Freshwater watched the countryside passed by, Steven and Amethyst eating food they'd brought. Or rather Amethyst ate hers. Steven had had his stolen by a creepy creature with black spots over his eyes and a black and white tail. Luckily, though, Freshwater had scared it off, but not before it got away with Steven's dinner.
"Amethyst, I wanna go home now." Steven finally said, giving in to the fact that he was wrong about his desire to want to be a No Home Boy. Amethyst didn't answer, instead going to sit next to Freshwater, dangling her legs off the edge of the freight car. Steven frowned, confused, as he joined the pair as well. "I'm sure Amethyst and Pearl are worried sick about us. Wondering when we're coming home?"
"That's not my home." Amethyst said, cutting him off and not turning away. "Oh, yeah, you're from Homeworld!" Steven said, snapping his fingers. "That's not my home either!" Freshwater jumped at the anger in Amethyst's voice. She wasn't from Homeworld? "Then, where are you from?" Steven asked, voicing Freshwater's thoughts.
The fire in Amethyst's eyes seemed to die down momentarily as she turned to the pair. "I'll show you."
Freshwater grimaced as she, Steven, and Amethyst stepped into a place where the grass was dead, along with everything around it. The whole place looked like a wreck, but the Pearl had an odd feeling that she'd been here before as she walked by all the differently shaped holes around her, and big machines with metal tips at the ends.
"I feel like I've been here before." Freshwater said, sliding a hand under her visor and rubbing her gem lightly. Amethyst let out an annoyed puff of air. "I doubt it. This is the Prime Kindergarten."
Freshwater froze in her tracks. The Prime Kindergarten. Yes, she remembered this place. This was where she'd been poofed all those years ago, where Holly Blue Agate had nearly taken her gem and smashed it into bits and pieces.
"We can't stay here." Freshwater whispered.
The two gems, however, didn't seem to have heard her as Amethyst strode up confidently to her exit hole. Freshwater gulped as she followed cautiously. Maybe she was overly paranoid. Five thousand years later, and the gems were still here, so that meant they were safe, right?
Just as Freshwater had this thought, she heard the Warp Pad activate behind her. "There you are." snapped a furious Pearl jumping down and landing right in front of her. "Garnet said you'd be here but i didn't believe it. Amethyst, Freshwater, what were you thinking bringing Steven to a Kindergarten?" Freshwater gulped at her teacher's anger, but before she could stutter out an excuse or apology, Amethyst cut in. "I dunno. We were in the neighborhood." She said, angrily kicking a rock.
Steven frowned before turning to Pearl. "Pearl, was Amethyst really made here?" Pearl ignored the question before turning back to the Purple gem. "How much did you tell him?" She demanded.
"What? You mean about the bad thing? How this bad place is where bad gems came to grow more bad gems? Is that what you're talking about?!" Amethyst snapped, stomping her foot on the ground.
"They grew other gems here?" Steven asked, awestruck. "Amethyst, he's not ready!" The purple gem only ignored Pearl's pleas, the two gems beginning to go back and forth.
"Oh but don't worry Steven, everything's just fine now."
"Amethyst-"
"It all worked out! We won!"
"Stop!"
"And then they shut this place down-"
"Stop."
"So the Earth would be safe-"
"Stop!"
"From parasites like me!"
"Amethyst." Pearl said, stepping in front of Steven, finally having had enough. "That is enough!"
"Well...You're only partially wrong." Freshwater whispered, drawing the attention of the gems. "Oh yeah? How could you possibly figure that?" Amethyst demanded, turning and crossing her arms.
Freshwater grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut as she slammed her fist on the ground, her anger finally getting the better of her. "Because, you clod, I'm the reason this place was shut down!" She shouted, her voice echoing off the walls of the Kindergarten, louder than it had ever been.
After she composed herself, the gem opened her eyes, expecting to be under the gaze of everyone, but truthfully, she couldn't see much of anything thanks to something that was protruding out of the gemstone on her right, and only good, eye.
Curiously, Freshwater reached her hand up to her face, realizing her visor was gone again. Freshwater did her best to push away the anxiety that she her face was conpletely exposed, revealing her completely dark blue (and useless) eye, along with her bright white gemstone.
Frowning, she grabbed and pulled whatever thing was somehow lodged into her gem, looking down in shock when it popped free.
Freshwater wasn't sure how she'd done it, or why, especially since she honestly didn't feel like she was threatened. But she had.
In the heat of her emotions, she had managed to summon her weapon and was now tightly grasping a knife about the size of her forearm.