"Steven!"
Steven woke up to his name being called in the darkness, and to a suffocating weight on his chest. A familiar shaped shadow loomed over him.
"Oops, sorry dude. Forgot you need to breath."
Amethyst got off of his chest, and air immediately flowed through Steven's body to release the rising pressure. He sucked in a few, short breaths.
"Amethyst!" He sat up and turned on his lamp light. Amethyst was grinning at him widely, and there was a strange happiness raidating off of her. Bubbling and growing stronger by the second, so much so that the energy exploded into clear view in her wide, owl-like eyes.
"Wanna do something fun?"
"Amethyst are you okay? I haven't seen you since you ran off!"
"It's something really cool!" Amethyst started to pull Steven out of bed, "You gotta see!"
"Pearl was really mean to you!" Steven pulled his hands away, "Amethyst, please tell me you're okay! Spinel's trying to find your stuff."
"Forget about that, Steven!" Amethyst said, and she was suddenly behind Steven and pushing him out of the bed, "You really gotta see this!"
Steven stumbled out at Amethyst's command, barely able to get his feet under his body before Amethyst had him by the hand and was leading him down the stairs and to the warp pad.
"But Amethyst," He objected, "It's the middle of the night!"
"So what?!"
"So Pearl's gonna get mad!" Steven tried to pull away again, but Amethyst's grip was solid and unrelenting, "You don't feel right! Maybe you should talk to Garnet?"
Amethyst groaned. "Ugh! That three-eyed know it all? Please! I'm fine!" The happiness flashed to an anger that seemed to sear Steven like fire until the cool nature returned just as quick, "So let's go!"
They were warping. Through the infinity, just the two of them, holding onto each other until they arrived at the destination Amethyst had set in her mind.
It wasn't anything Steven expected it to be. Instead of grass beneath his feet he found dirt as Amethyst pulled him off of the warp pad, and instead of flowers or life of any kind he saw stone. Gray, dead rock and dry soil void of everything, even weeds. Everywhere he looked, rocks of all sizes and shapes and in all different places. On both side he was surrounded by looming, rocky walls each carved with the same pattern of holes. Massive, bulking, almost human-shaped holes spreading all the way to the top, and scattered across the walls, dozen's of metallic, ominous machines clinging to the stone.
Amethyst immediately let of of Steven and ran on all fours through the dirt, laughing and cheering and rolling around in it as if it were pure gold.
"Amethyst, what is this place?"
Amethyst didn't immediately respond. She continued to roll and laugh and cover herself in the earth for a minute more before she finally sat up, her hair sticking out at every odd angle.
"According to Pearl? Hell on earth! But to me?" Amethyst took a deep breath, "It's home."
"Home?" Steven worked over to her, his eyes scanning the ground whatever she saw that had made her so giddy. All he saw was brown with some patches of gray where the rocks were sprinkles. "But this isn't the temple?"
"Uh." Amethyst smacked her lips together, "You know how you used to live with Greg in his van?"
"Yeah?"
"This is my van! And those are my windows!" She pointed to the holes, "Those are my seats!" She pointed to a large pile of rocks. "This is my van!"
"Your... van?"
"My van! My abode! My home! My kindergarten!"
"What's a kindergarten?"
"It's where gems are made! Here! Come here!" Amethyst grabbed Steven by his arm and pulled him along to a tiny, ground-level hole. "Recognize anything?"
Steven squinted. "No, not really..."
"Come on, dude!" Amethyst let go of him and motioned to the hole. "It's me sized!" She walked backward into the hole and, as promised, her body fit inside it like a puzzle piece; the only part that didn't quite fit was her hair, which was forced to fold around the rest of her body to not be left behind. "It's mah hole! The hole I was made in!"
Steven gasped. "Really?"
"Yeah! I mean, five hundred years too late, but I still came out! It's where I spent by first hundred years, dude! It smells just like I remember it..."
"You were alone here for a hundred years?" A sadness grew in Steven's chest.
"Yup!" Amethyst had the exact opposite reaction as Steven, "Until Spinel found me and convinced Rose to let me in! Before then I was just a lowly gem living in a lonely world. And now I'm a Crystal Gem! It's amazing, isn't it?"
