Weeks went by—honestly, pretty stressful weeks. During that time, I spent most of my days with Lion, and with Connie too. She was thrilled, of course. I mean, who wouldn't be hyped to ride a pink lion that travels through dimensions? Not everyone can say they've done something like that in their life.
Just recently, Lion took me without warning straight to the place where Mom used to keep her weapons. It was... intense. It still gives me the chills just thinking about the sheer amount of dangerous stuff hidden in there. Thank the universe I didn't accidentally press anything, because I'm positive that with my luck, I would've summoned Satan or something worse. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if one of those things went off.
But that was a few days ago. Right now, I was walking with the Gems through an orchard. The sun filtered through the branches, the air smelled sweet, and insects buzzed lazily. We were walking without any real rush, though... to be completely honest, I had already forgotten why we were even out here.
"What are we even doing here, girls?" I asked, scratching my head as a drop of sweat ran down my forehead.
Pearl, completely locked in, was leading the group while enthusiastically lecturing us about the ancient Gem War. Her tone was so passionate that it felt like she was hosting a conference rather than walking through a fruit patch.
Amethyst, on the other hand, was trailing behind her, chewing on something metallic. "We're in a warzone, and we're here for weapons," she answered without really looking up, her mouth completely full.
I didn't want to ask where she had dug up the car engine she was currently eating. In fact, I preferred not to know.
"You actually like that?" I asked out of curiosity, watching her take another massive bite.
"It's got a unique flavor," she simply replied, as if she were talking about a regular apple.
I sighed and turned my gaze back to Garnet, who was walking in silence as usual. "And what about you? Well, actually... all of you? Why do you even need weapons? You already have your own, don't you?" I asked, raising my shield out of pure instinct.
Garnet merely adjusted her shades and said calmly, "You never know when we'll need them."
I stayed quiet, processing that. In my mind, flashes of all our recent incidents played out—from stone slugs to collapsing temples. I would swear on my gem that in every single one of those cases, I had never actually seen them use any of the weapons they collected.
So I just sighed and muttered, "Well... if you say so."
And we kept walking through the fruit trees, while Pearl continued to narrate stories of ancient wars and Amethyst looked around for something else to chew on.
The day was just getting started, and as usual, I had a nagging feeling that something weird was about to happen.
Garnet picked up a battleaxe with the exact same casualness someone would use to pick out a kitchen utensil. Steven looked at it, a drop of sweat forming on his face as he thought it looked a bit too oversized for anyone. Garnet shook her head, reassuring him that for her, it was perfect.
Amethyst, completely bored, just grabbed the first thing she could find and kept chewing on it like it was a side snack. Pearl, meanwhile, couldn't make up her mind; her face was a mask of absolute concentration, as if every single weapon were a riddle waiting to be solved.
Off in the distance, I spotted a pink mace that looked strangely familiar. With a mix of disbelief and hope, I commented that it looked like Lion was around. Without waiting for a response, I headed straight toward where he was digging. As I got closer, I stared in awe at a sword scabbard I knew all too well—it belonged to my mother's sword. My heart skipped a beat. Talk about luck, I thought, my eyes widening as I looked at Lion. He just stared back at me, as chill as always.
Before I could do or say anything, Pearl caught sight of the scabbard. Her eyes lit up with a fanatical excitement, and in a sudden burst, she rushed over and snatched it right out of my hands. I stumbled back three steps in surprise, telling her that if she wanted it that badly, she could've just asked.
The scene froze for a few seconds: Pearl hugging the scabbard tightly to her chest, Amethyst with a chunk of metal still stuffed in her mouth, Garnet inspecting her axe as if evaluating her next move, and me trying to fix my expression somewhere between a smile and pure annoyance. The morning dragged on, and the feeling that something else was about to drop hung in the air like thick humidity.
"It's your mother's sword!" Pearl exclaimed, her emotion so raw she was practically shaking.
"The sword?" I asked, confused, looking at what was very clearly just a scabbard.
"I mean..." Pearl quickly corrected herself, composing her posture but still visibly thrilled, "the scabbard to Rose's sword. It was lost in the war... but you found it!"
She looked at me with pure admiration, carrying that exact blend of nostalgia and devotion she always showed whenever my mother came up.
"Don't look at me, you know?" I replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable as I pointed at Lion. "Look at him. He's the one who dug it up."
Pearl turned her head to thank him, but the pink lion let out a low, stern growl, looking at her almost with contempt.
Huh? I thought out loud. When exactly did they become enemies?
Pearl looked away, pretending it didn't phase her, and turned back to me to launch into one of her signature, high-energy explanations. She rambled about history, battles, and honor with so much passion that she didn't even notice I was completely tuning her out.
Amethyst and Garnet exchanged a silent look—one of those glances that said more than words ever could: poor Steven.
I just sighed, letting Pearl talk without interrupting her. Meanwhile, Lion trotted over and walked right by my side with steady steps.
"Can you give me a ride?" I asked him, gently scratching his mane.
The lion knelt down without making a sound. I smiled, climbed onto his back, and laid down against his soft, warm mane, sinking into the familiar comfort being around him always brought.
Pearl's voice kept droning on in the background, narrating solemnly: "Well, Steven... your mother was a pillar during the war. Someone who gave her life—her gem—for what she believed in. She was the one who led the rebel Gems against Homeworld. The Gems who lived there did so under constant oppression, following orders without question. Well... at least that's what the rumors say. No Gem was truly happy under the rule of the Diamonds."
I snapped my head up the second I heard that name. It was the first time anyone had ever mentioned it in front of me.
Pearl noticed instantly. She tensed up, swallowed hard, and with a drop of sweat sliding down her cheek, she tried to keep talking rapidly, as if she could sprint past any oncoming questions.
