27. Maybe
"I thought I might find you here…" It was Heliodor, and she was standing in front of a Pearl, a Lapis Lazuli, and a cowering Peridot. The white archive room was active, experimental files on full display. It was curious sight indeed.
Pearl and Lapis froze, knowing what Heliodors were capable of, her eyes deadly as she examined the room. They had been caught, it was over…
"Get up. We don't have all day." The lean gem entered the room, extended a long arm with fingers outstretched, and grabbed Peridot by the arm.
"My Diamond has need of you. Come."
With a quick jerk, Peridot was dragged to standing, released in disgust, and marched out the hallway in a fluid motion.
Lapis' mouth was agape, looking at the door and then to Pearl, who had the same expression. She… didn't come for them? Surely she had to know who they were, right? Pearl even had her weapon drawn. Maybe… the Heliodor just somehow didn't notice? Or really wasn't there for them, and they just got lucky?
Pearl leaned weakly on her sword, her nerves coming undone as they stood in a stunned silence. Though she didn't have a chance to further interrogate the Peridot, she had to count her lucky stars that they weren't just taken away. Heliodors… they're often called the Pursuant, able to track and capture just about anything or anyone, but they were also extremely loyal, so if she wasn't told to take them, then she may not have. Their obedience was comparable to that of a Pearl, a thought which made the renegade Pearl shake her head in focus.
"That was… strange." Pearl glanced at Lapis, who blinked several times before answering.
"Y-Yeah…"
Sheathing her sword, Pearl bit her lip as she looked at the room. The screen still glowed, logs open to the experiments, this might be their only chance to investigate, but…
Genuinely unsure, she volleyed her concerns to Lapis. "Where… or what, rather, do you think we should do?"
The blue gem was about as unsure as Pearl, cupping her chin in one hand, eyes squinting in concentration.
"So… well, let's just forget about whatever that was for now. It… doesn't seem like there was anything she intended to do, but she for sure knows we're here. And she's headed back to Blue Diamond with that Peridot… If she didn't recognize us or care to take us, that Peridot will definitely report what we did. We can't stay here." Piecing the puzzle together, she ended her deliberation with finality. Glancing at the screen, she too felt frustrated and curious at the same time. What had all of Peridot's jargon meant – why did they need all of these measurements? He had healing powers, Lapis' being here was proof of that, so why bother with tests and human biology?
Pearl sighed and shut her eyes, but agreed. "Yes, you're right… we best go quickly, lest were cornered here again. We won't be so lucky next time if we're found."
Mouth drawn tight, she adjusted the sword at her side and approached the archive, disabled the screen and returned the room to the state in which they found it. Then, she turned to face Lapis who gave her a nod, indicating that they best move on.
Rerouting their way through the labyrinthine building, Pearl and Lapis were silent and reflective, both of their minds swimming with questions. After another few minutes of walking, Pearl took a turn off the path from before, knowing that this way should bring them to the warp pads.
Once they had almost arrived, Pearl lifted a hand in pause and leaned against a wall, Lapis following her actions. She peeked cautiously around the corner that opened to a large chamber, splitting off into smaller chambers each of which contained at least one warp pads. There was no one to be found, though, just like the rest of the white halls.
Turning back and taking a deep breath, Pearl rested her head against the wall and looked at the ceiling.
"So, where do we go now? It seems like Yellow Diamond must have him, not White Diamond. But would she be keeping him in a cell? Garnet said he'd be brought to the Center in a few hours, and there's no way to tell how much time has passed…"
Lapis looked at her hands, clenching her fists as she thought about it. "Well… Maybe we could try Yellow Diamond's base, and retrace our steps to the warp pad if it seems we're almost out of time? It will be… a lot harder to cut off the, er, ceremony, but it wouldn't be impossible." She didn't really sound confident.
Pearl didn't have a better plan, so she worked up her nerve, glanced around the corner one more time, and started off towards the nearest chamber. She and Lapis cleared the width of the room easily, walking as swiftly and silently as possible.
