Twoie rolled his eyes as the gems who were seated in the audience stand of the Sky Arena rapidly turned their attention away from him. They had insisted on watching their training session, eager to see Steven's progress.
They had also been watching him. It was something that he had not noticed right away, but when he did it became difficult to ignore. Someone was always in the house now and he was almost never left alone with Steven. Every so often he would feel someone's eyes on him and he would turn just in time to catch a glimpse of one of the gems quickly looking away.
Twoie only noticed that Steven was nervous because he had seen the same expression many times on his own face. His body was tensed up and his smile was a bit too strained. His eyes darted anxiously toward the direction of the gems who were seated patiently waiting for the demonstration to begin.
Twoie shot him a reassuring smile, "It's ok just start whenever you're ready." he said.
Steven hesitantly nodded as he slowly took on the defensive position that Twoie had been teaching him. He put his arm out in front of his body and closed his eyes. His face scrunched up in concentration. Seconds ticked by with nothing happening. Just as Twoie began to worry that Steven would be too nervous to summon his shield in front of the gems it happened; Steven's arm glowed bright pink as his shield materialized in front of everyone.
A look of shock briefly appeared on his face before it was replaced by one of joy, "I did it!" he cheered, looking over to see the reaction of their audience.
Pearl was the first to react, "Excellent job, Steven!" she praised.
Amethysts pumped her fist in the air, "Way to go, Ste-man!" she hollered.
Garnet simply smiled and sent him a thumbs up in approval.
Steven beamed as he eagerly soaked up the praise of his family. Twoie's eyes widened when he realized that Steven was hovering ever so slightly, "You're floating!" he blurted out.
Steven instantly turned his attention to his feet which were not in contact with the ground, "I'm floating!" he exclaimed, stunned.
The realization that he could now float must have triggered feelings of excitement in Steven because he began to float up even higher.
Twoie's face paled at the sight as he recalled his first experience with his floating powers. He had been stuck in the sky for hours as he struggled to control his newfound ability.
Steven appeared unconcerned with how high up he was getting. He giggled and attempted to do a somersault in the air. He leaned his body forward in order to gain more momentum, but only succeeded in flipping his body upside down. He laughed when he realized his mistake and wildly swung his legs in an attempt to reorient himself.
Twoie glanced over at the gems who were all watching the events unfold with varying degrees of worry plastered across their faces. Garnet adjusted her visor, but appeared frustrated by whatever she saw in the future.
She turned to look at him, "You need to teach him how to control his powers. He could be in danger."
"Did you see something in your future vision?" Pearl anxiously asked, her eyes never leaving Steven.
Garnet hesitated, "... I'm not sure." she shocked Twoie with how uncertain she sounded.
Garnet did have trouble predicting the future at times when there were many variables involved, but this should have been easy. Garnet once again adjusted her visor and frowned at whatever she was seeing.
"Stevens getting pretty high up. I can barely see him now." Amethyst nonchalantly commented as she pointed to a red dot in the sky.
Pearl's face turned impossibly pale as her eyes tracked Steven's rapid ascent, "A fall from that height…" she trailed off nervously.
Twoie sent her a reassuring smile, "I'll go get him." he said before he leapt up in the air towards Steven's direction.
The wind rushed past his ears as he scanned the skies for any sign of Steven. A faint giggle alerted him of his position, "Steven!" he shouted as he turned toward the direction of the noise.
"Twoie! It's so beautiful up here." Steven observed.
Twoie followed his gaze, "Woah." he let out a surprised gasp at the sight of the gorgeous landscape. They were currently above huge mountains which appeared almost purple in color due to the setting sun. Luscious and vibrant pine trees littered the mountains.
"It really is beautiful." he commented as he took in the sights. "But we should probably go back down before the gems start to worry."
Steven pouted but ultimately agreed with him, "So, how do I stop floating?" he asked.
"Well, our powers are controlled by our emotions. When you feel happy you start to float and when you feel sad you start to fall. So, you need to use a combination of happy and sad memories to safely float back down."
