Chapter 21, my story is of legal age! Kinda! Not really!
I don't own Steven Universe.
Chapter 21: Rose
Four years later…
White Pearl slashed in quick succession but her target, Pink Pearl, weaved and dodged around each and every blow. Pink then thrust forward with her rapier and hocked the tip around the handle of White Pearl's sword and quickly fling it out of her hand. PP moved to thrust at her but WP dodged out of the way, diving for the sword and entering another battle stance.
PP motioned for her to come at her and WP obliged, slashing and swinging in proper form, still none of the blows landed on their mark.
White Pearl then jumped in the air, preparing for an overhead slash, but Pink Pearl sidestepped the blow and as WP's blade hit the ground her Pink counterpart held the tip of her sword to her chin. She then smirked before holding her rapier properly in front of her face and then dismissing it. "Alright, that's enough for today. You're still acting a bit too rashly in combat, you need to wait for openings and strike when the right opportunity arises. We're not strong like quartz soldiers so we need to be quick and precise."
White sighed before dismissing her own blade. "Stars, Pink. I don't know how you do it."
"You'd be surprised what you can accomplish with several millennia of practice." She replied, walking over to the edge of the arena and sitting down on one of the stone benches and patting the seat next to her.
WP smiled at her before sitting down next to Pink Pearl. "No, I mean, you're a pearl! A PEARL! Who'd have expected you to be such a great fighter."
"We pearls must serve our masters to the best of our abilities White, that includes combat. I mean what would happen if someone somehow got past all the lunkhead quartzes?"
"With some of the quartzes I've seen that might be quite the possibility." White whispered to her and the two of them giggled together.
"By the way, I've been meaning to say, are you sure you want to use a blade?" Pink asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you just don't seem comfortable using a true sword stance. You shift the blade between your hands quite often, perhaps you should try using two at a time? Or perhaps something that requires two hands like a trident or a spear?" Pink suggested.
White thought about it. "Maybe, but using a sword is how I learned to fight at all."
Pink sighed. "That was just for the basics, if you don't find a more comfortable fighting style than this, you might not improve at all."
"But what about you? You seem fine using a single sword technique."
"That's because it's what I'm most comfortable with, White. I use my offhand to maintain my balance, but you aren't comfortable leaving your hand to such a task, I can tell. It wants to join in on the action somehow and that it going to get it stabbed." Pink Pearl pointed out.
White looked to the ground and then her hands. "Maybe, you're right."
Pink slapped her on the back. "We'll see what we can do tomorrow, right now Pink Diamond's calling us." She said pointing to the communicator nearby which was beeping for them.
Pink Pearl walked over and answered it, her Diamond's holographic image appearing before them. "My Diamond, how might I be of service?"
"Is White Pearl with you?" Pink asked. Pearl nodded and a smile came across the Diamond's face. "Good, you two should meet me at the kindergarten. It's time."
PP's eyes shot open. "Really? Now?" The Diamond nodded. "We're on our way." With that the line was cut and Pearl turned to her white counterpart. "Come on! We got to go, now!"
"Now?" she asked. "What's the hurry?"
"It's time! The kindergarteners are due to emerge! Pink wants us to be there with her to watch." Peal replied.
White's face lit up. "Really? Oh wow! How exciting!"
"I know, let's hurry!" With that the two gems exited the half-built sky area and took off in a hovercraft, shooting off towards their destination.
They touched down inside the crevice and arrived to see Pink waiting, sitting in a grand and elaborate-looking throne, her closest gems by her side while several dozen others were also gathered. They had all been summoned in anticipation of the event. Pink Diamond made a motion with her hand and the crowd parted allowing the pair of pearls to approach.
Flint gave a smirk as they approached. "Pearl and Whitey! I almost thought you wouldn't make it."
White Pearl's eyebrow twitched a little at the name. "Whitey" had been the nickname this quartz had come up with her to distinguish her from her Pink counterpart. Well, it wasn't the worst thing she could have called her, and it did have some kind of endearment to it.