Lapis stepped up on the pad immediately, but Pearl hesitated for just a moment. "There… might be subjects when we arrive there. I'm not familiar with Yellow Diamond's protocols, so just…" Pearl ran a hand through her unnaturally long hair, nervous.
"You too." Lapis offered her a hand, a surprisingly kind gesture between them, and they set off for the Military District.
At first, Lapis thought she had warped through time rather than space, or that something had gone wrong and she was in her own mind. Blinking her eyes into awareness, she saw Jasper approaching her, extending a hand, inviting her in…
She flinched away, drawing her hand in on herself, too disturbed to pick up on all of the sensory information around her. There was a ringing in her ears, and she was pretty sure Pearl was saying something, but her eyes were locked on Jasper.
"Wah – " she barely managed out.
Clearing her throat, Pearl bowed to Lapis, still on the warp pad. Her voice sounded very intense. "My respected Lapis Lazuli, this loyal subject to Yellow Diamond would like to know if we would like to join her at the Center. She was just getting ready to leave, and says we should make our report on this mysterious sword after." Lapis tore her gaze away from the confused orange face, eyes narrowed in anger as Pearl spoke. Pearl, for her part, was doing her very best not to panic.
"Why would we do that?" Her voice was sharp like a whip.
Pearl's mouth was pressed thinner as she stared at Lapis, trying and failing to communicate with just her eyes. "Because, your grand Terraformist, since we were just about to head there ourselves after making our report, and it would seem traitorous to decline such a kind offer." She bowed, squeezing her eyes together.
Come on Lapis, say something, we need this…
"I – I, um, …" but she was freezing up, unable to come up with an excuse; she was barely able to come up with words at all, to be fair.
The orange gem misread her panic as excitement for the festivities, however, and batted a hand at her lazily. "Don't even worry about it, Lazuli. Your report isn't going anywhere. We don't want to miss anything good!"
Jasper was about to step up on the warp pad with the two of them, but Lapis raised her hand. Her voice was shaky, but she managed to come up with something.
"N-no, that's… We are on direct orders from my Diamond. We – I – it's related to the crash, we have evidence regarding the intruders…" Pearl nodded her head in encouragement, massively relieved that Lapis caught up.
Jasper looked nervous, turning her head into the empty room behind her and back at the others. "Alright, well, let me escort you – if it's something that important, Yellow Diamond will want it secured. Can't go with the regular old evidence – uh, Lazuli? Are you alright?" She was, however, not okay – her mind was spinning again, falling through Prehnite and Peridot and back into Malachite. The voice in her head… she hadn't heard it out loud in so long, and now it was trying to take her again, she couldn't fall back into this…
Pearl tittered nervously, trying to mend the awkward silence. "Well, um, I know how excited she is to attend. Your grand Terraformist, may I take the evidence – something like this is below you," she curtsied respectfully.
"Ugh, enough Pearl. Just come on, Yellow Diamond wants this place cleared out way ahead of time. We need to hurry or we'll all be shattered." Pearl shot Lapis a serious glance, mouthing I'm sorry and hastily followed Jasper down a hallway.
Lapis had started to rub her arm, a nervous habit she's picked up, and felt her legs shaking once they had gone out of sight. She really just messed up – if Pearl hadn't jumped in, she would have lost it completely.
Come on, get it together. This isn't about you, or Malachite, or Prehnite, or Jasper… It's about Steven.
Walking forward, it felt like an arrow went through her brain, her resolve punctured, sinking into those black waters again. Her voice was there again, Jasper, never really having left.
She's not even the same as me, or did you forget what we had? It was special, and you know it, I know it. We were so great together.
"No!" She whispered, grabbing her ears and covering them like a human child might, trying to block the voice from her mind.
Her hands were shaking and she squeezed her eyes tight, trying to calm herself. Pearl could be back any moment with that Jasper, and she needed to be a dignified Homeworld Gem right now.
"You're not me. You brought out everything I hate about myself… I'm not that person anymore…" A tear leaked out of her shut lids.
Her focus was interrupted when the warp pad activated, only feet away, her face going totally blank with shock.
