Hi there! How do you do, Mr. Reader? Ready for another exciting chapter? I hope you enjoy it!


"Remember, it's not like summoning anything else out of your gem. A weapon is an extension of yourself, of your personality and a representation of your desire to fight. You have to conquer that desire, you have to find your very own way, and then, and only then, you'll be able to do it." Pearl's voice was soothing. "Find it inside you, Peridot."

Peridot, standing with her eyes closed, understood Pearl's words. For just a moment, she realized she felt the desire, and the revealing of her way seemed only a little out of her grasp. However, the feeling quickly went away, leaving her empty one more time. She sighed, questioning whether she'd felt it at all.

"I just... Don't know." She hummed angrily, frustrated.

"Now, now. I know it's not easy, but it's not supposed to be." Peridot opened her eyes to look at her master, standing in front of her, with a sword in her hand. "As I've told you before, this will take some time. For now, lets focus on something else." She turned the sword around gracefully, handing it to Peridot by its hilt. The latter grabbed it carefully. "Sword training is an art, Peridot. It can take years to master. However, as we still don't know what your weapon will turn out to be, we'll just use it to get you used to combat." As she spoke, Pearl took another sword out of her gem. "We'll train your reflexes, your capacity to react to the unexpected, and your innate strength and speed."

The weight of the sword felt a little uncomfortable on her hand, but Peridot didn't complain. Instead, she observed and tried to imitate the way Pearl was holding it.

"Later on, Connie can be your sparring partner." The human observing them from a few feet away smiled when Peridot looked at her. "But for now, you'll start with me. Before we get started, any questions?"

Peridot doubted, but she shook her head.

"Good. Now, everything begins with your stance..."


"Log date, 715. After days of unproductive attempts to summon my weapon, I've come to the conclusion it's pointless. A fool's errand..." She paused for a second, not completely happy with her words. As such, she rewind the tape, to start recording again. "Log date, 715. I've tried my best at it, but summoning a weapon just doesn't seem to be within my capacities..." She paused, frowned her lips, and rewind the tape one more time. "Log date, 715. I just don't understand why I should do this!" She couldn't help sounding exasperated. "It is hard, unnecessary, ridiculous..!" But that wasn't it either, and she growled as she rewind the tape yet another time.

"Peridot, it's two AM..." More than mad or annoyed, Steven sounded really tired. "Can you at least do that in the bathroom?"

The green gem didn't seem to hear him, as she continued to walk back and forth at the foot of Steven's bed.

"Log date, 715..."

Steven sighed, covering his head with his pillow. "At least Pearl doesn't talk when she watches me sleep..."

"...the Worst part of it is the sword fighting. If my weapon turns out to be a sword, I might have to quit this whole thing once and for all!" Her voice sounded exasperated again. "Pearl insists it'll be useful, but it's... Unnatural!" She stopped walking and Steven uncovered his head upon the silence. "All of this is unnatural..." Peridot murmured. Suddenly unable to continue speaking, she sat down on Steven's bed, the recorder still working. "I'm not supposed to..." She looked at her free hand, abstracted. "Do this... Any of this." Behind her, Steven sat up carefully, not wishing to startle her. He thought she was about to continue, but she rewind the tape, still not happy with the log.

"Peridot..?" Upon his words, the green gem turned her head around too look at him. She almost seemed surprised, for a second. Steven felt unsure about what to say. "Pearl... She says you're doing a good job..!" Peridot's face showed no reaction, but she nodded. She lay down on his bed, sighing.

"I'm sorry to keep you up Steven. I just... Needed to get it out." She spoke looking to the ceiling. Steven moved on his bed to lay down next to her. He turned his head to look at her.

"It's fine! I get it." He said. "You know..." He doubted a little, but continued. "You really should give yourself more credit..." He was surprised when he heard the gem snickering.

"Yeah? For what?" Peridot's tone suggested she was joking, but Steven saw a hint of sadness in her smile. "All I've managed to do since I came here to Earth is screw everything I touch." Steven frowned and remained quiet for a moment, before sitting up. He looked at her from that angle, until Peridot blushed, embarrassed. "What?" She made an effort to avoid his eyes.

"You're not being fair!" His voice was serious.

"What are you talking about?" She kept her eyes on the ceiling.

"You're not a failure!" His words stroke a sensitive chord inside her.

"Wha-What?" She laughed nervously. "I'm not... I didn't say I'm..."

"Well, good! Because you're not!" He interrupted her. Peridot gathered courage to look at him. His eyes were on fire. "You're awesome!" The word sent a chill through her body. "You said it yourself! You've changed!" Peridot opened her mouth, but no words came out of it. "You're trying to become better, and I'm sure you will!" She felt a lump in her throat. Hearing him talk like that always had an incomprehensible effect on her. Peridot covered her eyes with her hand.

