Well, I hope the party left some of you with the warm fuzzies because now its time to see what Rose and Pink were doing!
While a special occasion was happening on Earth, the gem empire was doing anything but celebrating. Absolute chaos had broken out all over the empire with the announcement of Pink Diamond's true whereabouts. For the first time ever, many gems not only had ample reason to doubt their leaders but also a means to act on it. White Diamond had completely sequestered herself in her palace leaving Yellow and Blue to try and keep the peace.
The keyword being "try" since they were only two gems with hundreds of planets currently going berserk. First and foremost was the Off-Colors immediately rising up to join Rose's ranks, all too happy to live under a new flag that would promise them freedom and acceptance. On Homeworld especially, this meant a full-fledged uprising that swamped the remaining loyalists who were simply outnumbered. The only reason there was no mass-shatterings was because Rose and Pink's requests that no shards be spilt.
While those outside of the caste system were the first to defect, they were far from the only ones. The lower levels of society all had far too many unhappy customers who hated their superiors and were practically packing spaceships to bursting in order to join Rose and Pink. Quite a few generals and other high-profile workers found themselves suddenly lost without pearls, ruby bodyguards or even robonoids to protect them without any grunts to manufacture or repair them. It made them even easier prey for disgruntled
And if even Homeworld was in disarray, the colonies were even worse. What few gems tried to keep the Great Diamond Authority in control found themselves facing their own armies and technology as they were sorely outnumbered. Every one agate or such had hundreds of gems under her command and all but the most disillusioned jumped ship leaving only one of the two mobile diamonds as the ones who could stop them.
There was one planet, however, that was quite happy. This was the base of Rose and Pink's new society where gems were all hurrying to for a new opportunity. In the span of about a week, they had spread from that one shipping area to the entire moon which was slowly being built into something new. The strip-mined quarries were slowly being refitted with plants and various smaller structures to offer gems rest. The container yards were being filled with works of art and areas for play. Ships of all shapes and sizes were abandoned and repurposed into lodgings or other buildings assuming they were not dismantled for materials.
And overseeing all of this was Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond, easily the two most content with the situation. Almost minutes after their message went out, they were flooded with pleas for salvation or having gem cut out the middleman by going to them. They were now trying to settle on a name for their new domain but figured that might be a bit too presumptuous at the moment.
Beyond even that, however, came an even bigger development in Rose's new energy manipulation. Having now been given the power of tens of thousands of eager gems, her abilities had already multiplied far beyond where they were when she first reunited with Pink. Now capable of making elaborate energy constructs including full-blown replicas of the spaceships that could still be detonated at will, firing either hundreds of lasers at a time or ones several times larger than she was. It made all too easy for her to defend the few threats her new territory faced from Homeworld trying and failing desperately to attack them.
As for Pink, she finally had something that she had never gotten from her old family – freedom and respect. She was the one in charge of travelling to Homeworld's nearby colonies or holdouts to convince more gems to join their cause. Everywhere she went, on her own schedule, she was met with resounding cheers from the vast majority with only a handful of devil's advocates at each place insisting she was either brainwashed, an impostor, or simply being too loyal to the Great Diamond Authority to consider her their leader.
This did give Pink the occasional opportunity to flex her own combat prowess when someone was actually deluded enough to attack her. They seemed to forget that being a diamond, even one far smaller than the others of her caste, meant she was a literal cut above the rest. Plus, considering her own desire to not permanently harm anyone, her strength meant mostly just standing there and tanking hits from whatever moron tried ambushing her and them poofing them with one single hit. Not only did it get the crowds further hyped to join her and Rose, it was also a nice break from the hours of space travel between planets.
While Pink was away on her latest excursion, Rose was in the tower after a taking a very peaceful trip around her domain and seeing all of the relaxed smiles her new family had. The only downside was how much it reminded her of her son and the other gems still on Earth but thankfully she had something for that. She turned to the communicator and dialed in to one specific ship.
"Rose?" the voice on the other end replied immediately, "What can we do for you?"
"Just a quick progress check. What's your ETA to the destination?"
"By the planet's timescale, about three days assuming there are no obstructing phenomena."
"Good to hear. Report to me once you've made contact."
"Understood."
