A/N: wHEW, so I'm getting reviews now! and it's always good to hear that someone's not dead. :3
Anyway, I'll leave you to reading this. I know most of you have started school around this time. So I wanna say good luck. HAPPY READING~

Note: This Chapter continues right where the CGs (and Keyhole) left off.

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Forty-Eight: "Unearthed" Secrets, Buried Crimes

Pearl sighed. She had been unable to get back to sleep, and it had been thirty minutes since they took a break. So she stood, and looked around again. Things still looked the same, only there were a few more cracks that weren't there before. The tall Gem frowned with confusion. Was this actually the Zodiac Temple and they had just come into the basement this whole time?

Garnet was still resting, but less hard than she had been, with her arms crossed. She had a dream about Steven, that she was checking up on him, and then it faded into another dreamless sleep. Amethyst didn't really dream, and Keyhole technically couldn't. Pearl walked over to Amethyst, and shook her, harshly whispering, "Amethyst, wake up..."

Amethyst snapped awake with a groan. Keyhole snapped awake too, sat up, and then bolted ahead, towards the door, excited to get moving. The tall Gem couldn't even say anything to the purple Gem as she noticed the demon first. She jumped a bit, "Keyhole, wait!" she bit her lip, slightly running after him. "It could be dangerous!"

Garnet woke up then too, and stretched out as she got up. She felt refreshed, and that was good for what they were about to face. She looked down at Amethyst, and then where Pearl and the demon were, and tilted her head. Keyhole slowed to a slight jog, entering the hallway, and gasped, "I can... I can sense them. They've been here!"

Amethyst yawned and went after them, a bit confused however. And Garnet did too, narrowing her unseen eyes slightly. Pearl frowned, "Who has? more of you?"

In this hallway were decrepit runes etched into the cracked walls and floor. Very few of these runes were triangles. The tall Gem found this strange.

"Yeah... I wasn't alone when I came to Earth. We were led by Gabriel and his fearsome Cluster Demons... we didn't have a choice," he looked down.

"Cluster Demons?" asked Amethyst, frowning.

The tall Gem was somewhat reminded of the infamous war. They all had a choice, and yet they didn't, when they came down to Earth to protect it. But she was focused on the Cluster Demons. Yet another similarity. She sighed, "Let me guess, they were made with the parts of other demons?"

Garnet stayed quiet, simply listening, scanning the hall for any danger. So far, there wasn't any, but they had to be careful still. Keyhole nodded, looking up at the pale Gem. "If you didn't obey Gabriel... you got turned into one of them. It was horrible..." he shuddered.

Garnet almost let a growl escape her lips. It almost reminded her of how Homeworld had perverted fusion, twisted it into something that should not be.

"Ooh," Pearl frowned, glancing back and up at Garnet. "That's not good at all."

He sighed, looking down and saying nothing now. The fusion set a hand on Keyhole's shoulder, calming herself down. She said, "It's not your fault," and then walked to the front of the group.

Pearl grimaced. She still felt a little anger exuding from her, and that was never good. She looked down at Keyhole and then at Amethyst, before she looked straight ahead again, continuing to walk. Keyhole followed her, barely comforted.

"Ugh... all we ever do is walk," Amethyst grunted, trudging along with them.

"Well, we don't exactly have a choice, do we?" the pale Gem asked matter-of-factly. "The Warp Pads leading to our destinations were broken."

And then she began to wonder why. Garnet hummed a bit, the usual frown on her face deepening. Keyhole nodded. "Well, that's life..." he sighed.

"Sadly enough," Pearl agreed. They soon reached an area with doors again, but they were different. They didn't have extravagant symbols on them—but simple ones. They were just ordinary doors. Garnet tried to see ahead, but overall couldn't. Just darkness there. The tall Gem meanwhile found interest in these doors, wondering what was behind each of them. Amethyst chose a door at random and opened it.

Pearl was about to shout, but she realized, with the lack of alarms, that this wasn't that type of room. It seemed to be a place their kind held information. The Gem stepped up, followed by Garnet, and looked in. There was nothing of particular note in this room. Just some old technology that had long since fallen into disuse. They most likely had information on them though. The fusion looked around some more, around the room, adjusting her visor. There was one particular door they had somehow missed. Faded into the wall, it had a warning inscribed upon it in their language: "DO NOT OPEN". This only piqued her curiosity, but she decided to act upon it later.

Amethyst then went on and opened all of them except the one she didn't notice, the one that didn't want anyone to open it. Many of these rooms, along with the obsolete technology, had triangular statues, but the eye they each had was gouged out hurriedly, and the many details that had been there were eroded. Pearl felt uneasy staring at them. Garnet pursed her lips, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu as she gazed upon them, and then looked over at that one door. What was beyond it? she checked her future vision. Nothing bad would happen once she or anyone else opened it, because whatever was in there had been defunct for years. She walked over to it, inspecting it more. There were other writings here, but they were scratched out in favor of the warning starkly shown. And these writings spoke in favor of the One-Eyed One—that he would lead the Gems to great knowledge and salvation. She placed a hand on her chin. Keyhole was a little afraid of this place, clinging slightly to Pearl.

