The calm breeze of the ocean blew across the beach as the seagulls cawed from their rocky perches. Waves lapped at the shore, the foamy tide turning the sand dark brown. A few feet away from the sea, Steven was perched on a tall lifeguard's chair, water balloons tucked next to him. Sitting below were Bismuth and Zircon, staring intently at a game of checkers.
"Hm...aha!" Bismuth exclaimed triumphantly, moving one of the red pieces forward. "Gotcha, Zirc!"
"Wow, Bismuth, I'm almost impressed!" Zircon said, nodding in approval. She suddenly screeched in surprise as Steven dumped a water balloon onto her from above.
"Now it's your move, Zircon!" the boy called down.
"Steven," the blue Gem said in agitation, "are the water balloons really necessary?"
"Yeah!" Steven replied. "This way, the moves really matter!"
"It's checkers! Every move matters!" Zircon protested, wiping the water off in disgust.
Bismuth chuckled good-naturedly and twirled an orange dreadlock around her finger. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're bein' a sore loser right about now, Z."
Zircon spluttered indignantly, but a smirk soon crossed her face. "I'm not a sore loser," she said confidently, "because I just won the game!" With one move, she jumped Bismuth's last remaining checker, seizing it with a proud puff of her chest.
"Whaaat?" Bismuth gasped in mock defeat. "Oh noooo, here it comes!" She laughed happily as Steven dumped all the water balloons onto her, laying down in the sand. "Y'know, I normally can't stand losing, but if it's this fun, I don't really mind."
Zircon pursed her lips in a passive-aggressive manner. "Yes, well, losing in battle isn't nearly as amusing."
Bismuth sighed and stretched as she got up. "You think I don't know that? Geez, Zirc, I love ya, but you take everything way too seriously sometimes. This is why we can't form Calsilica anymore."
Zircon rolled her eyes. "We don't form Calsilica because you're rowdy and overconfident."
Bismuth grabbed her chest as if wounded, a mixture of anger and genuine hurt on her face. "We don't form Calsilica because you're uptight and-"
"GUYS!" Steven interrupted, leaping between them. "What is Calsilica?"
Bismuth blinked, then smiled. "Oh, yeah, you don't know what fusion is, right?" She scratched her head, trying to think of a good explanation. "It's kinda like...me and Zircon, mashed together."
Zircon snorted. "Is water just hydrogen and oxygen 'mashed together?'" When she was met with a blank stare, she sighed. "Nevermind. Look here, Steven." She projected a screen from her monocle which displayed two Gems dancing and combining into one. "When Bismuth and I synchronize our forms, we can combine to form a powerful fusion Gem called Calsilica."
"Yeah, except I don't dance like that," Bismuth joked, poking at the screen for emphasis and accidentally causing it to disappear (much to Zircon's chagrin).
"Wow!" Steven shouted, starry-eyed. "Tell me more about Calsilica!"
Bismuth leaned in close and moved her hands theatrically. "Well, Steven, she's an ultra powerful…" Her face twisted into a corny smile. "Stone-cold Betty!"
Zircon groaned at her pun, but Steven didn't mind. He listened attentively, eyes wide.
"She's also got kind of a big nose - that's from Zircon." she said in a confidential whisper, giggling when the blue Gem shot her a dirty look.
"What Bismuth's trying to say is that Calsilica is an amalgamation of our physical and magical attributes combined into a single entity." she explained.
"Whoa, can you do it right now?!" Steven cried, practically jumping in place. "Come on, form Calsilica!"
Bismuth snickered at his eagerness, but Zircon firmly shook her head. "We only form Calsilica when it's absolutely necessary."
Suddenly, a flash of light erupted from the windows of the quiet beach house in which the temple resided. Steven gasped and ran forward, calling out, "Imperial's back!"
Indeed, Imperial Garnet had just warped back into the temple after another successful mission. Steven and the rest of the Gems raced inside, and she waved amiably at them when they entered.
"Did you bring me anything?" Steven asked excitedly. Imperial smiled.
"Yes! I think you'll like it very much!" Proudly, she held out a rock in the palm of her hand. Steven immediately seized it with gratitude.
"Wow! A rock! Thanks, Imperial!" he said as he began examining it in fascination.
