"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness."
They'd gotten so far until they encountered the Lillim in the hallways. Garnets kiss indicated the exact location of Milky's Chamber, which confused Stevonnie until Amethyst had been captured by them. Stevonnie wanted to help so badly, their heart beating so fast as Pearl insisted to Jasper that Stevonnie was the most important person right now. In their haste, it was Jasper who had to drag a hysterical Stevonnie away as they screamed at the devoured Crystal Gems. The last thing they saw was Pearl diving into the smoke herself, with their voices muffling and disappearing into the ghastly shadows.
Once far enough, Stevonnie forced Jasper to stop dragging them so they could breath. They had to lean against the nearby wall to get their breath back, reeling from the chaos, but the amount of despair they felt from their sacrifice became too much. They looked at their hands and the reality before them, fulling preparing for the illusions before the inevitable split in their fusion. They closed their eyes then re opened them. Jasper was still there to their right. No distortions. At all. Where was Steven's voice where they needed it?
"We don't have time to mope around right now." Jasper called out.
"They're family to Steven! They're family to me!" Stevonnie roared as they slammed the wall and caused the walls and roof to shudder briefly from the force.
Jasper remained stoic as she placed her hands on their shoulders in an attempt to look into their eyes.
"This is what War is like my Diamond." She told them.
"Sacrifice is normal."
This wasn't normal. Nothing right now could be considered normal.
"Retreating to the Chamber is the only goal right now. I need you to focus."
For once...Jasper was right. There wasn't much they could do right now. Stevonnie could not afford the risk of getting infected now. Not when they were so close. Jasper let them go as they adjusted their jacket and retied their hair, then took a deep breath for good measure. They nodded, as they mapped out the location of the Chambers thanks to Garnet. They just hated the fact that they couldn't much else right now, frustrated with themselves and the reality they now faced.
Even with direction, all they came across was a dead end. Jasper growled with displeasure as if wondering if the vision showed was even accurate. Stevonnie rested their hand on it, until the door shifted. In front of them was Dori, who wagged their tail as they saw Stevonnie. They entered promptly, seeing Peridot and Lapis inside as the former worked on a nearby console with an odd expression on her face, while Lapis sat on the edge, appearing stunned as she stared at Jasper with widened eyes.
"Oh great..." Jasper groaned.
Stevonnie should have expected Lapis stomping around to prove her point. But she didn't. She ignored Jasper, only with her face was she voicing her disapproval. She instead then looked at Stevonnie, who forgot they had a huge frown right now.
"We bumped into the others...they...were taken by the Lillim." They said, trying to keep themselves together as they were overwhelmed in shame, rubbing their arm, while their eyes were drawn to the floor
Lapis gasped.
"Oh no...I'm..."
"DIAMOND DETECTED"
Stevonnie froze as they looked at Peridot, who had the dullest expression and the clearest purple eyes.
"Uh...what...what happened to her?" They asked, pointing towards the green gem.
Lapis sighed, obliging to be the bearer of the unusually bad news/
"She's being possessed by something called Apophyllite. An old Blackbox GIS thing." She revealed.
That was the same thing that Diga and Black Star were talking about. A type of artificial intelligence construct.
"I see..." Stevonnie murmured. They felt all eyes on them and had to be strong for them. This was what Steven would want to do. Connie felt the practicality of moving forward, knowing there wasn't much they could do now regarding the other gems but felt they still had a chance to save them too. They crossed their arms as they tried to think. If only Steven could voice his opinion once in a while. But Connie was all they had.
"Is she going to be alright?"
Lapis looked at Peridot, who was just blank right now.
"She should be. The Apophyllite needed a puppet to speak through. Peridot volunteered and now Dori and I are just keeping an eye on her. Gotta make sure she doesn't try anything funny." She answered.
It made Stevonnie think of the things capabilities. Diga mentioned its creation as an artificial intelligence that was meant to take care of the facility on its own. They needed it as well, going from what both Diga and Black Star mentioned. A critical piece of the puzzle for them to utilise and gain access to the Southeastern Section. But one matter Stevonnie had to deal with first, one of utmost importance. They took a deep breath and stood firm, disallowing their grief to pull them back.
"Now...Garnet said you needed a Diamond to get access into the Delta Kindergarten?" They said, with a straight laced tone.
"Diamond Level authorization required." Said Apophyllite through the proxy of Peridot.
What for, they wondered.
