The morning sun poured through the tall windows of Steven's room in streaks of amber light. Each window was draped with white curtains that almost gave the place a look of royalty. Now that he looked at them, he couldn't exactly remember who had designed them, him or Peridot? He finished getting ready by tossing on his star t-shirt and checking himself out in the mirror. The person that stared back at him held a hollowness. He half expected the other him to shoot him a dark, disturbing smile, or give him a wink, anything that would make him retreat from himself as Peridot had. But the reflection remained true. He did feel empty, but it was like he had reached the end of one good cry, one that seemed to have lasted him all night.

Steven mustered up a smile for the other him, sharpened his eyes, straightened up, and gave it his best determined face. Today was going to be different. He would prove to Peridot, and to himself, that he wasn't the person that would ever corrupt another gem. Steven headed for the door, a hand to his neck, massaging a crick, but he stopped short at the pedestal. He turned to Ruby and Sapphire, their gems were glinting in the sunshine. He pressed his fingers faintly against their gems, "I'll make you proud. I promise."

He stood there a moment in front of them, taking his room in, maybe for the first time since he had seen it as Tourmaline. This place was like his sanctuary now. When he looked past the floating gems, to the empty workshop, it felt apart of him even though he didn't know how to use any of the tools that would eventually fill the shelves. There was a potential here, a sacredness, like the feeling he got when he entered Garnet's room and couldn't help but go quiet. But if it was ever going to be as it should, he had to stop stalling and face the gems that were waiting on him. Face them and tell them something they weren't going to like.

Steven approached the door, took in a deep breath, let it out, and touched the door opening it with his gem. Pearl, Amethyst, and Jasper were already standing on the warp pad, and they all turned to him as he hung in the doorway. The scene looked surreal like a weird Christmas cartoon. The fireplace was burning wood again, so the room was warm and bright. Hanging from Pearl's hand was his cheeseburger backpack. But it looked ridiculous next to Jasper, who despite wearing the most unamused expression he had ever seen, had a cheery Christmas tree just over her shoulder in the background. Amethyst must have known how they looked because she was wearing a playful smile.

He went first before Jasper could have a chance to stop him, "I need a second to talk with Pearl and Amethyst. It's important."

Jasper took a step forward, "Another Delay?!" Hand flat like a blade, she swiped it in the air in front of her, "I held up my end of our little deal. If you don't hold up yours…"

"I will." He said. She narrowed her eyes at him. He knew the next words out of his mouth would determine if his plan would even get off the ground or if it would devolve into violence. "I'm sending Pearl and Amethyst on a separate mission," He said, "We will cover more ground if we split up. You said it yourself; the faster we catch her, the better."

Jasper scrutinized him for a moment, but when she couldn't find any fault within the idea, she growled. Amethyst looked confused as if she had been left out of the loop. But at the mere suggestion that he and Jasper go alone, Pearl shook as if she was a rocket about to take off and go through the roof.

"Fine," Jasper answered, "But you have five earth minutes. If you're not ready by then, I'll find her myself."

Steven backed up into his room and waved the two gems in quickly for a private conversation.

As soon as the door closed again, Pearl started to wail, "What are you thinking?! You and Jasper alone?! Without us?!" She took in a breath for the next assault, but something made her hold it for a moment, her mouth open. Then, she added softer but still with spirit, "Without Tourmaline?"

He had readied himself for all but the last argument. He felt that blow, but he knew she hadn't said it to hurt him. He wasn't sure exactly why she had said it. It was the last suggestion he ever expected her to make.

"Whoa, chill P. Let's hear him out," Amethyst said.

"Hear him—" Pearl glared at her. Her face was beginning to turn a little red at holding back the next words that sounded to her like lunacy. Pearl took a breath and then let it out before speaking again, "He wants to go alone to an abandoned spire in the middle of a desert with Jasper."

Amethyst cocked her head at Steven, "So yeah, why do you want to do that again?"

"Guys, Jasper is going to shatter 8LG when we catch up to her. Maybe if I have a chance to talk to her, I can convince her to see what Peridot saw in Earth. I could convince her to just bubble 8LG. Show her that she can find her place here, with us."

