It took a while for anybody to be able to speak. It was the Pearl who broke the silence, with her hands still folded over her mouth; her voice was muffled, but the word was audible. "No…"

"No," the Amethyst echoed shakily. Steven paused, leaning back slightly on his feet and sparing a glance toward the others; by that point, Agate and Sage had backed away, beckoning Tangerine and Clementine with them, and the Jaspers were following somewhat reluctantly. Berry hadn't left Steven's side, and Candy and Lemon Lime were still making their way over; the Peridot looked positively petrified now, but the pink Pearl seemed to have recovered, staring at the other Pearl with wide eyes as Lemon Lime ushered her over to where Agate and Sage were. Steven grimaced, letting his gaze flicker over each of them in turn before he snapped his head back around to look at the others, as the Amethyst took a stumbling step forward, gasping. "No- no, you- you're not- you know you're not, right-? You- you know you're- St- Steven-"

"No, no, no, no, no," the Pearl was whimpering. Steven saw her fingers crease around her mouth - the pressure she was applying had to be painful, but the hybrid had a feeling that it wasn't that that was causing the tears to brew in her eyes, a steady stream already flowing. The hybrid faltered, if only for a second - his anger and irritation dissipated after a few moments, replaced with an almost crippling sense of uncertainty, a terrifying waver in his resolve. "No," the Pearl whispered, shaking her head furiously. "No, no, this can't be- they can't have- they didn't-"

"Pearl," the fusion warned carefully, "Amethyst-"

"No!" The Amethyst practically screamed; Steven flinched in surprise, and a little bit of alarm, when the short purple gem walked forward again. But she turned to glare back at the other two, and Steven could see the tears that had brewed in her eyes before she could completely turn around. The hybrid sucked in a deep breath and watched, lowering his chin slightly in silence. "No, Garnet, he- he has to remember, okay?!" She whirled back around - and Steven flinched again instinctively - and took another few steps forward. "Steven, come- come on, it's us," she urged; Steven looked down at her, furrowing his eyebrows silently and taking another step back. Behind her, the Pearl choked out a stifled sob through her hands, seemingly unable to speak.

The fusion - Garnet? - seemed to hesitate then. She lifted a hand, and Steven watched the visor covering her eyes vanish the moment her fingers touched it, revealing three eyes - a red one, a blue one, and a purple one. The soldier stared, ever silent (he didn't think he could speak right then if he tried, anyway, he was still conflicted, still torn, still… terrified) as the fusion lifted her hands, two gems glittering as they hovered over the Pearl's shoulder again, as one of them stretched out in vain toward the Amethyst that had wandered away from them. Steven looked back down at the purple gem, who had pressed her own hand over her face, fingers digging into her forehead and tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Then he looked back up, back to where Garnet and the Pearl were standing, and the fusion shot him a helpless look, silent.

It took a few seconds before Steven to compose himself, to rationalize the conflicting emotions in his chest. It took him a few more seconds to finally come to a decision, to make up his mind.

He wasn't happy with the conclusion he came to, but at that point, there wasn't a choice.

"Okay. Okay." The hybrid tilted his head sharply after a moment, and the sharp crack his neck offered was enough to startle the Amethyst and the Pearl out of their tears; he watched the pale gem's hands finally lower, staring at him in shock, while the Amethyst looked like she didn't know whether to be impressed or worried, her expression a mixture of both emotions as she flicked her gaze across his face. Steven just rolled his shoulders back, staring at them for a moment, before he rolled his head to the side to glare at Agate. "You want me to finish what I started? Fine," he growled, and she quirked an eyebrow right back at him in response, silent. "But just know when all of this goes off the rails, I tried to tell you. Just remember that."

Agate shrugged, responding lightly, "welcome to your new training regimen."

"I didn't say I was going to remember," Steven warned. "I don't want-"

"I'm giving you an order, Rose."

