A/N: This is the longest chapter so far, but I could not find a spot where I wanted to stop it until what is currently the end of it. And this one is a doozy.
Some content warnings (character death, pregnancy mention) and someone gets called a clod.
This chapter received some of the best commentary out of all of the in the stream. Especially at two certain parts near the end.
Thank you all again for the reviews (and I apologize for any spit out drinks). The next chapter will be the last for this part of the fic, so I'll possibly be taking a break in between to edit the earlier parts before I post any of chapters 21 onward. I'm having a divergent point coming up with the next chapter and have posted a poll regarding it. I have both diverging paths planned out but I can't decide which I like better. Both paths will end in the same place, ultimately.
Feel free to review and vote in the poll!
-Four Faces
Buck, Jenny, and Sour Cream sat at the top of the hill in Lighthouse park. After the Desert Glass had been bubbled, Sour Cream had been updated by the two of them on the events that had taken place in Beach City. The three had expected training to resume but soon realized that the gems were trying to revive their shattered army. Sour Cream knew it was for the best that they didn't train, however. Jenny was still shaken up and Buck had become even quieter now. Onion was slowly starting to forgive himself, but it would be risky to let him near any of the gems that had been emerging.
He stared out over the ocean, wistfully, as Buck lay in his lap and Jenny played with his hair.
"You know, Ronaldo would have had a field day with this," Sour Cream chuckled.
"Yeah, but I think it's better that he's been in Keystone. This might have made his head explode," Jenny laughed.
"Lars probably wouldn't mind," Buck murmured sardonically.
Sour Cream grinned and leaned his head on Jenny's shoulder.
"I wonder when it will be safe to check on Steven and the Gems?" he asked.
"They'll let us know ... or they'll tell us to evacuate."
They heard a rustling behind them. All three heads whipped around to see a dark blue woman with golden eyes. Her hair was short, clipped tight, and seemed to have a golden sheen in its' dark green hue. She looked at the pair, her eyes sad and pained. In between her eyes was a polished, Labradorite. She clutched something in her hands.
"I'm sorry to intrude ..." She started. "I wanted to come up here to think, but ..."
"No, come on and sit down," Sour Cream smiled, welcoming her to the group. "You must be one of the Crystal Gems."
"Well, I was thousands of years ago ... I suppose I still am. I just needed to get away for a while," she started, looking down at her clasped hands.
Buck nodded and continued to look out at the ocean.
They did not notice Labradorite look down at her hands, sadly, the glint of the sun catching the broken gem.
"I don't like being reminded of it, but it's all around me down there. Everything's changed too ... Rose is apparently gone, the messenger is one of us now ... and there's a Peridot ... We didn't have those yet ..."
Jenny looked over to see the gem in Labradorite's hand. She met eyes with the blue gem and instantly knew.
The four sat, looking out at the ocean.
She knew it was going to be risky. She was aware that there was a chance that she was not going to survive this.
She didn't care. She would do this for the Crystal Gems.
For Steven.
For Connie.
She could recall, when necessary, the schematics of a Diamond ship. She would need a distraction, but with half of the army healed, she could possibly slip in without being noticed.
The plan was simple. Strand the Diamond Authority on Earth in such a way that they would have to negotiate with the Crystal Gems. Connie and Steven could not leave Earth, especially with Connie's condition (which confused and horrified the green gem). The Diamonds would have to stay on Earth to find out whatever they needed, and they could not leave with the human or hybrid. Peridot was certain that this part of the plan could work if she could get onto the ship unseen.
That would be the hard part.
She had not mastered shape shifting like Amethyst did, so transforming into something inconspicuous was out of the question. While she had not had a "cat fingers" incident (which she had only heard about and was appropriately horrified, not leaving Steven's side for several days and occasionally making sure that he did not have any cat heads appearing on his body - Seriously, Rose? This is not making hybrids seem like a good idea at all if they are prone to accidents like this!) she was still afraid to attempt any shape shifting. That was a trait best mastered by Quartz soldiers. She would have to rely on a distraction which would hinge on all of the other gems.
She was not sure if they would have access to Steven's shield this time.
She had noticed he hadn't left Connie's side. She could not blame him, understanding the emotions he felt and knowing the pain of it. The last time Amethyst had poofed, it had caused immense heartache for the green gem.
