Wow, hold it there, fellar! Do you know how fast you were going? It seems I'll have to write you a chapter of "Peridot has a nice(?) day(?)". I expect that this doesn't repeat, are we clear?

...

I spent the last three months coming up with that joke.

It approached its target slowly, almost doubtfully, changing direction a couple of times before actually finding it. As soon as it did, however, the little red ant grabbed the crumb with its tiny jaws. It picked it up with ease, despite the bread crumb being almost half the ant's size. It immediately turned around and started walking in the exact direction it'd come from. It wasn't walking doubtfully this time; it already had fulfilled its objective. Trouble was in the way, however. Trouble in the form of a bigger and darker ant.

The newcomer approached the smaller ant walking quickly, almost menacingly. The red ant was being slowed down by its load and had no chance of fleeing or even getting out of the way. As soon as it was close enough, the bigger ant revealed its wicked intentions. It used its jaws to grab the crumb and started pulling, trying to steal it away from its legitimate owner. There was a struggle, as the red ant didn't want to give up its price, but the bigger ant was stronger, and it started winning terrain rather quickly. With each pull, it moved not only the crumb, but the other ant with it. The red ant was trying its best, but it was simply not enough. It was fighting a lost battle. Finally, Peridot couldn't stand witnessing such injustice any longer.

"Shoo! Go away!" She wasn't sure on how to intervene, so she waved her hand at the mean ant, trying to get it to leave. It was pointless. The ant ignored her and continued its ruthless assault. Peridot hummed angrily. "Leave it alone! There's enough for both of you!" She grabbed the dark ant from the back of its body using only two fingers and raised it from the ground. She did it carefully, trying not to squish it. For a moment, it seemed like the dark ant would be able to pull the bread crumb and the other ant from the ground, but it ended up letting go of the crumb. "Aha!" Peridot exclaimed triumphantly. "Gotcha!" And for a moment, it seemed like it. However, she was forced to release the ant when a sudden pain coursed through her finger, making her emit a little squeal. The ant fell to the ground and fled, forgetting about the red ant and its price. Peridot was surprised and confused as the ants both ran in different directions, leaving her behind with nothing but a stinging pain in her finger. She looked at it, trying to find the source, but saw nothing unusual on her skin. The pain didn't go away, and she was starting to worry when she heard a voice calling her from the front of the barn. It was Steven, and he sounded like he was coming.

"Coming!" She answered. She stood up and quickly crumbled the rest of the bread she was holding in her other hand. She threw all the little pieces on the ground, shaking her hands to get rid of the crumbs, just as Steven walked around the corner to see her.

"Hey! It's time to..." He didn't finish speaking, realizing almost immediately that something odd was going on. Peridot was frozen in place as Steven evaluated the situation with a raised eyebrow and his mouth still half open. He looked at her, and then at the bread remains on the ground. "Whaaaaatcha doing...?" He asked.

"Nothing!" Peridot answered in a somewhat high pitched voice. "What are you doing?" For some reason, her question sounded like an accusation. She crossed her arms behind her back, making an effort to play it cool.

"I was just about to tell you..." Steven said. One more time, he directed his eyes to the bread on the ground and to a Peridot that was trying really hard not to look suspicious. "We're about to leave."

"Oh... I-Is that so?" Peridot cleared her throat, trying to normalize her voice. "Go ahead then. I'll stay and work tonight."

Steven seemed surprised by her answer. "Huh? You're staying again?"

Peridot started walking towards the front of the barn and Steven walked with her. "Yes." Was her simple answer.

The sun was going down, tinting everything around them in a soft orange color. "You sure you don't want to come hang out?" Steven said. "We can make hot cocoa..." His attempt to tempt her with the warm beverage hit really close to home, but Peridot forced herself to resist it with stoic demeanor.

"Sorry Steven. It's not negotiable. I've got things to do." They arrived at the front of the barn as she spoke. The other gems were already in the car, whose engine had already been started, waiting for the two of them.

"Oh..." Steven seemed downhearted. "There's no need, you know? Garnet still hasn't seen anything with her future vision..."

"Right. Future vision." Peridot thought. The permafusion's innate ability to see possible outcomes to the future had been quite a revelation to Peridot. It explained a lot of the Crystal Gem's success, having among their team a powerful and rare Sapphire. As she thought about it, she realized "their team" was now her team too. The mere thought sent a chill through her back, like every single time it came to mind. Her thoughts were interrupted by Pearl's voice, coming from the pilot seat of the car.

"You're staying overnight?" Pearl said, surprised. She then proceeded to unstrap the unnecessary seatbelt from around her body. "You should've said so! I'll stay and help too!"

"Wait, what?" From the back of the car, Amethyst sounded surprised too. "Who do you think is gonna drive this thing?"

"I could probably do it." Garnet pointed out, sitting comfortably next to Amethyst with a smile that looked almost cocky.

"That won't be necessary!" Peridot exclaimed. Everyone looked at her. "I... Appreciate the offer, but I won't be working on the drill tonight." Her words were mostly directed to Pearl, but everyone else was listening too. The implied message was clear; she'd work on her tools. There wasn't much that anyone could do to help her if that was the case.

Pearl nodded in understanding. "Very well then. Let's go, Steven."

The boy still looked rather uncheerful, but he smiled at Peridot before getting inside the car. "See you tomorrow! I'll bring you some cocoa." Peridot smiled back as the kid walked away. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something important.

"Oh, and Steven!" The boy, who was already in the car, looked at her with attention. Peridot hesitated a little before speaking. "I... Would like to know... For research purposes...!" Steven raised an eyebrow. "If one tiny Earth creature bites you... Is it... Dangerous?" She finished the question and almost immediately regretted asking. Everyone was looking at her with wide, curious eyes.

"Say what now?" Steven asked.

"Nevermind! See you tomorrow, bye!" Peridot turned around too quickly not to look suspicious, and walked into the barn in a hurry. Inside the car, Pearl looked at Steven interrogatively. The latter simply shrugged his shoulders.

From inside the barn, Peridot observed them drive away. The stinging feeling in her finger had already started to wear off, so she took her mind out of it. She breathed deeply, taking a moment before closing the barn door. The sunlight was barely enough to help her see at that point, so she lit her way with the light of her very own gem.

Over the next couple of hours, Peridot was disconnected from reality. She let the thrills and fears that were almost always at the back of her mind go away, and dumped herself completely in the rewarding joy of working. The floor of the barn was soon filled with screws, tools and little pieces of machinery that, to a casual observer, would look rather messy. But upon closer observation, it could be noted that there was a very specific order to the placement of every little object, a system. Peridot liked order, but her approach to it was rather pragmatic. "Put it wherever it's useful." Was her way to summarize it.

Peridot spent the first hours of the night going over her old designs, trying to identify flaws and improving them in every way possible. She had to rebuild the ones lost at her first battle with Amethyst. This time, she made sure the new ones had cover some of the weaknesses she'd spotted during their first field test. In the end, she'd even managed to give them a nicer finish. It seemed like a pointless effort at first, but she really liked the way they looked. After finishing with them, she started using the chalkboard, filling it with future designs and ideas.

Outside, the night was dark and silent. The sky was covered with a thick layer of clouds, and although there was no sign of rain, the moon wasn't there to provide light. Around midnight, Peridot was standing outside the barn. Complete darkness was engulfing her, and yet she had her eyes closed. For a moment, the night continued, and her figure standing alone and motionless could've gone unnoticed for any passerby. And then, suddenly, a bright light came out her gem. In the darkness, the light glowed blindingly. It probably didn't last more than a few seconds, and still, as soon as the light disappeared and the darkness returned, Peridot mumbled:

"Too slow." She was now holding in her hand her tape recorder, that she'd just pulled out of her gem.

One of Pearl's first advice after her newly discovered fighting method had been to improve 'transportation'. Meaning that, although the backpack had been very useful during her battle, Pearl'd also considered it to be a weakness.

"You lost it at one point." Pearl'd said. They'd been at the Sky Arena, sword fighting. "Without it, you didn't have your weapons. You were defenseless." Pearl's words had been tough, but realistic. Peridot appreciated that. "In a real battle, that would have been your end." Pearl had been going easy on her, but at that moment, she'd started to speed up her attacks. Peridot was having trouble defending herself against her quick and precise blows, but she still managed to stop each one.

"I know..." Each hit was so hard, it made it difficult to speak. Pearl wasn't kidding around. "But... it's quicker... that way..." At that moment, she'd managed to predict one of Pearl's movements, and launched a preventive strike that gained her some terrain.

"Is it?" Although she didn't show it, Pearl had been impressed by Peridot's defense. She'd been going with everything she'd got for a while then, and she still hadn't find an opening on her defense. "The way I see it, only when you don't need a backpack or any other thing like it, you'll truly not depend on anything but yourself."

Peridot didn't quite remember how that battle, just one of many others, had ended, but she did remember Pearl's advice. Ever since that time, she'd been practicing to summon objects from her gem, trying to improve her speed. It was tricky, because the only thing she could do was trying harder to be faster. She'd even monitored the amount of time it took her to search and summon a specific object from inside her gem, but until that moment, practice had hardly made any difference. Still, that was just the beginning, and she was not willing to give it up easily.

That night, although she didn't measure her time, she was sure it hadn't been fast enough. Not fast enough for an ambush, or a battle that required switching quickly between multiple items.

Peridot sighed and sat down on the bare ground. She looked at the recorder in her hand and, after a moment, she pressed the button to start recording.

"Log date, 716." A moment of silence followed her words. It felt like forever since the last time she'd made a log. "It's been seven Earth rotational cycles, the period of time otherwise known as a week, since I officially joined the Crystal Gems." She made a pause. "The only one that knows about it is my teacher, Pearl. She's made no mention of it to the others. I guess she's waiting for me to take the first step." She suddenly realized how cold the night was, and hugged her knees with her arm. "They deserve to know. I just don't know if I'm ready to say it out loud yet..." Once again, she made a pause. "I've done much progress tonight." She decided to change the subject. "I've successfully improved the old versions of my equipment and designed what will be my next prototypes. Pearl expressed her surprise upon discovering each of my gadgets is based on the abilities I've seen them display." The thought made her smile. "Next, I'll attempt to create a gem destabilizer using human technology and spare parts from my escape pod. It shouldn't be too difficult to attempt. Thus far, my only major concern is the lack of a reliable power source..."

Suddenly, silence. Her words ended abruptly. Peridot paid attention to the sounds of the night. Everything had been completely silent except from her voice, but just a moment before, she'd heard the sound of footsteps on the ground nearby. It had been just a moment, and the sound had been so light, that she was about to dismiss her suspicions as a false alarm, when the sound repeated. Closer this time, approaching her from the right. Her mind raced with thoughts as she lit up the night with a stream of green light coming from her gem. She pointed it in the direction of the footsteps, and yelled:

"Who's there?!" The light revealed a pair of shiny eyes fixed on her, surrounded by pink hair.

"Oh. It's just you..." Peridot said, sounding mildly annoyed.

Lion remained motionless, observing her with attention. Peridot looked back at him for a moment before ending the stream of light, returning to darkness. In the night's silence, she could still hear Lion's breathing.

Steven's 'pet', Lion, was a mystery to Peridot, and, oddly enough, it seemed to be a mystery to everyone else. The first time she saw him, Peridot thought he was just another example of the strange fauna that inhabited the Earth. Soon she'd discover that he was far more than meets the eye, but that first time, she'd felt oddly afraid of him. Of course she never would have admitted it, but something in the way the creature looked at her was... unsettling. He wouldn't do anything special, not even trying to get her attention, but still... Each time he was close to her, his big eyes just seemed to follow her everywhere as she tried to focus on working on the drill or any other activity.

In the end, however, just as with rain, food and many other things on Earth, she'd become accustomed to his presence. Lion was a silent companion, much different from the rest of the gems. He'd just stay there, laying down, looking at her, flickering his ears now and then. He never showed any signs of hostility towards her, and she reciprocated. And when Steven explained where he found him, furthermore, the mystery that was where he actually came from, Peridot grew curious. He looked like an animal, but everything about him pointed to a form of intelligent inorganic life. She tried finding out more about him by asking each one of the gems, and, as a last resource, Lion himself. None of the first three knew a thing more than Steven, and the last one just looked at her for a moment, closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep. Ever since that failed attempt, Peridot had given the mystery a rest. She had no way of finding out more, but she'd wait patiently. Eventually, some more information would have to pop. Lion would still regularly approach her to see her work, looking at her from a safe distance. Except for that night, when she was sure she'd heard his steps yet another time.

Peridot lit up the night one more time, just to find Lion's face really close to her own. "Argh!" The sound escaped her mouth as she stood up, too startled to use coherent speech. Lion stopped moving again, and watched her freak out for a brief moment instead. Peridot realized her reaction had been a little embarrassing and blushed, thankful that no one was there to see it. No one but Lion, at least. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the pink furry creature.

"So now you are just trying to scare me, out of nowhere?" The creature blinked. Peridot cringed her lips. "Is it too cold out here for you? Maybe you want to get inside...?" She suggested. The creature blinked one more time, but showed no other reaction. Peridot sighed. At that moment, she realized she hadn't stopped recording through the whole scene. "Peridot, Facet Five, end log." She said, automatically, before ending the log and putting the tape recorder inside her gem.

Peridot opened the barn's door. She still had a few hours before the other's arrival, and she'd try to make them count. Before entering, however, she directed her eyes to Lion. "So? Do you want to get in?" The creature looked at her for a moment longer, then turned his head to the open door, and then again to her. Much to Peridot's surprise, he started walking, but not towards the barn as suggested, but directly in her direction instead. With time, Peridot had learned not to fear the pink creature, but she'd never been so close to him. And now Lion was getting even closer. "W-Wait!" She walked backwards inside the barn, raising her arms defensively. "B-Bad Lion! Don't..." Walking backwards and distracted by the approaching Lion, she forgot about the floor full of screws, machines and tools. As a result, she tripped and fell backwards on her butt.

"Ouch!" The light pain distracted her momentarily from Lion, so when she directed her eyes at the creature again, it was a pretty terrifying experience. His face was so close to hers, that she could feel his breath on her cheeks. She couldn't help emitting a quiet "Eep!" as she looked directly into Lion's eyes, that shined hypnotically under the green light. For a moment, they both stayed motionless; Peridot, waiting for Lion's reaction; and Lion, guided by his own mysterious will. In the end, it was Lion the one who broke their non-agreed staring contest. With an almost delicate movement, he bent his knees and dropped to the ground. The green gem observed him incredulously, her eyes growing wider as Lion rested his big furry head on her lap, closing his eyes.

Peridot didn't dare moving. The whole scene seemed unbelievable to her. She'd never seen Lion acting that way with any of the other gems besides Steven, and still, there he was, apparently pretty comfortable with his head sitting on her lap. He was warm, almost hot, and in the cold night, his temperature resulted rather pleasant. Still feeling inside a dream, Peridot raised her hand with caution, guided almost solely by instinct, and caressed Lion's head with just the tip of her fingers. His fur was as soft as she could've imagined. "This is happening. This is... Nice." She realized, as a pleasant smile made its way to her face. She continued to rub his head, more confidently at that point, and Lion continued to show no reaction upon her actions. He just lay there, letting Peridot amuse herself with the softness of his fur, breathing peacefully.

