Chapter 14: An Indirect Kiss
"Thanks for inviting me out to your guys' picnic, Connie," Isaac said to the Indian girl as the two of them walked up the temple hill. The young man was carrying an umbrella and the basket with their food and Connie had a picnic blanket under her arm. Lion was walking behind them, toting Steven on his back. It's been a few days since he and Pearl fought Sugilite and a lot of small things happened that ranged from not really important to just another day as a Crystal Gem.
Like when he and Steven helped Sadie prank Lars for being a jerk and ditching her at work with super hot and spice flake concoction that made the teenager breathe fire from how hot it was. Best revenge ever. Then there was one time that went to an underwater temple and Steven got a hold of this time-traveling hourglass. Let's just say a bunch of Steven suddenly popped out of nowhere, all fighting for the hourglass. Then the Crystal Gems formed a band to the festival going on at Beach City. And lastly, Steven popped a bubble that had the Centipeetle in it and released it. However, strangely, the monster was much smaller than it was and Steven tried making friends with it and making it a pet. However, it wasn't easy trying to teach a violent creature how to be nice, but the Centipeetle did sacrifice itself to save the team.
"You're quite welcome, Isaac," Connie said as they reached their destination. Connie set the blanket down and Isaac stabbed the umbrella into the ground and opened it. She then looked back at Steven. "Hurry up, Steven!"
Lion arrived, with a gloomy Steven, lying belly-down on his back. With a gloomy groan, Steven fell face-first off the pink animal. There, he lay without even attempting to get up as Lion gave him an annoyed look. "Oh, brother," Isaac said with a frown as he stared down at the young Gem. "Steven, get your ass up!"
"What's wrong with him?" Conne asked, a little more worried than Isaac appeared to be.
Isaac was worried about the boy too, but after a while of Steven's negative, mopy attitude, it was starting to annoy him. "Hell if I know," he said, gesturing to Steven's body. "The kid's been like this ever since-"
"I'm fine!" Steven suddenly exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and forcing on an obviously fake smile. "Really, I do..." Steven trailed off as he morosely frowned once more. Glancing away from Connie to hide his misery as he walked around her to sit next to Isaac on the picnic blanket.
But it was easy for Connie to see that he wasn't okay. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, handing Steven a sandwich from the picnic basket.
"Yeah..." Steven dejectedly said. Looking absolutely miserable as he ate the sandwich sadly and slowly. Isaac, while annoyed at first, look to Connie. The two shared a concerned glance as they watched the young Gem.
"Steven, look. If you just, you know, talk about it, then it'll make you feel better," Isaac said, to which Steven looked away from him.
"So what did happen," Connie asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"Well, you see this new fence?" Asked the blonde Gem, pointing to the fence that was now surrounding the entire perimeter of the cliff. "Well, it was put up yesterday and well, it's kind of a long story."
"Is it a magic story?!" Connie exclaimed.
"Mayybee?" Steven dragged it out hesitantly.
"There was magic involved," Isaac said, much to Steven's dismay. He groaned loudly to get his friend to stop, getting an irked expression."She deserves to know what happened, Steven. And quite frankly, it's the only way I'm going to be getting the bottom of what's been bothering you!"
"Well, what happened?" Connie asked, looking at Steven. "Tell me, please."
Steven knew that he wasn't' going to be able to talk his way out of this. Not with Connie's pleading eyes staring at him and even if he walked away, Isaac would tell her and make things worse for him. And so, the boy caved in. "Okay, okay. But it's not a happy story," Steven said with a reluctant sigh.
[Flashback]
A giant, spider gem monster let out a shrieking roar at the Crystal Gems as they prepared to fight it on top of the cliff. The spider had a smaller cephalothorax compared to its larger abdomen with a hunched position, a lower jaw under its chelicerae covered with teeth, a red-furred body covered with black shades, eight purple eyes, and eight wooled legs covered with sharp tips.
"Steven, stay back!" Garnet ordered the young Gem before the Gems and Isaac dodged out of the way of a webs shot at them by the monster. The gems all rushed at the spider as it shot more webs at them.
Isaac and Pearl ran alongside each other. Tag teaming by cutting the spider's web launched at them first the blonde Gem sliced one attack, before falling back and allowing Pearl to cut the next stream. Garnet then jumped at the monster, gauntlet held up to slash its head. But as she fell towards the spider, it grabbed her with one of its legs. Trapping her with the sharp tips.
As the spider swung Garnet against the ground repeated, being her senseless, Amethyst lashed at it with her whip. The sharp ends of the whip cut up the face of the monster, to which it roared at her. It then jumped high up into the air.
Isaac, Pearl, and Amethyst watched as it came down over them and jumped out of the way before it could land on top of them. Isaac then jumped onto the back of the spider and started slicing and dicing it while Pearl rushed over and started cutting off its legs. Amethyst landed near the very edge of the cliff and readied her whip.
"Alright, let's wreck this fool-" Suddenly, the thin ground she was standing on gave way from underneath, and Amethyst was falling off the cliff's face down towards the ground. Isaac gasped when he saw this and jumped off the spider. Rushing over to the edge of the cliff, he looked down and watched Amethyst's descend in terror. Seeing that she was falling, Amethyst facepalmed. "Ugh, this is so embarrassing," she said, groaning.