At the very least, Connie seemed to be doing better. She was still mostly unresponsive, but her color gradually returned. One night, Steven had heard her rasping for breath and his cries had alerted the green gem who took to staying at the bottom of the stairs, keeping watch over the Beach House.
She had originally planned on using Labradorite to help her get in, but the gem was no where to be seen. Steven had tried to heal Azurite once every night, but the gem remained inert. Occasionally, a hand would try to form, glitch, and then disappear.
The worst sign was when Steven had another dream walking incident with the express purpose of finding and reviving Azureite.
She was gone. There was no sign of the gem.
Steven was certain she had been corrupted beyond repair and that the damage had been too great. When he showed Labradorite the inert gem one final time, Labradorite had taken it and left the temple without a word.
This had been about an hour ago and Peridot was finished looking for Labradorite. She would have to figure this out by herself.
"They used to be the technician gem," she had grumbled to Amethyst while she began working out a device to disable a ship. "Granted, Peridots essentially replaced them, but still ... I would think she would be throwing herself into her work now instead of disappearing to who knows where!"
"Not everyone deals with stress the same way, Peri," Amethyst smiled, sadly. "And according to Garnet, they had been partners since before the War.
Peridot sighed and continued work.
"I just don't want the Diamonds to win," she started. "I don't want them experimenting on Steven and Connie either. You never saw what the experiments entailed. They're going to essentially torture them to death. There's no way they are surviving ... and with Connie in the state she has been in ..."
Amethyst's face fell. Peridot was completely right. They had one shot at this and if it failed, they were all dead.
"How has Connie been doing?" Amethyst asked.
In all honesty, Amethyst was hesitant to go anywhere near Connie. She felt a twinge of guilt every time she saw the pink glow from her abdomen.
She was essentially a living Kindergarten now. A reminder of where the purple gem was from. Of the bad things that her kind had done before.
She still made the attempt if Steven asked her to come.
She hadn't been there when Rose gave up her form ...
... She wasn't making that mistake again.
"I wish I could say she is improving," Peridot started, "but she is still not responding. I've been told this is not normal for human pregnancies .. I'm afraid -"
"That the gem is sucking the life out of her," Amethyst finished.
Both of the gems stayed silent. Peridot didn't want to remind Amethyst of her dark origins in a Kindergarten. Of every gem's origins.
"Have you thought at all about how we're going to approach them with our terms?" Peridot started.
"I'm hoping that Garnet can do it. She's better at pretending to be diplomatic than I am. If she would just unfuse for this ... I mean, we all agreed that Sapphire would be the better gem to do this out of all of us, but they are refusing. I can kind of understand, but this is for Steven ..."
Peridot nodded.
The screen door swung open and the two gems looked up to see Labradorite standing in the doorway holding Azurite's gem. She was trembling, a tear threatening to fall down her tear stained cheek.
"Alright ... Peridot, you can use this one. Just use her for something I can wield," the heartbroken gem said.
Landfall was imminent.
White Diamond watched through the view screen as they neared Earth. She kept the communication lines with Yellow Diamond's fleet open. She was eager to get started, but she knew it would be foolish to start the invasion without her.
She looked over to her Pearl who gazed out, eyes wide, at the blue planet. She could imagine that, if her Pearl could think for herself, she would be amazed by the strangeness of the planet. Indeed, it was amazing. White Diamond had visited colonies before, but none of them had so much organic life on it. She was pleased that Jasper had convinced the previous Yellow Diamond to rethink just destroying the planet. She was eager to see how the resources could be used.
She turned to her Peridot who was busy triple checking the weapons systems on the ship. The gem was not concerned with the planet. She was only concerned with her work.
Just as a Peridot should be.
Her mind drifted to the Peridot on Earth. She wondered how a Peridot could become so defective, so disobedient. It worried her, in a way.
She was still glad, however, that Yellow Diamond had not destroyed all of the Peridots like she had with the Labradorites.
After all, the Peridot on Earth was a fluke.
Everything had been pink for as long as she could remember.
She didn't know where she was or what was going on. All she could see were the pink clouds.
She began to start forward again, trying to find a way out.
She had to be dreaming. That was the only explanation.
She saw the shard again. It seemed to feel even more alive than it had before.
There was an instinct, bubbling forward. An instinct to survive.
She felt herself slip deeper into the calm of the room. An amorphous being, made of light, started to form around the shard.
Connie gasped. She knew now what was happening ... what this was.
