Steven turns towards the voice and sees her, Spinel. He takes in her appearance; small and worn, with so much hope in her eyes that he feels awful about having to crush it.
"I knew you'd be back! I didn't move from my spot for the entire time, Pink." He kneeled down to look her in the eyes, he could see how tired they were.
"I'm so sorry, Spinel, but I'm not Pink Diamond. She abandoned you," Steven admitted. She took a step back, the vines that had grown around her legs tearing.
"I don't like this game," Spinel tells him, her voice pained.
"Spinel, this isn't a game. Pink Diamond abandoned you for 5,000 years. There's no other way to say it."
"No, you're lying! You always lie!" She yelled at him, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.
"You're lying to yourself now, she's never coming back. She's been gone for 18 years now," the taller of the two told her. A massive springed fist slammed into him, catching him off guard, and knocking him into the ground. Steven lifted his head, seeing her staring at him with wide eyes, tears starting to run down her cheeks.
"Shut up! Leave me alone!" Spinel yelled at him. She turned and ran off deeper into the garden. Steven took a moment to calm down, he couldn't respond to her attacks no matter how much he wanted to. He jumped back onto his feet, following after her. He soon realized that the garden was bigger than he initially thought. After listening to the silence for a moment, he heard something: crying.
"I know it's different from what's happened to you, but I know what it's like to be alone. I was the only gem on Earth for half of my life," Steven admitted. He turned in circles to get a glimpse of her. He heard sniffles nearby and ducked down to look under a fallen tree. When Spinel looked up at him, there were black lines running down her cheeks, physical evidence of mental trauma.
He climbed under the tree and sat across from her, deciding to take a kinder approach.
"I'm sorry, I've been going about this all wrong, let's start over. Hello, I'm Steven Universe and I'm here to help you."
"How can you help me? It's too late." She said, looking up at him with tears running down her cheeks with the black lines.
"I can't change the past, at least, I can't in any way that would affect you. But I can change the future. I can take you away from here and do my best to make sure you're never left alone again."
He held out his hand, hoping she would take it. After what feels like an eternity, she does. The hybrid pressed his hand against the tree above him and lifted it out of the way, throwing it to the side as he stood.
"This place must have been beautiful," he noted.
"It was." Spinel replied, her arm stretched out to keep holding Steven's hand.
"Maybe we can rebuild it one day. Do you want to get out of here and go to Homeworld?"
"I would like that."
He and Spinel walked hand in hand to the warp pad, Steven activating it and aiming for his palace appearing in an empty pink room on top of a warp pad. Spinel looked around, taking in the changes.
"Spinel, do you recognize this place?" He asked her.
"This is Pink Diamond's palace." She answered him, the quickest gem to understand that he's a different being.
"Did she have a bedroom?" Steven asked, not wanting to go anywhere else.
"Bed-room?" The springy gem asked, confusion playing across her features.
"A place to relax and to rest."
"There's something like that, I guess?"
"Great, can you lead me there? I think you could use some time off of your feet."
"That sounds nice." Spinel said, sounding tired. She led him up a staircase, where they eventually approached a big room with a window that overlooked the other Diamonds' palaces. He felt Spinel let go of his hand before she crouched down and put her face near the floor.
"Pebbles? Are you still here?" She asked, gently knocking on the floor.
"Pebbles?" He asked. The floor opened a moment later, small stone heads peeking out curiously.
"Spinel? Spinel's back! Hi, Spinel!" Many voices greeted her in unison before they launched themselves at the familiar gem. They crawled all over her, making Spinel laugh. One of them who had landed on her shoulder saw Steven.
"Pink's back!" They yelled. The rest looked the young man over in awe before jumping off of Spinel and rushing towards him.
"Hello, Pebbles." He greeted the group who was joyously approaching him. Noticing how Spinel's face fell at the loss of their attention, he tried to redirect her focus.
"Hey, Spinel? Why are they here?"
"These are Pink's first creations, they build whatever you want." She explained, glad to have so much attention.
