Disclaimer: Characters, settings, names from the cartoon television show 'Steven Universe' are creations and property of Rebecca sugar and Cartoon network. Any Non-steven universe characters, settings, names, Gems, Gem powers, beliefs, mythology are my own creation.
Author's Note: I know I said I would be uploading a cartoon crossover story that imitates game of thrones in this month or the next, I've decided to axe that idea. Instead, I'll be giving my skills a try at writing a 'Finn x Harem' story for Adventure time. But first I really want to finish this story and see if maybe, just maybe a second part continuation is worth it.
Story Tags: Steven Universe, Lapis Lazuli, OC's, Connie Maheswaran Pearl, Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Bells, Whistles, Citrine, Peridot, Beach City, Gem Powers, Romance, Adventure, Comfort, Destiny.
Music Inspiration: "Sure Promise" from The Big O Soundtrack
Chapter 43: Mobilization
Thursday
September 8, 2016, 6:00 [Morning]
Emerald Hills, Beach City
"That's it Steven, one step at a time. You've got it, that's it you've got it" Lapis told steven encouragingly.
Steven was walking with the aid of Lapis who held both his hands in front of him. she supporting him along the way while being careful to walk backwards. It's been over a week since the battle against the crystal skull came to climactic end. The fight against hundreds of smaller crystal skulls was long and arduous, and on top of that, having to fuse not just with Carlos, but with the martian admiral bells, and taking out the crystal skull in one power packed punch, was more than enough fatigue and exhaustion than steven could handle.
in the end however, the world had been spared at a heavy price with the deaths of millions and wide spanning destruction on a global scale. The injuries Steven had incurred during battle may have healed, but unseen damage had seeped inside of Steven's body. In particular, his legs were the most affected parts of his body.
"Thank you for taking the time to help my muscles and bones heal faster Lapis, I really appreciate it."
"you're my boyfriend aren't you?" Lapis asked innocently and cute.
Steven tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow and stared at Lapis for a good moment before he spoke. In that moment of silence, lapis's cheeks flushed with a dark blue color. She always felt a flare of embarrassment when steven just stared at her and said nothing while he did. Lapis smiled and brushed her hair, while staring back at him.
"That reminds me Lapis," Steven started, "I've never officially asked you to be my girlfriend, have I?" Steven asked Lapis, sounding melancholy that it took this long.
"I-I've never noticed until now Steven. I always thought, I mean I always assumed we were already like that from the moment you and Connie stopped seeing each other."
"I'm so sorry Lapis. I've been so wrapped up In my own training, focused on all of the destruction and bad things that have happened, I completely forgot about you. Hey Lapis!"
"Uh...y-yes Steven?" Lapis answered him softly. Steven held both of Lapis's hands and lowered his forehead on top of them, sobbing softly.
"Steven why are you cry-"
"Lapis, will you be my girlfriend!" Steven asked directly and boldly. Lapis stared at steven's now raised face, his eyes staring back at her with tears welling under them.
"Y-yes Steven, I will be your girlfriend, I will. Now...now we really are together" Lapis said, relieved and hugging Steven also.
But steven wanted more than just a hug from his new girlfriend, he cupped one side of her face and pulled her face in so he could kiss her. Greg turned away and instead focused on Lion who was sleeping next to him. Greg tried to block it off, but the sound of his son's lips meshing heaivly with Lapis's was more than he could bare or needed to hear. So he tried to speak with his wife, who was inside of Lion.
"Can you believe it rose, steven's all grown up and becoming a man."
"I'm so happy steven, i've waited a long time to hear those tender words from you" greg heard lapis tell his son.
"and it's going to get even better Lapis, I got an even better idea. Let's get married!" he said excitedly, he was very serious.
Greg heard enough, "Whoa, whoa, whoa time out Steven. Lapis can be your girlfriend, there's no problem with that. But marriage, that's something else entirely"
"How so?" Lapis asked Greg, hugging steven and pressing his head against her chest.
"well there's, there's let's see...in marriage, when two people get married, it usually takes place in a place of worship. Or in a court room. It means that the place of worship, or God, recognizes the two who have been wedded to each other. And the other means a judge, usually the state recognizes a married couple as wedded to one another."
"a church, no a cathedral sounds better. No wait! Even better, I'll make the most beautiful wedding dress in the world, one which would make any girl jealous. In the movies, the good guys usually marry the girls they love just before having to go off into battle or war."
"Steven that's enough, I know you love Lapis. I know better than any other man here on earth what its like to love a gem as beautiful as Lapis. I never got the chance to wed your mother steven, one day I want you to wed Lapis, but not today."
