These last few of weeks have been hell. I always hated being held up on bed like this and it's still just as annoying as the times before. My hand wasn't too serious, just a few stitches and tight bandaging and it healed up nicely. However even though I was incapacitated until my injuries and bones heal, I didn't miss anything too major when it came to helping out the gems and all.
In fact, first on the list of interesting things I missed had to be when Steven and Sadie pranked Lars because he was a lazy jerk and left Sadie to do all the work with some super hot and spicy flake concoction that makes a person feel like their mouth is on fire when they ingest it. I won't bother going too into details but I feel it was just deserved for Lars in the long haul you know.
Next, Steven was looking for some band mates for some festival thing going on and before he could get some people, the gems had to go and get some time-traveling hourglass device from a place that only opens once every hundred years or so. Now I don't know what happened down there exactly but the forlorn, freaked out, and confused faces on all my friends was pretty evident that things didn't go exactly as planned. From there explanation on the situation, a bunch of Stevens just started popping up out of nowhere and started fighting until one of them broke one of the supposed hourglasses and they all just… died, except for our Steven. Needless to say, the gems were confused, but I wasn't.
"You said the Stevens just kept fighting and living until one of them broke one of the hourglasses. If I had to guess, that was the time-traveling device you guys were looking for. At one point in the future, Steven obtained the time-traveling device and used it, albeit a bit recklessly if it caused the situation you guys described, and then decided to go back to the original. That Steven found out what's happening and decided to break it, destroying himself and all other future versions of himself. Why? Because he and any other future Steven's all hailed from a future that no longer existed. A future that had the device. But because he broke it…" I trail off.
"Then all future versions were rendered null and void because the catalyst for their future versions were destroyed before they could have ever formed in the first place!" Pearl explains excitedly, happy on how it's all so clear.
I nod, "That's why we have no memory of our Steven picking up the time-traveling device in the first place, because a version of him prevented the misery from happening before it could ever happen in the first place." I finish off the explanation and take a sip of water from my place on the bed.
"Wooooooooow." Steven draws out his awe on the situation.
"Whoa." Amethyst says as well.
"Impressive." Garnet says. Not sure if she meant me or Steven but I don't pry.
" you've watched enough shows and played enough games as I have, you kinda get a feel for this kind of thing." I finish downing my water before looking to Steven. "So, Steven. Got any ideas for your band?" I ask him.
He looks down for a second with a finger to his chin before he gasps loudly and looks at all of us around him. After getting a good look at all of us, he turns to me with a wide-grin and stars in his eyes. "Actually…"
And the Crystal Gems as a band were formed. Amethyst was on the drums, Garnet had a keyboard guitar, Pearl played a violin surprisingly well considering the myriad of instruments we played and I was still able enough to play Bass. My arm may be broken and in a cast but the fingers still work. It was all going pretty good during our performance and all but Pearl and I both agreed things got a little weird when Steven mentioned how he watched himself die. 'For a kid, he's pretty tough I'll give him that.'
Next what happened was Steven accidentally popped a bubble that was carrying a monsters gem and released it from its prison, thankfully not the one I bubbled, and proceeded to befriend it. Things were looking alright at first although it hissed to high hell and back when it came near me. Almost burned me with its acidic spit but Steven was able to calm it down, somewhat. When it came time to go and grab another artifact of sorts, the gems, and that includes the bug gem too, went to go grab a falling star apparently while I chilled on the home front. When they got back, Steven was a bit somber and sad but the gems were ecstatic. Why? Because for Steven he had to bubble his friend after it got poofed; for the gems, Steven bubbled a gem. In all my time I've been here, I've never seen Steven do anything major in the magic department. I've never even seen him summon his weapon, or shield apparently as the others have mentioned, and the fact he can bubble now is pretty big. Of course to me it wasn't as much a major hit to me as one would think, considering at the time I was almost dead but that's beside the point.
Right now things have been pretty calm the past few days so without much to do, I'm playing Mass Effect 2 and am about to embark on the suicide mission.
"I thought it over. I've minimized the risks but I'm still nervous and that's always makes me talk too much it's a defense mechanism and its stupid and people who just see the helmet can't see my expressions so I have to make it clear what I'm-"
"And there goes to helmet." I say with a smile.
"What I'm… feeling." Tali says uneasily before she tackles Shepard onto the bed and proceeds to-
"Marcus!"
