~O~

Chapter Twelve: After School Special

Jasper stared down at the pearl as she contemplated her move.

The game was called "Checkers". Jasper was quickly learning the game as she moved each piece in silence. She watched Pearl's face for falsehoods, treated this simple game as if it were a battle that needed to be won.

There were no words exchanged. Just a click of the checkers pieces.

Jasper licked her lips.

Pearl calmly watched her next move.

Jasper moved a checker piece and smiled smugly, leaning back with her arms folded. She was certain that she had the pearl defeated now.

Pearl glanced up at her briefly. She smiled.

She took one of her pieces and moved it over several of Jasper's. CLACK. CLACK. CLACK. It was like a symphony.

"King me." she said.

Jasper stared down at the board in disbelief. Then, she glared at the pearl and swatted it aside, sending it across the room in a mess of red and black pieces.

"Are you kidding me?" she spat.

"It's just a game, Jasper." Pearl reminded her.

Jasper scowled at her. Pearl calmly retrieved the board and pieces. She set them all up again and placed them back onto the table between herself and Jasper.

"Now, let me show you." Pearl offered.

She took Jasper's hand in hers and the gem glanced down, momentarily surprised by the gesture. Pearl moved her hand with the piece she was holding.

"You kept yourself open," she said. "So eager to take out your opponent without thinking. Like Amethyst, I suppose. But you two are sisters, in a sense."

She chuckled a little before showing Jasper several other moves of the game. When they plaed a second round, this time, Jasper watched Pearl's face for any falsehoods. Any changes. As a soldier, she was trained to read gems that way.

Outside, Garnet was calmly sitting in the snow when she glanced up at the sound of Jasper's cry of indigant fury.

"NOT AGAIN!"

A smile touched Garnet's lips.

Pearl and Jasper emerged from the temple, chattering at each other. Pearl rolled her eyes and made several wild gestures with her hands and Jasper waved a hand in her face. Garnet watched the pantomiming of their argument with amusement.

"You're impossible!" Pearl yelled.

"Maybe you're just a bad teacher!"

"I am not!"

Garnet stood up, approaching them. "What are you arguing about?" she asked.

Pearl thrust a finger at Jasper. "Take a guess where all the checkers chips ended up!"

Garnet tilted her head. "I am going to assume somewhere involving the kitchen and the garbage disposal." she replied. She obviously knew exactly where.

Jasper folded her arms across her chest. "Now no one gets them!"

"I was trying to show her a pleasant game and she..." Pearl clenched her fists, puffing her cheeks out indignantly. "Oh, you're exactly like Amethyst!"

Garnet pinched the bridge of her nose with two fingers. "You two have more in common than I thought." she said.

That made both gems freeze in mid-argument. They glanced at each other; Pearl's face had turned a bright blue and Jasper grimaced. It was hard to tell if she was embarrassed or disgusted by the assessment.

Then, they started arguing with Garnet, their words overlapping each other. The fusion simply regarded them with dismay.

"This is going to take a lot of work." she said.

O

Connie had stayed later after school to finish up her work. She really wanted to talk to Steven about Jasper's progress after she got home.

A Cluster Gem wandered nearby while Connie waited outside for her mother to pick her up. She spoke to her over the phone, failing to see the Cluster Gem approaching.

"...I'm here. I just finished up my project..."

She caught the sight of movement behind the buses and frowned.

"Hello?" she called.

She had ended the call with her mother and noticed the shape of the Cluster Gem shift behind a bus. Connie's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed.

She slapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. The Cluster Gem had heard her. It looked over with a gurgled sound. Connie turned and ran with the creature giving chase.

She hurriedly dialed Steven's number.

Steven was washing his hands when he noticed Connie calling. He picked up the phone, hit the ANSWER button and brought the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Connie!" he said. "Are you done with school for the day?"

His eyes widened.

He quickly raced out into the kitchen, where Amethyst was working to clean out the garbage disposal. She was still laughing about how Jasper had thrown checkers pieces down the drain. Jasper seemed oddly smug about it.

"Sis, it doesn't work like that." she remarked, face covered in grease, "Believe me, I tried."

