Hi again, and welcome back to Into Oblivion.

I don't have much to say up here, but I do later. Let's get into the chapter first, though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe. Steven Universe is owned by Rebecca Sugar.

Present

"Thoughts"

Author's Note

"We need to head back to the temple. Regroup and come up with a plan."

Pearl said nothing to Garnet. She kept her hands glued behind her back, and she paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... her teammate was tempted to roll her eyes. All three of them.

"Pearl, we lost him again. There's no use dwelling on it."

"I'M NOT DWELLING, ALL RIGHT?! I'm... I'm thinking of what to do!"

Now Garnet rolled them. "It'd be a lot better if you did that with us instead of by yourself."

Pearl stared at her teammate, mouth hanging open, hand balled, and index finger pointed up. But after a moment or two of silence, she dropped her hand, shut her mouth, and sighed.

"... Yes, you're right. I'm sorry, Garnet."

"It's fine. We're all under tremendous stress, it's understandable."

Pearl sulked over to Garnet, head hung low. She plopped down next to her on the rock, and folded her hands.

"Where are we, even?"

"I have no idea," shrugged Garnet. "Some island in the ocean. It's nice."

Pearl lifted her head and glanced around. Trees swayed gently in the wind, the neverending ripple of the ocean against the beach, even an occasional bird flying overhead with a noise or two to make. Garnet was right, it was nice.

Especially for someone else.

"Do you think they went back to Mask Island? It's one of the most familiar spots on Earth for Lapis at this point, so-"

Garnet shook her head, interrupting Pearl. "No, definitely not. She's too smart to go back there. Besides, I've checked my future vision a few times, and... I don't know where they are."

"Well, at least give some locations! Surely you have a few places narrowed down."

To Pearl's dismay, Garnet shook her head once more. Her face fell crestfallen. "No, I don't. One future has them landing on an island just like this, another one a populated city, even one back at the temple. But none of them are definite... and none of them help us."

Pearl groaned. She put her hand on her forehead, the tips of her fingers gently rubbing her gem. "I understand... he could be anywhere on the planet, couldn't he."

Garnet hesitated for a moment. But after a quiet deep breath, she nodded.

Pearl, on the other hand, lowered her hand from her face and crossed her arms. She stared at Garnet for a touch longer, eventually earning her attention. She couldn't see her teammate's eyes behind her shades, but she had an idea she was a bit confused.

"Garnet, I need you to tell me. In any of the futures you saw, did Lapis tell Steven about... it?"

Garnet's mouth plummeted into a frown. From behind her sunglasses, she tightly closed her three eyes, half in frustration, and half in sadness.

"In all of them."

"Corrine, wake up. It's time to rise."

Connie rolled over to her other side at once. Peridot was still sitting down cross legged, while Jasper was up and about. The larger gem had her back turned to them, and it was very apparent she wasn't listening.

"You heard all that, right?" whispered Peridot, in a much quieter voice. Connie nodded.

"Yeah, all of it... I guess now we know what kind of a gem Jasper is. I still believe it's wrong, but I think we need to put her back in the bubble now."

Peridot blinked. Then she laughed, just once.

"Uh... that isn't exactly an option anymore. You know that, right?"

"Wait, what?! You... you don't have a way of catching her again?"

"That's correct, unless you think you can take Jasper in a fistfight. I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but you left your sword at the fountain."

Connie gagged. Her eyes widened as the thought seeped into her mind; Peridot was right. They had no way of fighting Jasper off (though Connie doubted she could take her on even if she did have the sword), and thus no method of trapping her in the bubble. She was free to do as she wanted... and if a few minutes ago was any indication, she wanted to return to Homeworld.

And destroy the Earth, too. Can't forget that.

"PERIDOT!"

Peridot's head snapped to Jasper. She'd turned around at some point during her talk with Connie, and she was looking the green gem dead in the eyes. Peridot gulped, but nodded anyway.

"Peridot, order the human to rise and follow. We're moving out."

"Moving out? Where?"

Jasper turned her head. She looked out beyond the meadow, fists balled tight, and eyebrows scrunched in apparent anger. Peridot and Connie swapped glances, nervousness shining both their eyes.

"Somewhere that we can contact Homeworld. Human!"