The signal died off, leaving Rose to her own thoughts again. She wanted to reach Steven by his special day but figured that the others would do something for him, and Rose did not want to upstage them. All the mother could hope for was that she would see him soon and that the others would all take the news well.
Rose could swear she was feeling her heart beat out of her chest as she stood there waiting, deciding instead to head back outside and spend some more time with her public.
The next several days following Steven's birthday were far calmer than the celebration itself. Though the boy was suddenly drowning in new games, clothes and even a few new bicycles, his schedule was as free as ever leaving him more than enough to sort through it all and enjoy it properly.
As for the other gems, when not making up for lost quality time with Steven, were more than comfortable to slip back into their respective passions. Pearl turned to practicing her swordplay for fun with duels between Connie and Rhodonite to keep them all sharp. Peridot and Lapis went back to collaborating on meep-morps with plans to make a space similar to what they had at the barn. Bismuth was forging as always although she was interested into trying metalwork that was functional outside of combat. Adamite found herself taking up sand-sculpting as a hobby while Cinnabar had gotten a bug for making fireworks after Steven's little birthday present. Topaz had actually gotten interested in wrestling after hearing about Amethyst's time as the Purple Puma.
The entire vibe of the abode changed from the home base of a tightly organized team of defenders to an immensely unusual yet loving family who now had time to pursue their passions instead of rushing out to deal with whatever imminent threat was coming this week. Even those who did not have new hobbies found some relief to returning to their mundane routines of jobs, school or just trite matters that were a much lighter load than incoming superweapons or invading armies.
This also meant that the Crystal Beacon had sat in the desert exactly where Pink Diamond's ship used to be since the team returned from their biggest mission. They were honestly at a loss for what to do with the thing at this point since none of them had any desire to leave Earth for the time being. They mulled over donating it to science, but even the more optimistic of the group knew that such technology could be grossly misused in the wrong hands. For now, the decision was to leave it be and keep it around in case of emergencies.
While the ship sat idle, the gems were out and about even in the early morning. Steven was currently un the back of his father's van playing a handheld videogame on his new Puntendo GS, a joint gift from Sadie and Lars, while Connie had her nose in a book across from him. In the front of the van was Greg in the driver's seat and Priyanka sitting next to the older Universe.
"Thank you very much for this," the doctor said, "It shouldn't be too much longer… My friend's been giving me these weekly sessions and-"
"Hey, it's alright, Doc," the father assured her, "I get it. When Rose first left, going to all the places we were together at was hard but that still doesn't measure up to you. Heck, I could probably just buy you a new car!"
"Absolutely not. I will not have you putting yourself out that much on my conscience."
"Uh, Mom?" Connie said, lifting her eyes away from a page on black hole theory, "Mr. Universe is rich. Like, he could make a silver-plated van levels of rich."
"I wonder what that would look like…" Steven wondered aloud, pausing his game for a moment.
"I mean, I know about the whole burger jingle deal," the mother insisted, "But how much longer will that money last?"
"Um, I get more checks every week… I mean, none of them are in the millions. Heck, I'm trying to find a place to dump it all!"
"…Okay, the answer is still no but let me get back to you on that last thing. There's some financial-types at my work somewhere…"
The conversation moved along from topic to topic without a care as the van slowly drove up to Priyanka's workplace with Connie's school a few minutes afterwards. Once they were both gone, Steven hopped into the front seat for the drive back. All seemed to be set for another day of one actually getting to be a kid and the other with running a car wash for fun until Steven's phone rang. A glance at the caller ID got his attention.
"Pearl? What's going on?"
"Where are you two?"
"Um, on our way back to town… Is everything okay?"
"No, it's not! There's something coming from space heading right for us!"
"WHAT?! How… Where'd you find that?!"
"Agent Van just called me a few minutes ago! Something showed up on some satellite blah-blah-blah just get back here!"
"O-Okay!"
"Um, kiddo?" Greg asked nervously, trying to keep his eyes on the road, "I didn't catch much of that but when Pearl's voice gets that high, it's never good. What's wrong?"
One quick recap to his father later had him trying not to get busted for speeding as they drove home as fast as possible. By the time they returned, the van skidding up the sand to right in front of the beach house where all of the gems had gathered already.
"Let me guess," Greg sighed, "It's aimed at our house, isn't it?"
"Called it," Bismuth confirmed, "Best we figure is that it's pretty small so it's not too many to deal with."
