Chapter 6

Steven rolled onto his back, reflecting on the strange interaction between him and Spinel a few hours ago. He frowned as he thought of her soft hands holding his cheeks, so similar, yet so different from how he held Connie. She had looked at him so…lovingly. The tension in her shoulders as he pushed her away from him made his stomach squirm. What exactly had happened between Spinel and Pink Diamond?

The warp pad lit up above him, pulling him from his thoughts. His heart lurched in hope; maybe Spinel had come back to see him again, and maybe she had brought him food. His stomach growled loudly at the prospect, but he tried not to get his hopes up. He sat up sharply as she stepped into the room, washed in pink light from the door. In her arms she held a large, burlap sack and a glass bottle filled with clear liquid. Steven thanked the stars for his luck as Spinel hefted the items up, placing them carefully within his reach.

He glanced up into her troubled eyes appreciatively as he pulled a blue, pear-shaped fruit from the bag, his mouth watering.

…

Connie and Amethyst stood on the warp pad, hoping that they weren't about to waste their time. Amethyst spread her arms out, focusing on the furthest warp pad she could think of. The pad flashed, ejecting them straight into the warp stream. Her and Connie's feet left the ground as they flew, suspended in the rushing air.

"Connie, hold my feet. I'm gonna look out there."

The teenager complied, grasping Amethyst's stocky ankles as she stuck her head outside of the stream. Where her head exited, a split formed in the light, like a river rushing around a stone.

Amethyst gasped in the frozen, empty air that hit her face. All around her was a dark, velvety black, streaked through by millions of streams of light careening in every possible direction. She had never seen the warp space so busy; Lapis was right. The entire galaxy was out looking for Steven. Every stream rushed towards a small star of light, representing individual warp pads. Every single point had multiple streams flowing into it, countless gems traveling back and forth between planets. She and Connie sped towards a massive, blinding star; Homeworld.

She popped her head back into the stream, warming her face a little before swimming to the other side. Her head burst out into warp space again to a similar scene. All around her were blinding streaks of light splitting the velvety black. She scanned as far as she could see, praying to find something.

There! Just behind them, a dim star glowed, singular in its loneliness. She pulled herself back into the stream, shivering from the cold.

"Don't let go of me, I found something." Connie tightened her grip on the purple gem as she redirected their warp stream.

They landed haphazardly, with Amethyst still suspended in the air by Connie's hold on her ankles. She slammed flat on her face on the pad, groaning. Connie knelt down at her side, helping her up. She nervously laughed, "Sorry, Amethyst."

They both stood up, surveying the decayed garden that spread around them.

…

The alien fruit dripped purple juice down Steven's chin as he devoured one after the other. These fruits were surely sent from the heavens, the blue skin reminding him of apples, and the soft purple flesh inside tasting of sweet peaches. He didn't even care about the pink gem watching him with a thoroughly perplexed expression. This was heaven.

Spinel frowned as Steven moved from the heavy sack of fruits to the jug of water, gulping down a substantial amount of the liquid. She had never seen anyone eat at all, let alone this ravenously. It was definitely disturbing to watch. She figured she'd leave him to it. She turned around and began to walk to the door when a voice called out behind her. Her head turned to see Steven smiling softly up at her, setting the water down next to him.

He started, gratefully, "Thank you, Spin-" His body was suddenly washed in a flash of white light, cutting off his speech. He flinched to cover his sensitive eye from the brightness.

Spinel's glowing eyes shot dangerously to the ceiling as the warp pad activated. Growling, she threw herself on top of the shocked boy, clapping a hand over his mouth.

Steven's body was thrown backwards onto the ground, her hand slamming his head down with a thud. Through the tears that welled in his eyes, he saw an unmistakable figure laying face-down on the window; his last remaining guardian. Another figure appeared to crouch down next to Amethyst, helping her up. He could barely hear their muffled speech as they both stood and stepped off of the warp pad, out of his sight.

The initial shock of seeing Amethyst again wore off, and he realized that if he could get their attention, they could save him. He squirmed and tried to yell out to them, his cries stifled by Spinel's gloved hand. He grabbed at her arm, clawing at her and prying her hand away. His body flailed around, trying to throw her weight off. She clung onto him, her eyes narrowing as she lost her patience.

She lifted her hand from his mouth, rearing her fist back. He was granted just enough time to take in a deep breath before a sharp crack to his left cheek snapped his head to the side. Her other arm coiled around his aching face, tightly covering his mouth and nose. She pinned his struggling arms down to his sides, crushing him between her knees. He couldn't help but panic at this surreal reminder of how Spinel had nearly killed him back on the beach. Her arm wrapped around his face felt like an iron weight, and he struggled hard against her restraints in his desperation.

