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PART 3: "RISING STAR"
Completed November 24, 2018
Topaz had taken a desperate action, and Steven was left wondering why. Now on Peridot and Topaz's trail again, and ready to fight for their lives, Steven would find out that Topaz's desperate action was just the beginning of a long mystery that would leave him questioning himself just as much as he questioned whether or not Topaz is a good person.
Too, in prose form.
Part 3: "Rising Star": Project
Note:
This is the big one, the part of Topaz's story that turned her into my first novel. Much love went into her story; to put everything my heart has gone through and is going through just thinking about all of it, from beginning to end, would require a book in and of itself. I would like to preemptively thank those who have come this far already and I'm going to thank you again once you make it to the very end.
*Mobile users: For some reason, the mobile version of this site may not display the entire body of text for part 3. But there is a downloadable PDF below for one's convenience.
*Desktop: For the story text that exists on this page, its formatting might be somewhat confusing in places due to word length, portions of the text not pasting over exactly as I had written them, and incorrect grammar. (This piece is divided into 3 sections on this page due to word length; italicized words did not remain italicized when copied over; and I wasn't as smart as I am now about formatting and punctuation.) I could reformat the text to optimize this page, but I feel sick about how many additional hours that would take. I apologize for this, but don't count on me correcting this later.
Just below, however, there is a downloadable PDF of Part 3 for one's convenience that has all the original formatting intact.
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
Part 3: "Rising Star": Files
PART 3: "RISING STAR"
Steven Universe was looking out at the ocean from the beach. It was some time since that day with Peridot and Topaz. He had talked to Connie and his dad about it. His dad was particularly worried, and even went so far as to confront the Gems about it. It was a weird situation. Steven didn’t like being there during. (The Gems kind of brushed him off, as usual, but the point was communicated: protect my son.)
Steven had no idea why Topaz did what she did, but he could only imagine that she hurt more than he could have possibly known—to sink into something truly hopeless. He thought that it could have had something to do with Peridot, the way she talked to her, but that was something in the air right now and Steven felt it was more than that, that it was out there in the air as well, but he couldn't find it.
For now, Steven just wondered where on Earth Peridot could be, and if Topaz was ok.
…
One day, on the back end of summer, Steven and the Crystal Gems warped to a mountainous terrain covered in a dense snow. The warp pad was slick with the snow it melted and Steven slipped off it and fell very deep into the snow around it. He laughed and played in it. Amethyst joined him, shapeshifting silly things into the snow, like a canvas, creating something Salvador Dali would be proud of. The asymmetry of it made Pearl particularly bothered, Steven could tell. He had to hitch a ride atop Garnet's hair--the snow went up to her thighs.
They were here due to something anomalous in the region that’d been causing unprecedented avalanches throughout the area. It was most likely a corrupted Gem, and if it continued on this path, the avalanches would reach the human villages interspersed here. In the distance, Steven could see a distinct difference in the amount of snow that covered the mountains ahead. The valley at the base of them was piled with snow that'd fallen, and it was really getting close to swallowing a small town just at the end of it.
They came to the ledge where the snow dropped into the valley. Steven just looked at all of it, feeling the vastness of it. Garnet put him down next to her, with her back to the valley, and simply said, “I’ll meet you down there.” She then fell backwards and began sliding down the mountain slope on her back. Steven gasped and watched her go. The friction didn’t slow her down. (Steven didn’t question it, it must be a Gem thing.) He just summoned his shield, whooped to the air, and hopped on it, sliding down the mountain, too.
The rushing wind nearly blew off his hat as he tried to follow Garnet, who looked quite like a worm that wiggled its red body around to go faster and maneuver. Steven breathed in so much frigid air as he was laughing at it that it hurt. He tried to wiggle a little, too, but quit when he nearly lost his balance. “Steven, please be careful,” Pearl called, seeing this. She was next to him on skis. “Don’t be reckless.” Just then, Amethyst sped past her on a snowboard, hurling snow on her in the process. Pearl huffed. She squatted down and sped after Amethyst.
They raced. Around boreal trees, boulders, and even a goat! Pearl vaulted off a mound between two trees and did elegant tricks midair, the names and likes of which Steven could never quite remember (salmons and cows, and things like that). Pearl stuck the landing with grace, and reached the bed of the valley first. Garnet slid to a stop just beneath a big tree, and Amethyst landed in the tree.
Steven tried to be like Pearl and saw a ramp in the snow ahead of him. He gunned for it. But, instead of sliding gracefully into the air, it was actually a boulder he slammed into and it launched him off his shield and he yodeled in fear. But, he landed safely in Garnet’s arms.
Excited, Steven turned to Pearl, who, of course, was worried about him, and said, “Wow! Pearl, you were going so fast! And those moves! I mean, that was amazing!” Pearl took in his praise with a hand daintily over her collar.
“Oh, Steven,” she said. “Well, I…” Both Garnet and Amethyst just looked at her with their hands on their hips or crossed. Pearl cleared her throat, “Do as I say, not as I do.…”
Garnet set Steven down. He told her that she looked like a worm. “Really,” she said. “I was going for snow shark. Guess you can’t be cool all the time.”
Steven and the Crystal Gems walked deeper into the valley, and where the piled snow ended, they started up the mountains. Steven could see over to the village clearly. There had to have been, maybe, twenty homes. Some people were out with their animals and he thought some of them noticed him and the Gems. After a while, they climbed with their hands, but Amethyst turned into a hawk and flew. Then, Steven started to hear something very strange. Through the wind and his hat he heard screaming. It wasn’t anything he recognized though. It hurt his ears, and something about it reminded him of dial tones from a phone. “We have to hurry,” said Garnet. They climbed faster. Steven held on tight.
When they hopped up on a ridge, Steven was able to walk on his own again. The screaming was less clear now, quiet. “Garnet,” said Steven, “what is that?”
“You guys!” called Amethyst from the sky. “Over here!” They followed her to a cave nearly hidden in the snow. The electric screams came from it.
They approached the cave. The voice was gone. Then, Steven saw the cave glow. “Get down!” Garnet yelled. Steven fell face first in the snow. Something whirred over his head, and when he looked up again, some of the snow around the entrance to the cave was melted. “Peridot!”
“Don’t come any closer!” said Peridot, holding up her plasma canon. The screaming came back from the cave.
“Put the weapon down! You’ve nowhere to go!”
“Try anything and I’ll reduce you to slag!” Amethyst set down atop the cave and shifted to normal, then summoned her whip. But, no one moved. Steven was again hit with a wash of pain from the screaming. It was loud. Steven saw some snow fall from the top of the cave. Peridot looked back inside.
“Peridot!” said Steven, “What’s wrong? We can help you!” It was quiet for a moment, just a moment. Then Steven’s reply bombarded them from the cave through the snow, as Peridot shot her plasma canon wildly. Everyone ran and took cover; Steven summoned his shield. The snow around them seared and melted instantly.
Peridot came to the entrance of the cave, still shooting everywhere. She was haggard. As the Crystal Gems were scattered, she ran back in the cave and came back lugging something in her arms. She emerged, and Steven started coughing because he had inhaled the cold. It took him a second to realize it was Topaz in her arms. Her braid was missing, so was her right arm from the elbow down. She had two thighs, one shin, but no feet. Her only hand hung listlessly from her broken body. Steven felt his nose burning from wanting to cry.
As soon as Peridot emerged from the cave, Amethyst swung her whip and wrapped Peridot around the hips. She yanked her to the ground, causing Topaz’s body—what was left of her—to drop pitifully into the snow. Topaz, as if from the shock of the coldness, tensed all over, arched her back, and let out a bloodcurdling cry. It was like an explosion. It crawled through Steven's skin.
Garnet and Pearl were running for Topaz and Peridot, but then the air felt like it shifted, like the ocean does when in sucks back in air and water to make more waves, but multiplied by 100. Everyone felt it.
Peridot shot up at Amethyst, who jumped away, and Garnet and Pearl ran for Steven. The mountain itself moved around his feet—an avalanche was coming.
Peridot scooped up Topaz as Garnet scooped up Steven. She held him close and took him to Amethyst. “Take Steven and fly!” she said. Amethyst shapeshifted again, this time into Dog-copter, grabbed Steven and went up with him. Garnet and Pearl ran and jumped down the mountain. The avalanche stampeded after them. And it was barreling for the village.
Steven saw some people in the village running away and indoors. Garnet and Pearl jumped into one another, spun in the air and vanished into a white light. Out came their fusion, whom Steven had never met before. She was so tall and orange, and she created a massive cartoonish mallet made from Pearl's spear and Garnet's gauntlets.
This fusion was elegant and strong, moving less like a dancer and less like a brawler and more like an acrobat. In front of the village, she brought the hammer down and sent a wave of energy straight through the avalanche and up the length of the mountain. It split the snow asunder and caused it to deviate to the left and right of the village.
Steven felt the wind from the hammer as the energy it made went up the mountain. And as he followed its path, Peridot, midair with Topaz, caught his attention. Peridot was flying away, holding Topaz by the hand. She hung like a dead fish on the end of a hook. Topaz's weight had Peridot hanging sideways. Then suddenly she wasn’t. Peridot’s body swung as Topaz fell from her. Topaz’s hand was still in Peridot’s, and the rest of her fell into the split avalanche. She disappeared in the snow.
Steven screamed for her. Peridot became hysterical, flying low over the moving snow. It took a long time for the snow to finally settle to begin a search. Enormous piles were on either side of the village and many of the people there came to look at the snow and the Crystal Gems and Peridot. Peridot used a beam of light to melt the snow. She walked on top of the snow like she was walking on water and shot at the Crystal Gems whenever they tried to near.
“Peridot, please! We can help you,” begged Steven.
Garnet and Pearl’s fusion hopped atop the mountain of snow. Her legs sank. Peridot stopped melting the snow and took direct aim at their fusion, backing away from her. She shot her plasma canon. Garnet and Pearl’s fusion caught the plasma shots in her four hands and juggled them. She threw them back around Peridot’s feet, making her dance.
Peridot went airborne again, and Garnet and Pearl’s fusion made a great leap for her. Peridot shot more plasma at her, which did little as she caught them again. With one of her four hands free, the fusion grabbed Peridot by the leg. Peridot screamed as the weight of the fusion started both of them hurtling back down to the snow.
Falling, Peridot reached for her leg. The next thing Steven noticed was that she and the fusion separated, and Peridot was flying away. She was missing half her leg.
Garnet and Pearl’s fusion landed square in the snow, with part of Peridot’s leg. Amethyst, with Steven, flew down to her. Amethyst set Steven down in front of the fusion. He was hit by her height, her garishness, and the gap in her teeth.
The fusion stooped down to him. "Good evening, darling. This is the lovely Sardonyx." She bowed as she could from her position, using her other three hands to present herself. “I wish we could have met under better circumstances.” She stood up. “Now, then. Let’s find that missing Gem in the rough, shall we?”
Sardonyx turned and walked in the snow. Steven and Amethyst followed her and stopped when Sardonyx stopped. Sardonyx turned to Amethyst. “Be a doll and hold this for me, will you?” she said, handing her Peridot’s foot. She took it, then Sardonyx got on her knees and put all four of her arms in the snow. She seemed to know exactly where to dig. No sooner did she start did she unbury Topaz.
Two of Sardonyx’s hands were enough to cradle Topaz. She looked so lifeless. Closer, Steven saw she was missing teeth, one of her eyes seemed like it was caving in its own socket, her hair was falling out, her skin was brittle, and her Gem was broken horribly. She didn’t breath and she didn’t move, but she was looking at Steven with her one eye. That was the only thing that gave Steven hope.
Sardonyx stood up with her and started walking. Steven was startled. Catching up with Sardonyx, he wiped his eyes and said, “Wait! Let me heal her!”
Sardonyx picked up Steven with a free hand—and picked up Amethyst with her last--and said to him, "We're going on a little trip, darling. To you mother's fountain."
“But I can help!”
“I know you can, sweetie. But this is to be safe,” she said. “You can try to help her now if you want.”
She brought Steven close to Topaz. Closer, he saw fear. For the first time in Topaz, he saw the fear in her. And there, tied to it, was sadness. "Topaz," said Steven, "I'm going to help you. Please, hang on." He then ungloved his hand and licked his palm. As gently as he could, he placed his hand on Topaz's Gem. He could feel the sharpness of the fractures. They were big.
Steven took his hand away. He waited an agonizing moment. Then he swore he saw some cracks in Topaz’s Gem get smaller. Topaz herself even started moving again. She looked straight up to the sky with her one eye, and looked like she was about to say something. But then, she started quivering. She was shaking all over. “Topaz,” called Steven. “Topaz, what’s wrong?!” The look in Topaz’s eye reminded him of when he accidentally cut her in half. She then arched her back, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Her cracked Gem tumbled in Sardonyx’s hand.
Steven cried. “What happened?! Why didn’t it work?!”
“Maybe she was too far gone,” said Amethyst, still clutching Peridot’s dismembered foot.
“Is she gone?”
“She’s not gone,” said Sardonyx. “Not yet. She couldn’t sustain her physical form any longer. Our only hope now is your mother’s fountain. You did a wonderful job, baby. Whatever happens, don’t ever blame yourself. Now, hold onto me tight.”
“Topaz,” said Steven, “fight back! You have to! Just a little bit longer!”
Sardonyx, with Steven, Amethyst and Topaz’s Gem, sprinted through the snow and vaulted up the mountains back to the warp site. The last thing Steven saw before they warped away was Peridot watching them, in the air just above them.
…
“Hurry! Hurry,” exclaimed Steven, rushing ahead of everyone.
Sardonyx soon passed him with her long legs. “I'm going as fast as I can, love."
Amethyst caught up with Steven and ran with him with Peridot’s leg. “Do you think there’s still time?” he said, “Do you think this’ll work?”
"I dunno!” said Amethyst. “Why you gotta ask me? How’m I s’posed to know?”
As he ran through the lush greenery surrounding his mother’s fountain, Steven noticed that everything had been trimmed and made symmetrical into a neat and functional garden; there was a clear path from the warp pad to the fountain.
Steven raced with Amethyst to Sardonyx. Sardonyx was kneeling. Running to her side, Steven saw her gingerly place Topaz’s Gem in the fountain’s waters. It sank when she let go. To the bottom. Steven held his breath as if he were the one at the bottom of the fountain.
Nothing happened. No flash of light. No beam of change. The gentle ripples in the fountain distorted Topaz's Gem at the bottom of it.
“We’re too late,” blandly said Amethyst.
Sardonyx said, “Now, Amethyst—”
“NO!” Steven screamed. “We can’t be too late! Not after everything we’ve been through! Everything she’s been through!” His tears were mixing into the fountain. Sardonyx suddenly split apart, back to Pearl and Garnet. Steven spoke to the water. “Topaz! You have to wake up! Come back! Peridot needs you!”
Garnet picked up Steven and consoled him. “Oh, Steven,” she said. She started back to the warp pad.
Pearl and Amethyst were with him, too. Tears in her eyes, Pearl said, “We did all we could, Steven. Please.”
“Yeah,” Amethyst just said.
Garnet whispered to him, “Whatever you do, don’t ever blame yourself. None of this is your fault.”
Over Garnet’s shoulder, Steven looked to the crying statue of his mother. It made him cry more. Everything was blurry and small.
Steven thought he saw his mother reach out to him. Her loving and strong hand reached out to him, consoled him, and made him feel less like he was falling apart. Despite how mysterious his mother was, Steven often turned to thinking of her in times of self-doubt.
And Steven did have his doubts, especially now, having failed to save someone's life. His mother would have known what to do. She could've done more, done better. Steven was just Steven and could only try his best. Sometimes his best wasn't good enough.
Steven wiped his eyes and looked up again. He saw the color brown. “Topaz?” he exclaimed. Everyone turned around to see her crawling out of the fountain. They ran over.
Topaz was on her hands and knees, soaked and dripping. Her long braid of hair was gone, but her small one was still there, surrounded by hair that dropped just past her ear on one side and fell to the nape of her neck on the other. The rest of her hair below her headband was an undercut. Wet, it covered her face as she collected herself. It didn’t cover her Gem, and when Steven saw it looking pristine, as if it had never been cracked in the first place, he breathed out the color black, and his tears dried. Garnet set him down and summoned her gauntlets.
“Topaz, you’re ok,” said Steven. “How’re you feeling?”
Topaz lifted her head and shoved her wet hair back out of her face. She had the most incredulous expression that could’ve been a mixture of many things; anger, maybe confusion, but more than anything, disbelief.
She stared wide-eyed at the Gems, and at Peridot’s foot. “It’s ok,” said Steven, “we’re not here to fight.” As he said this Garnet stepped forward, her stance wide. “Garnet?” Topaz shot up from her knees, her stance wide, too, and her hands up.
Then Garnet stopped, and Steven overheard Amethyst gasp, “What?” He looked to Topaz again, and aside from her hair he didn’t notice anything else different about her. Then Garnet’s gauntlets vanished. Steven blinked.
And so did Topaz. She looked at Garnet, who dropped her fighter stance. Pearl put a hand on her chest. Garnet said it was ok, and stepped a little to the side so as not to be in direct line to Topaz. Topaz lowered her hands, then her shoulders. She took the Crystal Gems in with caution.
She started toward them slowly, rigidly. Then Steven saw it. The Yellow Diamond insignia on her chest was gone! He thought about what it could mean, and jumped to the possibility that she was on their side now.
She was so close now, and her tallness took him by surprise. The last time Topaz was this close to Steven he had accidentally cut her in half. She didn’t look at him, but walked passed him, to Amethyst. She stopped in front of her and looked hard at her. She held out a hand and said, “Give it back.”
Amethyst looked at Topaz with disgust. Then she looked to Garnet, who nodded. Amethyst was hesitant, but she smacked her gums and said, “Whatever,” tossing Topaz Peridot’s foot. Topaz caught it.
Everyone just stood and stared. Then Topaz scuffed up dirt, starting for the warp.
“That’s it?!” said Amethyst, throwing up her arms. Topaz didn’t stop.
Pearl put a hand on Amethyst’s shoulder. “Amethyst, please.”
Amethyst shook it off. “Excuse you?! We just saved that dirtbag’s life!”
Garnet took her other shoulder. “Amethyst…”
“No,” she said, starting after Topaz. “Hey! You! Witch!” Everyone started after Amethyst. Steven called for her. “Is that it?! You just gonna walk away?!”
Steven pulled on her, “Don’t!”
Amethyst grabbed him by the wrist. “If it wasn’t for Steven, you’d be gone! The least you could do is show a little appreciation!” Then Amethyst got right up behind Topaz and said, “Bimbo!”
Topaz stopped. She put Peridot’s leg down, standing it upright. She turned and came straight for Amethyst, grabbing her by her leotard and lifting her above her head. The Crystal Gems shouted for Amethyst and surrounded Topaz. Topaz just looked Amethyst in her eye. Steven pleaded for Topaz to let her go, but Garnet and Pearl had to take her to the ground to get her to do so.
Garnet and Pearl got off Topaz. The Crystal Gems stood together in front of her. Topaz got up and took back Peridot’s leg. She continued to the warp. Amethyst huffed.
As soon as Topaz stepped onto the warp, she was gone.
“Well, there she goes,” said Amethyst. She turned to Garnet. “Why? Why did you just let her go? She’s dangerous! She could be anywhere! She… she could—”
“Let’s follow her,” said Garnet. She stepped up on the warp pad, and the rest of the Crystal Gems followed suit.
…
When the light from the warp dissipated, the world opened up again to the snowy mountains. Steven looked around perplexed, but then he saw Topaz trudging through the deep snow, away from them. She tore a ravine in her wake.
“She’ll be back,” said Garnet.
They waited. The cold felt refreshing, for Steven didn’t realize how hot he was coming from the Rose Garden in his heavy winter wear. As they waited, Steven decided to get a little rambunctious and hurled a snowball at Pearl’s back. She turned to him and Amethyst who were snickering to each other. Then a perfectly spherical snowball slapped Amethyst square on the nose. Amethyst's jaw dropped! But a nasty grin grew from her lips, and she started chucking compacted handfuls of snow at Pearl, who danced out of their way. Steven joined them, getting pelted by Amethyst and only ever grazed by Pearl.
After a while, Steven was feeling the abrasiveness of the cold on his face and it had reached him under his layers of sweaters and coats. The decision to quit playing was made with a big sniffle. Garnet hadn’t moved from the warp pad. She was looking out where Topaz had left. Steven couldn’t see her anywhere, though her trail was still there. Steven couldn’t see Peridot. With another sniffle, he walked over to the warp pad. Pearl and Amethyst stopped when Steven stopped. “Cold?” said Garnet. Steven sniffled. “Come here.” Garnet sat yoga-like and she and Steven embraced. Garnet was warm. Steven huddled up against her, and turned his head every now and then to warm his face evenly. Amethyst and Pearl came to sit with them.
Garnet made Steven warm and toasty. He was fading in and out as he was so comfortable he was about to fall asleep. But, then he heard Garnet say his name. He didn't know if he had fallen asleep at all, or how much time had passed, but he looked up and saw Topaz walking their way, through the same path she had carved earlier. She still had Peridot’s foot.
Steven got out of Garnet’s lap, and she stood and stepped forward. Topaz stopped before the warp pad and she and Garnet stared each other down. Steven felt a chill roll over him.
“She’s left,” said Garnet. Topaz didn’t say anything. “She could be anywhere. Are you going to search the whole world for her? She could be one warp away. Or she could be thousands away. What are the chances of you choosing the right one?”
“Why are you here?” challenged Topaz.
“We are here,” said Garnet in her tallness, “to protect Earth. From the likes of you. Why are you here?”
“You,” spat Topaz, “do not have to involve yourself with me anymore, it's obvious. And you certainly shouldn't try to reach out to me.”
“I could care less about that,” said Garnet. “What I care about is what you’re going to do. So, what’ll it be?”
Topaz looked insulted. “You’re not going to stop me”
Topaz started toward the warp pad, showing no sign of stopping. She walked right up to Garnet and looked her in the shades. “Move,” she said. They glared at each other. Then Garnet stepped down off the warp pad, as Topaz stepped up.
Pearl and Amethyst didn’t question; they did the same. But, Steven stayed. “Garnet?” he said.
“Come down, Steven. Let her go.”
“But—”
Pearl interjected, “Steven, you come down here this instant!”
Steven turned to Topaz and looked up at her. Her eyes were colder than the boreal snow.
“Steven!”
“We have Peridot’s escape pod,” he blurted. “It can tell us whenever a warp is being used, wherever in the world it is.”
“What are you doing?!” said Amethyst.
“We can help you,” said Steven. Topaz glanced at Garnet, then back to Steven. “Until we find Peridot. You could stay with us.”
Amethyst and Pearl both exclaimed in tandem, “OH NO! That’s not even a QUESTION!!!”
…
“So, she hasn’t moved from that spot since?” said Greg. Steven had been at the car wash today.
“No,” said Steven. “I mean, I’ve never seen her come down. She just stays up there, at the top of the lighthouse. All day. All night, too, from what Garnet tells me.”
“Well…” Greg looked at Steven, sitting slouched on the back of his van next to his son, in such a dogged way, “For the sake of my blood pressure, let Topaz keep her privacy?”
…
That same evening, Steven made way up the hill to the lighthouse. He carried with him a stomach full of unrest, and it got more full the higher he climbed up the lighthouse’s spiral staircase. When he got to the hatch at the top of the steps that let out to the gallery, Steven grabbed his bellybutton and breathed.
The hatch creaked open. Fresh air blew through Steven’s hair, which somehow made him more anxious. He pulled himself up and started around the lighthouse, to the side facing the sea. The first thing he saw was Peridot’s foot, then Topaz’s foot propped on the railing that surrounded the gallery. Topaz was leaning against the lighthouse with her arms crossed, just looking out. Steven couldn’t see her face behind her hair in the wind. She looked too much like a statue, and it reminded him too much of that day when she fell into the ocean.
“Anything?” said Topaz, snapping Steven from his trance.
“S-sorry?”
“Has there been any activity from the warp system?” she said more sharply.
“Um, n-no! I mean—”
“Then what?”
Steven was feeling rushed and pushed. “I just… was wondering,” he said. “Are you feeling ok?”
Now Topaz looked him dead in the eye. It stung him in the belly. “No.”
"...You wanna talk about it?”
“Not in the mood. To talk.”
She looked back to what she was looking at, if it was anything. Steven stood there a moment, with the wind climbing up the lighthouse, holding onto his bellybutton. “I’ll come back later,” he said, then left. Topaz, and Peridot’s foot, disappeared as he rounded the gallery. Steven was consumed the way Topaz looked at him just now. He also thought, again, on why Topaz is the way she is. And he thought sincerely of Topaz and Peridot, what they must mean to each other, whatever that may be.
From the beach outside his home, Steven has a picturesque view of the lighthouse looming over his home. He could see Topaz as a speck. Then he went inside and found Pearl cooking dinner. Beef stroganoff.
…
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
Two days later, Steven walked back up to the lighthouse with a photo album and a board game. He thought it’d be good to show Topaz something meaningful, or maybe have some fun with her, if at all possible. He tried to not get his hopes up, however. Tried to. He wasn’t sure how she’d react, so he was nervous.
He climbed out onto the gallery, and found Peridot’s foot, but this time it was on Topaz’s foot. Topaz was lying down, asleep, her head lolled to one side. She had apparently tried to slip on Peridot’s foot as if it were a shoe, but it clearly did not fit because it was a foot. Peridot’s foot was stuck on the toe of Topaz’s boot.
She slept the same way as before, quivering like a dog on the run, groaning like a mummy in the grave. Steven thought he noticed her breathing more than what he remembered, and more than what was required to make the noises she was making. Maybe it was just him.
Steven thought it would be ok if he just popped a squat there and just look through the pictures he was going to show Topaz. These pictures were from before the advent of smart phones, so they contained a sensation of legacy, especially the photos of his mom and dad. After a while, as Topaz was still asleep, Steven opened up a simple game of checkers and played with himself. He tried to be as quiet as he could with the pieces and with celebrating to himself when he won against himself. It was during his second game, when the Steven on the red side had crowned a second king that Topaz began to stir. She groaned and touched her face as if she had a headache. When she noticed Steven, she groaned and rolled her eyes, as if her sleep helped her none.
“Hi, Topaz,” said Steven.
She did a sit up, grabbed Peridot’s foot, and got up. “Anything?”
“…No. Not yet.”
“Then leave me alone.”
“I brought these with me. You know, to show you!” Steven grabbed his photo album.
Topaz said, “Can’t you bother someone else?”
“I-I just thought it’d be nice to experience a little bit of Earth. And to maybe take the edge off things and—” Topaz held out her hand to him, for the album. He handed it over. It was already open on a page somewhere in the middle. “That’s my dad!” Steven began, but Topaz didn’t even look at it. She threw the photo album off the gallery like it was a piece of trash. “NO!” yelled Steven as he caught the railing, watching it fall to the ground. Topaz walked around him, and kicked the checkerboard off as well.
Steven's cheeks were hot, “Stop! What are you doing?!”
Topaz looked at him like he was nothing, “You are to come to me when you have intelligence on Peridot’s location. That’s it.”
Steven shrunk at her height, but he stood his ground and then stood up. He couldn’t yell at her. “It’s not good to keep worrying about the same thing all the time. When there's nothing you can do to help it.”
“Scat.”
Steven left, he sure did. Topaz was truly beginning to be insufferable. And that thought made him think of Peridot, and how impatient she must be. It made him sad to think about it.
All the pictures were ok and still in the album, but he was still missing three checkers pieces.
…
It was almost sunset, and Steven and Connie, and the Gems and Greg had all gathered on the beach for a cookout. Garnet was leaning against the van while Greg was sitting out the back of his van, playing his records. Steven and Connie danced to them, and tried to get Lion to dance, too, but, well, that didn’t happen. And Pearl became the tyrant of the grill because Amethyst insisted on eating the meat she tried to cook raw.
As Pearl cooked, they were listening to Purple Exodus. Then there was a wild guitar solo that sung to the ocean, and Steven and Connie tried to dance to it, but all they did was throw their arms in flowy ways. Greg laughed because of them, and Amethyst came over to join them, slinging her long hair to the music. Pearl didn’t much like this kind of music.
“Can you play like that, Mr. Universe?” Connie asked Greg.
“Well…” said Greg.
Steven jumped in, overenthusiastically, “Of course he can! He can play anything! Show her, dad!”
“Well, I don’t know about anything.”
“C’mon dad! You’re the Audio Daddio!”
Garnet said coolly, “Show them what you’ve got, Mr. Universe.”
Greg sighed, smiling, accepting his fate, and got up like an old man.
“Ok! Let’s do this!” Greg said, and he flipped the switch on his amp. And Greg strummed and out came a waving riff—a thrill-filled echo from his glory days as a wannabe rock star. Steven and Connie and Amethyst cheered, throwing their fists into the breezy air. It totally wasn’t hipster, and was something that came from the 80s, and involved leather and lots of hair.
Then Greg started to sing:
“We sail through weary skies
Find our two eyes
Sighing in the dark
Looking for that spark
Green money, golden fame
Red power, all the same
Blackened in the end
You were once my friend
I won't give up, I'll never fall
I'll find what I want and lose it all."
The song ended with a final note from Greg and his guitar that wavered into nothingness. “Dad! That was amazing! You’re the Audio Daddio!” Connie and Steven and Amethyst whooped for Greg, and even Garnet clapped.
Pearl just harped up, “The food’s ready!”
They had vegetarian hot dogs and hamburgers.
…
The next day, Steven made his way up to the lighthouse again. He had spent all morning trying to figure out how to approach Topaz today, and finally, by the time lunch was long gone, had decided to bring nothing, as she’d likely throw it away, and just try talking again. This time, he thought of talking about Connie from last night and using that to slyly Segway into asking her about her friends from Homeworld--Peridot, maybe--like the clever little devil he was. But, when Steven made it up to the lighthouse, he discovered Topaz was gone! And so was Peridot’s foot!
Steven's heart dropped. He ran around the gallery three times like a turkey, scoured the inside of the lighthouse and all over the hill for Topaz. He started to scurry back home, until he remembered the Gems had gone out on a mission. Steven fidgeted on the hill looking out over Beach City. Then he saw the car wash and ran for it.
Steven was drenched in sweat by the time he made it into town. Approaching the car wash, he started to hear music. It was the guitar, electric. It was offbeat though, and untalented. But, Steven barely took notice, and started calling for his dad as ran up to the van. The back doors were open, and Steven ran around them—to find Topaz in the van with his dad! “Steven!” said Greg awkwardly. Topaz just looked at Steven.
She had a guitar in her hands.
“Dad…” began Steven, “what’s going on?”
“Well…” he said. At that moment, Topaz opened the side door to the van--a little more forcefully than Greg would have wanted--and clomped out with the guitar, going as far as the amp's cable allowed (it wasn't long). She leaned against the van, and returned to strumming unprofessionally.
Greg shuffled forward and moved the amp so that it faced out the door and turned it down a little. Steven crawled into the van. Topaz turned the volume back up. Greg sighed. He looked tired. “She wanted me to teach her how to play.”
“Oh my glob!” said Steven, his heart fluttering.
“Yeah, she… well… she knocked on the van early this morning. She scared me to death.”
“Oh my grob!”
“She’s catching on pretty quick.”
“I am immortal,” said Topaz, then she strummed all the strings at once, letting them sing.
“Oh my grarsh!” said Steven with stars.
“What time is it?” said Greg, rubbing his eyes.
“It’s almost 3,” said Steven.
“Oh my glucose! I’ve missed lunch! AND breakfast!”
So, Steven and his dad left Topaz with the guitar while they went to get some food in the office of the car wash. Greg had a big sub sandwich in his fridge that he’d been cutting portions from, and he got a piece for Steven and himself and brought a bag of Chaaaps, BBQ flavor, to the couch.
“I can’t believe Topaz actually came down from the lighthouse,” said Steven, “To learn music of all things!” If he concentrated, he could hear Topaz playing outside. “I thought she hated music!”
“I can’t help but feel a little honored,” burbled Greg with a mouthful of sandwich. “I’ve needed a boost to the ego for a while now.”
Steven agreed, “I’ve been trying to connect with her for some time, maybe get her to come down. But, you do it in one fell swoop! You’re magic!”
“You’re the one who’s magic!” said Greg, poking his son in the belly. Steven giggled. “Sometimes, when people wanna be left alone, you gotta wait for them to come to you.” Greg took another bite o’ sub, and a thought came to him. “I can never get over how… colorful Gems can be.”
“They do come in lots of different colors. Double rainbow!”
“Neurotic rainbow,” said Greg. Then he smiled. “Don’t tell them I said that.”
After Steven finished his sandwich, he asked, “Dad. Why do you think Topaz wants to find Peridot so badly?”
Greg had gotten what was left of the sub. He hummed a little because of his son. “From what I’ve heard from you, and for Topaz to go so far as to rely on the Gems for help, she obviously cares about Peridot. In what way, I don't know. This is the only interaction I’ve had with Topaz (if it can even be called an interaction). And I’ve never even seen Peridot.”
“She’s green,” said Steven, “and her hair is kinda like the shape of these chips. Also, she’s missing a foot.”
“Yeah, I saw that. Crazy. ...This is the only thing Topaz has taken an interest in since she's been here. She's very determined. (She won't take no for an answer.)”
“No kidding,” agreed Steven.
“Speaking of which, did she actually stop playing?” Steven listened as hard as he could, but he couldn’t find a guitar. “I hope she didn’t break another string.”
Outside, Topaz had left. With the guitar, the amp, and with some of Greg’s records and record player. Greg looked about ready to start biting his fingernails. “Oh, boy,” he said. “Please, tell her to be very careful. She even took my record of Purple Exodus.”
…
Valiant, bold, and starry-eyed Steven was sweeping sand off the steps of his front porch. He’d just finished sweeping the deck, and before that finished his laundry. Connie was coming over today and he was excited about that. He committed pseudo-spring-cleaning every time Connie was going to come over because of Pearl. Garnet would’ve had him clean up, too, but Pearl wanted the place spotless. “Cleanliness is next to graciousness, and you must be gracious for your guests,” she’d say. Boy, that always got on Amethyst’s nerves. But, Steven didn’t mind. It made actual spring cleaning a lot less difficult.
As he swept he could faintly hear Topaz on the guitar, and she was all the way at the top of the cliff, above his house, inside the lighthouse. Steven couldn’t remember a moment of silence since she’d picked up the guitar. And just when Pearl and Amethyst didn’t think she could ever get more insufferable.
Topaz liked her music loud, and was definitely a fan of the heavy-hitting kind of stuff that Steven found atrocious. It was much too aggressive and wild (this is exactly why Steven thought the 90s were the best years for rock music), but he supposed that that was the exact reason why Topaz liked it. Even if her taste in music was a little gross at least she had finally found something on Earth that she thoroughly enjoyed. And Steven was glad because of that. She was getting pretty good, too. Her rhythm was on point, and that might be the most important thing for a musician.
Connie was bringing her violin so she and him could play together. Maybe they could make up a new song. They hadn’t made a new song since “The Jam Song.” And thinking about that song made Steven sigh. It was spooky, the time Pearl started teaching Connie to sword fight. And then the broom in Steven’s hands made him think about the holo-Pearl he cut in half with a mop.
“Bleh,” said Steven, puking the mess his thoughts were beginning to turn into onto the sand on the last step to be swept. And with a gallant swish they were gone, because Connie was going to arrive in an hour. He started humming “The Jam Song” as he walked back up to the house.
“Finished sweeping!” he crooned, walking inside, to find the Gems surrounding Peridot’s escape pod. He shut the screen door and walked to them. “Guys? What’s going on?”
Pearl said, with gravity, “The pod has picked up warp activity.”
Garnet said, “It’s Peridot.”
That his plans with Connie were ruined was the first thing that hit Steven. Of all days. He hoped that wasn’t too selfish a thing to think. Steven put the broom away and said, “I’ll call Connie to let her know. And go tell Topaz.”
“You don’t have to do that,” said Amethyst. “I could stay here with you and Connie. I’m sure Garnet and Pearl can handle Peridot.”
Steven pushed down his desires. “No. This is what Topaz has been waiting for all this time. It wouldn’t be right to not tell her. And Connie will always be around, she can come over another day.”
“Man, Steven, sometimes I wonder if you’re too good for your own good.”
Steven called Connie on his way up the hill to the lighthouse.
“Sorry,” he said.
“No, it’s ok. I understand,” said Connie. “Just be careful.”
“I will. I’ll call later and tell you all about it.”
“Ok. Talk to you soon.”
At the front door to the lighthouse--more like, loudhouse--it reminded him of a tower from a video game, one in which was dark and very tall and the higher the player climbed, the louder the pipe organ that the main bad guy was playing became.
Steven opened the door, and unleashed the underworld. He had to scream louder than screamo to get Topaz's attention.
…
When the light from the warp dissipated, Steven noticed it was raining; not hard, but enough for him to kick himself over not packing an umbrella. Topaz stood in front of him, her back to him, with Peridot’s foot in her hands. There was a clear line of separation--like, three or four feet's worth--between her and the Crystal Gems on the warp pad.
Topaz looked around. There were dense trees and grass and hills and rocks and wetness. She was the first one off the warp pad.
Steven felt compelled and walked to her, but he just looked up at her. Then Topaz suddenly noticed him, looked down at him like he was a gnat, and moved away from him. She jumped high into the air, straight up, over the trees and spun. She landed like a brick. Then she marched through the rain in her own direction. The Crystal Gems followed her.
Through the trees they found a beaten path, but Topaz stepped right over it, and over a low stone wall at the bottom of a hill near it. At the top of this hill was a tower, straight from the Middle Ages. It wasn’t very tall or wide, and was dilapidated and seemed like it would smell funny. That beaten path had led around up to its doorstep.
Up some steps and across the tower’s doorway was a metal gate much newer than the stones in its walls. Topaz yanked it and broke its lock. She stepped inside and Steven and the Gems followed. It did smell funny--very dank and earthy--and it was hollow and the rain echoed inside. Also, it was much darker than Steven thought it would be. Topaz’s Gem lit up. It worked like a glow stick, illuminating everything in a warm reddish-brown.
There was a ladder that went up to the next floor that Topaz went for. Footsteps and rain echoed.
There was nothing on the next floor but a few small, skinny, glassless windows. The sound from the rain was practically gone here.
Before they went up to the last floor, Topaz hesitated. Steven was behind her, and almost reached out to touch her, but then she another step up.
Topaz poked her head through to the last floor. Then there was a flash of green, and she threw herself back down a few rungs of the ladder, shoving Steven into Garnet. The wall at the top of the ladder exploded. Rain came in.
Topaz hung like a monkey on the ladder, hanging by one hand and foot. Garnet clenched Steven more and wrinkles dug around her nose. Pearl and Amethyst looked up at Topaz stupidly as well. Topaz smacked her gums, and the light from her Gem went out. There was light, though, from the new window.
Topaz turned around, and Garnet let Steven back on the ladder. Topaz was just looking up, not doing anything. Steven put a hand on her calf. Her muscles tightened and she pulled her leg up to a higher rung until it looked like she was squatting.
“Pe… Peridot,” said Topaz. There was no response. “…Peridot. …I’m coming up.” Topaz straightened her back, with Peridot’s foot to her chest. Her Gem glowed again, and she had gravity in her boots as she went up the ladder. Steven started to follow her, but Garnet held him back. He watched her till he couldn’t anymore.
Steven only heard the rain for a moment. Then Peridot was the first to speak. “I thought you were gone.…”
“I was healed,” said Topaz.
“You changed your hair.”
“Yes.”
“My foot…” said Peridot.
“I kept it for you.” Steven heard footsteps. He figured they were Peridot’s because one foot sounded different than the other.
Then Topaz said, “You… are you alright?”
“I haven’t been, no,” said Peridot. There was quiet again. Then Peridot said, “Where’s your insignia?”
“Gone.…”
Then Peridot sounded like she deflated. “Are you kidding me?!” she said. Steven heard her walking around again. “You’ve got to be joking with me! What do you think is going to happen?! Have you lost it?!”
“Peri,” said Topaz.
“Don’t you Peri me!” she screeched. “Why do you have to keep doing this to me?! I swear, if it’s not one thing, it’s another! You’ve got to be a big joke!” Steven thought Peridot was crying now, and his heart dropped because of her.
“Peridot.”
“And here I was, so stupid, happy to see you again!”
“Peridot.”
“And then you pull another stunt like this!”
“Please.”
“No, don’t touch me! How did you even find me anyway?”
Topaz stalled. “Your escape pod. Configured it to detect warp activity.”
Now Peridot stalled. “My escape pod? Where did you...? Configure? You don't know how to do that. ...Are they with you?... Please tell me they’re not.”
Suddenly, Garnet started up the ladder, climbing over Steven. He followed her though, then Amethyst, then Pearl. Peridot gasped when Garnet went up. Then Steven came through and saw Topaz in front of Peridot. She looked haggard. Topaz was facing Garnet, like she’d fight her if she got any closer. Steven and the Crystal Gems stood together away from Peridot and Topaz.
Garnet said, “She needs to come with us.”
“Oh my stars, you’ve led them right to me! You’re a traitor!” Peridot backed away from everyone, even Topaz, turning her fingers into a plasma cannon. The Crystal Gems all got in front of Steven and were ready for anything. Peridot could only back away so far; the tower was thin.
Topaz turned around. "Peridot," she said, "I haven't sided with them. Please." She eased forward, ignoring Peridot's gun.
"How can I trust you?" choked Peridot. "After everything that you've done?"
Topaz said, "I... can't explain it now, not like this." She was now in point-blank range of Peridot. "I need time. Please."
Against the old stone wall, Peridot's gun arm became lax as Topaz walked into the tip of her plasma canon, pressing it into her chest. "Please." She gazed into Peridot's desperate face.
Then Steven made the mistake of stepping around everyone's legs for a better view. Peridot wrapped an arm around Topaz and thrust her gun past her and fired. Pearl grabbed Steven, and everyone dove out of the way. More of the old stone wall behind them burst in the explosion, and rain drizzled in from the hole it made.
Steven lifted his head from Pearl's arm. Topaz and Peridot were in an embrace. Garnet was running for them. On her side of the tower, Peridot fired her canon again and made another hole. Topaz, with Peridot in her arms, leapt out of the tower.
Garnet, with her gauntlets, jumped out after them. Amethyst did the same, and Pearl hoisted Steven and did so, too. She set Steven down on the cool, wet ground. She and Amethyst pursued Topaz and Peridot with Garnet, with their weapons.
Steven slipped in the wet grass as he started to follow them. As he was getting up, the thought came to him that Topaz and Peridot were heading for the warp pad. He hopped up, took off his sandals, and hightailed it.
