Chapter 6: Hide and Distractions
Pearl was indeed right.
At some point in her explanation Jade's leg gave out and they were forced to take a seat on the couch. Through the entire thing all three had remained expressionless. Even so, the growing looks of horror in Jade's and Sunstone's eyes were the equivalent of a spear being plunged into Pearl's metaphorical heart. Still, no matter how upsetting, Pearl was completely unmerciful to their feelings. From the endless number of shattered gems, to corruption, to Rose giving up her form, they were not spared from anything.
When all was said and done none of their eyes made contact with Pearl's in favor of staring at the ground. The tears fell in small amounts, those being the ones that broke through their crumbling inscrutable exterior. Sunstone instinctively ran her hand through the shaved portion of their head, oblivious to the lack of hair running through her fingers. Jade, on the other hand, let out a weak chuckle while the grief was still being processed through her mind.
"I mean...wow...I...wow..." Jade began, but could find no words to finish her statement.
She looked back up at Pearl, and her next question was for both her and Sunstone.
"So...everyone is gone?"
This time Pearl didn't meet their gaze as she nodded.
"They were either shattered or corrupted."
"Even Peri?" Sunstone asked desperately.
"Shattered."
"Pearls?"
"Corrupted."
"Moonstone?"
"Corrupted."
"Sapphs?"
"Shattered."
"...Tori?"
"...Corrupted."
Sunstone paused, the question that she most likely already knew the answer to getting caught in her throat. When she did speak her voice was so quiet that, had any other minor noise been in the room, she would not have been heard.
"...Did...did Lite and Erin at least go together?"
It was Pearl choosing not to answer that final question being what finally broke Sunstone. Their head went down and Sunstone pressed her hand to her eye while any remaining restraint of her tears diminished. Jade felt the tears leak through Sunstone's fingers and attempted to offer comfort in stroking her friend's hand with her own. But the action went ignored as Sunstone continued to sob loudly. Eventually Jade too could no longer hold in her sadness and she grabbed Sunstone's hand to cry with her.
The despair was contagious, and Pearl as well couldn't stop her own tears from falling. Just like Jade, Amethyst gave comfort by pulling Pearl into a hug as while shedding a tear of her own. The only difference being Pearl falling to her knees to accept the hug and return the gesture.
"No!...No!...No! They just...wanted to be...happy!" Sunstone wailed through her sniffles.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Jade muttered. Her eye looking as if she saw a thousand horrors that flashed before her on an endless repeat.
"We could have saved more of them." Pearl said quietly, causing Amethyst to hug her tighter.
In the midst of all the anguish Agate rolled her eye and let out a huff that was slightly choked by Sunstone's crying.
"Serves you traitors right. If you hadn't rebelled in the first place all your clueless 'friends' would have been-"
Agate paused, surprised when their teeth were forced together and started shakily grinding against themselves.
"Shut...Up Agate. You didn't even know them like we did."
Caught off guard Agate had no counter and instead remained silent. Astonished as well, Pearl and Amethyst broke their hug and looked to the three with widened eyes. What they saw was Sunstone lifting their head up and sporting a big smile that contrasted the still unconfined tears.
Taking a deep breath to gather herself she asked in a positive tone.
"But hey...We're here right? And that can only mean that one day we'll be able to get our friends back, right? We can't just give up hope now."
Sunstone opened her eye and looked straight at Pearl. And though Pearl did see the misery still allowed to run unkempt. Overshadowing it was that signature look of hope that had driven so many other gems from the despair that plagued them now. It didn't take long for it to take effect on Pearl. Wiping her eye Pearl stood up and smiled back at them.
"There's that Sunny-shine."
Sunstone giggled and they stood back up. Her and Jade taking turns to wipe the tears away before gaining a smile that held more optimism.
"Anyway where's Garnet?" Sunstone asked.
Jade chuckled at the mentioning and followed with. "Yeah, I think we can all use her humor right now."
Once more Pearl's smile fell as a realization hit her.
"Um..."
Starting to panic, Pearl looked to Amethyst who appeared to have also had the same thought. Instead of offering said needed help Amethyst looked off and scratched the back of her head.
"Yeah...about that..."
Horror stuck the two once more and their smile vanished as well.
"Don't tell me..."
Realizing the lack of context Pearl frantically waved her hand as if to shoo away the idea.
