A/N: Sorry for being a day late with this chapter. My laptop was having problems. But they're fixed now! obviously! I want to thank The Golden Dragwolf for reviewing! I couldn't reply because, well, he or she disabled PMs. So thank you. And I'm glad you love this story! or book, as you've said. The show must go on! even if most of all of you are probably dead for some reason...
Today's also Donald Trump's Inauguration. While I'm not exactly cheering (not that I wanted Hillary to win either), I do wish him the best of luck and am willing to give him a chance. Time to play the wait and see game. So.. without further ado, here's Chapter Thirty-Three!

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Thirty-Three: Pink within Black

After watching Steven sleep for a little bit, the demon directed his attention to the Warp Pad, his mind brought back to what he saw in the little break of the tunnel. As long as he kept thinking of other things, he'd be fine. The triangle floated over to the teleportation platform, eyebrow raised. Said platform didn't recognize his presence. Of course, he had to figure out how to warp to do it, first.

Bill rubbed at his "chin" again, thinking of how he could do this. He'd heard only Gems or half-Gems could activate these platforms. He supposed even he couldn't, even though he still had a fraction of his power. But the triangle figured something out soon enough. He looked over at the attic, making sure Steven was fast asleep,—and he was—and then dug into his powers, trying to see if he could still shapeshift. Maybe he could trick the Warp Pad...

And he found that he could, in fact, shapeshift. It was a miracle considering everything that happened. The triangle chuckled victoriously as he began changing form into a figure Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems could recognize, a Gem with only one eye.

Just like him.

"Sapphire" soon appeared from the formerly shapeless light, but instead of the usual dress, he was wearing a sleek black suit. He smirked, looking at the blue gem embedded into his palm, almost admiring it. And it also felt nice having a mouth again. He chuckled, almost evilly. Or, more accurately, it sounded evil. Bipphire stepped onto the Warp Pad, choosing to put aside his marvel for now, or forever depending, and concentrated on activating it, closing his hidden eye.

The Warp Pad chimed, and he was suddenly thrust into the tunnel, sealed where he was safe. To see in between, the warp would have to halt... but that was not safe. If it stopped, it might never start again. The shapeshifted demon chuckled. He knew this would work. He spoke in Sapphire's voice, with a tone in between shame and pride, "Of course my manipulation would extend to Gem machinery... now to halt the process..."

He knew the risks, however, but if Steven, a mere half-Gem, could start it back up, then so could he. Bipphire, having taken a deep, preparing breath, broke his concentration just then, hoping he'd see what he saw before and not something else. Hoping it wasn't who he thought it was. Rose Quartz would probably not be so bad though.

The Warp Stream disintegrated, and he found himself in a black darkness. There was that pink shape again... that figure... no, it was too tall, to be Gabriel. It was so much more human... but how could it be Rose? was this place a part of Steven somehow? or was it where Gems go when they died?

It seemed unlikely, implausible, if not outright impossible.

Yet there she was.

Bill's eye widened underneath the bangs he currently had. He could barely believe this, out of all the things he'd seen. His mouth was wide open, and slightly trembling, with bewildered shock.

She turned to him and gasped, "Bill?"

But it wasn't Rose's voice. Or Rose's face. The figure drifted closer... and it was revealed to be Pyronica. She looked like she had been crying.

And this time the appropriate emotion cropped up. He lost the shock, now that it was revealed not to be Rose. The shapeshifted demon soon narrowed his eye, "You..."

He was, deep down, wondering why she had been crying. But the swelling anger was fighting with it.

"It's you..." she started sobbing, right there, in front of him. "Can you... help me?" she drifted closer towards him. The only problem was that the longer Bill was here, the bigger chance there was he wouldn't be able to leave.

Bill growled a little, trying to ignore the tears, "Why should I? you betrayed me.."

He began to fear the worst, with her and with this location. He felt he'd already been... wherever this was.. far too long. But it was only a few short minutes.

"Please... it'll never happen again... I just... I need to get out of here!" she stared at him, right in the eye. She said this truthfully, desperately, "I'll do anything... just get me out of here, please..."

Bipphire clenched his teeth. Pyronica was being truthful, much to his chagrin. And much to his relief. But he was going to leave her here. Like she deserved.