Steven looked pensive for a moment before nodding his head, "Sad thoughts." he muttered to himself before he began to plummet at an alarming speed.
Twoie blinked in surprise and stared at the spot where Steven once was. His stomach lurched as he watched him fall without any sign of stopping.
"Steven!" he shouted in alarm before chasing after him. "Happy thoughts!" he reminded him when he got within hearing range.
"I'll catch you Steven!" He heard Pearl wail. At some point she had gotten up from her seat and began to wildly run around with her arms outstretched.
He glanced down nervously at the rapidly approaching ground. Steven was showing no signs of stopping. The shock of falling from such a height was probably making it difficult for him to concentrate on his memories. He wanted Steven to learn to use his powers, but he would not risk his safety. He reached out and pulled Steven into an embrace, "I got you." he said as he began to safely float to the ground.
Pearl looked extremely relieved but she still had her arms up as if she was waiting for Steven to fall again. Only when Twoie's feet touched the ground did she let her arms drop to her side.
Twoie gently placed Steven down and looked him over; he appeared shaken up but was otherwise unharmed.
"Are you alright?!" Pearl asked as she rushed over to inspect Steven.
"I'm fine." he quickly answered, swatting her worried hands away. "Pearl." he whined, cheeks flushing in embarrassment as she continued to fret over him.
She quickly looked him over for any cuts or bruises before engulfing him in a tight hug, "I am just making sure you're ok."
"I'm fine. Really." he softly assured her as he melted into the hug.
Garnet, followed by Amethyst approached them, "I think that's enough training for today." She placed a hand on Steven's shoulder.
"Yeah," Steven yawned. "All that floating made me tired."
Twoie ruffled his hair, "Good job today Steven. We'll work on your landings another day."
Steven shuddered as a gust of wind hit his body. He rolled onto his back and his hand blindly fumbled for something to cover his body with. He was confused when his fingers brushed up against fine sand instead of the soft fabric of his comforter. His eyes fluttered open to reveal a dazzling blue sky.
"Where am I?" he wondered aloud as he sat up and took in his strange surroundings.
The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his bed. He glanced down at his clothes and was surprised when instead of his pajamas he saw he was dressed in his iconic red shirt and jeans. He scratched the back of his head in confusion. He didn't remember getting dressed and he definitely didn't remember going to the beach.
There was a large body of perfectly clear water a few feet in front of him. As he paid closer attention to his surroundings he realized that everything around him seemed perfect. The sand was unusually soft, the air was crisp and fresh, the trees were a vibrant green, even the sun felt like it was the perfect temperature; not too hot and not too cold. He stood up and began to look around in hopes of locating other people, but unfortunately there were only more trees and sand around him.
He was pulled out of his musings by the sound of muffled voices. He decided to follow in hopes of finding some answers. With every step he took his surroundings began to resemble a forest more than a beach. At one point he realized that he was walking on grass. He blinked and looked back. A few feet away from him was a literal line in the sand where the two biomes diverged.
The trees around him became increasingly dense and he had to push away leaves several times in order to continue his pursuit. Just as he was about to push away a particularly large leaf he heard a girl's voice. He stopped moving and strained his ears to hear what she was saying.
"-on't apologize." she sounded annoyed.
Steven's eyebrows scrunched in concentration; she sounded familiar.
A male voice that sounded shockingly like his own (was that Twoie?) responded, "How did you know I was going to-"
"Apologize? You have that look on your face."
"Look? What look?"
"That one." Steven heard what sounded like a light smack followed by the deeper voice yelping in surprise.
"Hey!" the voice began to protest, but was cut off by the girl.
"I know you think it's your fault-"
"That's because it is."
"No. I chose to dance with you, remember?"
Steven frowned. They were in trouble because they were dancing?
"I know, bu-"
"No buts. It's the Diamonds fault, ok?"
"The Diamonds?" Steven quietly repeated to himself.
There was a pause of silence before the boy let out a defeated sigh, "Ok." he conceded.