"Please, please, please," Steven kept murmuring to himself. The Crystal Gems had long since zoomed their way through the little forest just as Steven got to the bottom of the tower's hill and hopped over the little stone fence. For Steven, Topaz had made so much progress. She had even come so far as to connect with someone--his dad of all people--even if rudimentarily and seemingly out of selfishness. During Topaz's time in Beach City, even as far back as when she was locked away in the Temple, Steven had fancied bringing Topaz out of herself and to help her find her place here on Earth. Even Peridot wasn't out of the question. It's all Steven ever wanted to do: help. It was why he couldn't let Topaz get away now.
When Steven broke through the trees, he saw Garnet on top of Topaz, pinning her down in the grass with her weight, and Pearl and Amethyst handling Peridot. The warp pad was just out of their reach.
Amethyst wrapped Peridot from behind with her whip and pulled her to the ground. Amethyst tried to pin her down like Garnet did Topaz, but Peridot electrocuted her with one of her hands. Amethyst screamed and convulsed in the grass.
"Stop, please," said Steven. He still had some distance to cover.
Peridot shot at Pearl with her canon. Pearl had to create distance to dodge her.
Peridot got up and started for Garnet, but Amethyst, though trembling from the shock, tripped her. Regardless, Peridot took aim at Garnet.
Garnet called for Pearl, as she rolled onto her side to use a thrashing Topaz for a shield. More plasma flew at Pearl as she rushed Peridot. Some of the plasma whirred past Steven.
Peridot then slung a wave of plasma at Pearl in a large sweep. Pearl jumped it like a hurdle and threw her spear at Peridot's head. Peridot ducked and fired at the ground where Pearl would land. Pearl fell into the mud. Peridot charged her canon, but Amethyst, kneeling, coiled her whip around her arm and yanked her; the hot plasma fired into the rain.
Pearl leapt forward.
Peridot screamed for Topaz.
Pearl lunged and drove her spear through the center of the yellow diamond insignia on Peridot's chest. Steven saw this and saw the vision leave Peridot's eyes before she disappeared into a cloud of smoke. That her limbs did not vanish with her made Steven halt in his tracks. Pieces of Peridot fell into the wet grass. Pearl caught Peridot's Gem.
Topaz howled. Garnet was on top of her again, but Topaz had slipped one of her hands free and pushed into the ground, hard enough to flip her and Garnet onto their backs. Garnet tried to use the momentum to get on top again, but Topaz used the same momentum to roll onto her feet. This got Garnet to her feet, too, her stance as wide as a sumo wrestler's. Topaz used her free hand to reach for her sword, but Garnet grabbed her arm and pinned it to her chest. Then she slung Topaz back then forward in one swift motion, slamming her back into the mud like a rag doll.
Steven finally made it to the Gems. "No more," he shouted.
"Get back now," yelled Garnet. She was so heavy, Topaz's knees could muscle themselves straight into the earth. She drove them into the dirt like shovels.
Pearl went to go help Garnet, and Steven tried to stop her, and she tried to stop him. She demanded he go to Amethyst, but he wouldn't. Amethyst, however, came and got him.
"Pearl," Garnet shouted. Topaz had dug deep enough to allow the toes of her boots some traction. She pushed, throwing herself and Garnet a ways into the air, away from Pearl and her spear.
Garnet's back slapped into a puddle when they landed. Topaz splayed her legs wide to keep them from rolling over again. She started bashing Garnet in the face with the back of her head. This got one of her hands free, and she tried again for a sword. Garnet then resorted to just wrapping an arm around Topaz's head and over her Gem and squeezed.
Pearl and Amethyst ran down to them. Steven stayed, knowing there was nothing for him to do to change things now.
Topaz bit Garnet. She squeezed tighter. "Pearl! Get her now!"
Pearl raised her spear high, but as she struck, Topaz slung her lower body up and over Garnet's head, prying all but one of her arms loose from Garnet's choke-hold.
Topaz pulled out a sword and brought it down with madness. Garnet released Topaz and rolled out of the way, until she was standing. She launched herself at Topaz. Topaz swung her sword but Garnet caught it and Topaz's other arm again. Topaz lifted her feet and drop-kicked Garnet in the chest, freeing herself. She left her sword and ran. Garnet threw the sword away, but it exploded within range and blew her back into the puddle.
Topaz stampeded toward Pearl. Amethyst countered her. She whirled her whip. Topaz jumped over it like a hurdle, and booted Amethyst in the face. Her wet hair covered her on the ground.
Pearl shot balls of energy from her spear at Topaz. Topaz took the brunt of it, and kept moving. Pearl retreated, still shooting. Garnet was coming.
Topaz took another sword and deflected Pearl's attacks, sending balls of explosive white energy into the ground and over the trees.
Because Topaz was closing in on her, Pearl leapt into the air. Topaz rocketed after her. Then Garnet jumped, too.
Topaz shot through Pearl's barrage of energy, and when she got in close, she and Pearl crossed blades. But, Topaz grabbed Pearl's neck.
They came back down to earth and they were on the ground. Topaz caught Pearl's spear in the crossguard of her sword. She overturned it and shoved her sword into the ground, trapping Pearl's spear. Topaz let go of her sword.
Topaz punched Pearl in the jaw.
Steven ran toward the fight; his shield had appeared without his notice.
"Give her to me," said Topaz. She shoved a knee into Pearl's neck and pried Peridot's Gem from her hand.
Garnet had landed past them, and because she rushed at them, Topaz took Pearl by her arm, lifted her, and whipped her around, chucking her at Garnet. Garnet caught her without stopping.
Topaz made a break for the warp pad and exploded her sword that was in the ground, but that didn't stop Garnet either.
Amethyst was back up and Steven ran up to her. They were between the warp pad and Topaz. Amethyst summoned two whips. Topaz summoned a sword.
Amethyst cracked both her whips toward Topaz, but Topaz sliced each of them. She ran, brought her sword up for Amethyst. Steven jumped in front of her and Topaz struck his shield. It stunned her for a second. But, she reeled back and swung again and again, side-stepping Steven. Every hit was like being rammed by a bull.
Topaz made for the warp pad again, but in the little hop she took to gain the platform, Garnet grabbed her by the head and swung her around. And Pearl wrapped herself around Topaz's torso and arms. And Amethyst around her legs.
They held her off the ground. She writhed and was fierce, and breathed the flaming breath of a dragon.
Garnet got Topaz to drop her sword, then wrapped her other fist around Topaz's head as well. "Let go of me," Topaz said. "Hypocrites!"
Steven looked up at Topaz. She locked onto him. Lead came over him. "I won't be stopped," she growled. "You won't keep us. You can't keep me... from... her."
Steven watched as Garnet squeezed Topaz's head. Topaz shut her eyes and screamed. Then she vanished into smoke.
Steven watched as everyone's arms moved through the smoke and watched Topaz's Gem fall into the mud. Peridot's Gem fell next to hers.
Steven noticed the rain again, and that he was cold. His shield disappeared.
The Crystal Gems breathed the fight away. Amethyst and Pearl shattered Topaz's and Peridot's Gems with their gazes. Steven's knuckles and toes went white at the thought.
Garnet got rid of her gauntlets and picked up Topaz and Peridot. She bubbled them, and they were gone.
Pearl asked Steven if he was alright. "Yeah. I'm ok."
"What the heck are these?" said Amethyst. She was holding some of those pieces of Peridot that had not vanished with her.
"These weren't a part of her body?" Pearl said. Steven approached and saw green cylinders that used to connect to Peridot's arms and legs--from her elbows down and from her knees down. The piece which was missing a foot had a hunk of wood shoved into its socket. All ten of her floating fingers were in the grass, too. Steven wondered if Peridot was an amputee and if the pieces here were her prosthetic limbs.
They gathered the pieces, then got on the warp pad and went home. The trouble with warping home from a place with a storm is that they always manage to take some of the rain with them.
...
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
It had been nearly two weeks since Peridot and Topaz had been captured before Greg finally got around to getting his stuff back from the lighthouse. It was all, surprisingly, intact. (The amp could have been blown out though, but Greg would check that later.) Steven helped him, and Amethyst felt like helping. Connie was there, too, and, consequently, Lion joined them as well. He always did when Connie came over; Steven could completely understand why. With so many helpers, everyone ended up travelling light.
When they got back to the van, Greg played his old record of Mercury Blimp, just to see. A song of tender fate came out, and they rode it into the clouds; and Steven's heart tasted some of the sky, not only because of the song, but because Topaz had taken care of his father's record. It made her ruthlessness suddenly look a little more like passion.
Then everyone hopped in the van and rode back to the car wash.
When they got out the the van, Steven said to Connie, "Maybe we should put Lion through the car wash. He could use a bath!" They giggled, but Lion wasn't very much pleased. He put his head over Steven's and used his weight to take Steven to the ground. Steven squirmed for his little life. "Oh no! Dad, help! I'm being attacked by a vicious animal!"
His dad, holding his cheeks in faux terror, came to him, saying, "Not my son! I need him in my life!"
Steven screamed, "Ahh! There's bloooooooood everywhere!" He held out his hands and his dad pulled him free with all his might.
"My son! My son... speak to me...."
"Father.... My father...."
"What is it, my son?"
"Tell my wife... I love her...." And with his last breath, Steven passed away.
To the heavens, Greg wailed, "NOOOOOOOO!!! I had a daughter-in-law I didn't even know about!"
Dramatic silence washed over the wash. But, Steven was awful at keeping character and was soon rippling with the sillies, and so was everyone else, except Lion because he was a cat.
Then Connie, unable to keep from smiling, suggested, "Maybe we should put Amethyst through the wash, too!"
"Oh no," said Amethyst, "I do not need this kind of talk from you!" She hugged Connie and used her weight to bring her to the ground.
"Help! Mr. Universe!"
"Not Connie, too," yelped Greg. Connie died, too, informing Greg with her last words to tell her son that she loved him. "NOOOOOOOOO! She's too young to have a son!" Amethyst was jiggling because Connie was laughing so hard.
Steven and Connie returned from the dead and ended up giving Lion a bath with the hose. Never had there been a lion so pink yet so disgruntled in the history of the universe.
Later that day, when the shadows were elongating, everyone was hanging out in the office, either watching the little TV or not. A crummy drama series was showing; it was the most interesting thing on at the moment--thus is the tragedy of basic cable, which was a greater drama in and of itself than the pining hearts it broadcasted.
"Oh, Reginald" cried the television mistress, "be it so that we should happen upon each other six years late. I have prayed for you, to see you again, and that you remain-eth single... -eth."
"That thy prayers should last," responded Reginald. "Clarice, hast thou sent thy wishes to the grub-dirt?"
"Reginald, don't do it," urged Connie. "Clarice's heart has been for you, and only you!"
Reginald bespake, "I have since betrothed one and fathered five."
Connie gasped, "Whyyyyy-eth!"
"Man," said Amethyst, "Reggie's such a playa."
Meanwhile, Steven and his dad were flicking a piece of paper at each other, trying to make it through the goal posts they made with their fingers. Greg took his turn and hit Steven's thumb. Steven took the paper and fiddled with it. "Um, dad?" he said. "Can I ask you a question?" He knew he could, but he said this just to set it up.
"Of course," said Greg. "Anything."
Steven positioned the paper under his finger. "Did you and mom ever fight?" He flicked the paper too hard and bopped his dad in the nose.
Greg bent down to get the paper. "Well," he said, sitting back up, "Fight's a strong word. We argued, sometimes. But, that was only when we misunderstood each other. But, we always talked it out." Greg flicked and made a goal. "Why?"
"Just wondering." Steven flicked and missed.
"Everyone argues every once in a while. It only means they care." Greg missed. "Well, sometimes."
"What do you mean?" Steven made a goal.
"Hm, at least when it comes to relationships, there's arguing because you care about them and you're trying to look out for them and your relationship, but you may not see eye to eye." Greg made a goal. "Then there's arguing for the sake of trying to outdo the other person, like, trying to be better than them at arguing, and just for the sake of arguing." Steven missed. "And when it gets to that point, it's not a good thing." Greg missed.
Steven thought. He missed the goal again.
"My mom and dad always argue about money," said Connie. "And whose turn it is to do the laundry." She laughed a little.
Steven thought about Connie's parents, then Amethyst who was sitting with Connie.
"Dad, have you ever been in a fight?"
Greg didn't flick the paper. He had the floor. Amethyst watched with peculiar interest. "Yeah," he said. "I've been in a fight before. But, that was when I was young and unreasonably felt like I needed to hit someone. Not that I ever started them, but I didn't finish them either, because they got me nothing but... bitterness." Even Lion lifted his head to watch Greg. "Long story short, I think the only way I'd ever get into a fight nowadays would be if somebody tried to hurt you." Steven smiled because of his dad, and for the thought that he'd always be here for him. "Anyway, I don't think this is the time to be talking about these things, not with Connie here."
"It's ok, Mr. Universe," said Connie.
"What I mean is, you two should be having fun. Not sitting in some dinky little office with nothing to do but watch some dumb love triangle. You should be outside. Doin' stuff. Spend time with each other while you can."
Steven supposed he was being inconsiderate to Connie. "Ok," he said. He turned to Connie. "Want to go get some fry-bits?"
"Sure."
"Alright. C'mon, Lion!"
Lion grumbled as he got up and he showed himself out before Steven and Connie. Greg and Amethyst were left to the love triangle.
...
Steven and Connie were walking along the beach with Lion trailing behind them. On the way to Beach Citywalk Fries, Steven brought up the ethics of Topaz's and Peridot's imprisonment. Connie inputted, "I don't think it's as simple as just them," said Connie. "I mean, what if they were to get away? Wouldn't they contact other Gems?"
"I don't think Topaz would," said Steven. "She's not on our side, but... also not on Homeworld's. I think she wants to be on her own side, I guess."
"What about Peridot?"
"Peridot cares about Topaz a lot, and Topaz cares about her," said Steven. "...The thing my dad said, how he'd only fight if someone tried to hurt me, I see that in Peridot and Topaz."
"But, they're a part of some kind of armed forces, right? Aren't they trained to fight their enemy?"
"Maybe. It was like that in the beginning, when they first got here, but now it's different. They're fighting to survive, for each other."
Connie took that for consideration, but still said, "You know what I meant about Peridot, right?"
"Yeah." Steven sighed and became somber. "I don't know. I don't know what to think anymore."
Connie came in closer and nudged him. "I know you just want to help, Steven, and that's a wonderful thing. But, if I've learned anything from my mom, who helps people for a living, is that at some point it becomes counterproductive to get too involved with the affairs of others. Help yourself sometimes, you know? We still got fry-bits to look forward to, don't we?"
A warmness came over Steven at her touch and at the thought that Connie, too, would also always be there for him. "Yeah," he said.
"Race you!" Connie kicked the beach into the air, and Steven, startled by the suddenness of her, sprang into action and ran like the dickens. Lion bounded down the beach after them.
...
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
"Lady Garnet," asked Steven, "wouldst thou liketh some berry of straw to top thy cakes of pan... -eth?"
Garnet smiled, "Yea, sir chef. I thank thee." Steven spooned some strawberries onto Garnet's pancakes.
"Lady Amethyst?" said Steven.
She snapped her fingers at him like he was a cool guy. "Thou knowseth it." He gave her strawberries. "You've been watching too much Webs of Lust."
As if he were about to faint, Steven wailed, "I can't stop-eth!" Then, repleting politeness, he said, "Lady Pearl?"
Pearl threw up her hands as if she totally wasn't opposed to the idea of more food atop here very full plate of pancakes. "Oh-uh-prithee! By all means... -eth...." He gave her strawberries.
"Enjoyeth thy meal, good company!"
They all dug in. Amethyst's pancakes may as well have never existed in the first place and she had syrup on her face. Garnet took her first bite while Pearl was just staring at the food on her fork in utter terror.
"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to," said Steven.
"Yeah, I'll eat 'em," said Amethyst.
"No, no!" said Pearl. "You went through all the trouble to make them for us! For you, I will tr--iugh!" The food hadn't even touched her lips yet she had to leave for the bathroom.
"Alright-eth!" exclaimed Amethyst. She got as posh as she could. "Lady Garnet, won't thee passeth unto me Lady Pearl's unfinished portion of cake-pans?" Garnet did so, and Amethyst scarfed them down immediately. She licked her fingers, stepping down from the bar. "My props to the chef." She went outside.
Now it was just chef Steven and Garnet. Her pancakes were half done. Steven placed Amethyst's dishes into the sink, got pancakes of his own, and sat where Pearl had been. The first bite was so sweet.
"What have you been up to?" asked Garnet.
"Well, besides marathoning Webs of Lust, I've recently been trying to reorganize my trading card collection by types and categories. But, there are some that are mixed types, like metal and fairy, and dragon and psychic, and there are some that are fairy and dragon and it's just so frustrating to figure out a system! Other than that, I've been trying to beat this game called The Legend of Hansel on the hardest difficulty, and that hasn't been going so well." Steven ate more pancakes. "What have you been up to?"
"Sweeping the globe for Gem beast activity and artifacts, renovating the Temple's metaphysical structure, and reevaluating my existence as it pertains to my immortality. That sort of thing."
Steven dug mushed pancakes from between his cheeks and teeth with his tongue. "...How's renovating the Temple going?"
"Well. Topaz had destroyed more than I had anticipated."
"How are Peridot and Topaz?"
Garnet was unfazed. "Still bubbled."
"Are they... comfortable?"
"They're fine."
"Do you think they're angry?" said Steven. "Is there a way to tell?"
"No, as they are there's no way to tell."
"Can we check?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Garnet set her fork down. "They're dangerous, Steven. You know that."
"Well, I mean... I just don't think they should stay like they are too long. The longer they stay like that the more hurt and frustrated they're going to get. Isn't that what happened to Lapis?"
Garnet thought a moment. "I understand your concern, Steven, but right now it's not an option." She got up and put her dish in the sink. "Thank you for the breakfast." She left Steven and entered the Temple.
Then, Pearl came back from the bathroom. Steven looked up at her with his mouth full. She breathed, "Steven. I almost forgot to thank you for the kind ge--iughh!" Pearl hurried back to the bathroom. Steven thought he was going to spend the rest of breakfast alone. Turned out he was right.
...
Steven left a piece of paper on the countertop for Garnet. It was folded in half and standing upright with her name on it. Its contents, Steven doodled images of Peridot and Topaz in crayon, apart from one another, with really big mean faces. At another spot on the paper, he doodled them again, but together and with happy faces. The card was poorly drawn and silly and it proved a point. The card was gone when Steven got back home that day.
...
The next morning, Crying Breakfast Friends was on. The Pear and the Apple were crying. The Waffle was crying, too. Everyone was crying.
Bacon, Egg, and Waffle had left Orange and Pear in the fruit bowl believing that's where they belonged and should stay. It was brave little Kiwi that convinced them otherwise, that Orange and Pear weren't meant to remain in bowls, that they should be free to do as they pleased. Much apologies were made, and many more tears were shed. Many, many, many, many, many more tears.
"Steven," called Garnet. She was next to the stairs below his loft. "When you finish eating, could you please get dressed and ready. I want to speak with you about something."
When Steven had brushed his teeth and all, he made his way into the Temple with Garnet, into the Room with the roots and the Gems. The destruction that Topaz had caused, it was as if it never happened.
"I've given it a lot of consideration," said Garnet, "and I've concluded that un-bubbling Topaz and Peridot is a viable option at this time."
Steven's heart fluttered. "Really?"
"But," she said, "only on one condition."
"What's that?"
Garnet led Steven over to the far end of the Room where sat the sarcophagus. It was open, its facade lying diagonally over its inner chamber. The spikes that had protruded from it weren't there. "I have seen mainly two outcomes. Either they cooperate, or they don't. Frankly, I'm not comfortable with the odds." Garnet looked at Steven. "That's why I'm going to leave the decision up to you. If you choose to un-bubble them, they're going in here. This is the only way I'll allow it."
Steven looked up at Garnet, towering over him, then to the sarcophagus. He touched it. It was dense, deep as a grave, and just as lifeless. Steven touched his Gem. "Ok."
Garnet went and got Peridot and Topaz, willing their bubbles down from the roots, and came back to Steven. "Who first?" she asked.
"First? We can't let them both out?"
"No. We can't be sure what might happen if we lock them both in there together."
Steven hesitated. "What could happen?"
Garnet hesitated. "I don't want either one of them getting hurt."
Steven thought about that a moment, then remembered he had to make a choice. He'd never met Peridot face to face. He didn't know that much about her. He would like to talk to her and get to know her, and learn something about her and Topaz's relationship, if at all possible. But, Peridot is still aligned with Homeworld, and sees the Crystal Gems as her enemies. Even with all the stammering Peridot likes to do, it'd likely be the same with her as it was with Topaz: being disdainful and disagreeable.
Steven asked himself what the ultimate goal was through releasing Topaz and Peridot. For him, truthfully, it had nothing to do with Homeworld, but had everything to do with who they were and who they were to each other. It was for that reason, and that Topaz had seemingly revoked her ties to Homeworld and had some sort of understanding with the Crystal Gems, however remote, that Steven made his decision.
Garnet lowered Topaz's Gem into the sarcophagus. Peridot's Gem floated about Garnet as she shut the sarcophagus and effortlessly sealed it with the crank that had had Steven sweating like a pig. Garnet took the red diamond from the crank, causing it to retract back into the sarcophagus, and inserted it into the Nemes headdress of the facade. Energy surged through the sarcophagus, the crisscrossing bars in the portal under its visage becoming hot. Garnet popped her bubble that trapped Topaz's Gem.
Steven climbed atop the sarcophagus' hands and sat there. After a moment, an effervescent auburn glow radiated from the portal before him. He peered into the portal and watched Topaz's face as she returned into existence.
Steven squinted at the brightness of Topaz. Her head began as a simple sphere, like and was like the sun. Her face grew out from that sphere and created angles, contours, like that of a skull--Topaz's, in particular, having a large dome-piece and a narrow chin. Muscle and flesh grew over that--ears, a big nose, eyeballs--all still very bright. Then lips, eyelids, and hair over that. It all happened in a matter of seconds.
Topaz's brightness was absorbed and developed into a dull auburn and other colors--her hair, her clothes, her teeth. Topaz's consciousness returned to her and the light she emitted receded into her eyes and gave her back her sight.
Topaz was in shock, coming back, and searched for something. She tried to move herself in her prison, but there was no room. She looked up at Steven through the bars. Steven's gut flipped.
"No," said Topaz. "No, no, not again."
"Topaz!" called Steven.
"Where is she? Get me out!"
"It's ok, Topaz. Peridot's right here."
Steven lifted his head to show her Garnet who had Peridot in her bubble. Instead of relief, at least a little like Steven expected, Topaz's eyes flooded with fear. "Stop!" she screamed. "Don't hurt her! I..." She was crumbling.
"Topaz," said Garnet. Topaz took her eyes off Peridot and glared at her. "We're not going to hurt her. Peridot will be fine, you have my word."
"Don't play--don't you play with me."
"I'm not. I will even return her to you."
Briefly, Topaz's eyes widened, but then they narrowed repugnantly. "But, what?"
"...But," said Garnet, "before that happens, you are going to give me the information I have sought."
"Garnet?!" exclaimed Steven.
"We need to ensure her cooperation," she replied.
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to do something like this?!"
"Would you have agreed to do this otherwise?"
"I... I just--"
"I'm sorry, Steven, but this was the only way I was going to allow their release. We needed to get something out of it."
Topaz looked like she was in pain. Taking one last look at Steven, she resigned herself, and shut her eyes. "I'll do... whatever you want."
"Good," said Garnet. She started walking away. "Come on, Steven."
"What?" he said. "Why?"
"Topaz and I are going to have a talk. I'll let you know when we've finished."
Steven hesitated. Before he hopped down, he peered back into the sarcophagus and said, "I didn't know things were going to turn out this way. I'm sorry. But, don't worry. Garnet doesn't lie. You'll be ok. Peridot, too." Topaz never opened her eyes to him and she frowned.
Steven got down and left the Temple. Thinking back, he wished he wouldn't have worded that last thing he said the way he did.
...
It'd been two weeks and two days since Topaz was again locked away in the sarcophagus. Steven was at a constant unease about it and increasingly so as the time passed. He had brought up the subject of Topaz to Garnet for the first few days, but she told him that she was still talking to her, and for the past fortnight, Steven has seen Garnet go into the kitchen every dawn for a thermos of morning coffee, then return to the Temple, as if what was going on was strictly good business--an exchange. Steven could see Garnet sitting in a recliner next to the chaise sarcophagus sipping at her coffee with one leg over the other, probing Topaz's mind--a penny for her thoughts; only, that fat penny was what her and Peridot's freedom costed.
Amethyst and Pearl were aware of the situation. Connie knew about it, too, and so did Greg. They all, more or less, and in their own ways, told him the same thing: to trust Garnet.
But, Garnet had deceived Steven and he still couldn't help but feel unnerved about the whole thing.
Today, however, Steven and Connie had made plans to go to a museum near her home. Well, her mother made the suggestion, but Steven and Connie thought it'd be cool. Both Connie's parents and Greg would go, too.
...
The museum they went to collected art and artifacts. There weren't any pieces there of global renown, or of national renown, for that matter, but they weren't pieces to overlook either (except for the naked things, they generally avoided those). There were tastes of art from several styles and forms: paintings and ceramics and metal sculptures--romanticism, Gothic, abstract, etc.
They came upon an impressive three-dimensional work of art that didn't look unlike a big three-armed rotary water sprinkler that was lop-sided. The Mahasawarens started theorizing as to what it could represent. "Clearly," began Connie's father, "the fork balancing the three objects signifies the power imbalance between the national government, the state, and the individual. The wings, here, represent the judicial system carried down through the states. The pyramid with the crown is the national government, and the solitary pyramid is the individual."
"It would seem to me," said Dr. Mahaswaren, "that it should represent the Holy Trinity of Christianity, given our country is predominantly Christian. The one you imply is the national government possesses a crown of thorns. The single pyramid, the one with the most weight and influence, is God, and the wings of justice is the illumination of the Holy Spirit."
"Both valid arguments," said Connie, "but I proffer the objects represent knowledge, strength, and wisdom, which, connected by this dainty axle, might signify their need for true unity and balance to achieve an enlightened state of being."
"Astute observation, Connie," said her father.
"Steven? Greg? What do you think?" said Dr. Mahaswaren.
Steven perspirated. "Eehhh... reminds me of the teacup ride at Funland...."
Greg scratched his head and said, "Looks like a bunch of triangles to me." He smiled. "You guys have good eyes for culture. Especially you, Connie. I'm impressed."
Steven breathed because of his father.
"Thanks, Mr. Universe."
They all continued on through the museum, to the sections dedicated to artifacts. The artifacts on display were from the Mediterranean and Africa, from Zulu arrowheads to Armenian urns, including a visiting exhibit featuring mummification practices from around the world. The mummies are what originally brought the Universes and the Mahaswarens here today.
The Mahaswarens and Greg hung back and talked about adult things, while the kids went around and saw some dead guys. They saw mummification throughout the ages: peat bog mummies from the Bronze age in Northern Europe, disembodied Maori heads that were all the rage during the Victorian Era, even a Chinchorro mummy from South America that dated back approximately 7,000 years. The exhibit also had pictures and videos of modern rituals, such as Ma'nene in Indonesia, but the most discomforting specimens on display were bodies preserved through the process of plastination, seeing as they were standing in awkward positions and had no skin and were about as naked as can be (any more so and they'd have the devil blushing). Around all of the bodies were some artifacts relating to them.
Then, Steven and Connie found the ancient Egyptian section. They had a few mummies on display, each from a different "Kingdom"--the Old, the Middle, and the New--showcasing the development of funerary preservation over time. The sarcophagus on display was enormous and fit two smaller sarcophagi inside it. The more sarcophagi a mummy had, the wealthier and more revered they were in life, Connie told Steven. The ancient Egyptians took so many procedures to ensure their dead would be comfortable that Steven thought the ancient Egyptians were all mothers. As a matter of fact, several mummies were buried with their mother, as Connie would explain.
"Look there," she said. She pointed to the inside of the smallest sarcophagus, where iconography was painted in the back of it. "The lady in the middle is the goddess, Nut."
"Newt?"
"Yep. She was the mother of the gods and, by extent, the mortals, too. She was put on the inside of coffins as a symbol to mean the deceased would return to their mother. She's got her arms open in that image, as if she were embracing them."
"Wow," mumbled Steven. "That's really sweet."
After saying goodbye to Connie, Steven got to thinking things on the car ride home. Of all the things they saw today, none of them touched him more so than the sarcophagi. The ancient Egyptians saw it, literally, as a home. The sarcophagus in the Temple was anything but. There wasn't any mother on the other side of it. No constellations etched in the lid, no food, no comforts. It was a prison.
"I tell ya, those Mahaswarens know their stuff," Greg chuckled. "So, did'ja have fun today?"
Steven smiled.
...
A couple of days later Garnet came and got Steven. She'd gotten all the information out of Topaz she wanted and was now finally going to let her out.
Steven followed Garnet into the Temple clutching his belly. He wondered what two and a half weeks in a coffin could do to someone.
Garnet pressed the sarcophagus' sternum. She peered inside. "Topaz," she said, "I thank you for the information. As promised, I'm going to let you out. Peridot is fine. Steven is here with me." Her tone then shifted to that of a police officer. "When I move the facade off you, you will cooperate in earnest. You will come out slowly, with your hands in the air and away from your Gem. Any resistance or opposition and I will destabilize you and you will remain in a bubble. Do you understand?"
Steven didn't hear Topaz say anything, but whatever happened, Garnet took it as a yes.
Garnet took the red diamond and cracked open the sarcophagus. Then she summoned her gauntlets. "Steven. Step back." He did so.
Garnet guarded herself with one hand and pushed with her other. She heaved. Steven grabbed his Gem. The facade slammed on the ground. There was never any dust in the Temple, but Steven felt that Garnet only backed away from the sarcophagus when the dust settled.
Steven had time to rub his nose and sniffle. Eventually, hands rose from the sarcophagus like a mummy's. They grabbed the sides of the coffin. Then Topaz sat up.
She looked like that big guy that held up the Earth on his back. She sat there a moment. Her nose curled when she looked at Garnet, and especially when she looked at Steven.
Topaz brought her legs under her and stood up. She kept her arms fully extended outward, away from her body. She tacitly stepped over the side of the sarcophagus and brought both her boots at rest on the floor. Then, nobody moved.
Fists. Tight muscles. Thin ice. Topaz looked like she was lined up against a wall, waiting to get shot; that was one thing Steven remembered when he had searched "prisoner of war." He took a moment to imagine it. He got to the point when the guns fired and didn't want to go any further.
Topaz then took her time with her next words, as if to ensure whatever creature that crawled out of her throat slithered over to her listeners and sunk its fangs deep into their skin. "Give her to me."
Garnet was made of iron; the creature couldn't bite into her. Steven, however, felt pretty bitten. Yet, Garnet opened one of her fists and down from the ceiling came Peridot's Gem.
With Peridot hovering just above her palm, Garnet approached Topaz. Topaz didn't care about Garnet. She reached for Peridot before Garnet got to her. She met her halfway. She took Peridot gingerly.
Topaz ignored both Garnet and Steven. She walked past them both. She didn't hear Steven when he said her name.
She stopped. She got down on her knees. She slouched over Peridot's bubble. Her muscles didn't matter. Nor her brazenness.
Garnet met with Steven. He looked up at her, his mouth open. Gauntlet-less, Garnet put a hand on the back of his head. Steven followed her gaze back to Topaz.
Topaz held the bubble for a long time before deciding to squeeze it.
Peridot's Gem was silent in her hands. After a moment, it glowed and floated away in front of her. Light exuded from it and took physical form. As it did, it hit Steven that the pieces that fell off of Peridot those weeks ago weren't her actual arms and legs. The light mass created stubby limbs like that of a little person, and Peridot came back into existence, small and green, a miniature version of what she once was, minus her trash can limb pieces. She was about Steven's height now, and he thought that was freaking adorable.
Alive again, when consciousness returned to Peridot, she frantically grabbed at her chest. This made her look down and realize, to her horror, that her limb attachments were gone. "Wh-where...?!"
"Peridot," said Topaz.
Peridot watched Topaz kneeling in front of her, like she didn't recognize her for a moment. "Wh-where are my--EEP!" She noticed Garnet and Steven behind Topaz. She noticed the place she was in. She noticed her limb attachments gone. And she trembled and stammered and fidgeted and whimpered. Garnet kept Steven from going to her.
"Peridot," Topaz said again.
Peridot's eyes glazed over. She just fell over.
Topaz crawled over to her. "Peridot," she said again. She scooped her up. She was shaking in her arms.
"Wh-what's h-happening?"
Topaz hugged her. "Everything's going to be okay," she said. "Peri. Peridot."
Steven's shoulders relaxed and he smiled some.
"Commandant," said Topaz, still on the floor. Steven looked up at Garnet. She was stoic. "Let us out."
...
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
Steven slunk up the hill overlooking Beach City on which his mother's blossoms had once bloomed and floated away. He had discreetly followed Topaz and Peridot well away from the clutches of the Gems and the Beach City-zens to this spot looming over the ocean. They stopped here, and sat with one another on the edge of the cliff facing the waves and the town. Steven found himself a low boulder to crouch behind. He felt like a cat stalking his prey. He also couldn't get over how li'l Peridot was.
Topaz and Peridot just sat there awhile, in the wind, watching the water and whatnot. However, Peridot was fidgeting and Topaz, like the boulder which Steven hid behind, was coldly still.
They took so long to say anything that Steven's bladder was about to burst all over his boulder. (For some reason, Steven always had to pee super bad whenever he played ninja or hide-n-seek.)
"Why did they let us go?" said Peridot, finally.
"I don't know."
"It doesn't make any sense."
"No."
Gulls and other birds flew overhead. They surfed the high wind and called at it, just to say something.
Peridot said, "What are we doing here?" The sun kept doing magic tricks with the clouds. "You're a traitor...."
"Yes," said Topaz.
"Are you one of them now?"
"No."
"Then what are you?"
Topaz looked at Peridot, taking in her face and her eyes. She had an expression resembling something Steven had sometimes seen in his father's face. She shifted closer to Peridot, right next to her. Topaz watched her more, but Peridot turned to the ocean again. Topaz moved some hair out of her face from the wind, behind her ear. Then, Steven could swear he saw the smallest curl of her lips.
"No," said Peridot. Topaz moved in and began scooping Peridot up again in her arms. "I said nooo!" But it was too late. Topaz already had her in her clutches. "I don't like being held."
"Mhm." Topaz was hunched over with Peridot in her lap.
Suddenly, the need to pee became much, much worse.
Then Topaz slouched even more so that she was face to face with Peridot. "Stop it," said Peridot. Steven couldn't see Topaz's face, but she shook her head. Topaz, using two fingers, lifted Peridot's visor up and off. "Stop," Peridot said softer. But, Topaz tossed her visor over the edge of the cliff. "Stop," she said once more, like a plea. Then Topaz leaned in and planted the most sincere kiss on Peridot's Gem. The greenest bunch of collards couldn't compare to how much green flushed into Peridot's cheeks. She was fetal in Topaz's arms, and Topaz looked down at her like a sugah mama holding her sweet, sweet baby.
Peridot, suddenly remembering her nakedness, whisked a hand over her face and, in a flash, restored her visor. Then, as abrupt as a falling star, Topaz laughed. And this falling star was not aflame with sarcasm or indignation, but it sparkled with sincerity. It was fleeting, and Steven felt that even the molecules in the air tried to listen in for that fleeting moment. Steven would later decide, if he could describe Topaz's laugh as a thing, he would say that it was like dew drops trickling off a crisp green leaf in the early morning. They trickled down to his heart and cooled it.
Topaz doubled over Peridot, embracing her. "Hold onto me," she said. When Peridot finally pulled her hands out from under Topaz, her hands wavered in the air before they eventually settled on Topaz's shoulders.
Just as Peridot grabbed hold of Topaz, Topaz threw herself and Peridot backwards. The momentum started them rolling down the hill, through the grass. Peridot reminded Steven of his first ever ride on a roller coaster.
Steven's heart bubbled up and he leapt up from behind his boulder as Topaz and Peridot rolled past him. They seemed to shine because he has stars in his eyes--brighter and brighter. They got so bright Steven had to squint, and by the time they reached the bottom of the hill he realized their brightness didn't come from himself. They got so bright Steven was forced to cover his face.
When Steven opened his eyes the planet Earth was gifted a second sun. At the bottom of the hill was a person entirely new--Topaz and Peridot had fused! His boulder completely forgotten, Steven raced down the hill to meet this new Gem.
Topaz's and Peridot's fusion sat up in the grass, holding her face from the dizziness. "Don't ever do that again," she demanded herself. She chuckled, "Why do you sound so...?" Topaz's and Peridot's fusion opened her eyes; she had four. She looked down at her legs, which were thick with muscle. She found her boots. "Why do I have your...?" A shriek escaped Topaz's and Peridot's fused lips. All four eyes as wide as the sky, she discovered her skin was the color of honey. (Her voice was about as smooth as honey, too.)
She brought a hand to her face. Then another. Then another. Then another. Uncoordinated, Topaz's and Peridot's fusion put two hands on her face and the other two through her hair. She felt the nape-length of her dark yellow hair and the one braid in it. She felt the squareness of her jaw, the fullness of her lips, the angles of her face, her cheeks, and the size of her nose. She put her palms over her eyes and discovered a visor. Then, as if she was afraid of what she would find, she lifted the visor and, with her fingers, touched the Gem centered in her forehead. The honey fusion found another Gem on her left shoulder, too. In her eyes was the universe. Her mouth hung open. Words drooled out.
"We fused."
Then the honeysuckle Gem threw herself down into the grass. "Oh my stars!" Just as Steven was about to make it down to her, Topaz's and Peridot's fusion's physical form wavered. As Malachite had done, her face pulled away from itself. She was enveloped in a white light again, and out from it fell the physical forms of Peridot and Topaz, spat to the ground like loogies.
Steven halted. Topaz and Peridot got up from the grass. They just looked at each other. On this sunny day where the light played magic tricks with the clouds.
Peridot ran away when her name stumbled out of Topaz's lips.
"Topaz," exclaimed Steven, running. Topaz's muscles boiled and her teeth mashed when she saw him. Yes, her muscles boiled up; her drooping lips tightening and baring her teeth. It made him halt again. Yet, Topaz shook Steven away, and took off after Peridot, saying her name more.
Steven pursued them. It was hard to keep up in his sandals. Topaz was faster than Peridot, but she just kept up with her, staying behind her. Peridot was telling Topaz to stop, but she wouldn't listen.
Steven followed them through the grass, away from town, down to the shoreline. Losing breath, he lagged behind, eventually losing sight of Peridot and Topaz. He stopped to wipe the sweat trickling down his cheeks. Here, he saw tracks in the sand. He followed them to a low alcove in the cliff side that overlooked the ocean. Steven came upon it and caught his breath.
He started to enter the cave, and heard Peridot's and Topaz's voices echoing off its porous walls. He walked on, keeping, with all his might, his sandals flat against his feet so that they wouldn't slap his heels as he moved. The cave wasn't deep. When he saw Topaz and Peridot just beyond the bend, he shrunk. He found a recess in the cave wall just big enough for him to duck into.
Unable to restrain himself, Steven craned his neck. Topaz was on her knees, and Peridot was in front of her, facing the wall.
"I didn't mean to show that," said Topaz. "Not like that...."
"No," said Peridot. "It's... fine." She breathed in the salty cave. "I don't even know... who you are. What is this? What's happened to you?"
"Do you... not like it?"
"I don't know what to think about it," said Peridot, dropping her words on the ground. "I don't know what to think about you right now. What are you doing with yourself?"
"I'm... trying to be... different."
"What?"
"I don't want to... hurt..."
"You don't want to hurt?"
"You," she said. "Anymore."
Peridot turned to face Topaz. "You're trying to be different so you don't hurt me anymore."
"Yes."
Peridot looked away from Topaz. "Is that the lip service you give me? All this time, ever since we've gotten to this planet, you've been so stupid. You've been so stupid, and you haven't said a word about anything like being different to me. ...Trying not to hurt me anymore? Well, you failed. Nothing's changed. When you--" Peridot inhaled sharply, as if she were about to break out sobbing. "That was real different!"
"Peridot...." pleaded Topaz.
"Just giving up like that."
"I'm sorry...."
"You scared me to death."
Topaz brought her fist down into the cave floor. It made Peridot jump. "I was trying to figure things out.... I still am.... I was in the wrong place then."
"And this is right?" said Peridot, turning to face Topaz again. "Allying with the enemy? Forsaking your Homeworld?"
Silence trickled down in the sweat on Steven's face, scratched his toes from the sand between them, and stuck to him using the muckiness on the cave walls. He thought to intervene, but he didn't know with what. As well, he also cornered himself between desire and shame; the conversation before him was very private. Despite this struggle, Steven wound up with nothing and just watched.
Peridot got tired of looking at Topaz again. "It's not too late. No one knows except me. I mean, what do you think you're going to accomplish?"
"...I--"
"This was why I made you leave in the first place."
Topaz stuck her fists in her eyes. "This," she said. She breathed. "I don't want to... have to fight you anymore...."
"Then let's stop and figure out a way to--"
"I shouldn't have to. Fight you. ...It shouldn't be this way...." Topaz then began to sing:
"Coming home from war and strife--
Flak I still had on my back--
I did not see it at the time.
Now I know how I was blind.
You need to know how sorry I am,
For all the wrongs I've dealt to you.
Look at me, I've been so lost.
I need you now, more than ever."
Peridot began to sing, too:
"Gone from home, resigned at work,
Days away from you and me,
I dragged you with me on my back.
How could I have been so blind?
All your words, I've heard before.
I'm not a fool, you're so see through.
Look at you? All I can see:
Your auburn hands hold terrible things."
"Sever them, I need you back.
Gone from home, I'll set you free."
"Set me free? From what, from whom?
Don't you see? We're prisoners here."
"This is the last promise I'll make."
"I've had the last promise I'd take."
"Save me from this
Criminal in me."
"Penitence won't
"Please, Help you anymore."
Is there anything I "Is there anything you
Can do Won't do
To make it up to you?" To make me pity you?"
The song ended. "Anything," Topaz said, like a secret. "You're all I've got...."
Peridot kept making and breaking eye contact with Topaz, before settling on breaking it. "I... I don't... I don't know.... I don't want to... go back to that."
"And we won't. We won't have to go back to that.... Please. Just one more chance." Peridot grimaced. She tightened her arms and rested her chin on one of her shoulders. Topaz was as small as Peridot. She grabbed a handful of her own leggings. "Don't you care about me?"
"Like that," said Peridot, cringing. "I don't want to go back to that."
"Like I care about you?" Topaz grabbed another handful.
"Of course I care about you, you clod." Peridot wiped her nose and rubbed the back of her hand on her shirt. Then she rolled her eyes. "I just can't stand you."