"No! No! Garnet is still here and well."
The two sighed in relief before Amethyst picked up where Pearl left off.
"It's just that...she might not be too happy seeing you."
Shocked, Sunstone tilted their head and asked "Why?"
"Well...you are a forced fusion now..." Pearl reminded.
"Yeah...?" Jade agreed. Morphing their shock to a look of suspicion.
"Well she...feels responsible for what happened to you and the others."
They opened their mouth to respond but re-closed it before they could say anything. Choosing instead to stare at the ground while letting out a low sigh. At that point Agate found her voice again along with a response of her own.
"Well she should be. Fusion between other gems is so disrespectful and disgusting."
"You are aware that you're technically a fusion too now right?" Amethyst pointed out.
Agate turned to Amethyst and pointed at them self then at her.
"And do you think I like being like this you overcooked daft runt?!"
That struck a sensitive nerve with Amethyst and the next thing she said came out with no thought to it.
"I may be overcooked but at least I have a full gem."
Agate, in return, showed the same amount of impulsiveness when she landed a punch straight into Amethyst's jaw.
"Amethyst!" Pearl shouted in worry.
"Agate!" Jade snapped.
All eyes looked to Amethyst, who was knocked back a few feet from the hit. When she fully realized that she had been struck her head went down. Smirking, her gem glowed and she pulled her whip out, chuckling darkly.
"It's on."
Agate smirked back and she reached for their gem which started glowing as well. Before any kind of fight could break out Sunstone slapped away Agate's hand while Pearl got in between them.
"STOP!"
"Both of you!" Jade added.
The two still refused to break their glaring contest, but did relax their poses away from fighting stances.
"It's official, I only like two thirds of you." Amethyst said bluntly.
"I like none of you." Agate replied in the same tone.
Jade sighed and grabbed their temple.
"Shard of an Emerald's...Agate you-"
They all froze when the sound of the warp pad activating went off behind them. What followed was what only someone with a panicked mind, given half a split second, could think of.
"Hey guys!" Steven greeted in his normal cheerfulness.
"Hey." Garnet followed with a smirk of her own.
Those smiles faded when their eyes found the current scene of the room. Amethyst, as her Purple Puma persona, was standing proudly while smiling nervously along with Pearl. Who was in front of Amethyst with her arms out awkwardly wide. Hiding behind the both of them was Jade, Sunstone, and Agate. Jade used every ounce of her strength to hold Agate's struggling wrist still. Sunstone, having grabbed one of the pillows from the couch, pressed the cushion firmly against their mouth to muffle all of Agate's protests.
"What are you guys doing?" Steven asked.
"Well..."
In a gesture that looked to be Amethyst putting her hand behind her back was really her grabbing the three behind her and lifting them up.
"I was thinking that Sunstone would like wrestling. So we're trying to think of a wrestling name for her" She explained. Winking to Pearl while sidestepping toward the bathroom.
"That's...right!" Pearl said, rolling with it. "Because she...uh...had so much fun fighting...she would enjoy...wrestling just as much."
Amethyst shoved the three inside the bathroom and gave them a "Stay here" gesture with her hands. Their head nodded and Amethyst quickly grabbed a bar of soap before walking back out and shutting the door. Swallowing the fragrant cube whole as she walked back over to Pearl.
"I was thinking Suncrusher but Pearl..."
"I-I was thinking...um...Sun...Stomper..."
Steven pressed his hands over his smiling cheeks as stars appeared in his eyes. He then started to excitedly fist pump while endlessly chanting "Suncrusher".
While they were relieved that Steven bought the lie there was still Garnet to worry about. She stood there in her usual statue-like manner giving no indication of her true emotion.
Finally after adjusting her shades she smiled and replied. "I like Sun-Stomper better."
Lowering his hand Steven gave a saddened "Aw", causing Garnet to chuckle a bit.
Pearl and Amethyst let out the most relieved sighs as their worry floated away. Only for said worry to come straight back with full force when Garnet shifted the subject to another topic.
"So, how was your search?"
Pearl's eyes popped back open and her lopsided smile returned "Oh! Our...search...it was um.."
"Same as yours. Couldn't find them." Amethyst answered casually.
"And we looked...a-all over for them too."
Smiling, Steven turned to Garnet. "That's okay! We'll find them eventually. Right Garnet?"
