Author's Note: Hey, I just want to know if you guys like it when I write in the third person. That's all, thanks for the support and for following this story, love you guys <3.
Let's continue.
A few days had passed during which Steven managed to get in touch with his friends, and especially with his dad and Connie. However, right now all of that was put aside, because he was heading out with the Gems to the Sky Arena. Lapis didn't want to go with him, claiming that this place and this training were for them, not for her. Steven shook his head as the glow of the warp pad faded, revealing the enormous celestial space where they had experienced both good and bad things, though—if viewed with affection—they had been more good than bad.
"Come on, man," Amethyst said as she yanked him along with excitement, not waiting for an answer.
Pearl walked behind them, shaking her head with a mix of nervousness and enthusiasm. Garnet kept her typical calm smile as she stepped forward alongside them.
The four of them positioned themselves inside the arena, which was now prepared specifically for training. Silence stretched for a few seconds until Steven decided to break it.
"So, what are we doing?" he finally asked, seeing that nobody was explaining anything.
Pearl made a nervous gesture, and Steven raised an eyebrow, confused. Amethyst just smirked as if she knew something funny, and Garnet's smile widened noticeably.
Steven observed them all in silence and sighed.
"It's fusion, isn't it?" he commented, resigned.
"Absolutely," Garnet replied as she adjusted her glasses. "You need to learn new ways to use your abilities and your strength. We know it can be uncomfortable, but you need more experience outside of Connie and Pearl. We don't want to force you, but it is necessary."
Steven nodded, understanding the importance, and began stretching his arms and legs to get into a rhythm. Pearl watched excitedly, as if she had been waiting for this moment for years. Garnet approved with a slight nod, and Amethyst just watched, shrugging as if to say she didn't care about the system as long as it was fun.
Pearl quickly approached Steven, who watched her out of the corner of his eye as he finished warming up.
"Are you ready?" Garnet asked, unexpectedly pulling out a stopwatch from who-knows-where.
"Always," Steven replied with a smile as he started a smooth dance to coordinate.
Pearl, for her part, began to move with absolute elegance, each step fluid and precise, as if she had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. The two of them stood face-to-face, and Steven placed his hands on Pearl's hips to boost her upward. She let herself be carried by the momentum and adopted a dive-like posture in mid-air, falling back toward him with a lively smile. Even if it was still hard for Steven to get used to it, these days he always tried to bring a smile to life.
The two of them bumped smoothly and an intense light flashed, enveloping them as their gems rotated. A blinding light illuminated the entire arena, forcing Amethyst and Garnet to cover their eyes to avoid seeing glowing spots for hours.
After several seconds, during which only soft footsteps approaching could be heard, both Gems slowly opened their eyes to observe the new fused figure in front of them.
Author's Note: This is an example; I'm not entirely convinced by Rainbow Quartz's current design. If at any point you see me redesigning some fusions, don't be surprised, it's mostly for aesthetics... and of course, because of the change in Steven's personality, which directly influences how the fusions look. And if anyone asks why or how, remember: a wizard did it.
The fusion appeared wrapped in a soft glow, showcasing the jacket they were wearing, which had expanded and adapted without anyone understanding how. Steven's clothes and Pearl's clothes had blended in a more harmonious way than before, with an elegant and clean design—something Steven would definitely want to study calmly later.
"Hello, it's me," the new Rainbow Quartz said while smiling from ear to ear. "How are the Gems I love the most doing?"
Garnet and Amethyst observed her with completely serious expressions, as if they didn't know whether to reply, applaud, sigh, or simply pretend they didn't hear anything.
"Right, right, got it," Rainbow Quartz replied, waving her hand off as if nothing had happened.
The fusion began to inspect herself more closely, noticing small physical details she hadn't perceived before. With a smooth movement, she pulled a mirror out of Pearl's gem to examine herself better.
"I only have two eyes instead of the four I had when I fused with Rose," she commented while tilting her head slightly to look at her reflection. "Interesting... this is definitely very different."
Even though she seemed satisfied, she was still analyzing every detail, as if every inch of her body were a clue about what she herself represented.
Garnet looked over at Amethyst calmly and pointed out:
"Let's train while they investigate new ways to function."
"Fine by me," Amethyst replied, shrugging with a relaxed smile.
Both of them positioned themselves, ready to fight.
Amethyst was the first to move, running in circles around Garnet to try and confuse her. Garnet kept her gaze fixed on her, focused. This time she wouldn't use her future vision; she knew she had relied too much on it and that in prolonged confrontations, it could become a weak point.
