Steven was terrified; it wasn't common for the Diamonds to ignore his call, especially after such a long time, he looked at the Gems and his wife in disbelief at the situation, Soon, Peridot approached him
"Steven, relax. It's probably just a communication glitch, Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go," Peridot said, heading towards Pink Diamond's ship
Steven quickly realized that everyone was going, which comforted him, However, Lapis and Peridot were taking their daughter with them too
"Huh, alright... huh, Peridot? Is Turquoise going too?" Steven asked, pointing to the gemling
Lapis took a step forward
"Peridot and I decided it would be good to take Turquoise to see our birth planet... and besides, no one wants to stay with her," Lapis said, rubbing her head a bit sad
Steven just nodded, surprised, Soon, all the Gems, including Connie, headed towards Pink Diamond's ship
INSIDE THE SHIP
Steven went straight to the control room to lift off the ship. He activated it, and pink shields began to surround his leg.
"Wow, it's been so long, I don't know if I still have the hang of it," Steven said
He glanced back briefly to check if everyone was okay, pearl pulled a blanket from her gem and handed it to Lapis and Peridot, saying she had brought it for Turquoise, Peridot accepted it with a nod
Connie was chatting with Amethyst, and Garnet stood in a corner with her arms crossed, Lapis and Peridot sat down, looking at each other, making a space in between their child
Pearl approached Steven with a sad look and crossed arms, standing beside him.
"Steven, I don't know what they'll tell us on our homeworld or what we'll find I..."
"It's alright, Mom, we'll do this together," Steven said, getting ready to take off
The ship showed signs of more energy, Pearl couldn't contain her happiness at feeling Steven calling her "Mom."
"Is everyone ready?" Steven shouted
Everyone waved; you could see on their faces that they were bewildered, Steven began to run faster and faster, then pushed forward, The ship seemed old and struggled to leave Earth's atmosphere
Finally, the ship broke through the atmosphere and gained great speed, almost the speed of sound, It wouldn't take long to reach the neighboring homeworld, as it was relatively close, Turquoise started feeling very cold, and cold air escaped her mouth, Seeing this, Lapis immediately wrapped her in a blanket
"I don't remember space being this cold," Lapis said
Peridot noticed the tiredness on Lapis's face, She approached Lapis and stood by her side, Lapis's gaze grew heavy, and she rested her head on Peridot's shoulder
Unlike Turquoise and Lapis, Peridot didn't have human habits, so she didn't need to sleep, The journey was peaceful. Connie also felt the intense cold, Steven noticed and gave her his jacket.
"Thank you, Steven" Connie said
Steven smiled.
"Pearl, is everything stable with the ship?" Steven asked
Pearl was checking all the ship's panels
"Almost everything, the shields are down" Pearl replied
Steven turned his gaze forward again, awestruck by what he had just seen—a horrifying scene
"Guys!" Steven shouted
Everyone was startled and stood up quickly. They were approaching their homeworld, but it was... completely destroyed, even worse than before, they couldn't believe their eyes.
"Is this...?"
"homeworld," Garnet said
Steven regained his posture and prepared to land. The landing was a bit rough but overall successful
The homeworld looked nothing like before, the gems were in shock at the devastation
"I'm glad our daughter isn't awake to see this" Peridot muttered to lapis
The Gems rushed out as the ship opened, but Connie started coughing as if choking
"Connie, what's wrong?" Steven asked
Soon he coughed too and felt his breath dissipating like cold smoke
"The atmosphere's destroyed" Peridot said, pointing upward
Even the sky seemed to be on fire Connie hurried back into the ship to breathe, Lapis realized it wouldn't be safe to bring Turquoise here amidst the destruction, She went over to Connie and handed Turquoise to her
"Please take care of her until we return" Lapis said, aware of the dangers
Steven caught his breath and stood tall
"Don't worry about me, I'm half Gem; I don't need to breathe as often... I can handle it," Steven said
Bismuth muttered annoyed
They all walked through the ruins and debris, their homeworld was in pieces, Places were on fire, and hydrogen-like smoke filled the air, The absence of life was haunting
They walked along a path that resembled a road, The atmosphere was red as blood, As they walked, they saw more and more destruction
"I don't understand... Where is everyone? What happened here?"
"STEVEN!" Garnet shouted from a steep hill
Everyone stayed back, and Steven approached, garnet turned with tears in her eyes, As Steven looked ahead, he saw the glimmer of shattered gems of different cuts, thousands of them, He opened his mouth in horror
He lowered his head, tears streaming down his face, Garnet placed a hand on his shoulder, and the other Gems gathered around, contemplating the horror
"The Earth will suffer the same fate if we don't stop him... this god" Garnet said
After a minute of silence, they continued walking. After a few more minutes, they saw White Diamond's palace, They ran towards it, hopeful
"Yellow, White, Blue... you..."
But as they entered, they found that not much had changed, There were many gem shards, and even larger shards of the Diamonds
"Not even the Diamonds but..." Steven said, horrified
He walked further, and a very dark room appeared between the three Diamond thrones, In the middle of the room was a transparent diamond-shaped object, reflecting the darkness
Steven reached out and took the floating diamond that hovered over the dark room, He examined it but had no idea how to use it, He looked to his left and saw a communication pad almost intact, He rushed to it, hoping for recorded or stored messages about what happened
Steven placed his hand on the pad, and it started glowing pink, A message from his friend Spinel appeared
Messages:
Message 1: "Hehehe, guess who it is, Steven? Your best friend, Spinel, The Diamonds and I know you're back in Beach City, We'll drop by as soon as we can." End of message
Message 2: "STEVEN, I don't know if this message will reach you, but everyone is in a panic, Something just entered our atmosphere," Spinel shouted
Screams of frightened Gems echoed in the background, and you could hear Gems being shattered
Final message: "STEVEN, STEVEN, this being is so powerful, He said... he said... 'freezing'... he said he's a god, Steven... many are dead, even the Diamonds... GOODBYE, STEVEN," Spinel said, tears in her voice
END OF MESSAGE.
Steven collapsed onto the pad, tears streaming, He forced himself to look at the screen, where Spinel's terrified face was frozen
He searched the pad's system for more messages
There was a message from the Diamonds
Diamonds Messages:
White: "Pink, you have to listen to us, He's returned, the my stars, he's returned, we'll try to hold on for as long as we can..."
Yellow: "White, half the planet is gone..."
"Screams and more screams could be heard, begging for salvation"
Blue: "We have to hold on against god as long as possible, so that some of them have a chance"
White: "Grrr... pink... Steven, forgive us for not telling you everything, But listen, darkness cannot control light 'freezing', god will destroy us all..."
Yellow: "NOW, WHITE"
A heavy landing sounded outside, and many Gems gathered behind the Diamonds, even the Blue and Yellow Pearls
White: "Just say this... creator... and Steven..."
Steven looked at the screen
White, Yellow, and Blue: "We love you."
