Gems are Unbreakable

by The Black Mage of Phantasm

Steven Universe and the Gems have saved the world so many times in the past, but now a new monster is rising in their town. Steven has to face off against a man unlike any opponent he has battled against so far. And what does a purple-haired teenager have to do with any of this? Steven doesn't know, but one thing's certain. He'll need everyone's help if he wants to save his home.

10. The Storm

Chapter 10: The Storm

Clouds were the only thing he could see in the sky.

He was riding his bike down a long, narrow road. Countless trees were scattered on either side of him. There were no buildings anywhere in sight; no people anywhere nearby. There wasn't even a single car following him.

It was only himself. Only he and his motorcycle were the ones zooming down the long road.

His black bike continued to speed down the black asphalt. He gripped the throttle as tightly as he could with his leather gloves. With no one around, he could go as fast as he wanted. He didn't have to worry about anyone trying to slow him down.

And he had already wasted enough time.

Behind his pitch black helmet, his eyes narrowed.

He turned his bike as he came up on a slight bend in the road. He felt the wind blow through his new jacket as he once again accelerated. The trees around him started to decrease in number. After a few seconds, he saw that only a few trees remained at this portion of the road. Now, a long field of grass that stretched as far as his eyes could see surrounded him on both sides.

He was getting closer. Just a little more. Just a little more and then that bastard would get what's coming to him.

He saw he was approaching a sign. It was dark blue, planted into the ground by two metal legs. The words written on it were in white. Even though he was going at least eighty miles, he could still see the words on the sign.

Beach City

Next Exit

15 Miles

He stared at the sign. When he passed it on his bike, he turned his head around to look at it. To make sure that he wasn't imaging things.

And when he realized he wasn't, he felt his lips move into a grin.

Soon he'd finally get to Beach City. Soon he'd get to make up for all of his mistakes. And then...

And...then...

He frowned.

No. Don't focus on that. Just...just focus on that bastard. He couldn't worry about..the other things. Not now.

He once again revved up the accelerator. He heard his engine roar as his bike went at even faster speeds.

He could feel his anger once again rising within his chest. Throughout his journey he had tried to calm down. He had tried to suppress his rage. But no matter what he tried, there would always be an ember within him. An ember that would soon become a blazing fire.

Because his rage for one blonde-haired bastard would never stop growing.

And by God...one way or another, that monster was going to die. He would not stop until he saw the bastard's life fade away. Not until he saw every drop of blood exit his body.

He did not know when, but he suddenly realized a purpler aura was covering his entire body.

Just fifteen more miles. Just fifteen more miles...

---

"You can't go there!"

Of course not.

Steven knew that would be her response.

"Why?"

He could feel his eyes narrow. His fingers gripped a little harder at the pages of the book in his hand.

He shouldn't have even bothered coming here.

"Because..."

Garnet couldn't finish. Her head moved to the side. Even with her visor, he knew she was looking at the floor.

He looked around at the others.

Pearl was looking away from him. Her eyes fixed on the brown walls of the Beach House.

Amethyst looked at the three of them from a few feet away. He could see curiosity slowly rising in her eyes as she raised an eyebrow.

Lion was laying on the floor a short distance away. He had been napping before, but now he could see the pink beast had one eye open and was looking at them.

And Connie stood directly behind him; he could see confusion wrapping around her face.

Two weeks. That was how long it had been since he'd step foot in the temple. Since he'd really talked to the Gems. In two weeks, everything had changed so much. In two weeks, Beach City had become like a ghost town. His home had never been quieter. Most of his friends had now chosen to hide in their homes. Some were now uncomfortable going out at night even though before they used to love hanging out under the black sky of their town.

Sour Cream's reaction had been the one to stick out most in his mind.

---

"Dude, seriously, what's going on?"

There was fear within the teen's expression as he spoke.

It was six days ago when Sour Cream had come to visit him at It's A Wash. His Dad had left him alone since he had to go buy some stuff for his carwash. He had been sitting inside his Dad's van at the time, the back doors wide open as he just stared. At the sky, the ground or whatever his eyes happened to gaze at.

"Wha-What do you mean?"

His voice sounded so weak.

"Look... I know...this is probably the worse time to ask you this since someone from your family just...died."

He flinched at Sour Cream's words.

"But...my mom is still missing. And I'm seriously worried, dude. I figured you guys would have found something out by now."

Again he flinched.

"Yellowtail's been spending every second searching for her. I don't think he's even slept since she first went missing. Onion's no better, he's asked his friends to help him vandalize shops and cars to try and find some clue."

He didn't know Onion had other friends. Onion had always seemed like someone who didn't interact with a lot of people. Was this just another thing he had neglected about the people of Beach City? About his own friends?

"And...is she somehow connected to the other missing people?"

He felt cold the moment those words had left Sour Cream's lips. His eyes glanced at the floor of the van; he couldn't even bring himself to look up.

"I've...been talking to people. Mostly to my friends and guys I've DJ'd for. At first, it was just to see if they had seen Vidalia, but along the way, I heard that...other people have gone missing. They told me that relatives who were supposed to show up to their house at some point never did. And apparently, they never returned home either. I...I asked Buck if his Dad knew about this, since he's the mayor and all that, but he said that he wasn't sure. The only thing he could say was that his Dad's been freaking out more than usual."

He continued to stare at the ground. All those people were going through who knows what right now. All of them probably scared out of their minds.

And the Gems couldn't help them. Not even their own friends.

"Steven, this has been driving me and my family crazy. Do you have any ideas or clues about what happened to my mom? Or about the other people?"

He looked up.

Sour Cream's eyes were wide. He could see the desperation swirling within his expression. He had never seen his friend look so miserable before in his life.

He wanted to say that the Gems knew what they were doing. He wanted to assure his friend that they had a handle on this situation.

But he didn't.

Because he refused to lie.

"I'm sorry Sour Cream...but we still don't know."

That was the hardest thing he had ever had to say. It would have been so easy to lie. To believe that the Gems were in control.

But he wouldn't do that.

Because he wasn't her.

"What?!"

For the first time, he heard Sour Cream shout. The teen's eyes became wider, and he could see the shock within them.

"But...but you're the Crystal Gems! You guys always know what to do when stuff like this happens! You've saved this place from monsters, aliens, and even a giant hand!"

They had. But, that did not mean they were good at protecting their town. They still had issues. They were broken.

It was a miracle no one had gotten seriously hurt.

"Well...this time, we don't know. We have no idea what's going on."

Sour Creams shoulders slumped. He could see the sadness swirling within his face. It looked cold.

"I'm sorry Sour Cream."

He wasn't sure if he heard him. Halfway through his words, Sour Cream muttered something under his breath and ran off.

"I'm so sorry."

His Dad had arrived shortly after to see him with tears falling from his eyes.

---

And that probably wasn't even the worse day in the last two weeks.

The close second would have to be about five days ago.

---

His Dad said that he was going back to the barn. He wanted to see if there was anything he could salvage after Lapis wrecked it. He wasn't surprised to learn that she had done that.

His Dad hadn't really gotten a chance to see just how damaged the barn was. He had been busy taking care of him for the past two weeks. He had constantly been by his side, except for maybe a few minutes every now and then.

He had even stayed up with him when he awoke from his awful dreams.

He asked if he could come too. His Dad was surprised when he said that. He could also see that he wasn't entirely comfortable taking him there.

He understood. He had apparently been shouting Peridot's name in his sleep. His Dad was scared that if he took him to her now destroyed home it might make him feel even worse. It might make his nightmares all the more horrifying.

But he had to go.

That barn represented so many good times he had with Peridot. It was at the barn that she had found a new home, it was the place where she had begun to change That barn was where she went from a cold mechanic to a loving family member. It was where she befriended Lapis.

It would be an insult to her if he didn't show the same respect to it as he had to her. He had to say goodbye to it. If he didn't, then it would be the same as not saying goodbye to Peridot.

He told his Dad all of this. He was still hesitant, but he did decide to bring him along.

When they got there, they saw broken wooden planks scattered everywhere on the ground. The water tower that had been lodged into the side of the barn was now in pieces. Large chunks of metal were everywhere on the small hill. They saw that was left of the barn had been crushed; it looked like it had been stomped on by a giant. What were once roof and walls now looked like a big pile of shattered wood.

And there was another man there. Someone was laying on their knees right in front of the remains of the barn. It was a man with an olive jacket. A man with brown pants and black boots. A man who wore a cool pilot hat.

The man hadn't noticed them. He didn't seem to notice anything other than the remains of the barn. Even as they got closer to him, he didn't turn around. Even when he asked who the man was, he received no response.

Then, his Dad spoke one word.

"...Andy?"

That had finally gotten a reaction out of the man. He slowly turned to face them, knees still on the ground as his eyes looked at both of them.

Eyes that were shedding tears.

Eyes that when they say him and his Dad widened.

And then anger blazed throughout his expression. He saw the man...Andy's face become flushed with rage.

And he could hear the fury inside each word when he screamed.

"GREG! WHAT THE -!?"

He missed the rest because Andy had started to growl. He got up from the ground and walked towards both of them. His anger became bigger with each step he took.

His Dad had stepped in front of him when he was about halfway towards them.

"Andy, dude, calm down!"

But Andy's rage continued to grow despite his Dad's words.

"Calm down!? Have you not seen the barn!? The family barn!?"

He wiped away at the tears on his face with his jacket sleeve.

"How could you let this happen!?" How can you call you say you're a part of our family and just, not care about something like this!?"

...Wait, family?

This man...was a part of his family? A part of his Dad's family? Someone who he had never known existed until now?

His Dad kept trying to calm Andy down, but nothing worked. He kept shouting at his Dad, insulting him and not even giving him the chance to speak. His Dad kept trying to explain what happened, but every time Andy would interrupt him.

And he watched this all from about two feet away.

"Look, Andy, you don't understand-."

"I don't understand!? I understand perfectly! You didn't care about our barn and let it get destroyed! Probably by some no good vandals!"

"That's not what happened! I lent the barn to some of my friends-."

"So they did this!?"

"Well...Yeah, but-."

"What kind of friends were these guys!? How did they even smash the barn up like this?"

"Well, they're...aliens."

That was the wrong word to use. The moment his Dad said that, Andy became even more furious. The rage in his eyes exploded.

"Are you kidding me! You gave up my barn to a bunch of filthy, illegal, trash bags!"

He remembered how when Andy said that he bit his lower lip as his hands instantly curled into fists

This man just insulted his friends. He just casually called them filthy.

He called Peridot a trash bag.

What he felt in that moment was similar to when Mr. Araki had insulted Pearl. But Mr. Araki had a reason. Andy did not. He suddenly wanted to go up to that man and punch him.

Except someone beat him to it.

He had never seen his Dad punch anyone before. He didn't think it was possible for him to ever even consider hurting someone else.

But the fact that he saw him throw a punch that landed right in the center of Andy's face had made his eyes widen. The strength of his Dad's punch knocked Andy to the ground; Andy landed on his back and let out a grunt as he brought his hand up to his nose.

"What did you do that-?"

He didn't finish. Because his Dad had reached down and picked him up by the front of his jacket. He brought Andy up so that their faces were only inches apart.

He had never seen his dad look so...threatening. His eyes were narrowed, his mouth in a deep frown. He could see anger burning in his expression, and with each second it grew. It made him look like someone who wasn't afraid to punch anybody. His entire face seemed to get more hateful with each moment.

He never once thought his dad could look so scary.

Andy must have thought the same because his eyes widened. Andy did not say a single word and he could see the fear in the man's eyes.

And to think that it was his Dad who scared this man.

"Steven, cover your ears."

His voice had never sounded so cold. His entire expression was frigid. Even though he knew his Dad had never been angrier.

He quickly obliged.

There were certain parts he didn't exactly hear on that day. But he did not need to hear to know that his Dad was throwing the most hurtful insults he knew. Every time his mouth opened and closed he saw Andy wince. He saw how his Dad kept bringing him closer. The fear twisting Andy's face had leaked into the air. He could feel just how scared the grown adult was of his Dad.

