Hello again, and welcome back to Into Oblivion.
I'm remarkably bad at coming up with author's notes. Seriously. I guess we should just get on with the story then, huh?
Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe. Steven Universe is owned by Rebecca Sugar.
Present
"Thoughts"
Author's Note
"AAAAAAAAGGGGHH!"
Steven jumped up from his mattress, and he tumbled to the ground as his feet gave way. He tore the sheets from his sweat drenched body, and then shut his eyes and moved his arms to cover his head. He silently hoped to protect himself from Jasper's powerful fists; he knew summoning his shield or bubble was futile at such close range.
Nothing happened.
Slowly, agonizingly, the seconds ticked by. Unable to keep his curiosity in check, Steven's right eye creaked open. The first sight he came upon was what seemed to be a floor; he wasn't falling through the water like he last remembered. He lifted his right hand from his head and brought it to the ground, and gently rubbed it against the surface.
It was dry.
"Wait a second..."
Steven fully opened his eyes, and he glanced around the room. His eyes came to rest on the painting of his mother, hanging above the front door downstairs. The front door of the beach house.
He wasn't in the fusion realm anymore. He was home.
Steven gasped a sigh of relief. He swallowed his throat and relaxed his muscles; he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and his head wasn't far behind. He propped himself against the side of his bed for a moment to recover.
To make absolutely sure he wasn't imagining, Steven looked around again, but this time expanding downstairs; everything in the house was exactly as he remembered it. It wasn't some crazy illusion or trick.
Steven sighed.
"Jeez, that dream was something... Garnet was right, all that stuff about Mala-"
Steven's thought crashed to a stop. His eyes opened wide.
"Wait a second... dream... Malachite...!"
"Oh no... no no no no NO! That wasn't just a dream, that was another vision! Is Lapis all right?!"
Steven swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew he had jogged his memory, and everything he saw came rushing back: Lapis, Jasper, the fusion realm, all the things he saw and heard... including Malachite's location. The last of what Lapis had told him.
Steven jumped to his feet. His neck craned to look downstairs, and at the temple door. He turned his feet and readied to move, but stopped just short of lifting his legs.
"Hold on... wait. I told Lapis I'd keep the Crystal Gems away from her..."
Steven looked at the temple door again. The stone faintly glowed in the reflection of the warp pad, and he could see the tiny, circular gems embedded in the center star. Pearl. Amethyst. Ruby and Sapphire. Peridot. His own.
Steven sighed and took a breath. He walked to the edge of his bed and sat down.
"I... I can't bring them with me, after the way she acted. It's too risky. But..."
Steven knew he had a serious dilemma on his hands. If he brought the Crystal Gems, then Lapis might not want to split Malachite; she was already on the fence as is, and he didn't need to risk upsetting her further. But if he didn't bring them, and things were to get dicey...
Steven rubbed his hand through his hair. He needed some time to think about this.
"Come on, what's the worst that can happen? Aside from saying no..."
Steven paced from his television set to the foot of his bed yet again. He kept his eyes planted to the ground as he weaved and bobbed across scattered items of junk. It had been nearly ten minutes since he last stubbed his toe, the longest interval since he began.
"Once I explain everything to her, I'm sure she'll understand... I hope. Will she?"
Steven's nervous eyes settled on his nightstand. His cell phone still lay on the table.
Steven took a breath. His left foot slowly lifted off the ground and inched forward in the air, ever so slightly. Every muscle in his leg urged him to bring it down, to take the very first step to where his mind screamed for him to go.
He lowered it back.
"Why? Why am I such a coward?" he thought. "She's my best friend, she won't hang up on me! Besides, she was there when we went to talk to Lapis... and she's braver than anyone I know. She can help me free her..."
Steven looked at the table. His heart pounded in his chest again.
The low rumbling of a vibrating phone echoed throughout the room. It continued uninterrupted for one ring. Two. And then, before it had the chance to go for a third, a hand reached over and picked it up, and fumbled for the 'answer call' button. She pressed it and held the device to her ear.
"Ugh... hello?"
"Connie, it's me. I need to talk to you."
"Steven? Do you have any idea what time it is?" Connie sat up in her bed and glanced at her digital clock: 1:02 AM. "What on Earth do you need?"
"Wait, it's past ONE? Jeez, I didn't even look... okay, I know it's probably a bad time, but—"
"Yes, Steven, I'd say calling two minutes after one in the morning is a bad time!" Connie ran a hand through her tangled, messy bedhead. She plopped back down into her pillows and rolled to her side. "What do you need so badly?"