Startled into silence, the hybrid jerked his shoulders back and stepped slightly to the side, away from his mentor, as Agate jerked her chin up and arched both of her eyebrows at him this time. But she didn't say anything else to him; instead, she turned her head to look toward the gems, and Steven slowly followed her gaze after a moment. Each one of them looked startled, but Steven wasn't sure why. They were glancing between the two of them, tense and shocked, but every bit of hostility they had displayed before toward the other Homeworld gems had vanished. Unfortunately, Agate didn't seem to return the sentiment, despite her comments back on the ship. She had seemed… not excited to meet them, but intrigued. Now, she narrowed her eyes at them with an almost warning expression on her face, curling her lips back as she spoke. "This isn't for you," she warned them; Steven turned his head to glance back at her in surprise. That tone, it was a tone she only reserved for gems who had majorly pissed her off. "It's for him."

He stared at her at the use of that last word. Berry still referred to him as that, and so did Lemon Lime. Every other gem called him 'Rose', they called him 'she' and 'her'. It was the first time Agate had said any different, and it rendered him speechless. The hybrid hesitated, staring at her, then glanced back at the gems, and then toward his friends. Berry was grinning, looking toward Agate with an almost excited expression, a look of what Steven could only describe as pride flickering through her eyes. Steven stayed silent, sweeping his gaze back toward his other friends again. They were all silent; Candy offered him an encouraging smile, and Lemon Lime did the same, trading hesitant glances between Steven and the other gems. Tangerine still looked a little wary, and Sage seemed to be trying to comfort her and Clementine, who was also still rather tense herself - but she caught his gaze when he looked over, and offered a smile. They all wanted this. Everybody wanted this but him. Nobody else could feel the fear, the dread. There had to be a reason he had forgotten everything - but was there a reason they wanted him to remember it again? Did they really think he'd be better off like that? Should he think that?

Steven closed his eyes for a moment, ducking his head and furrowing his eyebrows. Once again, he rolled his shoulders back - and once again, he wracked his mind for an explanation that he couldn't reach. Once again, he felt the stirring in the back of his mind, still trapped away but not too far beyond his reach just yet. The emotions were so close - he knew that if he wanted to, he'd have a chance to remember. Maybe it wouldn't come as easily to him as it felt like it would, but it would still come. He didn't know how long that window would be open. He didn't know how long he'd have the chance to uncover the memories he'd suppressed. He didn't know if he even wanted to - but at that point, he was starting to second-guess himself, starting to wonder if it was really so important… so important that his friends had dragged him off of Homeworld, in the middle of a battle, abandoned their home planet, just to help him do it. Just to bring him here, to the gems he used to know, to the place he used to live. They had done that.

They'd done that for him. Steven couldn't fathom why - but he didn't need to, not right then. The hybrid breathed in through his nose, taking a deep breath and trying to relax as much as he could. It was an order, one he intended to follow. He just hoped that, in the end, it really was worth it. He hoped that all the pain and torment and grief he could still feel now was worth it. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't. But he would never know until he remembered, would he?

He blinked his eyes open and steeled himself, turning back to the gems. "Okay."

The Amethyst sucked in a sharp breath, looking like she was holding it for a few seconds, and the Pearl dug her fingers into her shirt as the hybrid took a few steps forward, spreading his arms out slightly. He almost lifted his hands into the Diamond salute, but he stopped himself before he could, remembering that these gems didn't follow the Great Diamond Authority. They were the rebels, the Crystal Gems. And as of right then, they were his new mentors; the only gems right now that could help him with his new 'training'. "I guess I'm all yours," he began, staring at each of them cautiously as he took another step forward, and looked down at the Amethyst that was now only a few feet away from him, staring at him somewhat desperately.

"You really don't remember…" The Amethyst squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, briefly turning away from him to run her hands through her hair. Steven gazed down at her for a moment, and breathed out a quiet sigh through his teeth as he looked up again, hesitant now.

"I'm sorry," he told them simply, letting his arms fall back to his sides.