He would have laughed at the very idea of his dad being frightening a few weeks ago. But he had learned just how little he knew about his guardians.

He had slowly removed his hands from his ears.

"-And you have the guts to say that in front of my son! That's right, I have a kid!"

He pointed at him with one finger. He saw his grip got tighter.

"I'm sure that right now, you think that it's my fault I didn't tell call or contact you to tell you this stuff! Or that it's my fault I didn't tell you that you just insulted a dead friend of mine! But guess what Andy DeMayo, your such a pig-headed moron that you never listen to other people! If I had told you I had a son, you would have complained about how I didn't marry his mother! Or get upset that I was now hanging out with hippies or something like that! You're always so determined to stick to your "family traditions" you never see the good that going against them can bring!"

He never heard his Dad shout at anyone before. Right now, it felt like he was looking at a different person. His Dad didn't have a shred of his usual kindness in his words. He didn't look anything like the man who raised him.

All he could see was his anger. All he could hear was how scorching his words sounded.

He never once thought he could be scared of his own Dad.

"This is why I never call you or anything! It's because you keep wanting things to be the same when they can't be!"

He didn't know what to do. He was angry at Andy for his words, but he didn't think he deserved such hatred from his Dad. He didn't know him, but he was a part of his Dad's family.

That had to mean there was some good in him.

Yeah. Because you know everything about your Dad. Like how he had other family.

He...he had tried to push away that thought. He did know his Dad. He wasn't like the Gems.

He was about to say something, but he never got a chance.

His Dad pushed Andy back to the ground.

"Just, get out of here! I don't want to see your face!"

He glared at Andy. And he could see the rage that blazed throughout his expression, and it almost looked cruel now. He could see all of his Dad's hatred burning within his words.

This was his Dad? This scary man in front of him? This man who was wearing a big green turtleneck and jeans scared him? The man who always smiled at him was able to make him afraid?

He found he couldn't move a single inch from his spot.

Andy did not move a muscle. He could only lay on the ground and stare at his Dad, shocked. He could see the disbelief enveloping Andy's entire face.

"I said leave!"

His Dad once again shouted. This time he was even louder than before.

Andy slowly got up. His eyes looked down at the ground as he stood tall. And the sadness flooding them was cold and harsh.

Andy then bowed his head forward, pilot hat now covering his eyes in shadows as he slowly walked towards a plane a short distance away; he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it until now.

And then, once Andy was securely fastened and the engines roared to life, he had flown away.

He and his Dad stood there long after Andy. They didn't say a word. His Dad just stared at the sky. His expression wasn't as scary as before, but he was still angry. His eyes were narrowed, one of his hands curled into a fist. He still looked like he wanted to punch Andy again. Like he wasn't satisfied that he had only hit him once.

"Dad...what the heck was that?"

All of his Dad's remaining anger immediately left his expression the moment he spoke. His eyes widened, as if he forgot he was even here and only now remembered. He slowly turned to face him, lips moving into a frown. He could see the regret enveloping his face.

"Oh...jeez...I'm...sorry, you had to see that Steven."

He rubbed the back of his head with one hand.

"Dad...you were really scary."

The regret grew. His Dad winced as his eyes glanced to the floor. He never thought his Dad would ever be ashamed of something he had done. His Dad always seemed like someone who would make the best choices, someone who would always be kind and loving no matter what.

But what he had seen...

"I...I didn't think you could be scary."

His Dad slowly walked towards him before getting on one knee, placing a hand on his shoulder. Brown eyes that looked almost exactly like his stared at him.

"Look...I won't lie, I lost my temper there. I probably said some things that I didn't need to say. But..."

He felt his Dad's grip tighten.

"When someone insults my family...especially the ones who are gone...there's no way I can keep calm. And...I just...let them have it."

He understood that. He wanted to do the same to Andy. But...but to think his Dad could do that...someone who was so kind and caring...

He looked into his eyes.

"Have you... done something like this before?"

His Dad's eyes glanced to the side, and he saw his frown become deeper.

"Yeah. I have."

He felt something rising in his chest.

"Why...Why didn't you tell me?"

He saw his Dad raise an eyebrow.

"Tell you...what?"

He could feel whatever was within him grinning as it slowly began to move.

"That...that you had this side to you. That you...that you've punched people before."

He could see confusion rising in his eyes.

"I... I guess I just...forgot how angry I can get. It's been a while since anyone's made me lose my cool."

The thing growing within him was now gripping his heart.

"How can you forget something like that? And, how come you never even told me you had other family? You're always telling me how important family is, but you've never once said you had any brothers or cousins or relatives or anything."

His Dad did not expect such questions. His expression was surprised as it looked like he was struggling to find the right words to say. He once again glanced to the side.

"I...Stu-ball, me and my family...I haven't talked to them in a while. Some of them I'm not exactly on the best terms with. As you just saw, Andy's one of them."

"You still should have told me!"

He was shouting.

The thing inside him had now overwhelmed every thought he had. He had finally recognized what it was.

Doubt. Doubt that his Dad was being honest with him. Doubt that he wasn't keeping secrets from him.

Just like the Gems.

His Dad's eyes widened.

"Woah, Steven, there's no need to shout."

"Why didn't you tell me about your other family?"

He lowered his voice, but he was still far from calm.

"I just told you why."

"Is that really the only reason?"

"Wha-Yeah."

"Well, then-."

He stopped.

He remembered what his Dad said before.

"You...you called him Andy DeMayo...not Andy Universe."

His Dad's eyes widened again.

"You were listening?!"

He ignored that question. There were more important things to talk about.

"Why is your last name different from his? Why is my name different from his?"

"Steven, this isn't a big deal."

"Yes, it is!"

He was shouting again. His Dad let go of his shoulder.

And he was glaring at him. At his Dad. At the man he loved. At someone who seemed to be...keeping something from him.

"Just answer the question!"

His Dad was shocked. He didn't speak. He could only stare at him.

The only thing he could hear around them was the soft blowing of the wind. Then, after a minute, his Dad let out a long breath. He held out his hands in front of him in a calming gesture.

"Okay...Okay, I'll tell you. When I started my music career, I realized that having a name that sounded like a condiment wouldn't exactly help me become a rock star. So, I decided to change it after the coolest sounding thing I knew. I signed a couple of papers, paid a few hundred bucks, and just like that my name went from Greg DeMayo to Greg Universe."

He stopped talking. There was only silence that followed.

Until after a few minutes, he decided to speak.

"...Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

His voice was a lot calmer than before. It was barely above a whisper, but his Dad still heard it.

"I...it just slipped, Steven."

It...just slipped?

There was no way. No one could just forget about their family. Especially not someone who was supposed to be loving and caring.

"Are you...lying to me?"

Lying. Something he never thought his Dad was capable of. The thing the Gems excelled at.

His Dad's eyes went wide.

"What? Of course not!"

His Dad once again placed a hand on his shoulder. He saw how his eyes softened as his lips moved into a thin line. He could hardly remember the last time his dad looked so serious.

"I'd never lie to you."

It looked like he really meant what he said. It seemed like he wasn't lying. And he wanted to believe him. He really did.

But after everything he had learned about his family...

"Then you really just forgot? There was no other reason?"

"I..."

His Dad let out a sigh.

"Okay...maybe...forgot is not the right word to use."

"Then what word would you use?"

He felt his eyes narrow.

"I guess...it's more like I did remember but..."

"But?"

His Dad's eyes glanced from side to side, contemplating what words to say.

"I...I guess I just didn't see a need to tell you."

He stopped breathing.

He suddenly found himself sitting on a decaying porch. And he saw a blonde man wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"People often use many excuses for keeping secrets, and some might actually make sense. But they're just using these excuses to make it seem like their reason was just. Secrets are secrets, Steven. Their things that no one wants anyone else to know. So they'll lie in order to keep them. Even from family, the people you're never supposed to keep anything from. They might say things like 'I don't know you very well' or 'It's just something I have to deal with alone,' but once again these are lies they tell themselves so that way the dark mysteries surrounding them aren't exposed to others."

The next words he recalled froze him to the spot.

"The most common excuse people give others for lying is 'I didn't see a need to tell you.'"

He could feel fear grip his throat. Could feel it consume him. It made his heart hammer against his chest.

He found himself shaking slightly.

If...if his Dad was using this excuse...for something this small...what else was he keeping from him?

Was it...something similar to what the Gems had did?

Something like what she had done.

"Steven...you're trembling."

He hadn't noticed that his Dad was right in front of him. He saw the worry in his eyes. It was a look he been seeing a lot lately. Whenever he awoke screaming from a nightmare. Whenever he could see Peridot exploding right in front of him again in his mind as he let out a scream.

"Are...did I say something wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

No. No, he did not.

"Can we please leave?"

His Dad's worry seemed to grow the moment those words left his lips.

"Are...Are you sure? I... I thought you wanted-."

"Please, Dad?"

He could hear how weak his voice sounded. How frail those two words were; like they were made of glass.

His Dad stared right into his eyes. He didn't say anything for a while, he just stared at his face.

After a few minutes, his Dad let out a sigh.

"Okay."

And then they left. Without him saying goodbye to the barn. To Peridot.

The only thing he could think about on the way back was how his Dad had lied to him.

About how he was probably still lying to him about who knows what.

---

The past two weeks had been the worst of Steven's life.

The Gems hadn't gotten any closer to finding out how or what exactly was kidnapping the people of Beach City. When they had visited him at his Dad's carwash they told him that what they were hunting was most likely not a Corrupted Gem, but instead one of Homeworld's soldiers. Not that it mattered if it was a Homeworld soldier or a Corrupted Gem doing this.

Because people were still going missing. Somehow, the number only went up. Ever since...Peridot exploded, it seemed like more and more people were disappearing. The Gems kept failing to protect the people of Beach City. No matter how much they patrolled, people somehow vanished. Some of them were tourists. Others people who lived here but he had never seen before.

Before he might have said it was because Peridot's death made it harder for them to protect their town. It had an obvious effect on them. Whenever they visited him, they always had on frowns. Garnet looked even more stoic than she ever had before, he hadn't seen Amethyst smile in two weeks, and Pearl...was about as sad as whenever she remembered something about her.

But now he knew better. Now he knew just how badly their flaws caused them to fail at their one job.

Though...he wasn't doing that much better keeping his town safe or moving past Peridot's death. He kept having nightmares. Most were about Peridot. About how he kept seeing her explode. How he should have been able to save her when she was only a few feet away. But he didn't and all he could do was stare at the burnt remains of her Gemstone in his hands.

All he could do was cry as he watched his friend die. Sometimes he could see her when he was awake. Could hear her scream as tears fell from his eyes.

And he had other dreams too. And one of them always made him terrified. Fear would always strangle him whenever he had that dream. His horror would always smile whenever he screamed and awoke in a cold sweat.

It...it was always at night. There would be no stars out. No people. And there'd be a faint smell he could never identify drifting in the air. He would wake up in a town he had never seen before. The buildings looked kinda like the ones he seen in Beach City, but there was something...off, about them. He couldn't tell what, but even though they looked similar to his town's own buildings, there was some difference to them. Something that seemed obvious, yet he could never tell what exactly.

He would wander alone through the unknown town. He had no idea how long exactly he had been in the strange town; the only thing he knew was that as he kept traveling, the night seemed to get darker. With each step he took, it was harder to see what was around him. He could barely even see himself through the darkness.

But no matter how dark it was, he would always find it. No matter how much time he spent aimlessly walking, he would always end up at the exact same spot.

He would find himself in front of a house. He could never tell what exactly it looked like, but to him, it felt...different from the other buildings.

There would be a bright light coming from one of the windows near the bottom of the house. It would light up the darkness around him, and he could see a lawn of trimmed grass that led to the window.

He stepped closer to get a better look. He could hear the grass crunching underneath his sandals. With every step, the light seemed to get brighter, so bright he couldn't make it out anything about the inside of the house.