"We wouldn't miss this." WP replied with a grin.
Pink smiled at the interaction. Over the past few years her Pearl had taken her white sister under her wing and the growth had been remarkable. She was no longer timid, at least not overly, more neurotic than anything else. She was a bit more outspoken now and seemed to have taken quite a shine to her older peer. If White ever did manage to recover, she would make an excellent companion for her.
Pink Diamond looked down to Peridot. "How long before they emerge?"
"Only a few minutes more." The green gem replied.
Pink nodded then stood to full height and addressed the gathered gems. "My fellow gems! Today is a momentous day! Today our sisters of the Earth will emerge and join our ranks! Now we take our first step towards the future of this planet! A planet for gems!"
The gems saluted and called out. "For the glory of the Diamonds!"
The young Diamond didn't like to admit it, but she had gotten quite used to the obedience of the gems who served her. It was the same part of her that wanted to dominate and conquer like her sisters. The same part who knew how to control the various gems around her as she so wished. The same part she was often most ashamed of and tried hardest to suppress.
Peridot looked down to a scanner she was holding. "And they should be emerging right about… now." She and all the rest looked to the walls, long empty injectors lining them, but nothing happened.
"Peridot?" Pink asked.
"Just give it a second."
One minute passed.
Then two.
Three.
Five.
Ten.
"Peridot?"
Peridot smacked the scanner's side. "I don't understand the deep surface scans said they should be-"
A rumbling began to be heard throughout the kindergarten, the walls trembled and bits of rock fell off the cliff faces.
CRACK-BAM
A purple fist emerged from one of the walls, the was a foot from another. Bit by bit quartzes began to tear themselves out of the walls, mostly amethysts but many others kinds mixed in as well. Flint looked to the purple quartzes and frowned touching her pocket with a single hand, an action not unnoticed by Pink.
"What is that?" Peridot said pointing to Pink's palm which was now outstretched to her. Sitting on said palm were purple shards.
"You know who it is." Pink said gravely.
Peridot was silent for a moment before looking to Pink. "Does Flint know?" she asked.
"She's the one who gave them to me.
Peridot looked at the shards again then squinted her eyes. "This can't be all of it."
"No, I believe she kept the single largest shard for herself."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Take the shards and grind them to dust, then put them inside the injector pods."
Peridot looked to the shards then back to Pink. "This won't bring her back."
"I know." Pink replied. "But part of Amethyst will live on in those made with her gem."
Pink leaned down towards Flint. "Are you-"
"I'm fine. Thank you, my Diamond." Flint said without turning around or taking her eyes off the emerging gems.
Pink straightened up and clapped her hands twice. "Gems! You know your duties!" The gems gathered saluted before they ran off to meet their emerging kin. Pink looked down to Flint and they nodded to one another before Flint ran off as well.
Pink got from her seat and the four of them, the Diamond the two pearls and Peridot, began to walk along the kindergarten's ravine, watching as gems continued to pop out of the walls at least a half dozen at a time. "How are we Peridot?" Pink asked.
The green gem looked to her scanner. "We should be having quite the yield, my Diamond."
"Any stragglers?"
"Not that I… wait a minute." She inspected the scanner closely. "There's one around this bend that hasn't emerged."
"Late?"
"No, more like its… dormant." Peridot said, leading the group. When they arrived a group of amethysts were gathered together around a large section of the wall. They saw the Diamond approaching and immediately straightened up and saluted. "Out of the way." Peridot ordered and the quartzes complied, allowing her through.
The green gem stepped up to the section of the wall and looked around it. Holes from the other amethysts were all over in neat rows and columns, there was definitely supposed to have been one here too. Peridot closely inspected the wall's surface then looked to her scanner and back again.
"Well?" asked one of the amethysts standing around asked. "What does it say?"
