Chapter 7: Revelation
Lapis and Steven both walked onto the warp pad, with the gemstones in their possession. "Are you ready to go Steven?" Lapis asked as she looked over at him. "Yes, I'm ready Lapis." Steven replied as he was now wearing his regular clothes, he had on his cheeseburger backpack, and looked as if he was prepared for a long trip. She smiled at him and asked, "What's with the backpack?" Steven replied, "It's my lucky bag, I bring it with me whenever we go on tough missions. It comes in handy sometimes, just ask Pearl."
Lapis turned her attention to Pearl, who was standing in the middle of the room with Greg and Lion by her side. Lapis looked at Pearl, and said in a quiet but stern voice, "Well Steven, we're not going on any missions, not anymore…." Steven looked at her confused and asked, "then what are we doing?" She responded, "We're returning these gemstones to their home world, then we're leaving. We're not on a mission to retrieve or take anything. I don't think this qualifies as a mission." Steven responded, "Okay, I guess so Lapis." She looked at him once more and said, "just please don't refer to it as a mission. Call it a quest, a journey, a destination, or whatever you'd like; just not a mission."
Steven looked at her and could tell that she was uncomfortable with the whole notion or concept of a mission, what it entailed. Steven said to her, "Okay Lapis, I understand. I'm sorry." She smiled, then replied, "Thank you Steven." Just before they were about to beam off, Pearl shouted and said, "Wait! Steven! Don't Go!" But Lapis quickly cut her off and said, "The longer we wait, the longer it's going to take for me to bring him back to you." Steven shouted at Pearl from the warp pad and said, "Don't worry Pearl, I'll be fine. I'll be back soon. Just stay here and watch over my dad."
Pearl looked over at Greg and watched as he tried to force himself to smile. Pearl's eyes began to tear, as she had a look of disgust on her face, and was uncomfortable with the whole concept of spending time with Greg. She turned her attention back towards Lapis and pleaded with her. "Please don't take him! Give me a chance to explain everything so he doesn't need to go! We waited too long, we should have talked to him a lot sooner!" Lapis just stared back at Pearl, with her arms folded, and said, "Yeah, you guys definitely waited too long. But something tells me you never intended to tell him anything. Also, to answer your questions, the answer is NO. You no longer have the option, I'm taking control. That's the purpose of our little trip."
Pearls heart sank as she heard Lapis's statements. She dropped to her knees, she looked up towards Steven and said, "Whatever happens Steven, whatever she tells you, please don't hate us for it!" Steven's mouth dropped as he heard Pearls words. He ran off the warp pad, and ran to her. Lapis just sighed as she watched, but remained patient with Steven. Pearl was now eye level with Steven, as she was on her knees. Steven looked back towards Lapis and asked, "do I even want to know what she's talking about?" Lapis responded, "Nope, not right now. That's why I'm here and that's why we're leaving. Now hurry up and say your goodbye's Steven."
Steven looked back into Pearl's eyes and could tell that she was broken. He observed her body, how it was badly bruised, and how her face had multiple lacerations. Steven spat into his hands, he rubbed his palms together, then placed his hands on Pearls face. He watched as tears came streaming down her eyes, and her face began to heal. He did this several times over with different parts of her body, until she was completely healed. The last thing Steven touched was Pearls hands. He watched as the blood stains and scars began to disappear.
Lapis allowed them to have their time together, but she began to grow impatient and said, "Can we please go now Steven? I'm sure she's going to be fine." Steven nodded his head at Lapis, but before he could head back to the warp pad, Pearl grabbed him. "Please come back to me Steven! Garnet and Amethyst would want you back as well! Don't stay away from us!" With that reminder, Steven reached into his pocket and pulled out Garnet and Amethyst's gemstones. He handed them over to Pearl and said, "Tell them where I'm at when they regenerate. Let them know that I'm with Lapis and she means no harm."