I fly off the bed, fall to the ground and rip the power cord out of the wall.
"I WASN'T DOING ANYONE!" I yell out. I wince at my choice of words.
A few seconds of silence is the reply from my… rash actions. Catching my breath, I peak over the bed to see everyone standing on the ground floor and for some reason Amethyst looks… off.
"Sooooo, what's going on?" I ask with a smile, trying to hide the awkwardness of the situation I just put us all in.
"Amethyst broke her gem." Garnet explains.
"Aw c'mon, it's not that ba-"
"WHAT!?" I cry out and in a single bound, I jump over the bed and second floor before landing roughly in front of everyone. I ignore the tightness in my chest. 'Rib still hasn't fully healed but that's not important now.' "Show me.
"C'mon its not that-"
The glare I give her and the proximity of my face right in front of her causes her to freeze. "Now."
"Uhhhh, oh, uh, okay." She says weakily and pulls down her shirt a little. Looking at her gem, it's true. It's cracked.
"Oh god." I quietly say and place my hand against my head. "What do we do?" I ask them. Of all the time I've been dealing with gems during my lone wolf stint awhile back, I never came up with the conscience or idea of repairing a cracked gem.
"We were planning to head over to a special garden fountain that once belonged to Rose Quartz." Garnet says.
"A fountain? What's so special about a fountain?" I ask.
"Oh Marcus. This fountain is no ordinary fountain. See another ability Rose had was that her tears were imbued with special healing properties that are perfect for healing a cracked gem." Pearl explains happily. "Including, maybe aaaaa… humans injured body?" she asks with a sly smile. I look down at my broken arm and feel the pain in my back.
"Yeah okay, I see your point." I agree with them. I walk over to my jacket and pull out one of my Beretta's and slip it under my belt behind me and turn back to them. "So, where to?"
"And in the center of the garden- Rose's Fountain, overflowing with her healing, lacrimal essence!" Pearl continues to go on about the fountain even though we've already made it.
"Sounds pretty cool." I reply as I look around at the landscape. "Hopefully it's still running. I'm getting fidgety sitting around all day and this cast itches." I complain. It definitely sucks wearing this thing so if these tears are as great as they think they are, I can get rid of it soon. However another question comes up in my mind. "Wait, if Steven's mom could heal things with her tears, then why are we going to this fountain? Don't we just need to get him to cry?" I ask them, although I get an uneasy look right after I finish talking. "That sounded a lot better in my head." I whisper to myself.
"Well we tried but-"
"I guess I'm just too manly." Steven interrupts Pearl as he lightly flexes.
"Didn't you cry about snakes a few days ago?" I ask him with a deadpan look.
"They have no arms!" he cries out but sadly no tears.
"In any case, we don't need Steven to cry. We have the fountain!" she happily yells.
"I don't see it." Garnets comments.
"Yeah I don't either. It's empty. Do we have to go somewhere or…" I begin to say until someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and spot a massive rounded collection of huge thorn brambles. "Oh… I'm guessing that's it." I point lazily to it.
"Wha..." Pearl gasps at seeing the state the fountain is in.
Amethyst says something but I can't understand her. From the way its spoken, I feel it's something like speaking backwards. 'I would be more impressed with that if her life force wasn't damaged. That would be a pretty cool talent to have.'
"Now, now! Let's keep it together! Our memories of Rose can't be tainted by some overgrown brambles!" Pearl says a bit uneasily and chuckles the same way too. I walk close to them and Pearl pulls me close. "Look at them. They're a mess without her guidance. Directionless, pathetic, clinging things." Pearl continues to say as she grabs onto me a little tighter.
'Why do I feel like your describing yourself now Pearl?' My train of thought gets cut off as Pearl grabs my head with both hands.
"It's going to be okay, Marcus." She says hysterically as she looks me in the eye.
To say I feel awkward is an understatement. "Um, okay." 'I wasn't aware I was freaking out.'
"Y-you really think so?"
"Uhhh, yeah, yeah sure. Listen," I say and gently pry her off me and nudge her to Garnet who nods. "Why don't you two, go on ahead and looks for the fountain while I," I gesture to Steven and Amethyst, where the former is trying to make tears come out of his eyes. "Stay here and make sure those two don't get hurt. Okay?"
