Now that the rogue gems are handled, it's time for something almost as exciting: redecorating!
With Adamite and Cinnabar safely contained in the temple with hundreds of other bubbled gems, Steven and his family could finally focus on something besides imminent danger. Most notably, the fact that the beach house was well-beyond repair. With the damage from Cinnabar's fire on top of Lapis' flooding, the crew said it was a miracle the structure was still standing. They were also perplexed how the front door was ripped clean off its hinges, but that remained a topic for water-cooler conversations since that was the least of the house's problems.
Steven missed most of the major reconstruction as he spent almost a full-day asleep once he was rescued. The Crystal Gems and Greg were merely grateful to have him back and let him snooze away in his caterpillar sleeping bag in the back of Greg's van. As long as he was in their sight, they were fine if he did not wake up for days.
It might have been for the best, though, as the majority of the day he was asleep involved moving all of his personal belongings out of his thankfully undamaged room and demolishing what was left of his home. Greg was relieved to hear insurance would help cover the costs (though he did omit how the damage was done by two alien women to avoid a massive headache), he was still disappointed to see the home he and the gems built so long ago fall apart. What little cynicism he had in him believed it would fall eventually due to the Crystal Gems' activities, but he wished it did not have to involve his son being put in mortal danger.
When Steven rose at sunrise the next day, he saw all of his belongings sitting in a pile near the edge of a cliff. Aside from his bed and television, all of them were perfectly packed into boxes and bins by Pearl. The motherly gem, along with some young, burly movers, were hauling everything into a nearby truck to be put in Greg's storage locker in town until their new abode was complete.
Once that was done and everything salvageable was removed, Garnet and Amethyst began "assisting" the demolition crew. This meant Garnet giving the purple wild-child full reign to tear the house to the ground. As Amethyst bashed and smashed everything in sight, Garnet was ensuring no collateral damage would occur by standing guard over Greg and crew members who were now standing idly by as their job was being done for them. Aside from the occasional stray piece of rubble flying at them, this was the easiest job they have ever had.
That left Peridot and Lapis Lazuli simply enjoying the pleasant morning on the beach. The former barn-mates were soaking in the sun though Lapis was also casually shaping the water into various shapes to gain a more intricate control over her powers. While her confrontation with Adamite had shaken off any ennui left over from her nightmare, she now had a desire to improve her abilities in order to better fight off any threats to her new friends. While her making water cubes and pyramids was intriguing, Peridot was doing so more to fight her itch to analyze Garnet's new abilities. While she had herself discovered a new power inside of her, her investigative mind was going wild at the thought of being able to bring out new abilities out on a whim. Also, Greg had recently gotten the bill from Funland about the broken pinball machine and was currently giving her the stink eye. She would rather save that confrontation for later.
As the house literally came crashing down thanks to Amethyst's wrestling maneuvers, they began collecting the debris along with the professionals. Greg took the opportunity to walk over to his awakened son and welcome him back to the world.
"Hey Schtu-ball! Glad to see you finally back! How do you feel?"
"A little weirded out…" he replied as he crawled out of his sleeping bag. While he was glad to be back among loved ones, he was not sure how to feel about those two being stuck in bubbles.
"Steven!" cheered Pearl as she spotted him cognizant once more, "Thank goodness! I hope you don't mind all of the changes we have going on, but I'm afraid the house is beyond repair. Now that you are here, let's get you fixed up!"
Steven was confused at this, only for the necessities he neglected on his unintended road trip to pile on. He caught a whiff of himself after not showering for two days, felt his stomach roar upon not being properly fed for so long and he desperately needed a bathroom. After taking a quick leak in the ocean, something even Pearl could not fault him for after all that has happened, the three took off for somewhere he could be washed and fed - the Mahesweran household.
One quick drive across town later and Steven was greeted by Doug, Priyanka, and a very relieved Connie. As much as his bespectacled buddy wanted to hug him, his odor made her keep a safe distance. She led him upstairs to their bathroom where he relished in the hot water and fragrant body wash. As he stepped out, he breather in relief as he dressed in a pair of clothes Pearl set aside for him. Once he was dressed and no longer smelled like he took a day-long trek through the mountains he went downstairs to where the parents of the house treated to him a plate of pancakes and fruit salad to fill his eager stomach. After offering his sincere thanks for their hospitality, he found all of the Crystal Gems crowded into the living room along with Greg and Connie ready to clear the air about what exactly happened with those two.
After several minutes of explaining himself, Steven apprehensively looked at Connie who had gone completely still since he mentioned his ploy to get Adamite and Cinnabar to leave his father unharmed.
"Steven…" she grumbled as she walked next to him, "I thought we talked about this…"
In only seconds she stood a few inches from him with their respective parents and the gems standing around them in a circle. Steven was praying to himself that someone would step in case she got too agitated.
It came as quite a surprise when she wrapped her arms around him, any malice she may have had gone, and silently shed a tear when he returned her affection.
"I'm just glad you're okay…" she whispered, as everyone around them breathed a sigh of relief. Greg and the Maheswerans were particularly moved at seeing their children embrace and each began to wonder (or dread in Doug's case) if it was time to have that special talk with their kids about certain changes.