She stepped out of her hole so Steven could get a better look at it, peering inside the darkness and looking at the thin, rounded walls. "If this is your hole then..." He pulled his head back out, "Then... what about those?"
He looked up at the hundreds and hundreds of holes just like Amethyst's, only bigger. Amethyst's giddy excitement was overrun with a sudden, suffocating sadness.
"Oh. Those ones. Those were the ones that came before me."
Steven tried to smile, but couldn't hide the fear that Amethyst would see through it, and see into their shared sadness. "Were they nice?"
Amethyst shrugged sluggishly. "Dunno. Never met em. They were long gone by the time I got out."
"So... you were alone..."
Amethyst looked away. "It wasn't that bad. I had this rock!" Amethyst pounced on a nearby rock and hugged it, "And that rock there, and that one too." She pointed to two more rocks farther down.
"I dunno..." Steven dug his foot in the dry earth, "It sounds kinda sad."
"Sad?" Amethyst's cloud of emotion lifted, "No man! Those were the best days of my life! No one to tell me what to do or when to do it. What I did, I did cause I wanted to! When I wanted to eat, I ate, and when I wanted to sleep, I sleeped!"
"I think it's slept."
"And I think Pearl's rubbing off on you." Amethyst booped Steven on the nose. "Plus I didn't have to worry about anyone touching my things!"
"Um." Steven looked around at the wasteland. "What things?"
"Ya know. They're around." Amethyst gasped suddenly and dashed off, pushing off the ground and gliding effortlessly into one of the higher holes, "Like here!"
The hole was much bigger than she was, and much wider; it would have easily fit two or three of her inside . She came back out holding a small, shimmering rock and jumped back down to Steven.
"It's a geode!"
Steven reached out to touch the white crystals, but Amethyst turned her back to him and cradled the stole like a most precious possession.
"No touching!"
Steven retracted his hand. "Sorry!"
Amethyst immediately forgot the interaction and turned back around to show off her treasure. "I found it when I was digging!"
"Why were you digging?"
"Uh, cause I wanted to! Duh!" She put her hands on her hips and looked off into the distance, almost into the past. "I dug a lotta holes, man. Oh!"
Amethyst put the geode in her gem and ran off again; Steven was starting to get used to it. This time, it was into one of the holes on the ground floor. When she returned, she was holding something dusty and white that made Steven take a step back as his mind worked to process what it was.
"Is that a skull?!"
Amethyst put her hand inside the human skull like a puppet to make it's jaw move as if it were talking. "My name is !" Amethyst made her voice high pitched and added a British accent as she started to walk slowly toward Steven, "And I am so happy to see you!"
"Amethyst!" Steven started to run, already anticipating Amethyst's next move; and he was right. The moment he started to run, so too did Amethyst pursuing him. "AMETHYST STOP!"
"He just wants to kiss you! Mwa mwa mwa!" She clacked the skull's teeth together.
"Amethyst!" Steven could feel the familiar, watery sensation around his eyes, "Amethyst, Amethyst, Amethyst!"
"AMETHYST!"
It was Pearl's shrill voice that stopped both in their tracks and made them look to the warp pad, where a very annoyed, very impatient Pearl stood watching them. Amethyst slumped and groaned with an equal annoyance.
"Here come's the fun police." Amethyst stored in her gemstone.
Pearl strutted quickly down the steps of the warp pad and picked up speed as she hurried over to Steven and grabbed him by the shoulder to spin him around and search for wounds or damage.
"Steven, are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine!" He was used to the fussing, but this time it made him feel frustrated to have the gem spun him around when all he wanted to do was go home and go back to sleep, and in the morning to let all the questions flow from his mind. He pushed away from her. "I'm fine, Pearl."
"I heard the warp pad activate and Steven wasn't in bed! What are you doing here?"
"Back off, Pearl!" Amethyst snarled her anger and the heat was quick to take over, "I'm just showing him around!"
"Pearl, Amethyst says this is where gems are made. Is that true?"
Pearl felt cold. Colder than usual, colder than ice. "What else did she tell you...?"
"Um..." The thoughts all seemed to freeze in Steven's mind just as the ice froze inside of Pearl.
"What else?!"
"Don't shout at him!"
