Diving Deeper

We followed Lion's footprints into the cave. As we walked deeper into the cave, the walls morphed from stone to mottled clay. "What do you think we're going to find in the middle of the cave, anyways?" I said.

"What do you mean?"

"Lion isn't one to run away like this with no warning, right? He seems to care about us, anyways. So why would he run with no warning? I thought, he had to be leading us to something."

"You're right, this isn't like him… I guess he could be leading us somewhere, but… what if it's the shadowy figure from the temple?"

I chuckled. "Come on. How would they possibly get here?"

"Um… if they couldn't get here, how could they have gotten into the temple, then…?"

I froze in place. "I didn't think about that."

I felt a tug on my link. I guess I didn't warn Steven I was stopping, and the link made me stumble forwards. Normally I could catch myself from a little stumble like that, but I couldn't figure out my sense of balance was with my new senses. I just fell over. I winced as my arm erupted into pain. Good thing I was used to pain, these days. Man, the tradeoff was harsh, here. So much suffering, but superpowers. Like a 'would you press the button if,' but I had to press the button, and I hated the button.

Steven gave me a hand to help me up, and I took it. "Hate these senses…" I muttered. I spoke up. "I was trying to say, we should be careful. I don't think it was the shadowy figure. Judging by these footprints, he's walking from his own volition."

Steven looked at the dusty footprints on the floor. "What do you mean? They're just footprints. Does this have to do with your super-senses or whatever?"

I thought about that. I didn't… think so? I mean, I was getting a much better look at them, my eyes zooming in, and they were a lot brighter than they should be in a dark cave like this, but I honestly recognized Lion's footprints to be what they were like when he was walking. Unless this gem was giving me better memory?

"Connie?"

"Oh, right," I said. I guess I got lost in thought. "I'm not really sure. It's like, you see the pad marks there?" I pointed to a specific footprint. "If the was being brought here, he would have to be running in fear or being dragged by an assailant, right? Well, there would be skid marks if he was being dragged. And if he was running, the pad would connect to the fingers instead of being separate from them. Even if he was being lead somewhere by someone, like with he was a treat, it doesn't work. His pads would have to lift slightly, which I'm not seeing. If he's more curious or suspicious, tracking an assailant, he would be making lighter prints. But none of that is true. Right now, he's just walking. Not jogging, not bing dragged, walking. The only thing I can think of that fits the criteria is that he's going deeper all on his own."

Steven whistled, impressed. "Is that how your thought process normally works?"

I shrugged. "I guess so?"

"That's so cool."

I blushed, and tried to hide it. "Um, we'd better get going. Lion's probably running ahead of us."

I started briskly walking forwards. Even if I couldn't hide my emotions, I could hide my face. Steven was pulled behind me, and we plunged further forwards.

We walked for maybe 2 minutes down the cavern. Then Lion's footprints lead straight into a wall.

I felt it to see if it was a fake wall or something. Maybe I could tell more information with my normal hand, but the intense feelings going into my palm were unrecognizable to me. These super-senses were hindering me in almost every way, let alone the fact I was completely incapacitated in combat. They all seemed to have the opposite of the intended effect. Well, if only by looking at the wall, there didn't seem to be anything off about it. there wasn't anything off about the it.

"Did he summon a portal here or something?" Steven said.

"Maybe," I said. "But if that is true, he summoned it and casually walked in without breaking his pace The footprints show him walking, never breaking pace. Besides. why would he walk all the way here just to teleport away, when he could've done that in the cavern with the robot?"

The more I thought about it, the more it didn't make any sense. My eyes chose that moment to zoom into the wall. There was an imprint of Lion's footprint over a certain section. So, Lion walked up casually and placed his palm on that section? Why? Now that I thought about it, something was off about this wall. That wall was made of stone, but the rest were made of clay. This whole thing didn't make much sense. Unless… what if there was a sensor there that only let Lion past?

I put my hand in the same spot as Lion's print, but nothing happened. As I was about to pull away, though, I heard a small rumbling from beneath the rock. With renewed vigor, I pushed harder, but nothing happened.

Okay, I had an idea. "Can I have the sword again, Steven?"

Steven tossed me it. My combat reflexes kicked in and I actually caught it. Finally, something wasn't screwed over by my senses!

I leaned over to the clay by my side and started chipping away a piece of clay from the wall, the same shape as Lion's print. I started with the paw, then went to the fingers. After a minute, I screwed up, chipping off the wrong section.

"Dangit," I muttered.

"No rush, Connie."

I started working on the wall again. As I reached the fingers again, I heard a metallic sound echo from the distance of the hallway. It was quiet, but still there. "Did you hear that?" I said.

"Hear what?"

"…Nothing."