Peridot eyed her for a moment before turning her gaze to her Diamond and addressing her. "The gem that's here, it's not going to emerge. Not now, perhaps not ever."
"What do you mean?" Pink asked.
"I'm not sure how to explain it, my Diamond." The green gem said honestly. "There's nothing wrong with the injector placement or the mineral content and as you can see…" she waved her arms in an arc referring to the other quartzes standing around her. "There's nothing wrong with any of her fellow quartzes, it's an anomaly I can't explain."
One of the amethysts stepped up to the wall, pulling back a fist. "Well then, let's just dig her out, help her get free."
Peridot quickly ran between the wall and the gem. "No! Stop! If you try and rip her gem out before she emerged on her own, you could seriously damage her!"
"Then what are we supposed to do?" asked another amethyst.
Peridot looked back to the wall, touching it. "There's nothing we can do, 8XM here needs to come out on her own."
"How long will that take?" asked another.
"A day? A year? A hundred years? Longer? I don't know. It's rare for a gem to have all the perfect conditions to be emerging from but still not do so." Peridot said. "At any rate, there's nothing more we can do here. You should all report to the gems that are waiting for you."
Pink clapped her hands twice. "You heard her, move out!"
The four were left alone for a moment, each taking a look with some degree of curiosity and concern to the wall before walking off.
Flint was busy organizing the gems into squads when the four came back to greet her. Pink stepped forward and addressed the quartz. "So, what do you think?"
"They're rough, but I'll get them into shape in no time." The grey quartz said looking over at the legions of gems behind her. Pink scanned the huge gathering, there were at least several thousand new gems here, but… She squinted her eyes. Where were they?
Pink bent down to Peridot. "I thought you said they would emerge with all the others?"
Peridot looked down to her device. "They should! I designed them to be a type of quartz so that they'd be best suited for this kindergarten, they should have emerged by now. Did I make a miscalculation?" she wondered aloud.
As if on cue a wave of white appeared over the horizon. Gems of virtually the same design and color approached the horde, several hundred at least, by the looks of it. The wore dresses of various size and shades of white with matching curled hair of dark pink, almost red to a very light shade, nearly white. They were all near the same height and body type with slight variations of each.
Flint took a step forward, her jaw open in awe. "What… are those?"
Peridot couldn't help but give a smug smile. "Like 'em? I call them 'Rose Quartz'."
Pink gave a wide smile. "You've outdone yourself Peridot."
Peridot's smug smile got even smugger, if such a thing were possible. "I live to serve. I aim to please."
Pink Diamond walked towards them as they approached and they stopped still some ways off. One of their number emerged from among them. She was a bit talker and thinner than her sisters, her hair on the lighter side of pink. She gently grasped the sides of her dressed and knelt, something Pink recalled that sapphire having done all those years ago, something she had since learned was called a "curtsy". "I must have the honor of addressing Pink Diamond." It sounded like a statement but came out almost like a question.
"You do."
The gem stopped her curtsy and stood to full height. "I am – that is to say – we are Rose Quartz, it is an honor to meet you my Diamond." With that she curtsied once more but so did the crowd behind her.
"It is an equal honor to make all your acquaintances."
"You are too kind, my Diamond." The rose quartz said, standing up, her peers doing the same.
"You want me to do what." Peridot asked almost a deadpan.
"I need you to design a gem that can mimic my powers." The Diamond repeated.
"My Diamond, do you know how hard it is to start the design of a new type of gem from scratch?"
"You don't have to use an entirely new base, just use a quartz base and add some of my features." Pink explain.
"You mean controlling stationary organics and that healing power you have?"
"That's right."
"What, like how the Lapis Lazulis have Blue Diamond's power to a much lesser degree?"
"Yep, so will you do it?"
The green gem pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, alright, fine. I'll do it. When do you need it?"
"Before the end of the week."
Peridot's jaw dropped. "With all due respect, my Diamond. That's insane."