"So, I take it the mission was a success?" Zircon asked hopefully. Imperial nodded.
"Yep! I found out where the Earth and Heaven Beetles are! I think we should split up to get them, if that's okay with you."
"I'll come with you!" Bismuth offered, stepping forward. "Where are they?"
Imperial paused to rack her memory as Steven began absentmindedly gnawing on the rock she had given him. Zircon spoke up impatiently.
"I would prefer to go alone. I don't really want to go on a mission with grammatically incorrect people." She shot a glance at Bismuth, but Steven raised his eyebrows.
"Is her talking about me?" he asked inquisitively.
Imperial ignored him. "I'm pretty sure the Earth Beetle is in the middle of a constant thunderstorm, and I can't get hurt by lightning because I control plasma! So, you guys should go look for the Heaven Beetle at the top of the...Sky Spire? Yeah, the Sky Spire. It's safer!"
Bismuth faked a yawn. "That sounds boring-er to me."
"You mean more boring." Zircon corrected. Bismuth, oblivious to her snobby tone, smiled.
"See? Zircon agrees with me."
The blue Gem rolled her eyes and marched to the Warp Pad. "Come on, you two. Let's get this over with. I've got things to do."
Steven dropped his rock and hurried after her, but Imperial put a hand on his shoulder tentatively.
"Um...Steven?" she asked timidly, rubbing the back of her head. "Can you just make sure that they get along, please?"
Steven winked and gave her a thumbs-up as he stepped onto the Warp Pad. "You got it!" he told her. "This mission is going to be all about HARMO-" Before he could finish, a flash of light enveloped the three of them, transporting them to the Sky Spire.
"-NY!" Steven finished, collapsing on the ground. Dizzily, he picked himself up, gaping in awe at the majesty of the tower before him.
Beyond several floating pillars of land was an enormous piece of rock with stairs curling all the way around it. They were protected by sturdy walls made of polished white marble (though Steven figured that nobody had been able to polish it for years), and a hooded doorway served as the entrance to the winding staircase. At the top, Steven could vaguely make out some kind of round structure, but he was too far down below to see it clearly.
"Whoa…" he muttered, "Is this where the Heaven Beetle lives?"
"It would seem so." said Zircon with a nod.
Bismuth whistled. "Allll the way at the top."
The sheer largeness of the spire reminded Steven of his conversation with his teammates that morning, and thoughts of Calsilica quickly flooded his mind again.
"So, when you guys fuse, do you turn into a giant giant woman, or just a regular giant woman?" he asked, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. Bismuth groaned with a slight chuckle, but didn't answer. "Does one of you control the right arm and the other control the left arm?"
"Come on, Steven." Zircon said curtly, briskly walking away with Bismuth not far behind. Steven rushed to keep up with them.
"Wait, these are extremely important questions!" he cried as they approached a lengthy stairway. "Wow, these are a lot of stairs! Maybe you two should form Calsilica and give me a piggyback ride!"
"No." Bismuth and Zircon replied in unison. Steven sighed and resumed his incessant questioning.
"What about if you guys eat a hot dog? Whose stomach does it go into? Do you guys share the same stomach?" He giggled at the thought. "Eww, that would be gross!"
Suddenly, the bushes in front of them began to rustle menacingly. Zircon summoned her cane, while Bismuth shapeshifted her arm into a hammer, both of them ready to attack if necessary. However, they heaved a sigh of relief when an ordinary mountain goat stepped out of the foliage and started gnawing at some grass.
"Oh, no!" Steven yelled. "It's a magical goat guardian! Quick, you have to form Calsilica before it kills us all! It's the only way!" He peered up at them expectantly, but neither of them looked amused.
"Steven, for the last time," Zircon grumbled impatiently, "we only fuse in deadly situations! Does this look like a deadly situation to you?!" She held out her hand for emphasis, only to shriek in pain as it was bitten by the goat. "OW! Why, you cheeky little-"
Bismuth's laughter drowned out the rest of her insult. She toppled over in a fit of mirth, wheezing as Zircon continued to chew out the animal that bit her.
Steven ignored them and sighed. "Aw, man...now I'll never get to see Calsilica…" Sadly, he began to sing as the wind blew through his hair.
"All I wanna do
Is see you turn into a giant woman.