"But we-"
"Hey! Is that an opening?" I quickly point behind her.
"Where?!" she turns around and jogs to the light shining through the brambles.
I let out a breath of air and turn to Garnet, "Make sure she's alright, okay?" I ask her.
She looks at me for a second before looking behind me, "Do the same to them, and you got a deal." She says and extends her hand to a handshake.
"Deal." I agree and shake hands with her. She turns around and follows after the slightly hysterical gem.
"Healing tears!" I hear Steven straining to force tears out of his face.
"Steven stop that or you'll get a hernia. Or an aneurysm." I warn him to stop and he does but with a slightly depressed look.
Amethyst begins to speak gibberish again, leaving Steven and I with equally stumped looks on our faces.
"Amethyst, we can't understand you. Either write it out or play charades." I tell her. She gets an annoyed look before it turns to a happy one, like she got an idea. I find it confusing that she slaps herself… at first but when she drags her fingers down her face under her eyes, I get it.
"Pain can make one cry."
"And he gets it in one." I comment to him. Amethyst shakes her head in agreement on what Steven said.
"Where is pain?" He says and thinks it over. I look around for a second and the obvious choice is all around us.
"I imagine these brambles are something we can use. But we use them is another matter-" I stop talking as I see Steven slowly reach towards one of the thorns with one of his fingers outstretched as the other hand covers his face. At first, it seemed like it would work but when the brambles start to move on their own terms, that's when I step in. "Steven!" I jump towards him.
"Huh?" he questions as he uncovers his eyes to see the brambles moving towards him. Before he can move, I push him out of the way but that means one other thing.
*Whip*
I was in their attack range.
"AHHHHHH! FUCK! ARRRG! God damnit!" I curse like crazy and scream as the plants attack connected with my face, forcing me to fall back and cover my face with my good forearm.
"Amethyst! Steven!"
"Marcus! What's going on?" I hear the voices of Pearl and Garnet make their way towards.
"I-I-I don't know! One moment I was standing there and the next…!" Steven trails off as I continue to roll on the ground.
"Fuck." I whisper to myself.
"Here. Let me take a look." I hear Pearls voice as she lays her hands on me to keep me from thrashing about. I stop and take a deep breath before moving my arm. The cold air stings my wound but I start to breathe a bit more quickly as I realize I can't see anything.
It's all black.
The gasps of more than a few people lead me to believe it isn't pretty.
"How bad is it?" Marcus groans out from his laying position on the ground. As soon as Marcus removed his arm, Amethyst turned Steven away so he wouldn't see the bloody injury. Garnet lets out a hurt hiss but Pearl is the one most vocal.
"There's no question." She turns back to Garnet with an angry but determined scowl on her face. "We need to get into the fountain. Garnet, get us into there." Pearl orders the large gem and points to a large rock. Garnet nods and heads over to it as Pearl looks at Marcus more closely. "Hold still Marcus." She says and takes off her sash before wrapping it around Marcus's eyes carefully.
"Ah!"
"Sorry." She quickly apologizes and carefully tightens the makeshift bandage. "There."
Marcus slowly leans up, "So I assume… I'm blind until we get to the fountain?" He asks.
"Yes." She says with sadness in her voice and her head aimed to the ground.
"Hmmm… alright." He quietly says with no emotion and stands up. "I'm going to need a guide."
"I have you." Pearl wraps her arms around his good one and pulls him to Garnet as she punches a rock through at the vines.
"I needed that. This way." She says to everyone and leads the group through the opening in the brambles. Slowly but carefully, the group makes their way to the fountain, Garnet keeping her gauntlets ready in case any more surprises come forth, Pearl hold onto Marcus tightly to make sure nothing injures him further, and Amethyst does the same to Steven.
"This isn't right." Garnet says as they come to a large opening in the brambles that wasn't made by the rock, almost as if the brambles tried to touch the fountain but couldn't. Steven stands next to Garnet and peers to see the fountain. "The fountain isn't running."
"Darn it! What's wrong with it?" Pearl says as she leads Marcus over to the fountain and lays him against the outer ring.
"I'm not sure."
"Is that Mom?" Steven asks as he looks up at the statue of his mom in the center of the fountain. "Oh, oh, I'm getting emotional! I think it's happening! Uh, I'm really feeling it! Who do I heal first?!" He quickly asks to no one in particular.