"But...but-" Steven stuttered, "Steven it's ok," Lapis started, looking at steven's saddened face, "i know now how much you love me, and that makes very happy. One day I'm going to show you how much I love you, and in that day or night, I will accept from you, your love, and you, my gemstone. Until then, let's destroy yellow diamond and whoever comes with her. Then I will give you my hand"
"And I will accept your hand Lapis, then you will be M'lady." Steven replied, looking at the face of the gem he's fallen in love with. Tears flowed out from under his eyes and fell, running down his cheeks and around a smile filled with love.
Lapis blushed and released steven, then did a full court curtsy for him, saying, "and you will be M'lord. buuttt...until that day, we're just boyfriend and girlfriend. Now let's stop all this talk about marriage before we give poor old pops a heart attack. Sorry mr universe."
Greg leaned back against a tree and placed a hand on the top of his head, sighing and wiping sweat away from his forehead. "Oh boy, how quickly they grow up" greg thought to himself. He turned and looked out past beyond some trees at the glowing ocean glow that caused by the rising of the morning sun.
"My son, mine and rose's love child. He's done more than grow u[ into a decent and kind young boy, he's become a force that represents all that's good and righteous. He turned out the way you wanted rose, but was it really a surprise that it would turn out any other way? I mean we spoke a lot about what kind of boy he was going to be, and i could only do so much to show him how to be human. The gems did their part to teach him in the way of gem powers and culture.
But as of what's happened as of late, I can't say I wish you weren't here, I know everyone wishes you were here. It doesn't matter if you're more powerful or less powerful than steven now, you're determination and compassion rallies people and gems alike to you, just like steven. The world, one you saved nearly six thousand years ago, sadly is but a shell of it's former self if you were to see it.
But I suppose things are turning around. On steven's order, Lapis and Peridot reconstructed the old broken communication hub. Through this, Steven spoke to everyone in the world, at least to those who still had functioning televisions and still had power in the country. I can still remember the message steven gave out, it was the night after the battle with that giant skull guy.
"People of earth, my name is steven quartz universe, me and my friends are responsible for driving back all of the disasters and misfortunes, the monsters including destroying the giant crystal skull, that rampaged and destroyed much of our planet yesterday. I can't promise you that things will go back to normal in this year or the next. many of you have lost loved ones, homes and businesses and belongings. I can't bring the dead back to life, I can rebuild what's been broken, although I cannot replace sentimental items that have been lost, I can still do what i've been doing since all of this started.
I hate having to be the bearer of bad news, but i have to tell you all that the person behind all of these horrible events that have bedeviled our earth, is arriving soon. To the nations who might still have standing armies, a function air force and capable naval forces, if you choose to, you are more than welcomed to fight back against the invaders that will come from space. But let me plead with the governments of the world, wealthy or poor, to please lead your surviving populations to secure areas. Be it inside of mountains,abandoned underground mines, military bases and in heavily reinforced retired naval vessels. Basically anywhere and anything that can house large numbers of people, and keep them fed and safe.
Millions have perished in these last two months, there's no need for more of the human race die. So long as I'm able to fight, my friends are able to fight, we will be the shield of humanity. That is a promise!"
"never thought my son could sound so cool, yet so sad, but also so determined in one long speech." Greg brushed the mane of lion as his thinking was cut short.
He turned around back to his son and lapis when he heard the sound of sobbing coming from steven. Steven was sitting on his calves, his head hanging low and the side of his hands wiping tears away from under his eyes. Greg moved in to listen what was causing his son so much pain.
"Soren isn't coming back...i've been waiting and hoping that he would come back unexpectedly, or make a big entrance. But it's getting harder to hope and wait for him. He said I would need connie's help more than she would need ours. I don't know if he said that because commander smoky chose Connie and means he...or rather she's stronger than he could ever be, or...if it means something else entirely. But...i knew I shouldn't have left! I should have dragged him back but he was being stubborn and-"
"Steven stop!" Lapis interjected, cutting steven's statement short, "Soren probably did more to help all of us than we might never know. Maybe you're one punch was only able to destroy the crystal skull because Soren did so much damage inside of it. Maybe he could have done something similar outside, but if he had, the whole world might have been scorched, doing what yellow diamond wished for. The end of all life on earth.
Maybe he will come back someday, or maybe he won't. We'll never know for certain, but what is certain is that we're all still here, and that's because we all fighting. We're going to continue to fight until this is all finally over."
steven felt his spirit lighten and rise within him, all of the guilt and sadness that had been weighing it down melted away. Steven rose to his feet with the help of Lapis. He sniffled some more until he finished feeling terrible.
"Dad, Lapis, lion. When me and Carlos and cookie cat were fused together, carlos told me about a secret location commander Soren found that had ancient gem warriors waiting."
"waiting for who?" Greg asked his son, curious.
