I awake to the roof of Pearl and I's room, the enormous geysers of water a nostalgic sight. I look to either side of our bed, it was made of stone since neither of us really had need for comfortable sheets or pillows. Speaking of my betrothed, I see the room has a surprising lack of her in it. Guess that means I should exit the room.

Sure enough, as the door slides open I find that she, Garnet, and Amethyst are standing in the living room, "Oh good. Emerald, you're awake."

I take my position by them, "Yeah, though I thought I had put in for a wakeup call."

Amethysts jabbed a thumb at Pearl, "We were going to, but she said you needed your rest."

"Oh really? Well Pearl, my dear, I thank you." I say with feigned anger.

She picks up on it immediately, "Oh, well if it's that much of a problem then you can stay here and guard the temple."

I continue the game, "Fine by me."

"Good, then it's settled. Bye sweetheart."

I frown, the other Gems warp to someplace other than here, "Wait… what just happened?"

"Aw come on Uncle Emerald, cheer up." hours have passed since the others left, Steven has since returned, and I'm still rather steamed about being tricked.

I cross my arms, "I was tricked! Scammed ya hear, swindled!"

"I'm sure it isn't that bad."

I nod my head, it wasn't, I was more irritated about how I was tricked rather than the fact that I was tricked, "You're right Steven, sorry."

He shook his head, "It's alright." His concentration turns back to his show, mine goes to meditation. However, I don't have time to center myself before Steven groans, "Aww, c'mon!"

I open one eye and look up at him, "What is the matter?"

He turns off his television, "There is a storm coming and it's messing with the signal." Finally, maybe I'd get a few moments of peace, not that I didn't like my nephew having his own interests.

"Uncle Emerald?" no, please let me meditate, "Uncle Emerald!"

I sigh, "Yes Steven?"

His face dips into my vision, "Do you have any stories you could tell?"

A story? I don't want to sound like that Gem, but my life is very eventful so I have quite a few stories in my arsenal, "Well, I'll give you an option. Do you want one about me or do you want one about my clan?"

He puts a hand to his chin, "Hmm… well, since I didn't know that Gems had clans, then your clan."

I scratch my head thoughtfully, "Ok, second question. Clan Myth or Clan History"

"Clan History please, I wouldn't understand the myths…"

Well, that was some good logic right there. "Ok, so here is a story about my clan, and me to a lesser extent, the story of Amoura Bundus: The greatest Emerald Sage to grace Homeworld."

The Emerald Moonplanet: Planetae Animam Viventem:

Amoura, who was but a Gemling, stepped before the Elders and pleaded with them his case, "Great Elders, please understand this: though I wish it not to be true, the Lazulites are not the offenders. I am terrified to say that it is our own sibling clan, the Jaspers, who have destroyed many of our villages and shattered each of the denizens"

Vistolz, an Elder who shared the same white markings as the Gemling before him, rose, "Silence Amoura, do not speak so ill of the Jaspers, it because of they that we were able to find this planet to control after our our elder siblings refused us access to the Homeworld."

Every Emerald in the room clenched their jaws, the sheer injustice of the Diamond's action was not lost any Emerald worth their mettle.

"Wait."

I look at my nephew, "I'm assuming you're curious about Clans. You see, there are four second-born clans made from our Goddess Moonstone's own daughter Star Quartz. That story will have to wait, but for now know that the four clans were Diamonds, the eldests, Jaspers and Emeralds, the middle clans, formed at the same time, and Pearls, the youngest."

Steven nodded, "Ok, continue please."

Amoura became furious with the Elder, how could he be so blind and ignorant to the truth. However, when Amoura voiced his question, he was scoffed at, "You insolent brat! Away with you, perhaps some time at the Moonstone Monastery would do you some good."

And so it came to be that Amoura was sent to the very place where his destiny would unfold, though one wouldn't think of him as fate's champion from the horrid dusting job he did.

The monks, comprised of both Lazulites and Emeralds, would often pity the Gemling and tell him stories about the noble Sages, Powerful Gem warriors who had been blessed by the Demi-Goddess Star Quartz with immeasurable power and the ability to tame nature itself. This only worked to worsen his daydreaming, even though he already knew of the legends and knew many of the Elders of the clan were all Sages.

Years pass and Amoura has become a shining example of the Emerald Clan's morals: kind, caring, and powerful only to protect. One day, while he was cleaning his room for his departure back to his clan, the High Priestess of Moonstone, Oceanus, approached him. She looked upon him with indifference and told him that he was needed, she neglected to tell him he would become a Sage

While his clan had ignored his warnings, she had not, Oceanus held her people's interests to heart. So when her fellow Lazulites were being blamed for genocide, she had investigated herself and found that the Jasper Clan was responsible for the destruction.