Amethyst's heat melted the frost, and almost embraced Steven in a warm hug as she took to protecting him and taking the brunt of Pearl's frost herself. Pearl let go of Steven and made a slow charge toward Amethyst.
"How could you bring him here, Amethyst?! I know you're upset, but that's no excuse to bring him to this..."
"To this what?!" Amethyst interrupted.
"To this place! To this horrible, horrible place! I didn't think even you could be that reckless!"
"Then I guess you don't know me as well as you thought, P!"
"Please stop fighting!"
Steven's words went unheard.
"And just what does that mean?"
Amethyst shrugged, and her voice turned almost soft. "I dunno..."
Pearl reflected the same calm that overtook Amethyst. She took a deep breath and said, "Just tell me how much you told him."
"What?" Amethyst looked directly at her, "You mean the bad thing?"
"Amethyst..." There was panic in her voice and that fear started to spread to Steven.
"You mean how this place is a bad place?"
"Amethyst!"
"A bad place where bad gems came to grow more bad gems?!"
Steven covered his ears.
"AMETHYST!"
"Please stop..." Everything was too loud. His heart beat was too loud, banging against his chest and in his ears growing louder and louder with each pulsating beat. The shouting, the anger, the heat both emotional and physical. The sun warming him while his own emotions seeped his body into coldness.
"Is that what you're talking about?!"
"Amethyst! He isn't ready!"
"But I am!"
"Please stop!" Steven held his breath. His breathing was too loud. If only he could stop the screaming and the pounding in his head and the tears that stained his face hot. He needed everything to pause, he needed it to be quiet. He pulled at his hair but it didn't help, he closed his eyes but the blinding light still seeped through. "Please stop..."
"Oh, but don't worry Steven!"
The words were like a knife through his skull, but Amethyst didn't stop.
"We won! Right Pearl?"
"Amethyst, no!"
"We won!"
"Amethyst you're upsetting him!"
"Please stop. I need you to stop..."
"And we shut this place down..."
"Please stop..."
"TO SAVE THE PLANET FROM PARASITES LIKE ME!"
"STOP!"
Everything stopped.
Steven opened his eyes and looked around. Everything was still, everything was silent. Everything was was better. He could move, and he did. He looked at Pearl, stuck like a statue reaching into her gem and then to Amethyst, doing the same with her gemstone. His heart beat was still in his ears, stronger than ever, and when he looked down at his normally peachy skin, it was almost... pink.
Then it was over, and everything exploding back into reality.
"That is enough!" Pearl pulled a spear and lunged it. The weapon fell just short of Amethyst and landed at her feet, but it was enough to make the smaller gem back off.
"Pearl!" Steven gasped.
Pearl kneeled beside him. "I'm sorry Steven! I never wanted you to see this horrible place!"
"Then leave..."
Pearl and Steven looked up at Amethyst.
"Pardon?"
"Then LEAVE!" Amethyst was starting to cry, the anger welling up inside her bursting through, "Since it's so horrible here, then just go and leave us abominations alone!" Amethyst pulled out her whip.
Pearl resummoned her weapon, "Amethyst, you don't want to do this."
"Oh but I do! I do! Why do I...?" Amethyst grabbed her face, squinting her eyes against the tears. "UGH!" She flashed her whip, but it missed its target.
Pearl pulled Steven out of the way and shoved him carefully into a nearby hole, "Stay there," And then turned to face Amethyst. "Amethyst, let's just go home."
Amethyst's grip faltered and she started to shake. "I'm sorry..."
Pearl loosened her grip on the spear she held and her shoulders slumped as pity rushed through her. "It's okay..."
"I'm sorry I'm not good enough..." Tears of anger turned to tears of sadness, "I'm sorry that I was made here, and that I was made wrong. I'm sorry I'm not as good as you or Garnet or Spinel. I'm sorry I'll never be as good as Rose..."
"Amethyst..."
Amethyst wiped her tears on her sleeves. "I try! I really try to be like you, and to do the stuff you do, but I can't! You know why? Because I'm not good enough! Cause God forbid I like to eat every once in a while and sleep every once in a while, and I'm sorry that my life doesn't revolve around the outcome of a war I wasn't even a part of! I can't be like you Pearl, because I'm not like you! I'm broken! And there's one big difference between us..."
"What would that be?"
