Yeah, yeah, short chapter...
Pearl stared up at the night skies. There were so many stars-to think that three hundred ago they had been obscured by the city lights, exactly where she stood. Broken concrete stuck up in jagged spikes around her, the broken shells of buildings casting long shadows from the moonlight, her own shadow elongated. She was the only living soul within the bounds of this massive city of ruins, the site of a disaster that had cost millions of lives. And they had never even rebuilt.
She started to walk. Pearl knew where she was going-she had to see this with her own eyes.
The sight of ruin, somehow, brought an unsettling sense of familiarity. She came here often, of course, but only to the outskirts. She had never been this far in before. Her footsteps echoed throughout the abandoned city. The landscape became more and more barren as she neared ground zero. Towards the outskirts, it had been a sight of devastation, that was sure. But this far in...it was stunning.
At long last, she saw a small sign commemorating the lives lost in the tragic battle that had taken place here, as a result of WW12. Although, it was innacurate to call the world wars at all, even back then. They were on a galactic scale, now. Force of habit, probably. Humans just don't want to change. Even thouh most had forsaken Earth, even though it was merely a memory...Just as the Republic of Mars would never last forever. Not as long as humanity stayed as unchanging and consistent, just as they had though thousands of years.
She had no idea who had put up the sign. No one did, really. She kept walking until reached it, crouching and placing her hand on the metal, her fingers gently sweeping the embedded shells and other stones. It was worn down, to say the least, but by some miracle it was still readable...despite the massive language changes. She stared down at the sign for a moment, before her eyes widening in shock. "...That's impossible...this is my handwriting!"
"You've found something you shouldn't have, little girl."
Pearl spun around. Yellow Diamond was there, directly behind her. She towered over Pearl's crouched figure, looking as though she was some immortal being, fearsome golden eyes glinting in the minimum light. For the first time since Pearl had worked with her, her eyes were completely uncovered, her usual reflective glasses nowhere to be seen. Yellow Diamond looked like an ancient goddess, looking anything but human.
"What are you, Yellow Diamond?"
Garnet pulled her knees to her chest, sitting on the bed of her current room on the massive flagship. She stared down at the sheet, her mismatched eyes just as blank as they always were.
The lights flickering pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked up at the embedded lights, freaked out by the electrical problems. She stood up, only to immediately hit the ground once more. The ship was lurching from side to side, seemingly spinning as well. Garnet somehow managed to stand, grabbing a hold of the embedded shelves in the wall. She reached over, switching on the monitor for planetary observation. When she looked at the Earth, her eyes narrowed in confusion.
It was dark. Completely, horribly dark. Normally there would be city lights sprawling across the dark side of the planet, but instead, there was only silence. She double-checked, making sure that this wasn't the Pacific.
No. They were directly over the Free States American Alliance. The former United States of America.
Garnet's eyes turned back to the wall, her eyes closing tightly as a fierce headache pounded in her head. She sunk to her knees as the spinning ceased. A computer program said something about brief mechanical failure over the intercom. Garnet barely heard it, though. Confusing images of long ago eras flashed before her eyes before everything turned to black.
Steven Universe and Connie Mahaeshwarren swung their feet under the chairs they sat upon. Both had mild headaches. Neither was trained to notice, nor care. The mental fortifications erected when they were very young kept away unwanted memories.
Both stared at the holographic presentation before them. Neither saw it, nor heard the bland droning of their instructor. Their dark eyes focused on something no one else saw. Despite their superiors' best efforts, both were completely absent-they were finally realizing just what was happening.
Almost two thousand miles away, Sapphire stared out of her window at the bright white light reaching out from the distant sun. She smiled faintly, hair falling in front of her eyes as her hands tightened into fists. She remained perfectly stationary, her small, terrifying smile remaining the same as she slowly lifted her head, right eye opened wide.
"I've always hated being told I'm living a lie."
...I bet you know what's going on now. I mean, I'm making it pretty obvious.
coughcoughtherewasanotheramericanrevolutionafewcenturiesbeforethishappenscoughcough