"We'd heard of a Prophecy that a Black Star Sapphire saw. Something about the Curse of Hope and the Sight of Stone defeating the darkness or something...and that hope lied in the Delta Kindergarten, for what ever it actually meant. It's a weird piece of poetry." Lapis continued.
Incarnation of Hope. Curse of Hope. A lot of the terminology didn't make sense. But the word hope was spread a lot, according to Lapis. They could see they had found out about the whole ordeal too, which meant Black Star was trying to spread her message as far...and as vague as possible.
"I told Apophyllite what we saw and what we found out. Tell her." Lapis ordered the GIS.
Peridot nodded and adjusted herself.
When the world of warm is covered in the realm of cold...
When the brightest heart accepts the darkest mind..
Only the Curse of Hope and the Sight of Stone...
Can clear the Cosmos of Despair of it's bind.
To put the pieces together like that would be interesting to consider. The Curse of Hope. Why would it lie in the Delta Kindergarten as a curse? And the Sight of Stone?
"We guessed the Sight of Stone was someone known as Medusa Quartz." Lapis continued.
Where was she though? She wasn't in Diga's Quarters. So what purpose did Medusa have in leading hope into the Kindergarten if she wasn't there to help them out?
Their mind trailed on the possibilities of what the Cosmos of Despair was.
"Pyrope's been insistent on finding out what lies in there as well." Said Jasper.
"What it ever it is, it better be worth it."
Stevonnie heard Lapis murmur.
"You're another spy of hers aren't you?" Lapis questioned with disdain.
Oh brother...Jasper gave off another low growl.
"No. Not anymore." Jasper said cooly.
Last thing anyone wanted right now, was those two to fight.
"Jasper's been helping me." Stevonnie told her. They wanted to get this over and done with so they could save everyone, so they really had to leave the belated bickering until later. They wandered over to the console and stood next to Peridot who had her hand hovered over a Diamond symbol.
"Please press highlighted button." Said Peridot.
The answers lied behind that very door. It both excited and terrified Stevonnie in the fusion of a paradox. There was a hesitation for numerical reasons; with a lot of it had to do with the nature of the Prophecy. Still so many questions without any answers. But this Lillim invasion could be fought off with a weapon they held behind its unseen doors. Would it also help them save Steven and the other Crystal Gems? Greg and Lion too? The amount of pressure to succeed was immense. A cavalcade of problems could arise if they failed and Stevonnie only had themselves to blame. Pink Steven did nothing to subconsciously support them at this point as it was left purely on Connie's conscious to decide. Though they did feel Lapis' hand on their arm.
"Stevonnie, I didn't want to comment, but what's wrong?" Lapis asked.
Lapis had spoken with Stevonnie in the past. They had a fast friendship due to her already having bonds with both Steven and Connie. On the occasion the topic of fusion, Stevonnie wanted to be careful around her due to Lapis' history, but Lapis cleared it up with them pretty quickly that she didn't care that they had fused with each other or not and even voiced envy on their stability and comfort. Steven did mention at one point his curiosities on how his fusion with either Peridot or Lapis would be...or even a combination of those two alone. Like anything, Steven would never force it if they'd never done it before (although his insistence on Opal was because he'd never seen Gems fuse before), but he was indeed proud of the friendship the two had forged between each other and patiently waited for the day that the two would fuse. Stevonnie noticed the back wall, with the pictures of themselves, Steven and Connie on the pink wallpaper. Someone definitely was keeping an eye on them. Seeing the Pink Diamond insignia gave them conflicting emotions.
"I feel like this something Steven should be doing...not me." They replied.
"Why don't you let him do it then?" Lapis proposed.
Stevonnie looked at their gem and tried to split themselves apart. There were no hallucinations or signs that the pair were even about to, no matter how hard they strained.
"Maybe you're addicted to the power." Jasper theorized as she looked at Lapis, who turned away.
If Garnet were here...
"No...that's not it." Stevonnie stated.
Whether or not it was the case, but it had to be something to do with the nature of fusing with a full gem. Everything Stevonnie, Steven and Connie knew about fusion came from the Crystal Gems, mostly Garnet. Stevonnie felt Dori's fur underneath their hand. It reminded Stevonnie of something far more important. They brought out Snow's gem.
"You hold her." They said as they knelt down before her. Dori gave a little whine as she sniffed then grabbed her partners gem with her mouth, while Stevonnie rubbed her head. They just wanted her to reform so they could apologies properly. However, Dori ended up swallowing the gem whole with Stevonnie grimacing at the notion.