Eventually the two broke up their display and moved to the large floral couch along the wall. Doug and Priyanka stayed inside the entrance to the kitchen while Greg leaned on the front door leaving the five gems to form a circle as Garnet began an unofficial meeting to discuss what to do now.
"Alright, now that those two are put away and Steven is safe, you have all been caught up on what had happened."
"Yeah, and I can't believe those two dragged you all the way into the mountains to call Homeworld," grumbled Lapis, "At least they kept their promise to keep him okay."
"From a logical standpoint, they had every reason to acquiesce," explained Peridot, "Steven kept them in the dark about the real whereabouts of Rose Quartz and manipulated their limited knowledge to his benefit. Frankly, I am more surprised he devised such a ruse by himself."
"Yeah, Steven's a spy now! With super gem-enhancing powers!" cheered Amethyst, causing the young boy in question to blush.
"Yes, it appears so," mused Pearl, "Once the house is rebuilt, it's vital we watch over him more to see if any other new abilities show up. Plus, he still needs to learn how to use our respective weapons properly."
"If you guys want to do that, you could use the space where the barn used to be," said Greg, "I mean, the building might be trashed, but my family still owns the land. Consider it your own personal training ground."
"Thanks, Greg. At least there's nothing there to trash anymore!" joked Amethyst as she hung upside-down from the arm of the couch. While Lapis blushed at that thought, the others were all in high spirits. The group offered one last round of thanks to Connie's family for their generosity and took off in Greg's van with Steven up front and all the gems crammed in the back sans Lapis who flew behind them.
"Connie, are you sure you're alright?" Doug asked his daughter as she stood at the window for several minutes after the van left their street.
"Dad, I'll be honest, I got really scared again. Steven may have kept himself safe, but what if next time this happens he isn't so lucky? What if he gets really hurt or worse?"
"Then he has a solid group behind him to look after him," reassured Priyanka as she placing a hand on her shoulder, "Including a best friend who will risk everything for him." That brought a smile to Connie's face.
"But if you throw yourself into danger like that, young lady, you'll be in serious trouble!" And with that terrifying thought in her mind, Connie ran upstairs to do more schoolwork.
That afternoon, Greg and all of the gems minus Garnet made their way to the plot of land formally housing the DeMayo storage barn-turned alien refuge. Their first order of business was to clean up the debris off the structure and the two alien ships Lapis crushed. While Peridot was upset seeing her old home demolished, she gladly ogled any piece of gem tech that could be used for later. Lapis kept Pumpkin company as the poor gourd was deeply shaken by the events of the past few days. Steven was glad to see him out and about after spending several days under his bed, terrified by the flooding and house catching fire.
After several hours of moving rubble, salvaging Camp Pining Hearts tapes, Pumpkin scampering around, and Amethyst calling dibs on bits and bobs she saw fit for her ever-growing collection, all that remained of the barn was the large pool Peridot made out of the tunnel from the Cluster mission.
As the sun was beginning to set, Greg hung up his phone. "Alright, I just got off the phone with the cleanup crew. They'll be here around noon tomorrow to haul the rest away."
"Excellent, Greg," complimented Pearl, "Your assistance is greatly appreciated."
"Well, someone has to clean up these messes, right?" the father chuckled. He tried to play it off as a joke, but they could still hear a trace of sadness in his voice.
"Dad, are you alright?" asked Steven.
"Yeah, it's nothing major, Schtu-ball. Glad to help any way I can…" Steven could tell something was bugging his father but felt no reason to pry and simply walked off to resume the sorting of rubble from anything salvageable.
The process continued until night came and Steven was yawning profusely. Since the Maheswerans offered the boy their couch as long as their house was being constructed, Steven and Greg drove off to resume their work in the morning. After another hearty breakfast with Connie's family, the Universes returned to the pasture to find the gems all assembled with Garnet back from whatever she was working on in the temple.
"Hey Garnet," greeted Greg, "What's up?"
"I discovered something, and I needed all of you to hear it," she replied, as frank as ever.
"She would not give any specifics until you two arrived," grumbled Peridot, her patience being tested as she wanted to get her hands on any new information, "Apparently, breakfast is a luxury she thought you could afford."
"Chill out Peri, you don't know how good a morning is until you scarf down some cereal and orange juice first thing in the morning," smirked Amethyst, clearly having the same craving.
"Besides that, it is a necessary part of a healthy lifestyle as it promotes a healthy metabolism. Steven needs it to be at his best," said Pearl.
"How do you know so much about food if you don't eat?" asked Lapis.
Pearl shifted her eyes from side to side before quietly answering with "Books. That's it."
"…After some trial and error…" Amethyst whispered to the blue gem.
"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE COULDN'T EAT THE BOX?!" shouted Pearl, remembering a particularly embarrassing moment from Steven's infancy.
"Alright, enough of that," said Garnet, quietly laughing at the memory herself, "The reason I brought you all here is to create a plan for Steven's training. We need to create a set schedule for what he needs to learn to be an effective fighter and when to learn it."