Connie blinked in surprise, but then quickly put on a dumb smile; she couldn't risk breaking character. "Uh, yep?"

"I know humans have invented radio communication. Lead me to a hub powerful enough to contact the Yellow Diamond quadrant of the universe."

"Hee hee, you got it! Just give me a minute to, eh, consult with me best bud."

Connie put her hand on Peridot's shoulder, and they both turned their backs to Jasper. They crouched low, and spoke in furious whispers:

"What do I say? What do I tell her?!"

"I have no idea. But whatever you do, you can't lead her back to Beach City!"

"What? Why not? Then Garnet and Pearl can help us defeat her!"

"And have a huge battle in the middle of the town? We can't have that, people will get hurt. Who knows what Jasper will do?"

"But what about us, Peridot? She'll realize we're leading her nowhere eventually!"

Peridot stood up and turned around. She wore a big, fake grin all over her face.

"She says she knows just the place! We'll follow her."

Connie looked at her with wide, desperate eyes. The faux smile washed away from Peridot's face, swapped for a blank expression with sorrow filled eyes. "Sorry..." she whispered. "We'll come up with a plan in a bit."

"What are we waiting for, then? Let's go."

Connie gulped. She slowly rose to her feet, and turned her back to the two. She faced the open plains, opposite the direction of Beach City.

"Yes. Let's go."

"I knew I shouldn't have told him."

As the thought crossed her mind, Lapis shook her head. Whether he was upset or not, letting him know what was bothering her was the right thing to do. She couldn't just sit around and brood without him knowing forever, after all.

But maybe for a while longer. The doubt in her mind returned.

"Maybe he won't even come back... no, that's ridiculous. Even if he wanted to leave, he can't get off the island. He's stuck here..."

Lapis sighed and rolled her eyes.

The island. A nice place, sure. Lush forest, beautiful beaches, even a small mountain! Nice and remote, too, far from civilization.

That last bit was a problem for Steven.

While she liked the island for its isolation-truth be told, they could probably hide from the gems for hundreds of years here-Steven was an entirely different matter. She didn't know a huge amount about humans, but she did know they needed certain resources. Food, for one thing. And on the island, she knew it was going to be in short supply.

And of course, the psychological effect, too.

If his reaction when he woke up was any indication, Steven already missed home. Badly. And regardless of what she did to make their situation as nice as possible, it simply wouldn't be a substitute for him. Not now, and not ever. He didn't want to stay, and there was nothing she could do to instill that in him.

Lapis sighed. "We'll figure it out when he comes back..."

Pearl watched the islands whip by below her. One after another, and another, and another, and another... it was an endless number, really.

And Steven could be on any one of them.

Pearl shook her head as the thought crossed her mind. Wherever the child was, it definitely wasn't on one of these. They were probably somewhere bigger, like one of the continents. Heck, maybe even still flying.

But she didn't know.

"Garnet?" said Pearl, raising her voice against the roaring wind. The bird form of her teammate cocked her head back, signaling her attention. "What are we going to do when we get back?"

"Meet with Amethyst and Peridot. We'll put our heads together and think of something when we get there."

Pearl nodded, but with a frown. She didn't say it out loud, but in her head she immediately questioned the plan; what good would it be to turn to Amethyst and Peridot, aside from merely filling them in? It wasn't like they knew anything more than she and Garnet did.

Pearl shrugged. There was no harm in asking.

"Garnet, what exactly are you planning? I don't really see much use in going to Peridot and Amethyst, they don't know anything."

"Not right now, no. But we need to fill them in. And I have a feeling Peridot will be the key to helping us find Lapis."

"Peridot?" Pearl brushed her hand over her forehead, swiping away a few loose locks of hair. "How?"

"She knows Lapis better than any of us. I know it's a long shot, but we have to try everything we can."

Pearl said nothing. She pressed her hand to her wind matted hair, keeping it from drifting in her vision further, and stared straight ahead. The coast was coming up soon, and eventually Beach City. It would only be a few more minutes...

"Yeah, I guess. I just hope this doesn't backfire. I have a feeling it will."

"We'll be fine. We have to get a lead somewhere."