"Look I want these new gems to be part of the initial batch in a few years, in order for that to happen I need this done before we start using the pods at the end of the week."
Peridot sighed. "Yeah, alright. I'll do I everything I can."
A few days later…
Pink approached Peridot. "Is everything ready?"
The little green gem sighed. "Just barely. I had to work practically non-stop, but yes, I managed to do it."
"Good, then there's one last thing I need you to add to one of the injectors for the new gem types."
"Oh, just one more thing?" Peridot asked sarcastically as Pink pulled out something that made her eyes go very wide.
"Is that…?"
"It is."
Peridot looked to her in confusion. "But why…?"
Pink looked down to her hand. "I'm entrusting something to the future. But you need to keep it a secret, no one can know about this. Not even our friends."
"I… I understand." The green gem said, attempting to steady herself. "Are you sure about this?"
"There's really no turning back Peridot, the wheels are in motion now."
"You will all be under my direct command. Split yourselves equally among the facets and await my orders once you've arrived at each." Pink ordered.
The first rose quartz turned around to her sisters. "You heard her, divide yourselves equally among the facets and then make your way to each."
Pink put a finger to her chin in thought. "Which will be the one I wonder…"
One year later…
Pink typed away at her console, surprisingly she was taking good care of the colony's growth, many of the initial structures she'd set up were going to be nearing their completion within only a few short years.
Unfortunately, all other avenues of possible progress seemed to have significant stumbling blocks.
The 'rose quartzes' were much less ideal than Pink had initially hoped they would be. Most of them lacked any significant power, lacking either her healing ability or organic communication power, a few lacked both, making them little more than a different shade from the rest of the quartz grunts. Even those with one ability or the other seemed to have either little control or little power with the ability. Those able to control the plants barely able to do more than make them wiggle and others with the healing ability not able to fix anything more serious than a light cut or bruise. There were maybe five individuals from the group of hundreds who had the potential she was looking for.
As for the human and sarrukh situation…
She heard steps coming from behind her and saw Pearl walking towards her. She made her way up the steps and bowed. "My Diamond, good to see you."
"Hello Onyx." Pink said with a smile.
Pearl frowned then made an irritated face. "Shoot. I thought I'd get you for sure that time." A bright light enveloped Pearl and changed to the form of Onyx.
"So, what's the news on the organic front?" she asked.
Onyx shrugged. "Not much more we can learn from just watching them from afar, Pink. We've managed to sneakily herd some of the humans away from the sarrukh, but the slaves they have still remain, and with their diet, may not remain for long."
"How many of these enslavement places are there?"
"I'd say there's three big ones, the rest are much smaller."
"Talk to Flint to organize a strike force and free them, would you? Make sure these sarrukh are subdued, but I don't want them harmed."
"I'll be sure to relay that." Onyx replied before a bright light surrounded her and she was Amethyst once again before turning and running off.
Pink watched her leaven then turned around and accessed her console again, five pictures of different rose quartzes appearing before her. She glanced at them all in turn. "Which one of you will it be?"
"I suppose I'll just have to inspect them all myself. At least one of them must have the qualities I'm looking for."
Four visits later…
Pink rubbed her temples in exasperation. It was astounding, she was four for four now and not one of them had what she was looking for.
All four of them had both her powers and all four of them had some degree of mastery over them, but that wasn't what she was looking for, not really.
The first rose quartz seemed to have reveled in her power. She was in a facet with a lot of… what did Onyx call them… plant? Yes, plants around them and she made them dance and move, but she did not respect them. Even the other gems around her seemed to fear her and her power.
The second had lacked… imagination. She was a soldier, serious, almost too much. She had no sense of levity and followed Pink's orders to the letter but that in itself was a bit of the problem, she had virtually no sense of autonomy. Tasks before her were simply objectives that needed to be met and nothing more, the was no thoughts or feeling about what needed to be done, it just was done.