Pearl put a hand to her forehead, "Oh, Steven. I know you want to help Jasper, but you can't place yourself at risk like this to do it. Even if Jasper sticks to the truce, what if the other Peridot is there? You and Jasper will fight her by yourselves?"

"I don't want to fight her." He answered, "If the other Peridot is really there, I'll try to give her a chance to escape or try to get us out of there. Jasper destroyed her cannon thingy that had all her weapons on it. I have my shield and bubble. We can't face her for real until I know Jasper won't shatter her."

Amethyst scratched the side of her head and leaned on one hip, "And you're sure you have to do this alone?"

He nodded, "Yes. I've already defeated Jasper using Tourmaline. She doesn't have to prove herself stronger than me. It's the only way I can talk to the real Jasper."

"What? A bully?" Amethyst said flipping her hair to the side.

Pearl scoffed in agreement.

He frowned disapprovingly at them, and they both looked away, "No. She's a warrior, and she fought to protect something like the two of you did." They looked back at him, their expressions softer, "And she can learn to love Earth and protect it too."

Without another word, he turned around and opened the temple door, and marched through it. The two gems behind him followed wordlessly.

Jasper turned to him as he ascended the warp pad. "Are you ready now? Or do you want to give her a ten-minute head start instead?" She snarked.

"All set," He replied and turned to face Pearl and Amethyst who were both looking doubtful. They didn't try to stop him. Instead, Pearl stepped forward holding out his backpack in both hands. Steven let her slip it on him and straighten it.

She put a hand to his face, "Now, I packed you a lot of water because it's going to be very hot and it's important to stay hydrated. I also packed you a granola bar for breakfast."

"Is it the blueberry blast one?"

Pearl gave Jasper a sidelong glance as she answered him, "Of course. That's your favorite."

Jasper rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Come on."

Pearl brought her full attention to the orange gem now, "If you do anything to hurt Steven…"

Jasper hung an arm around him as if they were old war buddies. She drew him in close, her grip almost knocking the breath out of him, and bared her teeth in a sinister grin, "He'll be perfectly safe with me."

Pearl's open-mouthed horror at the gesture was the last thing he saw before Jasper activated the warp. Once they were in the warp stream, Jasper let him go and chuckled, "I've never seen a Pearl with such fire."

Steven turned to her and smiled.

Jasper scowled back, "But I guess that happens when you follow a leader who thinks they know better than a Diamond. She would have made a good quartz, but she's a shoddy Pearl."

"She's whatever she wants to be," He answered, "Without the Diamonds, she can make that choice."

Jasper sneered at his sentimental words, but it seemed as if she had decided not to waste any more energy trying to refute them. They floated awkwardly next to each other as the stream carried them onward. He hadn't been to the desert in a long time, not since he had met Lion. Pearl had mentioned that it was a spire that they were going to, places where the gem elites once gathered. The other spires that he had visited before held technology that the gems had once come up with. He wondered what this spire would hold and if 8LG was there because she was trying to get her hands on it.

The stream ended. And it had ended by throwing the two of them right into the middle of a sandstorm. The air howled and hissed. Nothing but the warp platform was visible, even that Steven could only see the crystal-like structure under his feet. Everything was shrouded in a dark, dense haze of orange. He could barely make out Jasper who was standing right in front of him. She was looking helplessly in all directions as if the sand was actually a swarm of tiny enemies that were hurling themselves against her physical form, and would eventually wear her down. He ducked his head down and reached out for her. The sand stung his face and the bare skin on his hand as he grabbed hers. She spun around, expecting a larger attacker, but was surprised when she saw Steven tugging her closer.

"What is this?!" She shouted over the hiss of the storm. The dull and hollow whistle of the air answered her back.

"A sandstorm! We have to get out of it!" Steven let go of her hand and raised both of his own out to his sides. He summoned his bubble around both of them sheltering them from the storm. Immediately the trapped grains of sand pelted against the inside walls of the bubble. Without the wind to toss them around, they slid down to the bottom and formed a small pile. Jasper peered out of the bubble, she went up to it and put her hand to its wall. Steven watched her, thinking about Peridot and the rain.

"It's an earth thing." He said, "It happens when the wind blows strong. It picks up all the sand on the ground and throws it around. It will end eventually."

