A frenzy.

That is the word that best describes what happened five seconds after Steven woke and sat up, checking his surroundings and appearing to be quite relieved when he saw that he was no longer in the archives. There was no Charoite, no Topaz, no nothing. And his Gem and overall body felt fine, informing him of the fact that they must have been healed by someone.

And like most happy things in his life around this time, his relief was short-lived when he realized who was in the room with him. Which was pretty much everybody. They all stared at each other for a good ten seconds, not moving a muscle.

And then, out of everybody there, Spinel was the first to speak, taking a small step forward before rocketing towards him, her legs a blur as she moved at what could best be described as Mach 10. Her voice then rang out like a trumpet, sounding like thunder in the room.

"STEVEN!" She said, before barreling into him and tackling him to the ground in a tight hug. All the air was knocked out of him as she did so, and the two skidded to the floor, the hybrid feeling much too groggy and tired to even attempt to push her off him. Luckily, someone else did, and a second later Spinel was lifted off of Steven by Yellow, causing the pink Gem to let out a loud whine of protest and she frantically stretched her limbs to reach Steven again.

And that was when he was swarmed by the rest. Pearl, who was already the closest to him when he woke, embraced him in a hug even tighter than Spinels, followed by Greg, Amethyst, Peridot, Bismuth, and even Lapis. The only people who didn't hug him were Yellow and White, who were much too big to safely do so, Spinel, who was still trying to wiggle out of Yellow's grip, and Garnet, who stood stoically, as per usual, looking almost embarrassed with herself.

Eventually, Steven managed to signal to the others that he couldn't breathe, causing them all to let go of him Except for Greg and Pearl. With a burst of strength, he gently pushed them off of him, before backing into the first corner he saw so he could see everyone there, lest they try to hug him again.

But then, as quickly as it had arrived, the happy reunion was over. Everyone knew that this was coming, and they definitely weren't looking forward to it. Steven knew it was coming too, as their expressions said everything without even having to open their mouths.

It was time for him to give his explanation.

His explanation about why he had gone to Homeworld, why he hadn't just told them about Connie, and who stabbed him and where they were now.

Although Steven was not ready for that yet, especially since he had just woken up. They were all still staring at him, fully expecting him to start talking, but he needed time to think. To plan out what he was going to say and how he was going to say it so nobody got too angry. And for that, he needed them to answer some questions first.

And thankfully, he had been put in the perfect situation for this to occur.

"Wha-what happened?" He asked, in the best confused tone he could muster. He was actually confused, but not confused to the point where he could make himself sound as such naturally. No, the anxiety of what was to come purely overpowered this. "Am I Yellow's room? How long has it been? Who-

"Whoa, okay, Steven, we need you to calm down." Bismuth said, taking a cautionary step towards the boy. "Just do what you've been doing for the past couple of weeks. Just take deep breaths, steady yourself...it's all going to be fine, trust me. The person who hurt you isn't here anymore...hopefully."

"I...did you see them?" Steven asked. "Did you see anyone else in the archives with me?"

"...Just you," Yellow replied, leaning back. "You were alone, and I didn't see any signs that another person had been there minus some shattered cubes I spotted. Whoever they were, they had covered their tracks well."

"Dang it…" Steven said, who had been really hoping that the Gems had managed to poof Charoite or something. Maybe allow him to get to her and take over her mind again before she spilled her twisted version of torture to the universe. "I guess that was a bit too much to hope for. But what happened? Did you just...find me and heal me?"

"I can answer that," Yellow said. "I found you in the archives, as you know, with your Gem severely cracked. I gathered up the shards and was going to take you back to my room, when your friends arrived. After a bit of...commotion, a few of them left to go get that fountain water that healed all the corrupted Gems back on Earth, and I used that along with my set of skills to put your Gem back together perfectly. In the meantime, we've had a few...revelations…" She mumbled, looking directly at Garnet. "...But other than that, it has not been that long. An hour or two, at most."

"Just two hours? Jeez..." Steven said, trying to figure out a way to extend this. "Hold on. Why didn't you just take me right back to Earth to the fountain? I've seen it heal Gems who didn't even have the shards needed. It just formed new ones out of nothing but the water. Why did you take the time to insert the shards you found?"

