S2-11
Gem in the mirror

William was meditating on top of the lighthouse, as usual, until Pearl came up to visit him. "Hi, Pearl. How have you been?" "I've been well. What about you?" "I've gotten better since... y'know." "Since you found the Emerald Energy Reservoir at Rose's fountain." "Yeah, it's actually been useful. On a better note, the Freedom Shield is almost done repairing itself. I may have accelerated the repair rate by fixing up some of the Maintenance Drones. It says it'll be back at optimum efficiency in about half an hour." "Really? That's amazing!" "Yeah. With the Freedom Shield fully operational, interstellar traversal will once again be ours. Anyway, I think I see Steven over there... with a mirror?" "Well, we found that mirror at the Galaxy Warp. I tried making a school setup to teach Steven some things, so I tried using the mirror, but it seemed broken, so I just called the whole 'school' thing off and let him have the mirror." "I'm sure he'll 'reflect' on that action. Anyway, looks like he's coming back." "Let's head inside and meet up with him." "Got it."
Pearl went ahead to do some prep work. William headed back inside the house, seeing Amethyst and Garnet on the couch, and Pearl stacking some items in the middle of the living room. "Steven's coming."

Right on cue, the human-gem hybrid came through the door. "Guys! Wait'll you see..." He paused, seeing Pearl dismantling the school setup she made. "Steven, William has good news." "The Freedom Shield is nearing the completion of its repairs." William reported. "Awesome! Anyway, mirror's fixed!" "It... It is?" Pearl wondered. "Did you guys know it was like a person?" That came as a shock to everyone, even William.
William spoke up. "Hang on! I sense the aura of another gem, one more than normal around here. Let me have a look at that mirror. I need to confirm a suspicion." Reluctantly, Steven handed William the mirror. "Everyone, gather 'round!" The Crystal Gems and the nearby Freedom Shield Scout Drone gathered over William's shoulders.

"Who are you?" William asked the mirror.
In its reflection, the mirror showed itself being turned around, revealing a shape on the back. William turned the actual mirror in the indicated way, discovering a cracked gemstone lodged in the back of the object.
"Gem identified: Lapis Lazuli." The Freedom Shield reported.

Without another word, William headed outside, bringing the mirror with him.
Once he reached the shoreline of the beach, he grasped the gem embedded in the mirror's rear surface, pulling it out with some effort. The mirror shattered, causing William to drop it as the newly freed gemstone flew out of his other hand, restoring its physical form at long last. The Gem was of an aqua blue color with what looked like a sleeveless dress, and her eyes resembled mirrors.

The rest of the Crystal Gems caught up, which William noticed. "Crystal Gems, stand down!" He ordered. "Were any of you aware that there was a living Gem stuck to that mirror?" The other Gems glanced at each other, shrugging and shaking their heads. "Well, now you know. ⟟'⋔ ⌇⎍⍀⍀⍜⎍⋏⎅⟒⎅ ⏚⊬ ⋏⟟⏁⍙⟟⏁⌇..." Everyone gave him a confused look.
"Leifa... t'chezlo... What?" Lapis asked, trying to pronounce what William just muttered. "I'm surrounded by nitwits!" William translated, facepalming.

"OK, Lapis. Let's take a look at your gem. It looked damaged." Steven pointed out.
Lapis turned around and sat down. "Yeah... My gem is cracked..." William inspected the gemstone, seeing a crack vaguely shaped like the letter Y. "Looks as if being stuck in that mirror for so long has been pressing your gemstone inward, like pushing a hole closed. Sooner or later, that crack will open back up. We need to do something."

They all headed back to the beach house, where William entered a meditative state, going over his options. "Steven, didn't Garnet once say that you had Rose Quartz's healing tears?" "Not exactly. Last week, I discovered that I had healing spit instead." William recoiled slightly. "Ew."
"Sorry, Lapis. This might feel a little weird." Steven warned her. "Huh?" Steven licked his palm, then placed his saliva-covered hand on her gem, causing her to shudder at the feel of cold spit on her back. "That's gross." William remarked.
At first, nothing happened, but then Lapis's gem glowed as wings made entirety of water expanded from it. The glow died down, revealing the formerly damaged gemstone of Lapis Lazuli in perfect condition. She turned around, her eyes no longer resembling mirrors. "Thank you so much, Steven!"