"You have nothing-" The Pearl's voice cracked, shaking her head furiously at him now, and the hybrid shook his head a little himself and glanced away. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Steven didn't respond, twisting his mouth sharply and staying silent. He was a little relieved when Berry stepped in, though the Ruby seemed reluctant to do so. "Alright, sorry to ruin the moment, or whatever…" She reluctantly stepped forward, and the hybrid arched an eyebrow silently, glancing over at her. "Hybrid, Lemon Lime, I'm gonna need your limb enhancers."

"Not a chance," Steven retorted instantly, spinning around and backing away from her. He saw Lemon Lime do the same, even though the Peridot was already at a pretty good distance, looking positively horrified with the idea of having to take his own off. Steven himself hated the idea - mostly because, as much as they hurt, it was something the hybrid had long adjusted to. Adjusting to not having them on was going to be even more difficult, and he didn't think he could deal with one quick change after another like that. Berry sighed and wrinkled her nose at him, opening her mouth to snap back almost immediately, but the hybrid cut in before she could. "Hey, I'm serious, Berry, I am not, under any circumstances, taking them off, so you can-"

"Tracking devices," the Ruby interrupted sharply. "The limb enhancers? Yeah, they have tracking devices. I would know, since, oh, guess what, hybrid? I made them myself. So if you wanna walk around like a giant blip on the Diamonds' radar, then you can go ahead and have fun and we'll just see Blue Diamond whenever she gets here. Or, you know, you can not be dramatic and take the star-forsaken things off so I can disable them before we all die here."

By the time she finished speaking, Lemon Lime had already sat down to start taking his off. Steven, however, continued to hesitate for a few seconds, glancing past the Ruby briefly. Tracking devices… that made sense, but he still didn't like it. He'd had them on for literally as long as he could remember, and the idea of taking them off now was almost sickening. But, eventually, he gave in - knowing he didn't really have a choice in the matter, for the most part. Between keeping his limb enhancers on for his own comfort, and taking them off so that Berry could do what she needed to do so that they wouldn't get caught by Blue Diamond just yet… yeah, Steven… honestly couldn't argue with that logic. But he continued to hesitate, only for a few more seconds, before muttering begrudgingly, "I don't know how to take them off."

"I can help," Candy offered after a moment; Steven hesitated, studying the pink Pearl carefully. But he nodded, and she immediately moved forward, reaching out for him; he kept silent, staying absolutely still when she touched him, watching her fingers trail over the limb enhancers and press down on the buttons on the sides. "You might want to take those off, too," she commented after a moment, nodding toward the earrings dangling from his ears, and he grimaced. Great, another thing… actually, you know what? He wouldn't miss those too much. "We don't know what Blue Diamond's using to track you at this point…" She trailed off, scowling.

"I think my Diamond has bigger things to worry about right now," Steven murmured. He sucked in a gasp when Candy pressed another button, the tight grip the limb enhancer had on his arm loosening at once. Whatever had clamped into him when he'd first put them on had receded, and the hybrid rolled his shoulders back sharply - but otherwise didn't move - as the mechanical fingers fell limp and clattered to the ground beneath them, and Candy pulled the mechanical limb off of his arm carefully. A thin trail of blood followed, trickling down his arm; the pink Pearl frowned, but Steven just grimaced as he pulled his hand back - staring at the smaller, fleshy fingers for a while - before he let his gaze trail upwards to where the limb enhancers had been clamped firmly into his skin, tearing a little bit off, but otherwise the wound wasn't too serious.

"I'm sorry," Candy apologized, but Steven just shook his head at her and held his other arm up. His gaze flicked past her for a second, to where the other gems were. The Pearl had her hands over her mouth again, watching them in silent horror, and the Amethyst had turned away by then, seemingly unable to watch anymore. Garnet, however, was staring at him intently - she looked worried, almost unnerved, but it didn't seem to be because of the limb enhancers.