She almost wanted to succumb, just to bring this being forth. She stopped herself, however. She knew it would crush Steven.
But, if I survive, she thought, then this being might not ...
She thought she could feel another presence. One that should not have been possible, especially in her own inner world.
"You can both survive, but you need to channel that energy ..."
In a way, she knew what the voice meant. She had known that she had been permanently altered by Steven anyway, from his healing to fusing with the hybrid. It had left trace changes. Changes that were building up.
She was not a gem. She knew that.
But she still seemed to have some of that information passed onto her. She needed to learn how to regenerate. How to rewrite her own body.
It seemed impossible, but she hoped it was not. She needed to survive, for both Steven and this gem.
Her child.
Priyanka nearly dropped the phone when Steven told her.
She had worried about letting Connie stay with him so much. She worried that something would happen to her.
Not this, however. Even thinking that her daughter giving in to her thoughts about her friend was a possibility, she didn't think this could kill her.
She wished now that she had asked more about Gem biology. She had figured, assuming that Steven was a hybrid, that this wouldn't have been an issue anyway.
That's a foolish thought, Priyanka. Steven's half gem, himself. How else could that have happened?
She did not want to tell Doug. She didn't want him to know. He would most likely say or do something he would regret later. She had to keep this a secret.
Luckily, he was on a long guard shift so Priyanka was able to leave the house without him asking where she was going.
She needed to see this for herself.
The drive to Beach City felt longer than it ever had. She played every possible scenario in her mind. Connie could be dead by the time she got there. She could end up losing her calm around Steven and make things worse.
She didn't want to think of all of the possibilities, but they kept playing in her head. As she drove through downtown Beach City, she could see a few cars quickly pulling over to the side of the road. She glanced around, first, wondering if the Mayor's election-mobile was coming down the road.
She noticed the drivers getting out of their cars, staring up at the sky.
She looked up and gasped.
Pearl walked in to see Peridot working furiously over a weapon, cobbled together from junk from Amethyst's room while Amethyst sat near her.
"What's going on?" Pearl asked.
Amethyst gestured over to Labradorite. The blue gem was seated on the couch, watching Peridot work with a blank stare. She wrung her hands, occasionally, watching the gem work.
"Did she?"
"Yeah ..."
Pearl covered her mouth, her heart breaking for the gem. So many had come out of being shattered and corrupted and this Azurite was gone now. She wanted to comfort her, but couldn't bring herself to walk over. She simply watched as Peridot finished the weapon, looking it over before sighing. The weapon was small and cylindrical, the Azurite gem embedded in the handle.
"It's done. It's like the blasters in those shows Connie and Steven watch. Homeworld had something similar ... It channels the energy from the gem inside out at the target and should easily poof them. I was worried I wouldn't be able to make this, but Amethyst had some interesting junk in her room from the ship we crashed so many years ago." Peridot handed the blaster over to Labradorite. "I'm not sure what happens after ... I like to think that she'll be able to sense you and will do whatever she can to protect you."
Labradorite smiled sadly and then looked up at Peridot.
"Thank you," she smiled before leaving the Beach House, weapon in hand.
Peridot breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the floor.
"I was so worried she wasn't going to like it," she explained.
They heard heavy footfalls coming down the stairs and turned to see Steven making his way down the stairs.
"I called Connie's mom and told her. She needs to know," he sighed. "She might even be able to help ... maybe..."
Pearl smiled sadly.
"You're right, Steven. She might be able to help her. After all, she knows more about human biology than any of us."
Steven sniffled and nodded before sitting down on the couch.
"I mean ... I thought about it before. Marrying Connie, having kids ... I just didn't think this could be a possibility. I suppose it makes sense ... I just didn't want to believe it could happen," he mumbled. "I had told her a couple of the wishes for the future I had - before all this happened - and she loved it. Thought it would be a good idea after this new skirmish ended."
Amethyst walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You had no idea that this could happen, Stee-man. I mean, you're the only gem hybrid out there. You didn't know that this could happen. It's literally the worst case scenario -"
"And it happened," Steven said, emotionlessly.
He couldn't feel any more emotion. It would shatter him. He had to shut down now. He had condemned the love of his life to death in the worst way he could imagine. He wasn't sure if she even knew what was happening.
They were interrupted by Garnet bursting through the Temple door.
"They're going to make landfall tomorrow!" She cried out. "They're in orbit now. Whatever preparations we need to make, we need to do them tonight. And if we're going to hide Connie ..."