"Before you go, allow me to introduce myself. My name is William, and I'm an Emerald. More specifically, the last of the Emeralds." "The last of... What happened?" "My home planet, Epsilon 7-B, was destroyed, eradicated, reduced to rock chunks." William sighed. "Who did that?" Lapis asked, feeling sympathy for the Emerald. "Yellow Diamond. I saw her." William then pulled out a small communication device from his gem. "In case you need someone to talk to, you can communicate with me. Keep this device, and stay in touch." "Thanks, William. I will." Lapis took the device and strapped it to her wrist. "If things don't go as planned for you, you're always welcome here. Now that the Crystal Gems are aware of you having been trapped in that mirror, I suspect they may be seeking your forgiveness. Right, guys?" At that last part, William eyed Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet, who all agreed nervously. "As long as it won't happen again, I'll consider this forgiven."

William headed to the door, pulled it open, and stepped aside, motioning for Lapis to proceed. "Ladies first." At that, Lapis chuckled, accepting the gesture. "If I get the chance, I'll make sure to give Yellow Diamond a piece of my mind for you." "What I would give to be there in person, and pull the trigger myself."
With that, Lapis left the house and flew off, bidding the Crystal Gems farewell.
"Now then, I'm gonna be bringing the Freedom Shield here at some point tomorrow, if that's OK with you guys." "Well, you'll have to make sure it's OK with the citizens first." Garnet had a point.

Later that morning, the people of Beach City had gathered around again as William had a request.
"So, what's this about a starship?" Mayor Dewey asked. "It's called the Freedom Shield, and its primary directive is to protect the freedom of sentient species on other worlds, and I am its operator. I used it to escape when the rest of my kind, the Emeralds, were under attack on our home planet. Unfortunately, I'm... the only one left... My home planet, Epsilon 7-B, was completely eradicated, and there's nothing left. I crash-landed here centuries ago. The Freedom Shield is fully repaired. It's been using Repair Drones to fix itself. I can speak with it over extremely long distances since it can communicate through the Drones. The escape pod I used is loaded back into the Freedom Shield, and it's ready for another use if need be. I was wondering if it was OK with you guys if it relocated to here in Beach City." "Wait. How big is it?" "It'll be easier to show you."
"Confirmed. I am on my way to Beach City now." The Freedom Shield reported.

Within half an hour, a massive vessel could be seen in the distance over the ocean. "Over there! The Freedom Shield!"
The residents of Beach City looked on to see the Freedom Shield pass over the area and stop above hillside beyond it. "I will require a suitable place to land. Emerald William, I recommend you acquire materials and construct a landing platform. Scanning available local resources." The Scout Drone projected an analysis beam in a full rotation before a conclusion was reached. "Analysis complete. Emerald William, you will require approximately 5 tons of concrete and 16 steel girders to create the landing pad. Use the leftover materials you have stored to create a staircase. If you wish, you may acquire 5 cans of both white and green paint for a symbol on the platform."

In a matter of hours, the materials were acquired and stored within William's gem. A landing pad started piecing itself into existence through two beams being projected from the Emerald's gemstone.
Within minutes, the landing pad had become whole, with a giant Emerald gemstone painted onto the top, with a normal and light shade of green.
"Landing pad complete. Integrity is beyond acceptable standards. Initiating landing process." The Freedom Shield started to descend, landing perfectly on the platform.
Once the engines were clear to go into standby, the residents of Beach City were able to enter, seeing everything in the starship, including the main computer housing the AI in control. "Greetings. I am the Freedom Shield, an Emerald starship created and programmed on the Emerald home planet of Epsilon 7-B. Current primary directive: defend all sentient species from Yellow Diamond's forces, and eliminate Yellow Diamond. Until then, I shall act as both the sword and the shield of humanity." "So, what about the Emeralds? Were any of them off-planet at the time?" Mayor Dewey asked. "Scanning Emerald records."
A holographic display of hundreds of humanoid beings flickered on and was going through multiple different Emeralds at a rate of about 50 shifts per second, all of them with the same message.

