A few more days had passed since his conversation with Peridot and Steven was just about at his breaking point. No one was really saying anything, the gems had still been going and hunting for the small gem with the tear shaped gemstone and barely anyone was giving him answers which at this point he desperately needed.
He didn't know when this sudden desire for information started. Maybe it was when Quartz brought up how much the gems don't do. Maybe it's when they forced her off of the planet. Or maybe it was when a gem was shattered in front of his eyes. In either case he essentially wanted to know why the gems kicked Quartz off of the planet. He wanted to know what type of gem he'd seen with the other light blue gem. Most of all a new thing has been nagging him however, why haven't they freed Bismuth yet.
The thought swarmed about in his head as he laid on his bed and gazed endlessly at the ceiling above him. Meanwhile the afternoon glow of the sun shined on the ocean as well as his face. That's when he heard the sound he'd been waiting for.
It'd been the warp pad, with it came a flash of light and the three gems that he'd had trouble connecting with ever since that fateful day.
"Hey, you're back! Any luck?" He asked as he rose from his bed, Pearl shook their head.
"Sorry Steven, another unlucky day I guess." Pearl said as they and the rest of the gems stepped down from the warp.
"It's like she's no where at all, but I still can feel it. Different futures where her ship is on this planet." Garnet said.
"Oh, sorry guys, better luck next time?" Steven asked in a sympathetic manner.
"Hopefully! All these searches are bo-ring!" Amethyst said in a joking manner, much to their dismay, no one was amused.
"Yeah... A-actually I was wondering something." Steven said nervously as he approached Garnet who then turned their gaze onto him.
"What is it Steven?" They asked as they kneeled down to his eye level. Steven gazed into the blank shades which hid their eyes and gulped with anxiety.
"W-well I was just wondering... I wanna know when we're gonna free Bismuth!" He blurted. He felt no ease however when Garnet continued to stare with the same stoicism that they had on before.
"When the time is right." They replied before rising to their standing position again. Upon hearing that explanation Steven was filled with a newfound since of anger the likes of which dwarfed his anxiety. Just as Garnet was about to turn their attention away from him he asked a new question.
"And when will the time be right?! When will we finally go and do something for once!" Steven nearly shouted, his words surprising even him to some degree. The rest of the gems gasped and turned to face them.
"Steven, what's gotten into you?" Pearl asked, in a worrying tone. The same tone which he'd been fed up with at this point.
"No, what's gotten into all of you! I feel like everyone's going back to treating me like a kid again! No one's telling me anything, everyone's making big decisions without caring about how I feel!" Steven shouted.
"Steven, Bismuth being freed isn't something that you should be concerned with. When we find out a proper way to approach her, that's when we'll decide on doing so." Garnet said calmly, in spite of their attempts to be rational however, Steven continued.
"It's been months Garnet! We haven't done anything about her. She's just been floating there, still alone and scared and without anyone willing to help her. It's the same thing that happened with Quartz!" Steven said.
"Steven, calm down. This is not the same situation." Garnet stated.
"If it's not, then why can't we go talk to her now! We need her help too don't we? She coul-"
"Steven enough." Garnet said in a calm but firm tone, the likes of which was enough to stop Steven dead in his tracks. The room fell silent.
"Bismuth is a dangerous gem. We don't know what she's capable of. Just like Quartz, she can be unpredictable in numerous ways. Right now, the last thing that we need is another gem that has the possibility of becoming another enemy that we have to deal with." They stated. Steven paused for a moment. In spite of that logic however, he countered.
"W-well what about if you do run into the small blue gem? I saw what she could do, her wand was powerful enough to stop Quartz in her tracks and even poof her! I'm sure Bismuth could think of loads of new ways to help out!" Steven said
"Steven. I know you want to help, but right now it's far too dangerous to let Bismuth out. And even with the possibility of this Home-World gem possessing this ability, we can't sit idly by and do nothing about it." Garnet retorted.
"Why can't you guys just have faith in Bismuth!?" Steven shouted.
"Because she tried to hurt you Steven!" Garnet shouted back. Nearly everyone was then speechless, the room fell silent once more as Garnet gazed at Steven. They then sighed before removing their shades; looking at him with their revealed and sorrow-filled eyes.