Pearl and Peridot leaped into action, running out the door to gather the rest of their army while Amethyst rushed to her room to grab any extra weapons they had collected over the years. Garnet watched as Steven made his way up to his room. He gently lifted Connie off of the bed and carried her down.
"No one else can access your mother's room," Garnet started.
"That's what I was thinking too," Steven replied.
Steven walked in silence to the door, his gem glowing as the room was opened up to him. Garnet followed him in and watched as Steven commanded the room to create a bed. He gently laid Connie down on the bed and stroked her hair, kissing her forehead before turning to leave.
"I want you to stay in there too," Garnet sighed.
"What? No! You need my shield!" Steven cried out.
"You don't understand. If they see you, they will take you and most likely kill you. Connie needs you the most right now," Garnet began. "If she survives, she will need you to help her raise your child. And your child will need you as well. We will be fine, Steven," she lied. She did not want him to know what she had seen.
Steven nodded, gently stroking Connie's hair.
"I'll come back into the room to stay after tonight. And I'll come out when it's safe ... I promise," Steven wavered.
It wasn't a promise he could really keep.
"Sapphire, this can't happen ..."
"It will, Ruby. I'm sorry."
"No! I can't let it happen!"
Garnet had split apart after leaving Rose's Room and making sure that no one was in the Beach House. Ruby paced about the floor as Sapphire stood, stoically, watching her.
"Ruby, it has to happen this way. This is the only way that Steven will be safe."
"You've seen that far into the future, but have you seen how I will react? Have you seen how this could truly shatter me?"
Sapphire grimaced.
"There's still a chance Steven could heal me, but he can only do that if he's alive."
"I don't want to worry about that possibility, Sapphire! I don't want to face another moment where you aren't here!"
"Um ..."
The pair turned to see Amethyst standing in front of the Temple Door, several axes and swords in her arms.
"Oh no ..." Ruby started.
"So, you still think you're getting shattered then?" Amethyst started. "I thought we had worked out another solution."
"No ... I went over the probabilities. It's still too low," Sapphire sighed. "Did Pearl or Peridot end up telling anyone else?"
"No. There was enough stress with dealing with finding weapons and a few gems not remembering how to summon theirs. But Sapphire, you need to rethink this. You really do."
"I have. Several times," the icy gem replied cooly. "There is only one possible future where both Steven and I come out of this alive now ... and it won't happen."
Ruby gaped at Sapphire. There was a future she had hidden from her? She watched as Amethyst argued with Sapphire, the room starting to freeze over. She lost herself in the words, wondering how she could make that one future happen.
Amethyst left the Beach House in a huff, leaving the two Corundum gems in the living room.
Sapphire sat on the floor and stared ahead.
She played that one future over and over, a tear rolling down her cheek. She was not about to let it happen.
Her thoughts were distracted by Ruby humming, softly, their song. She looked up to see Ruby's outstretched hand. She took it and stared at the red gem. They danced, singing to each other in their ancient language, rusty but lyrical, before they phased into each other.
Garnet sat on the couch, her arms wrapped tightly around her.
She didn't like eating very much, or indulging in very many human activities, but she felt as though she might deserve a last meal or a final trip to the boardwalk.
She walked over the the Temple Door.
"Steven? I can foresee that Connie will be alright for the next couple hours. Would you like to go to the arcade with me?"
Larimar checked over the research wing one more time. Everything was in order as far as she could tell. She had cobbled together a refrigeration unit for holding food for the humans (which she would need to procure at landfall) and was beginning to prepare her tools when the alarms started to blare.
She left her station and ran to the bridge. Blue Diamond's forehead was creased with worry as she looked out at the planet. Two other fleets bore down on the blue sphere.
"We have to reach Earth first," Blue Diamond finally stated. "All power to the engines."
"But, our shielding -" her Peridot started.
"I don't care!" Blue Diamond bellowed. "We need to reach the planet before the other Diamonds. They will destroy the one shot we have at putting the odds of defeating the Alloys in our favor!"
The Peridot sighed and redirected the power from the rest of the ship to the engines. The Larimar watched as they screamed towards the planet. She felt a sense of dread, knowing that there was a chance that the other Diamonds could ruin everything.
She still had her, ace however, with the bubbled Alloy.
