Note: Takes place a week after the events of "Prickly Pair."
Present day...6000 years after the end of the Rebellion...
"I'll be back in a while Pearl! I'm going to meet Connie at the library!"
"Alright! Have a fun time with her. And if you need anything, make sure to call me on-"
"On your phone, I know." Steven chuckled, easily anticipating what she was going to say next. "You already told me that ten times."
"Well, an eleventh couldn't hurt." Pearl said, smiling and giving him a wave goodbye.
Steven Universe, so called "savior of the universe" smiled back and returned the wave, then quickly left the Beach house, ready to take on the world. He pushed open the newly installed door before taking in the salt air of the sea. After all those years of living right by the ocean, he had gotten slightly used to it, but it still hit him like a brick wall every time he went outside. However, like everything else life had thrown at him, he tried to up with it, eventually learned to enjoy it, and was now heading down the wooden stairs to the beach and towards his car.
This day was going to be a great one. He was sure of it. It had already been very productive, and Steven was sure that it could only improve from here. He had managed to convince the second of those Lapis Lazuli's to live at Little Homeworld, helped the Earth and Heaven beetles move into their new home, (which was as big as a small dresser), and now he was going to go hang out with Connie at the town library. Frankly, it was one of the best days he had in a long time.
After the whole cactus incident, Steven had severe doubts about whether life would ever go back to normal. He was sure that all his personal thoughts being revealed to the gems would have had more consequences. What he really thought of them coming to light in such an unprecedented manner was nothing short of bad luck and timing, but was still his fault no matter how he looked at it. But they were understanding as could be after he explained, as per usual, and he had had a pretty good string of good luck after that little disaster. Even if during that time, they had made him visit that...therapist.
Despite the fact that the gems were as "Understanding as could be", they were still all worried when he started listing his seemingly endless problems, so Garnet used her future vision and saw that plain old human therapy was the best solution for the whole situation.
Steven's smile faltered slightly as he thought back to the recent sessions he had gone to. The past week he had been going to a therapist for an hour a day and just letting loose with everything he had been bottling up inside him. With the gems practically forcing him to go, and Steven not wanting to argue anymore after the Cactus Incident, the only thing he could do was sit down and talk. And they talked about so much together. Problems with the gems, with his friends, and with Little Homeworld. He explained every single horrible thing he was going through in meticulous detail. And the therapist just sat there and listened, calm as could be. Ever since he was born, Steven had never seen a person with a talent as good as theirs to just sit down and listen.
However, despite how nice they were, he hadn't put much trust in the advice his therapist gave him. It sounded like a bunch of carefully worded cliches to Steven. He said at the end of the first, "I'll try to do what you said, but I'm going to be honest, I don't think it's going to work."
Boy, did he end up eating those words.
Because surprisingly, the sessions actually worked. Garnet's prediction had been correct. After following the advice that the therapist had told him about being careful with his list of things to do, not letting his problems consume him, and always knowing that his friends still cared about him even if they left, he was shaping himself up. His general mood had increased, he was smiling a lot more, and whenever something got on his nerves, he always made sure to internally tell himself that he would get through it, even if it was annoying. It was truly working out. Well, most of the time anyways. He still had a few...outbursts, as of late, but they weren't as bad as the ones from the week before. Everything was showing improvement.
But he didn't want to focus on his therapy sessions right now. He would rather focus on what he was about to do. His meeting with Connie. His current source of happiness.
And sure, she was only meeting up with him temporarily, but it was still something! He couldn't wait to see her again. After everything he had been through, he just needed some time to relax with his friends. Although he still didn't know exactly why he was meeting with her. She had texted him earlier that day asking him to come over to the library, and of course he was happy to oblige. But that was all he told him, so he was still in the dark. But that was okay. As long as they came from Connie, he was fine with surprises.
Turning on the ignition, the car purred to life and he slowly made his way down the beach, leaving car tracks in the sand and humming a tune as he moved along. He had been thinking of creating a new song on his ukulele, something about how friends come and go, but the closest ones will always come back eventually. Another small piece of advice from his therapist, due to how often people seemed to sing when he was around. He had already been thinking up some lyrics.
"Even if some people turn away, the closest ones will want to stay." He sang.
