(Author's Note: This chapter is a tad bit longer than the first two.)
Chapter 3: The Gems, Alone
Steven hums a tune while preparing a new bed for Garnet's gems. She's been gone for about two days, and he misses her so, but there's nothing more to do than wait. Pearl and Amethyst have been outside these past two days trying to figure out how to move the meteor. It's too heavy for either one of them to carry on their own, and since the two can never cooperate with each other, both of them trying to haul it in together is out of the question—and so it forming Opal. Garnet could do it, alone probably, but she hasn't fully recovered yet. She should be coming soon. It doesn't take long for a Gem to regenerate. A week at most should suffice. The only reason Pearl took so long with her regeneration was the fact that she felt bad for scaring Steven half to death when she was impaled by her hologram's sword. And keeping him waiting for so long is still eating her up inside somewhat, but they're past that now and they have a new situation to handle.
Steven places Garnet's polished gems in the bed of burgundy covers, and like with Pearl, shines a lamp on it. "I wish you would come back, Garnet," Steven sighs. "Pearl and Amethyst can't do much without you." He can hear them arguing from here.
(Author's note: This is a song.) "Every day that passes by/we see the bright blue sky/but knowing you're not here with us/make it all seem so grey. I wish that I was stronger/so I could have helped you out back there. I could have saved you/but I can't (held out). I am a Crystal Gem! I could be the strongest you've ever seen! But I can barely summon my weapon (held out). Pearl and Amethyst need me/they need me to be strong/ but how can I ever do that/when I know I'm not that tall. If I were strong/I could scour the cosmos/fighting all the evil in the stars! If I were strong/I could try all the bits in space. But I can't/and it's all because/I can barely summon my weapon (held out)…"
Pearl and Amethyst walk back into the house, finding Steven holding both of Garnet's gems in his hands despite the bed he made for them. His crestfallen look depresses them. "Steven, are you alright?" Pearl asks with a motherly tone.
"No, I'm not," Steven replies, almost sounding as if he was going to cry. "I wasn't strong enough to help Garnet fight. I wanted to help, but I couldn't. I can't even summon my weapon as much like you guys can."
"Oh, Steven," Pearl says, rushing over to give him a hug, "you will one day. If anything, you did protect Garnet."
"It's because you stayed back while she fought."
"Yeah, Steves," Amethyst says, moving to sit down next to him, "if you jump into a fight without knowing how to, Garnet will have to stop everything and try to save you. She could get, like, seriously hurt or worse!"
"Wow, Amethyst, that's a very mature thing for you to say," Pearl says, surprised.
"Yeah, don't get used to it, P." Pearl furrows her brow. She shrugs it off a second later knowing that's the best she's going to get out of Amethyst for a while so she might as well accept it.
"I don't see how that'll make me feel better," says Steven, still sad.
"Just look at it this way, Steven: one day, you'll be the one to save all three of us."
"Thanks, Pearl." Pearl gets up, pets Steven on the head, and goes to the Temple door. The gem on her forehead glows and the door opens. She walks inside. "Where is she going?"
"She gonna try to figure out how to move that giant rock on the beach."
"I thought you guys couldn't move it."
"Yeah, well, she doesn't listen to me."
"How come? You guys always fight for no reason sometimes."
Amethyst sighs, and looks away from Steven. She doesn't want him to see the sad looking in her eyes. "Look, Steven, don't tell her I told you this, but Pearl wasn't always snobby and stuck-up as she is now. Before you were born, she was actually just as fun and care-free like me. But that stopped when you were born." Except for the being clean part. She was always like that. Amethyst scrunches her lips. "It's not your fault. I just wish she would go back to being the old P."
"Well, why doesn't she?"
"Because she thinks you need a 'mature' and 'smart' role model. That's what we have Garnet for."
"Well, we can try to get her back to the old Pearl."
Amethyst turns around. "Nah, I've tried. It won't work. Trust me, she won't budge."
"Well, she did almost take me to outer space even though my dad said no."
"Yep, that sounds like the old Pearl. She always gets what she wants."
Pearl comes back out of the Temple with supplies: a protractor, a calculator, a rule, blueprint paper, and a bunch of other things. "I've figured out how we can move the meteor!" Pearl sings. She sets everything on the floor. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Pizza," Amethyst says.
"Rollercoasters," Steven says.
"Mhmm…Well, I've figured out that if use a pulley system and move a rolling vehicle under the rock," Pearl draws one the blueprints, showing the pulley system and what she means about the rolling vehicle, "we can safely transport inside the Temple! Oh, I know this is going to work! The math and calculations are flawless!"
"It's not gonna work," Amethyst says, under her breath. She moves to the kitchen and goes to the fridge. She takes out half of a ham sandwich and takes a bite with the plastic wrap still on. She doesn't seem to notice.
"Oh, hush, Amethyst. Sure it will."
They tie a rope around the meteor. Amethyst throws the rope to Pearl who puts it through the axels. Steven prepares the metal rolling board that Pearl fashioned from abandoned cars in Beach City's junkyard. "Alright, is everything ready?!" Pearl calls. Looking at what they have—a rope, parts of abandoned cars, etc.—Pearl's afraid that it might not work, just like Amethyst said. Since Garnet's gone for now, it's up to her to be the leader. Failure is not an option. "Okay, Amethyst, come here, and when I say pull, we pull. Then Steven—Steven, stop playing with that crab and pay attention. Steven, when the meteor is high enough, roll the board under it and then we'll gently—" Pearl looks at Amethyst, "—put the meteor on the board. Understand?"
"Yep!" Steven enthusiastically says.
"Whatever," Amethyst says, still doubting Pearl's plan. The three Gems move to their positions and on the count of three, Amethyst and Pearl pull the rope. The meteor fails to budge the first time, but they keep going. They pull at the rope again and again. Soon, the meteor gives way and the glass underneath it breaks from it being moved. Pearl laughs with excitement that her plan is working. But something starts happening. The meteor begins to glow and the rope tied around it starts to crystallize. The crystal moves up the rope, through the axels and is headed towards Pearl and Amethyst.
"Let go!" Pearl screams. She and Amethyst let go of the rope, dropping the meteor. It hits the ground with loud Thud! and a slight rumble. "What—What was that?"
"I don't know," Steven says, squatting next to the crystallized rope, "but it look cool." He extends a finger and tries to touch it.
"Steven, don't touch that!" Pearl screams, panicked. "You don't know what might happen!" Pearl fiddles with her fingers, looking at the ground with contemplative seriousness. "We should go back inside and wait for Garnet to return. She'll know what to do."