"The problem is who's in it," Garnet added in, gauntlets already on her fists, "We might have another elite like Brookite on our hands."
The gang all stood there on the beach and waited until a distant black dot appeared in the sky. They all stared as it approached closer and closer, waiting for some sort of attack. When none came, they only grew antsier until one particular detail caught their eye – the paint job. It was a common fighter, but someone had clearly added stripes of various colors all along the hull making it look like a massive metallic drawing brought to life from a children's coloring book.
If the colorful exterior caught them off guard, the fact that the ship suddenly swerved above them before doing an actual loop in the air left them dumbfounded. They then just watched as the hatch to the ship opened at the height of the circle leaving two gems inside to suddenly fall out of their own craft before floating down before them.
Both of the new gems were tall with the taller of the pair even having a few inches on Garnet while the other could naturally look her in the eyes. The taller of the pair seemed to have the aura of a regal princess lustrous hair striped with pastel pinks and blues that shone against skin even whiter than Pearl's. Complimenting this was a frilly white dress ending a ruffled skirt that went down past her knees and golden high heels that matched the wristbands and tiara on her head and a serene smile on her face completely at odds with the extreme stunt she just pulled.
She was the definition of a regal princess, but the other looked like the opposite. Midnight blue skin bordering on black that made her blend into her wavy hair that was so black it seemed to actively absorb light. Adding to this was grungy black clothes from a baggy top with a sleeve missing, what looked like jeans with several cuts across the legs and boots more at home on a human biker veteran than a gem. And yet despite this demeanor, she had the biggest smile on her face like a kid who just stepped off a rollercoaster and immediately wanted another ride.
The reaction of the gems was all the same silent confusion but Cinnabar was the first to vocalize it as their ship, now unmanned, crashed into the sea with a resounding explosion.
"Who are you two?!"
"Greetings, Crystal Gems!" the shorter gem very loudly announced, "We have crossed lightyears for the honor to parlay with you all on behalf of the newest leader of gemkind!"
"Uh… Whozit?" Amethyst stumbled, all of them having the same lost looks on their face until the taller gem stepped forward.
"My apologies for her exuberance, but she's been quite the… What's the word…? Ah, yes, 'junkie' for some time now. Allow me to introduce us. I am Zoisite and this is my sister-in-arms Kunzite."
"Indeed! I am…" the bombastic gem rattled off before suddenly coughing into her hand and looking around with a light blue blush on her cheeks.
"Oh dear, I am terribly sorry about that outburst. The exhilaration of warp drive is still very new to me, you see…"
"I can get that…" Steven said, stepping forward since these two seemed like anything but hostile, "Nice to meet you, I'm-"
"Steven Quartz Universe," Zoisite finished his sentence, even kneeling down as she took his hand and bowed to him in the utmost respect, "It is an absolute honor to meet you. We have heard resoundingly splendid things about you."
"Is that so?" Pearl stepped in, "And where exactly did you hear them from?"
"From our mistresses and saviors!" Kunzite told them both, "The champions of all gems like us! Pink Diamond and her partner Rose Quartz!"
"Well, that's quite the fascinating I'M SORRY WHO DID YOU JUST SAY?!"
"You don't mean that Rose Quartz, do you?!" Topaz blurted out, her crew looking just as floored as the captain.
"Oh, you mean your original founder and mother of Steven? Then yes, yes she is." Zoisite answered simply, as if just stating the weather. It actually took her a minute to absorb just how floored her audience was.
"You'd like an explanation, yes?" Kunzite asked them.
"YES!"
"SOMETIME BEFORE I LOSE MY DREADS, PLEASE!"
"ANYONE ELSE FEEL LIKE THEY'RE DREAMING?!"
"It would be very appreciated…"
"One moment then…" Zoisite asked of them before her gem, a striated heptagon on the small of her back that matched the colors of her hair, glowed underneath her gown before letting out an equally bright object that soon turned out to be an ornately carved stone several feet tall.
"A wailing stone?" Peridot asked them.
"We were told by Rose that you've relayed a message through one of these before," Kunzite told them, "Done by one 'Greg Universe?'"