"Because of...her," Yellow said, pointing at Garnet. "She told us that the best outcome would happen if we remained here on Homeworld to do it, and thus we listened. Of course, after that recent "revelation", I am expressing doubt that any of that was true at all."

"What revelation are you talking about?" Steven asked, before looking at the fusion. "Garnet, what happened?"

"Yes, Garnet, what happened?" Peridot sneered, shocking Steven at the uncharacteristic harshness of her tone. "Could you be so kind as to enlighten Steven as to how you ruined his life for the past two weeks on nothing but an, ahem, hunch?"

"...We can discuss that later. Peridot, even you should know that there are more important matters to deal with at the moment." Garnet said. "I promise I will explain it to him later but for now, the best option for-"

"Steven?" Peridot scoffed. "Is that what you were about to say? Because if you try to trick us again with that, I swear, you'll-"

"I was going to say everyone," Garnet replied. "And you know that I wasn't lying when I said I could see all of your futures just fine."

"Are you sure?" Peridot asked. "You can't possibly be making that call for all of-"

"Actually, I agree with Garnet here." Bismuth chimed in. "Peridot, now is not the time to start this again. I know and understand why you're the angriest out of all of us, but you have to calm down. Look at Steven!" She said, pointing towards the boy, who had been awkwardly standing by the whole time wondering what the heck was going on. "We're probably confusing him to high hell because of this! We don't need another argument right now. In fact…I think you should leave for a few minutes, try to calm down a little bit, and come back when you aren't so...vengeful."

"That's going to be a few weeks from now," Peridot said. "If you clods think-"

"I'll take her. It's not like you need me here anyway." Lapis volunteered/interjected, walking over and grabbing Peridot by the wrist. "Come on. We're going. Bismuth is right. Steven needs to be filled in on what's happening, and you can't be here constantly mumbling and making complaints."

"Wha…? Lapis!" Peridot said, as the blue Gem began to drag her out of the room. "No! Agh! I demand you take me back this instance! I am not going to be absent for this! I want to know just as much as the rest of them why-"

But by then, Peridot was already out of the room, and anything she said after that was heard as nothing more than faint shouts. Everyone paused for a second and then turned back to Steven, completely unperturbed by what had just transpired.

"Well...okay," Steven said. "I guess you guys can explain that to me later. But what happened next, Yellow? Did you heal me and just wait for me to wake up?"

"That's the short of it," Amethyst said, before Yellow had a chance to respond. "It was about an hour before you woke up. Most of it was boring, some of it was agonizing, and the rest…" She pointed towards the door, where Peridot's faint shrieks could still be heard. "Was that. Not a fun time overall. But in the end, yeah. That's all that happened."

"I see…" Steven said, before retreating to his thoughts. 'Dang it, that's the whole story! Now they're going to start asking me questions and I'm still not ready for that! I have to come up with something else...another way to stall them. Another way to drag on this conversation! But what…oh! Oh, I got something. Hopefully, I can stretch it long enough to make a difference…'

"I see...but how did you guys know I was here?" He asked. "Did you just search places randomly until you found me?"

"Yeah, actually, we did." Amethyst said, with the smallest hint of contempt on the end of her voice, and immediately Steven wondered if he had asked the wrong question."We came home to find you missing, and predictably everyone freaked out. Pearl called Greg and he stayed at the house in case you came back on your own, and everyone else went out looking at every place the warp pads could take you on Earth...as well as some places that they couldn't take you. Eventually, we came up with the brilliant idea that you were on Homeworld, so we went there, and you know the rest."

"..."

"And with that finished, I think it's your turn," Amethyst said.

"My turn?" Steven asked, instantly regretting everything.

"Yeah. Your turn." Amethyst repeated. "Yellow here told us a bit about why you left. Connie has amnesia, you were there to find some Gem scientists, and you were here to try and find information about the Traitor, which would hopefully lead you to some clues on Mirror. And I have to admit...I like the reasons why you came here. Connie and the Mirror thing I understand fully, even though I don't get why you couldn't have just tried to heal her regularly." She sighed, and Steven shifted in place. "But what we do want to know is-"

"Okay, I'm just going to skip past all that, this is taking too long."Bismuth said. "Steven. Why didn't you come to us about Connie and your plan? You could have waited until we finished that meeting and explained it all. And as Amethyst said, it was a pretty good plan! None of us had even thought of the archives before now! And with Connie like that, we would have agreed even more with it! So...why? Were you resentful of us for keeping you in the house for the past two weeks? Or did you just think it would be better if you did it alone?"

