Ha! I told you this would be done faster than the other one and I was right! The only downside is that I have large tests and projects that I should probably be doing so… yeah… but I'm really happy with how this chapter came out and I hope you enjoy it.

Onyx rose from her bed on another fine morning…at least she assumed so; her body had a good idea of roughly what time it was, but she couldn't tell what was going on outside. She felt uneasy though, so something must have been off.

She walked to her door and opened up to reveal the house, Steven was standing in the middle of the room while Pearl was stacking things into a pile.

"What's going on here?" She asked.

Steven turned around to her. "Oh, hey Onyx, Pearl and I are making a school."

"School? You mean the group that humans go to in order to learn things?"

"That's exactly it." Pearl said

"I never really saw the point of it, you're smart Steven and you seemed to have learned everything that you need to know from the gems. Why one would choose to learn in a group is beyond me."

Pearl finished stacking everything. "That's all the items." She crossed her arms and stared at Steven. "So, how does this school start?"

Steven scratched his head in thought. "Umm…I don't know. This is all Connie told me. Why do I ever ask follow up questions?"

Steven lamented his position, it was dramatic and Onyx could humor in it though she assumed that was unintentional. "Who will teach Steven now?"

"Well I have some books in my room that I could show you, they talk about…"

But Onyx was quickly shot down by Bird Mom who stepped forward. "You wanted to be taught? Why didn't you say so before? I have just the thing for the job."

Pearl got into a…strange stance. She started making sounds and hand gestures that didn't make any sense to Onyx but soon enough Pearl summoned a light orb which transformed into a mirror.

"We found this gem powered mirror at the galaxy warp. It can capture any display it's witnessed in all of gem history. You'll be able to find out every important aspect of gem culture."

Steven gazed into the mirror. "I must be incredibly important to gem culture then."

Pearl dismissed his comment. "It's just you in there; it hasn't even been activated yet."

"I believe that was the point of Steven's joke."

Pearl cleared her throat and leaned into the mirror.

"Show us the galaxy warp." She commanded. But nothing happened, so she tried again. "Show us the galaxy warp" Again nothing. "Oh come on, I know you've seen it!"

Pearl grabbed it out of Steven's hands and examined it. "Well… it was in pretty bad shape when we found it. Maybe it's finally broken."

Onyx took the mirror from Pearl. "Maybe not. You said that it was gem powered right? Perhaps I can get a read on it."

Onyx used her gempathy powers to read the gem's energy signals. At first she could feel nothing but a small sliver of power, but then when she examined that sliver more carefully she could feel…everything. Massive amounts of fear and pain and despair compressed into a few milliseconds, and when she finished fully receiving it she fell to the floor and conked out.

As her world darkened only two words stuck out in her mind.

"Free her…"

She awoke a few minutes later, rubbing her head. She saw that Pearl was still in the room now stacking things into a more…geometric pile.

"Oh good, you're awake." Pearl said happily. "I was starting to get worried."

Onyx got up off the floor and dusted herself off. "If you were so concerned then why did you let me sleep?"

"I assumed you would fix whatever needed to be fixed by yourself. You're very capable like that."

Onyx rolled her eyes. "Well I suppose…wait-" she noticed that she didn't have the mirror with her anymore and Pearl didn't have it either. "Where's the mirror?" She asked.

"Oh Steven took it. He was fascinated by it and since it didn't work I saw no harm in letting him use it."

Onyx was a bit gobsmacked. "Pearl, there is something very wrong with that mirror."

"Well I know it's broken, but other than that-"

"No. I felt something, a…surge of power. Something is hidden inside that mirror and I have to go find it."

Onyx ran to the front door and headed out of the house and towards the beach; she needed to find Steven before something bad happened to him.

She dashed from building to building and eventually managed to find Steven, he seemed to be walking backwards while looking into the mirror. She jumped in front of him and surprised the young boy.