"I'll get my AV stuff!" the father said before dashing off, now having absolutely no regard for how fast he was going. While the two newcomers were invited inside, the entire mood of house was now flipped on its head. Everyone was jumpy, confused and dying for an answer. Greg may have only been gone for fifteen minutes, but it felt like forever before he finally walked in carrying several wires. Pearl immediately stepped in to get the stone inside and soon the father was working furiously to remember how he got this right the first time.
The others all watched as the otherwise blank TV from Steven's room changed to lines of light until an image finally came through. And much to the absolute shock of everyone, it was Rose Quartz with a wistful smile in some kind of hi-tech room.
"Hello, everyone," she said softly, "I know you must have just so many questions about what's happened to me. And I… I… I almost can't tell you fast enough. The short version is that when White Diamond's weapon hit Stevonnie, it somehow pulled me out of Steven's gem. Honestly, I have no idea how it worked but you can see how it did…"
She then panned whatever she was recording with down to show the complete lack of gem inside the same star-shaped cutout of her dress before panning back up to her face.
"Now, though, I have this incredible second chance to change things… And to be with all of you again. That's why I sent Zoisite and Kunzite so they could bring you to meet me. I'm in the process getting a warp pad hooked up that will let all of you come to my new home but it'll need a day before its ready. This time tomorrow, the two will warp you all here so you can visit. I can't wait to see you all or meet you for the first time."
"And Steven? Happy birthday…"
The message ended, the only sound now being static from the screen. Nobody had so much as breathed through the entire thing. Once it was done, Zoisite and Kunzite moved to the front of the assembled crowd.
"We understand that this is a massive change for all of you to accept. Though some of you hardly knew Rose, you were all living here without her. We will leave you to your thoughts and, as she said, the warp connection to her base will not be open until tomorrow."
"If you wish to speak with us, we will be at the cliff above your temple. Now, then, if you'll excuse us…"
Rose's messengers then left, leaving the stone behind and exiting the now silent house. The first to react was Pearl who simply passed out then and there, landing on the floor with a thud. Garnet then picked her up.
"I'll take her to my room… She's going to need someone there when she wakes up."
With two of them gone, several of the group suddenly felt very uncomfortable like they were now privy to something intensely private. Topaz and her crew headed outside with Cinnabar and Peridot following behind since they also had little personal connection to Rose. That left Lapis and Adamite staying with Steven, Greg, Amethyst and Bismuth who had all remained completely still since the message started.
"Guys?" Lapis started, "What should we do?"
Bismuth's answer was to march out the front door and slam it on the way out hard enough that it actually shook the others out of their stupor. Amethyst then followed suit, but even faster as she ran off to parts unknown. She said something as she left, but it was completely unintelligible to any of them.
With only the father and son left, Greg started silently taking the equipment down while Steven moved upstairs to his room. Lapis wanted to run after him but Adamite held her back.
"What are you doing?! He needs somebody!"
"Yes," her lover agreed, "But he needs to process this first."
"But… He…"
A stern gaze came across her face. "Processing can take a long time, you know. We're both prime examples of what happens when someone can't accept reality."
The blue gem gaped for a moment before realizing he was right. She got the truth several times to her face and yet it took way too many stumbles for her to finally accept it. Plus, she never had someone like Rose in her life, so she has pretty much no way to relate. As much as it bugged her, she headed out with Adamite leaving the temple house still occupied but still deathly quiet.
It took until that evening for everyone to get back together again and it was far from easy. While Priyanka and Connie were simply called in and given a replay of the message, Amethyst apparently took a short jog around the entire world several times over to sort out her feelings. Bismuth was holed down in her forge and only came out when Peridot found her there next to a pile of weapons bigger than she was and still pounding the molten metal like she was trying to break her anvil. Garnet was right that someone needed to be there when Pearl woke up since she immediately assumed that it was all a dream. Then she needed to stop the smaller gem from tearing her own room apart in a rage.
Steven, on the other hand, had absolutely no idea how to feel. On the one hand, this was a dream he had for years. To actually meet his own mother, to be around her and talk to her. Sure, he got that when he met her spirit in his gem but this was the next level. They could all be a family again, go places together, talk whenever they wanted.
But there were two major differences between then and now. First was her reputation. She was a perfect legend back then, a legend who good do no wrong. Now, he and the others knew the cracks that appeared in her story. The fact was that Rose had great ambitions but she stumbled over and over again. And now Steven and his family had to spend so much time and pain to clean up her mess.