"for mom, but she's...gone. Pearl told him about it, he said that soren told her that they would only respond to her power alone, her full power. My Mastered Gem Form. I'm going to Antarctica, today."
"Today? and why Antarctica?" Greg complained.
"Because I had a dream. A field of flowers which started off with only roses, were being replaced with sunflowers. And only one rose remained in this big beautiful field, slowly each of its petals began to lose color and wither and fall. A couple of worker ants wandering below stopped in their path and looked up at the last rose flower. They then grabbed the fallen petals and walked up the stem to reconnect the petals to the bud.
Then, soldier ants came over and started to cut down all of the surrounding sunflowers, until only the rose flower was the only one left standing. Rain clouds gathered and rain fell. After the rains went away, the clouds parted and sunlight shined on the rose flower. It's petals retained their color and the rose grew strong."
"wow, talk about a dream heavy on symbolism" Greg shared, "i know right. But dad, if you want to come too, i'm going to have to give you something to wear. Let's see...hmmm, wait I got it!" steven perked up with a raised finger above his head.
Steven pointed the same raised finger at his father, closed one eye and uttered the word, 'BANG.' like the flick of a lightswitch, greg wore a new set of clothing under his usual ones. Pants, boots, gloves, hat and coat made of two layer caribou skin. The coat had a hood that very large and very furry, like the boots and coat.
"wow! Talk about Hot, let's go before I die of heat stroke son"
Steven and Lapis giggled at Greg fanning himself. But all laughter aside, Steven took lapis's hand, his father's and told lion to come closer. "next stop! The land of the freeze!"
in an instant, the group was gone in a flash of pink light.
Abandoned Gem Base, Antarctica
7:30 [Morning]
popping up on the southernmost continent on the planet, Steven encased himself in his aura to keep him warm. The cold however, did not seem to bother Lapis not one bit nor Lion. But the snow was different. Lapis encased her head in a transparent water bubble, to keep the snow from hitting her face like last time.
"Man am I glad to have all of this fur on me, where to now steven?" Greg wondered.
"Steven, let me lead you to where Soren bored a tunnel use to reach the abandoned base."
Steven's irises glittered in pink. He was using this form of x-ray vision to penetrate through the cracked ice shelf below to find the faint gem signatures of a brigade of gem warriors. Before pinpointing the exact location of the abandoned base, steven felt a tug of his arm.
"Whoa! Lapis wait a sec-"
"i said I know where it is Steven, come on dad, you too lion."
Steven looked a bit disappointed, and kicked some snow at his feet like a child would. still, he followed Lapis to the hole Soren made when he was here. On their way over to the hole, steven looked around and noted that fracture lines and deep cracks blemished the ice shelf of the continent. But since there were no sizable human settlements on Antarctica, damages as far Steven could see, were small. The frozen continent was, however, flooded with ocean water in several parts which was the result of the crystal skull and Bones.
The group walked for fifteen minutes when Lapis came to a stop in front of a large hole ten feet in width and twenty feet in length. Steven stopped next to her and looked down at the dark hole in front of him. It seemed to go down forever into a black abyss. Steven took this moment to use his x-ray vision. He zoomed his visual range like a telescope and saw a pyramid type of structure hidden below. But is also seemed water from the ocean was leaking into the space where the structure was hidden inside of. In time it would fill the ancient space and freeze all over again.
"I see a structure down below there. Ok everyone, huddle together." Steven bubbled his father, Lapis and lion with him and levitated the bubble up off the ground and hovered over above the giant hole.
Steven removed the telekinetic hold he had over his bubble and plummeted down the hole.
"Oh my god Steven! We're falling! Aaahhhh!" yelled his father.
"i know dad, It'll save us time than if I had us levitate all the way down, just relax"
"Oh my sweet rose, Hold me!" Greg reached for Lion and hugged the furry beast, who hugged him back.
"we're here, see I told you it would save us time."
Greg opened his eyes and saw that the pink bubble he was in with his son, lapis and lion was gone. "huh, I was sure were going to crash when we reached the bottom. Oh jeez it's really dark down here. Hey lion, think you can do something about lighting?"
Lion yawned and shook, causing his mane to glow very brightly. "nice one Lion, I mean rose...uuh which one of you did that?"
"Dad come on!" Steven shouted at his dad who was already of him. "Coming son! Let's go my rosy lion."
running to catch up to his son, lion gave Greg a lift and carried him. Greg saw a giant ziggurat made entirely out of turquoise stone. It was beautiful to look at from afar, but the closer he got to it, and when lion went running up the stairs, the ancient structure looked more dirtier and dilapidated than at first glance.