"I…" Steven started, before gulping. "I'm not sure if-"

"It's okay, Schtu-ball," Greg said. "Take your time if you need it. We'll understand. You can just-"

"No. No, it...it's okay," Steven lied. "I knew this was coming eventually. I left on my own simply because I wanted to do it as quickly as possible. Because I thought that time was of the essence. Um...Priyanka explained to me over the phone, and before you ask, Connie called me from the hospital, I didn't call her, that Connie's amnesia could get worse as time went on, and I was afraid that if too much time passed, then it might be irreversible. So I knew I had to be as fast as possible, especially since those scientists would probably take a long time to help her. As for Mirror...I hurried with that because I was afraid about when they were going to attack again. Like we've been worried about for the past few weeks."

"That's...hm. That's understandable, I guess." Amethyst said. "But we know about Connie's amnesia. And Pearl actually called the hospital and her mom with her phone while we were waiting for you to wake up. And-"

"Hold on," Steven said, before looking over at Pearl. "You called the hospital from Homeworld? How is that even possible? We're like thousands and thousands of light-years away!"

"Oh, I had Peridot upgrade it a while back," Pearl said. "It now has an effective range of over 20 billion light-years, far enough to reach other galaxies. She managed to do it in only a couple of minutes."

"...I can't believe I'm saying this, but out of everything I've ever seen her build, I think that is the most impressive. Twenty billion light-years...how do you even…?" Steven started, before sighing. "Nevermind all that. What happened next, Amethyst?"

"Well, Pearl called the hospital and Priyanka told her and us what she probably told you. Explained the whole amnesia situation." Amethyst replied. "And from what we heard, her amnesia is the kind that takes a long time to get worse. Like days or even weeks. If those scientists you were looking for truly study organics as their job, then I think they could whip up a cure for her memory problems in no more than a few hours. Why were you so freaked out?"

"Because...I just was!" Steven said. "And okay, maybe I was a bit tired of being cooped up in that house all day long, and I was looking for an opportunity to get out, but that wasn't the main reason. Those you already know. I hurried because I thought I had to hurry. Mirror could attack at any time, and Connie was only progressively getting worse. And…" He gulped and looked away. "I didn't want to have to talk to you guys about it, for fear that you might say no. Because I know you guys don't like Homeworld or the Diamonds or tolerate them as much as I do, so I didn't want to take the risk."

"Steven, we may not like or tolerate the Diamonds as much as you-no offense," Garnet said, nodding towards Yellow, whose only reaction was a scoff. "But we'd collaborate with them a million times over if it meant helping you, or Connie, or any other member of the Crystal Gems. In the past few weeks, we've been doing just that, talking to them and having meetings about what we should-"

"Oh yeah! I can't believe I forgot about that!" Steven interjected, smacking his forehead. "Yellow told me everything, you know! About your meetings with them and all that, despite me asking you not to! What's up with that? I told you not to get the Diamonds involved because they would only make things worse! And what did you do? You ignored the advice of the one person who knows them best and did...what, trusted your gut instincts? Why did you...um…" His voice then trailed off, as if noticing for the first time that he should not be yelling at the Gems right now, even for something like this. "...Oh my god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to react like that, guys. I was just a little-"

"No, it's alright. We did lie to you there." Garnet said. "But it was for the best. The Diamonds could do more for us than any instrument we could make on Earth. We needed their technology to stop Mirror. And now that they've agreed to help, every Gem in the universe is on the lookout. Basically, Mirror has gotten the exact opposite of what they've wanted. Aquamarine and Ruby were sent to kill us for knowing too much. And now everyone "knows too much"." She paused and then stared blankly out the window. "I only wonder why they haven't retaliated…"

"Probably still thinking it out. But seriously, I don't think that was a good idea." Steven said. "Mirror was fully willing to kill all of us to make sure that their existence didn't get out. Now that it has, I'm sure it's become personal. What are they going to send after us now? Or heck, are they going to send more killer Gems to other places? Places that have nothing to do with us, but they're still going to do it as revenge? Like...trying to make us feel like their blood is on our hands?"

"Try not to say that out loud." Bismuth recommended. "We tested everyone to make sure that none of their nanobots got on them, but I wouldn't be surprised if one managed to skip through. And if it did...then Mirror is definitely listening to us right now."