"And if you're ever feeling down, your friends will make sure you...you...uhhh…" Steven then paused, struggling to find a good word that rhymed with "down." But he didn't mind. He didn't turn pink like he usually would. It was still a work in progress after all. The only thing he really wanted from the song was to finish it before Connie went back to her studies. It had been so long since he had sung something on his ukulele, and he had put it on a list of things he wanted to do with her. The two of them doing something like that together would certainly increase his general mood. Although he hoped he could find a proper time slot for it. schedule was already-
"Nope." He said, quickly brushing that thought aside. "Remember what he told me. Don't worry about your schedule. Nobody will be mad if you miss a thing or two. They'll understand like they always do! Happy thoughts only. Think about...the beach! The sand! The waves! The tranquility of it all! The...the…" Steven sighed upon realizing that he was trying too hard.
And unfortunately for his short-lived happy thoughts, thinking about the beach was no longer an option, as his car reached the end of it and hit the main road, moving into the part of Beach city that was actually paved. He sighed again and decided to just think about Connie. About all the books they would read. He wondered if the Unfamiliar familiar series would get a new entry soon. He still read them from time to time, although he really only reread his favorite moment from the series, that fifty page description of the wedding cake.
You know, happy thoughts.
Now passing through the main town, Steven rolled down his window to get a better look outside. All around him, humans and gems were publicly interacting with one another, a difference in species causing no problems in this beautiful exchange of cultures. He grinned widely, content that everything was still peaceful. As long as nothing else happened, his life was all uphill from here. Any dips that hill suddenly took notwithstanding.
Steven then knocked on the only wooden thing in his car, his ukulele, as he realized he might have just jinxed himself. He never was one for superstition, but considering how much everything had improved recently, a sudden explosion of bad luck wouldn't surprise him.
"Hmm...happy thoughts only Universe." He reminded himself.
"And if you're ever feeling down, your friends will make sure you never drown." He sang, taking his mind off the subject at hand. Well, that was another line done. With still many, many more to go. "Work in progress. Work in progress." He said, not about to let something as simple as a song make him lose his calm. But he knew that if he was having trouble getting the right words, then Connie would be glad to help. Speaking of which…
Steven's smile got even wider as he jerked the wheel to the left and pulled into the library's parking lot. It was small, but there were plenty of spaces left. He parked the car, exited it, and then locked it behind him. After making sure he had everything he needed, he entered the library and looked around for Connie, the old air that was exclusive to the building providing a pleasant cooling sensation.
"Steven!" A loud voice said, which was quickly shushed by at least twenty different people. Steven looked to his right and saw Connie practically running up to him, holding her backpack and looking like she had stayed up past twelve last night. Steven didn't even have time to react before the girl reached him and embraced him in a tight hug. Steven cheeks briefly flushed a deep red at the gesture before he returned the hug. The two continued to hold each other for a second before separating and smirking at one another.
"It's great to see you too." Steven chuckled, his cheeks still slightly crimson-colored. "How have your studies been?"
"Ugh, don't remind me." Connie said. "But if you really want to know, they've been mostly fine. Except for the part where both my parents, especially my mom, constantly pressure me to get on them. Also the part where I have to lift those fifty ton books up and down the stairs each day. So yeah, it's been going "fine"." She briefly looked at the floor before turning her attention back to Steven. "But what about you? How have your therapy sessions gone? Is everything alright with those?"
"Ugh, don't remind me." Steven said, purposefully putting on the same face Connie had put on just a minute ago. "They're really tiring, I can't ever get a break, and the gems are always pressuring and reminding me to go."
"...You basically just said the same thing I did." Connie pointed out. "Like, you literally used some of the phrases I used. I guess we're on pretty equal footing here."
"Hm. I guess..." Steven said. "But it's actually helped me a lot. A lot more than I would have expected it too. My life is improving for the sole reason of me listening to the advice of some guy sitting in a chair. Who knew that something so simple would be so helpful? I honestly wish I had done this years ago!" His voice was steadily rising as this went on, resulting in him getting a few dirty looks from people trying to read in peace.
Connie briefly snickered at this, and then continued her own explanation. "Yeah, it can get annoying at times. But I know that my mom and the gems just want what's best for us and me, so I don't complain. At least...you, know, not in front of them."
"So is your being here just an opportunity for you to vent?" Steven asked, greatly amused by the prospect.
"On no! you discovered my secret plan!" Connie said, faking a shocked tone. They both stared at each other before bursting out laughing, until several people shushed them again, getting annoyed with their constant noise. The two of them then decided that they should go somewhere more private to talk, and eventually found a table on the far side of the library. They both sat down befrienConnie set her bag on the table and began to unzip it.
"So, what's the real reason you asked me to hang out with you here?" Steven asked. "Because if I ruined all your plans, then I suppose I should just leave…"
"Oh stop." Connie said, knowing full well he was joking. "But really, I brought you here so we could check out this." Connie then reached into her bag and pulled out a small journey, with yellowing paper that looked like it was hundreds of years old. Steven felt a sense of familiarity as he stared at it, and just as he was struggling to recall where he had seen it before, the memory hit him square in the face.