I kept chipping away. I thought I had heard it, but even if I had, it wasn't a huge deal, anyways. I kept chipping. I chipped the print fully out of the wall and compared it to the one on the floor. It was actually pretty good! I pressed it against the spot on the wall.

…No response. I pressed a little bit harder, and still, nothing.

I looked at the print. I had based it off the ones on the floor for convenience, but looking at the one on the wall, it was a little different. The rock in my hand was just that: a useless hunk of clay.

As I worked on try number three, making sure to use the right one this time, I heard another metallic sound off in the distance. This time, it was a bit louder.

"Did you hear that?" Steven said.

I looked at him. I was a little more concerned, now. "I'm not imagining it, then. It was… quieter last time."

A concerned look adorned his face. "Maybe you should work faster."

I doubled my pace. It took me about two minutes to finish. There wasn't a single sound during the whole time.

I pulled the footprint out. As I was placing it on the wall, I heard the metallic ring again, and it was a whole lot louder this time. Distracted, I dropped the footprint. Well… it fell to the floor. I didn't drop it, I swore it was still in my hands, but when I looked back to the door the piece was on the floor.

I shook my head. I swore, I was starting to go insane. I placed the print on the wall. Again, nothing. Okay, I was getting frustrated, now. Was this because I dented it or something? I slammed it in as hard as I could in frustration. This time, the door swung open, like it was on a hinge, straight upwards

"…Don't tell me I only had to use more force the whole time." I said.

Steven burst into laughter. I was about to interrupt him to say something like 'very funny,' but I didn't need to. He was interrupted when the sound echoed through the cave again, louder than ever before. Even with my super-hearing, I could tell it was close, and I didn't feel like knowing what was making it. The two of us rushed through the open door and it auramatically closed behind us.

"What if that was the figure?!" Steven said.

"We'd better find Lion, fast."

We speed walked forwards, continuing to follow Lion's footprints, in silence.

After about thirty seconds, a mighty CLANK! Erupted through the cavern. We froze. A few seconds later, it happened again.

We started jogging in tandem.

Behind us, the metallic clanks got quieter in the distance.

We jogged for maybe a few minutes. The cave started widening. Then, the cave fully opened into a full room. My eyes widened. There were hundreds… no, thousands of items strewn about: Tables, chairs, cups, plates, silverware, all made from pure gold. It reminded me of the room from the end of National Bounty, but less organized. There were giant piles of golden artifacts stretching through the cavern, and the room was the size of two football fields!

I saw so many pieces of gold… but pink. I shook off my own brain, which was calculating"L-Lion?" I called into the room. No response.

I looked to the ground for footprints, and they were here. There didn't seem to be any exits besides the one we came from. Besides, why would Lion just have all this gold lying around? In that way, the national bounty metaphor didn't work. The gems, they didn't care about things like money. If they did, they could sell their duplication ray to humans and make millions. All this gold was worthless to them, and I didn't see why id would be any more important to something like a Lion. This room, it almost reminded me of… "An antechamber…"

"What?"

"This place. This gold, it's to keep out intruders! If anyone happened to get through that wall, they would get here and steal all the riches. Leading whatever's behind this room completely safe." Although, if that assumption was right, what the heck would be in the real chamber if the antechamber was like this?

Steven nodded hesitantly. I think he was a bit overwhelmed by all the gold, too. "Then let's find the door."

As we searched the room, I heard another distant clank, then, I heard a distant crash. I heard another metallic sound, like the ones from before the false door. And this time, it was closer.

I grabbed Steven's hand, ignoring the sensory overload that came with it, and ran through the clusters of gold, following Lion's footprints. Over this table. Under this one. He leapt over this stack. All the while, whatever was coming got closer and closer.

We reached a point where the gold was piled so the only way through was over it or through it. Lion had leapt over it, but we didn't have that ability. So, we found a spot that seemed like it was open to go through and walked right in. As I scrambled under another pile of golden wreckage, I felt a pull from behind me, through the link. "What's wrong?" I said.

"Connie? How did you get through there?" Steven said. I looked back. In the spot I had just crawled through, a chair leg was sticking through. It blended in with all the rest of the gold from the outside, but from the inside, it made it impossible to pass. Which made it all the weirder I was on the other side of it.

"Maybe it fell after I squeezed through?" I said. That was the best explination I could think of.

"I was watching. You went right through it."

"That can't be true."

"I saw it with my own eyes, Connie."

"Look, it isn't important right now. We need to get out of here before it gets here!

I backed up to see if I would go through it again, but it was unyielding. The two of us pushed and pulled, but the more we struggled, the more stuck we got. All the while, the metallic sounds got closer and closer.