Another pause, "Blue says that if I behave until the upcoming ball then she'll let you out." the boy said.
Steven's frown deeped. Now they were talking about the color blue? It sounded like they were referring to a person though. And what was this about letting her out? Were they in some sort of prison? If they were it was the nicest prison Steven had ever seen.
"That's good." She replied in a much happier voice. "Now enough about the Diamonds. What did you bring me this time?"
"Oh! I almost forgot. You're going to love this!" He heard the sound of a zipper opening followed by the shuffling of paper. "It's about a samurai who travels back in ti-"
Steven's heart skipped a beat as he felt himself being lifted off the ground by the back of his shirt. He widely swung his limbs around in an attempt to escape his captors grasp.
"A human?" a gruff yet familiar voice said. "Where are your earrings? And what are you doing so close to my Dia-" They trailed off as they got a good look at his face.
Steven gasped, "Amethyst?" he asked uncertainly.
The person holding him up certainly looked like Amethyst, but her shoulders were broad and she was much taller. She was also wearing a strange uniform with a pink diamond emblazoned on the center of it.
"My Diamond?" the Amethyst asked, a look of confusion falling over her face. "But you were… I thought…" She looked between him and something past the large leaf he was once standing behind.
She placed him down with a surprising amount of gentleness before pulling the leaf back. His eyes widened as he was met with the sight of Twoie and an older looking Connie.
Connie was seated next to Twoie on the soft grass. She was dressed in a strange blue vest and a long white loincloth. She also had a pair of large bright purple earrings on. A flower crown rested atop her head. She was giggling at something Twoie had told her.
Twoie was dressed in that same strange pink outfit he had first arrived in. He rubbed the back up his neck nervously as a blush spread across his cheeks. They both seemed unaware of his presence.
"My Diamond." The Amethyst standing next to him loudly announced as she did a strange pose with her arms.
Twoie turned at the sound of her voice and his eyebrows rose in surprise when they made eye contact, "Steven?!" he shouted. He blinked and examined his surroundings as if he just realized where he was.
Suddenly everything started to fall apart. The world was engulfed in black and Steven jerked awake.
"Twoie?" he whispered as he sat up.
He looked around and realized that he was back in his room; he had never left. It was just a dream, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it had actually happened. It felt so real.
He turned his head to the direction of the temple door. Judging by the pink glow being emitted, it was Twoie who was exiting his room. He was still wearing his pajamas and his hair was messy; it was clear that he was in a hurry.
"Steven!" he shouted when he realized that he was awake.
He rushed up the stairs to his bedroom and took a seat on the edge of his bed. All previous urgency seemed to leave his body as he struggled to speak, "I… uh…" he stumbled over his words. "Did you have any strange dreams?" he asked nervously.
Steven's eyes widened in shock as he realized that the Twoie he saw in his dream had actually been Twoie. "That was real?!"
Twoie grimaced at his question, "We have the power to travel into other people's dreams." He quickly explained. "What did you see?" he urgently asked him.
"I was on a beach except it was also a forest? I'm not sure." he hummed in confusion as he recalled the strange place. "Amethyst was there too, but she looked different. Oh! And you and Connie were there, but you were both dressed really weird."
Twoie nodded at his explanation, "Steven don't tell the gems about this." he instructed him.
Steven's stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought of hiding something from the gems, "Why?" he asked. "Wouldn't that be lying?"
"It's not lying, we're just not telling them everything."
"That's exactly what lying is."
"I just don't want to make them… worry."
"Ok, I won't tell them-" a relieved look made its way to Twoie's face. "If you answer some of my questions."
Twoie let out a defeated sigh before nodding in agreement, "What do you want to know?"
"Did that actually happen to you?"
"Yeah that was a memory." Twoie looked wistful. "It happened a long time ago."
"Why did Amethyst look so different?"
Twoie hesitated before answering, "That's because it wasn't Amethyst. Well, not our Amethyst." He awkwardly explained.
