The Unlikely Confidant
Chapter 6: Outside Factors
"And those are the basic controls in piloting a ruby-class ship," came the voice of Peridot as she climbed out the red spherical ship.
Garnet gave a nod of acknowledgement and Amethyst just shrugged it off, as she knew little of controlling a ruby ship. Garnet mentioned that Ruby would not be able to pilot this ship, as it was new technology that she was completely dumbfounded with. So the Crystal Gems opted for Pearl to be their pilot.
Pearl had a hand to her chin, rubbing it as she mused the green gem's words. After a few seconds of contemplating she inquired, "Yes, but is there anything in the ship's logs that could point us to the right direction?"
"You don't think I've checked that already?" Peridot remarked with an eyebrow raised at the pearl's stupidity. "There's nothing in the logs that could point you out in finding the Greg."
"Well that's just fantastic!" Pearl scoffed melodramatically as she shot her hands out. "You wasted our times in explaining how to pilot this ship without even knowing where we should search!"
"Hey! If anyone should have figured out where to go it should have been you, you clods!" Peridot barked.
Far from the scene was a saddened Steven Universe sitting atop a log with Connie right by him. The boy stared glumly at the grass beneath him, and tried to divert his attention by counting the petals on a daisy. When that didn't work he then hummed the theme to 'Crying Breakfast Friends', but humming the theme to a show about crying meals only made him want to cry. Connie attempted to converse with him, but he was too preoccupied on his thoughts of his dad to pay attention to her.
What was Blue Diamond doing to his dad? What did she mean 'preserve one piece of her legacy' when she captured his dad? Did that mean dad would be unharmed? If he was unharmed then what role was he playing under the guise of Blue Diamond? Where was he? Was he safe? Could he be saved-
Before he knew it he started to panic.
His heart thudded loudly against his chest, which he was now clenching to ease his anxieties. Connie kept a hand on his shoulder and tried to soothe and steady his breathing. Though as hard as she tried to ease him Steven could not bring himself back to a stable state. Tears ran against his cheeks and into his gaping mouth. He needed to calm down, he needed to-
Suddenly his tears peeled off his cheeks and started to morph and dance into a ball-like object. Then the water took the shape of a fish, and the fish gave a little kiss on his nose. Steven could not help but let out a chuckle, and then his chuckle turned to chortles as the water fish tickled against his cheeks and forehead. He bobbled up and down through his laughter, and he nearly fell back off the log if it weren't for Connie keeping his balance. Soon the tear-fish dispersed into tiny droplets. Steven looked up where the fish vanquished to see Lapis Lazuli with a small propitious smile.
His eyes went all starry. "You can make fish out of my tears? That's so cool!" His cheerful expression disappeared to be replaced with uncertainty. "Not that I like crying to begin with, but still cool!"
"At least it calmed you down!" Connie pointed out with a smile of relief.
Steven gave a nod and formed a smile of gratitude up at the blue gem. "Thanks Lapis."
"It's all I can do to help," Lapis remarked, slightly despondent that she could be of no further assistance. "I mean I can fly but I wouldn't know where to look and-"
"I know you would." Steven interrupted knowingly.
He then gave a sigh of defeat, and his posture sagged as if he was melting through his clothing.
"I just… I just hope dad's okay…"
Connie gave some comforting pats on one of his left shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine, Steven. You said it yourself that Blue Diamond thought that she was saving him so he's bound to be okay!"
That did not raise Steven's optimism from the ocean that was his pessimistic and sombre thoughts. There was too much he did not know! Not only that but there was no way his dad could communicate to him and tell him where he was!
"There's just so many places owned by gemkind that I don't even have the slightest idea where to look!" Steven stated cantankerously.
"They don't have any dungeons for humans! All I can think of is that they have some creepy lab where they experiment on people!" Steven added and placed his head onto his palms in frustration.