"Yeah?" Amethyst said. "Alright then. Hey, Mirror! If you're there, give us a sign! Make an announcement! Say something! Make some furniture float around!"

Pearl rolled her eyes. "Amethyst, it's not like a ghost-"

"I know." The purple Gem said. "But I just want to see if they're really here. And...it doesn't look like it. So we can talk about all the secretive stuff we want."

Yellow scoffed again. "Those accursed nanobots…" She growled, ignoring the purple Gem ridiculousness. "I remember the day when I first asked for them to be created. Another top-secret project. I felt like the injectors took too long to destroy the organic life on a planet, so I wanted something different. They were truly meant to infect every creature on a world before exterminating it, ridding the planet of life in mere minutes. But like my other top-secret project, White ordered for it to be destroyed. Didn't you?" She asked, looking towards the towering Gem in question.

"I only did it for everyone's safety," White claimed. "If an enemy or rogue Gem stole those nanobots, they could have become a nuisance! They simply had to be destroyed as soon as possible!" She sighed and stared off into the middle-distance. "And it looks like my fears came true…"

"Haven't they all…" Yellow mumbled. "First the ship, and now this. I can only wonder what else Mirror stole from us that'll be used as a weapon later."

"Hey...that's actually a good point," Amethyst said. "Are there any other super-secret projects that White ordered to be destroyed that might not have been destroyed?"

"Well, there were the time-glasses," White said. "But there were only ever three, one of which was on Earth. I know for a fact that the other two are gone. I personally saw to their destruction myself."

"Oh...the one on Earth is also gone. Smashed to pieces." Amethyst said. "Although it looked like Steven...err, a Steven got to it before we did."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say...actually, let's say nothing else about that," Amethyst mumbled. "Just know that it's gone. Any of it that was left was scattered by the ocean. I'd like to see even Peridot try to put it back together."

"She'd find a way, trust me." Bismuth said. "But back to what we were talking about. Steven, like Garnet mentioned, we've been talking to the Diamonds for a while. Holding meetings in the Forge, the real one, and discussing what we should do about Mirror, about you, and how the hunt for them is going."

"And how is that hunt going?"

"Not well," Yellow said. "We've been covering a decent amount of space, but there are still billions and billions of light-years to search out there. We've concluded that their most likely location is somewhere outside the former Empire, which unfortunately comprises most of the known universe. But now…" She said before grinning. "We do have a location. Or a series of locations. Their ship is orbiting a strange star, of which there are not many. Thus, this only leaves so many places they could be. We were actually discussing how to attack them before Amethyst announced that they had gone missing. Needless to say...we didn't come up with any ideas that would work perfectly."

"Oh," Steven said. "Well...I think I should get to the other thing you're going to want to know. The Gem who attacked me."

"Oh, yes!" White said, stomping towards Steven and nearly stepping on several of the Gems there. "Who was it, Steven? Who dared to attack you? I promise, I will send out every Gem we have at our disposal to capture them and-"

"Okay, okay, I get the idea," Steven said. "Her name...her name is Charoite."

"A Charoite?" Yellow asked, lifting a hand to her chin. "How very odd. That's not at all what I was expecting. Especially since Charoites' are not known for their fighting capabilities. I am not doubting your skills, Steven, but how did one manage to do this to you?"

"Funny that you should mention their fighting ability…" Steven said. "This one told me that Charoites could have been great fighters, but because they were faster than basically any other Gem, the "elite" had them sent to cleaning jobs where they wouldn't have any opportunities to rise up and rebel. She "did this" to me because she was so quick that she could be ten feet away and then be right in front of me in the blink of an eye. Literally. She...she was too fast for me. That's the short of it."

"Ah, yes, I do remember now," Yellow said. "We did have them sent to menial jobs because of their unnatural speed. I believe it was another order you gave, White." Despite the circumstances, Yellow chuckled and just barely glanced at Amethyst. "I suppose there was another thing we made that came back to haunt us."

"Yeah. Hilarious." Amethyst said. "But okay. This Charoite was super fast. So she just...showed up, stabbed you in your Gem, and got out of there?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Steven said. "She sorta stalked me around the room for a while, heck, I think she had been there watching us for a lot longer than I realized, and then she started throwing knives at me. From there it was just dodging them, making a shield, dodging some more, rinse and repeat. Eventually, I got tired of it and just made a bubble to protect myself in, but that proved to be a bad idea when her Topaz showed up out of nowhere and landed on top of it, trapping me."