"Your Diamond is Blue Diamond?" The fusion asked after a moment - and when he nodded, she abruptly turned away from him and took a few steps away, clenching her fists so tightly that Steven thought she might have fractured the gems that resided there. He tilted his head, eyebrows furrowing, but he didn't say anything - just winced when the other enhancer was pulled off of his arm, a little more carefully, but it didn't quite change the ending result. Eventually, Candy gestured for him to sit down, dropping the two mechanical arms; the hybrid hesitated for a second, then reluctantly lowered himself to the ground and reached his hands down to prop himself up a little while he kicked his feet back, only to gasp and jerk them away. His hands had sunk into the little yellow… specks beneath him, but that wasn't what startled him. What startled him was the feeling of them grazing against his skin, the fact he could feel.

Completely distracted from everything else now, Steven found himself reaching down again. He gently ran his fingers across the ground, sucking in a shaky breath and watching the way it caved in underneath his hand. It was… it was warm, somewhat prickly, but not uncomfortable. His skin tingled where it touched him, almost ticklish; he couldn't mask his silent fascination, lightly flipping his hand over and pulling up a clump of it with him. It disconnected from the rest of the ground easily, feeling oddly soft despite the scratchy texture as he curled his fingers around it and tilted his hand to watch it spill through the cracks in his fingers, back to the ground. By that point, Candy had removed the limb enhancers from his feet and passed them over to Berry; by the time he looked up, the pink Pearl herself was playing with the odd substance underneath them, and Garnet, the Amethyst, and the Pearl were watching silently. Steven turned his gaze toward them for a second, hesitating as he glanced between them. "What… do you call this?" He finally asked, holding up a little bit of it to show them.

"Sand," the Amethyst choked out, almost looking dubious. "That's sand."

"Sand…" Steven echoed quietly, staring down at it and letting the rest of it trickle from his hand, falling back to the ground. Some of it stayed in his palm; he turned his hand over and reached the other one out to brush the specks off, flinching slightly when he felt his own fingers grazing over his palm. The touch was unfamiliar, not quite uncomfortable, but he didn't know how to react to it just yet. He stared down at his hands, trailing his gaze up to his arms, to the torn skin and the trail of blood, and reached up to rub some of it away, once more flinching at the feeling.

He glanced up when the Pearl approached him; his gaze flickered over her face silently, watching as she crouched down beside him with only a few feet to separate them. "Do you wanna see something cool?" She asked him, almost hesitantly, with a somewhat shaky smile.

"By all means…" Steven trailed off, watching the pale gem put her hands out over the sand. She lifted a finger - and the hybrid couldn't bite back a sharp inhale as he watched the sand rise up along with her, the specks spinning and swirling around each other as they took form. Briefly, he watched the sand shift into him; he cracked a half-smile despite himself, huffing out a laugh. "Wow," he murmured, catching the small smile that tugged at the Pearl's lips. She twitched her hand again, and the sand dropped back into place, the specks falling back into position as if they'd never been disturbed. The hybrid continued to stare down for a moment, tilting his head and furrowing his eyebrows, then glanced back up and offered the pale gem a small smile. "Okay… that was pretty cool," he conceded, cracking a grin. "I didn't know Pearls could do that."

The Pearl chuckled, crossing her arms over her knees. "Pearls can do a lot of things, Steven…" She trailed off for a moment, staring at him; the smile on her face faltered for a second, searching his gaze, and the hybrid ducked his head silently as he let his own grin falter, keeping his gaze rooted with hers. After a moment of hesitation, the Pearl spoke again, cautiously. "You… don't mind if I call you Steven, do you?" She searched his face again, frowning.

Steven fell silent for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek and studying her right back. "That's my name, isn't it?" He finally asked, clearing his throat. "Or, it… was my name, anyway, right?"