Jasper put her other hand on the bubble, "We don't have time to wait. We have to push forward. If it is trapping us, then maybe it has trapped 8LG at the spire. I don't need to see. I know exactly where I'm going."

Steven came up next to her and put his hands on the inner wall. Together they began to push, rolling their shelter through the storm. As they worked, both of them watched the world outside shaking itself into a frenzy. The hissing continued but was muffled except for the popping and crackling of sand hitting the outer shell.

After a while, Steven figured that they had made it a reasonable distance away from the warp pad. He wasn't sure where they were, but Jasper continued to push the dome with a tireless drive. They could be anywhere. He knew sandstorms could happen, but actually being in one made this place, one that he had visited before, seem so exotic. On the other side of the bubble was a world that he had never seen before. It was so strange that it could have been another planet. For a moment, he could understand how Jasper had felt back there, or Peridot had when the rain had come. It was the feeling of being surrounded in a haze of things that seemed slightly familiar but turned out to be completely foreign when you came close enough to put them into focus. It was a torrent of confusion as wild and random as the sand being tossed outside. Nothing but something you recognized would bring you back to feeling some semblance of normalcy. And, he supposed, it didn't hurt to have someone to take you by the hand and show you that this new world wasn't so strange, that you could be a part of it.

"You're not Rose," Jasper was looking at him now, "Are you?"

"No," He looked down and answered her, "I'm her son. I'm Steven."

"You better not be lying to me."

Steven turned to look at her as he rolled the bubble, "I'm not. Humans reproduce differently than gems do. We make more of us from the existing beings. I'm the product of another human and Rose. She didn't survive the process. She had to give up her physical form, and that's why I have her gem."

Jasper's lips curled into disgust at the idea of whatever ritual would be required to perform what he was talking about, "Do you have her memories? Were you created with her knowledge?"

"No," He said, "I don't have her mind or memories. I only carry her gem. That's what gives me her powers."

"I don't...understand why any gem would do such a thing."

He gave her a small smile, "Maybe you can stick around long enough to understand."

Jasper faced forward again and pushed faster so that it made him have to keep up, "As soon as I have that Peridot's ship, I'm returning to Homeworld."

Steven didn't say anything. A few minutes later they rolled the bubble into something solid, a stone door, tanned by nature or by the sand, he couldn't tell which. All he managed to make out through the haze was a pink diamond and the hint of a yellow one beside it.

"I see the door mechanism. When you dismiss this bubble, I will activate it. Move inside prepared for a fight. It could be an ambush," Jasper said.

Steven summoned his shield and nodded to her that he understood. The bubble dropped, and Jasper lunged forward toward a large stone button and hit it. The sand began its assault on both of them as soon as their protection was gone. Steven held his shield up to protect his face as best he could, but the sand was bouncing from every direction. He moved forward toward the door meeting Jasper as it slowly ground upwards into a pitch black, dark hall. As soon as there was enough space, Jasper crouched low and rolled under the door before it could finish its open cycle. Steven followed her. Once she saw that he was in, she pressed the button on the other side, and the door started to slide back down.

Steven took his backpack off and fumbled around inside it for a moment before his hand caught hold of his flashlight. It was a big bulky thing. When lit up, it was bright enough to be a spotlight. He had gone through many flimsy flashlights by exploring old gem ruins with the others before he had decided to invest in something better. The door closed with a resounding boom as if they had been sealed into a tomb. It left them in complete darkness.

Steven clicked the flashlight on and turned around. He gasped and almost dropped the light when he saw how large this hallway actually was. It led to the center of the structure, and it was lined along the way with massive statues on either side. The figures were of the four diamonds. On the left: White Diamond and Yellow Diamond. On the right: Blue Diamond and Pink Diamond. They looked sculpted out of marble but, despite the conditions and the length of time they had been abandoned, were surprisingly, almost in perfect condition.

Jasper chuckled at his reaction, "Awed by the power of the Diamonds? Most can't help but be." She turned to admire the architecture and the design with him, "The products of a golden age of gemkind. A time in which we were strong and working together for our intended purpose."

"I have to admit it's beautiful," Steven said moving through the hall. He poofed his shield. He couldn't see any reason he would need it. Naturally, he was drawn to the statue of Pink Diamond. The diamond of Earth. The only one to ever be shattered.