"Steven." they said, their voice nearly faltering. "If anything happened to you I... We can't let her out, not after what she almost did." Garnet continued. Tears began to stream down Steven's eyes.
"Garnet... I forgive her for that.. I know that what she did was wrong but I know that it was out of pain. She didn't know what she was doing." He said, Garnet shook their head once more. They then kneeled down to his height once more and put a loving hand on his shoulder.
"Steven we don't know that. She may still want to hurt you, or worse..." Garnet said.
"Then I know that you guys will be here to protect me. We're family." Steven said, before turning towards at Pearl and Amethyst, who each then put on a reassuring smile. "Bismuth was your family, she fought alongside you guys with mom in the war. Doesn't she at least deserve one second chance?" Steven asked. Garnet looked down for a moment, they then closed their eyes and tears fell down their cheeks. They took a deep breath.
"Ok" They said, turning their gaze back up to Steven. Steven put on a warm smile which reflected on Garnets end as well. "But if we're going to set her free, then you are going to need to keep your distance. The rest of us will protect you if it's needed." Garnet said, Steven nodded. Garnet then stood up once more and this time turned to face the rest of the gems.
"Garnet are you sure that this is a good decision? This may be a bit, impulsive." Pearl stated, nervously playing with their hands as they did so.
"It's possible, but Steven isn't wrong. Bismuth deserves a second chance, she fought alongside us against Home-World during the war, who's to say that she won't now?" Garnet asked. Pearl looked down in worry for a moment before ultimately sighing and accepting fate.
"Alright, but again Steven, remember to keep your distance." Pearl said.
"Aw yeah! We're getting Bismuth back!" Amethyst said.
"Amethyst, you didn't even know her." Pearl remarked as everyone began walking towards the door of the temple leading to separate rooms.
"Yeah but she upgraded my whips! Look at how cool they are now!" Amethyst remarked as they pulled their weapon out from their gem. They held it up proudly, pointing to the purple spiked spheres near the tips of the weapon. Pearl just shook their head. Garnet then opened the burning room, they turned back to Steven and peered at him with a nervous expression.
"Steven remember, stay behind us. No matter what happens, no matter what is said, if Bismuth begins to attack I need you to run out of here as fast as you can. We'll take care of the rest." Garnet said, a large amount of worry managing to seep into their tone. Steven nodded and then put on a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry guys, I believe in her!" He said. Garnet then smiled back at him, their shades reappearing back on their face as they then began to walk in.
The tension in the air wasn't aided by the dark atmosphere of the burning room, the likes of which was only somewhat illuminated by the lava in it's center as well as a door on the side. Even with his faith in Bismuth, the room itself seemed almost darker, more gloomy to Steven. Like it was holding all of the sorrow in the world. Everyone could feel it, almost as though all of the gems that were bubbled there were watching them with eyes filled with woe, wanting to be released and to find peace somewhere in the world.
The words of Quartz ran through Steven's mind once more "how many gems have you bubbled and reconciled with during your time on this planet?" It felt as though throughout all of his time being a Crystal Gem the only one gem that was ever on bubbled and helped and that was centipeetle. The rest were still just here, existing in what he could only imagine was an indescribable agony. It made him feel horrible that he didn't really give any second thought to what they'd do with the gems that they bubbled. However another side of him felt hopeful, with this being the second gem that they'd reconcile with, maybe there was a possibility for every gem here to eventually be helped.
Pearl and Garnet also felt the weight of sorrow on their shoulders as well, all of these gems were their fallen comrades, the likes of which were the few that made it out of that horrific war unshattered but still paid the ultimate price. Even with that thought in mind they too felt hope. The likes of which had been truly inspired by Steven and even in this circumstance it still felt true. It'd a small hope, that maybe he was right, that maybe they could save Bismuth and if that was true then maybe there was even more left here for all of the bubbled and corrupted gems than they initially thought.
As these thoughts were swarming through almost everyone's head, Amethyst took the initiative in grabbing Bismuth's bubble. They jumped into the air and snatched it down. Upon landing on the ground they held it up and smiled with glee.
"Alright, let's pop this sucker!" They said, handing it off to Garnet who then turned their attention back to Steven with a look on their face that said 'Stay as far away as possible.' Steven complied and moved five steps back. After he did so, they turned their attention back to the bubble in their hands.