If they lost the two humans, she would have to try and study the Alloy instead. This was as terrifying as it was exciting. She knew that they were capable of assimilating any other silica-based creature into their collective. She knew that it would be a risk she would have to face if she decided to study this creature.
"Is the research wing ready?" Blue Diamond asked, not taking her eyes off of the view-screen.
"Yes, my Diamond," Larmiar replied. "And I also think that, if the worst does happen to the human and the hybrid, that we still study that Alloy -"
"Only if the worst happens to them. I don't want to put the entire ship in jeopardy."
Larimar nodded and started for the research wing again.
"Wait ... I will need you to procure supplies for them as soon as we make landfall. I will deal with the other two Diamonds."
Larimar saluted before leaving. She wasn't sure where to get the supplies for these humans, but figured that she could figure it out. She was a Larimar. They were meant to be resourceful and intelligent. She could handle this.
I can't handle this ...
Mr. Smiley had long forgiven Steven and the Gems for the constant destruction that seemed to rain down on his attractions. He bore everything with a smile and moved on from one calamity to the next.
He couldn't help but notice, however, the somber feeling that hung in the air when Garnet and Steven walked into the arcade. His smile wavered as he watched the pair walk to the Meat Beat Mania 2 machine. It had been installed over a year ago and Garnet had never returned to play it.
"Hey you two," Mr. Smiley chuckled. "You're not going to break this one, are you?"
"No," Garnet attempted a smile. "Just playing this one for old time's sake."
"Well, the new one is a little different. I hope you can handle it," he grinned. "They've added new songs and more complicated moves. No one has had a score that comes close to your score on the original machine."
Garnet smirked and turned to Steven.
"Ready, Steven?"
Steven smiled weakly and put in two quarters for Garnet. He did the same for himself and felt himself get taken by the beat.
He thought about what he was going to do if the gems were lost. How could he handle seeing any of his family shattered on the beach? What if what happened to Azurite happened to them?
What if he lost Connie as well?
He could feel the sadness that hung in the air and wondered what Garnet could see. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"You did it," he heard Garnet say, proudly. He was snapped out of his reverie to see the winning screen.
In all of his years, he had never beaten Garnet at Meat Beat Mania. She had always been too fast, too accurate.
She had to have been preoccupied.
Still, he took the win with a smile and pulled out two more quarters.
"Want to go again?"
The pair stood for most of the afternoon, playing the game and momentarily forgetting what was around the corner.
"We can fight together this time," Lapis smiled, resting her head on Chrysoprase's shoulder.
"This time, we won't have to worry about corruption. They wouldn't do that again."
Lapis nodded and felt Chrysoprase's arm wrap around her shoulder.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to free you before. I had hoped that Rose would go back and find you after the war. That she would help you."
"Pearl found me, but she didn't know. She didn't remember me. I tried to tell her, but my gem was cracked so badly ..."
Chrysoprase trilled to Lapis and stroked her hair. They sat in relative silence, occasionally whispering to each other in their light language.
They couldn't fuse - they had never really tried - but they had this. The ancient language that was almost never spoken anymore. Even the Crystal Gems had trouble remembering the language or understanding Chrysoprase when she had launched into it during a meeting. Lapis never forgot. It was part of her duty as a Lapis Lazuli to be able to remember messages and languages.
Th pair looked up at the sky, seeing the series of lights that signaled the slow approach of a Diamond fleet. They clasped hands and leaned close into each other.
"We can do this," Lapis started.
"Besides, if we are shattered, we'll be shattered together this time," Chrysoprase smiled sadly.
She still wanted to be called Jasper.
She hadn't earned the title yet. She hated the title with a passion right now. Every gem on board continued to greet her with "My Diamond".
She felt she didn't deserve it. She had not avenged the previous Yellow Diamond. She had not avenged the other Jasper, lost in the war. Her companion.
She had shattered Lazuli, but that didn't mean anything. Lazuli was just petty revenge for being trapped under the ocean. Rose's gem still lived on.
She could see White Diamond's fleet on the view screen now. The time was almost here to start their descent. She barked out orders to the rest of her fleet before returning to look at the planet.
It was perfect for creating quartz soldiers. The geological processes alone had created some of the strongest warriors in the past. The life force was an added bonus.
She still could not understand why Rose valued the creatures on the planet. They were weak, fleshy, and had such short, meaningless lives. They had barely left the planet and didn't travel very far from the reaches of their homeworld. They were a speck of dust to them.