"You have Rose to thank for bringing it to an end," Jasper said as she walked beside him. This time her words lacked their venom.

Steven stopped in front of the stony figure of Pink. She was leaning forward, her legs together and holding the planet earth in her hands. There was a smile on her face, and she was leaning over it as if she loved it so much that she might give the small orb a kiss.

"I know that homeworld lacks resources that it didn't get from Earth, but Rose was just trying to protect Earth. Protect the beings that live here," He said looking up and into the Diamond's eyes.

Jasper placed her hand against Pink's foot, "We didn't just lose Earth's resources. We had to throw even more at Rose's rebellion." She turned to him, a wild glimmer in her eye as if suddenly she wanted desperately for him to understand, "We were a thriving empire, on the verge of what we were destined to become. This place once represented the best of us. This spire is Earth's spire of knowledge. Where now we only keep logs of data for technicians; this place held archives of information from our greatest intellectuals. Where we have warships and bases designed for function; this place was created to celebrate our achievements and drive us toward future victories. Because of Rose," Jasper stabbed a finger toward the statue, "Pink Diamond was shattered, and everything we were meant to become with it. We are a shell of our former selves, of our former power."

Steven was quiet for a moment. This was his chance. He had to understand Jasper before he could convince her to accept his help.

"I didn't think you cared about that sort of stuff, that you only cared about fighting. I want to understand," He said. He could see that in the frenzy of explaining her conviction, she seemed to believe that he might be telling the truth, that he wanted to understand. And that perhaps she was beginning to realize that he wasn't Rose after all.

"A soldier who doesn't know what they are fighting for is defective," Jasper answered, "I was made to fight. I fought to uphold the Diamond's vision, and I was created knowing what that was. It's what this place use to be."

"But you mentioned a purpose. Like all of this was going somewhere and when Pink was shattered, it stopped," He said.

"It was. It did," Jasper replied, "If you don't know what I'm talking about, then it means that Rose's lackeys hid the truth from you. Your precious Peridot wouldn't have known either. Era 2 gems aren't created with the same knowledge of the gems of the past."

"What truth?"

"I'll show you." Jasper's hurried footfalls echoed in the empty hall.

Steven was right behind her with his flashlight, but she didn't seem to need it. The history of the spire had swept Jasper up into a mood, one he had never seen her in before. It occurred to him then that she had been here before.

Jasper stopped just before they reached the main chamber, which from here, looked like a large circle that the other halls or rooms branched from. She went over to a part of the wall. Steven aimed the spotlight on it revealing a mural, not unlike the one he had seen before on the moon base. Jasper stood off to the side to allow him to take it in. The image was of all four diamonds taking up their places in each cardinal direction. Their hands were stretched out toward the center, and together they all held one diamond in their combined hands that were layered on the other. Steven angled the beam of light downward. There was something scrawled in bold black letters in gem language.

"What does that say?" Steven asked.

Without taking her eyes off of him, she recited it,

"When the last of us fuses with the first of us

The Final Diamond will herald the last era."

"What does that mean?"

"White Diamond was the first of us, then came yellow, then blue. The three of the Diamond Authority began to grow other gems but wished to know the future of the people they were beginning to lead. White Diamond consulted her own sapphire, the most powerful one to ever exist, White Sapphire. She could see farther into the future than any of her kind ever made before her or since. But to see as far as the Diamond Authority wished to see, the diamonds infused her with their power in a special ritual. Those words are the ones that she spoke after her vision."

"Wow," Steven said, "That's crazy."

Jasper scowled, "No. It's our history."

"I didn't mean it that way. I meant...nevermind. Go on."

"Shortly after the vision, Pink Diamond's gem was found on the surface of Homeworld."

"The last of us," He said.

"Yes. Even you, not even a full gem, can see it too. The promise of that vision would require resources and a lot of gems. In time, Pink would be ready with her own planets, and the others of the authority set out to expand their domains, to spread the vision. The Diamonds would form a fusion. They would create the final diamond. A leader who would hold the strength, knowledge, and power of each diamond that composed it. Under her direction, the last era would come. We would reach the pinnacle of what we were all made for. Only the diamonds know what that is supposed to be. Pink Diamond's first colony meant that we were very close to seeing that vision come true."

