Chapter Twenty: Song

It was Monday, June 19th. It was really hot and really bright and Connie felt really dizzy.

There was a loud chime as she and Steven stumbled into the coffee shop. The distance to the couch seemed really far away. But then Connie blinked, and it was right in front of her. She fell into it gratefully.

Everything is fine.

"Connie! Steven!" she heard Pearl call from the other side of the cafe.

Connie smiled faintly as her teacher rushed over to them from the other side of the cafe. She said, "Hey. Don't worry, everything's fine."

"Yeah," Steven agreed weakly. "Go finish your essay."

Pearl pressed her lips together, and shook her head vigorously. Connie thought she should protest more, but somehow couldn't summon the energy.

More people were gathering around the couch— Ruby and Sapphire, Amethyst and Garnet, Peridot and...

"You look really pale," Lapis said.

"You look… really blue," said Steven. Connie giggled weakly.

Even more people were crowding around. Practically the entire cafe by that point. Actually, it seemed to be more people than would usually fit inside the small building. There was Opal, and Sardonyx, and some big purple lady that Connie didn't recognise, except she seemed really loud and shouty.

Everyone was talking. She couldn't quite follow what they were saying. Between them and the guitar in the background, everything was so loud. There was a steady pounding in her head, heavy and painful, drowning almost everything else out.

It was a struggle even to keep her eyes open.

Someone poked her in the cheek. Connie looked. It was Peridot, staring at her nervously from behind her glasses.

"Maybe we should call a 'doctor'?" Peridot asked.

The big purple lady snorted in derision. "Like they'd be much help here."

"My mom's a doctor," Connie said. She'd kinda like to talk to Mom. Not because she thought she needed a doctor— everything was fine— it'd just be nice to hear her voice. Dad's too.

Steven seemed to sense her thoughts and reached into his pocket to pull out a phone. He pressed a button. Nothing happened. He pressed it again and again, but the screen stayed stubbornly black. Steven just started at it in dull incomprehension about why it wouldn't turn on.

"Out of battery," said Garnet.

"But…" Steven began. "I charged it just this morning."

Connie shrugged. Steven could be kind of forgetful about these things.

But Steven wasn't the only one with a phone, and Connie was a lot better with these kinds of things. She reached for her bag, fumbling with the zipper. She was feeling really clumsy, so Ruby helped pull it open for her and rummage around inside. It took some searching, for which Connie was embarrassed. She took pride in keeping her training bag well organized, but for some reason it was filled with food wrappers, orange peels, and empty water bottles.

One of the water bottles still had a little bit left. With Opal's help, Connie drank the rest of it. It cleared her head a bit, and stopped her fingers shaking enough to turn her phone on.

For a moment, Connie was afraid hers would be dead too, just like Steven's. But there was a cheerful tune as it lit up.

The home-screen loaded, and Connie stared at what was displayed there.

96 messages
48 missed calls

She felt her heart start beating rapidly in her chest. Had there been some sort of emergency?

everythign is f!ne

Connie was just navigating the messages to try and figure out what was going on when—

RING! RING! RING!

She was so startled by the sudden vibration that she nearly dropped the phone.

"Pick up, pick up!" Amethyst urged.

Connie didn't need telling. She answered and said, "Hello?"

"Connie?" said a voice on the other end. It took a moment for her to place it as Steven's roommate Greg. "Connie, is that really you?!"

"Yes?"

"I— I can't believe it! Where have you been? Never mind, where are you now?"

"The coffee shop," Connie said, but she was confused. Why was Greg asking— why was he calling at all— if he was just on the other side of the cafe, playing guitar?

"Coffee shop? What coffee shop? Connie, is Steven there? Or the Gems?"

Everyone around her was talking, making it hard to hear. The only voice that cut through the hubbub was Steven's. "Dad? Connie, is that my Dad?"

Connie frowned, but nodded, and Steven grabbed the phone from her. "Dad?" he said into it, voice cracking.

"Steven? Oh my— Thank goodness you're okay!— Steven, where are you? You've been missing for over a week—"

A week?

Connie sat up straighter. Around her, everyone froze.

"Missing—" said Steven. "I— we've—"

Pink flashed.

It was Monday, June 19th, and it was a beautiful sunshiny day.

"Yes, missing!" Mr. Universe's voice cried from the phone. Connie was standing up again, for some reason, but Steven was next to her, and he still had the phone pressed to his ear. "Where are you? Are you hurt?"

iS f-iN.e

Steven was shaking his head, as if trying to get water out of his ears. "Not— not hurt—"

Peridot rushed forward and snatched the phone from him. "HELP!"

"Peridot?"

"LISTEN TO ME, STEVEN'S PARENTAL UNIT! WE ARE TRAPPED IN AN ENDLESS MEMORY ALTERING LOOP! WE NEED YOU TO KEEP TALKING, NO MATTER WHAT—"

Pink.

It was Monday, June 19th, and the sky was—

"— trapped in a loop? What do you mean?" Mr. Universe's voice was saying. It was coming from Connie's phone. Peridot had it for some reason.

That was okay with her. She wasn't sure if she could manage a phone conversation just then. She could barely manage to stand up, her and Steven half slumped onto one another.

"Just keep talking!" Peridot barked into the phone.

Connie stared around her. The cafe was looking weirdly empty. Opal and Sardonyx and the big purple lady were gone. So were Ruby and Sapphire. That was strange. They were always in the coffee shop...

Or maybe they never had been.

"Keep talking?" said Mr. Universe. "Okay, um, how about I sing something, alright?"

"Yes," said Pearl, "Yes, that's an excellent idea!"

"Sing!" Amethyst cried, and there were vigorous nods all around—

It was Monday, June 19th—

"I know I'm not that tall, I know I'm not that smart~"

Connie clutched her head. Everything around her seemed to be flickering.

"But let me drive my van into your heart, oh let me drive~"

No, everything was flickering. The tables, the couches, the floor, the walls. Even the people— or some of them. Lars, Sadie, that one nameless barista, coming in and out of existence like a staticky television set.

"~my van into your heart!"

She was really, really dizzy now. The floor around her felt weirdly soft. Both she and Steven probably would've lost their balance, except Peridot and Lapis were holding them, helping them stay upright.

"I know I don't have a plan, I'm try-"

It was Monday—

"-ing to get my start. But at least I've got a van~"

Connie clung to the singing, the only constant thing in this shifting world.

Garnet was still there, and Amethyst, and Pearl, They were dancing. Or at least, they were moving together, pulling each other closer. 'Dancing' seemed too gentle a word for the ferocity of their movements, the desperation on their faces—

There was a flash of light. Not pink, this time, but red and purple and white—

It was M—

"So let me drive my van into your heart~!"

There was a mighty roar, so loud it nearly drowned out Mr. Universe's singing. Alexandrite reared, reaching up, and cupping Connie, Steven, Peridot and Lapis in two of her massive hands.

"What was that!?" Mr. Universe yelled on the phone, but nobody was paying him any attention.

Alexandrite roared again, and Connie could feel it. It shook her to her bones. "LET. US. OUT!"

Yes, Connie thought. She wanted out. She wanted to go home.

It was dark in Alexandrite's hand, and growing darker still, with grey creeping in from the edges of Connie's vision. But through a gap in the fusion's fingers, she saw the door to the coffee shop swing open…

…and outside was Steven's room.