Topaz put her palms to the ground. "You can't stand me?"
"I can't."
Topaz got smaller than Peridot, like she were about to worship her like she was a queen. Instead, Topaz whipped her head up and shoved her hair out of her face. "After everything I've done for you? Everything I've risked for you?"
"After everything you've done to me!" Peridot used her fingers to count. "Worried me to death over how reckless you were. Made me feel more disgusted with myself. And left me all alone!"
Topaz got up. "And everything I will do to you?" She stepped forward. "Why does everything have to be about you and what you want? 'Ooh, Topaz, you need to work to get yourself promoted.' 'Ohh, Topaz, you need to get over her right now, you're embarassing yourself.' 'OOHH, TOPAZ! I can't STAND the way you look at me like that!' 'Clod, clod, cloddy, clod, clod!'" She stepped forward, and Peridot stepped back.
"Stop."
"I would rather throw myself off another cliff than to hear you say that insipid word again."
Peridot ran out of space and backed into the wall of the cave. "Stop it!" she said.
Topaz was over Peridot now. "You can't stand me? Then why didn't you let me be? Then everything would've been about you from then on! Everything--!"
"STOP!" Peridot tried to shove Topaz away from her, but she didn't move her an inch.
"How about when I got to this planet?"
"I tried to build you up!"
"How I sacrificed myself--"
"Make you greater," Peridot croaked.
"--so you could get away?" said Topaz. "Did you forget that? How about when I'd hold onto you and tell you that you were the best thing that'd ever happened to me? Did you--"
"No, I didn't forget!"
"--forget that?"
Peridot was crying now. "What do you want from me?"
"I left Homeworld for you. My status, my title, my creed. It's all gone. There's no going back for m--"
"No, you left Homeworld for yourself," shouted Peridot. "Forsaking everything you've worked so hard for so you could appeal to some false sense of higher being. Everything you've ever known. Especially me."
Topaz shook her head. "You'll stay with me."
"Oh, stars above...."
"Would you choose Homeworld over me?"
Peridot stifled her crying as best she could. "You haven't changed. Nothing's changed. You still infuriate me to no end. And I don't want it. I don't want it anymore."
Topaz arched over Peridot, leaning on the cave wall. "You can't say it. You can't say, after all the time we've been together, all the stars we've sailed over, that you don't want anything more to do with me. You can't say it."
Peridot sniffled again, and looked Topaz right in the eye. "Look at you now. The biggest Gem around. You haven't changed."
Topaz's fingers sunk into the rock wall. She broke off handfuls of it, whipped around, and hurled them. She cursed. Steven ducked into his nook and hid. The narrow cave shook from Topaz storming his way. Pebbles tumbled onto his belly with every crash of her fist. And when she past by Steven's nook, as she was about to waylay more of the cave, she caught him out of the corner of her eye. It was like a big, fat boulder crashed into his gut when she found him. Sparks flew from her eyes and lit her on fire.
Like she threw a punch, Topaz threw down her hand and clenched Steven's shirt. She reeled him from the sand as if he were as weightless as a plush toy. Steven yelped, pulling at her fist. He couldn't pry it one bit.
Topaz flounced out of the cave with Steven in her fist. His sandals fell off. "Topaz," he pleaded, "I'm sorry! I--ugh!"
Topaz swung Steven higher into the air, above her head and grabbed his shirt with both her hands. "Who do you think you are," she said. "You think us a game, to laugh at how pathetic we are?!"
"No! I don't!"
Topaz slung Steven down into the beach sand and pinned him. She blocked out the sun. "I should beat you into mush."
"Topa--!"
Topaz slapped a hand over Steven's mouth. "Shut up! I'm sick of hearing your disgusting voice." She dug her fingers into his cheeks. Her hand sweated.
Her muscles pulsed with discontent, yet in the peculiar arch of her back and the brokenness that Steven saw in her eyes, she also told him that she knew her existence would never get better than this, that she would never pull herself out of her pit into which she may have dug herself. The heaving in Topaz's breathing, to Steven, and the heat from her told him the price in pain she has paid for her discontent, and seemed to him, especially with what just happened, to overshadow her sadness. This was all communicated to Steven in this moment of physical contact with Topaz. Topaz's face blurred behind Steven's tears.
He cried for Topaz. He cried for Peridot. He cried because he was scared. And for some reason, he was reminded of his mother, and cried because of her, too; thinking of what she could do that he couldn't. The comfort he'd imagined so often from his mother if she were still here, he allowed that tenderness to flow through him and tried to transfer it to Topaz through touch, similarly as she had with Steven just now.
Steven reached up to Topaz, looking in her eyes as he could, and grasped her discontented arms. He wanted her to know that he sees her, that he feels her pain, and that, no matter what happened, everything would be ok. He held her. Just like the mother, Nut.
Waves rolled over on the beach. Topaz frowned, baring her teeth. The sun shined again as she drew back. She huffed. Topaz threw Steven to the side, into the wet beach sand. She got up and marched away.
Steven picked himself up and wiped the wetness and sand from his face. Peridot had seen the whole thing. Topaz saw her, too, as she marched away. Peridot avoided her by looking at the water. Only when Peridot was good and behind her did Topaz steel her gaze forward. She made down the beach, inland. The loose sand didn't slow her down.
Steven followed Topaz's old bootprints back to the cave and got his sandals. "...Are you ok, Peridot?"
"Don't talk to me," she said, with her arms crossed. "Just leave me alone." Peridot went back into the cave and vanished. Steven looked back down the beach, and then into the cave again. He suddenly felt lonely. With nothing else to do, he made his way back home.
...
The Gems went and got Peridot. Peridot was very disagreeable about it, but Garnet waited on the beach for her consent. Eventually, she did, on the terms that she wouldn't go back in a bubble. Garnet told her that was never a part of the question.
Peridot had been hiding out in the bathroom, since it received the least amount of traffic. She refused to leave it, so Steven always asked her to turn around when he showered or to go behind the shower curtain when he had to go. It was pretty awkward, especially when it came to smells. At first, whenever Steven had to go the big "number 2," he went to the Big Donut. But, emergencies happen. Nevertheless, Steven was glad that Peridot was staying with him and the Crystal Gems. It was a chance to get to know her... despite her kidnapping, imprisonment, and attempted murder.
Nobody knew where Topaz had gone off to.
Peridot was very difficult to talk to. For one thing, she was constantly paranoid that Steven and the Crystal Gems were plotting her torture, or some means of conspiracy against her and her Homeworld. Furthermore, she was adamant that anything and everything Steven ever had in his hands was a weapon--his toothbrush, his deodorant, his shampoo; she even cowered under the omnipotent power of his toilet paper, at first.
Steven assured her that his things weren't torture devices, that the bathroom wasn't a prison--despite its smells--and that she could come out whenever she wanted. But, Peridot was convinced he was a liar.
One day, at a time when Steven didn't have to pee or whatever, he knocked on the bathroom door. A nasally little voice from the other side piped up and said, "What's the pass-sentence?"
"Glorious Peridot is the magnanimous leader of all who will one day rule the treacherous Crystal Gems with her iron fist."
The door clicked. "You may enter."
Steven walked into what used to be his bathroom, which now had become Peridot's laboratory of mad science. She tested anything she could get her little hands on--toothpaste, cotton swabs, hand soap--and never failed to make a mess.
The walls were still stained blue from when she got ahold of the liquid toilet bowl cleaner, and the mirror was cracked from the incident with the electric hair trimmers. The shower curtain hung by thread--thread that became necessary after Peridot tore the curtain down in one fell terrified swoop.
Too, she's caused more than her fair share of household floods. "Reverse engineering" caused Steven to lose a few toothbrushes, seven of his shirts, two pairs of his pants, and all the elastic from nearly all pairs of his underwear; he resorted to taking all of his personal things with him to and from the bathroom.
Garnet, however--praise her--had the foresight to remove all the cold medicine and mouthwash before Peridot shut herself away.
Once Peridot got over her fear of toilet paper, she had been using it as a substitute for her audio logs, scrawling thought after thought on them with a pen. The teetering mountain of Aleister Crowley's toilet tissue, mostly piled next to the toilet, had numerous tears in them. Some were ripped to shreds. Some pieces were in the sink.
"Be quick with whatever you have to do and leave," said Peridot.
"Actually," said Steven, "I have something for you."
"Is it DEATH???"
"No, it's a tape recorder."
"And why, pray tell, would I ever need such a degenerate piece of equipment?" she said, looking down at Steven's hands.
"Well, now you won't have to write everything down anymore."
"...How's it work?"
Steven showed her. He handed it over, as well as a package of blank tapes.
"Do you have any further business in here?" said Peridot with her cheeks pinched.
Steven replied, "Unless you want to talk abou--"
"No. No talking. Away with you!" She shooed him out the door and shoved him--which, from Peridot and her infantile form, felt more like nihilistic petting (if such a creepy mode of molestation could ever be described)--into the hall. She slammed the bathroom door behind him and locked it. Not a moment passed before Steven heard her talking to herself. "Log date: 6-21-1..."
Later, in bed, Steven could here her mumbling through the floor. He had to fall asleep to it.
...
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
The next morning, Steven was awoken by Amethyst. "Her majesty is calling for you. She won't stop complainin'."
Steven rubbed his eyes and walked downstairs. He knocked on the bathroom door. The toilet troll snarled, "Who is it?"
"It's Steven Universe."
Peridot unlocked and cracked open the door. "These... tapes... they've run out."
"Already?!"
"They are clearly inefficient and primitive, but I am requesting for more, post haste."
"Uh, sure," replied Steven. Thinking first thing in the morning wasn't something he was used to. But, then he had a thought that perked him up like a hot cup of fresh morning brew. "Sure, you can have more, but we'll have to go to the store to get them."
Peridot shooed him with her hand. "Well go, go get more."
"I'll only gooo," sung Steven, "if you come with me to get them."
Peridot's face pinched.
After Steven had breakfast and got dressed, and with Garnet's approval, Steven and Peridot strolled down the beach together. It was a lovely, sunny morning filled with a light breeze, tumbling waves, cooing birds, plus one disgruntled little green Gem who hated the sand.
"So, how have you been?" asked Steven.
Peridot eyeballed him. "Horrendous," she said. "Stagnant."
"Like I keep telling you, you don't have to stay cooped up in the bathroom. You can come out and see the world, see all Beach City has to offer! Meet people, make friends."
"I'd prefer not..." Suddenly, Peridot seemed exhausted. "I just want to go home, where everything makes sense."
"...Oh."
"Did I say that out loud? Great. Now, I'm losing my mind. That's the only thing I've got left...."
Steven watched the ocean roll up on the beach a little. "Is Earth really so bad?"
"It's disorganized. Dysfunctional. Unproductive. Too much room for error. Not to mention it's abound with biological organisms. Gems have no need for things so counterintuitive."
"But," said Steven, "it's being unpredictable that makes things about life beautiful, makes you appreciate it more, and--"
"I don't care how you see it, Quartz. All I care about is finding a way home."
Steven focused on the sand between his toes. The sand they walked on was loose. He watched Peridot walk. Her gait was too big for her size, and he wondered if sand was getting in through her "socks"--the footy part of her one-piece uniform from Homeworld. "With Topaz, right?"
Peridot scoffed, "If she wants to be petulant, then that's fine with me! She can stay here. Abandoning Homeworld, everything she'd ever known, she'd ever worked for; she's too much like this planet: reckless; absent-minded. She best be glad she's replaceable, that Homeworld won't come looking for her. She'd be shattered if they ever found her. ...She can stay here."
Steven pocketed his hands. "She cares about you."
Peridot laughed. "Oh, yes, she cares about me. She'd go to great lengths to keep me in my place." Her cheeks pinched her eyes. "What do you know about it?"
"I've spent more time around her than you think," said Steven, "and when I see her, when it looks like she has nothing, the thing she clings to is you. She'd do anything for you."
"Even throw herself off a cliff...."
Steven gasped. "Now that's not fair."
"That's not FAIR?!" Peridot tore apart her crossed arms. "What's not fair is not being recognized for all that I do for her. What's not fair is constantly worrying what mood she's in, which, nine times out of ten, it's not good, and if she'll take it out on me. What's not fair is being stranded on an alien planet with little hope for rescue because somebody decided this was the best time to have a neurotic breakdown!" Peridot huffed at Steven. "She's not fair!" Steven's chest crumpled, and his shoulders tried to hide it. "So, I can't leave. No matter how much I want to. Because my maniac of an escort is at the bottom of your ocean fused to another maniac. And my other maniac is off who knows where being petulant. Leaving me in a mess, I'm stuck. I'm stuck here, and surrounded by morons like you."
Steven was silent. Not because he was belittled, but because he was searching through all of what Peridot said to him; he tried to find some hidden meaning or reason to all of it, how such frustration between Peridot and Topaz could've happened, if all Peridot told him was true. He'd seen it in both her and Topaz, that they deeply cared for one another, yet how either of them talked about one another--to one another--didn't make sense to Steven. But, he came up with no meaning or reason, and felt he had been quiet too long, along the beach. So, with his hands still in his pockets, Steven said to Peridot, "You care about her, too, don't you?"
Peridot spoke with her hands. "Let me put this in a way a human could understand: Me stressed. Me no want to talk no more. We get more tapes, so me can go back to talking to me, me, me. Alone." Peridot walked ahead of Steven with her pinched face in the air. Steven trotted along a little to catch up; he was supposed to lead the way. "You Crystal Clods owe me a new ship..."
...
Steven found Pearl outside pinning up his clothes to dry. She clamped the clothes pins perfectly upright on the clothesline like soldiers, stationed evenly at the corners of Steven's shirts and pants, etc. She kept extra clothes pins on the knuckles of the fingers she didn't use to hang clothes. Pearl always had six clamped to her hand at once, and got more when those ran out, hanging at least three pieces of clothing with every garrison. Steven decided to help her by handing her his just washed clothes for her to hang up.
"How was your trip to the convenience store?" said Pearl.
"It was fine," replied Steven. "Although, nobody carries cassette tapes anymore. So, we just got a digital recorder instead."
Pearl hung up a pair of Steven's pants. She sighed like a dog. "Honestly, the way Peridot yammers on and on about herself and her paranoia is maddening. You'd think if she were so protective of her thoughts she'd pipe down a little."
Steven handed Pearl another one of his pants because Pearl liked patterns. "I guess."
"And beyond that, being an enemy of Rose's legacy--the Crystal Gems--that she should voluntarily lock herself away in your bathroom is absolutely ludicrous." She looked at Steven with a hand on her chest, as if her breath had been taken away. "It's as if we're in one of your cartoons."
Steven chuckled. "It is pretty funny if you think of it that way." He handed Pearl his last pair of dampened jeans.
"I swear, if I have to clean up another one of her experiments, I'm going to go crazy. She's already ruined half of your wardrobe, thinking your clothes would help her defend herself against us. Ridiculous."
Steven started fishing around for socks in the laundry basket. "I wish I knew how to make things better."
"I assume," said Pearl, a pair of wet socks in her hand, "that it isn't just Peridot you're referring to?" She plucked another pin from her knuckles. "Don't worry about them, Steven. Things between those two will get sorted out, for better or worse, eventually. They'll have to."
"I just wish there was something we could do to help them. Sort it out, or... something."
Pearl waited for Steven to get another pair of socks and hand them to her. "You really are just like your mother."
Steven never knew how to take that phrase, whenever someone said, you're just like your mother. It conjured up his estranged feelings about his mother, and the kind of person she must have been compared to himself, especially if Steven was just like her. It also made him think that there was no way he and his mother were exactly alike, and he wondered what differences he had from her. It all ungrounded him. Especially since the embodiment of his mother was in the Gem on his belly. Steven appreciated their sentiment, though, whenever anybody said he was just like his mother; they never meant to trouble him, but to praise him.
"Chances are, they both likely know what they need to do," said Pearl, pinning up more socks, "to get passed their little kerfuffle. And, surely, it's in them to understand, in order to do that, they'd have to get past themselves." Pearl moved on to pinning up Steven's underwear. "But, that never happens immediately. It'll take time before either of them are ready to face each other again. How much time it'll take will depend on them, and from what I've seen of these two," Pearl shook her head, "it's going to be a while."
Pearl kept on hanging Steven's clothes until the laundry basket was empty. She plucked it up and made for the warp pad. Steven followed her.
On the warp pad he glanced at Pearl, the laundry basket on her hip, dividing them. What Pearl had said reminded him of her resentment toward his father. In Pearl's eyes, Steven knew, Greg Universe took Rose Quartz away. It was because of this that Steven trusted what Pearl had said to him. Although, for forgiveness to happen, if it was completely dependent on those involved, then, taking Pearl and his father as an example, Steven became worried from the years forgiveness could take to arrive.
In a flash of light, Steven and Pearl were back in their home. Walking down from the warp pad, Steven asked, "If people hurt one another, and didn't mean to, or didn't want to, can it really be so bad that they should avoid each other for a really long time?"
"Well, Steven," Pearl began, "it's just how things are sometimes."
Steven knew this tone of voice. Pearl was either trying to be protective of Steven, or she was avoiding the question. For his question, maybe it was both. Regardless, Steven didn't like being treated like he was five again.
"Maybe they are that way sometimes," he said, "but they don't have to be, right? If things turn out like that, it's because people chose for them to be like that."
Steven watched, from the bottom of the stairs, Pearl walk up to his loft. She said to him, "Even if the harm was unintentional, the pain is there." She set down his laundry basket next to his bed. "Sometimes the pain is substantial. And everyone expresses and reacts to that pain differently. Some fight, some scream, some cry. Others might just want to be left alone." Pearl descended from the loft. "And sometimes," she said, looking Steven in the eye, "the pain can be so much that just seeing the one who caused it can flood one with anxiety, anger, fear."
Pearl sat on the stairs so that she was level with Steven. She patted the open space next to her, for him to sit. She leaned over on him and held onto him. Pearl was dreamy-eyed. "It takes time, Steven."
Steven felt Pearl's warmth. He grabbed onto her arm. "Time heals all wounds, huh?"
Pearl breathed. "Or so I've heard."
Sunlight, as well as the light breeze from the beach, trickled in through the windows.
That night, in bed, Steven could hear Peridot talking to herself in the bathroom. He couldn't make out every word, but she couldn't be ignored.
Steven didn't think of it at the time, but maybe Pearl had wanted to avoid the question because Peridot was in the bathroom and could've heard her. Steven, too bothered with Pearl, had forgotten Peridot was there. He suddenly felt like he was five.
...
A couple of days later, there came a time when Steven had to poop really bad. The heaviness came to his stomach fast, and he had no time to make it to the Big Donut this time.
"Peridot," Steven cried, "I need to use the bathroom! QUICK!"
She spat, "What's the pass-sentence?"
"Peridot will rule us with an iron fist!"
"That's incomplete!"
"Peridot, please! I really need to go!"
Peridot snarled like a groundhog. "Fine! Just be quick about it."
As soon as Peridot unlocked the door, Steven rushed in and, with surprising strength, pushed Peridot outside and locked back the door. Peridot shouted like a German. She banged on the bathroom door. But, she was soon drowned out by Steven's vocal crescendo as he scurried to the toilet. He rose into fortississimo as he threw down his pants, then, as soon as he sat down, fell into diminuendo, down into a vibrato of relief!
"Hey," Peridot yelled, "I hear explosives in there! What are you up to?!"
Steven was sweating. "Never again...."
The doorknob wriggled. "You will relinquish my holding cell immediately!"
"I'll be just a minute!" Steven called. "Could I have a little privacy, please!"
"What's that stench?!" Steven's cheeks flushed. "It's finally happened!" exclaimed Peridot. "But, I never anticipated this. The Quartz! Resorting to chemical warfare! Stars! Save me from this barbarian!"
Steven heard thudding outside, on the wood floor, until it faded away. He sighed, and went back to business.
Steven finished and escaped into the fresh air. He didn't see Peridot, but he found Amethyst on a stool, at the bar, nonchalant, with a mustard-covered smirk on her face. She gave him a thumbs-up, then used that same thumb to jab the air toward the front door. Steven replied with his thumb as thanks.
From his porch, Steven scanned the beach for any sign of Peridot. All that was out there was the breathing ocean. He walked down the steps into the sand. He found Peridot under the porch, in the shade, holding her knees to her chest. Steven approached. Peridot didn't look at him.
"Hey," said Steven, as sincerely as he could. Peridot didn't respond. "Sorry about the bathroom.... Those microwaveable burritos can really get to ya." Steven chuckled. Peridot still said nothing. Steven sat next to her and looked at the water.
The waves rolled onto the shore, blanketing it like a mother. But, the sand didn't want to go to sleep, and slid the ocean off of itself four times before Steven's cheeks lifted into a little smile.
"This is nice," he said. "Being outside every now and then. Feeling the breeze. Don't you think so?"
"No, I don't," said Peridot.
"Why not?"
"Weather and the elements are chaotic."
Steven looked around. There was Mother Ocean and her sand, a calm wind, and seagulls cawing somewhere. "Maybe it's a little hot, but...." Peridot tsked. "And besides," Steven continued, "it's been a while since you last came outside. Don't you get tired of staying in the bathroom all the time?"
"I get tired of you interrupting my train of thought just to void your bowels or urinary tract." Peridot's words dropped into the sand like stones. "You're such an inconvenience."
Steven got queasy. He looked back at the beach. He sifted sand through his fingers. "I've been thinking a lot about you," said Steven. "I've been trying to put myself in your position--"
"Let's not."
"Please. I know it's scary to be in a different place. Much more, a different planet."
Peridot clenched her knees. "The thing you're doing with your vocal flapper? You should instead shove some pie in it!"
"Earth isn't out to destroy you!" said Steven. "Most people don't even know about Gems."
"You're always blathering at me. Always. I don't want to talk, I just want you to shut up!" Peridot tore her knees away from her chest. "That would be most agreeable!"
Steven faced her on his knees. "You confuse me, Peridot! You confuse me. I want to understand you. How can I understand you if we don't talk?"
Peridot had told Steven to shut up thrice as he just spoke to her, but, that having failed, Peridot shoved her heels into the sand. "My Homeworld is out of my reach, right?! Just like you Crystal Clods wanted! You've taken away any form of communication from me, and have effectively rendered me out of commission. My mission is a failure and you've mitigated me to worthlessness. I'm of no use to my Homeworld as I am. I'm stagnant!"
Steven began, "And, what about--"
"I don't want to see her! I don't want to see her!" erupted Peridot. "I don't want to see her!"
With her heels in the sand, and her knees stretched so hard they looked about to snap, Peridot shook; this was the only hint Steven got that Peridot had muscles. She fidgeted her tiny fists in the sand.
Finished with herself, with Steven, Peridot shot upright and left him. She whipped the sand from her bottom, her legs, and her hands as she swept up the stairs.
The screen door slammed above Steven, and shortly thereafter, a second ripple tumbled down the posts that held up the beach house.
The ocean came back, there, with her waves blanketing the shore again. Steven, in the shade, in the sand, was awoken by it. He wasn't aware of how many times the sea rolled up on the land with him sitting there, but Mother Ocean had brought him back. He took a deep breath.
Steven had been afraid of certain people before. For a while, he was afraid of Mayor Dewey, because of his loud voice, his loud car, his loud pearly whites. But, that was when Steven was young; since then, but, not because, he has tried to be open and friendly with anyone, instead of hiding from them (except for when he first noticed Connie, but that was a different matter).
But, that was childish antics. Steven never expected there were such Peridot-lengths that people might go to avoid someone else. She was going as far as Steven thought possible.
Though Peridot's jigsaw puzzle got nearer to completion, Steven thought it a good thing to give her more space. Let her collect herself and breathe. Steven breathed again, thinking this.
He finally got up, and moseyed up the stairs. The rhythm of the ocean faded away as he went inside. He breathed once more.
"Yo, Ste-man," called Amethyst, sitting on one stool with her elbows in another. "What happened?"
...
Autumn came.
Autumn went.
Winter came.
And went.
Then spring.
...
Over the past year, Peridot had moved out of Steven's bathroom and into Steven's aunt and uncle's old barn just outside of Beach City. She had, effectively, become one of the Crystal Gems when she joined forces with them to put a stop to the ancient Gem Cluster that was incubating in the center of Earth. The planet would have been destroyed if not for Peridot's help. Everyone was thankful for her.
In the middle of all that, Steven had begun to have strange dreams in which he was a watermelon version of himself that would inevitably be sacrificed to a god of the sea. As it turned out, the watermelon Stevens from about a year and a half ago were inhabiting a tropical island, and dwelling in the waters surrounding this island was the sea god. That sea god was Malachite. With the help of the watermelon Stevens, the Crystal Gems were able to defeat Malachite and recover Lapis Lazuli, finally.
Finding no place to go, Lapis moved into the barn with Peridot. Their relationship has been discriminatory at its worst, and tumultuous at its best, but Peridot and Lapis, lately, have been bonding over the trashiest drama television had to offer (if only Steven felt like telling them there were other shows out there).
Also, Steven had turned the big 1-4.
In the present, no longer a child with child-like endeavor, Steven deemed it his supreme responsibility early that morning to teach Peridot about fart jokes. Though Lapis didn't know farts were called farts, she was already in on them, so it was only fair if Peridot knew about them, too.
On this day in June, Steven was heading up to the barn with Garnet from the nearest warp pad. Garnet had caught Steven before he left and asked him where he was going. He told her. She hesitated in her response.
"Something wrong?" Steven said.
"I'll come with you," Garnet said.
Stars appeared before Steven's eyes.
With a pep in his step, Steven hummed nothing in particular on the trail to the barn. He looked forward to having Garnet help with the farting.
The silo jutting out diagonally of the barn's east wall was always the first thing Steven noticed when he came over. Lapis and Peridot certainly made the barn their own, what with the bed of a pickup truck sticking out of the attic, the hole in the dirt out front that was their in-ground pool, the camping tent in the grass that was an homage to that terrible TV drama, the large antenna behind the barn (for internet), and the clothesline that spanned the distance between that and the silo.
They liked to use the leftover junk from the barn as decor here and there, however, their sense of feng shui had a certain essence of trailer park; strangers could mistake their aesthetic for trash the junkyard didn't want.
"Steven!" It was Lapis. She had an Olympic swimming pool's worth of water floating, wishy-washy, over the farm's crops. A hand on her shoulder and her other waving like a crab claw, the flying pool rained down over the corn and stuff without Lapis looking at it.
"Hi, Lap--"
"STEVEN?!" That was Peridot from inside the barn. She grunted. Something metal clanged. Then the leaning tower of pizza pans came crashing to the earth in an avalanche. Peridot groaned.
"Peridot? Are you--"
"Steven!" exclaimed Peridot, running out of the barn to him. Something was in her hands.
"Ya ok in there?" said Steven.
Peridot flapped away his question, "Yes, yes, yes, feelings and all that, but GAZE!" With a shimmer, she held what was in her palm high as if it had descended from the sky. It looked similar to a puzzle cube with more divisions, only without so many colors.
"Consume with your eyes," began Peridot, "an indubitable display of master design and craft! Ingest with your ears an orchestra worthy for mountaintops in compact form! And savor with your soul the presence of the maestra, Peridot! as she presents to all of you incapable of containing yourselves her latest gift to all those beneath her! This shall render you senseless!"
Peridot posed again with her little box held high, her cheeks stretched from ear to ear. Steven just smiled and waited, enjoying her.
And he waited. The muscles in Peridot's face twitched from being too taut for too long, and a bead of sweat formed on her temple. "Lazuli," she called through her teeth. Lapis was still watering. Peridot tried again. "LAZULI!"
"I told you I'm not doing this."
Peridot growled, her frown so strong it made her chin bigger. In the dumbest voice, she said, "'What does it do, O magnificent Gem who's better than me in every possible way?'" Surprised, Steven stifled his laughter because he wasn't sure if it would bother Lapis if he did laugh.
Peridot resumed, "Well, behold, you baser creatures, what the beneficent Peridot has crafted new with these... artisan hands." Done fawning over her little green hands, Peridot tapped the top of the cube with her middle finger.
Garnet said to Steven, "How could I have possibly foreseen this?" Steven giggled.
The cube in Peridot's hand floated up and opened, and opened, and opened some more. It split into pieces and arranged themselves into an octagon in front of Peridot. Then eight beams of light shot from one side to its opposing side, a pair of beams for each side. The octagon floated upright and perpendicular to Peridot, however, and Steven noticed that not all the beams connected with one another--on Peridot's left side, four beams crossed each other like a lower case T, and on her right, four beams crossed like an X. The lasers were green, of course.
Cracking her knuckles, Peridot thrust one of her fingers through a beam of light. And, like a witch, Steven could've sworn Peridot was magic, for sound warbled from the beam of light which Peridot interrupted! Then she moved her finger up the beam and the pitch of the sound went higher.
Steven had goosebumps. "Peridooooot!" he yodeled, "what have you dooooooooooooooooone?!"
She threw her hands into the beams and laughed like a gremlin, "I have created music!" Peridot jitterbugged her arms all through the grids of light while swaying her head and her rump like she was breakin' everyone's heart. But, really, she was breakin' everyone's eardrums with her equivalent of smashing a howling cat into a keyboard.
In the middle of her jam session, Steven approached Peridot and grabbed her flaying hands tenderly through her instrument of light. She stopped. Steven lowered his voice to a whisper. "How does it work?"
"Indeed," said Peridot, making herself tall. She took back her hands and her instrument. "When researching the basic components of what music is made of--a specific set of sound waves vibrating from low to high pitches in an array known as octaves--the rest became so simple even a Ruby could've figured it out.... Well. Maybe I shouldn't go that far."
Garnet had the vastness of the cosmos in her shades.
Peridot had the vastness of the cosmos in her visor.
"Regardless," she continued, "the perimeter of the instrument is comprised of sensors which observe the beams of light emitted throughout. Should something interrupt said beams, the sensors register this and the location of the interruption, then relays this information to the instruments sound system, which, in turn, emits the specific pitch which has been programmed for that location. It's rudimentary, really. Or, should I say, Ruby-mentary." Peridot chortled.
GARNET HAD THE VASTNESS OF THE COSMOS IN HER SHADES.
Despite this, Steven fawned, "Peridot, this is amazing!"
"I know. Since each beam is produced by two lasers from their respective axes, each beam can emit up to two pitches of sound should their be more than one interruption throughout its length. Each intersection can also play notes in unison."
Steven stuck a finger in the way of a laser and a note warbled from the instrument. He thought of the soundtrack to Meteoroid.
Peridot looked to the sky in reverie. "Can't you imagine what masterpieces I could create with this instrument if only I had back my limb enhancers?"
Steven, arrowed by the cherub that was Peridot, grabbed his cheeks and inhaled the heavens from which she descended. In his gasp to end all gasps, he pivoted to face Garnet.
"No."
The kingdom of heaven that Steven inhaled then fell from his breath and collapsed to the ground. He turned back to Peridot and, with the last angel that was hanging on his tongue, wheezed, "I'm sorry."
Peridot said, "Nevermind it."
"What do you call it?" (Hearing Lapis ask this reminded Steven of how Lapis was trying and how proud he was of her.)
"I have dubbed it the fluctuating auditory replaying tessellation. Rolls right off the phonetic lapper, don't you think?"
"FART?" said Lapis.
"What?" said Peridot.
Steven lost his mind.
"F-A-R-T," reiterated Lapis. "FART."
"Well, yes," said Peridot, "if you want to be inane with its name, then yes. You could call it the FART."
Peridot turned to see Steven running his hands through her instrument. "Garnet, look," he guffawed, "I'm playing with Peridot's FART!"
Garnet chuckled.
"What's so funny?" asked Peridot, insulted. Lapis didn't get it either, but she tried smiling.
Garnet stopped Steven's hands from going to town on the FART. She was smiling at him. "It's an impressive invention, Peridot," she said. "Thank you for showing us." Steven dropped his hands when Garnet let go. Peridot's FART quieted.
"The pleasure is all yours, surely," said Peridot.
"Of course. However, I wanted to speak to you about something."
"I've already told you I won't throw anything or anyone off the roof anymore!"
"No. It's not that."
Peridot eyed Garnet's cosmos.
"I need your help."
...
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
Steven, Garnet, and Peridot arrived in a dark and cold place. The brief light from the warp pad revealed steep cliff sides and a sandy bottom. Hooked to the cliffs were Gem injectors, and there were holes shaped like people. Steven recognized this place as a Kindergarten, but one he had never been to before.
He felt the chill in the air and looked up. It was night time here, in this place with the dry sand and the cold and the wind whirring overhead. Garnet had told Steven to wear his jacket and shoes, and he was glad she did.
"Do we have to do this now?" said Peridot, making her Gem glow. "We can barely see anything."
Garnet, stepping down from the warp, opening her palms to cascade the gorge in red, blue and purple light, replied, "The sooner the better. We can't let the humans endanger themselves."
On the sand now, Steven noticed the holes in the cliffs weren't shaped like those from Amethyst's Kindergarten; they were smaller, thinner, and often twisted, as if these Gems had been born to be contortionists. But, he knew that wasn't right.
"Why must humans be so feeble?" snarled Peridot. "Wait... why haven't you disposed of the injectors' power cells beforehand?"
"I had forgotten."
Peridot scoffed. "And you call yourself a leader. You oaf."
"There wasn't a need to remember. Humans had not the capability to penetrate the outer shell of the power cells. Now they do."
"So," Steven began, "how do the power cells hurt people?"
"Much of our energy back then was produced through nuclear fusion, something humans have yet to grasp. Within such power cells, the radioactive waste produced by fusion is self-contained, until someone were to dispose of it properly. However, even with such a short half-life, that radiation is still contained within the cells left behind. Regardless of whether that radiation is still there, it's best that the humans not have the power cells."
"Fusion," said Peridot. "What a barbaric form of energy output."
"And Peridot's here because she knows how these things work!" said Steven.
"Yes," said Garnet. "She knows how we can extract them. It'll be easier that smashing them all open."
Tramping through the sand, the injectors throughout the gorge shone in either blue or red, and green, and sometimes yellow or light blue, depending on which direction Peridot happened to be looking. "Why not start with any of these," she questioned. "They're right here."
"Further," said Garnet. "The humans have one in their possession, studying it. We'll start with that one. The humans won't notice. They've yet to open its shell. We'll come back later with more help and extract the rest."
From the treeless sound of the wind above, and the sand piled and climbing up the walls of the gorge, Steven supposed he and two of his blessings were in or near a desert. The cliffs looked as if they hadn't seen a drop of water in years, and it smelled that way, too, like sticking old, dry rocks up the nose. The lack of moisture in the air confirmed it for him. Steven imagined he, Garnet, and Peridot were in the Sahairy (it was the only desert of which he actually knew the name).
Steven quit thinking of two- and three- and one-hundred-humped camels when, around the bend, he noticed a little light in the distance, in the black darkness. It reminded him of a lit cigar. Mr. Smiley had had one once; it was at the end of summer, after all the tourists and vacationers left. The light was warm, and burning, and red.
The light was moving. Whoever held the cigar, it looked like they puffed from it, then dipped it when they'd finished, then lifted it to their lips again for more. When it dipped, it disappeared behind a broken injector that lay on the ground. An eerie glow cast through it when the light dipped, silhouetting its innards that twisted like organs.
In full iridescent view, the smoker noticed Garnet, Peridot, and Steven. They stood up, tall. The warm light illuminated their neck, and cheek, and hair.
As if the cigar was snuffed out on Steven's heart, he was burning. His hands clawed over his Gem under his jacket pockets, and he breathed very quiet. The cigar, dragged to ashes, all that was left was the fire that had lit it.
Hunger.
Consumption.
Topaz.
Peridot saw her, too. Dead in her tracks, her shoulders were tight and she squeezed her fingers again and again.
"Peridot?" beckoned Steven, but his voice was dry, and he felt like what he said came out as a whimper. Peridot didn't respond. Steven tried reaching for her.
But, Peridot took a step forward. Then another. And another. Every time out of Steven's reach. She was squeezing the life out of her fingers. Steven grimaced at that.
Steven reached out to engulf Peridot, but she tore into a run.
And then Steven ran after her, calling her name. Chasing after Peridot, he kept looking at just Topaz, getting closer, and closer. But then, Topaz's light wavered in the dark. A hollow clang rang out, and Topaz disappeared behind the injector.
Steven summoned his shield, and he lagged behind Peridot. The light from her Gem flew over the curvature of the injector and disappeared behind it as well.
With his shield in front of him, Steven dove through the legs of the injector and to the other side.
There, he found Peridot standing over Topaz. Topaz was on her back, splayed, one leg over a hunk of metal. Lit with Peridot's green, she was forcing her gaze to the black sky.
The wind cooed overhead. Peridot tightened her fists. "Get up," she said.
Steven's eyes widened.
"...I fell," replied Topaz.
"Get up."
"I've fallen."
"Get up!"
"I fell down!" Topaz booted the metal hunk. It crashed into the injector and shattered some of it.
Topaz huffed.
"Then get back up," said Peridot. She kicked Topaz's boot.
"I won't."
It was at this point that Garnet had caught up with Steven. Steven looked up at her with his mouth hung open. She put a hand on his shoulder. She led him around to the other side of the Gem injector. She sat. Steven blinked. Then he sat, too.
Steven could make out the shape of Peridot through the injector. He couldn't much see Topaz because she was on the ground (she had shut off her light, too). Peridot's Gem glow cast the shadows of the injector's insides over to Steven's side. For a machine, the injector's inner parts looked less like something from an engineering textbook and more like it belonged in an anatomical documentary.
"Fine," said Peridot, "don't get up." She crossed her arms. She looked at the junk on the ground. "What are you even doing out here?"
"That's none of your business," said Topaz insistently.
"None of my business." Peridot looked around again. "This doesn't look like any of your business. I mean, you're just a soldier, right?"
"And you're a wretch who couldn't thrive unless it was off the power I gave you."
"What are you talking about? My level of importance was higher than yours. The margin wasn't much, but at least I worked to get where I was."
"I'm talking about the kind of power that makes you feel important," said Topaz.
"What are you talking about?" said Peridot. "Power has nothing to do with feeling important, it has everything to do with being important."
"No. There's more than being. There's power in feeling. And that feeling can be given."
Peridot stiffened. "There's power in importance. There's power in strength. There's no power in feeling. Emotions make you intemperate. You should know, of all Gems."
"I should know," said Topaz. "You took everything from me."
Peridot threw out her hands. "You did that to yourself!" Topaz shook her head. "Yes you did! You didn't apply yourself in your regiment. You were practical. You were good at that, but you never applied yourself. You weren't a benefit to your company, and because of that you remained at the bottom." Peridot gestured to Topaz. "Powerless."
"I was powerless because of you. You took my power from me."
"What did I take from you?!"
"Everything," Topaz shouted. "Your hunger for self-worth. It was endless. And you started projecting it onto me, like I needed to live up to your expectations."
"No," said Peridot, "I was trying to help you better yourself. That's all it ever was."
"By condescending me?" Topaz propped herself on her elbows. "No. What we once were, it was just you and me and that was all that mattered. But, it was never enough for you. You had to seek out more and more, more than what I could give you."
"Just because I had other aspirations makes me the villain?" said Peridot. "Do you hear yourself?"
"That's not the point! The point is that you wanted more than what I could give you."
"I've told you again and again, that you can't expect all my joy to come from you. That's why I wanted you to push yourself, too, so that you could feel better. Be better. Were you really ok with where you were?"
"I hated what I was doing. And the ones I was doing it for," said Topaz. "Meanwhile you were licking Yellow Diamond's boots, even volunteered to come to this old ball of death. Anything to make yourself feel more important." Topaz shouted over the injector, "And now that that's fallen through, you're willing to become their play thing just to keep yourself functioning."
"I'm not their toy," said Peridot. "And despite what you think of me, I can hold my own just fine, thank you."
"You can't."
"I can. I stood up to Yellow Diamond!"
"You'd go crawling back to her, given the chance."
"I called her a clod, right to her face!"
Topaz paused. "I see you still bear her insignia. In case this falls through, too, right?"
"I-I just--"
"Y-you just--can't wait to get back to trying to please your master."
"I am a fugitive!"
"And guess what," said Topaz. "No one even knows you exist. No one is coming for us because no one knows we exist. There are plenty more where we came from. That's how its always been, and that's fine by me. They can replace me."
"That attitude," said Peridot. "It's this attitude that's kept you from being all you could be."
Topaz replied, "But, I guess I was willing to trade one master for another, all for the sake of power."
"Oh, me? But, I thought I took everything from you," said Peridot. "How do you get power from one who takes?"
"That was when I still believed that there was strength in being together," Topaz said. "But, now I know I don't need you to get power. And I won't give you any more of mine."
"Ok, Topaz," began Peridot, "since this is all about you, let's talk about you, hm? Since I was your master and all, how about this? Did I tell you to come to this planet in the first place and interfere with my mission? Have I ever forced you to put yourself in danger for my sake, and my sake alone? Did I make you jump off that cliff?" Peridot shook her head. "If you've given me anything, its the power to drive me insane."
Topaz grumbled. "Goes both ways." She turned away from Peridot and seemed like she was looking through the injector. Steven's shoulders squared.
Peridot turned away, too. She looked around more. She said, "What are you doing out here?"
Topaz's braid dangled in the light of Peridot's Gem. "What happened to you?" she said, like a secret.
"Me?" Peridot began, startled. "I've become a better Gem. Without my limb enhancers, I've discovered my own prowess and ingenuity with my present physicality, and what value I still--"
"Before... we came to this planet."
Peridot pointed her toes toward Topaz. "You happened to me. Nothing about me changed, but, with you, I had to think for someone else."
"I never wanted you to think for me," said Topaz.
"Goes both ways."
"Peri, Peri, so contrary."
"I had to be. You were so intemperate." There were no crickets or ocean waves to speak of, here in the desert. No leaves rustling, no birds cooing. There was just the sound of the wind. It was strange to Steven. "Were you really ok with where you were placed?"
"No." said Topaz. "But, I didn't try to be more because I didn't want it."
"But, you would have been able to command others. Would you have really rather risked your life than the lives of others?"
"Why can't you understand?"
"But, if you had applied yourself, there was a chance you'd never have to deal with--"
"I know," said Topaz. "I know. But, that was unlikely." She just lay there, slouched on her elbows in the cold night.
Peridot shook her head. "Just say her name. What, are you afraid of it?"
"I've never been afraid of anything," shouted Topaz. "Or anyone!"
"Then say it."
"I will not give her the pleasure."
Peridot said, "What pleasure? She's not even here."
"...I want her forgotten."
Peridot retracted from Topaz, like she got a whiff of boiled cabbage. "Do you expect her to lay down and die?"
Topaz's chest pulled her out of her slouch. "It'd be a start after what she's done to the both of us."
Peridot shrugged. "What are Peridots for?"
