And now, with Steven missing, what will the Crystal Gems do? And just what is the deal with Adamite and Cinnabar? Time to find out!
Hours passed after the battle with the duo of rogue gems. The beach house was barely holding together, heavily burned now on top of the substantial water damage Lapis caused earlier. It was a miracle that the structure was still standing, but that was the last topic on their minds.
"It's all my fault…" thought Greg, sitting on the steps to their now ravaged house and rubbing his wrists that were cuffed, "I couldn't do anything but be a hostage. And now Steven…" He kept tearing up every time his son came to mind. He tried refocusing on something more positive yet between his only child missing, his only chance for finding them looking scattered and his home being razed, his spirits were fading fast.
Amethyst and Peridot shared a sense of dismay as they paced across the sand, grumbling how they could not stop their attackers. The former was more concerned with how she could totally have taken them if they had not pulled such a cheap move. The latter was more perplexed at how useless she felt during the confrontation and how her ferrokinesis, though much improved over time, still proved insufficient.
Pearl was drawing on years of experience. She was harnessing eons of knowledge gained from her career of facing untold perils and staggering opponents to win a battle in her mind. Said battle was not rushing off to spear the daylights out of those two renegade gems for attacking and kidnapping her precious Steven along with her entire team, putting Greg's life in mortal danger and defacing her home. Since she had neither a proper plan nor confidence she could beat those two by herself, she resorted to dashing across the beach in a frenzy trying to formulate a one-gem battle plan. She considered this a solid compromise.
Lapis was bemoaning her failure at protecting her buddy despite all the boasting from earlier. She was especially embarrassed considering the scope of her abilities (A gem who can control any and all water losing a fight while on a beach?!) At least now she had a clear incentive to attend the Crystal Gems' training sessions…which only brought up her earlier fiasco again making her more dejected.
Garnet was…sitting on the beach.
Her head, normally so prudent and sensible that it could lower even the harshest tempers, was a hurricane of conflicting thoughts and feelings. While she may have performed well in combat, she ultimately failed to see the larger threat of Greg being used as bait to lure Steven into a trap. She could have slipped away in countless ways, grabbed him at dozens of points during the fight, and brought him to safety or at least urged him to run in a multitude of fashions. But she saw nothing, too focused in the heat of battle to be proactive. Hindsight was quickly becoming her greatest enemy.
They all remained there, stewing in their failure and doubt, with one shared thought running through their heads: what were those two going to do Steven?
Adamite and Cinnabar were pleased that their hostage was cooperating. He had yet to pull an escape attempt, had seemingly no desire to put up a fight (though Adamite would keep her distance if he pulled out those gauntlets again), and even offered suggestions to improve their progress as they traversed the wide open acres of the Delmarva countryside. One of his suggestions was a form of transportation called a 'train' to move faster, but Adamite shot it down upon seeing it since she figured such a large carrier could be easily tracked.
Even after that, though, Steven remained as upbeat as before, humming a tune to herself as the afternoon passed. Eventually, though, they were forced to stop when a mysterious rumbling caught the gems' attention.
"What was that?" asked Cinnabar, upset that their peace was ruined.
"It's nearby," replied Adamite, "Keep your eyes on Rose, it could be those Crystal Gems coming to-"
"It's just my stomach," replied Steven, "Calm down, guys."
His captors looked stumped at this, both pondering what a 'stomach' was and if it would become a recurring issue. They at least got the second part correct. Soon after the three wandered to a nearby field where some wild blueberries grew. After his fruitful snack, he dusted himself off and continued on as if nothing had changed, causing his two escorts to be more perplexed than they have been in centuries.
Night was quickly approaching as the remaining Crystal Gems and Greg huddled together on the beach around Garnet who had not moved from her spot in hours. The six sat in the sand under the setting sun going from periods of exchanging ideas followed by long stretches of silence as a sense of defeat passed through them. Of all of them, Amethyst was the most determined to brush off their loss and try again.
"Come on guys! We need to get off our butts and chase after them!" she exclaimed, kicking up sand in her rush to stand, "The longer we sit here feeling sorry for ourselves, the harder they'll be to track!"
"Amethyst," groaned Pearl, "For the last time, we have zero indication of where they are going. For all we know, they have already… disposed of him." Pearl swallowed a sob and continued. "Besides, if they are set of returning to Homeworld, they are most likely equipped to send him there."
"I don't think so," said Lapis. Pearl was surprised to hear her speak up, but would take any second opinion to raise her spirits.