He didn't answer right away. Connie tapped her finger against her pillowcase.
"... Connie, please, this is important. Just hear me out."
She couldn't help but sigh. "With what? Why can't this wait until later?"
"I'll explain as I go along," said Steven. "Do you remember what I told you about Malachite? That day I said I didn't want to be friends with you?"
"Malachite? Yeah... isn't she the fusion at the bottom of the ocean? The one with Lapis and Jasper?"
"That's right," replied Steven, "and that means you know how we've been looking for her for forever. And now we found her... actually, scratch that. Only I did. But I know where she is."
"You do? Well, that's good to hear..." mumbled Connie. She moved the phone from her ear and stifled a yawn before putting it back up. "But I still don't get why you're calling me. Shouldn't you guys go and rescue her?"
"It's not that easy. I've been thinking about it, and... I just can't do it with the others. They can't know about this."
"Why not? Steven, it isn't like you to keep secrets from them."
"I know, but just—" Connie heard him groan on the other end. "Look. Don't you remember how we all got in a big fight, when Lapis sucked up the ocean? I was able to talk her out of that when I healed her gem, but she still doesn't trust the Crystal Gems. If I bring them with me, she might do something dangerous, maybe even as Malachite! I'm not even sure she trusts me anymore..."
Connie's mind kicked into overdrive. He did bring up a good point about their battle for the ocean; Lapis definitely had malicious feelings towards the Crystal Gems, and as far as she knew, the past few months gave her no reason to change. Maybe having the gems around to rescue her really wasn't such a good idea, like Steven said. Would she even accept their help in the first place?
"But something doesn't add up..." thought Connie. "If he's not going to bring the Crystal Gems, then why—"
Her thought died on arrival. She knew exactly where he was going with this.
"Steven... is this because you want me to come with you?"
Steven shut his eyes. A small frown spread across his lips.
"... How did you know?"
"You wouldn't have called me otherwise. And since you aren't going with the Crystal Gems, well..."
Steven scratched the back of his neck and nodded, even though she wasn't there to see it. He plopped down on the edge of his bed, leaned forward, and locked his eyes with the ground. He hesitated for a moment.
"... Connie, I understand if you don't want to do this. To be completely honest, I have no idea what's going to happen once we get there. I'm hoping we can kind of just talk to her and have her unfuse peacefully, but..." Steven gently sighed and let himself slouch. He waved his feet through the air, and his heels clacked with each other. "I wouldn't count on it. If you don't want to come, that's fine. It's your choice."
Connie lowered her phone and gently set it on her nightstand, face up. She signed and rested her chin in her cupped hands.
She knew she had become stronger since the day the ocean was sucked up. Her sword fighting lessons with Pearl were more than enough proof. She had even gone on a few missions with Steven and the others, and she'dhad many practice sessions with him. They had perfected their sword-and-shield strategy, and they made a very formidable team. Offense and defense.
But from what Steven told her, it seemed Malachite was far worse than anything they'd ever fought before. Even the Crystal Gems were scared of her, or at the very least wary. And now, in the middle of the night (or technically morning), she and Steven were supposed to run off and fight her?
And for what?
She had to know. Connie reached over and picked up her phone.
"Steven, why are you doing this?"
Steven closed his eyes and fell back into his bed. His left arm loosely fell to his side as he sank further and further into the mattress, the covers sucking him in their embrace.
It really wasn't that hard of a hard question. He already knew.
"Connie, I'm doing this for Lapis. She's my friend."
"Yes, but think about this for a second. You're going to rush in blindly, and, if she won't listen to you, fight the most powerful gem you've ever faced without the rest of the team! You could get really hurt, or even... is Lapis really worth all that to you?"
"YES, CONNIE, SHE IS!"
Steven didn't mean to shout, but it came out anyways. His head whipped to the temple door as the words left his throat; he was relieved to see it wasn't opening. Nevertheless, he shot up from his bed and ran down his bedroom stairs, and he then yanked the front door open and stepped outside. He suppressed a shiver as the cold nighttime air hit him.
"Connie, I freed her from the mirror, and I healed her gem!" continued Steven. "You don't know her like I do... and I've seen what she's going through, even as we speak."
"You've seen what she's going through?" asked Connie. "What do you—"
"In a dream. Actually, more like a vision," interrupted Steven. "I still don't know exactly how it works, but every now and then, our minds connect, and I can talk to her. It hasn't happened in a while, but... it happened tonight. That's how I found out where she is. I even got to see what being a part of Malachite is like."