The next time Steven spoke, his voice was lower. "You don't have to beat yourself up because you're not the best at stuff..." He put his hand over his gem. "Neither of us is. But we try our best, and that's what matters." He lay down on his bed again, and put his hand over hers. He could feel she was surprised by the gesture, as she almost tried to take it away, but soon she relaxed. "Do I have to remind you of all the crazy awesome stuff I've seen you do?" She uncovered her eyes and looked at him curiously. He smiled.

"Like... What?" She asked, doubtfully.

"Well just that other time, you crushed the high-score on that videogame!" He gestured with his free hand, smiling proudly. Peridot couldn't help smiling as well.

"You make it seem like it matters..." She said.

"It does for me! And possibly Sour Cream..." Peridot raised an eyebrow, but she made no questions. "Also, you beat Pearl's robot quite badly!"

"Hmm... I did." She conceded. That had been a victory for her.

"The drill probably wouldn't be almost completed if it weren't for you!" Steven continued with his list, counting with the fingers of his free hand as he spoke.

"What?! I almost single-handedly destroyed it! And Amethyst in the process..." She pouted, but Steven was decided not to let her mood drop.

"But you saved her!" Peridot's eyes widened. "And you fixed it too!" She blinked twice before saying:

"I... Actually did that..." She put a hand on her chin thoughtfully.

"You escaped from us a bunch of times..."

"Well, that was different." She immediately replied. "I had my limb enhancers back then."

"It's not like they did all the job!" She looked at him with her mouth half open, and smiled. He smiled back widely. "You want me to go on?"

"Please do." She joked. Suddenly, however, she sighed. "Steven..?" He looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "Thank you." A comfortable silence filled the room. Steven was the first one to break it.

"Is it really that bad?" The meaning of his words was clear to Peridot.

"No..." She admitted, begrudgingly. "I have learnt stuff..." It was true. Pearl had made sure her lessons were both useful and practical. "Sword fighting is not 'the worst'. It's just... Taking so long." She sighed. "I still can't feel it..." She closed her eyes. Steven understood she was referring to her weapon.

"Hey, it's OK!" Seeing her like that made Steven wish to find a way to comfort her. "Maybe... There's another way!" She looked at him, and Steven's mind raced with ideas. "Maybe... We could try to find your enhancers..?" He said, doubtfully. Peridot observed him for a second before speaking.

"How?" She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you it was impossible..."

"Not impossible! Just not very easy..." He remembered their past conversation. "But maybe Pearl and you can think of something!" He smiled, but he could feel it wasn't very convincing. She, however, didn't seem to notice.

Peridot sat up and hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose this planet's surface is small enough so that the task is not completely unthinkable..." She stopped for a moment, considering the idea. "Maybe the damage they've suffered throughout time is not unrepairable..." Steven heard a hint of excitement in her voice and smiled hopefully. However, her excitement decreased with her next statement. "There's still the matter of how, if not if, will we manage to track them among the vast extension of the Earth's sea." She sighed. "I don't know, Steven."

Steven felt a little down, but he smiled. "Don't worry that much! We'll ask Pearl tomorrow..." Peridot doubted, but she nodded. "Maybe... You want to sleep it down?" She looked at him, confused. "Oh! It means that you go to sleep, to come up with better ideas the next morning." She raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you, but I think better while I'm... Conscious." She stood up from the bed. "Good night, Steven." Her words were formal, like following a procedure.

Steven noticed, and smiled only a little awkwardly before responding: "Good night! Love you!" Right after that, he tucked into bed. Peridot blushed, but made no comment. However, she was smiling while she walked down the stairs, heading to the bathroom.


The sun was at its highest point in the sky, which meant a half of the Earth's rotation cycle had just been completed. "Twelve hours." She thought, distracted. That meant three hours before training.

Her hands moved quickly to connect a few cables on a panel, after making sure she wasn't making a mistake like before. Ever since that time, she always checked twice.

Working atop the drill, Peridot stopped her task for a moment, and observed the two figures sitting under a tree nearby. Steven and Amethyst didn't notice her looking at them. They looked peaceful, taking apart pieces of machinery. Steven had gotten better at deciding what to keep, intuitive, even, and was now in charge of the task. Peridot didn't notice she'd been staring until Pearl talked.

"Peridot..?" Her voice startled her slightly. "Everything alright?"

Peridot cleared her throat. "Yes! I..." She looked down at Pearl. The gem standing near the drill was holding a wrench that was probably the size of one of Peridot's arms. "I'm fine. Sorry I got distracted."

"You don't have to apologize! This is not a lesson, you know?" Pearl smiled. "Were you... Thinking about something, in particular?"

Peridot was a little surprised by her question. Ever since the start of her training, the gem had gotten more communicative. Pearl was a strict and demanding sword master, but her lessons were taught with kindness and patience. She was probably the only reason she hadn't quit trying, she realized. That, and Connie's words of encouragement after and before each session.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Pearl tipped her head, waiting for her to continue. "How did you manage to find me?"

"Hmm?" Pearl frowned in confusion.

"Steven said you found a secret way to track me. What was it?" She clarified.