But...he could see someone standing near the window. He couldn't make out a single feature of the person, but he could see a shadowy outline standing inside the house.

But every time...every time he got about a few feet away from the window...

It would appear.

He always felt the air around him become cold just before. His entire body would tremble. His heart would come to a stop.

And then a hand would grip his wrist.

He could feel it looking at him without even turning his head. Without even making a sound, it had already gotten so close to him.

With just its presence, it was able to make him terrified. He could feel the malice that made up every part of its being. Could feel it grip his very soul.

His trembling grew worse.

And the light from the house faded away.

He didn't want to turn around. He wanted to run. To never look back and just keep running until he was as far away as possible from this thing.

But he couldn't move.

And something always made him turn his head. Some force always made him look at the horrible monster.

It made him stare right into its eyes.

Those cruel pink eyes. Eyes that easily crushed any sense of control he had over his body. The monster in front of him barely even acknowledged him. Like he was just dirt. As if he wasn't even worth its time.

The monster would then lift its thumb up.

And as it brought its thumb back down, its pink eyes would become even more hollow. They would make the fear within him drag him into an abyss. A place where he couldn't even scream for help.

And when its thumb made contact with its hand, there would be some kind of...clicking sound.

And then he would wake up screaming. His body would feel exhausted, like he had been punched a hundred times over. His eyes would be wide as he scanned every inch of his Dad's van to make sure it hadn't followed him. Even as his Dad hugged him and tried to calm him down, he could still feel that monster's grip on his wrist.

And he still felt those pink eyes glaring at him even when he awoke. The only thing he could ever remember about that monster's appearance would keep him up for hours to come.

His nightmares, the people still going missing, and the things he had learned about the Gems made these last two weeks absolutely horrible.

If it weren't for Mr. Araki and the talks he had with him, he wasn't sure how he would have survived. It was the only good part of the last two weeks. Telling someone who would listen to him, who viewed him as himself, eased the weight that had been settling inside him. It was only slightly, but talking to the blonde businessman made him feel...refreshed.

It was probably because he was so kind. Kind enough that he got him to admit the truth about the Gems.

"Because why?"

Garnet still didn't answer.

He felt his fingers twitch slightly.

"Well?"

He once again looked around the room. With the exception of Connie, who still looked confused, no one seemed willing to talk.

He didn't even know why he was talking. He wouldn't get answers.

Not from them.

"Steven..."

He turned his head toward Pearl. She was still looking down at the floor.

"It's...complicated."

"Then explain it."

His voice was firm. He could hear just how sharp those three words were.

Pearl quickly picked her head up to look at him, surpised. She hadn't been expecting his words to sound so harsh.

"Steven?"

He could hear the confusion from that one word.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Connie glancing at him.

"If it's complicated, then just explain it."

He could see Pearl hesitate. Her eyes once again flickered to the floor before looking back at him. He could see how uncomfortable she was with his question.

But he didn't care.

"I...Steven..."

She trailed off.

"What Pearl means is that we...don't think the answers you're looking for will be there."

Garnet's voice was a lot quieter than it usually was. He turned to face Garnet and saw her slowly walking towards him from the Warp Pad before stopping a short distance away.

He frowned. What a surprise, another vague answer.

"It's a palanquin. One that looks exactly like the one from my dreams."

For some reason, in addition to his other two dreams, there was a third that was not as recurring as the first two.

He kept seeing a gigantic pink palanquin in the middle of a grassy field. There would be pink flowers, types he had never seen before, planted throughout the field. The palanquin itself had grass completely covering the left side of its body. Like it had been there for years and nature had decided to work around it.

The strange part was that even these dreams brought him to tears. But he never saw anything upsetting in those dreams. He never saw his friend dying. He never saw the monster. There was nothing but that pink palanquin. Yet, he always awoke with tears in his eyes whenever he had that dream.

He was...sad whenever he had those dreams, but it was different. It wasn't the normal cold and piercing sorrow he felt whenever he saw Peridot exploding. It wasn't the same grief that flooded his body when he relived that moment.

This sadness felt like...it wasn't his. Like...the sadness belonged to someone else.

This weird dream was something completely new. Something that he couldn't even begin to understand.

So he asked Mr. Araki about it. He had already told him about his other dreams as well as so much other stuff. So maybe he could help him with this one.

Unfortunately, this was the one thing he couldn't offer much advice on. So, since Mr. Araki couldn't help him, he asked the only other person he could.

Connie.

At first glance, she seemed to be taking...everything surprisingly well. The first time he saw her since Peridot died was about ten days ago. Peridot's death had affected her, he knew that. She didn't smile as much. The few times they had hung out there would always be an awkward silence when they both couldn't figure out what to say. And he had to be blind to miss the sullen looks that crossed her face whenever she something that reminded her of Peridot.

But she still offered to be by his side whenever he wanted to talk. She hugged him whenever it looked like he was about to cry. She tried her best to support him.

But he did not miss the bags under her eyes. He did not miss how her hair, usually well kept and neat, had a number of locks standing out.

She was being strong for him. Even with all her pain, she still did her best to smile. She put up a front just to try and make him feel better.

He was truly thankful for her efforts.

But...he was now regretting how willingly she had been to help him.

When he told Connie about his dreams, she remembered something similar had been written in Buddy's journal. So they went to rent the book, and within seconds they found a hand-drawn image of a palanquin that looked exactly like the one from his dream.

"I think they'll be some answers there if you take me."

He knew they wouldn't.

Even with Garnet's visor, he knew she was staring at the brown planks of wood on the ground and not at him.

Connie had been the one to suggest he ask the Gems if they knew about the Palanquin. She didn't know he had moved out of the temple and into his Dad's van. He hadn't told her because he didn't want her to ask any questions. He wasn't sure how she'd react if he told her that the Gems weren't what she thought they were.

He had tried to subtly steer her away from this idea, but nothing worked. She was adamant about going to the Gems.

To help him, even if it was only slightly, get better by solving the mystery of that palanquin.

Too bad they wouldn't get any answers.

"Steven, dude, maybe now's not the best time."

Amethyst took a few steps closer to him. She rubbed a hand through a hair as her one visible eye looked to the floor.

"What with everything going on and stuff."

He might have considered that the purple Gem had a point. That leaving Beach City now was probably reckless.

But right now, that just sounded to him like an excuse. Just another "reason" the gems avoided telling him stuff.

"It shouldn't take that long. I mean-."

He stared right at Garnet and Pearl.

"You two seem to know where it is, right?"

He saw Garnet's right hand visibly twitch.

And he could see Pearl flinch.

"We...we do."

Garnet said those words like she was having her teeth slowly removed.

That was probably the only honest answer he would get.

"Then you should be able to take us there in a second with the Warp Pads, right?"

Another twitch and flinch from the two of them. This time though, Pearl glanced at Garnet.

"Steven...you really shouldn't go there."

Pearl said her words as carefully as possible. Choosing the best sentence that would get him to drop the subject.

It was too bad he wouldn't do that.

"Why?"

Pearl looked at him like she couldn't comprehend why he was asking such a question. Like she was shocked that he was pressing this subject.

"I-we...I mean-."

"It's just important that you don't go there."

Garnet interrupted Pearl's stammering as she took another step forward; he could see her lips turn into a frown. She was trying her best to get him to stop asking questions without revealing anything.

Like they usually did.

This was pointless. He should just stop asking questions. They wouldn't ever answer them. He should just pretend that he accepted their vague answers and-.

"Trust us, Steven, that place belonged to someone whose cruelty you'll be able to feel a mile away. It's no place for-."

"You mean Pink Diamond."

The words left him in an instant. He hadn't even thought about them, he just automatically spoke when he heard Garnet's words.

This time Garnet visibly flinched the moment he spoke. And Pearl's hands turned into fists as she looked away from him.

Pink Diamond. The person his mother shattered. One of the many secrets they kept from him. With just a mere mention of her name, the Gems would clamp their mouths shut.

It was another secret they wouldn't tell him anything about.

"One day Steven, you're going to have to confront the Gems."

Those words echoed in his mind.

And he suddenly wanted to continue talking.

"That's what this is about, isn't it?"

They made no response. He glanced to the side and saw Connie taking a step closer to him. Amethyst raised her brow again, but whether it was at him or to Garnet and Pearl, he couldn't tell.

"You don't want me to go there because if I do, I'll find something there about her. Won't I?"

Why was he even questioning it? Just by their reactions alone, he already knew the answer.

"No, that's not why."

He raised an eyebrow at Garnet's word.

"Then what is it?"

"Just please don't go."

"If you don't want me to go then just tell me why."

"It's...Complica-"

"You already said that."

Garnet looked surprised that he interrupted her. Pearl seemed to share her feelings as he saw her eyes widen for a second before going back to normal size.

"Steven...what's wrong?"

Connie whispered into his ear. He could hear the worry in her words; she had never seen him be so harsh to his guardians before. It was confusing to her.

He didn't answer her. Instead, he focused on the Gems.

"If you really don't want me to go, then just say why."

"Steven..."

Pearl's voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke. She didn't even look up to face him.

"I...we...you shouldn't go there. That woman's palanquin-."

"So it does belong to Pink Diamond."

Pearl flinched again. This time it was bigger than before.

"I...I didn't-."

"I've been seeing Pink Diamond's palanquin in my dream."

"It's not-."

"Every time I see it for some reason I cry my eyes out."

"You wha-?"

"Every time I have that dream, I feel sad. And that sadness gets added up to all the other horrible things I've been feeling ever since Peridot blew up right in front of me."

No one said anything after that. It was so quiet that anything could break the silence. A breeze. A creak from the wooden floors. But his voice was what ultimately ended the hush surrounding the room.

"If I find this palanquin, then maybe the dreams will stop. Maybe I'll have one less thing to lose sleep over if you just show me where it is. "

He could hear the edge in his voice. He never heard his words sound so demanding before.

He saw Pearl tremble. She kept glancing at the floor and then back to him. She looked like she was close to panicking.

She had never looked more cornered in his entire life.

"Steven, stop."

Garnet voice had a noticeable sharpness to it now. It was hard, like she was delivering an order.

"You're making Pearl very upset."

"I don't care."

He had no intention of following her commands.

His words had an immediate effect on everyone.

Garnet let out a gasp. It was short and shrill, but he still heard it. Pearl was shocked, eyes wide as her head whipped around to stare at him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Amethyst slap a hand over her mouth, her one visible eye bulging.

And Connie stared at him like he was some new person standing in his place.

"Steven, what the heck?!"

This time her whisper was a lot harsher. Her words were frantic, trying to understand why he was acting like this.

He still ignored her.

He pointed a finger at the drawing in Buddy's book.

"Tell me where this palanquin is. Now."

His voice was low. He made sure they could see just how serious he was being. Every word he spoke held no anger or sorrow.

They were just cruel. They held a weight that made the air in the room become heavy.

Pearl was gaping at him, Amethyst silently mouthed "Dude" as she slowly backed away from him.

He could also see Connie take a few steps back. There was...fear in her eyes. Fear born from him.

He...he couldn't focus on that.

"Steven...Be very careful of what you say next."

Garnet words were spoken in a voice that was even more stoic than usual. He had heard that tone from Garnet before. It was the voice she used whenever she was barely holding herself back. From losing herself to the emotions she usually kept buried.

"Oh, I'm sorry for just asking questions."

His voice was still very quiet, but he made sure Garnet could hear the sarcasm in it. It dripped from every syllable. He made it obvious how insincere his words really were.

He took a few steps forward.

"I just want to know why you guys are so determined not to take me there."

Garnet stood in front of Pearl. The light from Garnet's visor made it impossible to see her face. But he didn't have to see her face to tell what she was thinking about.

The slight shaking of her right hand made it obvious.

Let's see how many more vague answers you can give before you run out.

"You're upset. I understand. Peridot's death...hurt us all. But you take out your pain on others."

Really. She was telling him that.

Not Amethyst.

Not Pearl.

But him.

The grip on the book in his hand tightened.