"Yes," Garnet cut in, and Steven glanced up at her, furrowing his eyebrows. He hesitated for a second, lifting a hand up to his chest when it offered a sharp throb of pain, a sharp twist in his gut. The feeling could only be described as uncomfortable, almost painful, like his insides were being shattered and ripped apart piece by piece. But, through the feeling, he nodded. And he instinctively shied away from the memories tugging loosely at the back of his mind, the box he still didn't know if he was completely ready to open yet. But he nodded. It was a small step, one he didn't really want to take, but one that he knew he had to, if he was going to remember. He wondered what the guilt churning in his chest was connected to, mind running through every possibility of what he could have done, without necessarily trying to remember at the same time.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly. "I'm sorry for- for whatever I did- however I ended up…"

All three of them practically rushed to reassure him, so fast he didn't have much time to react. He heard "What? No!" and "Oh, no, Steven, it wasn't-" and "You didn't do anything…" from each of them, practically clambering over each other in their haste to comfort him - and… he wasn't sure what to feel. He wasn't sure whether to be uncomfortable, or startled, or reassured. But, after a moment of hesitation, he managed to crack a smile toward them. Mostly forced, if he was being honest - mostly a reassurance of his own, just to try and drop the subject on that one. Clearly it was a sore one, for all of them. Last thing he wanted to do was bring up memories… whether they were his own, or whether they were theirs. "It- It's okay, I was just… I don't know. I've got a habit of…" He bit the inside of his cheek and offered a somewhat awkward smile now. "Nevermind. It's fine… I…" The hybrid paused, glancing between them, then looked away again. "Uh- hey, guys, weren't- weren't we gonna tell them about the war? Right?"

"War?" The Pearl uttered, and Steven bobbed his head lightly in confirmation. Disaster evaded. Now that he wasn't… as wary as he'd been, all that was left was the knowledge that he was… someone else. Someone he didn't even know, but someone they did. And someone… who must be very, very different from the person they used to know. From 'Steven'. And he didn't even know if he knew how to be Steven anymore, if he would ever be anything more than a soldier. That was what he was, right? Nothing else. He didn't know how to cope with that realization. He didn't know how to cope with the fact that he'd just fallen into line, just came to terms with being someone his Diamond wanted him to be, being someone Homeworld wanted him to be. And now he was in an entirely new situation, with people who wanted him to be somebody else.

"Rrrright," Berry heaved out a sigh, and cleared her throat. "Agate! Take it away."

"Thank you, Berry." Agate rolled her eyes, and Berry offered a quick thumbs up before she turned away again, back to Steven and Lemon Lime's limb enhancers, while the taller gem dusted herself off and walked forward, crossing her arms over her chest. "Homeworld is at war. We've been dealing with rebel activity since the end of Era-1," she began curtly, and Steven nodded slightly, leaning back a little and watching the other three carefully, gauging their reactions. The Pearl just looked horrified, Garnet was frozen, and the Amethyst just stared. "Recently, we've engaged in battle with them. And, before you ask, no - they're not the good kind of rebels," Agate added quickly, a sour look crossing her face. "Like you. They shatter."

Steven faltered slightly, glancing past Agate for a moment. Clementine and Tangerine were silent, but he saw the former flinch, and the latter clenched her fists tightly in response. "They… um…" The hybrid trailed off and ran his tongue over his lips, looking away again with a frown. "They shattered most of our army during the first battle. Just recently, they launched a straight attack on Homeworld itself, but…" He trailed off, grimacing. "We left before we could fight."

"We decided," Sage cut in carefully, "it would be easier to construct a plan ourselves without the pressure and stress that came with the war. We can't do anything else from the inside."

"We should have stayed." Steven shook his head, glaring down at the sand.

"We could have been shattered-"

"I am more than willing to die," Steven snapped, flicking his gaze back up. Sage and Agate exchanged a glance, and Berry looked up silently, unfazed. The Pearl, the Amethyst, and Garnet, however, seemed to recoil slightly when he spoke, shoulders jerking back in surprise; the hybrid paused, glancing over at them, and slowly slumped back again, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Look, I still- I still think we should've fought. We could have left after the battle," he stressed, curling his fingers into the sand again. "Or something like that, but… we shouldn't have just left Homeworld to deal with the rebels. The soldiers, the Diamonds…" He sighed through his teeth and glanced away. He wouldn't ever be comfortable with that.

