth for good!" Echo snarled, as he pointed the barrel of his shotgun at Amethyst's face, but when he pulled the trigger, nothing came out, as he looked at the gun, then at the scared expression in Amethyst's face "Well, lucky for you, Shorty, I have to reload. Run or scream, however, and I'll take your tongue."
Echo removed his mask and placed it on the counter, as he pulled out several shotgun shells, as he began reloading. And as Echo started reloading his shotgun, Amethyst looked at his face with a curious look on her face, as she began admiring the beautiful blue of his eyes, and his pretty face, as suddenly, her eyes shifted with lust, as she licked her lips, as she got on her knees, her eyes soley concentrated on Echo's face.
"Say, you look kinda cute, pretty boy." Amethyst purred, gaining Echo's attention "I never thought I'd say this to just any human, but just for the face and CRAZY personality, you definitely get a ten outa ten!"
"Huh?" Echo asked, confused, as he raised an eyebrow "What're you talking about?"
"The way you have that 'take-crap-from-no-one' persona," Amethyst cooed, as she rose to her feet "The way you yell and show that you're a force to be reconed with. In fact, you're no ordinary human."
"What do you mean?" Echo stuttered, as he finished reloading.
"You're a MAN." Amethyst smiled, as she walked towards him, swaying her hips as she walked "And I do like a good man."
"What?" Echo gasped, as he backed up, pointing the barrel of his shotgun at her "You're WEIRD! Don't come any closer!"
"Don't even try it." Amethyst grinned, drawing out her whip "We both know you won't do it."
"Echo, try to calm yourself." Rose Quartz giggled, appearing beside Echo "You should know that's she's only teasing with you."
"Well, it's kinda hard to tell if they're joking or not, Gem." Echo whispered, putting away his shotgun.
Amethyst looked at him, and her eyes grew wide, as she saw the spirit of Rose Quartz, standing right beside him.
"Rose Quartz!" Amethyst screamed with joy, like a child "Is that you?!"
"Amethyst?" Rose said, confused that Amethyst sees her "You can see me?!"
"Of course!" Amethyst cheered "It's been so long!"
Amethyst ran towards her, arms spread wide, as she jumped, but she went right through her, falling on her face.
"What the-?" Amethyst gasped, getting to her feet "What just happened?!"
"Why, nothing," Rose shrugged "I'm kind of a...ghost."
"A ghost?" Amethyst frowned "What's that?"
"It's a spirit of some sort." Echo explained "It's a spiritual beings that is rarely seen by the human eye. Let alone yours."
"So, how come I can see her, but I can't touch her?" Amethyst asked.
"That's just how ghosts work, Shorty." Echo shrugged "We don't know how or why that is, but it just is."
"But how are you here, Rose?!" Amethyst faced Rose Quartz, a wide smile on her face "I thought you were gone for good! We all did!"
"I was," Rose nodded "But a curse has bound me to Echo here. I'm not sure how or why, but we're going to find out."
"Until then, we're kinda stuck together." Echo sighed "So, while we're looking for the cause of this curse, we're kinda just traveling at the moment."
"But how can you call it a curse, when it's such a good thing?" Amethyst said "And get this, Rose: Diamond is back!"
"Diamond?" Rose Quartz gasped "You mean the same one?"
"That's right!" Amethyst smirked "The son of Blue Diamond and Joey 'Bloodstone' Mercury has returned! And even better, is that he's staying with us at the Temple!"
"Well, that's woderful." Rose smiled "Where is he?"
"He went out for a walk," Amethyst shrugged "But just wait until he and the others get back, they'll be so surprised to see you again!"
"I'm sure they will," Echo frowned "But I'm afraid we can't wait for them. We need to get going."
"Do we?" Rose asked.
"Yes, we do." Echo growled "We have important things to take care of."
"Hold on a minute, dude." Amethyst said, getting in his way "I don't know what YOUR rush is, but Rose Quartz happens to be Stevens mother, so I think that you should at least wait for them."
"And who knows how long THAT'S gonna take them." Echo growled, trying to shove past her "Outta the way."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa there, pretty boy!" Amethyst tutted, getting in his way again "No need to be in such a rush! I'm sure that we can-"
"I said 'OUT OF MY WAY'!" Echo shouted, before kicking her and sending her into a pile of knocked down furniture.
"Was that really nessecary?" Rose frowned "She only wanted you to meet Steven."
"No, she wanted YOU to see Steven, whoever he is." Echo corrected "And besides, she kept getting in my way."
"Well..." Rose thought for a moment, then said "Well, what if I wanted to see Steven?"
"Don't start with me, Rose," Echo frowned "Besides, we're on a scheduel, yet we have NO leads."
"Well," Rose mused, then said "How about we make our way to a place a I know of, a place called the 'Kindergarten'."
"Kindergarten?" Echo said "Why would we head to a school?"
"It's not a school." Rose shooked her head "It's a place where the Gems nightmare began. Head there and you will see what I mean."
"I suppose so." Echo shrugged "Then to the place where the gems nightmare began then."
As Echo left the house and made his way down the beach, Rose Quartz appeared beside him.
"What're you thinking about?" She asked.
"About what that 'Amethyst' said about me. About me being...cute." Echo answered.
"And?" Rose pressed the matter "You're thoughts?"
"Does it matter?" Echo frowned "Besides, I don't have time to think about romance."
"But what're your thoughts on the compliments she gave you?" Rose asked "You don't feel...fuzzy inside?"
"Not over a few measly compliments, no." Echo stated, before blushing under his mask "But I did like the way she swayed her hips. And those thighs, and her..." He quickly shooked his head "What's your point?"
"One day, we should at least pay a visit." Rose smiled "You should give Amethyst a chance."
"Maybe," Echo mused "We'll see. Now, let's get going."
The two continued, after Echo took one last look at the temple before smiling, then continuing his way.
Not exactly how I earned the Amethyst heart, but that's for later. Still, later on, you will see how I actually earned that love, became friends with the Crystal Gems, and how I earned their trust. Until then, see you all in the next chapter!
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, still more to come! Sorry for the delay, it gets harder for me to manage these stories, but I still manage. Thanks for reading, and be sure to review!