Final Chapter: Forgotten
Altaite blew a hole in the wall with his cannon, checking outside for any enemy ships.
He gestured for the Gems to jump off into the water below, which glowed in the very dim sunlight.
Turquoise jumped off, Tiger's Eye behind her, covering her eyes, afraid of heights.
Malachite and Onyx were next, both of them spreading out in a skydiving "X," enjoying how the air felt against them.
Altaite put away his cannon, making his way to the edge.
The roof was collapsing from the impact of his cannon.
It came down fast, one of the rocks falling onto Tourmaline's dress.
Altaite couldn't blast it; he'd hurt her. And she couldn't crush it, either; her scythe took a while to cut through rock.
She looked up at him, tears gathering in her eyes.
"You have to go. Please, just go..."
He seemed shocked. "What?! Are you crazy?! I'm not leaving you here!"
Tourmaline looked down. "Go. Live your life. I'll be waiting for you."
Altaite shook his head, trying to keep tears away.
He looked up at her.
"It's what I want for you."
He nodded and stepped onto the edge, looking back.
"Oh, and... don't look down."
Altaite laughed, jumping out.
From the sea below, he watched the tower collapse, closing his eyes.
…
The Gems celebrated all day.
But then, there was still a loss.
When the tower was collapsing, you could hear a faint sound, followed by a small cloud that drifted skyward.
That was Tourmaline.
Altaite stayed in his room during the party.
The light in his room was dim, and there were many mountains surrounding the center, where he lay.
He conjured a small house in the middle.
Currently, he was inside, in the bed, facing away from the window.
He heard a knock on his door.
He opened it and found Onyx on the other side, who had an apologetic look on his face.
"I'm sorry about Tourmaline."
"It was my fault."
"No. No, it wasn't. The only reason Tourmaline got trapped was because you shot a hole in the- Oh. But... We wouldn't have gone to the Spire if Yellow Diamond hadn't existed, right? That was why we went."
Altaite looked up a bit.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Onyx removed his hood and saw that Altaite had tears streaming down his face.
"I've never seen you cry before."
Altaite hugged him. "Thanks for being there. We aren't just friends; you're like a brother to me. That'll never change. Thank you."
Onyx seemed shocked. Not only had Altaite never cried before, but he'd never hugged anyone.
But this was serious.
Tourmaline was actually gone.
And he couldn't change that.
Not for a while, anyways.
…
Malachite leaned on the wooden rail outside of Steven's house.
Onyx came out, looking down at his feet.
Malachite spoke up. "What's wrong?"
"It's Altaite. He's really heartbroken.."
Malachite seemed shocked. "Oh."
He watched Turquoise and Steven play in the water.
Steven took a bit of seaweed and, using his power, started to make it look like a green paper cut-out of a person.
Peridot put a toe in the water, yelping and leaping back. "Is this a weapon?!"
Turquoise giggled, turning a bit of water into a sword made of ice.
She held it up, laughing when Peridot covered her eyes.
She gave it to her, watching her swing it around. "Fear me, for I am Yellow Diamond!"
Turns out that this would be a kind of inside joke between the two Gems.
Everyone was happy, that's true.
But that would soon change when they realized they'd forgotten another enemy yet again.
Iolite was out there.