Right before crashing chest first into a rock that was nestled on the ground. Her gemstone taking the brunt of image and making an audible cracking sound.
"Holy shit!" Isaac screamed, before begin grabbed by the spider monster. He heard call up to say that she was okay, but he didn't pay much attention to her as he was being dragged towards the monster. The teenage Gem stabbed his sword into the ground to stop.
Pearl then leaped elegantly over the leg and cut it off, making the spider scream in agony.
As Garnet pulled her leg out of the spider's grasp, Isaac looked to Steven. The boy was still standing back and watching the battle take place. However, he also saw Amethyst fall and looked increasingly worried. "Go check on Amethyst! We'll handle this!"
Steven turned and took off running. Garnet jumped back from the spider monster and then rushed at it. The spider, on it's last remaining legs, saw her coming and fired streams of webs at her. However, Garnet deftly flipped over all these attacks. As she got closer, the spider lunged at her with its jaws opened and fangs dripping with what could be venom. As it got closer, Garnet sent her fist forwards. Shoving it into the open maw.
The spider let out a shrilling scream before exploding into red dust. It's small, jagged gem falling down to the ground. Garnet reached down and safely bubbled the gemstone. "Let's go check on Amethyst," she told Pearl and Isaac, and they started running down the cliff.
After running all the way form the hill to the beach, Steven looked ready to collapse, exhausted and panting heavily. Looking perfectly fine, Amethyst waited and watched as he approached her, before finally falling on his face and completely out of breath. "You sure you're okay?" Steven asked with great concern, his exhaustion.
"Yes, Steven, I'm fine. Except for this!" Amethyst pulled aside part of her hair to reveal her left eye that was being covered. It had enlarged to the point that it was double the size of what it was originally and looking off in another direction.
"Amethyst!" Steven didn't have a chance to react when Pearl's voice gasped in horror upon seeing the enlarged eye. Isaac and the other Crystal Gems rushed over to her. "Show me your gem!" Pearl said, reaching towards Amethyst.
Amethyst slapped Pearl's hand away. "Fresh!" But then a hand grabbed her wrist. She looked up and saw it was Isaac.
"Show us," he said sternly.
"C'mon, it's not that ba-" she was interrupted when Isaac glared at her moved his face right in front of hers. Making the purple Gem freeze up, scared.
"That wasn't a request. It was an order. NOW."
Everyone around him looked surprised, even Isaac was surprised a bit. Knowing that she'd been found out, Amethyst blushed in embarrassment and glanced away as she pulled down her shirt a little. But it was enough to see that her gemstone was indeed cracked.
While Isaac let go of her arm, satisfied with her compliance, Pearl gasped once more, pulling away from Amethyst with her eyes widening in fear. "Amethyst! Your gem is cracked!"
Blushing even brighter, Amethyst and covers up her gem. "Rude!" she said crossly. "Ah- It's not a big deal! Plus, now I have this cool googly eye." The purple Gem shook her enlarged eye around, making the pupil rattle in it.
Steven chuckled, but Isaac looked to Pearl and Garnet and saw that they were far from amused. "What's the big deal?" he asked, not really sure why they were so worried. "Can't you guys just heal or something?"
"It's not that simple, Isaac. When it's her body, then she's fine," Pearl told him with a frown, before looking up at the towering cliff. "How could I have been so blind? We need to put a fence up there, so this will never happen again!"
[Present]
"And that's why there's a fence," Steven quickly said, interrupting Isaac in hopes of ending the story right then and there. "The end!" He then chomped down on the sandwich in his hands.
"Well, that's the part of the story that explains the fence, but it's not the end of the story," Isaac said.
"Well, what happened to Amethyst," Connie asked.
"So, I asked Pearl..." Isaac began, only to be interrupted when Steven let out a long groan of protest. Isaac waited until he stopped and began again. "I asked Pearl..." again, Steven groaned, which was starting to get on the son of Onyx's nerves. "Come on, Steven! We can't just leave the story there!"
"C'mon! Tell me the rest!" Connie pleaded.
"Or at the very least let me do it if you don't want to tell the rest," Isaac suggested to the younger Gem.
But Steven wasn't too fond of that idea either, and he crossed his arms and looked away. "I don't wanna..."
"Steven?" Connie frowned concernedly. Steven looked away, unyielding. "Steee-veeen~" Connie looked flirtatiously at him. This started to make him crack a bit as he began trembling and murmuring. "Steven!" Connie exclaimed impatiently. Steven trembled faster and groaned louder, but finally gave in.
"Okay, okay! You can tell the rest of the story, Isaac," Steven told the young man, before turning to Connie. "But only if you let me try on your glasses."
"Only if you give me the rest of your juice," Connie said.
"Okay, but it's mostly backwash," Steven warned her.
"Good enough."
Isaac watched as the two kids traded their respected items. Not stopping the cringe his face made.
Steven put on Connie's pink-tinted glasses. "How do I look?" he asked, making a goofy smile.
Connie squinted her eyes at him. "I have no idea."