Silence graced the usually serene fields of the farm, a silence that swallowed all with its sombreness. Even the vociferous argument of Pearl and Peridot did nothing to cut through the tense atmosphere. Once again Connie tried to give comfort to Steven by rubbing and patting his back, but the boy was too distraught to respond to his friend.
Lapis placed a hand to her temple and rubbed it contemplatively. Steven's words about there being no dungeon for humans resurfaced a memory that she dismissed as trivial in the past. But now she felt the need to bring it up.
"You know… I remember some zoo that held humans in the past…" She brought up, sounding slightly hopeful that it would ignite hope in Steven.
Like meerkats erecting their bodies when they detect danger Steven and Connie raised their heads and stared at Lapis with vehement shock. Steven quickly got to his feet and pressed his clenched fists to his chest in anticipation as he stared up at Lapis with flickering eyes of hope.
"A zoo! Have you been there? Do you know where it is? Do you know how they treated people there?" Steven catechised.
"No, but I…" Seeing Steven's downhearted expression made Lapis quickly get to the point. "I remember overhearing a conversation about where the zoo is. They didn't mention an exact location, but it was located in the An-uh how was it-Andromeda! In the Andromeda Galaxy!"
An overwhelming feeling of rapturous joy erupted in Steven. Tears of relief ran down his eyes as he gave Lapis a massive hug. Even when she was uttering that the zoo was in the past and she did know if existed now Steven continued to rejoice as he clung to Lapis. This was going to be the best chance of finding dad! Though he didn't know why there was a zoo made for humans it mattered very little! If there was any place to look for dad it was this zoo!
"We got to tell the gems about this!" Connie declared as she stood up from the log and moved over to Steven.
Steven turned to Connie and gave a nod, his eyes blazing with a newfound moxie. The two children rushed excitedly towards the Crystal Gems and the blue gem quickly paced after them. It appeared that the argument died out, but the bitterness between Pearl and Peridot was evident with their backs facing each other.
"Guys! Guys!" Hearing Steven calling to them immediately caught all the gems' attentions. When Steven came to a halt he spoke enthusiastically, "Lapis told me about a zoo that may be keeping dad in and that it's in the Andromo Galaxy!"
"Andromeda." Peridot corrected with an air of haughtiness flashing in her eyes.
"Whoa, whoa, I mentioned that the zoo existed in the past. I don't know if it exists now!" Lapis clarified towards Pearl and Garnet, both who had startled expressions.
"You guys had a zoo for humans?" Amethyst inquired as she looked over at Pearl. The svelte gem hummed reluctantly as an affirmative. "Dude, that is sick!"
A dead-pan expression from the alabaster fusion told the purple gem to take this situation seriously. "I mean 'dude, we gotta check it out'!"
"But the zoo existed thousands of years ago! What evidence is there that it exists now?" Pearl inquired matter-of-factly.
"There is none," Garnet stated. "But it is our best and only option to start." She finished with her arms crossed and a tone that showed no room for argument.
With that declared Garnet turned over to the smaller green gem that eyed her warily. "Peridot, considering you are the only one familiar with this gem tech you will be our pilot for this journey."
Pearl squawked in incredulous disbelief at the idea while Amethyst casted a grin as she slung her arm around a slightly petrified Peridot. "Looks like you'll be joining us on this rescue mission, Peri! Bet you can't contain your excitement!"
Peridot shuddered in terror at the thought of being outnumbered by quartz soldiers and being taken to Yellow Diamond to be personally punished for her unspeakable crime. But she did not decline the offer. How could she when Steven was so thrilled to have her joining him and hugging her in gratitude?
"We thank you for this valuable information Lapis," Garnet thanked, startling the usually nonchalant water gem. "Since we'll be gone, you and Connie will look after Beach City."
Lapis' eyes shot at the mission given to her and looked down at a determined Connie that saluted Garnet. This human was meant to assist her in fighting corrupted gems? While she had some giant pink sword slung over her shoulder that didn't mean the human was a capable fighter. Really Lapis could handle the situation on her own.