Garnet only nodded, and the added lack of a smile was the obvious clue to Amethyst.
"You're not buying this...are you Garnet?"
"Nope." Garnet replied simply.
"Wait, buying what?" Steven asked, looking back and forth.
"Welp. We'd have to tell you at some point" Amethyst said with a shrug.
"Amethyst!"
Amethyst turned to Pearl with a serious expression "No Pearl we have to come clean."
Pearl remained in a motionless shock as Amethyst stepped forward to Garnet with her head hung low.
"Garnet...We let some gem mutants escape."
"What?" Pearl yelled
"We were so focused on this Jade and Sunstone that it got away from us. We just didn't want you to be disappointed."
Amethyst looked back to Pearl and winked. Now on the same page, Pearl's head fell as well to give the illusion of shame.
"Oh...Y-yes. We should have been more focused."
Stepping back to Pearl's side, the two gem's combined looks of remorse only became more believable.
"So yeah...we're sorry."
Garnet walked over to the two and they both flinched before relaxing when Garnet put a hand on their shoulders.
"It's okay you two. I'm excited to see them too and I get that you'd be distracted. But that still means that there's a Gem mutant that we need to take care of. So Pearl, you're with me."
Looking back up Pearl gave her best attempt at a non-nervous smile. "R-right!"
Looking over to Amethyst Garnet instructed "Amethyst, you stay here with Steven."
"Whatev." Amethyst replied, rolling her eyes.
Just as Garnet started walking back to the warp pad Pearl turned and started giving hand gestures to Amethyst. First pointing to herself, then at Garnet, then at Amethyst before pointing to her eyes then at the bathroom. She then made a back and forth motion between them, then slammed her fist into her palm.
(I'll keep Garnet busy. You watch over 'them' until we come up with a plan.)
Amethyst winked and held up an O-K with her fingers.
(Gotcha.)
They nodded to each other before Pearl joined Garnet at the warp pad.
"We'll be back" Garnet said while Pearl gave another stern nod to Amethyst.
In a flash of light they were gone. The moment they left Steven was quick to turn to Amethyst with a line of questions waiting.
"Amethyst what's going on?"
Amethyst ignored him for a moment in favor of calling over to the bathroom.
"Okay they're gone. You can come out now." She called.
The bathroom door opened and the three walked out smiling while shaking their head.
"Pearl never did know how to lie."
"Pathetic."
"Can't really argue with you there."
Steven gasped dramatically which is what got their attention. "Amethyst...wha-"
They turned and two of eyes lit up at the sight of him. Clumsily running over to the two they got on their knees just in front of Steven.
"Steven!"
"You really weren't a dream!"
Steven took a step back and looked fearfully at the three. "H-how do you know my name?"
"Steven it's us! Jade-"
"And Sunstone!"
It took Steven a minute, but when he recognized the two beaming eyes, his own gleamed with stars.
"Whaa...!" He gasped again.
"Steven this is Jade, Agate, and Sunstone all mashed up into one." Amethyst introduced.
Now that he was really looking Steven understood what Amethyst meant by that. "So you're a...cluster."
Jade giggled. "That's what I wanted to tell you before you left our dream Steven."
A child-like excitement came over Steven, shown by him walking around in a full circle.
"This is...unbelievable! I can't believe it I.." He stopped and backed away again.
"Wait. But why aren't you..."
"Completely mindless and trying to kill you? We think it's because of our gem." Jade explained, pushing out their arm to give Steven a better view of their gemstone.
Steven was surprised by the misshapen gemstone. But in comparison to the cluster gemstones he'd seen theirs was perfect.
"Woah! It almost looks like an actual Gem."
"If you call a lopsided oval a real gem." Jade said jokingly.
"You know what this means right? You're a fusion! You guys need a fusion name!" Steven declared.
"This is not fusion." Agate stated only to be ignored.
"We do don't we?"
Steven only needed a second to think before he blurted out. "How about...Sunagade!"
The others in the room didn't share the enthusiasm and instead stared confused at him.
"It's your names combined! It's perfect."
Thinking it over for a second Jade smile. "Sunagade...I like it!"
"Me too!"
"That's not even a gem name!" Agate pointed out.
Jade smirked. "Well you said it yourself Agate, this isn't real fusion. So why should an abomination like us deserve a real fusion name?"