As everyone got settled down, Isaac started back up the story. "So, we were all worried about Amethyst and I asked Pearl why it was such a big deal..."
[Flashback]
"So, what's the problem?" Isaac asked, looking at Pearl. "Amethyst falls on stuff all the time. Besides, I thought you guys were immortal.
"We are immortal, but we're not invulnerable," Pearl clarified to the blonde Gem, rubbing her temples to ease her stress. "It'd be fine if it was just her body, but her gem is damaged. It's the very core of her being! Any slight damage to the gemstone, such as a crack, results in a serious and often crippling injury to a Gem. And if it continues to crack, it'll shatter, and...if it shatters..."
Isaac's look of curiosity turned to a look of terror and horror for Amethyst's well being. Being more mature than Steven, he was able to pick up on what Pearl was unable to say. "So, Amethyst is dying?"
"In a way," Garnet said, crossing her arms. "Yes."
"I'm not dying!" Amethyst scowled, still trying to deny the severity of her situation.
"So, what do you do to fix it?" Steven asked.
Pearl's expression turned to one of sadness as she averted her eyes from the humans. "Before... we had Rose..."
"Steven, your mother had healing tears that flowed from her gem," Garnet told the young boy as she walked up to him and kneeled down to his level. "Just like Isaac's mother, she felt real love for those around her. She felt real sorrow when they were hurt." She placed a hand on Steven's shoulder as he lifted up his shirt to look at his gemstone. "And just how Onyx passed down her gemstone, you have the Rose Quartz gem now. I know that power is in you, too."
Steven looked at Isaac, who smiled at him and nodded. "If I have my mom's powers, then surely you have Rose's, buddy. Give it a shot."
Giving the young man a readily nod in return, approached Amethyst as she was mess around with her googly eye. "Amethyst! Show me your gem!"
"Yeah, alright," said the purple Gem, pulling down her shirt.
In true Steven style, the young boy posed dramatically. "The power...to heal," he whispered intensely, closing his eyes in preparation to summon his tears. Steven then preformed an elegant and dramatic entry, like he was being wrapped by rose flower vines and then burst out in a flurry of rosebuds.
The reality was much different, however. Steven was straining as hard as he could in front of Amethyst's gem, but nothing happened. He stopped and looked at Isaac, Pearl, and Garnet. "It's not working," he said to them. "I guess I'm just too tough to cry."
"Said the boy that cried about snakes early today," Isaac retorted with a teasing smirk.
Steven sadly whimpered, "They don't have any arms!" However, he didn't cry now.
Garnet had one of her hands under her chin while coming up with a plan. "We have no choice," the leader of the Crystal Gems stated firmly. "We need to take Amethyst to Rose's Healing Spring."
"Healing Spring?" Isaac repeated, confused.
"Oh, Isaac. It's one of Rose's most precious sanctuary," Pearl explained happily with renewed hope as she smiled nostalgically. "And in the center of the garden, Rose's Fountain! Overflowing with her healing, lacrimal essence!"
Amethyst scoffed and waved her hand dismissively. "Guys, I'm fine, I'm not gonna get any wor-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r..." The purple Gem dragged out the word as her face twisted up because her damaged gemstone. The other stared at her, before there was a popping sound and Amethyst was back to normal. However, when she spoke, she started speaking backward. "Yeh syug! Tahw era uoy gniod no eht hcaeb?"
Isaac, Steven, Garnet, and Pearl looked at each other with concern looks. The blonde Gem then pulled out a pen and notebook from his Taco backpack and handed it to Amethyst. She took it and wrote down on the paper, before handing it back to Isaac. He looked at it with the others.
Hey, guys! What are you doing on the beach?
That was definitely bad. "We got to get Amethyst to the fountain," Isaac said.
The warp pad that would take the Crystal Gems to Rose's fountain was in the middle of a bizarre, bramble-covered canyon. When the pad activated, the light cleared away the bramble covering it in a dome. A second later, and they'd arrived at their destination. "And here we are!" Pearl announced proudly. "Rose's Healing Spring!"
Isaac and Steven looked at the area, only to discover that it anything but what its name sounded like or how Pearl described it to be. Instead of a lush and thriving spring, much like something from Ancient Rome or Greek as Isaac had imagined it to be, the spring enclosed in a massive dome-like structure of thistles and brambles. It was forlornly and had an air of isolation that was as if it was abandoned and left untended ever since Rose's death.
"Uh, Pearl," Isaac mutter to get the lovely white Gem's attention.
"Now let's get Amethyst to the fountain!" Pearl yelled happily, hardly seeming to notice the state in which the spring was in.
"I don't see it," Garnet pointed out with her arms crossed.
"Wha..." Pearl was then grabbed by Isaac, who picked her up and turned her body to face the garden before setting her down. The white Gem gasped in horror when seeing the garden overrun by the massive vines and brambles.
Amethyst said backwards, "Hgu, m'I gniog emoh." She turned to walk back to the warp pad when Garnet stopped her by placing a hand on her head.
