And now, let's keep this story going with everyone's favorite barn-dwelling artists!
Another day was going smoothly as Steven was practicing his new ability to summon other weapons. He still was not exactly sure how he summoned that spear to begin with, but he was already showing progress as he pulled out a pink whip that was an exact double of Amethyst's in everything except color.
"Aw yeah! Nice going, man!" cheered Amethyst, ecstatic that she finally had an opportunity to pass on the delicate art of whipping enemies in the butt.
Pearl, the one conducting this training session, applauded. "Very good, Steven. Now let's see if you can do Garnet's gauntlets."
The lead gem was quietly beaming at how far along Steven was coming. She decided to go easy on him and only pull out one of her signature armored gloves, thinking both would be a bit much for his first time. The young boy focused on the weapon and imagined forming around his own hand, which was proving to be a very effective mental process, as a pink gauntlet of his own appeared on his right hand.
"Woah! This is cool!" he cheered before falling to the floor thanks to the glove's weight.
"Looks like you'll need to start exercising more," teased Garnet.
Before their lesson could continue, however, the warp pad activated to reveal Peridot beaming in from the barn. It was obvious she was in one of her fits as her brow was sweating and she looked ready to pounce on the first person unlucky enough to set her off (which, fortunately for that person, Peridot has the physical strength of a small housecat so the damage would be minimal.)
"Steven! I need to come to the barn now! Lapis needs to see you!" She tried to lead Steven to the warp pad, but her lack of strength only led to her scrambling as she hopelessly tugged on Steven's arm.
"Peridot calm down. What's the problem with Lapis?" said the boy trying to soothe the miniature gem's temper.
"Lapis has been panicking ever since we heard you were taken into space by hostile Homeworld Gems! I suggested we come here to offer our assistance in rescuing you, but she denied doing so and ever since I've been desperately trying to keep her from doing something drastic. At this point, nothing I say fazes her so I figure seeing living proof of your health and well-being will eliminate her doubts. Now let's go!" Steven relented and let himself be led to the warp pad. He waved a hasty goodbye to the Gems as the two beamed off.
Garnet was amused by the whole spectacle. "Not the kind of exercise I had in mind, but it'll do."
Peridot and Steven arrived in a literal flash and set about locating the frazzled Lapis Lazuli. Steven took to the ground and began calling Lapis' name in case she was in the barn or surrounding fields while Peridot scanned the skies for her flying barn-mate. Their efforts were soon met as the airborne Lapis quickly dived out of the air and tackled Steven with a flying hug.
"Oh Steven! Thank goodness you're okay!" Lapis cheered, "I've been going insane this whole time and Peridot kept telling me you would be alright, and she was right!"
"Yes, Lapis I'm okay," Steven chuckled "Now could you put me down? I think we're halfway back to town with your flying." Both of them looked down and saw the barn was now miles behind them, currently flying over the forests surrounding their country home thanks to the gem's unrestrained joy.
The two quickly made their way back to the barn where Peridot was solaced to see Lapis with a smile on her face for the first time in days. After they touched down, they were also welcomed back by Pumpkin, the excitable gourd dog hopping into Lapis' arms with a content yelp. Once the group was altogether, the latter spoke a question on her mind.
"So how did you get back to Earth, Steven? What happened to you in space?"
Since there was not much fat to trim with his story, he had to give every dangerous detail of his unwilling trip to Homeworld, his experience with the Diamonds, and his unexpected escape back to Earth. While Peridot was simply intrigued by his tale, Lapis looked positively terrified.
"Steven, you ran away from the Diamonds?!"
He could only nod. "Peridot, we need to leave this planet now."
"What?!" Peridot and Steven yelled, shocked by how drastic this decision was. It made sense that she would be concerned about this whole affair, but desperate enough to migrate to another world?
"Lapis, I don't believe that such a course of action is necessary. We have no evidence to suggest the Diamonds are retaliating in any way and Steven seems to be in perfect health. What's making you so frenzied?" asked Peridot.
"Because I don't want to get caught up in another war! The Diamonds tried to blow up this planet just because of something that happened thousands of years ago, remember?" Peridot was now cursing herself for ever letting her know about the Cluster.