On one hand Agate knew that Jade was messing with her, but on the other she was technically being agreed with. Stumped Agate rolled her eye and replied "Whatever."
"So does this mean you have all the cool fusion powers?" Steven asked, bringing back their attention.
Jade thought about this for awhile. Try to recall anything that would be a helpful example.
"That's a good question. We haven't really tried much that's fusion related."
"Well now's the perfect time to find out!" Steven proclaimed before running up the stairs and coming back with a clipboard and a pencil.
"First things first, what's your fusion weapon?"
Jade, non-literally, stepped up to explain. Using her hand to trace an outline of their weapon in the air.
"Well it's like a sickle...with a ball and chain attached to it. We'd show you but someone-Agate-has proven to not be trustworthy with a weapon."
The first, and only, reasonable place that Pearl could think to bring Garnet was the Kindergarten. With its endless amount of holed walls they could easily be here for an hour or two on a wild goose chase. Immediately after arriving Garnet's head searched in all directions, preventing her from seeing Pearl's nervously wide smile.
"Okay...so this is where you last saw it?"
"Yup! In this area right here!" Pearl replied, with a little too much enthusiasm in her voice.
"Did you see where it went?"
Panicking, Pearl looked off in a random direction and pointed. "Oh! Um...That-that way!"
Looking to where Pearl was pointing Garnet just barely saw a misshapen creature limp around a corner. A creature that, even in the absence of direct light, further gave itself away by lacking a head and left arm.
"I see it!"
"Wait really?"
Summoning her gauntlets Garnet took off the the Mutant's direction. Turning her head back briefly to call over to Pearl.
"Common Pearl!"
"R-right behind you Garnet!" Pearl yelled back as she summoned her spear and gave chase.
"Let's see if you guys are better at problem solving. Here." Steven said as he handed them a small multicolored cube.
Agate, Jade, and Sunstone took turns holding the cube as each tried to make sense of what the objective was. When it seemed as if they were completely stumped, evident by them working together to pull it apart, Steven stepped it. Taking the cube from them and fiddling with it until he got three green squares in a row.
"What you have to do is get all the colors together." He explained before handing it back.
With Sunstone holding the cube steady Agate began twisting the cube around. In seconds she had a full green side done and was working on the yellow cubes next.
"Primitive earth technology" she muttered to herself.
(30 Minutes later)
"Agate give me the cube I know how to solve it!"
"You traitors don't even know your place, now stop!"
It was like watching children fighting over a toy. Twenty minutes into solving the cube Agate had accidentally dismantled her green side while working on the yellow. Then in her attempts to fix her mistake she had only make the cube even more mixed up. When her frustrations had started to become verbal both Jade and Sunstone offered to take over. Then when Agate had rudely refused Jade sought to take the cube by force. What Steven and Amethyst were witnessing now was Jade reaching over to try and snatch the cube away from Agate while Agate extended her arm just out of Jade's reach. Indeed it was funny at first to any outsider. But as ten minutes rolled by the fight had moved from entertaining to petty.
As that went on Sunstone joined Steven and Amethyst's approach of just watching the events unfold. She too had make a swipe for the cube, even shape shifted to lengthen their arm. But Agate seemed determined to keep the cube away so she eventually left the attempts to Jade. That was until they stood up, Sunstone noticing how much closer they got to the edge with each unaware step.
"Uh Guys...?"
Jade made one final attempt at getting the cube by thrusting the left half of their body toward the right. Their body twirled and when Jade put her foot back down she felt no floor under her. Screaming they fell off the upstairs platform, a thud coming from the colored cube as it hit the wooden floor.
"You guys okay?" Amethyst called to them.
When Jade and Sunstone's laughter was heard as a response they looked over the ledge to see Sunagade pushing into the soft couch.
"Where was this when we needed it?"
"Fusion strength!"
Bar none this was the easiest task they could have been given. After Steven had selected one of the large rocks that had fallen from the temple, they effortlessly lifted it up over their heads.
"Wow we are strong. No wonder you could kick that gem mutant so easily Agate." Jade said amazed.
Balancing the bolder onto her palm so that she was the sole wielder, Agate looked over to Amethyst who, as usual, wasn't really paying attention. Grinning darkly Agate aimed the rock and prepared to throw it, something that Jade was quick to catch onto.
"Agate Wait! Agate!"