Isaac walked up to the dome of brambles with wide eyes. Even with the gloomy environment, it was all still a wonder to behold. But something was about this play that told him it wasn't anything new to him. It had a nostalgic feeling to it that gave Isaac the impression that he's been here before. He reached out and placed a finger gently on one of the thrones of the vines.
Suddenly, his sight and mind were assaulted with flashing and quick visions. Just like when he went to the movies and held that pink sword, it was all like witnessing memories. He hissed in pain and took his hand quickly away from the vines and grabbed his head. Shutting his eyes and grunting.
"Now, now!" Pearl exclaimed a bit uneasily and chuckled the same way. But she hardly noticed Isaac's own problem when she rushed over to him and cling tightly to his right arm for emotional support. Isaac blushed with embarrassment as she pulled him close while also smiling a very strained smile, steadily beginning to panic. "Let's keep it together! Our memories of Rose can't be tainted by some overgrown brambles!" She chuckled for a moment, before scowling down at the vines. "Look at them. They're a mess without her guidance. Directionless, pathetic, clinging things." She continued, tightening her grip on Isaac.
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Why did it sound like she was talking about herself and not the plants?
Pearl grabbed Isaac's head with both hands. "It's going to be okay, Isaac!" She exclaimed hysterically, staring into Isaac's eyes with her eyes wide with panic.
This definitely made Isaac feel very awkward as she was freaking out. With his cheeks being smushed together by Pearl, all could do is shrug. "Alright."
"Y-you really think so?" Pearl asked.
Seeing her anxiety going down, Isaac gently grabbed her hands and moved them off his face. "Everything's going to be fine. But we've got to stay focus and not lose our cool," he said to her as Garnet walked over to them. "Look, why don't you and Garnet go look for a way to get to the fountain and I'll look after Steven and Amethyst."
"Wel-ll...I...You're right! Rose would have wanted us to carry on!" Pearl proclaimed before looking around the area. She then spotted a light shining through the brambles and started skipping towards it. "Maybe there's a path over here!"
Isaac let out a sigh before turning to Garnet. "Is Pearl going to be...okay?" he asked with concern for his friend.
"Pearl gets a little...emotional when it comes to Rose Quartz," Garnet said before they both heard what sounded like Pearl yelling a battle cry and swiping her spear at the vines. "Make sure the others are alright, okay?"
The blonde looked back at Steven and Amethyst for a second before turning back to the leader. "Do the same for Pearl, and I've got yourself a deal," he said, extending his hand to her. The two teammates shook hands, before Garnet turned and followed after the slight hysterical Gem.
Isaac then turned and walked back over to where the smallest members of the team were at.
"Healing tears...!" Steven exclaimed as he stood over Amethyst. Continuing to strain himself and forces the tears out. Amethyst let out a bored sigh as she lied next to him, waiting impatiently.
"Steven, stop that, or you're going to pop your eye out," Isaac warned him, to which Steven does with a slightly depressed face.
Amethyst then started speaking in gibberish again, which left the two boys stumped. She pulled out the pen and notebook Isaac gave her and wrote down on it again. When she was done, she turned it around and showed them what she wrote. "What if it's like Isaac's regenerating blood? Steven doesn't have healing tears but healing blood?"
Isaac and Steven shared a glance. "Maybe that's it! I'll also cry when I make myself bleed," Steven said, as Amethyst nodded with a proud grin on her face. "Alright, Isaac, let's do this."
"Whoa, kid, you're not actually going to hurt yourself," Isaac asked with concern.
"If it's the only way to only way to save Amethyst, then I will," Steven exclaimed before pointing over at some bramble vines. "I'm just going touch one of those sharp thrones over there." He walked over to brambles and then slowly approaches them with caution. Covering up his eyes, and tried to stick his index finger into a thorn of the brambles.
Isaac watch next to Amethyst as Steven tried to do pock himself. But then, the brambles suddenly started animating and reached towards him. "Steven!" Isaac yelled and bolted towards him.
"Huh?" Steven uncovered his eyes, right before Isaac pushed him out of the way. But this put him in the direct path of the brambles, within their attack range. The son of Onyx only had a second to turn towards the vines and put his arms up to protect himself.
LASH!
"GAAAHHH!" Isaac screamed in agony when the thrones of the vines cut across his arm and back of his hands. Sending him flying back into a large boulder. Crashing hard against before falling down onto the ground. But most of his pain came from his right hand, forcing him to grab it while writhing in agony.
"Amethyst! Steven!" Although a bit froze up by what had just happened, Steve and Amethyst turned their head when they heard Pearl's voice as she and Garnet rush over to them.
"What happened?" Garnet asked, sounding concerned as the reached the three.
"I-I don't know! I was trying to pock myself and then Isaac..." Steven trailed off and gestured to Isaac grunted in pain, curling up on the ground.
"This is bad," Isaac groaned, as his blood stained the floor.
Pearl rushed over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. She noticed the blood staining the ground and the cuts and gashes on his arms.
But they weren't healing.
She gasped and looked to Isaac. "Isaac, you have to show me your gem," she said urgently. Isaac nodded his head and removed his bloodied left hand away from his hand. Pearl gasped, covering her mouth with everyone around the blonde looking at him in shock.