"wow lion, what do you think these symbols on the walls mean? I dont have a good feeling about this place."
lion let out a small growl, like he was agreeing with Greg's feeling. Inside of ziggurat, greg dismounted lion and saw his son standing next to lapis who was taking her time and remembering which hallway lead to where the gem warriors were waiting in.
"hmmm, I remember Soren telling us he was heading down the middle path to destroy...destroy...uuhh, Oh! That's right, the galaxy warp. The far left is the armory and the far right is where the gem soldiers. Steven c'mon!"
"Ok Lapis ok, dad do you want to come over and see the soldiers?" steven asked his dad, "i'll be there with you soon son, I just want to check something out Lion is curious about."
"Dad, please be careful please ok"
"Don't worry steven, lion's with me, and by extension your mother too."
Greg followed lion down the long middle hallway where Lapis said a galaxy warp was at. He followed the light lion's mane gave off, for a moment the bright light was gone, but appeared against a three second later. Lion had walked into a room and made a turn with a very tall doorway that had since lost it's doors.
"Honey hold up a sec" Greg spoke, "wait for me."
Greg ran inside of the large room and made the same turn lion did, but the icy floor caused him to slip when he tried to stop. His fur boots were meant to trek on snowy terrain or rocky hills, but not on pure ice.
"Whooaa...WHOAA!" THUD* "Ah...F-Fish sticks!" Greg groaned, holding back from cursing.
Lion came over and helped him get back up on his feet. "Thank you lion, that was completely my fault, don't worry about...me...whoa" raising his head up, Greg looked straight in front of him.
Greg saw a galaxy warp, or what he thought one looked like. "It's not destroyed...it's just been...sealed" he commented on a galaxy warp that was surrounded by black pillars with silver symbols on them. A glowing blood red dome of a commander's fire energy sealed the galaxy warp or whatever it was to keep intruders away.
"Whoa...this is soo freaky, don't you think so Lion?" Lion tugged on greg's coat with his teeth, greg turned to look at him, "what is it? Oh crap, Steven and Lapis! Let's go Lion"
Abandoned Gem Warrior Room
Greg ran back over to the entrance of the ziggurat and went running down the hallway where he heard steven and Lapis talking. Lion ran alongside him, making sure he wouldn't fall and hurt himself again. with a little aid from lion who bit down on Greg's coat in the nick of time, greg and lion both came to a slow stop.
Greg only caught it as a fleeing glimpse, but he swore he saw Steven's entire body covered in bleeding pink and black crystal armor. Adorning also a long flowing scarf and black cape with roses's symbol in the middle. It was like one moment he thought he saw steven in it, and when he blinked, his son was back to normal.
"Forgive me for taking so long, warriors who were once under the command of my mother, Rose Quartz. You have been asleep for a very long time, but today I order you, as your new commander to wake up...WAKE UP!"
Steven's last two words which were filled with authority and power, caused Greg to see steven covered in crystal armor again, but it was too fast for him to get a good look. The ancient gem warriors who were so loyal to rose that they waited for six millenia, began to move. Their heads rose from their downward facing angles. Their bodies shook under their armor to get the snow and frost that had accumulated on them.
Their eyes opened up for the first time in a long time, and their heads turned together in perfect synchronicity in the direction of Steven. They blinked and scanned steven, their eyes, whether hidden by the slits of helms or exposed, all shined when they saw that Steven was in fact in his Gem Mastered Form, albeit invisible to Greg.
"Warriors!" Steven shouted at the top of his voice, all together, the gem warriors rose their arms and shields up. "Yes Field Commander!" they all responded together.
"Yellow diamond is coming to earth, how soon, I do not know. You might have all arrived at a time when earth was under attack by warriors such as yourself. but the times have changed and so has your mission. You are as of this moment tasked with protecting the earth from yellow diamond's forces. This is the cry of of your new field commander and the people and gems who call this planet home. HELP ME PROTECT MY HOME!"
tapping the ends of their spears, the blades of their Great swords and shields either on the floor or on their armor, all three thousand surviving gem warriors repeated the word "Protect" over and over again as loud as they could.
Lapis shed a tear while greg covered his face in lion's mane, hiding his own tears from seeing the touching moment.
"Thank you brave warriors! I'm going to ask you to accompany me back home, but before we leave," steven turned back to his father and said, "Dad, I think it's time to bring mom back"
Greg's earlier tear filed eyes were nothing compared to now. he walked over to his son and fell on his knees, hugging his son and bawling his eyes out. Steven fell on his own knees and hugged his father back, comforting him. "you don't have to be alone anymore dad, you don't have to cry alone anymore" steven told his father who was overwhelmed with so much joy and happiness.
Lapis began to tear up herself and placed a hand over her eyes to cover herself from steven seeing her in such a vulnerable state.
Next in Chapter 43: 'Mother'