"Steven, you need to get rid of that mirror."

"What?" He asked disappointedly. "Why?"

"There's something…off about it, and I don't want you to suffer because of it."

She took the mirror from Steven's hands. She was being forceful, but she didn't mean it in a mean way; she was looking out for Steven.

Onyx looked into the mirror. "What are you?"

Suddenly, the glass on the mirror began to ripple and then it revealed her face. "What are you?"

Onyx was surprised; the mirror repeated what she just said. Pearl said it didn't work, and it didn't respond to her before, so why was it working now?

"You got the mirror working again?" Onyx asked.

Steven nodded. "Yeah, it just started repeating stuff for some reason."

The glass on the mirror rippled again, but this time it showed Steven screaming "Nooooo!" and then it faded back to their reflections.

"Oh yeah, that was when it first turned on." Steven recalled. "Since then it's been repeating things it sees, or if I ask it a question."

"It answers questions?" Onyx looked into the mirror. "Can you hear me?"

The glass rippled and the playback ensued. "Can you hear me?"

Onyx shook her head. "No, I asked if you can hear me."

The glass rippled but this time it did something different. "I- can- hear- you…"

Steven gasped; he walked up and looked at the mirror. "You learned a new trick! That's so cool."

Onyx stared at the mirror more; as it kept playing back more scenes she could start getting a better feel for its energy, but it was kind of hard to make out. She needed more time and more samples.

"Maybe I was too quick to judge." Onyx waved her hand. "Come on Steven, let's go do some more things."

He nodded excitedly. "Okay."

So Steven, Onyx, and the mirror went all around town doing things all day; they played games, they laughed at jokes, they ate food, and they even saw friends. Onyx had a lot of new data to work with and for the most part she could sense a strong energy in the mirror. It was far from broken, it was only dormant.

Many hours had passed and the sun was starting to set over Beach City, Steven and Onyx were sitting on the beach watching the sun set while Steven talked into the mirror.

"You're a pretty cool mirror." Steven said happily.

The mirror whirred to create a response. "You're a pretty cool- Steven!"

Onyx smiled at the boys antics. "Please, tell us how you really feel."

The mirror didn't get Onyx's sarcasm so it created a response to her statement. "Steven!- and- Onyx- are- a new friend."

Steven and Onyx seemed surprised by this statement.

"Really?" Steven asked.

"Yeaaaaah!" The mirror responded.

"You're our friend too!"

"Hahahahahahaha!" The mirror played back some of Steven's laughter, but it played his voice over itself so the laughter sounded bigger and louder.

"I can't wait to show you to the gems."

"Noooooooo!" The mirror screamed.

"Don't be shy; I'm sure they'll love you."

"Noooooo!" The mirror screamed again, using the same trick she had done for the laughter to make it sound bigger.

Onyx could sense true fear in that gem, curious why the mirror was giving off this energy she put it in her hand and looked into it.

"Why? What are you so afraid of?" She asked.

The mirror gave this response. "I am - a – gem."

Peculiar. "But… you're the mirror."

"Gem- in- the mirror."

This left Onyx with more questions than answers, it was clearly afraid of the gems for a reason it couldn't tell them. In this case, it seemed best to go right to the source.

"We need to show this to the others." Onyx suggested.

Both Steven and Onyx ran back to the house, the mirror stayed quite so Onyx had no idea what it was thinking.

Onyx handed the mirror to Steven and decided to run ahead, with her superior speed she would get there faster and maybe get more answers.

"Guys, I have some questions about-"

Onyx paused for a second to see all of the gems in the same room; Garnet and Amethyst were sitting on the couch while Pearl was trying to stack up multiple containers.

"Hey Onyx." Amethyst greeted. She picked up a box of cereal. "Check this out."

She threw the box at Pearl's pile and before it could touch it Pearl ran it through with her spear.

"Amethyst, would you please stop trying to ruin the symmetrical flawlessness of my stack?"

