9Notes:
So, I made a bit of a lie by omission here... only because it would have massively spoiled the main story if I brought it up. Gem Ascension is not just a 3-act deal; once I got to a certain point, it would have a side-story to fit in details that would otherwise overload Part 3. And given how ungodly massive Part 2 is, you'll probably appreciate me alleviating the next part of this kind of weight. For the record, I had this set-up planned from the get-go, well before I realized how long I'd end up making Part 2.
And... yeah, Gem Ascension is practically required reading to fully get this. If you got through Part 1 and haven't yet finished Part 2 but intend to, for the love of god just finish Part 2 first. If you're just gonna barrel ahead into this anyway without any of the context, by all means, have fun with that! I know I've been guilty of it before; I can't judge.
I also took another approach to this and finished two chapters before posting the story. I wanted to get an idea of how long these things can get, and thank the lord these are actually very reasonable lengths. Aside from maybe the last part of this, this first one will be the biggest since it includes an immediate fallout from Part 2 scene that includes everybody. The following part is about a little more than half the length, so that's what I expect future chapters to be. Hope you enjoy, everybody! I'm just making it worse for myself with all this Part 3 hype, ya think?
"Garnet… how long have you known?"
Steven's voice broke the silence that permeated the remaining Crystal Gems inside the PeriLuck en route to Earth. Outside of the light cries and sobs that came out of certain team members right after Peridot's final message to the group concluded, no one was in any mood to be chatty. The mission was technically a success; the Crystal Gems made it out of Homeworld with far more people than they had coming in, but losing even one to the rescue effort made this feel like a devastating loss.
"Steven," she said softly after a short pause. She knew if she took too long to answer, it would rile up the boy. "Now is not the time to be talking about this."
But that answer didn't satisfy Steven in the least. "Is it because everyone else is here?" he challenged. "You know they'll get mad if they find out. They'd never forgive you if they knew you could've made it to end some other way!"
Steven's words drew the others' attention, but no one had it in them to back him up. None looked to Garnet expecting an answer, either. The only one who wasn't beside themselves with grief was Pearl, and that's only because she was hard at work on something with Peridot's tablet. She had a few dodecahedron-cut prisms sitting nearby; their purpose not made obvious to anyone yet.
"Steven, please," Pearl urged in Garnet's defense. She tried her best to fight off a tear coming up, as her eyes remained focused on her work. "It isn't right to start shifting blame onto others. This is hurting all of us… and no perspective on what happened will be enough to–" Pearl couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
"I know that," Steven mumbled. "I'm not that naïve. But if you saw what I saw… you'd want some answers too, Pearl. Besides… aren't you the last one who should be telling me how to deal with loss?"
That was below the belt. Pearl's body jerked back as if she had been jabbed in the gut. She lost her composure and had to cover her face to keep the tears at bay. At that point, Garnet rose from her seat and faced the crew behind her – but kept her focus on Steven.
"Steven, I will tell you everything I know in a moment, on the condition that you stop attacking your friends," she ordered. "Pearl is doing something very important right now – something Peridot would have wanted. When she finishes, I will need to address everyone for a short time… then, I will answer you to the best of my ability. But before any of that happens, you will apologize to Pearl right here, right now." She put her hands on her hips, leaning forward as if she meant to get in Steven's face, though he was a whole row behind her. "And it had better be genuine; I will be able to tell the difference."
Besides Steven, Bismuth and Lapis felt an inner chill from that tone; it felt like déjà vu. That was odd, as this was the first time the two had been united with the Crystal Gems outside a hostile environment. They were now a part of the group discussion as much as any of the mainstays. What felt familiar to them was that ominous tone… they both soon realized Peridot had, at times, laid down the law in a very similar fashion while they were on Earth, as well as their trip to Homeworld. Lapis especially realized some of the times she interpreted Peridot's approach to be a regression back to her former persona actually felt much more like Garnet's tough-but-fair style. That wasn't to say she didn't see the Pre-Earth Peridot in her actions at all (how she handled getting Yellow Pearl's gemstone was very much that), but it helped offer clarity to some moments when she couldn't read her former leader. In hindsight, it made perfect sense: Peridot made it no secret that she admired Garnet and looked up to her. Of course, that's why she was so insistent on claiming Garnet's role during their Crystal Temp days. And knowing Peridot's inherent praise-hungry nature, Lapis figured any praise coming from Garnet would hold more weight than anyone else's… besides Steven's, clearly.