"Great. Hey, Pebbles, can you build me a very big bed? It's a raised platform with a big cushion on top." They all jumped off of him, rushing to build what he described.
"You need to sleep," Steven told Spinel. "I know your body doesn't need rest, but your mind needs about five thousand years worth." The Pebbles finished the bed shortly after. Steven walked over and laid down on it, patting the bed to invite the other. Spinel hesitantly climbed onto it, deciding to lay down on it a few feet from him, her body tense.
"You need to clear your mind. Just let everything slip away for a while." The hybrid explained to her, causing her body to become loose in a fit of chaotic elasticity and decompress. Steven watched her from the edge of his vision, glad to see her finally relax. Once he's sure she's asleep, he sits up.
"Pebbles?" He called out. The side of the bed opened, the Pebbles stuck their heads out and they climbed over each other to reach him.
"Can you go to wherever messages are sent from and request the help of a Peridot?" He asked them and they glanced at each other before looking back at him.
"You want us to leave the room?" One asked anxiously.
"Just for a short trip, I don't want Spinel to wake up and find me gone." Steven replied. One of them moved forward and nodded their head.
"I'll go." They bravely offered, their chest puffed up.
"Great, and tell them to be quiet when she gets here." He directed, and the little Pebble began their journey out into the unknown. Steven and the Pebbles watched them go.
Steven doesn't pay attention to how long it takes the Pebble to return, but as the door opens he sees that they have done their job successfully. He spotted them by the shoulder of the Era One Peridot who entered the room smoothly. She stood six feet tall and had dark green skin, accented by her black sleeveless coveralls that were adorned with a diamond in the center. Her mechanic gloves stretched up to her elbows. Her light green hair was tied back and a pair of goggles sat on her forehead. She crossed her arms into a diamond position, bowing to him.
"My Diamond." She politely greeted him, staying in her bowing position.
"Peridot, the gems I usually have help me haven't arrived yet. Can you help me with something?" He asked her, voice serious. She finally looked up from her bow, eyes wide with sincerity.
"Anything, my Diamond."
"I need to be hidden from the robonoids. I need to be able to move freely," he told her, looking out the window. She looked confused but was unwilling to question him.
"I'll start right away, my Diamond, but if I may ask, wouldn't it be easier to send the Quartzes to do your bidding?"
"No, there's some things I need to do in person. Hide Spinel while you're at it, she'll probably be accompanying me for a while."
"Right away, my Diamond. Do you require anything else of me?"
"Not yet, you can go." Steven said, dismissing her curtly. She saluted again, turning and walking out of the room and stopping by the door to set down the Pebble. Steven laid down, his pink eyes closing and falling quickly asleep.
Steven's eyes shot open as the sound of something touching down on the roof thundered throughout the building. Spinel's eyes shot open as well before she screamed.
"PINK!"
"Spinel, calm down," he called out to her. Her own pink eyes scanned the room before resting on him.
"Steven? I thought you were just my imagination." She confessed softly.
"You're not near messed up enough to imagine me, Spinel," Steven replied, taking in her new form. It must have changed while he was asleep. Her gem was upside down now and her theme far darker. Her heart shaped pigtails were now sharp and elongated.
"That should be my ship, we should go greet them." He helped her to her feet, the bed sinking into the floor as they left the room. The duo walked up the stairs to find the Jaspers and the Peridots walking in.
They all greeted him in unison, "My Diamond."
"Spinel, this is Jasper, Skinny, Peridot, and Squareidot."
"Hello." She said while waving from behind his leg.
"A Spinel? How rare." Peridot remarked as Lapis set her down, landing behind her. Peridot scanned her with her limb enhancer, pulling up an old image of her.
"It says she was lost. She's one of three!" Peridot exclaimed excitedly, always a Kindergartener.
"That's rarer than Diamonds then!" Steven noted. The others looked scandalized at the notion, except for Spinel, who looked touched. Everyone froze up as a white bubble appeared from the sky and descended in front of them. Steven turned to stare at it as White Pearl appeared from it, something clearly off about her.