"Hmm." Amethyst thought about it for a second. "Nah."

Onyx brushed off the statement. "Yeah yeah, that's great Amethyst." Onyx walked up to Pearl and put her hands on Pearl's shoulders to get her attention. "Pearl, I need you to answer some questions for me, okay."

Pearl nodded. "O…kay…"

"Where did you say you found this mirror again?"

"At the galaxy warp."

"The galaxy warp that is no longer functional and has been here for millenniums, correct?"

Pearl nodded. "Right…"

"How did you know what this mirror did if it doesn't work? Had you seen it before? Do you remember it from back during the war?"

Pearl shook her head. "I don't remember much about it, all I know is that it repeats things because-"

Suddenly Steven bursts through the door. "Guys! I have something to show you."

"What is it Steven?" Garnet asked.

"Check it out." He stuck out the mirror. "Say hey." He waited for a few moments, but it refused to speak. Onyx could sense a hesitation in its flow, fear was dominating it. "Little buddy?"

Steven turned around and looked at the mirror with affection. "Come on, you wanna come out don't you? You have so much to say, and funny noises to share from across the ages. Are we not beach summer fun buddies?"

After some waiting the mirror rippled and made a strange picture of Steven who was making fart sounds by blowing air into his arm. Onyx assumed it was supposed to be a happy gesture because she felt more positive energy coming off the mirror.

"Couldn't help yourself could you?" Steven asked.

"Only- for- you- Steven! Hahahahahahaha."

Steven laughed along with the mirror but the rest of the gems were completely and utterly shocked.

"It's…talking to him?" Pearl wondered.

"Is that a bad thing?" Onyx asked.

"It shouldn't be able to do that; it should only be able to follow orders."

Amethyst clutched at Garnet's leg. "Garnet, do something."

Onyx put both her arms up to try and stop madness before it ensues. "Whoa whoa whoa guys! It's a talking mirror, is that really such a bad thing? I mean it's not hurting anyone."

But no one ever listens to reason and so Garnet stepped forward. "Steven…"

The minute Garnet got close to Steven the mirror reacted, its fear came back and it was becoming more desperate by the second. Onyx could feel that in her chest and she really sympathized with the poor mirror.

"You should give us back the mirror, it'll be safer where we can watch it."

"Yeah, let's bubble it." Amethyst suggested.

"Nooooooo!"

"It's a mirror Garnet, calm down." Onyx tried to speak up.

Steve looked really worried; he had his friend screaming on one side and his mentor towering over him even though she was kneeling down to practically Steven's height.

"Steven, don't make me have to take it from you."

"Garnet… back away." Onyx said with more force this time.

"It doesn't want to go with you! Can't you hear it screaming?" Steven asked.

"Steven, it's just a mirror, a tool. It can't want anything."

She moved closer and closer to Steven, whose panic rose to the point where Steven actually retaliated and slapped Garnet's hand away as she came for the mirror, which also knocked off her visor.

Onyx was…really shocked. She didn't think that Steven could be pushed this far so that he slapped one of the gems. It was surprising…but she could understand.

Garnet however was not as understanding, all three of her eyes looked at Steven with anger and in a second Steven realized what he had done.

"Aaah!" He ran out of the house. "I'm sorry!" He screamed

Garnet reached down and put her visor back on. "That little boy…is in a lot of trouble." She said darkly

Onyx didn't want them to catch up to Steven, she knew he was doing the right thing and the gems being there would only cause more aggravation. She hadn't acted before…but she was ready to now.

"He's not the only one."

Onyx pushed the gems to the side and then ran out the front door, and before they could catch up to her she raised her hand and summoned huge onyx crystals to block the door.

"Onyx!" They all yelled.

Onyx saw Steven running down the beach, he was trying really hard to stay away from the gems but Onyx could sense him hiding behind a large rock. She ran along the side of a cliff and then she flipped off of it and landed right next to Steven behind the boulder.