Without warning, Garnet leaped and rushed directly toward Amethyst.
Amethyst noticed just in time and ducked to avoid the attack, but she didn't see that Garnet had already summoned her gauntlets, with which she launched a direct strike toward Amethyst's lower abdomen, sending her flying into a pillar.
Before impacting, Amethyst reacted and threw her whip, wrapping it around the pillar to use it as a support. With a quick swing, she propelled herself downward, landing firmly without losing her rhythm. Before touching the ground, she started running again while spinning on her own axis, multiplying her speed with every second, like a human tornado ready to strike.
To stop her, Garnet slammed the ground. She didn't break it completely so as not to damage the arena, but just enough to make Amethyst lose her footing and slow down.
Garnet dodged Amethyst's initial attack without much trouble, but she didn't realize that the whip had remained attached to a floating rock, which Amethyst propelled directly toward her.
Garnet barely had time to cover her vital points before taking the full impact.
Rainbow Quartz watched the battle for a couple of minutes, noticing how both styles became increasingly intense as the seconds passed. She shook her head gently while summoning both weapons to examine them calmly.
The fusion spun the spear between her fingers, feeling the shape, the weight, and the edge.
My spear is much sharper... and it feels sturdier. I don't know how light can get harder, but it definitely is, she thought as she ran a finger along the edge with an almost childish scientific curiosity.
Then she raised the shield, turning it to appreciate the changes.
The shield looks the same, though now it has spikes on the sides... it stopped being so round. This could be useful as a secondary weapon or even as a distraction if the enemy assumes it's only for defense.
Without wasting time, she opened Steven's jacket and pulled out a small, worn-out notebook—the very same one where Steven jotted down thoughts, training sessions, and any absurd or brilliant theory that crossed his mind.
She started flipping through it quickly.
Let's see... she muttered mentally as she passed pages filled with notes, drawings, and diagrams. Among everything, a quickly written note caught her attention, causing her to raise an eyebrow with clear interest.
"A figure appears in my dreams. It's tall and pink. I don't know what it means, but I'll find out."
The fusion remained silent for a few seconds looking at those words, with a mix of discomfort, nostalgia, and understanding. Pearl blocked the thought immediately, trying to keep her mind sharp like a freshly ironed sheet, while Steven, from the deepest part of the fusion, held back a nervous laugh at the obvious intention he had when writing that.
Being a fusion is strange, Steven reasoned internally. It's like existing and not existing at the same time. Since I fused with Connie, I learned to filter thoughts, as if we were two computers using the same processor. We share a screen, but each one can send information when they choose to. That makes all of this easier... but if it's not necessary to fuse, I prefer not to.
Rainbow Quartz finally found a blank page and quickly began writing down all the physical, emotional, and tactical observations she had just discovered. For her, it was much more efficient to be fused at the moment of documenting than to do it later separately.
When she finished, she closed the notebook with a soft clap and refocused on her weapons. In a fluid motion, both fused, turning into a tactical umbrella, identical to the one the fusion between Rose Quartz and Pearl had once used.
"Let's see," she whispered as she summoned, from Pearl's gem, a hologram of herself.
The replica appeared in front of her with total neutrality, waiting to receive instructions.
"Give me a moment, gorgeous," she said with a smirk while taking off the jacket and carefully putting away the notebook. "I just want to stretch my legs. You know... I haven't existed in a while, get it?"
The holograph remained motionless while Rainbow Quartz did some light stretches, moving her neck, shoulders, and arms, preparing every muscle for the next part of the training.
Her gaze stayed fixed on her glowing reflection with an expression that mixed analysis, excitement, and a spark of danger.
Rainbow Quartz took a deep breath as she flexed her fingers and adopted a firm, almost feline stance, as if her body remembered a routine her mind had left on pause for years. On the inside, she wondered if she still possessed the same skill, if her flexibility was still intact, or if time had silently rusted her. With a challenging air, she invited the figure in front of her to find out. She wanted to feel the adrenaline again, the frantic rhythm of reflexes, and the feeling that every movement could decide the outcome of the battle.
The hologram responded without emotion as its two eyes turned red like a newly activated combat system. It declared the start of the training and, without further notice, lunged at her at full speed. Rainbow Quartz reacted with precision, side-stepping with a fluid motion that surprised even herself. She felt flexibility rush through her muscles as if she had awakened something dormant, something that had waited too long to be used again.
