Mirror Gem

Steven sat down on the couch with his phone up to his ear as he frowned, "What? Why not?"

"Steven, I told you, I can't hang out today. I have tennis practice. And then mom wants to go out for family dinner," Connie said over the phone, "But I can hang out all day tomorrow! And I can come over all the time now that it's summer vacation."

"What's summer vacation?" Steven asked as he slid off the couch, his head hitting the floor.

"Y'know, when school gets out for the summer?"

"I've never been to this… school. But, Pearl mentioned it to me when she got me those textbooks. What's it like, Connie?"

"Well, there's desks, and chalkboards, books, maps." Connie began listing things off as Steven nodded along, narrowing his eyes.

In the middle of the living room, a large stack of different objects sat alone. Steven walked up to the pile and nodded approvingly.

"Yep, it's all coming together." Behind him, Pearl walked up with a desk and sat it next to the pile.

"There you go, this should account for all of the school appliances. But, I don't see how any of this improves your learning." Pearl commented as she sat down on a stack of books.

"Well, it should do something, right? Oh, I should've asked Connie what they do!" Steven slapped his forehead and laid against a cabinet. "How am I going to know how any of this teaches me now?"

Pearl hummed before an idea came to her, "Oh! Wait, I know something that can teach you!"

She stood up and held her hand near her gem. It glowed white before an object materialised in the air, made of light. The object gained form and appeared to be a mirror with a cracked blue gemstone on the back. Steven grabbed the handle and looked down at his reflection.

"This is the Mirror of Recollection! It was a prized artifact that can capture and display any event it's witnessed in all of gem history" Pearl explained, walking over next to Steven.

"Woah, I must be incredibly important to gem culture." Steven remarked as he smiled at himself slyly.

"N-No, that's just your reflection. It's not even turned on," Pearl explained before clearing her throat, "Mirror, show us the Galaxy Warp."

The mirror did nothing, which caused Steven to frown in disappointment. Pearl raised an eyebrow and tried again, "Mirror, show us the galaxy warp!"

Nothing. Again.

With a defeated sigh, Pearl looked to Steven, "It must be broken. Such a shame, I would've loved for you to see the Temple of Ancients."

"Does that mean I can keep it?" Steven asked as he looked up to her with a smirk.

"I guess so, and I assume our school is over." Pearl hummed as she looked over at the pile she knew she needed to clean up now.

"You could say it's… out for summer?" Steven said with a goofy smile.

"Um… sure, Steven. I guess there are many ways to say it." Pearl responded, not getting the joke.

Steven cheered loudly and ran out the house screaming, "Summer vacation!"

"Happy summer vacation, Steven! Happy summer vacation Beach City!" Steven yelled as he held his arms up, walking backwards.

His celebration was cut short when he bumped into someone, who then dropped a table. Steven turned around and saw that it was Lars, who whipped his head around and glared at him.

"Watch where you're going you little shi-Steven!" Lars warned while pointing at Steven, stopping himself when Sadie glared at him menacingly.

"S-Sorry, I'm just excited for summer! Are you excited for summer?!" He yelled happily as he pointed at Sadie.

"Well, I think I'm as excited as I can get for setting up extra seating for the summer rush." Sadie replied as she pointed at other tables behind her, "But I think Lars has big plans."

"You bet I do. All those out of town summer babes traveling away from home without their boyfriends… if you know what I mean?" He leaned over the fallen table with a smirk, raising his eyebrows at Steven.

Steven deadpanned at him before shrugging, "Nope."

"Well, maybe I can get a few numbers… and call one." Lars said as he looked off to the side with a longing smile.

"Ha! Yeah, maybe I'll… meet a new friend!" Sadie said while smiling at Lars, who looked at her with a weird glance.

"That's a great idea! Make a special new friend who will have fun with you on the beach for the summer," Steven said before lifting up the mirror to his head. "Maybe if I keep using the mirror to guide me, I'll walk backwards into my own beach summer fun buddy!"

Steven began walking backwards and smiling at the mirror, while Lars said something he didn't completely hear.

He sped up and began laughing, using the mirror to guide himself down the road. After moonwalking comically and passing Beach Citywalk Fries, the mirror's glass began moving like water and turned into an image of Lars. The boy didn't notice the mayor's van driving towards him.

"Watch where you're going you little shi-"

Steven looked down at the mirror in confusion before looking to his right and screaming, "No!"