"A Labradorite gem will hold small items in shapeshifted pouches with their the bodies via consumption through their vocal orifice." Said Peri-Apophyllite
Didn't make it any less gross. What if Snow decided to reform while she was inside? Unless the interior acted like a bubble of sorts. Stevonnie had no idea. The Wolf Gem then resumed to rubbing itself on Stevonnie's leg like she was trying to comfort them. It allowed them to contemplate their next action. If Pink Steven did not want to unfuse, then it could be the case where it had no issue with Stevonnie doing it. It was just Connie hesitating. They tried again as they placed their hand on the button, took a deep breath, then pushed it.
"Diamond Authorization confirmed. Warp Pad deployed!" Apophyllite announced.
Jasper jumped out of the way as the floor shifted with a circle forming, then two panels slid outwards as a Warp Pad was brought up from below. Which surprised them greatly. Black Pearl did mention Milky did not like Warp Pads. Interesting. They looked to all of the remaining gems, then looked at their gem. Fear ran through them, like a lightning strike.
"We're ready when you are." Lapis declared.
"I'm in...only to make sure none of you are in way over your heads." Jasper announced.
There was a little bit of joy that poured on Stevonnie's heart on those words alone. A warmth they craved, though it was unknown whether or not that aspect was from Steven's side...an unconscious thought in an awakened foreign mind. Then they looked at Peridot, concerned on whether she was aware of what was going on.
"Are you coming Apophyllite...or Peridot...?" Stevonnie wondered.
"Apophyllite will observe and assist where necessary. Until then, original Peridot program will remain primary until change is required." They claimed. It wasn't good enough from their understanding, but it was perfect music to Stevonnie's ears. Peridot seemed pleased to see them as her eyes turned to normal, although wary of Jaspers presence until they gave her the run down. The hybrid stood firm in the middle of the Warp Pad, with Dori and Peridot on their right, Jasper behind them and Lapis on their left.
There was no turning back now. The moment of truth was ahead of them.
Going through the stream felt like eternity, as millions of words ran through Stevonnie and loads of them piled up and crashed on every corner. They weren't alone as Lapis, surprisingly of all gems, grabbed their hand and smiled. Lapis sensed Stevonnie's stress in a weird way, though the core of Stevonnie's belief had it tell them that she must have known what it was like to face ones fears and that facing them alone could be considered foolhardy. It was more than welcoming, like Steven had impacted her more than believed. Or maybe, that Lapis had once underestimated Connie...could have been anything really. With that Gem, it could mean anything...and remain a mystery.
The temperature in the room was a lot hotter than they anticipated. The room they were in was hexagonal like the rest, but in dark shades of teal. A door awaited them as Peridot walked forward first and pressed their hand against the light blue diamond symbol on the right hand side, which opened the door. The crew wandered inside, seeing some kind of observation room of the same blue-green colour schemes that over looked a glowing room from beyond the protective glass. Stevonnie ticked with her hand once more, before proceeding to look over to see what was out there.
There was giant internal cave structure, complete with stalactites that sparkled from above and bellow was a huge pit of lava that sat between solid ground and a unusual marked cave wall to the far back. Diamond shaped lines surrounded it, with smaller lined shapes that repeated several times. White, then Yellow, then Blue, then Pink...then Turquoise. The walls to the left and right poured lava into the heated pool of it.
Peridot's first action was to instantly go to the console before them and lit up a few holographic screens of interest. Stevonnie felt...something. It wasn't bad, or good...strange...powerful like she'd stepped into a room with a much higher amount of gravity, like a force became much heavier on their shoulders. Peridot did find out that they were actually about 170 kilometers in the Earths mantle...could have explained it.
"How odd." Peridot commented as she scryed through the screens.
"This Kindergarten only houses a singular gem...and its in that room in front of us. It says it's been in incubation for the past...no way that's impossible...that is a...like a million times more in cycles for it form like most gems."
Stevonnie gulped, for what it meant, for it be highly unusual to begin with. The heaviness could have been the power they sensed as well, though they couldn't possibly tell in a place like this.
"I've never heard a gem taking that long to form." Jasper noted.
"Unless it was a really important one."
Really important...
"Let me to check it's elemental environment. Kimberlite with traces of boron. I know there are certain gems that do come from this...oh...oh..."
