Chapter Eleven: Prisoner
Lapis had started pacing around the Palanquin shortly after the Crystal Gems had left with Steven and a day later still hadn't stopped. She traced her path around the Palanquin, trying to avoid things that reminded her of Steven, but failing because everything reminded her of him.
She tugged at her hair, frustrated at the powerlessness she felt. Her gem was healed, she had her powers back in full. But that hadn't been enough to help Steven in the end. The person who had freed her from her prison.
Lapis closed her eyes tightly shut, biting back the tears.
"Lapis, please. Try to calm yourself."
Lapis shot a sharp look at Pearl. "Calm myself? How can you say that?" She resumed pacing. "We don't know what they're doing to him, or even if we're even see him again!"
"Yes, I know."
"They could be doing terrible experiments to him! Or just cracking his gem in half!"
"Yes, I know."
"They could be torturing him, trying to get what information they can out of him about Homeworld or the Diamonds!"
"Yes, I know."
"Than why aren't you more concerned!?" Lapis was finally screaming. "I thought you cared about Steven!"
Pearl turned so fast, it actually caught Lapis by surprise. "I care about Steven more than anything in the universe."
"You're not acting like it," Lapis shot back. "We should be doing something! Their base is by the ocean, right? Than let's go there and I can flood them out."
Pearl tilted her head at Lapis. "I see. And how do you propose you do that without harming Steven?"
Lapis blinked.
"His body is human," Pearl explained. "It requires oxygen. Submerge him in water, and he will drown. Unless you have some way to prevent that."
Lapis Lazuli stared at her, huffed, but otherwise gave no response.
"Exactly," Pearl responded. "We go in too strong, we could kill him. Go in too weak, and the Crystal Gems will do it for us, rather than risk letting a Diamond go free."
"So what? We just abandon him?"
"No. We plan."
Lapis grimaced and frowned. "Fine. Then I'm going to go do some thinking." She summoned her wings and began towards the door. "Might as well get some use out of these…"
"Lapis."
Lapis didn't even turn around. "I'm not going to Beach City. Just going to fly around the countryside."
"That's not what I meant," said Pearl. Lapis stopped and turned around to face her again, who suddenly seemed much more unsure of herself. She looked away and a faint blush seemed to appear on her cheeks. "You will be back?" she asked.
Lapis nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'll be back."
Pearl nodded back at her. "Alright. Take as much time as you need, Lapis. I'll… I'll be here when you return."
"I know, Pearl," Lapis responded.
She than pushed through the curtains of the Palanquin and took to the skies, trying her best to clear her mind.
And to think.
In the days immediately following the aftermath of the War, the remaining Crystal Gems had built a cage.
Rose had helped as much as she could, as had Garnet, but the majority of the construction had been Pearl. Scavenged from the remains of the same metal Bismuth had once used to forge Rose's sword, and supplemented with regular steel, it had been built large enough to contain a Quartz's corrupted form. The cage's bars had generated a magical field designed to reflect and contain any energy attacks.
They'd kept a Zircon in there, at first. She'd been one of the main communications officers in the rebellion. Rose Quartz had known few Gems as sharp as her. No one else could decode messages as quickly, or perform mathematics so effortlessly, or prepare information briefings so efficiently. Such intelligence couldn't have just been snuffed out, they'd all been sure. Whatever the Diamonds had done to her, Zircon was still in there. They just had to bring her out.
They'd kept Zircon in that cage for years and years. The Crystal Gems would try to talk to her, but she'd just growl in response. Growl or hiss or slash or shoot energy beams, which had reflected back and hit her instead. Then she'd cower and whimper. Nothing her old friends did or said seemed to spark any of her memories.
One was a small sample size. The approach hadn't helped Zircon, but maybe it would work on someone else.
So they'd tried it on a Morganite. On a Topaz. On an Emerald. On a Ruby. On a Glass.
It hadn't helped any of them.