"I mean those guys were tough, but they weren't planned for this at all. They just charged in and only had Greg because he happened to be here. If they had a formal plan, why not wait until Steven was asleep or by himself?"
"Yes, that does seem unusual," confirmed Peridot, "They were baffled by Steven's abilities, his appearance and insistently called him Rose. Combining that with a lack of any battle tactics or formal backup, I would guess this whole strategy was made very recently. With that in mind, this means they most likely have little to no means to contact Homeworld. It would be easier, however, if we had some information on them…"
All of them stared at Lapis. "I have no idea who they are! I swear, I never knew or worked with an Adamite or a Cinnabar! I was just as shocked as the rest of you!" she yelled.
"It's okay Lapis," reassured Pearl, "Judging from what they said, they knew you long ago. If I had to hazard a guess, maybe all that time you spent in the mirror caused some… damage?"
Lapis could only nod, totally lost on what else to do. Greg put a hand on her shoulder and tried to comfort her.
"Lapis, I may have no clue how gems work outside of some basic stuff, but I would guess that spending thousands of years in a pane of glass would mess up anyone's marbles. At least you turned out fine in the end, right? And I know Steven and the other gems here feel the same."
The maritime gem gave a smile to him as the rest of the gems appreciated his optimism. All of them except Garnet who was completely silent throughout their extended meeting. None of them paid it any mind as they all assumed she was concentrating on finding Steven.
"Alright, now we are making progress!" cheered Pearl, "So we are fairly confident that they cannot leave and have a need for Steven to remain intact as long as his cover story holds. The question now is how will they try to reach Homeworld?"
Peridot followed with a theory of hers. "Seeing as humans have no reliable means of intergalactic communication, they will have to improvise a solution to their conundrum. My first guess would be something digital through the Internet or a sort of hijacking of some kind through cell phone towers that they could use to establish contact…"
"Wow, Peridot! When did you get so knowledgeable about cell phones?" asked Greg.
"When I was constructing our makeshift Internet hotspot for the barn, I first tapped into a bandwidth used for cell phones. I quickly moved on since it wasn't what I was looking for, and I could not understand a thing people were saying over those things! Did humans develop an entire second language or set of code for those devices?! I mean, what the heck is a 'selfie' anyway?"
Amethyst calmed her down and promised she would explain later while the others wrestled with this theory. Amusing as her outbursts were, they all realized this meant they had no reliable way of tracking them since they seem to have no proper destination in mind.
"Wait a minute," piped Greg, "What about Steven's phone?"
Amethyst was confused by his question. "Uh Greg, I don't think we can just call Steven. I doubt those two will let him tell us where they are…"
"I figure that, but what if we can track them through Steven's phone? I know he still has it since those two made me call him on it to bring you all here."
The entire group lit up, Pearl even calling him brilliant, and ran off to work on their new plan. While they may not have a barn full of scraps anymore, they were all fired up to finally have a hope at getting Steven back. All except for Garnet, still seated at the same spot. She barely heard anything they said over the screaming in her head, yelling that this entire debacle was because of her.
As the hours progressed, Steven was still being led by Adamite and Cinnabar with a remarkable sense of calm despite the situation he was in. He had been led away from the vast fields and farms into rockier terrain as they traveled west with his impounders only feet away. Out of those two, however, only Adamite was paying him any mind as Cinnabar was trying to hum the same melody Steven was currently doing to pass the time. Adamite was running on patience from this, but it also raised her curiosity.
"I don't understand," said the rugged gem.
"What, you mean what I did on the beach? It's a long story, but-" started Steven before being cut off.
"Your abilities are intriguing, but they are not my primary concern. I am referring to your current attitude. Not too long ago you were enraged and attacking us, yet you willingly complied to come with us and are now perfectly cordial. Is this just how humans are?"
"Not really, all humans are different. I can't say how every other person would act here."
This caught the gems by surprise. Even after the millennia they spent away from the strict hierarchy from Homeworld, the thought of countless individuals of the same group possessing different attributes sent their heads spiraling.
Steven was also taken aback, but for different reasons. "I thought you two would know a little something about humans. You mean you've never talked to one?"
Adamite and Cinnabar shared the same dumbfounded expressions on their interchangeable faces. Neither one of them could come up with an adequate answer other than responses that boiled down to "What's the point?" for the former and "I just never felt like it!" for the latter. With the sun setting, Steven insisted they make a quick stop so his steadily aching legs to heal.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you guys look dumb, it's just weird to me you spent so much time here without talking to one person."