Lapis was the one sitting next to Steven; Pumpkin had also curled up by her feet. She looked over nervously to Steven, hoping he would be compliant. No one wanted to hear an argument break out right now… but given that Lapis had been poofed during the entire escape sequence, she did share sentiments with Steven about the details. All she knew was that Peridot didn't make it, and that really wasn't enough for her. She just didn't have it in her to demand the details like Steven did.
Steven, meanwhile, shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He regretted what he said to Pearl the second the last word left his mouth. But he couldn't help it; the scene kept playing over and over in his head, and no doubt would continue to do so in his dreams for a long time. He found Garnet acting super suspiciously, but it wasn't the time or the place to call her out on it then. Now, he could do it. He wanted everyone to know the experience the two of them felt. For most, their last impression of Peridot was her order to escape and not look back. For Greg, his was the moment Peridot wished him well and promised him the safe return of his son. Pumpkin… she got a heartwarming goodbye hug around the same time. Lion last saw Peridot shortly after the team rescued the original Crystal Gems. And then there was Lapis, who last saw her former leader just before she buddied up with Bismuth to embark on the last leg of their journey. She had been so fixated on the pallid Blue Diamond that she didn't even acknowledge Peridot participating in the battle.
They all deserved to know the full story, and Steven would make sure Garnet gave that to them… because she was the only one who had the entirety of that story.
"I'm sorry, Pearl; it was… really low of me to resort to that," Steven apologized; he no longer had that adamancy in his tone. "I know you're just trying to help keep the peace, and… you're not wrong about the blame thing. I just want you all to know what really happened… and Garnet's the only one who can give us that."
Pearl looked to Steven an offered a soft, appreciative smile. "Very good, Steven," she commended. "I understand your anger all too well. When we get home, let's have a talk. I feel like outside of how the mission ended, there's more for me to learn about. You did pick up Garnet, Amethyst, and myself rather late in the game, as I understand it."
"Way late," Lapis confirmed.
"Me and Lapis don't mind givin' you all a full report when we get home," Bismuth offered. "Some… crazy stuff happened when it was still just the three of us. Steven, Connie… you probably know what I mean."
They both solemnly nodded. "I've been wanting to know how all that happened," Connie admitted. "I just didn't think it was the right time to ask about it. I mean, it really wasn't."
"She told me some stuff about it," Steven admitted. "While I was healing her, that is. Is it really a good idea to talk about her this much, after what happened? Everything feels… too soon."
"I don't think Peri would want you keeping that bottled up to yourself, Ste-man," Amethyst offered. "Besides, she always liked being the center of attention. I think she'd like us spending a lot of time talking about her. We'll probably have a lot of Peri-related stuff in our heads when we open her messages to us… I say we have some downtime when we hit Earth and just… take it in, y'know."
"Amethyst is right," Garnet affirmed. "The best way to heal from a loss like this is to remember the good times, any times… and share those memories with your friends." She looked to the still-working Pearl. "How far along are you?"
Pearl looked up from the tablet. "Done," she confirmed. "So, which files get loaded into these?" She held up one of the prisms.
"Whomever does not own a digital device to receive Peridot's files," Garnet answered. "Bismuth is most certainly such a case. Does anyone else not have a device to receive Peridot's message?"
Lapis raised her hand. "She tried, but Peridot could not endear me to those things at all."
Greg also raised a hand. "I have a phone, but with my phone plan the way it is on a budget and all… I'll take a natural alternative."
"Confirmed," Pearl stated to the laptop. "Copying files for Greg, Bismuth, and Lapis." She held up three of the prisms and brought them nearby the tablet, which projected three lights into each respective prism. They glowed brightly before being reduced to a faint glow from the core. "And, success! Here you go, Garnet."
Garnet accepted the crystals and took an extra for reasons yet unknown. She passed them out to their respective recipients. "I'm sure you've all gathered from observing me that Peridot entrusted her equipment to me, as well as ensuring all messages be properly sent."
Steven looked conflicted. "Did–… did she know, too?" He quietly asked himself.
"I would follow Peridot's advice and wait until you are by yourself to hear her message to you," Garnet advised. "She did not say to keep it a secret after the fact, so I will permit discussion on the subject once you've listened to your message. As Amethyst said, Peridot would appreciate the attention we give her. Are we all in agreement?"
Garnet received a mixture of silent nodding heads and some tired-sounding affirmations. She couldn't blame them; it had been a long day.
"Now, Steven," she said firmly, turning her attention to him again. "I will not skirt around the subject: you suspect I knew this outcome all along. Because I had a vision… is that correct?"