Second was the simple fact that they had moved on. Steven was a small child back when he dreamed of meeting her but that kid grew up. Now he was a young man who got used to his family, grew through his problems with then, fought alongside them and even fought with them on occasion. And that was just him. The others had major baggage from when Rose left and now she was suddenly back?
And though everyone seemed to have a difficult time coming to grips with it all, the decision was actually fairly easy.
"All in favor of going, raise your hand," Garnet said. Every last one of them raised their hand. Many were curious about what Rose's new society looked like especially since it seemed distant from the Great Diamond Authority. And the rest, those that had a personal connection, wanted to take that chance of seeing her again.
The only real difficulty was sleeping that night it had hardly been twenty-four hours since they first heard the message. The Maheswerans left to pack some supplies for a short-term stay leaving Greg and the gems doing whatever they could to pass the time. Neither Steven nor Greg planned on sleeping that night but the father found himself knocked out before long. The son, however, remembered something from earlier and headed outside to the top of the cliff.
True to their word, there was Zoisite and Kunzite exactly where they said they would be. The former looked almost to almost glow in the moonlight as she simply stood on the top of the lighthouse. The latter, on the other hand, would have been invisible in the darkness if not for how she was giddily running around in the grass laughing like a child.
She was having so much fun that she nearly ran into Steven. The boy yelped in surprise which only grew when Kunzite suddenly leapt and fell off the cliff. She seemed not at all concerned about her fall, even going "Wheeeeee!" as she went. Steven just stood there, hardly even reacting while Zoisite floated down from her perch to see him.
"Sorry about her," she told him, "She's been desperate for some freedom for some time now."
"What happened to her?"
"Much like your friends Adamite and Cinnabar, our castes have been mostly removed from gem society out of perceived obsolescence. She spent eons hiding in place to place as an Off-Color since she has no place in their hierarchy."
"Ouch… What about you?"
"The same thing happened to me… Rose found us a few days ago and thought we'd make good ambassadors since we could relate to your situation. We didn't have anyone for the longest time. It makes me glad to see that what she worked for back here is still thriving…"
"Uh, thanks…? What did she tell you about us?"
"Oh, she went on and on about you all! Had to stop herself from how proud she was of you and the others so we could get going, actually."
The boy could not hide the blush on his cheeks hearing that, making Zoisite chuckle. She did, however, suddenly cross her arms in disappointment. Steven was worried he had done something only to turn around and see Kunzite directly behind him with hands poised to suddenly grab his shoulders to spook him.
"Aw, so close…" the dark gem muttered, "He would have been fine!"
"Perhaps, but it still would have ruined the moment. He came up here to learn more about his mother and us, not to be startled for your amusement."
"Oh, you wish to hear of our matron?" Kunzite suddenly perked up, her voice growing louder again, "Absolutely! We are two fortunate souls who have been liberated by her majestic power!"
"Power? What do you mean?"
"Hah, it is simply too incredible to describe! And even with it at her command, Rose's true strength lies in her absolute confidence and compassion for all who seek refuge! The diamonds will soon see the folly of their ways as their empire crumbles!"
"Um, how long has she been awake?!"
"Ever since her essence was accidentally released from your core! And all of it done in such short time!"
"Steven, are you alright?" Zoisite asked, kneeling down again, "You seem awfully flustered."
"It's just… A lot to take in, that's all. Besides, I think I'm finally ready for some sleep…"
"Ah, very well then!" Kunzite saluted him, "Rest well, young Universe. I am sure you will love what your mother has done!"
"Indeed," Zoisite agreed, "You needn't worry about tomorrow, Steven. We will handle everything while you and your family just follow us."
"Yeah, thanks…" The boy said, walking off the cliff and slowly floating down as his body felt more and more drained as all of the excitement finally left him. By the time he touched the ground, he could barely keep his eyes open and slowly dragged himself upstairs. His last thoughts before his mind drifted into slumber was how his mother still had a knack for finding good people. That left him with the peace needed to lay down until the fateful day came.
And now joining my fictional voice cast is Nicole Oliver as Zoisite and Tabitha St. Germain as Kunzite! More of them to come as the Crystal Gems and co. depart for Rose's world next time!
Thank you all so much for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts in a review.