It was a while before anybody else spoke. The fusion was the one who broke the silence, arms crossed over her chest. Not to hold herself together now, it didn't seem like, but thoughtfully. "The rebels," she began, glancing toward the Pearl with a frown. "You don't think it could be…"

The Pearl was tense now, staring at the sand. "... it's… it's entirely possible, but…"

"Explain," the Amethyst ordered, sitting down in the sand with a frown. Steven arched an eyebrow in her direction, narrowing his eyes slightly, but he turned his gaze back to the other two after a moment. Right, he was curious to see how this was connected to them, too. The other two exchanged a glance, staying silent for a moment, before they both took a deep breath and shook their heads, turning back to the others. The Pearl lifted her hands slightly, grimacing.

"Back during the first war, there was a battalion that defected to the Crystal Gems," she explained after a few seconds. She looked reluctant, like this was information she didn't want to be relaying - but she also looked uncomfortable, almost nervous. Steven furrowed his eyebrows, studying her silently. "But they… had their disagreements with Rose." The Pearl gestured at nothing in particular - and seemingly tried to ignore the way Steven lifted his head a little more at the name - as she flicked her gaze away to look back over at Garnet helplessly. "They were keen on shattering, rather than poofing. They were violent, and very… anti-Diamond." Again, the uncomfortable look was back on her face; she tore her gaze away from Garnet then and fixed her eyes on the sound, silently lifting a hand toward her mouth.

Steven glanced over at the others pointedly; Agate and Sage looked thoughtful, but Berry's gaze was fixed on the Pearl with a blank expression - her 'processing information' look. "You don't happen to remember names, do you?" He finally asked, turning back to the other two. "Names, facets, cuts… just, anything. So we can be absolutely sure that it's them."

"Angel Quartz…" Garnet trailed off.

"Oh- oh-" Tangerine practically shrieked, and Steven winced slightly despite himself. Right, Angel Quartz. He remembered her, if only faintly. He remembered her poofing Tangerine, but everything else after that was practically a blur at that point. The hybrid wrinkled his nose.

"Melanite," the Pearl said quietly, covering her mouth.

There was nothing but silence for a few seconds, as Steven thought that over, frowning. But it wasn't long before the quiet was broken once again - this time by Clementine - and the hybrid whirled his head around to look toward her at once; her voice was quiet, somewhat strained. "Melanite?" She asked tentatively, taking a few steps forward. "D- did you say… Melanite?" When the Pearl nodded, Clementine sucked in a shaky breath and held it for a moment. Steven could already see the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, even before she'd spoken again, her voice shaking violently as she did. "She- she was- she was the one th- that shattered-"

Once again, Steven faltered. Well, that was definitely confirmation, but at what cost? He grimaced, rolling his shoulders back and looking back down as he dug his fingers into the sand beneath him once more, pulling some of it up and shaking his head slightly with a slight scowl. When Clementine moved to walk past them, heading back to the ship with Tangerine close behind her, and Agate and Sage rushing after them - presumably to comfort the two - the hybrid finally flicked his gaze up. Not to watch them leave, but to turn his attention back to the others. "We shouldn't have left," he repeated quietly. "We should have stayed and fought." He breathed in through his teeth, shaking his head furiously, and pushed himself backwards to stand up. The sand tickled the bottoms of his bare feet - and he winced, initially - but recovered again quickly. "There's nothing we can do here. We've even got names now, and we can't even…" He turned, pacing a few steps away, and lifted his hand to run his fingers through his hair - only to jerk it back down again, once again startled by the fact that he could still feel anything physically.

"There's plenty of time to think about this, hybrid," Berry grunted.

"Yeah," Candy chimed in. "Come on, you know launching an attack on Homeworld was stupid. They wouldn't have sent all the rebels, and we've got more soldiers on our side now, right? Homeworld's going to be fine. What we need to worry about is what we came here for," the pink Pearl urged, and Steven grimaced, finally running his fingers through his hair. The curls were tangled, dirty; he didn't like the feeling, but he wasn't sure why. The hybrid lowered his hand.