"Is that Buddy Buddwick's journal?" He asked, surprised to see the old book again. "I thought we had already gone through that thing. Although it does look kind of...different now?"
"That's because it's not the same." Connie said proudly. "See, earlier this week, I was here looking for a book that could help me study, but it was an old one, so I went into the libraries archives to find it. I found this instead. Apparently he had multiple journals that we never knew about. I flipped through it a bit, and from what I can remember, there's a ton more illustrations he did, entries, all sorts of cool stuff. So I figured we could look through it together like we did that other time!"
"That sounds...fun." Steven said, the smallest bit of uncertainty creeping on the edge of his voice.
"Is something wrong?" Connie asked him, concerned. "I mean, if you want to do something else, than that's fine with-"
"No no! It's okay." Steven said. "It's just...this kind of reminds me of the old days. Like that one time you were talking about when we imagined Jaime as Buddy, only to discover he looked like that." Steven pointed to a painting on the far side of the room, portraying an older gentleman that didn't resemble the mailman in the slightest. "Just feels a little weird, you know?"
" , I think I get it. But hey, a blast from the past isn't a bad thing!" Connie exclaimed, relieved that Steven's problem with the book wasn't something more severe. "Besides, if we're going to spend time with each other, why don't we do it the way we used too?"
"...You're probably going to have to be a little more specific." Steven jested.
"You know what I meant." Connie said, laughing slightly. "So, are you up for it?"
"Sure, let's take a look." Steven said gleefully. "I wonder if he had any more interactions with the gems. His descriptions of them were hilarious to read last time."
"Pretty sure I wrote some of them down to use later." Connie said, before opening the first page. "Alright...Greetings to whoever is reading this. My name is Buddy Budwick, and this is my second journal chronicling my experiences with the species known as "gems. Recently, one of my latest discoveries was that..."
And so it went on. Slowly going through each page, the two of them soon lost track of time as they looked through the journal. Some of it was boring. Some of it had words from another time period they didn't understand. And some of it was just a little too descriptive. But they got through all these sections with relative ease. Steven took notice of the fact that Connie started to get really excited as they got to the point she had been waiting for, the middle of the book, a separate section where Buddy had contained all his drawings.
"Now for the best part." She said, carefully turning the page so it didn't rip. "Seeing all of his illustrations last time was easily the highlight."
"Yeah, until those illustrations got me and my dad going to Korea and him getting kidnapped by Blue…" Steven said, getting vivid flashbacks of the whole event.
"At least you got him back." Connie said, looking on the bright side of things. "And at least all the humans at the zoo are cool now. I hope I get to see them one day. They sound nice, based on what you told me about them. But all I have right now are the stories you guys explained to me…"
"Hey, to be fair, stories are most of what I have to deal with as well." Steven said, resting his left elbow on the table and his chin on his hand. "Having my mom's gem made me have to sit through...quite a lot of meetings with the Diamonds and Pearl about gem stuff. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have trouble remembering them all." Steven threw his arms above his head and stretched himself out. "But it's like you said. Those stories aren't the same as actually living through it like they did."
"Wow. First the problems with studying and therapy, and now this. I guess we really are sinking in the same boat." Connie said, although it was meant to be more of a joke than anything. "Now let's get to the drawings. I don't want to wait any longer." Connie eagerly turned another page, while Steven suddenly looked at her like she was a new person.
'Geez, all that studying really took its toll on her.' He thought. 'She seems so excited to do this, but all we're doing is flipping through this book! Sure, it's fun, but I wonder how she would react if we did something a little more...exciting. Like going to the Temple or Little Homeworld and seeing the rest of the gems. Although I shouldn't be one to talk. I was practically ecstatic about this myself. Even after I learned we were just looking through that journal, I was-no, I still am thrilled to finally spend some time with her, and…...oh. Oh, I get it.' Steven then cringed at himself internally as he understood why Connie was so happy. 'She...she's excited for the exact same reason I am. She's just happy to be with me. I guess she was right then. We're sinking in the same boat, and I suppose moments like this would be the equivalent of putting on a life preserver.'
Steven sighed and hastily focused all his attention on the book, growing tired of his inner thoughts. He leaned up next to Connie, and she slid the book closer to him as the two stared down at the first drawing, as intimate and detailed as some of the world's finest paintings.
"Is that the Sky arena?" Steven asked, recognizing the depiction almost immediately.