"Oh! You mean before." She lay the wrench against her shoulder and raised a finger before explaining. "You may not be aware of it, but we found your pod not long before you crashed on that cornfield." Peridot didn't interrupt, but she paid close attention. "I managed to locate you by using the link it has with you! Each time you used a warp pad, it activated and let us know your location." She smiled proudly, but Peridot wasn't looking at her. She was lost in thought again, but just for a second this time. Suddenly, her face lit up.

"That's it! You're a genius!" She left her workplace with a wide smile and slid down the drill's surface to land safely on her feet, an action she'd grown used to. Pearl raised an eyebrow, confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked. Peridot looked at her with joy in her eyes, before answering with an excited voice.

"My pod wasn't linked to me! It was linked to my enhancers!" The other gem shook her head, feeling lost. "It tracks them! Not me!" Pearl frowned, beginning to comprehend. "It can track them! We can find my enhancers! We actually can find them!" She exploded in cheerful laughter, which attracted Garnet's attention from inside the barn, and Amethyst and Steven's too.

Peridot had to make an effort to stay calm. "We will have to make modifications... It probably won't be easy, but I think we can do it!" She said, speaking to both Pearl and herself in what could only be described as an excited hurry.

"Peridot..?" There was doubt in Pearl's voice, and that caught her attention. When she looked at her, the gem seemed a little uncomfortable. "Is... This what you really want?" Peridot opened her mouth, confused.

"Huh? Of course! What do you... Mean?" She was still really excited, but couldn't help sounded a little doubtful. The rest of the Crystal Gems had congregated around them, and were now looking at their interaction.

"Well... It's just..." Pearl didn't look at her directly. "You don't need them, you know?" Peridot shook her head, confused.

"Of course I do!" She was still lost. "What are you... Talking about?"

"It's just you've made so much progress in your training..." Peridot's eyes widened. "Do you really want to go back to... Depend on them?" Garnet understood right away what 'them' meant, and both Steven and Amethyst started to get it too.

"What?" She looked around her. Everyone was expecting an answer. "I... Why would I..?" She stopped, thinking of the implication in Pearl's words. Did she need them? Sure, they would be useful, but, would she continue to train without them? Would she stop trying to be a 'strong, capable gem'? Her excitement crumbled, as doubt filled her. Was it a good idea?

"I think we should do it." Garnet's voice cut the silence. Everybody's attention centered on her.

"But, Garnet! She doesn't need them anymore!" Pearl spoke.

"No. She doesn't." She put a hand over Pearl's shoulder. "But they're important to her." She looked at Peridot, and the latter looked back, still a little confused. "We'll get them back. Then, you will decide if you want to keep them or not." Pearl bit her lower lip, but kept her concerns for herself. "Is that OK?" It took Peridot a second to realize she was asking her. She nodded, which caused Garnet to smile reassuringly. "Well, then. It seems we've found ourselves our next mission." Steven's face lit up with a smile.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" He said, before laughing joyfully. "I knew you'd come up with something!" He put an arm over Peridot's shoulders. The latter smiled, but her attention was no longer with him. Pearl's words had brought concern to her mind, and she felt nervous about the future.


She cleared her throat. "We are reunited here to discuss the best way to proceed in our... Mission." She spoke while walking back and forth in the living room. "Which is, of course, retrieving my limb enhancers from this planet's ocean. This won't be easy, so I thank you for agreeing to help." All the time, she kept her chin up and a serious demeanor. Standing in line next to the rest of the Crystal Gems, Steven raised his arm.

"Yes, Steven?" Peridot said.

"You're welcome!" He smiled widely.

"Uh... Very well." His kind remark threw her off a little, but she managed to maintain her cool. "Well, as Pearl explained to me, after you found my escape pod, she managed to access some of the functions of said pod. One of them, is its capacity to locate and follow its owner, which almost always is the peridot in command of the ship, in this case, me, throughout any standard warp system, by linking itself to the energy spectrum of its owner's enhancers."

"Oh, so that's what it was for!" Pearl took her hand to her chin. Peridot continued, ignoring the interruption.

"This capacity, however, is limited by the fact that is only usable when said owner activates a warp pad." She put a hand over the half disassembled pod that was sitting in the middle of the living room. "When that happens, it receives the location of the activated warp pad and traces its coordinates on a previously introduced map of the planet, in order to follow its owner."

"So..." Steven looked at what was left of the pod with changed eyes. "It wanted to follow you all along?"

"I... Suppose you could say that." The sad tone in Steven's voice made her raise an eyebrow. She continued to walk, speaking. "This would normally be a major hindrance, as it would be impossible to track my enhancers' positions while I'm not wearing them and using a warp system. However!" She turned and looked at them. Everybody's attention was fixed on her. "This planet's large area covered by water has proven to be useful, as it has some... Particular properties."

She turned her back on them and quickly activated her pod. A hologram of the Earth materialized, granting her a couple of surprised mumbles. "As you can see, water's capacity to conduct energy has made it possible to scan its entirety in just a couple of hours. The results are positive. I found them." Her voice was barely able to withhold her enthusiasm.