A giant woman!
All I wanna be
Is someone who gets to see a giant woman."
Zircon and Bismuth looked at each other and shrugged, dragging Steven along with them as he continued to sing.
"All I wanna do
Is help you turn into a giant woman.
A giant woman!
All I wanna be
Is someone who gets to see a giant woman."
The three of them were climbing up a steep ledge. Luckily, there were ladder-like carvings in the wall that allowed them to safely scale the rocky chunk of land. As Steven sang absentmindedly, Zircon's foot briefly slipped, accidentally causing bits of rock to fall all over Bismuth's face, as she was just below her.
Bismuth coughed and looked up at Zircon reproachfully. The blue Gem spluttered and tried to explain herself, but Bismuth solemnly urged her to continue.
"Oh, I know it'll be great
And I just can't wait
To see the person you are together if you give it a chance!
You can do a huge dance
Because you are a giant woman!"
Steven's singing was distracting to Zircon as she tried her best to balance on a series of rocks to make it across a stream. She was doing pretty well at tuning him out, but that combined with Bismuth slipping and falling onto her ultimately resulted in her collapsing into the water.
The three Gems were crossing a rickety wooden bridge solemnly, Zircon clutching tightly at the rope supporting it. For a while, they traversed in silence, until Bismuth elbowed Steven playfully and began jumping up and down, causing the bridge to bounce. Steven laughed and joined in, shaking the already unreliable pathway they were walking on.
Zircon's head whipped around sharply, and she marched over and began to lecture her comrades, pointing an accusing finger at Bismuth as she did so. As the two began arguing, Steven intervened and wrapped both of his arms around them in an attempt to get them to reconcile. When that didn't work, he began singing again.
"You might even like being together,
And if you don't, it won't be forever,
But if it were me,
I'd really wanna be a giant woman.
A giant woman!"
Neither of them seemed impressed, and they both wrenched themselves free from his hug. Steven watched, crestfallen, as they crossed the bridge without another word.
"All I wanna do
Is see you turn into a giant woman."
Steven finished his song glumly as the three of them reached yet another floating platform of land. He turned around and looked at the little mountain goat that he had brought along with him, only to jump back in surprise when it bleated loudly in his face and leaped across the series of platforms in front of them gracefully.
"Wait up, Steven Jr.!" the boy cried out, attempting to leap after him. He was stopped by Zircon's protective arms wrapping around him, instantly stopping him.
"Good grief, Steven, what are you doing?!" she cried, yanking him back. "You can't make those jumps! It's far too dangerous!"
"Hm…" Steven put a hand to his chin in thought. "What if you guys formed Calsilica and laid across the gaps like a bridge?"
Zircon rolled her eyes. "We don't need Calsilica to get across."
"Aw, c'mon!" Steven pleaded. "Can you do it anyway? Pleeeease? It would be easier, wouldn't it?"
Bismuth cracked her knuckles confidently. "Not as easy as this!" Effortlessly, she picked Steven up in one of her large hands and stretched her arm all the way across several gaps, depositing him on a faraway platform. "That's about as far as I can take ya while still keeping you in our line of sight!"
"Whoa! Bismuth, that was a really good idea!" Steven called back at her. Bismuth puffed out her chest in pride.
"Aw, shucks, kid, I'm full of 'em." she said, rubbing the back of her head. Zircon swallowed hard, her eyes fixated on Steven.
"Bismuth, are you sure it's safe to leave him there? He's pretty far away…" she mumbled anxiously. Although Steven couldn't hear her from where he was, he could tell she was nervous just by looking at her posture.
"Hey, don't worry, Zircon! It's safe! Look!" He began to jump up and down on the platform, laughing at the way the weight of the ground seemed to shift beneath his feet. This only caused Zircon to become even more worried, and even Bismuth seemed a little concerned. Cautiously, she took a step forward to reach the next platform, but then…
"AAAAHHH!" Steven suddenly screamed as he lost his footing, plummeting through the sky. The wind ripped fiercely at his back, and he could just barely make out screams not too dissimilar from his own coming from Bismuth and Zircon.
The two Gems immediately sprang into action. Bismuth lifted up Zircon in one hand and gripped her tightly, elongating her arm to a ridiculous degree and whipping it toward the falling Steven. Zircon wasted no time and reached out, grabbing him tightly as they met in midair.
