Hoo boy, I am EXCITED for this chapter.
Chapter 21: Awakened Moon
S&DS&DS&DS&D
Steven concentrated, turning the steering wheel just enough to weave his vehicle around a dangerously placed road sign. He swerved around several old ladies walking their dogs, bicyclers, and a lamppost without a scratch. Then, with the utmost care, sent his car spinning off a cliff. The falling vehicle narrowly missed hitting a flying bird and slammed into a parked trailer, which exploded in a giant fireball. Synthesized rock music started playing as the words 'you killed it!" scrolled across the screen.
"Alright!" Steven cheered. "New high score!"
"What's this game called again?" Connie asked, peering over his shoulder.
"Road Killer," Steven answered, entering his initials into the second place all-time high score. The letters ONN blinked just above his, with a score almost twice his own. Whoever ONN was, they were way better at reckless driving and senseless destruction then he could ever be. "Isn't it cool?"
"It's certainly destructive," said Connie. "But you go on real adventures with real magic all the time, don't you think that makes these video games kinda trivial?"
"Of course not!" Steven shook his head. "Just because the danger isn't real doesn't mean it's not fun."
"I guess…" Connie said doubtfully.
"Hey, Steven."
Steven looked up. "Hey Mr. Smiley!" he smiled, "How are you?"
"Fine. Fine." The manager nodded. "But I'm afraid your time's up." He finished, crossing his arms.
"Is it? Already?" Steven sighed. "Oh well." He slid out of his seat. "Come on Connie, let's go." He made his way towards the exit with Connie trailing behind. He waved back at the Funland manager. "Thanks for having us, see you next time."
"Yeah, yeah. Nice seeing you too Steven." Mr. Smiley followed them all the way to the exit, taking care not to take his eyes off either of them for even a moment. "Come back some time, but not too soon."
"What was that about?" Connie whispered as they left the arcade behind.
"Oh, Mr. Smiley says I'm not allowed to stay in the arcade for more than an hour at a time."
"Why not? That doesn't seem like very good business practice."
"He said something about how his machines always seem to break when I'm around. He has the same rule for the rides at Funland park." Steven shrugged. "I'm just glad he didn't ban me forever after what happened with zoltron… again. You hungry?"
"Nah. Wanna go skip rocks? I bet I can skip one farther than you can."
"Oh yeah?" Steven smirked. He started bouncing towards the beach, it was an off day, and there weren't many tourists around. So they reached the shoreline in no time.
"Well, don't just stand there." Connie said, already on her hands and knees. "Help me finds some flat rocks."
"I could. But I've already won." Steven declared, giving a broad smile.
"What do you mean?" Connie frowned, shooting him a quizzical glance as she pulled a rock out of the sand.
"Well, I just skipped a rock all the way from the arcade to here. You'll never get one farther than that." Connie just furrowed her brow. Steven lifted his shirt and pointed to his belly button. He waggled his eyebrows.
"Oh." Connie snorted, a giggle slipping out. "That's cheating!"
"Is it?" Steven said philosophically. "You challenged me to see who can skip a rock farther. I am a rock. I skipped here. It counts."
"Well I don't have a rock inside my body," Connie replied, putting on an equally philosophical tone. "Ergo, you feat should be discounted as unsporting."
"My dear Connie," Steven placed a handover his heart and tried to look wounded. It was difficult because he had to fight to keep himself from giggling. "I cannot help how I was made. Alas, none of us can. To treat me in such a way is discrimination, and discrimination is wrong." He wagged a finger at her. "Shame on you."
"Hmmm. Perhaps. Perhaps…" Connie rubbed her chin pretending to stroke a long a beard. "But when I said skipping stones, I meant across the water, and I would like to put forth that you knew that."
"Maybe I did. Maybe I did." Steven nodded sagely. "However, I believe that lack of clarification is your own fault. Not mine." He raised his eyebrows at her, she frowned at him, and then they both broke down laughing.
"Alright, alright." Connie said, as her giggle fit subsided. "Now are you going to help me gather stones or what?"
"I believe I shall." Steven got onto his knees and started searching through the sand. After a few minutes, they managed to assemble a good pile of stones and the contest began.
Steven sighed, watching Connie's rock skip three times more than his before sinking and reached for another walk.
The last four days had been so great! There weren't any missions to go on, no monsters that needed their immediate attention, no calamities descending upon the helpless citizens of earth. It had just been him, Connie, Beach City, and, when she could be woken from her nap, Amethyst, but mostly just Connie and him.