"Are those... What I think they are..?" Pearl's voice was respectful, as she pointed to the numerous marks that populated the hologram.

"Yes. I had to make some serious modifications to this thing," She patted the pod, smiling. "So that it can locate them solely by the shared link, instead of waiting for a pad's activation. It still would've been impossible, if it weren't for water's conductive properties." She talked almost cheerfully, obviously proud. "I'll be honest with you, I almost thought it wouldn't make it... It has suffered a lot of damage."

"That's so cool..." Said Steven. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "How you... Didn't give up on it, even though it was broken."

"I... Suppose." She turned around again and moved her finger's skillfully inside the pod, to rotate the hologram above her head. "However, not everything good news." She pointed at the marks on the holographic planet. "As you probably have noticed, these marks are not very close to each other, not even on scale."

"The water currents must've separated them..." Garnet spoke.

"Yes. That is the natural conclusion." Peridot nodded. "Also, if you count the marks, you'll notice there are only twelve of them, when there should be exactly fourteen; ten for the components of the display and four for each one of my leg and arm attachments." She frowned, unsettled. "That can only mean two of the components are no longer in the sea, be it because they have been destroyed or because they simply are now on the shore. The implication is, of course, that we don't have time to lose. Each second it becomes harder, if not impossible, to recover all the components."

"But even if we know their location, finding them inside the sea could take years!" Pearl was looking at the hologram apprehensively. "I'm not even sure we can, seeing they're so little..."

"I know." Peridot moved her fingers on the controllers one more time, and the hologram grew bigger to show one carefully picked spot. On it, seven marks shined brightly. "Time is of the essence, so I've made up my mind: Trying to find all of the components would be rather risky, so I've decided I only need these seven. The three bigger marks represent three of my arm and leg attachments, which are the most important part, while the rest are bound to be parts of the display. These are closer to each other than any of the others, so this is as easy, or viable, as it gets."

"What about the others?" Asked Amethyst.

"They are... Expendable." Her voice sounded calculated. "Looking for them is unnecessary and unadvisable." She looked at the hologram with a resigned expression. "I'd like to find them, but these seven are all I need. Once I have them, I can try to reverse engineer them, and so, find a way to make proper replacements using implements from the barn. Maybe they won't look as good, or work as efficiently, but I've decided not to complain. This is already better than I expected."

"Even those seven will be hard to find." Garnet crossed her arms. "How will we track them?"

"Unfortunately, my pod is too damaged." Peridot answered. "What the landing didn't ruin has not gotten better since then, and all the modifications I had to do most certainly didn't help. We can't move it, at least for now. However, I believe I can still use some of its components to create a device, a tool that will allow us to track them in real time. All we'll have to do is find the closest warp pad to this spot, and use the device to guide us from there."

"Like... A radar?" Pearl tipped her head. Peridot frowned in response.

"A what?"

"Nevermind..." She mumbled. Peridot didn't ask any questions.

"So!" She stepped right in front of the pod, facing the Crystal gems. "Any questions?"

"What are we waiting for?" Amethyst grinned.

"I still need a little time to assemble the... 'radar'." Pearl blinked twice upon hearing her use the word."We can depart in no more than a hour." The four Crystal Gems observed her, standing in front of them with a serious expression.

Before speaking, Garnet smiled half way. "You've done a good job planning this mission. You'll eventually become an excellent leader."

"A wha..?" Peridot blushed violently upon her words. "I just..."

"Using water's conductive capabilities on your favor was genius." Pearl nodded repeatedly. "And you did a good job setting up your priorities." Peridot eyes shifted from one her to Garnet, but something caught her attention.

In front of her Steven moved his mouth, pretending to say something without making any noise. "You are awesome!" Peridot was able to read.

"I..!" Peridot had to make an effort to regain her composure and crossed her arms before speaking. "Thank you. You..." Her voice became lower, and she avoided looking at them. "You don't have to do this. I expect you to know that..."

"Of course we do!" Steven's voice was reassuring, and she lift her head to see him smile as he spoke. "You are our friend. Helping each other is just part of it." Pearl and Amethyst nodded, while Garnet smiled. Peridot looked at them and smiled as well. She wanted to say something, but found no words.


The reality of the situation made her nervous. Soon, she would submerge in the unknown, protected by nothing but a thin bubble. She would have questioned her own sanity, but she knew what was on stake was important enough. Next to her, Steven didn't look half as uncomfortable with the idea.

"Hey!" She claimed his attention. "How come you're so relaxed?" Steven seemed doubtful for a moment, but he smiled.

"I've done this before, remember? Besides, we have our vests!" He patted the ridiculous piece of clothing she was wearing around her chest. He was wearing one too. "If anything goes wrong, we just have to open them and we'll float back to safety!"

"It'll be fine! You don't need to breath, remember?" Amethyst laughed slightly. She and Garnet were paddling the boat, taking it to the exact location they were looking for, where they'd be closer to one of the components and where they'd start the search. Meanwhile, Pearl handled the radar, making sure their course was the correct one.