Looks like Peridot found paydirt. Literally. The stunned look on her face and the trails of sweat made her incredibly nervous, rubbing off on Stevonnie somewhat.
"I...I...I know what this is."
From the way Peridot sounded, she was both afraid and in awe of what was forming down there, with the constant stammers, like she was trying so hard to reaffirm her disbelief.
"I-I mean, it's entirely possible that it's...it's not what I think it is...could be something else...lesse...yup...yup.."
Peridot kept murmuring to herself, like she was crossing off a checklist and trying to justify what her discovery meant. But for what ever reason Stevonnie found themselves looking at the formation constantly, being drawn to it. Their eyes honed in on the middle of the wall. This was Hope? Another gem?
"Either it is or it isn't...just say what it is." Jasper demanded, irritated by Peridots muttering.
Stevonnies hand hovered over their gem again as it pulsed with light. Visions of Pink Steven came to mind it looked like he was already down there, like he was waiting for the gem to come out.
Peridot hastily went through the files...before everything decided to shut down at that precise moment. She slammed the console with both her fists in frustration, as Stevonnie felt the air shift again.
"Oh great you broke it." Jasper complained.
The room got hotter and hotter which Stevonnie presumed was due to the lack of ventilation down here. They clung on their chest as it became harder to breath. They split between hearing the others arguing that eventually became muffled noise and the fight to keep their eyes open until eventually everything went dark.
The void again. The vast, ocean wide space of pure emptiness. A world with no worries, no fears or any sight of life in it. A place for pure thinking. Not for long.
Stevonnie opened their eyes and they were back in the room again. The lights were back on, but no Jasper, Peridot, Lapis or Dori in sight. They began to panic, thinking that they had been captured, until they heard the doors open behind them and by pure instinct, they decided to hide behind a nearby bench and peered over the front. Out came two individuals. One with white, wavy hair and one with light brown hair tied up. Both were considered tall but what they wore was considerably different. The white haired one had some kind of grey armor with a red cloak with a symbol Stevonnie recalled, the one from Diga's room. The one with the dragon and the aperture symbol on it. The shoulder pads were of dragons heads which Stevonnie thought was pretty awesome, akin to the many fantasy stories Connie had read.
The other was a skinny woman. Her dress hugged her figure and was blue with a black, flowery embedded pattern on a long dinner dress. Their beige skin indicated that they were most likely not gems...their eyes were glowing white and blue respectively. So they weren't human either. They looked over the balcony and onto the interior of the kindergarten.
"I hate how things shift and change over millions of years." Said the white haired woman. Her voice commanded authority and yet, it was soft, firm...not to mention sounding similar to another person they couldn't put their finger on.
"They're hard to track down the line."
A tone that also held poise and grace and power.
"I had Zinnia seed it. It's not her fault." Said the blue one. Her voice was a little softer, but she held less emotion.
Who were these two, Stevonnie wondered.
"No it's not. I'm just glad she was happy to contribute to our project..."
"I never said I was happy with it."
Out from the doors was a large woman with curly, voluminous pink hair and white dress. Rose Quartz...Mom-Diamond. The two turned around to greet her. What was Rose doing here, of all people? She stared at them with immense glares, namely at the blue one. What ever they've done to earn her ire, must have been pretty bad.
"Petra, I only agreed to this because I've had Black Star Sapphire cry to me for help." Rose mentioned, oddly voicing her displeasure.
Woah...this was heavy.
"And Diga...I know you're trying to resolve this issue in a peaceful way. But are we sure need to resort to this? After everything we fought for...you think another one is required to fight the Lillim off?"
Rose knew about the whole ordeal? She never said it to anyone else? Garnet was right. She could keep secrets.
"Rose..." Diga said. Her smile was yinyang of warm and cold. Her eyes were like a Diamonds too. Similar motif with her drop-Diamond circlet and earrings, while Petra had a matching set, only with light blue glowing gems instead. Her armor was like it was like out of some RPG. While Petra remained expressionless, her eyes half lidded but riddled with their magical blue glow like a upside down and inverted sunset.
"Lilith isn't peaceful. Far from it. I've seen her ruin many worlds and I'd hate to think what she'd do to this one. I've discussed it with my Crusaders and Petra and we know this is going to be the course of action required to fight her off. It's a future obscure to most here...that normal future vision just won't cut it."
There's that name again. Lilith.
"Did you really need to use my gem though? I still don't know how you figured out my true identity." Rose said.