Steven pointed the flashlight back to the statue of Pink Diamond. He knew now that he had been right. They had sealed themselves into a tomb. "But Pink is gone, and that means they can't fuse." Steven swung the light back to her. It cast a tall shadow on the stone mural behind her.

"And now you understand what Rose took from us. How she robbed all gems of their future," Jasper said, "So she could give it to a group of creatures whose lifespan is just one Earth rotation to us in comparison."

"That's not fair, Jasper. You can't wipe out another group of people just because they get in the way of your grand vision," Steven said.

Jasper came closer to him, taking slow and steady steps. There were shadows under her eyes, and the mural of the diamonds and their shattered legacy loomed behind her.

"You wanted to understand," Jasper growled, "Humans have no purpose. Their lives meaningless." She crossed the distance between them towering over him, "They live and they die in the time it would take me to blink my eye. And for them, Rose gave everything that we had." Jasper leaned down, and her face was inches from his.

Steven stared back at her, ready to summon his shield at any moment, "Human life might be short," He said, "But it does have meaning. Don't go back to Homeworld, Jasper. Stay on Earth, and you'll understand why Rose did what she did."

Jasper turned from him. She returned to the mural and touched it, her hand clearing a layer of dust that had settled there. When she pulled her hand away, she closed it slowly into a fist trying to grasp at an age she had defended but never knew.

"Jasper, you said this spire was built for the best of your people. But what about the gems that aren't the best? What happens to them? This place is supposed to celebrate the achievements of the strongest, but it doesn't celebrate anyone else. It leaves anyone that isn't the best behind in the dust, like this spire, forgotten."

Jasper whirled to face him, "No one but the best deserves to be here! No one but the best deserves to be celebrated! The others deserved to be forgotten!"

Steven took a step toward her, "Does that mean you deserve to be forgotten? Is that why you asked me to shatter you?"

For a moment she just stared at him, her whole body trembling. She looked as if she couldn't see him, the rage and the pain blinding her, like seeing red so much that she had managed to go beyond that and see nothing at all.

Then all of it left her at once, and she was standing in front of him motionless, defeated. She lowered her head. The sides of her white hair drew in around her face casting a shadow over her eyes. Jasper was in a limbo of existence. She was burning with the heart of a warrior. The desire to represent everything that she had just expounded to him, but she had fought the battle, and it was over. She had neither won nor lost, unable to celebrate the victory or give up the fight.

Finally, Jasper turned her back to him, but Steven could tell her eyes still lingered on the mural, "We're wasting time," She said, "8LG has to be here. She wouldn't be dumb enough to try to leave, even from the top of the spire in this storm. We have to move before it clears up. Let's go."

They entered the central chamber. Jasper marched ahead, and Steven reluctantly trailed behind. He stopped and swept the cone of light across the room. It was as if he had pulled a black veil off of a painting. Jasper was stepping on it, investigating the other halls and peeking into the rooms. On the floor of the central chamber was an image of White Sapphire. She was holding out both her hands and glowing with a ghostly white aura. Her dress in shades of white and grey looked as if it were blowing forward from the power of the diamonds that all stood behind her in silhouette. Their hands stretched out to her. Long locks of white hair were forever suspended in the air, the artist capturing Sapphire in mid vision. Her mouth was one firm line. Whatever the future held, in all of its mystery, White Sapphire stood stoically as its conduit. And what she saw, Steven knew that no one could have guessed. Where her eye should be, was a white sapphire gemstone.

"Jasper?"

"Found something?"

"...Maybe?"

Jasper appeared from one of the side rooms, her nose faintly glowing, "What is it?"

"White Sapphire, in this image, her gemstone is…"

Jasper crossed her arms, "What of it?"

"Could she see?"

She answered with a finality that made it clear she considered the matter closed, "Better than anyone else in this galaxy or the next."

She looked down at the floor, and something else about it drew her attention. She walked over to a spot on the floor near him and crouched down. Steven shined his light beyond into the connected rooms. In one of them, he could see clearly a bronze colored model of the solar system. Rings of metal held the orbs into their accurate orbital patterns around the sun. The model took up most of the chamber it was in. Jasper had said that spires were used to archive knowledge and achievements. With what he could see, the models, the statues, and the murals, he could guess that this spire was to celebrate Pink's first colony and what that meant for the future of the empire.