Steven stepped between the two Gems before a full-blown argument could start. "Now, let's all calm down. Peridot, she has a point. I honestly wouldn't put it past them to do something because of me. And Lapis, I can understand you being scared, but are you sure you need to leave Earth? You could just hide somewhere else here."
She seemed to consider that for a second, but quickly shook her head. "No Steven, I've been to Homeworld too. They have unbelievable technology that's way beyond anything I could have imagined. I would guess they have some way to scan a planet for fugitives and criminals."
"Unfortunately, she's right," admitted Peridot, "And considering the prime threat that 'Rose Quartz' is to their society plus the fact that you did not escape through conventional means raising further suspicion, then I would not be surprised if Yellow and Blue Diamond simply backtrack to the planet where they found you and set about trying to locate you here."
As much as she hated the idea of abandoning the planet she had come to appreciate over several months, Peridot saw no major flaw in her companion's logic. Impressed she may be, but her emotions were anything but satisfied.
"But Lapis, we've spent so much time here! Do you really just want to throw it all away? I mean, just look at the barn!" All three of them gazed at the lovable madhouse that was now crammed full of their artistic endeavors, months of creative passion and manual love decorated every inch inside and out.
Lapis simply shrugged. "So, we'll take it with us. You, me and Pumpkin can move, and we'll bring all our meep-morps along." To prove her point, she used her powers to gather all the water from their personal pool and create an aquatic lift. After some groaning about leaving its foundation, the barn was aloft on a massive disk of water which the gem help in the air with no visible effort. Steven was frustrated, but knew he had to put his friend's feelings first. He decided to try one last point before relenting and letting them go into the great beyond.
"What about the other Crystal Gems?"
"What? What are you talking about?" said Lapis, caught off-guard by his question.
"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Don't you think they are going to miss you when you go?"
That was a sore subject for Lapis. While she no longer possessed any animosity towards them for her imprisonment in that cursed mirror, she was never that comfortable around them. Unlike Peridot, who had fully joined their cause, she held no such sentiments and preferred to leave them to their own devices.
"I kind of doubt that, Steven…" she responded morosely. This gave her friends an idea.
"Well why don't we find out? How about you spend your last days on Earth with them before you go?" suggested Steven.
"Huh?"
"I want you to spend one day with each of the Crystal Gems. If you do that, then you can leave Earth and I won't try to stop you."
The frightened gem rolled the idea around in her head, but quickly found reason for concern. "A day with each of them? That's three whole days! What if Homeworld gets here by then?!" She started to panic, but Peridot offered a compromise.
"If that amount of time is unacceptable, then why not just the remainder of today. Steven, what time is it?" The young boy, shocked at how calm the vehement gem was acting. He pulled out his phone and showed the time was 2:57 PM.
"According to your measure of time, the end of a day on this planet is defined by the time Earth's satellite reaches its apogee during it's the time of rotation as this hemisphere faces away from the sun…" She stopped upon seeing Steven and Lapis tilt their heads in unison.
"Also known as midnight…" she grumbled. The two were quickly caught up and Peridot began pacing as she continued.
"At this time, that means there is just over nine hours remaining before the end of the day. Therefore, you will have three hours to spend with each gem before you depart. Now I may not be an expert on social interactions, but I theorize that it is feasible to establish a cursory bond with someone in that time limit."
She and Steven looked on as Lapis weighed the options in her mind. On the one hand, a day with those three was not an easy feat in her eyes. She never felt fully comfortable around them and she would be burning time that could be used getting out of the Diamonds' radar. On the other hand, she realized that Steven could be seriously hurt if she did not take on his proposal. Plus, she had become more open to new experiences…
"Alright. I'll do it." Steven cheered hearing this and immediately led her along to the warp pad to begin her special bonding time. This left Peridot alone with the barn feeling mixed emotions. She was grateful Lapis could see reason with this issue and felt this would be a beneficial exercise for her. It also gave her ample time to work out that sinking feeling in her head. After all, she never agreed to leave Earth. At least now she had nine hours to create diagrams of all the pros and cons with Pumpkin to keep her company.
And now it's time for Lapis to face one of the most difficult foes imaginable: social interaction! Or maybe it's just difficult for me...Tune in next time while I contemplate my life choices!
Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to leave a review!