He wished everyday could be like this. Well, almost. There was still some tension floating around the temple and he hadn't seen much of Garnet or Pearl. In fact, he only saw them when they were standing guard over the gem that had taken over his couch. But it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been for the last couple weeks before that.
"Hey Steven?" Connie said, skipping another of her rocks past his yet again. She was just so good at that. He was pretty sure he could throw harder and farther than her, but her technique was so good her stone kept skipping long after his had splashed out of sight.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think Pearl is alright?" Steven blinked at the question. It could be a little creepy how Connie seemed to read his mind like that, but in a good way—it just went to show how well he knew him or something.
He gave the question the thought it deserved. He knew Pearl had been upset from the events from four days ago. She'd probably been hoping to save more gems, he had been hoping that too. When he'd seen her after he came back from dad's she'd smiled at him. But it had been that overly bright, everything-is-fine, smile she made when she didn't want him to worry.
He sent his last rock into the water and sighed. "I'm not sure." He plopped down onto the sand and stared out over the water. "I can tell she's upset and I think I know why, but I'm not sure what to do about it."
Connie sat down on the sand next to him. "Are you sure you need to do something about it? Is it really that big an issue?"
Was it? Pearl might be keeping to her room, but it wasn't like she was locking herself in there. She was coming out to make sure he ate and stuff. But she just seemed kind of distant. He'd asked Amethyst if he should be worried. She'd said no, but well… Amethyst. If not worrying about stuff were an olympic sport, Amethyst would take home the gold every time.
"Pearl's tough," Connie said after he didn't reply. "And its only been a couple of days, I'm sure she'll bounce back."
"Yeah." Steven smiled. "I guess you're-"he cut off as his pocket started vibrating.
"Clean up! Clean up! Ev-ery-body do your share! Clean up! Clea-"
"That's Pearl's ringtone." Man, speak of the devil. He answered the phone. "Hey Pearl!"
"Hello Steven," Pearl's voice was perfectly calm, if a bit distorted by the phone. He guessed Connie was right, Pearl would be fine.
"What's up?"
"Garnet said you needed to come back to the house."
"Um, okay?" Steven frowned, trying to think if he'd forgotten some kind of appointment or something. He'd done his laundry yesterday, so that couldn't be it. "Why?"
"She says our… houseguest, is about to wake up. She wants you to be there for it." It was hard to tell through the phone, but he sort of thought she sounded like she disagreed. Not that he tried very hard, he was too excited.
"I'm on my way!" ending the call he shot to his feet.
"Something wrong?" Connie asked.
"Nope!" Steven smiled. "Come on, let's go meet a new friend!"
"Are you sure having Steven here is a good idea?" Pearl asked, staring skeptically at Garnet. Pearl had been busily arranging some of her swords just the way she liked them when the fusion had barged into her room and told her to call Steven for their houseguest. Pearl glanced at the recumbent gem, she wasn't sitting motionless anymore, but tossing and turning on the couch and letting out the occasional moan. She'd likely awaken soon.
Garnet adjusted her shades, "Probably."
"Probably? This gem could be dangerous."
"Could be." the fusion nodded. "But I believe his presence is necessary. We should allow him to do the talking."
Pearl opened her mouth to protest, but paused. Perhaps Garnet had a point. Steven did have his mother's gift for talking people over to their side—the point was moot anyway as the boy was already on his way.
She turned away with a huff. She was feeling fidgety, she needed something to do with her hands. "Amethyst. Get off the stove."
"Why?"
"Well, firstly, it's not a chair, it's a cooking implement. Secondly, we have plenty of perfectly serviceable stools, all of which are for sitting. But most importantly, I wish to make myself some tea."
"Oh… about that." Amethyst grinned guiltily.
Pearl put her hands on her hips. "Amethyst, if you've done something to my teapot again…"
Amethyst look scandalized. "Oh come on, P! I know how much you like that thing. I wouldn't do anything to that." She paused. "But, uh, well… let's just say we're out of teabags."
Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose. "You ate them, didn't you?"
"Hey, when you get the munchies, you gotta munch."
"Yes, but you couldn't leave me just one?"
"I mean… I could've," Amethyst shrugged. "I didn't though."
"Well I'll just make do with whatever spices we happen to have." Pearl snapped, opening some of the cabinets. "Unless you ate all of those as well?"
"Only the spicy ones and the garlic."
Pearl rolled her eyes and shooed the purple gem off the stove. She did her best, it wasn't the first time Amethyst had left her without ingredients and at least there will still some lemons in the fridge. She was just taking the pot off the stove when she heard the door bang open.
"Hey guys, we're back! Is she awake yet?"
