This story starts out three years after Steven and Connie are married, and a year before they have their first child (This takes place in my Gem Children universe of my fanfiction). Enjoy!

Characters created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 1: Lost In Ancient Greece

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Athens, Greece

Athens, the capital of Greece. Named after the Greek goddess Athena, the patron goddess of the city, it attracts people from all over the world, to marvel at its monuments, and its history in general. Especially the Acropolis, an ancient citadel resting high above the city, attracts many tourists.

But, on this particular day at the Acropolis, the tourists would be caught in the midst of something they never expected.

Tourists were running and screaming through the Acropolis. A giant snake was slithering through the many buildings of the Acropolis. It was 30 feet long, green with orange stripes, and a green gemstone on the top of its head. From behind, multiple figures pursued. These multiple figures were none other than the world famous Crystal Gems, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Lapis, Jasper, Connie, and her husband, Steven Universe.

The snake turned over to the staircase down. Garnet, at the front of the crowd, leaped forward. She grabbed the snake by the tail and spun around. Then, she threw the snake high into the air. Jasper leaped up, summoned her crasher helmet, and struck the snake. The two came descending fast. They impacted the ground, creating a dust cloud. After a few seconds, the cloud cleared, revealing Jasper rising out of a 10 foot deep crater. She held in her hand the gemstone of the snake creature.

"Nice job, Jasper." said Garnet, as she took the gem from Jasper and bubbled it.

A crowd of tourists gathered around the group. They clapped and cheered.

Then, the Greek police and Acropolis security guards ran up the stairs to the Gems. They stopped to see the snake was gone.

"Where is the monster?" said one police officer.

Garnet held the bubbled gem in her hand.

"Right here."

She then warped the gem back to the temple.

"And now it's gone. I can gladly say it will not disturb your sacred monument ever again."

A Security Guard spoke.

"Thank you very much, Crystal Gems! Saving the day as always! And, as a reward, you can visit the Acropolis free of charge!"

Connie welled up with excitement.

"Really?! Oh yes, how I've wanted to witness the beauty of the Acropolis. To know Athens' ancient history and a better understanding on its influence on the world is something I've longed for a long time."

"I want to know what this "Acropolis" was used for." said Peridot.

Connie put her arm around Peridot's shoulder.

"Well, Peridot, I can show you. You'd get to learn about Ancient Greece and its fascinating history."

Steven followed the two from behind. Then, by a chance of luck, at the corner of his eye, he saw something that caught his attention. Something laid in between a small pile of rubble. It was a tiny globe object, with two golden bottom and top, and a golden ring around the middle. The rest of the globe was made of glass. In the globe was an hourglass.

"Huh? What's this?"

Steven picked up the little hourglass, which was so tiny, it could fit in his hand. He felt like he had seen this object before.

"Hmm. Looks familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Eh, no matter. I'll just keep it in my pocket for now."

He placed the tiny hourglass in the pocket of his jeans. He ran to Connie and Peridot.

"Hey, wait up!"

He followed the two into a ruined building of the Acropolis as Connie spoke to Peridot.

"You see, Peridot, long ago, Greece was divided into several different city-states, including Sparta and the one we are in, Athens. They may have all been divided, but they all had one belief system, the belief in multiple gods."

The three stepped up to a giant statue of a curly-haired, and curly-bearded, man, wearing a long cloth, known as a toga on his lower body, and holding a lightning bolt.

"That is Zeus, the ruler of the Greek Olympian gods. He was also the god of sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice."

Peridot turned to Connie.

"So, you're saying he controls Earth's lightning."

"Yes, in the eyes of the ancient Greeks." answered Connie, "And over here."

They turned right to another statue of a bearded man, his beard not as long as Zeus's though. He was muscular, also wore a toga on his lower body, and held his fist up.

"That is Poseidon, brother of Zeus. He is the god of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and horses."

"And horses?" interrupted Steven.

"Yes. He rode the seas either on dolphins, or by a chariot of horses."

"And he controls Earth's sea?" said Peridot.

Connie nodded.

"That's right. He also had a very bad temper. If any mortal angered him, he would bring down destruction onto that person, sometimes levelling whole villages as collateral. And, behind us, left from our view of Zeus."