All three of them exhaled a large sigh of relief as Bismuth pulled her arm back up. She placed Zircon and Steven on the ground behind her, rubbing at the arm she had just stretched. Meanwhile, Zircon put a hand on one of her companion's large shoulders in an effort to catch her breath, as she was panting profusely.
"Whoa…" Steven said in awe, watching the two of them closely. "It was super cool seeing you guys work together like that! Why don't you do it all the time?"
Startled, the two Gems looked at each other in surprise. Bismuth gave Zircon a wide, awkward smile, but the other Gem blushed profusely and turned away, coughing. Slowly, Bismuth's face changed to a look of disappointment, and the three of them sadly continued onward.
By the time they reached the top of the Sky Spire, it felt as if hours had gone by. As far as Steven was convinced, his legs were not too far away from giving out, and he could feel the effort it took to inhale in every step.
"I can't feel my legs anymore…" he gasped as they exited the large, dome-like structure at the top of the tower. Then, when he saw what was in front of them, his eyes widened. "Hey, look at that! It's a tiny temple!"
Sure enough, there was a miniscule building roughly the size of a small dollhouse. Surrounding it was a deep pool of crystal-clear water, kind of like a moat. Fortunately, it did not block the direct path to the temple itself, and Steven ran forward to inspect it. He peered inside a tiny window to have a closer look at the interior.
"This is where Imperial said it should be. The Heaven Beetle must be inside." Zircon said matter-of-factly, relieved that this journey was finally coming to an end.
"Aww, check it out!" Steven laughed. "It's got a little beetle bedroom and little beetle bongos and a little beetle baby book!"
Indeed, the inside of the temple was surprisingly advanced. He even saw what looked like a video game console and a television at a far corner of the room, along with some potted plants in another window.
"But where's the beetle? It's supposed to be here! The Heaven Beetle wouldn't leave, would it?!" Zircon asked worriedly, one of her eyes scanning the inside of the temple. "Oh, where could it possibly be?!"
Bismuth cautiously approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, hey, calm down, Z. I'm sure it's around here somewh-"
"But what if it isn't?!" the blue Gem interrupted, grabbing at the sides of her head desperately. "I can't believe this! The Heaven Beetle is gone, and you don't even care!"
"Hey!" Bismuth looked deeply offended. "It's not my fault the beetle isn't there! You're overreacting!" As the two argued, the goat that Steven had dubbed "Steven Jr." began to baa repeatedly. Neither of them noticed.
"I'm not overreacting! If anything, you're underreacting!"
"That isn't even a word!"
"Oh, don't you DARE lecture me on vocabulary!"
"HEY! Cut it out! You're scaring Steven Jr.!" Steven shouted, trying in vain to break the feuding Gems apart. Then, all of a sudden, a low rumble came from the water. The three teammates stopped and listened, fear brewing in their stomachs.
Suddenly, a monstrous, bird-like creature flew from the moat, screeching like a banshee. It had muddy brown "feathers" and no discernible eyes, but it seemed to know exactly where the Crystal Gems were, as it darted toward them with alarming speed. Its mismatched half-purple, half-brown beak opened wide as it lunged and swallowed Steven Jr. whole.
"My son!" Steven gasped, tears welling up in his eyes.
Hastily, Zircon summoned her cane and threw it at the monster, but it merely opened its beak again and gulped it down without ceasing its attack.
"Come on, in here!" Bismuth said, motioning toward the bigger temple. Quickly, Steven and Zircon followed her, breathing heavily in a combination of terror and desperation. By the time they got inside, the creature's beak was sticking through the doorway.
"It swallowed my cane!" Zircon shouted, dumbfounded.
"Guys, this is great! It's the perfect time to form Calsilica!" said Steven. He winced when the bird monster flew up and began pecking furiously at the wall, but that didn't completely get rid of the optimistic look on his face.
Bismuth and Zircon looked at each other uncertainly. Steven had a point. With their combined power, that creature surely wouldn't stand a chance...right?
The two gave each other firm nods and bowed, their gemstones glowing. Zircon clicked her feet on the floor and spun around, extending her arms. Meanwhile, Bismuth flipped her hair back over her shoulder and moved her own arms back and forth, up and down, in an extremely angular fashion. She gave Zircon a playful wink, causing her face to flush.