Now Isaac had a crack on his onyx gemstone that began to worsen. But it started to become much worse when crack lines started spreading out from the base of his gem and started spreading up his arm, past his shoulder, across his chest, and up to his neck. The lines connecting to the tips of his facial scar. Isaac then started sweating as he started to feel very ill and weak. "Guy...I'm...starting to feel...cool..." he said, breathing at an increased rate.
Pearl gasped when Isaac collapsed on the ground as he sweated a lot more and started to turn pale. "Isaac! Please, stay with me!" She exclaimed, hugging him.
Their attention was then caught when Amethyst started coughing. "T'nod yrrow ro gnihtyna, m'I doog," she said backwards, before her body started glitching, causing her head and foot to switch places. Amethyst groaned in agony.
This only made Pearl panic even more than before. "Ohh! Oh! Keep calm. What we need to do is to get you both into the fountain immediately, if we can ever find a way through all this mess!" She exclaimed, tearing up. The white Gem stopped when Isaac's hand reached up and placed a finger on her lips, making her eyes widened as Isaac looked up at her with half-closed eyes.
"Pearl...listen to me," he said, breathing heavily, before trying to stand up. But due to how weak he felt and was becoming, he nearly collapsed on the ground if Pearl hadn't gotten up and caught him. "If we...panic...then it's going to be even more...difficult to...get to the fountain...I'm going to need to and Steven...to help me and Amethyst..." He looked to Garnet, who looked as though she was waiting for orders, despite being the team's leader. "Garnet, get us in there..." he pointed to the dome of brambles.
Garnet nodded and walked over to a large rock that was entangled in the brambles. Pearl looked sad with her head aimed down at the ground. Seeing all the blood coming from Isaac's arms. "Why must you always have to be a hero...?"
"Huh?" Isaac question.
Pearl's cheeks flared up and she quickly looked away. "Nothing!"
Garnet shushed Pearl after pulling out a rock from the vines. She then summoned her gauntlet and punched the rock with all her might through the brambles, creating a tunnel to Rose's Fountain."I needed that. This way," she ordered the team.
With her arms around Isaac's side with his arm around her shoulder, Pearl supported the blonde while also looking shocked at what Garnet did. Steven was doing the same with Amethyst. "We could've probably gotten in without hurdling a giant rock into Rose's most precious sanctuary! But if you're okay with it, I'm fine, too!" Pearl ranted with a chuckle.
"Pearl..." Isaac said, getting her attention. "We're going to die...complain about it later." Pearl sighed and followed after Garnet with Isaac, as Steven and Amethyst followed behind. The Crystal Gems proceeded slowly and carefully through the tunnel to Rose's Fountain. Garnet kept her gauntlets on for any further attack from the plant life. Pearl and Steven held onto the person they were holding up tightly to make sure they weren't injured any further.
When light shined on Isaac's face, he looked up and his half-closed eyes widened slightly. Rose's fountain stood there in all it's majesty. Just like Pearl said, it was located in the middle of the garden, and a giant stone statue of Rose Quartz stood at its center on a star-shaped pedestal. Four life-sized Rose statues surround the central sculpture.
"This isn't right," Garnet said as they came out of the opening. Steven placed Amethyst down on and walked a little bit ahead of the team. "The fountain isn't running."
"What?" Pearl exclaimed, leading Isaac over to the fountain's outer ring and laid him again it. She looked into the fountain's pool and saw there was no water. All of it died up over time. "W-what's wrong with it?"
"I'm not sure."
Steven hardly paid attention to them, and stared up at his mother's statue. All the things he's heard about Rose gave him an impression of what she was like. She was perfect in almost every way. Incredible, intelligent, brave, compassionate, strong, magical, a legend and everything that he couldn't name. Everything he wasn't, but inspired to be. To be just like her. Just like how the Gems expected him to be. Oddly, Isaac was the only one that didn't expect him to be like his mother, Isaac barely knew much about his mother, and there were times Steven noticed that Garnet and Pearl were a little hesitant to tell him any stories about her, while they were thrilled to have a chance to talk all about Rose. But why?
"Is that Mom?" Steven asked as his eyes started watering up. "Oh, oh, I'm getting emotional! I think it's happening! Uh, I'm really feeling it! Who should I..."
"Quickly," Pearl grabbed Steven's arm and dragged him over to Isaac. Amethyst quickly laid down next to the blonde and Isaac held his hand next to her gemstone for Steven to cry on both of them. Steven leaned over the gemstones and started straining to cry again while Pearl and Garnet watch.
The next few seconds were of Steven grunting and trying to cry, but nothing happened. He still couldn't cry and when nothing happened, the young Gem got frustrated. "Ah, come on! I had it!" He yelled angrily.
Pearl sighed. "Steven, it's fine. Just—" she placed her hand on the bridge of her nose to try and calm herself. "—just stay here and watch Amethyst and Isaac. We'll find out what's wrong with the fountain."