"Amethyst." Marcus says instantly.
"But-"
"No. Her gem breaks, she's gone for good. My pain can heal with time. Amethyst… Now." He firmly says with no room for argument whatsoever. There is a few tense seconds before Steven quickly moves to Amethyst and leans over her, straining to cry while Pearl and Garnet watch. The next few seconds are filled with Steven grunting and trying to cry but to no avail.
"Ah, come on! I had it!" Steven cries out as the moment passes.
Pearl lets out a sigh before placing her hand to the bridge of her nose. "Steven, it's fine. Just- just stay here and watch over them. We'll find out what's wrong with the fountain." She says in an almost tired tone at the situation.
"No, no. Wait! I can still do it!" Steven tries to reason but something else catches their attention. Amethyst's gemstone crack enlarges, making her fall into pieces that are connected by a small lines of skin. Garnet lets out a hiss at seeing her fellow gem in such a state. Garnet and Pearl start to leave but Steven chases after them to try and convince them of his ability. "Wait, wait! It might still happen! Guys?" Unfortunately they have no time for chances with Steven and head off further in to find the reason for the dry fountain. He lets out a sad sigh and sits next to his fellow human with a depressed huff. "I'm sorry Marcus." Steven says as they both lay against the fountain. "About earlier, I… I just thought that if I cried-"
"Don't." Marcus cuts Steven off. "Don't apologize to me. It wasn't your fault."
"But-"
"No!" Marcus sternly tells him. "Steven I don't need your apology. Why? Because you didn't send those brambles to attack. You make have provoked them but you had no intention whatsoever to see me get hurt." He tells his fellow hybrid human and changes his tone to a quieter one. "I know you man. In the time I've known you, you've never wanted to cause me no ill will so if you apologize for something you think you did, I won't accept it because I know you never wanted it." He says, continuing to look forward before he looks to Steven despite his blindness. "You're a good kid, man. I'm not gonna stop caring or protecting you because of this." He gestures to his eyes.
Steven sniffs a little before surprising Marcus with a hug. "Thank you."
"No problem man." He pats Steven on the back and gets comfortable against the fountain until he feels another hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Amethyst."
She talks.
"Still can't understand you… but thanks." He pats her hand although to his confusion she sounds farther away than where her hand is.
She talks some more and tries to get Steven attention, pointing to her tangled up body parts.
Fed up with the whole situation, he snaps. "I can't understand you!" He yells, stopping Amethysts bouncing around. "I don't understand anything! Why is everyone acting so strange? Why can't I-" He stops his ranting and looks at the statue of his mother. "Why can't I cry?!"
"Why can't I cry?" The area echoes Steven's words back to everyone.
"It's just... I mean, I don't know how to feel about you, but everyone else does. I wish I could have met you then this place would make me sad, and I could cry healing tears, like you." He says sadly as he curls up in the flower bed at the base of his mothers statue.
Marcus looks down and thinks, 'The others expect some things from you Steven, because they knew your mother. They don't know mine, so they don't expect a lot from me. And yet, I can do more from her than you can. I don't know if it's because I'm older or not but… I'm sorry you feel this way, Steven. I wish I could help but-'
*Shing*
"Contact!" In one quick movement, Marcus proves his effectiveness by slicing one of the bramble bushes trying to advance on him in his sitting position with his Katana. He jumps up to his feet, ignoring the pain in his chest as Amethyst starts hooting and screaming at the sudden group of enemies. "Steven! Amethyst! To the fountain!" he yells and slices another bramble bush behind him.
"On it!" Steven confirms and goes to grab the pieces of Amethyst while the bushes focus on the bigger threat.
Without his eyes, Marcus has to rely on his other sense even more. Thankfully, it proves very effective for him as the bushes make a lot of rustling noise. However he also has to be careful not to hit his allies. Twisting around, he delivers and angled cut to another bush behind him before continuing on till he brings it up behind him to cut another. Twirling around, he cuts two more off the top and kicks another away from him.
"Marcus! Get into the fountain! They can't get us in here!"
"I hope your right." Marcus mutters to himself and slices two more in one stroke before going into the direction he heard Steven's voice. "Woah!" Unfortunately he forgot the barrier around the fountain and trips over, dropping his katana and rolling along the bowl like shape of the fountain before crashing into something soft.