Steven nodded, now back to looking frustrated. "You had to have. Why else wouldn't you meet halfway with Peridot and get her here in time? You shut me down the second I said it! Was fate so important that Peridot just had to die because of it?!"
"Steven," she said calmly after an audible huff. "We don't know for sure that Peridot lost her life. There's a very good chance she's still alive right now, but that's a discussion for another time… once we're home." The very concept of that possibility pacified Steven notably. He of course wanted to ask questions about that, so Garnet was quick to shut it down. The leader knew they would need to get through this one step at a time; not stumble over several at once. "As for the vision… yes, I had one just after we split into small teams towards the end of the mission. Rather, Sapphire did, and had difficulty making sense of it until the point came that she, Ruby, and Peridot separated from the group."
"Oh, so when Ruby told us about the flood of pale walkers coming our way," Amethyst recalled. She was the closest to that trio before the separation, so naturally Ruby found her and Steven first and was the reason the quartz picked up on the detail so quickly. "Got it."
Garnet nodded. "At that time, Sapphire pulled Peridot aside and they both settled into a hiding spot. Sapphire had just realized the meaning of the vision, and due to the nature of it… she knew she had to inform her leader of what she foresaw of our upcoming battle. If you would like, I can show you all precisely what Sapphire showed Peridot, so you can better understand why events played out the way they had.
It was unanimous among the other Crystal Gems that they wanted to see this vision for themselves. Garnet placed the extra prism into her palm, directly over Sapphire's gemstone. She lifted it up, the prism shined, and emitted light that transferred to the main screen of the ship. There was the same colorless, grainy and choppy visual Peridot first saw. It wasn't long before someone asked about the most apparent oddity to it.
"Why is everyone shifting into someone else in these scenes?" Connie asked. "I can tell that's us fighting the pallids, but… I don't understand."
"Remember this detail," Garnet advised her. "Since the moment has passed, I can alter this to accurately reflect the events as they happened." She did so, and the shifting stopped. Garnet and Connie were together wiping out the remaining pallid grunts while the rest of the team faced off against Blue Diamond. The scene then shifted to the terrified standing Yellow Diamond and the very lifeless Blue in front of the ominous, towering White Diamond. "This is the point where Peridot ordered for the escape. I'll leave the rest of this untouched, so you all may experience what she did when Sapphire first presented this vision to her."
And that, of course, was the running through the tunnel sequence. The character-shifting feature had returned, and it extended even to the avatar that Peridot had taken place of. Many people left safely, but two remained, not counting the main avatar. The remaining three made their way to the exit; the two stragglers made it to the exit while the avatar inexplicably fell forward before reaching the goal. The vision became distorted, but what was clearly seen was the PeriLuck blasting off outside, escaping, as the avatar's vision faded to black. Then everyone nearly jumped out of their seat when the flickering White Diamond jump scare followed not long after. Garnet grit her teeth and waved her hand to halt the vision back to black. She had forgotten that horrifying face that no doubt had Peridot with her now.
When the avatar had stopped shifting just as it fell unconscious, it ultimately settled on the form of Amethyst.
"W-wait, hold on!" Amethyst freaked out. "You're telling me I was the one who had to die back there?!"
"Not quite," Garnet replied. "Watch the sequence again without any alterations made… other than I'll know where to pause this vision now," she said with mild embarrassment.
The scene played once more, only now Pearl was the remaining. "Oh…! It could have been me…?"
Garnet turned to everyone. "Should I show this again, or have any of you caught on already?"
Lapis regarded the entire thing with suspicion. "Is this exactly what Peridot saw?" she asked. "Body and all?"
"Not at all; she first saw Bismuth, then myself on a second viewing. Peridot asked if it could happen to her, and I showed that possibility as well. The only one this couldn't have happened to is you, Lapis, because of the state you were in by this time."
"So, your vision didn't bother to warn you about Blue Diamond poofing me?" the aqua gem asked, a bit offended at the notion.
Garnet offered a small shrug. "I did tell you there are blind spots in this vision; this is common with any I have. Just like how we couldn't find out why the remaining fell, we did not see any indication that you had been reduced to your gemstone form."
"I get it," Connie understood. "The reason it's shifting our positions like this is because it couldn't be determined who would be where; only what they will do. Any one of us could have been the last to leave… but no matter who that last one was, they would end up falling… and not make it in time."
"And now you understand," Garnet affirmed. "When Sapphire told Peridot this vision could not be changed, because she did try, she told her that as leader of the Crystal Gems, she needed to see this to ensure the safety of her team… and determine who gets left behind."