Are you kidding me? Steven thought, glaring at Pearl with a look of pure annoyance. You leave me with a massive cliffhanger like that and then just act like nothing happened... great.
He let out a heavy sigh through his nose. Well, moving on, I hadn't even realized the exact moment we made it back to the house.
"Steven," Pearl said in a soft, almost sacred tone, "I think it's time I take you somewhere."
"...Somewhere where?" Steven asked, arching an eyebrow.
"It belongs to your mother, though it's yours now," Pearl replied, a massive smile stretching across her face.
Steven looked at her with a completely deadpan expression. "You're a total fanboy," he blurted out without thinking.
"Huh?" Pearl blinked, snapping out of her trance. A drop of sweat rolled down her cheek. "I got carried away... well, whatever. Come on, follow me."
Without waiting for an answer, she marched toward the warp pad with the sheer excitement of someone about to open a sacred chest.
"Come, Steven. I will take you to your mother's legacy."
Steven didn't reply. He just watched her in silence, carrying that usual mix of resignation and curiosity that had become a habit by now. He took a step forward and let the warp stream envelop them both, while behind them, Lion stayed chill... right up until he started clawing the living room furniture to shreds without a single shred of remorse.
The warp stream dropped them off in a wide, arid, rocky area. The wind howled fiercely, kicking up dust and small pebbles.
Steven looked around with a bored face. And what about this place? What's the grand secret? Because honestly, just looking at this makes me want to head back, he thought sarcastically.
If Pearl noticed, she chose to completely ignore it.
"Oh, Steven, my sweet boy, we aren't there yet! This is just a shortcut. Shortly, what we need to do is climb to the peak of that mountain, run about ten kilometers, scale down three cliffs, and then cross through three waterfalls while navigating a flooded zone. How does that sound?" she said, smiling with a gleam in her eyes that bordered on unsettling.
Steven stood in silence for a few seconds, staring dead at her.
"Why do I get the feeling you're way more hyped about this absurdly long route than I am?" he finally muttered, while Pearl was already marching ahead with a firm stride, as if embarking on a holy pilgrimage.
He just sighed and followed her with his hands in his pockets, thinking that with Pearl, the adventure always ended up being way weirder than he anticipated.
Pearl, brimming with excitement, dashed toward the rock wall and began to scale it with an almost obsessive dexterity, as if every stone she touched were part of a sacred ritual. Her movements were swift and precise, but her expression was that of someone living out a dream.
Steven, who barely even raised his eyebrows, watched her with a blend of resignation and confusion.
Uh... why don't you just jump? he thought, watching her climb like she was scaling the temple of her absolute idol. Without much enthusiasm, he started taking short, solid leaps, moving up bit by bit until he reached the summit with barely any effort.
Peering over the edge, he looked down at Pearl, who was still climbing with her face lit up like a total fanatic. Good grief... what did my mom even do to make Pearl end up like this? Steven thought, seeing that overwhelming look of devotion.
The gem on his belly gave off a faint glow, like a flash of regret. Steven looked down, tilting his head.
"What? Now you're getting sentimental too?" he murmured under his breath. "Look at her, you broke her brain," he added in an almost casual, accomplice-like tone, as if talking to someone invisible. The gem pulsed softly once more.
Steven kept talking to it, fully aware it was just his imagination—his way of filling the blanks of a past he barely understood. But in that split second, while Pearl climbed up utterly fascinated and the glow of the gem kept him company, he felt that this "imagination" was the only thing he could truly vent to.
Eventually, Pearl reached the top, practically crying from pure emotion and exhaustion, but without losing a single ounce of her energy. The moment she cleared the ledge, she grabbed Steven's hand and took off sprinting without a break. They leaped over rocks, cleared crevices, and ducked under branches, while Steven sweated bullets, panting and cursing halfway through. Between the slips, trips, and groans, he couldn't help but think his Diamond mother was probably laughing from some corner of the universe for making him drag himself through all of this.
After a long journey packed with obstacles and brute effort, the two finally made it to the area Pearl had promised so enthusiastically. Steven, covered in dust and with his hair plastered to his forehead from sweat, barely looked up when Pearl, her voice trembling with emotion, panted and stammered out, "Look, Steven! This is your mother's armory. This... this... this place... is yours!"
Steven raised an eyebrow, looking around. The "armory" turned out to be the exact same cave he had reached days prior with Lion. Same heavy air, same walls lined with embedded gemstones, and the exact same damp, echoing atmosphere. There was nothing new, nothing impressive. Just a place he already knew inside out.
His gaze locked with Pearl's, who was still taking in the cave with a look of holy worship. Steven let out a deep, exhausted sigh—half-frustrated, half-spent—and thought that this entire epic trek could have easily been avoided if they had just come with Lion from the very start.
"I've already been here," Steven said flatly, crossing his arms as he looked at the cave with obvious disinterest.
Pearl looked at him, blinking rapidly, completely failing to process what she had just heard. "Uh... what? That's impossible!" she stammered, totally thrown off. "Only your mother and I know about this place!"
"My mom, you... and Lion," Steven responded in a calm tone, but with a slight smirk that only sent Pearl's confusion through the roof.
"Lion?!" she repeated, tilting her head as if she had just heard pure insanity. "You must be mistaken, Steven. Only your mother and I have ever been here. What could a completely random lion possibly know about this place?"
Steven stayed quiet for a few seconds, staring dead at her with a mix of irony and patience. Then, with a mischievous grin, he took a step forward and pointed toward the stone platform.
"Well, if Lion didn't bring me here... come on, follow me," he said in a challenging tone, starting to walk confidently toward the center of the cavern.
Pearl, deeply insecure and still trying to process his words, followed him without another question, though a tiny seed of doubt was beginning to sprout deep inside her.
End of Chapter 15.