And then, all of the sudden, Lion stood up. It was such a quick and unexpected movement, that Peridot kept a silly smile on her face for a moment before realizing what had happened. As soon as she did, her expression turned into one of strangeness. "Now what?" She said, half surprised and half annoyed by losing the chance to pet him a little longer. Lion had already moved away from his position, and was now nowhere to be seen.

Peridot looked for Lion in the dark room, and found him looking directly at a wall. She'd been surprised before, but at that point, she was just plain confused. "Wha...?" She stood up and walked up to the creature. "Just what is the matter with you...?" She said annoyed, looking at the wall that was the center of Lion's attention. Nothing but a normal wall, at least in appearance, was revealed to her eyes. "Hey...!" She waved her hand in front of Lion's face. He didn't move a single muscle. Peridot hummed angrily. "Why do you always have to be this hermetic, huh? I know you understand every word I say!" It was true, Lion rarely obeyed any of Steven's commands, but when he did, he could execute them with a precision that left no doubts of his capacity to understand him. Still, just as that night, he rarely showed any reaction to anyone's words.

At that moment, annoyed by Lion's reluctance to pay attention to her, Peridot did something she'd soon regret; she stood in front of Lion, directly between him and the wall he was staring at. "Well ignore me then, you pink clod! See if I care!" She failed to see the irony of her words as she had purposefully stepped in front of him as she spoke. Peridot turned her back on him in a gesture of supreme annoyance that left her facing the wall. Although she soon realized that probably hadn't been a smart idea, she'd no time to think about it.

What happened next, from Peridot's perspective, was both extremely confusing and surprising. She didn't get to see anything, but she did feel Lion's head pressing suddenly right below her knees. The feeling made her squeal, but her squeal soon turned into a scream of surprise as Lion pushed her legs with his head, making her fall backwards, directly onto the creature's mane. Peridot waved her arms in the air in a desperate effort to maintain balance, but it was useless. She expected to feel Lion's soft mane stopping her fall, but she never came to touch it. Instead, she was surrounded by a soft white light, and she felt even more confused as her fall lasted way longer than it should have.

In the barn, silence reigned after Peridot's scream ended in the most abrupt way possible. A moment after Peridot fell inside Lion's mane, the creature roared. A portal opened directly in front of him, in the wall he'd been looking at. When he disappeared through it, the barn was left empty, dark and silent.

Since Peridot's arrival to Earth, she'd been through some pretty odd and new experiences: from the smaller ones, like eating, sleeping, or being hugged, to the life changing ones, like discovering her own feelings or consciously deciding to abandon her hopes of returning to Homeworld. Even so, what followed was probably the most unsettling one, just out of how unexplainable it was for her. The first things she'd come to remember clearly about it were that she fell for more than she expected, and that when she 'landed' it was more like... Emerging. Light surrounded her, when not so long ago she'd been in almost complete darkness. It took her some trouble to open her eyes to so much light, and when she did, she found she was no longer at the barn.

It was too much for Peridot to process, so all she could do was look around, with her mouth half open and a completely amazed expression on her face. She was standing in the middle of an open field, surrounded by a vast extension of a plant she'd never seen before. There was no wind, but the vegetation still moved like it was being caressed by a light breeze. Peridot looked up. The sky was full of clouds and the sun was nowhere to be seen, so the light that filled the place seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Everything, even the clouds and the vegetation, was pink. Peridot fixed her attention on the only thing that broke the monotony of the scenery; a tree, standing alone on a small hill. Only at that moment Peridot realized something else: the place was absolutely silent. She tried speaking, but no sound came out her mouth. The absolute lack of noise was surprisingly peaceful, and yet oddly unsettling.

Still almost sure that the whole night had been nothing but a dream, Peridot took a step forward in direction to the lone tree, which seemed to be the only thing around. Her foot didn't get to touch the ground. Suddenly, she was falling again. The ground swallowed Peridot as she screamed in surprise, although no sound could be heard. This time, when the fall ended, she did touch the ground.

By the moment she was propelled out of Lion's mane, Peridot was completely and utterly lost. Nothing seemed to make sense, as she was now laying on the floor of what she quickly identified as the beach house. Specifically, the floor in front of Steven's bed. Confused and dazzled, Peridot stood up, looking angrily for the responsible. The pink culprit was right in front of her, staring at her nonchalantly, which only fueled Peridot's anger.

"What was all that?!" She barked. "I can't believe you just...!" She interrupted her words, as she came to realization that, at that time of the night, Steven was probably sound asleep. She lowered her voice, trying not to wake the kid up, but still too mad to keep her words to herself. "I can't believe you... You... I don't even know what you did! Why did you drag me here?!" She whispered. Loyal to his habits, Lion showed no reaction upon her words. Instead, he turned his back on her, and jumped onto Steven's bed with a graceful movement. "What are you doing?!" Peridot watched in surprise as Lion performed his jump. "You are going to wake him up!" She said, still whispering.

If Steven hadn't been awoken by that point, he certainly would once Lion started walking on his bed to approach his head laying on a pillow. Or at least that was Peridot's thinking. However, even after Lion was so close to the laying figure that his breath moved Steven's hair, the boy didn't wake up. Peridot walked up to the bed, determined to put an end to Lion's rampage. "Alright you! Enough!" Peridot stood next to the bed and talked to the pink beast. "You tricked me in order to drag me here, and I want a reason!" Lion's ears flickered, but no other reaction could be seen. He was looking steadfastly at Steven's face. The boy was still clearly asleep. Peridot had to make an effort to keep her voice down despite her anger. "Don't pretend you're not listening. Explain yourself...!" Her words were interrupted by a low whimper. Surprised, Peridot looked at Steven. Under the green light, the kid complained one more time, still with his eyes closed. His expression, unlike the other times she'd seen him sleep, was not very peaceful. "What the...?" Peridot forgot all about Lion for a moment, as she took a closer look at the sleeping kid. Steven whimpered lowly yet another time. "Is he having a nightmare?" She murmured. Lion growled at her words, which got Peridot's attention. The green gem looked at him. "Is this why you brought me here?" She asked, still sounding a little mad. The pink creature looked at her and blinked once. Peridot took that as a yes.

"He's just dreaming. A nightmare can't hurt him." She explained, sounding condescending without noticing. Lion narrowed his eyes, a gesture that made Peridot feel awkward, wondering if her explanation had been too obvious. "Well, it's true..." She blushed lightly as she spoke avoiding Lion's gaze. "There's nothing I can do about it..." Lion growled again, lower this time. Peridot looked at the creature curiously. "So? There isn't." Lion growled lowly one more time. He looked at her with expecting eyes. Peridot cringed her lips lightly before speaking. "So you think there is something I can do?" Lion stared at her. Peridot noticed the lack of a growl after her words, and sighed. "Well, at least now we are making progress." Peridot crossed her arms. "Maybe... You want me to wake him up?" Lion growled. "Right, you could do that on your own." Peridot hummed thoughtfully. "Perhaps the others might know how to help..." Yet again, Lion growled.

Peridot couldn't help sounding annoyed. "Well, I'm all out of ideas." Lion's eyes narrowed, making Peridot feel uncomfortable again. "Don't look at me like that! Why is this so important anyway?" His eyes shined under the green light, mysterious and unreadable. Peridot felt frustrated. "Why don't you try something, huh?" She said as she sat on the bed's edge. "It seems you know more than me about this pointless mission." As soon as she finished speaking, a big paw reached from behind her back, pressed on her chest, and pushed her to lie down on the bed. A quiet noise of surprise escaped Peridot's lips. She was now laying on the bed with Lion's paw still pressing on her chest, and the fear that the pink creature evoked on her returned all of the sudden. Peridot clenched her fists and cringed with her eyes closed, waiting for Lion's final blow. Nothing happened however, and she came to realize that Lion's paw on her chest, while firm, was not putting any pressure on her. Finally, Peridot opened her eyes to look up at the pink creature. Lion's eyes were still unreadable, but there was nothing menacing about them. As such, she relaxed.

"You're unbelievable." She reproached him. He blinked once. Next to her, Steven mumbled a couple of unintelligible words. "Now what?" For all response, Lion closed his eyes, which made Peridot narrow hers. She attempted to move Lion's paw from her chest, but it was useless; it didn't budge, and Lion didn't even open his eyes. Peridot sighed, tired of not understanding anything. She looked to her side, where Steven rested his head. "How come you're not awake?" She murmured. A lot had happened since her unexpected arrival at the beach house, and it hadn't been all that quiet. Steven's expression looked tense, but his eyes were firmly closed. "Fine! I give up!" Lion opened his eyes to look at her. "I don't know why you brought me here or what you want from me, I don't understand a single thing, and I don't care." With those words, she crossed her hands and closed her eyes, putting an end to the stream of light coming from her gem. Peridot only intended to make it clear that she was done trying to help Lion, but in the dark and laying on the soft bed, she found herself being surprisingly comfortable. Lion closed his eyes too, and silence returned to the room, broken only by the sound of the three of them breathing and, occasionally, Steven's mumbled whimpers.

Peridot didn't notice when she fell asleep, but Lion did. Once she her breathing turned peaceful and regular, he opened his eyes to watch the two figures sleep side by side.

She was woken by the sound of thunder. Peridot gasped in surprise as she sat up. Feeling drowsy, it took her a moment to remember her situation. "Steven!" She looked at the place where the boy'd been sleeping and realized the bed was, except for her, empty; Lion wasn't there either. Outside, rain crashed furiously against the roof and the walls of the house.

Peridot felt lost. She didn't remember seeing any sign of rain before, and yet, at that moment there was a storm stronger than any other she'd ever witnessed. A thunder exploded in the sky as a flash of light entered through the window, startling Peridot. "Steven...? Anyone?" She called louder this time, but even then she could barely hear herself over the sound of the storm. As such, nobody answered.

Peridot stood up from the bed as a feeling of discomfort grew stronger in her chest. The whole place seemed darker than before, even after she lit up her way with her gem. Another thunder resonated outside, and Peridot crossed her arms over her chest, tightly hugging herself. "It's OK..." She thought. "There's nothing to be afraid of... It's just a storm. Steven explained what that is. But just where is everybody?" She walked downstairs looking for any of the others, but it appeared she was alone in the house. As she looked around, something caught her attention. And, although she certainly thought it was against all logic, she approached the front door.

At the other side, raindrops pelted furiously against it and the wind howled with a frightening sound. But what'd really gotten her attention was looking outside, into the night. Peridot had never seen anything as dark as what was outside that door. She tried to distinguish anything, but the stream of light coming from her gem was simply swallowed by the darkness, and didn't reveal a thing. Then, a lightning lit the insides of the house right before another thunder. The darkness outside remained undisturbed. Peridot felt a chill run through her entire body. There was something unnatural out there, hiding in the dark. Something menacing. Peridot walked backwards in horror, trying to put as much distance as possible between her and the unknown that lay behind that door.

"What is all this?" She murmured. She could feel the fear invading her body, and had to make an effort to keep her cool. "There has to be an explanation for this..." She said, trying to reassure herself, but there was no confidence in her words.

Walking backwards as she was, Peridot stepped on something cold. She looked down to find her foot over a strange object, one she'd never seen before, and picked it up, curious. It was round in shape, but it had a handle coming from it. In its center, lay a gem. Peridot tightened her grip on the handle of the object, as a cold feeling stroke her chest. She recognized the gem immediately. Anxious, she turned the object around. Only when a stream of green light came out of it, blinding her momentarily, she realized. It was a mirror.

The boy was shivering. The darkness he was in was cold, and his pajamas just weren't enough to protect him. He couldn't remember how long he'd been in there, but it felt like days. An infinite time of emptiness, nothing but cold and darkness. And silence. He'd yelled at the darkness at first, hoping to get an answer, only to verify what he'd already imagined. He was alone. Floating in the void, he'd tried to remain positive. But he'd felt fear, and he'd even wonder if he'd end up losing hope too. And then, the green light appeared out of nowhere.

It divided the darkness and reached to him, forcing him to close his eyes. Although it was painful at first, happiness and hope grew in his heart with it. At the very least it was a change. He looked directly at the green light with narrow eyes and yelled:

"Hello?! Is someone there?!" A tiny part of him was terrified of the chance of not being heard. Maybe the light would just go away, ignoring him, returning him to the awful darkness. And for a moment, it seemed like it would. But then, another voice broke the silence, and he smiled as tears of happiness formed in the corners of his eyes.

"Steven...?"

He recognized the voice in a heartbeat.

"Peridot! I-It's me!" He couldn't believe it. It was her! He tried to look past the green light, but it was too intense.

"What, in the name of… What is this... This thing?!" Peridot sounded scared, Steven realized. "Hold on, I'm just going to..." The intensity of the light decreased, only then allowing him to see her. Her face was in the middle of an oval of green light. It was floating in the darkness, not so far from him. At that moment, her eyes widened as she saw him too.

"I...! J-Just... How...?" Peridot blinked repeatedly, confused. "I don't understand..."

Steven was almost too happy to remember his desperate situation, but seeing concern in Peridot's eyes served as the perfect reminder. For the first time in all the experience, he was able to see his limbs, under the green light. He tried to move them in a swimming motion, seeking to get closer to the source of the light, but it didn't work. He was stranded, separated from the oval of light by the void.

"Peridot! Where are you? What is going on out there? How long has it been?" He asked, trying and failing not show the anxiety he was feeling. Peridot took a moment to answer, still clearly confused.

"I'm inside the beach house... It's raining really hard and... I don't know how I got here..." She shook her head, frustrated. "Steven, none of this makes any sense..." Her voice sounded tired and defeated. However, the spark of an idea lit up in her eyes. She drew herself nearer to the oval and asked: "Steven...? What's the last thing you remember?"

"Huh? The last..." He realized until that point, he hadn't asked himself that. "I... Why didn't I think of that...?" His thoughts were confused, sloppy. It took him a moment of effort to remember. When he did, however, things started getting clearer before his eyes. "I went to sleep! We had cocoa, and it was late, and I went to sleep! Quickly! What's the last thing you remember?"

"Me? I..." Peridot closed her eyes, trying to get her thoughts in order. "I was... Lion brought me here... And I was lying on your bed. But I closed my eyes and..."

"Oh! Oh!" The kid yelled, getting her attention. "I got it!" His eyes sparkled as he spoke. It took just a moment for her to tie the ends too. Peridot's lips moved at the same time as his, as their words resonated in unison.

"It's all a dream!" He yelled.

"It's all a dream..." She sentenced.

"If it is... Are you even real...?" Peridot bit her lower lip, the revelation hadn't really taken away the strangeness of their situation. When Steven spoke, she'd to pay close attention not to miss any of his words under the sound of the rain.

"I don't really know..." The kid smiled apologetically. "You might be the one who's not real, you know?"

The thought made her laugh, but Steven didn't laugh with her, and she raised an eyebrow. "You're not serious, right?" She smiled nervously, but he only shrugged in response. Peridot's smile died slowly. "I guess we can't really... Know for sure... "

A moment of silence followed. "Hey! How about... How about we pretend we're both real?" He suggested. After a moment, Peridot nodded. "Either way, I'm glad you're here..." He said, smiling again. Peridot cleared her throat, making an effort to dissimulate the slight blush that got to her cheeks.