"Not yet, dude." Amethyst answered, she'd moved to sit on top of the fridge. Additionally she'd used a stool to reach it, which Pearl was sure she'd done just to irritate her. "She's making noise though, shouldn't be long now."
"Awesome!" Steven turned to the fusion leaning against the wall. "How much longer do we have to wait?"
"Mmm…anywhere from five minutes to three months." At Steven's expression, she added, "…But probably within the hour."
"Alright." He moved over to the living room and sat by the couch.
"So, um… I was wondering." Connie said, "What are we going to do with her when she wakes up? She's not a Crystal Gem right?"
"Definitely not." Pearl answered, stepping closer to Steven, a mug of tea steaming in her hand.
"We could move her into the barn?" Steven suggested. "You know, after she wakes up and we become friends. I'm sure Peridot and Lapis won't mind."
"Oh sure." Amethyst snorted. "They'll be thrilled."
"Well, I suppose we could keep her in the bathroom. That's where we kept Peridot."
"It is something we can discuss." Said Garnet. "But more importantly, I want you to talk to her first, Steven."
"Uh, why?"
"You're good at talking to people."
"Okay?"
There was a particularly loud groan, and the unconscious gem twitched, nearly rolling herself onto the floor. She started to mutter things; fast paced cries and half-formed words until, with a cry, she sat bolt upright.
Everyone went still as the as the gem's eyes darted around the room, turning this way and that with unfocused eyes. After a few moments, Steven stepped forward.
"Hi!" the wild eyes snapped to him and Pearl tensed. "My name is Steven."
The gem stared at him for a few moments. Then she blinked, her eyes clearing and refocusing on the boy in front of her.
Pearl examined them; they were a pale white, like tiny moons, and were staring at Steven with a detached curiosity. Despite her caution, Pearl felt something her stomach uncoil, easing a tension she had not realized she'd been holding. Those eyes were not those of a gem tip over the edge into insanity.
In that moment, Pearl knew they had succeeded.
No matter who this gem might turn out to be—to know that they had saved someone—it kindled a tiny candle of hope in Pearl's chest that others might be saved as well.
Of course, that left them with another problem: they didn't know who this gem was. The only thing they new for sure was that she hadn't been a Crystal Gem. Which likely meant she was loyal to Homeworld, which meant was most likely a potential enemy.
In and of itself, that wasn't necessarily an issue. Lapis and Peridot had been loyal to Homeworld. Then Steven had worked his magic on them and now they were living in the barn. Steven's ability to befriend others had always filled Pearl with a mix of wonder and nostalgia; it was like watching Rose inspire gems to their side all over again.
But they also didn't know how dangerous this gem might be. Her slim stature made it clear she wasn't from a soldier caste, but that didn't mean much—Lapis looked like a stiff breeze could knock her over and she could drown a planet if she felt like it.
Then the gem spoke. Her voice was tired, but level. "W…what?"
Steven kept his grin, "Steven," he pointed to himself. "That's my name."
The gem blinked owlishly at him, thrown off balance by the boy's grin. "Steven?"
"That's right." Steven beamed. "Can you tell me your name?"
The gem was quiet for a moment. "I am… Moonstone."
That was… interesting. Pearl had heard of moonstones in passing; they were neither fighters nor low-class workers. Likely this gem had either been a researcher or technician of some sort before the Diamonds had decided to bury her.
"That's a really pretty name." Steven said.
Moonstone didn't reply, she had noticed Pearl and was staring at her with an oddly focused look.
"How did I get… wherever here is?" Moonstone asked, still not taking her eyes off Pearl.
"We rescued you from a secret Homeworld facility." Pearl answered. "Can you remember?"
"Perhaps." Moonstone nodded slowly, her words coming together more clearly. "… I am uncertain as to whether my recent memories could be considered reliable." Pearl could practically see the wheels spinning in Moonstone's head as thoughts began to click into place. After a few long moments she asked: "Who exactly are all of you?"
"Oh well, I'm Steven, but I already told you that. That's Pearl. Back there is Garnet, don't worry, she's really nice! Amethyst is the one eating that jar of mayonnaise, and this is my best friend Connie!" each of them nodded or waved at their introduction, happy to let Steven break the ice. Pearl could see Steven's charm working, Moonstone's began to relax slightly with each introduction. "And together, we're the Crystal Gems!"
Moonstone froze.
Her body seemed to wilt; her head fell, causing her long hair moving to block her eyes from view as sagged towards the ground, as though not looking at them would make them go away.
"I see…" She murmured, staring resolutely at the floor. "So that's how it is."
"Uh… are you okay?" Steven asked. Pearl tensed, ready to move if things went south.