The van stopped to a halt, and Mayor Dewey leaned out from the passengers side, "Hey! Car wash Kid, what're you doing!?"

"I don't know, why were you driving on the boardwalk?" Steven asked, causing the mayor glare at him.

"I'm the mayor! I'm not gonna walk anywhere! Now, go get run over somewhere else, I'm late for a speech." Dewey said before leaning back into the van. It backed away and passed Steven, who looked down at his mirror.

"What just happened?" He asked as he stared at his reflection, which began shifting into himself laughing.

"You work!" He said while smiling widely, "This is so cool! What's it like being a mirror?"

"You work!"

"So you can repeat stuff?" He asked, to which the mirror responded with him laughing 'yeah!'

A man nearby talking through a megaphone caught Steven's attention. Walking over, Steven saw that it was the mayor, and he joined in with a crowd near him. He pushed past a couple of strangers, probably just tourists coming to see the beach, and got a spot near the front.

"Hello Beach City, my friends! It's great to be here to celebrate the coming season! The warm summer breeze wafts through the air."

Steven brought up his hand and made a fart noise, getting a few chuckles and snickers. As the mayor continued his speech, the mirror began repeating the noise, until the crowd around them were laughing at the mayor.

"Wow, you picked that up fast!" Steven commented to the mirror with a smile.

As Steven was lying against the sand of the beach, the sun setting in the distance, the mirror made another fart noise. Steven chuckled before shaking his head, "You got a lot of mileage out of that joke. You're pretty funny for a mirror."

"You're pretty funny for a mirror." This made Steven laugh, "I'm not a mirror!"

"You're pretty funny for a-Steven!"

"Huh! You made something new! Say something else!" He said while lifting himself from the sand, excitedly smiling at the mirror.

"Steven! Is the new friend!"

"Really?!" Steven asked, blushing.

"Yeah!"

"You're my friend too!" Steven said happily while sitting on his knees. The mirror began mimicking his laughter, his head appearing in circles and multiplying.

"Wow! I gotta go tell the gems!" Steven said as he stood up and began walking towards the temple. Suddenly, the mirror screamed, "Noo!!"

"Don't be shy! They'll love you!" He gave it a reassuring smile, but was met with another scream. This time, it began multiplying again, "No! No! No!"

"Don't worry, they're a good audience!"

Steven opened the door to the beach house, and saw the gems sitting in the living room. A tall stack of different objects were neatly organized on the table.

"Yo! Ste-man!" Amethyst said while raising a hand up.

"Howdy, bang." Garnet greeted while pointing a finger gun at him, pretending to shoot.

"Hey Steven! Look at this tower we've made!" Pink said while waving at him. She placed a toy bear on it, before Pearl stabbed it through the chest with her spear.

Amethyst began laughing as Pearl angrily began tearing the bear off. "What do you not understand when I say symmetrical means both sides have to be equal!?"

She tossed the toy bear to a small pile of stabbed things, and made Steven look at it in anguish, "MC Bear Bear!"

He got over it quickly and waved his arms, "Okay, that's great. Anyway, I fixed the mirror!"

"Excellent work Steven!" Pearl complimented as she dissipated her spear and clasped her hands together.

"You didn't tell me it was a person." His words made the gems look at him in shock.

"Say hey!" Steven said as he held out the mirror to the gems. After nothing happened, he looked at it in confusion, "Little buddy?"

He looked back at the gems and sighed, "Excuse us." Turning around, he looked down at the mirror, "C'mon, you wanna come out, don't you? You got so much to say, and funny noises from across the ages. Are we not beach summer fun buddies?"

The mirror turned and made a fart noise, making Steven laugh, "Just couldn't help yourself, huh!"

"Just-for-you-Steven!Haha! Haha!"

"It's talking to him? It shouldn't be able to do that, it should only be following orders!" Pearl said while slowly covering her mouth, as the others stood up quickly.

"Steven?" Pink said as she walked up and bent down near him, making the mirror yell, "No! No!"

Steven turned his head around and frowned at Pink, laying a hand on the mirror.

"Steven, you should just give back the mirror. It could be dangerous." She explained articulately, making Steven step back from her to the door.

"Yeah, let's bubble it!" Amethyst said as she punched the palm of her hand.

"We need to make sure we can watch it." Garnet explained, crossing her arms.

The mirror began screaming again, and he felt sweat drip down his head, "It doesn't want to go with you. Don't you hear it screaming?"