"Ooh, I'll print out the schedule once everything is finalized! And I can teach him all sorts of battle tactics!" exclaimed Pearl, raising her hand like an overly giddy student in school answering the teacher.
"There's a good start. Aside from teaching him how to wield our different weapons, he needs to learn how to hold his own in battle in case he is isolated from us or we are taken down."
"Whoa, why is this coming up now?" asked Lapis, not liking how serious the fusion was being, "Is something bad gonna happen?"
"Yeah, right!" scoffed Amethyst, "Garnet's just being careful. It's not like the Diamonds are coming to invade…" she started to laugh at her own joke, but Garnet sucked in a breath through teeth. She was hoping to save that for the end of the meeting, but she might as well tell them.
"About that, I also had a vision last night…"
Yellow Diamond was not having a good day. By all means, she should have been. Two new planets were deemed sufficient for gem colonization, several planets were being assimilated successfully, about thirty off-colors were found and shattered, and she was planning to have a new mural designed in her visage. Even with all that progress, though, the thorn that was Rose Quartz was still fresh in her mind. There was still no word from the ruby scouts they sent out to that solar system. She figured to be on the safe side and scour every planet around Earth in case the traitor made refuges or hideouts in case this kind of attention came her way. Despite the countless resources at her disposal, Yellow Diamond had no idea where that gem was and that bothered her to no end.
As she was overseeing the modifications one of the new planets would need, Yellow Pearl ran in completely out of breath.
"My Diamond! I have an urgent message for you!" she said breathily, though she never once broke her salute.
"Pearl, what is so urgent you had to barge in here and disturb my work?" she asked, not even looking down at her personal servant.
"It concerns Rose Quartz. I assumed your order about this being on a need-to-know basis still applies."
"Correct. Have you ascertained her exact location?"
"Yes, my Diamond. We received a transmission some time ago from Earth that told us Rose Quartz is still on the planet."
"You are telling me you received this transmission multiple cycles ago, correct?" Her pearl gave a nervous nod. "So why are you only bringing this to my attention now?" She turned her head and glared down at her servant.
"B-Because, my illustrious Diamond, we had to d-decipher it as it was sent by a very archaic, o-outdated method of communication. A wailing stone, to be s-sp-specific."
This actually caught the monarch's curiosity. She fully turned and faced her stuttering underling, silently motioning her to get up and stop groveling.
"You oversaw the translation of this message yourself, I take it?"
"Absolutely, my Diamond! I had a physical copy made that only you can activate!" She manifested a prism similar to a Diamond communicator that was colored a pale yellow. Yellow was pleased with the result and held the prism in her massive hand.
"Very well, Pearl. Inform me of any other suspicious transmissions. That will be all."
After another salute (And laughing about some bothersome agate who was in line to be shattered thanks to her,) the colossal gem opened a line to Blue Diamond. The somber monarch was on another planet, trying to straighten out some resource issues on a colony of hers.
"Yes, Yellow?" asked Blue, melancholy as ever.
"I have information concerning Rose Quartz. It seemed proper that you be involved."
The cerulean gem, for once, was able to focus on something besides her grief. With a small turn of the prism, a voice began playing out with surprising clarity given the archaic method of communication.
"Attention, any and all active Homeworld channels. I am Adamite Facet-2G3E Cut-8XW, member of Terraforming Brigade 7-Delta. I am currently located on the planet known as Earth and have information about the leader of the rebellion, Rose Quartz. My partner and I have managed to take an affiliate of Rose Quartz hostage and we are currently holding him in order to lure the rebel leader to us. The hostage claims that Rose Quartz will come to barter for his safety and surrender herself to us. Once we have her, we plan to give you custody of Rose Quartz so she may be punished for her crimes. All we ask for in exchange is being reinstated into the ranks of Homeworld so we may continue our service to the Diamonds as soon as possible. I cannot send exact coordinates due to the restrictions of the communication device, however I am confident the Diamonds can deduce the location of Earth. That will be all."
Both Diamonds stood silently for several minutes before Blue felt that same fury from the botched execution of Rose Quartz.
"So how many platoons should I send to Earth?"
"Relax," soothed Yellow, getting rather irritated by her counterpart's rage flaring up every time this issue came up, "We will most definitely send a strike force, but we must not be too wasteful. Rose Quartz and her miniscule rebellion do not necessitate an armada of troops."
For once, Blue Diamond did not fall back into depression and kept her head up. "But we must take immediate action. If Rose can leave Homeworld so quickly, we must take advantage of this opportunity."
"I agree on that," conceded Yellow, "I will send out the order to deploy several ships for Earth." Just as she was about to end the call, she noticed her fellow Diamond revert to her usual dejected self. If this fiasco had any upside, it was getting that sorry case out of her constant mourning.
"If it puts you at ease, I will allow the attacking force to be headed by a gem from your court."
"Thank you, Yellow. It is much appreciated." The gentler Diamond gave a rare, genuine smile as the call ended, already having an idea on who to send for this mission.
Yeah, Homeworld does not give up this time around. What does Blue Diamond have in mind for this mission? Tune in next time to find out!
Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to leave a review!