Here? But… no, I'm imagining things…
/
Speeding around corners a few paces behind Garnet, Connie on the fusion's shoulders, Amethyst's mind had been wandering. She was worried about Pearl, Lapis, and Peridot… Garnet's information has been somewhat helpful, but this was still really, really messed up. They had really strayed from the plan, which, Amethyst hated to admit, made her uneasy. She hoped that just maybe the chaos left behind by Sugilite would be near enough to wherever the others landed to draw them in, but it's not like they could just stay behind and wait. They needed to find Steven first, his problems were much more pressing right now.
Garnet slowed down, still moving but steadying her pace as they reached a particularly wide hallway. "This is it. Beyond that door is the connecting lobby for White and Blue Diamond's districts. They might be waiting for us, so keep your guard up…"
Connie adjusted so her sword rested on her shoulders rather than across her back, an easier transition to her fighting stance if needed; Amethyst summoned her whip and put her hair up. Garnet closed her eyes, trying to see…
"I can see Pearl and Lapis, they're somewhere…white, so maybe they've beat us there. I don't see Peridot. Not yet." Now they had slowed to a walk, and Garnet lifted Connie off from her shoulders and set her on the ground.
The fusion didn't bother with the panel, not exactly known for her delicate touch, and punched open the door, ready to fight if she had to. The metal rang loudly, a shrill screech as it slid across the floor, but they were the only ones to hear it. Once again, they found the place empty.
Amethyst walked into the room, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand, trying to comfort herself. "Ugh… this place just gives me the creeps. Let's, like, hurry…"
They all shared the same feeling as they glanced around at screens and panels, examining the oddly shaped, geometric structures noting the dividing line that abruptly changed from glowing blue to tempting white – a nothing color, a mystery, the unknown.
Amethyst was paused, looking at a mural off to one side, just beside a large curved chair. Connie stopped to look at the picture too, admiring the height of Blue Diamond in comparison to several upside-down triangles, with a dizzying storm of hands folded in prayer around her head. After a moment, something about it made her feel uneasy, so she shook her head and walked around the chair to look around the rest of the room.
Moving towards the blue-white division line, Connie's eyes scanned the passing fixtures in awe: more murals of military conquest, screens with images and scrawled writing, all the gem tech oddly disproportionate and seemingly random. But, what the room lacked in order, it made up for in size –a sprawling, tall rectangular room with sloping walls and ceilings, obviously designed to accommodate gems far larger than Garnet. Speaking of which, Connie scanned around for Garnet – which was an odd thing for her to have to do; Garnet is… well, huge, so she's not exactly hard to find in an empty room even as big as this one.
"Amethyst?" Connie turned around to where she had left the purple gem only a few moments ago.
No answer. Nervously, she gripped the hilt of her sword a little tighter, wondering if she had somehow missed a command to move out. She retreated behind the chair next to the mural, but Amethyst was gone.
"G-Garnet?" Now she was really nervous, alone on a literal alien planet, without any of the six aliens she arrived with.
Cautiously, Connie backed into the nearest wall, checking behind her and keeping her sword ready, wanting a solid surface against her as to not leave any openings. Making contact with cold metal, Connie pressed her spine flat against it, eyes alert. If someone was going to ambush her, she wasn't about to make it easy for them.
She tried to keep her head forward and focused, any movement in her periphery a sign to enter her stance, but nothing came. What was going on? A few lines from her survival guide ran through her mind.
In the event that you are separated from your partner or group, the best chance of being found is to wait. It may seem tempting at first to seek out help yourself, to trace your way back, but there is a risk of putting more distance between you and your group if either you or your group choose the wrong path. Instead, the party should notify authorities immediately when someone is noticed to be absent, and by waiting, the search team will not have to track your movement, just your location.
Connie frowned, finding the advice less than helpful right now – notifying the authorities here would likely get her killed.