She ignored the warnings from White Diamond and pushed onward. This was not a foolish endeavor. This was revenge and conquest, something that Yellow Diamond's forces were always the best at.
She could feel the familiar rumble of the ship entering Earth's atmosphere and grinned.
This will be easy ...
She watched the form of light try to take shape.
She wanted to coax it along, to help it. She didn't know the first thing about what was going on. She felt that presence again.
"Just think of what they should look like. Who you are creating. Let them form around the gem. Steven's information is already carried in it. You just need to add your own."
She started to wonder if this was what Rose had done. She started to imagine herself, images she had seen from when she was a baby. Dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes ... chubby cheeks that were always smiling. She gave that information to the gem to give it something to add to Steven's information. It knew what Steven looked like. She could sense that. She didn't know if they would have a son or daughter (and frankly didn't care). She watched as the gem seemed to process the information.
"You need to focus on yourself as well. Regenerate the damaged cells. You need to heal. Steven needs you."
She wasn't sure how to do this, but she felt a guiding hand. Instincts of a different kind bubbling up in her brain. She was still mostly human, but she was also slightly gem.
She could do this. She would survive.
She could feel a tug in her heart. She couldn't stay this way any longer.
Her eyes flung open.
Steven had left Rose's room for breakfast, watching his guardians arm themselves. He had hoped that they had evacuated the city, but was certain that seeing the ships enter the atmosphere was enough of a warning to the citizens of Beach City.
Garnet smiled sadly, seeing Steven pull out frozen waffles and whipped cream. She watched as he busied himself, toasting the waffles. Amethyst immediately knew what was happening and pulled out some bags of popcorn, popping them into the microwave. Pearl smiled sadly and motioned to Peridot to help her with pulling out strawberries from the refrigerator. They set to work, building the Together Breakfast. It had been years since Steven had first started this tradition, creating a breakfast for everyone to share in. Usually, only Steven and Amethyst would eat it, but today, even Pearl took a few bites as soon as it had been finished.
Steven looked around at his guardians. If he followed their instructions, this might be the last time he saw them. He looked to each of them, wanting to remember them like this forever. Amethyst joking to lighten the mood, teasing Peridot about the first time she ate anything. Pearl admonishing the quartz in a playful manner, before admitting that it was kind of funny. Peridot explaining in her matter-of-fact way that the processes that biological creatures go through can be horrifying, even if they seem fun at first (as well as a question about human fusion that made Steven blush horribly and Amethyst spit out her food from laughing). Steven looked to Garnet to see her sad smile. He could sense from her that this could be the end of the Crystal Gems.
No, not the end ... He would still be there. Connie would hopefully be there too, as well as their child. They could continue Rose's legacy if the worst happened.
A thought occurred to him as he wondered what would happen if the Diamonds just completely destroyed the gems without any casualties on their side. Everything that they did to protect him would be for naught.
He couldn't bring that up right now, though. He didn't want to. He wanted to have this moment with the gems. As they finished, they sat around in silence, not wanting to be the first to admit that this might be the end.
The silence was broken by the screen door opening. Lapis stood in the doorway, her eyes revealing, instantly, what was happening outside.
The gems turned to Steven who looked to them, a mixture of sadness and terror on his face.
"We'll be back," Pearl smiled. "Just stay safe with Connie. Everything will work out."
"Yeah!" Amethyst said with a hollow laugh. "We'll show them not to mess with Earth!"
Garnet simply tried to smile and then walked to Steven.
"We're all so proud of you, Steven. Remember to stay in there until it is safe. We love you," She whispered, pulling him in tight for a hug.
She almost kissed his forehead, but stopped herself. She didn't want him to know.
The rest of his guardians joined in the hug, holding Steven tightly.
Soon, it was over and Steven went into Rose's room to wait while the rest of the gems left the Beach House. Garnet was the last to leave, looking back at the Temple door.
No matter which futures she saw, she could not see past this battle.
As they left, they saw the rest of their army preparing for the onslaught. They were still only half of what they had been, not being able to heal all of the gems in the Burning Room, but there was a chance that Steven could still save them, even if they all perished. No words had to be spoken. They all knew what had to happen.
Peridot watched from behind the rest of the gems. She was their secret weapon. She looked, in vain, for Labradorite but could not find her.
She still had to do this alone.