"That's not why I'm upset. I'm upset that you guys aren't even giving me a reason as to why you won't take me to Pink Diamond's palanquin."

Another twitch the moment he said that name.

The tense line her lips were in morphed into a deep frown.

"We're not going there."

She didn't deny the palanquin was Pink Diamond's.

"Why?"

"Because the answers you think are there won't be there."

"How do you know that."

She paused. Her head moved to the side as she bit her lip.

"Future vision."

Yeah right.

"Then what's it telling you?"

"I can't say."

"Yes, you can."

"No, I can't."

He could feel his frustration rising to his chest.

"How do you even know your future vision is accurate? You see hundreds of timelines, so how do you know the one you're seeing is the right one?"

"I just do."

"Are you kidding me?"

He could hear how fierce his words were. His lips were in a deep frown as his eyes were now glaring at Garnet.

"That's your best excuse?"

The anger in his voice rose. And every bit of anger was directed at Garnet, the person he used to always look up to.

He could hear Pearl gasp. Garnet's frown got deeper. Angrier.

Amethyst and Connie now took a few steps closer to him.

"Steven..."

"Dude, seriously, you need to calm down."

Connie's voice was apprehensive. She hadn't ever seen him like this. She'd never seen him get angry at his own guardians. Sure, at his enemies, but never the Gems.

Amethyst's voice was softer than he ever thought was possible. It tried to calm him. To ease his stress. And before, her words might have worked.

But after what he learned, all it did was sound patronizing to him. It made the anger burning within him all the more powerful.

"Can't you even give me a good reason for not taking me instead of vague answers?"

"We can't go there."

He could hear the anger rising in her voice, her monotone slowly fading away.

It was the same voice she used when she asked him to give him back Lapis' mirror.

He gnashed his teeth together.

"Then just give me a reason."

"I have."

"Vague riddles aren't reasons."

He took another step forward.

Garnet did the same.

"That palanquin is dangerous."

"So dangerous that you can't give me one good answer?"

He felt the anger burning in his eyes.

Garnet's hand slowly curled into a fist.

"Steven-."

"So dangerous that even if there was a chance I would stop dreaming about it and stop feeling sad you still wouldn't take me?"

She stopped talking. Her mouth clamped shut again.

He took this as an opportunity to once again look around the room.

He could see Pearl covering her mouth with both her hands.

He saw Amethyst eyes flicker between him and Garnet.

And he saw Connie staring at him. He could see the shock in her eyes.

"We're not going."

Garnet spoke again. The anger in her voice was stronger now. And he knew that she was still holding back. That she was only just able to stop herself from shouting.

"Just tell me why."

"Because..."

She looked at him. The anger in her voice began to fade.

He could see her eyes behind her visor. All three of her multicolored pupils had sorrow within them. He could see regret beginning to flood her expression as her frown became melancholic.

"Because...I'm asking you, Steven. Please don't go there."

Before, he would've considered her words.

Before, he might have actually stopped asking questions.

But not today.

Not after he learned how horrible they were. After reliving all the times they had hurt him and realizing just how messed up his 'guardians' were.

He wasn't going to be left in the dark. He wasn't going to take another vague response as an answer.

He'd had it with their lies.

"That is not a reason!"

For the first time, he shouted. And his words had an immediate effect on everyone.

Garnet visibly recoiled as she took a step back.

Pearl once again gasped. She looked like she had just been punched in the face.

Amethyst moved the hair covering her left eye as she gaped at him.

And Connie's eyes widen to the point that he thought they might bulge out of their sockets.

"You guys always do this!"

He took a few steps forward.

"Just tell me! What the heck does this palanquin have to do with you guys!?"

The fire in his voice grew. He knew that right now, his anger was more vicious than anything the Gems had ever seen from him before.

"Steven!"

Connie's voice. He could almost see the worry within it.

"Dude, I think you might wanna stop while you're ahead."

Amethyst's voice now. Without even turning around he knew how serious her expression was. She wanted him to stop. To stop asking questions. To stop pressing the issue.

Well, she was in for a disappointment.

"It's obvious it has something to do with you guys, so just tell me what it is!"

Pearl took a few steps off the Warp Pad. Her head kept moving from him to Garnet.

"Steven, Garnet, let's not-."

"Steven, just stop!"

Garnet was shouting. She took a few steps forward and was now only a few feet away from him. Both of them were now standing underneath the archway that led from the living room to the Warp Pad.

"We're not going! It's pointless to keep asking!"

"Just tell me why you won't take me and I'll drop it!"

He glanced behind him and saw Connie and Amethyst approaching him and Garnet.

"Guys, let's just take a breather." Amethyst put her hand up in a placating gesture.

"Yeah, what she said. There's no reason to fight." Connie tried to sound as diplomatic as possible.

Too bad her words had the opposite effect on him.

"Yes, there is!"

He didn't turn around to face them. He was about to back down from Garnet for even one moment.

"What is it about Pink Diamond you don't want me to know about!? What's at that palanquin that you're so scared of me finding out!?"

Garnet let out a small growl. She had never experienced this. None of the Gems had. Never had he'd been so stubborn on one thing. Never had he actually questioned their vague responses.

Never again would he be so naive.

"That place will only lead to trouble!"

"Trouble for who?! For me or for you!?"

Around him, the others began to move closer to them.

"Guys, please."

He could hear how desperate Connie was with just those two words.

"Seriously, let's just stop before it gets worse."

Amethyst was trying to be the voice of reason; to get him stop asking questions. She was failing miserably at both things.

"Steven, Garnet, let's not do anything we'll regret."

Pearl was trying her best to stop their fighting. To get him to drop this subject all-together.

But he wouldn't. Not now, not ever again.

The anger within him was becoming more violent with each second. It was slowly consuming his His every thought.

He knew his glare had never been any fiercer.

"It's because of her isn't it? It's because I'll find something there that'll reveal something about her mistakes?"

Pearl's eyes widened.

Connie looked confused again.

Amethyst bit her lip as her eyes went back and forth between him and Garnet.

And said "leader" was responding to his glare with an equally fierce look.

"Steven-."

"That's why you won't tell me. Because of her. Because of what she did to Pink Diamond, that's why-!"

"Enough!"

Pearl stepped in between the two of them as she shouted. She spread her arms out wide as both her hands pushed against his chest and Garnet; she had to lower her body slightly in order to touch his much shorter body.

"Garnet, Steven, this is not the time!"

Her head turned towards Garnet.

"We have enough problems to deal with, and I highly doubt adding infighting to the list will help us in any way!"

Garnet actually flinched at her words. Pearl rarely spoke in such a harsh voice to the fusion. She never had such an angry expression on her face as she talked to her "friend." He could hear how intense each word she spoke was. She was truly mad at the both of them.

But he knew most of her agitation was directed at him. Just because he was asking questions.

"And Steven-."

She turned her head to look at him. The anger slowly disappeared; sorrow began to take its place as she frowned.

"That place...Rose never wanted you to go there."

...He should've known.

"But...That doesn't mean she's...what you think she is..."

She trailed off.

You mean a murderer? A cruel woman who didn't care about the lives she ended?

Both of his hands were clenched into fists.

"Your mother was so kind Steven. She...she made the best decisions she could...even during a war, she always made the right choices. No matter the circumstance."

Killing Pink Diamond was kind? The best decision? Pearl honestly believed that even after she did something like that, Rose was still a good person?

He was shaking now.

"She...she might have done things others might see as...bad. But...you have to know that she..."

Remorse swallowed her expression.

"She loved us..."

She looked right into his eyes.

"She loved you."

That lie again.

That same awful lie. The same lie they kept telling him every day.

That a horrible woman like her cared about him.

That someone who left so many issues unresolved would ever love someone she didn't even know.

He saw her smiling face from that video she gave him.

His gem glowed a soft pink.

And hatred blazed throughout his entire body.

One day Steven, you're going to have to confront the Gems. It doesn't have to be today, it doesn't have to be tomorrow or even next week. But when you do decide to confront them, as you should, I need you to promise me one thing.

He could see Mr. Araki's house. He could feel that worn and dusty chair he sat on when he went to talk to him. His smile was so bright. It let him know that he had a friend through all of this to help him out. Mr. Araki's words kept echoing in his mind, but the last thing he said to him before he left for the day stood out the most.

Promise me that when you do confront the Gems, you let them have it.

That last phrase was the only thing he could hear.

As his shield formed on his right arm.

As he saw everyone's eyes go wide.

As he turned on his heel and threw his shield.

And as his shield spun through the air before it hit its target.

The painting of Rose Quartz that hung on the wall.

His shield hit the portrait of that woman right in her smug face. Wood chippings were flung into the air as his shield dug into the painting. It cut through whatever material made up the painting with ease.

His shield faded into pink sparkles once it completely cut through painting and hit the wall behind it. And now there was a large slash right where her face used to be. Through the cut, he could see the wooden boards that made up the wall were now crushed.

And everyone around him looked at him in shock.

Connie had brought her hands to her mouth.

Amethyst shouted, "Oh sh-!" She stopped herself short just before she finished the word.

Garnet had her mouth hung open

And Pearl looked like she just had seen her world crumble right in front of her. The sadness she radiated was almost palpable.

"Steven, what the-!?"

"Dude, why'd you do-!?

"Steven that was very-!?"

All three of the Gems were shouting at him. All three of them had a variety of emotions in their voice. Shock, outrage, sadness, confusion; he could hear it all in every word they screamed.

Connie was the only one who remained quiet.

Before he might have been intimidated by their words. At their shouts. At all their emotions being aimed right at him.

But he didn't care. For his anger was only growing with each second.

"Shut up already!"

They all backed away.

His words carried a scorching hatred as the fire within him blazed throughout his expression. And with eyes that had never looked more vicious, he glared at every one of the Gems.

He had never been madder.

He was sick of it all. Of the lies. Of the secrets.

Of everything.

He wasn't going to take it anymore!

"Of all your lies, that's one of the worst!"

The Gems took another step back.

"What are you talking about?"

Confusion was present in every word Amethyst spoke. And that made his anger so much worse.

"You seriously expect me to believe that Rose Quartz ever loved me!?"

His words pierced everyone.

Pearl's eyes were wide.

Garnet gasped.

Fear slithered into Amethyst's expression.

Lion looked fully awake now.

And Connie had placed both of her hands over her mouth again as she stared.

"...What?"

Pearl's voice was so quiet. That one word she spoke was immersed with disbelief.

But she knew what he meant. They all did. Even they weren't that stupid.

"You heard me!"

He stared at that awful painting on the wall.

"You really think I'll believe that Rose Quartz could love me?! Someone like her who shattered people, a cruel woman like her could care about someone she had never even met!?"

The moment he said cruel, everyone let out a gasp.

"Steven, that's wrong!"

Garnet was shouting now, and her voice had never been louder.

"Rose gave up her existence just for you! She was willing to sacrifice herself just to give birth to you! She loved you from the bottom of her heart!"

Oh, how selfless. If only that were true. If only that wasn't just another lie to make Rose look like a better person than she was.

"No, she didn't!"

He looked at the book in his hand.

"I keep learning things about her..."

Horrible things. Dark things they'd never wanted him to learn in the first place. Secrets even they didn't even know she had.

"She's done things that are absolutely horrible."

Another wave of gasps filled the room. Some of them were more intense than before.

"People were after her. They still are to this day."

He looked down at...his gemstone. It wasn't hers. It was his and no one else's gem.

"She only gave birth to me...as an escape from her mistakes."

He glared at the Gems scattered throughout the room.

"That's it. That's the only reason I exist!"

"No!"

Pearl screamed as her eyes went wide.

"Steven, you can't...do you really think that Rose only gave birth to you because she wanted to escape?"

His only response was for his frown to get deeper.

Pearl took a step back in shock.

"Steven, dude, that's not it at all!"

He could hear the fright in Amethyst voice. He had never seen the purple Gem looked so scared before.

"Rose loved you, man! She had you because she wanted to be something new! Homeworld had nothing to do with why she did what she did!"