The third had been a bit too eager to please. She followed Pink's orders but started making requests and suggestions to her as well. She would constantly ask Pink if her actions "pleased her" and it felt a bit too much like the gem was trying to impress her, to a somewhat uncomfortable degree.
The last one she visited was probably her best so far, but still not what she was looking for. This rose quartz had powers but she didn't seem interested in using them, not for any practical use anyways. She was shy and skittish, a very un-warrior like personality for a quartz. She seemed uninterested in other gems, only in her own affairs.
Now she was heading back to facet five, the location of her last candidate.
Stars, she had a lot riding on this.
She approached the facet and set down near the crevice of the newly formed kindergarten. She frowned as she took a looked around, the last few years had not been kind to this place. What had once been green and filed life had withered away, replaced with greys and blacks that darkened the ground giving it a dead look. The injector pods stood motionless where they'd been set down casting shadows from the sun into the abyss below. She didn't want to see this happen to the rest of the planet, but time was running out.
As it happened she saw a group of rose quartz walking along the other side of the ravine. She jumped across and greeted the startled gems. They saluted and greeted her and when she asked on the specific rose quartz they only pointed out into the deep savanna.
Pink made her way out there and after began to look for the gem. For a bright pink eight-foot tall quartz, she was proving surprisingly hard to find. But something caught her eye in the distance, a half-dozen of the "predators", if she was remembering that word correctly, were gathered in a circle. They had probably just caught some food, but something made Pink Diamond drawn near.
The beasts parted and in the center of the gathering the rose quartz was revealed. She was currently hunched over one of the beasts, it appeared to be in pain from the sound of its weak voice, something halfway between roaring and mewling. Pink watched as a single tear left her cheek and plopped down onto the beast. The roar-mewling ceased and after a moment the beast got to its feet. It got near to the quartz's face and a single lap of its tongue came out, licking her.
The quartz giggled ruffling the ears. "You're welcome." She then gave it a slap on its behind. "Go on. You guys should get going." The pack of beasts left and the rose quartz watched after, seemingly lost in a sort of whimsy.
"Ahem." Pink cleared her throat getting the attention of the quartz who looked up at her, as if for the first time noticing her.
"Whoa, my Diamond. Forgive me. I didn't see you there." She said sheepishly, getting to her feet and saluting.
"It's fine, I saw that you were otherwise preoccupied."
"Yes, I walked off from the kindergarten. Because… well… I don't really like it that much to be honest."
"You don't like the place of your creation?"
The quartz threw her hands up in a gesture of mercy. "Please, don't think me ungrateful for my existence it's just… It just seems… so…"
"Dead." Pink said.
"'Dead'?" the quartz asked.
"It's a word I was taught. When a place lacks organic life, it's 'dead'."
The quartz nodded. "Yes, that sounds right. It's too 'dead' for me."
"So, you came out here to find 'life'." Pink concluded.
The quartz chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "Yes, I suppose I did."
The Diamond motioned for her to follow. "Walk with me."
The quartz complied and two began walking side by side, back towards the kindergarten. "So, why do you like all this so much?" she gestured to all around them.
The rose quartz put a hand to her chin. "I guess I just find it all so fascinating."
"Oh?"
"I mean I've been around for an entire year on this planet and I haven't changed a bit, but I've seen everything just seem to move around me. Not one thing I've seen is the same even moment to moment here, I find it so remarkable. Nothing's boring at least." She suddenly paled looking to Pink Diamond quickly. "Not that I find you boring or anything or the other gems it's just_"
Pink held up a single hand and she stopped. Pink gave her a serious look before a smile kind broke upon her features. "It's alright." She bent down and whispered. "To be honest, I agree with you."
"You do?" the quartz asked genuinely surprised.
Pink knelt down so they could see eye to eye. "Rose Quartz, I have a proposition for you. How would you like to help me save this world?"
A bit short, but hey, it's done!