I realized we wouldn't escape in time. We were trapped, helpless. That left only one option. "Get down and don't say a word," I said. The perpetrator entered the room. I slid Steven the sword, so he'd be the one fighting, not the one likely to get immediately incapacitated by her senses.

The sounds got louder and louder, closer and closer. I braced myself for whatever was coming. Could it have been the shadowy figure? The mastermind behind everything?

The perpetrator drifted past, and I caught a glance at him. And it was the same robot that tried to kill us earlier.

"Didn't we already kill him?" I said.

"SHH!" Steven said.

The robot turned to our pile of gold. The two of us were silent. We couldn't run, only hide and hope for the best. Even with an easy foe like this, if we were pinned, we couldn't exactly do anything to fight back.

It summoned a tractor beam from its front and started picking pieces of rubble out of the way.

Steven and I had the same idea at the same time.

It pulled piece after piece away. As it was reaching for another piece, one that would uncover us, Steven kicked the chair. It wiggled slightly. The Robot retracted its beam on the previous object and picked up the chair instead. While it searched that chair, silently, Steven and I slipped through the rest of the pile while the robot kept searching where we were.

Where's the exit? Steven said.

I can't tell. We lost the trail of Lion's footprints! I said.

Can't we fight that thing again and be done with it?

Something about it seems different. I don't trust it. It's being more methodical.

Is it? Fine, I've been with you long enough to trust your judgement.

We had to sneak around the room, careful not to make a sound. We searched the walls for Lion's footprint. The robot finished digging through that pile of gold and slowly circled the room. Every time it hovered close to us, we got down and didn't move a muscle. Every time we had to dart from pile to pile, it was a gamble. We never got caught, but I felt like we should've been multiple times.

It hovered close to the pile we were squeezing through, and stopped. Like it knew we were in that pile. We stayed still and didn't make a sound. A blue bean spawned from its center and it started scanning our pile. I had the feeling it would find us if the beam reached our location.

I quickly, silently, pulled off my shoe and threw it at another pile of gold through an opening.

The robot quickly turned and fired a shot at the pile. The gold it hit literally melted together.

During the distraction, Steven and I squeezed passed.

As the robot finished searching the pile we had been in with its blue laser, we found Lion's footprints, once again leading right into a wall.

Only one problem: there was no rubble to distract the bot. If we ran for it, we'd have to go and hope for the best, with nothing to protect us.

On three, we run and ram your metal hand into the wall. Steven said.

I was about to nod, but I froze. Wait, why my hand? I said.

Because it's way more durable, and won't break if we're wrong and the door doesn't move for us.

I silently sighed. Let's get this over with…

3… 2… 1…

We sprinted out of our cover and aimed for the spot that had Lion's print on it. I braced my arm for impact. And I sailed right through the wall. Literally. The wall was still there, but I went right through it. I was jerked backards, though, because Steven didn't go right through it, and he rammed into it behind me. Did I just… go through a wall? Okay, that's a pretty cool power. I just wish I knew about it beforehand!

Stupid. Link.

Wait, was Steven okay? Oh my god, he was alone in that room with the robot!

Steven? I called.

Connie!? What happened?

I don't know. I-

Steven's thought interrupted mine. The Robot saw me! What do I do!?

Quick, open the door!

It's coming fast. I can't run away! How did you get through!?

Just press on the thing!

That didn't work for you!

Just do it!

No response. On the other end of the door, I heard Steven's sword clash against the robot. I had to help! I tried to get back through the door. I pressed my body against it, nothing. I ran at it in the little space I had, nothing. I fingered it with my robotic hand, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't phase through it the other way.

If this stupid power was going to be so darn inconsistent, I guess fighting was out of the question. But that didn't mean I was helpless. I could look for a way to open the door on our end at the very least. I scanned the wall for an indentation, somewhere to press on. My eyes jumped all over the place, I had trouble focusing. What good were these senses if I couldn't even use them to find a way to help Steven?

Finally, I found a spot that was slightly different from the rest. Careful to concentrate and not phase right through it, I pressed my hand against the wall.

Just before I could take a whack at it to try to open the door, the door swung open all on its own, knocking me, and due to the link, Steven, backwards down the corridor. I think Steven opened it in the first place, not me. The two of us rolled down the cavern.

As we rolled, I caught a glance at the tin-can robot. Even with its goofy design, it was somehow terrifying when there were red eyes on it. It rammed into the door just as it closed.

The two of us hit a wall on the other end of the hallway.

Pain. My entire mind was occupied by pain. God, I hated this 'new power.'

As my vision blurry back into existence, my eyes flickered around frantically. Was Steven okay? He was lying at my side. Tired, but fortunately not injured. My next thought was the robot. Was it here? Again, the situation was fine. I heard a clank as it hit against the wall. My eyes saw the structural stability holding firm. The wall would hold for a few minutes.

