Several days had passed since everything went down, and lately, I found myself talking to Pearl a lot more than usual. It was funny, actually, because every single conversation with her left me feeling a bit more relaxed. I could tell that, little by little, she was stopping looking at me like I was just my mother's shadow—and man, I couldn't thank her enough for that. It felt like shedding a constant mirror I never asked to carry around in the first place. I had also been training; nothing too crazy, but definitely with a lot more discipline.
I remember this one time we went with the girls to the Sky Arena—or whatever the hell it was called, I can't even remember. The place looked straight out of an interdimensional postcard. Everything was perfectly chill until Pearl started sparring with a hologram. At first, it seemed normal enough, because well, it's Pearl, but out of nowhere, the hologram ran her clean through like it was nothing. I'm not gonna lie, my soul almost left my body from the sheer shock. It's not every day you watch someone you consider family get impaled by their own weapon.
Yeah, yeah, I already know what you're thinking: How could you possibly forget that Gems can regenerate? Well, I didn't remember, okay? Because I have a thousand thoughts racing through my mind every single day and my brain isn't exactly a hard drive with infinite storage. I just stood there staring at the spot, literally tapping my index finger against my temple, telling myself to get a grip. Wake up, brain, get your act together.
Putting that minor cardiac arrest aside, I have to admit that after she regenerated, she came back looking shinier than before, almost like a freshly polished lamp. But that wasn't the main point. After the whole spectacle wrapped up, the Gems finally deigned to give me an actual explanation. Obviously, they didn't tell me even a fraction of what they actually knew. About the Diamonds, for example? Not a single word. Nothing about them being interstellar colonizers or what their real plans were. They only told me what I already knew: that they were gems from space, that they could fuse, and that they had fought a war against their own kind. Wow, what an explanation, right? Truly a groundbreaking revelation... worthy of a tourist brochure.
In the end, I was left with the distinct feeling that I was going to have to dig up the information myself. At least that way I'd have a baseline of knowledge to understand these Gems better, instead of wandering around like a clueless tourist in an alien museum.
One thing I should definitely point out—and honestly, it makes me feel pretty proud—is that I have healing powers. Yeah, I know, sounds impressive, and it totally is. Thanks to that, I managed to fix Connie's eyesight. Now she isn't legally blind anymore, and that's saying something considering how much I used to tease her about her glasses. I used to call her four-eyes, but now I can only call her four-and-a-half, because I literally popped the lenses right out of her frames. She, of course, thanked me with a volatile mix of gratitude and annoyance, pouting her lips in such a hilarious way that I just ended up laughing even harder. It was physically impossible to take the moment seriously. After that, I headed back to the girls, thinking the day had already brought more than enough weirdness on its own.
But of course, I had completely forgotten that with them around, a quiet day simply doesn't exist. The second I got back, they handed me a mirror. At the time, I didn't give it much thought; I figured it was just another one of those weird ancient relics Pearl hoards out of pure habit. However, the moment she told me to look for something specific inside it, the game completely changed. I stared at the reflection, trying to understand what the hell she was talking about, until I finally realized exactly what I was holding. It was the Lapis Lazuli gem. Or maybe Lazuli Lapis... or the Gem of Laluli... look, whatever it's called, my pronunciation isn't exactly professional grade.
I stood there in total silence, processing the fact that I literally had a high-tier, incredibly powerful gem sitting in the palms of my hands. It's not every day someone hands you something like that as if it were a cheap souvenir. For a split second, I had absolutely no clue what to do. And of course, my brain did what it always does best in high-pressure situations: absolutely nothing useful.
So I simply chose the most reasonable course of action that popped into my head at that exact moment: talking to the mirror like a complete idiot, as if it were an actual person. I don't know if I was expecting it to talk back or shoot a laser beam at my face, but there I was, greeting my own reflection with a nervous smile and absolutely zero dignity.
"Well, like I was telling you, mirror," I muttered, pacing along the beach while the waves softly lapped at my bare feet. "If we make two plus three equal six, then mathematics would have a totally new path. Just think about it, imaginary numbers wouldn't even have to be imaginary anymore. X could be absolutely anything and nothing at the exact same time. Seriously, why can't I just write 'X' on an exam and call it a day? If the teacher grades it with an X, that means I guessed right, doesn't it? And if I guessed right, I should get a perfect ten. It's that simple."