"So, if that's the case... Is this... Is this a normal 'dream thing'?" She asked. Steven took a moment before answering.

"It's d-definitely not normal, but it's happened before..." Peridot paid close attention. "Funny, the only other time something like this has happened, I dreamed of..." His next word was spoken so lowly, Peridot didn't get to hear it. "Lapis..." Suddenly, suspicion assaulted him. "Peridot...? Where am I...?"

The question resulted odd for Peridot. "Huh? You're inside a... Inside some kind of mirror?" Steven's eyes widened. "Your gem was in the back and..." But the kid had stopped listening, and was now lost in thought.

"I... I think I now who might be behind this..." He said.

"What do you mean, behind this?" Peridot's eyes narrowed. "And just what is this thing...?" She ran her fingers over the mirror's borders, realizing just then they were neatly decorated with carved figures.

"It's a g-gem artifact..." Steven shivered as he spoke. "It can show images of whatever it's witnessed during its existence... Or it could, if I knew how to do it..." He tried to smile, but it didn't turn out very convincing. "Hey, this is new! A gem thing I know about and y-you don't..." Under the newfound light, he could see his breath forming little clouds of steam. He crossed his arms, hugging himself tightly.

Peridot noticed the gesture, and her expression turned into a pained one. "You're... Suffering..." She murmured.

"W-What?" He laughed, trying to show a courage that he'd feared he'd lost already. "No, no, I'm fine! I promise! This is n-nothing..." But his words didn't ease Peridot's doubts.

"Who is behind this, Steven?" Her voice was serious this time; her eyes were tough. Steven noticed, and his reply was as serious as hers.

"The only other gem whom I have shared a dream with before is Lapis, Lapis Lazuli." Peridot's eyes widened at his words. "Even more, the first time I saw her... Lapis was trapped inside..."

"A mirror..." Peridot calmly finished his words. "One just like this one..." The memories of her informant's reports came back to her, like echoes from a distant past. Lazuli's backstory was rather extent, and Peridot had studied the reports of it since she was assigned her mission at Earth, but for some reason, at that moment she was finding herself unable to think straight. She shook her head, trying to shrug off the confusing mist that seemed to surround her. "If she's doing this, then..." Her menacing tone and facial expression said it all, and Steven quickly intervened.

"Wait! She wouldn't... S-She would never do something like this...! There has to be an explanation!" He was sure of it. "If only I could speak to her..." His words were followed by a thunder. Peridot raised her eyes from the mirror, and directed them to the front door. She observed it for a moment before speaking.

"I... Think I know where to find... Whoever is behind this. Be it the Lazuli or not." She swallowed thickly.

"You do?" Steven seemed surprised. "Can you... Can you take me there...?"

Peridot looked at the kid's eyes, then at the door again. Whatever lay behind, it frightened her, but no more than seeing Steven shiver inside that artifact, and the possibility of him having to stay in there for even a moment longer. "Positive. I believe so, yes." She took a step forward in direction to the door, only to stop and look at Steven again. "Steven...?" He looked at her, expectantly. "I'll... I'll get you out of here. I promise." After a brief moment of surprise, the boy smiled and nodded.

"I know you will."

Peridot walked to the door, trying to keep her eyes away from the other side. As she put her hand on the knob, she took a deep breath, and then opened it. She stepped through the portal...

The only thing that allowed her to keep her eyes open despite the rain was her visor, but even with it, it was impossible for her to see anything. The cold wind bit her wet skin, and it was so loud that she could no longer listen to Steven. She looked back, but she couldn't see the beach house anymore. Peridot felt fear, but she forced herself to keep advancing, raising an arm to walk against the wind. For Steven, she thought.

Thunder and lightning exploded in the sky, in a chaotic symphony that made her tighten her grip on the mirror's handle. There appeared to be nothing out there, nothing but the chaos of the storm. Except, Peridot knew there was something. Something that observed her every step, something that was not happy with her presence. Peridot stopped moving. She stood up tall and spoke to the sky, or rather, to the darkness over her.

"Lazuli!" She yelled, as the cold drops pelted her face. A thunder followed her words. "Whoever you are!" Another thunder, stronger this time. Peridot raised the mirror, pointing Steven in direction to the sky too. The kid spoke, but she was unable to hear him. After his words, however, something around them seemed to change. The rain got thicker, the wind whistled louder, and then, a voice that Peridot mistook for a thunder resonated in the sky.

"Lapis is no more." The words echoed all around them. Flashes of the Lazuli's appearance and voice came to Peridot's mind. The voice she was hearing now was very different. Peridot tried her best to ignore the fear.

"Who are you?!" She yelled. Even in complete darkness, she felt an intense gaze set upon her.

"You are not welcome here." The voice answered over the raging storm. By that point, the wind was so strong, Peridot had to make an effort to keep it from dragging her. "LEAVE!"

Peridot trembled upon the unbearably loud sound, but she didn't back away.

"NO!" She yelled as hard as she could. "Not until you free Steven!"

A feral growl preceded the voice's next words, a sound that frightened Peridot. "He is ours now! OURS!" Suddenly, a burst of wind hit her entire body. Peridot lost balance and fell to the ground, but the only thing she was truly aware of, was the fact that the wind made her drop the mirror.

On her knees, she looked around for it with her hands, but in the absolute darkness, it was pointless. "Steven!" She yelled in desperation.

"This is our revenge!" The voice continued, as another blast of wind hit Peridot, throwing her on her back. "We shall destroy everything the Crystal Gems love!" Peridot was unable to move, pressed against the ground by the unnatural strength of the wind. "For we are hate! We are revenge!" Peridot raised an arm against the sky in an instinctive effort to protect herself.

"I am Malachite!" As she heard the last word, she saw the skies lit up. And, right before the lightning impacted her, she saw their eyes, in the sky, over the storm. She saw madness.

Peridot opened her eyes to reality with a scream stuck in her throat.

What followed started as a rather surprising experience for Pearl, who was at that moment in the middle of the process of making Steven's breakfast. Working in the kitchen, she saw through the corner of her eye a figure standing up suddenly from Steven's bed. She turned around to look at it in a heartbeat, prepared to see nothing but the kid waking up, but wondering what could possibly have made him do it in such a hurry. Instead, what she saw was Peridot, standing on the bed and looking both confused and startled.

It took her a moment to process the odd situation. Peridot was in the house, when she was supposed to be in the barn. Furthermore, she looked like she'd been sleeping on Steven's bed, which meant she'd probably spent the night there. And now, Peridot had woken up in a very surprising fashion. But even though things where clearly extraordinary by then, they got even more odd.

In awe, Pearl observed how Peridot, after a moment of doubt, threw herself onto the sleeping figured that lay on the bed, presumably, Steven. Pearl frowned, confused by the fast development of the situation and unable to decide exactly what to do next. However, when Peridot started repeating the boy's name in what was clearly an effort to wake him up, what before had been surprising, turned then alarming.

From her position in the living room, Amethyst didn't get to see as much as Pearl. She'd been pretend sleeping on the couch, waiting for the moment to ride the truck to the barn to continue with their boring task. The day ahead didn't promise a lot. As such, when the noise of Peridot's sudden awakening came from the upper floor, Amethyst sat up immediately, surprised yet pleased by the routine breaking incident.

She saw Pearl interrupt her duty and frown in confusion at the sight of whatever was happening upstairs, and that was all it took to get her attention. She stood up quickly and headed for the stairs, happy to find something to distract her from the tedious perspective of another day of work at the drill. It was at that moment that she heard Peridot's voice calling Steven's name. As with Pearl, it took her just a moment to understand how odd the situation was, but still, her thoughts about it were different. Far from being concerned about the reasons why Peridot was inside the house in the first place, or what she was doing then, the thing that got Amethyst's attention the very moment she heard it, was Peridot's voice. Or rather, the feeling behind it.

Amethyst knew Peridot fairly well, and as such, when she hurried upstairs, her face showed a mixture of concern and confusion. Because in Peridot's voice, she recognized fear. The incident was no longer just a novelty.

Upon seeing Amethyst's reaction, Pearl quickly decided to approach the scene too. She dropped the spoon she'd been using before and ran towards the bed. Amethyst was closer, but Pearl was faster, and they both arrived basically at same time. As such, in just a moment, the situation had developed beyond any possible expectation, leaving them confused and unsettled. They were now standing in front of Steven's bed, where they were granted with an odd and alarming scene.

Caught up in the moment as they were, neither Pearl nor Amethyst even thought about Garnet. They didn't notice how the temple's door opened and she entered the room walking silently, just a moment after their arrival upstairs. They didn't see her walk in their direction slowly either, as their eyes were now focused on the bed and the scene happening on it. And Garnet, even if she certainly could see the other two, didn't notice their presence either. Because, although her body was there and nobody could've told the difference, Garnet was not in the room. She was the last one to arrive, she stood behind the other two gems and remained quiet and motionless, her eyes fixed on the scene in front of her, but still unable to see any of it. Because her mind was gone, as it'd been ever since she walked inside the house, lost in the unlimited possibilities that her future vision granted her.

"Wake up! Steven!" Peridot's eyes were wide open, the fear in her voice was obvious. Nobody intervened, as both Pearl and Amethyst were still unable to comprehend what was happening before their eyes.

"Peridot...?" Amethyst doubtfully asked, failing to prevent her voice from sounding slightly off. "You're kind of freaking us out..."

Peridot didn't show any reaction to her words. At that moment, she grabbed Steven by his shoulders and started shaking him. It was then that Pearl finally decided to take care of the situation.

"Peridot!" She quickly took a step forward and grabbed the green gem's left arm. "Enough! Calm down!" But Peridot didn't let go of Steven. "Peridot!" It was clear then for Pearl that Peridot was far from being aware of her presence. As such, she grabbed her face, firmly but delicately, to make her look directly into her eyes, in an effort to snap her out of her present state of mind. Only then Peridot looked at her, but even so, she only mumbled: "Steven..."

"You have to calm down!" Pearl spoke. Peridot blinked, her eyes showing understanding for the first time. "He's fine..." Pearl's voice was soothing. Peridot looked at the kid again, and then at Pearl. "He's just sleeping..." Peridot remained quiet.

After the first moment of silence in what felt like years, the green gem did something unexpected. In a quick movement, she wrapped her arms around Pearl in a tight hug. Pearl was not prepared for it, and she gasped in surprise at the green gem's sudden showcase of affection. It took her a moment, but soon Pearl reciprocated. "It's going to be fine..." She murmured, still in the dark about what exactly was going to be fine, but wanting to help the green gem calm down anyway. She rubbed Peridot's back, feeling more relaxed at the sight of Peridot stopping her reckless actions. At that moment, however, Peridot talked.

"No..." She said. She tightened her hug on the tall gem for a moment, before breaking it for good. She separated from a confused Pearl and was granted with the vision of the faces of the two gems that were looking at her expectantly. Before speaking, she directed her eyes one more time at Steven.

"She... They have him..."

She didn't feel brave enough to look at them directly as she spoke, so she directed her eyes to the floor. Even so, she could still see their expressions of doubt through the corner of her eyes. "They have him trapped..." Saying out loud what she already knew only made it worse. Each word took a big effort of her part. "H-He won't wake up..."

"Peridot, what are you talking about...?" Pearl shook her head, unable to make any sense out of her words.

At that moment, Amethyst noticed Garnet, standing behind them. She turned around and looked at her with narrow eyes. The fusion was just standing there, and Amethyst wondered how long she'd been doing so. It didn't take her long to notice there was something seriously off about her, as Garnet was completely motionless. "Garnet...?" She asked, but the fusion showed no sign of noticing her question. Alarmed, Amethyst looked at the kid on the bed.

Peridot rubbed her hands nervously. "We shared a dream..." As she started talking, Amethyst took a step forward and, while carefully looking at Peridot, grew closer to Steven. "He was trapped, they... They have him trapped!" Peridot felt a lump in her throat, and closed her eyes as she mentally reproached herself for lacking control over her agitated emotions.

"A dream? Are you talking about a nightmare...? I don't..." Pearl sighed. She was honestly trying not to lose her cool, but Peridot's words were alarming to say the least. The green gem shook her head upon her words. "What do you mean, then? And who is 'they'?"

"Steven...?" Amethyst was now next to the bed. She softly poked the kid in his belly. He didn't show any reaction.

"The fusion..." Peridot swallowed thickly before speaking. "Malachite..." Although no one noticed, Garnet's lips moved in synchrony to Peridot's, pronouncing the word with her.

As soon as she heard the name, Pearl's eyes widened in horror. She quickly took a step forward and grabbed Peridot by her shoulders, startling the short gem. "Malachite?" Peridot nodded. "You were on a shared dream with Steven and Malachite!" Peridot nodded again, unable to pronounce a single word.

"Steven, this isn't funny man..." Amethyst was not paying attention to the other two. She was now trying hard to wake Steven up, but like Peridot's, her efforts were proving inefficient. Although she was trying to remain calm, every second the kid kept his eyes closed made it more and more clear that something was not going OK.

"And what happened?!" Pearl finally cracked under the pressure, letting her voice reveal how anxious she really felt. At that moment a cold feeling invaded the back of her neck. She looked directly into Peridot's eyes and asked: "What did you mean... Trapped...?"

"Pearl, Steven really won't wake up!" Amethyst's voice bordered panic.

Pearl heard her, but she didn't look away from Peridot; their eyes fixed on one another's. "Peridot, what did you mean?!" Her fear was now obvious, both in her eyes and her voice.

Peridot couldn't take it any longer. She snapped.

"They have him trapped!" She yelled. The two other gems' attention centered on her. "In his dream, he's trapped inside a mirror, and he can't leave! That's why he can't wake up! That's why he won't!" The words came haltingly out of her mouth. "They won't let him..." Pearl released Peridot's shoulders and covered her mouth, unable to look away from Peridot's teary eyes. "I saw them... I saw her! She's mad, she hates you! She hates me..." Peridot was no longer capable of holding in her fear, and it was pouring out in her voice. "She wants to hurt us... And this is how..."

Pearl could no longer stand listening to her. She pushed Amethyst aside and threw herself onto the sleeping boy, hugging him in an effort to protect him from a danger that was not in the room. For a moment, the situation turned chaotic. Peridot covered her face in a gesture of supreme desperation as Pearl sobbed while burying her face in the kid's hair. Amethyst reacted differently. She looked at the two of them, breathing heavily and looking more mad than sad. Still, concern was obvious in her eyes.

"How!?" She grabbed Peridot's shoulder and made her look at her. "How is that possible?!"

Peridot shook her head. "I don't... I don't know!" She really didn't.

"Explain some more! How did she get inside his dream?! How did you do it too?!" With each question, she shook Peridot strongly. "What were you doing here in the first place?!"

For all response, Peridot shook her head.

"Argh!" Amethyst let go of her and walked down the stairs, putting more strength than necessary on the floor with each step. She stopped momentarily to look at Garnet, growled lowly at the sight of the fusion's unexpressive face, and then continued. Pearl raised her head to look at her go.

"A-Amethyst...?" Peridot mumbled. The purple gem didn't turn around to look at her. "Where are you going...?"

"Where do you think I'm going?!" She did turn around then. Her eyes were teary, but fierce. "I'm going to find her and kick her right in her stupid face!" The other two looked at her in awe. "If she thinks she can mess with one of us, then..."