"Yes, but how is this a lead?" Pearl shook her head, though she knew Garnet couldn't see it. "We're going back to where we started without so much as a hint ourselves, and we're somehow supposed to get one from them?"

"Like I said, I know it's a long shot!" said Garnet. She raised her voice at the end of her statement. "But as it stands right now, the trail's dead. She used the ocean to get away, and we can't compete with that. Right now, the best hope is to have Peridot give us her best guess on what she might do, and the truth is she'll probably know that better than any of us."

"We're wasting time. Let's get back out there."

"We're done discussing this."

Pearl rolled her eyes.

"Human!"

"Uhyep?"

"How much further?"

Connie put her hand above her eyes, blotting out the sun. She slowly swiveled her gaze around, taking it all in: the lust meadow, the bountiful clouds, the endless fields ahead... pretending like she was looking for something.

"Uh, I don't know. A little while more."

Jasper sneered. She ran her boot along the ground, scratching a line in the dirt. When she finished it, she admired her creation for a moment... and then stepped on it.

"Great. Keep going."

Connie nodded. She continued her brisk pace ahead, Jasper in tow, and Peridot at her side. From the corner of her eye, however, she glanced at the green gem. "Psst!"

"What?" whispered Peridot.

"What are we even doing here? You know she's gonna realize we're not leading here anywhere eventually, right?"

"Yes, of course I do! And I've been thinking of a plan." Peridot slightly craned her neck, and struggled to see behind her; Jasper had her eyes glued to the ground, not at them. "But we'll have to be... careful."

"Careful?"

"Here's what I've been thinking: one of us has to slip away and alert the Crystal Gems. Then we have to get them out here, in this isolated area, and have them help us put Jasper back in her bubble."

"But then why didn't we just go back to Beach City in the first place?!" Connie replied. "This doesn't make any sense, you forcing me to lead her out here's only making things harder!"

"I know that! It's just, well... I..."

Peridot closed her eyes and sighed. Connie's eyes quickly melted from anger to a small trace of sympathy.

"Connie, I didn't want them to see what I'd done. It was my idea to let Jasper go, and now I think we can both see that was a mistake. I didn't want to take responsibility... I'm sorry."

Connie eyed Peridot. The gem couldn't even so much as look in her direction; she kept her eyes closed (Connie imagined in shame), and her head hung low. Her feet dragged along the ground, and by matching her pace, she significantly slowed them down.

"Hey! What's the delay? Keep moving!"

Peridot's eyes snapped open. She stopped.

"Jasper, Corrine informed me of something urgent."

"Urgent?"

"Indeed. She said in order for the communication hub she's leading us to to work, she requires an external power supply. She'll have to return to her base to collect it. Now."

Jasper's face, blank a moment ago, quickly contorted in anger. "Wait, go back? You mean you've been leading us out here for nothing?!"

"Uh, nope!" jumped in Connie. "The base, is, uuuuuuhhh, just a little ways away! I'll be back in a jiffy, yep!"

Peridot bit her tongue to suppress a laugh. Connie really was a master at her role.

"... Fine. Go. Make it quick."

Connie quickly nodded. Without even a glance at either gem, she took off sprinting away, back the way they came. Back to Beach City...

She had a job to do.

Steven jumped up. He couldn't quite reach it, but he was getting close.

Growing on a particularly large palm tree, a bright orange bunch of fruit beckoned. They were roughly the size of oranges, and to Steven, they looked like some sort of berry. He wasn't quite sure what kind they were, but he didn't particularly care; as long as they weren't poisonous, they were edible, and he needed food. The coconuts Lapis gave him weren't cutting it.

Steven stared up at the highest palm leaves, arms crossed. He knew climbing the tree was impossible; the trunk was way too bare to get a grip, and it was too big to wrap his arms around. There was no hope of jumping that high, either, but maybe if he could throw something...

Steven glanced around the beach. Lodged in the sand a few feet away, a rock stuck out. He walked over and yanked it free; it was a good size, only a little smaller than his palm. If he could get a good throw at the palm tree, he could probably knock the entire bunch down... and he'd have himself a meal.

Steven turned to the tree. He raised the rock high, ready to throw. He closed one eye and stuck his tongue out a little, aiming carefully...

