The Sea Spire, Ocasio's P.O.V.:

As I walk up the stone stairs I fully realize how ancient this spire must be, yet for some reason I still feel like it's new. Each of the broken statues look pristine, but there appears to be no polish or sign of disturbance on them. I look over to Obsidian, "How is it that the Sea Spire looks so new yet feels so old?"

Obsidian shrugged, "I don't know, but I can tell the Bismuths did a real good job on it."

I look at her perplexed as to what she meant, "Bismuths?"

Steven raised his voice, "If you guys don't mind, that's a story I'd rather not hear about."

Obsidian started, "Why not? I mean it's a fairly simple explanation to-"

"Obsidian, why don't we just drop the topic for now." I say, cutting her off.

She moves closer to me and whispers, "Why? I mean there isn't any evil intent to the explanation."

"Look you're not that in tune with humans and their emotions, I barely am too, but I can tell when something upsets somebody. Steven obviously had an uncomfortable experience and we shouldn't make him relive it, capiche?"

Obsidian stares at me, utterly confused, "Capiche?"

I give a heavy sigh, "Just nod your head yes."

Continuing up the stairs I hear heavy footsteps coming our way. It turns out to be a troop of soldiers so of course we got out of the way, though the sight of them redraws the fact of there being an upcoming war. It kind of saddens me, I hardly had a chance to enjoy Earth before I had to participate in a war that would determine it's final fate.

A familiar voice pipes in, 'You know that you'll win.'

'But what's the point, I won't even get to enjoy a normal life,' I reply to Star Quartz while letting a slow trickle of anger slip in my tone. I mean was I totally wrong for thinking what I thought, opinions are opinions and no matter how you look at them you can't disprove them.

'I was never trying to disprove you, only bolster your courage' Star Quartz said as the sense of minor annoyance filled my head.

'Fair enough, but please stay in the mind during the meeting. Humans already distrust us enough as it is, we don't need a Ghostbusters scenario on our hands.'

'Ghostbusters?'

'Just stay in there please.' after the feeling of understanding hits my head I relax.

Apparently visibly because not too long afterwards Steven asked, "You ok Ocasio? You look kind of stressed."

I wave him off and smile, "I'm good, mental conversations can be kind of… taxing if you will."

A voice rings out ahead, "Well I hope that won't hamper your negotiation abilities."

I turn towards the source and instantly smile, "Aunt Lapis!"

As I hug tackle her she laughs, "My, my aren't you energetic today."

"Why wouldn't I be, your the coolest Aunt in the Universe. By the way thanks for helping me sneak in soda to my tent. I may be a Gem but caffeine is still a better energy fix!" We both laugh, because we both knew how our Gemstones were our primary sense of energy thanks to my Mom and Aunt Lapis's teachers back on Homeworld.

The only thing that made it funnier is when Obsidian gave us a confused look, "Your Gem is sufficient enough to provide energy for you? You should probably consult with a Gemicist."

Clutching my stomach out of pain from laughing I raised a hand, "No, no it's nothing like that. It's just a joke."

"Don't make jokes like that. Dysfunctional Gems are a serious matter," she said, turning a deep shade of purple

"Looks like your betrothed has more sense than you do, Ocasio."

I look behind Aunt Lapis and see my Mom, "Hey Mom, how've you been?"

"Oh you know, nothing lately besides keeping humanity from trying to attack us and keep the Human Council from leaving until you got here." She said making a malicious look, and the shadows did nothing to quell the surmounting fear from her gaze..

"Y-Yeah sorry about that Mom… we kind of got lost on the way…" I say; man my Mom could be scary if she wanted to.

'Mothers often have to be.' Star Quartz piped in.

"How do you get lost using the warp pads?" Mom asked, her gaze not tearing away from me.

Before I could come up with an answer, Obsidian stood in front of me and bowed her head, "It was my fault, sorry ma'am."

Mom seemed satisfied with Obsidian's apology and with a nod of her head motioned for us to follow her.

Sea Spire Inner Sanctum, Ocasio's P.O.V:

The doors open with a heavy creak, which was quite odd considering the fact they were only nine feet tall and the entryway was only eight feet across. The first person I see is coincidentally the first to speak to us "Ah, there's the famed Yellow Topaz bearer of the 'Goddess' Star Quartz; we've awaited you and Mr. Universe." the Human Leader exaggerated air quotes around the word Goddess, which filled me with anger.

Sadly Steven replied first with a cheerful laugh, "Actually my Dad is Mr. Universe… I'm Steven."

"Yeah and my name is Ocasio, not Yellow Topaz. Also I don't appreciate you putting air quotes around my Goddess." I say, fully allowing anger to tinge my tone with venom.

The man gave a look of feigned apology, "Oh dreadfully sorry, please let us continue with the meeting though."

My anger reached an all time high, we weren't even there for two minutes and already this Pencil Pusher was pissing me off; however, my eye caught my father's gaze and even though only half of it was towards me because he was facing the other Human leaders I knew it was time to shut up. So with my arms crossed in what little defiance I could give I whispered, "Alright, let's continue."

