Chapter 7: Broken Porcelain

Pearl's hair is in a mess, the branch is filling the hole in her body, her ribbon has become slightly unraveled. And her gem is cracked. The rockslide has ceased. Garnet and Amethyst are calling out to them from above, but they don't see them down below.

"Guys…" Pearl weakly calls out, trying to balance herself on her spear.

"Pearl, don't talk," Steven says, "I got this." Steven licks his hand, covering it in a lot of spit. He tells Pearl to bend over. She painfully does. Steven slaps his hand on Pearl's gem, spreading the saliva on her forehead. He takes it off, hoping something would happen, but nothing does. "Wha—"

"Steven…" Pearl says, almost in a whisper. The crack on her gem gets slightly larger. A crack appears on Pearl's face. Steven begins to panic, wondering why his healing spit isn't working. He spits on Pearl's gem directly, hoping it would still work, but it just trails down her face. "Don't be…sad."

"B-B-But my powers, they're not working!"

"It's okay, Steven. We'll just find… Amethyst and Pearl. Then I can go into my gem," Pearl says. "Let's move." Pearl moves over to push Steven along. They have to move. Garnet and Amethyst will find them sooner, rather than later, hopefully.

"Why? I can call up to them—Garnet! Amethyst!" Steven shouts, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Steven! They won't come down here," Pearl says. She doubles over, more cracks appear on her face. "Amethyst and Garnet are going to finish the mission. They're just going to assume we're fine. We have to move. Come on."

Steven looks at Pearl, scared for her. His powers aren't working. But they always work! Even with his dad, even though he feigned pained the entire time, it worked. He can't doubt his powers. Maybe it's because he's still shaken up from the rockslide.

Pearl's scared too. She's dying. No Gem has suffered this much damage before and survive without retreat, but it's also because of her cracked gem. A lot of the time, a Gem's gem either shattered or their physical bodies are obliterated beyond return. But through her own willpower to stay alive, and to see Steven through this mission, and hopefully his entire life, she is going to stand strong and not give up. She has to. For Steven. It's not time for her to see Rose yet.

As they walk along this dangerous path in the unknown wild in the jungle, Pearl is keeping herself supported with her spear, using it like a cane. Steven is walking alongside her, prepared to catch her if she falls. He keeps offering to support her, but she says she can do it herself—she's obviously in pain, however. More and more cracks have appeared on her face and body. Every time she talks to Steven, her voice begins to sound even more than before, like the sound is just echoing inside her. It's a scary thought. This entire time, Pearl has been thinking about Steven's inability to use his healing powers, even though he used his bubble. A thought comes to mind but it's too outrageous to even consider. Him? No, he was imprisoned back on the homeworld. But it's still a possibility. Lapis Lazuli did go back, and the homeworld isn't that far away from Earth. It's only about a light-year or two away.

"I think we should rest," Pearl says. Steven looks tired.

"What, no, I'm fine," Steven says, shaking his head. He walks forward, holding his arms out to his side, looking as manly as he can. "See?"

"Just…sit down Steven," Pearl says. Steven does as Pearl says and sits down despite his rejections. Pearl, getting a couple more cracks on her body, this time on her arms, sits down as well. She struggles, but manages. "Steven, can you try your healing spit again?"

"But, it doesn't work," Steven says.

"Come over here and do it anyway," Pearl says. She's looking for something in this. Steven licks his hand and rubs it on Pearl's gem. Like before, nothing happened. "Just as I thought…Steven, I have something to tell you. I don't know if…he's here, but your mother, Rose Quartz, had what humans call a sibling—a-a brother, in fact."

"Whaaat! How come I'm just now hearing of this?!" Steven hollers, putting both his hands on his head. "Tell me more!"

"Not so loud, Steven," Pearl whispers, looking around for danger. "We're not…alone here in this wild."

"Oh, um, how come I'm just now hearing of this?" Steven loudly whispers.

Pearl hesitates, wondering if she should even tell Steven the story of him. She sighs, because he's going to find out sooner or later. Plus, it's almost nighttime. "His name was Smokey Quartz, your quote-unquote 'uncle'. He is a gem that must never be mentioned because of the atrocities he committed in the past. He was, if you will, evil." Pearl looks at Steven who before had a shining look of curiosity in his eyes, but now they look worried and somewhat scared. She wonders if she could even continue. But she does anyway. "He had the power to nullify any Gem's—," more cracks appear on her body, "—power within a certain distance, and it was a far one. During a war in the past, he would slaughter many of our kind, friend and foe, in an attempt to create a world of peace. Your mother, Rose, fought him and sealed him away." Steven looks down, trying to process all of this. Why was Pearl telling him this? "I have a theory that he's here somewhere, which is why your healing spit isn't working, and I'm sure Garnet and Amethyst's powers aren't working as well. If you were able to access your shield properly, you would be able to use that and your defensive bubble. Let's just hope we don't encounter him."