The gem ignored him, lifting her head and meeting Pearl's gaze again. Pale eyes went wide and Moonstone lurched backwards, recoiling away rom Pearl until her back hit against the wall.
Pearl blinked, she hadn't seen a gem look at her like that for a very long time. It was a familiar look.
Moonstone was afraid of her.
"Now I know why you look familiar…" Moonstone whispered tremulously "You're her, aren't you? The pearl that fights. The Gem Cutter."
Pearl's eyes widened and she winced. It had been a long time since she'd heard that name. Her gaze flicked downwards to meet Steven's confused look.
"Pearl? What is she talking about?" he asked, uncertainty swirling beneath his words. Pearl didn't answer. Moonstone body went slack. She clearly wasn't stupid; Pearl's reaction must have been as good as a confirmation.
Moonstone gave a little sigh and asked: "are you going to shatter me?"
Silence rippled out through the room like ink in clear water.
"WHAT!" Steven exploded, causing the white gem to recoil in surprise, "Pearl would never do something like that! How could you say that?" Pleading eyes turned to her, "Go on, Pearl, tell her!"
Pearl opened her mouth to say something, anything, to make the pain building behind Steven's eyes go away. But… as she looked into his face, so earnest and full of injured kindness, she knew that if she lied to him right then and there, she would never forgive herself.
Very deliberately, Pearl closed her mouth.
"…Pearl?" Steven's voice, so tiny and brittle, broke Pearl's heart, just a little.
Steven was such a wonderful person and anyone who said otherwise would be quick to learn of her displeasure. But he could be a little naïve; he had seen some of the old battlefields where the Crystal Gems had fought, Garnet had told him of the gems who were shattered there, and yet he had never seemed to connect those two facts to them personally.
Rose had abhorred the idea of shattering gem as well. But… when you were fighting a war against quartz soldiers that, when cut down, would be back in the fight within minutes if you didn't do something about their gemstone, well…
Mercy did not win wars.
Steven was still staring at her, his eyes starting to glisten with water; she stared back, wishing she could think of something to say. Pearl thought Steven was going to run off, to find a place to be alone while he tried to piece part of his personal universe back together. But to her surprise, he shook his head and something determined filled in behind his eyes. Running a hand across his face to wipe away the tears before they could start, he turned back Moonstone.
"Pearl's not going to hurt you," he declared, daring anyone to challenge his statement. "None of us are. I don't know how things used to be and I don't care. All I know is that the Crystal Gems don't do that anymore."
Moonstone just stared blankly at him, disbelief written across her face. The white gem's eyes flickered around the room. They lingered on the warp pad.
"Don't try it." Garnet's voice struck the air like a hammer. "You won't make it." the fusion's tone made it clear that her words were neither a threat nor a warning, but simply a statement of act.
Moonstone flinched and, as the fusion stepped closer, trembled as though she expected any moment now to be her last—that's probably what she was thinking, in fact. Pearl couldn't help but feel a sliver of sympathy at such naked terror. Who knew what horrible tales the Diamond's had fed her about Rose and the Crystal Gems?
Garnet stopped just out of arms reached and crouched, bringing her head level with the shaking gem's, she didn't take off her shades. Probably a good move, demonstrating her fused nature likely do little to calm a Homeworld gem. "Listen to me," said Garnet, not unkindly. "The war is over. It has been that way for a very long time."
Moonstone sat very still as she absorbed this information. Nobody had to clarify who had won. The fact that the Crystal Gems were still around was answer enough. Strange… Pearl had expected some outburst of denial that Homeworld could have been defeated. But Moonstone just seemed to accept it.
"If you are truly not going to destroy me," she said at last. "Then… what do you want with me?"
"Information," Garnet replied. "We found you underground with dozens of other gems, some of which were our former comrades. You are the only one we managed to save. We want to know how they got there and why?"
Moonstone remained silent, her head bowed
"Please?" Steven pleaded, and forcing her to look him in the eyes. "It's really important, do you know anything about it?"
Moonstone stared at him, and whispered. "…I do."
"Can you tell us about it?" Steven said eagerly.
Moonstone's eyes flicked to Pearl. "Do I have a choice?"
"Uh…" Steven blinked, taken aback, but recovered quickly. He nodded sharply. "Of course you do! We aren't going to force you to do anything you don't want to! But… it'd be really nice if you did tell us."