"Well, it should have!"

Amethyst clamped her mouth shut and took a step back. They were all looking at him like he had said something unbelievable. Like he what he said was dumb.

He let out a growl.

"Are you seriously telling me that Rose thought it would be a good idea to leave when Homeworld still had it out for the earth?!"

The Gems didn't have a response. All they could do was glance at one another.

"When there are hundreds of Corrupted Gems still wandering the earth!?"

"Steven-."

"When she knew that Homeworld would come back one day to finish her off?!"

He wouldn't let Pearl interrupt him. He wasn't going to be silenced.

"Are you telling me that with all this stuff going on, she never once thought maybe she should deal with these problems before dying!"

They all flinched. Though, not because they thought he had a point; he would be an idiot to think that.

They flinched because he said Rose was dead. Something they'd never admitted before. They refused to admit that one simple fact.

Rose was gone.

And he wasn't her replacement.

"Steven, Rose didn't carelessly choose to have you!"

Garnet's voice was firm. Each word she spoke showed no signs of hesitance.

"She only decided to have you after making sure that we could protect Beach City. She trusted that we could protect it and the earth in her place once she left us."

Really? Really, Garnet?

"So even with all your issues, she thought you guys could protect the town?"

He had expected the silence that followed his words. The Gems all tensed. Amethyst bit her lower lip. Pearl looked down at the floor. Garnet gnashed her teeth together.

They were obviously uncomfortable. Why wouldn't they be? They never openly talked about anything. But the thing they were especially tight-lipped about were their own issues.

"Did she even once try to help you guys?"

He looked at Amethyst.

"Did she ever once consider how her leaving would make you hate yourself all over again."

She winced. She suddenly looked away from him as she rubbed the back of her neck. He had hit her right where she was most vulnerable.

He then looked towards Garnet.

"Or how you might not be ready to suddenly look over a team?"

Her fist clenched. She never admitted that she had doubts about her own skills as a leader. But he could so many times when it was obvious she had no idea what she was doing.

And then he looked Pearl.

"Or how your love for her might make things a little complicated when she 'gave up her physical form.'"

Pearl's eyes were wide. Before she was tense, but now she was still. She did not move. She did not even twitch. She could only stand perfectly still as she looked right into her eyes.

The regret within them was cold.

"Enough!"

Garnet stood in front of Pearl. Fury was blazing through every inch of her face, Garnet no longer doing anything to control her anger. But it was different than usual. Normally her rage wasn't so heated, but this was a new type of anger. An anger born from his words.

Words that were the truth.

"Steven-!"

"Oh, I'm sorry are you mad!?"

His voice held even more anger than before; it made it clear that he was far from done.

Garnet's fury was no match for his own. She stopped talking as he glared at her. At all of them.

"Are you angry that for once you actually have to talk about your problems!?"

He snarled.

"That instead of relying on me to help you through whatever issue you have, you guys actually have to talk about them out loud like adults!?"

They all winced. He could see them remembering those times. Times when he had to be the one to help them out. Times when he had to be the voice that guided them through their problems.

Even though they never did the same for him. Even when he was dealing with his own problems, they only ever focused on themselves.

"Well I'm sorry, I just figured that women who are thousands of years old would be mature enough to-!"

"Steven, please stop!"

Connie's voice actually made him pause.

He looked at his friend. One of the few people he could say never lied to him. One of the people he truly cared for looked at him like she didn't recognize him.

She looked like she was scared of him.

She didn't know what was going on. She had no idea about all the things he had learned about the Gems. To her, it looked like he had been mean to the Gems for no real reason. He shouldn't have minded how fearful her words sounded. If she knew the reason why he was shouting at them, then she wouldn't have spoken at all.

But still...her words made him stop.

"Steven..."

He turned his head to look at Garnet; she was staring at the floor now as she struggled to continue.

"I...you're right."

He blinked.

They were...agreeing with him?

He looked at Pearl and saw the regret in her face. He then looked at Amethyst and saw remorse swirling in her eyes.

"We can...sometimes put you into...situations a child shouldn't have to worry about."

Oh.

They were only agreeing with that part. Not about what he said about Rose.

"But...we don't mean to do that. We..."

She trailed off.

Don't mean to do that?

Did she mean like how she and the Gems didn't mean to constantly make him feel like he wasn't good enough? Like how they kept reminding him that he'd never live up to the perfection that was Rose Quartz?

Mr. Araki's words once again echoed in his head.

Let them have it.

"But...we love you and-."

"That's your worse lie."

There was a rumbling outside. It sounded like the beginnings of thunder.

And that was the only sound in the room.

They didn't gasp once they heard his words. They didn't scream any denials the moment he stopped speaking.

They just looked at him. And the massive horror he saw on all their expressions was tangible—he had never seen any of them look so scared.

"...What?"

Garnet asked a question.

She actually asked a question. He had never heard her ask a question once in his life.

"Dude...do you..."

Amethyst couldn't finish. There was a pain within her words. It grew worse with every syllable she spoke. Her voice was quivering. It sounded so small. So...frail.

"Steven..."

Pearl looked like her heart had been crushed. Even though her voice was barely above a whisper, the sorrow within it still wailed throughout her every word. He could almost feel her melancholy. It suffused itself into the room and made the air around them cold.

His eyes glanced at the floor for a second before they quickly returned to the three Gems. And once again, they were back in a glare.

"You don't love me."

This time there was a gasp.

And it was from Connie.

The Gems didn't say anything. They couldn't say anything. They all looked like they had their hearts ripped out and then sliced to a thousand pieces.

"You just love Rose Quartz."

Their jaws dropped.

The moment he said those words, their horror became so much stronger.

"And that's all you see me as. A replacement."

A replacement for their wonderful leader. A boy who they could shape to make their vision of what Rose Quartz was a reality.

"WHAT?!"

Pearl was screaming. Her voice was raw with so many emotions. Fear, Sorrow, confusion all mixed within her words.

"Steven that's not true!"

Pearl's eyes were once again wide.

"Of course we love you, man!"

He could hear the panic in Amethyst voice.

Garnet still hadn't said anything. She could only twitch.

And for a moment a pink glow began to cover her palms.

"Why would you think that!?"

...Why would he think that?

"Are you seriously asking me that question!"

Where they really that blind?! That stupid?!

"I can't count how many times you've called me Rose!"

Pearl's jaw once again dropped in shock. She stood as still as a statue.

"Or how often you talk about the times you had with her and you act like she's right here in my place!"

Amethyst looked like she had been punched by Jasper.

"Or how you talk about how one day I'll grow up to be just as amazing of a leader as she was!?"

The glow on Garnets hand began to spread. It was covering parts of her arm now.

"You all treat me like I'm her! You don't view me as my own person! You've just been molding me into your ideal vision of Rose!"

He gripped his gemstone.

"I am not Rose Quartz!"

"We know that!"

Garnet had stopped the glow on her arms as she shouted.

"Steven, we don't think your Rose! We know that! We love you, not Rose!"

"Then why do you always talk about her perfect she was every five seconds!"

He gnashed his teeth together.

So many times...

"Why do you always remind me about what Rose would have wanted or how loving she was whenever we go out to stop a Gem monster or something!"

So many times they kept mentioning that awful woman.

"How is it that you always talk about her-."

Why couldn't they see what he saw?

"And yet never see how much I hate it when you do!?"

His next scream was louder than any before it.

"How do you not see how much I hate her!?"

He said it. He finally said it to them.

The room once again became quiet.

And outside he once again heard the sound of thunder rumbling.

The Gems before looked like their hearts had been crushed. Now, it looked like they had a thousand knives plunge into their bodies.

Their pain was that intense.

And he knew because he could feel it. He could feel all the sorrow flooding their face. He could feel the horror slicing away at them from within.

...He had expected this kind of reaction. But...it was still-.

"Steven..."

Pearl was the first to speak. Her voice was so weak.

"We... we didn't know-."

"That's just it, you never realized one simple fact!"

His growls became feral.

"You never realize anything! You constantly just think about yourselves and that's it!"

"What?"

Amethyst shock somehow grew.

"Don't act so surprised! Do you want me to count how many times you've done something that hurt me or someone else!?"

He lifted a finger.

"Like how you transformed into my dad's dead wife right in front of him just because you felt bad!?"

Amethyst eyes became wide.

He lifted another finger.

"Or how you almost let me fall to my death just because you found out something a little bit upsetting about Rose!?"

Pearl's jaw dropped.

"Or-."

"Steven, that was in the past!"

Pearl was the one who shouted. Even though she looked like all her breath was stolen in one instant, she still had the strength to shout. Though, her voice was shaky. Her eyes glanced to the floor and he saw so many emotions taking shape in her expression.

"We...we made mistakes, but we've learned from them. We-."

"You have a crush on a woman that looks exactly like Rose and you say you've learned from your mistakes?"

Pearl stopped talking.

He knew just how sharp his words had been. And they easily pierced Pearl's weak argument.

The ivory Gem had never looked so lost in her life. He had never seen her so hurt in his entire life.

The other people in the room could only look at him in shock.

"I...I..."

He looked towards Amethyst.

"You say you're over hating yourself yet when I fused with you to make Smokey I could literally feel your self-loathing."

Amethyst couldn't respond. She could only stare at the floor like her life depended on it. She knew he was right. She couldn't deny it when he had literally been a part of her.

"This is why I'm sure you guys don't love me."

His 'guardians' flinched. They looked like they were about to say something, but he wouldn't let them. For once, they were going to listen to him.

"Because you keep lying. To me, to each other...to yourselves."

Mr. Araki helped him realize that. He helped him see just how messed up his family was.

Too bad they didn't seem to realize it.

"You can't even see how horrible you are."

His voice was quiet. It held no anger, no sorrow, or anything. It couldn't have been louder than a whisper.

Yet they all heard what he said.

Pearl had tears brimming in the side of her eyes.

Amethyst looked like she had seen her world break right in front of her.

And the terror he saw in Garnet's face he had only seen once before.

When she had been beaten by Jasper on that beach.

"Steven that's-!"

Amethyst began to shout something but was she was interrupted by Garnet.

"Steven we do love you!"

Her voice had a tremble in it. The quiver in her words was like when they had encountered the experimental fusions underneath the Kindergarten.

"I...we've had our problems but that doesn't mean they make us view you as someone you're not!"

She looked at the ground.

"We should have realized how you felt, and we're so sorry for that."

Yeah, you should have.

"But you need to know that Rose loved you just as much! That even with all the things that might make her seem horrible-."

"You mean like her shattering Pink Diamond?"

Garnet stopped talking immediately.

"You expect me to believe you, to believe any of you when none of you will tell me what she did to Pink Diamond."

Garnet clenched her hands. He swore he heard something cracking.

"How can I trust you when-?"

"Yes."

He stopped.

He didn't know when, but all of his breath had left his body at some point.

The room was once again deathly silent.

"Garnet!"

Pearl's hiss broke the quiet. He could see the shock in her expression as she stared at their 'leader.'

"What are you-!?"

"It's true. Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond."

...Huh.

He...he really didn't think she'd tell him. He didn't think that they'd ever tell him about Pink Diamond.

He was honestly shocked.

His eyes slowly moved to the book in his hand.

"So...it's true then? Everything the Rubies said about her?"

Garnet stared right at him.

"...Yes. What they said was true."

He heard her let out a breath.

"I...I thought about telling you after we rescued you from space but..."

She had never looked so...conflicted before.

A pink glow surrounded her visor, and in the next second, they were gone. He could see her eyes now; there was sorrow drowning each and every pupil.

"I'm truly sorry that we didn't tell you the truth. It's just..."

She let out a sigh.

"The Gem War...it's a time none of us wish to relive. Rose...Rose did have to do things she didn't want to do but...if she didn't, then hundreds of Gems would have died."

He knew that the war was bad. He wasn't an idiot. He could imagine all the lives lost in the violence. And...the Crystal Gems had been at the very heart of it, most likely.

"Steven...Rose was loving and kind. We're not lying when we say that. And we're not lying when we say that we love you. But you have to understand that..."