He kept walking, the mirror tucked tightly under his arm and an expression so intensely concentrated that anyone passing by would have thought he was actively solving the mysteries of the universe. He approached the fry stand, where a familiar face greeted him.
"Oh, hey, Peedee," he called out with a wide grin.
"Hey, Steven," the boy replied, already thoroughly accustomed to his constant visits. "The usual?"
"You know it," he answered, rubbing his hands together like a man about to receive a massive chest of treasure. "Thanks, Peedee. Tell Ronaldo I said hi, and tell him not to cook up any of his conspiracy theories without me."
The boy let out a small laugh and nodded, promising to pass along the message. Steven walked away with his order and a highly satisfied smile. Ufff, child labor, he thought to himself, thoroughly amused. Haven't seen him in a whole week.
The mirror at his side suddenly seemed to flash with a brief light, but he didn't give it much attention. It wasn't the first time his gem had caused something weird to happen. Sometimes, honestly, he genuinely thought it was just his own brain playing tricks on him—giving him some kind of light, micro-schizophrenic episode.
The distinct sound of an oncoming car made him halt in his tracks. He wasn't stupid; he knew exactly when to step out of the way. But right then, something happened that left him completely frozen solid. A soft voice, echoing directly out of the mirror, repeated the exact words he had spoken just a moment prior: "Child labor... haven't seen him in a whole week."
Steven stood utterly motionless for a few seconds. He slowly turned his head toward the glass, blinking in sheer incredulity. Of all the things you could have picked up from me, he thought with profound resignation, you just had to learn that. The mirror didn't say another word. It just sat there quietly, reflecting his thoroughly baffled face.
In the end, he let out a heavy sigh and shrugged his shoulders. It was probably just his mind playing another trick on him. He walked over to where his dad was working and dropped off some fries, which the man accepted with a genuine, warm smile. Steven smiled right back, completely unaware that the voice he had just heard hadn't been a figment of his imagination at all. The gem inside the mirror was actually settling in quite comfortably by his side, watching, learning, and waiting in absolute silence.
The afternoon sun filtered through the heavy clouds as I hiked up the hill, the mirror tucked securely under my arm. Connie wasn't coming today; she was stuck in a yoga class or something along those lines. I didn't really care, to be completely honest. I picked out a good spot on a high rock, letting the ocean breeze smack gently against my face, and stared at my reflection with the kind of smug smile that only a guy can tolerate from himself.
"You know, mirror that sees all and obviously recognizes that I am by far the best-looking guy around," I said out loud, striking an incredibly exaggerated pose. "Life has a tremendous amount of meaning, but I figured you already knew that. According to Pearl, you've been alive way longer than any of them. Or at least that's what I gathered, because to be perfectly frank, I wasn't paying attention to a word she said."
The mirror suddenly flashed with a violent light, and to my absolute surprise, it played back a warped string of words I had spoken earlier.
"Two. Gems. Are. Worse. Than. Kids."
I froze right where I was, lifting a single eyebrow. "Am I losing my mind, or are you actually talking to me?"
The mirror responded instantly with another choppy sequence of spliced words.
"Steve. Gem. Is. Bad. No."
That was the exact moment I just stared blankly at the glass with the face of a guy trying to decipher an impossible riddle. "So... are you asking me if I'm a gem or what?"
The mirror displayed a tiny, recorded fragment of me—like a miniature video clip playing right on the surface—where I appeared to be talking.
Damn, I look good in this mirror, I thought with a smirk. "Well, I am a gem, but I'm also human. And not just any human—I'm the son of a total lunatic: Rose Quartz. What do you think about that?"
The mirror didn't reply. It just pulsed with a soft glow, as if actively processing the raw data.
"Well, it's not every day someone drops a bomb like that on you," I continued casually. "I'm only thirteen, but I'm turning fourteen pretty soon, just in case you want to get me a birthday present." I flashed a quick wink at the mirror before turning my gaze out toward the open ocean.
"What do you think? The ocean is pretty nice, isn't it? A lot of beauty hidden beneath all that blue water."
"Yes. Steven. Is. Great."
The mirror responded by clipping my own recordings together, its tone a strange mix of clumsy and mechanical. I burst out laughing.
"Well, mirror, it's not every day you get taken out for a walk. I'm guessing you don't really like being trapped inside there, huh?"