Too late. If it wasn't for Steven crying "Amethyst!" then she wouldn't have reacted in time to jump out of the boulder's path. Amethyst looked back to who had thrown it. But instead of looking angry, she smiled wide.
"Rock toss! Now that's something I can get behind!" She said as she pulled out her whip and wrapped it around the boulder. Yanking it from the ground with all her strength and flinging it back at Sunagade.
"Amethyst no!" Steven yelled.
Reacting quickly Jade pushed to go left while Agate went right. The result looked similar to a jump and the three fell onto the sand. Just before the rock could crush them Sunstone rolled their body out of harm's way. Amethyst laughed, and Agate took that as a challenge as she smirked.
"You're not as weak as I thought Runt!"
"Why thank you!" Amethyst replied before using her whip to launch another boulder in their direction.
Instead of dodging Sunagade jumped back to their feet and let the boulder come to them. Just when it seemed that Amethyst had landed a hit the boulder exploded into millions of pebbles. Standing proudly in the curtain of smoke Sunagade flashed the sickle attached to a ball and chain in their hands.
"Fusion weapon." Steven whispered, suddenly forgetting the destruction they were causing.
"This just got interesting." Amethyst said excitedly.
The next hour was filled with laughter and the crashing sounds of rocks hitting everything in the area. It was like a game of extreme dodgeball, each side using their powers and reflexes to avoid the assault while staying close to make a quick returning attack. When the game first got started Steven tried several times to stop it, thinking that they were attempting to destroy each other. But when he saw the amount of fun they all seemed to be having he decided to sit on the sideline and quietly keep score on his clipboard. Though it wasn't necessary as neither side could actually land a hit on the other. Nevertheless fun was had all around until both sides eventually gave up. Both of their bodies were scratched up and covered in sand, which matched the wrecked beach around them. Despite that all four broke out into laughter. Sunagade's sounded a bit weird from three voices coming from one mouth, but no one cared.
"Okay...I like all of you again." Amethyst said when she was able to calm herself down.
"I still hate you." Agate replied smiling.
If there was anything Garnet could be thankful about in this situation, it was that this particular cluster mutant went down easy. It being red and tan hands conjoined at the wrist that maneuvered around like a blind spider. Unable to make and intellectual movements due to the lack of a mind to control its movements.
When Garnet and Pearl had followed the mutant they spotted earlier they were lead right into a hoard that attempted to overpower them. Naturally they proved no match for Garnet and Pearl and the two easily made quick work of them. But with the hoard having died down Garnet actually took the time to look over the gem shards of the recently poofed spider mutant.
Garnet's mind wandered back to when she had first encountered the cluster mutants. She shuttered at the memory of the distorted screams of gems trying to escape their fusion prison. And their eyes that stared deep into her being while they grabbed at her.
"Garnet?" Pearl asked, approaching cautiously.
Garnet said nothing at first. She simply encased the gem shards in a bubble before sending it off.
"Common, let's keep going. There might be more out there."
With nothing to say that would make the situation any better, Pearl followed Garnet as they continued their search.
"Ta-da! A cluster theme sandwich." Amethyst said proudly as she place the dish in front of the three.
Sandwich wouldn't be the first word to come to mind when describing it. At first glance one could agree with Amethyst on classification. But looking over the dish once more revealed it to be far from an ordinary sandwich. While the bread that held the monstrosity together seemed normal, it was everything in between that made up their second guessing. From scrambled eggs to honey, with meats ranging from old fish to raw steak, to spray cheese with whip cream and peanut butter. While the smell alone could kill a person, the three were more confused on how such an amalgamation of food could even stay upright.
"What does this have to do with fusion?"
Amethyst just smirked and shrugged her shoulders. With that Agate reached out and attempted to knock the meal off the table, only to be stopped by Amethyst grabbing it at the last second.
"There is no way we are touching this earth slop!"
"Aw common Agate, eating is-" Jade started to reach toward the sandwich when suddenly their arm was yanked back.
Everyone, except the one who performed it, was completely surprised by the action.
"Sunny?"
Sunstone's hand trembled as she watched the ketchup mixed with yogurt run down the noodles. Disgusted, Sunstone forced their arm to their side where she refused to move it in spite Jade's efforts.
"Sorry Jade...but I'm on Agate's side for this one."