Both gems, for the nth time that day, were stunned by his continued tact and optimism. Here they were leading him off to who-knows-where away from his protectors, and he was still striking a polite conversation. Cinnabar in particular was almost feeling remorse for her actions, and this coming from a gem whose pastime is starting wildfires.
"That does remind me of something I wanted to ask you two," the boy continued as they all sat on a flat patch among the hills, "How did you get here and how do you know Lapis?"
"We…were comrades alongside that Lapis Lazuli when the original gem colony was being established here by Pink Diamond," answered Adamite, "It was one of dozens of missions the three of us were sent on by Blue Diamond."
Cinnabar, spending more time in touch with reality in the past twenty-four hours than she had in the past twenty-four centuries, actually stepped in. "Uh Adamite, maybe we shouldn't tell him this?"
"Even if he divulges our background to Rose Quartz, what harm could it bring? I will remain steadfast in my mission if she intends to sway my allegiance. Besides, this human has proven more than agreeable in being our hostage and positive reinforcement can be one way to ensure it stays as such."
After offering an unsure thanks for the backhanded compliment (and mentally bracing himself for Connie's reaction to him offering himself to an enemy AGAIN), he told a slightly modified story that Rose was enamored by his musician father and after years of bonding he came into existence through a process even he is not fully aware of. He conveniently left out his mother giving up her form for his, and then went on saying he was raised by both his father and the Crystal Gems. This left Adamite satisfied and Cinnabar actually excited at the prospect of seeing what else a human-gem hybrid could do. Alas, she had to quell the urge to test his abilities through a literal trial by fire since she remembered the condition that he must be unharmed. Adamite threatening on burying her from the neck up for several days was also effective.
And so Adamite explained how she, Lapis, and Cinnabar were sent to dozens of planets together as a sort of cleanup crew along with more of their own kind. After all organic life was wiped out by the armies of invading gems, they would step in to ready the planet for the construction of the colony proper. She then detailed how the Lapis Lazulis would move all bodies of liquid with their immense control of liquid, Adamites would adjust any differences in elevation with their power over all solid ground and Cinnabars would incinerate any remnants of the planet's previous inhabitants with humungous swaths of flame. While they established that there were many other of the same gem in their brigade, they formed a sense of comradery among the three of them.
"Really? What made you all become friends?" asked an intrigued Steven.
"As you can most likely tell, Lapis Lazulis were never designed for combat and were rather meek and subservient. The Lapis you have met, however, was unusually outgoing for her kind. She would frequently prolong her tasks so she could observe the surroundings, but never enough to arouse suspicion. Eventually Cinnabar and I came to appreciate this unique approach and coerced with each other during missions. Over time we even requested that we be placed together on missions."
"That sounds really nice. But if you guys worked so well together, how'd you get stuck here?"
"Since the Diamonds were unsure of how to approach your mother's rebellion, they felt as though they were falling behind schedule on forming the colony. They sent the three of us specifically, thanks to our superior synergy, to inspect the planet to give a sort of prognosis for what needed to be done. But Lapis… her wanderlust got the better of her even though she was directly ordered to avoid straying off course due to the dangers involved."
Steven put two and two together as he realized what had happened. He also noted how both gems in front of him dipped their heads, Cinnabar looking especially disheartened at remembering such a loss. He could even swear he heard the fiery gem trying to hold back sobs.
"So…what happened after Lapis was…gone?" he dared to ask.
Adamite's voice was noticeably shakier than before. "We were blamed for letting her wander off and be either captured or shattered by enemy forces. As punishment we were never recalled back to Homeworld and were essentially abandoned here. We… spent an absurd amount of time trying to locate her, but we found no trace of her. We…had to assume the worst and felt rather responsible for her disappearance."
"But now we've found her!" interrupted Cinnabar, her voice also cracking, "Those Crystal Gems must have done something to her to make her forget us, but we'll bring her back!"
As hope welled up in Cinnabar, Steven could not bring himself to mention how it was Homeworld that had her imprisoned in that mirror and interrogated her for so long. Adamite, however, resumed her usual demeanor and continued her explanation.
"And even if she has become a traitor, we have a duty to return to Homeworld to continue our mission. In order to get Homeworld to accept us, however, I figured that we would need a sufficient reason for them to reinstate us into their ranks after our failure-"
"And that's why you want Rose Quartz," finished Steven. Adamite nodded and stood once more, signaling her hostage and companion to do the same. Night had fallen during their lengthy discussion, but the young hybrid was not the least bit tired. He was too preoccupied with what to do with the glut of information he received. Now he was almost wishing the Crystal Gems would take longer to find him if it meant getting these two to open up more.