After another ten minutes of waiting, Connie had started to fidget nervously. They were losing time, and Steven's chance of survival was slipping away with it. Should she go on without them? The blue half of the room had four corridors – two on each wall perpendicular to the door they came from – and from what she could tell, they all went deeper into the district. Connie considered looking for them, but that would only get her more lost. Could she go on without them? She knew what she was looking for, White Diamond's prison, but…
She jumped at a sudden noise coming from one of the blue hallways, eyes wide and ears straining. It sounded like a single, rough grunt, and it sounded like…
"Amethyst!" A mixture of fear and relief clenched her heart as she bolted down one of the hallways towards the sound. She paused to listen for it again, but there was nothing except her breathing and the pounding in her chest. Connie slowed her mad dash to a swift walk, passing numerous closed doors and more stretches of blue walls. Had they been captured? Why hadn't they taken all of them, just Garnet and Amethyst? Or had she simply lagged behind by mistake?
Then, in a sudden burst of sound, a door just ahead on her right opened. There were two voices, one yelling but further away, the other ringing clear as day.
"… touch her! I'll, I'll – just, no! Don't!"
"… is well. Bring her to me – the girl." The command was much easier to discern than the scrambled yelling, melodic but authoritative. Connie's eyes went wide as a figure walked into the hallway, tall and orange, turning to look at her.
"No need, my Diamond, she has come to you." An orange gem's was looking at Connie from the doorway, sizing her up, her mouth a thin line of disapproval. She looked… annoyed?
My Diamond…?
Connie tightened her grip on her sword, waiting for the other to make her move, try to come after her. But just as quickly as she took her stance, everything went black. In a single blink, the tall gem had disappeared from her vision and was right behind her, bent down to her level. She's never seen anyone move so fast, like a flash of wind. Even with her fighter's reflexes, the orange gem was too quick for her, opening her mouth to reveal sharpened teeth.
"Shhh…" was all it took, and Connie's body went limp. She crumpled, unconscious, Rose's sword clanging onto the metal floor.
Heliodor caught her before she fell, holding the human aloft by the collar, studying her. This human was female and young, with long brown hair and defined muscles – much different than the hybrid child, but so similar, too. Stubborn and reckless.
Without skipping a beat, she walked back into Blue Diamond's think chamber, Connie's lifeless body in one hand and a pink sword in the other.
/
Steven woke up on the strange, Diamond-sized couch, back against the hard surface, but he actually felt somewhat better. His body – and mind, for that matter – had been desperately overworked as of late, and it felt good to rest. His torn arm didn't hurt as much, so he unwound the tourniquet he had made to inspect the damage. It was… pretty bad.
What had at first been a small puncture wound in his… his…? He was coming up blank, the area you're supposed to sneeze into? Pearl called it something once, an anti-cube fossil? Whatever it was, that entire part of his arm had turned a sickening red, like a radiating bruise that was maroon at the injection point. This sort of thing didn't usually make him feel sick, but this was particularly disturbing. Really, really unnatural looking. The longer he thought about it, he was honestly surprised he hadn't died already, thinking about the pool of blood at the bottom of Yellow Diamond's bubble.
His stomach churning uncomfortably, Steven opted to rip off another line of fabric from his shirt and re-wrap it – if not to protect it, so he wouldn't have to look at it anymore.
He sat up and looked around, surprised that no one had taken him away yet. Blue Diamond had left him, and he fell asleep eventually…
"Oh." His mouth fell open.
The Gems…
He decided to return to his former position, ignoring the pain along his spine. It was unbelievable – the whole thing – how had this happened? Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst… Lapis, Peridot… he felt tears spring to his eyes, and he didn't bother to wipe them away. They loved him too much, and now they were here to save him, but he didn't want to be saved. Not like this, not if it meant they would have to die for him.
Then there was the matter of Connie… Steven rubbed his cheek, remembering when he found his first facial hair, wanting to grow up with her…
Hopefully she took the message and tried to move on. She can stay and do missions if that's what she wants, but Pearl wouldn't have let her come on something like this, right? She'll be alone on Earth, the only Crystal Gem left when this is all over…
Steven lifted a hand to his face, inspecting it, turning it over in his vision, flexing each finger. Connie's hands were so rough, Stevonnie's hands were so steady, and Smoky's hands were so strong. Closing his eyes, Steven even thought about Opalite's many hands, all different sizes and blue – those hands demanded, and yielded results.