"Looks like it." Connie said. "Hey, didn't you and Amethyst wreck that place? Pearl said that you two "ruined the ruins" when I asked why it was so beat up the next time we went."
Steven rubbed his arm and looked to the side, doing a terrible job of acting like he'd done nothing wrong. "Yeah…" He admitted. "But it was an accident. We got kind of carried away, and we didn't realize what we had done until it was too late."
"No Pearl points for a while after that I bet…" Connie said, fully aware of Pearl's award system.
Steven smirked in response. "Actually, I haven't gotten one since. She still gets salty anytime we bring that incident up. Although I wonder if it was really about us destroying the arena, or that fact that me and Amethyst were fighting to begin with."
"Probably both." Connie deduced. "And by the way, how the heck did Buddy even get up there? Isn't it in the...well, sky?"
"Maybe it was my mom." Steven suggested. "She did have those floating powers, or she could have taken him there with the warp pad."
"I don't know why, but I'm getting the feeling it was neither of those." Connie said, staring off into space for a moment before an expression of enthusiasm crossed her face. "Anyways, next!" She turned the page again and the two were presented with a drawing of the entrance to Bismuth's forge, with a few words next to it that said "locked?", and "possible giant key."
"Hm. I remember that place." Steven said, leaning back in his chair. "Some good memories, some bad memories, some...neutral memories. I wonder what Bismuth's doing with it these days. I haven't visited that place since I convinced her to come to Garnet's wedding."
"It's in good shape." Connie said. "Bismuth actually took me there once, after the whole going to Homeworld and White Diamond thing, when I asked her where she made my sword. She took me there, showed me, and that was that. We didn't actually stay for very long though, because after a few minutes, I felt like I was going to boil alive and literally ran back to the warp pad.
"Oh yeah, your sword." Steven, having forgotten all about it, now that he hardly saw Connie anymore. "I notice you don't have it on you. It's back at your house then, right?"
"Yup." Connie said. "Although my mother forbade from using it until I finished my studies. She said she hid in a place where I would never find it, although it's painfully obvious that she just slid it under the couch and hoped I wouldn't notice. If there's ever an actual emergency again, I can just grab it and help out."
"Nahhh…" Steven said, sensing an opportunity to tease her. "You should just stick to your studies. Even if the world is currently being destroyed, those books won't wait." He made sure his voice was dripping with sarcasm, letting Connie know he wasn't serious. She briefly paused to laugh and then spoke up.
"Jeez, you sounded like my mom there for a second." She said, almost disturbed by how familiar it was. "I could totally imagine her saying that."
"Glad to see I'm still good at impressions." Steven beamed. "So what else did Buddy draw? What's next?"
Without answering, Connie turned back to the book and flipped the page over to a new one, and they both stared down at an unfamiliar illustration. As far as the two of them could tell, It portrayed some kind of gem mural, with four figures present. The first two resembled his mom in her Rose form and Pearl, while another looked like Jasper. However, the fourth was a total mystery to both of them. They didn't really resemble a gem, but instead almost looked human. A battle was depicted raging around them, and Steven and Connie just gazed at the page, unsure of what to make of it.
"Have you seen this before?" Connie asked.
"No…" Steven said. "At least, I don't think so? The style looks familiar, I think I saw it once on a mission to a gem structure, but I never saw this particular drawing. I have no idea what this is."
"Only one way to find out." Connie said, leaning down and closely inspecting every inch of the page. "Hmmm...looks like it's from the gem war, if all the fighting taking place around them is anything to go by. Alright. Three of these people I recognize instantly. Your mom as Rose Quartz, Pearl, and someone that looks like Jasper. I think Pearl is actually fighting Jasper here."
"They are?" Steven said, sliding the book closer to himself to get a better look. "Pearl never told me she fought Jasper before. That's actually kind of surprising. I mean, no offense to her, but the stats between the two are kind of…"
"Unfair?" Connie said. "Yeah, I'm not too sure that Pearl would last long against someone like her. Heck, I'm not sure if any non-fusion or Diamond gem would last long against her. Wasn't one of her nicknames the perfect Quartz or something? I don't think a person called something like that would go down easily."
Steven didn't respond to this, instead getting a brief flashback of that time he turned Pink and literally beat Jasper into the ground. This then devolved into all the other memories of when he had turned Pink, and before he could start thinking about that time he had almost crushed his friends back on the beach, Connie snapped a finger in front of his face and brought him back to reality.
"Huh?" He said, looking over at her in surprise.
"Are you okay? You were staring into space for a second there." Connie pointed out. "I asked you a question, but you didn't say anything. You just sat there like some kind of zombie."