She looked at the ground. She was remembering something. What, he was not sure.

"Sometimes...doing the right thing means being willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplish it. No matter how cruel it may seem to others."

There was nothing but silence after she finished.

He slowly digested her words. Doing the right thing meant sometimes being cruel? That...that couldn't be right. How could a cruel deed be right? That sounded like that if a cruel deed by some miracle did something good, that automatically made the person right.

Like it erases the bad the cruel deed caused.

And then he remembered that night on the beach. He remembered her tears. Their faces.

...And that mirror.

Anger rose to his chest. It slowly became more powerful with every moment.

His eyes slowly turned into a glare.

And then he spoke.

"I dare you to say that to Lapis."

The moment he said that, the silence from before returned.

And somehow it was emptier than last time.

---

"Lapis, please stop!"

With her-...with the pink shield in one hand, Steven slowly continued his ascent up the hill.

The blue Gem did not respond. Instead, she just stared over the edge of the hill. She stood perfectly still on the giant hill at the edge of his town and watched as her creation wreaking havoc on the Gems.

Hundreds of feet below, when he glanced from the corner of his eye, he could see that dragon attacking the Gems. It unleashed a torrent of water from its mouth as all of his guardians scrambled to dodge it. The jet of water was enough to pierce the sand and leave a large hole in the ground visible from even here.

He heard it roar. Somehow, even without a throat, it could roar.

And he could hear its distorted call even from hundreds of feet up.

He took another step closer; he was maybe twenty feet away from Lapis.

And she still had yet to face him.

"Lapis...this won't bring her back."

She didn't even twitch at his words. She just continued to stare over the edge of the hill and looked down at the Temple below. Her dark blue hair blowing in the wind.

"I...I get you're hurting. And I know the Gems-."

He stopped.

He knew what? That the Gems were awful? That they were liars?

That they...deserved this?

He shook his head.

No! No one...absolutely no one deserves to...

"I get you want to hurt them after everything they've done-."

"No."

It was the first word she spoke to him, the first real response he had gotten from her.

And that one word had so much coldness it made an eerie chill run up his spine. Lapis' voice had never sounded so...empty before. And that worried him.

"La-Lapis?"

She didn't respond. The only sounds he could hear were the Gems cries and the faint roar of her dragon.

"What do you mean...'no?'"

"I mean, I'm not doing this because of what they did to me."

Her voice was quiet, and the low tone she spoke in seemed to make her words all the more venomous. The icy void that each word she spoke carried made him step back.

And in between her frigid words...there was an all-consuming hatred. A rage born from Lapis' desire to want to destroy anything that made her feel so...broken. But...he didn't know what-.

"I want to get rid of it."

Her words interrupted his thoughts; they sounded even emptier than before. The ice within them had become so much more deadly.

"Get...Get rid of what?"

"The Temple."

He could see her point a finger down towards said temple.

"Just the Temple. That's all I want to get rid of. Not them."

That...Confused him. The Gems he could understand her wanting to destroy. But the Temple?

"Why the Temp-?"

"Because it was her third favorite thing."

Her words somehow became colder, and even from behind her back, he knew just how cold her expression was. With just her words, he knew how unfeeling her eyes must have been as she continued.

"The first was the barn, but I already took care of that. The second was... A tie."

He would have asked a tie between what, but he stopped himself. The frigid hatred her voice held made him realize just how bad of an idea that would be.

"But I couldn't destroy either of those things. So, I moved onto to the third thing. I told them I just wanted the Temple, but as usual, they didn't listen to me."

The silence that followed was suffocating. The only sounds he could hear were the faint cries of the Gems and the roar of the dragon.

"You know, it's kinda funny."

Her words interrupted the silence. The ice that exited her mouth as she spoke was worse than before. It was absolutely freezing as his body shivered.

"When I told her what happened to me, she said that if I didn't want her going over to the Temple there anymore, then she'd stop. But I didn't. I told her I didn't mind and that she could go wherever she pleased. It was obvious she liked hanging out with you. Whenever she wasn't with me, she was at that Temple. So I couldn't tell her to stop going there. She grew to like the place I could only hate."

He listened to her every word. He didn't dare interrupt.

For a while, he could only hear the sounds of the dragon shooting water at the Gems. Then, he spoke.

"Lapis...please stop."

He made his voice as gentle as he could. He made sure each word he spoke held nothing but care.

He needed to help her. His feelings didn't matter right now. All that mattered was helping his friend.

The one person who hadn't hurt him like-.

He shook his head.

"This...you know this is wrong...that it isn't what she would want."

She didn't respond. She just stood silently and looked over the edge of the cliff.

"Please...I get your angry...but destroying the places she loved won't stop your pain. And fighting the Gems isn't gonna help either. You-."

Lapis interrupted him before he could finish. The coldness of her words wrapped around his body, turning his blood to ice. He suddenly felt like he was swimming in freezing water.

"Say, Steven, can I ask you something?"

He knew from her frigid voice that regardless of his answer, she'd still ask.

"What is it?"

"You really love them, right?"

He could hear the cold rage in her words; and he paused.

He...he didn't know how to answer that. Not after everything he learned just ten minutes ago. He couldn't even begin to sort his feelings out right-.

"Well?"

Lapis voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Why are you asking me that?"

That was the only thing he could think of to say.

Lapis did not respond. Instead, she seemed to take a moment to consider his words.

He could hear the dragon roar again.

It sounded louder than before.

"Because, why else would you be here? Why else would you want to protect them? It's because you care. And if someone you care for is in trouble, you'll always come to their rescue."

The dragon roared again. When he looked down, he saw it was attacking the Gems even more viciously than before.

"You care about them...but what if I told you something that would make you stop caring?"

She let out a small growl with those last words.

And he froze.

He thought back to his talk with Mr. Araki. About what he said about Lapis.

Specifically...about the mirror.

...Did they really-.

"What if I told you something that would actually make you kinda glad to see them suffering? That it'll make you almost...happy that things turned out this way. Because honestly, seeing them fighting like their lives are on the line...is actually making me feel a lot less awful. I kinda wish I thought of this before."

He remembered Mr. Araki's words.

The Gems were bad but...if they did what...that... then...

They truly would be horrible people. No...they'd be worse than horrible.

"But what could I know about them that could possibly stop you from loving them? I mean, they tell you everything, and it's not like they've ever done anything bad? It's not like they got some random Gem involved in a war she wanted no part of."

The sarcasm in her voice was just as cold as the ice in her words. It radiated from her every word and pierced him as his entire body became cold.

Mr. Araki's words kept echoing in his mind. Words that made him realize just how horrible his guardians.

Words that made him realize that they had, and could, hurt so many people.

He spoke his next words in a hushed voice.

"...Are you talking about the mirror?"

The dragon hundreds of feet below let loose a roar that hurt his ears even from so far below.

And Lapis whirled on the spot to face him. Bloodshot blue eyes met his brown.

"Yes, I am talking about that fucking mirror!"

He had heard curse words before. He hung out with teenagers. He lived with Amethyst. He knew curse words.

But this was the first time he had heard a curse word hold such pure fury.

Looking at her, he could see just how long Lapis had been crying for. Could see all her pain. Her misery. Her sorrow. He could see every horrible emotion killing her from within.

And he could also see a fury unlike any he had seen before burn within her eyes. It was dark, blacker than any anger he had encountered from anyone. Right now, Lapis was only one step away from unleashing her hatred on anything she saw.

And currently, he was the only thing in her vision.

He could see tides crashing against the edge of the hill. Hundreds of feet up, water somehow made it to the edge of the hill.

"Do you know why I hate the Crystal Gems!?"

The waves once again crashed against the cliff.

"Do you know how I'm beyond sure that they left me in that mirror to rot!?"

Her rage exploded like a bomb every few seconds; he could feel the relentless fire within her words.

"It's because I fucking begged them to let me out for thousands of years!"

He heard her dragon roar.

And once again waves crashed into the side of the cliff. This time he felt drops of water pelt his skin.

The moment he heard her words, he felt his heart stop beating.

But it only lasted for a second.

A bitterness entered his body. It laughed at him, and between the laughs, it told him he should have expected this.

His eyes glanced at the ground.

And he really should have.

"Thousands of years..."

His eyes widened as he immediately remembered the situation he was in. He looked up.

And he could see Lapis' body trembling as she looked down, bangs covering her eyes in shadows.

"Thousands of years of being in a mirror. Of being stuck in a prison where you can't move and can't see anything unless it's out of a damn piece of glass!"

She clenched her hands into fists.

And the dragon once again roared. He could hear Pearl shouting something.

"Everyday was a nightmare! After the war ended I was just thrown on to the ground with my gem cracked! That pain...that agony was worse than anything you could ever imagine!"

He didn't have to. The rage in her words made it clear. The icy hatred that leaked from her voice told him enough. He could feel it choke him. Could feel it slam into his stomach as he took another step back.

The pain embedded in her every word let him know just how much she had suffered.

"And then they come, and when they picked me up I thought that this was it! That I finally be free! But instead-!"

She looked up and glared at him. The animosity in her eyes was absolutely terrifying. She no longer looked like Lapis he knew. Not the blue Gem he had gotten to know ever since he rescued her from Malachite.

Now, she looked like someone who wanted to drown the entire planet. The threatening look on her expression was scarier than any of the times Jasper tried to look intimidating. Fear smothered him from within as he couldn't look away from her eyes. It swallowed him as Lapis' anger grew.

She looked even scarier than Mr. Araki did when he was angry. Because her anger was like a monsoon. An unstoppable force of nature.

"Instead, those...bitches left me to rot! Even when every day I begged them to let me out! Even when I replayed image after image explaining what happened to me, they did nothing! I did it until I reached a point where I couldn't play anything for a while, but even after all that they didn't do anything to help me! They didn't care at all!"

He saw her eyes widen, practically bugling as she brought both of her hands to her face.

She suddenly no longer looked scary.

"Thousands of years of being stuck in that mirror! Thousands of years of begging even though I knew it was useless! And I can remember every single day of that torture!"

He saw her fingers digging into her skin.

"You'd think I would just...stop thinking or something but no! Instead, the only thing I could do was think! About how I would never get out! How I'd be stuck here even though freeing me would have been so easy!"

He had never seen Lapis look so...haunted. She was reliving every day of that horrible experience right in front of him. Every second of pain living in that mirror caused came back with a vengeance. He had never seen the blue Gem look so hurt. Like she was about to poof and go back into her Gem at any second.

It was absolutely awful seeing her in such a state.

But then she brought her hands back down. And her eyes were once again in a vicious glare.

And the dragon let loose a roar that could be heard throughout Beach City.

"I didn't tell you any of this before because I could see how much you loved them."

Her voice was far quieter than before. And that made it so much more deadly. He could feel his body getting colder with every second.

"I figured telling the guy who saved me the truth about them would crush you. And I couldn't do that. At least..."

She turned around and looked over the edge.

"Until now. When it's their fault she's dead. When it's because of them doing such an awful job at protecting the only thing they care about that she got shattered. At this point, you need to know just how badly their mistakes can hurt people."

But it wasn't their fault. It was his. He had been right there and he couldn't do anything. The Gems had nothing-.

Come on, be honest. You think the Gems are more at fault than you're letting on.

He heard that voice again. The voice he heard while talking with Mr. Araki. The same voice that kept reminding him about how horrible each Gem really was.

The voice that kept telling he needed to listen to his doubts and not ignore them any longer.

"I never got why you thought they were so...kind."

The disgust in Lapis' voice was enough to bring him out of his thoughts. She turned around to face him.

And he could see cold anger once again rising in her eyes.

"So...what do you have to say to that?"

He didn't respond.

He should've been hurt hearing Lapis confirming that the Gems did know she was in the mirror. He should have felt his heart crumble as he realized that they had ignored her cries and just left her there.

But all he felt was...Numb. It wasn't the same kind of numb he might have felt if he was shocked. This numbness was born from him being exhausted. It was from him being tired of hearing all the awful things the Gems had done in the past. From him imagining them smiling at his face as they lied about the cruel things they hid from him.