Results… what did White Diamond ever even want from him? She had gone through a lot of trouble just for him to be killed, and then Blue Diamond didn't seem to want him to die, but Yellow certainly wanted him dead. And then…
Pink would have liked you…
His thoughts were interrupted when a door opened, and Steven turned his head to the side, not bothering to get up. Two stocky yellow gems, probably Quartz, appeared in the doorway and they were holding tall, silver batons. Steven thought the instruments odd – they didn't really look like weapons, but the purpose and intent to hurt was somehow still evident in the way they shined under the blue light. The pair scanned around the room as they entered, eyes bulging when they saw him on top of the couch, staring down at them.
"Rose Quartz? Is that… you?" One of the Yellow Gems asked, her voice shifting between confused and afraid.
Steven sat up, swung his legs over the side of the blue behemoth and replied. "Sure."
The two exchanged a look, surprised by his response (and, more than likely, his appearance).
"Well… it's time, would you uh, come down?" Steven frowned as he looked at the gems below, reminding him of Amethyst and Jasper in their voice and mannerisms. But now was not the time for that…
He pushed off with his hands as casually as if he was taking a dip in the pool, falling heavily at first but he managed to control the fall, landing softly on his feet.
The guards looked down at him, faces etched in suspicion, ready to fight if necessary, but Steven just shrugged. Now or never, he thought.
Tapping the large batons twice against the floor, a quick tap-tap, Steven's marked wrist started to flare yellow, a sort of painful impatience, but it was over after just another second. The guards stood on either side of him, the sphere at the head of each baton glowing yellow, generating a buzzing beam of yellow energy that connected to his scared wrist, extended from there to his other arm, and finally binding to the baton on the other side. It was sort of like elaborate manacles, but not nearly as restrictive as the security monitor he had been made to wear in the beginning. Examining the batons and his wrist, Steven found the machination rather unnecessary, but chalked it up to showmanship.
This was their big victory, after all…
He sighed and looked at his feet as they led him out of the room. They passed a large expanse of glass, a hallway leading to a warp pad, and he looked out at the world below. He knew it was fruitless, but he couldn't help scanning for purple, or green, or white, or blue, or anything, anybody he recognized…
But the streets he could see were empty, and a moment later he was stepping onto a warp pad.
Squinting, Steven didn't really know where they were going, so it took his mind a moment to adjust as the yellow room came into focus as the cool warp stream disappeared. It was almost all the same, crisp yellow that he had come to expect, but there was a blue blob that didn't belong. Blinking a few times, he realized it was a person, staring, but…
He sucked in a hard breath, nearly falling over.
Lapis?
/
To her, this had to be the single worst moment of her entire life. Amethyst scanned the room as she felt a gem looming threateningly behind her back, daring her to move. She really didn't want to be poofed, and her hands were bound in some funky Homeworld brace, so she couldn't use her powers, so all she could do was observe.
Wincing in time with a series of rough kicks, Amethyst watched as Ruby was pummeled by other, much bigger gems. Sapphire was crying, soldiers gripping her hard delicate blue arms, dragging her away from the red gem. She had seen Garnet come apart before, but never like… this. A sob rose in her throat, and Amethyst squeezed her eyes shut and turned away as another kick was aimed right at Ruby's gemstone, planting in her hand. Peeking through her lids, Amethyst was overcome with relief when she saw that the red gemstone had not been shattered.
Thank the stars for Peridot… She turned her head down to examine her own gem and gem mod, ready to protect her in a moment's notice.
Sapphire had stopped struggling, and was forced roughly next to Amethyst on the floor, hands secured in the same strange bondage. Ruby had not yet been forced into the weird brace yet, still panting loudly as she was pinned down on the floor, her head rammed painfully against blue metal every time she tried to call out.
"Sapphir—" Smack.
"Don't hurt he – " Another.
"I can't – " Again. Then a fourth time, and a fifth.
Finally, Sapphire cried out to her, voice thick with tears. "Stop, Ruby! Please…"
The Blue gem was hit hard by another soldier, knocking her into Amethyst, but the blue gem resisted the urge to cry out in pain – she knew it would only make Ruby even more volatile to see her hurting.