Labradorite sat alone at the top of Lighthouse Hill, the weapon still in her shaking hands. She had tried to use it, but couldn't bring herself to. It was like the weapon wouldn't allow her to do this one thing.
Of course it wouldn't. She can still sense you.
She had seen the stream of cars start to leave Beach City, but she did not care. She didn't care about the battle that would occur. She had lost hope in everything.
The ships were going to touch down soon. She knew that, with the entire fleet arriving, there would be a ground battle. It was more sporting for the Diamonds that way. She had seen it before.
She rose and turned to see a blond haired human leaving the lighthouse, papers and books filling his arms. She tilted her head, curiously.
"Why are you still here?" she asked.
"My brother would kill me if I let all of his weird conspiracy junk get destroyed," the human chuckled.
She analyzed him, looking over his tall, thin form. He looked to be a little older than Rose Quartz' son yet he seemed more anxious than any human she had ever seen.
"I can help you take these things out of Beach City, if you like. I'm not staying."
The human tilted his head and shrugged.
"I would have thought you would stay with the gems."
"There's nothing for me with them," she sighed. "The only reason I fought is gone now."
She clutched the weapon closer.
"Alright ... but you'll have to ride in our van - and possibly deal with my brother prodding you."
Labradorite smiled and followed the human, not even glancing back to look at the approaching war ships.
The battle had begun the moment the first ship touched down, unleashing the squadron of Rubies that charged forward. They stopped short, seeing more gems than expected.
"I thought there were only supposed to be four gems," one of the Rubies growled.
The large Diamond ships touched down, Yellow and White Diamond disembarking.
"What are you waiting for?" Yellow Diamond barked. "Shatter them!"
The Rubies turned to each other uncertainly before charging at the small army. The Crystal Gem Rubies met them head on, a fiery clash beginning. Screams of pain and anguish echoed from the fray as the Homeworld Quartz Battalion charged forward. The Diamonds watched, scanning the fray for the original Crystal Gems.
"Where is the Rose Quartz gem?" White Diamond asked.
"I don't know. I sense her, but not here," the new Yellow Diamond growled.
They did not notice Peridot as she made her way towards the ships. She needed to disable the weapons systems without drawing any attention to herself.
The inside of the Yellow Diamond ship had once been something Peridot wanted to see. She had imagined working at the helm, leading the Diamonds to victory. This was no longer a fantasy but more of a nightmare. She wandered through, finding her way to the chamber of the ship's Crystal Heart. She had been surprised that there wasn't any security on this ship.
That's what inexperience gets you, Jasper, she thought to herself as she worked to disconnect the ship's components with the Heart.
As she severed the last connection, she pulled a bomb from her gem. Nothing too big, just small enough to crack the Heart. They would need a Rose Quartz to heal this one.
She left, undetected, and made her way to White Diamond's ship.
This would be much harder.
Outside the ships, the battle raged on. Yellow Diamond charged her way through the battle, searching for the four Crystal Gems that had been a thorn in her side for so long. She felt the sting of acid but continued on, ignoring the pain.
Soon, she found them. Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst stood, weapons drawn, guarding the Temple.
"You will go no further, Jasper!" Garnet shouted. "This ends here!"
A grin.
"You're right."
The whine of a gem destabilizer.
"This does end here."
She couldn't react, seeing how the future would unfurl. She felt herself come apart, the last grasps of Sapphire and Ruby trying to hold onto each other.
Sapphire began to retreat into her gem, her grasp slipping from Ruby, accepting her fate.
No ... there are hundreds of me, A thought broke through as the last connections were severed.
Then Darkness.
Steven gently stroked Connie's hair, trying to focus on her and not the battle being waged outside. He didn't want to think about losing his guardians or anyone else.
He cursed himself for getting them into this situation. If he had thought for just a moment, they would have a better chance. There were still so many bubbled gems in the Burning Room. So many gems that could have saved everyone. Instead, they only had half of an army and it was his fault.
He looked down at Connie and gently kissed her forehead.
"I'll be back, I promise."
He opened the door to the room and walked out, hearing the sounds of battle outside.
He readied himself to summon his shield. He could survive this. He paused to run to the bedroom to grab his mother's sword.
That was when he heard the familiar cry of a Ruby.
His Ruby.
He ran outside and watched as Ruby's open palm connected with Jasper's helmet.
Her open left palm.
He watched as her eyes widened in shock.
His shield was out in moments, but it was too late.
Steven charged, Sword drawn and shield at the ready.