But it was only too late when the Jaspers had laid siege on the Elders of the Emerald Clan. Each of them gave a fight in their own way but were nevertheless slain, afterward it was learned that almost the entire Pearl Clan had been betrayed via Jasper treachery and almost every Pearl had become enslaved. This marked the beginning of the Clan War, five days before Oceanus had come to grab Amoura Bundus.

She had not only grabbed him, but also a Rose Quartz. When all members had arrived she had told them that they, all four of them, were to become Sages to end this war.

For fifteen years they trained day in and day out and, at the end, the effort was worth it. It was decided, through one of Oceanus's rituals, that Amoura would be the leader of these four Sages, and he, remembering the grandiose tales of past Sages, dubbed the four-Gem team the Sage Company.

Together they had all set out to stop the Jasper Clan and the Diamond's army of lesser stones, of which the Lazulites had once been a part of. Their exploits became the stuff of legends, and many people considered their appearance on the battlefields a godsend. The Emerald Clan rallied behind the same Gem that the late Elders had once considered insolent and an imbecile, the Lazulites joined the war and in doing so, and through battle, earned the right to call themselves a Clan.

The Homeworld army trembled once word reached them about the Sage Company and their new army. It only stayed together due to the Jaspers' ability to inspire fear in both their subordinates and enemies alike. Two sides developed, the Homeworld Conservatives comprised of the Diamonds and Jaspers and the lesser stone army, and the Homeworld Reformists, the Emerald Clan and Lazulite Clan; the leading force of the Reformists all being the Sage Company.

Soldiers who returned back to Homeworld after skirmishes with just the two clans spread horrifying tales of earth and water, the horrifying beasts that formed from this unison. They were the unlucky ones, the lucky ones were those who had stayed with the Reformists. You see, after every battle the survivors were restrained and given an choice: return to Homeworld or join the Reformists as equals; this was a policy that was enforced by Amoura on many occasions, much to Oceanus's anguish. In his eyes he saw that these Gems, he refused to call them lesser stones, were merely misguided and so gave them a chance to re-educate themselves. So anytime that they were shattered was solely because the soldiers had chosen to stay with Homeworld and when released attacked their captors, this truly broke Amoura's heart.

Centuries pass and the combined effort of the Lazulite Clan, the Emerald Clan, the Sage Company, and the various new Clans that had formed in conjunction to the lesser stones and their respective Gem Siblings were able to force Homeworld to negotiate. Amoura, weary of the endless war and nearly broken from the immeasurable loss he had endured throughout the centuries, agreed to a Clan Summit, of which would consist of Oceanus, the eldest Jasper, the eldest Diamond, and himself.

However, upon reaching this summit it was revealed that the Jaspers had one last treacherous card up their sleeve, Oceanus and Amoura were ambushed by a rogue band of Jasper soldiers led by their Sage. Amoura and Oceanus had to fight for their lives against this legion of traitors, for days on end they did so, their immense power made them more than a match for this army. However, after he had shattered the Jasper Sage, Amoura too was struck down.

He was often told by Oceanus he had too big of a heart, how odd was it that the heart was one of the organs he had formed when he became a Sage. Less odd was that this was the organ that was struck; as he fell to the ground he felt his breaths turn into his last ones. Oceanus saw this happen and in a fit of anger the High Priestess of Moonstone let out a roar of primal anguish, her arms rose to the skies and one could watch in horror as the clouds themselves became solid spears of ice and as geysers of steaming water spouted in anger from the earth below; to say nothing of the dark, shadowy whips that sprang to life about the enemy's' feet, poofing each and every soldier left.

She reached Amoura and her wails became more prominent, over the course of the rebellion the two had become rather close, the romantic feelings that developed became hard not to notice. As she watched the mortal liquid pour from his wound she noticed that a smile, his smile still shone. His sunny smile forced the rain to fall, not from the skies, but from her eyes.

As her tears fell upon his face he frowned, he asked why she cried. She told him it was because he was going to die, he laughed. When she gave him a confused look he only said the reality must not have hit him yet. This did nothing to soothe her, nor did the light draining from his eyes.

She watched him, giving him the rites of death to help him pass into the embrace of Mother Moonstone, but she stopped halfway through. She couldn't finish, what mother would let her child die like this? She refused to go on, she was furious, she refused to let him die, to let him leave her. But, as everyone knows, the Reaper still came to ferry the soul to the afterlife. However, before he had even a chance to grip the hand of this peaceful soul, a bright, fiery, orange light shined in his eyes, telling the Reaper that it was not yet the time.