Steven shrieked in surprise. "Onyx! Don't you-"

Onyx put her hands up defensively. "It's okay Steven. I'm with you on this one."

He seemed surprised. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I even put up a crystal barricade to keep the gems off our backs, it should hold them for a few minutes."

Unfortunately that didn't hold true as Onyx could feel the gems energy signatures move out of the house.

"Or a few seconds… whatever."

Steven looked at the mirror with a worried expression. "What am I going to do? What's their problem with you?"

The mirror rippled. "Away-from- home."

"I want to help you but I don't know how!" Steven shrieked.

Then suddenly, something the mirror said earlier stuck out in Onyx's mind.

"Gem- in- the mirror."

Then Onyx looked at the back of the mirror and saw the gemstone embedded in it… and she had an answer.

"The gem in the mirror…" Onyx said breathlessly. She took the mirror from Steven and looked at it carefully.

"What are you doing?" Steven asked.

"The gem wants to be let free… so let's free it!"

She gripped at the stone and pulled at it as hard as she could, the gem was really stuck in there but Onyx wouldn't give up.

Steven noticed that as she pulled on the gem water was drawn from the ocean and began forming around them, it created an intricate web of lines and angels in a circle that looked like something out of a magical ritual.

"Um, Onyx…" Steven said nervously.

"This gem… is locked away…no longer!" Onyx cried as she ripped the gem out of its placement, causing the mirror part to shatter.

As soon as it was free the gem began to glow with powerful energy, it was so full that it eventually flew out of Onyx's hand and hovered above the shore. Soon it exploded with energy and created a new female body form, who fell to the ground once she was finished forming.

Onyx and Steven both ran to the new gems side to try and help her, when they reached her Onyx took a good look at her: Her whole body was blue, her hair was short and pointed with two bangs on the sides of her head, she wore a blue sundress that reached all the way down to her feet and had a tie on the back, her eyes were a reflective white, and finally her gem was on her back but it was…cracked?

Onyx was stunned at her image, she… couldn't find the words to describe what she was feeling.

The gem looked up at them with her emotionless eyes and muttered two small words. "Thank you."

She tried to get up, but she stumbled and fell back down, Onyx stepped forward and grabbed her hands as she came back down and led her upwards to steady her balance.

This gem was only an inch or two shorter than Onyx so they were practically at eye level as they stood toe to toe with each other. Onyx was so caught up in the moment she could barely think of anything to say.

"Hi." She said simply… and a little bit stupidly.

"Hi…" She said back, and then she started to smile. "You talked to me! You both talked to me and then you freed me! I'm so happy I just… thank you."

"No problem." Steven said.

The blue gem looked down at the boy. "You're… Steven and Onyx right?"

Steven nodded. "That's us."

"I'm Lapis, Lapis Lazuli."

"Lapis Lazuli?" Onyx wondered aloud. "What a beautiful name."

"What?" Lapis wondered.

Onyx realized she said that aloud and then she became nervous. "I-I mean, it's a very interesting name. You- you don't see a lot of Lapis'… around these parts… is what I'm saying."

Lapis smiled and the gems speech, though she didn't truly understand its meaning. "Tell me: Are you both crystal gems?"

"Yep." Steven answered.

"But… you set me free."

"Well… why wouldn't we?" He replied back.

"STEVEN!" Garnet yelled.

Their moment was broken up however as the rest of the crystal gems appeared before them on the beach with their weapons drawn, Garnet had malice in her heart but Pearl and Amethyst just seemed confused.

"Wait!" Steven cried out.

Unfortunately, it seemed Lapis was in no mood to talk.

"You… you three knew I was in there and you did nothing! Did you even wonder who I used to be?"

As Lapis talked she created a giant hand from the water behind her, it loomed menacingly over all the gems. Onyx knew that if she attacked only bad things would happen.