"She had a Topaz?" Yellow asked. "Now that is interesting. Every Topaz ever created belongs to my court. And not one of them has been marked as missing. Ever. Yet somehow this managed to get by, despite the protocol I set in place making this functionally impossible…"

"Maybe they didn't go missing." Bismuth suggested. "Is it possible that they could just sneak off for a few minutes each day, do whatever they're doing like with Steven, and then report back before anyone realizes they're gone?"

"It might be...but Topazes are almost always deployed in pairs," Yellow said. "If one of them is in on it, then at least another one is as well. Steven. Was it only one Topaz?"

"As best as I could see," Steven replied. "It was just her and Charoite. If she had anyone else with her, I didn't notice them. But she did mention that there were other Gems with her, just not at that moment. It's possible the other Topaz was one of those Gems."

"Most likely." Yellow agreed. "Very well. What happened next?"

"She finally showed herself, that's what," Steven said. "Started talking about how she was angry because of her cleaning job when the Empire was still a thing, but then blamed me for ruining her life because she no longer had to do it anymore. It was like this weird hate-obsession. She hated her cleaning job, but since it was the only thing she ever knew, she couldn't adapt to anything else, which only left her to go back to cleaning...which, again, she hates. So now, it's my fault, as per usual."

"How fun. Another one of those." Amethyst said dryly. "So that makes...Ruby, Aquamarine, Emerald...and now this Charoite and Topaz. Just how many more Gems are out there that have a grudge on you?"

"Gonna be honest, it's a change," Steven said. "Usually they were just mad at my mom and wanted to take it out on me. Now they're just mad at me. I mean, it's not better, but at least I don't have to hear them complaining about her all the time."

"Hehehe...again, sorry about all that." Spinel interjected, turning away awkwardly.

"Uh...no problem." Steven lied. "But anyway, that's who Charoite is. And after that, I recalled that I had my mind powers. You know, the same ones that allow me to go into people's dreams and stuff? Well, I thought that maybe I could use those to enter her mind and maybe...shut it down. Force her to poof. I don't know. I was just planning on doing something that would make her leave me alone."

"And how did that go?" Bismuth asked.

"Badly," Steven said. "I attempted to convince her that I could enter her head and get rid of her whole cleaning obsessions, but she didn't believe me, and eventually she...tricked me out of the bubble, in a way, and we started fighting. And because of her speed, I was forced...oh boy, for this next part, I'm going to need you to not freak out." He warned, earning suspicious/wary glances from all present. "I sorta maybe totally went into my pink form so I could keep up with her."

"You did what?!" Pearl gasped. "Steven! Of all the-"

"I asked you not to freak out!" Steven interjected. "Please don't, this is stressful enough for me already."

"Well...alright," Pearl said. "But still. You purposely did that?"

"Yes." Steven, not even wanting to get into how he did it multiple times earlier on accident. "But I had to! She had her super speed and if I didn't go pink, then I would've had a knife in my heart the second I stepped out of the bubble! It was the only way for me to survive. Sorry, but...it was my only option."

"Question," Amethyst said. "About the whole mind thing from earlier. You said you offered to go inside her head and mess around so she wouldn't be a threat anymore. But why did you even have to ask? Didn't you go inside the Diamonds heads...everyone's head two years ago? On the battle on the beach? Why did you need permission?"

"I was worried," Steven said. "I didn't know what kind of mental defenses she had. I wanted to go in while I had the advantage."

"Steven, on that beach, you overpowered our "mental defenses" easily enough," Yellow said. "If you could do that, then a Charoite would be easy for you. Any Gem would be easy for you."

"..."

"..."

"...Okay, it was because I didn't want to leave myself undefended for too long!" Steven explained. "During the beach fight, my body was left alone. Unlike how it is now, time passed at the same rate as the...real world, I guess. I was worried they would take it and destroy it or worse."

"...Dude, you should have just said that from the beginning," Amethyst said. "That's actually a good reason. Don't want to leave your body undefended, that I can get. Why didn't you just say that to start?"