Wait what?
"Scanning your gem was required for the base of it." Diga explained.
"Every gem has a different internal wavelength, based off of studies. A scan here and there made sure the gems properties were going to even function the way we want them to. Ones like yours hold countless potential. With that and the cycles required, which is covered. Petra's excellent at time management if you catch my drift."
Scanning...her ...had implications Stevonnie wasn't prepared for, not by a long shot. They felt Peridot's disbelief from earlier, run its course.
"Catch...your drift?" Rose repeated.
Diga rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah, human saying." She said. So she was human? Stevonnie doubted it. Although she had to be close, or close enough.
Rose nodded, a bit concerned. Stevonnie could understand why, given the uncertain relationships between humans and gems in general.
"Well, okay if you say so." She said, her voice trailing.
This whole experience was so...disconnected. It was out of a sci-fi movie...
"The basis of your identity is irrelevant." Said Petra, her tone without warmth.
"Alterations are required for every few cycles to ensure its development is left unhindered. A name will be left on the winds of your gems memories that will call out to you. The Heart to claim and unite as one entity."
Stevonnie felt the same way about Rose's confused face right about now. What ever had her looking like that, was significant.
"Is there someone I should expect to meet?" Rose questioned.
Petra did a slow, single nod.
"Yes." She replied.
"A human being."
Was it Greg? This surprised Rose...and Stevonnie.
"A human? What does a human have to do with what's going on here? They don't have any powers that I know of." Rose stated.
That much was true. But that didn't have any less meaning to it.
"Not yet." Petra continued.
"In an era of change will be a minor slice of time, but it will be a great deal for those who will have your eyes."
No...it was Steven? Rose still didn't get it. Neither did Stevonnie. Although, if it meant what they thought it meant...
"Rose...understand the concept of mind, spirit and body. I'll try and put it in a way that even a Gem will understand." Said Diga, albeit in a condescending way.
"These three must be in sync to work properly. A body contains the vessel and is limited to a variety of vulnerabilities. AKA, your gems. A spirit contains an energy that connects the body with the mind with all sorts of blurred, hidden data. So the form you take is but a spirit projected from the body based on numerous factors and can form the cradle of your subconscious. A mind is but the driver, the active consciousness that is aware of their surroundings. Everything fed through the minds sensors is poured down through it, past the spirit and into the body and the body and mind can connect too... without always needing the spirit.'
Whether or not that was entirely accurate or not, it still puzzled poor Rose. And Stevonnie.
"There will be a point in time where the body is flesh, the spirit is a gem and a new mind is born from it. It will act as a Heart and an Aura, combined." Said Petra.
That had to be Steven, surely.
"But this case...has a body of flesh and a willing mind already intact. Its their spirit that needs to change. The body will fall. However it's open to the greatest change. Hope lies with her. Her Heart needs to merge with the power of a powerful gem."
Her?
"Black Star told me about the Prophecy." Rose revealed.
"The Curse of Hope and the Sight of Stone will clear the Cosmos of Despair of its bind. Didn't realize it needed to go this far in order to fulfill it."
Rose knew about it too? What matter of craziness was this? She had more secrets than previously known. Steven had come to accept that, however. More so than ever, given the mysterious nature of their plans.
"It needs a heart of humanity. Humanity will become...more? And this gem...needs to fuse with a human being?"
The two nodded. They spent all this time preparing for this very moment.
"But she didn't give me anything else. But you have a name to this...Incarnation of Hope I assume?"
A more positive name to the twist than anticipated but sure.
"We do." Said Petra.
"Her name will be Connie. Connie Maheswaran."
Stevonnie froze at the mere mention of her name. No...it couldn't possibly be her. She was chosen? Out of all the potentials in the world and out of every human being in existence...this far in advance and centralized on a very specific individual. How? Why? It made no sense to them. Why did it have to be Connie? Why no one else? Where did this all come from? From Black Star's extraordinary future vision that stretched as far as it did. When was this? Had to be a few thousand years ago at least. Stevonnie really needed Steven right about now. They needed his voice...his humanity to just say something. Anything. They really were alone with no real explanation to any of this absolute drivel.
"Connie needs to accept the Diamond when the time is right. She needs to be its Heart." Petra continued.
WHAT?
"She will not be alone in the endeavor. Love will see her through."
The world around Stevonnie broke into shards of teal and pink, into shadow once more.