"There are more Amethysts?!" Steven's eyes sparkled in wonder as he imagined a room full of Amethysts. He wondered what they would do. Would they be exactly like his Amethyst or would they be different?
"I really shouldn't be telling you this." Twoie confessed nervously looking toward the temple door as if he expected one of the gems to pop up and scold him.
"Are there more Amethysts?" he repeated.
"Yeah there are," he finally admitted. "but you probably shouldn't tell the gems that you know that."
"Woah!" he said amazed at the revelation. He wondered if his Amethyst knew any other Amethysts. If she did then he had never heard her talk about them
Twoie stood up to leave, "Ok, if that's everything then I should head bac-"
"Wait!" He protested. "I have more questions."
Twoie sighed before sitting back down, "Alright, but just one more question." he said.
Steven nodded as he thought about what to ask. He was tempted to ask about Connie's strange outfit or if they had really been held prisoner, but his mind kept wandering back to what the other Amethyst had called him, "In the dream that Amethyst called me 'my Diamond' what does that mean?"
Twoie stiffened and his face drained of all color, "I… w-what?" he sputtered nervously.
"You and Connie were talking about Diamonds too. What or who are they?"
"I can't answer that."
"What? But you said-"
"Ask me something else. Literally anything else." he practically begged.
Steven frowned as his curiosity only grew at Twoie's odd reaction, "That's the only thing I want to know." he crossed his arms and stared at Twoie.
Twoie looked away, "I'm sorry Steven, but I can-"
"I'll tell the gems." he threatened.
Twoie let out a loud sigh and began to pull at his hair, "I…." he bit his lip nervously. "The Diamonds are… leaders." he hesitantly revealed.
Steven blinked. He was expecting a much more interesting answer. "Leaders of what?"
"Leaders of… other gems like the Amethyst you saw. It's pretty late-" he let out an exaggerated yawn. "I should probably go back to bed." he gestured towards his room in the temple with his thumb before quickly standing.
Steven wanted to ask him more questions, but realized that Twoie would probably not reveal anymore than he already had. "Goodnight Twoie." he said finally allowing him to leave.
"Goodnight Steven." Twoie replied as he approached the door to his room.
"Twoie, wait!" he called out.
Twoie stiffened and apprehensively turned around, "Yes, Steven?"
"Thank you for telling me the truth."
Twoie's face softened and he flashed him a small smile, "Yeah, no problem." he said as he turned around and entered his room.
Steven stared at the spot where Twoie stood for a few minutes after he left. He attempted to process all the new information he received. He fluffed his pillow and sighed as more questions swarmed inside his mind. As his head touched his pillow he knew that he would not be getting much sleep that night.
Twoie placed one foot on his shield and kept the other one steady on the soft blanket of white snow. He was standing atop the hill with the lighthouse behind him. He tried not to shiver as a particularly cold gust of wind hit him. He did not have anything suitable for the cold weather, but he was determined to show Steven and Connie how to go shield sledding.
Connie nervously glanced at his attire, "Are you sure you should be out in this weather, Mr. Twoie?" she asked.
His nose scrunched up in distaste at her chosen name for him, "I'll be fine." he assured her. "And you can just call me Twoie." he added.
She shook her head, "My mom says I'm not allowed to call adults by their first name."
Twoie frowned, feeling much older than he actually was. "But I'm only seventeen so I'm technically not an adult yet."
She rubbed her chin as she considered this new information, "Ok, Twoie." she nodded in agreement.
Twoie watched in confusion as Steven struggled to take off his scarf. His thick gloves made the task more difficult, but he eventually managed to do it. "For you." he told him as he handed him the light blue scarf, "I don't want you to get sick." he added when he saw the confusion on Twoie's face.
He shot him a grateful smile, "Thank you, Steven." he said as he carefully adjusted the scarf around his neck. His heart warmed at the kind gesture even if the scarf did very little in keeping him physically warm, "Watch and learn." was the last thing he told them before he used his foot to push himself down the hill.