"Wait what?" Agate asked, stunned.
Jade's eye looked to Sunstone's with great concern until the memory hit her.
"Oh! That's right! Sorry, Sunny doesn't like to eat."
"What?" Amethyst said, not in the slightest convinced. "But eating is fun, and delicious."
"It's disgusting."
"How would you know Agate?" Amethyst questioned.
"That...wasn't Agate." Jade corrected.
Amethyst's face fell and at that point Steven, who had been standing on the other side of the room with his clipboard over his nose, spoke up.
"That's okay! No one has to like everything about Earth!"
Jade nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Remember Sunny? How it took forever to convince you to try sleeping?"
Sunstone only gave a weak nod in return.
"Alright. I think I understand now." Steven began, setting down his clipboard which was now full of notes. Folding his hands over the paper he looked to Sunagade who was seated across from him at the counter.
"Understand what?"
"The problem with your fusion. That being...you aren't very compatible with each other."
Agate scoffed and rolled her eye. "Obviously."
"But..." Steven continued. "When you're not fighting you guys seem to get along really well. I think that if you three communicated more and got to know each other you'd be able to make a better fusion. "
Thinking it over for a moment Jade shrugged. "Makes sense."
"As if I care to know anything about the two of you."
"Then why don't you go first Agate? Tell us about yourself." Sunstone offered.
"Why would I ever tell the likes of you?"
Smirking Jade looked to Steven and mouthed 'watch this' before actually speaking.
"Common Agate. At least tell us your role on Homeworld...Unless you never cared about it."
Agate growled at Jade's trick before sighing and closing her eye.
"I served under Yellow Diamond and was in charge of several Kindergartens. My job was to make sure that all the underlings did their jobs correctly, and that all the rejects were..." She smiled darkly.
"Disposed of properly."
"I served loyally for thousands of years until I heard news about the Gem War. Naturally I was one of the first to volunteer to fight in the name of the Diamonds. In between fighting I was charged with making sure that any traitorous activity was 'dealt with'. But, part way into the war, we were given instructions to start collecting the shattered remains of gems for the Cluster Experiments. And while I respected the Diamond's wishes I still wanted nothing more than to grind the traitors into dust. But at least it gave use to all those rebels."
Their head lowered slightly and Steven and Amethyst could see their body starting to tremble.
"Even though I had never done anything that stepped outside my boundaries, I am still being punished the same as you rebels. To think that after being nothing but loyal since the day I was made they would just sentence me to death here."
"Ow! Ow! Agate!" Sunstone cried.
Snapping out of her anger Agate looked and saw that she had unconsciously dug her fingers into their left arm. Quickly Agate eased up and looked away from the others.
"If it helps...The Cluster's been stopped." Steven said as an attempt to cheer Agate up.
Agate's eye widened and she looked straight at Steven. "What?"
"We bubbled the Cluster. It's no longer a threat to Earth." He explained.
"I knew Pearl left out something!" Amethyst commented.
Agate didn't move which started to make everyone else uncomfortable.
"Agate?"
"SO IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING?!" Agate screamed as she startled everyone by slamming her fist on the counter. An action that was repeated many times throughout her rant.
"AFTER BEING DEVOTED TO MY DIAMOND SINCE THE BEGINNING OF MY EXISTENCE I'M DOOMED TO ROT HERE ON EARTH! ALL FOR A PLAN THAT FAILED ANYWAY! THIS IS BETRAYAL! THOSE UNGRATEFUL..."
Agate stopped, freezing in place for a moment before putting their head down. Just in time as one more hit would have split the demolished counter in two. Silence fell over the room as no one was sure how to console her.
"You okay Agate?" Sunstone asked.
Agate just silently shook their head. Sunstone hesitantly reached out to put her hand on top of Agate's, only for it to be slapped away seconds before they made contact. Amethyst jumped up and balanced herself on the counter while giving Sunagade a look of genuine sympathy.
"Don't think so highly of the Diamonds now huh?"
"I...I-I..."
Agate brought their head back up and took a deep breath to compose herself. Her eye expressing a rage filled sorrow hidden behind a neutral expression.
"I will always be devoted to Yellow Diamond. She was the gem I was made for and as such I owe her my life."
Steven's jaw dropped."But...But what about what you just said with Homeworld betraying-"
"I'm done with this conversation!" Agate insisted. Delivering the final blow that broke the counter in two.