"It's no the lack of air that worries me..." She murmured. Trying to get her concerns off her mind, she said: "You never told me the end of that story." The sun was still high in the sky, but by its position, she determined they didn't have more than a couple of hours of light left. "What happened after you distracted the worm?"

"Hey, yeah! I guess I forgot." He rubbed the back of his head smiling awkwardly. "So, where was I..? I ran as hard as I could..."


"We're here." Pearl announced. Peridot looked around, but nothing but blue sea could be seen. She breathed deeply, attempting to calm herself.

"Very well." She decided to go over the plan one last time. "Steven and I will go together, inside of one of his bubbles, since he needs air to breath and since the radar doesn't go very well with water." Pearl handed her the device. "Right now, we're exactly over a big mark, which means we'll look for one of my leg or arm attachments. If any of you finds it, that gem should come to us, so that Steven can give the signal." Steven quickly took a wide flashlight, bought specially for the occasion, out of his backpack. He nodded as the he turned the flashlight on and off repeatedly. "After that, Garnet will come to us and help us out of the ocean, while everybody else gets on the boat. If we succeed, we'll repeat the process." All her words made sense to her, but they didn't ease her doubts. Pearl noticed, and smiled reassuringly.

"There's nothing to worry about, Peridot. If something happens you can use the secondary signal and we'll come looking for you two right away."

"Right!" Steven searched his backpack and covered the flashlight with a thin layer of a red substance, 'plastic'. He turned it on to demonstrate. The light that came out of it was red this time, symbolizing danger.

"That won't be necessary." Garnet stood up. "Nothing will go wrong."

Peridot breathed deeply and nodded. "OK. Lets do this then."

"Now you are talking!" Amethyst hit her on the arm softly, before jumping in the sea head first.

"Try not to get stuck on the rocks at the bottom, but if you do, use the signal." Pearl was about to jump inside, when she turned around to look at Steven. "Did you remember to bring extra batteries?" He nodded repeatedly, and her expression softened. She jumped in gracefully.

"Good luck." Garnet practically walked into the water, leaving them alone on the boat.

"OK! Stand next to me." She did, an Steven had no problem summoning the bubble around them. Peridot knocked on its inner surface, verifying its resistance. "Ready?" He smiled.

"Positive." They pushed the bubble into the ocean, making the knot in Peridot's insides tighter. When the bubble broke the surface of the water, she closed her eyes, waiting for anything to go wrong. Nothing happened, however, and she opened her eyes to look at a completely different spectacle.

"Woah..." She couldn't withhold the exclamation. Around them, light reverberated in different tones of blue, while little creatures swam above and underneath the bubble. "Fish..." She murmured. A word Steven had explained. "There are so many..! That one is big!" She pointed at it, with her mouth opened in awe.

"That's a shark! Awesome!" Steven said. The bubble was sinking quickly, however, and soon the blue tones were replaced by darker ones. They were close to the bottom, she realized, and light could only go so far. Steven turned the flashlight on, bringing a little clarity to their surroundings. He pointed it at the bottom, right before they landed on it.

"What is all that?" She narrowed her eyes, trying to see.

"Oh, those are corals." Steven directed the flashlight to them. "They're pretty, huh?"

"I... Suppose." Peridot didn't find them much appealing, however, and she directed her eyes to the device on her hand. "We better start looking if we want to finish today. Lets go that way." She pointed at the direction her screen indicated and started to push the bubble. Steven helped her.

"You know... Pearl was right." Steven spoke. He could only push with one hand, as the other one was busy with the flash light, lighting up the way. "We can find them, but you don't need them anymore."

Peridot hummed before talking. "You were the one to bring the subject out in the first place!" She said, inadvertently sounding defensive.

"Yeah, but..." They maneuvered around a big rock. "Maybe I was wrong... Maybe they're not a better option than your training... They were really cool, but it was you all along. You made them awesome."

"Well, we'll see when we get them, alright?" Steven nodded. "We're really close." She stopped pushing. Steven used his flashlight to check the surroundings.

"See anything..?" Out of nowhere, an object impacted the bubble. Both Steven and Peridot screamed in surprise, but relaxed as the object revealed itself to be Amethyst, laughing outside the bubble.

"That little clod..." Peridot's eyes narrowed. Amethyst wasn't carrying anything, so she tipped her head, confused. Amethyst moved her arms to catch their attention, and pointed repeatedly to her left. "She wants us... To follow her, maybe?"

"Huh! Should I give the signal?" Steven asked.

"Negative. Lets see what she wants." Amethyst was still pointing, while seemingly talking excitedly. Steven calmed her by giving her a signal, that Peridot didn't recognize, with his hand. As they she started swimming, Peridot and Steven pushed the bubble in her direction, following her, and Peridot asked:

"That sign... What does it mean?" Amethyst was moving quickly, and Peridot pushed stronger trying to catch up.