She seethed at him, her voice sounding panicked. "Hush! Do I need to snap your neck again?!"

Steven couldn't respond if he wanted to. He squeezed his eyes shut as he became painfully aware that he couldn't breathe. His body twitched under the pink gem, his mind growing foggy from a lack of oxygen. His vision began to darken, and he had an idea. He forced his mouth open as far as he could, and he bit down on the pink flesh of the arm smothering him. The skin broke between his teeth, the metallic tang of Spinel's blood filling his mouth and dripping out over his lips.

She hissed in pain and loosened her grip over his face, squinting down at him furiously. His eyes snapped open as he took a deep, heaving breath, and Spinel seemed to understand.

"One peep outta you, and I'm going up there and killing them!" She spat in his face as she whispered, stabbing a finger to his chest. "Then, I'm coming down here to finish you off."

They sat in tense silence, Spinel's body wrapped around Steven's, listening to the footsteps above them.

…

Amethyst and Connie scanned through the desolate garden, searching for any signs of Steven. Stepping down the stone pathway that ran through the center of the space, they saw splintered, ornate columns covered in dead vines, their wilted leaves sagging towards the ground. Manicured masses of dead leaves gave way to thick weeds all along the path, with wild grasses and burrs growing up through cracks in the dark pavement. Above them, the vastness of space stretched endlessly.

Connie stared at the uninhibited sky, her face shining in wonder shortly before confusion took root. "Hey, Amethyst? How can I breathe here? We're basically in space right now!" She nervously took in a deep breath, wondering how she wasn't currently dying a painful death.

Amethyst peered at her from the other side of an overgrown clump of tall grass, shrugging. "I guess they had to have air here, otherwise these plants couldn't grow." She went back to rummaging in the underbrush.

Connie was, for the trillionth time, forced to bathe in awe at the advanced nature of gemkind's technologies. She turned to the end of the path, where a platform stood shrouded in shadows. She wandered over, carefully scanning the path as she went. To her right was a pool of dark liquid, with slimy, grayed lily pads floating on the rippling surface. She grimaced at the potent smell of the stagnant water and moved along, brushing her hands nervously down the front of her jumpsuit.

Amethyst rustled through the grass, pulling stinging nettles and burrs from her clothes. She came upon a clearing, brushing off her pants. She looked up to see a small, wiry tree, its thin branches weakly stretching up towards the infinite sky. The twigs didn't reach any higher than Amethyst's eyes. The puny tree was dappled with dead, black flowers, so delicate that a gust of wind could blow them to dust. She cautiously approached the tree, a twisting feeling gnawing at her gut. Something felt…off, about this tree. Compared to the greens and grays of the rest of the garden, these black velvet petals stood out, a vibrant reflection of the endless void above them.

She held a dark blossom between her fingers, carefully observing how her gentle touch crumbled it completely. Pieces of the petals drifted like confetti to the ground, showering the grass and dirt. The stem joined the grass as Amethyst heard a call behind her. She turned and left the clearing, wading back through the grass and meeting Connie near the platform on the far side of the garden.

She was crouched low to the ground, waving Amethyst over. She pointed to the ground in the center of the walkway, where two bright white spots shone in the darkened pavement. All around the spots were snapped bits of light brown wood, gnarled and twisting like roots. Something, or someone, had stood there for a very long time. The small, white footprints were like portals to another time, when this garden would've been new and kept up.

Connie pointed down the path, frowning. "They're facing the warp pad."

Amethyst stared at the footprints, pondering. There was something about this place that gave her an uneasy feeling, but she didn't have time to sit here and figure it out.

"Come on, I didn't find anything. He's not here. We've officially checked all of the warps." She sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "We'll have to try to get Pearl back. She knows the gem that took Steven."

Connie nodded, humming. She stood, staring down the path towards the warp pad. Did someone really stand here for an immeasurable amount of time, looking down the path just as she did now? What would possess someone to do that?

She and Amethyst walked back to the warp, deep in thought both about the deserted garden and how they planned to get Pearl back.

They stepped up onto the crystalline platform, and Connie had a flash of an idea. "Amethyst! What if Pearl just needs to be reminded of who she is? Like, all of her experiences are a part of her, and she just needs to get those back. We could recreate her memories, and maybe eventually she'll come back to herself!"

Amethyst furrowed her brows in thought before replying. "It's worth a try. What should we do first?"

Connie bit at her nails as she pondered, pacing back and forth on the warp. Countless options flew into her mind, and she weighed and dismissed each one accordingly. Amethyst simply watched her work, not considering herself an 'ideas' person.