"That attitude," said Topaz. "It's this attitude that makes you unforgivable."
"Really? I'm unforgivable? Was she any different from how you treated me?"
Topaz sat up, eye-level to Peridot. "Don't you do that."
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
"On more than one occasion--"
"Don't you compare me to her...."
Garnet sitting up straight startled Steven.
"I just did," said Peridot. "I mean, just admit it. You're just like Jasper."
Topaz's emotion slammed against the walls of the canyon, like she burst high-pressurized water in every direction. It shot up the walls, came back and closed in over the Kindergarten like a tsunami. To Steven, it all seemed to crash down on him.
Topaz threw herself on top of Peridot. She held her by her wrists. Garnet vaulted over the broken injector. Steven ran around it.
Peridot was yelling for Topaz to get off her. Topaz screamed, "I hate you! I hate you so much!"
Garnet jumped on Topaz and jerked her off of Peridot in a full nelson. On their feet, Garnet shoved her away by the back of her head.
Peridot got up and started saying, "Who do you think you are?!" But, Garnet shut her up by saying so.
The tides in the canyon came crashing again when Steven saw Topaz marching back toward Garnet with malice on her face. He started to run to Garnet, but before he could make it, Topaz punched her in the face, knocking off her shades.
Garnet yelled, "Are you serious?" She grabbed Topaz, beat her some, and restrained her on the ground. Topaz fought at every step. Steven was worried that if he hadn't been there, Garnet would have beaten Topaz more. But, no weapons were drawn.
There was just a lot of screaming from everyone.
On the ground, under Garnet's weight, Topaz huffed and puffed like the Big Bad Wolf. Garnet eventually let her go, but not before Peridot got finished saying some particularly smart things.
Steven, Garnet, and Peridot left for the warp pad. The last rolling slivers of sea foam from the tsunami followed them home.
Steven dropped his jacket and kicked off his shoes and pants. Even though the sun was shining over Beach City, he fell onto his bed. He brushed away some of Lion's hair before trying to get comfortable.
They never found out what Topaz was doing.
...
It was a couple of weeks later and Steven was with Lapis and they were harvesting some fruits and vegetables that she'd tenderly brought up to ripeness. Steven was wearing his overalls, gloves and a straw hat. He sang while he harvested.
"I got tomatoes in my breeches!
If you want some, just go ask Lapis!
They're healthy and red, and they're good for your bones!
Hey, looky there, I think we got watermel-ones!
We got a pumpkin in the wagon!
I could'a sworn that they only grew in fall,
But it doesn't matter cuz Lapis is the best!
She can grow anything and they'll turn out the best!
I just rhymed using the same word!
And I don't really care cuz rhyming is for nerds!
I just told a lie, we should rhyme all the time!
Now, here I go, I'm gonna start down the line:
I got tomatoes in my breeches!"
When Steven ran out of half-way decent rhymes, he just hummed the melody. Lapis smiled because of him; he was the only one that could do that, he noticed.
After farmer Steven and "Green Thumb" Lapis Lazuli--despite her insistence that her thumbs were indeed blue and not green, and that Steven needed to get his eyes checked--had finished harvesting the month's bounty, they wheeled it back to the barn. The rickety wagon that may have been for single bales of hay, that they had salvaged from the barn squealed under their assortment of fruits and vegetables. Although it wasn't filled to the brim, all in all, it was an impressive turnout, if one had asked for Steven's opinion.
This was the ritual Lapis and Steven had each and every month since last month. This month's produce was more colorful as the last.
Peridot and Lapis don't eat, so Lapis gave the fruits and vegetables to Steven, which he'd wheel over to the nearest warp pad when he was good and ready to leave. But, for now, he brought the wagon to a whining halt under the shade of the barn.
Steven followed Lapis inside. They were going to watch a movie together. Steven brought a couple of his dad's old movies, since all Lapis and Peridot had was a VHS player. Today's films were a horror movie called Prawns, and a Western called A Fistful of Diamonds.
When Lapis started up the ladder to the barn's hay loft (where their TV was), Steven said hi to Peridot. She was over on her half of the barn, tinkering with something at her soldering desk. She didn't respond or notice him.
Steven shrugged it off. It wasn't the first time Peridot had been so absorbed in her work that she didn't pay him mind. He started up the ladder.
Steven always let Lapis have the ultimatum of which movie they should watch. Always, she told him she didn't mind which. Granted, she didn't have much experience with Earth cinema, so Steven never pressured her.
He was in a funny mood, so he went with the more fun-looking movie.
Steven force-fed the VHS player. He called out, down below, if Peridot wanted to watch with them.
"FOIEFNOIWENUIVURGFIOPEAPONLGF@IP!!!"
Steven conceded, and crawled back over next to Lapis.
They watched their movie. Steven enjoyed it, but Lapis was confused. She asked him if humans normally got as excited watching members of their own species get hurt and murdered.
Steven chuckled, "No, not in real life. This is just a movie. It's not real life. We wanna see the good guy win!"
"Why would the good person want to kill?"
"Well, because he's gotta fight the bad guys."
"So, bad people deserve to die," acceded Lapis.
"Oh, no," said Steven, "nobody should have to kill anybody else in real life! It's a movie! It's not real!"
"Then, why make something that does not represent real life?"
"For funzies!"
Lapis pondered. "...Killing for funzies..."
Steven blinked. Twice. Thrice.
"Peeerriidoooot! Whatcha doiiiiin'?!"
"OI*()R$VBJOIGPOIHRGG$*VHPIOPASH!!1!"
Steven chuckled again. He climbed down from the hay loft and strolled over to the angry little slice of Key Lime pie.
He met Peridot at her working desk, which was an old miniature picnic table made for small children; scorch marks, steel tools and copper wiring had replaced Crayon doodles and plastic tea cups. Steven popped a squat next to her.
Peridot sighed. "Personal space..."
"Oh," intoned Steven, scuttling over. "Sorry." Peridot went back to soldering circuits. "Whatcha workin' on?"
"Just making another F.A.R.T."
Steven tittered.
"What is so hysterical about that?" clipped Peridot. "Does it mean something that I don't understand?"
"I-I... W-well, uhh..." Steven adjusted the straps to his overalls. "Is something bothering you?"
As if on cue, as Peridot answered no, Lapis, at the same time, answered yes from above.
"No one's talking to you, you blue-footed booby!"
"Green little toad!"
"TOILET WATER!"
Lapis shook her head. "She's been like this for weeks, and she won't get over herself."
"I'm sorry," said Peridot, "I don't remember toilet water being able to speak. Trust me, I would know!"
Steven watched Peridot clutch her soldering iron and thrust it back into her circuitry. There were wrinkles in the corners of her lips. Her eyebrows twitched under the weight of her forehead. "Is there anything--"
"No. I don't want to talk about it. End of story." Peridot went back to F.A.R.T.-ing.
Steven watched Peridot's hands at work. They seemed perfect for building circuits. They were so small and nimble, and, to Steven, it felt like she'd been making electronics for 100 years. Maybe she had, but Steven wondered if circuits even existed on Homeworld.
Steven hadn't thought much about it, but he hadn't a clue how old Peridot was. He felt her as being around his age, but maybe that was because she was small and often ignorant. For all Steven knew, Peridot could've been 100 years old, maybe older.
A year ago, Peridot was unopen to talking about anything. Then, it was understandable, but, now that she was family, it seemed that hadn't much worn off. Peridot still didn't let on too much about herself, if Steven thought about it. She talked a lot, sure, but, anything personal and she became dismissive. Maybe Peridot was more Steven's age.
"You know," said Steven, "talking about things doesn't make you weak."
"Steven..."
"When something's bothering me, I like to talk about it. I'll talk to Connie, or my dad, or Garnet. Maybe Pearl or Amethyst. I guess it depends on what it is, really, that's bothering me."
"That's great," said Peridot. "Now, please..."
"It helps me figure things out, or what I should do about the thing that's bothering me, if anything." Peridot rudely sighed. "Instead of just letting it sit inside you, whatever it is, and letting it hurt you for longer than it needs to. That's what I've learned. Talking is helpful."
"Yes, okay," said Peridot. "I appreciate your concern, but your concern is not needed nor is it warranted."
Steven sighed. He got up from the picnic table. He came up behind Peridot and hugged her big, pushing his face through her triangle hair to plant a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you," said Steven.
Peridot squirmed. "OFF! GET OFF! Personal space!"
Then, Steven went to go hug Lapis. It was time farmer Steven took his hat and gloves and produce and moseyed on home.
Before wheeling his rusty wagon down the hill, Steven told Peridot he would be there for her if she wanted to talk, and bid both her and Lapis a hearty farmer's farewell (which was simply Steven slipping his thumbs under the straps of his overalls and adding the phrase I reckon before and after every sentence).
"I reckon I best get this here yield on home before late, I reckon. ...Pearl gets kind of upset if I'm late for dinner."
Lapis cooed, "Ya'll come back now, ya hear."
"I reckon it'll be sooner than later, I reckon." Lapis waved him goodbye, and Steven tipped his hat to her.
It most certainly would be sooner than later, because Steven forgot his movies.
...
Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl warped to the Beta Kindergarten. It was evening time in Beach City, so dawn was breaking here in the desert valley.
"She's not going to like us being here," remarked Pearl, stepping down from the warp pad.
"Chances are," replied Garnet, "she already knows we're here." She was talking about the beam of light from the warp, Steven assumed. It's hard to miss, even in a valley that was miles across.
"What exactly did she do again?" asked Amethyst.
"She's doing something with the Gem technology here," said Garnet. "We're going to find out what."
Near his Gem, Steven felt like bugs were crawling around in his stomach. It crippled his pace, and he couldn't quite place from where it came.
Bugs usually came from trouble. Maybe Steven was feeling this way because whenever he and the Crystal Gems encountered a certain six-foot-tall auburn antagonist, it was usually under confrontational circumstances. Volatile as she may be, Topaz has been forced further and further from any kind of trust between her and the Crystal Gems.
Usually, whenever they met Topaz, it was to keep her from doing something, and Steven felt more like a police officer toward her than a friend; things too often turned violent, and Steven didn't want that. He knew, though, the Crystal Gems couldn't trust Topaz, either--she was selfish, and, Steven felt, wouldn't mind sacrificing his or any of the Crystal Gems' well being if it meant her gain.
She was dangerous. Steven hadn't a clue what might happen to Earth or its people if Topaz was left unchecked. He didn't expect her to try and blow up the planet anytime soon, but, better to not leave the Earth's safety to chance. Whatever Topaz was up to, if it would endanger any life on Earth, then she had to be stopped.
Steven sighed.
Under orders from Garnet, Steven and the Gems made their way through the canyon, staying alert, following the same path from a few weeks ago.
In the morning light, the Kindergarten looked completely different. There were rivers of warm oranges, reds and grays streaming through the layers of rock that made up the canyon. Yellow sand shifted around Steven's feet.
Now, Steven could see just how many ancient Gem injectors there were. Their number was considerably less than that of Amethyst's Kindergarten, and Steven imagined many injectors here had abandoned this Kindergarten for hers. What remained inched up to the tops of the cliffs. Some of those Steven only saw the tips of their heads. Others had fallen and were half-buried in the sand. What they had eaten away--the holes bored into the cliffs--brittle with age, remained consumed.
Thinking about the past, Steven likened the injectors to an army of ants swarming a dropped cookie. Helpless and overrun, the Earth could only lay down and let the hungry things tear her apart.
Steven was overrun.
This consumption was for the sake of propagation; for Gems to make more of themselves. Was it wrong? To destroy to reproduce?
Steven thought of humans. Humans consume. They can destroy. But, they've yet to render a planet lifeless.
Steven looked at each of the Gems in front of him--his family. The Crystal Gems used to be a part of this rhetoric: consume to create. His mother had seen the danger in that rhetoric, and chose to oppose it, she and her Crystal Gems. It was a good thing. Life still exists here on Earth; and Steven's dad, and Connie, and Lars, and Sadie, everyone.
Yet--and this wasn't the first time Steven had thought of this--if that old Gem rhetoric was wrong, then Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were wrong to exist. It was a thought red-hot to Steven's heart and was made to be thrown away. He loved his family more than anything.
If it wasn't for Homeworld, Steven's family wouldn't exist. Furthermore, even he wouldn't exist.
Looking again at the eaten cliffs of the Kindergarten, the holes that had given birth to Gems, Steven thought that maybe some consumption and destruction was okay? But, then, that begets the question of just how much destruction is worth the existence of another person--another person who can laugh and love? And the answer to that question begets another: what shall die, and what shall live? Who decides? In deciding, what was worth more? How much death was worth someone who is loved, like Garnet or Pearl or Amethyst?
Steven supposed this must be what led to the rhetoric of consume to create.
There was something odd about these holes in the cliffs from which ancient Gems were born. Fewer in number, the holes weren't stacked atop one another, like rows of cookie-cut gingerbread men, like at Amethyst's Kindergarten. They were sideways, upside-down, even mangled. The bodies that came from this Kindergarten must've been like zombies--crooked, deformed, in shambles. From what Steven has learned of Gem philosophy, what purpose did a malformed body serve for its Diamond? Why make so many of them?
Steven sighed again.
The Crystal Gems eventually found the valley where Steven, Garnet, and Peridot had last encountered Topaz. The broken injector was still there, too, but there were also several others that had been similarly downed and torn open.
The Crystal Gems examined the nearest one. The injector's translucent body had been shattered and many components had been ripped from inside it. In the light, its mechanical parts seemed to not be made of metal, but something closer to fabric. Put together, the injector's parts resembled the digestive system. They reminded Steven of the plant-like roots that branched around Garnet's Room in the Temple.
The large crystalline head of the injector was also cracked open. Inside it was hollow. Lining the walls of it was a thick layer of a dark substance that resembled burnt cheese, like someone had left their lasagna in the oven much too long, until it turned black. On the ground below it was a splash of discolored earth.
Steven looked up at Garnet. "Let's keep moving," she said.
Maneuvering through the valley, the Gems went ahead and summoned their weapons. Steven wiped the sweat from his face before summoning his pink shield.
Along the way, Steven had lost count on how many injectors had been cracked open at 27 or so. After that, he just kept in mind that the number was too many.
In his heart, Steven saw a new-born soldier rise up with every downed injector they passed; gnashing teeth and snarling nostrils, dozens of Topazes blazed up from the earth en masse. He watched the Kindergarten become overrun--like ants swarming a cookie--like a rain flooding a town--like an empire invading a country. The edge of Steven's shield drifted up to just below his chin.
The sun had goodly risen over the Beta Kindergarten with the Crystal Gems still searching. That Steven could now see the sun peeking over the ridge of the cliffs meant that Beach City was well asleep, which also meant he should have been, too. But, every injector he passed, not a single one still perched on the cliffs, kept him wide awake.
"Man, she ever get bored?" reproached Amethyst.
Pearl mused, "What on earth does she hope to accomplish?"
"Ya think she jus got mad an' busted up all these old injectors? I wouldn't put it past her."
"Maybe," Steven suggested, "she's helping us out? We needed to get this old Gem stuff out of here at some point, anyway, right?"
"It's our fault," said Garnet. "For letting them sit here so many years. Millennia ago, we rendered Kindergartens out of commission by overwhelming the Gems that operated them. After the rebellion, we returned to ensure the machines were inoperable."
"It's how they found me," Amethyst said.
"Yes. Though there was anxiety about the Kindergarten injectors being taken for resources, doing so would be impractical. Now that someone is actually doing it, I can only imagine what they plan to do."
"I've been doing nothing but wondering!" said Steven. "I mean, the stuff that Topaz has been taking, isn't that the stuff that makes Gems?"
"There's no need to worry. Even if Topaz managed to collect all the Gem serum crystal left here, I doubt there'd be much she could do with it."
"The serum crystal is also very old, Steven," interposed Pearl. "It's likely useless at this point. Frankly, I'm surprised there's any left."
"You mean," said Steven, "it's past its expiration date?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes."
Amethyst said, "This serum stuff. What would happen if she puts it in the ground?"
"There's more to it than that," replied Garnet. "Not only were measurements, refinement processes, additives--reactants, catalyzing agents--all handled within the injectors, other factors such as depth, pressure, and heat were all imperative for creating new Gems."
Just as Garnet finished talking, Steven and the Gems entered another spacious valley in the canyon; the ravines opened up to a basin about a football field long in width.
The breezy and hot morning funneled into the basin, over the Crystal Gems, and into the ravines behind them. Several Kindergarten injectors were still clasped to the cliffs here, surrounded by ancient places from which awkward Gems were born.
Under the crystal head of the third furthest injector from the Crystal Gems, too, was Topaz. She was sitting slumped against it.
"Altogether," continued Garnet, "it was unlikely Topaz could have done much on her own in such a short time."
The Crystal Gems simply walked over to Topaz. Topaz didn't see them because she was facing the other way.
She was sitting in the sand, her legs open, in front of the broken head of the injector. Her forehead rested against it, in part of the opening she had made in it. The crystal head was also bent downward, and Topaz just sat and watched the liquid, called serum crystal, that was in it leak into a metal bucket, one drop at a time. It was like she was trying to milk a disobedient cow.
The Crystal Gems, weapons drawn, came within a school bus' length of Topaz before they stopped.
Garnet called out, "Topaz!"
Topaz jolted and banged the back of her head into the injector with a loud clang! She twisted her body around to face the Crystal Gems.
Her face was pulled tight like leather; Steven clenched his fist that had his shield.
Only when Topaz realized who she was looking at did she rub the back of her head. Amethyst chuckled at her.
Topaz turned herself back to her bucket. She laid her hands on the injector. "You know," she said, "I was once on a planet--dead planet--that was searing hot. It stung my body. Yet, it was tolerable. But, every so often, and without much warning, it would get devastated by an explosion of electromagnetic radiation. We were forced underground. And all the while, as I looked around at my sisters, I couldn't help but feel... disgusted. That's you. You are like that."
Garnet stepped forward. "You've been tampering with ancient Gem technology of your own accord. Given your nature, we've determined your motives could prove detrimental to Earth's inhabitants--"
"Humans tend to stay away from the desert, admiral!"
"We cannot allow you to continue." Garnet squared herself. "Whatever your intentions, they could harm the life here on Earth, not just the humans."
Topaz spat. "For someone with their own sense of justice, it seems pretty malicious to let me carry on for a month before deciding to stop me. Lazy, too, oh, guardians of Earth. But, what am I but a deserter? What right have I to judge?"
Garnet started walking toward Topaz. "We will take what serum you have collected, and you will cease further action."
Topaz twisted back around, laughing. She shot up from the sand when she saw Garnet walking toward her. "You act like we've never met. What a joke! You and I both know that's not going to happen."
"It doesn't have to be this way."
"Of course it does," said Topaz. "It always has, and it always will be this way."
Garnet, and the Crystal Gems behind her, stopped within ten feet of Topaz. "Hand over the serum."
"Never."
Pearl interjected, "You're outnumbered! You can't handle the three of us!"
Garnet held out her hand in front of Pearl, and said to Topaz, "We are not here to fight."
"Fooled me," said Topaz. "If that's the case, then I'll be on my way." She got her bucket, slapped the lid on it, clamped it shut, and started walking away.
Pearl whispered, "Garnet?!"
Garnet looked at her, then to Topaz walking away. "Stop!"
"No," said Topaz.
"We didn't give you permission to leave," exclaimed Pearl.
Topaz stopped. She said, over her shoulder, "Permission." Her bucket dangled from her fist. "You, a Pearl, commanding me?"
"You are on our planet! You abide as commanded by us!"
Topaz turned around. "You were created in a slough. You were created in mucus! And you believe you have the right to command, much less, think?" She looked at Garnet. "Did you never put a leash on this one?"
Pearl said, "I am my own Pearl, you peon!" She and Amethyst threw words at Topaz.
Garnet silenced everyone again by holding up her arms.
Topaz tittered. "Some leader you are," she said to Garnet.
"We are not a military," said Garnet. "We are a family."
Topaz cocked an eyebrow. "An deformed Amethyst who can't control her own emotions. A Pearl who thinks herself her own master. You, self-righteous because you are a fusion. And the Quartz," Topaz looked at Steven. He grimaced. "Pitiful.
"There is no strength in this imbalance. Your family is worthless."
Garnet approached Topaz until they were face to face. She held out her hand. "Hand it over. Or we will take it from you."
Lo and behold, Topaz took a step back, the bucket in her hand, and lowered herself into a fighting stance. "Take it from me," she said. Steven groaned.
Garnet dove at Topaz.
Topaz slashed the back of Garnet's gauntlet.
Topaz thrusted and slashed, but Garnet parried her.
Garnet grabbed Topaz's sword.
Topaz let go and retreated.
Garnet slung the sword away before Topaz could detonate it.
The sword exploded, throwing sand and rocks everywhere.
Steven shielded himself. When he looked back up, Amethyst and Pearl, too, had disappeared through the dust the explosion had caused.
Steven ran through the dust. On the other side, he saw Topaz and his family far away, traversing the cliffs, leaping from ledge to ledge.
Topaz evaded.
She leapt.
They leapt, coming from different directions at her, like grasshoppers.
A whip, a spear, a sword. All crashing, cutting.
Smashing into the cliffs.
Crumbling.
Amethyst and Pearl pursued Topaz. Back and forth, jumping, from cliff to cliff.
Topaz met Pearl in the air with great force.
They tumbled in the air.
Amethyst jumped into them. She separated Pearl from Topaz.
Amethyst, with Pearl in her arms, spun and slung her back at Topaz.
With the momentum of her tumbling body, Topaz parried Pearl's spear. She slammed the metal bucket into her, sending her down into the sand.
Topaz landed on the cliffside.
Amethyst jumped after her.
Topaz jumped up, leaving her sword.
Amethyst hit the rock where Topaz was.
Topaz's sword exploded.
As Topaz was airborne again, Garnet came soaring into her.
They crashed into the cliffs.
Rubble rained down into the canyon.
Steven felt the impact through the ground.
From the cloud of dust, Amethyst emerged with the metal container. She put it down on the ground and jumped back in.
Steven heard screaming.
When he finally made it to the fight, it was over. The dust cleared. Topaz was in the dirt, roped with two of Amethyst's whips down the length of her body. The Crystal Gems surrounded her.
Topaz was riled, but did not wriggle. Everyone had dust on them and it made the streaks of sweat on their foreheads prominent.
Topaz's eyes were shut. At first, Steven thought it was because of the sun, but then he thought he saw shame in her face.
"Topaz," said Garnet. "What do you plan to do with the serum crystal?"
Topaz didn't open her eyes.
Garnet addressed her again. "What are you planning to do?"
With still no response, Amethyst straddled Topaz and sat square on her chest. This made Topaz open her eyes.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" said Amethyst
"Get off of me!" Topaz arched her back as much as she could, being wrapped up like a mummy. Amethyst laughed at Topaz and pretended she was riding a bull.
Steven's mouth dropped. "Amethyst!" She stopped, looked at him, then to Garnet.
"Off," she commanded.
Amethyst stood, but spit in Topaz's face before she got off her.
Topaz's expression rotted like an apple.
"Why did you do that," exclaimed Steven. "That was nasty!"
All Amethyst said was, "I dunno, I felt like it."
"That's not an excuse!"
"I'll kill you," said Topaz. "I'll shatter you into so many pieces--"
"Hard to do that when you're tied up," Amethyst said.
"Enough! Everyone!" Garnet's command didn't shut up Topaz. She was still talking about how she'd kill Steven's family.
Garnet came over and straddled her, too, but didn't sit on her. She grabbed her face and forced Topaz to look at her. It shut her up.
Garnet said, derisively, "What are you planning to do?"
Topaz's cheeks were pinched. She garbled, "Let goh of mai fasshh..."
Garnet let Topaz go. She addressed her one more time. "Tell us."
"I don't know. What does that stuff even do? Can you tell me? I haven't a clue."
Garnet stared at Topaz. "Why?"
Topaz rolled her head to the side and looked at Steven--looked him right in the eye. "Humans are so inferior. And I deserve something great. This planet's a good start." She turned back to Garnet. "And for that, I need an army."
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
Steven grabbed his gut.
Garnet stared at Topaz. "Then where's the rest of it?"
Topaz said, "Got it all hidden away."
Steven looked around the canyon. That it took hours to walk its length did not bode well with him.
Garnet got off of Topaz and knelt down to her. Topaz retracted at the suddenness of it. She eyed Garnet. "We are the guardians of this planet," Garnet said. "If anything, or anyone, threatens this planet, we will be there to fight." She wiped Amethyst's spit from Topaz's cheek. "I know you're lying. And I know that the last thing you want is to go back to Homeworld. So, that means, at least for now, Earth is your home.
"We have allowed you to go as you please, and you are free to do what you want, so long as it doesn't threaten this planet or its inhabitants. Which is why we are here now. We cannot know you intentions, but we're not ones for taking chances."
"Then why did you bring her here?" spat Topaz. Steven thought at first she was talking about Amethyst, but then he remembered what happened last month. "I can't help but see what a game I am to you all."
Garnet took off her shades. "You're right," she said. "I did just tell a lie. That day I did take a chance. I let my self-righteousness get the better of me. It was wrong of me to interfere in your relationship. And I am truly sorry for that."
Garnet put her shades back on. She looked at Amethyst. "You're not a game to us." Amethyst looked away. "You are a Gem. Just like any of us--"
"Alright, alright, shut up," said Topaz. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "There isn't anymore. That's all I managed to get. I'm sure you expected as much, seeing as you took your time to come after me." She rolled her head to look at the bucket. "I know it's not enough. Even for one, not even close. I doubt I'd get enough even if I drained this whole Kindergarten. Even then, I wouldn't know what to do with it."
"Then, why keep at it?"
Topaz looked back at Garnet. "It was something to do."
After that, it was decided that Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl should head back home with the bucket of Gem serum crystal. Garnet would stay behind with Topaz until then. Topaz would also remain tied up.
Before he left for home, Steven sidled up to Topaz, and said, "We are here for you, always."
Topaz said nothing. She didn't even look at him.
Garnet nodded to Steven for him to go. She eased him.
As he walked away, Topaz said, "You gonna move me into the shade?" She offended Steven at first because she was so dry, but then he smiled because Topaz saying what she said meant that she was just like him in a way: conscious of her world--her home. It was a farfetched connection, but there was comfort in it for him.
Home again, Steven was hungry and tired.
...
That evening in Beach City, when Steven woke up, he found his home empty and quiet, save for a snoozing pink lion. He made something to eat and, afterward, sat on the porch, watching and listening to the ocean while the sun faded away. He replayed the last 24 hours in his head.
Steven had been guilty of holding contempt toward Topaz. He was shocked when Amethyst spat on her and rode her like a cowboy, but, really, Steven liked that Amethyst did that. Thinking about it now, why, in that moment, he shouted at Amethyst, Steven had to admit, he was afraid. He was afraid of more fighting, more aggression, more hurting one another; the last thing he wanted was for Topaz to seek a war with the Crystal Gems. If that turned out to be the case, Topaz would have to be bubbled again, and here would be no telling when she'd be let out.
But, she didn't get bubbled. Amethyst and Pearl had talked about that on the way home.
"If she's just gonna keep being a problem for us, why not bubble her? Get it over with?" fumed Amethyst.
Pearl had said, "While I sympathize, Garnet said nothing about it, so she must think there's a good reason. And we have to trust her judgment."
"A good reason. You just wait, she's gonna be a problem for us again, soon enough...."
It was in the look Topaz had when she was on the ground that stuck with Steven the most. He felt pity. And remorse for the contempt he held in his heart for her. Though Topaz had beaten, berated, and threatened his family--Steven wasn't blind to that--he was disappointed in himself for wishing harm on her.
Topaz wasn't a thing--a one-dimensional ball of aggression--she was a person, who hopes, wants, and loves. Steven remembered her and Peridot from over a year ago. Steven was disappointed in himself for forgetting that.
Garnet sees something in Topaz, too, something worth giving a chance. It's why Topaz isn't bubbled. Even if she has done bad things.
Steven wished no more bad things from Topaz or for her.
The screen door creaking open tore Steven from his reverie.
"You're back."
"And you're awake," said Garnet.
"That warp-lag hit me hard. Guess I'm a night owl now."
"Hm."
The waves rolled onto the beach.
"How is she?" said Steven.
"She's fine," said Garnet. "She'll be fine. She needs more time to herself."
"How long?"
"A long time. She was right. A lot has been taken from her. She needs time to adjust. To figure things out."
"Figure what out?" Steven hoped that wasn't asking too much.
Garnet breathed. "I don't quite know. What she'll do with herself. How she'll cope with everything that's happened. How she can begin to accept the things she can't change.... Maybe. Hopefully."
Steven looked out at the ocean, watched it glint and roll. "What she said earlier," he began, "about that whole thing just being something to do. I don't really get that. Like, why go through all that trouble if it was for nothing?"
"Sometimes," Garnet said, "a person will look to something, anything, as a distraction."
"A distraction? From what?"
"Their thoughts. Their feelings. Their emotions toward certain people, or toward themselves. Things like that that make them unhappy or feel hurt. They preoccupy themselves to distract themselves."
Now, suddenly, it made sense to Steven. He recalled times when he'd felt sad or bothered because someone said or did something that didn't sit well with him. To take the focus away from those bad feelings, he'd done things, like, play video games, bake a cake, mess with Lion, or go see a friend.
But, Topaz didn't have any video games, or cakes, or Lions. She didn't have any friends (none that Steven knew of, anyway). No one to go to for fun, or help, or companionship. Steven could only imagine how bored and lonely Topaz might be. But, he could not imagine the kind of bad feelings that could instigate a month's worth of distraction (much less, the kind of pain that would make one want to die).
Steven hummed to himself.
"Careful not to shoulder everyone's problems as your own," said Garnet. "Making their problems yours doesn't help anyone. You shouldn't forget your own well-being." Garnet did not get closer to Steven, but turned to make her way back inside. "Topaz will be fine."
The screen door slapped shut behind her.
Steven eventually went inside to his quiet and dark house. He pushed Lion off his bed, laid down, and tried to right his circadian rhythm. After trying for nearly an hour, he decided to switch on his gaming system--as a distraction.
...
"When we got back home, I remember Amethyst looking inside. Bewildered. She opened it and stared at it some and she was about to touch it when Pearl stopped her. She was like, 'Don't! Don't! Don't touch it! Put the lid back on!'
"And Amethyst was like, 'This slop made me? Made us?'
"And Pearl said yeah, but... well, ya know, didn't forget to mention that Pearls are made a little differently, but she said yeah. That stuff made Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, nearly all Gems. At least, Gems were made from that stuff thousands of years ago. She didn't know if that'd changed since.
"But, Pearl was lookin' at it and said that slop was a good word to describe it, because it was so old. I looked at it, and it was... soupy. It was dark and looked kinda chunky. It was like a big can of Ravioli-o's, only made out of metal, and way past its expiration date."
Connie had been listening intently to Steven describe what had happened the other day over the phone. Here, she offered input: "So, kind of like liquid mercury?"
"I dunno what that looks like, so, maybe?"
"What did you think about it?"
"I dunno," said Steven. "I didn't know what to think about it. I didn't come from that stuff. But, I guess my mom did. That everyone did. It's weird to think about."
"About as weird as thinking about how humans are made, huh?" Connie chuckled nervously.
"Yeah... heheh."
"So... what happened next?"
"Nothin' much," said Steven. "They took the soup into the Temple. I didn't see them after that, I was really tired. I went to sleep. When I woke up, it was starting to get dark again." Connie giggled and it made Steven smile. "I saw Garnet a little after I woke up. Remember when I said I didn't get why Topaz was doing what she was doing--"
"Yeah."
"--and it didn't make sense that she was doing it without a goal--?"
"Yeah."
"Well, anyway, like I said, I asked Garnet about it, and she told me that sometimes people will do something--and it can be anything--to distract themselves from any bad feelings or thoughts that they may not be able to stop really feeling or thinking about without that distraction."
"Really?" said Connie.
"And it made sense to me, at least a little, cuz sometimes I want to take my mind off something, so I play a video game or, ya know, like that, or find someone to hang out with."
"Yeah."
"Does it make sense to you?"
Connie thought. "Kinda. I've felt that way before. So, I try to read a book. Or play the violin. I'm normally pretty busy anyway so there's plenty else to focus on. My mom and dad are always busy, too. I don't know about what Topaz was doing, though."
"Exactly," said Steven. "I can't imagine the kind of constant-ness--I know that's not a real word, but I'm gonna use it--"
"Persistence?"
"Thank you. Persistence from her bad feelings, how bad they are, to make her need such a big distraction."
"Well, I meant that I don't know whether it's that or that she was actually up to something," said Connie.
"After thinking about it," said Steven, "it seemed like it to me, that it was something to take her mind off things. Because a lot has been taken from her. And Garnet seems to think that way, too, so--"
"Ok. I believe you."
"Besides, we have the Gem soup, so it's not like she could do anything with it. It's not even enough to make one Gem, they say. And it's old, so who knows if it'd even work."
"That's true," said Connie. "It'd be cool, though, to make another Gem, don't you think?"
"Oh, definitely! I just wonder what it would be. Like, another Ruby, or an Amethyst, or--"
"Another Peridot!"
"YEESH!" They both giggled. It was the most Steven had laughed in the past few days. "Well, anyway, that's what's been goin' on and what's been on my mind."
"You lead an interesting life, Mr. Universe."
"Garnet told me not to worry so much, to not take on other peoples' problems."
"You do that a lot."
"Yeah," he laughed. "Yeah.... You like when I used the word bewildered? Impressive, right?"
Connie gushed, "Oh, very! I must be rubbin' off on ya!"
"Makin' me smarter all the times," said Steven. "Alright, I'm almost to the barn. I'll see you soon."
"Ok. See you this Saturday. Call me, yeah?"
"Try n' stop meh!"
Strolling up to the barn as he ended the call, Steven saw Lapis lounging in a lawn chair out front. She was flipping through an Aristocrat magazine from March of 2003 (in big, bold lettering, "75 SEX SECRETS" was slapped onto its cover, overshadowing the sensually dressed woman with wind-blown hair and dripping cleavage on the cover).
Averting his eyes, Steven noticed Lapis looked like she was covered up in blanket, though the day was stifling. He catcalled her. Lapis put down her sex-mag and got up on bowed legs. She held her hands just out from her hips, twitching her fingers. She had an orange poncho draped from her shoulders.
When Steven approached her, she made a cowboy hat out of water that hid much of her face. Steven had a big, dumb grin on his face. "What's up, hombre?"
"Howdy," she spat. "Punk."
Feeling clever, Steven said, "Is that hat ten gallons?"
"What's a gallon?"
Steven laughed like a ninny and hugged Lapis. He shimmied when he hugged her because he missed her so much (even though it'd only been a few days)!
They didn't have anything they planned to do. Steven just wanted to visit. So, they roosted themselves up on the barn's hay loft and lounged around like a couple of miscreants, chatting.
"Whacha been up to?" Steven asked.
"Oh, you know. Same old thing."
"Takin' it easy?"
"Livin' breezy." Lapis looked away, to the other side of the barn, at all the stuff Steven's family had hoarded for so many years. "My plants are growing fine. But, this next harvest will have to be small. Most of what we harvested already takes a couple months to grow."
Steven looked over at the stuff, too. "That's ok," he said. "You take really good care of them. I'm always impressed." What always surprised Steven was how comfortable Lapis' lips were with never parting, how shallow and quiet her breaths were should she take them, and how reclusive her eyes seemed--in the sense that they weren't really looking at anything--hooded under her bangs, her brow, and her eyelids. To Steven, she looked expressionless when she was like this, yet he felt some invisible burden weigh down her face, her whole body, even. And thinking about how she sits, like she's sitting now, how she sinks, it just made Lapis' color scheme ironic.
All of that time, the months Lapis spent fused with Jasper must have taken a lot of life out of her. And, because of that, for some reason, Steven felt he was lucky to have her around.
"Where's Peridot?" said Steven.
From her reverie, Lapis turned her head to almost face Steven. She did not look at him; the floor had her hypnotized. "In the silo," she said.
"The silo? This one?" He jabbed his thumb at the silo that stuck out of the wall of the barn like a tumor (Lapis used it as a dispenser for water).
Lapis shook her head. "There's another one. She's claimed it as her personal space."
Steven hummed.
"Yeah, she's been acting like this recently. She's stopped organizing my stuff, talking to herself out loud, and leaves me alone for extended periods of time. Lately, it's been an all-day kind of thing." Lapis shrugged and curled her lips into a small smile. "You know: more agreeable."
Steven and Lapis talked about other things, such as movies, gardening, and human religious concepts of Heaven and Hell and divine punishment--the usual. All he could think to do was talk to Lapis when he saw her, and try to make her smile and laugh. (It made him feel inadequate though, because it didn't seem like it was enough.)
Steven wasn't so invested in the conversation because he kept thinking about Peridot. After spending a good 30 minutes with Lapis, he left the hay loft and moseyed on over toward the silo.
He told Lapis the truth, that he wanted to go see Peridot. Lapis said, "Okay."
With his hands in his pockets, halfway across the grassy fields between the barn and the second silo he never knew existed, Steven said to himself, "I'm comin' for ya, Lemon-lime."
...
Steven knocked on the silo's new front door, which was from a vintage, blue pickup truck--looted from the barn's entablature. The door was flat and squarish, but, seeing as it was planted into the side of a fat cylinder, it didn't fit quite right. It was installed deeper into the wall of the silo so either side of the door would connect with the silo's support beams. The door still sat awkwardly, with its polygonal frame and its top and bottom not lining up with the curvature of the silo. Also, the door's faded blue clashed with the silo's faded red, and Steven could not decide whether this was aesthetically pleasing. The window was up.
Next to the silo, Steven found the wagon that he and Lapis used for harvesting crops. He had placed the blame on Pearl because he thought she didn't like it sitting under the porch; for days, Steven forgot to ask Pearl about it, but, here it was.
After giving the door a few good ole rap-tap-taps, he called, "Peridoooot! You in theeeeerre?!" He put his face to the window. He was still unable to see much, even when he cupped his hands.
After several more minutes of knocking and fogging up the window, the ghost of Peridot's sour apple face appeared from the void.
Putrid. That's the word Connie used once to describe, much to Steven's offense, Fish-Stew Pizza, and its purest definition had slithered into Peridot's face as she leered at Steven.
She took her time to do so, but Peridot unplugged the lock on the truck door. Steven mashed the button under the door's handle with his thumb and entered the silo.
Peridot was already ascending some wooden stairs made from old 2x4s when Steven shut the truck door behind him--the bang echoed up through the metal silo. In what little light there was, old machine parts slept on the floor--greasy engines and boxy computers--and tubes and wires hung from the beams of the second floor. The second floor, also rigged from squeaking wood, was supported by moldy fence posts that still had bits of barbed wire nailed to them. It only extended halfway across the silo.
Peridot strode upstairs, her small feet drumming the wood. She cast a shadow over Steven from the light up there.
Steven made his way upstairs like he was walking on glass; the wood cried under his weight. Six times he escaped death; he made it to top. Peridot was at her working desk.
"Some place you got here," said Steven. His voice carried up the silo.
"The echo is insufferable...."
Peridot's words sank into Steven's skin and he looked down at the truck door. "Sorry for knocking so much," he said. He inched up to her. "What are you working on?"
"A tool to measure the acidity level in a patch of soil."
"Oh, is that for Lapis?"
Peridot waved her hand as if she were shooing away a bad smell. "Lazuli can have her plants. This is for me."
"What will you do with it?"
She shook her head impatiently. "I needed something to do."
Peridot took her soldering iron in one hand and the wire for it in the other. She used them to solder some copper wire to a circuit board.
"You know," began Steven, "there was this one time when a friend of mine insulted my mom. It made me really angry, and sad. And even though I was pretty quick to forgive him, I still carried the pain from it with me for a while after that. And even though I hate to admit it, it was tough to even look at him for some time."
Peridot reached for her wire cutters. She snipped the copper wire she attached to the circuit board.
"Well, anyway, during that time, I'd be doing things to take my mind off it, like playing video games or board games, or being with other people--something. Because... well, I didn't like to think about it--that my friend, someone I'd known for years, had insulted my mom."
Peridot stripped the other end of the copper wire and pinched an adaptor to it.
"I was just... ya know... trying to keep myself from thinking about it..."
She hooked the adaptor to a clamp that was a part of some glass tubing and screwed it down.
"...my friend... insulting my mom..."
She stripped the end of more copper wire.
"...and the emotions that came with it..."
Peridot laid the exposed wire onto the circuit board.
"...and the pain--"
Peridot slammed her fist on her desk. "Steven! You're distracting me!"
"That's what I'm getting at," exclaimed Steven, throwing up his hands. He lowered his voice once he caught the raff of his echo. "You've been acting different lately. I'm just trying to figure out why--I mean--" He was about to directly ask Peridot about Topaz, but he couldn't. "--i-is something the matter? I'm always here for you. We are. I mean, and I know you don't like to talk about stuff, but you don't have to keep it all to yourself, all alone, a-and I just..."
"Steven." There was that putrid face again. Steven's toes clenched. The silo was a sauna; he could feel the sweat seeping into his shirt from his armpits.
"Actually," said Peridot, "I had been wanting to speak with you about a matter that is altogether displeasant for me to dwell on, and to continue dwelling on." She rose from her seat and crossed her arms. "This is the deal: I will tell you my thoughts and reservations about what has been plaguing me recently, and you will listen and give me your active, considerate and thoughtful response as you're so keen on doing. You will act as my third party, to aid me in settling my cogitations. You will receive nothing in return, nor any reward other than offering your Peridot counsel. And as needless as I feel it is to say, I'll say it..." Peridot sharpened her eyes to needle points. "None of this goes beyond you or me. Should I hear any of this reached anyone, especially those Crystal Clods, I'll find out exactly what it is that makes your existence possible, even if I have to break your composition down one molecule at a time...."
A bead of sweat made it to his chin before Steven realized Peridot was waiting for his response. He promptly nodded.
"Good," she said. Peridot switched off her soldering iron and took a seat in her Prisher-Fice chair. When she didn't see Steven in the other seat across from her, she glared at him. She wiggled her hand at it. "Sit."
Steven's chair was an upside-down bucket.
Peridot began, "So, how do we do this? Should we exchange pleasantries beforehand, to lull me into a state of vulnerability? Do we meditate first, potentially discover the roots of my discontent through spiritual clarity? Or, do you have a pocket watch to hypnotize me with? Or--"
"How about," said Steven, "you just start with telling me what's on your mind."
Peridot stared, startled, it seemed, with the simplicity of Steven's suggestion. "Right," she said. "Straightforward. Of course. I mean, why shouldn't it be as straightforward as simply TELLING you what I've been thinking about?" She could've performed Romeo and Juliet with how dramatic her hands and her head were. "Because how will we ever reach the SOURCE of the issue if I don't give you the full and unabridged information about what I've EXPERIENCED and my emotional and cognitive REACTIONS to those experiences?"