The cool wind flowed through his hair as he picked up momentum. He turned right then left. He leapt up in the air and stuck a few poses before landing back on his shield which was still sliding down the hill. He slowed down considerably before stopping as he reached the bottom up the hill.
He picked up his shield and used his abilities to jump back to the top of the hill where Connie and Steven were both watching him with similar looks of shock.
"That was amazing!" Steven yelled, eyes shining with excitement.
"And surprisingly graceful!" Connie added as she clapped.
"Now it's your turn. You two can go together." He informed them as he increased the size of his shield to where they could both sit comfortably on it.
"Yeah! C'mon Connie!" Steven practically dragged her next to the shield in his excitement. He eagerly sat down at the front of the shield nearly sent it sliding down the hill. Twoie secured in place with his foot as he patiently waited for Connie to take a seat.
"I don't know…" she hesitated as she scanned the steep hill. "It looks kind of dangerous."
"Don't worry." Steven waved off her concerns. "Twoie is right here. I know he would never let anything hurt us."
Conie glanced at him and then back at the shield before nodding and taking a seat behind Steven. She hugged him tightly and nestled her face on his back, "Ready." she said and nodded at him.
"Have fun." He said as he sent them down with a light push of his foot.
Twoie chuckled as he heard their whoops and hollers of excitement all the way from atop the hill.
Garnet ripped the white comforter off the small bed and frowned when she saw no one was underneath it. She kneeled and searched under the bed in hopes of finding the two children, but was disappointed at the empty space underneath.
When Pearl and Amethyst informed her about Twoie's pink outburst she had immediately become worried for Steven's safety. She had instructed Amethyst to not leave them alone together, but Twoie had quickly become suspicious of her behavior. Since then they had started taking shifts in the house to make sure Twoie didn't try anything.
"Welp, they're not in the toilet." Amethyst announced, hair dripping with water, as she exited the bathroom.
Pearl meanwhile paced around the house, "Do you think Twoie took them?! What if they used the warpad?! They could be anywhere!" she frantically shouted as she tugged at her hair.
"Pearl." She said sternly. "You need to calm down."
"Yeah, P you need to chill. They couldn't have gotten that far, right Garnet?"
Garnet ignored her question and busied herself with searching under the couch cushions, "Keep looking." she ordered.
Seconds dragged on into minutes as they tore the house up looking for Steven and Connie. Her fear for their safety grew with each unsuccessful search. She glanced outside the window at the growing piles of white snow that littered the beach. Even with her future vision out of commission she knew it was unlikely that they would be outside in this weather.
"Do you see us finding them in your visions?" Pearl asked not bothering to hide her growing panic.
Garnet slowed her search at the question, "... I can't see them." she quietly confessed.
Pearl mouth gaped open in shock, "What?!" she shrieked loudly enough to hurt her ears.
Even Amethyst, who was normally the calmer of the two, paled at her revelation, "What do you mean you can't see them?" she clenched her fists. "I knew I shouldn't have left him alon-"
"No." she interrupted her rant before it could begin. "I can't see them." she repeated.
Realization dawned on Pearl's face, "Garnet, is something wrong with your future vision?"
"It doesn't work with events or people surrounding Twoie. It was part of the reason I reacted so negatively to his arrival"
Amethyst's eyes briefly widened before she narrowed them in anger, "And you're just telling us this now?!"
"I knew it would cause panic." She stole a glance at Pearl whose pacing had turned frantic, "I was hoping it would improve over time."
"Has it?"
She was silent for a moment as she contemplated how much she should reveal, "It's been getting worse."
Silence dominated the house as they processed the information.
Pearl started shrieking.
Amethyst quickly joined in.
"What do we do now?!"
"Ugh! I can't believe this!"
They continued to shout, but she focused her attention on locating Connie and Steven. She had already checked with Greg and he said that he hadn't seen them. She used her future vision as a last ditch attempt to locate Steven. It didn't work.
She heard the sound of objects hitting each other followed by a loud crack, "Amethyst! Why would they be inside the television?!"
"Well, I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!"