They turned to another curly-bearded man, with a toga on his full body, unlike the other two, which was on their lower body. He held a staff in his left hand.

"That is Hades, god of the dead. He ruled over the dead in the Underworld."

"So, like, the afterlife?" said Peridot.

Connie nodded once again.

"Yes."

Peridot pointed to a small three-headed dog beside Hades.

"And what is that three-headed dog thing?"

Connie noticed the dog.

"Oh, that's Cerberus, Hades' dog, who guards the gates of the Underworld."

"Oh. I see. Quite interesting, Connie."

Steven stepped up.

"Yeah. Very interesting characters. You know, I wonder what it would've been like to live in Ancient Greece."

Suddenly, Steven blacked out. He opened his eyes, and found himself laying on the floor. He rose up and saw that he was still in the Acropolis, but nobody was around. He looked around, wondering where everyone was.

"Hello? Anyone here? Connie? Peridot?"

He walked out of the building to find that the Acropolis looked different. It looked… complete. No rubble. None of the buildings seemed to be missing any of their materials.

"The Acropolis… It looks.. Complete."

He scanned around.

"What is going on here?"

He turned to the long staircase down. Stepping down, he saw the whole city of Athens had changed. It looked… ancient. The buildings were of a totally different design. He was even more perplexed. Once he reached the bottom of the staircase, he looked all around him.

"Something's definitely wrong here."

Then, He heard distant cries.

"Someone's in trouble!"

He ran toward the direction of the cries. Sprinting across the roadways, he finally found the source of the cries. Crowds of men, women, and children, all wearing togas on their bodies, were standing against a wall in fear as a giant 30 foot snake rose up before them. It was brown, with orange stripes, and a brown gemstone where its left eye should be.

Steven leaped over between the giant snake and the frightened people. He summoned his shield and spun like a tornado. He threw it, hitting the snake. The creature was launched back 50 feet. It hit the hard road hard, but quickly rebound. It charged towards Steven. He threw his shield once more, lodging itself in the snake's open mouth. Once again, it was knocked back, this time hitting a wall. This blow was so tremendous, the Gem snake poofed. Steven caught the gem and bubbled then warped it away. Turning back to the people, they looked on frozen. After a few seconds of silence, one of the men, who wore gold arm bracelets, spoke.

"That shield, that towering height, that muscular physique. Yo- You-"

The man burst out in excitement.

"Ares!"

Steven raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Ares?"

He walked up to Steven.

"It is none other than Ares, God of War!"

Steven was confused.

"What? I'm not-"

The whole crowd burst out.

"Ares?!"

The whole crowd of people gathered around Steven. They examined his shield, they studied his face, and they marvelled at his towering height and huge muscles.

"No no, you've got it all wrong. I'm not Ares, and I'm certainly not a god of war."

Another man spoke.

"Of course you are! No mortal could ever summon a shield from thin air!"

A woman examined his attire, which consisted of his signature red shirt with yellow star under an unbuttoned pink jacket with two white armbands on both sides and a yellow star on each, with blue jeans and pink sandals.

"Your attire is very unusual. I have never seen any clothing like that."

The gold bracelet man spoke again with pure energy.

"Oh, great Ares, why have you come to us Athenians today? *Gasp*! Is there war coming?! Are you here to warn us of a coming invasion?! Are those pesky Spartans at it again?!"

Another man yelled out.

"Damn those Spartans! Getting in the way of everything!"

The golden bracelet man held out his arms to the people.

"People of Athens, the great god Ares has come to us! This must mean war is at hand! We must warn the whole city, and prepare for battle against the Spartans!"

Steven realized what was going on.

"Oh no!" he thought, "I've travelled back in time to ancient Greece!"

He held out his arms in a "Stop!" gesture.

"No no! People, I'm not Ares, and there is no war!"

But to no avail. Everyone was preparing themselves for war. Soldiers grabbed their armor, and the women and children locked their doors. The people were loudly cheering in the streets.

"To Sparta! To Sparta! To Sparta!"

Steven tried to stop the rallying.

"No no, please!"

The crowd gathered as the golden bracelet man stood atop a big rock. He motioned with his hand, and the crowd went silent. He then spoke.

"Athenians! We gather in preparation of war against those pesky Spartans! Our omen of war comes from the visit of Ares!"