"No, no. Wait! I can still do it!" Steven exclaimed frantically, stretching his eyelids out to try again. The cracks in Amethyst and Isaac's gem worsened again. Amethyst's body to fall apart into pieces that were only connected by a small line of skin. Isaac felt something some coming up his throat and quickly covered his mouth with his right hand. The cracks continued to spread across his body, as he was unable to hold it in. The tease of iron filled his mouth, and Isaac couched up blood into his hand. He felt even colder and hugged his legs close to his body. Trying to hold back tears as he felt that he was going to die right then and there.
Seeing just hold bad the two injure Gem were getting, with Isaac looking far worse, Garnet and Pearl started to leave, but Steven chases after them.
"Wait, wait! It might still happen! Guys?" He said, trying to convince them that he had his powers. But Garnet and Pearl continued to leave, unable to let Steven take any more chances and ignored him.
As they went off, a dejected Steven alone with the injured. Amethyst then rammed into Steven with her head. Isaac looked up and saw her body trying to round itself up; her hand bouncing her leg like a ball. "Hu, Elttil pleh?" the purple Gem said backwards.
However, seeing her body like that, and Isaac's close to death only discouraged Steven even more. But his sadness turned to anger as he became fed up with the situation. "I can't understand you!" He snapped at her, stopping Amethyst bouncing around as she and Isaac looked at him with shocked expressions. "I don't understand anything! Why is everyone acting so strange? Why can't I-" His ranting stopped for a moment as he looked at Rose's statue at the fountain. "WHY CAN'T I CRY?!"
He paused when he angered shout echoed throughout the area. When it was over, bitter silence returned. Steven sighed and looked up at one of the normal size Rose Quartz statues on the edge of the fountain. "It's just... I mean, I don't know how to feel about you, but everyone else does," he said, speaking to the statue as if it was really Rose and sat next to it. "I wish I could have met you then this place would make me sad, and I could cry healing tears, like you." He climbed and lied on Rose's statue. Curling up in the flowers on its lap.
Isaac stared at the young boy with sympathy and looked down. He understood completely what Steven was going through. He never got to know his mother, and the Crystal Gems couldn't tell him much about her as they barely knew her. But he was able to do all these amazing things she as able to do. In stark contrast to Steven, who the Gems told him all about his mother, but was barely able to do anything she did.
He grabbed onto the edge of the fountain and struggled to get up. Amethyst saw this and talked backwards, probably to get him to stop and not overexert himself, but Isaac didn't care. He wanted to cheer up his friend as the young Gem continued to gaze at the statue of his mother.
But then Isaac's cracking gem glowed and he gasped seeing this. Steven and Amethyst saw, right before the brambles all around come alive again and raised up from behind the statue the young Gem was on.
Even with his body dying, Isaac struggled to his feet and summoned his katana. It was looking much worse than it usually was. Appearing to be chipped, rusted, and beginning to fall apart. But it was still able to do what it was intended for, as Isaac sliced a bunch of vines that swung down at them.
Ignoring the pain in his body, Isaac turned to Steven and yelled, "The fountain!... Hurry!"
"Right!" Steven grabbed collected Amethyst's body and jumped into the fountain. Isaac's wasn't too far behind and rolled himself over the edge as bushes animated and advanced towards them. The tumble into the center of the fountain was extremely painful, but luckily, he crashing into Steven and Amethyst at the bottom.
Isaac, with his katana still in hand, looked up and saw the bushes couldn't reach them and the vines wouldn't going near them. But they were now trapped, and the number of plants surrounding them only grew.
And it only got worse when both his and Amethyst's gemstones were now on the verge of shattering. his sword disappeared and Isaac fell onto the ground, having lost almost all motor control. Amethyst's body form started glitching even more.
"Amethyst, Isaac, I'm sorry!" Steven said holding Amethyst as Isaac laid in front of him. "I can't do anything right. Now I'm going to lose you, and it's all my fault."
Amethyst glitched again, and spoke again. but this time, in what would likely be her final words, she spoke normally in a slow, slurred, but understanding voice. "Ha ha... You care... about... me."
Steven hugged Amethyst tightly when he heard this and let out small, tearless sobs. "Please let me be a magic healer..." he whispered and started to weep. A lone tear drips off his face and fell onto Amethyst's gem landing right on her crack. Steven opened his eyes and gasped in joy when sat the tear. He waited for it to heal the gemstone, but as seconds rolled by, Amethyst's gem remains cracked. Leaving him frustrated. "Oh, come on!"
But it becoming too late for, Isaac. His eyes grew heavy and his hearing started to muffled. As he was starting to close his eyes, Steven saw this and frantically reached out with one of his arms and shook his friend's shoulder to keep him awake. But as Isaac's eye closed, all he could hear was the young Gem's sobbing, desperate cries for him to stay alive.
"Isaac? ISAAC!"
And then once again, just like when he woke up after being in a coma after unleashing Hellfire. Mulitple images flashed in Isaac's head. Memories that were impossible to make out or see. Some appeared to be pleasant, and some looked horrible and tragic. But he couldn't understand any of them.
It all ended when everything went black.
"Isaac...can you hear me?"
Upon hearing the woman's voice. Isaac's eyes opened slightly, but his vision was still blurry. Everything was so different now. He wasn't in the fountain. He couldn't tell where he was. It wall so bright and blinding. The young adult Gem wasn't on the floor, even though that's where he was last time he checked. It felt as though he was in someone's arms.