"They attacked Homeworld directly…" The Pearl paused and let her hand hover over the sand again, twitching her fingers and bringing up another cluster of the little yellow specks. Steven turned around completely to watch her, furrowing his eyebrows as she began forming a small, makeshift model of Homeworld. A circular planet; it definitely looked like Homeworld, at first glance, but at the same time, it was also much different. Not broken down the center, like Steven remembered the planet to look like. The hybrid shook his head, gesturing toward it. Maybe a little picky, but that wasn't what the planet looked like anymore. It had changed, drastically, it seemed, from the last time the Pearl had been there, which honestly made him wonder how long it had been, and what, exactly, had caused the planet to break at all.

"That's wrong," he mumbled, and shrugged slightly when the Pearl glanced up at him, clearing his throat and shaking his head, gesturing toward the sand model again. "It's more like…"

"Broken," Berry cut in with a sigh. "It's broken."

The Pearl flicked her finger, and Steven arched an eyebrow as the model cracked down the center. Alright, that was pretty good. Not exactly identical, but without being able to explain what the planet looked like to her, he guessed he shouldn't expect too much. He studied it for a while, furrowing his eyebrows faintly and narrowing his eyes as he stared, and the Pearl paused and swirled her finger around above the model, spinning the little sand planet around carefully. "Where did the rebels attack from?" She asked after a moment, glancing up at them again.

"I wouldn't know," Steven remarked, glaring at Berry. "We didn't stick around-"

"There." It was Candy who pointed at the model; Steven and Berry stopped glaring at each other for a few seconds, exchanging a bewildered glance between them, before they both turned to look back at the pink Pearl. Even Lemon Lime had turned his head to look at her; Candy blinked, glancing between each of them, and raised her hands slightly with a shrug. "What? I pay attention. I can be observant." Steven offered her a curious look, but he didn't say anything. Well, at least someone had information. He'd been too busy following after Berry to have any idea where the rebels were attacking from; the Quartzes hadn't given any specifics, he hadn't stuck around with the Diamonds long enough to get any information, and he'd been far too wrapped up in his anger and irritation to take note of anything while they were leaving. The hybrid sighed, once again sparing Berry a half-hearted glare before he turned his attention back to the others, taking a few steps forward as the Pearl poked a tiny dent in the sand planet.

After a moment of staring, the Pearl let out a sigh through her teeth and looked up, scowling. "She's looking for Rose Quartz."

"That would be me," Steven muttered, narrowing his eyes.

"That would be your mother," the Pearl corrected. Steven opened his mouth, and paused. The word… that word was… different. It hit different. Once again, it stirred something faintly in the back of his mind, feelings of anger and confusion… the hybrid stayed still for a moment, curling his hands into fists briefly before loosening them again. He didn't shy away from the memory this time, didn't make any attempt to stifle it, but he couldn't suppress the anxiety churning in his stomach when the prodding at the back of his mind started getting stronger and stronger. He saw glimpses, visions. He saw… a giant pink gem. Not Pink Diamond, not the one who resembled the murals on the walls of the palace. No, this one had curly pink hair, a warm smile. He'd seen her face somewhere before. It brought feelings of confusion, inadequacy… longing.

Guilt…

Steven opened his mouth again, ready to speak - but he paused, flinching in surprise when he heard loud, thundering footsteps behind him. Berry let out a squeak - not a scream, not a shriek, not a yell, a literal squeak - and Lemon Lime practically jumped about a foot in the air, leaving Berry and his limb enhancers to scramble backwards instead. Steven had summoned his scythe before he had even completely turned around, but he had no idea how to react to what he saw.

The first thing he saw was a giant, pink… thing. It was tall, standing on four legs. Its hair was wispy, circled around its head rather than resting on top of it; Steven couldn't help but stare, caught off guard. He'd never seen anything like that before, not that he remembered…

But the weirdest thing was the human sitting on the thing's back.

The human, who was holding a sword.