After some time, Connie stopped and gasped. "Sword training! She's gotta remember that!"

Amethyst frowned, remembering Pearl's comments about the battlefield a few days ago. They'd have to get Lapis in on this plan for sure. It was worth a try, though.

"Alright, let's do it."

Amethyst lifted her arms and they flew up into the warp stream, headed back to Beach City.

…

The two sets of footprints appeared back on the warp pad after about ten minutes, and Spinel's hand flew back to smother Steven's bloody mouth. Steven stared, wide-eyed at his only chance of escape, about to disappear right before his eyes. He anticipated the headache he'd get from the warp's flash, but it didn't come. Instead, one set of footprints began to step around on the window. His mismatched eyes followed the familiar pacing, and his heart clenched as he realized who it was that had accompanied Amethyst here.

Of course they would've told Connie what had happened. Guilt gnawed at Steven's mind. She was probably so worried for him, and she'd left space camp to help look for him. She was so close to him, yet completely out of reach. He resolved to stay quiet, knowing that Spinel could easily kill Connie if she wanted to, and Connie wouldn't come back. No matter how skilled she was with a sword, Spinel had taken out the Crystal gems in a matter of minutes; she didn't stand a chance. He listened hard to their barely-audible, muffled speech, hoping to pick out a couple of words, or at least to hear Connie's voice again.

Connie stopped pacing, and stood near Amethyst, and they went silent. Steven closed his eyes and wept with hopelessness as the warp pad lit up, carrying his family away.

Spinel watched their retreat apprehensively, waiting a few extra moments in the silence before climbing off of Steven. She released her hold on his mouth, grimacing at the blood that soaked her glove. She moved her forearm in front of her face, surveying the damage she had received from Steven's bite. Her pink skin was mangled, leaving a bright scar of teeth encircled by smears of blood and Steven' tears. Looking up from the bloodied skin, she saw her captive propped up on his palms, staring at the dark ceiling wretchedly. Her blood ran from his mouth, soaking into the already filthy collar of his blue shirt.

"Well," she began in a forced, singsong voice, "looks like you and I will be spending lots of quality time together." She couldn't leave him alone anymore; if someone came while she was gone, she had no way of keeping Steven from being found. She was going to have to stay here with him in the garden.

Steven's horrified eyes flashed to her, startling her from her thoughts. She would never get used to his uneven, partially blacked gaze. A whisper of guilt echoed in the back of her mind before she mercilessly stomped it out. She…he deserved this.

Steven shifted his gaze down to the ground, looking away from Spinel. He couldn't do a thing to stop her, and he didn't want to. Maybe, just maybe, he could work their proximity to his advantage.

Spinel narrowed her eyes at his silence, suspicious. She stomped over to him, lifting his chin with a hand. She snapped at him, pointing to her arm. "This won't happen again, you hear me?"

Steven's eyebrows knitted together as he looked at the scarred pink skin. He whispered to himself, quiet enough so she wouldn't hear. "It…it healed?"

When he bit her, his spit must've touched the wounds. He was confounded; his powers were supposed to be gone. How had he healed her?

She snapped, seeing him mutter under his breath. "What was that? Speak up!"

Steven snapped from his confusion. "I'm sorry, but you were suffocating me, and I couldn't exactly tell you that! I had to do something. I'm part human, I need air. So, please don't try to kill me anymore, and I promise not to hurt you again." He cringed up at the pink gem cautiously, waiting for her to respond.

She contemplated his answer, and nodded reluctantly. She couldn't find fault in his actions, but she couldn't let him get away with fighting back. She lifted a small, pen-like device from her pocket, brandishing it in the air for Steven to see.

"If you happen to break your promise…"She pressed a pink button on the pen, and a large, glowing scythe flourished out, filling half of the prison, "...you'll have to deal with this."

Steven's face washed in the bright pink light of the weapon, his throbbing eye not stopping his horrified gaze from focusing on the flashes of electricity crackling through the air. Spinel skillfully twirled the weapon in her hands before it retreated back into its sheath, the blinding pink lightning burned into Steven's vision. In his mind he saw visions of Garnet, Pearl, and himself being torn apart by the light. His body began to shiver as he remembered the unbearable pain. He remembered how he began screaming against his will, his gem desperately wanting to poof while his human body forced him to stay intact. That was a hell he'd never experience again, no matter what. He stared fearfully at Spinel as the images faded from his mind.

…

Author's note: Chapters will be coming out a little less often; unfortunately I've had to take on another job. Adulting, right? Anyways, I'm aiming for at least once (or twice) a week for new chapters. Thanks for reading, and thanks for the reviews! :)