He looked up and saw a black silhouette of a person with their hair framing their face and a spiky ponytail.
"My son, so beautiful to behold," the woman said with such a beautiful voice. "All I've ever know was war and violence. With you, I'm not taking a life, I'm finally giving life. Be better than me, Isaac. I love you..."
"Mom..." Isaac whispered, closing his eyes again before opening them. He was back in the fountain with Steven and Amethyst.
Suddenly, the whole place started rumbling. Steven looked around to find the source, but it was nowhere to be seen. As Isaac laid on the ground, he felt something coming up from under him.
[Play music: Warframe OST - The Sacrifice - "To Take Its Pain Away"]
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive surge of pink water burst out of the large central statue of Rose's Fountain, raining down on the hybrids and Amethyst, washing over them, and flooding the whole place. The bushes disperse away from the fountain and bright pink roses bloomed on them. The brambles also begin to disappear as they blossom into flowers that rained down upon the fountain peacefully, allowing sunlight to shine into the now-lively sanctuary again.
Isaac stayed underwater after it engulfed him. He even swallowed some of it. Suddenly, he felt himself returning to his original state of being. No, it was more than that. He never felt more alive than ever. His pain was gone, his wounds were healed, the crack scars reverted, and his onyx gemstone healed completely. However, the scar on the right side of his face wouldn't go away. Forever staying where it was.
He swam up to the surface for some much-needed air. When he broke the surface, he took a moment to pause and take in the scenery. Seeing the garden back to its former glory, and bring back a nostalgic feeling.
"Have I...been here before?" he asked no one in a whisper and looked at his hands. Almost as if he's done it before, he plunged his arms into the water.
"Look at this guy, saving my life and junk," said Amethyst, Isaac looked and saw her and Steven laughing together. He smiled and leaned back into the water floating on his back for a moment.
"Oh, thank goodness," an angelic voice cut Isaac's out of his moment of peace and he turned around towards one of the star-shaped gates of the garden and saw Pearl and Garnet had returned. Then when she saw Isaac, she gasped and rushed over to him. "Isaac!"
Isaac swam over to the edge of the fountain and placed his arms on it. "Pearl, it's okay," he said when she approached him and examined his hand. "I'm...fine..." he trailed off when staring at her. He always knew that Pearl was pretty, but how did he not realize she was this beautiful? Her blue eyes stood out for him as he saw the shade they were, and it was a perfect one for her.
Noticing that he was staring at her with stars in his eyes, Pearl looked up and asked, "Are you ok?"
"You're so beautiful..." Isaac said without think, but when he did, his eyes widened and he blushed with her. "I-I sorry, I-I-I-I didn't mean to say that-not that you aren't beautiful, you are...I just..."
"Oh, no! It's okay! Uhhh! Thank you..." She said with her blush getting noticeable brighter. Taking her hands away from his, she turned away from him as Garnet walked over.
"Are you okay, Isaac?" she asked as Pearl backed away. Looking at the blonde, but not only in sideways glances.
Isaac nodded and stepped out of the fountain as water dripped from his wet clothes. "I'm better than okay," he said, before turning to the fountain. Garnet watched, nearly gasping when he reached down and plunged his arms into the pink water. Just like his mother used to do, he brought up his hands that were cupping some of the water and drank it. Almost mirroring what Onyx did. Isaac looked back at Garnet and grinned. "I'm alive."
Garnet smiled nonetheless and Pearl looked away again with a blush. "Good," said the leader.
"Did you see what I did? It was magic!" Steven yelled out to Garnet and Pearl while swimming with Amethyst towards them. "My tears brought the fountain back to life and saved Amethyst!"
Pearl exchanged a somewhat confused glanced with Garnet before turning back to the young Gem. "I'm pretty sure me and Garnet unplugging the clogged chamber brought the fountain back to life," the white Gem informed him.
"We saved Amethyst," Garnet said.
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
"That it."
"You don't think my crying was a little related to that?" Steven asked.
Pearl walked over and placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Oh Steven, you don't have healing tears. You'll never have any real magic powers, and we don't want anything more to do with you," she told him in a harsh, condescending tone as Steven looked at her with a horrified expression.
[Present]
"Oh come on!" Isaac smacked Steven over the head when he interrupted him at the very to tell that last part of the story. "That a load of bullshit!" He sternly corrected him as he held his hurting head. "The Gems were supportive of you, Pearl never said those words, and you damn well know it!"
"Yeah, but that's what it felt like," Steven said sadly.
"Is that why you've been so down," Connie asked with a concerned expression. More worried about him than ever before
Steven shrugged sadly, not saying anything as he now felt worse after the story was told. "Look, buddy, I'm sorry that you didn't have healing tears," Isaac said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But look on the bright side, Amethyst and I are still alive, right?"
"Yeah, I guess..." the young Gem frown, not brightening up at all.
Isaac looked to Connie to see that the girl looked unsure of what to do to cheer up Steven. "Um...You can have your juice back," she offered with a small smile.
"Nah, that's okay," Steven refused. Isaac and Connie continued to look worried at him as the boy sniffled and sighed. "Everyone expects me to be like my mom. What if I never get those powers?"