"It's called a 'thumbs up'. It means everything is alright." He quickly explained. "Maybe you can have them and still train not to depend solely on them..."

Peridot hummed, only a little annoyed. "Maybe. Personally, I'd like to find them before making any plans. Wait... Where did she go?" Peridot's eyes searched for any signal of the purple gem. Steven used the flashlight, but it didn't help much. Suddenly, however, Amethyst's upper body peeked out of a grotto in the floor. She made more signs with her hands, inviting them. "What in the world is she up to..?"

"Peridot..? Maybe we should give the signal before going inside there..." They kept pushing until they were at the edge of the cavity. It was way bigger and wider than it looked, and also very dark.

"I... This is still not an emergency. Lets see what Amethyst wants from us before, OK?"

Steven didn't seem too onboard with the idea, but he made no comment about it. The deep and dark grotto didn't look safe, but Amethyst was still inside it, pretending to yawn. "Here goes..." Peridot pushed the bubble over the edge, expecting the descent to be way longer than it was. Once inside it, darkness engulfed them. Steven pointed the flashlight in all directions, trying to decide where to go. Suddenly, however, the bubble started moving on its own, or at least it seemed like it. Behind them, Amethyst pushed them deeper, until the entrance wasn't but a slightly bright spot.

"Where are we going...? We're wasting time." Said Peridot, slightly annoyed. "This better be worth it."

They couldn't see anything but darkness, but Amethyst pushed them without doubting. Peridot felt a change in the terrain as the bubble started moving in an inclined angle. "We're going up?" Said Steven, also aware of the change. Peridot didn't answer, instead, she pointed at a spot in front of them, where a slight source of light could be seen.

"Is that..?" As they grew closer to the light, there was no more room for doubts. They were headed towards a cave. The entrance was wide enough to allow the bubble to pass, and was surrounded by a strange looking light. Much to their surprise, when they entered the cave, a strange sound was heard. It took them a second to understand they were out of the water, as they were distracted by the spectacle the cave offered.

"It's huge!" Steven said, impressed.

The entirety of the cave was illuminated by a soft blue light, that seemed to come from the walls. It gave the whole situation a very appropriate sense of unreality. Steven realized it was probably as big as the insides of the temple, and opened his mouth in awe. Outside the bubble, Amethyst grinned and gestured with her arms, inviting them to come out.

"There's air out there... You can open the bubble..." Peridot poked Steven in the arm to catch his attention. The bubble popped, and the multiple sounds of the cave got to them; mysterious and repetitive. Amethyst put her hands on her waist and smiled proudly.

"What do you guys think? Pretty cool, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah..." Steven was looking up, and talked almost respectfully. "How did you find it?"

"I was just swimming around!" The simple explanation made Steven frown. Amethyst looked at Peridot, who had walked up to one of the walls and was examining it. "What do you think, Peri? This could be our secret oceanic hideout!" Her voice was cheerful.

"I guess..." Peridot seemed more interested in the walls. "What is all this..?" She carefully ran a finger over the bright surface. When she examined it, it was emitting the same kind of light. "Wha..!? It's on me!" She showed Steven and Amethyst her hand, looking disgusted.

"It's... Some kind of moss..?" Steven had approached her and was now examining her finger, covered by the bright substance. "Bright moss!" He smiled, but Peridot raised an eyebrow at his excitement. "Amethyst, this place is awesome!"

"Yeah, alright. I knew you'd like it." She smiled nonchalantly.

"As... 'cool' as it is..." Peridot didn't like to interrupt their happiness, but she knew it was necessary. "We better get going. For all we know, Garnet or Pearl already found my enhancer and are now looking for us. We don't want to worry them." Her voice was as serious as her expression.

"Aww, come on! We just found it!" Amethyst protested. "Don't you want to explore it?"

"I..." Peridot thought about the immensity of the cave and shivered. "Even if I wanted to, this is certainly not the right moment." Amethyst opened her mouth to reply, but Peridot raised a hand to stop her. "What about this?" She pointed to the radar in her hand. "I designed this thing with a couple of interesting functions. One of them, I'm capable of marking the spot we're standing on right now, on its map. We can come back later, maybe with Pearl and Garnet, to... Explore." She didn't sound too excited with the possibility.

"Guys..?" Steven's voice was low. He was looking with attention at the deeper part of the cave. Neither Amethyst nor Peridot seemed to hear him speak.

"Fine! But I found it, I get to name it." Amethyst crossed her arms as she spoke.

"And what's that supposed to mean..?" Peridot raised an eyebrow.

"Guys!" Steven's eyes were wide open, fixed on a point in the darkness.

"Duh! You have to name a hideout, nerd."

Peridot was about to reply, when Steven grabbed her by the arm. She looked at him, surprised, and frowned when she realized he looked... Scared. "There's something else inside here..." His voice was barely a whisper, but it was enough to give Peridot chills. She and Amethyst looked in the same direction as the kid, and realized what he meant.