"... And?"
The memories came rushing back to him. Steven suppressed another shiver.
"Connie, it's awful... she's bound in this dark room by chains, and she's always fighting to keep Jasper trapped. If she lets go for even a second, then she loses control of the fusion. She's suffering so much... and that's all she's done, ever since I've known her! I have to help!"
Connie's eyes grew wide.
She had no doubt Steven was telling the truth. He wouldn't be shouting in the phone at one in the morning if he was lying. And of course, this meant that everything he described, from his conversation with Lapis to existing as Malachite, was the truth.
And then there were the risks. She could still remember what he told her about Malachite that day on the beach: Malachite was unbelievably powerful. She had complete control of the entire ocean, like Lapis, and the brute strength of Jasper.
But still he wanted to confront her. And it was all to save his friend.
"Steven..." she thought. A small smile curled her lips. "You really do have a heart of gold..."
"Steven, I—"
"Connie, it's fine. I'll just go by myself. Don't worry about me."
"No, wait, stop!" she interjected. "That's not what I'm going to say. I want to come with you."
Save for what sounded like wind hitting the microphone, the phone line fell silent. Connie's smile grew wider, and she let her mind race with possibilities of what was going through his own. "I'd say he seems surprised..."
Steven's lips went dry. He walked over to the little plastic chair near the end of the porch and took a seat.
"... Really? You're not joking?"
"Of course not," replied Connie. "Why would you even think that?"
"I-it's just, um..." stammered Steven, his mind fumbling to finish his thought. When he spoke again, his voice barely rippled above a whisper. "You were on the fence a minute ago. Why'd you change?"
"Steven, I don't really know Lapis all that well, like you said. But I can see that you really trust her... and if you do, then I will too."
Steven found nothing to say. He ran a hand through his hair and gently leaned back in the plastic chair. And then he heard Connie giggle on the other end, gentle yet clear. "And besides," she said, "what are friends for?"
Steven's mind fell blank. And then, before he even knew it himself, his face cracked open into an ear to ear smile.
"Connie... thanks. Thank you so much..."
"Connie... thanks. Thank you so much..."
"It's no problem, Steven. You know I just want to help." The young girl's face fell solemn as the words left her lips, however. She swung her legs the edge of her bed and turned on her nightstand's lamp. "But you know if we're going to do this, we need to have a plan. When are we leaving?"
"We're leaving now," replied Steven. "If we're lucky, we might get this done before sunrise. Can you be ready to go in ten minutes?"
"You got it," replied Connie. She hopped down from her bed and walked over to her dresser. She held her phone against her ear with her shoulder, and she used both hands to pull open the bottom drawer: her training outfit beckoned. "I'll be good in five."
"Great. I'll explain the plan once I get there."
Connie grunted in acknowledgement. Moving the phone from her shoulder to her hand, her thumb hovered just above the End Call button when she heard his voice one last time. "Oh, Connie?"
"Yeah?"
"Bring my mom's sword. Just in case."
Connie's finger ran across the brilliant pink scabbard of Rose Quartz's sword. Quietly sighing to herself, she tore her eyes away and quickly looked side-to-side down the street. He still hadn't arrived.
"Ugh... where is he?" Connie mumbled to herself. She then took her phone from her pocket and pressed the home button: the clock read 1:49 AM. "Jeez, if he wants to get this done before sunrise, he better get—"
Connie's thought was interrupted by a bright white flash, tearing through the night sky and brightening the dark. She had to shield her eyes at first, but the brightness quickly faded and encapsulated itself in a ball. It hovered in the air for just a moment, and then shifted itself into a bright white ring and settled above her driveway. And then, not even a moment later, Lion hopped out of the ring, and Steven was sitting on his back.
As the big cat screeched to a halt, Connie's eyes scanned over her best friend: he was still wearing his usual t-shirt and jeans, completed by his sandals. His cheeseburger backpack was slung around his shoulder, and a few loose pieces of paper stuck up from the open pockets.
"Steven, what took you so long? It's been more than half an hour. Didn't you read the texts I sent you?" said Connie as she walked up to him. Steven turned to face her and smiled.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that... I turned off my phone and hid it. I felt bringing it with me would be unnecessary, and Peridot would probably use something to track me with it."
"Yeah, yeah..." Connie looked over his shoulder, and at his overstuffed backpack. "What's in the bag?"
"This? Oh, just some extra supplies. Food, water, and a lot of maps. Mostly of the oceans."