"We won't let you down guys!" Connie remarked optimistically.
With everything addressed, Steven gave one final hug to Connie and Lapis as he boarded the red ship with the Crystal Gems and Peridot. The green gem went to the controls and typed in the co-ordinates, with Pearl tagging along so she could be of assistance. Amethyst was chanting 'road trip' in her seat, while Garnet brought Steven onto her laps as she sat down. The boy clutched his fists in trepidation, expecting the worse regarding how his dad would be treated at the zoo.
"We'll find Greg." Garnet remarked with a light pat on the boy's curly black hair.
"Yeah don't worry, Steven! We'll find Greg and then we'll host the biggest celebration party once we get him back!" Amethyst added with her arms shot in the air to emphasise the greatness of the party.
"We have to." Steven said seriously.
The ship then took off and then shot out towards space with a hopeful Steven praying that his father is safe and sound, and that he and the gems will find him and bring him home.
There were a lot of things in the universe that Holly Blue Agate did not understand. She did not understand why the defect off colours continued to exist. She did not understand why silky aquamarines found humans fascinating.
She most certainly did not understand why Blue Diamond spoke with off coloured gems!
When the bun-haired gem was walking down a corridor that connected to the hangar bay to see if the quartz soldiers were at their designated areas she immediately came to a halt. Blue Diamond, whom seemed oblivious to the agate, was waiting for two quartz imbeciles to turn around and listen to her orders. Holly groaned and snarled in frustration when the two finally noticed their diamond behind them. They then proceeded to beg on their knees like the worthless gems they were. Holly only cared that her diamond would not mistake these incompetent quartzes for a lack of discipline under their agate!
Holly was about to approach Blue Diamond and give her explanation of the matter, but she paused. The regal giant wanted to… converse with the quartz soldiers about the late Pink Diamond. Dumbstruck the agate could only press herself against the corridor wall and overhear her matriarch and her soldiers speak. Some of the comments that the soldiers said made Holly want to rush up and whip them, only for her diamond to… acknowledge the quartzes' remarks and be unoffended by their words. Then the nerve of the two soldiers when they broke into laughter! She thought for certain that she would step in to intervene, but once again she did not go over and that was because the blue matriarch started laughing. When Blue Diamond expressed gratitude to one of the quartz's words Holly felt like she shattered on the spot.
Just what in stars' names was going on?
Holly Blue had no idea what to make of the situation. Was that diamond who just left the very one that was imposing, threatening and cold to her when the human was brought in? It simply could not be Blue Diamond! This was most unlike the sovereign gem to converse with anyone! What could have possibly convinced Blue Diamond to approach and be unbelievably patient with the quartzes? As Holly pondered over an idea came to mind, but she brushed it aside.
No it was ludicrous… Nothing but a mere coincidence…
But… was it possible… that the human did something to Blue Diamond?
It was absurd! It was just a miserable organic! There was nothing that a human could do against a gem, let alone an almighty and flawless diamond! Yet the more Holly thought of the gormless creature the more curious she became. Exactly why did Blue Diamond bring a human when it was not meant for the zoo? What was even more bizarre was that Blue Diamond ordered everyone to not spread word of the human's existence outside the zoo. Though preposterous as it meant it could only mean that the regal gem wanted the human safe. No one knew why, not even the human's designated silky aquamarine. Holly had inquired with the aquamarine, but the only answer she received was 'I don't know, Holly; nobody knows, and nobody ever will'.
Yet the timing of the human's arrival and how Blue Diamond acted was so close together that it was too strange to dismiss. Perhaps the human was having an influence on the diamond. How a worthless organic could have an effect on an almighty diamond was beyond the realm of understanding, but it was the only idea that Holly could think of.
If the human was indeed being a bad influence on Blue Diamond then as her agate Holly will find a way to dispose of the human.