"Lapis… don't do this." Onyx begged.

But she did not listen; she brought the hand crashing down on the gems. It pinned Garnet to the beach and it knocked Pearl and Amethyst away with its sheer force.

"Steven, run!" Pearl screamed.

"I am Lapis Lazuli, and you can't keep me trapped here anymore!"

Steven ran up and looked at Lapis with confusion. "What are you doing?"

"They're not going to let us leave here."

Lapis raised her arm and the ocean behind her parted and created a pathway through the waves.

"Steven, Onyx, come with me."

"Where?" Steven asked.

"Home."

"But…but this is my home." Steven admitted

Lapis looked towards Onyx. "What about you Onyx?"

Onyx was conflicted, she believed in Lapis she really did, but was she willing to betray the crystal gems? Betray the people who had taken her in and looked after her? Gave her a purpose?

Could Lapis be another purpose?

Onyx didn't have time to answer her question; Garnet punched her way through the aqua fist and was back up on her feet.

"I-I" Onyx stuttered… she never did that.

Lapis' looked changed to anger. "How can you side with them? Do you have any idea what they've truly done?"

Onyx shook her head.

"When you find out the truth, you'll see them as I see them and then you'll know I feel." She turned around and started walking towards the ocean. "Goodbye."

Garnet charged at Lapis, trying to get her before she could get away but Lapis summoned a wave that crashed into everyone on the beach and sent them backwards. When they got back up the beach was empty, Lapis was gone.

Pearl wrapped her hands around Steven. "Steven, are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine."

They all looked out towards the ocean, where could Lapis have gone? And for that matter where was she going?

"So, that was another gem huh?" Steven asked

"Yes." Pearl answered.

This whole situation didn't feel right in Onyx's stomach: She didn't feel right, Steven didn't feel right, and Garnet definitely wasn't feeling right. So Onyx made a choice.

"I have to go after her."

The gems looked at her with shock. "What?"

"She's upset and confused, if I can get her to calm down maybe we can talk this out."

Garnet put a hand on her shoulder. "You're not going after her."

Onyx pulled away, this was something she was going to figure out on her own. "Try and stop me."

She ran toward the shore and jumped up above the ocean. She summoned her wings and flew over the ocean and searched the rolling waves for Lapis, her energy was weak but she still left a trail for her to follow.

"Lapis!" Onyx shouted.

She dove down into the sea and swam through until she saw a faint blue outline that looked like Lapis rushing away. She swam as quickly as she could to reach the gem and she put her hand on Lapis' shoulder.

"Lapis, wait a second…"

Lapis turned around and sent a wave of force towards Onyx, knocking her back. If she had the ability to control water, then she was most powerful here in the ocean.

"Get away from me! You just want to use me like they did."

"No no! I want to help you Lapis, I want to make it so you don't have to run away from these gems. We can all live together in peace."

Lapis floated there in the water silently, thinking about her options. As she stood their silently Onyx walked back up to her and put her hands on Lapis' shoulders.

"Please… let me help you."

Lapis looked into Onyx's eyes, as if she was looking into her soul, and for a brief moment… there was a connection between them, like they were one in the same.

But that flicker only did last a moment as Lapis came back to her senses and used the surrounding water to grab Onyx and keep her held back.

"If you want to help me… stop following me…."

She threw Onyx down towards the bottom of the ocean, Onyx slammed through some of the bedrock causing it to crack in half. She was now lying on the ocean's floor.

"Keep those Crystal Gems away from me…"

As Onyx tried to get up she felt two more strong waves pounding her to the ground, as if she were being hit by a monster.

"And just… go… AWAY!"

With Onyx's last bit of energy, she looked up and saw Lapis throw a massive chunk of rock at her, it was too big and she wasn't fast enough to get out of its way so she took the massive hit and everything started to go dark.

As Onyx drifted towards the darkness she uttered one last sentence.

"Lapis… I'm sorry…"