"Pink Diamond, your presence has been requested." Steven scoffed, waving a hand at Pearl, a pink bubble appearing around her and lifting into the air. Her eye that was unmarked by a scar widened in surprise.
"Tell her to shove her request and to meet me in my throne room if she wants to talk with me today." He threw his arm out, the bubble flying back towards Whte Diamond's palace. Steven had set his boundaries in stone. All of the gems stared at him in horror except for Spinel.
"You sent away an emissary of White Diamond?!" Peridot said in horror.
"When she wants to talk she can come to me in person. Now, tell me what the hell is wrong with her Pearl?"
"Yeah, what happened to Pinkie? She wasn't like that the last time I saw her." Spinel said, tapping her cheek in thought.
"You knew her?" Steven asked.
"I knew both of her Pearls. Pinkie was a lot more fun than her second one, she spent most of her time making heart eyes at Pink when she wasn't looking."
"Yeah, that sounds like Pearl," Steven admitted.
"One day, Pink and Pearl went to meet with White, Pink came back with a new Pearl and I never knew what happened, she told me not to ask again..." Spinel responded.
"Sounds about right, now, let's get to work." He turned, looking at the pink throne resting at the far side of the room, a white walkway leading up to it. Steven walked over to the throne and sat in it pulling up a screen and opening Homeworld's database.
"Just a warning to you six, things may get rough from here on out."
Steven had been sitting in his throne for hours, he had sent the Peridots to back up the Era One he'd spoken with earlier in hiding his presence. The Jaspers were standing outside of the doors guarding him. The door opened and Pink Pearl walked in, he had allowed her to go to the reef to make any adjustments she wanted to her form and to take all of the available gem upgrades that she wanted.
"Steven." She greeted, bowing to him.
"Pearl, welcome back." He said, grinning. Spinel poked her head up from behind the throne.
"Oh, a Pearl, is she new?"
"Oh, a Spinel! Aren't you lucky?" Pink Pearl remarked happily.
"I am lucky, it's always good to make friends." The teen told her sagely. A familiar white bubble emerged from the floor, Pink Pearl walked over and stood beside him quickly, gasping as the broken eyed Pearl appeared.
"Your presence is required." White's Pearl declared. Steven hummed before standing up and walking over to her.
"Something's wrong with you, let's see if I can help." The teen said. She tried to step back, but even though she was powered by a Diamond, she was still a Pearl. He moved far faster than her and pressed his fingers to her temples. Steven's eyes glowed pink, hers began to glow shortly after. Steven found himself in a black void, White Pearl stood on a pedestal in the center, white ropes around her limbs led up to the largest being he's ever seen.
"White," the younger Diamond said, grabbing her attention. She furrowed her brow, turning to look down at him.
"You shouldn't be nearly this strong, Starlight."
"Get out of her head!" He demanded. She smiled condescendingly, she seemed to find him amusing.
"GET OUT!" Steven yelled. A wave of pink energy flew out and White Diamond's eyes widened as her strings snapped. She was forced back into her own head by the burst of energy. White, now Pink Pearl, snapped back to awareness as Steven retreated from her head.
"Welcome back, Pearl." The teen greeted, catching her as she almost fell to her knees. He helped her to the ground and crouched beside her, towering over her.
"W-What happened?" She asked, confused. She looked up at him, her remaining eye widening.
"My Diamond, you're alive!?" Pink Pearl said in amazement, staring at her Diamond's new form.
"Not exactly. Same gem, different being," he tried to explain. She just responded by laughing brightly.
"Oh, Pink, you were always such a joker," she replied. Spinel bounced over to the newly recovered Pearl.
"Welcome back, Pinkie. He's not joking, by the way, this definitely isn't Pink."
"Yeah, because you'd never play a prank on me, Spin," she huffed. Steven took an unneeded breath, letting it out slowly, deciding that he has more pressing matters at hand.
"Pearls, with me." He helped the Pearls to get up on their feet. The hybrid lifted one into each pink palm and set Spinel on his shoulder to sit. He walked towards the door and it opened for him before he even got there.