"Yeah...." said Steven.
"It's BOGGLING, really, to imagine that one should seek out a counselor, not give them full disclosure, and expect an educated and well-thought response from them."
"Uh-huh...."
"And if the counselor should ever have the GALL to give their respondent some half-witted advice, that they believe to be an all-inclusive ANSWER, as if it were some hot meal ticket, some 'How to Life' PAMPHLET, then they should be STONED to death."
"Uhh... Peridot?..."
"Uncivility for an uncivilized, unempathetic response. I mean, how DARE they?"
"Peridot!"
"YES?!... Steven?" Peridot didn't blink.
"Are you nervous?" said Steven.
Peridot crossed her arms. "I may be having some... difficulty getting into the subject matter." She uncrossed her arms to flail more. "I mean, why should I have difficulty? It's not like I've NEVER confided to anyone of any emotional TURMOIL." She crossed her arms again, tighter.
"Ok," Steven assured, "ok. No rush. Whenever you're ready. It'll be easier when you start."
Steven clasped his hands together in his lap.
Peridot crossed her legs. She tapped her foot that was in the air. She looked to the side.
Steven rubbed his thumbs together.
Peridot said, "I could also add the function of analyzing the soil content to my acidity tester. That way it can be used for general soil examination." Steven was nodding, and Peridot glanced at him. If her eyes had rolled any farther into her brow they would have seen her brain (or whatever Gems had in there). She sighed. "It was last month...."
Steven's hands were sweaty so he wiped them on his pants. Then he reassured Peridot he was listening. "Yeah?"
"It was last month...."
"Mhm."
"It was last month... when I saw her, again." Peridot quit shaking her leg.
Steven laced his fingers again. "Mm."
Peridot stared at the floor. Steven waited, seeing her think. "She was just there," she said. "Just right there. And... I was scared. I was really scared. Maybe it was because the fusion was there, I don't know--it was despicable of her to do that, by the way--but... I was scared when I saw her again.
"There was dread. And fear. But... not so much anger as I expected. I thought I'd say something slick, but all that came out was, what are you doing? It was stupid. And all that happened was we ended up fighting again....
"And she..." Peridot inhaled sharply and it cut Steven. "...she grabbed me and..." Peridot was crying now. "Sh-she had never said that to me before." She spilled herself onto her arms and her hands as she wiped her face.
Peridot grumbled. "And that whole thing, that mess, just made me... realize how much I missed her. I miss her, Steven. I miss her so much!"
Steven couldn't move, and he let Peridot cry. Her whimpers filled the silo. Steven's toes clenched and knuckles whitened and he wanted to puke. He came out of his trance when sweat dripped onto his arm. He wiped his face.
"Peridot...."
"Ok," she said, holding up a hand, "so, no, I haven't forgotten everything that's happened since being here. Her jumping off that cliff, the impasse with the Crystal Gems, her deserting her Homeworld--it's only taken me until recently to understand why she did that.
"She's changed in some ways. But, so have I. Honestly, your Crystal Gems and I still aren't exactly comfortable with each other. Not to mention Lazuli. She just sits there all day, every day. She only ever gets up to water her little plants, and when you come by. That's it. That's all she does. Much less can I hold down a conversation with her, unless it's about Camp Pining Hearts--the only thing we have in common.
"And when I think back to last month--all this time I've been thinking--and I just think that that dread I felt was me dreading that she would leave again, and the fear was wanting her to not go away again. And that's why I ran towards her. I can't think of any other reason I would."
Peridot dropped her hands in her lap. "Now... I don't know what to do because she's been so awful to me, and we've been at each other's throats for so long!
"It wasn't always like this. Stars, we used to enjoy each other. We laughed." Peridot leaned in with a growl, "And do you have any idea how HOT I felt compared to the other Peridots? I felt so superior to them because I had my Topaz. None of them knew about us, of course, we had to keep it a secret. Against protocol--forbidden..." A wry smile tugged on her face.
"But, it got to a point where we didn't laugh anymore. I resented the sound of her voice, her face, and her just being in the same room as me. I hated how content she was with not striving for more, and she hated how discontent I was with that. How am I enough for her?
"I mean, Topaz tried. She tried to have me back. She got down on her knees and begged me to have her back. And I pushed her away. Because it didn't. Make. Sense. There was no way that my--that Topaz... would be grovelling.
"I didn't know what to think about it for so long. I thought it a trick. Because, ever since coming here, she'd been acting like a little lost human child who couldn't tell its sire from its dam. I reasoned that she wanted me back because, as she had deserted Homeworld, I was all she knew. But, by that point, so much had changed; she was a stranger to me. I hated her. Especially after the things she did."
Peridot gasped again, but remained composed. "It's been a year since then. I don't know what she's been doing all this time, but, knowing that she's still around, I can't stop thinking about it, that maybe she's changed for the better.
"I've cut ties with my Diamond and I feel liberated in some ways. Maybe that's what Topaz needed.
"But, will I just sit around and never know? In regret for making her leave?" Peridot gazed at Steven. "What should I do?"
Steven was gaping. Peridot rubbed her nose and sniffled.
Steven said, "Uh...." He swallowed. His mouth was dry.
Peridot waited, kicking her foot again.
Steven unlaced his fingers and let the feeling flow back into them. He adjusted his bottom.
Peridot wiped her face. She looked down and away from him.
Steven's heart fell down to his Gem. "I think," he said, "that, um, you shouldn't... be with someone that hurts you."
Peridot grimaced. "Haven't you been listening to anything I've been saying? It wasn't always like that. And Topaz has changed. Maybe for the better. I want to know what she's done with her free will. I want to... be there."
"What if things haven't changed for the better?"
"We can't know for sure unless we find out," said Peridot.
"I just don't want you getting hurt anymore," said Steven.
"It wasn't always like that! I'll admit, Topaz and I have been through a lot of struggles--we've blatantly hated each other. But, we've also recklessly loved one another. This time away from each other, and without social status in the way, maybe it's what we needed. I want to try again."
"Ok. I get you.... But... hate. You've talked a lot about hate. Hating each other. I feel that goes beyond just struggling.... Love and hate don't mix."
"Of course they don't. When I think about the hatred, it came in moments, when Topaz and I fought, for example. Then, after some time, it overtook the feelings we had for each other. Just like the hate overtook the love, I feel the same can happen, but in reverse. I just want to get past it."
Steven sighed. "Peridot. This is just what I've noticed. Most times I've seen you and Topaz together, you two fight. There was only one time I saw different--"
"Exactly," said Peridot. "The love can come back."
"But, it didn't last. I don't want to see you hurt anymore. When I see you here with us, and how good you're doing, it makes me smile. Fighting doesn't.... You seem to be doing well here."
"Tch. Maybe to you. Frankly, I've yet to acclimate to this planet. It's nothing to what I'm accustomed to. And this junk doesn't really stimulate me. Human advancement is so primitive. Imagine trying to build what you call a computer, but all you have are sticks and mud." Peridot shifted in her chair. "I want more than this."
Steven frowned. "Ok. I hear you. You want to be with Topaz again. Because you miss her. You still care about her. And whatever it was you two had, it pulls you back to her and you want it back."
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
"Yes."
"But, I want you to know, what I need you to know, is that... while I saw both of you caring about each other in the past... I didn't see that so much in Topaz last time we saw her. I'm not sure Topaz feels the same way you do. Especially with the way she treated you last time." Peridot shut her eyes. "I don't know. I'm not an expert in relationships. Maybe you two should try to just be friends? Like you and Lapis."
Peridot scowled. "Friends." She shook her head. "We had something. We had it."
"Peridot...."
"All that time. Was all that time for nothing?"
"No--!"
"Did I waste my time on one person for nothing?"
"It wasn't for nothing," said Steven.
"Then what?!"
"I don't know."
"If not nothing, then what was it?!"
"I don't know!" Steven clenched his knees. "I don't know. But, I know it wasn't for nothing."
"You're darn right it wasn't for nothing," exclaimed Peridot. "There's got to be more to it than just hormones."
Peridot huffed.
Steven's brow furrowed.
They both just sat there on their junk.
Steven grabbed his Gem. "Whatever you had with Topaz, it sounds beautiful. But, it's not that beautiful thing anymore. From what you've told me, it seems there came a point where you wanted to hurt each other.
"Last month, I couldn't tell if either of you were happy to see one another. What I saw, I realize, it was like both of you were scared to death of each other. I'm only now wondering..." He paused. "Well... I'm wondering if you feeling scared that day had anything to do with how Topaz has treated you, afraid that it might happen again."
Peridot replied, "Then why would I run to her?"
"I don't know...."
"I was only nervous because I was caught off guard and I didn't know what to say. And I didn't want her to run off again, or--"
"Ok, ok," said Steven, raising his hands, "I understand. It was just a thought."
More dust collecting on the table, and more sweat trickling down Steven's face. Peridot was holding her elbows.
Steven looked down at the old floor boards that had been warped from years of weather. The nails that bound them together were bent and there were divots around them that looked like the toothy face of a hammer. Some of them had chipped red paint on them.
"Hate can be overcome," admitted Steven. "Years ago, especially after I was born, Pearl hated my dad. And before that, they hated each other. All because they both loved my mom. After I was born and mom was gone, Pearl blamed my dad as the reason the Rose Quartz she knew no longer existed. And that lasted a long time. It was only until recently that Pearl only ever stomached my dad because of me. It was also one of the reasons why dad never lived with us. Dad was so mad about that, too."
Steven blinked. "After all these years, though, after they got past all that anger, they finally talked it out and now they've resolved everything and even like each other now. I'm pretty sure...."
Peridot looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Anyway," said Steven, "it took Pearl and my dad a long time to stop hating each other. Years. I don't think they could've just talked it out at any time." Steven breathed. "I don't know what that means for you and Topaz. This is the closest example I know. If last month was any clue, though, maybe you and Topaz need more time to get past things that have happened between you? Like, you and Lapis."
Peridot got up from her baby chair and moved it back to her desk then sat in it again. She turned her soldering iron back on and picked up her work-in-progress.
Steven watched her. Unable to leave, he got up, too, and went to Peridot. "I'm not trying to tell you what to d--"
"It's fine," said Peridot. "Fine."
Unable to stay, Steven turned to inch his way down the stairs. At the truck door, he said, "I'm here for you, ok? We all are."
Peridot didn't say anything.
After Steven had said goodbye to Lapis--who had asked him to leave his movies--he called Connie again on the way home.
"I think you said the right things," she said. "Peridot needed a reality check. But, I think that she and Topaz can have what they had again. I mean, why not? If they want it bad enough."
Steven wasn't going to tell the Gems about the talk he had with Peridot. Maybe it was selfish of him to do so, but he made a promise. And maybe that was selfish of him, to keep a promise to someone who obviously needs more help than he can give. Yet, Steven had told Connie everything, so maybe that was selfish, too. At the least, Steven had conceded not to tell the Gems, and, for him, that was fulfillment enough to Peridot's deal. At least for now.
Home, Steven made himself a sandwich and got a bag of chips, then crashed on his bed to watch TV. He tried to eat.
...
Saturday was finally here, but for Steven it was Connie-day. He had gotten up bright and early, partly because he was restless, and partly to clean up the house before she came over. Granted, most cleaning had been done yesterday, but, with Pearl, of course the floors were to be swept and mopped again, and the couch cushions vacuumed and freshened again, and the kitchen anti-bacterial-wiped down again. And, of course, Steven needed to make his bed.
Steven didn't mind. He wanted to make the house spick and span for Connie. Maybe he wouldn't have mopped or vacuumed or disinfected twice, but he would have pulled out all the stops. Steven knew Connie didn't care, but it was from a sense of pride that he did it.
It'd been about two weeks since Connie was in Beach City and she wanted to see everyone, and they her.
Connie was dropped off at the car wash at 11:30. Steven was there to embrace her. He and Connie walked to his house along the beach to find the Gems waiting on them. Garnet was in the kitchen mixing the freshly-made beans and rice, Pearl was setting the plates (only four) around the coffee table, and Amethyst was doing nothing on the couch.
Amethyst was the first to greet Connie, hugging her. "Giiiirrrrl! It's been a hot minute! How you been?! Yo hair lookin' mo' fine than the summa' time!" Connie's hair was bunched in a hair tie, hanging down in curls.
"Yes," chimed Pearl, "your yellow dress goes amiably with you dark skin and hair." She clasped her hands together. "Altogether, you look very lovely."
"Thank you," said Connie, smiling shyly. "My mom helped me with my hair before she left for the hospital."
Garnet momentarily stopped seasoning the string beans to gaze at Connie through her shades. She blew her a kiss.
When Pearl beckoned Connie to have a seat, asking her about her schooling, Amethyst nudged Steven. She gave him a playful smile, looked at Connie, then back at him. Steven flushed. He couldn't tell if Amethyst winked or just blinked because of the way she wore her hair.
They sat down to a Mexican-inspired meal, including vegetarian burritos, extra lime rice along with spiced green beans. Steven wished Garnet cooked more often. Or ever, for that matter.
"Lunch was very good. Thank you, ma'am. And thank you all for having me."
"You're always welcome, Connie."
Afterward, Steven and Connie went to the lighthouse for a jam session.
"Water lily,
You're so pretty
In the river,
You're the giver,
I'm in love with you, can't you see?"
"Piccadilly,
Not in Philly,
'Road to Reading,'
Whig-gy setting,
I learned that in history!"
"Water lily,
Piccadilly,
Roads to rivers,
Whigs and givers,
The way'll lead back to you and me!"
They played till they got bored. They went to visit Lapis and Peridot.
On their way to the barn, Steven and Connie kicked rocks, found sticks for swords, and balanced on low fences. They talked about the people around Beach City, what's been going on at Connie's school, and movies--the new movies they should go see together. Steven also mentioned Lapis' sudden affinity for Westerns. He said they should have brought water guns to play with Lapis--hunt down that outlaw!--but that he would settle for her No Name getup. Connie said it was just as well, as her parents might not like her getting wet.
"Low-Down" Lapis Lazuli was not a cowboy today. As usual, the true blue Lapis was found lounging in her beach chair watching the world go by. She was startled when she saw children striding up to her, more so by Connie.
"Steven! What are you doing here?"
"Aw," hooted Steven, "we were just thinkin' 'bout chya!"
Lapis investigated Connie. "Carol, was it?"
"Connie, miss Lazuli."
"Right. Sorry...."
Steven sat on the end of Lapis' chair. "You remember Connie, doncha? She was with us when you took the Earth's oceans and tried to drown us."
"Was she?"
"Yeah. We almost died!"
"Well," said Lapis, "you shouldn't have breathed it in."
Steven chuckled, got up and headed into the barn. He looked around, but, dissatisfied, came back outside.
"I really like your azaleas," said Connie, crouching in front Lapis' flower pots. "They look so vibrant and healthy."
"Thanks."
Steven added, "Lapis can grow anything! She's really good with plants and vegetables and stuff!" Then, starry-eyed, he said, "Maybe next harvest, Connie can join us! It'd be fun!"
Connie jumped up, "Only if it's ok with miss Lazuli."
Lapis eyed Connie up and down. "Just Lapis. And, I guess it's ok."
Four thumbs went sky-high. None of them were blue.
"Oh, Lapis," said Steven, "do you, uh, know if Peridot's in the silo?"
Languidly, she shook her head. "I haven't seen her in, like... a week?"
"But, I was just here a few days ago."
"...Is that a trick question?"
"N-no, I... never mind." Steven tittered.
Steven and Connie went down to Peridot's silo, rappin-and-a-tappin' on her chamber door. They called her name to the heavens, and listened so intently they swore they could hear the twitching nose of a mouse. It was then that Connie noticed the silo's front door was unlocked; the plug lock for the door was sticking out like a golf tee.
Inside was hollow and quiet. No electricity buzzing, no welders sparking, and no Key Lime pies cursing. There was just the junk that Peridot had put there.
Leaving the silo, Steven and Connie speculated where Peridot had gone. There was the chance that they could've passed her on their way to the barn, with Peridot going to the beach house. (It happened only once before, when Peridot had "respectfully requested" usage of Steven's microwave. When Steven got home and said ok, she chucked it into a little red wagon with some other of his things with her metal powers and he never saw it again.)
Connie suggested she might be shoplifting the local electronics store, and all Steven could imagine was Peridot fussing with the manager on how terrible the customer service was for not letting her simply take what she wanted.
Coincidentally, E4 (Entertaining Electronics Expo and Etc.) was happening on the west coast, and maybe Peridot needed a good laugh.
Steven and Connie asked if Lapis knew of any other of Peridot's hidey-holes, but she didn't.
Peridot was the apotheosis of "creature of habit." There was no way of saying when her day began because she didn't sleep, but she kept herself to a strict schedule round the clock. 5 am, watch the sunrise while surfing the web. 7 am, keep surfing the web. 10 am, compile new information. 11 am, stare into the pasture, undisturbed (high priority). 12 pm, study nature (whether it be plant, animal, or human; it was acceptable to do this with others, i.e., with Steven, et al). 3 pm, watch TV shows with Lapis (save for the past week, Peridot would not do so without her, even if they hated each other). 5 pm was her free period. 5:01 pm, record her thoughts. 6:01 pm, work. Steven could never stay up late enough to figure out what Peridot did after that. At 5 am sharp, Peridot would do it all over again. Only the apocalypse would cause Peridot to deviate from this schedule. Or, maybe E4. Maybe.
It was getting on into the afternoon, so Steven and Connie said goodbye to Lapis--who hadn't moved from her chair at all--and headed back to the beach house.
They found Pearl rewashing the dishes. She hummed a melodic greeting to them. It made them smile.
They asked Pearl if she had seen Peridot at all.
"I haven't seen her since we played baseball against those horrendous Rubies. Are you sure she wasn't watching that show she obsesses over by herself somewhere?"
"We checked everywhere, ma'am."
"Well, maybe she... built a new spaceship from that old airplane and flew back to Homeworld." Pearl chuckled to herself. Then she flapped her free hand, and with a smirk, said, "O-oh! No! Maybe her consciousness, as almighty as it is, finally reached a point of enlightenment where she simply became one with the universe and vanished into a being of supreme evolution without form!" She doubled over at that, cackling and slamming her fist on the counter. Steven didn't really understand her joke, but he thought Pearl was hilarious.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Pearl wished Steven and Connie safe travels and for Connie to visit again soon. Connie took up her violin and she and Steven were on their way to the car wash.
On the way there, Steven, since this moment was likely their last to be alone together for the evening, and since he was reminded of how special and unique Connie was to him and made him feel, asked Connie, "Do you ever think about the future?"
"Sometimes," she replied. "Why? What's on your mind?"
"U-uh..."
Connie smirked. "'Uh?'"
"Well... you know... sometimes I think about everyone in Beach City and, thinking about my dad, how he's lost contact with a lot of people he knew, and I wonder where they might go, in the future, I mean, and if I'll ever see or hear from them again." Steven breathed. (At least he told a truth.)
"Wow, yeah. I guess that is something that everyone goes through."
Steven added, "And other times I'll also wonder if my actions that caused Homeworld Gems to come to Earth again will ruin the lives of anyone here."
"Oh. That's hefty," said Connie. "I've actually had that same thought when thinking about you. Must be scary."
Steven chuckled it away.
"Whenever I think about the future, it's usually: what job will I have? What school will I go to? Will all this stuff that I'm learning now be of any use to me, take me anywhere, do anything for me? But, I guess learning a lot is kind of the point when you don't know what you wanna do when you grow up."
(Steven's never thought about any of that.)
Connie continued, "But, I've found a real appreciation for magical destiny stuff. It's exciting! And whatever happens, I hope I can keep that a part of my life. As long as... I mean, I won't be a burden." She flushed.
Steven intimated, "We'll always be here for you."
When Connie and Steven arrived at the car wash, Greg was waiting for them with ice-cold juice boxes. Steven didn't realize how thirsty he was! And that made him feel bad because he didn't think to get Connie anything.
He'd remember for next time.
Everyone then hopped into Greg's van--Steven giving Connie the front seat--and headed for the highway.
"Oh, dad!"
"Yeah, Schtewball?"
"You haven't seen Peridot recently, have you?"
Greg scratched his head. "Can't say I have. Last I saw her was when we cleared out the barn for her to live there. Why?"
"We couldn't find her anywhere today." Steven counted on his fingers. "She wasn't at the barn, her silo, the light house, the Temple, and now, I guess, she's not even in town. It's really weird for her."
As his dad thought, Connie motioned him to come closer. Her eyes were wide.
Steven craned his neck from his spot between the two front seats, and she whispered into his ear, "What if Peridot went back to Topaz?"
Steven touched his lips, then ended up cupping his face in both hands. "Oh gosh.... Oh gosh!... OH GOSH! I didn't even think of that! Dad!"
Greg exclaimed, "What?! What didn't you think about?!"
He grabbed his dad's arm. "It's Peridot! We have to turn around! She's in trouble!"
"What do you mean, she's in trouble?! What happened to her?!"
"I think she might be with Topaz!"
"You mean at that canyon?"
"Steven," panted Connie, "I didn't mean to make you worry like this!"
"She could get hurt," said Steven, "and none of us are there to help her!"
"Alright," Greg stressed, "let's just calm down. You're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days." He breathed. "Now, what's this about Peridot and Topaz?"
Steven replied, carefully, "They used to know each other back on Homeworld. And now, I think Peridot went to find her."
"Why would she do that now?"
"Be-because she misses her." Steven cast his eyes down. "But, they always fight when they're together, and... I'm just worried about her! We gotta go back!"
"You mean physically fight?" said Greg. "Are you sure Peridot's there with her?"
"Maybe? I dunno! But we have to go make sure! To save her!"
Steven watched his dad's face wrinkle up. "Ok, ok," he said. "So, we can't find Peridot, but we don't know for sure if she's with Topaz, right?"
"Right, but--"
"But, Steven, I know," he said calmly, "you're concerned for her. But, we don't know if she's there or not. What we do know right now is that we have to take Connie home to her parents. That's what's important right now." Greg glanced at Steven, then back to the road. "It's good to think of other people, but you might be worrying over nothing."
Steven sank to the floor of the van, getting off of his knees and sitting on his bottom. "Sorry," he said.
"There's nothing to be sorry about," said Connie.
"That's right," said Greg. "And how about this? If anyone still doesn't know where Peridot is by tomorrow, then you can go look for her in that... canyon. But, please take the Gems with you. Better yet, have them go without you."
"I can't do that. I have to be there."
Greg sighed, "I know. A father can dream, can't he?" Pulling onto the highway, he added, "Who knows? Maybe Peridot went for a stroll someplace."
Steven said tacitly, "Or, vanished into the universe."
...
Obviously, Peridot wasn't going to be back. Of course she went back to Topaz. Peridot doesn't take strolls. She has a very habitual personality, and only something extraordinary would take her away from her barn and her silo. And that something was Topaz, obviously.
It couldn't have been anything else, not with Topaz so fresh in Peridot's mind. And Steven lost sleep imagining all the ways things could go wrong, and the distance Peridot was from him and the Crystal Gems.
Topaz's tallness cast a shadow over Peridot. Out of the darkness, arms coiled around Peridot and dragged her into Topaz's shadow--her discontent.
And it was all Steven's fault. He knew in the back of his mind that for Peridot to be missing meant something, but Steven ignored it yesterday because he was with Connie. Not to protect Connie from it, but because Steven was selfish.
Every apparition of Topaz's discontent came true in the night as Steven tried to dream, and they all lead to her imprisonment, whence she'd never again feel the warmth of the sun. At that, Topaz may as well be dead, and, deep down, Steven was ok with that.
And then, after Steven had rushed up to the barn early Sunday morning and knocked on the silo's door only once, Peridot's voice echoed.
"It's open-pen-en-en-n!" Her response shocked Steven at first, but elephants of worry slipped off of his shoulders with every echo of Peridot's sweet, sweet, sour little voice; Steven had never been happier in his life to hear her say anything, and to have been so wrong.
He muscled the rusty door open and hustled up those rickety stairs and gave Peridot the warmest embrace she had, maybe, ever gotten in her life.
"Oh, Peridot, I was so worried about you!"
"AGH! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT PERSONAL SPACE!!"
Steven sat down at Peridot's kiddie table 'cause she told him to. Hands on his knees, he couldn't stop smiling up at her. It made Peridot scowl.
"What?"
"Whachya doin'?"
"Reprogramming my soil analyzing device." She had her device connected to an old computer fitted with modern parts.
"What for?"
"So it'll tell me the exact percentages of the content of the soil sample being analyzed. I'm also compiling Earth metals and minerals into its data bank, which I'll have to rewrite those elements into what I know them to be," she scoffed. "And that shouldn't be hard considering how scant Earth's table of elements is. But, it's what I can expect to find occurring naturally in the soil on this planet."
"You have different names for elements?"
"Of course," she said. "We're from different planets, societies, histories. What'd you expect?" She typed. "Oxygen. Have you ever heard of a more dumb name? 'Ooh, look at me! I'm a human! And I'm gonna name this stuff I breathe "Oxygen!"' More like Oxy-moron. Might as well label fire cold!"
"What do you call it?"
"Combustion Irritator."
"What about calcium?"
"Biological Cell Intracommunicator. Or, Infrastructure Strengthening Agent, depending on the context. Usually, the latter."
Steven frowned. "What about... gold?"
"...Useless."
Steven giggled, then just watched Peridot type awhile. Then he thought about why he was here. "Oh," he began cautiously, "is... everything ok?"
Peridot retorted, "Everything's fine. Why?"
"Nothing! It's just... I thought... I'm just glad you're ok."
"Never. Been. Better."
Steven sniffled. "So, where were you yesterday?"
Peridot stopped typing only briefly to eyeball Steven. "Out testing this." She went back to typing.
"Really?" he said quickly. It made Peridot grimace.
"Yeah."
Languidness flowed into Steven's limbs, sinking him. His father had been right, and it made him a little embarrassed. He played with his knees some. "I was just worried.... We couldn't find you and no one knew where you were."
Peridot typed. "I went to the forest, to the beach, to the cliffs. I wanted a decent sample size. I had inconsistencies and traces of substances that couldn't be read because, originally, I had only programmed it for very basic analyses of soil acidity. Now, I'm expanding its programming. Any other defects are purely speculation at this point. Only more field tests will reveal them."
She stopped typing, and after a moment, sighed. She glowered at Steven. "So, if I'm gone again, which I will be, I'm out testing my device." Programming again, she added, "Get a grip. I can take care of myself. I'm sick of everyone thinking I can't."
Steven left for home with his hands in his pockets. He didn't feel like warping home; he took the long way, and, on the way, he punted rocks into fences, and buildings, and the wild blue yonder.
At least Peridot had stayed in Beach City all along. Steven texted Connie and his dad to let them know.
It occurred to Steven that the acronym for Peridot's soil analyzing device, like her F.A.R.T., spelled sad. Just like her. Just like him, in this moment, because of her.
Useless symbolism? Maybe. But, Steven supposed it was part of human nature to make meanings out of that that had no meaning; it's what a lot of songs and poetry are made of.
Steven was thirsty.
...
After all the orange in the sky had gone and had been replaced by the day's deepest epilogue blue, with the pallid crescent moon center stage, surrounded by cool stars and dawdling clouds, Steven remarked to himself how calm the ocean waves were, more calm than usual, as if they craved to shut their eyes, their normal rush onto the shore more of a crawl upon their mattress to their blessed pillow, their crash into the sand more of a yawn. Within the streak of moonlight reflecting off the sea, the momentary bits of darkness caused by the sleepy waves Steven thought to be night fish that swam through the ocean's dreams. The vastness of the ocean. Its potential. Its power.
Steven, not for the first time, equated the serene ocean waves to that of a campfire. They both mesmerized the eyes, yet sent the mind anywhere but one's eyes. Steven thought about Connie. He thought about yesterday. He thought about Lapis. He thought about yesterday. He thought about Peridot, and Topaz. He thought about last month, a year ago, and before that. He even thought a little about his mother.
As usual, ocean waves and campfires often only make one thoughtful and give no answers. What was left for Steven was simply the dreaming sound of the sea.
"I think it's about time we head in for the night, boyo." Greg's chair creaked as he stood up.
"Ok."
They folded their chairs and walked with them up to the beach house.
"You feelin' alright, Steven?"
He shook his head. "Just tired."
Greg put a comforting hand around Steven's shoulder as they pushed through the sand.
They parted after a hug. Greg kissed his son on his forehead and told him that he loved him. Steven told his dad that he loved him, too.
...
"That's a big ol' turtle!"
Before Steven and the Crystal Gems was a heaping mound of spiny scales and scutes the size of a dome home. The scutes of the huffing landmass tapered to blunted spear tips, and the spine of the shell rose into six or seven shark fins that cascaded down the back. The shell was also luminescent to the effect of stained glass, though coated in dust. The creature inside was withdrawn, although it kept its eyes trained on the Crystal Gems opposing it. It did not blink.
Today's monster hunt was set in the desert, east of the San Atlanta fault, some distance from West Coast City, where many of the blockbuster films were produced, including the Dogcopter series, and the upcoming movie adaptation of The Unfamiliar Familiar, for which Steven was very excited.
To find the Gem Beast took them two hours. Steven expected it to be easy to spot a monster in the emptiness of a desert, but this desert's landscape was so rocky and uneven and filled with brush that, seeing the turtle-beast now, even something as big as a house blended in well with the geography. Steven's canteen was already more than half drained.
"This's gon' be easy!" beamed Amethyst. Steven agreed. A well-placed spear to the throat and--POOF!--home-free.
"Come on out, big guy. We're friendly."
"Steven, I doubt it understands what you're saying," said Pearl.
"Aw, let him lie to it," Amethyst said saucily. "We've been out here all day lookin', only to find this big dummy. If Steven wants to have some fun with it, let him!"
"It's not a dummy. It's a beautiful, big ol' turtle!" said Steven spritely.
"Yeah, yeah. If you wanna keep up the game, be my guest, but, in the meantime, I'm gonna--"
"AMETHYST! WATCH OUT!"
"Wha--" Without a moment's breath, the turtle-beast slammed its jaws around Amethyst and swallowed her whole! Fast as lightning, and just as quickly, the Gem Beast withdrew its head all the way back to its body like a rubber band.
Steven saw a third eye open up on its chin, which was a glowing green gemstone.
Garnet--who grabbed Steven--and Pearl broke formation and gained distance, flanking the beast on either side.
"I take it back! This isn't beautiful! It ate Amethyst! Its a cannibal! Its a big ol' angry turtle!"
"Steven," said Garnet, "get ready."
Steven's heart dropped as he watched the Gem Beast rear up on all fours, unfurl its long, stegosaurus tail, and snake its thick, armored, macaw-like head over 20 feet into the air! Steven lifted his shield up over his face.
The monster hissed, sizing up the Gems on either side of it. When it looked Garnet's way, Pearl hurled her spear into the turtle's neck, only to have it ricochet off and stick into the dirt. The beast roared at Pearl with the sound of a steam engine, and stampeded toward her with the power of a locomotive.
Garnet rushed forward--Steven scurrying behind her--and leapt high into the air. Reeling back, she came down onto the monster with the strength of a meteorite. The impact shoved the turtle knee-deep into the ground and rattled the earth. Steven tripped and fell on his shield.
The Gem Beast pushed itself out of the earth, unscathed. It whipped its noodle-neck over and struck at Garnet on its back. Garnet braced herself and grabbed the Beast's massive beak and held it there.
"PEARL!"
Rushing to the base of the turtle's neck, Pearl thrust down and up with all her might. Her spear sank into the monster's skin, but it did not penetrate. The turtle-beast swung its head back around, Garnet with it, and slammed into the ground. Pearl escaped, and Garnet let go before she hit the sand.
On his feet, Steven was still wobbly from the impact earlier. It must have taken more out of him than he thought because he felt he could barely stand. He fell down to his knees again. The shaking jolted him in intervals like heartbeats. The heartbeats did not match the impacts the Gems made against the turtle-monster. The sand around his fingers shifted, runnels of it covering his hands. Steven felt his chest. Thanking the heavens it wasn't him having a heart attack, Steven got up and bolted for his family.
Garnet matched the Gem Beast's skull-bashings with her fists. She delivered her slugs faster than the monster could thrash, but it was so massive that it forced a retreat out of her. Pearl was constantly airborne, hurling waves of energy at any place that didn't have a shell.
Pearl landed near Steven, who was trying to keep steady. "Stay back," she told him, "I'm going for its Gem!" Pearl dashed forward. Steven ran toward the battle anyway.
While the Gems fought with the monster's head, Steven ran to its rear, to its long crocodile tail. Even from behind, the Gem Beast loomed over Steven like a living mountain. He clenched his shirt; it was like he was staring headlong into a steamroller--that prehistoric and enormous ba-donk-a-donk; it could level Beach City.
With terror in his heart, Steven grabbed the Beast's tail by the tip and tugged. He couldn't lift the tail. The monster slung its head around to him. With cannibalism in its eyes, it pivoted around to gobble Steven up! But, still attached to its tail, as the Beast turned, it dragged Steven with it!
Turning--turning!--chasing its own tail! And Steven, being dragged along the sand and rocks and brush, held on for dear life!
Having made the beast do a 180, Garnet snatched Steven up by his shirt. Pearl got in front of them both to face the hissing Gem Beast, shooting beads of light into its eyes. The monster didn't slow down. It stormed at the Crystal Gems. As fast as it took to blink, it threw its head at them, mouth agape, to swallow Pearl, if not, all of them, like it did Amethyst. It roared with the heat of steam and snapped its jaws shut.
But, the Beast couldn't have swallowed any of the Gems, for Steven had created a bubble-shield around his family! All the Beast did was bounce them away from itself like a beach ball.
The Gem Beast came bulldozing for them again, to flatten them, if it must. But it halted midway and began thrashing. It stomped and whipped its fat head around and into the ground. It gasped and it screamed. At this rate, it was bound to trigger another earthquake.
Then, the Beast threw down its long neck and its big, bird-head in front of Steven and the Crystal Gems. Steven could see clearly down its giraffic throat and saw a light at the end of its tunnel!
At first, Steven thought it was charging a laser, but the turtle choked as a fat lump formed in its neck and shot up the length of it, the light intensifying to that of the sun! A ball of energy exploded out of its throat and slapped straight into Steven's bubble, rolling everyone over.
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
When Steven looked back up, it was Amethyst who was stuck to the outside of his shield! And, past her, the turtle-beast convulsed and breathed its last. The monster disappeared into a plume of dust, and the Gem that was on its chin fell into the dirt.
Steven released his bubble-shield and ran to embrace Amethyst, but she was covered in slime, and now dirt that stuck to that slime.
Amethyst guffawed, "Whoo! That was janky! But, uh... pfft!... I think I swallowed some turtle juice...."
Steven at least helped her up, filthying his hands with the jelly from the underworld. He wiped it on his pants. "Amethyst! That was amazing!" he said. "We couldn't do anything to it out here! Not even Garnet!"
"Yes," said Garnet, who bubbled and teleported the green Portuguese cut Gem back home. "We couldn't have done it without you."
"I must concur," said Pearl perfunctorily, "turning your misfortune into your advantage was... witty thinking."
Amethyst smiled like the devil. "Wow, Pearl! Your praise means the world to me!" She hugged Pearl close, making sure to rub in the turtle juice and dirt.
"No! Please! Desist!" Steven hugged Pearl, too, so they'd all be gross.
On the way back to the ruins where the warp pad was, Steven gushed to Amethyst everything that had happened while she was in the turtle's gut.
An hour later, with the ruins in sight, Steven asked, "Any chance we could catch that tour of the set for The Unfamiliar Familiar before we leave?"
"It would take us over a week to walk there," said Garnet.
"Oh. Yeah, I guess it is getting late. But, you have to promise to bring me one day soon! Maybe Connie, too! I know she'd love it!"
"Ok."
As Steven pumped his fist, light flashed down from the heavens. It splashed onto the warp pad, but neither Steven nor any of the Gems were on it.
The last person Steven would expect to see in the desert was Lapis Lazuli. But, when the light dissipated, it wasn't Lapis. It was a mattress, standing up all on its own.
Looking around, Steven saw the Gems had drawn out their weapons. But, thousands of years of battle experience hadn't prepared them for this.
"What on earth?" said Pearl.
"Garnet," asked Amethyst, "what's goin' on?"
And just then, a head poked out from behind the standing mattress, confusion, then shock filling the eyes.
Steven gasped.
"Topaz...?!"
...
As quickly as Topaz appeared, she vanished. She and the mattress disappeared into the heavens in a beam of light.
Steven looked around at the Gems. "What just happened???"
"Let's go," Garnet commanded. She wasted no time hopping onto the warp pad. The rest followed suit, and let their leader take them wherever she pleased.
In a nauseating flash, things were suddenly very cold and dark. Steven looked around and saw the stars over the horizon, over the wide expanse of flat land that was sporadically populated with natural rocky monuments. In front of them, at the base of the steps leading up to the warp pad they were on, began a great canyon that also stretched to the horizon. One squinting look at the decapitated Gem injectors in it and Steven suddenly knew where they were. He didn't know there was a second warp that led here.
Garnet stepped down, and jumped into the canyon. Only mildly surprised, Steven walked down from the warp and, getting down on his knees, peered over the cliff's edge. He recoiled. On the precipice was Topaz hanging by her sword. From her other hand dangled the mattress. Also hanging from the cliff, coolly staring her in the face, was Garnet.
Aggressively, Topaz climbed up with the mattress. Garnet offered to help her carry it up, but Topaz ignored her and did it herself. She dropped the mattress into the dirt, and dropped herself on top of it.
Topaz pulled something from her headband, small and black. She fiddled with it a moment, before Garnet went over to her and knelt. She reached for Topaz's ear, but Topaz pulled away, grimacing hard. This happened one more time, until Topaz's head was on the edge of the mattress and her body was bent into a funny curve.
It was then that Steven noticed, even in the low light made by Pearl's Gem, against the pale color of the mattress, a long black cord running from Topaz's head to her fist.
"Why did you run from us?" Garnet said curtly. Topaz disobediently made a circle on her device with her thumb. "Answer."
"Garnet!" She had flipped Topaz off her mattress.
Topaz, ears unplugged, shot back up to Garnet, who lifted her mattress above her head. "Stop!" she demanded. "Give it back!" Topaz wasn't tall enough to reach it.
Steven looked up at Pearl and asked, "Are we children?" Then he snapped, "Garnet!"
After a moment, Garnet lowered the mattress and Topaz snatched it back.
She asked again, "Why did you run from us?"
"Go on. Git!"
"Not until you tell us wh--"
"So I wouldn't have to deal with you!" She snorted. "If I had stayed: 'What are you doing?' 'Where are you going?'" Topaz shook her head. "Satisfied? You're nothing but trouble."
Garnet stared her down. "And the mattress."
Topaz resigned to snappy responses. "I wanted a bed."
"Why were--"
"I needed accessories for my bed."
Topaz let her mattress fall to the ground. She looked around behind her for her MP3 player. "Tried to stay far away from you, but, apparently, it wasn't far enough."
Steven thought of the distance she would've had to have walked. He crept over to Topaz, aware of personal space, and squatted with her. "Wh-why, uh, did you need to take... the mattress with you?"
Topaz found her MP3 player. She looked at Steven, got up, and walked over to him. Steven fell onto his bottom. He wasn't tall enough to reach her. "I'm not part of your universe. And you're not part of mine."
Topaz went over to the cliff's edge and stuck her earbuds back in.
"Come on, Steven," said Garnet. He followed the Gems up onto the warp pad. Suddenly, the sun was beaming again, and the air smelled of essential oils.
...
Steven was at the local furniture store with Pearl and Amethyst browsing bed comforts for Topaz. He thought it was the least they could do for having caused her so much trouble yesterday.
When Steven brought up the idea, the response was less than enthusiastic. But, Garnet had pushed for the idea. Whether or not she liked the idea remained to be seen--she wasn't there with them now, helping pick things out.
Pearl had offered that Topaz probably didn't know the size of the mattress she had, or at least didn't understand the sizing system concerning human beds. From Pearl's eye for detail, she had deduced the mattress to be a size twin XL.
Being in a small town, albeit one that thrived on its tourism, the selection for excessively modern or decorative bed decor was scant. But, they had found a simple bed frame that included a design of vines and a flower made out of cast metal at the head of it that Steven had found lovely. Then they found an egg crate mattress, two pillows--one soft, one firm--pale pink pillow cases, and a fitted sheet with an appropriate flower pattern sewn into it.
All that was left was the sheet and comforter (or duvet, as Pearl liked to call it).
"Why are we even doing this for her?" said Amethyst.
"Because," said Steven, "we weren't very nice to her yesterday and other times before that and this is a way to say--"
"No, I mean, why are we doing this for her?"
"I know you don't like her, but--"
"She's tried to hurt all of us. And I can't stand her attitude. 'Neegh! I'm Topaz! I'm so petty, I hate everybody! I'm so damaged, I can't see when people actually try to help me! Guess my nose is just too fat for my own head!'"
"Do you want her dead?"
Amethyst was taken aback. "I don't like that she's here. On Earth. Free to do whatever. Who knows what other bad things she could do."
"But she is on this planet," said Steven. "Been here for over a year now. And she hasn't gone out of her way to hurt anybody. She lives here now, and she's not on Homeworld's side anymore. Far as I'm concerned, we're on the same side. For her sake, Garnet says she needs time alone to help herself. I'm not entirely sure what she means but...." Steven shrugged. He found and squeezed a nice white comforter with a flower on it.
"Why do you care so much about her?" said Amethyst.
"...I don't really know how to answer that question. But, I do know that I don't want to hate her. And that's all I really want, is for everyone to not necessarily like each other, but to not hate each other. And some kindness in her life couldn't hurt, either.... I like this set. What do you think?"
Amethyst looked at the pillows and pillow cases in her arms, then to the comforter. She blinked. "You even think she'll like these colors?"
"Uh-unno."
"A'ight. Whatever. Let's get it and git!"
Before they left the furniture store, Steven also grabbed a Pillow Time Plush Pal. (It was a pig.)
The things that weren't packaged they sealed into cardboard boxes. At a spot next to the warp pad that overlooked the Beta Kindergarten, they left the bed things for Topaz, taping the lighter boxes to the heavier one with the bed frame so they wouldn't blow away. Taped to the box on top was a note written by Steven, mentioning how sorry they were and for the best wishes. He signed it with a little heart that had a smiley face in it.
He got Pearl and Amethyst to, reluctantly, sign it as well. Pearl went ahead and forged Garnet's signature.
If Topaz had already gotten her bed things last night, then at least she'd have two of everything.
On this side of the world, where it was nearing twilight, before Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl stepped back up to the warp pad, the beam of light flashed onto it. It momentarily blinded Steven and made him hold his breath.
