This chapter is gonna be so fun writing... ALSO HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Steven picked up the yellow gem, leaving Garnet to pick up the shards.
"Garnet what did you do with the gem shard?" Pearl asked, looking in Garnets hands. Garnet shook her head with a sigh.
"I bubbled it, but when I checked earlier it was gone." Garnet answered. Steven looked up, shocked at what Garnet had just muttered.
"You found a gem shard?!" He cried, not caring about if she questioned about him knowing about the shards or not. Garnet looked as if she were going to say something, but just shut her mouth and nodded.
"It doesn't matter now, now we just wait for the gem to reform and question them." Garnet said, looking down to Steven for a response, he merely nodded.
There were more pressing matters than to act shocked over a gem reforming. So Steven just bobbed his head up and down nonchalantly.
Hours passed, until Steven lost track of time, he began dosing off when he heard a light hum and the tip of his fingers grow warm, the heated feeling spread through his palms and for a second his hands lifted off the couch, a bright light shone and the beam curled around his fingers, pouring onto the couch and through the spaces between his finger tips.
Steven opened his eyes and saw the yellow gem that was resting in his palms a second ago was now levitating in the air he gasped, it was around midnight at least and the dark beach was now being flooded with luminescent light. Steven shielded his eyes for a moment as the thin shapes and ovals of a body formed before his eyes, slowly grouping together and melding along with color, flooding from its core. Pale almost orange skin spread along the veins of their arms and filled the white skin, clothes forming just as color flooded its chest, and grew down to their legs. Flowing out were ruffles and slowly a dress formed, breaking apart from their legs as they formed, and boots covering it, color grew along the recently sewed stitches and glued on buttons. Their shoelaces the only thing remaining white. Their hair grew in long strands and laid elegantly on their back and down to their knees, before two thick strands pulled up and tied along the side of their head in pony tails, with two bright yellow bobby pins sticking in their scalp, attached to long ruffled orange bows.
Their entire body finished forming and they fell to the ground, hands first and soon after their knees, they were obviously female and her eyes were pale and glittery, and seemed to shine no light within, it was like if light dared to reflect in her eyes it would be swallowed up and mixed with the pale yellow.
She had her gem on one of the orange bows in the center, she took it out of her hair in a swift motion leaving the bobby pin inside, and two long transparent blades grew from each side, she twirled it around before sticking it next to Stevens throat and glaring.
"Who are you?" She cried, her voice was soft, but demanding, Steven spoke in stuttered words,
"W-who are you?!" Steven shot back, making the yellow gem flinch.
"If you insist...My name is..." She paused, as if having to think for a second, Steven saw her flinch a bit in...pain? "Ciritine." She answered, in a monotone voice. Steven opened his mouth to speak once she gestured for him to go on.
"Steven, Steven Universe." Steven greeted, extending his hand to the gem. Ciritine took it reluctantly, Steven felt a pulse of energy once she touched him, she tightened her grip for a moment, but relaxed about the same time the pulsing calmed. "Why..." Steven cut himself off, if this gem were to find out he was from the future... "-Haven't I seen you around before?" Steven asked, the gem opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself and began again.
"I'm new here." She simply put. Hm, that's weird why wasn't she acting as hostile as before? And he'd never seen a gem use that kind of grammar, well except Amethyst, though he didn't know many almost all of them talked with a certain...Accent you could say...But not exactly, it was always proper and not much slang, they tended to use older words, but often they weren't the kind you'd hear your neighbor saying, or a person you see on the street, they were always too... Polite and formal you could say, civilized for a better term.
But this gem almost...Spoke like a regular human you could say, not like most gems. Was it just pure coincidence that that was how he had heard all gems speak? Unlikely.
Ciritine gave him a look of curiosity and shuffled a little, contemplating what to say, "U-uh..." She muttered, obviously uncomfortable in the silence. She stopped when centipeedle tugged on her leg. "Huh?" She said, looking down and shrieked, "W-W-W-WHAT IS THAT?!" She screamed, Steven hastily covered her mouth.
"Ssh! They'll hear you!" He pointed to the temple, she visibly calmed down and batted away the boys hand. Steven waited a few more moments before picking up centipeedle. "We need to find a better place to talk.." Steven glanced around before his eyes landed on the temple door.
The boys house was strange, Ciritine couldn't see how someone could live so close to the ocean! She let the boy take her hand, Steven. Yes that was his name, she let him tug her over to the large door, covering her eyes with her hand when the pink gem at the very top glowed along with under his shirt, the boys grin widened and he pulled her harder towards the door, she tugged the other way, begging for him not to run her into the temple door, but he pulled her in and before she knew it she was enveloped in a bright pink light.
She glanced around the interior of the place, and let out a cry when the door disappeared into fluffy clouds, why had she just let him take her into this place! Now she'd be stuck and starve! Worries clouded her mind until the boy pressed a soft hand against her shoulder. He visibly flinched at the sudden coolness of her arm, she forgot about that, she stepped back.
"Where..Are we?" She managed to choke out, Steven grinned.
"My moms room!" Steven said happily. Ciritine winced, he...No...He couldn't be...
"Oh." Ciritine said. passing over clouds with a soft finger. She shouldn't be here! She should be on her mission! Right now she needed- "Ah! Where are her gem shards!" Ciritine cried, Steven winced.
"U-um...First calm down then-" She wasn't having any of the boys excuses.
"No! I need them now!" She cried. "I can't waste time or else-" She heard the boy sigh, and then cry out,
"Room! I want Ciritines gem shards!" Steven waited a moment, Ciritine opened her mouth to argue more, but in front of him appeared a bubble, inside were- yes! The gem shards! "Why did you need these so badly anyway?" Steven asked, Ciritine ignored him, chuckling softly, she saw him in the corner of her eye visibly wince and step back, nearly falling through the clouds underneath.
Ciritine popped the bubble, arranging the gem shards together, all six, perfect. She sat them until they all made a diamond shape, all fitting perfectly, she touched the two middle shards and hoped this would work.
Yeah...I really love cliffhangers don't I...