"Oh... yeah, that makes sense. Good idea." Connie walked back to her porch and picked up Rose's sword. She held it by the handle and balanced it on her shoulder, and then made her way back to Lion and Steven. "I brought your mom's sword, like you asked."
"Good," nodded Steven. "I don't want us to have to use it, but if it comes to that..."
"Don't worry, Steven, we'll be fine. Now, what's this big plan you said you had for us?"
"Oh, that's right! Here, let me show you." Steven took off his cheeseburger backpack and set it on the ground. He pulled out a map from the largest pouch and unfolded it, and he gently tugged at the paper to remove the wrinkles.
"Okay, you see this little island right here?" he said as he pointed to a tiny dot in the far right corner. Connie squinted to see it in the dark.
"Yeah, you already told me about an island in the only text message you replied to. Is that where she is?"
"Yeah. Well... actually, I think she's near it, not necessarily on it. They might still be underwater."
"Underwater?" Connie tapped her finger against her leg. "If they're not on land, then how are we going to reach them?"
"It'll be tricky, but I think we can make it work. Remember the time I formed the bubble by accident, and we went down into that ocean trench?"
"Of course I remember that! That's when we became friends," smiled Connie. "But do you really think that's going to work? She might be able to smash the bubble, or suck up the ocean around us."
"Yeah, that might be a bit of a problem... but I think we can figure that part out when we get there. For now, let's get to the important stuff: what we're actually going to do once we talk to her.
"Connie, Garnet told me about what Malachite feels like to Lapis and Jasper, and she knows about fusion better than anyone. And what they have right now is an awful, terrible place to be. She's like a time bomb, waiting to go off at any time. And that's why I'm not bringing the Crystal Gems."
"I still don't really understand that," said Connie. "If she's dangerous, isn't that the reason why they should be coming along?"
"Normally yes, but this time's different," replied Steven. "Lapis doesn't trust them. I think we might be able to persuade Malachite to unfuse if it's just the two of us, but having the others there might make her want to stay together and fight. I know it seems kind of flip-flopped, but trust me: we'll be better off on our own. And... well, there's also the promise."
"Promise? What promise?"
Steven looked Connie in the eyes. "I made a promise to Lapis that the Crystal Gems, once we free her, wouldn't bother her. And I want to keep it."
Connie curtly nodded, and effectively dropped the subject. Nevertheless, her hand anxiously fiddled with the handle of Rose's sword, and her foot absentmindedly tapped the ground; she still wasn't entirely convinced Steven's plan was really the right thing to do.
"Okay, to keep it simple: we go in, we talk to Malachite, and she unfuses. Problem solved," recapped Steven. He rolled up the map and stuck it back in his cheeseburger backpack, before hoisting it up and slinging it on his shoulders. "It'll probably be a little more complicated than that, but we'll figure it out. You ready to go?"
"Wait, hold on! It feels like we're missing something..." said Connie. "If we can get Malachite to unfuse, what are we going to do about Lapis and Jasper separately?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, that's a good point..." Steven mumbled. "I don't think we really need to worry about Lapis, but I'm not sure what we'll do about Jasper. We'll figure it out."
Though part of her wanted to refute his plan, Connie couldn't help but grin. Even if she had her doubts, she had to admit Steven's unusual aura of confidence was rather infectious.
"Okay, you ready now?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts. Her small grin evolved into a wide smile.
"You bet. Let's do this."
Steven walked over to Lion and gave him a pat on the side. The big cat let out a low growl, and squatted low to the ground and straightened his back. Connie and Steven took the initiative and hopped on.
"Okay Lion, you know the drill," said Steven. "Take us to the island I told you about. Whenever you're ready."
Lion needed no further encouragement. With a great spring in his step, he jumped to his feet, and his legs kicked into action. Pebbles from the street kicked up every which way, and gentle clouds of dust emerged from behind as he started to run, his paws coordinating with each other to pick up speed. To the two on his back, the wind whipped in their faces, and the houses blurred together in white and gray globs.
After a few seconds at a steady pace, Lion opened his maw wide and let loose a terrific roar. A portal sprang free and opened just down the road, exactly like the one from when they first arrived. Through the wormhole, Connie and Steven could see the sand of a beach, and the choppy waters of the ocean.
And without missing a step, Lion jumped up and pushed them all through.
When I post the next chapter, it'll probably be an hour or so after the half hour special, maybe less. It'll be a fun time, lol.
Have a nice day.