"Wait!" Pearl intended to stand up, but at the last moment she couldn't bring herself to separate from the child. "You can't go on your own!"

"Ha! Watch me!" Amethyst started walking again, but another voice stopped her one more time.

"How are you going to find her?" Amethyst stopped dead in her track. When she turned around again, her face showed surprised. Because the one to speak this time, was Garnet.

For the first time in the whole situation, everyone's attention centered on her. Pearl and Peridot had barely been aware of her presence, and they were as surprised as Amethyst when they heard her voice.

"Are you going to leave him like this?" Amethyst saw her point at Steven, and clenched her fists in frustration. She knew the logic of her first question was unbeatable, and still, she felt incapable of staying in the room one more second. But leaving him like that...

"Argh! What do you know!?" She yelled at the fusion. "And why are you so freaking calm?"

But as soon as she spoke, she knew she was wrong. Garnet's hand was still pointing at Steven, and only then Amethyst noticed she was shaking noticeably. In awe, she observed as the fusion, as if to further prove her mistake, moved her hand to take off her glasses, revealing her eyes. In them, Amethyst saw the reflection of her own concerns, only multiplied, and realized that with her future vision, Garnet was probably suffering more than any of them the painful stroke of the tragedy, being able to see every facet of it from different angles. At that moment, the weight of the recent emotions finally caught up with her, and Amethyst turned around before cleaning her eyes of the tears she was desperately trying, and failing, to hold in.

"Now it's the moment to stay together." Garnet spoke. "We need to stay strong. We need to stay a team." Everyone heard her, and everyone knew she was right. And yet no one felt better by hearing her words.

It was a moment of despair. Nobody seemed to have something to say, so they all just stood around, trying to assimilate their current situation. The only sound was their agitated breathing, and Pearl's quiet sobbing.

Finally, Peridot was the one that put an end to the silence by saying out loud the question they were all thinking.

"What... What do we do next...?"

Nobody answered. Peridot turned around and looked at Pearl. The image of the gem holding Steven's lifeless body in her arms made her cringe. It was almost physically painful. Still, she made her best effort to think logically and try to comfort the gem. As such, she approached her and spoke.

"He... He's not..." She doubted for a moment, but continued speaking. "Dead." The word made Pearl tighten her grip on the kid. Peridot hasten to continue. "I mean...! He... He's still breathing." It was true, the kid's chest was moving up and down slowly but constantly. Pearl didn't look at her though. "He's just asleep... There's still hope, right?" Her question sounded desperate. Again, nobody answered. Peridot swallowed thickly.

"How could we let this happen?" Finally, Pearl talked. As she did, she caressed Steven's hair. "We failed to found them, and as a consequence... Steven..."

"We did our best." Garnet replied. Her words, however, didn't seem to ease Pearl's concerns. Peridot couldn't stand seeing her like that.

"Argh! It's not your fault! Ok?" Peridot took her hands to her head while frowning. "If someone's... It should be mine."

"You didn't do anything, Peri." Amethyst's voice, coming from downstairs. After speaking for the first time in a while, the purple gem started walking upstairs.

"But I..." Peridot clenched her fists and closed her eyes. "I brought them here! I'm the whole reason this is all happening! This is... This is all my fa-"

"It's not." Garnet interrupted her. "Don't ever say that." The fusion put a hand over Peridot's shoulder. Peridot opened her eyes to look at her, surprised. "Don't you see? You belong here, Peridot." Garnet walked up to the sleeping kid and sat on the bed next to Pearl, from where she directed her eyes to a confused Peridot. "You were meant to be here, on Earth. And we're all happy you are. If that brings consequences, then we'll just have to deal with them. They are not your fault." Her words were soft. Peridot unclenched her fists, unable to look away from her and blushing slightly.

"Do you..." She bit her lower lip. "Do you really believe so...?"

Garnet nodded once. "I know so." And her words calmed the green gem, even if just slightly.

"Besides..." Pearl added. "If Homeworld hadn't sent you, it would've sent some other gem. Something could've gone wrong just as easily..."

Peridot observed the two gems on the bed and Amethyst, who had now joined them in their position surrounding the kid in Pearl's arms, and was overwhelmed with gratitude. Even in their current situation, even if they were feeling just as terrible as her, the gems were still trying to make her feel better. In just a brief moment of thinking, she wondered what exactly she'd done to deserve being a part of the odd and unique group known as the Crystal Gems.

"I..." Ironically, under everyone's comforting eyes, Peridot felt uncomfortable. Still blushing, she avoided their eyes. "We really should be focusing on... The task at hand..."

There was no possible doubt about the meaning of her words. Their eyes centered on Steven, whose expression had remained unchanged throughout the whole scene.

"But thank you..." She added, almost in a whisper.

A moment of silence followed. Nobody was sure about how to approach the subject. More calm at that point, Pearl was the first one to speak.

"Something must've changed." She said. Garnet put on her glasses again, and tilted her head, waiting for her to continue. "They'd never tried to... Make a move before." She caressed Steven's hair. "Why would Lapis even try to... Hurt him?" She asked to no one in particular.

"Maybe she's lost it..." Amethyst suggested. She tried to sound playful, but it was clear to everyone that her words were very serious. "She's been in the ocean for, what? A year? I know I would have lost my mind if I had to spend that much time with that doofus."

"Jasper." Peridot thought. She shook her head.

"I don't think Lapis Lazuli is the one holding Steven hostage." They all directed her eyes to her. "Steven and I thought so too..." She explained. "While dreaming. But when I called her that, her specific words were... 'Lapis is no more.'" The memory was chilling. The green gem took her hand to her cheek, thoughtfully.

"So, Jasper then?" Pearl said. "Did she finally take control?"

"She wouldn't have tried to hurt me like she did!" Peridot pointed out. "I mean... She would have, if she knew I'm a..." She realized she was about to mention her new status as a Crystal Gem, and quickly changed her words in a different direction. "I'm living here, on Earth. But she couldn't possibly have known that." She cleared her throat, under Amethyst's suspicious look. "Besides, this..." She added, directing her eyes to Steven. "This just doesn't look like her way to fight, see? Jasper is a warrior. Warriors value pride and honor over everything..." Pearl nodded. Everyone seemed to be out of ideas, when Garnet spoke.

"It doesn't have to be one or the other." Garnet put her hands in front of her, separated from each other by a short distance. Everyone observed her. "Malachite is the worst fusion I've ever seen. She's toxic. She's fused for all the wrong reasons. That's why there's a constant struggle inside her." She moved one of her hands to be over the other one. "But maybe that's a good thing. Lapis and Jasper are together, but they are not mixed. However, if somehow they were to really become one..." She put her hands together, linking each finger in a tight embrace. Pearl covered her mouth with her hand. "Who knows the kind of tortured and wicked creature that would be the result of that." Her hands shivered just by thinking about it.

"You mean... They might be really together now?" Amethyst asked. For all response, Garnet shrugged.

"That does make a lot of sense..." Pearl said.

"But it doesn't matter now." The fusion sentenced. She stood up, her expression deathly serious. "Everything that matters now is that Steven is in grave danger, and he's counting on us to help him. Whatever the reason Lapis and Jas- No... Malachite has to try to hurt us, I can only think of one way to stop her." She cracked her knuckles in a very expressive gesture.

"Heck, it's about time." Amethyst punched her hand with a dangerous expression. Peridot saw them and nodded. Only Pearl, who was still sitting on the bed, didn't seem to be ready.

"Wait...! Peridot...?" She said.

"Huh?"

"How did you get here?" The sudden question got everyone's attention. Peridot blinked twice before answering, slightly surprised by it.

"Oh! I... Lion brought me here." She explained. " He also pinned me down until I fell asleep. Come to think about it, he's the only reason I got to share Steven's dream." She looked around for the creature. "Where's the furry beast anyway?"

"Lion brought you...?" Pearl seemed very surprised by her explanation. "I was the first one to arrive here in the morning and he wasn't here!" She frowned in confusion. "But how did he know...?"

"That...! Is actually a very good question..." She realized she hadn't thought about it and took a hand to her chin.

"Oh, come on! Can't you nerds think about that later?" Amethyst exclaimed. Both Pearl and Peridot directed distasteful views to her. "We're kind of in a hurry, remember?"

"We don't have time to spare." Garnet agreed.

"I know that!" Pearl seemed slightly offended. "Maybe some of us are wondering how will we even start searching in the first place, or what are we going to do with... Steven..." The very mention of the kid and his state immediately put a dent in their morale. Amethyst snorted and kicked the floor in front of her before turning around, while Pearl's hands nervously surrounded the kid in her lap again. Peridot saw them, and quickly said:

"Hey...! We... We'll figure something out, alright?" Trying to sound comforting, she put a hand on Garnet's elbow, the highest place she could reach without too much effort. "For what it's worth... Steven is not... 'In pain'..." She remembered the kid shivering in the cold. She swallowed thickly; she couldn't really assure them that. Peridots weren't good liars, she reminded herself. "Maybe he can't wake up but, I mean... As bad as that is, at least he knows we're coming." Her words seemed to somewhat serve as a relief to them, but they had the opposite effect on herself. She swallowed it, however and continued speaking. "Also, I might... I might have an idea on how to find her."

"Really?" Pearl's eyes were full of hope as she spoke.

Peridot nodded once, putting up a smile. "Positive. But I need to get to the barn first."

After a moment, Pearl nodded and hugged the kid tight for a second longer, before sighing and standing up. She put him on the bed, and as the gems started talking about the best way to proceed, Peridot rubbed her hands nervously. She wondered if she'd done the right thing by not telling them how desperate Steven's situation actually was, and she wondered what Steven would've done in her place. She sighed. She hated to lie to the other gems, but they needed to remain positive more than ever, seeing that the kid, who was usually the one to cheer all of them up, wasn't exactly around. And she decided to take that responsibility. With mixed feelings in her chest, Peridot only wished she was right, that Steven was fine and that her idea would actually work.

"I'm keeping my promise, Steven." She thought.

Darkness had returned. He knew that Peridot had left; otherwise she never would have stopped talking to him for so long. Although it quickly started getting lonely inside there again, he was feeling much better than before. Mostly because ever since they talked, his mind had been taken out of the confusing mist that before prevented him from thinking straight. Steven had grown aware of his situation. Before that, it'd all felt like a never-ending nightmare, something unexplainable and scary. But Peridot's light had ignited the spark of hope in his heart, and now, as scary as it still was, he knew it all had some sort of explanation, and more importantly, a solution. It was an unknown one, but he was sure it existed. And he had a thread to pull and start looking for it.

Because he'd noticed that, just a moment before Peridot dropped his mirror, when she lifted him and pointed him into the storm raging in the sky, the words he'd spoke had had an effect of some sort. His words had made the storm, and whoever was behind it... Angrier. And Steven wasn't sure that was a good sign, but he was sure it had crucial importance. Because he'd yelled something not many would get angry at.

"Whatever it is we've done to you, I'm sorry! I just want to help you! Please let me!" At the moment, he hadn't thought about his words, he'd just said what he really felt like.

It was clear that the one hidden behind the storm hadn't taken it very well, but at least it had shown some sort of reaction. Now it was all about having another chance to communicate, he thought. That, however, was bound to be the tricky part.

Inside the mirror as he was, Steven hadn't noticed much of what had happened once Peridot got out of the house. He'd heard the noise of rain, an unintelligible voice that sounded like thunder and came from the storm, a sudden strong flash of light and then, silence. No more rain, only emptiness. His interpretation was that his mirror had landed upside down on the floor, leaving him facing the ground, but he wasn't sure that was just it. In any case, he couldn't talk to the voice in the sky anymore. But Steven was trying his best to remain positive.

"Hello?" He yelled at the emptiness around him. "Can you hear me?"

His voice got lost in the darkness. He was starting to miss the light from Peridot's gem.

"I know you are there! I know you can hear me!" He was bluffing. At that point, he wasn't even sure he was yelling in the right direction. "Can you just... Let me out, please? It's really cold in h-here!" Again, no answer.

"Well, can you at least talk to me?" The void remained silent.

Steven tucked his hands under his arms, shivering. "If only I were wearing a sweater..." He thought. At that moment, a small but bright idea appeared in his mind. He was just dreaming; maybe he could...

"I wish I was wearing a sweater!" He yelled, extending his arms. And he waited. And waited. And kept waiting. But nothing happened, and he put his arms down, disappointed. "It always seemed to work in cartoons..." He complained. He remained quiet for a moment, hugging himself tightly again.

"Was that you out there, Lapis?" He whispered. "It didn't sound like you. But this is your mirror, right?" Perfect silence, surrounding him. "Is this how your mirror was too? It's so lonely. I'm sorry you had to spend all that time inside here..." He stopped for a moment, thinking.

"Are you... Mad at me...?"

He was sure by then that he wasn't being heard, but he chose not to let that get to him. Peridot had been there, and she was most likely awake by then, meaning the gems probably knew about him. And they'd figure a way to help him out. Until then, he'd just have to wait patiently.

"If I could begin to be..." Hoping to fill the silence, he sang Peridot's song, trying not to stutter too much.

Peridot had seemed to be the most positive out of them, but on their way there, her mood had gotten worse. In fact, she had been quiet to the point of making Pearl concerned about her again. Pearl was fighting her own battle against fear and uncertainty and could, to some extent, understand her behavior, but it was clear that something atop Steven's situation was bothering the green gem. As soon as they arrived at the barn, Peridot opened the truck's door and stepped outside in a hurry, slamming the door behind her.

"Hey!" Pearl complained. The gem didn't look back on her way to the building. Pearl sighed. At that point, she was wishing Amethyst or Garnet had come with her too, but the two gems had an ugly task of their own. In order to find Malachite, they'd have to start searching immediately, and Steven was going to have to stay with someone. And the only one they could think of, was Greg. That of course, left the issue of letting him know about Steven's current state. In all honesty, Pearl wasn't sure what Greg's reaction would be, but she was sure it wouldn't be nice. She and Peridot had gotten the easiest task, she thought; getting to the barn to help the latter with her "idea" that could, and hopefully would, help them find the fusion.

Pearl got out of the car too. Peridot was already inside, and as she walked up to the open building, Pearl could hear the other gem trashing around, most likely searching for something. Pearl stood in the front door and looked inside, amazed by the picture she was awarded with.

She had never seen Peridot's personal workshop before, and for a moment, witnessing the chaotic, and yet attractive to the eye, mess of tools and both finished and unfinished pieces of work laying around, took Pearl's mind off the business that had brought them there and the green gem occupied with her search. Fascinated, and carefully avoiding to step on anything, she approached the chalkboard to read the annotations that Peridot had made about her prototypes for the future. Pearl was still amazed by Peridot's capacity to improvise, using nothing but spare parts to create complex tools, and respectfully ran a finger over the blueprints on the chalkboard, internally wondering where the limits of Peridot's creative mind really rested.

"Aha!" Peridot's voice reminded her of their current situation. She turned around and looked at the green gem, who was now sitting on the floor. In her hands, she recognized the radar.

"That thing!" Pearl exclaimed. "You... Fixed it...?" The last time Pearl had seen it, it had been reduced to pieces.

"Positive." Peridot held the radar with a tired expression in her face. Pearl approached her and took a closer look at it. It looked rather scrappy.

"Is that what will help us find her...?"