The Gem, after sparing the demon a glance, noticed the fusion's interest in the door, and walked over. She gulped when she saw that warning, and asked, "Um, Garnet... are you sure about this..?"

The fusion nodded, "Yes. I want to see what's behind this door."

The Gem still seemed unsure, but she quieted for the most part. Garnet then looked at the others, and called for them to assemble over here. And they did, Keyhole still a little afraid, while Amethyst seemed a bit neutral. The tall Gem hummed, placing a hand on it. Pearl still seemed anxious. She didn't want to open this door. But if Garnet thought it was safe...

Keyhole then blasted it open in a rare act of courage. Pearl jerked her hand away, eyes wide. Garnet nodded with gratitude and stepped inside, summoning her gauntlets just in case. The tall Gem frowned and followed her. The room was large and blue, metallic too—a stark contrast from the ancient appearance in the rest of the place. There lay some more ancient technology, strewn about the floor. But the most interesting thing was the large machine in the center, at the very back of the room. It towered over them all, and it was an upside-down triangle. Pearl's eyes were wide, and so were Garnet's. More flashes of déjà vu she had. And it wasn't the good kind.

Keyhole stared. He recognized it, and uttered, "It's... a portal..."

Amethyst gazed at it, amazed.

"But to what...?" the pale one walked forward, a little closer. Upon close inspection, she could see that some crucial wires were cut in a hurry, and there were some dings in it too. Something bad had happened here. So bad that this place was abandoned and forgotten about. She was starting to think that maybe there was a reason the Illictic Cashid was disconnected from this place...

The fusion shivered, as if threatening to separate. It seemed as though one of her components didn't like this place. But she kept herself together the best she could.

"Look at this place!" the purple Gem exclaimed, and then laughed. The demon looked over at her, a little surprised by her reaction.

"We're looking," Garnet stated, disgruntled. She wanted to leave, but didn't want to leave her friends here. So she stayed, staring at the machine almost like it was a convicted murderer.

Pearl was a little irritated her question wasn't answered, but didn't press. She backed away from the dismantled portal, and focused on the technology here. One of them seemed to be a journal of sorts, similar to Peridot's screen, but more ancient, so she picked it up and started trying to figure out how to get it working. Keyhole charged up and fired a blast at the machine, and set it aflame. He had cut ties with Bill, so he decided to take it a step further.

"Wow..." Amethyst was in shock, watching this occur.

Gem technology was usually resistant to flames, because of Rubies, but demon flames seemed different. The portal soon started to melt and become disfigured. Whatever trance into which Garnet was trapped had faded. She blinked and looked around. She saw Pearl and walked over to her, observing. The Gem was still trying to activate the tablet, murmuring a little bit, "Almost... got it..."

Keyhole, for good measure, then set the journal on fire as well. The purple Gem gasped, and seemed disappointed. But was rendered speechless.

"Agh!" Pearl dropped it before her hands got burned, and it started becoming disfigured too—if it wasn't working then, it definitely wouldn't work now. She groaned, almost glaring at the demon, "Why did you do that? I wanted to get some answers! now how will I go about doing that?"

Garnet didn't speak, at all. But she somewhat agreed with his motion. Pearl didn't need to know. She, for this matter, and Rose, for another matter, kept this part of Gem history from everyone for a reason.

"You didn't need to know what was on there. None of you should. This is over and done with, and we should move on," Keyhole sighed. Keeping the peace was hard.

The Gem had a hard time digesting that information right now. She already found it hard to move on from Rose and that's been fourteen years. She opened her mouth, about to argue, but the fusion interrupted, unnaturally cool, "Keyhole is right. The past is the past. And it will remain that way."

Pearl flinched a little and frowned, groaning again, but quieted, looking down at her only chance to get some answers. Maybe she'd find out later?

...she didn't know. But she hoped it'd be soon.

Keyhole nodded. Amethyst glanced at the smoking ruins on the floor and sighed, finally speaking up, "So much for that..."

"Well, I'm glad someone agrees," Pearl crossed her arms, looking snooty with her nose up in the air.

Garnet sighed, finally dispelling her gauntlets, "Let's just go. We're wasting time," and, not waiting for an answer, started to leave the room. They shouldn't have opened that door. Bad things did happen. Just not the ones she expected. They should not have opened that door...

And so, with new tensions, particularly from Pearl, they followed her out of the room, closing the door behind them without looking back.

A/N: Okay, so if the Wham in Chapter Forty-Six and Chapter Forty-Five wasn't readily apparent to you, then it's in your face this time. XP
Hahahah! so we explore perspective with the CGs and Keyhole again.
I had Garnet and Pearl, and Ace had Amethyst and Keyhole. XP I really hope you enjoyed this! and please leave reviews~