What it Means to Be
Chapter 11
Better
Disclaimer: Don't own Steven Universe. That falls to Su/c/rose.
Before Jasper could let out another word, five weapons were drawn and pointed at her. Steven was stunned at the sight at seeing Jasper, and Zircon had no idea who this gem was. The first to realize that something was amiss was Peridot. Jasper's signature wild hair was always something she took pride in. Besides, hair was one of the things that was usually constant between forms in gems. In fact, she hadn't seen her have straight hair since...
"Stop! Don't hurt her!" Peridot yelled, just as the rest of the gem began to charge, but the only one that acknowledges her is Zircon, who's head whips to Peridot's. Before the rest of the gem's reach Jasper, Zircon yells out.
"Stop!", this time the gems stop, looking to Zircon who rose from her seat and slowly approached Jasper. "I know you. You're the one who made me retreat into my gem for 5000 years... But you don't have any of the murder in your eyes that you did that day. Tell me what happened, and I WILL know if you're lying." Zircon said, which made Jasper flinch slightly, something all of the gems knew to be something Jasper wouldn't never do.
"The last thing I remember was the Rebellion... And now I'm here. It seems we have similar stories, General Zircon." Jasper said, looking uneasily between the rest of the gems, each one scowling back, except for Steven of course. Zircon looks hard for several seconds, before sighing and turning away.
"She's no lying. At least not as far as I can tell, but something tells me that this contradicts your experiences." Zircon said, before Garnet spoke up.
"It does. Jasper kidnapped all of us, and even hurt Steven. How can she have remember that?" Garnet said. Pearl looked up, as if a thought had just stricken her.
"I've heard of things like this. Gems can sometimes develop another 'being' within them, to cope with large amounts of stress. One of our allies developed it, if I remember correctly." Pearl said, still looking nervously at Jasper. Multiple personalities aside, Jasper was still a deadly opponent.
"When... When I was in my gem, I met someone that looked exactly like me. Is that what you're talking about?" Jasper said, looking to Pearl. Before she could respond though, Zircon responded.
"However that may be, we don't know her loyalties. She fought with Homeworld, so how can we trust her now?" Said Zircon, as she wished sorely that she had her sword right now. "If you're here to fight us, you wasted quite the opportunity. If you're intentions are peaceful, then submit to being detained. If not, well, you can see how outnumber you are." Zircon said, before Jasper huffed.
"Fine, I submit." Jasper said. Zircon looks to Garnet before speaking.
"Garnet, take her into your room. It seems to be the most secure. Maybe let Steven talk to her later, he apparently has a way with these things." Zircon said, before returning to her place on the couch. Garnet simply nods and grabs Jasper by the arm before taking her into the burning room. The rest of the gems ease up, before taking their own seats, except for Peridot. She stands there awkwardly, before finally speaking up.
"So, who is next on this tour business?" Peridot said, looking between the people gathered in the living room. In response, the temple door opened up to reveal Garnet.
"More importantly, there's something we need you to see." Garnet said, making Peridot nervous with her tone.
"And what would that be?" She asked, hoping that the answer wasn't what she expected. Unfortunately, the answer was just as she suspected.
"The cluster." Garnet said, before stepping to the side for Peridot to enter the room. She slowly approaches the door and takes a deep breath as she enters the room, with the door shutting behind her. In the room, she sees the massive amount of gems hanging everywhere which causes her to panic.
"Gah! What is this place? What are you going to do to me? Where's Jasper?" She said, before turning to Garnet, who was calm as always.
"Relax, we're not going to hurt you. Jasper is in another room right now, as she can't be trust in a room containing thousands of corrupted gems. I just need you to go to the cluster and... Talk to it, I think." She said. Peridot's face turned to a look of terror as she looked around the room. Finally, her eyes land on the bubble containing the cluster, and she nervously begins to approach it.
"H... Hello?" Peridot said, which causes the cluster to glow brightly before letting out a massive roar. Both Peridot and Garnet took up a defensive stance in anticipation for whatever the cluster was about to do. Peridot closed her eyes to shield them from the light, but when she opened them, she was in a place she had never seen before.
Peridot looked over the area she was an, a figured it was some sort of gemscape. The area she was standing in looked pure white, while to each direction was a different landscape. To the north was a barren tundra, to the east was lush forest, to the south was rugged mountains, and to the west was molten terrain. As Peridot observed her surroundings, a booming voice resounded throughout the entire place.
"Peeeeeeridoooooot!" She fell down, and began to frantically look around. From each of the directions a bright light shined, and four gems took form. A Sapphire, and Emerald, a Citrine, and an Onyx all stood before her. The Emerald was tall, thin, and regal. Her waist length green hair was braided, and she wore loose but functional combat gear. The Citrine was medium height, just slightly shorter than Peridot, with short, red hair, and a stocky build. Finally, the Onyx tall and forboding, with her height and muscle putting even Jasper to shame. Her skin was pitch black and she had shoulder length gray hair.
"Are... Are you the shards of the cluster?" Peridot said, still looking between the four, filled with terror. The only response she received was a simultaneous nod from the four gems. Peridot stared at all of them for a long time before speaking again.
"What do you want from me? Are you going to shatter me, or something worse?" Peridot's shouting was met only with silence. Eventually, the Emerald responded.
"You're here to answer for what you did to us. You making the cluster out of shattered gems is an abomination against gemkind, and nature itself." Emerald said, leaving Peridot even more scared.
"But..." Citrine said, getting Peridot's attention again. "By doing that, you've given us a chance to live again."
"Yes, I thank you for what you did. I don't know if it was by design, or by chance, but the people that you forced us together with were people we trusted and loved." The Sapphire said. Peridot was finally starting to relax slightly.
"We thank you for what you did, we'd even being willing to become your friend. All of us except for Emerald." Onyx said, as the three cluster shards looked to Emerald, who looked less than pleased. Peridot's worry began to resurface.
"I just... Want to know... When you were working on the cluster, did you see us as people who you knew you were torturing, or did you really think we were all dead and gone?" Emerald said, barely able to keep her voice steady. Peridot stood still, slightly shocked by how the Emerald was behaving. Peridot slowly stands up and finally composes herself before looking at Emerald, who had her eyes to the ground.
"When I start work on the cluster... I really thought you were all just inert shards... If I had know that there was still something left in you guys... I might have tried to stop the experiment. You have to believe me." Peridot said, still slightly shaky. A single tear falls down Emerald's face before she looks up at Peridot.
"Thank you." Emerald said, before all everything vanished in a flash of light. When Peridot's eyes adjusted, they were all gone. When Peridot looked to her feet, the white floor had grown almost double its size, and was still expanding. When she looked back, a simple white table with a small note on it was before her. Curious, Peridot walked to the table and picked up the note. The message was very simple.
"Thank you. -Rainbow Tourmaline" Peridot read out loud, before another blinding flash engulfed everything.
Author's Note: So, I'm pretty excited now. I've made it to 4000+ views. I got inspired to finish this chapter because of today's episode. I know I said I wasn't a fan of Garnet before, but that was amazing. Anyway, back to reviews.
To F-ckthesystem125: Ask and ye shall receive. lol.