A black shape had appeared in the deeper part of the cave, contrasting with the blue of the walls. Peridot felt her knees shake, as she realized the shape was tall, probably taller than Steven's house. It was moving, slowly, and growing bigger each second. It was coming towards them, making a low, but persistent and increasing, sound.

"Quick! Lets..." She whispered, intending to say "Get out of here!", but was stopped by the violent impact of an unknown object no more than a couple feet away from them. "Eep!" The sound escaped her mouth, as the light coming from the walls revealed the object to be a wide, dark colored tentacle. Next to her, Steven and Amethyst gasped. The sudden impact had stopped them from moving, and they observed in horror how the tentacle started to crawl in their direction. "Steven! Bubble!" Peridot's voice cracked slightly, but her order was firm.

He was still shocked, but his reflexes were faster than his mind and the pink bubble materialized around them just in time, as the tentacle impacted the bubble strongly, pushing it towards a wall and bouncing it to an unknown direction. Inside it, the trio couldn't help bouncing on each other and the bubble's walls, until it stopped moving on the floor. Steven turned on the flashlight and pointed it around them, just in time to light another tentacle landing atop their protective barrier. He immediately dropped the flashlight, making an effort to maintain the bubble.

"What is that thing?!" Peridot's voice was impregnated by fear.

"Who cares?! We gotta get out of here!" Amethyst tried to push the bubble, but under the pressure of the tentacle's weight, it didn't move. Peridot observed terrified as two slender and longer tentacles started to wrap around the bubble, coming from the dark creature they hadn't seen yet.

"Garnet..! Pearl..!" Steven was shaking, and was barely able to pronounce the two words. The bubble had curved under the pressure.

"They don't know we're here..." Peridot's voice was low and barely audible. More tentacles had appeared, and were quickly wrapping around them.

"Fine! Drop the bubble!" Amethyst took her whip out of her gem with a fierce expression.

"I can't... It would crush us..." Steven spoke with a pained expression.

"Summon your shield at the same time!" Amethyst couldn't help sounding a little desperate. "There's no other way!"

"I..." Steven doubted a little, before nodding. Peridot stopped breathing, her body completely tense. "One... Two... Three!"

Peridot wasn't prepared for the sound that came with the bursting of the bubble. The creature was hissing madly, and its tentacles made a disgusting sound as they pressed against each other trying to get to the now non-existing bubble. Steven managed to perform the move perfectly, and the bubble popped as his shield appeared above them, protecting them from the biggest tentacle.

"Run for the exit!" With the scream still in her throat, Amethyst cracked her whip repeatedly, cutting, with each movement, some of the tentacles.

"I don't know where that is!" It was true, Peridot was completely lost. The blue light gave everything an odd depth perception that contributed to her confusion.

"Just run then!" Steven, with his biggest effort, expanded the shield until it pushed the tentacle away, high enough to give them time to maneuver. Understanding his idea, Peridot quickly picked up the radar and the flashlight. "Now!" They started running at the same time, away from the creature, as the shield disappeared, and the tentacle impacted the floor where they'd been standing, making it tremble. Peridot turned the flashlight on and used it to light their way. Everything around them looked the same, however, and they realized they were running in a random direction. The sound of the creature was still to their back, pressing them to run faster.

"Any ideas?!" Amethyst looked back nervously, where the shape of the creature could still be seen.

"I..!" Peridot's eyes were wide open, looking for the entrance in one of the walls. "We have to find the-"

"Look out!" Steven's scream interrupted her, and she turned around just in time to see the hideous tentacle drag itself across the floor in a sweeping motion. Peridot had been running ahead of them, and when Steven summoned his shield, she was left outside of its protection. Her eyes widened in terror, as she saw Steven uselessly try to expand his shield to include her, right before the tentacle slammed her complete body, throwing her against one of the walls. She was surprised by how, in the little reaction time she had before the tentacle impacted her, she was able to drop the devices in her hands and use them to protect her forehead. The pain was overwhelming, but she managed to maintain enough control of herself to keep her hands over her gem as she impacted the wall.

The loud noise she made when crashing against it made her fear she would retreat to her gem immediately, but she didn't, as she verified when she fell unceremoniously to the floor. Everything she could feel was pain, and it erased everything else from her mind for a second. The thing that snapped her out of it was hearing Steven yell her name repeatedly, in the distance. She stood up, dazzled and confused, but trying to gain control over her body. The sounds echoed in the cave and she was unable to determine where the sound was coming from, but she started walking, feeling pain course through her body with each step. She stumbled and fell on her knee, and looking down, she realized she had tripped over an oddly shaped object. "The flashlight." She thought, feeling her mind move slowly to draw conclusions. "It was propelled in the same direction than me."

With shaky hands, she turned it on and pointed it around her. The light blinked a couple of time and lost some of its brightness, but it was still enough to show her a discouraging image. In front of her, a massive pile of rocks blocked her way. Behind her, darkness. Above her, the ceiling wasn't as tall as she remembered. It took her a second to understand her situation. She was not in the same chamber as Steven and Amethyst anymore. The impact had thrown her into a different, much smaller one, and caused rocks to cover the entrance. Steven wasn't yelling her name anymore, but the sounds of the creature could still be heard, coming through the rocks.