"If I had come out right, If I had come out on time, the way I was supposed to, I would have never joined the Crystal Gems. Or the rebellion! I never didn't have a choice, but if I did I would be with the other amethyst's..."
Amethyst looked up at the hundreds of holes above her.
"I would be up there!"
She pointed to the sky.
"And maybe I would be happy... and I wouldn't feel so broken..."
"Amethyst, we can talk about this back home..."
"This is my home. Don't you remember?"
"It was, but it isn't any more. Your home is the temple, and I don't want to fight you."
Amethyst growled and bared pointed teeth, blinking the tears away (though they were quickly replaced by new ones) and looked up at Pearl.
"Good! I wouldn't want to fight me neither!" She cracked her whip in a terrifying display.
"Amethyst, think about what you're doing..."
"Naw, that's more of a you thing, P. And I'm not you!"
Amethyst jumped, but before she could fall, her hair tucked around her like a full body shield and she shot off after Pearl. Pearl was barely able to leap out of the way as Amethyst rushed past, not slowing in the slightest and climbing straight up the wall, circling back around and diving downward to reset her charge. Pearl was ready with her spear, but Amethyst was ready too, and instead of attacking outright, she bounced. Almost like a ball, soaring and spinning in the air until her hair unraveled and she struck out with her whip. Pearl stepped on it, pulled Amethyst down hard, and cut the whip in two.
"Guys, stop!"
Amethyst groaned. She pushed her body up from where she stood, looking at her broken whip in despair, then at Steven running to her. To help her, to comfort her. She felt so angry, so scared!
"Stay out of this!" Amethyst folded her whip and shot it out at Steven like a bullet.
Steven tried to stop, but the whip struck him hard in the chest. Enough to send him flying back, and enough for him to crack his head against the stone wall. All Steven knew for a moment was ringing and pain. Every time he breathed and every time he moved. And then the sounds around all snapped back to reality, and the pain was gone and he could sit up.
Amethyst was striking out at Pearl again and again. Each time Pearl would dodge, almost dancing. Elegantly, twirling and spinning and flipping with her eyes closed even as Amethyst's aggression grew more and more pronounced. Pearl landed on one foot, twirled around, and kicked Amethyst's chest, sending her tumbling through the air and landing on all fours like some kind of savage beast. Her hair folded down along her back, nails digging into the earth; no, not nails. Claws.
"Stop this Amethyst!" Pearl said, holding her spear out in front of her, "You can't win."
Steven had to help, he had to get up. But just the thought of moving seemed to make his chest hurt and his head throb. He tried to call out, but all that came was a weak cry.
"Pearl... don't..."
"I don't care!" Amethyst produced two identical whips, shooting them out and wrapping them around Pearl's spear. Pearl tried to pull it free. "I won't sit here and let you remind me of everything I hate about myself!"
Amethyst raised her weapons and brought them down hard, sending a shockwave through the length of them that ended in Pearl getting tossed into the air. Her body slammed into one of the machines in the wall, and then fell and landed hard. Unlike Amethyst, she didn't immediately get back up.
"I didn't ask for it to be this way!" Amethyst started to approach Pearl, "I never asked to be made!"
There was a groan. A loud, metallic groan that made Steven look up to see the strange device , dented from where Pearl had collided with it. The metal arms keeping it in place were slowly creeping out of their holding. Slowly, but it was still happening fast.
"Guys, the thing!"
Amethyst and Pearl looked to Steven, and then up as they shared the horror he felt.
Steven didn't care about any pain, or any potential pain. They could run, but it was faster than Pearl, and definitely faster than Steven. He had to get there first, and he forced himself to his feet. There was no pain, or maybe there was; it didn't matter either way with the determination running through him. He could hear the groaning getting worse, the cracking and release of the machine above him, but he didn't stop to think of it. Pearl was still on the ground, trying to find her own will to stand when Steven threw himself on top of her, Amethyst beside them, and started to surround them in pink.
"Amethyst!" He reached out for the purple gem as the bubble started to form.
Amethyst shook her head, and even as Steven reached out for her, she ran.
"AMETHYST!"
Steven couldn't move. All he could do was cling to Pearl, cover her body with his and his bubble as best he could as the stones and metal came raining down on them.