"And that was the time I got Pearl so mad that she was completely incoherent for five minutes."
Four out of the five of them burst into laughter as the story concluded. Amethyst held her stomach and wiped a tear from her eye as her laughter started to die down.
"Man, I gotta try that someday."
Jade giggled and shook their head slightly. "Wouldn't recommend it. Rose wasn't there so she chased me around with a sword until Tourmaline calmed her down."
Amethyst chuckled at that until she stopped when she realized something. From the moment they stepped outside their head mostly remained looking straight toward the ocean. And while their position combined with the sunny day gave forth to a stunning view of clear and sparkling waves. It wasn't something Amethyst thought would cement someone's head in one place for so long.
"Hey so why haven't you moved your head at all since we've been out here."
Jade shrugged their shoulder. "Ask Agate. She's been doing this a lot."
"Okay. Hey Agate-"
"It's none of your business runt." Agate said with a plain-spoken tone
No longer smiling Amethyst rolled her eyes and mumbled "Okay, Pieces."
Agate growled at Amethyst, but stopped when Steven cleared his throat to get their attention. Looking down at him Steven too had lost his smile as he stared at the floor.
"Hey guys? I've been meaning to ask, what did you think of Rose Quartz?"
Thinking for a moment, Jade smiled at the memories of Rose that surfaced in her mind. "Well she-"
"She was a complete idiot! Who was she to decide whether or not she wanted to serve the Diamonds? She would have never existed without them and yet she had the nerve to start a rebellion and ruin what was once an even grander authority. She is a blemished on the glorious reign of the Diamonds and if it wasn't for these two traitors holding me back then I would have already crushed her gemstone into dust."
Nervously Steven tightly griped the fabric of his shirt as he took a step back.
"You done?" Jade asked, giving Steven a smile that eased him out of his worry.
Agate grumbled something to herself, causing Jade to playfully roll her eye before she spoke.
"Anyway, Rose was one of the greatest Gems I ever knew. She literally had the entire Gem kind after her yet she went on so gracefully without any worry. When she found me asleep with the humans she could have easily poofed me and bubbled me away. But she saw how much I had changed and held out her hand toward me. And when I returned to Earth after going back to Homeworld she was the only one who still trusted me and welcomed me back with open arms. She was truly an amazing Gem. And I wish that I had thanked her for everything before I was shattered."
A small blush grew over Steven's face as he smiled and placed a hand over his gem.
"What about you Sunstone? I bet that you and mom got along great." He said with a small chuckle.
The happy atmosphere started to drain away when Sunstone wouldn't respond. Staring off into the ocean with Agate her hand nearly crushed the wooden rails before she finally decided to answer.
"Actually..."
The door slammed open and all of them turned to see Pearl frantically looking around.
"Amethyst! Where's-"
She stopped mid-turn when she spotted Sunagade staring confused back at her.
"Hey Pearl." Jade greeted with a wave.
"There you are. The three of you have to hide!"
Pearl reached out to grab Agate's arm only to shift gears part way and grab Jade and Sunstone's. Agate expectedly resisted, but Pearl's strength combined with Jade and Sunstone's compliance equaled them following as Pearl dragged them inside.
"Wait, why?" Steven asked as he and Amethyst followed behind.
"I managed to slip away while Garnet was distracted with a Gem mutant but it won't be long before she notices that I'm gone!"
"Wait there really was a Gem mutant?" Amethyst asked.
"We don't have time!" Pearl replied, dragging Sunagade through the living room. "We have find a place to hide you three."
"But where are we gonna hide them? We can't just shove them into the bathroom every time!" Amethyst stated.
Steven stopped by the door and put his chin on his hand in deep thought. Letting out a loud "Hmm" as emphasis to his complicated thought process.
"Peridot and Lapis. Meet Jade, Sunstone, and Agate!" Steven said as he jazz-handed toward Sunagade.
Putting the biggest smile on their face Sunstone greeted them with a wave and a cheerful "Hi!"
Awkward couldn't begin to describe the scene playing out at the barn. Both Peridot and Lapis stood there with different versions of severe confusion on their faces. The two gems tried to look for words to say, but they were lost in their lack of understanding.
Eventually even Sunstone's smile became more forced than genuine from the silence. Driving Steven to break the ice himself.