"Y-you put her in that position?!" Steven was horrified. "O-or Sapphire did, I guess… but still! Why would you put her through that?!"
Garnet smiled a little when she saw a particular color shine in her prism. "Would you like to hear what she said when Sapphire posed that question to her?" Literally everybody nodded. Garnet let a medium-quality audio with feedback echo through the entire ship.
"Are you nuts?! Just because I'm the leader of a team doesn't mean I have the right to decide someone's fate like that!"
A few members of the team stifled their sniffles just hearing Peridot's voice again; especially in a tone that matched how they remembered her. But the words… it hurt to hear them from her.
"When I hear that, I can't help but think…" A teary Lapis looked to Bismuth. "Did we make her grow up too fast?"
"I haven't known her long enough to know, to be honest…" Bismuth glumly said. "But it still breaks my heart hearin' that… I feel bad for ever doubting her now."
"Self-sacrifice doesn't seem like something Peridot would do voluntarily," Pearl noted, as she held her hands together in an attempt to calm down. "Because she must have insisted on being the last one to leave. She knew all along she wasn't going to make it, that entire battle!"
"I can't believe she'd just throw her life away like that!" Amethyst sounded bitter, but her damp cheeks indicated this hit her hard, too. "She's always on about how rational and logical she is… so why would she just jump in to take the hit even though she was head of the team at the time?!"
Garnet smiled, but couldn't stop a single tear falling from underneath her visor. "You all need to hear what she said to Sapphire a minute later. She had apologized to Peridot; she knew showing her that vision would make her volunteer herself for the sacrifice. But when Sapphire worded it that way, Peridot became angry…" She waved her hand over the prism once it had that fleeting bright green glint again.
"When did I ever say I would be sacrificing myself? Of course I'm going to be the one who stays behind. It's my job to keep the Crystal Gems safe, so I haveto be the last one to leave. But I have no intention of sacrificing myself, Sapphire. I'm going to do everything in my power to make it to the ship. Your vision has so far shown me no reason to "sacrifice" anything. The ship left as intended, and everyone else seemed to get in just fine. So I refuse to call it a sacrifice based on what you've given me. Honestly, self-sacrifice is so glorified these days. Like people think it's noble to intentionally abandon the people who love them in the name of giving yourself up for some greater good. Get out of here with that crap! If I end up never leaving here, it won't be for my lack of trying. I promise you that, Sapphire!"
That shut everybody up for a good while… before more audible crying commenced from multiple parties. Garnet let a few more tears fall as she waited for her teammates to get it out of their system.
"I – why does that make this feel worse, then?!" Lapis asked to no one in particular. "If she really tried…"
"Steven." Said young man looked to Garnet. "Would you do the honor of recounting the details? I can do it if you're not comfortable."
"I…" Steven wiped his eyes. He'd seen it all, and hearing Peridot's voice saying this… he understood it now. It wasn't some thoughtless self-sacrifice; the gem he adored really did everything in her power to not become a casualty. "I might need some help… but I'll try," he decided.
"Hold on, wait," Connie interrupted. She too cried, but tried to fight off the urge to continue. "Garnet, we didn't get away without any problems, remember? The vision shows our ship taking off – it never shows that it was tethered to the chute at first. We were really stuck!"
"The vision is not always 100% accurate," Garnet stated. "But the problem seemed to resolve itself– "
"No!" Connie shouted, cutting her off. "That's not what happened. I saw out the window where I was seated… I-I saw Peridot! She was still inside, but she saw we were having problems!"
"I saw that too," Bismuth backed her up. "It was a little hard to make out, but it looked like she was trapped behind a door. She looked banged up."
"Something happened to her face," Amethyst added; she was also a witness. "Like her visor got all messed up. She was just sitting there, but she saw us, and… and I think she helped us escape."
Connie and Bismuth nodded in agreement. This surprised the others, even Garnet. She ended up hitting her head rather hard upon entry to the ship while protecting Steven, so she was left a bit disoriented for a little while.
"Connie, tell me what she did!" Steven begged. "I need to know!"
Connie was a little put-off with how adamant yet desperate Steven was, but she relented without resistance. "Like I said, the distance made it hard to tell for sure, but… I saw her lift an arm up, and that's when we heard the hatch close on the chute and break it. Once it got all the way through, we were off."
"The hatch is made of metal," Bismuth noted. "She and I designed this ship… so she'd know how to manipulate that mechanism."