"Are you alright?" Steven asks Marcus after the tumble he took.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just a little sore but nothing serious." He tells Steven of his condition. The sword slide's down the fountain, reverberating down the whole way loudly. He quickly reaches over and grabs before holding it up. "They aren't getting in?"
"No they can't." Steven confirms what he said but more sadly this time as Amethyst's gem cracks even more, making her form start to glitch out like a computer screen.
"Amethyst, Marcus, I'm sorry!" he apologizes to the two. "I can't do anything right. Now I'm going to lose you, and it's all my fault." He cries out.
Amethyst glitches again and she speaks. Albeit they can't understand her, but the way she said it means she's trying to comfort him.
Steven hugs Amethyst in return. "Please let me be a magic healer." He cries lowly, and this time for real. A tear finally falls from his eyes after so much trying and hits Amethyst's gem with an audible 'splash' making him gasp.
Unfortunately, Amethyst's gem stays cracked, meaning his tears aren't healing whatsoever.
"Oh, come on!" He yells out in frustration.
"Damnit." Marcus tightens his grip on his sword, almost opening the stitches on his hand, and prepared to fight his way out.
What stops him though is a massive rumbling sound, making them all look around for what it is. For Steven and Amethyst they can't find the source. For Marcus, he hears and feels it coming from… under him?
Before anyone can comprehend what's happening, the fountains water flows fourth, simulating tears from Rose's statue as the water washes over them, growing roses on the bushes, making all the brambles disappear.
Water. My entire body is completely engulfed in water as I'm suddenly thrown about in the fountain. I swallow a good chunk of the water before getting my breathing under control and I feel… great.
I feel awesome. The stiffness in my left arm is gone and I only feel constricted by the cast, there's no pain in my chest and the soreness in my spine is completely gone. Kicking my feet and swinging my arms about, I manage to swim to the surface.
I break the surface and inhale a large gust of air before steadying myself on the water's surface. Carefully I swim to the edge of the fountain and pull my top half over the edge of the fountain.
"Marcus!" Pearls voice cuts through my breathing and I feel her arms on me, pulling me completely out of the water and laying me on the ground. "Here. Let me get this off you." She grabs the sash on my face and slowly untangles it until she pulls it off completely. I start to freak out a little because I still see darkness before I realize my eyes are still closed. I slowly but carefully I blink my eyes open, wincing at little at the sensitivity they have because they just got repaired and the brightness of the sun.
It's all blinding white at first but some things start to take form. I see clouds, the sun, some birds and-
I freeze at the sight. "Oh my god." I whisper out as I get a perfect glimpse of Pearl's face. All this time I was just so focused on staying alive, protecting my friends and living that I never… realized how beautiful one of them was. Time almost slows down for me as I stare. 'Wow. I never realized… just how blue her eyes were. I knew she had blue but… I never paid attention to the shade. It's… perfect for her.'
"Are you okay?" Her voice seems angelic to me as I process her words.
"Yeah, I'm fine… but…"
"But what?"
"I… I just… never realized how… beautiful you looked." I say, my mouth speaking like it has a mind of its own.
"Oh! Uhhhh! Um…. Thank you." She says with a very noticeable blush and turns away from me. Slowly I stand up and see Garnet walking to us.
"You alright, Marcus?" she asks. Pearl gets up as well and looks to me but doesn't look directly at me, just a sideways glance.
I look down at my wet cast. "Grrrrr!" I growl out and bend my arm straight, breaking the cast as it splinters and chips away. Using my free hand, I tear off the remains of the cast and flex my once trapped arm. The bones pop in several places and the muscles are stiff but I have full functionality again. Grabbing the bandage at my midsection, I tear it off as well and toss it away. Poking around my chest for any points of pain, I smile when I find none and look to my stabbed hand. Rolling the bandage off, my stitches clink to the floor once their free from the confines as well as the ones on my head. No scar whatsoever is present on my body and I feel better than I possibly could. As a test, I step forward and throw a few punches and kicks in various directions, as well as twisting and flipping my body around for any noticeable points of resistance or pain.
I find none.
I look back to Garnet with a smile, "Oh, I'm more than okay."
"Good." He says with a smile and Pearl looks away with a blush.
"Did you see what I did?" Steven yells out to Garnet and Pearl as Amethyst walks up to me.