"Then you'll be like me. That's not so bad," Connie replied.
"B-But if I don't have powers, then I can't hang out with Amethyst or Garnet or Pearl or you Isaac," Steven protested, starting tearing up. Gripping his right pant leg tightly as his eyes welled up. "And I-I can't go on missions!"
Isaac was about to say something to reassure him, but Connie beat him to the punch by reaching out and placing a hand over Steven's. Steven let out a soft gasp when their skin made contact, and he looked up to see leaning a little closer to him. His mouth gaped slightly as his eyes widened and his heart started pounding.
"You don't need any powers to be here with me," Connie said softly, taking a sip of the juice and leans forward to Steven. Isaac sat on the sideline and it was looking like she was going to kiss him, so he remained silent and just watched the touching scene. The winds lightly blew all around them as the two kids both blushed red in slight embarrassment. However, just when it looked like Connie was going to kiss Steven, she suddenly stopped and placed a hand on her forehead when feeling a sudden headache. "Ow. Ugh."
"What's wrong?" Steven asked concernedly.
"Are you alright?" Isaac asked too.
"I think- There's just—" Connie stopped midsentence with a sigh and took off her glasses, squinting her eyes tightly. "Something wrong with my glasses. My..." At first, she thought that taking them off would get rid of her headache. But suddenly and miraculously, the girl's vision changed and she gasped in shock when everything around her became crystal clear. "My eyes. I-I-I can see!"
"What?!" Isaac and Steven exclaimed in bewilderment.
"I can see without my glasses!" Connie replied in a mixture of surprise and shock.
"You're eyes just got better on their known?" Isaac asked. "That does even seem physically possible!"
"Wait," Steven gasped in realization. "Did I heal your eyes? But how?" Isaac and the two kids slowly directed their gaze and stared at the juice box Steven gave to Connie. The same one that she was holding and had its straw oddly sparkling. The young Gem gasped in awe and jumped to his feet while the Indian girl dropped it in shock. "The juice box! Amethyst was right! I don't have healing tears, I have healing spit!" He proclaimed in joy, raising his fists high into the air.
"That's awesome!" Isaac exclaimed in delight, before his face cringed in disgust. "And so wrong..."
"What am I going to tell my parents?!" Connie anxiously asked the hybrids. "What am I going to tell my optometrist?!"
"I don't even know! Oh, thank you, Connie!" Unable to contain his excitement, Steven hugged Connie in a warm embrace. Making her blush again before he let her go and turned to Lion, who had woken up. "Lion, let's go tell the Gems, they're never going to believe this!" Steven and Lion rush down the hill, leaving Connie and Isaac alone.
Connie let out a sigh and looked at her glasses. Seeing how troubled she was, Isaac stood up and held out his hand. Wondering what he was going to do, she handed him the glasses and watched as he popped the lenses out of her glasses. He then handed them back to her. "It's not perfect, but its the least I can do for helping Steven cheer up again," he said with a smile. "I should get going before Steven freaks out the Gems."
The young girl stood there and watched Isaac walk away as Steven and Lion were still running. This was definitely a lot to take in all at once. Steven really was extraordinary. Ever since the day they've met, her friendship with him and Isaac has changed her in so many ways. They've managed to open her up and break out of her shell. Showing her wonders she only imagined. And then his spit, as an indirect kiss, healed her eyes. It was all so strange, but this was something new that she was going to have to live with. Deep down, she was now something new.
As the wind blew through her hair, Connie placed her glasses back on. Wonder what will change and what will stay the same.
AN: And that concludes the 14th chapter of the first act and it was definitely intense and had some interesting moments and plot developments.
The first major change in the chapter was the battle with the spider gem monster. I didn't want to repeat how Amethyst feel off the cliff in the actual canon story, as it was kind of lame. So I changed it to have the Gems fight a monster that led to her falling off the cliff.
Then there was Isaac's gem cracking. I asked people who should have gotten their gemstone cracked and it was a draw between Isaac and Amethyst. So I decided to have the two of them almost die. While Amethyst's almost shattering played out the same in the show, Isaac's was much more violent and terrible. His gem is a part of his lifeform and it shattering is like killing him. However, the cracks on his body does kind of open up a bigger story with Isaac's/Onyx's scar.
We do get some development with Isaac and Pearl. In the story, she's worry and almost is ready to break down, but Isaac is always there to calm her down. It's only a small thing, but it does add to their relationship, and will also play a part in the future.
So I asked you guys if you would like to see chapters about Onyx and you all seem enthused by it and I'm excited about it too. However, it seems that you're only interested in the relationship between Isaac's dad and Onyx. I'll have that story for when I get to "Story for Steven", as it was the episode that Greg told Steven the story of how he met Rose Quartz.
However, for the first flashback story, it's going to be when Onyx was betrayed, learns the truth, and then joins the revolution. It'll take inspiration from one of my favorite canceled shows, Tron: Uprising. That being said, I will be taking down "The Reason: A Gem of War story" short story, as it wouldn't be canon with "Gem of War" and I wouldn't want people to get confused.
Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.
Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.