"Which is awesome that P-Dot did that for us, but I don't get it," Amethyst confessed. "If she could use her powers to close the hatch, why didn't she open the door she was locked behind?"
Garnet looked to Steven. "It's your turn. Tell them what we saw."
Steven settled himself down, closed his eyes, and bowed his head. "It probably wouldn't have taken much for Peridot to control something she created; especially something that small. The door… the door was huge. And she was running so hard to make it… all just so she'd– she'd…"
"She would have made it," Garnet continued for him. "Had she not tripped over. You all should… know how Peridot is about that… and she had been good about avoiding it until now. She was so excited thinking she made it, she lost her footing… and instead of coming to us, Peridot tripped while running so fast, her head collided with the door that shut her out."
"It broke her visor," Steven added, having decided to pick himself back up. "At least her gem didn't get cracked, but… sh-she was really out of it once she got up. I tried to break the door down myself, but it wasn't enough. White Diamond was on her way, so I don't think Peridot had the time to mess with the door in her… usual Peri way. And she couldn't even stand anymore after that… never mind lift up a giant door. She kept agreeing with Garnet and wanted me to get on the ship so bad… I guess so that I wouldn't have to see what I did."
Garnet walked over and patted Steven on the shoulder. "She was determined not to let fate run her life, but she was rational enough to understand it still might happen no matter what she did. In the event of that, she wished to spare you. I should have known your… feelings would be too strong to control in such a situation. Perhaps she should have taken that into account, but… no one is perfect."
Steven leaned against Garnet, no longer feeling any animosity towards her. "Even at the end, she didn't want us to see her break down. She just smiled and laughed at us like it was funny. It was sweet, but… I could tell. Something in her just… broke. I don't blame her. I couldn't keep up an act like that if it happened to me."
"She didn't want us to feel bad for making it out," Garnet believed. "And she wanted to make sure we knew she held no ill will against us because this happened… especially me." She sighed and grasped the prism in her hand. "I am curious what words she left for me now. But it won't be long before we reach Earth; we should wait until then to open our messages. I recommend we go our separate ways just for a day. We need to give Connie, Steven, and Greg some time to sleep as well. There's a remote chance Peridot may have hidden clues in her messages; everyone should listen carefully to her words. Once we had a day to refresh, we may regroup at the Temple and make a decision on what to do from here on out."
Everyone nodded to the Crystal Gems leader. Now that nothing but Peridot's fate was a mystery to anyone any longer, the rest of the trip home was much calmer. Everyone knew what they wanted to do after taking some time to recharge: the exact same thing Peridot did that got them back to Earth in the first place.
Garnet retreated to the Burning Room upon returning home. None of her teammates would be too far away from each other during their day of rest; not even the isolation-prone Lapis strayed far this time. Garnet hoped everyone would be empowered by whatever message Peridot made for them; the fusion herself was not nervous about what she was in for, but she was curious. This had to have been recorded before Garnet reformed on Homeworld, so anything they talked about there would be a non-factor. She still held on to Peridot's tablet; she was entrusted with it, after all, and Garnet vowed she would return it to her whenever they met again. But with this, Garnet had easy access to the files Peridot had made for everyone. She was only interested in one file, however. Only one. She pressed play and was surprised this log wasn't just an audio file - it was a video, and once again Peridot was in view, though a bit more animated than she had been in the preface video on the ship. It was nighttime when she took this, and she seemed to be pacing back and forth just outside the beach house.
"... Log Date TTC: 21 hours…
Hello, Garnet. You've probably heard this a million times already because I prefer to be over-prepared than under, but if you're watching and listening to this right now, I obviously did not survive the Homeworld mission to save you and your friends. I think I can "live" with that, considering you made it out… and if you made it out, obviously everyone else must have. You are the leader of the Crystal Gems for a reason, after all.
Depending on the time of my demise, you may or may not have realized I have… taken the mantle from you out of necessity. I hope you understand; beyond myself, your fate lies in the hands of Bismuth and Lapis Lazuli… and to a lesser extent, Steven's paternal unit. I enlisted him; that's how desperate I am for able-bodied volunteers, Garnet! Everyone waited on me to reform before doing anything, because those clods are so dense, they can't even manage a single brainstorming session! Seriously, none of them thought "oh hey, since there's a treasure trove of scrapped space ships nearby, we can try fixing one or putting one together with the combined remains"! I mean, come on! I swear, Garnet, I don't know how you do this. I mean, you've been doing this several Earth millennia before I even emerged. I suppose with that much time, it would be hard to still suck at what you do.