He once again heard the same voice that had been reminding him of every horrible thing the Gems had done whispering to him. Once again he realized just how cruel his 'guardians' really were.

He let out a sigh.

"Nothing."

Confusion began to envelop Lapis' face the moment he said that. The anger faded slightly as she stared at him in disbelief.

"Wha-What?"

"I said, I don't feel anything."

He wanted there to be some sort of emotion in his voice. But all he heard in his words was a hollow emptiness.

And that disturbed him.

"Are you..."

The anger returned. It was not cold like before. Instead, it was searing.

From below the dragon let loose another ferocious roar.

"Do you not believe me!? Do you think-!?"

"I believe you."

Again, his voice held no emotion whatsoever. And that seemed to make Lapis even angrier.

"Then...why aren't you mad?! Or sad?! Why aren't you telling me I'm wrong or that they're not like that?!

Because he didn't have the strength to be outraged. Because he wasn't shocked that they did that.

Because...

"Because you're not telling me anything I don't already know."

The Gems were awful. Anything Lapis told him about them would just add to that fact.

Shock overwhelmed the pitch black fury in her expression. She took a step back.

"You...you knew?"

He nodded.

"They...they told you?"

"No."

There was a sharpness to that one word. He suddenly clenched his hand into a fist and-.

He shook his head.

Not now.

He made sure to speak his next words without any harshness to them.

"I just...figured it out with some help."

He let out another sigh. The pink shield on his arm faded back into nothing. And he looked right into Lapis' bloodshot eyes.

"I'm sorry."

The confusion on her face grew, now engulfing most of her expression.

"For...for what?"

"For never really considering your feelings."

He only just realized that fact now, but he never did try to get to the bottom of her issues.

"After you told me what happened to you, I thought I finally got where your hatred came from. That you were just mad at what Homeworld did to you and you just took out on the Gems. I thought that you were just upset that they never realized you were there."

He looked to the ground.

"But I was just...being an idiot. I should have known you hated them for something other than a misunderstanding. If I had just...asked basic questions to them I might have found out sooner."

He should have pressed them more on the mirror on that night at the beach. But he had been a fool. He'd actually believed them without a second thought.

Never again.

"And I was...happy you had decided to stay at the barn. I thought that maybe that meant you were taking steps to overcome your anger. But there's no way you could stop hating them after what they did."

He could somewhat relate to her feelings.

"And then I basically forced you into a friendship with a woman who trapped you on a giant hand-shaped spaceship. I was so stubborn on getting you to like her because I could see just how badly she wanted to be your friend. But I never took the time to consider how you'd feel about it. I just thought it would be good for you to make another friend that I was blind to the turmoil she had probably cause you to go through."

Why hadn't he seen just how bad of an idea it would be to try and make Lapis sleep in the same place as the woman who had imprisoned her?

"I'm so sorry, Lapis Lazuli. I'm sorry I never tried to really understand where all your hatred came from. And for forcing you to interact with the people who kept you as a prisoner."

He had messed up so badly.

It was quiet. He didn't hear the sound of her dragon roaring. He didn't hear the sound of the Gems fighting the water creature. He didn't hear anything.

There was only silence on the hill. And then, Lapis broke it.

"Steven..."

He heard her voice quiver.

He looked up.

And he saw that she no longer looked confused. She no longer had any fury blazing throughout her expression.

Now, she just looked...ashamed.

"You...you are the absolute last person who should apologize to me."

She looked at the ground. Her fists were once again clenched.

"You were my first friend. You stood up to the Gems for me. Even when you just thought I was a mirror, you still...cared about me when no one else did."

The quiver in her voice grew, her words were so shaky. There wasn't even a trace of the coldness that was once present in them.

There was only sorrow.

"You helped me make a friend...the person who had thrown me into another prison would have never been my first choice but...you somehow got me to care for her."

He could see the sadness from her voice move its way to her face. Tears began to build up in her eyes.

"And because of you, I met someone as...amazing...as her."

The tears began to fall down her face.

"Damn it!"

She fell to her knees as she sobbed. Her hands covered her face as she tried to wipe away the tears.

He slowly walked over to his friend and gave her a hug. He felt her finger dig into his back as she returned it.

"I'm sorry."

Her words were quiet. This time they had none of the ice from before. They weren't deadly. They weren't even angry.

They were just drenched in regret.

"I shouldn't have said that to you. I...I wanted to hurt you just because I felt bad."

Lapis had just summed up how his guardians treated him in one sentence.

Stop it! Now wasn't time for...that stuff.

"I just...damn it...I miss her. This pain's even worse than when I was in that fucking mirror."

He could see the grief in her body leak into the air. It was immense; he could feel it with every breath he took in. Lapis had never been more hurt.

Losing Peridot broke her. A thousand years in a mirror couldn't do it. But losing one friend did.

"I...the only place I can call a home died when she did. "

He could feel her tears beginning to stain his jacket.

"I...I don't know what to do."

Neither did he.

He had no idea what to do. About the Gems...about her...

His mind was a blank.

But...he needed to think of something. He had to find a way to deal with both of these problems.

"Maybe...you should try and find a new home."

"What?"

Lapis stopped hugging him. She pulled her head back as she stared at him with eyes full of tears.

It was the only thing he could come up with. It was the only thing he could see that might have a chance of helping her.

"Beach City...has turned into a place...with too many bad memories. It's not fit to be your home."

It had always been more like a test for her. To see if she was comfortable with the idea of living here. And since her friend had just died here, right in front of her face no less, he doubted she could ever feel happy here ever again.

Not to mention the fact that the awful people who trapped her in a mirror also lived here.

"You...you should try and find a new place to stay...somewhere that'll make you happy."

"But we tried that."

"Well...we only visited a few places. And like I said back then, the earth has changed. There are so many places you haven't seen yet. There's so much beauty here. You're sure to find someplace that you can call a home."

Lapis looked down.

"I...I don't know. If I left...then I'd also be leaving the last friend I have."

He knew that. But...if there was even a chance that this would help Lapis, she should take it.

The melancholy in her expression began to fade. There was anger in her eyes now, and he could see it growing with each second.

"And...I'd never get a chance to do get revenge on the thing that did this to Peridot."

He knew she'd eventually say something like that.

"Lapis..."

His voice was as calm as he could make it. The anger vanished from her eyes in an instant. She stared right at him with her tear-stained face.

"Right now, I think you shouldn't worry about getting revenge. I think what's more important is finding a place where you can be happy. Even if it's away from me."

"But-."

"We-I can take care of that thing. I'll make sure to make it pay for what it did to our friend. You're not in any condition to fight."

He couldn't even begin to imagine the damage she could do to Beach City. In her current state, she might accidentally submerge the town in her quest for vengeance.

"And it doesn't even have to be permanent. If you can't find a home, then just come back to me. We'll try to find another solution then."

Lapis didn't say anything. She just stared at him.

It was once again quiet on the hill.

"Maybe...maybe you're right."

She stood up and looked over the edge of the hill.

"I...I don't think this place is for me. Too much history. Too many memories."

He heard her sigh.

"And...one of the few good things I found here is gone so...it's a lot less appealing now."

The sorrow in her voice was cold. It grew with each word she spoke. It told him about the pain that was still running rampant within her.

He glanced at the floor.

"I...I really think this is your best option, Lapis."

He really meant that.

"...Well then..."

She turned around to face him.

And he could see droplets of water that made up her tears beginning to converge on her back. And more droplets from the now wet blades of glass floated into the air and quickly began to do the same. They collided with each other and began to create a new shape.

Within moments her signature water wings were completed.

"...I guess this is goodbye."

And then she flew off.

Once she was gone, he had stayed on that hill for a while. He just stared at her flying form until she eventually disappeared from his sight.

The Gems eventually came up to the hill. They were dripping with water as they ran up to meet him. They had asked him what had happened.

But he didn't answer them.

He couldn't even look at them.

He didn't even know what to say to them after what he realized. He couldn't even think of anything to say when he saw them approaching him.

Instead, the only thing he could do was walk down the hill. When they asked him where he was going, he said to his Dad's van.

Pearl had asked him how long he was going to stay there.

His response was this:

"A while."

---

The Gems didn't say anything. They couldn't say anything. They'd never thought he would learn the truth about what they did.

And that was just one of their secrets. He couldn't even imagine what would happen if he learned more.

His frown got deeper.

"You knew she was there...You all knew, and choose to do nothing."

Connie looked at the Gems with wide eyes.

Pearl had never looked more shocked.

Amethyst could only look down at the ground.

And there was frustration within Garnet's eyes as she stared at him.

"All of you let her rot in a prison for thousands of years. She begged you to let her out and you just...ignored her."

Garnet looked to the ground. Without her visor, he could see her pupils clearly. He could see the shame swirling in them. It told him that nothing he said wasn't true.

And that made his anger all the more blazing.

"How could you do that? How could you just let someone wallow in a prison when you could've easily set her free?"

Garnet clenched her fist.

Pearl's eyes looked at the floor, ashamed.

And Amethyst was shaking slightly.

"How could you just not care?"

"That is not what happened!"

Garnet was screaming as she turned her head to face him.

"We...we did care but we couldn't let her out."

He saw her gnash her teeth together.

"Then why didn't you?"

His words were a growl, voice vicious as he glared at Garnet.

"Because Lapis Lazulis are some of the strongest Gems in existence."

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

He was shouting. He could hear the violent anger within his words.

Garnet looked to the ground.

"Steven, we had no idea where that mirror came from. We had no idea what kind of person was inside it. For all we knew, the Gem in there could have been a Homeworld soldier. You've seen what Lapis can do. She was able to manipulate the entire ocean with a cracked Gem. If we let her out, and she was our enemy, then she could have unleashed untold damage on the planet."

"So, what you're saying is that the reason you kept an innocent woman trapped in a mirror...was becuase there was a chance she was a bad guy. Just because there was a chance, you thought it was necessary to let someone be tortured for thousands of years!?"

They all flinched.

He was snarling now.

"Why didn't you just bubble her then if you thought she was such a risk!?"

The flames in his voice were blazing. And as he shouted, he felt something within him. It was only for an instant, but he found himself...liking the way they all grew quiet again. While his anger grew hotter, a part of him was...enjoying the fact that the silence meant that the Gems felt ashamed of their cruel deeds.

He shook his head.

Why on earth would he feel enjoyment from their silence?

"Because...by the time we thought of that option, she had stopped communicating with us. We thought that her mind had faded by that point. So-."

"Wait."

His eyes widened a little.

"Are you telling me...that you didn't bubble her because you forgot that was an option!?"

This time they didn't flinch. No, flinching wasn't the right word for what they did. It was more like someone had punched them all across the face and they lost the strength to get back up.

The fury within him consumed his every word.

"Are you telling me that when Pearl gave me that mirror she thought she was giving me a corpse to play with!?"

Pearl was trembling. She was Reliving that moment. Reliving the mistake of giving him that mirror. If she had never given him that mirror, then he wouldn't know. He wouldn't know about one of their most cruel deeds.

And they would have gladly taken that to their graves.

Just like her.

He could feel all of his rage gather into a livid snarl.

"You've all seen the damage you did to her! You've seen just how badly your mistake hurt someone! Are you telling me that the cruel thing you did to her was the right thing?!"

They didn't respond.

And he was once again shaking.

"There is no way something cruel could ever be the right thing!"

He looked at the book in his hand.

"There is no way shattering someone could possibly be the only answer!"

He refused to believe that ending someone's existence could possibly be considered as the right thing.

"Why are you guys constantly covering for her!? Why all the lies?! Why can't you see how horrible she was!?"

"Steven, Rose wasn't horrible! She was your mother and she loved you! She's a part of our family!"

Pearl had spoken up for the first time in a while. And once again her words made pure fury blaze throughout his body.

"You call this a family?!"

His shaking grew worse as his rage continued to rise.

It wasn't fair.

