"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." ― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
Steven just stood there, confused. His tears shouldn't have helped Matthias at all, unless this universe's Steven had healing tears. Then again if that was the case then his eye would be healed by now, wouldn't it? Shaking his head, he wiped the stranded tears and walked over to Amethyst and Matthias. "Um ... they might have ... but usually it would be my saliva that would heal. That hasn't been working since I got here though." He helped Matthias stand up on his legs, "What happened to you?" He asked.
"He has Opscuritas." They turned their heads to look at Rose standing in the doorway. "Opscuritas, Latin for Darkness." Steven then looked at the tourmaline in front of him, his gem was still gray and his veins that surrounded it were too. "You can say it's the only disease that gems can get other than corruption. It's a mixture of human Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Schizophrenia, along with the mixture of corruption, but a different form. Tourmalines have been known to experience things like this." Rose walked around them so she can face Matthias, she looked down at the gem, "Are you sure you can still fight in this war?"
Matthias put a hand on his gem, it was hot and pulsing. Would he be still able to do this? He almost submerged to the condition, he didn't know if he could handle watching others break beneath him during the war. He barely handled it during the first War. He clenched his fist and stood up straight, looking Rose straight in the eyes. His pride wouldn't let him put pity on himself. "I will fight for my home, Rose. If I fall during this battle, I fall as a hero who defended his home."
Rose had a soft smile on her face and put a hand on Matthias' shoulder, squeezing it. She then leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Please, my son, do not over do yourself in this war." She whispered in his ear, "I fear that if you over work yourself, we will ultimately lose you for good." Matthias took a shaky breath, the only times she ever called him her son was when she feared for the worse. He wasn't going to let her down this time. He looked over at the other gems and Steven who was looking his way. They all quickly looked away as they noticed that they were all staring at him, he couldn't help, but to give a small chuckle. Rose turned around to face the others as well, "For all of you here, you know a war is coming ... there is no time to get sad over mishaps like this. Steven, you need to get back to training. Garnet and Amethyst, I know you two just got here, but all three of us need to get into Beach City and warn the townspeople to be ready to evacuate. We do not need any of them getting hurt because of our mistake."
Amethyst and Garnet looked at each other, the smaller purple gem grabbed Garnet's hand and they did a shake, before nodding towards Rose. "We'll wait outside of the barn for you, Mama Rose." Amethyst walked out with Garnet. She stood there outside of the barn and her smile faded, she wanted to crawl back into her hole at the Kindergarten and sleep for another five hundred years. She didn't know if she could fight in this war with the others. Look how small she was, compared to the other quartz soldiers that were going to be there. Amethyst's hands shook greatly, she needed to get ahold of herself. She couldn't show weakness if Matthias could fight than she can too. "Garnet ..." Garnet looked down at the smaller gem and took off her visors showing all three of her eyes. "A-are you scared?"
Garnet crouched down in front of Amethyst and nodded her head. "I am scared, Amethyst. This might not be my first war like yours, but it doesn't change the fact that I am scared shitless." She pulled Amethyst into a hug and they buried their faces in each others necks. "I am scared that I am going to finally lose everyone that I love. I am scared that I am going to be so helpless in the face of an enemy that I won't be able to fight properly. You're not alone." She wiped the tears away from Amethyst's eyes that were starting to form. "It's okay. I am here for you. We will get through this together and we will win."
Garnet stood up as Rose, Steven and Matthias walked out of the barn. Steven had a troubled expression on his face, he didn't even acknowledge the others as he walked over to where he was previously battling Matthias and picked up his sword. He didn't even bother to put on a shirt or another tunic, he was there wrapped in bandages ready to start practicing once again. Garnet wanted to ask what was wrong with Steven, but Rose must have seen the look on her face and just shook her head. She then motioned them to follow her which they did leaving Matthias and Steven alone at the barn once again. "I know we are still in the early stages of the war, but it's best to warn the people in advance. I want the lowest possible casualties as we can get." Rose started to tell them as they ran towards the warp pad. "Garnet, I want you to get the south of town. Amethyst and I needs to do business with a certain person."
Amethyst's heart fell a little more in her chest, she knew who Rose was talking about and she rather not go down that road. She wasn't going to tell Rose that, but the look on her face clearly says something. It didn't take them long to get to their destination, the van was sitting in front of the closed and run down car wash that he owns. Her palms felt sweaty as they walked up to the van, Rose was the one to knock on the door. Amethyst had a feeling that he might not answer because he was sleeping, or maybe he finally OD'd on his drugs. She almost wanted to see the day that he was dead, but she could just be still upset about the other day. Rose knocked once again, and Amethyst's hopes were crushed as the male actually answered.
He looked dead, he wasn't wearing a shirt so you can see his pale white stomach and his ribs outlined perfectly. His cheeks were also sunken in with bags under his eyes. He forced a smile on his face as he stared at the two ladies in front of him, "Well, hello there. I didn't expect to see you both here. You both finally decided to run back to me?"