Eventually all of them— even Rose— had to admit, it was hopeless. And it hurt, seeing these twisted reflections of their old friends and comrades. Old friends and comrades who couldn't remember themselves, but were nonetheless still afraid, still in pain.
It was a mercy to keep them bubbled.
They'd kept that cage. For thousands of years it had been left, buried and forgotten, in the depths of Amethyst's room. Amethyst had no trouble finding it. The device still worked perfectly.
There is something fitting, Rose Quartz thought, about Blue Diamond being kept prisoner in a cell designed to hold the monsters she herself helped create.
Or it would be, Rose thought, if that is actually Blue Diamond.
She was seriously having doubts.
Rose Quartz paced around the pool of lava in the Burning Room, her body's frantic attempt to keep up with her mind.
She glanced at Garnet. "Still no visions of the Pearl and Lapis contacting Homeworld?"
"None," said Garnet.
Rose nodded, and looked at Amethyst. "And the Galaxy Warp…?"
"All still down. I like, triple checked," Amethyst replied excitedly.
"Good, good," Rose said, absently.
Amethyst practically vibrated at the praise. She knew how serious the situation was, and was doing her best to act accordingly, but Rose could tell she was excited by the whole thing. How couldn't she be? She'd spent her whole life hearing stories about the rebellion, but had never actually participated. This was the closest she'd ever gotten to a proper war meeting.
Rose hoped she'd never get any closer.
Pearl wasn't present for the meeting. She was outside the Temple proper, standing guard on their Diamond captive and Mr. Universe. Rose wanted her opinion on things, but that would have to wait. They couldn't be certain how well the cage would stand up to a Diamond's powers, and if Amethyst got struck by Blue Diamond's emotional manipulation, her inexperience might make her very vulnerable. If something went wrong, Pearl would have a better chance of standing her own.
"So," Rose said, at length. "What do you think of him?"
"I think he's small," said Amethyst. "He doesn't look like any pictures of the Diamonds you showed me. He just looks like a human kid."
"Humans think you look like a human kid," pointed out Garnet.
Amethyst shrugged. "Fair."
"It's possible to create quite elaborate organic structures using shape shifting," said Rose. "We could be looking at that."
"I don't think so," said Garnet.
"Me neither," said Amethyst. "This doesn't feel like shape-shifting, y'know? I'm not even sure if I could make blood."
Amethyst's expression turned thoughtful at that, and despite everything, Rose smiled. She suspected Amethyst would be trying that out, very soon.
Rose was glad of her friends' insights. Garnet so far was the only one of them who'd had any direct experience with "Steven Universe's" odd anatomy, and Amethyst was, quite frankly, the most talented shapeshifter Rose had ever met. She would know the limits of the power better than anyone. "If you succeed in making blood, do tell me. Perhaps try to see how completely you can mimic his physical form."
Amethyst grinned, showing sharp teeth. "Will do."
"But first, I have another mission for you."
Amethyst's eyes went wide. "What?"
"We still don't know how culpable Mr. Universe is. I need you to go through his things— his van, his car wash, his storage locker. See if he has any other artifacts of Gem origin in his possession, or any evidence of communication with the Diamond and his entourage."
Amethyst stood up very straight, and snapped a human salute. "Yes ma'am!"
A door appeared in the Temple wall, and Amethyst rushed out of it. Rose followed, waving for Garnet to follow.
Outside, sitting just past the warp pad, was the cage. It was large enough to fill almost the entire cave. Inside it was the bearer of the blue diamond gem, Steven Universe. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, next to the human who claimed to be his father. The two of them were holding hands through the cage bars, though Steven Universe quickly snatched the hand away when he noticed their arrival.
Rose Quartz took a moment to look him over once more. He truly did resemble a human child, with his small stature and pudgy body. He was about a head taller than Amethyst, and a bit slimmer than her. At first glance, his skin was a tan very akin to Mr. Universe's, except there was an almost blue-grey undertone to it, which made him appear faintly ill. His hair was wispy, came down to his ears, and was brown in color. Rose found that particularly odd. Neither of his purported parents had brown hair— Blue Diamond's was white, Mr. Universe's was grey. But then, many humans' hair chaged shades as they aged, didn't they?