Garnet tried again. All she got were glimpses of snow.
The shouting increased as both Amethyst and Pearl redoubled their efforts in locating the children. They started to throw pieces of furniture across the room as their panic increased. Garnet rubbed the bridge of her nose and attempted to cool her rising temper.
A pillow flew across the room.
It smacked her in the face.
"Enough!" She roared causing her teammates to instantly go silent. "We need to keep looking. Amethyst go search the town." she ordered.
"But I already checked around town. Twice! They're not there."
"Then we check again. And again. We don't stop looking until we find the-"
A bright flash of light caught her attention. She turned to look at it. A pink portal appeared in the living room. A few seconds later Steven and Twoie popped out of it riding on Lion.
A tense silence stretched on as both groups stared at each other in disbelief.
Steven broke the silence, "What happened to the house?" he asked as his eyes scanned the messy room.
"Steven!" they shouted in unison as they rushed to get closer to him.
Pearl engulfed him in a hug, "Thank goodness you're ok!"
"Yeah man, we were going crazy looking for you!"
Garnet stared at Twoie who was watching the events unfold with a confused look on his face, "Connie is not with you." she observed noting her strange absence.
"There was a storm coming. Connie's mom said that she had to go home. That's where we were; at Connie's house. I figured it would be faster if we took Lion." he explained as he affectionately pet the feline.
Amethyst glared at Twoie, "So, you just took off without telling us? What the heck man!"
"Next time tell us before you leave with Steven." She instructed him.
Twoie put his hands up in a placating gesture, "Sorry. I didn't think it would be a big deal."
"Twoie didn't do anything wrong." Steven defended Twoie as he squirmed out of Pearl's embrace. "He showed me and Connie how to go shield sledding and then he showed us some pictur-"
"Shield sledding?!" Pearl asked.
"Yeah, we went on top of the big hill by the lighthouse and we slid all the way down using Twoie's shield. It was really fun! You should have see-"
"Why would you show him that?!" Pearl sent Twoie a disapproving look. "What if he got hurt?!"
"Yeah talk about irresponsible!"
Garnet frowned as she took notice of Steven's tense posture. The distress on his face increased as Pearl and Amethyst continued to scold Twoie, "Guys, it-" he attempted to calm them down, but they just shouted over him.
He clenched his small gloved fists, "Stop it!" He shouted, forcing everyone's attention onto him. "Why are you guys being so mean to Twoie?"
She attempted to calm him and explain the situation, "Steven-"
"No!" He interrupted her. "Twoie's been nothing but nice to us since he got here. Why can't we just get along? In case you forgot he is me. So if you treat him badly then you're treating me badly."
Silence permeated the house as Garnet considered his words. She was unsure if Twoie really was Steven, but it was clear that Steven believed it. Seeing them yell at Twoie was probably upsetting to him and while Twoie was suspicious they had no evidence against him. There also was the possibility that Twoie really was Steven and if that were the case she would feel horrible about treating him badly.
She took off her visor as she made her decision, "We're sorry Steven." she said sincerely as she looked him in the eyes. "You're right. We should have treated him better."
Pearl quickly followed her lead, "Yes, I may have overreacted when I saw you were missing.'' She looked at Twoie. "I apologize for suspecting the worse of you Twoie."
"I also apologize for Pearl." Amethyst paused before adding in a much softer voice, "And I'm sorry too."
Twoie for his part seemed unfazed by their previous hostility and easily accepted their apologies, "It's ok I know you guys are just worried about Steven." he smiled reassuringly.
"Good." Steven nodded seemingly satisfied with their apologizes. He looked around the room again, "So, what did happen to the house?" he asked.
Pearl sheepishly smiled, "We may have gotten a little carried away in our search for you."
Amethyst chuckled, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I broke your toilet dude." she admitted.
"What?!" Steven asked alarmed.
"Don't worry Steven we'll get you a new toilet." She glanced at the shattered TV screen. "And a new TV." she added.
"Not again!" he shouted as he rushed upstairs to access the damage to his room.