"Steven..." She felt a tight knot in her stomach as she realized that they were still in danger. Much worse, she could do nothing to help. Panic threatened to overwhelm her, and she put the flashlight on the floor, pointing in direction to the rocks. They were all big, and the space between them was not enough to allow her to squeeze through it.

"Screw this!" Out of the mixed feelings in her chest, frustration got the best of her. She grabbed one of the rocks and started pulling it with all her strength. As she struggled during what felt like hours, a little part of her reminded her that the whole wall of rocks could come down and crush her, but she paid no attention to it. Steven and Amethyst were in danger, and she had to help. She pulled stronger, blushing by the effort. It was no use. The rock didn't budge. Behind her, the flashlight slowly grew darker, and finally died, leaving her in complete darkness.

"No! No, no, no, no, NO!" Unable to see, she left her hands guide her. "I have... To help them!" With those words, she made her biggest effort yet. However, her hands slipped on the surface of the rock, and she fell on her back with a loud 'plump'. She stayed there, feeling tears coming to her eyes. "But... How?"

She was unable to help. Trapped, useless... Without a weapon, the necessary strength, or her enhancers. She covered her face and a sob crossed her throat as she realized Pearl had been right. "I depended on them..." Without enhancers, she'd always been weak. Harmless. And instead of trying to get over them, she had embarked her friends on a quest to find them. A quest that was about to end in tragedy. "Why can't I do anything right?!" She clenched her fists angrily. Now they'd get shattered because of her. The thought was almost physically painful.

Something caught her attention, however. She sat up, cleaning tears from her face with a hand covered by dirt, and paid close attention. "Silence..." The sound of the creature was gone. It had probably moved away, far enough so that she couldn't hear it, she thought. However, a different sound was heard. His voice. He was screaming her name. She practically jumped to stand up, and climbed the rocks to find a spot where she could hear clearer. That was, without a doubt, Steven.

"I'm here! Steven! Over here!" She screamed with urge, feeling relief take over her wounded body. He was still alive. He was looking for her. "Steven!" She screamed as hard as she could, not knowing if he could hear her.

"Peridot?" This time his scream was doubtful, but it sounded closer. A second later, she heard Amethyst's voice.

"She's over here!" And just a moment after that, Garnet's voice, coming directly from behind the wall. "Peridot, take cover! I'm going to break through!" Upon her words, Peridot jumped off the rock she was standing on, walked as far as she could away from the rocks, and covered her gem.

"One... Two... Three!" Thousands of pieces flew through the air as Garnet's fist let the blue light inside the chamber. With a couple of more punches, the remaining rocks ceded, an the hole was big enough for her to pass. Peridot didn't wait for more, as she ran through it as fast as she could. Outside, the four Crystal Gems looked at her, worried. She, however, only had eyes for Steven and Amethyst. The half gem half human smiled, and Peridot felt tears forming in her eyes as she ran to hug them both tightly. Amethyst blushed, but she put a hand on her back. Steven, however, couldn't help moving away slightly.

"Ow!" He said, and Peridot separated from them to take a closer look at him. Coming from her forehead, a stream of dark liquid shined with a purple tond under the blue light.

"You... You're hurt..." She cringed, about to cry again, but Steven made his best effort to smile reassuringly.

"I'm OK, I promise!" To demonstrate, he was the one to hug her this time. "I'm just glad you're alright." His voice shook a little, almost unable to withhold all his emotions.

"Yeah, you gave us quite a scare back there." Amethyst smiled too. Peridot blinked twice.

"But... How?" She turned her head around to look at Pearl and Garnet. She realized, almost subconsciously, that Pearl was holding one of her arm attachments. It seemed so unimportant at that moment. "How did you find us?"

"I have my methods." Garnet spoke. "We'll talk about all of this later. For now, lets get ourselves home."

Peridot nodded. One more time, she separated from Steven to look at him and Amethyst. Both of their faces were dirty and their hair was a mess of dirt and bright moss, but they were smiling. She smiled too, with tears of sheer joy on her cheeks.


Chapter 7, huh? The longest so far. Probably had to do with the fact that I've had a ton of free time lately. However, I'll travel out of town tomorrow to spend some time with the family, so here's where that baby-sized hiatus really kicks in. Sorry guys, but I'm afraid no chapter for the next week. We'll see, though! Things can change rather quickly.

Also, if you felt this chapter left a lot of unresolved issues (mainly Peridot's self depreciating thoughts) don't worry! Everything will be solved soon enough. Wait patiently for chapter 8, "Strong".

Thank you so much for all the reviews/follows/favs! Seriously, you guys pump me up when writers block tries to bully me around. And lastly, feel free to leave a review telling me what you hated, loved or what you'd like to see in future chapters. Thanks for reading, have a nice day!