"No. Like. Steven. Mirror."
"You can't talk a little more fluently, can you?" I asked, a drop of sweat sliding down my temple.
The mirror, of course, took my question entirely literally and started looping random recordings in an aggressive attempt to make it work. Right then and there, I decided my imaginary schizophrenia had officially hit its daily limit. I started walking back to the house at a completely relaxed pace.
The moment I stepped inside, all three Gems were waiting. I offered a casual wave, the mirror dangling loosely from my other arm. "Hey."
Amethyst, completely true to form, was eating something she definitely shouldn't have been. In this particular instance, a massive tractor tire.
"What's up, man," she mumbled around a mouthful of rubber.
"I'm not even going to ask where you dug that up," I replied, thoroughly resigned.
"Better for me," she said with total nonchalance, tearing another massive chunk out of the tire.
Pearl, on the other hand, looked at me with an unmistakable glint in her eyes. "How do you like the mirror, Steven? Highly educational, isn't it?"
"Oh, absolutely," I replied with a grin. "It listens incredibly well and answers back to everything... though I'm starting to suspect it's just a byproduct of my own imagination."
But right at that exact second, the mirror emitted a blindingly intense flash of light, and a heavily distorted voice cut through the air, pieced together from fractured bits of my own voice.
"Steven. Gems. Bad. Kid. Run. Megaphone. Sound."
An absolute, suffocating silence gripped the entire living room. Nobody moved a muscle.
"What was that last part?" I asked, staring down at the mirror with a cold bead of sweat rolling down my cheek.
"It shouldn't be doing that," Pearl murmured, visibly shaken and confused.
Garnet stood up from the couch with an incredibly serious expression, the bright light of the mirror reflecting off the surface of her shades. "Steven, give us the mirror."
I shot her a sharp, guarded look. "Why?"
"Just hand it over," she said in a completely dead, flat voice, stepping decisively toward me.
The mirror flashed violently once more, and in the reflection, for a split second, I could have sworn I saw something physically moving beneath the surface. Something that definitely wasn't me.
"No," I said, instantly pulling the mirror behind my back and using my own body like a shield. "It's a rare occasion when you guys actually give me a gift, and you want to yank it away the second things get weird."
"Steven, you don't understand," Garnet asserted, continuing her advance.
"Then explain it to me!" I snapped back coldly, locking my eyes straight onto hers.
"It doesn't matter, you're just a child," she muttered, reaching out to forcefully pry the mirror from my grasp.
"Don't touch it!" I warned, clenching my fingers around the frame with everything I had.
But Garnet made a sudden, aggressive move, and in the clumsy scuffle that followed, I accidentally ended up striking her right across the head.
The silence that followed crashed down upon the room like a heavy boulder.
Everyone froze, staring in absolute disbelief.
Garnet's shades clattered onto the hardwood floor, and she locked her gaze onto me with a raw, burning fury the likes of which I had rarely ever seen. Holy shit, I whispered under my breath before pivoting on my heel and bolting straight out the front door.
"Come on, Garnet, he's just a kid! It's not a crime to have a mirror!" Pearl yelled, desperately trying to de-escalate the situation.
Garnet merely stared into the empty space for a few terrifying seconds before speaking in a bone-chillingly calm voice. "That child is grounded for the rest of his natural existence."
Amethyst and Pearl exchanged a highly stressed look. "Come on, girl, he's still a kid and he's completely right. We barely ever give him anything, let alone a talking mirror."
"Does it have a gem inside?" Amethyst asked, turning her focus toward Pearl.
"Uh... yes," Pearl answered, her clear doubts hanging in the air.
"Then that gem is dangerous."
All three of them fell completely silent.
"My baby..." Pearl whispered frantically before sprinting out the door after me.
"Come on, man, don't die out there!" Amethyst shouted, running right behind her.
Garnet simply followed at a slow, measured walk, because through her future vision, she already knew this was going to end terribly... or just plain bad.
I was crouched behind a stone column on the beach, muttering a string of curses under my breath. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, please tell me you've got a solution here. Tell me right now, because if you don't, both of us are going to get absolutely executed."
The mirror flared with an intense, bright light and began to display a rapid sequence of precise instructions, acting as if it genuinely trusted me. Perfect. My plan is actually paying off; I wanted to win Lapis's trust completely before freeing her, and it looks like I pulled it off.