Moonstone hesitated. Pearl could practically see the loyalty to Homeworld battling with her fear. Pearl didn't like using fear as a tool, and she knew Steven wouldn't approve…
But, she wanted answers. No, she needed answers. She had to know what Homeworld had been doing with her comrades, her friends. It wouldn't take much… just leaning forward and maybe making her gem glow a bit. It was nothing she hadn't done before back during the war. Steven probably wouldn't even notice and it would get her the answers.
Believe in Steven.
Pearl blinked. The thought had glided through her mind like a bird and for a moment she felt a deep shame. Steven was right; the Crystal Gems didn't do things like that anymore. It was beneath them. Pearl forced herself to take a step back and to relax.
She would always believe in Steven.
With more space between them, Moonstone seemed to relax. The tension left her and, at last, she said. "Very well. I will tell you what I know."
Steven beamed.
"I am, or rather was, a high-level scientist of the White Court."
"What were you doing on earth?" Pearl asked, raising a brow. "The colonies of earth belonged to Pink Diamond, White Diamond's colonies lay on the other side of the galaxy. None of her court participated in the war."
"White Diamond sent no soldiers to the planet, that is true." Moonstone nodded, pointedly keeping her eyes on Steven. "But… I was already on the planet before the war began." sensing the incoming question, she continued. "I was sent along with my peers to work on a … rather special project here on earth."
"This project," said Garnet. "Wouldn't have had anything to do with a something called PF-01-2, would it?"
Moonstone's head snapped around and she stared in astonishment, "how did you know that?"
"We have been cleaning up Homeworld's messes since the war ended." Pearl began, her voice turning cold. Some of the pieces of this puzzle were starting to fall into place and she didn't care much for the picture they were forming.
A gem scientist? That was troubling. In Homeworld's terms, scientists were meant to experiment and develop technology exclusively towards the diamonds ends.
And this scientist just happened to be working with a 'special project' involving a creature capable of controlling minds by the thousands? That was beyond troubling.
But there was one thought beyond those that chilled Pearl to the bones she didn't have. The one thing that made her want to pull out her spear and start stabbing, was the fact that both of those things had been in a place that had housed dozens of gems with broken minds. Corrupted minds.
None of the Crystal Gems had ever been able to figure out exactly what Homeworld had done as they fled the earth. How had Homeworld forcibly broken the minds of thousands of gems across the surface of an entire planet all at once? None of them had known such a thing was remotely possible. How had Homeworld been able to develop such a weapon without even rumors getting out? Deserting gems that had joined Rose's cause always told her as much as they could. But they had heard nothing about this; even Sapphire had been taken by surprise.
Unless, the weapon had already been long in development before the war had even begun. It couldn't have been completed then, otherwise the Diamonds would have used it at the very start of the war, wiped out the Crystal Gems, and proceeded to colonize the planet unopposed. Such development would have required a great deal of… experimenting.
And test subjects.
"It's been a big job, you see," she continued, drawing a concerned look from Steven. "As we are always finding new nasty little surprises. That creature was one of them, and it led us too you…" she trailed off meaningfully.
"I see…" Moonstone said slowly. For the first time since she had recognized Pearl, the gem's fear seemed to abate, replaced by a thoughtful expression. "I… how did you find out about it? Did you come across the creature's description in a hidden data silo?"
"Not quite." Garnet answered, arms crossed. "We found out about it the hard way."
"You mean… " Moonstone leaned forward, staring at Garnet intensely. "It escaped?"
Garnet nodded.
Moonstone's reaction was… curious. Pearl had expected alarm or perhaps fear, considering how seriously the Diamonds had taken this creature. But instead the scientist merely sat back in quiet acceptance.
"Where is it now?" she asked. "If you are intend to ask me about its weaknesses, I'm afraid I can't help you."
"That won't be an issue." Pearl smirked in satisfaction. "We dealt with it."
"You mean you shattered it?"
"No." Pearl answered sharply. "Steven was telling you the truth. The Crystal Gems do not shatter other gems anymore. We defeated the creature and placed its gem in a stasis bubble."
"…oh." Moonstone's gaze fell to the floor, "I see." Pearl's brow furrowed. The white gem almost sounded as though what they had done was worse.
After a long moment, she asked; "both of them?"
Pearl blinked. "Pardon?"
"Both of its gems." Moonstone glanced around. "PF-01-2 was a permafusion."
The words were swallowed up in a sudden vacuum of silence.
"You…did capture both of its gems, didn't you?"
S&DS&DS&DS&D
…I've been waiting for this moment since chapter one.
As for the whole Gem Cracker thing. Does anyone find it weird how Garnet said that countless gems were shattered, enough to form the cluster, and yet Rose fought with a sword that is apparently incapable of shattering a gem? who did the shattering then? I bet Pearl would do it, for Rose.