All three of them were quiet when the door opened, Ruby just huffing loudly, eyeing Blue Diamond with pure hatred.
The orange gem that had taken them by surprise re-entered the room them with her hands full – one holding Connie, the other Rose's sword. Without pause, she advanced forward and placed the blade at Blue Diamonds feet, bowing her tall frame while still holding Connie straight out.
"The girl, my Diamond. My apologies; I am not sure how I overlooked her before." Amethyst wanted to lunge at her, smash her face with her fist, spit on her. How did one gem cause all of this? One minute, everything had been fine, and the next, everything went black. She opened her eyes and Garnet had been split, her hands were bound, and now Connie was suspended like a doll in front of her.
Dismissively, Blue Diamond looked from the tall gem to the small girl, then back to the screen, her face focused. "It is fine, this time. Wake her. I wish to discuss some things before we begin."
Heliodor bowed her head, turned to where Amethyst was sitting and placed Connie to her other side. As the dangerous, orange gem leaned over Connie, Amethyst stared daggers at her, wanting nothing more than to summon her whip and wrap it around her slender little neck, but Heliodor did not acknowledge her. In fact, her face was perfectly blank as she stared at Connie's unconscious one, lowering a single finger to the girl's forehead and opening her mouth to speak.
What her face lacked in emotion, her terrifying whisper made up for in tone. It felt like Amethyst was being poisoned, infected, and cracked all at once – and it was just from her voice.
"Awake."
Immediately, Connie jerked back to consciousness, eyes searching in surprise and fear as she returned to reality. Amethyst noted that Connie's hands were not bound, but the orange gem saw to that. Kneeling behind the three of them, before Connie could get her bearings, she clasped her human hands tightly in a vice-like grip.
"Wah – Amethyst? What's…?" her voice trailed off as she followed the purple gem's urgent eyes, her mouth falling open as she looked at the statuesque figure in front of them. Blue and magnificent, Connie audibly gasped as she studied Blue Diamond's face. She looked sad and wise, a monarch and a despot, lovely and intimidating.
Connie was so astonished, she even forgot to be afraid for a moment. She knew the Diamond's weren't going to be like normal gems, but this was unprecedented. The fear came back, though, as she realized Blue Diamond was looking directly at her.
"You're Connie, aren't you?" Her voice was teasing, a game. She knew the answer, but she still asked the question.
Blue Diamond was just too pleased to wait for answer. "Finally, it's so nice for you to join me. Steven cares about you so much," They all reacted when she said that, anger flaring for her to even dare to say his name. Connie had only been awake for a minute, and she had never hated anyone so much in her life.
"And, you're not a moment too soon," turning her head, Blue Diamond gestured towards a wall off to their left which suddenly glowed to life. A massive panel, nearly the whole length of the room, flickered to life, projecting an image like a television screen. Connie's eyes went wide as she tried to understand what she was seeing, squinting and refocusing.
It was like a crazed sporting event, like the football games her parents would sometimes watch, bodies moving and yelling and absolutely possessed with a unique adrenaline reserved for special occasions. This was much bigger than a football game, though, and from the angle above it looked like there were tens of thousands of gems smushed together, like the pictures of Empire City from the sky on New Year's.
Blue Diamond's soft mocking broke their distressed silence, Amethyst, Connie and Sapphire were gazing into the screen as Ruby tried to crane her neck from the floor.
"We've still got some time before things begin. Would you like to see if there's anything else on?"
Blue Diamond twirled a finger elegantly and the screen changed, filling the room with a sudden yellow light. They all fell completely silence, looking at Lapis from above, standing alone in a bright yellow room, gripping her head in a show of pain. Then, off to one side, the warp pad activated.
/
"L-Lapis?" Steven felt like he had seen a ghost. Was this real? Maybe he had already died and his brain blocked out the whole thing, and he was just seeing Lapis in his head. But, no, she wouldn't be wearing such strange clothes or look so terrified.