But then, just as he was about to reactivate the tunnel, all of a sudden, a thought smacked him in the face. What would Steven do instead? his hidden eye widened, as he thought on this for approximately thirty seconds, and he soon huffed, "Fine..."

He reached out for her hand, still glaring at her, still angry, still unwilling. But doing it anyway. She grabbed onto his hand with both of hers, holding it tightly, almost hurting him that way.

"Thank you so much..." she breathed out, threatening to cry again.

Anyone who knew Pyronica knew she didn't just cry on a whim. She was a strong, independent demon, who stood on her own in many battles and decimated the enemy. But now...? she looked like she would never stop crying. What had happened to her in there...?

He flinched at the slight pain, and furrowed his brow, not bothering to return the gratitude. And the thoughts he was having increased. What happened? this wasn't the Pyronica he knew. The bad feeling he had about this place increased as well. They had to get out of here, before whatever happened to her happened to him. So he concentrated once more on opening the tunnel again, still holding her hands, hoping it would work. And then it seemed to flicker—appear and then disappear, until it was a stable vortex, and the dark void around them vanished, drowned out by the light tunnel.

Pyronica was ever grateful for this, holding him just a little tighter though, just to be sure. Bipphire sighed of relief, ignoring how clingy his former second-in-command was behaving, and then willed the tunnel to go the other way, back home. And so they ended up on the Temple Warp Pad. Steven was still fast asleep on the bed upstairs.

And Pyronica still hadn't let go.

The shapeshifted demon glanced at Pyronica, pursing his lips tightly. Perhaps he should've dropped her off at the Galaxy Warp. Or somewhere other than here. But too late now. He groaned inwardly, and sighed, brow still furrowed, adjusting his bowtie, "Can you let go of me now?"

She nodded and let go, but otherwise didn't move. She cowered beneath him, in such a way that told him she was subject to his will. Kinda like Keyhole had, but even more so. Bipphire rolled his eye and stepped off the Warp Pad before he accidentally, or not, reactivated it. He looked down at himself, wondering if he should return to his triangular form. Or should he stay Sapphire for a while longer? it was a tough decision.

She followed him, in silence, waiting to be told what to do. The demon glanced at her, frowning a little. This was so pathetic. And then he thought, again, to himself, What the hell happened to her in there...?

He soon stared at his hands again, pushing away that thought once more, and then, after twisting himself a little, at his back, which was covered with really long light blue hair, admiring this form once again. He straightened himself and then pulled at the lips a little bit, grinning despite himself. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to stay like this for a while. At least it wasn't human, despite looking like one.

Pyronica only waited for him to do something. She felt... taboo. She wasn't supposed to be here, not like this. Speaking would be like committing a felony, she thought. So she held her tongue.

Bipphire glanced at her again, frowning now, still tugging at his newfound mouth, "Why don't you take a load off? make yourself comfortable!"

His offer wasn't exactly warm and hospitable though. It sounded a little angry, but to be honest, with a few exceptions of course, who wouldn't be angry? Bipphire then made his way to the attic to check on Steven.

And so she walked over and sat down on the couch, looking down at her feet, as if they were the most interesting things in the world. She trembled, threatening to cry again. But she had recovered some of her strength, it seemed, and thus did not.

Steven was still fast asleep, hugging a stuffed animal. The shapeshifted demon stopped playing with his mouth, and smiled, genuinely, down at the boy. He was reminded of earlier this morning, only the roles were switched, and the kid definitely wouldn't be embarrassed. He again wondered what Steven was dreaming. And then Bipphire spared a frowning glance down at where Pyronica was. He sighed, and then turned his attention back to Steven, watching him sleep, and started softly humming the song the boy had sung to him. Bipphire was making sure he himself cherished it, even if he didn't fully understand it.

Pyronica spoke, suddenly, "I'm sorry," but there was nothing else to it. Not what she was sorry for, or why.

The demon looked back at Pyronica, hidden eyebrow raised, looking a little irritated as he cut off the humming and asked, "About what?"

"Everything," she replied, simply.

Silence... until..

"That's a rather huge category..." Bipphire frowned, stepping away from the bed and towards the staircase.

"For being a traitor," it, again, was simple, but it got straight to the point this time.

The demon's frown deepened, "You really think words will be enough...? and how do I know you aren't just saying that to save your own skin?"

