Author's Note: Yes, right now I am falling into madness. I've spent an entire day analyzing the next twenty chapters and, honestly, if I ever take more than two weeks to release a new one, it's because I'm gone. Thank you for the support, truly. With nothing more to say, see you in the next one.
Let's continue.
Steven would be immersed in a training routine that could only be described as devilish—a routine that seemed to have no end and drained his mind more than his body. And for good reason. Every day he woke up with that sharp knot in his stomach, a panic that wouldn't disappear even when he breathed deeply. He lived with the fixed idea that at any moment Jasper or Peridot could descend upon them like an unpredictable storm, a heavy shadow that forced him to stay alert even when he closed his eyes.
Sometimes he thought of the worst. What if they attacked him while he was sleeping? What if a single oversight was enough for everything he had achieved to fall apart? That thought chased him like an relentless echo, one he couldn't ignore no matter how much he tried to focus on his breathing or on the exercises Pearl had taught him. It was a weight he carried without anyone else being able to lift it for him.
He had even made difficult decisions, like keeping Connie away from those areas. He didn't want her near the danger; he didn't want to drag her into the uncertainty he faced every day. She had gotten a bit upset, of course, but she still understood that his intention was never to push her away out of selfishness, but to protect her from something he couldn't even fully define himself. That mix of guilt and relief accompanied him like a shadow, reminding him that sometimes loving meant keeping your distance.
He would step out of his mother's room with absolute concentration, as if every step could trigger an invisible alarm. He scanned every corner, every detail, every flash of light bouncing off the walls, because anything could mean danger. His gaze would only soften a little when he saw Lapis, who was practicing her water control with perfect precision—so perfect that she seemed to disconnect from the world while doing it. But even that brought him unease. He knew Lapis could get lost in her own thoughts, in her turbulent emotions, and that made her vulnerable.
He would have preferred to leave her at the barn, that quiet place his father had taken him to years ago, far from all the chaos. But as long as Jasper remained free, he couldn't afford to leave Lapis alone. He could picture it all too clearly: Jasper resorting to psychological tricks, manipulating, provoking, looking for an emotional crack to pressure Lapis into fusing with her again. And he wouldn't allow something like that. Not this time. Not after everything Lapis had endured. Not while he could prevent it.
Steven would take a deep breath, feeling how the weight in his chest didn't disappear but shifted just enough to let him move. He knew every day was a new battle, even with no enemies present. He knew his own fear was part of the battlefield. But he kept going anyway, because stopping wasn't an option, and because protecting others had always been more important than protecting himself.
Steven would walk outside, his mind still tangled in his own thoughts. Lapis would look at him out of the corner of her eye and greet him calmly, as usual, barely moving from her spot. She wouldn't go with him because watching his training bored her—though deep down, there were moments she found it fascinating, but only when Steven was fighting for real and not just repeating drills. The fusion between Garnet and him hadn't happened in a long time, not because Garnet didn't want to, but because there was no room for it. Her future vision was completely out of control, an imprecise chaos that kept Garnet nervous, alert, scanning every corner as if something might jump out of the shadows.
Steven was about to step out and already had his hand extended toward the door when a familiar sound—deep and vibrating—echoed from the living room. It was the warp pad. His blood ran cold for an instant. He spun on his heels with tense reflexes and summoned his shield without a second thought, bright and steady like a heartbeat.
Lapis, who had already sensed the noise, reacted even faster. Her water wings deployed with a fluid whisper and she flew to his side, landing just inches away, her gaze locked on the pulsing light of the warp pad. Both waited, motionless, barely breathing, attentive to the slightest detail.
When the light finally faded, there they were...
The girls.
Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst stood there, breathing heavily, visibly exhausted. It looked as though each of them had run an emotional marathon. An uncomfortable silence fell over the entire house—heavy, almost physical.
Lapis was the one to break it with a simple greeting, soft but firm. "Hey. Anything new?"
The three Gems exchanged glances and slowly shook their heads, letting out a collective sigh that revealed more tension than relief.
Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst would walk toward the main area and collapse into the seats, as if the previous hours had been an endless search. Steven and Lapis approached cautiously, keeping their guard up until the others' postures finally showed there was no immediate threat.
They would speak briefly, almost in murmurs, exchanging disjointed pieces of information. They had scouted several locations without finding any clear trace of Jasper or Peridot. The first place they had checked was the communications hub, a spot they remembered as an absolute disaster. And it still looked that way... or so they assumed. What they didn't know was that Peridot had left the site so perfectly rebuilt, so meticulously fixed, that any difference remained hidden in plain sight. If you didn't look with real attention, it appeared just as destroyed as before—an accidental camouflage, a job far too well done.
They all concluded there were no new signs. Nothing to indicate an immediate attack, nor a solid trail to follow. Just more uncertainty.
But the atmosphere remained heavy, charged with that feeling that something was about to happen.
And Steven knew it.
He felt it in his chest like a constant echo.
A memory would strike his mind like a silent lightning bolt, almost uncomfortable—one of those thoughts that returns without being called. Peridot. The signal. That broadcast in the show that never went anywhere. That detail buried in some corner of his fan memory forced its way forward, so unexpected that Steven felt a small shiver run down his spine. His gaze slowly fell upon the television, a device they hadn't turned on in ages, and yet, something inside told him he needed to check it.
He walked over to it with total calmness, even though everything inside his chest was trembling. The girls followed him with their eyes, confused, waiting for an explanation that never came. Steven simply turned on the TV and stood frozen in front of the static-filled screen.
A few seconds passed—dense, silent, almost strange.
"Dude, what are you doing?" Amethyst plopped down next to him, scratching her head, tilting her gaze to look at the screen. "Are we gonna watch TV? Honestly, it's been forever since I watched anything..."