The crowd all looked to Steven, who was in the center. They all cheered him. He displayed a worried face as the man continued.

"We will now travel to Sparta and win in Ares's favor!"

The crowd cheered once again. Steven leaped up to the rock beside of the gold bracelet man.

"Stooooooooooop!"

The crowd descended to silence.

"You people want to declare war just because I'm here?! Why wage war for petty reasons like this?! I am not your prophecy of war! And what is war?! It's just a horrible way of getting what you want! War shouldn't be waged because of my arrival. Why risk the lives of thousands of people just because I came?!"

The crowd stayed silent. Then, they all erupted in a fit of laughter. Steven was confused by this. The gold bracelet man rested his arm on Steven's shoulder.

"Oh, Ares, quite the jokester you are! You may be ruthless in combat, but you sure have a sense of humor! Haha!"

Steven was furious. He slapped off the man's hand and jumped off the rock and went running down the roadway. After what seemed like an eternity of running through the city, he finally made it to the shore of Athens. He saw an old man with his little boat. He ran over to the old man.

"Excuse me, sir, but can you take me to Sparta?"

The old man stood up to look at Steven.

"Oh oh, y-yes, great Ares!"

Steven got on the boat with the man, who grabbed two ores and stroked them on the water. The boat began moving off the shore.

Shores Of Sparta-One Day Later

Steven was sleeping on the boat, the old man on the ores. Soon, the man spotted land. He woke Steven with his energetic yell.

"Sparta, straight ahead!"

Steven stood up and saw the nearby shores of Sparta appearing from the fog. He sighed a breath of relief. Once the boat had reached the shoreline, Steven went sprinting out of the boat and out toward the inner land. He scaled up a hill to see a large structure nearby. He ran towards it.

Once he made it to the structure, he saw farmers tending to their crops and animals, and village people walking around. He ran over to the large structure, naturally thinking it was of high importance to the village people. He was stopped by Spartan guards.

"Stop!"

He stopped in his tracks.

"What business do you have here?" said the guard.

Steven spoke fast.

"I need to talk to whoever's in charge!"

The guard raised an eyebrow.

"You wished to speak to the king?"

Steven nodded.

"Yes!"

The guard nodded.

"Come with me."

Steven smiled.

"Oh yes, thank you."

He followed the guard through the corridors. Eventually, they reached a giant gate of two doors. Two guards opened the giant doors, revealing the throne room. Steven saw on a golden throne the king of Sparta. He had a black beard, an orange toga, and many jewels and necklaces. The king looked down on Steven.

"Stranger, why have you come to my humble abode?"

Steven replied.

"King of Sparta, I have news for you and your citizens. The-"

Then, another Spartan guard stepped in.

"My king! There is a large fleet of ships sailing to your shores!"

The king of Sparta stood from his throne.

"What?!"

"Come look, my king!"

The king walked down from his throne to the gates, with Steven following. Once they were outside, they sighted a whole fleet of Athenian ships heading towards the shores. Steven was very fearful.

"Oh no no no!" he thought.

He bolted down to the shore. He soon stopped in front of gathered Athenian warriors on the shore. The Athenians noticed him and smiled.

"Ah, it's Ares once again! Coming to wish us luck!"

"No no no, I'm not Ares, and there is no war! Just go back home and pretend none of this ever happened!"

The Athenians were confused.

"But you are the omen of war. If you are present, it means war is upon all."

Steven didn't know what else to do.

"No no, please, just st-"

Suddenly, a lone Athenian pointed to behind Steven.

"Look! The Spartans have gathered!"

Steven turned to find a line of Spartan soldiers standing. He was scared of war breaking out. He turned back to the Athenians. He was becoming furious. Out of pure rage, he yelled out.

"That's it! Athenians, Spartans, as your god of war, I order you to stop all this and go back home! There is no war, and you will not hurt the Spartans e-"

Then, the Spartan king spoke.

"Wait, you Athenians were going to declare war on us?"

The Athenian leader spoke.

"Yes! Ares here visited us, meaning that war was coming."

The Spartan king was offended.

"Well, then we declare war on you!"

The Athenian leader unsheathed his Xiphos sword.

"That's fine by us!"