"Positive." Peridot repeated as she nodded. Pearl observed her expectantly, but, although Peridot had seemed eager to find that piece of equipment as quickly as possible, she did nothing but absentmindedly observe the tool in her hands. Finally, Pearl spoke.

"How, exactly?" She asked, carefully. Like waking up from a dream, Peridot raised her eyes to look at her, apparently mildly surprise by her question.

"Huh...? I mean... Right!" She stood up. "Well, hmm… Do you remember what I explained about my pod before? About how it tracks the energy spectrum of my enhancers?" Pearl nodded. "Back then I had some trouble using that function, at first. As it turns out, my enhancers didn't seem to be emitting any energy." Pearl tilted her head, paying close attention. "I should have known. They get the energy from their owner's gem. I, or their owner, to be more specific, is the battery that provides them with energy, get it? They had been disconnected from me for a while, meaning there were only small traces of energy left in them. But, as you know, I managed to overcome that difficulty, thanks to Earth's ocean. But that's not important right now... What is important is that I discovered that, since the pod can actually recognize my specific energy spectrum, it probably can recognize other gem's. Essentially, making it a universal... Gem tracking device..." Peridot swallowed visibly.

"Peridot..." Pearl's eyes were wide open. "That is incredible! So you can actually track them down?" She smiled hopefully. "We just have to use this, right?"

"Well, I..!" Peridot avoided her eyes and walked up to the board. "It's not that simple, OK? I haven't tried it yet, and I don't have any way to recognize Lapis or Jasper's energy spectrum, since they are not even here. Furthermore, since they are fused, they probably have a different one now than individually... Or not, this is all very new to me..." Pearl's smile died slowly. Peridot saw her and quickly continued speaking. "But... I... I can try to do it right now."

"What are we waiting for then?" The smile had returned to Pearl's face. The tall gem was unaware of the uncheerful tone in Peridot's voice.

"Right. Yes. I've just got to modify a few things..." Peridot nodded. She didn't lose a second more, leaning down and grabbing a screwdriver that she immediately put to use, putting the radar on top of a small wooden box. She also put on her googles.

It was hard for Pearl to see her work, as she knew that, if Peridot failed, the search for Malachite would be a slow and hard process. They had already spent a lot of time and effort trying to find her before, with no positive results. Furthermore, she wasn't sure how long Steven could remain asleep, being unable to eat... The thought made her shiver. No, it had to work. It was the only way. As such, she waited as patiently as she could, rubbing her hands nervously, walking back and forth and looking over the other gem's shoulder, until finally, Peridot raised her eyes to look at her. She didn't say anything, which made Pearl nervous.

"So..?" She asked. "How... How did it go?"

Peridot used her index finger to push her googles up. "Come take a look." Pearl approached her and looked at the screen in the device that Peridot was holding. She noticed the screen was broken badly, but it still seemed to be able to display information. On it, Pearl saw two dots of different sizes, one next to the other. "See this?" Peridot pointed at the smallest dot. "That's me." Pearl's eyes widened. "You." Peridot added, pointing at the biggest dot. It took Pearl a moment to process the information, before a wide smile made its way to her face.

"It worked! You did it!" She couldn't help the sudden impulse of grabbing the green gem's face between her hands, laughing cheerfully. Peridot gasped, surprised, but Pearl quickly stepped back, blushing lightly. "We'll find her! This is...!" She interrupted her words, however, as she saw Peridot take off her googles. She wasn't smiling, and her eyes were didn't reveal happiness, but concern. "Peridot...? Is there something bothering you...?" Pearl asked, with a confused expression on her face.

"What...? No!" The gem put up a smile that didn't fool Pearl for even one second. Her eyes narrowed. "This is great! Don't you see? We can find her now, even in the ocean! It won't be hard; it won't take too much time either! Soon, Steven won't be in danger anymore..." Words were coming haltingly out her mouth and she was avoiding Pearl's eyes. The latter watched her with growing concern. "He'll be fine, away from trouble and safe! Just so I can mess things up and put him in danger again!" By that point, she was yelling at nothing in particular. With her last words, she kicked a wooden box full of screws in a sudden movement that startled Pearl. The screws flew up in the air and were scattered all across the floor as the thin box was broken in half by the violent hit.

"Peridot!" Pearl exclaimed, and tried to get closer to the gem. But Peridot quickly took a step back as she raised an arm to stop Pearl from moving. She was breathing laboriously and her eyes were teary. "What are you...?" Pearl tried to ask.

"Oh, how can you not see it!?" Peridot angrily reproached her. Pearl shook her head with her mouth half open. "I didn't just discover this!" She showed her the radar. "I came up with this concept ages ago! Since I created this thing, I knew it could be used to do just this! You could've found her way before any of this had to happen..." Her words were sad, and so were her eyes.

Slowly at first, understanding made its way to Pearl's mind. Peridot's behavior started making more sense in her head. She was blaming it all on herself. "But... Why didn't you tell us?"

"Oh, that's just the best part!" Her words sounded deceivingly cheerful. "It was all because I was afraid! I was terrified of you finding her! Because I'm a coward!" She spit out the last word with anger. Pearl wanted to ask her to calm down, but Peridot continued speaking. "Do you know what Jasper is? She's the last string tying me to Homeworld. She doesn't know I've changed, and she sure as heck won't understand it! So, she's the last challenge I'll have to face to prove myself that I have really abandoned Homeworld's ways..." Anger had left her body. Her words now were just sad. "But I didn't want to face her...I was too afraid that I'd fail... That... Somehow, I would wind up going back to who I was..." A single tear dropped from her right eye. Pearl found herself unable to speak. "And so, I let you go and waste your time trying to find her again and again, while knowing I was hiding the invention that could've ended your problem for no other reason than my selfish fear... And now... Steven..." She cringed, unable to continue speaking.

"Peridot, you couldn't possibly have known that... I... About Jasper... She..." Words just didn't seem to want to leave Pearl's mouth. "This isn't your..."

"Why can't I get anything right...?" Peridot didn't seem to hear her. She was looking at the device in her hands. "All I do is put Steven in danger... Put all of you in danger. It's been the same since the first time, nothing has changed! How can I be a Crystal Gem...? If I can't even protect him...?" Tears were now rolling down her cheeks. "Is there something wrong with me...? Am I... Bad...?"

Suddenly, Pearl approached her. Peridot took a step back again, but Pearl was faster, and soon, the tall gem was on her knees, hugging her tightly. Peridot stopped talking and stood motionless, with her eyes firmly closed.

"You're not bad." Pearl's words were soft. "We all let him down... Not just you. It is our responsibility too." Pearl had her arms firmly around the other gem's body. "Everybody makes mistakes... But that's not all we are, is it? That's not what we all see when we see each other. Do you know what I see when I see you? I see hope." Peridot opened her eyes slowly. "Hope for every other gem that, like you, can see the error of her ways. You're perfect, Peridot, just the way you are, mistakes included." Peridot trembled upon her words. "It doesn't matter how bad you mess up, we'll forgive you every time, and we will all be happy to see you grow. To see you become a better gem by learning with each mistake."

"But why...?" Peridot was barely holding in her sobs. Rivers of tears ran down her cheeks. "Don't you ever get tired of f-forgiving me...?"

"Of course not!" Pearl answered.

"BUT WHY?!" She yelled at the other gem, with her fists clenched strongly. Pearl separated from her slightly to look at her face. Through her own tears, Peridot saw her eyes were wet too.

"Because we love you, Peridot."

Although she had barely noticed, Peridot had been holding back a lot since that morning. But at that moment, she broke down. She hugged Pearl strongly, letting her be the shelter she needed. During all the time their embrace lasted, Pearl kept whispering that none of it was her fault, and that she had nothing to fear. And Peridot was happy to find that she believed her every word.

"See, I've been through the desert on a horse with no name..." The radio sang, but no one was paying attention to it anymore.

In an odd occurrence, Pearl had turned it on in their way back, and so the human tunes had accompanied them in their short trip. Although Pearl had, for a moment, thought it hadn't been a good idea, Peridot had found herself enjoying the distraction of, for the first time, hearing humans other than Greg play their unknown instruments and sing their strange and almost unintelligible lyrics. At the moment they arrived at the beach house, however, the reality got to her again, and she got off the car with the radar in her hands. This time she didn't throw the door, and she waited for Pearl to start walking in direction to the house.

They walked silently side by side, and there was a comfortable complicity in the act. Their feelings were peaceful as they entered the house, where they were met with a situation that, much to their surprise, was not very different from theirs.

Earlier that day, Amethyst and Garnet were left with a situation to handle. After Pearl and Peridot left the house, they both stayed silent for a couple of minutes, feeling unsure about how to proceed.

"Maybe if I go to sleep...? Maybe I'll get to share a dream with him!" Amethyst suddenly suggested. The idea had just assaulted her, and at the moment it seemed pretty logical. Garnet, however, shook her head slowly.

"It won't work." She sentenced. The certainty in her voice made it clear that she'd already foreseen the outcome of that course of action. Amethyst sighed, disillusioned. After another moment of silence, she spoke again.

"I'll... Go get Greg." There was no point in postponing it any longer; her voice sounded resigned.

Garnet nodded, and Amethyst, after a moment of doubt, got out of the house, leaving the fusion alone. Although the task ahead worried her, she was equally concerned about what, or rather who, she was leaving behind. The stern fusion was not one to easily crumble under pressure, but Amethyst knew better than to take her control over herself for granted. Ruby and Sapphire had separated about conflicts in the past, and she could barely imagine the amount of stress they were undergoing at that moment. Garnet's silence concerned her. As such, when she left the house, she planned on being quick, in order not to leave her alone for too long.

The house was silent after Amethyst got out. Garnet sat down on the bed, next to Steven. There, she stayed motionless, with her hands on her knees.

There wasn't a sign of it, but a conversation was taking place at that moment inside the room. It was a very odd occurrence: the two gems that formed Garnet were usually so deeply connected, that any kind on conversation was downright unnecessary. Then again, the situation they were in was very odd too. As such, inside Garnet, Ruby and Sapphire were, for the first time in some time, finding themselves as separate gems. Although they didn't unfuse, their personalities weren't combined, resulting in the momentarily disappearance of Garnet as a single fusion.

Differently from other times, most of which they had been fully separated, Ruby and Sapphire were not arguing. They were still very frustrated, however, and the conversation was tense.

"I can't believe we didn't see this coming..."

"This was an incredibly small possibility... We can't predict miracles."

"Argh! We still could've done something! Anything!"

"All we did, is all we could've done."

"... Right..."

A brief moment of silence followed.

"She's bringing him."

"... What are we going to tell him...?"

"Everything."

"Sapphire! Isn't that... Risky?"

"Of course. It's always been. And yet... He deserves to know."

"I... Understand."

Again, a moment of silence.

"Why do you think the lion looked for her?"

"You know as much about that as I do."

"..."

"Maybe their connection is stronger than we know..."

There were no voices: just thoughts. There was no emphasis or tone changes, but there were feelings that accompanied each thought. Such was the communication taking place.

"Are you... afraid?"

"You know the answer."

"I mean... I know we were... But that could've been just me..."

"... I can't see it."

"?"

"I really can't. The future in which this all resolves... Appropriately."

"..."

"I... I am afraid."

"... I shouldn't have asked... I'm sorry..."

"No... It's good to know I'm not the only one."

"Yeah... You're not. But we shouldn't be. We can... We can solve this."

"You don't know that."

"But I do! We'll find a way! We and the others, I'm sure!"

"..."

"We have to. I don't care if we don't see it! We didn't see this, right? And it still happened... Let's just try to remain positive... Let's not give up..."

"We won't. We both know we would never give up... You're right. We have to do our best. Together."

"Yeah! That's more like it! We're not alone! We'll find..."

"Garnet...?" Amethyst spoke.

Although Amethyst didn't note the change, in less than a second Garnet was together again. Her personality appeared as quick as it'd left, and the gems that were there just a moment before were now together as part of the same entity again. It was an unnoticeable event that left Garnet somewhat disoriented.

She looked around for a moment, noticing, as if for the first time, the sunlight that entered through the windows filling the room and bathing Amethyst, the gem whose slightly troubled eyes were staring at her. Garnet's eyes finally rested on the newcomer in the room: Greg, who was sitting next to her on the bed, examining Steven with a look of concern in his face.

"Kiddo...?" He whispered, but Garnet was barely conscious of it.

"You OK...?" Amethyst asked, visibly worried. After a moment, Garnet came back to her senses. She stood up, nodded once at the purple gem and put a hand on her shoulder, in an effort to calm her thoughts, before turning her attention fully to the human on the bed.

"Hey, Stevo... Do you wanna... Maybe wake up for your old man...?" His voice was painfully shaky. Greg shook his son delicately as he spoke. "I can make us some pancakes... How does that sound...?" But Steven's expression remained unchanged, and Greg had to make an effort to keep his cool. "What about... Waffles...?" The man swallowed thickly before hugging his son.

Garnet and Amethyst saw him, feeling more troubled every second. They'd been through the same initial shock, but seeing someone else go through it was a tough test of its own. From Greg's words, Garnet took it Amethyst'd explained some of the situation to him.

Although it took him some time, finally, like it'd happened to both of them, Greg realized his efforts were pointless. He caressed Steven's hair for a long moment, while silence filled the room, before standing up.

Greg's eyes met Garnet's visor. When he spoke, his voice was barely controlled.

"Garnet, I..." He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. "I know I'm nothing but a human and I know you think I should stay away from gem business, but..." His words were interrupted when Garnet raised a hand.

For the last time, Garnet wondered if what she was about to do was the right thing to do. "Greg. Steven is the bearer of the Rose Quartz gem. He is far more than any human child. He's the first of his kind, and Rose's hope lies on him. His destiny is greater than yours, and mine." Greg's expression hardened, but Garnet continued speaking. "But... He is also your son." Greg's eyes widened. "Please, ask anything you need to know. I'll make sure to answer your questions in the best way possible."

"Wow." Amethyst whispered.

For a moment, Greg remained unable to speak. Garnet'd never offered a thing like that in the past to him, and he pondered how bad the situation had to be, in order for her to offer it. Also, in a somewhat fearful manner, he questioned how much he really wanted to know. But finally, he nodded, accepting Garnet's offer.

"Thank you. I... I really appreciate it." Garnet nodded once. Greg took a deep breath, with a tired expression in his face. "Alright. Please tell me... How did this happen?"

"First question." Garnet thought. Although it wasn't all that simple, out of the ones Greg would ask her in the near future, it was probably the easiest one to answer.

"We don't fully understand it, but we know Steven has the capacity to share a connection with certain gems in his sleep." She made sure her voice was calm and controlled. Greg payed close attention. "He's done it in the past, specifically with Lapis Lazuli." His eyes narrowed. "We believe she... Or rather, the fusion she's part of, is exploiting this connection somehow... Not allowing him to wake up."

Garnet really tried not to hide anything from him, and Greg noticed. Her words, however, didn't ease his concerns. If something, he became slightly more alarmed.

"The fusion...? You mean, the one in the ocean?" He asked. Garnet nodded once. Greg ran a hand over his head. "But... Why is it happening now? And you said he's done it in the past...?" His eyes were doubtful.

"Next round." She thought briefly. Again, not especially hard to answer.