I rapidly followed the visual instructions and ripped the gemstone clean out of the mirror's housing. The moment the gem cleared the frame, beautiful watermarks manifested beneath my feet, dissolving into the air in a fraction of a second.
The gemstone glowed brilliantly, and amidst a gorgeous, shimmering light, a distinct silhouette began to take shape. It was a girl with a deep blue complexion, her vibrant color palette incredibly striking and pleasing to the eye. A long skirt flowed down from her waist, leaving her midriff entirely bare, and a simple top perfectly highlighted her youthful frame. The gemstone itself was embedded squarely in her back, but there was a massive flaw ruining her otherwise flawless beauty: her gem was cracked solid. I wanted to heal her right then and there before she could go ahead and siphon the ocean away, but before I could act, she lost her balance and almost collapsed onto the sand. Disregarding the plan entirely, I lunged forward to catch her.
"Are you okay?" I asked with genuine concern, completely forgetting about my tactical scheme for a split second.
"Yes... thank you so much, Steven. You freed me. You aren't a gem... you aren't like them," she whispered, her voice sounding thoroughly broken.
"Don't worry, you're safe now," I replied with a reassuring smile.
But our moment was violently cut short. A massive explosion ripped through the rock formation right where I had been hiding just moments before, sending debris flying everywhere. It was none other than the Gems.
"Steven, step away from that gem!" Garnet commanded with pure fury.
"You guys..." Lapis muttered, her tone instantly darkening with raw anger. "You knew damn well I was trapped inside that mirror, and you still just left me in there."
The ocean directly behind her began to churn violently, rising up to form a colossal, towering arm made of pure water.
"Hey, uh... what's your name, anyway?" I asked, trying my best to maintain appearances and act like I didn't know her.
"Lapis. Lapis Lazuli," she answered, turning her gaze back to me with a sudden, surprisingly sweet smile. That whiplash-inducing shift in personality caused a cold sweat to run down everyone's spines.
"Steven, let's get out of here," she said in a low voice.
"Where to?" I asked, thoroughly confused. Wait, I don't remember this happening in the original series...
"Home," she whispered.
"I'm sorry, Lapis, but my home is right here," I responded after a few seconds of silence, flashing her a slightly mischievous smirk. "But you're more than welcome to stay."
The gem just stared at me for a long moment, then turned and began to walk backward into the ocean. Before the water completely swallowed her up, she uttered a whisper that cut straight through my skin: "Don't trust them."
And just like that, the ocean gem capable of terraforming entire planets vanished beneath the waves.
The entire beach fell into a dead, heavy silence.
Garnet glared down at me with absolute severity. "You are grounded."
"If it weren't for you guys, this whole situation would be completely under control," I shot back ice-coldly, glaring right back at the three of them with pure fury.
Garnet actually flinched, visibly stunned by the sheer venom in my voice. Out of all the possible timelines she had mapped out, this had been the most peaceful one, but my current attitude wasn't present in a single one of them.
"If you had just stopped and listened for two seconds before acting like a bunch of lunatics, you would have seen that she was hurt—her gem is completely cracked! Which, by the way, looks an awful lot like the fault of your stupid war, or just your fault in general. If it weren't for you guys, I could have healed her right then and there and avoided a massive problem down the road." I shoved my hands deep into my pockets and walked straight past them. They remained completely paralyzed. I had never spoken to them like that in my entire life.
"And by the way," I added, looking back over my shoulder, "don't bother looking for me today. I'm staying with my dad. If I'm going to get punished for actually doing the right thing, then I don't see any reason to keep living in a house where you just dictate the rules and my opinion doesn't mean a damn thing." I turned and marched straight toward the van.
A heavy, suffocating silence gripped the entire beach.
"We completely screwed up, didn't we?" Amethyst murmured, keeping her eyes glued to my retreating figure.
"My baby..." Pearl whispered under her breath.
Garnet's gauntlets flashed with a brief light, but she rapidly forced them to vanish. Pearl and Amethyst looked at each other. This is serious, they both thought.
"Come on. Let's go back inside," Garnet said, her voice sounding unusually raspy.
And just like that, a relationship was profoundly damaged by reckless impulses—impulses that might eventually be fixed... or perhaps not.
End of Chapter 17.