His charge was interrupted by a booming voice.
"Stop this!"
The battling gems froze, heads turning to see Blue Diamond standing outside of her ship, her entire fleet behind her. She walked through the crowd, past gems from both sides who watched, mouths agape. The Diamond made her way to Jasper, setting a hand on her shoulder.
"You acted without consulting the entire authority," she began. "You took away resources that could have gone to other colonies in your rage. You Yellow Diamonds always act without thinking. I knew allowing you to be promoted was a mistake, but she still allowed you to be her second in command. When we passed through Gem controlled space, there had been an Alloy ship. We have one on board. Who knows how many more are en route to a colony. Your fleet would have been better served there. This is a Blue Diamond operation, not a Yellow or White one."
Jasper refused to look at the gem.
"You can't do anything to me," she glowered. "There isn't anyone to take up my mantle. You need me."
"Perhaps. But not in this form right now."
Jasper was too slow to react. The stabilizer in her hand was gone now, jabbed into her side.
A flash of light and all that was left was her gem which Blue Diamond caught and bubbled.
"I think she needs some time to think things over," she smiled at Steven. "Now, you're a hybrid, I see?"
Peridot found her way out of White Diamond's ship, leaving a trail of poofed gems in her wake. The training from Pearl had paid off and saved her life. She would have to properly thank her when they survived this.
She gaped when she saw Blue Diamond's ship. This would be much harder. The layout of her ship was different and Blue Diamond was more experienced. There was no way that she was going to be able to get on board undetected, much less make her way through to the Crystal Heart alone.
Do it for them, she thought as she charged over.
When she entered the ship, she found it to be silent. The usual, bustling activity of a Diamond's ship was subdued to a calmness that worried her.
There was no way that Blue Diamond would leave the ship unattended. Not where there was a known Peridot in the enemy's ranks.
She continued, silently, winding her way through the corridors. Silence, still.
She found a doorway that she thought led to the Crystal Heart but instead found herself face to face with an angry, bubbled Alloy.
She screamed, snapping the Larimar who hunched over the workstation in the corner out of her work.
The two gems locked eyes.
"Oh no ..." Peridot whispered.
Blue Diamond allowed Steven to collect Ruby's shattered gem and bubble it, sending her to the Burning Room to wait. She watched as he then picked up Sapphire's gem, gingerly handing her to Pearl.
"Where is the other one?" Blue Diamond asked.
Steven paled. Of course she would ask about Connie. He stammered.
"Um ... She's not here. I sent her away ..." Steven lied.
"Doubtful," Blue Diamond sighed, "but it is interesting how much humans like to protect their own. That must be the side influencing you. Very un-gemlike."
Steven gulped.
"I promise, I will not harm either of you. I assume the other gems have told you of the Alloys?"
Steven nodded.
"We need to find out how you are able to barely register to a gem and yet still fight like one. The Alloys are much like us, unable to detect lower life forms. If they landed on Earth, they would not fight nearly as fiercely against a human as they would a gem. There have been theories that it may have to do with the composition of our species, but we are unsure. That is where you come in. We need to know how to recreate your kind."
Steven looked to Amethyst and Pearl. He searched their eyes for anything but only received sadness and terror in return.
"You can't take her," Steven started.
"But we need to. We need to know how this was possible," Blue Diamond stated, attempting to keep calm. She could feel the fiery defiance that often went with a Rose Quartz. This was why they were terrible at being simple soldiers. "It will save both gem and human kind. We can leave this planet alone if you both just come with us."
"You don't understand," Steven said, gripping his sword tighter. "You'll kill her."
"Perish the thought!" Blue Diamond laughed. "Why would we kill something that could be so useful to us?"
Steven gritted his teeth. He readied himself to block the Temple with his body. Even if it killed him, he would not let her get to Connie.
"Let me through," Blue Diamond cooly implored. "I promise you will both be alright after this. It's just a few tests to see -"
"No!" Steven finally cried out. "I won't let you near her!"
"Why not?" Blue Diamond barked. "Why are you fighting so fiercely?"
The next moment felt like an ant speaking to a human. A dust speck speaking to a boulder. Blue Diamond stared in surprise, noticing the dark skinned human that stood behind Steven. No one had noticed her arrive, but they could all feel the anger emanating from her.
"Because she is pregnant, you clods!" Priyanka growled, gripping tightly onto Steven's shoulder.