"Please Bismuth. Please.." Was all they could muster before they then popped the bubble that'd been holding their comrade.
Bismuth's gemstone fell to the floor a few feet in front of them and within seconds it levitated into the air. A large humanoid form comprised of light then shined and surrounded the stone and eventually it turned into the large blue and bulky gem that had been weighing on everyone's conscience.
They fell to the ground which caused it to rumble somewhat, their multicolored dreadlocks covered their face for a moment as they stayed on their knees, gazing at the floor. Before long they looked up at the gems. On their face was a sheer look of shock. Their eyes then darted over to Steven who had a mixture of terror as well as excitement just in his eyes alone.
"Y-you really told them.." Bismuth said with a smile. Their initial happiness was then abruptly stopped however. After saying such they then turned their attention to the rest of the room, the likes of which had dozens of bubbles. Their eyes then widened.
"W-what's going on? Did Rose do this?! Did she bubble everyone that disagreed with her!?" Bismuth began shouting as they then slammed their large arms onto the ground.
"Woah, Bismuth!" Steven shouted.
"Bismuth, calm down!" Garnet shouted. They readied their weapons and the rest of the gems hesitantly did the same as Bismuth continued looking at the gemstones.
"Tiger's Eye! Little Larimar,Beryl, Serpentine, and ohh... Biggs?! Biggs was beloved by everyone!" Bismuth proclaimed with a newfound wrath. Everyone readied themselves.
"Yes she was! But they weren't bubbled without reason! They're corrupted!" Garnet shouted. That seemed to stop Bismuth in their tracks.
"Corrupted...? What do you mean?" They said as they narrowed their eyes.
"Rose shattered Pink Diamond! After she did the rest of the diamonds were furious and they gathered together for one more attack against Earth... It was what ended the fighting." Garnet then looked up at the rest of the bubbled gems. "Once and for all" They continued. Bismuth still held their glare however.
"If that's true then how are they still here? Why are they bubbled!?" Bismuth nearly shouted
"Because corruption is an attack on the mind! It disrupts a gems physical form! If you unbubble any of these gems then they'll be raging beast, nothing like our comrades from the war!" Garnet said
"Really?" Bismuth asked, much of their wrath then dissipated. They dropped their skepticism before looking up at the rest of the bubbled gems.
"So you're telling me that all of these gems are..." Garnet could only nod. Afterwards they de-summoned their weapons and the other gems followed suit. Bismuth sighed, before falling to their knees. They then shook their head chuckling to themselves darkly.
"Oh I really thought that all of our problems would go away if we could just shatter a diamond." They said hopelessly, "I guess Rose really did end up taking my advice."
The rest of the gems then walked over to them, Garnet kneeled down and placed a hand on one of their large shoulders.
"It may have been hard but right now we've got to do the best we can to protect what's left of the Earth, and the gems on it." Garnet said. Bismuth looked up at them and gave a warm smile.
"Heh, and you want my help with all that?" Bismuth asked.
"Of course Bismuth, you're still a Crystal Gem. You always were." They said. Bismuth smile faded with those words.
"Are you sure you can forgive me? After what I did.." Bismuth asked somberly as they turned their attention to Steven who had on a look of worry.
"Actually, it was Steven's idea to come here in the first place." Garnet stated. Bismuth's eyes widened.
"Really?! He wanted to let me out?!" They asked.
"Steven has a big heart, he wanted to see you free, even after you attacked him. If he can forgive you, then of course I can too." Garnet replied. Bismuth then chuckled before smiling over to Steven, who smiled back at them.
"Well alright then. If the past is the past then let's get down to Bismuth!" Bismuth said as the rose to their feet with Garnet.
"Oh Bismuth! It's so good to have you back!" Pearl said as they wrapped their arms around Bismuth who laughed in response before embracing them back.
"Yeah it was so boring without you! There's actually a lot that we need to fill you in on" Amethyst said as they joined in on the hug.
"Really short stuff? Like what?" Bismuth asked.
"Well for starters" Steven said as he walked over to Bismuth. "We met another Quartz, from Home-World." He stated.
"You what?!" Bismuth asked as they and the rest of the gems then headed out of the burning room.