Amethyst held back gaging, "You wish, I wouldn't even touch you with a 50 ft pole."
"You didn't say that when you were riding this dick a week ago." Amethyst growled and went to take a step forward to punch him in the face when Rose held her back shaking her head. "That's what I thought. So, now what are you really hear for? Because I need my beauty sleep for tonight. Big night I tell you."
Rose rolled her eyes, she didn't know how she could have ever been in love with this fool, "We came because we needed your help. You have a van, so it'll be easier for you to go around town. Unless you want to die that is, if that's the case we could always go ask Mayor Dewey." Greg looked up at the tall lady in front of her, he moved his hand to signal her to continue. "War is coming, Greg. The Diamonds are sending down soldiers, if you don't help us tell everyone to evacuate within the next two days then everyone in town will surely die. Do you understand me?"
Greg sat there in his van as he took in this new information, the Diamonds were coming to destroy them all. As much of an asshole he was he didn't think he could just sit around and watch as everyone sacrifice their lives to save this town. He nodded slowly and reached behind him to grab a shirt, he slipped it on then got out of the van. "I'll help, but not in the way you're thinking. I can't see you guys sacrifice your lives to save each other, I want to fight too." Amethyst started to laugh hard, and his face fell as his idea did seem kind of stupid. He had no fighting skills at all, he didn't even think he could hold a weapon if he tried.
"You fight? Did the drugs fry out all of your brain cells?" Rose hit Amethyst's upside the head, she immediately stopped laughing and looked down at her feet in shame for laughing.
"I am not going to risk your life to fight. You are gonna evacuate and that's final." Rose said shaking her head. "I need you to do this for me and for the Earth." She patted him on the head before turning around and started to walk away with Amethyst.
"You know I still love you, right Rose? I never lost feelings. I wish I never had started drugs and maybe you'll still be mine. But my life is my decision, if I decide to die for what I believe is right, then that's what I am going to do. I'll still help with the evacuation, but my stance is going to stay the same." Greg called after her, Rose didn't look back as she grabbed Amethyst's hand and they jumped out of view of Greg. His heart hurt and so did his feelings, but he didn't know that Rose felt the same way.
Meanwhile, Pearl and Lapis were deep in the Brentdows Forest on the other side of the world. "Why did we come all the way out here?" Lapis asked swatting away the mosquitoes as Pearl cut down the overgrown branches in front of her. "I'm pretty sure there is more gems closer to home. What if we needed back there and we aren't close enough to help?" Pearl stopped dead in her tracks and Lapis knocked right into her, she almost fell backwards. Before Pearl shot out and grabbed her arm stopping her from falling. "Why the hell did you stop all of a sudden?" She asked as she straightened herself up.
Pearl looked at her a put a finger to her mouth, indicating Lapis to be quiet. Immediately, Lapis closed her mouth and looked over Pearl's shoulder to see what she was staring at. There was nothing there, then something rattled above their heads and a blur was all that they saw. "We're here.." Pearl whispered as she took a step forward, but she seemed to step over something. Lapis followed suit taking as much measures as she could. She squealed as an arrow flew past her face only inches from hitting her. The arrow struck on the tree next to the two gems, Pearl stopped once again and summoned her spear, Lapis did the same with her water. Were they under an attack?
Pearl crouched down and motioned for Lapis to do the same. Did Pearl even know where the hell they were at? Or what was even going on? "Who dares enter this part of the forest? Speak your names or you shall perish underneath my arrows!" Lapis wanted to giggle out the cheesiness of this warning, the voice, however, was aggressive, making Lapis thinking the disembodied voice was being serious.
"We come in peace! We are seeking a gem that goes by Tristao. He is located around these parts of the forest. Who may you be? Show your face!" Pearl called back, there were leaves being rustled coming from behind them. Before they were able to see who was behind them, hands had covered their mouths. Lapis' heart was beating heavily, she wasn't able to see who their attackers were, then a body of the voice jumped down from the trees. She couldn't see his face as it was covered by a half leather mask that resembles the face of a hawk. On the mask there were a bloom of intricate feathers splaying on the edges and a sharp beak that goes over his nose.
He was tall too as he stood up, he looked to be about the same height as Tourmaline. He was only wearing black slacks with a leather strap around his torso, he was barefooted. On his upper half he wears a green open and sleeveless vest showing off his chest and his gem which is located on the right "pec." Right underneath that is a Wolverine Tribal tattoo. He was a Hawk's Eye Quartz, but he didn't have the body shape of a quartz, maybe that's why he was still on Earth. "Why do you seek Spessartine?"
The hand that was covering Pearl's mouth was removed, but her hands were still held closely together. "He is a friend of the Crystal Gems. We need to ask him for the favor he owes us. I assume you are in his group with the tattoo underneath your gem." The whole atmosphere changed once Pearl mentioned the Crystal Gems.