Oceanus heard stone rise around her and her husband's still body until no light was able to shine, had she imagined that the stone wrapped around her and, in reality, she had actually been killed too? No, soon a magnificent and brilliant light blinded her and she soon heard what sounded like a tree splintering.

The dome fell to pieces around her and the wailing of a small creature soon wafted to her ears. Her arms were burdened with her child, Amoura had given up his form out of love and given Oceanus a child, their son.

"And so, out of maternal instinct, Oceanus ran back to the Reformist base and soon after forced negotiations to end the war so her son could know peace. That son went on to accomplish many things, becoming a Sage just like his father was just one of the many memorable ones." I stare at Steven, awaiting any question he might have.

"Wait, what was their son's name?"

I shake my head, "I don't seem to remember."

He grasps at his head, obviously enthralled by the story of Amoura, "Well was he a Lapis or an Emerald! I need more information Uncle Emerald." He gazes at me and notices the sly smile I now bear, I revel in the speed at which realization dawns on him, "Wait... "

My sly smile becomes an enormous grin, "What is it, Steven?"

"No!"

"What? What is it? Steven, I don't know what is wrong."

He gasps, "You're the son! Aren't you?"

"Whaaaat," I ask in a high-pitched voice, "First time I'm hearing of it."

My nephew grins from cheek to cheek, "So does that mean the Amoura and Oceanus are my Great Uncle and Great Aunt?"

I nod my head slowly, "Well, though my Mother raised me for most of my life, to say nothing of how Rose and I were not really related, I'd say they were both great parents, so yeah I guess they are."

"This is so awesome, I'm finding out about family I didn't even know I had! Wait until…" his smile leaves his face.

This confuses me, "What's wrong Steven?"

His next question cracks my heart, "If your Mother was so powerful, how did you get banished to Earth?"

"She… she…" I really didn't want to talk about it, but something about my nephew made me feel like I should, "She gave up her form when I finished my training to become a Sage. She gave me a little sister… she was kidnapped one day and when I recovered her I murdered those who had stolen her. Yellow Diamond had personally overseen my trial and ruled for me to be banished to Earth."

The tears that I had trapped for so long now found their way to the world and the sobs would have too if not for my nephew's hand on my shoulder, "Uncle Emerald, are you ok?"

I cleanse the moisture from my sockets, "Yes Steven, I'm fine. Please forget you saw my tears." he looked like he wanted to refuse but nodded his head anyways, "Ok, so I'm sure you're wondering who my sister was. She had never been given a name, so I'm afraid that I cannot give you a real one. But I can tell you she was a Lapis Lazuli and often just went by Lapis, her Gem was located on the upper part of her back. She was always so emotional, so often I saw my mother in her. The last time I felt her presence was at my final battle, I cannot be sure but I feel like she was there."

Steven grew rigid, when I questioned him about why, he gave me a frightened look, "I-It's nothing…"

Before I could press the real reason out of him I heard the warp pad activate, "Hey beanpole, we're back!"

"Aww, Emerald who knew you were so good with children?" Pearl says.

I look down and see Steven's sleeping head on my lap, when did that happen? I didn't move until Garnet picked him up and placed him on his bed. He was obviously faking it and I could have easily exposed his slipshod ruse, but I didn't since he acted like Rose in many ways which meant he would eventually tell me whatever information he was withholding if it had a chance to affect me in a harmful manner.

For a moment I wondered if he knew something about my little sister, but that would be impossible. Even if she was present at that battle, Homeworld wouldn't have risked losing a second-generation Sage.

Pearl gripped my hand, saving me from my thoughts, "I know it was rather odd for us to leave you here, but I really wanted Steven to get to know you."

"I figured, you aren't the type to do something sporadic, and if you do it isn't typically without good reason." I explain, giving a curt nod.

She smiled, I could tell from the genuine happiness behind it that she was remembering the past days, "Hey, we've been trying to unearth a certain Crimson Labyrinth."

My head can't whip around fast enough, "You don't mean..." Her slow nodding sends me into an energy driven frenzy, the Crimson Labyrinth wasn't actually a labyrinth, it was actually the home of a human who had once saved my photonic skin from a whole patrol of Homeworld Loyalists. She had obviously passed away long since our last meeting, but I still wanted to go and see her home. "I'm in."

I step on the ward pad with Pearl by my side, Amethyst and Garnet smile at us. Seconds later, the comforting chime of the warp pad activating reached my ears, the column of light beaming us to our destination.