SHATTERED ON EPSILON 7-B

It eventually stopped at one Emerald.

EMERALD MORLAX
SIGNAL LOST
STATUS: PRESUMED SHATTERED
LAST KNOWN LOCATION: EARTH

"Morlax..." "Emerald Morlax. Last known location: Earth, Facet 5 Kindergarten. Playing last transmission."
"Alright, I found this strange crevasse in the ground. I don't know what this could be, but I gotta be careful. ... I think I found another gem, I'm gonna go talk to 'em. Hey, you there, ya lost!? I could help you find a way outta here if ya wan- ~faint unintelligible and distorted groaning~ OH GOD! WHAT IN THE EVERGROWING UNIVERSE IS THAT THING!? ~unintelligible screaming closing in~ OH GOD! OH GOD! GET AWAY FROM ME! GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME! AAHH- ~shatter, static~"
"Emerald Morlax was lost approximately 30 centuries ago. Emerald William, perhaps you can replicate and enhance the healing ability of Rose Quartz." "Steven has that ability now." "Confirmed. Dialing phone number for Steven Universe."
They waited a bit before a familiar child's voice could be heard. "Hello. You've reached Steven Universe. Steven speaking." "Steven, this is William." "Hi, William. Wait... How are you calling me? I thought you didn't have a phone." "I sent the contact. We have discovered another Emerald on Earth, and William will require an enhanced replica of your healing ability. Emerald Morlax is currently shattered, and the enhanced ability will be able to restore him. Unfortunately, the location of the Facet 5 Kindergarten is unknown. We lost contact with Morlax before he could transmit global co-ordinates, approximately 30 centuries ago." "If it'll help, what do I need to do?" Steven asked. "I have relocated to Beach City. Have you calculated your next action from supplied information?" "That means 'Do you know what to do?'." "I got it. I'm coming over there right now. I can see it! William, did you make a landing pad for the Freedom Shield?!" "Yeah, I did. I'll see you soon, Steven."

Eventually, the inhabitants of the Freedom Shield heard the pitterpatter of small shoes. Steven had arrived.
Steven approached William at the control console before pulling his shirt up a bit, revealing his gem. The gemstone flashed before something unusual happened. From Steven's gem came a small orb containing a small drop of what could only be assumed as Rose's healing tears. The orb glowed to the point where not even sunglasses would help, only for the glow to die down, revealing two of the same orb. The first phased back into Steven's gem, while the new second went into William's gemstone.
"Replication and enhancement of Rose Quartz healing ability: complete. Thank you for your help, Steven. Rose Quartz would be proud to see that you are helping others." "Yeah, and you can put your shirt down now, Steven." Steven put his shirt down as William pulled something out of his gem. It was a chocolate-covered donut with sprinklers from the Big Donut. "Here you go, Steven. I heard you really like these, I can see why, they are GOOD." "Thank you, William!"
"Wait! Where'd you get that donut!?" Lars demanded. "I bought it at the Big Donut. Here's the receipt." William pulled out a small slip of paper and showed it to Lars, who then remembered the purchase. "Oh."

"Anyway... Freedom Shield, can you run a search?" "Of course. Performing global search for Facet 5 Kindergarten location. Releasing Scout Drones." Outside the Freedom Shield, more Scout Drones appeared and headed off in random directions.
"So, what are you trying to accomplish?" Mayor Dewey questioned. "Morlax's starship, the Path-forger, is outfitted with a terraforming module. If we can recover it, we'll be able to make a dead planet hospitable. We'll do Mars's moon of Deimos. There just might also be more Emeralds out there. Hiding." "I am unable to locate the Path-forger. It appears to be offline." "Looks like we've got a new task."

AAAAAND there we go!
MAN that took a while!

Oh well. See you next time.