"You guys constantly hurt each other! You're always taking your issues out on someone instead of just talking about it!"

They kept using love as an excuse. Like even they did love him, it somehow erased all the bad things they had done.

"You've had years to help each other, but instead all you did was just let your issues get worse!"

He could see their pain consuming their expressions. Could see the regret in their eyes.

"You say you love me yet it's almost always you who hurt me the most! You say you're over your issues, but that's just another lie!"

So many lies. So many times had they come back to hurt them all.

"A real family would never do that to each other! A real family wouldn't be so toxic!"

That really was the best word to describe them.

All of the Gems now looked at him with shocked faces. They were surprised he called them toxic.

They really were blind.

"Steven, please, listen to us!"

The desperation in Pearl's voice was massive. He could see all of her fear slithering in her eyes as she trembled.

Listen to them? When all they did was lie?

"We...we're not...we have had our issues but that doesn't make us any less of a family. It doesn't mean we don't love each other. We...we just don't talk about our them out loud because...we've tried to deal with them on our own."

"And look how well that's worked out."

There was steel in his voice. He had never heard his words sound so unyielding before.

Pearl winced again as she glanced at the floor.

"And that's not even talking about all the secrets you keep from me."

He saw her fists clench.

"We keep...we don't tell you things because..."

She couldn't even say the word 'secrets.' She couldn't even admit that much.

"There are some things that you're not ready-."

"Oh don't you dare!"

Of all their pathetic excuses, that was the most ridiculous.

"Are you honestly saying that it's alright that I don't know a single thing about Homeworld!? That when Gems come to attack me I don't even know their names as they punch me!?"

Pearl's mouth was agape. She could do nothing but listen. There's nothing she could say to argue against his logic.

"Do you think it's fine that I literally know nothing about Homeworld! The planet that is trying to destroy me because of one woman, you think it's alright that I know nothing about the Gems that live there or what the planet is even like?! That I know nothing about my own heritage!?"

He didn't even know anything about their leaders. He had only gotten a glance at Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond he had only heard about from that one story Garnet told him.

And White Diamond...

White Diamond was the only other Diamond they were as tight-lipped about besides Pink. But...he was pretty sure it was for different reasons.

His eyes turned into a glare.

He needed to focus back on the matter at hand.

"Let me tell you why you don't tell me anything about Homeworld! It's because you don't want me to know about your past! You don't want me to know about her past!"

"Steven, that's..."

Garnet spoke up. But she couldn't even finish her own words. She couldn't figure out how to counter what he said as she gazed at the floor.

He looked around the room.

Lion was standing up and looking at him with a shocked expression.

Connie had both of her hands covering her mouth as she stared at him with wide eyes.

Amethyst had never looked more hurt in her entire life.

And Pearl could do nothing but stare at him with a sorrowful expression.

He let out a sigh.

"You guys keep trying to...ignore the obvious."

His voice became quiet again as he stared at the floor.

Why couldn't they just admit it?

"You pretend that your issues are fine, that you love me and not Rose, that we're a family."

His words were empty. They carried nothing but a cruel, cold, void.

"But we're not. A family wouldn't lie to each other. They wouldn't pretend that everything's fine when it's not."

He brought one hand up to his hair as he grabbed a fistful of his locks.

"I mean...what kind of family gladly excepts all the cruel actions someone did and pretend that they were just and right? What kind of family...glorifies a murderer like you do? How could you think that she was somehow in the right for causing an entire empire of aliens to have it out for one planet for centuries?"

The Gems looked like someone had stabbed them right in their souls. His words hurt them worse than any of Homeworld's efforts to crush them.

"I mean..."

This might have been worse than anything else. This might have been worse than them taking out their issues on him.

He had never shouted as loudly as he did now.

"Do I even need to mention Bismuth!?"

He thought that the Gems' pain couldn't grow anymore. That it had reached its peak.

He was wrong.

The Gems in front of him looked like they had just seen someone die. And when that person died, a part of them died as well. The pain in their faces was cruel. He could feel it leaking into the air, and it was absolutely horrible.

They care so much for her...yet they still won't let her out. They loved her, yet were more than willing to hurt her.

Toxic. The perfect word to describe them.

"You guys don't even talk about her anymore since I bubbled her. You act like she's...still dead."

The pain in the air grew again. The Gems were staring holes into the ground.

"She was...no, she is your friend and you...you're all fine with what Rose did to her. You're all fine with her bubbling your friend for centuries and never once telling you before she died."

Tears were once again present in Pearl's eyes.

Amethyst hair cast shadows over her eyes as she lowered her head.

And Garnet eyes held enough sorrow to drown the entire room.

"She was the only person to tell me that I didn't have to be like Rose. That I was already better than her. She saw Rose for what she was. A hypocrite. A liar..."

He thought back to one of the talks he had with Mr. Araki. To a sentence had used to describe Rose.

"A monster who doesn't care about anything other than herself."

All of the Gems looked at him with wide eyes. They'd never thought he'd ever say those kinds of words. They'd never thought he would do anything like this.

"I will never agree with her that shattering Gems was the only way to stop Homeworld. But that doesn't mean I wanted to put her in a bubble just like Rose did all those years ago. I wanted to try and talk with her and make her see there are other ways. But do you know what's stopping me from going down there and unbubbling her? Do you want to know what my very first thought was after I beat her?"

He could almost see her standing next to him. Could see her smiling face as she wrapped an arm around his neck.

"I thought that even if I let her out, you guys would just bubble her again without a second thought."

There was nothing but silence that followed his words.

And the Gems looked like all of their strength had been crushed by the weight of their remorse. All of their arguments, all of their attempts to persuade him, had been killed in an instant. Their expressions were mangled with a mix of horror and grief. He could feel their sorrow dripping from within their bodies.

They didn't say anything as they continued to stare at him. Not that anything they'd say would matter.

He already had his answer.

"...That's what I thought."

He was once again on Mr. Araki's porch as the blonde man whispered into his ear.

"If you really want them to see how serious you are, then say these exact words."

He let out a sigh; he could hear the sadness that weighed on that one breath.

"You guys expect me to trust you...to love you when all you do is lie to me? When you don't tell me about anything from your past or Gems in general? When you keep repeating the same mistakes that hurt me or other people over and over again?"

I...I don't know If I should say that. It sounds... Really mean.

It might be a little mean, but you need to show the Gems how badly their decisions and actions have affected you.

"You don't care about anyone other than yourselves. Not the humans you said you want to protect. Not this planet. And most certainly not each other."

They might even start to see the error in their ways if you say this.

"The only thing you come close to caring about is a murderous woman who started a war for reasons you will never tell me. But I don't need you to tell me to know that they were probably selfish. To know that she was an uncaring, cruel person who by some miracle lead a team of women who were damaged in so many ways."

So trust me when I say this Steven-.

"I will never understand why you love Rose Quartz. The only thing I can understand is why you try to shape me into your ideal version of her. It's because you can never accept the reality. You can't see what she was really like and pretend that any evidence to the contrary doesn't exist."

If you say these words, things will change.

"You...if you're just going to keep lying to me...if you're just gonna keep hurting me...if you're not going tell me any of the secrets or history that I deserve to know...then...just..."

The next words to leave his mouth had enough acid to dissolve the entire room.

"Fuck off."

Everyone's jaw dropped, even Lions. The Gems expressions became unbearable to look at. The pain in the room rose again as he felt it grip his heart.

And then he ran.

He ran right through the Gems. He ran until he reached the door and opened it and then he continued running outside. All while never once looking back

So many people had tried to break the Crystal Gems.

He had done it in about twenty minutes.

He wiped away the tears in the corner of his eyes as he ran along the sand on the beach.

Why? Why did it have to come to this?

---

Amethyst stared at the door Steven just left from. That was all she could do.

Just stare.

Like she had done while he yelled at her. While he told her how badly she had treated him and how her issues had caused him so many problems. How much pain she had caused him.

How...he hated his own mom.

And how she was the one responsible for that.

"I..."

She turned her head and saw Connie staring at her. At all of them. Her eyes kept flickering back and forth, and the shock on her face kept growing as she struggled to say whatever was on her mind.

"I'm so sorry!"

She was saying sorry. Like it was somehow her fault this happened and not theirs.

This kid was way too sweet.

She watched as Connie ran towards the couch in the living room and grabbed her backpack before she ran out the door.

She could faintly hear her scream "Steven!" as she ran down the steps of the beach house.

And then she watched as Lion zoomed after her. The fluffy animal couldn't go through the door, so instead, he jumped through the window; they had opened it before so there wasn't a loud crash of glass hitting the floor. Lion jumped onto the beach below and quickly followed after Connie.

And she and the others stood alone in the house. None of them able to move an inch.

All she could hear were Steven's words. The anger within them. The hatred lodged into every word. And all of his fury seemed to double in size when he talked about Rose.

Steven Universe, the kid who never stopped smiling or helping people...told them all to fuck off.

He told them that he didn't love them. That they didn't love him.

That they didn't care about anyone other than themselves.

"...Did that really just-?"

She didn't finish because a large crash vibrated throughout the house.

She didn't have to turn around to know that Garnet had slammed her gauntlet into the wall. She could already imagine the agony on her face without even looking.

She slowly turned around.

And her eyes widen at what she saw.

It wasn't Garnet, but instead, Pearl had hit the wooden wall near the Warp Pad. Her fist had made a large hole in the wood as several long cracks were now present on the boards.

And the pain on her expression was even greater than the day Rose gave birth to Steven.

Tears were falling from her eyes as she covered her mouth with one hand to try and muffle her sobs. She could feel her sorrow flood the room, and she felt like she was being submerged underneath her sadness. Pearl had never been more hurt. She had never seemed so...shattered in the centuries she knew her.

She heard a noise coming from behind her. She turned around and saw a pink glow surrounding Garnet's body. Every part of her was now masked by the glow, her body now nothing more than an outline. The outline began to split in two, and within the center, she could see a bright red and dark blue gem.

But then the pink glow vanished and Garnet still stood. Her visor was back in place now, not that it mattered.

Because she could still see the sorrow drowning her expression.

"Keep it together."

Garnet's voice was a whisper as a single tear fell from her left eye.

"Keep it together."

She had never heard such anguish from her voice. She could feel it wrap around her throat. It clouded her vision.

No, wait.

That was from the tears descending down her eyes.

She didn't even bother wiping them away.

Damn it...they really were awful at this.

To Be Continued~

You know, this chapter wasn't as long in my head.

I mean it, I thought it wouldn't be this long. I thought for sure I could finally get to write Josuke arriving in Beach City when I started. I mean really, how long could it take to write Steven expressing his hatred for the Gems due in part to being manipulated by a psychotic murderer. It can't possibly take-.

*20,000 words later*

...God damn it...

I'm sorry. I swear to God I had planned on Josuke finally appearing in this chapter. I honestly believed that after this chapter, I could finally start the next arc. But unfortunately, it looks like his arrival and my plans have been postponed again. And for that, I apologize.

I honestly thought about just following through with my original plans for this chapter, but I realized that if I did, I would most likely have to make it around 40,000 words. And even for me, that would be too long. So I have to now change some things.

So, once again, I'm sorry for leading you guys on.

Also, for those of you who are following The Requiem of Remnant, I have been working on it, it's just my main focus has been on getting this story to the next arc. Originally, I was going to shift all of my focus onto that story after this chapter, but since I have yet to start the new arc, It's most likely going to take a lot more time to finish the next chapter of Requiem.

But, I swear, the next chapter, the very first scene will have Josuke arriving in Beach City!

And here's what else you can expect in the next chapter:

Blood!

Explosions!

Posing!

Fight scenes!

More explosions!

Even more crying!

And character deaths!

I promise all this and more will be in the next chapter. If not, I'll cancel this story.

So get ready, because next time:

Chapter 11: The Peaceful Town.

If you haven't heard, this story has its own TV Tropes page! If anyone can add to it, I would very much appreciate it!

This is the Black Mage of Phantasm singing off. Peace!