Jasper growled in the darkness, "Hold that light over here. It does me no good over there."

"Sorry."

Steven pointed the flashlight to the floor again. Jasper ran her finger across the ground and drew up a bit of dust then followed something he couldn't see toward the stairs.

"The dust has been disturbed in this area. She's definitely here. Higher up. Let's move."

Steven followed her. He wasn't sure what he would do when they caught up to the Peridot. He had planned to come up with something as he went along but the sandstorm had been unexpected. 8LG couldn't escape if there were nowhere for her to run. Jasper was in front of him marching with a steady pace. The stairs curved to the right, rising steeply, and closed off on both sides with stone the color of the sand. By the time they reached what he could only guess was the halfway point of the spire's tower, he was huffing a little.

The steps ended into another round chamber with stairs on the opposite side. But what filled the room was something he hadn't expected to see. Rows and rows of shelves were holding rectangular pieces of metal. They were books, or at least the gem equivalent. Steven guided the light behind Jasper. She went over to one of the shelves and ran her fingers down the metal bindings scratched with gem language titles. Jasper plucked one from the shelf. It looked like a tablet, but bulky like the older ones humans had come up with. She touched a button on the top of its casing, and a blue light lit up Jasper's face in the darkness. There were words on the screen.

Jasper gasped, "It still works. Hold on a moment. Follow me with that illumination machine."

Steven went with her. She went down the shelves and took out parts of the archives. The one book turned into two, and then three, "The battle on RH8, I can't believe this is here," and then four. "Quartz and Tactics by Yellow Diamond's emerald. This record's knowledge was placed in the injection contents of all quartz since the claim on system K6VB." Then five.

"Hey, Jasper. I was wondering something," He said holding the flashlight down so Jasper could search one of the lower shelves, "Whatever happened to White Sapphire? What is she doing now?"

Jasper stopped, her hand resting on a group of books, then she looked up at him, "She was shattered."

"What? By who?"

Jasper stood up and held the stack of books against her hip, "Shortly after Pink Diamond was found, White Diamond requested another vision. White Sapphire was brought before her and infused with power, but it was too much for her gem to contain."

"So...White shattered her?"

Jasper's jaw clenched, "Not on purpose."

"Why did White Diamond want another vision?"

"I don't know. Stop asking me questions."

"Well, I can carry those If you want," Steven pointed to the books in her hand, "I can put them in my backpack."

She brought her eyes down to them, then looked at him suspiciously. His smile made her relent with a groan. When he had finished storing the books and zipping up the backpack, he heard a noise. He left the pack on the floor and picked up the flashlight. Jasper was already looking through another book; she hadn't seemed to hear anything.

"You want to add that one too?"

"No...no. I was just looking."

Then there was a creak. This time Jasper heard it. She lowered the book in her hands and peered around carefully. Steven brought the flashlight around to point at the direction they had come from. The stairwell was empty. The sound of metal crashing into Jasper behind him made Steven drop the flashlight to the floor. He spun around in time to see a spider robonoid latched to Jasper's chest. Its eyes were two small beams of red light in the dark. She was grunting and holding off two of its limbs in each hand that ended in points aimed for her neck.

Steven summoned his shield, but before he could help her, the whole room started to explode in yellow light. Plasma blasts were flying at them from a few aisles over. More robonoids had scuttled down from the walls and had taken a position there. He got in front of Jasper and raised his shield. It deflected the shots that broke through the gaps in the shelves.

Jasper, still struggling behind Steven, slowly bent the limbs of the robonoid back toward itself and used them to stab through the machine's core. She threw it to the ground and took cover huddling behind him and the shield.

"They're over there!" He shouted over the blasts.

The plasma bolts were eating through the rows of metal books. Steven could see about four robonoids that were two rows over, all of them firing together in a line. Every few seconds a new barrage of bolts would fly out and light up the room. Jasper looked up at the shelves and then to the robonoids. Then, she made a break from cover between shots. She charged halfway down the row and at the midpoint threw her shoulder into the shelf. It rattled throwing some of the records to the floor, but it didn't tip. Steven ran after her, but he wasn't as fast.