Okay, the situation was safe. With that ensured, I turned to Steven. "What just happened?"

"We aren't fighting that thing," he said. He was a mix of terrified and… disappointed?

"…What?"

"That isn't the same robot we fought back when we first got here. I'm lucky to be alive."

I didn't press him for any more details. If he didn't want to tell me about the fight, he wouldn't. But if it scared Steven, I couldn't help but imagine what it could have possible been like.

He dusted himself off and we quickly continued down the cavern, getting as much of a head start as we could before the robot inevitably broke through the wall. "How did you end up getting through the door, anyways?" I said.

"I was losing," he said, doing nothing to reassure me about the threat of the robot. "Somehow, I managed to hit the button." He seemed off. His emotions told me he was more disappointed than angry now, but I couldn't figure out why. Just because we were connected emotionally didn't mean I could read his mind when he didn't want me to.

"Steven, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

As we jogged through the cave, I was silent for a second, letting his statement sink in. "Protip: don't lie to someone who can read your emotions."

He sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Emotional honesty, Steven. Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember…" He stayed silent. I waited to see if he would answer.

"Steven, I want to help," I prodded.

"Is this the best time? While we're on the run for our lives?"

"This isn't the first time we've talked while on the run for our lives."

"It's just… I failed. I fought the robot we so easily defeated, and I failed."

"…That's it?"

"Don't that's it me! Remember when you defeated the giant gem bird all on your own? That was a much harder target and you did amazingly. I'm useless compared to you."

Did… did Steven just call himself useless?

I stopped running. Steven was forced to stop as well.

"What are you doing!? It's going to catch us!" he said.

"It hasn't even broken through the door yet. Now you, take that back right now."

"Connie, we need to go!"

"No, we don't. Take it back."

He stomped his foot. "Well, it's true! Who's the one who defeated the bird? You. Who's the one who took down the Beetle? You. Who's the one who took down the Lapis clone? You. I'm a deadweight."

"That's not true! You, um… you trained me during the fight with the Cerberus!"

"Great. One point for me, huh? And when I gave a chance again, I blow it."

"You've given me so much emotional support!"

"And when it comes to battling, I'm still useless."

I kept trying to think of something to tell him. Because he wasn't useless, anyone could see that. Well, I guess anyone except him.

"Come on," he said. "We need to get going."

He grabbed my hand. And he went right through it.

I scowled. "Again?" I muttered. Couldn't we go back to when powers were something cool?

Steven grabbed for it again, and again, he went right through it. I extended my robot arm instead. If life was going to throw me something like this, I had another hand.

Steven didn't go through that one.

"What was…?"

"Nothing," I said. I stuffed my real hand into my pocket. Oddly, my hand seemed a little bit lighter or something.

"What's going on with you? Emotional honesty, remember."

"Honestly? I don't know." It was the truth, of course.

With an emotional disconnect between us that I'd never really felt before, we continued into the cavern. The cave started to open up, just like it had as we went into the antechamber. We were approaching another room, and something told me this was going to be that last one. Lion had to be here. And at this point, I just hoped we could go home. The Robot could keep wandering the cave for all I cared.

Tensions were high. My powers were going haywire. Lion was near. Whatever was hidden deep inside the cave was near. And I knew a confrontation was coming.

So much was waiting around the bend. I heard the robot finally crash through the wall as we entered the final room. I might've hoped for peace, but I expected a fight…

A/N: AAAAAND the headcannons start here. Well… actually, the headcannons started with Lapis' backstory. I guess the plain made-up stuff starts here, then. It's hard to have dramatic set pieces when all of them have to be made from stuff in the show, right?

Anyways, I don't care if it isn't in the show, it's cannon to my story that Rose built this side path to the cave and stuffed it with gold, and not even Pearl knows. She already had a ton of secrets, what's one more, right? Plus, trust me, there's something worthwhile at the center…

Thanks for the positive feedback on the last one chapter. Hope this convinces you that I'm back, and I'm here to stay!

Feel free to speculate what's going on with Connie. Trust me, it's a little more than just a new superpower this time… as maybe evidenced by the end of the chapter. Mwahahahaha…

Remember to review or whatever.

By the way, newcomers, welcome! You know, if you exist. Hope you're enjoying the story so far! You know, pretty cool of you to read a full-length novel like that just because it had 50 follows. Oh, yeah, and this story would easily be a novel at this point! How cool is that!

Next time: We find out what's at the center of the complex. Then an awesome battle scene, of course. Duh. And prepare for what I believe to be an awesome twist. That's what this series thrives on, right? See you guys then.