But in all honesty, believe me when I say I'm trying my best to go by your example. Which… isn't easy as the "kid", I say in relative terms, when leading a bunch of incompetent adults. Maybe Lapis was right. Maybe I really suck at being like you… I really wish I didn't. I know we didn't start off on good terms – hah, I say that like it's unique to you or something. Maybe it goes without saying, but I'm sorry for how I judged you back then. You're not a filthy war machine, and it was never my place to ever tell you to cease being… well, you.
You were really hard to read, you know? That bothered me a lot at the start. When I can't understand something or someone, it just feels like there's an itch inside me I can't scratch. Pearl isn't nearly as complex as she makes herself out to be; Amethyst and Steven don't even bother with subtlety. But you… I couldn't put a "name" to you yet. Maybe that's why it took me a while to actually call you by your name. Even now, there's so much about fusion I don't understand. But that's more on me for not being able to fuse than anything else. I always meant to ask you if it really is impossible for an Era 2 to fuse. It's always assumed to be the case, since we lack almost everything that makes you Era 1s so valuable. But then I learned about Stevonnie and I started to maybe… think it was possible? I mean, if Steven can fuse with a pure 100% human, why not an Era 2 gem? This isn't the kind of thing I can just walk up to Steven and ask about, though… for various reasons. Since I won't be able to now, geez- should I really…? Well, whatever. I'm dead as you're seeing this, so I guess it doesn't matter. Just ask Steven if he would have… I don't know, considered it or something. Stars, this is so embarrassing to say…
By the way, how strong are you, anyway? The only thing a Peridot can take pride in outside of intellectual skill is their durability. It's a bit of a necessary trait for a working-class gem, but I kind of liked seeing other gems on Homeworld poof under far less pressure than I've been under and retained my form. I think you were the first one to achieve that, honestly. I probably would have lost my limb enhancers long before we met if it happened at any other time in the past. Is it some cheesy "power of love" thing going on with Ruby and Sapphire that makes you like, crazy powerful?
Oh, I should say hi… and bye to Ruby and Sapphire. Unfortunately, my first and only time seeing you two was at your wedding a couple of days ago, and obviously there were… other things on your minds that day. It's why I can't get myself to do a video for them, together or separate, but I thought they might appreciate some acknowledgment on yours. I wish I had gotten to know the two of you better before… this. Stupid Diamonds crashing your wedding… then making off with all of you, doing stars-know-what as I speak!
Everyone is hard at work now, at least. I'm supposed to be rummaging through this house finding supplies while Bismuth and Lapis are getting the assets for our ship prepared. But then I keep thinking "What if I die? I've got so much I still want to say to everyone, and by then it'll be too late!"… which is why I'm here now. A lot of what I've been saying has been under the assumption that I'll end up shattered before I even reach you and the others. I haven't considered what I'd say to you if we die while we're escaping… then again, I have no idea what we'd even talk about. I suppose I'll do what's right and give you your leadership back, at least. I'm fully aware my status is merely on loan until your safe return. Hopefully, I'll have my act together by that time, too.
I hate using this as some means of therapy advice I'll never get, but I just need to… air it out, you know? I trust you enough to handle the knowledge of my vulnerabilities responsibly. Garnet, how do you mask your vulnerabilities so well? Is it the visor? That's got to be part of it… mine clearly isn't dark enough. Still, you stay calm under pressure, and you make it look easy! It is not! It hasn't been the same since I reformed… since they told me about the situation. The second I learned about it, a million things went through my head at once, and… and…. it's like I'm on autopilot sometimes! I try to keep you in mind when I act professional with my teammates, you know? Suppressing emotions has been hard for me since I came to Earth… isn't that funny? I barely qualified as a sentient being when we first met. Sure, I felt things before then, but it was always… fleeting, in a way. It's like you all broke some seal on me. Somehow, I had all these weird emotions and feelings and aspirations and ideas and curiosity and likes and dislikes and aptitude for other areas of expertise locked inside of me, and it all just flooded out and I've never been able to stuff it back inside me when I need to. I'd ask you to teach me the art of subtlety – I am well aware I am no better than Steven or Amethyst when it comes to keeping up some kind of front… or a lie… but I guess you can't now.