But there were echoes of Blue Diamond's physical form in him, though too subtle to immediately notice. His eyes were the same as Blue Diamond's, wide and drooping, though the skin around them was red, as if he'd been trying very hard not to cry. His nose was long and striking, his cheeks angular, his chin sharp.
If Blue Diamond was shapeshifting to fool them, wouldn't she have striven to make her disguise as unlike herself as possible? And if this was shapeshifting, surely she could not have changed the colour of her hair or skin.
Rose tore her gaze away to look at Mr. Universe. The human would not meet her in the eyes.
Next she looked to Pearl, who was standing a short distance from cage, back straight, spear in hand. While she was clearly striving to keep a professional air, Pearl couldn't entirely hide the air of disgust that hung about her. It faded for a moment when she exchanged a look with Rose, nodding to indicate there had been no trouble.
Rose nodded back. "Garnet and I are going to the Fountain," she announced, in case there was trouble and Pearl needed to find them.
It was only a short warp to the fountain, and once they arrived, the complex and its surrounding gardens looked much as it always had— albeit far messier than usual. There were cracks in some of the walls and archways, and the tear level in the basins was much lower than usual. Something in Rose clenched at the sight of it, but it was no concern. She could replenish the supply easily enough. Perhaps this was even a sign she should make a backup cache in another location, just in case.
The two of them worked their way systematically around the garden, Garnet explaining how the confrontation had occurred in detail. When they arrived at the place where she had destroyed the Pearl's physical form, there were three things lying on the ground:
The first was a fish. It had gone slightly rancid, and was surrounded by a small cloud of flies.
Second was a simple silver hilt. When one held it properly, it produced a blade of bright blue light.
Not far away was the third object, small and circular. A bracelet, in fact, constructed from elastic and simple plastic beads.
"The Pearl was wearing it," Garnet said.
"Odd," said Rose Quartz. But then, this whole thing was odd. She read the inscription on the beads. "'I heart EC'. What does that mean?"
Garnet shrugged.
Rose considered for a moment, and slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. It seemed harmless. Perhaps she could return it to the Pearl.
Gems didn't wear physical clothes, Homeworld Gems especially. But then, Homeworld Gems didn't have Palanquins filled with human food, clothing and entertainment. Homeworld Gems didn't take on the physical form of a human child, and call themselves by human names. Homeworld Gems didn't claim to have parents.
Diamonds didn't go around on abandoned planets practically undefended. Diamonds didn't let themselves get defeated. Diamonds didn't trade themselves in for their 'underlings'. Diamonds didn't hug their Pearls like they actually loved them.
But then, apparently, one did.
A Gem-Human hybrid. On the surface, it sounded ludicrous, but…
Raising a hand up, a few brambles from nearby bush reached out to Rose, twining around her fingers.
The boundary between organic and Gem life was thinner than one might assume. Over the millennia, she'd seen many examples. Her own sentient plants. The moss that grew near the Temple. Crystal shrimp. Magical lizards. Her dear lion, imbued with her own life force. If all these things could be affected by alien power, why not humans as well?
Theoretically, it was quite sound. The only question was— why a Diamond?
Rose shook her head, and the brambles around her fingers retreated.
"Garnet," she started, "do you think this is a trick?"
"If it is," Garnet said, "I do not see what Blue Diamond gains from it."
Rose Quartz didn't either.
She had another question to ask, as well. "Garnet— if you knew Blue Diamond was coming here, why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you at the Fountain."
Garnet looked at her, touching her visor briefly. "In some futures, I requested your help. In most, you ignored my warning."
"Oh," said Rose, as understanding dawned. "Because of… Mr. Universe…?"