"Lapis Lazuli was in control of Malachite, the fusion. That's when she took it to the bottom of the sea. She did it to protect Steven from Jasper, the other gem that came with Peridot." Garnet chose her words carefully. She wasn't sure Lapis had the intention of protecting Earth or anyone other than Steven. "We can't tell for sure, but it appears to be that she's lost control over it. That's probably why it's happening now. And yes, he'd done it in the past. Although before, he was in control. It seemed like nothing but a normal dream."

Greg bit his lower lip for a moment, and nodded. He wasn't sure how much he actually liked getting all that information, but at least now some new light was shining over the darkness. He remained silent for a moment, growing the courage to ask the one question that really mattered.

"Is he..." He swallowed thickly. "Is he going to be OK?" He clenched his fists and clearly tried hard to keep a neutral expression.

"That's the one." She thought this time. The one question she was afraid to answer. The one she, since that morning, had known she eventually would have to answer. A multitude of thoughts crossed Garnet's mind at that moment. She'd looked for the answer to that question on her own, and she hadn't liked what she'd found. She'd gone through the options over and over, but every single one led to a destiny she didn't want to face. And every single time, she'd had the opportunity to see the other's reactions to it; it hadn't been easy. It was an immense amount of pressure, and it all came down to that question. She thought about all that, but in reality, it happened in a matter of seconds.

Garnet took off her glasses slowly, and looked at Greg directly into his eyes. There, for a moment, Garnet made an effort to forget her future vision. She stopped thinking about the possibilities and chances of failure, and spoke from the heart; at that point, the only thing she was absolutely certain about.

"I don't know." The words felt heavy as she pronounced them.

"What...?" Amethyst's expression froze, eyes wide open. Greg swallowed thickly.

Garnet, however, remained calm. "Please, listen to me." She stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I know how much it means to you that I can predict positive outcomes for the problems we face. It makes us all feel secure, and you might even think I'm infallible..." She smiled half way, but her eyes were sad. "But that's not true. I'm not nearly all knowing and I'm wrong sometimes... I didn't know this would happen, and right now, I don't know if he's going to be OK. I just... Can't see it." Seeing discomfort in their faces, Garnet lowered her eyes, and for a moment, she wished she could go back and unsay her words. "I'm sorry." She mumbled. It hurt her to be unable to grant them the confidence they could usually expect from her. At that moment, however, she was surprised, as she caught a movement through the corner of her eye.

Amethyst moved so quickly that Garnet wouldn't have been able to stop her even if she'd wanted to. A little gasp escaped her lips as she felt the purple gem's arms surrounding her. After a moment of silence, with a reedy voice, Amethyst spoke:

"It's... OK if you don't know... We don't need future vision to know we will do our best... Right?"

Garnet remained unresponsive.

"Y-Yeah!" Greg rubbed the back of his head, putting up a smile. "I don't know what I was thinking asking that! I mean... You're the Crystal Gems, for Pete's sake! You've pulled through, all this time! You are definitely going to find a way!"

"Yeah! No way we'll let Steven down!" Amethyst was smiling now too. Their voices, which a moment ago had been fearful, were now overflowing with hope.

A little smile made its way to Garnet's face, and there, it grew until Garnet started laughing lowly. Greg and Amethyst interchanged worried looks, but Garnet noticed and spoke to calm them down.

"It's OK... It's just..." She laughed a bit more. "I didn't see this either. Feels nice to be happily surprised." She smiled as she returned Amethyst's hug strongly, while the latter mumbled something about her being "a big weirdo" while blushing softly. Greg observed them with a slightly awkward, but honestly happy, smile on his face.

A couple of hours had passed since then when Pearl and Peridot arrived. Everyone's attention quickly centered on the newcomers, specifically Peridot and the device on her hands.

"We found it. It works." Pearl announced. Relief was reflected in everyone's faces in the clearest way possible, but Pearl didn't waste time acknowledging it. "I'll get the pod." She said to Peridot. The latter nodded firmly, and a second later, Pearl walked towards the temple door.

Peridot didn't fail to notice the atmosphere in the room. Even Greg was there, and they all seemed... At peace. In a moment of clarity, Peridot came to realize how, even in the middle of despair, the support of friends could have that kind of effect on both humans and gems. And not for the last time, she felt lucky of being able to share said support with the people in that room.

Soon, the pod was in the middle of the living room. Peridot, aided by Pearl, started the process of hooking it up and preparing it to serve its function. Meanwhile, everyone waited patiently. Seeking a distraction, Amethyst grabbed the radar, which Peridot had placed on the table.

"So... How does it work?" She asked, while taking a closer look at its screen.

"Not very different than before..." Peridot answered, too busy to even look at her as she spoke. "It's just now, it's not tracking any gem energy spectrum in particular. It's just tracking every single one in its range."

"She acts like it's no big deal, but I'd never seen anything like it." Pearl commented. As a response, Peridot mumbled a thankful comment while blushing softly.

"Woah..." Amethyst re-examined the screen with renovated curiosity. "Is that... Us...?"

"Positive." Peridot started to use the pod's interface as Pearl took a wide wire, the last one, out the front door. Amethyst followed her on the device.

"Why are some bigger than the others...?" Amethyst asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Again, it's not tracking any energy in particular. What you see is the amount of energy that each one of us possesses. The bigger the dot, the more energy you have." Peridot continued explaining. "It doesn't really give that much information, but... Malachite should be the only dot in the middle of the sea, so... That'll probably be a dead giveaway."

"Hey P., my dot's bigger than yours! I could totally take you..." Amethyst teased Pearl playfully, as soon as she entered through the front door.

"Amount of power isn't everything in a fight, Amethyst." She replied, keeping her head high.

"Even so, it's just natural that you're the most powerful one of us. You're a Quartz." Peridot said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Aww, shucks you!" She pretended to act embarrassed, and Peridot felt happy to verify she was in the mood to joke around again. "Your dot ain't all that small either. But Garnet's is even bigger than mine!" Smiling half way, the fusion upstairs made a gesture of showing muscle with her arms that made Greg laugh lowly.

"Of course. Fusions do tend to be more powerful than single gems." Pearl pointed out. Peridot nodded in agreement.

"But wait... No way...! Is this...?" Amethyst rose her eyes from the machine to look at Garnet, and then at the screen again. Something seemed to trouble her for a moment. Soon, however, a smile appeared on her face. "Ha! Steven's dot is almost as big as Garnet's!" Her comment got everyone's attention. "Heck, it's bigger than mine!"

"What...?" Pearl seemed surprised too. "Could it be...?" She looked at Peridot for a response.

The latter shrugged her shoulders again before answering. "For all I know, that thing could be busted. It's pretty beat up, so I wouldn't trust all its readings. Also, Steven is not exactly a gem... Even if he does have one. It might work for a hybrid differently than it does for us, or not. Who knows, really. It's all new territory for me on that subject, but... I suppose it's possible. After all..." Peridot walked up to Amethyst and took a look at the screen. "His gem is a Quartz too. Can I have that back?" She extended her hand in Amethyst's direction, and the purple gem handed her the device.

"I suppose..." Pearl murmured, taking a hand to her chin thoughtfully.

"Rose Quartz was a very powerful gem." Garnet stated. Pearl nodded.

"Ha! Steven will not believe me when I tell him." Amethyst, smiling widely, commented. Greg caressed his son's head upon hearing her words.

"Well, this is ready." Peridot spoke. Both Greg and Garnet walked downstairs to meet the others around the dismantled pod for the moment of the truth.

"Won't it take some time like the last time?" Pearl asked, visibly nervous.

"Not with a big energy source like a fusion, it won't." Peridot took a deep breath. She mentally retraced all her steps and took a look at the machine in front of her, trying to make sure everything was correctly arranged. That was not the moment to mess up. "OK. Let's do this." With a quick movement, she activated the pod, and granted everyone with the vision of a hologram of the Earth's globe. Everyone was terribly nervous for a moment, expecting anything to go wrong. And then, they saw it.

"What...?" Pearl mumbled, eyes fixed on it.

"Is that...?" Amethyst asked. Garnet didn't speak, but she clenched her teeth strongly.

"W-Wait... That... This can't be right..." Peridot blinked repeatedly upon the sight of it. "I must've m-made a mistake! Right...?" She asked to no one in particular, and quickly started going over the arrangement of the wires again, while everyone remained silent.

Finally, Greg pointed out the obvious truth nobody seemed to be able to accept. "It's… big..."

The 'dot' in the middle of the ocean was intimidating. It's large and irregular extension made it look more like a stain than a dot. All their eyes were stuck on it. Silence reigned, until Peridot raised her eyes from the controls with a fearful expression.

"Everything seems correct." Everyone looked at her in discomfort. She swallowed thickly. "And it appears to be... Moving."

They hadn't noticed, but outside, the sky had turned gray and cloudy.

The weather had gotten worse since their departure from land. The little boat they were on staggered among the increasingly big waves, threatening to tip over every now and then, but Garnet's firm hand managed to steer it in the right direction every time. The wind had started to push them in the wrong direction and they'd had to lower the sail and continue the journey rowing. Even like that, Peridot was only thankful it still wasn't raining, as the radar would become unusable if it were to get wet.

The panorama surrounding them was beautiful, but the gray colors gave it a sad look, and it contributed to keep everyone silent, lost in their own thoughts. The perspective of freeing Steven was pushing them towards their goal, but it was clear that a tough challenge lay ahead.

It was then that a thought occurred to Peridot.

"Hey, even as strong as they could be, you already beat them both, right? Separately?" The unexpected comment caught everyone off guard, and Amethyst and Pearl looked at the green gem with slightly surprised expressions. Garnet was the one to answer.

"It's different. A fusion is more than the sum of the gems conforming it. Far more." She stated, without taking her eyes off the sea.

After a second, Peridot sighed. "Right." She knew Garnet was most likely right. A fusion of two gems of a different kind gained different abilities than the separate gems possessed, Garnet was the living proof of it. As such, Malachite´s abilities and power were bound to be something entirely new.

A moment of silence followed, only broken by the rhythmical sound of the waves.

"Furthermore, we didn't really beat Lapis Lazuli." Pearl added, sounding slightly reluctant. "She just... Left Earth."

"What...?" Peridot tilted her head and looked at her interrogatively, confused.

"Yeah, she was beating up us badly. Well, me at least." Amethyst admitted, sounding surprisingly nonchalant. "Steven convinced her to stop fighting though. The little guy has a way with words."

"Tell me about it." Peridot thought. At that instant, her face lit up with understanding. "Oh, you are talking about the last time!" She said. "But you got me wrong, I meant the first time."

"First time?" Garnet asked.

"Yeah, you know! When you imprisoned her inside the mirror."

She didn't notice immediately, but Peridot's words had the effect of a thunder. Everyone, even Garnet, looked at her, mouths slightly open. Surprise was barely enough to describe the feeling going through them.

"What...?" Pearl shook her head in confusion. "We didn't... Do that!"

Peridot raised an eyebrow at the sight of everyone's reaction. "Now, what's that supposed to mean...?"

"It means we didn't do that!" Without noticing, Pearl raised her voice. "We would never do that!"

"Wait, just... Wait!" Peridot seemed confused again. "I read the reports. She specifically stated that the Crystal Gems were responsible for the time she was trapped inside the mirror, during the war she..."

"She said what?" Pearl interrupted her. She seemed to be getting more exasperated by the second. Garnet didn't fail to notice.

"Calm down, Pearl." She could feel a crisis was on its way, and it worried her. She directed her eyes to the green gem. "We fought a war, Peridot, but we never took war prisoners. And we didn't do it after it either. We would never keep a sentient being under the… Conditions Lapis was under." Peridot shook her head, confused.

"But you had her mirror, right?" Garnet opened her mouth to speak, but seemed to doubt at the last moment. "Did you not know what that was about?"

"We…" Pearl was clearly shocked by Peridot's words. "We didn't know she was… I mean, we would have freed her if we had known she was… Alive…" Her last word was but a whisper. Peridot didn't find a proper contestation inside her.

"Wait... What if…?" Amethyst seemed very uncomfortable. "If neither of us did it... Then..." Amethyst didn't finish her words, but Pearl appeared to perfectly understand what she was about to say.

"She would never do that Amethyst." Her voice was tense. "The reports were wrong. She lied." She said, looking at Peridot, who was watching her with growing concern. The latter raised her hands defensively.

"Alright! I..." She swallowed thickly. "I'm sorry I brought it up... I can't really assure the Lazuli didn't lie, so..." Understanding it was not the best time to have that kind of conflict, Peridot made a desperate attempt to end the conversation immediately. Yet the others didn't seem to be done with it.

"But... what if she didn't?" Amethyst's eyes were full of doubt. She bit her lower lip before speaking. "Why would she in the first place...?"

"Drop it, Amethyst." Again, Garnet tried to avoid the foreseeable conflict. It was too late.

"Rose Quartz never would have done something like that!" Pearl exploded. Her fists were clenched firmly as she spoke vehemently. "War is one thing, but taking war prisoners? And in that kind of prison... And for so long?!" She shook her head, denying it to everyone, even herself. "If she'd known, she'd have told… me…" Her words died as flashes of a different situation in which she'd found herself doubting about Rose's secrets came to her mind, making her feel even more frustrated.

"Hey! Don't... Don't think that way...! This could be all some kind of… Misunderstanding…" Peridot wished desperately that she'd never opened her mouth. Amethyst and Pearl where the image of doubt and concern, and at the worst possible time. Garnet seemed considerably calmer, but her hand on the rudder was gripping it with excessive strength. Peridot tried to find anything comforting to say, and failed miserably.

Silence fell upon the group again, but this time it was tense, almost unbearable. And yet, they kept going, to an uncertain destiny and with troubled hearts.

Soon, it started raining.

"No..." Peridot mumbled, while desperately trying to keep the radar from getting wet. "This isn't good! We might lose our only mean of tracking her...!" Busy as she was, trying to keep the device safe, she didn't notice everyone's eyes had been distracted by something else.

"Actually..." Amethyst said. "I think it'll get wet."

"What?" Peridot asked, exasperated, raising her eyes to look at her. The purple gem pointed finger to the horizon.

"Something tells me we're all going to..."

Only then Peridot saw it. The sea ahead of them had turned dark and mysterious. The light gray colors were quickly being replaced by darker tones, and the waves were getting more menacing each moment. Black clouds were advancing towards them.

"What in the world...?" She said, the radar momentarily forgotten.

"A storm." Garnet answered. "A very big one." Her words sent a chill down Peridot's back. For the first time, she realized how vulnerable the little ship was in the middle of the immensity of the sea.

"And we're heading directly towards it." Reluctantly, Pearl broke the silence she'd kept until then. "She's in that direction?" She asked Peridot. The question reminded her of the rain and the issue it meant.

"Yes. But soon we won't be able to tell if we can't keep this thing dry!"

Pearl nodded. "Let me see it." Her hands grabbed the device. Peridot watched her, waiting for something to happen. It didn't, however, and Peridot observed apprehensively how Pearl's expression revealed her frustration. Whatever she was trying to do, it was not working.

"Are you ok…?" Peridot asked.