"Jaspers, stay here, I'm going to talk with Yellow." He told them, a plan in mind. They straightened back up and Steven walked over to the Diamond walkway. He came to a point in the middle where all four bridges formed the Diamonds' symbol. Walking to the left and past the two Topaz guards, he emerged into Yellow Diamond's throne room. She seemed to be doing work on her holographic screens. She looked up, her screen's frame clattering to the ground as she saw White's Pearl restored to her original rosey color scheme.
"What have you done?!" She asked, horrified.
"I struck first and freed Pearl. Now, tell me what the hell is up with White? Why was she possessing a Pearl?"
"You need to go to her immediately, ask for forgiveness." Yellow implored him, hoping he would see sense for once.
"Oh no, I won't be doing that." He waved her concern off and Spinel snorted. Yellow's eyes snapped to her.
"Is that Pink's Spinel? We thought she was lost."
"Pink abandoned her, one of her many bad deeds." Steven said in a neutral tone. Yellow seemed to sink into her seat and sighed.
"I can't get between you and White. Just watch yourself Steven, she's nothing like the rest of us."
"No, I think she's far too much like the rest of us. Does she have anything I should watch out for other than the possession?" He asked her and she hummed in response.
"Not that I know of, but she hasn't been close to anyone, not since Pink left. We all drifted apart." Yellow said. The other Diamond nodded in acknowledgment.
"Thank you, Yellow…" he trailed off as a tone went off. Yellow stood in a sharp movement.
"It's time for an extraction. Would you like to use my chambers?" He agreed, following her and setting the Pearls down by the door. Steven tried very hard to ignore the eyes on the wall following after him. He made a move to pull Spinel off of his shoulder when he felt her wrap her hands around his arm.
"Spinel, this is a Diamond extraction chamber. I don't know what it would do to a regular gem. You can hang out here with the pink Pearls and Yellow Pearl. I'll be just on the other side of this door. I'm not abandoning you, okay?" He looked into her eyes, hoping she could sense his honesty. She pouted but untangled herself from his arm and slinked over to the Pearls, making a spectacle out of it. He walked through the door, closing it behind him, and he climbed up onto the bench seat across from Yellow. Back against the wall, he settled down as the room started to heat up. Water flowed out of the statues, forming steam.
"How long have you been on the planet? Did you arrive on your ship?" Yellow started the conversation.
"I left that to others, I took a warp pad from the garden after retrieving Spinel. Pink Diamond told her that they were playing a game and made her stand in wait for her for the last 5,000 years, I wish I had found her sooner."
"It is a shame, she's such a rare gem," Yellow agreed, misunderstanding him.
"No, it's a shame that she was left alone and hurt. I hope one day you can understand why that's wrong, but I suppose it's too soon to hope for that." Steven said, wiping his hand across his head and looking down at the pink liquid starting to form.
"What is this?"
"It's your Diamond essence, it's the main ingredient in the production of gems." She explained to him.
"Strange, you'll have to explain it to me one day." He replied, interested in understanding more of his own species beyond the small amount he had read.
"Of course I will, soon you'll need to begin creating new gems," she said, leaning back. Yellow was glad to hear him being interested in Diamond duties. A tone rang and she sighed in frustration.
"Already? It feels like this has gotten shorter and shorter." She complained, willing the essence off of her and onto the floor. Steven copied her a moment after.
"It may be because you've been producing far less gems." He said to her as he stood.
"I'll be around, Yellow. You don't need to worry about me, I'm sturdy." Steven walked out of the room, the two Pearls and Spinel following after him.
Steven stared out over Homeworld; he had sent the Pearls back to the reef to see if they could restore the original Pink Pearl's eye. He had sent Peridot with them due to her excitement at the prospect of seeing it in person.
"What are you thinking about, Steven?" Spinel asked him, rocking on her feet. He looked at her, deciding to confide in her.
"I want to check on a report from the robonoids. Footsteps were detected in the lower levels of the planet. Care to accompany me?" He asked. She nodded, prompting Steven to pick her up and set her on his shoulder as he launched himself over the railing, falling deep into the planet below.