"Why didn't you tell me you were members of The Crystal Gems? I heard many stories of your group. Boys, let them go." The whole demeanor of Hawk's Eye had changed, "I'm sorry about the roughness, we do not get much visitors here. I'm Hawk's Eye, but you can call me Augustyn, the two behind you are Annabergite, or how he likes to go by Izaäk, he was the one holding the blue gem. And the one behind you is Cave Creek Jasper, or Elijah, but he prefers the nickname Lij."
Pearl and Lapis both stepped away from the gems and rubbed their arms, none of them trusted either the the three gems. They were not here the last time Pearl had gone and visited Spessartine. She also got bad vibes off the one called Augustyn as she turned to face him, "I am Pearl wife of Rose Quartz the leader of the Crystal Gems and this is Lapis Lazuli. Where can I find Tri?"
"Oh you can just follow those bimbos. They'll show you the way. I have to fix the mess you caused by cutting down the branches of our fortress. Good luck on your journey." Lapis out of the corner of her eye watched as the gem flew into the trees, he gave her shivers down her spine. She stayed close to Pearl as the two gems walked in front of them. The Annabergite was short compared to the Jasper, he was at least 5'10 while the other one was around 6'5. His skin was a beautiful turquoise with strips of a darker green, and his hair was a messy side sweep with short sides. He was wearing a white sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up. The jasper reminded her of their old Jasper, he had the perfect body of a quartz soldier with thick flowing bulgarian rose hair, his skin was a buccaneer red with spots of lighter reds. He was also wearing a sweatshirt with his sleeves rolled up, but this time their sweatshirt was black.
Pearl grabbed Lapis' wrist and pulled her along towards the temple, Spessartine has been working hard. She remembered when the temple was small and child like now it was lavishing with life in every corner. Izaäk was the one who stood in front of the double doors leading inside the temple, he stuck his hand in the middle and the doors lit up with bright red letters from the ancient gem language. As the doors open, he stepped aside to let the other three to go in before him. Lapis gasped at the inside of the temple, it was beautiful. There was dim red lights that lit up the entryway, the walls were lined with alcoves, each one with what looked like a statue of a different gem inside. In front of them were small altars with different colored bubbles with the gem that matched the statues. Her heart vibrated with pain as they made their way down the hall.
"Zoze are zee gems … zat fought pezide King Sbess und zee Crysdal Gems during zee var. Zey had all zacrificed zeir liffes zo ve can liffe ours. Zey dezerffe zee greadest of honor." Izaäk was the one who spoke, he had a thick German accent that Lapis was barely even understanding, she looked over at Pearl, who chuckled a little bit.
"He said "those are the gems … that fought beside King Spess and the Crystal Gems during the war. They had all sacrificed their lives so we can live ours. They deserve the greatest of honor." Pearl recited and Lapis nodded, she had figured that much about the statues, she closed her eyes for a few seconds to say a few words, when she opened them she had almost ran into the Jasper.
"Ve are here." He stood in front of another set of double doors, and stuck his hand out. Once again the doors lit up with red Ancient Gem words. As the doors open they were might with a sight of a huge gem with candlelight hair, and skin that was blended like water colors of different oranges and reds. His was shirtless with only slacks on as he flew through the air mimicking different martial arts movements. "King Sbess you haffe fistors. Zey zay zey are from zee Crysdal Gems." Spess had stopped what he was doing to look at them as soon as he laid eyes on Pearl his "Pueblo" and "Sunshade" eyes lit up like stars. Pearl moved away from the two gems that escorted them here and ran over to the bigger gem as he ran towards her. Soon she was in the air laughing as he spun her around. Izaäk looked over at Lij who looked over at Lapis. She shook her head as confused as they were about all this.
"It's so goot to see you, my beautiful Pearrrl." His accent rolled off his tongue, Lapis walked around the two gems and walked over to Pearl and Spess as he let her down. He stared at the smaller blue gem in front of him, "Ant who is this gorrrgeous lady?" Lapis' cheeks turned darker than her skin as she looked down her hands.
"This is Lapis Lazuli, Spess. She is one of the newer members of The Crystal Gems, we're here on a special mission. As much as I love reunions we do not have time for that." Pearl's voice sounded distant as she spoke to her friend.
"What do you mean? Has something happened to Rose Quartz?" His accent got less thick as he got worried that something happened to one of his best friends from the time of war. He had lost so many other people, he wasn't about to lose her too.
Pearl quickly shook her head, "No. No. She's well, but maybe not for long. The Diamonds are coming to Earth, Spess. The second Gem war is on it's way. And we need your help …"
A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is way shorter than the others, but I felt like this was a good end for this one. The next chapters would continue to be longer. thank you for understanding.