"I'm fine." Pearl replied, with a little more strength than necessary. She took a deep breath and, with visible effort, made a bubble appear around the radar. "That should do it." As soon as she gave it back, Pearl turned around to continue rowing, hiding her eyes from Peridot's. The green gem observed the perfectly protected device in her hands, internally wondering how deeply affected were the other gems. With feelings of concern and doubt in her chest, as everyone else, she directed her eyes to the upcoming clouds.

The first thunder didn't take long to appear. It took Peridot by surprise, making her almost drop the bubble, but she quickly recovered and kept her eyes on the radar. The stain on the screen was directly in front of them, getting closer by the moment. Pearl and Amethyst were doing tremendous efforts to advance, but the weather was making it nearly impossible. In spite of everything, they were moving. Peridot wished she could do something more to help besides guiding them, but the small boat only allowed for two rowers.

Moments later, the rain started pouring from the sky. By then, thunder and lightning had already become constant over their heads. They were entering the worst part of the storm. A lightning hit the water next to them at one point, and Peridot grew afraid. The reality she was living reminded her too much of the nightmare she'd been through inside Steven's dream. Still, seeing everyone's determination gave her the courage she needed to keep her cool. They were all focused on their goal, and they weren't giving up on it.

"We're over it!" She announced, yelling to be heard over the raging storm. They had just entered the marked zone in the radar. Garnet turned around to look at her at that exact moment, and Peridot saw, confused, how she extended an arm in her direction. It was a quick movement that Peridot did not expect and did not understand. At that moment, however, a lightning impacted the middle of the boat, exactly over Garnet's hand, and Peridot realized a moment too late she'd not been reaching towards her, but rather to protect the boat from the impact. The bright light blinded her, and a scream of surprise escaped her mouth. She was left dazzled and stunned by it, and when she managed to come to her senses, she was granted with a terrifying vision.

Ahead of them, lightning had started to impact the sea repeatedly, and with the light they provided, Peridot was able to see a column of wind forming slowly from the sea. She felt a chill run through her back as the column grew in a matter of seconds from the sea to the sky, dark and accompanied by a whistling sound taken directly out of a nightmare.

"This is not a normal storm!" She was barely able to hear Garnet's words over the raging sounds of the storm. She looked at the gems in front of her. Pearl and Amethyst had stopped rowing and were observing the column of wind in awe, just as her a moment before. She saw Amethyst's hair dancing uncontrollably, being dragged by the air in direction to the column. "She's sensed us!" Peridot forced herself to focus on Garnet. The fusion had not taken her hands of the rudder, but was looking at them. "We have to get off the ship!"

Peridot felt oddly unaware of their situation. Everything around her was too surreal. She saw Pearl and Amethyst jump off the ship and disappear into the dark water, and tried to follow, but her body refused to move. Garnet turned around once again, and her face denoted frustration when she saw Peridot was still on the ship. "Go!" She yelled. Peridot wanted to protest. Her weapons wouldn't work under water, and her bubble could not stand the amount of pressure necessary to use it as a mean of transportation like Steven's the last time. But Garnet's arm stretched in her direction and pushed her with just the right amount of strength to make her fall over the board, just before the fusion stopped another lightning from hitting the boat. Peridot yelled as she fell, but soon she broke the surface of the sea and her mouth was filled with salty water.

Under the water, the silence was oddly unsettling. Just a moment before, she'd been in the middle of the chaos of a raging storm, but now, it all had been replaced by calm. Except Peridot knew that the situation they were in had quickly gotten out of control, and that that calm was only an illusion.

The cold water provided the reality bite she needed to completely come back to her senses. Thinking more straight, she mentally reproached herself for freezing at the wrong moment. She looked around; the waters around her were dark, so she used her gem to light her surroundings, looking around in an attempt to find any of the other gems. Peridot had never swam before, but she'd seen Amethyst do it, and decided to imitate what she could remember. It didn't seem to work all that well, as she was having trouble keeping her body from sinking. Still, she managed to use her light to shine an object that, like her, was on its way down.

"The radar!" The bubble, surprisingly, hadn't broke, and it was sinking rather quickly. Peridot made a quick decision. She could find her friends later, but the object going down would be gone if she lost track of it at that moment. She started swimming down, following it into the darkness.

On her way to the bottom, the reality sank down inside her, and the fear and concern returned. She fell aware of just how alone she felt in the middle of the dark water, but forced herself to get those thoughts out of her head. Steven was alone, she thought, and in need of their help. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what she would actually do once she recovered the device.

The way down took way longer than the last time she'd been to the bottom of the sea. She came to the conclusion that that was no random occurrence. Lapis Lazuli had probably tried to keep Malachite at the deepest place of the sea, the place where the pressure would be enough to hold her down. That was probably the reason why Malachite hadn't made it to land yet, she reasoned.

Finally, however, land appeared beneath her again. She landed on the bottom and quickly located the radar. She walked slowly to it, hoping Pearl's bubble would resist the pressure it was under. Fortunately, it seemed like it would, and Peridot sighed mentally when she finally secured the device. She observed the screen and verified they had indeed entered marked territory.

Peridot felt unsure about what to do next. She was at the bottom, and the others, who were better swimmers than her and hadn't had a strong reason to go down, were probably way above her. Peridot, however, had the advantage of having the device, which gave her the chance to head in the correct direction: to the center of the marked territory, where the fusion would most likely be. She could head there on her own, but the others could have trouble finding it without the guidance of the device. In the other hand, swimming while holding the device would've been hard for a skilled swimmer, and Peridot could barely swim at all. The darkness around her made it clear that making signals wasn't that much of an option either. Peridot cringed. Nothing was clear, so she went with the easiest course of action; walking directly to the center of the marked territory. She avoided thinking about what awaited there, but decided to use her light to flash signals every now and then, hoping any other gem would see them.

Species of fish she'd never seen before swam away from her as she made her way slowly through the irregular terrain of the bottom of the sea. Everything was too dark down there, and the bad feeling that anything could be lurking in the surroundings made her feel uncomfortable. She looked around her repeatedly, expecting at any moment to find herself facing some kind of dangerous Earth creature. But no monsters appeared out of the darkness, and Peridot realized that life was scarce there. "No corals this time." She thought. It didn't ease the tension she felt about the whole situation, but it did make her feel a little more secure. The device suggested she was getting closer to her destination, and she'd seriously started wondering what she'd do without the others, when something odd broke the monotony of the surroundings.

It started off as a vibration; a light tingle on her skin. Surprised, Peridot stopped moving. Then, it'll went down rather quickly.

A sound that increased its loudness to the point of becoming unbearable was all the warning Peridot got, before she felt a fierce current of water hit her. Unable to understand what was happening, Peridot acted out of instinct. She dropped the bubble and searched desperately for anything to hold on to, as the current grew stronger and threatened to drag her with it. The bubble, still unbroken, was quickly sucked into the darkness behind her by the current, but Peridot was barely aware of it. She grabbed a rock with both of her hands, and held on as strong as she could, cringing with her eyes closed. Suddenly, however, the current disappeared. Not only that, but she was met with the nonsensical feeling of being out of the water. She opened her eyes slowly, feeling utterly out of place, as she saw dry land up ahead and realized that the pressure of the immense quantity of water over her was gone. Peridot felt the air around her and breathed deeply, but she still couldn't believe what she was feeling and seeing.

What moments before had been completely covered by water, was dry.

"What is going on...?" She mumbled.

She looked back to face a tall wall of water, not too far away from her. And she finally realized. She was in a valley of dry land, surrounded by mountains of water. The seas themselves had been displaced to make room for the dry patch of irregular land she was standing on. Above her, the sounds of the storm had returned, although lower this time, but the rain had apparently stopped.

Peridot had no doubts about who was responsible for that tremendous display of power. She turned around again, directing her eyes to the center of the valley, and there, for the first time, she saw her.

Her skin shining wet under the lightning, the only source of light around, and her hair dropping down her shoulders like a cascade of moonlight. She was standing on two of her three pairs of arms. Upon seeing her face, Peridot's knees trembled.

The creature was smiling.

But her smile was a lie.

An unnatural grin, something that didn't reveal real happiness, but viciousness. The happiness of someone about to commit an atrocity. Peridot had never been so afraid of another gem, and had to make an effort not to run away looking for a hiding spot. Thankfully, she was not looking in her direction, which gave Peridot a small amount of time to process what was going on in front of her. For Malachite, the fusion, was smiling at three smaller gems standing bravely in front of her.

Peridot was separated from them by a considerable distance, and as such, she couldn't fully understand Garnet's words when she spoke. But the tone she used made the meaning of her words very obvious. It was a warning. Problem was, it only made the other fusion's grin wider. When she spoke, Peridot was perfectly able to hear her.

"I'm glad you came." She hissed. Her voice was the incarnation of wickedness. It shared no resemblance to the voices of the gems that formed her. "You saved me the trouble of finding your pathetic temple. I'm still going to destroy it, however." She cackled, and Peridot saw the gems change into a more aggressive stance. She knew a battle was about to begin, and, guided by a courage she was no longer sure she had, she started running in their direction. She wasn't sure if she was going to be of any help, but she was sure she was going to try.

Garnet spoke again, and Malachite laughed again in response. "The boy? Maybe I'll let him live. To show him what I'll do to this miserable chunk of rock." The bitterness in her words left no doubt she was serious. "Too bad you won't get to see it."

The gems seemed to be done with conversations. Closer as she was to the trio, Peridot managed to see them start to move in an unexpected way, which made her stop moving to look at them in surprise. It took her a moment to realize they were dancing.

Peridot gasped. They were dancing! "Of course! Alexandrite!" Hope made its way to Peridot again as a smile formed on her face.

Alexandrite, the fusion of four gems that Peridot had never seen. However, Steven had told her about her, and he'd not held up with the descriptions of her size and strength. He hadn't seen her fight either, but Peridot had witnessed the strength of each of the gems forming her separately, and she'd come to imagine just how powerful she could actually be. "How come I didn't see it?" She said, speaking to herself. "This is it! They can beat her!"

Her joy couldn't have been bigger when the gems started glowing. For the first time, Malachite seemed to doubt, and although she made a movement that was clearly meant to interrupt their transformation, it was simply too late, as the apparition of the fusion was imminent. And then, the glow stopped for the longest ten seconds Peridot had ever lived.

"What…?" She and Malachite both froze, confused and surprised. That was not supposed to happen; the fusion should've showed up by then. It was taking more time than usual, and Peridot found no explanation to it. But in the short time their confusion lasted, the glow returned, and before Malachite or Peridot were able to intervene, Alexandrite was formed.

The fusion rose from the ground, and she was as tall as Peridot had ever imagined. "Yes!" She couldn't contain the exclamation. She was taller than Malachite! And Malachite seemed to realize that too, as she cringed, dropping her fake smile.

"Don't think I'm scared of you!" With that angry scream, she raised an arm in an offensive stance. Behind her, an arm three times the size of hers grew slowly from the water and extended itself towards the battlefield. She closed her hand into a fist, and the watery arm did the same.

Alexandrite didn't speak. Her six arms adopted offensive positions, however, and Peridot saw in awe how six weapons were summoned at the same time, one in each hand. Two long whips in the lower arms, Amethyst's, although they looked thicker than hers; two spears in the middle, Pearl's, appropriately sized for the fusion; and lastly, Garnet's gauntlets, in the higher arms. From her gifted position, Peridot got to see how dangerous both fusions looked right before the confrontation, under the lightning and thunder of the dark sky.

The first blow could've easily been mistaken by a thunder. The watery arm smashed the ground and dissolved against it, just where Alexandrite had been a moment before. The tall fusion had taken a quick step backwards to avoid the hit, and retaliated with a quick movement of her whips, which tangled themselves around Malachite's middle arms. Malachite's reaction time wasn't good enough to avoid the attack, but she continued her aggressive attempt, as the watery arm reformed again, this time around Alexandrite's leg. Alexandrite realized, and sent a bolt of electricity through her whips, which zapped the other fusion strongly. Malachite growled furiously as the electricity ran through her body, but once again, instead of backing away, she continued her attack relentlessly, violently moving her arm back and lifting Alexandrite's massive size like it was nothing, throwing her behind herself.

Alexandrite was clearly in a dangerous situation, being tossed around by the watery arm, but in midair, she managed to throw one of her spears to Malachite's exposed back. It was all happening incredibly fast, but Peridot understood that movement immediately; she was going for the Lazuli's gem. Malachite proved herself capable of defense too, however, as a quick burst of water coming from the surroundings blocked the spear before it hit her. Even so, the action seemed to take away some of her concentration, as the watery arm was dissolved once again. Free from its grip, Alexandrite was able to perform a safe landing, even in the uncomfortable terrain.

However, Malachite turned around surprisingly quick, and continued her assault by shooting two rocks propelled by water at Alexandrite, both coming from different directions. Alexandrite dodged the first one, directed to Pearl's gem on her forehead, easily; had more trouble avoiding the second one, that was directed to her back, but was unable to avoid Malachite's strong punch directed with precision to Amethyst's gem. The second rock had been a decoy, as Alexandrite came to realize in the last moment, to allow Malachite to get closer and engage her in direct combat. She was barely able to protect her gem by putting one of her gauntlets in the way, absorbing some of the strength of the blow. It was still strong enough to make her totter, but she reacted quickly by returning the punch to Malachite's face, aiming to the gem but landing instead directly on Malachite's cheek. The hit made Malachite growl with anger, and it gave Alexandrite the time to recover her equilibrium and take a quick step back, away from the other fusion's ferocious punches.

Peridot only observed in powerlessness. Each hit made the ground tremble. She was unable to move, knowing from the first moment that she had nothing to do amongst powerful beings like the ones engaged in combat at that moment. She was observant, however, and had come to realize that, while Alexandrite was clearly the most skilled fighter of the two, being faster and more strategic, Malachite compensated with raw strength and an unsettling amount of aggressiveness. Alexandrite had a major disadvantage in that she could be attacked from any direction, due to being surrounded by water, but she managed to keep a good balance between maintaining her distance from the furious gem in front of her and keeping an eye for surprise attacks. Peridot was unable to make any assumptions about the outcome of the battle, except for one; the fusion to unfuse first would never be formed again. That was a battle to death; both fusions were struggling to protect their gems from the other's attacks.

Alexandrite backed away quickly and threw both of her spears in direction to Malachite's chest. The target protected herself with another stream of water that interrupted the spears' flight. Alexandrite, from a rather long distance in front of her, summoned her spears again and, much to Peridot's surprised, laughed sarcastically. "What's the matter? Tired already?" The fusion mocked Malachite, who observed her in disbelief.

"What is she doing?!" Peridot yelled. That didn't seem like the moment to joke around. Malachite's eyes opened inordinately as she charged furiously towards Alexandrite with a savage scream, at the time that multiple jets of water were shot in direction to her target. Unlike the other ones, Alexandrite was able to easily avoid those. And, when Malachite came in close enough to try to punch Alexandrite, the taller fusion grabbed her arm in a quick movement and used her own momentum to throw her on her back with significant effort. Peridot's eyes widened as she understood Alexandrite's strategy when she saw Malachite crash on the ground.

The tall fusion had been able to fight off Malachite's advantage in terrain rather well. Still, seeing that hers was an unsustainable position, she'd decided to take advantage of her enemy's one weakness: her rage. By taunting her, she'd made sure Malachite's next move was an instinctive one, one guided solely by anger, and as a result, Malachite's gem could've been seriously damaged. That didn't seem to be the case, however, as Malachite had quickly stood up again.