"Actually I couldn't see anything. Ow!"
"Dude, no." Amethyst kicks me in the shin at my horrible joke.
"It was magic!" He continues on despite my bouncing on one foot. "My tears brought the fountain back to life and saved Amethyst and Marcus!"
Garnet and Pearl look at each other. "Actually I'm pretty sure me and Garnet unplugging the clogged chamber brought the fountain back to life."
"We saved Amethyst." The two gems proceed to put down the kids moment of happiness.
"You don't think my crying was a little related to that?" he asks unsure.
"Oh Steven, you don't have healing tears. You'll never have any real magic powers, and we don't want anything more to do with you." Pearl harshly says as Steven looks at her with a horrified expre-
"Dude."
Steven and Connie look to me. "She did not say that." I firmly tell him. "I was there. I know she didn't say that."
"No, but that's what it felt like." He says sadly.
"Is that why you've been so down?" Connie asks him. Steven simply shrugs his shoulders.
"Yes, it has. He's been mopy ever since the trip and back." I comment and take another bite of my sandwich.
"Oh. You can have your juice back." Connie offers to our sad friend.
"Nah, that's okay." He refuses. He sniffles a little and sighs. "Everyone expects me to be like my mom. What if I never get those powers?" He asks her.
"Then you'll be like me. That's not so bad." Connie offers to him.
"But if I don't have powers, then I can't hang out with Amethyst or Garnet or Pearl or you Marcus!" he says with tears almost appearing in his eyes."And I-I can't go on missions!" He finishes as he grips his pants tight. Not wanting to see the kid disappointed I go to say something to reassure him but Connie beats me to it.
"You don't need any powers to be here with me." She sincerely says with a smile. Connie begins to lean forward in what I think is an attempt to kiss Steven so I close my eyes and remain absolutely still so my presence doesn't kill the mood. "Ow. Ugh." I open my eyes to see Connie grab her face in pain.
"What's wrong?" Steven asks in a concerned tone.
"You alright?" I ask as well.
"I think-" She begins to say but lets out a breath before continuing. "There's just— something wrong with my glasses." She says and takes off her glasses. Steven and I wait to see if everything is alright with her but she just looks even more freaked out. "My... My eyes."
"What about your eyes?" I ask in concern.
"I-I-I can see!" She reply's in surprise.
"What?" Steven and I both ask in confusion.
"I can see without my glasses!" She says almost disbelievingly.
"What? Hows that possible?" I ask as well, not 100% percent sure how her eyes suddenly got fixed.
"Did I heal your eyes? But how?" Steven asks out loud. We think for a second before I notice the tip of the juice boxes straw is almost sparkling.
"Nooooo." I draw out the no in disbelief. 'He can't.'
They both stare at the juice box as well before Connie drops it in.
"The juice box!" Steven gasps out loud at the revelation. "I don't have healing tears, I have healing spit!" He proclaims loudly with happiness and his arms raised high into the sky.
"No way." I say, still not believing the whole thing.
"What am I going to tell my parents? What am I going to tell my optometrist?!" Connie asks us.
'Holy crap that's right. How will she explain this to her parents?' I think.
"I don't even know! Oh thank you Connie!" He brushes off her questions and hugs her. "Lion, let's go tell the Gems, they're never going to believe this!" He says happily and heads off down the hill towards the temple with Lion trailing after him.
'I guess because I was here, he didn't think to include me since I saw firsthand.' I think and look to Connie.
She lets out a sigh as she takes her glasses off. "What am I going to do?" she says quietly to herself. Reaching over, I grab one of the lenses while it's still in her hands and rub it a little, trying to think of what to do. Connie uses her other hand and pops out the lens she has. Following the same thing, I pop the other one off and allow her to put them on. Take a step in front of her and stare directly at her eyes. As long as you're not actively looking at her glasses, I'd say she can pass off at wearing fake glasses. I give her a nod. "Thanks Marcus."
"No problem." I reply and stand next to her again. We take a moment to stare over Beach City before I speak up, "Hey Connie?" I don't look to her but I know she's looking at me. "Listen, if you ever need a friend or something weird or… complicated comes up," I look to her, "You know me and Steven got your back right?"
"Yeah, I know."
"Good." I say and the conversation pauses. For a few seconds we stand there thinking about things: Connie with her new eye sight and me with… someone else. "I better get going. I should go confirm what Steven tells the gems, to make sure they don't think he's lying."
