Everyone but Garnet and White Pearl were at a strange location. Everyone was following Pearl, Onyx and Yellow Pearl. Jewel and Peridot followed close behind holding hands. They had walked through some thick fog and brush so everyone made sure to hold hands as they made their way through. It would be easy to get lost where they were at.
Some time had passed by and it was apparent that they were walking through a maze. The maze wasn't made of corn or even tall hedges but a weird material no one was familiar with.
"Do you have any idea how longer it will take to get there?" Soren asked looking around, "I almost feel like we are going in circles."
"I was beginning to feel the same way," Lapis said and Amethyst nodded in agreement.
"I promise you it will be soon," Pearl said smiling at them.
"Couldn't we just fly over or go through the walls?" Steven asked.
"We wouldn't be able to do that even if we had planned to do it," Jewel said shrugging.
"What? Why?" Steven asked.
"If we tried to do it, there's a force field above us. You would be poofed immediately. Just touching it with your finger would poof you. Even if we tried going through the walls, they are made of a very special crystal. It will regenerate after being broken so it would waste time and energy we need to save," Onyx.
"It seems whoever made the maze had thought it out well," Blue Pearl said with a smile.
"That they did," Pearl said with a nod.
The Crystal Gems came up to an intersection that split off into the shape of a Y. They looked down both paths hoping to see something that would tell them which way they should go but they looked the same. Deserted and quiet, almost eerie like. Onyx turned towards his wife with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Do you have an idea?" Pearl asked with a smile.
"I do. Why don't we split into two groups? We could cover more ground that way and waste less time."
Pearl nodded.
"Jewel. You and Peridot take and lead the second group. Would that be ok with you?"
Jewel nodded happily, "Sure Mom. We can do that."
"You can count on us," Peridot said with a nod.
Pearl,Onyx, Yellow Pearl, Soren, Amethyst and Pink Pearl went to the left. Jewel, Peridot, Steven, Lapis and Blue Pearl went to the right.
Pearl led her group carefully and slowly. Nothing looked out of the ordinary at least for a few minutes. At one point Onyx grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She into his arms and the wall opened up. Her movement had triggered an arrow trap. The other side of the wall crumbled knocking arrows on the ground but the wall quickly rebuilt itself.
"Thank you. I didn't even see it until you grabbed my arm," Pearl said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"It looked like the wall gave off a faded pink glow before triggering the trap," Amethyst said.
"Will the trap reset?" Pink Pearl asked.
Yellow Pearl shrugged and looked at Onyx. He had no idea either. Soren jumped in the way and then jumped back but nothing happened.
"Alright... Let's go."
They continued on their way. The path seemed to lead only one way without splitting off somewhere else or to a dead end.
"This is weird..." Amethyst said.
"I agree," Yellow Pearl said, "This is either the right way or made to look like the right way."
"That's what is so unsettling about this," Pink Pearl said.
Pink Pearl hopped forward and jumped back. Nothing happened. They looked at each other and continued on their way. Once in a while they would back track just to make sure they didn't trigger another trap. The other group wasn't so lucky.
X
"I can't believe we ran into six traps already," Steven said looking at his friends.
The five of them looked roughed up.
"Look on the bright side," Peridot said, "I think they booby trap the right way."
Jewel gave her girlfriend a weak smile, "I hope so."
"Honestly, it is a shame we can't fly over or I would."
Blue Pearl nodded in agreement with Lapis.
"Well... We gotta keep going," Jewel said.
The five of them looked up ahead. It was slightly foggy but no one wanted to step forward.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" Steven offered and Peridot let out a nervous laugh.
"Good one Steven."
"I will go," Blue Pearl said.
Lapis stood up behind her girlfriend and waited. Blue Pearl swallowed hard and jumped out. Lapis grabbed her slender arms and pulled her back as the walls slammed together in front of them. It opened back up and repaired itself. Everyone had a horrid look on their face. None of the traps had reset themselves so far.
"I can't fly upward but I can forward. Who wants to go first?" Lapis asked.
"You think it might reset?" Steven asked.
"I don't know. Should we just run?"
"I think we should run for it," Jewel said.
She picked Peridot up.
"I'll go first."
Jewel turned around and took a deep breath. She sprinted faster than Steven had ever seen her move. Without warning the whole wall started to close in after Jewel and Peridot.
"RUN!" Lapis, Steven and Blue Pearl screamed.
The walls opened back up again. Jewel and Peridot waved to them from their safe spot.
"Our turn."
Lapis hoovered above the ground about a few inches and turned her body horizontal. Steven got on her back and made sure to lay low so he didn't get poofed. Lapis grabbed under Blue Pearl's arms and took off without warning. The walls began to collapse trying to capture them in between but Lapis was too fast for it.
"Woah! We made it!" Steven said happily.
"I'm glad. Let's just hope we don't have to do anymore traps like that."
About ten minutes passed with the Y shaped pathways combined.
"Mom!"
Pearl hugged Jewel.
"I hope everything went well?"
Jewel nodded with a grin on her face.
"We have a short way to go and the center of the maze should be close," Onyx said.
"That's right. Let's hurry," Pearl said.
They hurried their way to the center as quickly as they could. They reached the center and there was a giant orb floating off the ground by a few feet. Everyone stayed quiet as Pearl walked a little closer to it. From the color, it looked like Blood Stone Gem.
"Is this what we are looking for?" Lapis asked seeing the red specks glistening.
"Yes," Yellow Pearl whispered, "We will have to approach the orb with caution."
"Why are we whispering?" Pink Pearl asked.
The ground started to shake violently and the path behind them closed up leaving no way out now. They all looked at the newly formed wall then at the orb.
"Um..." Peridot said.
Pearl tilted her head to see the red spots on the orb blink.
"Everyone... get down now..."
No one questioned her as they crouched down. The eye began shining brightly looking for intruders. The light bounced off the walls. No one dare to speak a single word or even breathe loud. It closed leaving the area dark.
"What's going on?" Soren asked.
"We need to get closer without getting caught by the gaze of that eye. If it does... It's all over."
Yellow Pearl coughed. She saw a small rock on the ground and picked it up. She tossed it away without thinking. The pupils of the eye rolled and opened up. Some of them were terrified the moment they opened up. A large beam came out and burned away the rock and the ground it was on. After a minute, it closed it's eye.
"I have an idea. We can throw the rocks and rubble to distract it. That way one of us can reach the eye," Steven whispered.
"That is a good idea..." Pearl said as she looked at the others.
"I will do it," Jewel whispered.
Pearl led them to spot where they could hide and distract the eye. Once they got into position, they started throwing the rocks. The eye opened up again almost freezing them in their place. Jewel moved quickly as possible without making a sound as she got closer to the eye. The ground began to quake from the beams the eye was shooting off.
One rock accidentally went towards Jewel and the eye shifted her way but it was too late for it to charge it's beam. Jewel slammed her weapon in the eye. She had destroyed the biggest pupil and it let out a final shriek as Jewel pulled her sword back out. It exploded into nothing leaving behind the gemstone. She ran back to her friends showing the gem.
"The mission was a success!"
Everyone clapped happily. That eye was more dangerous than they had thought. Steven looked around see the warp pad where the eye was.
"Look! We can go home that way!" he pointed out.
Pearl turned around and smiled.
"We won't have to do that maze again," Steven said with relieved smile.
"Thank goodness," Pearl said.
They all jumped onto the warp pad back to the beach house. As the light faded they saw Garnet and White Pearl walking into the house giving them a wave to welcome them home.