"Oh, sorry. I'm fine." Steven said, his memories now replaced by embarrassment. "I was just thinking about something. What'd you say?"
"I asked if you recognized this person." Connie said, prepping her finger down on the effigy of the fourth figure. Steven took the book in his hands and stared long and hard at them, but even after several tedious minutes of him digging through his memory bank, he couldn't figure out who they were. His mind was blank.
"Sorry." He said. "I have no idea. I've never seen this person before. But didn't you notice the writing on the page? I think Buddy took some notes on it."
"There's writing?" Connie asked, taking the journal back from him. And there was. Despite it being extremely small for whatever reason, there were a few words strewn about the page. Connie literally had to hold the book to her nose and squint to read it.
"It says..."traitor"..."sword"...and some word that begins with an L. I think it's a name." Connie said, before putting the book back down on the table. "Not that much to go on."
"Maybe." Steven said. "But don't you think there's something weird about them?"
"How so?"
"They're not portrayed with a gem." Steven said. "That means whoever this person was, they're human."
"Human?" Connie said, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, it makes sense that humans would fight for Rose during the war, similar to the stuff I did for the Crystal gems, but...if this person really is human, then they're on the wrong side. They look like they're fighting with Jasper, not against her."
Steven nodded and suddenly got an idea for what they could do next. One that he knew would be much more exciting for the both of them then just sitting there and asking each other questions over this and neither of them knew the answer to. "Hey Connie." He said, grabbing her attention. "You know what we should really be doing instead of sitting here looking at this book? Solving this little mystery."
"What...do you mean?" She asked.
"I mean, why don't we go out and figure out whoever this is!" Steven said. "I don't think we're going to accomplish much here."
"You think so?" Connie asked. "I won't pass down the offer, it's always fun to solve weird gem stuff, especially with you, but do you think this is really that important?"
"Could be. I need to think about it, but it looks like it could be important." Steven said. "But it would still be fun to do, right? What do you say?"
"...Well, okay!" Connie exclaimed, surprisingly going along with it in a heartbeat. "I got today and tomorrow off from studying anyways, so we'll have plenty of time. But...do you think you have the time to do this?"
Steven pulled out his phone and looked at his schedule, a word which he had come to loathe with every ounce of his being. "I'm sure I can clear my...ugh, schedule out for a little while. I'll just cancel some of the non-essential things, and hopefully no one will bring them up later on."
"Awesome." Connie said, while Steven started clearing his day plan of the things he secretly didn't want to go to. (Which was most of them.) "So, where should we start?" Connie asked, flipping through the rest of the drawings. "Because I don't see anything else in here about that picture, and none of what we read pertained to it either. Chances are we're going to have to consult an actual person if we want to find out more."
"Well, we can't go to Jasper, because there's no guarantee that the Jasper in the mural is her, and even if it is, she probably wouldn't help us. She's...kind of a loner these days." Steven sighed. "So I guess we should go to Pearl." He said.
"That's a good idea." Connie said. "I mean, besides the fact that she's in the drawing, who knows the most about gems? Pearl. Who keeps the most secrets? Pearl. Who has the answer to almost everything?"
"Pearl?" Steven guessed rhetorically.
"Exactly. I bet she knows exactly who this is, and she'll be more than happy to tell us." Connie said. "Besides, it's not like there could be worse secrets out there than the one with Pink being your mom. How bad could it be?"
"Ehhh…" Steven said, hoping that Connie wouldn't have to regret saying those words later. "I mean, Spinel was pretty bad, and I had no idea she existed until she showed up herself. There's almost certainly more horrible stuff about my mom that Pearl knows that I don't, and it just never came up."
"True, but that doesn't mean this is one of them." Connie said. "Now, let me just put the book away, and we'll head over to your house to ask her. I just hope she's there."
"She should be." Steven said. "She doesn't have much going on today."
Connie nodded and then started to pack up, while Steven looked away and stared at nothing again. His level of excitement had dropped slightly and had instead been replaced with nervousness. It wasn't just the feeling that this mural was another terrible secret waiting to be revealed, but also because he only told Connie part of the truth. Sure, he wanted to do this because it was fun and because he was doing it with her, but that wasn't just it.
If an organic soldier had fought for Homeworld, then he wanted to know why. But more importantly, he wanted to know what happened to them, and how their battle with his mother went.
But as he thought about the possibilities of how that battle might have ended, he got a cold, nauseous feeling in his stomach.
And he wasn't sure if he wanted to know that badly anymore.
End chapter 1