One of the guards yanked at his restraints, which made him wince painfully. "Quiet. And you – Yellow Diamond ordered this place empty by now. Go on Lazuli, to the ceremony, before we report you." As the Citrines jerked Steven off of the warp pad, one of them pointed authoritatively at Lapis, but she was still gaping at Steven.
… No, there's no way this is Steven, it can't be – but, no, his voice, his eyes…
"Are you deaf? Move." One of the Citrines shoved her when she remained planted in front of them, directly blocking their path, and her brain was moving so slowly she barely had the reflexes to catch herself against the ground. Steven was staring at her, too, eyes wide in shock and hurt and love.
He had to crane his neck at her as his escorts started to lead him away, too afraid to say anything else – if he tried to speak, they might realize that he knows her, blowing her cover.
"Yellow Diamond wants to have a final talk with you, so get a move on, we could be – " Poof.
Lapis had grabbed the gemstone straight from the Citrine's back, disconnecting the form by force, crushing the gemstone in her hand with such rage it cracked. The baton that held Steven in place clattered to the ground, but it did not deactivate, so he his arms were tugged in an awkward diagonal between the two.
The other Citrine turned in surprise, holding up an arm defensively as Lapis approached with a small ball of water, flooding their eyes painfully. She didn't have much to work with, but the small store always available from her wings was enough for this.
Steven gasped as he watched Lapis disarm them, his arms being dragged painfully as one rod was discarded on the ground, the other moving erratically as the gem struggled with the water in her eyes.
"Lapis, stop it!" He yelled louder than he meant to, enough that both yellow and blue gem in front of him froze completely.
"What – don't you – go! This is your chance, get the others, and get out of here!" He hadn't expected her, hadn't prepared for this, his eyes were streaming with fresh tears as she stared at him, her face surprisingly void of any emotion.
A momentary relief washed over him as he watched her retract the water from blinding the Citrine, but his heart stopped when she formed the ball into a pointed, icy dagger and twisted it into his guard's chest.
Poof.
And now they were alone, staring at each other, both of Steven's arms held tautly down by the rods that buzzed around his wrist.
"Wh- n- no! Why are you here? Go, now – this is…" he trailed off, Lapis falling to her knees in front of him and wrapping him a hug. It was just like his dream with Pearl, but no laughter, no giggling, no twirling. This was a desperate, clinging embrace, her grip tight and constricting. Steven had stopped resisting in surprise, but he was brought back to reality when he realized she was crying.
Awkwardly while still in his bonds, he pushed his hands against her, away.
"No, Lapis, don't." His panic had gone hollow as he watched the hurt break over her face, but he didn't stop, didn't soften like he had with Pearl. She needed to hear this.
"I… need you to leave. Now. Get the others, whoever is left, and go home."
She blinked away fresh tears, obviously injured by his words. "B-but Steven, we came all the way here to find you, and you're here! Right here!" She went to hug him again, but he cringed away.
Before he could protest, their moment was interrupted. It was a voice he knew, but here? He turned, eyes searching. Jasper?
"And that's why. W- I – what is going on here?" She was standing next to… Pearl? It looked like his Pearl, but her hair was really long and her clothes were blue. Her face was the image of shock, her mouth hanging open and eyes blinking in disbelief.
Without hesitating, not even taking her eyes off of him, Lapis raised a hand and pierced the Jasper straight in the neck, her form disappearing instantly.
Then there were arms all over him again, holding him, hugging him, crying into him.He was just numb to it – eyes shifting nervously at the prospect of another person walking in. They could be caught, found, shattered any second…
"Steven, oh my stars, Steven… I can't, we found you! We did it!" Pearl laughed in hysterics, tears still pouring down her face, Lapis and her beaming at him and each other. He couldn't meet their eyes, though – what was wrong with them? They needed to leave, and fast.
Just then, an idea hatched in his brain, but it was cruel. And it would be hard… really, really hard. Just thinking about it made his heart sink. He sighed, closed his eyes, and smiled.
"Actually, no, you're both – you're right. I should be thanking you, what's wrong with me? It's just been… really crazy." He grinned sheepishly at them, and they hugged him tightly in response, and this time he hugged back.