Pearl and Peridot have many traits in common. They can both be incredibly neurotic, have a burgeoning interest in science and technology, have a tendency to go into long-winded rants when stressed or overexcited, and now they were both putting their skills to the test in order to construct a device that could track Steven's phone signal to locate him and the rogue gems that captured him.
Although they ran into an issue being that without the barn, they did not have the massive stockpile of resources to use so they had to get creative. Namely, have Greg purchase several cheap cell phones from the nearby grocery store while Amethyst digs through her room to find whatever parts and materials they could use with Lapis assisting her in treasure hunting/sneaking off a few useful pieces she was more reluctant to part with.
Lapis wondered for hours how she got stuck with the most difficult job.
After the occasional blowup with both the unfinished device and a peeved Amethyst chasing after her favorite shinies, the duo of tech whizzes managed to construct a makeshift tracker. The only issue now was the two arguing how to best power the device.
"We can't simply use these batteries!" said Pearl, "Such an intensive task could overload them and risk damaging the hardware! We need to build an exterior power source to avoid unnecessary risks!"
"We're already short on time!" retorted Peridot, "Creating such an apparatus takes away time we could be using to get closer to Steven! The batteries are able to be easily recharged anyway and perfectly usable, so let's use them!"
Greg, having fulfilled his role as the courier of cell phones, had his own idea. "Guys-"
"Steven's ploy strictly forbade the two from injuring him or letting him suffer any serious damage! We have plenty of time and resources and we need to do this correctly!"
"Uh, ladies?" he attempted again.
"You do remember one of those gems is a pyromaniac who tried spearing me for her own amusement, right?! We need to finish this project as soon as possible to ensure she cannot harm Steven!"
"Guys!" he raised his voice at them, finally getting a word in edgewise. "What about Garnet?"
Both of the gems stared at him in confusion.
"She has electric powers, right? I mean she jump-started the van a long time ago, can't she juice this up too?"
Both gems proceeded to slap their foreheads and groan loudly at their own shared oversight. Lapis, amused as she was by their bickering, walked over to Garnet to get her assistance.
"Hey Garnet, we could use your help with this. We need you to use your-" Lapis trailed off when the fusion did not even seem to acknowledge her presence. In fact, she seemed completely unaware of anything that was happening around her. She was still parked in the same spot from their previous meeting, gazing at the coming and going waves for hours with no change.
"Garnet?" Lapis poked the silent fusion to rouse her. Nothing. Greg and the other gems took notice and walked over to her.
"Yo Garnet, wake up!" shouted Amethyst in the approximate location of Garnet's ear, "We need your zappy gloves to power Peri and Pearl's nerd gadget!"
The fusion said nothing in response. All she could do was look out into the waves and struggle with her feelings of failure. It felt as though even the entire ocean was not enough to contain the loathing she felt for herself. She might even consider just letting it wash her away, let it take into a place where she could not fail her friends anymore.
And so she did, as her mind drifted off into unconsciousness and she fell flat on the sand as if all life was drained from her. The other Crystal Gems were horrified and tried lifting her off the sand, but her mass seemed to skyrocket forcing them to leave her in place. Without her, it was back to Pearl and Peridot's debate on how to power their new contraption.
The unlikely trio of Steven, Adamite and Cinnabar continued on their journey through the hills of west Delmarva. All seemed to be fine as they marched on until Steven began to feel lightheaded. The gems paid him no mind at first until his pace slowed and ended up tripping over a large rock that sent him tumbling down a pit. Adamite quickly retrieved him, but he was out cold.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Cinnabar, "If he's hurt, our mission is over!"
"Relax, he seems mostly unharmed. He withstood far more punishment during our battle earlier. Considering he is partially human he is most likely exhausted from the constant traveling. We are near our destination and have held up to his conditions, so we have no reason to withdraw."
While Adamite considered tunneling the rest of the way to their destination, she figured the boy still needed air meaning they still could not travel at full speed. Nevertheless, she made a compromise as she formed a foot-tall rock emerge from the ground to carry her forward quickly while letting Steven rest on her strong shoulders. Cinnabar assumed her fireball form to keep up. As the two neared their destination, they both wondered what caused their detainee to suddenly collapse. And why they could hear him mumble to no one in particular.
PLOT TWIST! Find out the answer's to the next in a long line of many cliffhangers next time!
Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to leave a review!