Jasper roared in pain when a yellow ribbon streamed through the darkness and hit her in the side. Steven rushed up beside her holding his shield out to protect her.

"We can do it together. Come on."

Steven expanded his shield so that it was big enough to protect both of them and stood back to get momentum, "On three."

Jasper held her side with a grimace but backed up to match his position.

"One!"

They looked at each and then at the shield splashing with plasma blasts.

"Two!"

Steven leaned forward, and Jasper angled low as if to pounce.

"Three!"

The two of them charged at the same time throwing both their weights against the shield slamming it into the shelf. It swayed back and forth off balance, and with a final heave, they tipped it over. It collided with the next one and the next one collapsing onto the robonoids and destroying the rest of the aisles. A plume of dust spread out from the impact and drifted through the chamber. The hum of the robonoids' cores began to go silent. Steven brought his shield back to its normal size. Jasper was kneeling and holding her side, and he could see a patch of black underneath her fingers.

"I can help heal—" Steven stopped when he saw a battered robonoid, with a broken cannon on its back, turn the corner of their row. It skittered madly towards them with sharp limbs gleaming in the beam of his discarded flashlight. Steven brought his shield back and then hurled it spinning it over Jasper's back. The machine leaped into the air to bring its limbs down on her. The shield sliced the robonoid in half, and both halves flew past them and skidded across the floor still carrying the momentum of the jump.

Then, all was quiet.

Steven looked down at her, "You okay?"

Jasper nodded and stood up, "Fine. That Peridot will suffer soon enough. We have her cornered. She is getting desperate, using these cheap tricks to defeat us."

"Let me look at that," Steven said. He reached to Jasper's side, which she was still holding, but she pulled away.

"I said I am fine. Pick up that light and let's go."

He didn't move, "No."

"What?" She gritted her teeth.

"Take your hand off that."

Jasper removed her hand from the patch of black and curled it into a fist by her side. Steven licked his hand and slapped it against her side. She grunted, and the muscles in her jaw tightened then relaxed as the healing took effect. Her hand moved back to the spot. The plasma burn was gone. She glanced down at it.

Steven slipped back into the straps of his backpack, picked up the flashlight, and pointed it toward the stairwell that led to the top of the spire, "We can go now."

Cautiously, they ascended the spire. Steven took the lead this time. 8LG must know by now that they were coming. If he was going to be able to do anything he would need to be between her and Jasper. It also put him in the most dangerous position, seeing that 8LG was prone to ambushes and clever tactics rather than fighting head on. Whatever she had to throw, it would hit him first.

Jasper constantly threw glances over her shoulder, and if the stairs hadn't been so steep and winding, he figured that she would have followed him walking backward. As they neared the top Steven summoned his shield in his hand and held it out in front of him, and with the other, he pointed the flashlight. A low hum was the first sound that he could make out when he stepped into the last chamber. It was followed by the hiss and hollow wails of the sandstorm outside.

The two of them entered, and Steven illuminated the room. It was roughly the size of the others, but it was the only one with two large observation windows that held thick glass. Outside the windows, it was clear that the storm had not stopped. It didn't seem to have slowed down any.

The room itself was empty except for a bronze rod rising from the floor in the middle of the chamber. It held a bronze egg-shaped casing. Inside, something was causing the hum.

"That's impossible. She couldn't have escaped. We checked everywhere, her stupid drones were here waiting for us," Jasper was stomping around the room half pacing and half searching.

"What is that?" Steven asked. He pointed to the bronze case.

"That? It's an early model of the destabilization rod. This spire created the first prototypes. The rebels once tried to steal it. Probably because they were losing. 8LG is a coward, but I doubt she's found a way to fit inside of it," She went back to searching, but there was nothing for someone to use to hide behind in here. He checked the ceiling this time. Jasper followed the light with her eyes. Nothing. She groaned, but he was relieved.

The two of them looked around, and when Steven was satisfied that they weren't going to find the era 1 here, he said, "We can wait out the storm from here and then head back."