"Um...because I guess I thought it was dumber than my first reason?" Steven said. "Ugh, just forget it. I went pink. There. I said it like five times by now and I'll say it again. Does anyone else have any comments to make like Pearl on why it was a horrendous idea? Or, Pearl, do you want to add anything to what you said earlier?"

Nobody responded to this, and Steven breathed a sigh of relief.

"Great. I'm glad we're all on the same page." He said. "Now, I think I should get back to explaining my story again. After-"

"Hold on," Garnet said. "I have a question, Steven."

"Really?" Steven asked, as Garnet was the last Gem there he expected to question him. "What is it?"

"The pink form...were you able to control it this time?" Garnet asked.

"...Yeah, actually, I was," Steven said. "I just had to think about it and it was done. Then when the fight was...over, because of a reason I'm sure you can all figure out, it turned off. I did manage to control it for the entire time. But, uh...why do you want to know?"

"Simply curious," Garnet said. "And that is interesting. Every time you went pink in the past by accident, you were usually unable to control it. It was unstable. But this time, you claim that you were able to-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, because you already have a few things wrong," Steven said. "I've been able to control this in the past, even by accident. Like on the boardwalk, in my fight with Ruby and Aquamarine, or even during the first time it happened when I fought Jasper. I was able to use it with no problems during that. So...sorry, but whatever you were thinking of, it might be wrong, as the first few facts you were basing it on...were also wrong."

"Ah," Garnet said, before frowning deeply.

"It's okay. I want to understand what this is just as much as you do." Steven said. "Although I suppose we already kinda know that with the giant crack in my mind and all the other stuff Pink Steven told me…but moving on!" He exclaimed. "So Charoite and I started fighting. We were sorta on equal footing at first, what with how fast she was, and we sorta went back and forth, just trying to attack each other and avoid attacks. But eventually, she got the drop on me and...she stabbed me in the Gem."

In the middle of the room, Pearl let out a small wail/squeaking noise, which everyone heard but ignored.

"I started blacking out, but I used what strength I had left to try to place my mind in another person's mind, maybe try to reach a watermelon Steven, but things didn't go as planned," Steven explained. "Instead, I transferred myself into her mind by accident, and that's where I woke up. It took me a while to realize where I was, and I only did when she appeared and started yelling at me."

"You entered her mind..." Garnet mused aloud. "Similar to how Mirror did to you?"

"Yeah," Steven said. "What, do you have any other theory or thought or whatever?"

"Yes," Garnet said. "Before, when you said you used your mental abilities, you couldn't entirely enter a person's mind like that. You simply saw an image of them, and could communicate with them, but it doesn't sound like you could go any further except with a watermelon Steven. But now...you have the ability to invade it entirely like Mirror. It may or may not be a coincidence."

"You think that Mirror being there somehow gave me a new ability?" Steven asked. "I'm not so sure about that...but if that event is what did it, then I don't think it was their simple presence. Altering minds and stuff was more Pink Steven's thing. He knew how it all worked, even if Emerald claimed that Mirror pretty much kicked him to the curb when they encountered each other." He bit his lip and then nodded his head, seeming to reach some sort of understanding. "I suppose it's possible that before he was imprisoned, Pink Steven may have somehow granted me a few of his powers. Although that wasn't something he mentioned when we talked to each other last...during the whole static voice thing."

"Probably didn't have the time." Bismuth said. "You mentioned that he told you on numerous occasions during that "static voice thing" that he didn't have a lot of time to talk."

"True, but he could have mentioned it at the very least," Steven said. "But anyways, I guess that might be true. Although it's going to be hard figuring out just how much of his power he lent me. I wonder if this is one of the reasons he can't break free...he could need my help to do it."

"We can figure that out later," Yellow said. "For now, keep going with your story. Again, I'd like to send out teams to capture Charoite as soon as possible, and I don't want to do that until this is finished."

"Okay," Steven said, before nervously shifting in place, knowing what explanation was coming next. "Umm...so this next part. It's going to be a little hard to explain for me, and probably a little hard for you to hear or believe, since I'm sure that none of you want to believe that I was capable of doing something like it. Just a warning beforehand."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Amethyst said. "You know, just tell us right now, instead of getting to it normally in your story, so we'll at least be ready when you go back to explaining the whole thing."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Steven said. "I'm not ready for it, and…" His voice then trailed off and his head dropped. 'Oh screw it.' He thought. 'Not ready? I'm never going to be ready for this. Amethyst is right. I should just get it over with. Get the hard part out of the way. Even though the real hard part is whatever happens when we get home.'

