"So we still can't find your communication device, Peridot? I don't understand: we looked for it all day!" Pearl mused as the five Crystal Gems walked out of the barn towards the drill.

"I searched everywhere, but it appears to have gone missing." They started, and then urgently added: "I didn't do anything with it, I swear!"

Garnet crossed their arms. "We believe you, Peridot. I just can't believe we forgot about it!"

"We were working on the drill."

"That is no excuse, Steven. There is no telling what that communication device will do in the wrong hands."

All of a sudden a flash of dark dropped down from the sky, and Aventurine was standing up on the drill, looking down on the group. "Like my hands?"

Everybody froze in suprise.

"Heh, the look on you guys' faces." The cloaked Gem laughed. "You guys think I fell from the sky, or I flew or something ridiculous like that. Actually it's not a coincidence I show up everywhere at just the right time: I'm watching you guys from a distance for a little while until you say something that sounds cool to enter on. Then I just get out of my hiding spot – in this case the top of the barn – and you guys think it's magic. Haha! It's fun, because you think I'm flying but actually it's more akin to stalking."

There was another pause; none of the Gems really knew what to say to that. Aventurine drew their cloak a little tighter around their shoulders.

"Yes, I am aware that was creepy. It was meant to be. That little confession was to make you guys actually realise that something's up and now that I have your attention, I can continue unhindered."

They drew out a small contraption from their cloak. "Anybody recognise this, Peridot?"

"That's the communication device I built!"

"Precisely! And can anybody tell me why you think I have it, Steven?"

"Uhh... you wanted to keep it safe?"

"I appreciate your optimism, but no. I can see that Garnet has figured out exactly where I'm going with this, so I'm gonna run by this pretty quickly before you try and bash my face in. Basically, I contacted Blue Diamond and told them everything about you guys, and a scout force is arriving tomorrow to check the information is true."

Garnet's teeth clenched. They stabbed a finger at the cloaked Gem. "You betrayed us!"

"I did. Now this scout force-"

"Why should we listen to you?!" The fusion summoned their gloves. "You're on Homeworld's side!"

Pearl and Amethyst drew their weapons. Steven and Peridot stood to the side, glancing anxiously from Aventurine to the Crystal Gems.

Aventurine did not appear worried. "Okay, okay! I can understand your reaction. You were expecting a couple weeks to prepare for Homeworld's forces, and I kinda chopped that to bits. But it's a mistake to say I was ever working for Blue Diamond; she had some information I wanted and I had some information she wanted, so it's nothing personal. Now can I continue, or do you guys prefer to go in a fight blind?"

"We've beaten Homeworld Gems before, without your help!" Amethyst growled, cracking their whip.

"Amethyst, you emerged after the war, didn't you? Ah, so you probably have no idea why your buddies are going to suddenly put down their weapons and hang onto my every word when I say: 'Homeworld is bringing Corruption Bombs."

Garnet gasped. "What? But... Arghhh!" Their gloves dissipated, but they still clenched their fists. "We have no choice but to listen to you."

"What?" Amethyst frowned as Pearl too put away their spear. "What are you guys talking about? I know those things were bad, but she betrayed us!"

The cloaked Gem grinned. "Awesome. So this scout force, they aren't actually interested in fighting. They just want to see you guys, check that what I've said is true, before they take me on board to Homeworld. So in reality, you still have X amount of weeks to prepare for an actual battle as long as you show up and don't attack. Blue Diamond did tell me to tell you this information, but before I realised some stuff I didn't think coming clean was worth it. I like my gemstone in one piece, capiche?"

"So you were just going to lie and watch us get killed?" Pearl's eyes widened.

"Well not killed, but yeah. I was perfectly okay with watching all of you suffer a fate worse than death, but then I kind of realised I was not okay with some of you suffering a fate worse than death, and... yeah." Aventurine shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno, emotions and stuff are weird for me. And I don't need Sapphire vision or whatever to know I'm about to get my face bashed in, soo I'm gonna go now."

"Darn right you're gonna have your face smashed in!" Amethyst struck out and wrapped their whip around Aventurine. "I trusted you!"

The other two resummoned their weapons.

The cloaked Gem looked down. "Oh no, I'm trapped. Whatever am I going to do." They spat on the whip, causing it to melt and snap. Then they dodged Pearl's thrown spear and jumped off the back of the drill.

Garnet jumped up on the drill, their landing causing the roof to dent. "Come back here, you-"

Then they stopped, breathing hard. Pearl understood immediately what this meant.

"They disappeared, didn't they? We'll have to find them; they still have the communication device."

"Argghhh!" Garnet kneeled down and punched the top of the drill with all their might. The metal crumpled like tissue paper under their gauntlets.

"Garnet!" Pearl jumped up on the drill and grabbed one of the fusion's arms. "Why did you do that? We still need to recover the shards!"

"You still care about that, P?" Amethyst snarled. "We're dead. We're absolutely dead!"

"No need for such negativity..."

And the two descended into bickering, whilst Garnet just stood there. Peridot finally recovered their voice.

"Oh my stars... Steven, did you expect any of that to happen?"

There was no answer.

"Steven?" The green Gem looked up, and saw that Steven was trying to break up the argument between the other Gems. It didn't look like they were being very successful, judging by the rapidly raising voices.

Not in the mood to get wrapped up in the boiling storm of emotions, Peridot quietly slipped out behind the barn, where they let out a breath.

Aventurine had betrayed them. The constant disappearances, the voices in the barn, the incident at the Temple... it all made sense now! The only mystery was how they didn't figure out there was something wrong earlier.

So... that was it. The Gem they had spent so many weeks with – both as a centipeedle and as a humanoid – was a liar and a traitor. They were working with Homeworld. They were an enemy.

And that was all there was to it... right? A few weeks ago Peridot might have been able to accept this as an answer, but their mind went back to the time they had 'betrayed' the Crystal Gems, when in reality they had meant to help. As impossible as it may sound, maybe this was the case with Aventurine?

She had some information I wanted and I had some information she wanted, so it's nothing personal.

"But how am I supposed to know what that means?!" Peridot growled out loud. "Nyagh! If I could just talk to Aventurine about this, without the other Crystal clods interfering... but how would I find them?"

They frowned, looking around the environment. That was when something nudged their arm.

"What is-Nyah!" They jumped away from the pink Lion that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "What do you want, you clod? I'm busy!"

Lion remained, staring deeply into the green Gem's eyes.

"Unless... you did lead us to the Burning Room when I told you to locate Aventurine. That thing on the roof that attacked us has a high chance of being the Gem I am looking for..." They cleared their throat. "Earthling! Lead me to Aventurine!"

The animal turned sideways and laid down, the pink blanket Steven gave them yesterday sitting like a saddle on their back. Peridot still had some difficulty climbing up onto Lion, but when they managed it the pink animal stood up and began to trot forwards, gently increasing their pace until they were galloping along the ground and shapes blurred into each other on either side of them. Then they ripped open a portal with a massive roar, and dove into it.