My father gave a small, almost invisible sigh, "Alright, so what brings you here… friends."

A woman with dark skin spoke first, "The Leaders of Earth are concerned with how we will protect our citizens; if this Homeworld is really a truth then their technology must far surpass ours."

My Mom stood by Dad and put a hand to her chin, "Emerald dear, do you remember the Cluster Room?"

Dad gave a big smile, "Of course my Ocean Stone, if I remember exactly it was quite deep underground and was very cavernous with many tunnels to other rooms, perhaps the Humans can be safe in there."

The Man who had made me angry spoke up, "Why don't you stop talking to us like we're idiots. We are the intelligent species on Earth, so show us our due respect."

My Dad shot me a quick smile and turned back to the man, "Well, Mr. President, Star Quartz was an intelligent gem yet you ragged on her."

"But that's different, she was once a Gem."

This time my Mom spoke, "I don't want to split hairs but I do recall many of your religions having people who became Gods, well at least on how you interpret each one."

This time a short woman spoke up, her voice demanding, "The Stone Creatures have a point; President Joseph you've purposely tried to egg them on. Let's move on to the next topic shall we?" Everyone voiced assent, "Ok, now about this new Clan of Emeralds, how are we not sure they would be spies for Homeworld?"

Dad smiled, "Empress Cho I thank you for taking our side; about the Emerald Clan I have brought one of them here to testify for my and his Clan."

All eyes turn on us and we turn towards Star Emerald who points to himself, to which my Dad nods yes. Stepping up to the Council, Star clears his throats, "My name is Star Emerald, son of Sun Emerald who is Chief of my Clan. I can personally tell you of the troubles my clan has faced under the Stone Cold fist of the Diamond Authority. We are peacekeepers by creation, but the Authority has barred us so many times to the point where we have little or authority in our own worlds. We are treated like bits of garbage that Homeworld would rather be gone than actually help; so I can tell you with great conviction in my heart that we would not betray our friends which the Earth is by extension of the great Sage Emerald Quartz, son of Amoura Bundus and Oceanus who are two of the greatest and bravest sages in history."

All the leaders looked around and nodded; eventually a different man spoke with an accent that was quite gruff, "That will help ease the minds of our citizens, but about the Sage Company concept, I have to wonder why haven't you considered humans for sages. Emerald Sir, do you not trust us or consider us weak?"

Dad cleared his throat, "Actually, I'm glad you asked. The other day I had a conversation with my compatriots about the matter. I believe my Wife can fill you in better than I can."

My dad pulled out a data pad and raised it to my Mom, who graciously took it and began swiping until a screen floated above the council; it was cubic in shape so everyone could watch, on it were several Humans, some I knew and some looked like regular soldiers, "Over the years we've kept tabs on all human soldiers for normal procedures like specialty squads and we've noticed some humans to be… genetically superior in the sense they have extremely high endurance, stamina, dexterity, and strength. These humans are perfect candidates for the Sage Hood Process, and their medical records also prove that point as well."

All the human leaders mumbled, though the president guy openly spoke his dissent, "This is unacceptable, they're just trying to turn us into them! I will not stand idly by as they use us as guinea pigs!"

"Mr. President please-" my Dad started but was abruptly cut off by the man.

"Shut it you dumbass Stone Monster, I've played this charade for too long, I will not allow my Earth to be attacked by you creatures again. ' I balled my fists and ignored my Dad's look, jumping over to the President and grabbing his idiotic and pristine suit cuff, "Let go of me you little Pissy Bitch!"

I lightly slammed him into the back wall and dragged him up, destroying the stone in the process, "It's Ocasio first of all, and second of all if we were going to use you as guinea pigs why in the hell would we help you advance your technology. If you use that damn argument of we would just shut it off all at once and pick you off then I will cut you down here. I was made on Earth and will protect it no matter what, and if that means cutting down someone who would mean to spread mass hysteria then so be it. But I hope you aren't stupid because everyone else here has been very intelligent and look how they aren't even trying to stop me," I let him look around to emphasize my point, "Just imagine how amazing these new sages would be, couple them with Gem Sages and we would have something akin to the Spartans of Ancient Greece."

A man raised his fist, "Now we're talking korítsi!"

I let the man go and he dropped to his knees and said with breaths in between, "A-Alright… you've made your point, I'll allow this… Sage thing to happen."

I give a smirk, "That's a good boy." I turn around and for the first time I actually realize what I just did, "Oh my gosh what the hell did I just do."

Everyone began laughing, well except the president guy obviously. The little woman from before got up and patted my back, "This one is a good soldier."

I shake my hands feverently as to say no but before I can even reply Mom grows a smile, "At least I know she was listening to some of my lessons."

Dad laughs, "Well I guess that settles that."

While everyone continues laughing I think to myself that any sort of dysfunction with my Gem would be better than this.

A feeling of laughter runs it's course in my head, 'No it wouldn't, Ms. Spartan.'