"Fine." He said. "You're right. I should just tell you now."

"Steven, if you don't want to, then you don't have to-" Greg started, before his son cut him off.

"It's fine, dad. Trust me." Steven said, even though everyone there knew full well that it wasn't. "So here's what happened. When we were in Charoite's head, she threw her weapon at me, which was a chain with a spike attached to it. But I dodged and instead it sunk itself into the ground. A second later she started screaming in pain and clutching her head, and I figured out that it was because of her weapon. Since it physically hurt her mind by leaving a cut in it, the damage must have somehow registered in her Gem and turned into pain. So I just yanked the thing out and she stopped convulsing, which confirmed my theory even more."

"Oh…" Pearl said. "Well, Steven, that can't entirely be your fault. It's only natural to dodge an attack, and you didn't know what would happen. And you helped her by pulling out the weapon. If this is-"

"It's not. It's what I did with that knowledge." Steven said, before gulping. "She didn't stop after that. She kept trying to fight because she was just so mad. That got old quick, and eventually, I told her that she had a choice to make. She could either stop fighting herself...or I would stop her." He shuddered. "I'm sure most of you can figure out where this is going."

Steven was, of course, correct, because after a quick look around the room, the expressions on everyone's faces clearly read that yes, they knew exactly where this was going. After a pause and brief shortage of breath, he continued, his legs now shaking.

"So I summoned a shield. And I may have...added a few things to it that it normally doesn't have." He explained. "I told Charoite to stop, and I started counting to three. Either she could stop, or again, I would stop her myself. She didn't listen, again. No matter how many times I warned her, she just wouldn't listen to a word I was saying. So then I finally reached zero...andIstucktheshieldintheground." He said quickly.

"And...and you did what?" Amethyst asked, wearing an expression that was shared by everyone there. "Sorry, dude, I didn't understand a word of that last part. Did you say you...mucked around in a field?"

"No." Steven sighed. "I stuck the shield in the ground, which caused her to feel an explosion of pain and stopped her in place." He groaned, before covering his face (and especially his eyes) with his hands. "I know. I know how bad it is. I knew what would happen, and I knew how much pain she would be in, but she just wouldn't stop attacking me! If she didn't she might have killed me, and I couldn't think of any other way to get her to calm down! To get her to do anything that wasn't her own choice! I just…" He pulled his hands away, his eyes now wet with tears. "I just wanted it all to stop!"

Steven then waited a few seconds. He waited for them to start yelling at him. He waited for them to start whispering about how he was a monster for torturing Charoite like that. He waited for Bismuth or Garnet (or worse, the Diamonds) to pick him up and carry him back to the warp pad to take him to that bunker Peridot mentioned, which had been his other option two weeks ago. He waited for all these things to happen, staring blankly at the floor.

And waited.

And waited.

And then waited a little bit more.

And after thirty seconds of silent sobbing, he realized that no one was saying anything, and automatically assumed that they must be so horrified at his confession that they had been shocked to silence. He glanced back up, preparing himself for their horror-filled faces…

...only to be met with a slew of faces that were most definitely not horror-filled. Even Pearl and his dad didn't look too concerned about this. Sure, there was a great deal of surprise on their faces, but other than that...no.

"Ummm…" Amethyst finally said. "Was that it? Was that the big thing we were supposed to be horrified at?"

"Uh, yeah," Steven said shakily, wiping his eyes. "Why aren't you? I thought you'd have dragged me back to the house by now! I practically tortured her! Why are you all so calm about this?!"

"Steven…" Bismuth said. "I think you looked at this from her perspective just a little too much. What did you just tell us? That she was trying to kill you? That she would have killed you if you hadn't done anything? That she wasn't listening no matter what you said? Do you have any idea how that makes her look? Steven, she was the villain of the situation, no matter how you look at it. You were just acting in self-defense."

"Self-defense?!" Steven gasped. "You call that acting in self-defense?"

"I mean...what would you call it?" Amethyst asked. "It's like Bismuth just mentioned. She was coming at you. Aiming to kill. Any of us would have done the exact same thing if there was no other way to stop her. Heck, it's probably a good thing that she accidentally sent that knife into the ground beforehand. Then you had the knowledge that you could use it against her!"