Shaking her head, the blue Gem continued her tap dance routine. She hopped from one foot to the other, steadily making her way toward her partner. Bismuth raised her hands above her head in a motion not unlike a stretch and effortlessly reached out to grab Zircon's waist. Unfortunately, as she attempted to dip her, Zircon's hand slipped and smacked her in the face. This caused Bismuth to nearly drop her on the ground, her head hitting the floor.
Steven cringed at their lack of cohesion, but his eyes widened when their bodies began to glow and merge. Was this it? Was this fusion? Were they finally going to-
Nope. In what seemed like less than a second, both Gems were repelled away from one another, collapsing on the ground and rubbing their heads.
"Well, that could have gone better." stated Bismuth. "Wanna try again?"
Zircon scowled. "Only if you make your movements less distracting."
"Distracting?" Bismuth stood up. "How was I distracting you? You should know how I dance by now. It's been over five thousand years!"
"Guys, stop!" Steven interrupted. "Now isn't the time to fight! If you don't fuse soon, I'm gonna get eaten...by a GIANT BIRD!" As if on cue, the monsters giant beak finally punctured the ceiling, snapping up Steven in one fell swoop.
"STEVEN!" Bismuth and Zircon cried, but to no avail.
Steven tumbled down a surprisingly spacious pink tunnel, landing with a thud in front of what he hoped against hope wasn't human remains (though they most assuredly were). As he picked himself off the ground, he noticed that there were quite a bit of random objects scattered about here and there, including swords, a shopping cart, and…
"Steven Jr.!" Steven ran toward the goat, who was sitting at the top of a junk pile and chewing on something. "How can you eat at a time like this?"
When the goat turned around to face him, however, Steven's eyes widened. Inside Steven Jr.'s mouth was a small yellow bug with a tiny green gemstone on its upper back. He knew enough about Gem stuff to know what that was.
"Is that the Heaven Beetle?" he asked no one in particular, despite knowing the answer. "Let me see it!" He tried to wrench the bug from the goat's mouth, but its teeth were firmly grasping the creature. "Hey, be a good mountain goat and give me the magic bug!"
After what seemed like forever, Steven Jr. finally couldn't hold on anymore. The boy snatched the beetle from him triumphantly and held it up. "I got it!" When the goat tried to snap at it with its teeth, Steven quickly pulled his hand away. "No! Bad goat! You're no son of mine!"
All of a sudden, without warning, he heard a sickening noise that sounded like both a squelch and a crack. He turned around, horrified, only to be met with a large, pale blue arm jutting out of the fleshy pink "ground" of the bird's stomach.
He screamed and tried to run away, but another arm popped up right in front of him. The more he tried to get away, the more arms kept showing up, until one of them wrapped itself firmly around the waist of the goat and yanked him down with it.
"Steven Jr.!" cried Steven, momentarily distracted. Unfortunately, his lack of awareness was what managed to help the mysterious arms to grab him as well, pulling him through the bird's stomach and...outside?
Steven blinked, dazed, as he realized what was going on. He was being held by...someone. He couldn't see them clearly, but whoever it was most definitely had four arms and was carrying him securely. Even though they were miles and miles above the ground, Steven felt safe in the stranger's comforting and oddly familiar presence.
The bird was gone now. Steven noticed it when he looked up to try to get a better look at the person's face. Instead of one giant bird, there were now several tiny ones, and none of them looked happy at all.
SPLASH! For a split second, Steven was submerged in water, but that quickly changed. The strange person who was holding him finally stood up, sunrays flickering over the water droplets that dripped down their body. They put him down, and Steven finally realized who they were.
"Calsilica…?!"
The fusion said nothing. She merely stared intently at the flock of angry birds that were darting toward them at a high speed. Steven took a moment to analyze her appearance, and saw that she indeed possessed characteristics of both Zircon and Bismuth. Her hair curved upwards instead of down, but there were rainbow-colored stripes in it that reminded him of Bismuth's own rainbow dreadlocks. She did indeed have four arms, mildly muscular in shape, and she was wearing a small apron that looked almost like a cube, kind of like Zircon's suit.