"Yeah, that's probably best." She walks back to our picnic area and grabs the blanket before placing it in the basket. "I should get home too. Don't want to make my parents worry and… get ready for the hiding."
"Yeah, good luck with that." I wish her luck as I begin walking away.
"Thanks for your help." she calls out to me. I reply with a wave before walking back to the temple with my hands in my pocket.
I walk for what feels like hours but really it's only been a half hour before the temple is in sight as I walk along the beach. The whole time, only one person occupies my thoughts after hearing Steven retell the story. "Pearl…"
I stop and stand there for a few seconds before I continue walking. I don't know what it is but lately I've felt… strange around Pearl and it wasn't just when my eyes got fixed. I care about her and the others as much as I would be willing to give my life for them but… with her I feel… different.
'When Sugilite hurt her… I felt… angry. Pure anger and rage welling up inside me and I wanted nothing more than to tear her apart with my bare hands. The same that could be said to that holo-version of herself. They hurt her so much and all I wanted was to-' I stop and clench my fist tightly, almost drawing blood. My breathing becomes deep and heavy before I calm down and unclench my fist. I continue to my pace as I make it to the stairs of the temple. 'I don't know what it is but… I think I might like it. Is this what Greg and Rose felt like… Is this what my mom and dad felt? The need to protect someone you care about deeply?' I question myself as I make it to the door. Looking in, I see Steven already telling the gems about his power with dramatic arm flailing as Lion sleeps near my weapons cases.
I smile as I take in all their forms. 'Garnet… Amethyst… Steven…' I remember our friend from earlier, '…Connie… even you Lion.' My eyes settle on Pearl as she listens intently to Steven's tale with a beautiful smile on her face. I grip the handle to the door. 'Regardless of how I feel, I know who my friends are. You've been straight with me so far and as long as things continue how they are, nothing will keep me from protecting you.'
I walk in, getting everyones attention.
'Nothing.'
And another one is down. Now I hope this chapter somewhat cements just how Marcus feels about some of the gems. Glad to see some of you managed to get what I was going for at first. I didn't want to make things super obvious by having mental monologue dialogues happen between the gems. I've always found those to be super give-aways and opted for a more subtler approach. I hope that was alright.
In any case, this was fun to write and I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited for the next few chapters.
Also folks, before when I said I wanted to do other types of fanfics, I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure I might have accidentally gave off the impression of only doing cartoon shows type fanfics. I don't want to be restricted to only just cartoons, even though I still got some ideas for a large portion of them, but to also work with other fic types, like video games and anime. Some examples are as such: You want Marcus to be the youngest Spartan in the halo universe, I can probably do that; A Renegade in My Life as a Teenage Robot, I'm sure of it; an operative for Sector V in the Kids Next Door, good; A complicated Jedi Padawan in Star Wars The clone wars; An assassin in Akame ga Kill, sure; A Kamui user in Kill La kill; A trapped player in Sword Art Online; A person who doesn't care in Black Lagoon; A hunter in RWBY; A member of Hellsing in the anime Hellsing Ultimate; A person who works for or against Zero in Code Geass; TMNT; Teen Titans (Not Go!); Danny Phantom; Fallout; Mass Effect; Kung Fu Panda; How to Train Your Dragon; Zootopia; It doesn't matter.
If I've seen it, I've more than likely come up with a character to add, background to go along with it and such. The ones mentioned above, as well as most others have mentioned, are just examples of what I could come up with. If you have an idea for a fic you want me to eventually write up on or a suggestion, go ahead and say so. I don't think I know anything I can't come up with for but I do prefer things with actual plots to them. Just wanted to get that out there for you guys.
Also I would have mentioned Dragon Ball or My Little Pony but I only saw a few dozen episodes years ago of Dragon ball and never got fully into it; and I tried a My Little Pony fic on a different site awhile back but it failed. That's why I update so frequently, so I don't fail or lose interest again. I hope this clears up some things about me and why I'm so frequent.
Also guys take heed about some of the Anime I mentioned above. Some of them can be lewd, very explicit, tons of cursing and lots and lots of blood and guts. I don't want to scar anyone alright?
With that cleared up and off my mind, I wish you guys good fortune and have fun reading.