She looked stunned, and for the first time the battle seemed to tilt in one direction. Without losing a moment, Alexandrite backed away just the right distance to throw a punch putting all her weight on it, directed to Jasper's gem on Malachite's face. Malachite looked so vulnerable that Peridot was sure that'd be the end of the battle. In the last moment, however, she lowered her head at the same time that she summoned Jasper's helmet. The impact between the two weapons was so strong and unexpected that Alexandrite lost her balance for just a second, time enough for Malachite to slam her fist across her face. Peridot covered her mouth in surprise when Alexandrite's glasses flew across the air, broken in half. The tall fusion tottered backwards, but managed to step away from Malachite, who was still recovering from her crash on the ground.

Separated by a short distance, both fusions stopped fighting for a moment and looked at each other. To Peridot, Malachite appeared to be the most beat up of the two, but Alexandrite had made a mistake by underestimating her opponent in the last moment, and her swollen face revealed it that way. It was clear that the battle was taking the best out of the two fusions, but Peridot was still sure Alexandrite had a chance. That was, until the fateful moment when she saw in disbelief how the tall fusion started coming apart.

Both her and Malachite were frozen in their places when Alexandrite started glowing dangerously. Peridot felt a cold shiver run through her back, and one more time started running towards the battle, tripping and falling several times among the severely irregular terrain, without taking her eyes off the tall fusion. She knew at that very moment that something was about to go terribly wrong.

Malachite seemed to know too, as a wide grin appeared on her face. Alexandrite emitted a guttural sound and bent in half, hugging herself in an attempt to stay together. It seemed to work, and the glow diminished, but vulnerable as she was, she was unable to see the reaper approaching her calmly, tasting the victory.

"You're weak." Malachite's voice was arrogant. "Unstable. Unlike me." She raised a hand, and the water around her, obeying an unspoken order, formed a spear in her hand. "You don't deserve to exist!" Her scream was followed by a thunder, and with a strong movement of her arm, she threw the watery spear directly at the exposed, and still struggling to stay together, fusion. She'd intended to hit Amethyst's gem, and would've done so, hadn't it been for the beam of light that broke the darkness and hit her on her shoulder in the very last moment.

"What?!" She growled furiously, as the beam moved and hit her directly in the middle of her forehead, making her cover face and preventing her from seeing its source.

"Not while I'm here, you clod!" Peridot, standing in the middle of the two fusions, yelled, while shooting Malachite with her laser gun.

She was covered in scratches and full of sand, but Peridot had made it to that position just in time. While she ran there, it all had started making sense in her head. She'd remembered the tense silence on the boat, Pearl's failed attempt of summoning a bubble around the device, and specially, the long moment of tension before Alexandrite appeared. They were all signs. None of the gems were in the condition to form the stable bond required to stay fused for a long period of time. They were all scared, doubtful, filled with negative emotions. The conditions to form a bad fusion, like Malachite. Except, Malachite was stable, while they weren't. Peridot only wished she'd seen it sooner: Alexandrite was unsustainable.

The moment the beam hit Malachite, she threw the spear. The precision was lost, but the strength and accuracy were still enough to hit Alexandrite in the middle of her abdomen, were the spear sink deeply and came out the other side. With a gasp, the fusion broke down completely, and the three gems forming her plummeted to the ground.

"No!" Peridot saw it happen and quickly ran in direction to the fallen gems, with a knot in her throat.

Malachite had protected her face with her other arm, and when she felt the laser disappear, she moved it to look for the responsible of the attack. She saw the small green gem running in direction to the trio that had just unfused, and hissed in anger: "You!" A watery arm formed from the sea around her and directed quickly over the green gem, just as she reached the other three. "You'll pay for this!" The gigantic amount of water dropped over them with terrible strength.

It hit the ground, and the impact was big enough to shatter the rocks of the bottom of the sea. But, merely a moment before that, a green bubble was formed around the four gems in the ground.

"What?!" Disbelief filled Malachite's voice when she saw it happen. In the middle of the water, looking at her directly from inside the bubble, she saw Peridot. "Impossible! You don't have this kind of power!" She yelled, as she started moving towards the green bubble.

Inside it, a completely different scene was taking place. Peridot had reached the three gems just as they recovered enough to stand up. Seeing that Malachite intended to crush them, Peridot had gotten as close as she could to them, while taking another device out of her gem with a speed unknown to her until that moment, and activated and threw it in the middle of the group, right before the impact.

Her new device had been upgraded from the last time, and one of its new features was a much longer range. It was enough to protect everyone. Peridot had also improved the bubble's resistance, but the hit had been so violent, that it took a third of its capacity immediately, as shown by a small display on it. But Peridot was not looking at it, as she was paying attention to the three gems inside the bubble with her.

"Pearl! Snap out of it!" Amethyst was shacking Pearl's shoulders, but the tall gem seemed to be in another world.

"What if she didn't lie? What if Rose kept her like that all those years…?" With her eyes firmly closed and her arms crossed, tightly hugging herself, Pearl said. "Do we deserve this…?" The gem was on her knees.

"What are you talking about?!" Amethyst yelled. She backed a step away. "She's lost it… Garnet, do something!" She turned around and said to the fusion, who was absolutely silent.

With her hands on her temples, Garnet was as aware as Pearl of her surroundings. Amethyst saw her and realized she was lost in her future vision. "Guys, come on! I can't do this on my own…!" The purple gem started breathing heavily, in a fit of panic. "Please… I can't do it on my own…" Tears started dropping from her eyes.

"It's useless…" Garnet, finally, spoke. "I can't find a way… What if… There isn't one…?" The fusion was shaking, about to come apart.

Peridot saw the scene quickly develop in front of her eyes with terror gripping her throat. "What if they're right…?" The thought assaulted her. "What if this is the end…?"

"Except it wouldn't be." She was barely aware that Malachite reached the bubble at that moment. "The Earth… Dad… Steven… No. We have to carry on!" She clenched her fists strongly.

"NO!" She yelled as strong as she could. Her voice was the reality bite necessary to help the others come back to their senses. They all looked at her in confusion, like if they had just noticed her. "I forbid you from thinking that way!" She continued. Her words didn't make any sense to the others, but she didn't stop talking. "We're the Crystal Gems! If there's one thing I've learned from fighting you, befriending you and becoming one of you is that you're the most irrational and oddest of all the gems I've ever met! But you… No, we… WE NEVER GIVE UP!"

Pearl's arms dropped to her sides. Amethyst wiped away her tears. Everyone's attention was set on the green gem, whose clenched fists were shaking. "You didn't give up five thousand years ago when you fought a war against the whole Homeworld! You didn't give up when you fought any of the two gems out there!" At that moment, Malachite hit the bubble with both of her hands. The power of the device lowered even further, and a weak sound of alarm went off. "And you didn't give up on me! As I didn't give up trying either!" Tears were sliding down her cheeks, but Peridot was not aware of it. "Are we going to give up now, leaving this mess for Steven to handle?"

"Steven…" Pearl mumbled.

"You shouldn't care about chances for the future or lies from the past… We live now, we fight now, and now, we prove what means to be a Crystal Gem!"

"Never give up!" Amethyst yelled fiercely.

"Fight for what's right!" Pearl added.

"Protect and defend the Earth and humanity!" Garnet's voice was full of pride.

"We're the Crystal Gems! And we'll never give up!" Peridot said, and her words filled everyone's hearts with the hot feeling of courage. Another time, Malachite hit the bubble. This time, it flickered, and the alarm went silent. A small stream of smoke came from the machine on the ground.

"Stop hiding and fight!" Malachite's words reached them across the increasingly weak barrier.

"I see it now…" Garnet was smiling. "I know what to do… But it's now or never." Everyone looked at her expectantly, and when she spoke, she did it quickly but clearly.

Outside, Malachite prepared to give the finishing blow to the bubble. She'd seen it flicker, and she knew the next hit would be the last. The gems were hiding inside, but their game would soon come to an end. She raised both of her arms over her head, ready to strike, when the bubble disappeared by itself. She was astonished, as the gems that emerged from inside it didn't have the terrified and weak expressions she'd expected. She saw Peridot throw a small object to the air and wondered if she was trying to distract her, but she didn't have much time to think about it, as her eyes were blinded by a strong flash of light that exploded directly in front of her eyes.

She tottered backwards, cursing loudly, as she felt a pair of whips tangle around her middle arms. Unstable and blinded as she was, she was unable to avoid stumbling on the rough terrain behind her. She was aware that, with her arms up and instinctively trying to protect her gem, she was extremely vulnerable, and tried to create a curtain of water in front of her for protection.

Pearl and Garnet jumped into the air just as the Amethyst trapped Malachite with her whips. Pearl threw her spear directly at Malachite's chest, and Garnet fired both of her gauntlets a moment after in the same direction. The spear was quick enough to hit Malachite as the curtain formed behind it, and the gauntlets pushed it immediately afterwards, causing it to sink deeply in her chest. The fusion emitted a scream of anger and surprise when she felt the spear piercing her to come out the other side of her body.

It'd all happened in a matter of seconds. Everyone froze, waiting for something, anything to happen, but it was done. With a poof, Malachite, the fusion, was destroyed, and the two gems that formed her dropped to the ground. The Crystal Gems barely had enough time to process what had just happened, however, as immediately afterwards the water of the ocean, having no one to keep it in its position any longer, started moving to occupy the dry land again with a loud noise that covered any other sound. Everyone tried to stay together, but the water moved too quickly, and soon they all drifted apart pushed by the strong currents.

Peridot was lifted off the ground and tossed around by the water. In the darkness that had suddenly returned, she was utterly lost, unable to differentiate between up and down, the bottom or the surface. When she finally crashed against something, however, she was sure it was the bottom. The strong impact left her dazzled and in pain. Only then she uncovered her gem, which she'd been protecting with both of her hands, and used it to light her surroundings.

Joy started then to arrive to her body. They'd done it! Malachite had been defeated. She felt the desire to scream of joy and hug someone, but alone and surrounded by water, none of those things were an option. She'd been under the fear of failure for so long, that the victory seemed like an illusion, like some kind of dream from which she could wake up any moment. But she'd seen it. It was true. The only thing she wanted to do, was find the other ones to head home, to Steven.

Those were the thoughts on her mind when she saw a familiar white hair floating around not so far away from her.

"Amethyst!" She thought joyfully, as she swam with big effort towards her. Only at the last moment she realized that the shoulders over which the hair fell were far wider than Amethyst's, and only then she wondered what Amethyst, a skilled swimmer, was still doing down in the bottom of the ocean. But at that moment, Jasper turned around and saw her, ending her thoughts.

Peridot panicked. She tried to swim away, but she was too close to her, and Jasper simply grabbed her by her leg. Peridot tried to kick her away, but the big gem was far too strong for that to work. She dragged Peridot towards her, and grabbed her face between one of her hands, forcing Peridot to look at her.

The short gem saw the fury in her eyes, illuminated by the green light coming from her gem. She saw the accusation. "Traitor." They seemed to say. Jasper summoned her weapon. Peridot tried to scream, but the cold water filled her mouth. She knew what was about to happen. Back in Homeworld, there was only one way to deal with treachery. She saw that as her end; surrounded by darkness, looking at a pair of eyes that despised her completely, and a complete feeling of despair imbrued her.

At that moment however, Jasper's eyes changed suddenly, from hate to surprise and disbelief. And Peridot saw in absolute confusion how the tip of an object protruded out of Jasper's chest, just a moment before she retracted to her gem. The light revealed then a spear, and holding it, Pearl, with a dangerous expression. The gem proceeded then to grab the orange gem that was quickly sinking to the bottom and bubbled it, easily this time. The bubble immediately disappeared, sent back to the temple. Peridot was frozen in her place, but she managed to reach out and grab Pearl's hand, getting her attention. The tall gem looked at her, and saw absolute gratitude in her eyes. She only nodded in response, however, and Peridot was surprised by her severe expression.

Suddenly, a strong force coming from below pushed them upwards, in direction to the surface. They were both equally surprised, but it happened quickly and they had no chance to avoid it. Peridot saw in confusion how the ground bellow was left far behind, as they reached the surface in nothing but a few seconds. They broke the surface of the water and were met with the air and noises of the sea. Peridot breathed and looked around, trying to understand what was happening. She and Pearl were standing directly on the water, as the force was preventing them from sinking. Above, the storm had begun to dissipate, letting rays of sunlight filter through the patches of clouds.

Looking around, Peridot finally understood. Not so far away from her, Lapis Lazuli was standing on the water too, and it seemed obvious she was the only possible responsible. Peridot swallowed thickly, expecting any sort of reaction from her. But the gem wasn't looking at her; her eyes were fixated on the water below her, and she seemed unaware of her presence. Beside Peridot, Pearl hummed lowly, noticing the blue gem too. Moments after that, both Amethyst and Garnet came out of the water too, equally confused at first.

From the distance, their boat approached them, pushed by the water much like them. It stopped next to each one of the gems, waiting for them to get on. They did, guided by a mute agreement, but nobody took their eyes of the Lazuli. When the four of them where on the ship, it got closer to Lapis Lazuli too. The blue gem got on it delicately then, carefully avoiding looking at the gems and keeping perfect silence. The boat started moving swiftly in a determined direction, and it was clear to all of them that the silent gem had the intention of accompanying them.

The water around them had never been so calmed as it was on their way back. Peridot observed her traveling companions. They were all tired, beat up, but especially, silent, lost in their own thoughts. They were going home from a victory, but somehow they were still tense. Maybe it was the presence of the blue gem that looked sadly to the sea, or maybe they just wouldn't be able to feel victorious before seeing Steven awake again. Whatever it was, the trip was quiet, with the exception of the wind and the occasional seabird.

Peridot directed her eyes to the blue gem again. Lapis Lazuli looked tired, as everyone else, but, under the orange light of the sundown, she looked beautiful.

The kid opened his eyes and his father cried tears of joy.

Holy macaroni, you made it to the end?! Alrighty! Lets put the cards on the table, shall we?

Did I give up on the FF/lose interest? No. Not even close. Am I aware that the last time I promised I'd be more active? Yes. Do I feel bad for not being able to keep that promise? Yup. I suck. Do I suck for taking three months to write a chapter? As we established before, yes, I suck. Does this mean I'm back and that I'll be as active as before? I don't think so. Sorry! Are you so mad at me for taking so long that you'll never ever read anymore of my FF? Probably, but I'll let you answer that one for me.

In other news, this chapter is big. Like, Jasper-sized. How big is that? Well, my whole FF is composed of 46XXX words, while this chapter is 25,675 words long. Yeah, that's more than half all the stuff I've written, in just one chapter. Why is it that big? Well, you're asking a lot of questions today, aren'tcha? I really have no idea. It started off fairly big but got out of control really quickly. It took me a lot of trying and failing to get exactly what I wanted from it, but I'm satisfied with the result.

If you feel bad about how I made Malachite a big meanie, her behavior will be explained later on another chapter. On a completely different subject, ten points for the house of your preference if you spot some of the references (not so) cleverly hidden in this chapter and this description.

Lastly, if you're reading this, I sincerely thank you for putting up with me and my irregular schedules. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I really hope you can leave me a comment/review letting me know what you hated or loved from it. That's all friends, stay determined. Regularperifan, out.