The one who used the warp, noticing Steven and the Gems, recoiled from them like a vampire cowers from crucifixes.
"Peridot?!"
...
Peridot disappeared, and Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl were left gawking at the vacant warp pad.
They looked at each other.
"Was that...?"
"Was she...?"
"Is she?--"
"And her?--"
"...Oh, no...."
Steven stepped forward. "I-it couldn't be, right? It could've just been an accident. I mean, you guys sometimes forget where you're warping to, or-or get mixed up with which warp you're warping to, right?... Right?"
No one answered him.
"So, what do we do about this?" said Amethyst, her forehead wrinkled.
"Are we to do anything about it?" replied Pearl.
"Well, yeah, I mean... I mean...." Even her hands didn't know what to say.
"It was just an accident, right, guys?" said Steven.
"Should we confront her about this?" Pearl began. "If she's being secretive about this, then something may be amiss."
"You mean something bad for us, for Earth," acceded Amethyst.
"But, guys!" Steven interjected.
"It wouldn't be unheard of. They could be conspiring," said Pearl. She touched her lips after every question, moving her hand away to speak.
"Guys!"
"You think she warped someplace far from us?" said Amethyst. "How would we catch her?"
"Amethyst!"
"Speaking of," said Pearl, "why didn't Topaz simply do the same? Go someplace else, rather than roost here?"
"Pearl!"
"She must be hiding something from us here," said Amethyst.
"Hide what, though?" said Pearl. "If they're plotting something against us, it would be foolish to stay here, in a location we know."
"What should we do about it?"
"Oh, I wish Garnet were here."
"You GUYS!!!" Steven sweated. He had the floor now. "...Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, ok? Peridot may have just been... I dunno, testing out the warp pads around the world, or-or taking a stroll...." Steven felt how dumb that sounded. "I'm sure that whatever this is, it's just a BIG misunderstanding."
But, Amethyst and Pearl had sowed the seeds of doubt in Steven. Steven wondered, and wondered far back, and it made him queasy.
Pearl ended up warping back home to check if Peridot had gone to the barn. She returned with a jacket, shoes, and some water, and snacks for Steven. She had left a note for Garnet.
"I asked Lapis if she had seen Peridot recently, but she hadn't. Curiously, she was wearing a dirty, old valance. She seemed bothered that I was looking for Peridot in the first place, whatever that was about. She called me a punk. I swear...."
The plan thereafter was to wait. Peridot would come back. Even Steven, deep down, knew that and consented to wait. Pearl and Steven sat by a big rock in perfect sight of the warp pad. It also faced the general direction of the second warp across the Kindergarten. (If anyone used that one, they had an instantaneous mode of travel to get over there.) Amethyst staked out on the other side of the warp pad.
They waited. Steven eventually resorted to playing on his phone. He had no signal. Most of his games required internet connection, so he chose a simple endless puzzle game he hadn't touched since he first installed it. He kept the volume off.
Darkness and coldness fell over the desert. Steven put on his jacket and shoes. The wind came on in and didn't ask for quarter. Steven's phone was dead.
"Do you really think Peridot would betray us?"
"We can't leave it out of the question," said Pearl. "Love can make people do anything. Believe me."
Steven dwelled on things, and he dwelled far back.
Light though, bursting down from the sky like a lightning strike, shoved Steven onto his hands. Pearl had already sprung away from their rock, and she and Amethyst ambushed the warp from either side. But, all they managed to do was grab Topaz by her fat legs and trip her.
They evaded just before Topaz would've stabbed them.
Topaz yelled. She slashed her sword at them.
Steven ran out from behind the rock, screaming, "Wait! Topaz! Topaz!"
Amethyst lassoed Topaz's sword arm. She sent a wave of energy down its length, but the whip was cut before it connected with Topaz, and the explosion went up, coloring everything briefly in purple. Through the smoke, Topaz rushed Amethyst and drop kicked her off the cliff's edge.
"We didn't come here to fight," exclaimed Pearl, retreating and pirouetting.
"This was an accident," howled Steven. "A misunderstanding!"
Topaz swept Pearl's feet from under her and pounced on her. They wrestled and Topaz pinned Pearl's spear to the ground, then stabbed her sword into the earth next to Pearl's face. "I'll live as I see it! You won't have it? Then fight me! Kill me! OR LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Pearl let go of her spear and punched Topaz in the face. Topaz let go of her sword and palmed Pearl's fist and pulled it across her chest, further pinning her.
Amethyst rushed back in to tackle Topaz, but Topaz, using the blunt end of Pearl's spear, slugged her upside the head, knocking her away. Pearl scrambled to grab Topaz's sword, but Topaz discarded her spear into the canyon and unsheathed her sword from the ground before Pearl could. She raised it above her head.
"NO!" screamed Steven, shoving his shield into Topaz's face. "Peridot! We were waiting for Peridot!"
As Steven collided with Topaz, Pearl kicked Topaz off of her. Topaz used that momentum to roll to her feet. Her sword was not posed for attack, but she remained steady. The Gems grouped with Steven, also ready, Amethyst rubbing her head and Pearl summoning a new spear. The question hung on Topaz's face.
"We were waiting for Peridot," explained Steven. "We came here to leave you that stuff over there, as a way to say sorry for yesterday. Before we were gonna go, we saw Peridot warp here. But, she got scared when she saw us and warped away. We were just waiting for her, thinking she'd come back, because we were concerned."
"Concerned for what?"
Steven, knowing his answer should be careful, sputtered. "A-about... why she was scared of us, really...."
"You suspect betrayal."
"No! I would never think that!"
"Then you're insisting you're trying to catch her for another reason. Have you harmed her?"
Pearl said, "Did you know Peridot was coming?"
"Stop," spat Topaz. "Stop. I'm asking the questions. You do not get to talk over me, you Pearl."
Amethyst howled, "I'll come over there and hogtie your mouth shut, you won't be saying anything--"
"OK!" called Steven. "Alright! That's enough! Please! Everyone...." He centered himself between Amethyst and Pearl. Even though it was cold, he wiped sweat from his brow. "Topaz," he began. "We would never hurt Peridot, you have my word."
"Now that," Topaz shook her head, "is a lie. I watched as you destroyed her physical form and held her captive, and still have her captive till now, for what I know."
"Peridot's with us because she wants to be!"
"You've done the same to me. Twice. And you've come back again and again to beat me and take from me."
Steven, with all his heart, said, "I'm sorry."
Topaz's face wrinkled. "You've quashed any small trust I had for any of you a long time ago. I can't believe anything you say." Her sword vanished, and she walked away.
Steven swallowed, not knowing what to say next.
"Funny how you can't trust people who saved your stupid life," Amethyst said. "But, was that a mistake? Why let us go? Why not fight us to the death like ya want?!"
Topaz halted. She made a fist, crushing the life out of her fingers, then let them loose again. She started marching back, and Pearl and Amethyst raised their weapons.
Steven's toes clenched tighter in his shoes with every step Topaz made to him. As she was almost upon them, finally, his heart gave in. He caged himself and his family in a bubble-shield.
"Steven?!" Pearl gasped.
"Open up!" said Amethyst.
He said he wouldn't, that there's not to be any more fighting, that they weren't enemies.
Topaz, outside, leaned up against the bubble-shield, peering in at the three of them. She looked down at Steven, forcing him to be small.
She pushed on the bubble, making everyone inside trip over each other and fall.
When Steven got up, Topaz was still looking at him. Then, she turned her attention to the boxes of bed things Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst had spent the morning getting for her. She sauntered over to her gifts. Topaz looked over her shoulder. She put her boot against her apology and shoved it all into the canyon.
Pearl scoffed, and Amethyst said she knew that getting Topaz anything was a dumb idea. Steven wanted to cry.
Tilting his burning nose downward, he noticed how close he and the Gems were to falling into the canyon as well. He popped his bubble-shield. "Why would you--"
"If you want to even begin earning any trust from me," Topaz declared, "then let me be alone. Never come back. If any of you do, I don't care who or how many, or for whatever reason, I. Will. Not. Hesitate. To run my sword through you, and crush your Gem under my foot. The only way to stop me is to kill me."
Pearl jeered, "You think you can just... impart your own mandates on a planet that isn't--"
"Those are the conditions, and that is what it is going to take. No more games...."
Steven shut his eyes and hung his head. He wondered why couldn't everyone just sing and be happy.
"And Peridot can come and go as she pleases."
And that was it. Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst, begrudgingly, sullenly, left Topaz at the Kindergarten and warped back home.
...
It was discovered that Peridot had been visiting Topaz for days on end, practically since she and Steven had had their talk. Peridot was eventually found--in the mayor's basement (flyers and posters had been passed around proclaiming the threat of giant green rats and for their extermination as they'd scare away tourists; Mayor Dewey sported a neck brace for a whole week!)--and when she was confronted with the evidence against her, she spilled her guts.
When told that she could come and go as she pleased, Peridot had no shame in saying she'd been doing that all along. But, now, without having to be secretive about it, she bullied everyone into helping her pack her things. Peridot was moving out.
And Topaz's conditions fell through.
"But how can they take me seriously if I don't go through with what I say?!"
Peridot replied saucily, "You expect me to carry all my things by myself?"
Topaz slunk the most repugnant stink-eye over to Steven and the Crystal Gems, as if her eyes could smell them, as if they were the smelliest, most rancid tin of anchovy paste that dated back to 1952. Amethyst smiled like a snake.
"Just this once...."
Topaz led the way. Around several bends in the canyon and through a glen revealed a hidden nook with a hole bored into the side of the cliff, large enough for two Garnets to fit through comfortably, with a small set of stairs carved out of the rock leading up to it. Steven was so dumbfounded that he nearly forgot what he was doing.
He followed everyone inside, deciding that the layers of warm colors from the rock, freshly carved and more vibrant, made Topaz's home beautiful. The walls weren't flat nor was the hole circular. It was oblong and the ceiling was well out of Steven's reach, unless Garnet held him up on her shoulders.
It didn't take long to reach Topaz's den, which was just a single room. It had about as much floor space as Steven's loft, only, maybe twice as wide. It was cool in here, away from the hot sun, and it was dim, and Steven could've bet money that the room was completely empty.
Topaz's Gem lit up. "Just put it anywhere."
Steven wasn't entirely mistaken. Topaz's room was fairly empty. All that was there was a bed, a guitar and amp, and a stack of boxes behind that. That was it. Also, the bed didn't have a pillow or blankets. Only a spartan bed frame.
"Nice place," said Garnet.
If not for the guitar, the best way Steven would describe Topaz's room was jail cell, minus the sink, and the toilet, and window. As he put down one of Peridot's boxes, he also couldn't decide whether Topaz's hole was cozy or creepy. Cramped would likely be the best term for it once Peridot was moved in.
On their way out, with his hands free, Steven ran his fingers along the wall of Topaz's "foyer." It wasn't smooth, but faceted, leading Steven to imagine how many swings it took from Topaz's sword to hollow out her home. Steven would've thought it was impressively feng shui if he wasn't certain that Topaz was quite deaf to harmonic energy.
Topaz's gift still lay at the bottom of the canyon.
Only Peridot was near her when everyone got on the warp pad.
Back home, more of Peridot's hoard remained in the barn, so Topaz followed her inside. They passed Lapis laying on her lawn chair. Topaz eyed her as she walked inside. Steven caught Lapis' gaze; Topaz must've been the one who actually smelled like anchovies. Steven shrugged to her sheepishly.
Steven grabbed two whole boxes this time, which was a feat for him considering they were stuffed with metal!
Garnet grabbed another ten boxes...
On the way out, boxes in hand, everyone walked by Lapis again, but Topaz, still staring, stopped short.
"Hey," she said. "Why don't you help."
Steven's heart skipped a beat.
"Leave me alone," clipped Lapis.
Topaz turned to Peridot. "Is she defective? What's her problem?"
Steven's jaw dropped. He had never seen Lapis curl her nose up like she did. He dropped his boxes and scurried over to her. In a desperate motion, Steven rapidly patted her cheeks like a ninny. Lapis recoiled from him, giving him her attention. Steven took her face and looked pleadingly into her blue eyes. She sighed hard and dropped her shoulders. Lapis got up from her chair and went someplace else.
Garnet was the only one still waiting for Steven. He heave-ho'ed his two lead weights and lugged them over to the warp pad.
"Crisis averted," said Garnet.
Back in the desert, Topaz spoke with Garnet about her "subordinates."
"Why not have the Lapis Lazuli work? With her abilities, moving would be much faster."
"I do not command Lapis."
"Yes," said Topaz, "I get that none of you are soldiers, and that those under you aren't your servants, but they're your followers, yes? You're their leader, they do as you say."
"The Crystal Gems aren't below me, nor are they my followers. We live independently of our own free will. Only when it is required do we work together as a team. Only then do I lead."
Topaz gibed, "So, what you're saying is, the Lapis Lazuli is left to her own devices, free to do as she likes, with no repercussions for her actions, especially at not wanting anything to do with your team.... Hm!--there's an idea!"
Peridot snickered.
"What?..."
"It's just," she replied, "you're so recalcitrant."
Topaz regained her composure. "Yeah." She shifted her eleven boxes she shouldered before continuing. "A leader should be respected. The way that Lapis Lazuli was behaving, seemed like she respected no one."
Garnet said, "She respects Steven."
Topaz looked skeptically over her unburdened shoulder. "You're implying the Quartz is your leader?"
Garnet peeked behind her and smiled. "In a manner of speaking." Steven smiled, too.
"Never met a leader so weak."
"Down," commanded Peridot. "Bad dog! We do not insult the indentured labor."
Topaz looked down at her.
"What? A brilliant mind has to expand her vocabulary. Luckily, Earth language is rife with expletives! There's a deluge behind these lips! But, if you're ever feeling nostalgic...."
"Only for high cliffs...."
"Stop joking about that," she scoffed. "Let's move it while we still have radiation beating down on us directly from the nearest star!"
Amethyst gave Steven a wrinkled look. He knew why, but he saw all of this as progress. Topaz was having a converstaion with Garnet--non-threateningly, unforced, with zero danger. It was horribly one-sided, but, still, yesterday Topaz had wanted to kill everyone.
Maybe wanted was too strong a word. Provoked might be better? Steven was unsure. He'd have to double-check with Connie (he could look it up on his phone, but, then again... he also couldn't).
Peridot seemed to be in a great mood, and Steven thought about what Connie said to him over the phone; she and Topaz must want this bad enough.
There wasn't much talking after that. Only the seemingly endless stream of Peridot's bits and bobs--things that might find a use one day, or might not--kept them company until it got dark and cool in the desert. By that point, all that remained to be moved from the barn was Peridot's old foot, but she was thinking of leaving it for Lapis as a memento of her and their time living together and to kiss in place of her real foot.
Topaz waited over by the warp pad while everyone said their goodbyes.
"I'm gonna miss you," said Steven.
"I must admit," sniffled Peridot, "your nuisance was most welcome." Steven invited her for a hug. "Oh, I suppose I can momentarily revoke my personal space." She leaned in and hugged Steven for the first time.
"Will I see you again soon?"
"I gotchyo numbuh. I'll set up a tower. I'll call on you." They pulled away from their embrace. "Really, you can come visit anytime."
"But..."
"Oh, don't worry about her," said Peridot. "That dog is all bark."
Steven said, "She's got a pretty mean bite, too...."
Peridot chuckled. "Yeah."
Then Peridot left. Steven watched her go until the warp pad beamed her and Topaz away.
...
Steven was sitting in the Big Donut with his father having "do-fast" (donut breakfast; Steven came up with the word five whole minutes ago). He had gotten two donuts: one jelly-filled with pink frosting and one chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, with orange juice. His dad was having coffee--French Roast--with a pair of chocolate élcairs because he was feeling very French this morning (at least, he thought his do-fast was very French--it sounded like it. He didn't let it stop him, though, from donning the airs of Monsieur Universe).
"Ah, monsieur Steven! What a pleaseure it is to have your cyompany this fien meorning, accyompanied with such a fanciful meal! I must say! Voulez-vous, magnifique!"
Steven giggled and tried his best French impression. "Wee-wee! Mon-sir Universe! The pleasyure is all mine! And I also moos say! I moos say, I tell yoo! I moos say that nyothing is byetta than sharing dyo-fast with your beloved cyompany!"
"Steven. My feelings enteirely. And this cuisine..." Greg plucked up an éclair and smelled it like a cigar. "I lohve it." He took a bite. "It sets my seoul on feire. It is not... just a leetle spyark... it is a flame.... A big roaring flame!... I can feel it now..." He placed a hand on his chest and gazed out the storefront to the morning sun. "Burning... burning... burning. Deep in my hearte.... Thees is pyassion." Greg looked at his son and smiled charmingly. "Thees... is living..."
Steven's heart bubbled because of his father, and he couldn't contain himself. He exclaimed, "Bravo! Bravo!" Sadie was clapping, also, and Greg even got a chuckle out of Lars.
Then Greg got somewhat bashful. "Thanks," he said.
Steven started with his sprinkled donut, because--oh!--he was saving the best for last! By the time he had finished it, his dad had long finished his éclairs and was sipping on his coffee and watching his son.
At the moment Steven took his first bite of gooey, doughy, sugar-heaven, he received a video call. It was from an unknown number. Greg especially didn't trust it, so Steven declined it.
With every bite of his donut gone, he received a video call again, then again from the same unknown number. Steven declined it each time.
Finally he got a text.
"Answer the call clod"
Steven gasped and promptly forgot about his jelly-filled dreamboat. Nothing would stop him from answering the next call, not even the END OF THE WORLD!
Peridot was sweating and frustrated under the desert sun. She brightened when she saw Steven, and Steven her. She saluted him.
"Hello, you beautiful thing, you! I haven't seen you in a month! How are you doing?"
"Superb! I finally got the phone tower working...." Peridot aimed the camera briefly at a a very tall--at least 20 Peridots tall--triangular tower with antennas and a satellite dish at its peak. Cables ran down it to a big, metal box at its base. "Earth reception is garbage." She turned her phone back to herself. "But, now I've gotten the signal strong enough to be picked up by your archaic satellites."
"That's amazing!" bolstered Steven. "I'm so proud of you! I'm here at the Big Donut with my dad. Say hi!" He faced his phone toward his father.
"Hello, Steven's father."
"H-hey. Good to see ya," replied Greg.
Steven turned his phone back to himself, then said, confidently, "We're havin' do-fast. Oh!" He tilted the camera. "And there's Sadie and Lars back there."
"Are they more family?" inquired Peridot.
"Aw, you've met Lars and Sadie before. Remember when you tried your force-feeding experiment?"
"It was an experiment to analyze what would happen to the human body if it over-ingested simple sugars. I also remember you preventing me from gathering sufficient data. Regardless, are they more family?"
"They're my friends."
"Then they are inconsequential to me."
Steven centered his phone back on himself. Steven was bubbling again, seeing Peridot's lovely little livid face. Not a day went by that he didn't think of her. But, those bubbles in his heart didn't take long to fall into a brooding simmer.
"So, uh... how's... Topaz?"
Peridot rolled her eyes. "Sulky as ever. She's right here." She twisted her phone to her left and Topaz was on Steven's screen, looking up at Peridot's tower with her hands on her hips.
Topaz looked down, and boiled Steven when she saw him. She became cross and said, "Don't put me in frame." She pushed the phone back at Peridot.
Peridot stuck out her tongue.
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
"So," said Steven. "You guys are ok?"
Peridot raised an eyebrow. "The standard definition for the state of being OK differs per individual, and I understand that your standard is significantly lower than mine, but to adjust my answer for the sake of your question: Yes. We are ok."
She moved her phone closer to her face. "Although, I would prefer a change in scenery. The desert is altogether unpleasant. But, you know of Topaz's stubbornness...." She looked over to her left. "I can only wonder, however, if you know the extent...."
Then Peridot snatched her phone to the side, swirling the image on Steven's screen, and exclaimed, "I'm not done speaking to him!" The picture stilled, showing Peridot holding her phone out at arm's reach, the sand, and Topaz's legs. Topaz then snatched up Peridot entirely, which made her drop her phone in the sand.
Peridot wriggled under Topaz's arm, kicking and shoving a hand in her face. Topaz stooped down toward Steven's screen.
"Agh! Steven! I'll call you back later! Remember the great Peridot!" Topaz jabbed her finger into Peridot's phone and Steven's screen went dark and the call ended.
Steven felt sort of dizzy afterward, as if he stood up too fast.
"She seems... well," Greg commented.
It took Steven a moment to hear his father and then to ask his question. "Do you think they're ok?"
Greg thought warily. "Well... if they've been staying with each other for a little over a month, and so closely from what you've told me, I'm sure they would've had a push-comes-to-shove moment by now.... Several, probably, based on their characters.... So, they must be working it out someway. But, that's only what I think. I can't say for sure."
Greg took the last sip of his coffee. "Relationships are a tricky thing. But, I'm sure that if Peridot is ever having real trouble, she'd let us know somehow."
Steven thought. "You don't think she'd try and hide it, like before?"
Greg sighed. "It's hard to hide something like that. You lose a part of yourself, really, when you do that."
Steven and his dad went ahead and cleaned their table of their trash and crumbs, even, and they headed out the door.
...
Lapis had been living on her lonesome for about two months. She seemed to be getting better. Not necessarily because Peridot wasn't there, but because. Lapis still didn't do much with her time.
Recently, Steven learned something about Lapis that has haunted him since.
"I can't stop thinking about being fused as Malachite, how I used all my strength to hold her down in the ocean, and how I was always battling against Jasper to keep her bound to me.... I... I miss her."
What was worse was that Jasper had also showed up wanting the same thing: to be Malachite again.
Thankfully, Lapis had denied her, and everyone had made it home safely--she, Steven and his father.
It haunted Steven, what Lapis had said. Being a part of something bad and not realizing it is one thing, but to long to have it again, fully aware of how depraved and unhealthy it was? Steven spent days trying to rationalize it. But, Lapis' want went against everything he knew to be good and obvious, no matter how he looked at it.
Steven also thought a lot about why had Lapis fused with Jasper in the first place. The Crystal Gems could've taken Jasper, or Lapis could've herself--the ocean was there for her. She had tried to fly away, but, given the opportunity, decided to stay and fuse into Malachite to take Jasper hostage and drag her down into the bottom of the ocean. The only person Lapis had done that for was herself.
Was it truly revenge, though, against the universe that dealt her one bad hand after another, each somehow resulting in her imprisonment? Did Lapis choose to take her anger out on Jasper because it was Jasper, or because she was convenient? Steven still didn't quite know, nor could he grasp the effects constant impotence has on somebody.
But, Steven thought Lapis had left that all behind when she was separated from Jasper. He expected nothing but relief and freedom for her. He expected release from her struggle, her stupor. And he also expected that Jasper was the one who was inflicting all the emotional damage, until he heard how she called Lapis a monster.
Lapis didn't sacrifice herself to become Malachite, she wanted it. Free from it now, a part of her appeared to have been torn; she acted as though she were still imprisoned.
Had Lapis become this way because she wanted to be Malachite again, or because she felt guilty from the decision she made to become Malachite, from what it had done to her? Or, was it something else? Again, Steven hadn't a clue.
Steven consulted Garnet.
"She lacked control. She fought for control. It seems she's still fighting for control."
"...What do you mean?"
"Much of her existence has not been out of her own free will. As a result, she's felt powerless. And, as a result of that, she forced herself into a position of power, one that nobody truly wants. And, as a result of that, Lapis may be... uncertain with who she is, especially now that she has free will."
This was all very cryptic to Steven. Power, though--in physical prowess, in relationships, politics, armies, religion, knowledge, wealth, even within families--why did everything have to be about power? Steven asked his father that very question.
"Instead of thinking of it like that, I think it's better to think of it this way: what can be done to prevent things from being about power?"
"...Like what?"
"By trying to make things about sincerity and understanding instead."
What his father told him was that to find a way to have love overshadow power and things like it would have to be discovered depending on the situation, like, when there's a disagreement, setting aside one's differences for the sake of understanding. And treating everyone as an equal was a given.
This was very noble, and it resonated with Steven for he didn't think about things in terms of strength and weakness. There was one perspective, however, that proved troubling(?) for this outlook: one must possess power in order to protect the things and the ones loved from those forces that wish to take them away.
"So, power can be a good thing, when its for the right reasons?"
"I think so."
"But, if everyone got along, there wouldn't really be a need for it, right?"
"Uh... I don't know about that one. But, if everyone got along, then no one would have things like fortitude to build them up and stand up when they needed to."
Getting back to the less metaphysical and philosophical topic at hand, Steven had asked his father about Lapis.
"Oh, boy...." Greg scratched his head. "Well, I'm sure that Lapis was very upset and wasn't thinking clearly when she made her choice.... She might've been wanting anything to be in control of, and... what she told you the other day might mean that she missed the one thing she had control over... I guess." He looked at Steven. "Regardless of why, she made the right choice in the end, and I think Lapis is going to be just fine."
After all was said and done, and all his thoughts exhausted, Steven hadn't come to any conclusions per se, but he had come to accept Lapis and what she had said and that she had wanted control and now has troubles with it. Maybe Lapis just needed time. She knows that he's always here for her if she needs him. Maybe he should help her to understand that life isn't about power.
"Maybe Philosopher Steven should go to bed...."
Steven suddenly felt he was getting too old for this. He left all those ideas of power, control, and love alone to be digested or forgotten--whichever, he didn't care at the moment--and delicately laid his head on his pillow.
Steven's relief, however, was destroyed when it hit him that Peridot may be going through the exact same thing Lapis had.
...
"So, I just told her that you all were morons who hadn't the first clue on how to operate even the simplest of Gem scouting ships," admitted Peridot haughtily, walking with Lapis and Steven from the barn to the Rubies' ship on the front lawn. Since the Rubies had been knocked into the cosmos, the Crystal Gems commandeered their ship for any potential usage. Peridot was more than willing to show them how it worked. She was going to fly it down to the beach house and back as a demonstration. But, right now, it was just Lapis and Steven with her.
"Also," she continued, "I needed to pick up my additional hard drives I sent to your address."
"I've been wondering what that was!"
"Yes. I've run out of memory again."
"It's good that she let you come," said Steven.
Peridot put up a hand. "Pft. I don't have to get her to let me do anything. I do what I want. There was no way she was going to stop me. Besides..." She hooked Steven and Lapis in either of her little arms. "...Without the immaculate Peridot, I'm sure your lives are just a wreck!"
"Tragic," said Lapis.
Steven laughed.
Stepping into the cockpit of the Ruby ship, Peridot bragged, "I've piloted dozens of Homeworld ships, from surveillance air crafts to interstellar carriers--I was even once a part of a team that controlled a mother ship! All at my touch stumps, synced up to my limb enhancers! Operating a benign scouting ship should be a breeze."
She hopped up into the captain's chair, which was small and a good fit for her. Steven and Lapis at her sides, Peridot looked over the sweeping console of controls before her that looked like one big, sleek touch pad made of crystal. "Let's see... ...um...."
"Go on," said Lapis, leaning onto the captain's chair.
"Patience! Not all ships are built the same!" After a moment she tapped a little blue hexagon--then a black line effectively rolled across the ship's window in front of them, back and forth.
Punching the same hexagon, Peridot explained, "The viewport must be clear before take off...."
"Of course," said Lapis, "and then we start up the ship, correct?"
"Obviously...." Peridot tapped a green circle, which caused the ship to beam light onto the barn. "...But, before that, I just wanted to demonstrate proper illumination should there be low visibility...."
Lapis had an eyebrow cocked and her lips curled. "You can't operate a ship manually, can you?"
Peridot snarled, "I'll show you I can!" She buffeted the controls with her palms. She growled and gnashed like a goblin trying to catch an elusive fairy that granted wishes... but, not to goblins....
Peridot huffed, undulating her shoulders. Lapis was going to say more, but, suddenly, a shaft came down from over Peridot's head and encapsulated her and the chair. Like a vacuum, the shaft sucked her and the chair up into the ceiling! A loud bang shook the ship, and out the window Steven and Lapis saw Peridot parachuting down somewhere over Beach City.
Steven had never heard Lapis snort so much in his life.
By the time Peridot got back, Lapis was ready and waiting with the ship's manual (it was a touchscreen): How to Operate Your Scouting Ship: For Rubies.
Peridot snatched it from her.
After some trial and error, they'd managed to get the ship off the ground and maneuverable. Steven retained none of it.
He walked with Peridot to get her hard drives.
Curiosity getting the better of him, timidly Steven asked, "Can I ask you something sort of personal?"
"Just so long as it's not about my thoughts on the recent bomb of Camp Pining Hearts.... What is it?"
"Well, um, it's about Topaz."
"Ok...."
"Does she not like you being here?"
"No," Peridot said blatantly.
"Why?"
"She doesn't like or trust any of you."
"But... I mean.... Yeah, we've fought, but that was a long time ago. It's not like that anymore. We're letting her live on her own. It doesn't have to be that way."
"That's not good enough. I told you she's stubborn."
Steven said, throwing up his hands, "Well, I don't know what to do about it."
"Topaz isn't one to easily make a change of heart, as you say. She's been through a lot of war. And for that, she is very suspicious of all of you. It was one of the reasons I liked her, especially when she let me in. I was consistent for her and she needed that."
"W-war?" Steven didn't hear anything past it.
"Of course. Homeworld is constantly expanding its reach and power throughout the cosmos. Why else do you think they haven't spared more resources in Earth's direction? Yes, there was the Cluster, but, even so, Earth isn't anywhere near the top of their to-do list."
As per the business of things, Peridot chucked personal greetings at each of the Crystal Gems, sure to include a "compliment" on their most exuberant feature that day--Amethyst's laziness, Pearl's petulance, and Garnet's... hair. She then seized her packages of hard drives and was well on her particular way.
"You should come visit sometime." Her words tumbled out onto the floor like rocks. "Don't worry with Topaz, I can handle her." And with that, she disappeared.
Garnet said sweetly, "She complimented my hair."
...
The next day, Steven was out on his porch, contemplating more about what Peridot had told him. He thought more about war--prisoners of war and all that--of what it consisted. He thought of what it can do to people, what little he knew it could do. Pain. Anger. Sadness. Regret.
Bismuth. He thought about her. What war did to her. How dangerous it made her. So much potential--lost in anger and resentment. Bismuth would have been a wonderful addition to the Crystal Gems, but she was so bent on revenge and murder....
Being in a constant state of war, what must that do to someone?
When Steven first encountered Topaz, she seemed so angry. He supposed he would have, too, being in her position, locked up against her will. Recalling what his phone gave him when he had searched "prisoner of war," he had the thought that maybe Topaz had expected to be tortured or even killed. Maybe she was angry at herself for getting caught? Had she been a prisoner of war before?
What had caused Topaz to try to kill herself? Was it Peridot? War? Was it anything else?
Ever since he and the Gems saved her life, Steven was pretty sure Topaz understood that they weren't out to destroy her. But--Circumstance's prison--the Crystal Gems and Topaz to this day remain in conflict. Steven wondered why it had to be that way (Homeworld and Earth; war and love). There was so much potential otherwise.
Topaz often passionately voiced how Steven used her as "entertainment;" that both she and Peridot were "games." Steven had the brief thought of himself as being that evil. He was disgusted.
Granted, as Garnet had said, the Crystal Gems have taken a lot from Topaz, and Steven could grasp how confusing and frustrating that must be. However, Topaz had seemed to want, or, at least, adapt to the things that have been given her as an effect: freedom, space, another chance. But, maybe Topaz didn't see it that way. For the sake of protecting Earth, she may see the "checkups" from the Crystal Gems as a way to control her. Steven knew that was the last thing the Crystal Gems wanted. But, the things that have happened to her while on Earth must have made her suspicious.
War must make people suspicious.
Despite everything, Topaz never tried to kill anyone, even with how much she had threatened to do so. She only did what she needed to do to prioritize herself and, at times, Peridot.
Had she understood that the Crystal Gems weren't her enemies? Or, in her mind, did killing a Crystal Gem ensure that they would be?
Regardless, now Topaz and Peridot were together again. Now was their chance to try again. Much of what they've done, they've risked since being on Earth was for each other. Maybe Steven had it all wrong about Topaz, just misunderstood her. Steven decided he shouldn't dream of her and Peridot being separated. They've worked hard to be where they are, so, why not let them be? They want it bad enough.
Deciding this, Steven understood that him visiting Peridot may cause Topaz to think that he was trying to take her away. Him showing up in general was, frankly, disrespectful to Topaz's desire to be left alone. Yes, Steven thought it best to stay away from the Beta K as long as possible and let Topaz and Peridot have their time.
...
Welp. That didn't last.
Not two days later the Crystal Gems caught wind of a rogue corrupted Gem running amok in the Beta Kindergarten. And it had to be dealt with, Topaz's privacy be darned.
Steven had texted Peridot beforehand. She was thrilled. She couldn't wait to help them catch it.
Steven couldn't stand up straight because of the bad feeling in his stomach.
Peridot was waiting for them anxiously when the Crystal Gems arrived. She was alone briefly, and it was good to see her, bragging of ingenious ways to capture the rogue Gem, until Topaz leapt out of the canyon and landed square on the edge of the cliff. She threw something into the sand at the foot of the warp pad. It was a large blue gemstone. Then Topaz turned and started away.
Peridot stopped her. "What is this?!"
Topaz said, "The corrupted Gem. Now they can leave."
"I was going to help them catch it!"
Topaz shook her head like a data analyst looking at an absurdist painting. "Now you don't have to."
"I wanted to!"
"It was more practical if I did it!"
Peridot threw up her arms, looking like she was miming tearing her face in half. "I can do anything I set my mind to! Anything that you can do, I can do, too!"
Topaz gestured like an ape to her whole body. "You are not all this! You pride yourself on logic and smarts, but your so blind--"
"I'm blind?!--"
"And they didn't have to come here in the first place! They never have to be here!" Topaz glared at Steven and the Crystal Gems. "They just choose to."
"You can't expect me to cut off all communication with them just because you don't like them," exclaimed Peridot, exasperated. "I've already kept it to phone calls, but even that's too much for you."
Garnet had gone down to collect the Gem that was in the sand.
"I don't want anything like this--"
"But, I know how you hate me talking to them."
"--happening--"
"I don't even have to look at you."
"--AGAIN!"
"I can just feel it, I can just FEEL it! It's palpable!"
Garnet bubbled the Gem. She looked at her group and stretched her cheeks into a frown and sucked in air through her teeth.
Peridot continued, scowling, "And maybe you're the one who's blind, because they could care less on what you're doing out here. They've got other priorities to deal with."
Topaz retorted, muscling her arms around, "Now, you say that, you say that, but they keep coming back. They keep coming back! They keep coming BACK!" She huffed. "To ever remind us of our place."
"If it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be here!"
"If it wasn't for them, neither of us would be here!"
"The Crystal Gems gave you and me a chance."
Topaz stepped forward. "Why can't... you just DO this for me?"
Peridot threw up her hands again, "I'm trying to make this work all I can!"
"You're not trying hard enough...."
Peridot dropped her jaw. The desert wind moved some sand around.
Pearl spoke up, with a quick flourish of her fingers as if she sprinkled stardust. "Um, Peridot...." She had her attention. "We're going to go..."
It took Peridot a moment to collect herself, like Pearl had spoken Gaelic. "Yes.... Ok, yes. I'll see you soon."
Subconsciously, Steven waved microscopic goodbyes to the Kindergarteners. The next thing he knew he was back in his living room.
Garnet stepped down from the warp pad first. "Phew. Talk about awkward."
Pearl followed. "You can say that again."
Amethyst grumbled, "Made me actually lose my appetite...."
"I'll believe that when you stop eating all our fall-scented candles."
"They're so good tho!"
Steven came down from the warp pad last. Peridot and Topaz argue. Why wasn't he surprised? But, his family seemed even less affected by it.
The perfume of their lone-surviving "Maple Leaves" candle went ahead and preoccupied his thoughts.
...
"I lied to you, Steven, and I apologize for doing so. I wanted you to come here and thought no other course of action was likely to accomplish this. I just really wanted your company. Anything but sand! And I wanted to show somebody my setup. Again, I apologize." Peridot was prostrate, grovelling at Steven's feet.
"What did you lie about?" Peridot frowned up at him. "...Topaz doesn't actually want me here, does she."
Peridot had called Steven earlier that day and cheerfully requested his company, acknowledging that Topaz had finally come around on keeping the Beta K Crystal-G-free. Steven was more than happy to spend time with Peridot in person for once, even if it did mean having to deal with Topaz being there, too.
But, as soon as Steven got there, Peridot threw herself and her guilt to the ground and confessed like a sinner too contrite to wait for the oratory.
"Yes," she exclaimed, hugging Steven's legs. "It was all a ruse to get you here!"
Steven frowned, too, and stooped down to Peridot. "You know you don't have to lie to me."
She fidgeted. "Would you have come otherwise?" Steven's forehead wrinkled. "You see! Your silence says it all!"
"Well," he admitted, "I wouldn't have wanted to upset anyone. But, if you truly needed me, Peridot, I'd be here in a heartbeat. You can always count on that." He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"...I'm assuming your idiom implies a human heartbeat? Different types of organisms have varying pulse rates...."
Steven chuckled. "Yeah, a human heartbeat. You're such a smartie."
Peridot smiled.
Then Steven recalled why he shouldn't be here, and instead of letting the reason come out as a statement for Peridot, it came out as a question. "Should I go?"
"No!" she resounded, like there shouldn't have even been a question. "I mean, Topaz isn't here right now. You can stay for at least a little bit. Besides, aren't you curious about what all that primitive technology I sent to your address has become?"
How could Steven say no to that impossibly hopeful traffic-light-green face? Steven followed Peridot into the Crack of Doom.
"By the way," said Steven, "where is Topaz?"
"She's out collecting things."
"Collecting things? What kinds of things?"
Peridot shrugged out of annoyance. "Human treasures. They're over then in that chest if you're feeling nosey."
She pointed over to Topaz's bed--which remained just a mattress swaddled in a cold, unfeeling, metal frame. Under it was a steamer trunk.
Mordor. It was all burning with the fires of Mordor. The Eye of Sauron was watching Steven from its barren and black lands and insurmountable doom grappled his heart as he gazed at its treasure underneath the bed. It tempted him. But, holding onto his fingers, he said, "Maybe later...."
Steven stayed over in Gondor, which was still very cramped and cluttered from Peridot's things. There was now, however, a large computer desk wading in her sea of boxes, that had, beneath it, the biggest desktop tower Steven had ever laid eyes on. On top of the desk were four curved monitors side by side, shaped into a quarter circle. One of them sat in front of the keyboard--which glowed radioactive green from underneath the keys--with one just to the left and the other two wrapping around on the right. To the left of her monitors was a printer and a horde of papers that could hardly be called organized. Peridot also had a mic and headset, and her portable sound recorder and her phone was on the desk as well. All of Peridot's hardware illuminated the cave with a deep ocean green, and looked like they could transform into robots at any moment.
"Here, sit," demanded Peridot. She rolled an adjustable chair over to him, which was a smaller, kid-friendly seat attached to a chair cylinder that looked like it could lift a car. He hopped up into the Frankenstein chair and Peridot pushed him over to her desk. She stood on tiptoes to reach her mouse. Her four-monitor-long screensaver of kawaii aliens doing peace signs vanished. The cursor moved through the four screens like a bullet.
"That receiving tower I constructed not only transmits phone signals, but allows me access to Earth's 'web' at the top available speeds!" Hovering over the screen directly in front of Steven, Peridot opened a web page. "This is where I access Earth's social media, where humans from across the planet are humbled by my keen interpretations of other media. Look at this post I made last week."
Steven read it aloud. "Pierre's decision to leave Camp Pining Hearts without explanation at the end of the fifth season is obviously the result of anguish he gained from his haphazard relationship with Paulette. The agony of seeing Paulette's horrid face daily became too great and relates to me, specifically."
"Yes," said Peridot, "you see, Piercy4lyf8==D liked my post. They commented, 'agreed.'"
Steven saw other comments below Piercy's. They called OmniPeri horrible names and said that that was the season the actor for Peirre had tragically died. What was worse was that Peridot had actually responded to those comments....
Peridot scrolled over to the screen to the right. "Here is where I like to keep databases, both written and recorded, of human advances and knowledge. It helps to learn more about Earth."
Steven noticed that there were so many tabs crammed on this screen that it was impossible to read any of them. "You must know more about Earth than me by now."
"Most likely," she said. She continued to the next screen on the far right. "Here, I run software and applications with dynamic physics engines to simulate future projects."
Peridot swivelled a 3D model of some monstrosity of circuitry and engineering that made the Bubble Base Telescope look benign! Steven said he didn't even know what he was looking at.
"Eh, it'll be some time before its implementation. But, over here--" She raked the cursor all the way over to the far left monitor and spun Steven with it. "Here is where I have those useless documentaries you love so much that only superficially heighten one's emotions! I saw this one earlier today...."
Peridot played a video of a cat with very un-cat-like reflexes. She chortled, "It's funny because it's a disgrace to its species!"
Steven chuckled. "Peridot, this is incredible. How do you keep track of all this stuff?"
"We Peridots--I, especially--are quite proficient in spanning our cognitive abilities over many tasks at once. It goes without saying that we were made for productivity."
"It goes without saying that you. Are amazing!"
"You know it and I know it. Ooh, here, let me show you this!" Peridot picked up her portable recorder. "I've modified my log device to send just recorded data to my computer via email. Furthermore, I've made a program that scans all emails I receive, and any sent from my log device, the attached recording is instantly downloaded and stored into a predesignated folder. They are automatically saved with the current date and time. For example..."
Peridot cleared her throat and punched the record button. "Log date 10 14 2. Steven had arrived a short while ago, and already he is crumpling with adoration at my talents and the extreme at which he misses my presence. It makes me feel... grandiose."
Steven howled, "BIG MOOD!" It made Peridot cackle.
Cocky, she pointed to her monitor. Sure enough, a download had started and completed. Peridot came round and, like a lightning strike, opened up the folder that had her logs.
"That scrollbar is microscopic," said Steven.
"Immaterial." Peridot brought up a search bar, typed a couple numbers and the page instantly took them to the latest file. She played it. BIG MOOD!
"And with that, I can delete this data on my recorder and make room for more."
Steven applauded. His claps were sharp in the echo of the little cave and it made him weaken them until there was silence.
Peridot sighed, her few moments in the spotlight snuffed out.
Steven looked around the room. Disregarding the computer, it felt like a homeless person lived here. And maybe that homeless person was a warlock, young and on a journey of self-discovery, cutting himself off from all civilization, going stir-crazy in doing so, with him only his books and the unventilated fumes from his cauldron brews. Every nook was hard with an outrage that never reached the light of day. Over never being satisfied. Over never being good enough.
"What do you guys do for fun?"
"Fun?" Peridot repeated.
"You and Topaz."
Peridot's gaze drifted over to Topaz's side and onto the bed. She hummed fondly. "Remember things."