Steven has a troubled look on his face. He never knew there was a dark side to the Gems' history. This entire time, even after Pearl explained how they're always fighting Gems, to capture and contain the ones who have been corrupted, he had thought that was all they were doing in order to protect the human race. But what is all of this? War? Slaughter? Gems killing other Gems? It's too much, way too much to handle. "I'm—going to go to sleep," Steven says, laying down on the earthy soil. "Goodnight, Pearl."

"Goodnight Steven," Pearl says, looking at the boy. His breath slows down and calms to a steady rhythm. He's only in stage 1 of the sleep cycle, but he looks so peaceful. Pearl wonders why humans need to sleep so much, but that's for another day.

An hour passes while Pearl is standing on guard. Nothing has appeared. She wonders how long she can keep bearing this pain. Her gem is almost completely split in half. She needs to go back into it to heal as soon as possible. It's unbearable. Steven shifts in his sleep and he wakes up.

"Ugh, that's uncomfortable," Steven says, rubbing his dirtied head. "Are you okay, Pearl? Should I lick my hand again?"

"No, no, Steven, it's fine," Pearl says. "Since you're awake, we should keep moving." Pearl tries to stand up, but she falls down, unable to use her legs. Her gem is failing her. A few of the cracks on her body connects. A piece of her falls off. It dings on a rock like a porcelain shard. There's nothing inside Pearl but a hollow interior. She's like doll—a porcelain doll. Pearl looks at Steven and she looks dead inside.

Steven tries to say something but he hears a growl behind Pearl. Yellow-green eyes shine in the dark between the leaves of a nearby bush. It looks like it's moving closer.

It is.

Pearl makes an attempt to stand again. She does, but only barely, leaning on a tree for support. Steven stands in front of her. He can protect her. "Steven, no! I can fight!" Is what Pearl wanted to say, but she can't. She can't speak anymore. She can't move either. Pearl has no choice but to let Steven handle this on his own.

The potential attacker comes from out of the bushes. The dotted pattern on the animal's yellow fur, the feline muzzle, and its long, swaying tail—it's a cheetah. It circles around Steven. He watches it. After a minute, it pounces. Steven extends his arm and his bubble appears around him. The cheetah hits its head on the bubble. There's a loud crack, and the cheetah falls to the ground, alive, but unconscious. Steven feels sorry for it. It was only hunting for food. He kneels down next to the giant cat, closes his eyes, and kisses it, even though his saliva doesn't work right now.. He hears bones snapping in place, and although it's still unconscious, it'll wake up feeling fine. Pearl realizes that maybe Steven didn't need as much protecting as she thought.

Steven looks at the cheetah, astonished. His powers are working! He rushes over to Pearl, slobbering all over his palm and slaps it on her. Pearl closes her eyes. Her gem glows. The cracks on her face glow too, and they begin to close. The hole in Pearl's leg closes over with her skin. Then, she explodes in a cloud of vapor, her Gem falling in the ground. She must feel relieved. Steven pockets Pearl's gem in his pants pocket.

He hears another rustling in the bushes. Steven prepares for another cheetah, but it's Amethyst. It's Amethyst!

"Oh man, oh man, oh man! I can't believe you found us!" Steven yells, tackling the purple Gem. She catches Steven, and does a reversal on him, throwing him to the ground.

"We've been looking all over for you!" Amethyst shouts. "The rock slide was awesome, wasn't it?!"

Garnet's foot stops at Steven's head. "We've found the warp pad control center, though. Where's Pearl? Is she nearby?" Steven digs in his pocket and takes out Pearl's gem. "Hmm… She'll be back in a few days. Let's go." Garnet walks away, not waiting for Steven or Amethyst.

After another hour or two of walking up the mountain they were separated on, they make it to the control center. The warp pad is huge, bigger than any warp pad Steven has ever seen. It has a pink and white pattern with small staircases surrounding it. There seems to be a control panel in front of the warp pad.

"Alright, let's do this," Garnet says, walking to the warp pad. She places a hand on the control panel. Nothing happens. "Just like before, Amethyst, my powers aren't working."

Steven turns to Amethyst and she looks frightened. "Do you think it's him?"

"Possibly," Garnet replies. "And frankly, I am scared." Steven looks up at Garnet, surprised that she would say such a thing. She's always been the strong one.

"Oh you should be scared, Garnet," a voice says from behind the warp pad. It's a male voice with a sinister undertone of malice. He steps into full view, his armor clanking with each step. It's him—Smokey Quartz.

He laughs, "You should be."