But he knew with a simple mind reading that this wasn't the case. She meant it, albeit on a subservient level. But he just wanted to be surer than sure.

She shuddered. "You... you can't imagine what that place was like... I... I don't... can't go through that again..." she whimpered and curled up a little more.

Bipphire's eye widened, and he soon sighed. His tone softened just a tiny bit, as he asked, "What happened to you in there?"

He walked down the steps after he looked back at Steven to check if he was still asleep. She looked down then. "It's like every bad thing you've ever done, shouted back at you a billion times. Every little mistake. Every failure. You get to see how little you mean to everyone. How little impact you have on the whole multiverse. And you get to see a better you. Someone who didn't make those mistakes. Someone who didn't fail. Someone a billion times better without even trying," she sighed, curling up a little bit more, letting the tears flow again.

"Th..that sounds terrible..." he commented. The old him wouldn't even care, to be honest. But now... he soon sighed, Hoo boy, that kid...

He felt conflicted again. Should he be happy? should he be agitated? angry? ...sad? he shook his head, choosing to let this go for now, to focus on Pyronica. She sniffled, "It makes you face everything in the worst light possible. It makes you suffer for real."

"Uhm... I'm... sorry?" he said, unsure. He thought of those lyrics again. Some of them sure fit this situation. But he didn't know quite what to do. Was this empathy? he barely felt it anyway, despite knowing the definition of suffering. It was there, but it was quiet. He somewhat wished Steven was awake right now. He didn't know what to do. What should he do? Bipphire just stood there, awkwardly, fidgeting in the midst of all these thoughts, in front of the couch on which Pyronica was sitting. Pyronica sighed and lay down, ignoring him now. It wasn't like he really understood. No, he'd have to experience it himself...

..something she did not wish for him.

The demon growled all of a sudden, growing angry that he couldn't figure this out, and exited the Beach House before he started shouting and raving, on the balcony, trying to get it all out. Since he was Sapphire at the moment, it would be extremely odd if someone saw or caught him. He knew the short blue Gem was known for her collected calm, and this definitely wasn't it.

Steven decided to wake up at that moment. He frowned, getting up sleepily and looking around the room, and the house, "Bill?"

Instead he saw the strange pink lady. He was so tired he mistook her for Lion, and went back to bed. But he couldn't shake the feeling something was off here. And then Bill walked back in, calm now. It was like his rant never happened. He saw a glimpse of Steven, his back at least, and froze, eye wide. He didn't get the idea to change back to his triangular form, however, instead changing the black suit to the usual blue dress. He seemed that confused, and so unwilling to go back to having no apparent mouth. But was it worth tricking Steven, who already missed the Gems so much?

He couldn't answer that right now.

Pyronica had fallen asleep, so it seemed. But she was also whispering under her breath, too faint for Steven to catch. Plus he thought she was Lion still. Steven didn't see Bill, or, rather, Sapphire. He was staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what was wrong here.

Bipphire wrestled with his growing conscience, walking quietly in the direction of the kitchen. What should he do here? should he change back? or should he remain? what should he do or say if he got discovered like this? the answers to those questions usually would come to him in a snap, but not anymore, all because of this stupid empathy thing. And it was all Steven's fault...!

He nearly froze again, eye widening.

No. No, it wasn't. But he had to blame something or someone.

Himself?

He groaned inwardly.

Steven soon realized he wasn't going to get any more sleep. So he might as well eat something. He got up and headed down to the kitchen. The shapeshifted demon heard footsteps heading his way, and started cursing to himself. That was Steven coming. He couldn't face the boy like this, especially since he felt for the moment emotionally, and rationally, unwell, vulnerable, and unstable. What the hell should he do?

He looked around and soon saw a floor cabinet, and sweatdropped. Well, there was an idea, even though he wouldn't be comfortable exactly. He opened the cabinet and climbed in, shrinking himself so he could fit amongst the items within, and then closed the door.

A/N: I dunno why, but I found the latter part of this chapter funny. But it's up to you. I hope you enjoyed! Ace played Steven, and a returning character, Pyronica! surprise surprise, eh? lots of surprises! and I had Bill, as usual. :3
So I'll see you next Thursday! and, if you have a review to send my way, PLEASE DO. I'm desperate for discussion.