Steven was without Lion. He had messaged Connie and his dad and other contacts that he was grounded, a brief detail why, and that they may not hear from him for awhile. His phone was taken. He didn't much know what to do with himself. He could read or play with his toys, but he hardly felt up to either. Amethyst played cards with him sometimes, but things were still weird. A tension was recognizable, or maybe it was just him.
One day when he and Amethyst were in the middle of such, Pearl came from the Temple with Garnet, gabbing at her, saying, "She's probably in Amethyst's Room. There are so many places for her to hide in there. We need to check again. Or, at least, seal it off entirely."
"Hey!" spat Amethyst. "I'm right here, ya know!"
Pearl put her hands to her hips. "I know she's in there!"
Amethyst got up. "What do you know? She could be in your Room!"
"That's impossible," Pearl snooted. "I would have noticed if she were in my Room."
"Yeah, if you could ever see past that big nose of yours! It's so big, she's probably underneath it!"
Pearl was shot. "EXCUSE ME?!"
"That's enough!" shouted Garnet, showing a little more than her shades. Both Pearl and Amethyst pouted like children and they all went to other things. Steven and Amethyst never finished their game.
Later that day, Steven was up in his loft, at his window. Lion was lounging in the shade outside. Steven held one of his adventurous action figures up to his window and made believe it was encountering a ferocious pink beast. The figure approached warily, daunted by the size of things. Albeit it pushed forward, slowly, cautiously, uncertain as to what it was in for. It neared the beast, and as the figure raised its sword above its head, the beast stirred and stretched and yawned, sending the little hero flying far away into a foreign land of plush cottons and fabric.
Steven picked up the little adventurer again and began walking it across his bed, when the Temple door opened. Steven heard a struggle come with it. Amethyst, on the couch, gasped and screamed for Pearl, then Garnet. A weight lodged itself in Steven, and he ran downstairs. Garnet tore into the house before Steven made it to the floor. Lion was behind her. She summoned her gauntlets. Downstairs, Steven was hit with the sight of Pearl in Topaz's clutches—one hand around Pearl's wrist, the other gripping her cranium, and her braid was wrapped around Pearl's other wrist. Topaz's height also hit Steven. Pearl looked beat up.
Topaz mushed her forward, away from the Temple door. Steven cried, "Topaz, let her go! Please!"
Topaz replied, "Keep screaming. It'll be good for her."
Garnet took some strict steps forward. "Don't try anything you'll regret," said Topaz. Garnet stopped, and Steven could feel the tension in her muscles from where he stood. Amethyst didn't know what to do either. She was gripping the coffee table tentatively.
Topaz pushed Pearl up onto the warp pad. Pearl cried, "Stop!... You can't!—You won't get away with this!"
"Quiet," said Topaz. She looked over Pearl at everyone else, then settled on Steven. He was hit a third time. "Don't even think to follow me." Topaz shoved Pearl—hard—throwing her to the ground. As soon as she left Topaz's grip, Garnet sprinted forward. Topaz warped away before she made it. Garnet, too, warped away.
Steven, Amethyst and Lion all went over to Pearl, who was sniffling and getting up. "Pearl!" said Steven. "Are you okay?" He hugged her.
She hugged back and sniffled. "Steven, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Amethyst growled, "Where'd she go? I swear, I'll jank her up twice as bad!"
"I don't," snapped Pearl, then, mollified, "…know where she went. I'm just glad she's gone." Amethyst said nothing else. Steven cried, and she cried, too.
Garnet came back, without Topaz. Lion was allowed back in the house.
…