With a heave, he chucked the rock at the palm tree. It sailed right over the top, high into the sky, and gone.

"..."

He looked at the tree. The leaves swayed gently in the wind... mocking him. Or so he felt.

"AAAGH!"

Steven sprinted at the tree. He stuck his arms out, and his hands collided with the trunk; he dug at the bark with his fingers, desperately vying for a grip. He never got it.

With a grunt, he then started to shake the tree. But even with all his strength, he couldn't shake anything loose. Whatever this tree was made of... THE TREE.

Steven let go. He took a step back, his head rising. He saw the bright orange berries again, calling him...

"COME ON, CAN'T YA CUT ME A BREAK?! LET ME UP THERE!"

Steven hopped once. Not enough. He hopped again. Still not enough. Actually, shorter than last time.

And then he jumped again. He flew right up in the air, high above the tree. Above all the trees.

He didn't fly up for long. He quickly lost momentum, and gravity took over from there. But when his ascent stopped, he didn't plummet to the ground; rather, he found himself suspended in place, slowly drifting down. He was FLOATING!

Somehow.

"Wha-uh-when-I... HELP! HELP!"

Steven's emotions brewed over in panic. He started to fall faster; by that point, though, he was already close to the ground. He softly fell face first into the sand.

"... What was that?"

Steven lifted himself up. He rose to his feet and brushed the sand from his shirt.

Even now, he still had no clue what just overtook him, but whatever it was, it had never happened to him before. He didn't understand it, either; was he flying? Hovering? And how did he jump so high in the first place? Even with superhuman strength, he could never go that far, not before. Otherwise he would've grabbed the fruit from the palm tree long ago.

He had to know if it was a fluke or not.

Steven jumped again, but softer. He effortlessly rose into the air, and stopped just at the top of the palm tree. He reached out and grabbed the fruit.

He grinned. It seemed he had a little control over it.

Okay guys, here we go. I told you I have a lot to say down here, and I meant it.

By now, I'm sure you guys have heard about Summer of Steven. And like you, I'm absolutely thrilled about it. I mean, come on; a new episode EVERY weekday for the past month? Jeez man, this is insane. Overwhelming, even.

... And to be honest, that's where the problem lies. When I first thought up this story, it was in the hiatus before the Birthday Bomb. Malachite hadn't yet been found, so it was relevant at the time. But now, with everything since, things have changed; we got past Malachite (which I was planning to be the basis of my story) long ago, and it's becoming really obvious Lapis is going to fit right in with the Crystal Gems. The polar opposite of what we have here so far.

Now, the reason I bring all this up is because of two factors. The first... well, all this has me discouraged. Because we're going to be getting so many new episodes in the SOS, it's painfully obvious that any ideas I had in mind will be completely irrelevant, and it'll only become even more apparent in time. To be blunt, that's just unbelievably demoralizing, and it feels to me like everything I'll be doing (to be honest, I already feel this way a little bit) is useless, with the show adding so many new details and what not.

The second factor, and I've never really let on to this before, is that I just don't like writing this story as much as I thought I would. Honestly, I think you can tell just by comparing this to Don't Even Bother; the chapters here are shorter, they have MUCH more of an aimless feel, and there just isn't as much heart in it. At the core of it all, I write because it's enjoyable, but I'm just not finding it here. That's entirely my fault, but it's still the truth.

So, what does all this mean? Well... basically, I'm gonna wrap this story up a little sooner than I originally thought. It'll have a proper conclusion, but now it's coming quicker than I initially planned. If this is disappointing to you, I'm sorry, but if I keep going along with what I originally had in mind (a story as long or longer than Don't Even Bother), it'll reach the point where it feels like I'm banging my head against a wall writing it, and it'll be similar for you reading it. Neither of us want that, trust me.

I know I've already said this, but I strongly feel the need to stress it again: I am NOT abandoning this story. Regardless of what it seems like, I promise you this story WILL have an ending, and I'll try my hardest to make it the absolute best ending I can. It's just coming a little sooner than I anticipated, which is why I'm telling you all this in the first place.

Well, there we have it. I don't know how many chapters are left, but there'll be several, at least. We still have some hurdles to jump (and they're big ones) so it'll be an exciting ride, and a fast moving one too. Here we go.