"She has to be here," Jasper muttered to herself, "Why would her drones be here and not…"

The egg-shaped casing in the middle of the room opened startling both of them. Plates of bronze folded and slid down revealing a humming orb of energy held by two metal prongs. There was something on one of them. Steven went closer to see what it was, his shield raised.

"Is this normal?"

"No."

A device of modern homeworld design was strapped to one of the prongs. It was a small metal box with a screen. The display was powered off. He wasn't sure what it was. If Peridot was here, she could tell him.

"Wait." Jasper saw it too, and her eyes grew wide, "Steven, get away from that! It's a-"

Her next words were stolen out of the air by the orb of energy. It sucked in all the sound in the room as if it had drawn in a large breath. It was like being caught in a vacuum. Then, in the next moment, the orb released that breath, and the sound came rushing out all at once in a shockwave of blue energy. The sound it made was like the fading sound of a gong being struck. The two observation windows exploded into glass shrapnel that was immediately carried off and lost to the dust storm.

Steven was thrown to the ground. His whole body tingled as if all his limbs had gone to sleep and his head pounded. The wind screeched outside throwing sand into the chamber. When he tried to move his arms and legs, they felt limp and useless like noodles. He raised his head up, which felt as heavy as a bowling ball, and shouted over the wind.

"Jasper?!"

She didn't answer back, but she couldn't. He saw her. He saw her gem. The destabilization blast had poofed her. It had meant to poof them both. It should have, but he was still here. He rose shakily, trying to at least make it to his hands and knees. The crack in the stone that was underneath him, the one that ran all the way through the middle of the chamber, became visible when he pushed himself up. It had taken all his strength to wobble each inch. Then he saw the other cracks. They were everywhere in the walls. The big gash in the floor and the smaller ones that branched off from it. He could feel and hear the foundation of the spire creaking and begging to give way. This had been 8LG's plan all along. He had underestimated her just as Jasper said he would. The spire would collapse, and it would be his and Jasper's tomb as well.

That is, it would be if Jasper's gem fell with him. But her gem was rattling and slowly being sucked toward one of the broken observation windows. The wind was attempting to carry her away. Steven threw his hand out and caught himself before he fell over again, then he picked up his knee and scooted it forward like a dead weight. He slowly repeated this process dragging himself toward Jasper's gem which was now being pulled a little harder. It was moving faster than he could manage to crawl. Finally, the crack in the floor split, and the half of stone that he was on, tilted up like a ramp throwing him down against it. Jasper's gem was now tumbling down. With the last bit of his strength, Steven shoved his hand underneath himself and summoned his shield. He was laying on top of it like a sled head first. With a firm kick to the crumbling stone behind him, he propelled himself down the ramp. He began to pick up speed, and he rode the shield down, rushing to meet the end of the collapsing stone floor. At the end, was a long drop into the middle of the sandstorm, and Jasper's gem.

Steven stretched out his hands, and as he soared off the ledge and into the storm, he seized her gem. He rolled himself off the shield and fell. Down and down he went, the desert swallowing him. The scream of the sand burned his face and skin. He curled into himself holding Jasper's gem close to his chest. Holding out as long as he could, he slowed their descent, and at last, he felt sand at his back that was solid.

Then he formed his bubble, rolled over on his side, and coughed the sand out of his lungs.

By the time Jasper reformed, Steven had already eaten two blueberry blasts and washed them down with several bottles of water. She formed, flailing her arms and legs against the bubble and then shot up gasping as if coming out of a nightmare. Her eyes stared at him, then moved to the bubble, then to the empty bottles and snack wrappers at his side. He nodded sleepily to her, the feeling still ebbing slowly back into his muscles

"How...what happened?"

"It was a trap. You got poofed. I almost died, but then I saved us both," He said casually, "And the storm is over."

Jasper looked around and then back to him, "You got us both out of there? How?"

Steven chuckled, "Told you humans aren't useless. They can take a destabilization blast better than gems can."

She rubbed her face with both hands, "When I find you 8LG..." then she looked up suddenly, "What about the spire? What happened to it?"

Steven looked down and fiddled around with one of the empty snack wrappers, "It's...gone."

Jasper closed her eyes and sighed, "Maybe it was for the best," She opened them again and added ruefully, "White Sapphire was wrong."