Before he could look at her some more, she suddenly grabbed him again and took off, sliding down the ceiling of the spiral staircase that lead up to the top of the spiral. When they reached the ground, she hopped deftly across every floating platform, planting her feet firmly on the biggest one, near the end.
"Stay low." she said in a surprisingly serious voice. With one arm moving toward her neck and another to her chest, she produced two familiar items: Bismuth's chain and Zircon's cane. The two weapons also fused together, creating a pair of nunchucks.
The birds were still on their tail, and Steven was surprised at how fast they were able to catch up to them. That wasn't a problem for much longer, though, as Calsilica began swinging her nunchucks at an incredible speed. Her movements were like lightning as she twirled and twisted both her body and her weapon, bashing every single bird that dared to fly within her presence. Finally, after what felt like only a few seconds, the monsters were gone, leaving only clouds of smoke in their wake.
Steven gaped at her as she turned to face him. Her periwinkle skin stood out against her tan apron. She had a monocle like Zircon, and he could make out the gemstones of both of his companions on the jugular and chest of the fusion. She smiled at him amiably, and Steven felt his voice finally return.
"Uh...do you...remember who I am?" he asked nervously. Calsilica chuckled.
"All you wanna do...is see me turn into…" she sang softly. Steven gasped.
"A giant woman…"
Imperial Garnet was just dusting off the last bit of soot from her body when the loud flash of the Warp Pad startled her. She turned around with a tiny shriek, only to exhale in relief when she saw who it was.
"We're back!" said Steven cheerfully. Calsilica waved, and Imperial smiled and waved back.
"Hello, hello! Wait...weren't there three of y-" Suddenly, she noticed the two gemstones on Calsilica's chest and gasped. "Ohhh, I see! Did you guys get the Heaven Beetle?"
Suddenly, the fusion gasped and opened her eyes. "I don't have it!" she exclaimed before disappearing in a flash of light. Soon, Bismuth and Zircon were on the ground, looking dazed and panicked.
"Bismuth! I thought you had it!" Zircon yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at her.
"I swear, I didn't! I thought emyou/em had it!" The other Gem held up her arms defensively, looking more distressed than angry.
"Don't worry, guys!" Steven said, reaching into his pocket and producing the Heaven Beetle. "I got it!"
"Yaaay! Great job, Steven!" said Imperial. She gently took the beetle from him and put it into a tiny cage she had sitting on the counter. Inside was another beetle with the same gemstone on its back and a gray color scheme. Carefully, she bubbled the cage and tapped it, sending it to the Burning Room. "How did you get Bismuth and Zircon to fuse? They haven't done that in...hmm...14 years or so, right?"
The two Gems in question blushed, but something about Imperial's words caught Steven's attention. 14 years ago? He was 13…then wouldn't that mean-
"Ahem," Zircon cleared her throat, rising to her feet, "Bismuth, I would like to...apologize for all of the harsh criticisms that I gave you during our mission. I suppose I should have been a bit more understanding." She reached out a hand to help her teammate up.
"Hey, no problem, Zirc!" said Bismuth cheerily, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for bein' a bit too reckless at some points. Sometimes I get carried away. If it helps...I liked fusing with you." Zircon's face turned a darker shade of blue than normal for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
"And all I had to do was get eaten by a bird!" Steven exclaimed, ruining the moment. Imperial didn't seem to notice, however, and she patted him on the head affectionately.
"Steven, I can't predict the future, but I bet you're going to be great at fusing one day!" she said. The boy beamed at the praise.
"Yeah…" Suddenly, the impact of her words hit him. "Wait, I can do that too?!"
Aaaand that's another chapter in the bank! This one was fun to write, especially considering that it's our first real fusion in the series besides Imperial Garnet, of course. I designed Calsilica long before this fic was three to four chapters long, I believe. She was one of the earliest names I had in mind for potential Bismuth fusions too! I decided to go with calsilica as a gem because it's mostly blue, like Zircon, but with a lot of other colors as well, like Bismuth.
Anyway, next chapter will be So Many Birthdays! This episode was what solidified Steven Universe as a show with some darker moments in it, and I have some...ideas in mind for the particularly feelsy scene near the end. I mostly write angst, after all. Anyway, feels aside, stay tuned!