Um, just rest assured there's a lot I still wanted to learn from you, Garnet. And not just fusion. Even though I think I'm bad at it right now, I kinda like taking charge… you could teach me how to be better. Could have taught, could have, you clod– nngh, sorry. I shouldn't mess up my tenses. I wanted to learn how to be cool like you, too. Is that something you can even teach, or is that something you're made with? … I don't know what it is with me and learning everything. Have I driven you up a wall yet, Garnet? –Why do I hope I have? Am I really that immature? Seriously, It's not like I'm th– …
…
I just about spilled my age to you. Look, I have strong reason to believe you and the others have a betting pool on my age somewhere. It's something that agitates me to no end, but I can do nothing about it. So you'll just have to spend the rest of eternity guessing my age now, won't you? Hah! Take that!
In all seriousness, before I wrap this up, there's one thing I should address to you in earnest, Garnet: how sure you are of my demise. Given my recent history with… certain high-ranking figures in Homeworld, I assume I'm still on their Most Wanted list, and if the Diamond court doesn't execute me, then the bounty hunters will for sure. But… this is a big but, but… if you have any reason to believe I'm still alive… I assume you're back on Earth as you're watching this, anyway… if I'm stuck on Homeworld… even if there is a chance I'm still alive, please… don't go back for me. I mean, I have no power to stop you, but honestly? Garnet… I'm not worth the risk. Not like Steven is… not like you, Pearl, and Amethyst are. D-did you know Peridots are some of the most common gems in existence? My kind probably makes up at least a quarter of Homeworld's population alone! Point being… if need be the case, you're probably better off getting another Peridot than risking your neck to bail me out. It'll probably be an even better one than I am! It's not like I don't have a load of sins I need to repent for. That's sort of the bad thing about being awakened on Earth. If I even take a glance back at my pre-Earth life, it gets harder to accept in hindsight.
I just don't want any of you hurt on my account, okay? I'm sure Steven's beating himself up endlessly over me… do me a favor and just… I dunno… smack him, if he starts with that, okay? Even posthumously, the very concept that I'm bringing about any more grief and trauma on Steven than I have already… I can't take it.
If you ignore this and try and save me anyway, I'm gonna be pissed, Garnet. You hear that? And it's gonna be your fault, because you'll be leading the charge! So that'd better be a consequence you can live with! I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EV-ER forgive you!
With that said… I'll conclude my final testimony. With the best of wishes for your future, my sincerest regards… farewell, Garnet. And Ruby and Sapphire by extension. You're the best fusion I've ever met.
Signing off for the final time, Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG."
Garnet wiped the tears from her face. "I've never seen someone so adamant about not wanting their life saved," she said with amusement. "Peridot… when we get you back, I will have to teach you how not to be so transparent."
She then noticed the footage was still rolling; the video hadn't ended yet. Garnet patiently watched on… she knew there had to be a nice thing Peridot snuck in there, assuming she wouldn't catch it. Peridot had stepped out of the shot after her final line, but a couple of minutes later, she came back into frame.
"... Did I seriously still leave this thing running?! For the love of– Garnet, you'd better not still be watching! … But if you are… fine. I'll just remind you to do your best to take care of Steven. You're the one I worry about the least when it comes to him, but I know you're not infallible. I don't know how he's going to fare being without me; probably for the better, I guess… just… just take care of him. You know he's the one that's keeping me going, with this whole stupid rescue mission. He's the only reason I'm not the worst leader in the world. You have no idea what he means to me, okay? Even I hardly know what he means to me… it's just… a lot, okay?! He's just as important as this primitive dirtball we live on, get it? I don't think I need to say any more than that to you, Garnet. Just– oh, Lapis! You must be here for the–… right, the wax and the rags! No, I didn't forget! No, I'm gonna get them right now, hahaha…
Okay, look. Just shut this off already. I'm turning it off the minute I get back."
Peridot left the shot to rush inside the house. Garnet couldn't help but laugh. Lapis must have been flying at this time, because she could barely make out the other gem's voice. "Ah, Peridot… I'm afraid I already have a very good idea what Steven is to you, but I will give you points for that effort. That was precious."
She also knew there was no way Peridot was going to just shut it off after one minute. There was just a bit more than that left on the video. Soon enough, Peridot rushed out and held out what she promised to retrieve for Lapis.
"Lapis, I'm gonna throw it up to you, 'kay? No, you don't need to descend! I can definitely make that! Watch!"
Well, apparently she was able to toss up the wax to Lapis without an issue. When it came to the rag, however… Garnet finally heard Lapis' voice audibly screech with disgust.
"Whoops, sorry! Hey, at least I didn't miss, right? Besides, I think a rag over your head is a good look for y–YAAAGH!"