"It seemed like he would be a likely culprit, yes. You didn't want to hear that."
"Oh dear. Garnet. I'm sorry." Rose rubbed her face, weary and hurt. She liked Mr. Universe. She had thought she could trust him. "I suppose I owe Pearl an apology as well, don't I?"
"Yes," agreed Garnet.
They walked in silence back to the warp pad. Garnet paused. "I didn't See Blue Diamond— or Steven— however."
"You didn't?"
"No. That was a complete surprise to me. Even now, she— he remains a blind spot in my vision. He's too strange. Too unpredictable."
"Hmm," said Rose Quartz, for lack of anything else to say.
They had a lot to think about.
"Whatchu drawing there, Shtoo-ball?" Greg asked, even though it was fairly plain even to him what Steven was drawing.
"Mom," Steven answered, not taking his eyes off his sketchpad. "Sitting on her throne in the Palanquin."
Greg nodded silently as he watched Steven work his artistic magic. He'd been trying to nurture Steven's creativity for most of his childhood... mostly by trying to find an instrument he'd like playing, at least early on. But the ukulele he'd got the boy had just ended up gathering dust in a corner, as had any other musical instrument Greg introduced to him. Steven loved listening to music, but seemed mostly uninterested in making it.
So while that had stung, Greg had still done everything he could to support Steven when he'd found his own creative outlet. And Greg had to admit, the boy had a knack for it. Even his simple sketch of Blue managed to capture her so well— her majestic poise, her elegant figure, her piercing eyes...
Still… Given the current situation, drawing Blue probably wasn't the best idea.
Greg sighed and Steven perked up from his drawing. "Dad? Is something wrong?"
Greg began to answer, but was interrupted by a yawn, no doubt the result of being basically awake for over twenty-four hours. "Nah, I'm good, bud," he answered, doing his best to stifle the weary yawn.
"You don't have to stay here," Steven said, for probably the twentieth time. "You can go back to the van and get some sleep."
"I'm okay, Steven," Greg said, chuckling in a very forced way. "After all, if I go, who'll keep you company?" Greg flicked his eyes over to the other Pearl, who stood just a few feet away, her back facing them, but no doubt listening closely to everything they said.
Steven pursed his lips, but said nothing in return. Instead he refocused on his drawing. He straightened the photograph of Blue that was clipped to the corner of the page.
Greg smiled, his eyes lingering on the photo. Maybe it wasn't wise to discuss this here, but...
"Ya know, I still remember when I took that picture of Blue."
Steven looked up from his drawing again. "You do?"
Greg nodded. "It was actually just a few days before we… er, well…" He awkwardly cleared his throat. "Before we 'tried' for you."
Greg could feel his face blushing as Steven snickered behind his hand at his father's embarrassment. And perhaps he imagined it, but Greg could have sworn he heard the other Pearl groan.
"You see, Steven," Greg continued, doing his best to latch down on his embarrassment, "Blue was still kind of unsure about, ya know, pregnancy and stuff. So when I told her that she would, uh... probably gain a lot of weight while carrying you, she didn't really know what to expect. So she wanted me to take a picture of her before she was pregnant so she could compare it to when she was pregnant with you."
"Ohh," Steven cooed, diamonds in his eyes. "And what did she think?"
Greg laughed. "Let's just say she was unimpressed with the results." He smiled down at his son, resisting the urge to tousle his hair. "Still. Even at the height of her pregnancy woes, she always thought it was worth it to have you."
Steven smiled back at him and had begun to say something, only for the other Pearl to rudely cut him off. "Oh please, if you truly expect me to believe that Blue Diamond didany of that…"
Greg frowned at her, but Steven was the one who actually spoke: "You never met Mom. So what do you know?"
"If your story is to be believed, then neither did you." Other Pearl whipped around and leveled a sharp gaze at Steven. He didn't flinch from it at all. "I know more about your 'mother' than either of you two do. I experienced first hand what she was capable of."