Pearl huffed and folded her arms across her chest. "I hardly think you're helping, Amethyst."

Steven ran up to them.

"Guys!" he exclaimed. "Connie's at school and one of those Cluster Gem things is after her!"

Pearl gasped in alarm and Amethyst ended up hidding her head on a pipe. She cursed loudly, gripping her head and sitting up.

"Let's go!" she said.

Jasper followed her. She wanted to know for certain if it had been one from her army she had attempted to create.

"Wait, Jasper - " Pearl began, stopping her before she could leave.

Amethyst smiled. "It's okay! We need more muscle! Come on!"

Pearl hesitated before sighing. Garnet had gone to visit the other two at the barn and it left her alone with making decisions.

"Fine."

O

Connie really wished she had the sword right now.

She had taken cover behind a tree nearest the school, trying to hide from the Cluster Gem. It flipped cars, uttered cooing clicks and paced around the lot in search of the human. She grimaced and clutched her phone tightly to her ear.

"Steven!" she whispered. "I hope you're on your way!"

Steven was on Lion's back and they were rushing down the street. "I am! Why didn't you bring the sword?"

"YOU DON'T TAKE SWORDS TO SCHOOL!" Connie yelled.

Steven jerked his head away from the phone, grimacing at the volume. "Oh, right..." he said, sheepishly, "I guess you don't."

He looked down at Lion. "Hurry!"

Just then, Jasper and Amethyst were spinning passed him. He laughed at the sight. Seeing the two Quartz sisters bonding in even a small way was actually a good thing. Even in such a dire situation.

When they arrived at the school, Jasper was the first to spot the Cluster Gem. Not soon afterwards, another Cluster Gem had joined the search and she knew that these were from her personal army. Looking at them now, she couldn't fathom why she thought they would ever make good warriors.

Connie looked up and smiled with relief when she saw Steven rushing up to her.

"Connie, are you okay?" he asked, looking her over for signs of wounds.

"I'm fine!" she told him.

A bus sailed by. A screech of pain. Followed by Jasper's triumphant yells and her rushing to chase down the fleeting Cluster Gem.

"Jasper, wait!" Amethyst said. A grin lit her voice. "Let me try!"

Pearl came running by. "Amethyst, the Cluster Gem is not a toy!"

Steven and Connie looked over and almost laughed at the sight of Amethyst taking the shape of a bus and bumping her form on top of the Cluster Gem. Pearl was trying to restore order, holding her spear tightly in her hands.

"Amethyst, this is hardly appropriate!" she cried.

"Bus bump!" Amethyst yelled, "Bus bump!"

"Don't toy with it!"

Behind the two, a Cluster Gem hovered. Lion was moments away from tearing it apart, but Jasper got there first. She grabbed the Cluster Gem in two hands, produced her helmet and slammed it hard into the creature. It disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Immediately, Steven bubbled the twisted Gem Mutation.

Jasper smirked with pride. "How have you even survived without battle skills like mine, Steven?"

Immediately, Jasper's eyes widened when she caught herself. She had completely been rid of her pride and now looked completely ashamed of what she had just said. Steven and Connie stared in wide-eyed shock and Amethyst was also in a similar way. She was holding the other Cluster Gem in a bubble. Pearl could not believe her ears.

Steven looked literally star-struck. A bright, happy grin spread across his face.

"You... CALLED ME STEVEN!" he exclaimed, with a happy cry.

Jasper actually produced a light orange flush on her face. "What? No, I didn't!"

"Yeah, you kinda did." Amethyst told her, chuckling.

Pearl stared at Jasper with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty. This was a change. No, a DRASTIC change for the Quartz soldier. Did that finally mean she no longer looked at Steven in the way she used to? That there was no chance she'd try to make any further attempts on his life? She had no idea and it warranted further study.

Steven actually danced with glee and Connie seemed equally happy. Jasper just watched them with annoyance.

"I can't believe it! This is so amazing!" he said to Jasper, "You called me Steven!"

Jasper didn't know what the need for the praise was for. It made her feel odd in a way she didn't like. She shifted on her heels a few times before scowling.