The hologram began to attack with a flurry of direct, fast, almost mechanical punches, testing every possible angle to break her defense. Rainbow Quartz moved with grace as the air cut like invisible blades around them both. A conclusion formed in her mind: she needed to recognize the new limits of her body, but the movement confirmed that perhaps that limit was much higher than she remembered.
She stepped back a few paces and accelerated, running flawlessly. The hologram reacted by summoning Pearl's spear, firing beams as if it were an energy weapon. Rainbow Quartz responded with movements worthy of an acrobatic dancer, sliding toward the ground while her legs stretched more than would be possible for a human being, demonstrating a plasticity that Steven could never achieve on his own.
The arena vibrated when the hologram switched weapons and unleashed Steven's shield, charging forward to ram her. Rainbow Quartz also summoned the same shield, clashing against the attack. The impact echoed like thunder inside the arena, a deep, metallic sound that made Garnet and Amethyst stop their own training to watch in surprise.
The fusion smiled with a certain satisfaction, as if that impact had awakened something more than strength: the feeling of belonging to the battle. With a precise move, she swept a low kick with her leg while the hologram defended itself with its shield, leaving them both at a standstill where nobody dominated and both analyzed every tiny mistake.
They backed away cautiously, processing flaws, calculating weaknesses, measuring rhythms. The training was working.
Rainbow Quartz then decided to combine her weapons with an elegant maneuver, forcing the hologram to replicate it. Both rose above their own weapons as if they were platforms, ascending slowly into the air to fight on open ground, where gravity would only be a guest.
From above, Rainbow Quartz propelled herself from her umbrella toward the hologram, but it dodged quickly. What it didn't take into account was that the umbrella could be maneuvered from a distance, and even in mid-air, it returned to strike it. The hologram faltered, flickering for a few seconds, not because its resistance had decreased, but because Rainbow Quartz had decided not to let the training end so easily.
The battle continued in the sky, where the wind mixed with energy, flashes, hits, shields, and beams without rest. The sounds were no longer those of a practice arena, but of a real battlefield. The tranquility that existed minutes before had completely vanished; now it was a stage where strength, technique, and will resonated with every impact.
In that instant, Rainbow Quartz understood that she hadn't returned to remember... she had returned to surpass herself.
Minutes passed into nearly a full hour, during which Rainbow Quartz dedicated herself to exploring and remembering old abilities while analyzing her current form. She discovered she possessed a sort of weak, almost childish telekinesis, but it worked nonetheless. She thought that maybe it wasn't amazing, but any progress was always better than nothing.
She was sitting down peacefully while talking out loud, letting her ideas flow as if it were an improvised class, and the hologram was writing with incredible speed, without missing a single detail of the explanation. She observed the nearly full notebook and felt a drop of sweat run down her cheek.
I should buy another notebook, she thought with a mix of discomfort and resignation, just as she noticed the hologram drastically reducing its font size to save space, as if it were the official notebook for the end of the world. That reminded her of Pearl's habit of always carrying extra books for Steven's intellectual or emotional emergencies, so with a gesture, she summoned two more books for the hologram to keep writing comfortably and neatly, allowing Steven to understand everything later.
For a moment, she thought she saw a sort of grateful expression on the hologram's face, which bewildered her. She shook her head at how absurd that sounded, knowing that Steven's human and emotional side could make her imagine things. In fact, she remembered Steven saying that sometimes he heard voices, but she didn't hear anything and decided to ignore it.
When she looked up, she saw Garnet and Amethyst exhausted from their own training. Garnet was repeatedly fusing and unfusing, almost as if she were doing it on purpose to condition her emotional body to more prolonged stress and thus reinforce her endurance for future battles. Finally, both walked toward Rainbow Quartz with slow, slightly unsteady steps, and sat beside her without saying anything for a few seconds.
Garnet spoke calmly while analyzing the fusion through her shiny glasses, asking how her training had gone. She commented that she looked tired but was still keeping the fusion stable, which evidenced a notable level of control. Rainbow Quartz let out a small laugh while resting a hand on her own chest, feeling both internal and external pride, split between Pearl and Steven.
Someone who takes things seriously always goes far, she thought. Steven had set a personal challenge to see how long he could stay fused. Pearl didn't object, and that gave more strength to the idea of perseverance. She admitted to feeling tired and that she could probably unfuse at any moment if she relaxed, but she wanted to push herself as much as possible to improve, even if it meant pushing right up to the limit.