"Yeah?" Steven said, piqued.
"Like--we were just talking about this last night--one time we were both assigned to the same operation to a distant star system, which was so improbable that Garnet is more likely to unfuse herself. The only other time it happened was how we met." Steven smiled. Perdiot was giddy. "And I don't know if it was because I was there, but Topaz was high strung in that devious way, and she had a smart remark for anything I had to say to her. She wasn't taking her position on board seriously at all!" Peridot flopped her hands around. "Ugh! She aggravated me so much! She just kept finding excuses to come into the control room. She even once said she was lost. And it worked!" Peridot grimaced. "You'd have to be a Ruby to get lost on an interstellar space craft carrier! They're made to transport many different kinds of Gems so the layout is ridiculously straightforward.
"Oh, my stars, then the Laguna Agate--the captain of the ship--caught us canoodling in our little tryst tucked away in the far corner of the space craft bay. And Topaz just looked her right in the eye and told her we were merely doing a final systems check on all the docked ships, which was why I was there. And you know what?" Peridot leaned in closer. "She bought it. Even said it was a good idea, can you believe it? Every ship is always run through diagnostics before deployment. But, luckily for us, war makes you paranoid!"
"Hm. That's cute," murmured Steven. He felt strange saying such a thing. From Peridot's memory, he wondered if he knew the same Topaz. He wondered the same about Peridot.
In this moment, he wondered what Peridot and Topaz were like together, then and now. How were they before they met? What else has changed about them, and why? What was left behind?
Why did happiness have to be one of those things?...
It was a sudden interjecting thought that stunned his stream of consciousness. His mind wandered, wondered if the thought had any credence.
As he was searching, a cork board he didn't notice before took his attention. It was next to Peridot's desk, on a stack of boxes, leaning against the cave's wall. Photos were tacked to it. they were black and white--mostly black--and grainy with x- and y-axes framing the images, whatever they were. There were 13 in total.
"We talk about the future, too," said Peridot. "We talk about things." It was subtle, but her giddiness wasn't in what she just said, and Steven questioned if he actually picked up on it.
He asked anyway. "Peridot?" She looked up at him. "Are you... happy here?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
Steven tried to shake away any implication that he thought otherwise. "Ok. I just thought--"
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
"Why would I still be here if I wasn't?"
"I-I just.... It's nothing. Just wanted to make sure."
"I'm not a fan of the location. It's dry and hot, and there's too much sand. And scorpions suck. But, Topaz likes it out here.... Do I give you the impression that I'm unhappy?"
Steven hopped down from Peridot's chair. "Well... I just want to make sure that you two aren't fighting so much."
"Everyone argues."
"Right. But, sometimes it's felt more than that...."
Peridot seemed to wait for Steven to say more. But, then she said, "We've had our issues, and we're working through them." Steven nodded. "I've known Topaz for a long time. And this is the most calm she's been in... a long time. I believe that part of it is that we're both still adjusting to our new lives. This planet is completely unlike Homeworld. I mean, look at me now." She gestured over to her desk. "I've only now created a comfort zone reminiscent of my former life. It takes time to find your place."
"I guess so," Steven agreed.
"Topaz is coming around. She helps me on big projects. Granted, there's only been the tower, but still."
Steven traded places with Peridot and let her jump up into her chair. She swivelled around to her computer. The way she sat hunched over, not fully docked at her desk, pulled at Steven. "I haven't seen you in person in a while." He wouldn't tell Peridot, but this was one of the reasons he suspected her of being unhappy.
"I know. I just get caught up in things going on here and end up thinking about visiting too late."
"You know you're always welcome."
"I know."
"I really like seeing you, and everyone else would, too." Peridot scoffed. "Even Lapis. She misses watching shows with you."
"What I'd give to see the look on her face when Percy proposed. She must be getting on terribly without me."
Steven chuckled, "Everyone is getting on terribly without you!"
Peridot was laughing. "Garnet has likely forgotten how to speak entirely!"
"And, without you, Pearl's even forgotten how to wash dishes!" That one was a real knee-slapper and Steven buried his face on Peridot's desk, crumpling his lungs in how much he was laughing. When he wiped the tears from his eyes, though, Peridot wasn't laughing and looked like somebody had slapped her in the face. "I-it was just a joke, Peridot. Pearl still washes the dishes three times a day!"
She didn't respond. Steven turned and followed her gaze past him.
His heart tumbled out of his chest and smacked against the cavern floor. Without it, his backbone caved.
Silhouetted in the mouth of the cave was Topaz. The green from Peridot's desktop illuminated the contours of her face and reflected off of her eyes. A gargoyle in the green, and blocking the way of the light at the end of the tunnel, she had the nostril flare of that monster dimension from whence she came, and wafting in with her poured the hot plume of stink. Her stone shoulders rose and fell like locomotive pistons starting up to pull the train.
"Topaz...." warned Peridot. "If you do anything to him... I will make your life a living hell...."
"I'm just going to talk to him," she said.
"If you even..."
Topaz chugged over to the desk. "I'm just going to talk to him...."
"Don't you dare!" Peridot jumped down from her chair and got in front of Steven.
Topaz threw whatever she had in her hands to the side. "I'm just going to talk to him." She reached out.
"Stop it, Topaz! Stop it! You let him go right now!" Topaz had Steven by the shirt collar and Peridot grabbed Topaz's arm as hard as she could. Steven apologized and tried not to fight back, but Topaz was having none of it.
Topaz pulled Peridot off of herself, and lifted Steven up. "I'm just. Going. To talk. To him." Then, without looking down, she said, "Then I'm going to talk to you when I'm done."
Peridot kept jumping and screaming at Topaz to put Steven down. She was too small to stop her and Topaz had Steven out of her reach. Topaz said, "You aim to take her away from me? That your game?"
"Never!" said Steven.
"PERIDOT, SHUT UP! If you take this away from me, I will come after you and take everything you know and love. I will destroy you, as you destroyed me. And I'm just going to watch as you crumble." Her breath smelled like a gargoyle's and her fist was like steel.
Once they were out of the cave, Topaz jumped high into the air without hesitation, leaving Peridot behind. She hooked the ledge of the cliff and hoisted Steven over.
Steven said to her, "I just wanted to see her! I missed her! Please, don't blame Peridot!"
Topaz shook him to shut him up. "How can I say this as clearly as possible? I don't like you. I don't like you being here. Show your face here again and I will beat you down." She pulled him in real close. "Nothing will stop me. Not you. Not your Crystal Gems. Not Peridot. This is your final warning."
Neither of them said anything all the way over to the warp pad. Steven wanted this over as soon as possible.
Topaz threw him down. "Go."
He picked himself up from the sand and got on the warp pad. "I've only ever tried to help you," he said. "Please don't--"
"I said go."
Forced to swallow his heart, Steven left Topaz and the Kindergarten and warped into his living room.
Pearl remarked that he wasn't gone long. She asked him why he was so dirty.
Steven told the Gems everything. He knew Topaz and Peridot were fighting as he spoke. Grayness colored his sight and made him want to cry. If he'd done anything more it would have only made things worse. The Gems told him that.
Without another word, Garnet chugged over to the warp pad and folded her arms. She vanished.
Steven stayed up that night crying. Garnet wasn't gone long, but it was dark when she got back. Steven didn't say anything because he didn't want to talk or hear what happened. He just wanted to stay in his bed and cry.
...
The next day, Garnet told him that he was free to come and go as he pleased to the Beta Kindergarten, that he needn't worry about Topaz anymore. The thing was, it didn't really please him to be able to do so.
...
It was the same day when Steven received a text from Peridot.
"im coming over"
If Steven was being honest with himself, he didn't feel like having company. But, he braced himself and told the Gems.
Peridot arrived looking drained, with her shoulders hung low and darkness under her eyes. Steven greeted her and took her to the living room where everyone else was waiting for her. Peridot sunk into the couch.
"Wassup, boo? How you livin'?"
Peridot shook her head. "I'm trying all I can to make this work...." Pearl nodded in a wide arc. "How dare she say that I don't try hard enough.... That really hit me, you know?"
Garnet scooted closer to her. "Tell us all about it, sweetie."
Steven found himself not wanting to listen, but he had to be supportive for Peridot.
"The way she just pulled me off of her, and yelled at me to shut up, like I was some pest.... She's always been like that." Anger was a particularly ugly look for Peridot and she spoke in a bitter tone. "The times when she's gotten upset with me, she's always looked down on me--more than just physically, you know--like she expected better out of me. She said she expects a certain compliance out of me."
Amethyst said, "Uh-uh, you better not take that."
"It's barbaric to say the least," added Pearl.
Garnet nodded.
"Right?" said Peridot. "Excuse you, but I expect a certain compassion out of you."
"Did you tell her that?" said Amethyst.
"Of course!"
"Good. She needs to get it through her head that you are not to be taken lightly. And you are a Gem and you deserve to be treated as such."
"Like, I get that you have trust issues, but you and me and where we are now? This is not a battlefield."
"Is that her excuse?" Pearl sneered.
"I know that she sees it that way."
Amethyst ranted, "We've been though that junk, too. What's she tryna do? Use that to--what?--compensate for something she ain't got? That compassion, maybe?"
Peridot shifted. "It's not like she's completely mean-spirited. But, I can't stand that she has to look at everything as a fight to be fought. I mean, sometimes it's... it.... But, a lot of the times it's just frustrating."
Garnet hummed. "We can't disregard someone's behavior just because we've had similar experiences. She may have experienced them differently. I'm not defending Topaz, but we can't discredit that reality."
"I don't think I can discredit what a conflict we had yesterday." Peridot snarled. "She said, do you even care about what we have?"
"She didn't," uttered Pearl.
"She did. And--huh!--get this--then she said we wouldn't have this if it wasn't for the sacrifices she made."
"Oh, shut up," slugged Amethyst. "You wouldn't have anything at all if we didn't save your stinkin' life."
"And then I said to her," Peridot continued, "Your sacrifices? What about my sacrifices? What about what you... put me through last year? Was that for us?" Then she spoke quickly, "And it just--it just makes me ill to even remember it...."
It made Steven sick, too.
"Oh," she said, turning to Garnet, "and then you showed up." She paused and nobody said a thing as Peridot set her sights on her. "You were the last one she wanted to see. And, honestly, me, too. I knew what was going to happen. And it did happen. And it only made things worse."
Steven, to his misfortune, pictured it.
"I'm sorry," said Garnet. "But, she threatened Steven. And I will not tolerate that."
Peridot sighed. "I know.... It was so stupid. It was all so stupid. She doesn't see any of you on her side. Not one bit." She waved a hand at Garnet. "She hates you the most. Let me tell you, I haven't see that kind of hatred come out of her since Jasper."
"They know each other?" marveled Amethyst.
She nodded. "Oh, yes." She kept nodding. "Oh, yes...."
"At least we don't have to worry about them teamin' up."
Peridot grimaced. "That would never happen."
"Ok. Sorry...."
"And I know what you're thinking: is there anyone she doesn't hate? She doesn't trust anyone but herself, and me, of course. She hasn't a choice if she wants me around. And I like having her around, too, but sometimes she gets uncontrollably frustrating and I don't know what to do!
"Like, just earlier, when she finally came back after Garnet had left. She clomped her way in, all miserable and exhausted from wasting so much energy. She sat down on the bed, away from me. I could just feel her bothered by my being there, especially at my desk. She probably blamed me for everything that'd happened."
Peridot used a dumb voice, "'Turn it off.' ...I said, excuse you? 'I wanna sleep. Turn it off.' You never had an issue with it before. 'I want it off. Now.' That made me so mad. I told her to shut up. But, she got up and jerked out my power cable and tore it in half."
"No," said Amethyst assertively, "you're not gonna take that. Bunk that. Go jump in a grave. She can't just--"
"Amethyst," said Garnet. Amethyst saw Peridot and swallowed herself.
"Anyway," Peridot said, shifting, "she told me to just go somewhere so she could sleep."
"Pitiful," said Pearl, shaking her head. "What a jerk."
"To say the least," admitted Peridot, looking at Amethyst. "But, I'm at my wit's end. I don't know what to do. I'm here now, and that's all I can muster to think about."
"Sounds tah me like she even looks at you like an enemy."
"I didn't... mean to make it sound like it's so bad--"
"You just went on a tirade about her."
"I mean, I didn't mean to make it sound like this happens all the time! It doesn't."
"But, she still treats you like garbage."
"It's not--! A lot of things happened and she was angry...."
"And that's when she bullies you."
"Topaz needs to value you, Peridot," Pearl interjected. "She needs to value you or you walk. She has no right to treat you that way because she's mad. Give her that ultimatum. And if she's not willing to put in the effort then... you walk."
"But," said Peridot. "I'm all she's got."
"Peridot," said Garnet. Peridot looked up at her like a child. "If this behavior from Topaz is a continual problem, I strongly urge you not to see it that way. I urge you against making unnecessary sacrifices. Your happiness is important. And happiness is not one-sided in a relationship. It can't be forced, either. If one is unhappy, so is the other. Don't let the belief that you are the only one she has tie you down to an unhappy relationship." She rested her hand on Peridot's shoulder. "We are always here for you. Topaz, too. If ever she needs us."
"R-really?..."
"Despite any conflict between us, Earth is her home now and she is a Gem. The Crystal Gems will defend her and her freedom like all others who choose Earth as their home."
Garnet was strong and serene in her sincerity and it was warming, and it reassured Steven that Peridot would always be safe no matter what happened. He supposed it was that quality that made her a great leader.
"I've said my peace," Garnet conceded. "I think it best if you stay here for now."
"Yes," said Pearl, hugging Peridot. "Stay as long as you need."
Peridot then looked to Amethyst, who reassured her by nodding, then to Steven (which was the first time since she got there). He smiled and nodded.
"Whatever you decide, Peridot" said Garnet, "let it be Topaz who has to come to you. Not the other way around. Let her know you're not to be taken lightly. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Peridot nodded weakly.
"Is there anything else you want to say?"
Peridot shook her head. Weakly.
Garnet rose. "Let us know if you need anything."
Later, in the afternoon, Steven and Peridot went up to see Lapis. Peridot's and Lapis' reunion was a little awkward at first, but nice. They spent the afternoon relaxing and watching old TV shows and it was exactly what Peridot needed. "I'm going to stay here for a little longer," she told Steven when it was almost dinner time. "I'll probably see you tomorrow."
Steven told her that was ok and gave her a hug and told her he loved her. She still seemed dazed. Steven couldn't blame her.
Contrary to how he felt this morning, Steven was glad Peridot was here. He knew she was sad right now, but at least he didn't have to worry about her. Too, on his way home was the first time he didn't ignore the thought of whether or not he was afraid of Topaz, or that he was afraid she would physically hurt Peridot. It was all a sickening thing to reify.
Pearl made tortellini for dinner.
...
It was the next morning and Steven went out to the barn to see how Peridot was doing. She seemed well. With her metal telekinetic ability, she had a watering can floating in the air. "Out of my own generosity, I've decided to give Lazuli the help she needs with the daily watering," she said. With minor strain and a dramatic grunt, Peridot tilted the watering can and dribbled out some water over a stalk of corn. She pouted and swayed her head at her own coolness and it made Steven giggle.
Overhead, though, a lake's worth of water drifted past them and to the crops. The mass then began to rain down gently over the entire field, including Peridot's single stalk of corn.
Peridot eyeballed the culprit behind her--Lapis Lazuli--low-down blue devil. The devil twiddled her fingers at Peridot pompously.
"That's fine," she said. "I don't care. I can still water the potted plants." She took her can and sauntered past Lapis with her nose in the air, to a gaggle of flowers and things around the barn's entrance.
Lapis looked at Steven and shrugged Peridot away.
After the watering was done, the three of them took a stroll through the crop field. Peridot remarked how much she missed the green and the moisture in the air and the smell, and that the only garden she could grow out in the desert would be made of pain trees and skeleton bushes. Lapis told her flat that she should move back in.
"I am, sort of, for the time being."
"Well," said Lapis, "you should visit more often. All this isn't going anywhere."
Peridot smiled. "No, it isn't."
When they said goodbye to Lapis, when it was about lunch time, Peridot requested to take the long way back, through Beach City.
On the way, Steven wasn't sure what to talk about because he just kept thinking about yesterday, so he just said the only other thing that popped into his head. "It's a nice day today. Not too hot, not too cold. And the wind feels nice."
"The wind does feel nice." Peridot looked up at the rocky hills near them by the road that overlooked Beach City. Her silence didn't make Steven uncomfortable and he suddenly felt inclined to talk on.
"The other day," he began, "me and my dad and Connie and Amethyst all went to this seafood place before we dropped Connie off at her house. I forget what the place was called, but it was pretty good. Pe King Harbor, or something, I dunno. Anyway, after we ate and dropped Connie off, on the way home Amethyst got really gassy! Prolly cuz she ate clam shells with her clams! We had to roll down the windows! And then dad was lettin' 'em go, too; he was so relieved! And so was I! It sure was some drive home!"
Peridot, while Steven was doubling over, was amused with him. "Human obsession with biological flatulence is particularly bewildering."
"It was so funny! I just hope that whatever Connie had didn't do the same to her. Otherwise, her parents might think she was trying to learn how to play the tuba!"
Steven and Peridot talked about other silly things, though it was mostly Steven talking about the others he loved. Along the way home, they had run into Sour Cream, who had never met Peridot before. He told her he really dug her hairstyle.
"It makes me wanna raaaaaave!" He gave them glow sticks as a parting gift.
Steven was particularly hungry by the time they got to the beach, but he took his time to stroll with Peridot.
"You don't appreciate what Earth has to offer until you give it the time of day." Steven was surprised at Peridot's sudden sincerity as she gazed out to the ocean, especially as they had just been talking about donuts and other pastries and French people.
Looking at the water and the beach and the sky as it moved and was one, like television couldn't recreate, Steven agreed with her.
Up the stairs, Steven swung open his door and, stomach empty, he shouted gleefully, "Amethyst! Ya eat any clams lately! Cuz I think I smell somethin'!"
Topaz was sitting on the couch.
Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet were standing in the living room with their arms crossed or akimbo; they had Topaz surrounded.
Topaz didn't have her back against the couch. She was sitting on the edge and grasping the cushion on either side. She lifted her head and looked at Steven, huffing like a boxer in between rounds. Then she looked next to him and straightened up.
Peridot wore that expression of being slapped in the face. "What's going on?"
"I was hoping you weren't coming home with Steven," stated Pearl woefully.
"Peridot," said Topaz.
"Don't talk. To me...." Peridot crossed into the living room and stood between Garnet and Pearl, the coffee table dividing Topaz from her.
"...Can we--"
"Stop," commanded Peridot--a new combatant had entered the ring, and sized up her opponent. She took her time to cross her arms and to lean her weight on one leg. Topaz's fingers dug into the couch.
"How dare you treat me like that," said Peridot.
"I--"
"Stop." Topaz, impeded, dropped her breath on the floor. "All I did was invite Steven over--actually, I had to lie to him to get him to come out there because of you--and you tossed him out like garbage. Then you did the same to me."
"I didn't--"
"Stop."
"--toss you out!"
Pearl shook her head. Steven, who didn't get much closer to everyone, could tell Amethyst wanted to say something by the way she muscled her cheeks, but she didn't.
Peridot jeered, "You may as well have...."
Lines burrowed into Topaz's face. Steven could tell she wanted to say something, but didn't. She palmed her forehead and her eyes.
"All that I do for you," continued Peridot, "and you tell me to leave? All that I've--"
"Can we go somewhere to talk?"
"--sacrificed just to be with you, and you tell me to get lost?! You want me to drop everything here and move in with you in the middle of nowhere? Ok, Topaz. You want me to cut off all interaction with everyone standing here now? Ok, Topaz. You want me to leave you alone? Ok, Topaz! What about what I want?"
Fettered to the couch, Topaz sighed.
"What was that? Were you about to say, 'what about what you want?' Is that it?"
Topaz shook her head abrasively.
"You need to value me, appreciate what I give you that no one else can. You need to give me the time of day to appreciate me." Topaz let her hand fall from her face and stared at Peridot. "What I give you without having to physically do anything. Who I am. What I've given up just to be with you. Don't think you can bully me just because I'm smaller than you. That you're stronger than me. I don't deserve that. I deserve your respect. I deserve happiness. And if you can't give me that... then I walk. I'm gone for good!"
Topaz looked sternly at Peridot. She was stiff as a board for a straight minute, and Peridot just let her stare.
Amethyst and Pearl were flummoxed. Steven had low blood sugar.
Then Peridot challenged Topaz. "See what happens...."
Suddenly Topaz stood up. She shoved the coffee table to the side, and Amethyst had to move out of its way. Pearl drew her spear and Garnet stepped in front of Peridot, stopping Topaz, who stared through her like she wasn't there.
Peridot did not falter one bit. She stood there like royalty, then dismissed her loyal guards with a wave of her hand. "Move out of the way." Garnet shared a glance with Pearl before doing so. Pearl lowered her spear from Topaz's neck.
Topaz closed the distance, and, high and mighty, Peridot stared her down. "Finally got something to say for yourself?"
Topaz took her time to get down on her knees. Queen Peridot crumbled, and a more familiar, servile Peridot took her place. "Well?!"
Topaz whispered to her, "Let's talk somewhere."
"Eh?..." To her side, Peridot noticed Garnet shaking her head. "N-no. If you have anything to say, you can say it in front of everyone."
Topaz clamped up and shuddered. Steven didn't feel sorry for her.
"If you don't have anything to say, then you can just--"
"I almost lost you again," whispered Topaz.
Everyone's lips parted. Peridot looked perplexed. "What did you say?" Steven didn't know how she couldn't have heard her.
"It was because of me. I drove you out. I... I'm trying... to be better. I want to be better... for you...."
It got so quiet that Steven could feel the sand falling off his sandals onto the floor. He could feel the tension in his joints, in his hands, his knees, his back. His stomach pinched him because he was hungry, and he felt he couldn't breathe unless it was through his mouth.
The atmosphere zeroed in on Peridot's response.
She said, "Look at me when you say that. Open your eyes." She said this sincerely, and Topaz shuddered again. Her brow dug so deep over her eyes it looked painful, and that pain filled her face.
And then she started to cry.
She didn't whimper, she didn't squeak, she didn't sob. But, there were rivers that spilled down her cheeks and onto her self and the floor. All her willpower seemed to try and suck them up back into her eyes.
Topaz lifted her head, facing Peridot, and opened her eyes. "I still can't see you...." Her words fumbled out of her mouth.
Peridot melted. "Oh, you precious thing." She took Topaz's head into her arms, and let her cry.
Amethyst looked away sourly. Pearl did the same without being so sour. Garnet just stood there with a hand on her hip. Steven didn't know what to do with himself or anything. He just looked around on the floor for something that wasn't there.
"Come back. I need you," Topaz quivered. "Whatever you need, I'll do it. You can come here whenever you want. Whenever you want...."
"Clod," said Peridot. "You weren't about to lose me. I just... wanted an apology... and to be appreciated."
Topaz nodded into Peridot's shoulder. "I'm sorry." Peridot melted. "I'm sorry."
Peridot ran her fingers through Topaz's hair.
Garnet stepped away and went outside. Slowly, but surely, the rest of the Crystal Gems followed her. Steven sidled onto the porch, where he found her looking out in the direction of the ocean breeze.
"Garnet?" he said.
"Let them be," was all she said.
Pearl was looking off her own way and Amethyst, when Steven met her gaze, shook her head.
As time went on, he tried to focus on the wind and the washing of the sea shore, but that was overshadowed by how empty he felt (and that wasn't just because he was starving). Steven couldn't find it in him to feel strongly about what he just saw, what was happening, what its effects will be, or even about who was involved. It was either that this turn of events happened so suddenly and unexpectedly, and so closely with other things, that he didn't know what to make of all of it, or it was that old thing where he didn't want to have an opinion about anything or anyone until he had the full picture--everyone's motives, feelings--what and why. Either way, Steven was adrift.
Eventually, Peridot came out onto the porch. She told everyone that she was going back with Topaz to the desert. She assured the Crystal Gems that she and Topaz would be ok. "I'll have to get a new power cable. She'd best be lucky all my applications autosave or I'd really let her have it," she chuckled.
Steven could only smile meekly. Peridot smiled back. She hugged him. "I'll have to say goodbye to Lapis, too, before I go." She made her way back inside to the warp pad with Topaz. Peridot waved one last goodbye, and then was gone.
"What just happened," exclaimed Amethyst. "Is Peridot crazy?!"
Pearl sighed, "I think Topaz is, though."
Garnet didn't say anything and just moved the coffee table back to where it belonged and sat down on the couch.
It was too mysterious and frustrating and awkward to be around so many different opinions in the moment, so Steven decided to leave.
Halfway out the door, Garnet called to him. "I'm just going for a walk," he said.
The screen door shut itself behind him. Steven had never seen Topaz cry more than a single tear before, and suddenly he felt sorry for her.
He almost left the bottom step before he remembered how hungry he was.
...
Later that evening, Steven found the Gems sitting on the porch, talking about it.
"I know Topaz is just playing her," said Amethyst. "She's just playing this game where she treats Peridot like garbage all she wants until Peridot says she's had enough and leaves, and then Topaz comes to her like some stupid puppy and begs her to come back, just like we saw today." She leaned forward. "Yeah, see if that doesn't happen again."
Pearl opened up. "I saw desperation in Topaz today. I'm not trying to defend her, but I've been down that road and it's very destructive. And for Peridot to give consent to that desperation? It's destructive in it's own right. They are two very different Gems. And not because they're two different types of Gems. Whether they're actually ignorant or they choose to have ignorance, I think they hurt one another without intending to."
Pearl leaned her cheek into her palm. "Or maybe they really have gotten to a point where they hate each other but haven't yet realized it themselves. And they simply stay together out of desperation. That's how destructive it can be."
"Despite that," said Garnet, "Peridot and Topaz want to be together. That much we can't change. They obviously have trouble communicating, and they'd sooner drop their frustrations with one another than face them and talk about them.
"Even as they've both risked much for one another since we've known them, I did think it odd that Topaz came here, in what she considers enemy territory, so soon after their incident. But, perhaps she was desperate, as you say.
"Whatever caused today to happen, we don't know what Peridot and Topaz are like when they are alone, and we can't just assume. But, I will say this: even if Peridot's and Topaz's relationship is unhealthy, especially for Peridot, even then there isn't much we can do. If Peridot is to understand that her relationship with Topaz has gone bad, then she will have to come to that conclusion herself. It can't be forced. But, we can help Peridot get to that conclusion, say, when she must come and stay with us again."
"I still say she will," said Amethyst.
The evening fall air was starting to get chilly.
"Garnet," asked Steven. "Do you think Topaz is a bad person?"
Garnet thought for a moment. Amethyst and Pearl awaited her response as well. "I believe that she believes that no one understands her or wants to understand her, when that's not true. And as an effect she shuns everyone. But, she also must come around to that herself. It can't be forced."
...
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
The next day, Amethyst asked Steven at the breakfast counter if there was anything in particular he wanted to do that day. He told her that he hadn't thought that far ahead, that he was probably going to play a video game after he finished eating. "Did you have something in mind?"
"I was just thinking that it'd been a while since we all went and did something together, like... anything."
"Yeah."
"We should do something to just... hang out. Relax," she said. "We could go to that buffet place you like. We haven't been there in a long time."
"Ooh, no, we haven't," hummed Steven. "I love their macaroni."
"Me, too! And there, I can eat whole buffet trays and they don't even kick me out! It's great that they live up to all-you-can-eat!"
Plans were made after breakfast. Greg would join them as well as drive after he closed up the car wash at the end of the day (which could be early since business was slow on week days in fall).
On the way there, as Steven looked around at everyone in the van, he figured that this whole evening was for him. He appreciated his family and loved them. He thought briefly of Peridot and Topaz, not for the first time that day.
At least, he felt it was briefly, but, by the time he quit, they had arrived to the restaurant.
(Steven still thought it funny that he'd been coming to this place for years when, all along, Connie lived, maybe, five minutes away.)
Dinner past by pleasantly (even though Pearl didn't follow everyone inside) and Steven stuffed himself with at least a day's worth of macaroni, never mind the other plates he cleaned. And Amethyst had at least a decade's worth fried mushrooms, never mind the other chafers she dump-trucked.
While Steven was in a food coma on the way home, his father said that it was nice having everyone together and that this should be done again sometime soon. "In fact, I was thinking of having Vidalia and them over for a BBQ one day. Connie and her parents can come, too, if they like."
"Tha'--sou's--greah--dah," gurgled Steven.
"Maybe the weekend after this, huh?"
"...Buh--tha's--pre'y--cloh'--tuh--Ha'owee...."
"Oh, yeah, Halloween's just around the corner, isn't it," Greg mused. "Well, maybe a pre-Halloween cookout. Whaddya think?"
"Ih'uh--'ee--'ahee...."
"I think it will be, too."
...
The afternoon's weather was gentle and pleasant on this All Hallow's Eve-eve. The cookout was being had on the beach outside Steven's home. Nearly all guests invited showed up. "Where's Sour Cream?" Greg had asked Vidalia.
"He's getting ready for a pre-Halloween rave tonight," she said, smiling. "That boy and his music."
Greg said he'd make extra for him. He was the grill-meister, cooking up burgers and hot dogs, and veggie burgers for Connie's family. Yellowtail also brought some fish for him to grill and showed him how to cook it using aluminum foil.
As usual, Lapis Lazuli had also been invited and, as usual, she declined.
Connie's father was shooting the breeze with the grill-meister and Yellowtail, a can of cola helping him talk. The ladies were lounging in some folding chairs around a couple of outdoor tables. Dr. Maheswaran chattered with Garnet, probably about discipline or surgery, or something.
Amethyst and Pearl were hanging out with Vidalia, probably talking about art or mayonnaise or cleaning, or something. Suddenly, Pearl was startled by Onion who grabbed her sash. She politely tried to get him to let go, but it was Onion's mother who made him do so and picked him up in her arms. Smiling, Vidalia said something to him, then glanced in Steven's and Connie's direction. Steven's gut told him that he should take Connie and head for the hills.
Vidalia let Onion loose and he ambled on over, directly in front of Connie. He stared.
"A-afternoon, Sir Onion...." He blinked. Then he looked down, found a seashell and picked it up. Onion offered it to Connie. She reached for it. "For me? You shouldn't ha--" Onion chucked it into the ocean.
He stared.
Connie squinted at him. "Diabolical.... I'm onto you...."
Onion blinked.
Steven and Connie strolled along the beach and the cliff-face above it, fiddling with the sand and rocks and things with their feet as they went, with Onion not far behind, doing all the important things to pass time with one another. Eventually, they came across a flock of seagulls. Onion darted through them, scaring them further down the beach. He kept chasing them.
Connie asked Steven, "Have you heard anything from Peridot?"
"I saw her a couple days ago," he said. "Her new cable for her computer came in, and she stayed a little bit but not too long."
"Did she seem ok?"
"Yeah. I even asked her and she said certainly now that she can get back online."
"And that was that?"
"Pretty much."
"Wow. So it was like nothing had happened, huh?"
"I-I guess," said Steven, scratching. "But, I mean, what was she gonna do? I don't think Peridot would let something like that hang over her even after a week, or let it affect those around her anyway. Besides, she got what she wanted out of the whole thing, so she was happy."
"I suppose."
Steven looked out over the ocean and watched it foam up onto the shore. "I've thought about it since. Especially how the Gems saw it happen in completely different ways from each other. I've gone over it again and again to try and see it their ways, but... it's hard. Like, I can almost touch what they were getting at, but I can't... grab it. If that makes any sense."
Connie lowered her brow. "You told me that you thought Topaz was there out of love."
"Yeah--no--I mean, what I'm saying is that the Gems all saw the whole thing with Topaz and Peridot differently, and I've tried looking at it their ways.
"Take what Amethyst said. That she expects the same kind of thing to happen again, for Peridot to leave and for Topaz to come after her. What does that even mean?"
"That it'll be a cycle," said Connie.
"More than that," urged Steven. "It means that Topaz was being dishonest. Lying to Peridot just to get her to come back and that nothing will change." Connie nodded in realization. "I mean, she told Peridot she wouldn't put up a fight about her coming here anymore, for one. How could she take that back?"
"Yeah. She would be exposed very quickly."
"Exactly," said Steven. "And to lie about needing someone, that you want to be a better person for them is just... wrong. And that would make Topaz a bad person, and I don't think she's a bad person. Especially if Garnet doesn't think so."
"But, Garnet was suspicious of her as well, wasn't she?"
"Yeah, but, I think mostly for the sake of Peridot. Garnet is very protective. And Topaz did a bad thing to Peridot."
"Does treating a person wrong," Connie proposed, "not mean that they are a bad person?"
Steven thought a moment, then shook his head. "Topaz was angry. When you're angry with someone, sometimes you do or say things you don't mean. I've a lot of experience with that, trust me. There's been times when the Gems have physically fought each other." He watched Connie listening. "I think Garnet was just trying to think through everything to see if she could find any dishonesty. And, because of that, I think she might have overthought it and didn't try to look for anything else besides lies.
"Pearl said Topaz was being desperate. I don't really know what it means to be that, but..." Steven thought of himself and Connie in the past, and that she was walking right next to him. "But, there have been times when I've really wanted to talk to someone and express my feelings or guilt, and I've thought of how great it would be to just get it out of the way as soon as I could but have been too afraid to. Maybe Topaz is more brave than me. I'm sure she was feeling so frustrated that day before she came looking for Peridot."
"Maybe," Connie interjected, "what Pearl meant was that Topaz was making a lot of promises she couldn't keep."
Steven searched. "But, then that would just go back to the whole dishonest thing, wouldn't it?"
"Maybe. But, I think what it really means is that Topaz lacks self-awareness if she makes promises she's unable to keep."
"Self-awareness?"
"Understanding one's own character and flaws, one's own motives, emotions, and capabilities--things like that. If Topaz was making promises she can't keep, then she isn't self-aware."
Steven thought about it, then shook his head again. "I think Topaz understands very much her own emotions. I mean--I only get the impression because I barely know her--but the times when I've run into her I feel like she understands herself very much, selfishly. Like, she doesn't want us to know anything about her. And maybe that keeps her from understanding anyone else, or wanting to. But, I know that she knows she knows who she is and knows that we know that she doesn't want us to know what she knows. You know?"
"...I'll take your word for it."
Steven shrugged. "I dunno. But, I do know that what I saw in her that day, after I've gone over it so much in my head, wasn't her telling lies, not understanding herself, or being desperate." Steven stopped walking and shut his eyes. "What I saw in Topaz that day was... embarrassment. Anxiety. Humiliation. Anger. There was anger. And then... humbleness. And sadness...." Steven opened his eyes. "That's what I saw."
Connie said nothing.
"And thinking about her, it's like, I mean... she's not tied down to anything here on Earth. And she's not the type to do nothing about the things she wants. She's aggressive. And to come to my house so soon--like everyone wonders why--I wonder why not? She's got the freedom and the... the, uh... gaunt? to do so."
"You mean the gall to do so?"
"Yeah! The gall! And... Topaz doesn't care what anyone thinks about her. She does what she wants, and goes after what she wants. And what she wants... is Peridot. Like the times before, that's what I saw that day." Steven started to walk more and realized that he and Connie had made it to the Big Donut. "And Peridot was so quick to forgive her, too. She was already willing to forgive her. I can't imagine Peridot that willing to forgive a bad person."
Connie balanced herself on top of the curb to the Big Donut's patio. "Peridot seems to be one to hold a grudge, too."
"To think that everyone saw the situation so differently. It makes me confused!"
"Confused?"
"It makes me wonder if the Gems didn't see Topaz for what she was that day, how she felt, like I did, or if they just ignored that for one reason or another or because of how they felt about her."
"It's understandable, though," said Connie. "She hasn't exactly given them the best impression of herself."
"But, last week she did! Like before, she showed me how much she cares for Peridot and wants her in her life. Why can't the Gems see that?"
"Maybe they see something you don't."
"That also bugs me. It makes me wonder if everyone sees things and people differently, and if the reason why they do is because of their experiences."
Connie stopped and contemplated Steven, a public waste bin between them. "I'm sure that has something to do with it, but that can't be all there is to it. Life is hardly ever so simple."
Steven said, "I guess. I just wonder, and wonder if any one person's opinion should be taken as the right opinion or if people let things like their experiences get in the way of the real deal."
The middle of Connie's forehead reached up to her pumpkin hairband. Then, all at once like an explosion, her hair engulfed her face and her arms flew forward. She landed on her rear. Steven, too, fell on his bottom.
Trash had them surrounded. Cups, wrappers, and always-free napkins had burst from the waste bin between Steven and Connie. Poking out of the bin was Onion, praising the sun.
Steven growled, "Makes me really wonder about Onion, too!"
They harvested their Onion from the trash and moseyed back over to the party to enjoy freshly grilled burgers, hot dogs, fish and other stuff.
...
Topaz leaned down to mumble something into Peridot's ear. Peridot was sitting in her chair at her desk, so Topaz didn't have to bend over so far.
Peridot nodded. "Ok." She faced Topaz and they kissed. It was a small kiss, but Steven sunk in his seat a little further all the same. Luckily all he saw was Peridot's hair from where he was.
Then Topaz left. And Steven didn't see her again that day.
...
The next time Steven came to visit, Topaz was asleep. He prayed she wouldn't wake up while he was there, but she did. She sat up on her elbow and strained a look into the glow of Peridot's computer. Then she met Steven's gaze. He felt cornered, like his free pass to come and go had been a figment of Topaz's dream.
Out. Topaz rolled over and went back to sleep.
...
Topaz was not there during Steven's next visit.
...
On one blisteringly sunny evening, Peridot wanted to show Steven her cultivation of desert plants since, by now, some of them have borne ripened fruit. They rode her elevator that she had made from an automated pulley system and dumbwaiter from the pit of the canyon to the top; Peridot couldn't be expected to do any such pauper thing as climbing, and Topaz wasn't always around to carry her. Nor could she be expected to carry her own weight, hence the elevator being hands-free.
Topaz still preferred her mode of transportation: one jump and done. "'It's more practical,'" Peridot said in a dumb voice. "I didn't fail to mention how practical it was for her to shut her mouth--that she was wasting energy and made her face more asinine by saying anything at all." She laughed.
Past Peridot's transmitting and receiving tower was her bone-dry garden. There were rugged bushes and shrubs, a couple of spindly trees, a plethora of cacti, and even a few types of flowers that weren't growing on top of something that looked like it came straight from the movie Infernoraiser. The garden resembled a circuit board in organization, with every plant meticulously divided in rows by phylum, then branching off in more rows from class down to species. The garden had its own vitality despite being made of bones; it wasn't loud but it was strong and had color and was handsome to Steven.
Peridot was giving Steven the tour when, amid her small militia of standing cacti, she balked. "...What on Earth is this...?" She faced a hauntingly, familiarly shaped cactus with a bulbous upper story that was particularly triangular.
Steven looked back and forth from it to Peridot. "It looks like you."
She blinked. "Did Topaz find this?"
Steven walked around it, rubbing his chin. "I guess."
"Huh! And she thought it too gorgeous to pass up!" Peridot emphasized with her thoughts with her hands just in case Steven was deaf. "It does embody me quite metaphorically. The shape: my resplendence! The spines: my danger! The cactus as a symbol: succulent on the inside, deadly on the out! I understand completely how she couldn't let this image alone!"
Steven put a hand over his mouth. "You sure about that?"
Peridot, brows knitted, walked around to the other side of the cactus. "What are you...!" Her jaw dropped. A crude face had been carved into the cactus' "head." The expression was foul with its mouth hung open and resembled a child's rendition of a spazz, dumb Gem included on the dumb forehead.
Steven chuckled into his hand.
Peridot huffed. "Oh, she's going to pay for this...." She shoved a finger toward Steven. "Mark my words...."
...
On one occasion, Topaz entered the cave dirty and sweaty. She was roiled and there were headphones slung around her shoulders.
"You're back early," stated Peridot.
Topaz plodded to the back of the cave where her stacks of boxes were. "Broke."
"Another one?"
"Fragile like humans." She retrieved a thin black square from a box that could fit a hundred. She took it to Peridot's desk and plugged it into her computer. Peridot opened a file containing a long list of music (nothing like Sour Cream's list, but still)--2,825 items. Peridot clacked a couple keys that highlighted everything and dumped it onto Topaz's device. Steven recognized a few songs on the list. Rock and heavy metal. She paced while her songs downloaded.
"What've you been doing?" Steven dared to ask.
Topaz looked at him as if the gazelle just asked the lion about its day. Peridot answered for her. "She's been training."
"Like... fight moves?"
"Your download is done." Topaz unplugged her MP3 player.
"That's funny. I didn't know Gems needed to train."
"We don't," Topaz said bluntly. "Once learned, it's indefinite." She plugged her headphones into her new, out-of-box player. "There's more to learn. And sometimes..." She scrutinized him. "I get restless...." Topaz shoved her MP3 into her headband and shoved her headphones into her ears.
She left without a cause.
Peridot briefly took her eyes off her screens to flatly say this to Steven: "I like when she gets restless."
...
Topaz never showed during Steven's next visit.
...
Topaz, sitting on her bed, took up her guitar--the electric one (cause now she had more)--and started to pick at it. The melody was dreamy. Sad yet hopeful. The sound of it in the cave made it somewhat psychedelic.
"I know this song," reveled Steven. "My dad's listened to it before. Yeah!
There you are.
I will send you an angel.
There you are,
On the cusp of the evening star...."
Steven trailed off. Topaz had stopped playing. "...Sorry...."
Topaz sighed. She looked down at her guitar, as if trying to decide where her fingers should go for another song. But, instead, she set it down and left.
...
Steven had brought along one of his guitars this time because he had had the wonderful idea to play with Topaz.
"So, this is the one you started learning with, I think. I thought it'd be fun, y'know? I mean, if you wanted to...."
He waited for her to respond but he worked up a sweat from him and her just staring at each other. She just stood there looking him in the eye. Finally, she shook her head. Steven frowned.
"You should do it," said Peridot, who swivelled around in her chair and hadn't seen Topaz's answer. "Doing anything with Steven is fun."
Topaz shook her head again, but differently.
"At this rate, you'll never make friends."
"I said no," she barked.
Peridot swivelled back around. "Ok! Fine! You don't have to freaking do it! I just thought it would be nice!"
Topaz's chest puffed out. But, keeping the lid on her top, she shook her head repulsively at the back of Peridot's head. Topaz glanced at Steven and then spat air through her teeth. She left. Again.
Steven saw Peridot shake her head once Topaz was gone. He looked down at the guitar in his lap. He shook his head.
...
Steven saw Topaz walking away into the desert badlands when he came to see Peridot again. He didn't see her again that day.
...