Pearl looked down at the gemstones that were placed in her hands and said, "I will Steven, but I don't think they're going to be mad at Lapis anymore…." Steven hugged her once more and said, "Bye Pearl, I'll be back." He walked over to his father and said, "Bye dad, take care of Pearl and Lion. They get lonely without someone near." Greg wiped the tears from his eyes and said to his son, "Are you sure you know what you're doing Steven?" Steven looked at Greg and said, "I'll be fine dad, I'm feeling good about this. She said she would take care of me and I trust her." Lapis overheard the two of them talking and said, "Would you like to bring your father along Steven?"
Greg's eyes grew wide as heard her question, and he responded for himself. "No, it's okay. I think it's best if I stay here. I don't think it's my place to tag along on gem business, or anything that has to do with magic. Believe me I've learned my lesson…" Lapis smiled and said, "sorry about your van." Greg laughed it off and said, "its okay, I'm pretty sure its still out there, somewhere…" Lapis responded, "Well, okay. Then if there's nothing else, let's go Steven." Steven jumped back onto the warp pad and waved goodbye, as he and Lapis were now leaving. But before they left, Lapis faced Pearl once more and said, "If you follow us, or if I see you turn up in one of the other realms, Steven's not coming back. I'll raise him, I'll be his mom and dad from here on out." In an instant, there was a flash of light that beamed down onto the warp pad, and the two were gone.
Greg looked down at the floor and saw Pearl now curled up in a fetal position, crying hysterically. He rubbed the back of his head and tried to figure out how he would help her. Greg quietly said to himself, "Okay, I know she doesn't like to be touched or grabbed, at least by me anyway. But what can I do?" He stood over her and quietly asked, "Uh Pearl, are you going to be okay?" Pearl looked up at him and almost immediately she leaped off the floor, into his arms. Greg stood there in shock, as he was holding Pearl, and watched as she was continuing to sob uncontrollably. He frantically asked, "What is it!? What do you want me to do!?"
Greg looked around and didn't know what to do. So he did the only thing he could think of, as he walked up the stairs and placed Pearl in Steven's bed. He saw that she still had the gemstones clinched in her hands, as he reached over to try and retrieve them. "Pearl, it's going to be okay. You can let them go now." Greg said to her in a soft tone. Pearl stared back at him, with her eyes still swollen, but began to breathe steady. "That's it, you're doing fine," he said to her, as she slowly released her grip. Greg took the gemstones from her palms and placed them on the pillow next to her. He watched as Pearl buried her face into the other pillow and began screaming.
Greg, once again was lost as he tried to figure out how he should help her. He walked down stairs, all the while he could still hear Pearl whaling in the background, and started looking for his son's guitar. When he found it, he saw that it was lying next to the sofa, so he grabbed it then headed back up stairs. He sat down next to Pearl and began playing to calm her down. She became silent, she turned her body over to look at him and quietly said, "thank you!" Greg responded, without thinking of his words, and said, "No problem Pearl, I used to serenade Rose with my awesome guitar playing skills. In fact she referred to me as the Sultan of Smooth!" Pearl rolled her eyes, than turned her head back into the pillow and let out a heavy sigh. Greg had tears in his eyes as he looked up at Rose's painting above the doorway and said, "I wish you were here Rose…Please protect our son"
Another Realm:
A beam of light came down upon the warp pad, Lapis and Steven were now standing there, and both stepped off onto the ground. Steven observed his surroundings and quickly said, "Where are we? Why is everything so green?" He observed the floor and surrounding walls. He saw that the walls were made entirely out of green crystals, and that the flour appeared to be transparent, as he could see clouds underneath his feet. He was waiting for a response from her but she gave none. Then Steven asked, "Are you mad at me Lapis?"
Lapis reached into the water bubble to retrieve a gemstone, and quietly said, "No Steven, I'm not mad at you." Then Steven replied, "That's good, because I thought I did something wrong." Lapis observed the gemstone that she was now holding in both of her hands and said, "You never did anything wrong Steven, you were just mislead." There was silence between them, then Lapis took a deep breath as she held the gemstone close and said, "Please forgive them my friend, for they know not what they do." Steven watched in awe as the gemstone left Lapis's hands, and was now floating in the air. It began to glow bright and Steven said to Lapis, "Hey I know who that is, it's centipeetle!"