Yeah, obviously Lapis was having none of that, and she shot down a much wetter rag down hard on Peridot, which came seemingly out of nowhere in the shot just to nail Peridot in the head and knocked her over. Garnet couldn't help but burst out laughing at that. It was just too perfectly timed for comedy.
Finally, Peridot snagged her recording device and pulled it closer towards her, and her voice from here onwards was just a hint above a whisper.
"Okay, you win. I don't even care… Lapis is gonna get such a roast on hers– anyway, Garnet. You're still here? Of course you're here. Did you use your future vision to know to stick around? Whatever; don't care. …
It took a while to get the math right, you know. Converting Homeworld time to Earth's is way more complicated than it has any right to be. Hmph…
2:55 AM. 27th of August. ...
13.8 years ago."
That was the end of the video. Garnet just settled for a wide smile as she shut off the tablet and stood up. It was only then she noticed among the many bubbled corrupted/otherwise antagonistic gems being kept in this room that a mass of green bubbles had mixed in well with the others.
She remembered quickly; Just before entering the massive melee by their way out of Homeworld, Peridot had the foresight to bubble up the poofed pallid gems and sent them back to this place before heading downstairs to aid her allies. It was a good method of insurance - there would be no worry of them regenerating later and heading down to extend the fight, White Diamond wouldn't be able to assimilate her pawns despite having already infected them…
That's when Garnet had an idea. She also found the green bubble of Yellow Pearl that Peridot had Garnet herself send off, since Peridot wasn't certain where her bubbles would go anymore now that the barn was no longer available, and there was no sense in losing a perfectly good skeleton key to the labyrinth of doom known as Homeworld. Apparently "home" to Peridot now was the same as her own. Once all this was over, Garnet considered giving the poor gem her due and grant her a proper room.
Still, she made sure to keep the Yellow Pearl bubble in an easily accessible part of the room; they would need it soon enough. However, she exited the room only holding a bubble of a single pallid gem and coincidentally passed by both Steven and Pearl. Steven was sulking on his bed while Pearl was just leaving the kitchen.
"Ah, Garnet! Back from hearing your message?"
Garnet smiled to Pearl. "Watching. I didn't realize they were video files. Have you seen yours yet, Pearl?"
"I was just heading to my room to do just that," Pearl answered. "First, I just wanted to try and get Steven to eat… well, eat something."
Garnet glanced up to see Steven refusing to move, trying to tune out the world around him. "Has he… yet?"
Pearl shook her head. "He told me he doesn't want to. I suppose that isn't surprising… Steven really did see too much for his own good, didn't he?"
Garnet nodded. "I should have been better about following Peridot's orders and just thrown him down the chute immediately. Part of me just hoped… and believed, if anyone could alter such a stubborn course of destiny, it would be Steven. Especially considering his bond with her. I was… almost right. But almost isn't enough."
"We'll make it right, Garnet," Pearl assured. "She didn't turn her back on us; that makes us indebted to her, right?"
Garnet smiled at that. "You're very right. We'll give Steven some time, but if he stalls for too long, I'll be sure to have a talk with him. Before you go, I would like you to look into something." She handed Pearl the green bubble. "By all means, see your message first, but I forgot Peridot had sent many of these pallid gems here before the last battle. It may be a little while before we go out again, so I was curious if you would be able to study the specimen?"
"Specimen?" Pearl quickly got it. "Oh, I see…! It's our best chance of finding out if there's a way to reverse this horrible condition, since clearly poofing them isn't enough. Or, failing that, a vaccine for us to resist it. At the rate it was going before we left, part of me wonders if Homeworld will even be recognizable from a distance when we see it again. But I greatly appreciate the donation, Garnet."
Garnet shrugged. "By all means, help yourself down there. Peridot brought back almost as many of those as we have bubbled down there overall." She started to walk off. "Enjoy your message, Pearl. I got quite a few nice outtakes, so be sure to sit through all of it."
Pearl smirked. "Oh, I definitely will." Garnet made this sound very must-see; now she was eager to see this rather than cautious and awkward. Even so, that was better than how Steven was handling his. His phone was still downstairs on the table, and he sounded so determined to never watch it.
"Go ahead and get some rest, Steven," Pearl gently called out. "Make sure you eat something when you wake up, okay?" She didn't want to push the matter of that message yet. They had only been home for a few hours, after all. Perhaps a full night's sleep would make Steven more compliant tomorrow. "I'll be in my room if you need anything."
Still no response. Pearl just sighed and made her way to her room. There was plenty to do to keep her busy… and plenty to watch to gain… something else out of the experience.
[ NEXT LOG: PEARL ]