"...Any of you?" Steven asked. He then looked at Pearl. "Pearl...would you have…?"

"Well…" Pearl started. "Was she actually hurt by this action? As in physically with irreversible damage?"

"No…" Steven mumbled. "It was only temporary. In fact, the holes I and her made in the ground sealed up the second we took our weapons out of them, no harm done. I think that's proof enough that whatever I did didn't have any long-lasting effects."

"Then yes," Pearl said. "Steven, most of us fought in the Gem war. We've been forced to commit many acts that none of us liked doing. And while this one could constitute as one of those acts, we still would have done it if there was no other alternative. If an enemy is coming at you, then...you have to do whatever you can, Steven. They're not going to stop. Sometimes they only speak one language, and the sole way to stop them is to speak that language, even temporarily."

"But...but…" Steven said. "Dad…? What do you have to say?"

"...I think I'm going to side with them on this one, Steven," Greg said nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "They definitely make a few good points. And while I couldn't ever imagine doing something like that myself, unless it was to protect you, I can understand the logic behind it."

"But...but…" Steven repeated. "Come on! Are you all-"

"Steven," Garnet interjected. "You already know how you think about this. Are you going to accept it, or keep trying to convince us about why we should string you up?"

"..."

"We don't want to punish you, Steven. We never have." Garnet said. "If you believe that you deserve punishment, and that only we can give it to you, then by all means tell us what we should do. But we won't do it unless you want it, Steven. What you did...you were a victim of circumstance. And as a final point, the way you cried and confessed it freely showed it all of us how torn up you were about it. Showed just how much you didn't want to do it."

"...Oh," Steven said, before looking at Yellow and White, who merely shrugged. "I guess...in that case...we should just go home for now. I think I should finish my story later, you know. Now might not be the best time."

"What?" Yellow said incredulously. "What are you talking about? Now is the best time, Steven. We're all here, except for Blue, who is...oh my stars." She pinched her eyes with her fingers and sighed. "I forgot to tell Blue that you were awake. She's going to be so mad at me for this."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Pearl said, entirely without empathy.

"No, she won't," Yellow said, before getting up. "White, come on. We're going to go get her. I think it's going to take both of us to calm her down. If that's even going to be possible…"

"Very well," White said. "Spinel, come with us. You're the best at calming Blue down, and as Yellow said, that is something she will need when she finds out how long Steven has been gone."

Spinel looked like she was about to protest, but after seeing the look on White's face, she sighed and reached up to her left shoulder, before flinging herself upwards and landing on it. White then waved goodbye at Steven and left, with Spinel turning around and looking down at him with the saddest expression he had ever seen her make. A second later they were gone, and Yellow huffed.

"I shall be going as well. As White said, all of you stay here. We'll be back with Blue as soon as we can."

And then Yellow left too, almost like she was in a hurry, and now it was only them. The Gems all stared at the now vacant doorway before Amethyst snorted and stretched her limbs.

"So we're totally leaving while they're distracted, right?" She asked, giving off a sly smile. Everything there nodded in agreement, and Bismuth chuckled.

"Yup." She said. "And I don't feel bad about it either. I've spent enough time here. In this palace...in their presence...I need a break. I don't know how you managed to deal with them all the time, Steven."

"I didn't," Steven said. "But before we go, can I ask just one question?"

"Of course, Steven," Pearl said. "What is it?"

"What is gonna be my punishment for...all of this? Running away and stuff?"

Roughly half the room exchanged glances after this, and there was an awkward pause until Garnet spoke up and broke it.

"We'll figure that out when we get home." She said. "For now, we're leaving. Yellow can handle Charoite. She knows every Gem type in the universe. She'll know what to look for. And those Topazes should be easy as well. All we're doing by leaving is making them sad. And like Bismuth said...I don't feel bad about that."

"...Okay," Steven said nervously. "Then I guess we should go get Peridot and Lapis."

"Ah, crap, I forgot all about them." Bismuth said, before rushing out of the room. And then slowly, one by one, everyone else exited as well, Greg and Steven being the last to stay. Steven paused, took one last look at the desk behind him, still wet with the fountain water, and then left, his father following close behind him.

Three minutes later, the warp pad outside the palace activated, and Steven was back on his way to Earth once more.

But that didn't make the fear in his heart any smaller than it had been at the start.