Lapis cringed when she heard Stevens words. She glared over at him and said, "Centipeetle? That's what you've been calling her!?" Steven got nervous and said, "Well that's what the gems called it, or her. It wasn't my idea, I swear!" Lapis just stared at him and said, "Well it doesn't surprise me, like I said you were misguided." The two stood there and watched as the outline of the gemstones body began to form. Lapis picked up Steven, she held him in the air and said in a stern voice, "Look at her Steven! This is why I brought you here! Look at her body!" Steven's heart was pounding, as he could feel Lapis's grip underneath his armpits. He focused his eyes, his mouth began to drop as he watched the outline of a "female's" body begin to appear.
Lapis set him down, and the two watched as the glowing body began kneeling. But no sooner when the body began kneeling, it began to change once more. Steven watched as the figure grew bright and slowly changed into the creature known as "centipeetle." The newly formed creature stared back at Steven and Lapis, and began screaming. Its jaws were wide, it began to drool and the pinchers on the back of its tail began to rise into the air. Lapis shoved Steven behind her and waited for the creature to attack. But before anything could happen, the creature retreated and ran off into the distance. Steven peered over Lapis's shoulder with tears in his eyes, and quietly said, "No…centipeetle!...comeback!" Lapis in her frustration turned around and said, "Her name isn't centipeetle! Stop calling her that!" Steven's eyes were glossy as he looked up at Lapis and said, "then what do you want me to call her?" Lapis responded, "Its Jadeite, that's her name. Don't call her anything else but that. And this is her home."
Lapis wiped the tears from Stevens eyes and said, "Sit down Steven, we need to talk." He listened to her, as he sat down with his legs crossed and began to open his cheeseburger backpack. He watched as Lapis sat down next to him, and she waited for him to get comfortable. Steven pulled out a donut from his backpack and asked, "are you hungry Lapis? I have donuts if you want one?" She sat there quietly and said, "No thanks Steven, I'm fine." Steven smiled at her and said, "you're just like Pearl, she doesn't like to eat anything either." Lapis let out a gag and said, "I'm nothing like that gem! She wishes she could be me." Steven stared at her and said, "what is it with you guys? Why do you hate each other so much?" Lapis responded sarcastically and said, "Well Steven, aside from the fact that she kept me imprisoned in a mirror, I just don't like her. She's too snooty and she thinks that she knows everything."
Steven listened to Lapis and said, "She's not so bad. She just likes everything done a certain way. She cooks, she cleans, and she even washes my clothes, just like a mother would. She always wants to protect me and she gets upset if I'm out late or I don't tell her where I'm going." Lapis listened as he went on and on about Pearl. She jumped back into the conversation and said, "Yeah Steven I think she has a problem. No gem should continue to caudle another gem. She needs to get a life." Steven looked at Lapis with hurt in his eyes, and said, "She's only like that with me because I lost my mom. She's tried to fill the void, and she does the best that she can." Lapis looked down at Steven and said, "But she's not your mom. She can never be your mom. The sooner you figure that out the better. It's to not good to pretend with her." Steven looked down at the floor and said, "I don't like where this is going, can we talk about something else?"
Lapis responded, "Fine Steven, why don't you tell me about your Mother. Your real Mother please!" Steven looked up at her again and said, "I don't know a whole lot about her. I just know that she was friends with Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. She came to earth and fell in love with my dad. My dad says that my mother Rose was kind and…" But before Steven could finish, Lapis grabbed his arm and said, "Your mother's name was Rose!?" Steven looked at her, and observed how her eyes were searching for something. He nodded his head at her and said, "Yes, my Mothers name was Rose, Rose Quartz." He lifted up his shirt and said, "I have her gemstone, see?" Lapis let Steven go and froze. She was stunned when she heard his words. She looked down at his gemstone, as her eyes began to water. Steven stared at her and asked, "Is everything alright Lapis? Are you okay?"