"Shut up! No I didn't!"

She sulked off with the others following behind her.

"I didn't! Stop singing, Steven!"

"YOU JUST DID IT AGAIN!" Steven yelled, with happy delight.

O

For the life of her, Jasper didn't understand the praise.

Connie and Steven had spent almost the entire evening talking about how amazing she was and how "awesome" it had been that she'd thrown a bus into the Cluster Gems. Amethyst had been there to back up her actions too.

Under normal circumstances, Jasper would have waved this praise off; but this was coming from the Rebels who had once held her under a blade. It felt strange and just too wrong to her.

"Alright, you two." Garnet said. "I believe Jasper's had enough for one day. Perhaps you should call your mother, Connie? I'm sure she's worried."

Jasper scowled at Garnet now. "I don't need you speaking for me, fusion!" she spat.

"As it is, I'm sure today has brought on some changes you're clearly not accustomed to." Garnet argued, with a continued tranquility. "Perhaps you need your space."

As much as Jasper wanted to continued arguing with her - Stars, even punch her in the face for speaking so impudently - she found that she couldn't. She knew now without a doubt that the thing that called itself Steven was not Rose.

Rose was not this kind.

Rose was not so forgiving.

Or at least, that was what Jasper knew.

But then again, hearing someone grateful to her made her feel almost...happy. ALMOST. Human children were so odd to her. And these two children seemed to genuinely appreciate her enough. It still gave her many more questions about where Rose was if this human at her feet wasn't her.

Connie had rushed home after the chaos had died down and Jasper had found solace above on one of the many hands of the temple statue. She was lying there, refusing to listen to the music box this time. She only wanted dead silence.

"Ah, I thought you were up here."

The pearl's voice made Jasper roll her eyes.

"Well, I thought you'd like to know that I'm proud of you, Jasper." Pearl told her. "You've come so far from...well...attempting to destroy us."

She laughed a little, but cut herself off when she noticed Jasper's almost annoyed stare.

"Where is Rose?"

The question came completely from left field and one Pearl was not ready for. She backpedaled a bit, wavered in an attempt to gather her words. Finally, she took a deep inhale and exhaled quietly through her nose.

"She's gone, Jasper. And she won't be coming back." she said. The friendliness in her tone was gone, and now there was a near bitter coldness there. "So whatever revenge you feel you need to get, there's no point."

"Yeah. That's what the pearl fusion told me too." Jasper snapped, with a rude snort to follow.

Pearl sighed, lowering her eyes for a moment.

Jasper was surprised when she noticed her take a seat beside her. Pearl's eyes fell to the scarred patches of green on Jasper's arm. She reached out and Jasper flinched away. Pearl raised her eyebrows a bit.

"I'm not going to hurt you." she said.

Jasper glanced down, hesitated before sighing and relaxing her arm. Pearl touched the scars gently. She seemed as if she was looking for something, but for what, Jasper didn't know.

What a strange pearl she was.

"You know, I was once like you," Pearl told her. She looked distracted now, her eyes filled with sadness. "I thought revenge was just...all there was."

"You're a pearl. Why would you need revenge on anything?"

Pearl uttered a non-committal grunt. She seemed eager to change the subject. "But I learned there was so much more to life. And how I could live on with the promise of knowing that she would want me to. Pink Diamond thought you were special. Perfect in every way. She was right on most accounts."

Jasper raised an eyebrow.

"She would not want this for you." Pearl continued, patting Jasper's hand once; it was like a human mother comforting a child. Jasper had seen it with humans before. "Not her most prized soldier. She would want more."

Jasper stared down at their joined hand - scarred and pristine white - before Pearl realized that perhaps she had taken a step too far. She removed them and Jasper stared down at her hand once. The patches of sickly, green marring her orange form. The slightly hardened claws from being previously corrupted. It served as a reminder of her failure.

But she couldn't forget.

She wouldn't.

Later that evening, Lion had chosen to take a spot beside Jasper as she slept. Instead of building the hut again, she just collapsed by the fire place.

Pearl had been meditating in her room when she heard it.