Topaz had come into the den once and laid down in her bed with a sigh. She stared up at the ceiling, the sound of ballistic pecking echoing in the room from Peridot typing an extensive post for her blog. "Did you have to get such a loud touch-stump typer?" said she, finally. "It's ten automatic weapons firing off in my head...."
"It's called a mechanical keyboard and the sound is satisfying," answered Peridot casually.
"It's obnoxious."
"Then it's a perfect match for me, isn't it?"
"Like honesty and Abe," she said languidly.
"That's me. Always honest. Peridot the Pure. And now I'll purely say this: if you don't like the noise, then get rid of your sound wave funnels."
"Abe never surrendered."
"Abe wasn't a soldier. Yes, he did serve, but for less than three months, and he never saw combat."
Peridot kept hammering her keyboard. Topaz blinked. Wrinkles scrawled into her nose. Yet, her ears vanished and she rolled onto her side to go to sleep.
Steven ate his lips.
...
"So, today I was helping Peridot water her bone garden," Steven told the Gems, "which is done, like, once every hundred years she told me!"
"Oh, I'm sure she didn't exaggerate," Pearl remarked, washing the dishes from dinner.
"No, but she did say it was the first time in two weeks she's had to do any watering!
"Anyway, we got water from a pump she made that went into the ground. Topaz wasn't there, but it was ok because we didn't have to water everything, just the flowers and bushes and stuff. The cactuses were fine."
"Cacti," Pearl enunciated. "Mama didn't raise no fool."
Steven grinned. "Cacti. The cac-TI didn't need watering." Pearl was content as she placed another dish on the rack. "Anyway, when we were done and were rolling up the hose, I saw this thing there that looked like a lawnmower, so I looked at Peridot like this, and said: 'Got a lawn to mow?'
"And she looked at me like this, and was like, what? But, she told me it wasn't a lawnmower, but a... she said it was somethin', but it's a radar that you can use to see into the ground with. She said she used it to figure out where water was for her pump."
"Neat," said Amethyst, picking her nose. (Pearl had told her a million times before not to do that at the kitchen counter, or to do it period.)
"I just can't get over how pretty desert flowers are. I never expected it. They all seem like tiny explosions of the evening sky."
"How poetic," said Garnet.
"I did feel romantic as I said it," said Lord Byron. "And then I told Peridot what a green thumb she has for making stuff grow even in the desert!"
"Ugh! Her whole body's green! You can't keep makin' that joke!"
Steven was snickering. "But, it's so funny!"
"You're such a dork." Amethyst smiled.
Pearl finished the dishes and dried her hands and walked into the living room to straighten it. Steven twisted around on his stool. "It sounds like it was lovely," she said.
"After that," he continued, "we just hung out watching silly videos for a while until I left to come home."
With everything straightened, put away, and with Steven's bed clothes laid out for him, Pearl took her leave and hugged Steven goodnight. Amethyst ended up crashing on the couch, undoing Pearl's handiwork. Garnet told Steven she was glad he had fun and went into the Temple as well.
As Steven lay in his bed (Lion at its foot) and was looking out at the night sky, he whispered, "Amethyst! You awake?!" He concluded she wasn't after no response. He wanted to tell her that he recently learned that purple was the color of royalty and thought that she would get a kick out of being called majesty.
...
The next morning, Steven awoke to the smell of pancakes. Garnet had made them and they were shaped like hearts. She made them specifically for Steven so Amethyst settled with downing the rest of the pancake batter.
After breakfast, Garnet asked if she could speak with him alone. They walked out onto the porch, to a breezy and sunny morning. But, to Steven, the wind was a little too strong, the sun, too bright, the air, too salty.
"I want to talk to you about something you mentioned last night," Garnet began, leaning on the balustrade.
"Like, about the flowers or something?"
"Not exactly." She pushed her shades back up the bridge of her nose. "You spoke of Peridot's water reservoir and what she used in the first place to find where to put it."
"Th-the lawnmower?"
"Yes. The radar."
"Ok?"
"Have you ever seen Peridot use it?"
"I never saw it before yesterday. Why?"
"Has she ever shown you any images made with it, or have you seen any lying around on her desk?"
"I... don't think so. I...!" Steven recalled the photos he saw some months ago that were tacked to a cork board that was leaning against the wall of the cave. "...Maybe? Th-they were black and white. I didn't pay much attention to them."
Garnet knelt down to Steven's level. "Can you find them?"
"Uh...." He shook off his nerves. "What's going on? Why is this important?"
She was looking straight at him when she said smoothly, "They're merely suspicions, we can't jump to conclusions."
"What are...?"
Then Garnet said crossly, "There are reasons why she doesn't trust us. She hides so much from us. How should this be any different?"
"Garnet?"
"This doesn't imply anything.----We have to find those pictures."
"Garnet!"
She collected herself. "I'm sorry, Steven. I--"
"What's there to be suspicious about?"
Garnet stood up. "I know you trust Peridot and admire her. So do we. But, there's something about Topaz.... I can't shake the feeling that she's hiding something."
"But, I thought we'd been over this? That she lives on Earth now and that we'd do anything to protect her. ...Y-you still don't trust her?"
"She doesn't trust us. And that gives her more than enough reason to hide things from us--"
"You don't trust her, do you."
Garnet sighed. "I don't. I can't. I--"
Steven clenched the tassels to his pajama pants. "What in the world about Topaz could have you not trust her? What in the world could she be doing now that would make you like this? Peridot trusts her! Isn't that enough?!"
"I think Peridot might be helping her."
"Helping her what?!"
"...I suspect Topaz might be growing new Gems."
...
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
"I keep coming back to it. The container we took from Topaz, and what she said when we wrestled it from her. Making an army.... Seizing Earth.... Of course I wouldn't believe it--she's reckless, appalling, and so self-conceited she doesn't seem the conspiratorial type, much less, capable of it. But, it's the serum I keep returning to. It looked wrong. Felt wrong. True, it had been lying for thousands of years, but I couldn't shake the feeling.
"It wasn't nearly enough for a single Gem, but I had to test it for myself. No matter how long I waited, it remained liquefied. I don't know if that's an effect of age.
"Then I checked the injectors in the Beta Kindergarten--they were all dry. The ones from Amethyst's Kindergarten were untouched. I searched for new Gem incubation sites around the Beta Kindergarten where I could but found none.
"I can't decide if Topaz is smart or incredibly stupid, but if she's growing new Gems, then she's going to have to reassess her place here on Earth... or go back to being our enemy."
Garnet broke down the Gem birthing process with words like Serum Crystal and Mineralometallic, but Steven understood it like this: the Gem "soup" is injected into the ground. Some of the "soup" turns into a shell that absorbs the essence from the surrounding earth while simultaneously helping the rest of the "soup" compress to form a Gemstone. Once the Gem is formed it becomes capable of projecting a material body which breaks the shell and excavates itself from its own incubating chamber.
The "soup" taken from Topaz did none of these things, Garnet said, and was barely capable of conducting heat, which, as she told Steven, it certainly should do.
"What Peridot's role in this may be, I don't know. Until I do, I don't hold her accountable for anything. The best case scenario is that my suspicions are getting the better of me, and I hope so. But, per chance they aren't, Steven, we need those photos."
Steven was brought out of his miasma by the sound of Peridot snickering. On her screen was a Seddit page of spicy memes that she hovered over and clicked on to maximize if she deemed it worthy. It was hard for Steven to keep up with her; the image she snickered at was so fleeting he was left out of the joke (something about North Borea? He would never know).
He was examining Peridot when she said, "What's up?"
"Nothing."
Those black and white photos were long gone, replaced by pictures of aliens ("I Believe," one said).
Topaz wasn't home. Steven looked over to her things. Still just those boxes of purloined MP3 players, headphones, and AA batteries, two guitars, a battery-powered amp, her prison-cell bed and her trunk underneath it. If the photos still existed Steven was certain they'd be in Topaz's trunk (the only other place would be in Peridot's desk, but that wouldn't be dramatic enough, nor secure enough, despite the trunk having no lock. It didn't need one and Steven was sure that Topaz knew that).
When asked where Topaz was Peridot replied she didn't know. "I know what she's doing, but not where, specifically. I don't think she knows either. She hasn't been keeping track of that as of late--since residing on Earth, that is. In fact, she stumbled upon this pathetic excuse for a Kindergarten in the first place by accident. But, I digress." She batted the air. "She's out getting more human trinkets again. Don't ask me why. I still don't see much point in it, but... she does it."
"What do you mean?"
She almost slapped Steven in the face, slinging her hand behind her to point. "In there. Under the bed."
"Um...."
"You can look," Peridot assured. "She's not here."
Steven felt all the thoughts and conflicts he's had for the past two years come back to him as the two latches of Topaz's trunk stared him down like gleaming, leering eyes--a monster under the bed--a cryptic gypsy veiled behind a silken purple miasma with jangling wrists of bangles who held the secrets to his future. "O-ok...."
Steven teetered over to the bed, clutching his gut.
Topaz's bed, bare bones, was about as inviting as a coffin and Steven vaguely wondered, it being where the Countess slept, if it smelled like brimstone. The air in the cave was dense and hard to take into his lungs, and Peridot's clacking was the most unwelcome it had ever been.
Steven got down on his knees and gingerly reached for one of the side handles of the trunk. "Don't touch anything inside," Peridot blurted out (sending him to his own coffin soon enough). "Topaz will notice."
Topaz. The one Gem on Earth of whom Steven was most afraid. She didn't make him experience horror, but she was a menace to him. Self-aware Steven deduced it had much to do with his want to connect with her (her wrath was a close second). This wasn't the first time he thought that maybe he cared too much, but now he was about to snoop through her personal belongings, and he didn't stand to think it unreasonable to care about how unnatural this was.
Tenderly Steven tugged Topaz's trunk out from under her bed, careful not to scuff the bottom on her dungeon floor. He was wary to leave even hand prints for his hands were sweating and he wiped them on his jeans repeatedly.
The latches were crusty and Steven felt their metal parts grind as he unhooked each one like they were made of glass. He gripped either corner of the lid and breathed a cumbersome sigh of dissatisfaction.
Steven remembered the sarcophagus from nearly two years ago. That's what came to him when he opened the trunk. It wasn't the fear of being caught or of going against his morals that hit him. It was the fear that he might live to see that thing again.
Steven held his breath as he tried to figure out what he was looking at in the low light. Piled to one side were small linen bags. They were full and lumpy, but Steven couldn't tell what was inside them. The other half of the trunk was empty. Above, the lid had a net pouch in it. Deflated linen sacks were packed in there.
Then Steven started to cry. It wasn't that he was sad or happy, but, rather, that he had kept his eyes open for too long. The radar photos were there in the mesh pouch.
There were so many of them, too. At least two dozen. The one on top facing Steven was black and white with the x- and y-axes. The radar pulses in the image acted oddly like ripples in a puddle, and the dark thing in the middle that the ripples bounced off of looked eerily like the profile of a human body.
"Peridot...." he said, and it was so small. "Peridot...?"
"Mm...?"
Steven shut his eyes to let the stinging go away. "Are you...." He gulped and said, into the trunk, "Are you... growing Gems...?"
He heard her swivel around in her chair. "Huh?..."
Steven faced Peridot from his knees. Her eyes were wider than flying saucers. "Peridot. Are you growing Gems?"
Steven watched as she never took her eyes off him, and when she started to slowly shake her head he knew that whatever she was going to say next was a lie.
"I don't know what you're talking about...."
"Peridot." Steven was not mad at her at all, nor with Topaz. But, his heart was falling. "Then... what are these pictures?"
"Nothing," she said. "Merely scans of topographic composition!" Steven moved aside and Peridot fell to her knees in front of the trunk.
"It looks like someone's buried!"
She huffed and slammed the trunk shut, latched it, then shoved it back under the bed. "It only looks like that, Steven, really, it's nothing."
"You need to tell me if you're growing Gems! You can't hide this forever! Garnet suspects it, too!"
"She needs to mind her own business!" The way she said that was like she slung her words around Steven's neck to choke him quiet. But, she regretted it. She apologized.
Peridot wandered back to her desk and didn't get back in her chair but touched it. Steven was still on the ground. "What's going to happen when they come out?"
Peridot shook her head. "I think you need to go home, Steven, before Topaz gets back...."
He picked himself up then, and went to her. "Ok," he said, "I'll go. But, I have to know.... Why are you doing this?"
She sighed. "Because Topaz needs this."
"I don't understand."
"I'm sure you will in time. The process is almost done anyway."
Steven suddenly got sad because, for some reason, he thought of losing Peridot because of this. He cried. "Peridot, whatever happens, I love you."
She faced him with her mouth open. Steven hugged her. She put her arms around him. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah. Love you, too." That only made Steven cry harder.
He didn't know why he thought of losing Peridot. He knew that wouldn't happen. No one involved wanted to hurt her like that. But, as he left for the warp pad, taking a moment to calm down and dry his eyes, he thought perhaps what drove him to think that was that he knew--he just knew--that someone, maybe everyone, was going to get hurt.
...
That evening, back home, Garnet sat down with Steven. She asked him if he found anything. Reluctantly he said he did, but that nothing was brought with him.
"What did you find?"
"...The photos," he said like a dope.
"...From what you saw, do you think Topaz and Peridot are growing new Gems?"
"Yes. The pictures were in a stack and I only saw the one on top, but there had to be twenty, maybe.... Peridot even admitted to it, kind of."
Garnet was quiet as she tapped her finger on her knee. Then she uncrossed her legs. "Thank you. You did the right thing in telling me." She got up. "We'll go tomorrow. All of us."
"Garnet," said Steven, stopping her. "What's going to happen?"
She replied, "We're going to stop anything bad before it takes place."
"I just...." He was choking up again.
"What's wrong?"
"I just... don't want anyone to get hurt.... I don't want anyone to die...."
Garnet's mouth fell open. "Steven." She got on her knees. "What on Earth would make you think anyone would die?"
"I-I mean," he blubbered, "...what's gonna happen tomorrow when we go to stop everything? Are we gonna stop the new Gems from forming? Isn't that the same as killing them? Topaz won't let us. She'll fight us. And she'll have to go back in a bubble, right? There's no other option for her. And then what's Peridot gonna do? She won't want that. And what if the new Gems come out and we have to fight them? Someone's definitely gonna get hurt then.... I don't know.... I don't know anything."
Garnet cradled Steven as he cried. "I can promise you that no one is going to die tomorrow. Not on my watch. We'll always give a Gem a chance, you know that. And these new Gems, whoever they're going to be, are no exception. You have my word."
Steven nodded into Garnet's shoulder. "I hate fighting people we love."
"I know," she said. "I do, too."
...
The next day Steven was sitting out on the porch because he didn't know where else to be. He hadn't wanted to eat anything that morning but knew he had to so he had had a bowl of cereal but he couldn't finish it. No matter how many deep and spiritual breaths he let out and turned into fog in the wind the floating in his stomach remained.
(The Crystal Gems would arrive. And Topaz.)
Connie was on her way, which gave Steven some reason to be outside. Luckily for her it was a Saturday, but both her parents were working so she had to take the bus. (Steven never liked letting her take the bus because he felt it rude on his part. But, she was right, that she'd get to Beach City faster, and she promised him that she didn't mind.) She would be there by brunch time. They would have early lunch and then they would go.
(The new Gems will fumble from out of the walls of the canyon like zombies. Assemble. Behind Topaz.)
The waves rolled and the ocean was vast. It was a breezy winter's day as well and all these moving and restless things of nature had no intention of letting up (rudeness be darned). But, Steven made his choice to sit there; inside felt too stuffy; he needed fresh air before he blew chunks of the rainbow all over the living room floor, what few chunks he had eaten.
(There were about twenty of them--blues, reds, yellows. Carnage. Amethyst and Pearl might fuse, Steven and Connie most likely.)
Steven hadn't told his father that he was going. Not even the situation. He didn't know how; for him, there was more than just the facts that needed telling.
(The new Gems will lose. Garnet will jump on top of Topaz and beat her senseless until she could no longer sustain her physical form. Bubbled. The end of her forever. No more chances.)
He felt betrayed by Topaz. Moreover, Steven felt he betrayed himself. The word "evil" is gray; Steven... believes?... believed she had so much potential. That is Topaz's punishment.
(And Peridot. Topaz beat her the night before. Because of what Steven had done and found out. They will find her, a crumpled and depressed little mess in a corner of the cave.)
Why did he keep seeing that? Why on Earth did Steven keep seeing that? Peridot, beaten or not, will be ruined when the Crystal Gems go to the desert. For at least a little while. She just wants to live and love and be loved, but she got wrapped up in Topaz, to whom loving and being loved wasn't good enough. Isn't that what making new Gems meant?
Furthermore, Steven has seen how she outlashes. What would denial of her having her army do to her? What would it have made her do to Peridot? What did all that make Topaz but nothing more than a child who kicks and screams when she doesn't get what she wants?
Steven had no idea. It was something he wanted to ask his father, but didn't know how. Not those questions in particular, but how to handle one's emotions maturely. His role models around him all seemed to do it differently. How should one prosper when so many things in life are constantly twisting at one's heart?
Steven blew fog again. He just wanted Peridot home, here, in Beach City.
Not much later he spotted Connie hurrying around the bend in the beach, lugging his mother's massive sword on her back. Steven hobbled out of his chair to meet her at the top of the steps.
Connie said, "You ready?"
...
They found Peridot at her computer. "What do you want?"
Garnet replied, "Take us to her."
"No."
"It wasn't a request."
"I still refuse."
Garnet walked over and everyone followed. "We need your help."
"You won't get it," said Peridot.
Garnet leaned her hand on Peridot's desk in front of her keyboard. "Tell us what Topaz is planning."
"Planning? Oh, that's a good one. Yes, just like she'd planned on getting us stranded on Earth. Or, having this desert be the one place where she's welcome. Or, getting on your bad side and you needing to come here and remind her of her place. Yes, she's real good at planning."
"Peridot?" mumbled Steven.
"What do you plan to do when you find her? I assume something horrid."
Steven waited with everyone else for Garnet to respond, but she didn't so Steven addressed Peridot again. "No one's going to get hurt, if we can avoid it."
"You say that."
"We mean it. It's why we need to know, is there any reason this should be dangerous?"
Peridot said, "The only danger is you showing up."
"You know we need to."
"You don't."
"We do."
"You don't. You know Topaz won't listen to anything any of you have to say. You'll just end up in another slugfest."
"Peridot, we need to make sure nothing bad happens to Earth when these new Gems are born. We need to know what Topaz wants with them. Can you at least tell us that much?"
Peridot scrutinized him. She shook her head, "There's only one."
"What?..."
"Only one new Gem."
"Just one?!" Connie said.
"Did you think there were more?" said Peridot.
Steven replied, "I.... Th-there was a bunch of photos."
"Taken over several months," Peridot waved.
"Oh," Pearl sighed, "what a relief!"
"This'll be way easier now," exclaimed Amethyst.
"Wow. You clods must've been ready to go to war."
Steven grabbed his shirt. He echoed, "Just... one...."
Garnet said, "What is Topaz going to do with the one?"
Peridot laid it on the table. "I don't know. I don't know what she's going to do with her. Topaz said she doesn't know either. She's told me she wants to know what it is for a Gem to exist for herself. That's what is unique about this Gem: we didn't integrate a directive into her. She has no obligations or alignment, in theory anyway, and I can't recall anything like this ever being done on purpose."
"But," said Amethyst, "when I came out I didn't know anything or anyone."
She nodded. "That's my point. That's a side effect in some cases of Gems who didn't form... as expected. No offense." Amethyst shook it off. "Topaz has been obsessed with this for the better part of the year. But, I have other doubts, too. I was surprised we had the resources (any deficiencies we took from Earth). Barely enough to make one Gem, but it took to forming that Gem. On top of that, there's the age of the serum crystal, which could increase the chance of malformation or defectiveness. And the lack of directive? Entirely up for speculation. At worst, she'll have no cognitive abilities. Brain-dead as humans might say."
Connie chimed in, "But... she could turn out ok?"
"I wouldn't say it impossible."
"So," said Steven, "this changes everything. Right, Garnet?"
Everyone looked at her. "Not what we came her to do. Peridot, we need to find Topaz."
"She's not going to cooperate."
"She's going to have to if she wants to live on this planet."
"Then I need to know what you're going to do when you find her."
Garnet frowned. "Talk with her."
"She won't listen--"
"We'll talk with her. We'll lay down the rules. Something like this can't happen again. If it does, Topaz will be bubbled. I'm sorry, but that's how it'll be."
Peridot examined Garnet from her chair. "You're going to let the new Gem come?"
"Of course," she said.
Peridot hummed. "Then I'm coming with you. Maybe I can help her see reason. None of you will be enough." She hopped down from her chair and motioned for everyone to follow her.
Steven caught up to her and asked, "So, what kind of Gem is the new Gem?"
"...She's a Topaz."
...
Peridot told everyone that the new and the old Topaz were on the nearest butte, on the side facing away from the canyon, which was an hour and a half's walk from the Kindergarten. Luckily, Steven had his backpack, in which he had an umbrella that he and Connie used for shade. They took turns holding it along the way.
Along the way, Steven asked Amethyst what was on her mind because he had been thinking about who this new Topaz would be and names for her to differentiate her from the Topaz everyone knew and... resented.
"I was tryna remember what was left in the fridge for when I got back, but I know that's not what ya mean, so I guess I'll say that I think all this stuff is just crazy. Honestly, I wish it was all over already."
"You think something bad's gonna happen?"
She shook her head. "I dunno, man. I just think that one Topaz is enough, ya know?"
"Well, maybe this new Gem will be nice."
Amethyst looked at Steven then to Peridot a ways in front of them. "For everyone's sake, I hope so."
Steven looked ahead at Peridot. She was hassling with the sand; it sucked in her feet, but she kicked it up as she went to show it who's boss. He went, leaving the shade of the umbrella, and caught up with her.
"Hey," he said.
She looked at him. "Yes?"
Steven looked away. "Um. Mind if I ask you something?"
"Ok."
"How do you... feel about all of this?"
"All of what, exactly?"
"The new Gem."
Peridot held out her hands. "Topaz wanted her. She told me how important it was for her to know what a Gem could be with absolute free will, that this planet is perfect for that."
"What does she mean by that? Doesn't she have free will now, like all of us?"
She breathed. "She meant that, by extension, to be free from burden. She's never been able to let things go, and she wants to know what it is to not have anything to let go. So, I gave her to her."
"You gave her to her?"
"Of course, Topaz hadn't the slightest clue as to how to do any of this. She needed me, and I helped her."
Steven avoided stepping on a cactus. "How do you feel about it, though?"
"Not thrilled."
"Why?"
"Because I feel the new Gem will cut in between me and Topaz, as we've been trying to work on ourselves as is."
Ridges formed in the middle of Steven's forehead. "I'm sure everything will turn out ok. You know, if you think about it, it's like you and Topaz will be parents, helping to take care of the new Gem. Mama Peridot!"
She scoffed, stepping around a shrub. "With any luck, the Topaz will come out having full cognition. I'd hate to have to hold a lame brain's hand every step of the way."
Peridot told everyone to wait when they made it to the butte, that she'd go first. She left them around a bend of steep rock. Garnet moved up to hug it and everyone followed suit.
The butte was tough on Steven's blood packed limbs. He'd been in the heat long enough to feel like the back of his skull would crack like an egg against the roughness of the rock. The sky was empty save for a dying will-o'-wisp. He didn't feel the wind, but he saw it grace some things that had to be weeds. The canyon seemed so far away. So did home.
The loose rocks and gravel--the way back down to the sand--were like climbing a 20-car pile up and they burned Steven's hands. He looked down at his shoes and thought about his ankles breaking should he have to make a run for it. He breathed the dry air more.
He looked at Connie. She was in the shade of the butte with him. The umbrella was on the ground between them. It had only done so much (it was hard to know how hot the world was until they had gotten into the shade of the butte). Connie took his hand. It was at that moment when the two swore a prayer for one another.
Then Connie's lips abruptly pulled down toward her throat and her eyes flew up toward her hair. Her chin ducked into her chest and her hand crushed Steven's fingers white. Steven hit the back of his head against the butte.
"YOU BROUGHT THEM HERE?!"
"Now," urged Garnet, "let's go now."
Falling in behind Pearl, Steven didn't even make it around the bend before a loud clang assaulted the air. One of Topaz's swords ricocheted high over their heads and exploded. Some of the butte up there shattered and hit Steven in the face. The heat bathed him in aggression. The explosion from the sword had his ears ringing.
He pushed Pearl to get around and see.
Topaz was huffing in one spot like a cornered animal. She had out a sword and used it to jab the air in the Crystal Gems' direction. Peridot was in front of her. They were yelling at each other but Steven couldn't hear what they were saying.
On this side of the butte, the ground narrowed into a plateau of sediment rock, like a step in a giant's staircase--the steep rock of the butte rose up on one side and, equivocally, steep rock fell down from the other, save for a rock pillar that sprouted from that precipice up to the butte like the staircase's handrail. The air out from the plateau felt vast like the ocean from a beach.
With nowhere to hide, Topaz must've been guarding the new Gem's birth site somewhere just behind her.
Steven tried to clear his ears from the ringing, but at best he could hear only warbles. He looked up at Garnet for anything.
She bared her teeth and her gautleted hand grabbed his whole chest and the next thing he knew he was on the ground behind her. Another one of Topaz's swords was sent soaring over the precipice. It blew up before Steven could shield himself or anyone and it washed him over with another heatwave.
Between Garnet's legs, he saw Topaz with another sword, pointing it and screaming at the Crystal Gems, her body so stiff she was shaking. Peridot was hitting her in the legs and shouting, too.
Connie reached down to help Steven up. On his feet, she looked at him and pointed at her wrinkled forehead. Steven rubbed his head and saw his hand. He was bleeding. He rubbed up more blood and, not knowing what else to do with it, wiped it on his pants.
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
He glanced back up at Connie and she ate her lips. And it made him want to cry because Topaz and Peridot were fighting and Garnet and Pearl and Amethyst were all saying things and neither he nor Connie knew what was going on. Steven didn't know if they should prepare to fight or just wait. He didn't know if fighting was harder than waiting and watching.
He resolved that, especially for Connie, he should just be ready. He summoned his shield.
Topaz shoved Peridot off of herself and yelled at her. Peridot fell.
Steven instinctively reached out for her, but it was Amethyst who stepped forward to fight.
Topaz stepped over Peridot, too, but Peridot grabbed her ankle and stopped her.
Garnet stopped Amethyst.
Topaz and Peridot argued more. The Crystal Gems argued. Pearl whined at Amethyst. Amethyst squealed. Garnet mumbled. Whatever she said, Pearl looked offended. Her spearless hand flailed in defending herself. Garnet said something with heaviness down to Pearl then to Amethyst. Amethyst didn't take it lightly, and Pearl couldn't contain herself either. Peridot's and Topaz's bodies were shaking.
Steven turned to Connie again. He reckoned he saw his mirror image as she shook her head at him.
He was going to tell the Crystal Gems to stop, but in the edge of his eye he saw Topaz pounce on top of Peridot. Hit, Steven ran for her and screamed her name. Topaz was beating her in the face.
Steven threw his shield and hit Topaz in the back of her head. She reeled around, her muscles ripping, digging into the sandstone, and sprung for him. The hand she grabbed his shirt with hit his chest with the weight of a semi truck. It knocked the wind out of him. She yelled something at him like an explosion, assaulting his face with the heat of her breath and her spit. Steven didn't realize his feet weren't touching the ground until the Crystal Gems tackled Topaz and pulled him from her grip. He hit the ground like a doll.
Connie got to him to help him. Steven coughed and, as the edges of his vision touched darkness and sparks flew from that darkness, there wasn't anything except trying to breathe.
When he sat up, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were on top of Topaz, had her pinned to the ground like a fugitive, trying to make her one with the earth. They were all screaming.
Peridot was still lying on the ground past them.
As he caught his breath, Connie helped usher Steven over to Peridot. Her visor had broken, her hair disheveled. Bug-gut green had swollen into her cheeks. She was conscious, Steven was sure of that as he took her in his arms.
Peridot blinked, as if she didn't recognize Steven or Connie. Then she listed to the side and saw Topaz and everyone on top of her. At once, all of her defenses drained out of her face and all of her vigor dribbled out of her body, as if the ground wherever she was originally born absorbed back all the life she had taken from it in order to exist. She began to cry.
Steven spoke Peridot's name because he didn't know what else to say, and he tried to make it sound as lovingly as he could. He and Connie tried to console her but Peridot wouldn't have it. She got up and went over to Topaz and the Crystal Gems. Words spilled from hot faces, but Steven couldn't understand any of them.
Then, Topaz said something. It made Peridot crumble to her hands and knees. It made Garnet recoil. She reared and drove a fist into Topaz's face. Her head was driven into the earth.
The ground shook. Steven and Connie fell over. Alarmed, Peridot stumbled into Garnet's side, wanting her--Steven could tell--to stop. Pearl and Amethyst said things, and Garnet kept staring down at Topaz, baring her lion teeth.
The ground was still shaking. For a moment, Steven checked if he was still addled from Topaz hitting him in the chest, but it was the ground. He looked around. He put his hand on the hot earth. He took it off. He put it back. He turned to Connie. Her parted lips and her tilted head hit him as she stared at him and he hesitated. But, Steven patted the ground for her to feel.
Feeling, Connie glanced over at the Crystal Gems, then to Steven. The quaking in the ground grew and became a tremor. The crease in Connie's brow asked him what was causing it. He shook his head. He looked around again, going up the butte this time and then out over the precipice to the desert.
Then the tremor rose to a crescendo. It surged up through Steven, into his chest, and welled up into a shriek. He yelled for Garnet. She whirled to look at him. So did everyone else.
They all noticed the quaking, and Peridot recoiled into a sitting position, pulling her knees toward her chest.
Topaz thrashed again, seizing the chance to free one of her wrists and slug Garnet in the ribs. Pearl threw herself down and took back her arm.
Topaz squirmed under the weight of the Crystal Gems. She was so wild and disgusting that Steven never imagined he'd see an equivalent to "prisoner of war." Whatever she was saying, she had Peridot burying her face in her knees.
Garnet slapped her gauntlets around Topaz's face to shut her up. She squeezed her lips through, however, and spat in Garnet's face. She managed to say one other thing and that threw Garnet over.
Steven saw the vision leave Topaz's eyes as Garnet crushed her head in her fists. She exploded into a cloud of heat and smoke.
Steven and Connie held each other as the remains of Topaz suffocated them. They used their shirts to cover their mouths and noses to breathe. It made their eyes water.
When the smoke dissipated, the Crystal Gems dragged themselves up from the dirt. Garnet took off her shades to wipe off Topaz's spit. She looked at Steven--not proudly--then put her shades back on.
Peridot was fetal and Steven was about to go to her, but when she saw Garnet bubble Topaz's Gem, she sprung to her feet and grabbed her, shaking her head. The Crystal Gems bickered over it, including Peridot. Eventually, Garnet shook her head at Peridot, but let her have Topaz's bubbled Gem anyway. Pearl and Amethyst weren't happy about it. Peridot just cried over it.
Garnet summoned back her gauntlets and got ready, Pearl and Amethyst at her sides. She motioned with her head past Steven and Connie. They realized the earthquake had stopped and they both spun around.
It could only mean one thing: the new Gem was here. Steven swung his head around expecting to see someone like Topaz burst out of the steep wall of the butte, take one look at the Crystal Gems, and carry forth their purpose and attack. He summoned a new shield. He was ready. He had to be whether he liked it or not.
However, Connie pointed to the ground, and Steven followed her finger to discover... more fingers?
They stuck out from the earth like claws and they wiggled like a trapdoor spider sticking out its legs from its hole about to ambush its prey. Steven blinked only because his eyes were beginning to cross from staring so long. Finally, the spider fingers gripped the rocky ground and started to pull.
A hand broke through, then a second. They grabbed for things that weren't there, stretching wide and closing tightly into fists like talons. The fingers shivered as one taloned hand raked in more earth. The other hand slithered out its arm like a snake.
The earth crumbled around the head. The head fell forward barbarically, to help pull the body from the grave as a zombie does. There was so much hair Steven couldn't see the face. He held his shield closer.
Dragging herself from the underworld, the Topaz freed her waist. She patted the ground and scratched her elbows against the rock. She arched her hair-draped shoulders like a panther ready to pounce. They lowered one at a time, the arms reaching out for more things to grab. For flesh to tear. For souls to steal.
Then... she stopped. Steven blinked again to make sure time was still going. The Topaz seemed like she was taking a breather. Face to the ground, she rocked herself side to side on her forehead. She fumbled her arms around aimlessly, raking in a lot of dirt up to her body.
She just kept rolling her head around on the ground like a metronome that couldn't keep its rhythm. The Topaz looked more interested in making out with the ground than in anything else. Furthermore, Steven was pretty sure she hadn't noticed anything else other than the rocks, the dirt, her hair, and maybe the blazing sun and a lot of light. Maybe the sun was too bright. Steven knew that going from dark to bright is hard to bear.
He glanced at Connie and she looked dumb. She had his mother's sword out, but the tip of it had drooped and touched the ground.
Garnet walked past them. Her gauntlets were gone. Pearl and Amethyst followed. Reluctantly, Steven got rid of his shield and Connie sheathed her sword. They creeped on over to the new Gem as well.
The Topaz might've heard everyone walking over to her, but she showed no signs of it. She was still very much acquainted with the earth and still shovelling what sand and pebbles she could shovel toward herself. She had so much hair. It covered her back and shoulders.
Steven looked to Amethyst. She was captivated. So was Pearl. Then she turned to Garnet. Garnet just shrugged.
Pearl was the one who stooped down. Her hands were delicately cautious at her sides. She strethced out her neck like a stork to survey the hairy Topaz who only knew the ground. Uncertain, with her pinky out, Pearl reached down and poked the Topaz's forearm. The Topaz retracted her arm from Pearl like a snail to its shell. To describe how she lifted her head would be like describing how a bowling ball, halfway down the lane, suddenly touched by the Hand of Fate, veers off to the left and lands in the gutter. The Topaz sort of raised her head, but it ended up lilted over her shoulder.
Her face was still hidden in her hair. There was so much of it--untamed, tangled hair. Steven dropped his hands. That this newborn Topaz was so defenseless against, even, her own hair, and much less couldn't hold up her own head; her threat-level had fallen into the negatives. Steven thought of what Peridot had said--lame brain--and felt sadness.
Pearl hooked bundles of the Topaz's hair in her fingers and brushed them to the sides.
Her face... looked just like Topaz's, but also didn't. They could be twins, however, this Topaz's face was missing: 1) anger, 2) hostility, and 3) all around disdain for everyone and everything, among other things that weigh down a face. This Topaz's face was unburdened; her only enemy was gravity.
The brightness of the day was too much for her. The Topaz recoiled from being touched and from the sun. She struggled with opening her eyes; it was like Pearl suddenly slung open the window shutters. The Topaz moved her head side to side like she was trying to find some angle that wasn't so bright. Why she didn't just duck back down Steven had no clue.
After a while, though, she adjusted to the new world and opened her eyes. They were big and blinking and curious. Steven shut his mouth because she was staring so long. He said hi to her (though he did not hear it). She was startled by him and dropped her mouth even more to make a noise. She made Steven flinch by doing that. The Topaz might not have said anything (her lips or tongue didn't move), but her sudden lilt made him pull back.
The Topaz noticed Connie. Connie got bashful as she was stared at; she tried to smile.
The Topaz turned back to Steven, then noticed Amethyst! Then she found Pearl! Then GARNET! Her eyes grew wider and her mouth fell more open with every new person she discovered. She looked like she was pretending to be possessed with her mouth hung open and trying to turn her head in a 360. The rest of her was still lying on the ground and her legs were still in the hole from whence she came.
The Crystal Gems didn't really respond to the Topaz when she gazed moronically at them. Eventually, Garnet got down on one knee and said something to her. The Topaz just stared.
She briefly looked at Steven again until Garnet said something else and took her attention back. She kind of lolled whenever she turned her head, like her neck was straining to hold it up.
Garnet said some other things, but the best response she got from the Topaz was her dumbly sticking out her tongue.
Garnet then stood up, got behind the Topaz, and grabbed her by her armpits. She pulled her up and out of the hole like a marionette.
She wasn't wearing any clothes! Steven slapped his hands over his eyes, exclaiming. Curiously, however, there wasn't anything on the Topaz for him to see; there was her Gem, though, which was centered on her torso, just below her chest. It was the same trillion cut as Topaz's; one of the corners pointed to her stomach.
Steven kept his gaze averted from the Topaz's direction. He peeked at Connie who was doing the same as him, but with her hands over her mouth. Pearl was with them, too, helping shield their no-longer-so-virgin eyes. Amethyst came over to rummage Steven's backpack for a beach towel.
Then, Pearl ushered Steven and Connie along. They and the Crystal Gems with the newborn Topaz (covered up in a towel), in Garnet's arms, were heading back home. They collected Peridot, who carried with her Topaz's bubbled Gem, and went.
It was a long walk back. Steven's feet hurt. His head hurt. His back ached. But, he got some hearing back.
He kept thinking about how Peridot was beaten.
The Gems talked for some time with one another on the way back to the Kindergarten. When they got back, Garnet took the 2-hour-old Topaz and the bubbled Topaz down into the canyon. Everyone else went to the warp pad and went home to Beach City.
...
Garnet didn't come back for another hour. During that time, Amethyst layed on the couch, Pearl went out onto the porch, and Peridot went down to the beach. Steven and Connie were hungry and tried to rest their feet and have a snack, but they had a hard time finishing their cereal bars.
When Garnet came back, Steven waited for her to come to him and Connie. He shook his head. "What... happened?" He intended for the question to be about everything, not just about what happened since he and the rest left Garnet out in the desert.
She breathed. "When Peridot is ready, we'll return for her things."
...
It took a few weeks. "As ready as I can be," said Peridot. She, Steven, and the Crystal Gems warped to the Beta Kindergarten to get her things. They hesitated at the entrance to Topaz's cave. They waited on Peridot. Eventually, she nodded.
Garnet walked up the steps. She summoned a gauntlet and pounded on the wall a couple times. After a minute, Topaz came trudging out.
Nobody said anything. Steven frowned like Topaz stank.
Topaz turned and headed back inside. Garnet motioned for everyone.
Inside, everything was as Steven remembered, only now, there was a new resident. She was standing, hunched, at the foot of Topaz's bed, which faced the cave's entrance. She had clothes on this time--shoes, leggings, and a V-neck, the sleeves of which were asymmetrical, one ending below her shoulder, the other midway down her forearm. Her long hair was loosely braided now in one long fat rope and draped over her right shoulder. She stared.
Topaz stood with her chest out and arms crossed next to her twin as the Crystal Gems filed in. While Steven waited for his turn as the Gems started gathering Peridot's things, he and the young Topaz had nothing else to do but look at each other. His lips became thin.
"Hi," he said.
The Topaz flopped down into a squat to be eye-level with Steven. He retracted his head from her like a turtle. "Hi," she said.
Steven gasped. "You can talk!"
"Yes," she whispered. "I can talk. I can walk. I cannn jump. I cannnnnn... sleep. But, I don't really like to sleep."
"Don't talk to them," said Topaz.
"Ok, sister." The young Topaz bit down over her lips.
"Don't look at them."
Her little sister said ok and covered her eyes with her hands.
"I see you're still ruining lives," said Peridot.
Big sister retorted, "You brought it on yourself."
"I wish I'd never jumped after you."
"Stop!" Garnet's voice was as hard as steel. She made Little Sister jolt.
Topaz snarled. "Get your things and get out."
Peridot growled.
Outside, with the first wave of stuff, Peridot sniffled and wiped her eyes. She bared her teeth. Her cheeks were dark green. She caught Steven looking at her. She just shook her head and rolled her eyes until she wasn't looking in his direction anymore.
It took several trips to get all of Peridot's things. The desk was the hardest thing to squeeze out of the cave, for it had to be angled constantly to get its awkward L-shape out.
Every time the Crystal Gems came back, Little Sister shut up and covered her eyes. Once, she covered her face with Steven's beach towel. It had a fish on it. It made her look like a mermaid but backwards.
On the last trip out of the cave, Peridot looked at the young Topaz, then to her ex-Topaz. "I hope you're happy with what you got," she said.
"I never want to see you again," she said.
And that was it.
All of Peridot's stuff was taken back to the barn. When it came to it, Lapis went to help transport Peridot's signal tower. It was just thin enough to fit inside the warp pad.
Though damaged, Peridot was more than welcomed back. The Crystal Gems and Lapis helped her settle in as best they could. It was evening when Steven, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst left for home. Steven reminded Peridot that he loved her.
On his way home, Steven looked up to see the first star in the evening sky. And like that, at the end of every episode, Steven's universe enclosed upon itself, like turning over the end cover of a book, with the wink of a star.
...
Steven would later speculate that, out of all that hate, anger, pain, and sadness, someone pure and amazing was born. If things had never turned out the way they did, she might not have ever existed. She was here to stay. And Steven tried to be glad of it.
...
The End
R.A.W. 8/30/2018
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
Thank you to those who have come all this way. If you'll oblige me, walk with me a moment....
(Cue Rod Serling—"Imagine, if you will...")
I created this website for Topaz to honor her; I would feel shame if I did not do all I could to keep her from fading away. I did not anticipate Topaz would consume so much of my focus as she has when I first made a doodle of her. But, after some time, it would have been difficult to find a day when I did not think of her. While at university, all I did was think about her, feel her. Memories of walking to my next class, music in my ears, with the breeze freeing my body and mind to think of and feel for her are as concrete as the sidewalks I walked on. I was constantly questioning what would happen next in her story. Music reminded me of her. She inspired several poems for a poetry class. I had secret conversations with her. I would write of her as if I were writing about a real person. In many ways she was: she was me. She was (and is) a part of me. However, even as Topaz comes entirely from me, she has felt (and still feels, if I allow myself to dwell on her) separate from me, like another entity; another person—someone with whom I could walk and have that secret conversation. Topaz gifted me something I didn't ask for or see coming, but needed: ventilation and focus. In the confusing, chaotic, and sometimes nightmarish landscape of my undergraduate years (and one year and a half after), Topaz was there for me when I needed her most, with her forehead pressed against mine, or with her arms clasped around my back, or with her lips of magma against my brow. She's seen me in my weakest moments; she's been there with me in my darkest. She is the embodiment of my frustration, and I love her with all my heart.
(If I dwell too hard on the love, I almost cry.)
All of this because of a fucking kid show called Steven Universe.
She was my heart, anger, and grief,
And she burglarized my freedom, that dastardly thief.
Thank you again for making it this far. I am grateful to share Topaz with you. If you'd like, check out More Art & Writing, there's more of her there.
R.A.W.
Part 3: "Rising Star": Text
Part 3: "Rising Star": Services
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