"Could you, um, these things?" He kicked lightly at one of the batons that held him there, stuck in their arms, hoping…
Pearl smiled at him with so much love it made him want to cry. Lapis wiped her hand across her face, flushed deep blue from her overwhelming emotions. "Of course, just, hold on…" She summoned her spear and broke the crackling yellow energy easily.
She gasped after disabling the shackles, noticing the damage to his scarred arm, gripping it softly in her cold hands. Pearl didn't know what to say at first, angry and disturbed but still so happy that he was here. Eyes down, she stayed her negativity for the time being – she could address those questions later, with the others, back on Earth. The important thing was he was safe.
Lapis was just marveling at him, so happy to see him smiling again, even if his eyes looked vacant. She knew only a tiny fraction of what he had gone through, so she couldn't blame him for being sensitive, but it would all be better now. They were together again, and she would help him the same way he helped her.
Steven glanced around, doing his best to look nervous and afraid (which wasn't very hard) and grabbed one of each of their hands. "Can we, please, go? We won't have long before they notice…" he lowered his gaze to the three gemstones littered on the floor around them, trying to sound concerned.
Their faces softened and they all stood from their heap on the floor, shaking but full of feeling. Lapis and Pearl… they looked so proud, so excited, exchanging looks and smiles in a way he had never seen them before. They both held one of his hands, like the Gems used to do when he was little and they would walk along the beach together.
Looking up at them as they stepped up on the warp pad, their faces overjoyed, Steven felt like his heart was about to shatter. Pearl was still studying his discolored arm, so he pulled it away gently and cradled it in the hand Lapis had been holding, a sign of his fragility.
"Oh – wait – should we, I should bubble them…" Steven started, stepping forward, hand outstretched to the damaged gems on the ground.
Pearl lifted an arm to stay his shoulder. "No, Steven, it's fine. Let me…"
She started to pull him back, following him off the warp pad, so he winced away and turned abruptly just as her familiar fingers tried to protect him. Lapis looked confused, her mouth set firmly, and started off too. Just when they were both close enough, Steven squeezed his eyes shut and felt a painful tear line his cheek.
"No."
In a quick movement, he summoned the same shield that he had already used to hurt so many others, turning it on two of the people who wanted more than anything to protect them. He held his breath and flung it at their legs, the surprise and strength of his action knocking them off balance.
Pearl landed on her backside, and Lapis tottered awkwardly, catching herself on one knee. Pearl's face was the hardest thing – the heartbreak, the realization, the loss and betrayal, all in one broken expression. Just at that, he almost gave up, wanting to run back into her comforting arms. But no, he couldn't, they needed to go, protect themselves and the Earth, and he needed to die, and that was it.
"Bu – Steven?"
His voice didn't even sound like him. "Don't you get it? I don't want you to rescue me. I…" He needed them to want it too. He knew they loved him, and they loved him too much, so the only thing he could do was to extinguish that feeling. The last time he had seen Pearl, he had left too much vulnerability. He had to do this…
Normally, Lapis would have thought to grab him, but she was too shocked as he knelt down and placed one hand on the warp pad.
"You think I want this, but you're wrong. You let them take me, you left me alone – they made me kill people, they did this to me," he pointed at his scarred arm. "I-I hate you, all of you, so just leave me alone!"
And in a rush of blue light, he activated the warp stream, sending them both to the first place he could think of, and pulled his hand back. Still holding his shield, Steven took a deep, painful breath and lowered his eyes to examine the stone at his feet. It was smooth, beautiful, delicate – a cream colored island in a sea of yellow metal. He clenched his fist and ignored his tears, bringing down the pink shield with all the force he could muster against the warp pad. A splintering crack appeared, so he hit it a few more times until the crack went all the way through.
Steven was breathing heavily now, his voice ragged and choking through sobs. He had given them another chance, a final message, and maybe it would be enough to get them to run. Maybe not, but, what choice did he have? If they tried to take him, they would all die; if he went through with this, then it would only have to be him. And maybe that was Blue Diamond's point all along – maybe he was special. Even if he was just one person, he could save them, and the Earth, and even give Blue Diamond peace. Maybe that wasn't so bad.