Soft moaning sounds.

Confused, she had feared it was Steven. Something was wrong. Her maternal instincts began to itch away at her.

She quickly departed, but found nothing out of sorts.

She started to go, but the helpless, tormented moaning stopped her. It sounded like a trapped animal, caught in a snare. She had seen it before when Steven was younger and they had walked in the woods together.

It was Jasper.

Pearl didn't recognize the noises from her. She had only heard Jasper cry, but never make these sounds. She walked over to the other gem's side and knelt down, noticing that Jasper's large, thick arm had been draped over her face. Her mouth twisted, little helpless sounds bursting from her.

Pearl reached out, her fingertips touching Jasper's cheek.

"All my fault..." Jasper mumbled, in her sleep. A small, sorrowful sob. "All my fault..."

Pearl stared upward, catching Steven's eye as he watched from above the stairs. He looked worried, glancing from her to Jasper. Pearl gently mouthed "she's okay" to him. He looked entirely too tired to really offer any sort of rebuttal.

Pearl watched him disappear once again and she sighed softly, staring down at the tormented gem, still caught in the throes of a bad dream.

She gently lifted Jasper's arm from her face, surprised to see her face twisted in anguish and soaked in evidence of tears.

"Oh, Jasper..." Pearl sighed.

Suddenly, Jasper's eyes snapped open. Pearl backed away in surprise and Lion gave a soft grunt, awoken by the movements of the larger gem. Both of them watched as Jasper looked around frantically, eyes wild and almost glowing.

"Who!" she gasped. "Where are you? Who!"

She seemed to finally collect herself and sighed, growling. Pearl offered a handkerchief she produced from her gem. Jasper stared down at it briefly before sighing, rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't crying." she snapped.

"Sure." Pearl remarked. "And I wasn't just hearing things."

Jasper glared at her from beneath her bangs. Her eyes looked a little red and heavy. Exhaustion and sadness were prevalent in her stare. She looked almost as feral as she did when she was corrupted.

She wiped her eyes a little bit with the offering before handing it back to Pearl. The gem grimaced a little, but discarded it and looked at Jasper.

"Bad dreams, huh?" she said.

A raise of an eyebrow was her response.

"Sorry. That was probably inappropriate of me to ask such a thing."

"Only a little..." Jasper's lips curled in a sneer.

Pearl looked beyond her for a moment. "Hold on. I have something."

Jasper really saw no point to Pearl's words, but the gem was gone before she could argue. Pearl vanished into her room, but returned only a few minutes later with a book in her hand.

"You know, this was written by a very intelligent human." she said. "Well, intelligent by human standards, anyway. Though he has limited insight on the way of the universe, he understands loss. And he speaks from the depths of his soul. I think it did help me a little. Maybe it could help you."

Jasper sighed. "What's the point?"

Pearl handed her the book. "Read it."

Jasper made a face and watched Pearl walk away. Then, she glanced down at the book and scoffed a little. It was old and worn, reminding her of the books on Homeworld that had been stored away in place of holopads and disks.

Books had been a guilty pleasure for Jasper. Not that she'd ever admit it, but they contained some interesting tales.

One in particular she had loved on Homeworld was the story of the Sky Beast. It had been a powerful familiar from a mighty Gem warrior. Something that made her feel strong. The Sky Beast was beautiful. Adored by other familiars.

Maybe that was why she had taken to the Quartz corruptions without realizing it.

Sighing, Jasper decided that reading was better than having terrible nightmares. So she opened it. The first page was written in Gem Language, which surprised her a little. Did this human actually have knowledge of their language?

The human was John Steinbeck. Who was this Steinbeck? What did he know of Gem language? The title was odd too.

East of Eden.

Such a peculiar title, but Jasper decided to start reading.

We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.

Interesting.

Jasper stayed up the rest of the night reading it.

O

Note - East of Eden was a book given to me as a gift from one of my English teachers when I had been in seventh grade. Also, she was the one who introduced me to Latin. Hence, the little tidbit of info that Steinbeck knowing Gem Language. The italicized words are an excerpt from the book itself.