Lamp Entertainment presents…

Chapter 23: The Winter Shadow

Earth…

December 23rd

"Navy!" Steven and the Crystal Gems all gasped in unison. Because indeed, the gem sitting on the floor in front of them was none other than Navy the Ruby.

The tiny gem shot them all a look, her eyes filled with cold hatred.

"Hello Steven," she said with her shrill, high-pitched voice. "Did you miss your favorite little Ruby?" She looked at all the people around her, Steven, the Crystal Gems, Spinel, and the Diamonds. Suddenly she started giggling. The giggle grew into a mad cackle, an unhinged maniacal laughter.

"Ahahaha! What's the matter?" she yelled in between her laughing fits. "Didn't think the feared Winter Shadow could be a cute little Ruby, now could you?"

"I-I… but… why!?" Yellow blurted out, everyone else remaining speechless.

Navy stopped laughing. Her head moved from side to side for a few moments, as if she needed to think for a moment about her motivations for all the horrific crimes she had committed.

"Because I hate Christmas," she said finally with a little shrug.

"But why?" Blue asked. "Why do you hate Christmas? Where does this hatred come from?"

"You wanna know why I hate Christmas?" Navy asked. She grinned, showing her teeth like a wild animal ready to bite. "I'll tell you why. Because it's all a lie! You all want to pretend like there is some kind of goodness in this world like everyone is truly good deep within their hearts, or some nonsense like that!" Every word from Navy's lips was laced with poison. "But it's all a lie! People are self-centered and greedy! People are violent and full of hatred! They only pretend to be good because they are afraid of getting in trouble. Kindness and generosity are just people trying to get something back in return. In this world full of sinners, hypocrisy is the only virtue."

She made a brief pause in her mad diatribe to look up at the stunned silent audience. She smiled savored every moment, enjoying the subtle expressions of horror, shock, and anguish on their faces. Her broad smile was without happiness, filled instead with a twisted pleasure. She looked right at White Diamond.

"Hypocrites like you," she said. "Hypocrites who pretend like you have truly changed, when in reality, you are every bit as evil as you have always been."

"Silence!" White Diamond screamed. Her eyes flashed red once more and Navy was lifted up into the air by an invisible force. For a moment, the light in White's eyes grew more powerful and it was aimed right at Navy's gem…

It was over before anyone had the time to react.

Navy dropped back to the floor. Unharmed.

White was sitting on the ground, panting heavily. Large, silent tears were rolling down her cheeks once again. All hints of red were gone from her face, replaced by guilty greens and horrified purples.

"Wh-what's the matter?" Navy croaked. "Can't bring yourself to shatter a measly Ruby anymore? My stars, you've lost your edge."

"N-no…" White mumbled, shaking her head violently. She looked nauseous. "I-I can't. Not anymore. I'm not evil like you."

Navy smiled with sadistic glee.

"You're just like me," she said. "Everyone is. Just give them the right push and everyone will turn into a monster. You know it's true. Just look what happened at Homeworld. And let's face it, if the others weren't here, I'd be dust by now. Admit it! You want to shatter me, but you don't dare try it while Steven and the others are here! Come on! Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm wrong!"

"You're wrong," said a voice, but not White's.

It was Steven.

Navy swiveled around to be faced by Steven's warm gaze. To someone filled with as much cold hatred as her, it was like facing a bright burning sun.

"You're wrong," Steven said, refusing to blink as he stared deeply into Navy's eyes. "White is nothing like you. She got a second chance and she took it. She is trying so hard to be a better person. She is a better person. You got a second chance too. Just like every other gem. That's what Era 3 is. A second chance. You could've made a new life for yourself, without any of the restraints that shackled you before. But you refused it. You didn't even try to become a better person. You took the easy way out and chose to stay evil and bitter. And now you're so convinced of this lie that you will do anything to drag everyone else down to your level. But that won't happen. Because you're wrong. There is goodness in this world. There are people who are kind and giving and helpful and generous. But if you can't see that… then I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help your poor abandoned soul."

For the first time, Navy had nothing to say.

xxXXxx

A Jail cell on Homeworld…

A Few Hours Later…

Navy stayed silent while the Crystal Gems dragged her off to jail on Homeworld. She stayed silent during the initial interrogation. She stayed silent as she was thrown into her cell.

All things considered, her cell was pretty comfortable. It was pretty big, so she had lots of room to move around or pace if she felt like it. There was a chair and a table and even a bizarre contraption called a "hammock." She was allowed to watch movies and listen to music. The catch with that privilege though was that every fifteen minutes or so, an ad would pop up with Steven saying "I'm disappointed in you."

Navy didn't care to watch any movies though. She just sat on her chair in silence, thinking. I'll spare you the unpleasantness of having to read through the twisted thoughts inside that gem's head. Suffice it to say, most of them centered around various ways to make other people suffer.

Several hours passed by. Eventually, Christmas morning came, and suddenly, the cell door opened. Navy turned her head ever so slightly to see what was going on.

Outside the door stood the Warden, a hulking Bismuth and Topaz fusion. Her frame took up the entire exit, so Navy couldn't see what was behind her. Though she assumed there was probably a small battalion of guard gems standing there as well. And there was. But there was something else outside…

"Special delivery," the Warden said. She grinned widely. "You got a Christmas gift."

She threw something through the air. Something small, round, and black. It landed on the table Navy was sitting at with a small "thunk."

For the first time in several hours, Navy spoke.

"…what?"

It was a small piece of coal. There was a sticker taped to it.

"To: Navy. From: Steven and the Diamonds," it said.

Navy's eye twitched madly. She grabbed the piece of coal, set it on fire, and then threw it on the floor. She stared at the Warden, who was holding back a laugh.

"We've got more," she said. She picked up three more pieces of coal and threw them into the room. They landed at Navy's feet. "From 'Spinel and the Pearls.'"

She reached into the large sack behind her and pulled out two more pieces of coal.

"Let's see… these are from 'Peridot and Herderite…'" She threw them at Navy's feet as well. "And then we got from 'Frosty and the Mamas…" Half a dozen more pieces of coal landed at Navy's feet. "We also got a delivery from 'Holly Blue and the Famethyst…'"

At that point, she just threw the entire sack into the room.

"…are you done?" Navy asked slowly. She was fuming, the heat emanating from her body threatening to set the pile of coal at her feet on fire.

The Warden smiled.

"Not by a long shot," she said and moved to the side. Behind her were several laughing guards and what looked to be a truckload of coal. "We got a special delivery from Little Homeworld as well," she said and transformed her hands into giant shovels. "We're gonna be here for a long while."

Navy screamed.

It took the guards a few hours to shovel all of the coal into the cell. Navy spent the rest of her Christmas Eve sitting atop an enormous pile of red-hot coal and ash.

The story of the Winter Shadow is a tragedy. It is the tragedy of someone so utterly incapable of seeing the good in the people around her. It drove her to try and spread her evil like poison. And still, after everything… she has not learned.

The author sincerely hopes that she one day will come to see the greater truth of this world. But he fears that she never will.

That is the tragedy of the Winter Shadow.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Navy is one of the few people who can pull off being a twist villain twice.

Man oh man, these last twenty-three days have been passing by fast, haven't they? I still need like… a week to prepare for tomorrow.