She also commented, with a hand under her chin analyzing recent sensations, that Steven might learn to fly in the future. She felt that the aerial experience during training had left an interesting mental and muscular connection, like a seed that could bloom if watered with practice and persistence. After all, she was Steven and she wasn't at the same time, which confused her and she ended up hitting herself to stop thinking so much.
Amethyst watched her calmly while drinking water out of pure habit, knowing she didn't need it but enjoying the post-training gesture. She finally asked if it would be her turn to continue the next day. Rainbow Quartz smiled peacefully, confirming that it was, although it would be a bit harder for them because they didn't have as much prior experience with mixed abilities.
Amethyst simply accepted it naturally, hoping there would be enough time to learn. Garnet added nothing more, letting the calm of the moment flow. The day ended among training, rest, thoughts, laughter, and shared silence.
Late into the night, a loud sound echoed in the living room, making Lapis look up from the phone she had borrowed from Steven. She was completely immersed in internet arguments with people complaining about some episodes, especially those where she used a sword and shield. She passionately defended what she liked and had spent hours arguing with someone until she felt trapped in an endless digital battle.
She even went as far as to furiously type out a defiant message against a user named Noobmaster67, while her eyes seemed to emanate imaginary little sparks out of frustration. The sound of the warp pad forced her to lock her attention on the screen, and as a reflex action, she stood up to welcome whoever was arriving, without stopping her online argument.
As she walked without taking her eyes off the phone, she didn't immediately notice the extremely tall woman observing her with an amused expression and a raised eyebrow. When she finally looked up, she commented on how stubborn humans were on the internet and mentioned having spent over seven hours arguing about the romance between a maid and a janitor, as if it were a critical debate for humanity, but she froze upon seeing the giant woman who had two gems—one on her stomach and another on her head.
She stood there confused while Rainbow Quartz waved tiredly and stretched, making her bones pop from the overexertion. She introduced herself as the fusion between Pearl and Steven, explaining that that had been her training for the day. Lapis stayed silent while watching them, then looked at Garnet, then at Rainbow Quartz, and finally asked a question nobody expected.
She wanted to know if they planned on staying as Garnet the whole time. The question triggered such a strong internal reaction between Pearl and Steven that the fusion ended up collapsing, and both separated in an instant, face-planting onto the floor with a less-than-dignified yell.
Amethyst burst into merciless laughter while Garnet waved at Lapis trying to hold back her own, though she was also laughing silently so as not to make everything more chaotic.
Lapis watched everyone's reaction in surprise; she felt a slight tremor in her voice and didn't know if she should apologize, so she asked in confusion if she had said something wrong. Steven stood up slowly while rubbing his face from the fall, assuring her in a calm voice that she hadn't done anything wrong. Lapis sighed in relief and then looked at Pearl, who was still staring blankly at some invisible point, as if her soul had gotten trapped between memories and impossible theories.
Amethyst watched the scene for a few seconds and decided it was better to step in before Pearl went into an existential collapse, so she scooped her up like a sack of potatoes and walked her toward her room with total naturalness. Garnet said goodbye calmly, recommending they get some rest before retiring to her own room.
The atmosphere became quiet and relaxed while Steven and Lapis remained in the room, not quite knowing how to continue. It was Lapis who decided to break the silence with a sudden question. She wanted to know if Steven believed she could also fuse someday. He raised an eyebrow because he didn't expect that question, and in his mind, he remembered that Lapis currently didn't have the trauma she had acquired in the past with Jasper, which made everything lighter—like a second chance to learn without fear.
He responded truthfully that she could do it, as long as she trained and put in the effort, because in the end, fusion was a combination of mental, emotional, and physical synchrony, not something impossible. Lapis nodded with hope, though also with nerves, and asked if Steven would fuse with her someday.
Steven stayed quiet, not out of awkwardness, but because he was surviving purely on faith in God and two glasses of water he had drank hours prior. He admitted that at the moment he didn't think it was a good idea, but at another time, maybe. Lapis understood, nodded without resentment, and the conversation ended peacefully.
Both went about their nightly routines, Steven showering while trying to relax his exhausted muscles, and Lapis returning to her epic virtual war against Noobmaster67, convinced that it was a battle worthy of honor and that she had to defend her favorite episodes until emotional death.
Finally, both went to sleep, each with different thoughts about the future, imagining what would come, what they would learn, and what destiny had in store for them in the coming days.
End of Chapter 37.