"Mom was one of the best Gems ever!" Steven shot back. "You're all just jealous that you're not as great as she was!"
Other Pearl looked like she had been physically assaulted by Steven's words. "Jealous!?"
"Yeah! Jealous! You're the worst Pearl ever and you know it so you ran away!"
"How dare you, you little—"
"Enough." The three of them turned their attention towards the Temple door and saw Rose Quartz striding out towards them. Greg gulped. It was very difficult to see any remains of the goofy, flirty, airy persona she had so often shown around him. She turned her gaze, one by one, onto Greg, Pearl, and Steven. "If we are going to be… living together, we must attempt to be civil."
Steven opened his mouth to say something, but Greg quickly reached out and squeezed his knee in warning.
Other Pearl, however, had no such restraint. "Civil? How can you expect me to be civil, Rose?" she spat. "He was— he was the one who started it."
Something like sympathy softened Rose's face for a moment, but then she shifted her gaze to Greg.
"Mr. Universe, did Steven speak to Pearl first? Or did Pearl talk to him first?"
Greg blinked nervously. "Um, well… Steven and I were talking and then Pearl started talking to us, so…"
Rose sighed.
The Pearl had drawn herself very tall. "You're not actually going to take his word over mine, are you?"
Rose Quartz seemed to consider her words carefully before she spoke. "I don't believe that anything will be accomplished by pointing fingers. Mr. Universe is our guest, and although Steven Universe is our prisoner, we will not treat him poorly. That means we shall avoid insults and… what did Amethyst call it? Snart?"
"...snark?" suggested Steven, hesitantly.
Rose nodded. "Snark."
Other Pearl's brow grew so heavy, Greg idly wondered if she could actually crack her own gem that way.
"Fine," she said resentfully, before pointing to Steven. "But tell him not to talk about things he knows nothing about."
"Fair enough. Steven Universe," Rose looked over at him. "I expect you to treat us all with respect and courtesy."
"Of course," Greg said quickly.
Steven crossed his arms, huffing, and this time Greg's hand wasn't there to hold him back. "She was the one insulting Mom."
"I think," Rose Quartz said, slowly, as if fighting to keep her personal opinions from showing, "it would be best if we all refrained from talking about Blue Diamond at present."
Steven slowly nodded at her. "Okay. Fine."
Rose tipped her head at him. "Thank you."
Greg let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
She walked closer to them, examining Greg quite closely. "Mr. Universe, you look rather tired. Perhaps you should go try and get some sleep."
"I'm fine," Greg repeated. "Need to stay with Steven, after all."
Rose gave him a small smile. "He will be fine for a while without you. I promise. I'll be here keeping watch with Pearl."
This was not at all the reassurance Rose Quartz seemed to think it was.
That said, they hadn't tried to kill Steven. If they hadn't done it yet, it seemed unlikely they'd change their minds. As long as Steven didn't say something that upset them.
And, well... All Steven had was some snacks. He needed to eat— and as Greg's stomach growled, he remembered that so did he. He could make a quick run into town, grab some food, blankets and pillows...
Greg hesitated, looking back at Steven, who raised his eyebrows at him but otherwise stayed silent. Finally, Greg sighed, relenting.
"Alright. I'm going to find stuff to make us more comfortable." Greg pulled his hand out from the cage and got up from where he had been sitting, his knees popping uncomfortably as he did. "I should only be gone an hour, bud. Tops."
"It's alright, Dad. Take as long as you need," Steven replied. "I'll uh… I'll still be here when you get back."
Greg laughed, a bittersweet note in his voice. "Yeah, I guess you will be." He sighed again. "I'll be back in a bit, Shtoo-ball."
"'kay. Bye Dad."
Steven waved and Greg waved back, doing so until he rounded the corner of the cliff and the Temple was out of sight.
Greg immediately felt his shoulders slump as he trudged back to the carwash and to the van, taking all his effort to not start crying then and there.
How were they gonna get out of this?