The two sides readied their weapons and shields. Steven ran to the Athenian line.

"No no no, don't!"

The Athenians yelled out and charged, Steven getting caught up in the stampeding crowd. The Spartans yelled and did the same.

"Oh no!"

The two sides neared each other. But then, four figures leaped between the two sides, stopping them in the middle of their charge. Both Athenians and Spartans gasped at the sight before them. Steven saw from the midst of the Athenian crowd what everyone's attention was drawn to.

The figures were Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl… and Rose…

Steven gasped at seeing not only Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, but especially his own mother for the first time in person.

"Oh my God, it's my mom."

Rose was beautiful, with her long curly pink hair, large white dress, with a star cut-out where her stomach gem was located.

Pearl was wearing a long toga, held up by a belt with the head of a snake, and a golden breastplate with a bronze head of a woman with long hair. On her head was a round helmet. Her hair was mostly unseen under the helmet, but part of her hair was long and descended down onto her breastplate. She held her spear in her hand.

Garnet wore a toga as well, with a second one from her shoulder across her arms. Of course, she still had her square hair.

Amethyst wore a more shorter toga, which only descended down to her knees. It also possessed another cloth acting as a belt. Her hair was short.

The two sides looked in silence, mouths agape. Then, the Athenian leader broke the silence as he pointed to Rose.

"It can't be! It's Aphrodite, Goddess of love and beauty!"

Then, he pointed to Garnet.

"And Demeter! Goddess of agriculture, fertility, and the harvest!"

A Spartan pointed to Amethyst.

"Not to mention Artemis! Goddess of the hunt, moon, and archery!"

The Athenian leader noticed Pearl.

"And none other than Athena! Our own patron goddess of Athens! And Goddess of wisdom and war!"

The Spartans and Athenians all bowed to the four. Amethyst whispered over to Rose.

"As always, these Greeks are out of their minds."

Rose replied.

"Don't be rude, Amethyst."

Rose spoke out.

"Athenians, Spartans, what is the reason for this commotion?"

The Athenian leader rose up and spoke.

"Because, your brother Ares had visited us in our city of Athens. Naturally, that means war is coming. We came here to fight the Spartans."

Rose spoke back in question.

"Ares?"

"Yes! He's right he-"

The Athenian leader turned to find Steven had disappeared out of sight. He scratched his head and turned back to the Crystal Gems.

"I swear, he was right here!"

Rose turned to Pearl and whispered.

"Pearl, you need to get the humans to stop this fighting. They call you the goddess of war, so get them to stop going to war."

Pearl nodded and stepped forward. She held her spear up and spoke.

"Athenians, Spartans, cease this conflict. Ares, being the troublemaker he is, just wanted war because of his violent nature. Please, just go back home, and make amends."

The two sides scratched their heads. The Spartan king turned to his warriors.

"Well, we cannot argue with a goddess. Back to the village."

The Spartan warriors left the scene, one Spartan angrily throwing down his shield and spear. The Athenian leader held out his arms.

"Alright, warriors, back on the ships!"

The Athenian warriors got back on their ships and sailed away, leaving the Crystal Gems. Amethyst laughed.

"Ah, these Greeks are a laugh!"

Rose chimed in.

"Alright, Crystal Gems, let's depart!"

The Gems leaped off into the forest. Standing on a hill nearby was Steven, who saw everything. As he saw the Gems disappear, he had a loss for words.

"My mother… I can't believe it…"

Steven took the hourglass he got from out of his pocket and gazed into it.

"*Gasp*, I remember now. You're the time hourglass thingy. But how are you back? I shattered you… Hmm… Well, take me back to Athens."

Steven was suddenly back in ancient Athens.

"Ugh! I meant in the pre-"

Suddenly, Steven found himself in the middle of a battlefield. He heard what sounded like a machine gun ring out in the field. Steven saw a downed tree nearby. He ran and ducked under it. He gazed over at the battle happening around him. The field was littered with craters. He saw towers of dirt launch from artillery shells, and trenches full of soldiers. They charged out of the trench, but were soon mowed down by machine guns. Steven looked away at the horrible sight. He noticed a nearby sign. He looked at the name.

Verdun

I really enjoyed writing this first chapter specifically because of my love for Greek Mythology.