"Why won't you answer me?"

Amethyst and Pearl were cleaning up outside, silent and stunned, their bickering almost silent, contained in whispers. Garnet sat on the couch, Steven beside her. She stared into her palms, Steven's hand gentle against her arm.

"Who was that?" his voice was soft, scared, "Who did she used to be?"

"Moonstone."

"Huh?"

Garnet didn't move. No emotion stained her face. Her eyes, beneath the shades, were wide, shining with fear like a trio of moons. She shuffled slightly in her seat, as if her formidable oak of a body was stirred by a breeze, chilled by a soft gust of wind. She pursed her lips a little, mouth dry.

"She was a crystal gem."

Like the members of the cluster, thought Steven, but he restrained himself from speaking. Garnet didn't need that.

"She was a… friend of mine. One of the first ones to approve of me being a…" The word caught on her lips and she was forced to cough it out. "Fusion. But she was obsessed with knowledge. She wanted to find complete omniscience."

Steven's hand rested in Garnet's. Her fingers closed around it and squeezed gently.

"She found it."

His adoring eyes spurred her on. He was enthralled. Horrified but captivated by the nature of the story. It was sick, and he still wasn't comfortable with the idea of monsters being made of former gems, but it just lit a morbid fire of fascination in his stomach. He wanted to cry but he couldn't stop listening.

"Nobody is supposed to know everything. Moonstone learned a lot of things. A lot of things she wasn't supposed to know. For a while, she was Homeworld's oracle, but she began to ask for… sacrifices, for offerings, of living gems, and-"

"And she was the gem cannibal?"

"I didn't want you to learn about this, Steven."

Steven was silent for a moment. "Did my mom try to help her?"

Garnet couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Of course. She tried to help everyone. But the gem cannibal was changed by her hunger. Hungry things are desperate, Steven."

Captivated, Steven remembered seagulls dive-bombing the boardwalk to steal chips. He remembered the day one landed too hard, having not pulled up fast enough, and how it laid there, splayed and broken on the ground, squawking uselessly, until a globule of drool healed its injuries and it fled in a dazed, shrieking arc.

"She said a lot of things. She abandoned us. Rose tried to help her but it was too late. And the gem cannibal is strongest on the night of a diamond moon. So Rose trapped her in the temple, weakened her with the diamond sigil. And Rose, she promised-"

Garnet sighed.

"Promised to help her one day. Make her better."

"But she never did, huh."

She grunted. Steven stared at his feet, withdrawing his hand. After a tense silence, full of lingering silent questions and judgements, Steven asked,

"What was she like?"

Voice breathy, weak as if winded, Garnet replied, "We were good friends. She was nice. Curious. Wouldn't hurt a fly."

Sinking in the seat, Garnet lolled her head to one side, all of her strength abandoning her. She stared at Steven with hopeless eyes.

"Why would someone do that to themselves?"

Rattled, Steven stared ahead of him, lacing his fingers. He hunted desperately for an answer, but found nothing. A weakened, shaking Garnet lifted herself from the couch and shuffled to the other side of the room, into the kitchen, took the pot of drinking chocolate powder from the cupboard and began making Steven a comfort drink.

"I'm sorry, Steven," she struggled out, "You didn't have to hear that."

Fumbling for his words, Steven jumped up. "No, Garnet, it's okay! You're scared, and I- I get it if you wanna be alone-!"

"Oh, Steven." Garnet put some milk in the microwave to heat it, then turned to Steven with a quivering smile. "I'm never alone."

Steven managed a smile in return, but the uncomfortable silence returned as Garnet stirred the hot cocoa and Steven kicked his legs, listening to Pearl and Amethyst's argument escalate slowly outside. Steven stared out of the window, inhaled the wet scent of the rain-dampened sand, and ventured forth.

"Garnet? Will the other gems regenerate?"

Garnet didn't reply.

She hadn't thought of it before. The mug shook in her hand and she barely heard Steven repeat her name with increasing concern. Would they? Would the victims of the beast be reborn?

And would they be the same as they were before?

THE END