"It's just a tool, it can't want anything. Now, give it to me, Steven." Pink ordered, raising her arm to take it from him.

As her hand approached, Steven continued glancing back and forth between the mirror. He felt anger bubble up before he raised the back of his hand.

"It wants to be…with me!" He tried to slap her hand away, but his hand continued past and hit her straight across the cheek, making the diamond reel her head to the side amd grab her cheek. Realization crept into his head, and dread hit him like a rock.

As the gems gasped from behind, Pink turned her head and glared at Steven, her diamond-shaped pupils bright white with blazing anger.

He yelped before running out the door, "I'm sorry!" He ran away from the porch and ran down the beach.

After stopping behind a rock, he wiped away his sweat and looked down at the mirror.

"What am I gonna do! What's their problem with you?" The mirror began changing, and he began shaking it. "Are you trying to tell me something!?"

"Away from home-let-me-out!" The words came out distorted, and he heard the gems yell his name in the distance.

"I don't understand! C'mon, I wanna help you! What can I do!?"

The mirror began showing clouds and glowed a soft blue. A blue image of the mirror came into view, and it showed Steven grabbing the gem from the back and pulling it out.

He furrowed his eyes and turned the mirror around, seeing the cracked gem on the back. Slowly, he grabbed the gem and began pulling with all of his strength.

Water began closing in around him, making a water droplet shape at his feet. He groaned before yanking out the gemstone, causing the mirror to crack and explode.

The gemstone blew up with light, and floated from his hand into the air. It shot out five beams of light blue light before it took form.

A blue gem with a dark blue skirt, crop top, and shaggy hair formed from the gemstone. She fell to the ground, and Steven dropped the mirror to help her. The gem lifted herself off the ground and turned her head to him.

"Thank you… Steven." She muttered, before standing up. Nearly falling, Steven grabbed her arms and helped her up.

"You… you helped me! You actually talked to me!" She said as she smiled at him.

"Yeah! Why wouldn't I?" Steven asked as the gem stood up straight, not needing his help anymore.

"Are you really a Crystal Gem?" She asked, making Steven nod with a smile.

"Yeah!"

"Then why did you set me free?" Her question made Steven frown and raise an eyebrow, "What?"

"Steven!" He turned his head and saw the gems running towards them, their weapons summoned.

"Wait!" He yelled as he ran up to them with his arms raised. A dark shadow fell upon the beach as the blue gem spoke furiously.

"You." Steven turned his head around and saw water rising up like tendrils. "You four knew I was in there. And you didn't do anything! Did you even wonder who I used to be!?"

The water formed into three giant arms, and one slammed down onto the beach. They all moved away from it, but Garnet was caught under the hand. The other arms attempted to hit the gems, swinging down on them.

"Steven! Run!" Pearl shouted as she landed on the sand, dodging a giant fist.

"What are you doing?!" Steven asked as he looked at the blue gem, grabbing her arm and pulling on it. She completely ignored him, too consumed with rage.

"I'm Lapis Lazuli! And you can't keep me trapped here ANYMORE!"

Lapis yelled in anger as the ocean behind her began rising violently. A line formed in the water, creating a path into the ocean, no end in sight.

"Steven, come with me. They're not gonna let us leave." Lapis said, making Steven panic.

"Leave? W-Where?"

"Home." Lapis muttered sorrowfully.

"B-B-But I…" He failed to form words, and was interrupted as Garnet punched away an arm, sending a shockwave around the beach. Lapis and Steven skidded across the sand, and Lapis scowled angrily.

An arm formed from the water again and grabbed Steven, making him yell, "Wait! Hold on!"

"I won't let them trap us! We're leaving this place!" Lapis said angrily as Garnet rushed towards them frantically.

A huge wave rose in the ocean as Lapis and Steven disappeared into the water, and the wave came crashing down onto the beach.

"Steven!" The gems yelled before being thrown by the wave, sending them flying back. Quickly, they got back up and ran to the edge of the beach.

There were no signs of Steven or Lapis, and reality set in for them. Pearl began hyperventilating and holding her stomach as Amethyst began freaking out.

"He's gone! She took Steven! What're we gonna do!?"

Pink's arms were shaking as she stared at the ocean with dread, her body trembling and letting off a faint pink glow. Garnet scowled before gritting her teeth and looking to the rest of the gems.

"We have to find them! We can't let her escape!" She began walking to the water, but felt a hand grab her arm. She scowled and looked back, meeting eyes with Pearl.

"She already has."