Lapis drifted down and sat beside Steven, watching the static as if expecting something to pop out of it. Garnet and Pearl, more relaxed, assumed Steven was just trying to break the routine, and without thinking too much, they settled in near him. But Steven wasn't just watching the static; he was waiting for something.
"Why aren't you tuning into anything?" Pearl asked, furrowing her brow when she noticed Steven wasn't pressing any more buttons.
"I already did," he replied, showing the remote with channel 3 selected.
"Is it broken?" Garnet stood up with the precision of someone checking a technical detail and approached the antenna to adjust it.
"No," Steven said in a low tone, never taking his eyes off the screen. "Move the antennas, but the signal is fine."
Garnet didn't argue; she simply nodded and began moving the antennas with slow, methodical motions. For a few seconds, nothing happened... until the screen flickered.
First came smudges. Intertwined fragments of green light, as if a figure were trying to form between layers of interference. Then a crossed line, then another, and finally... a voice.
"This is Perido... I need reinforc... my... Diamond..."
The messages sounded broken, incomplete, as if the transmission were coming from somewhere far away, too deteriorated to hold together. The voice sounded urgent, almost desperate, but each phrase drowned out before finishing:
"...rebels...energy deplet...failed communication..."
And then, finally, the signal cut out.
The screen reverted to static.
An uncomfortable silence took over the entire house, so heavy that even the air seemed hesitant to move. Lapis was still holding Steven's arm, squeezing it tightly, as if she hadn't quite processed that Peridot had just "called the Diamonds" from who-knows-where. Steven swallowed hard, feeling the pressure of the blue grip, a bead of sweat tracing down his temple.
"Alright," he said finally, clapping his hands once to break the silence. Everyone jumped slightly from the startle.
"Maddening Peridot," Amethyst growled, lunging toward the TV with a clear intention to smash it if that helped in any way. Luckily, Garnet was still close enough to catch her by the collar of her shirt before she destroyed the device.
Pearl, for her part, was already analyzing everything. Her eyes moved rapidly, her mind reconstructing the logic. The communications hub... she and Garnet had smashed it themselves. It shouldn't be able to transmit anything. Nothing.
"Hey... didn't we destroy it?" Pearl asked finally, with a mix of doubt and worry.
Garnet crossed her arms. Her posture showed that something didn't add up for her either. "It should be," she replied seriously. "Though... the memories aren't clear."
She adjusted her visor, and her expression grew graver. "We should check. Gems, let's go."
The three of them stood up almost at the same time, tension running through their bodies like electricity.
Steven watched them, still seated, until Pearl turned to him.
"Are you coming?" she asked gently.
"Yeah," he answered almost immediately. Then he looked at Lapis. "Are you coming too?"
Lapis didn't hesitate to nod. She didn't want to be left alone. Not when Peridot, Jasper, and who-knows-what-else were moving around out there. So, without further words, the five of them walked toward the warp pad.
Steven took a deep breath. Lapis squeezed his arm one more time before letting go.
And with a bright chime, the warp pad swallowed them all.
Upon arrival, the world seemed to take a bizarre turn. They didn't land where they wanted, not even close. They were simply dumped in a random location, as if the warp pad had sneezed and spat out their bodies without any precision. The light dissipated, leaving them all standing in the middle of an unfamiliar space.
Silence fell over them like a heavy blanket. Nobody spoke. Nobody breathed louder than necessary. They were simply... there, trying to process what had just happened.
"You broke it, didn't you?" Pearl murmured finally, with that expression of disappointment only she could master. She vividly recalled the wild, out-of-control fusion they had experienced days earlier and how, amid the pushing and shoving, they had probably damaged the mechanism connecting the warp pad to the communications hub.
"I think we did..." Amethyst admitted, scratching her head with a guilty expression.
Before anyone could say anything else, the warp pad abruptly flared to life again, enveloping them in light and sending them directly back to the house, as if the universe were telling them "no, not there."
Steven sighed, releasing the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"I'll get Lion," he said as he turned toward the room where the pink lion lay fast asleep, lounging so peacefully he looked like a large, fluffy plush ornament. Luckily, neither warp pads nor worries seemed to affect him.
He walked up to him, and the large feline raised his head the moment he felt his presence.
"Hey, Lion," Steven said, affectionately patting his forehead. "I need a trade from you. I want you to take us to... the One Piece."
Lion huffed softly, as if he perfectly understood the boy's mix of inside joke, urgency, and habit. Then he stood up slowly, stretched his paws, arched his back, and shook his mane. The Gems watched without a word. Not because they didn't want to, but because they already knew this process, and deep down, they knew arguing with Lion was pointless.
A few seconds passed, and Lion tilted his head a certain way—a gesture clear enough to those who knew him.
"Hurry up," Steven said with a wave of his hands. "You guys get on first."
Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl climbed on without a protest. Lapis and Steven, for greater comfort, went straight into the mane. Steven lifted it a bit and helped Lapis slide in first, then he slipped inside himself. The sensation of entering the mane was always strange, like passing through a warm cloud that vibrated with ancient energy.
"Lion... do you know where the communications hub is?" Steven asked, settling into the luminous space.
Lion gave a slow nod.
"Alright... that's where we need to go."
Lion didn't hesitate. He let out a deep, almost musical roar, and energy swirled through the air. A portal split open in front of them, brilliant with its usual pink and golden hues, and the lion leapt inside with absolute confidence.
Steven never ceased to marvel at it. The inside of the portal was always a hypnotic tunnel filled with colors that danced like blending auroras. It was beautiful, vibrant, almost peaceful—so distinct from all the chaos they lived through outside. He was just about to get a better look at the glowing path when they shot out the other side.
The portal opened right at the communications hub. The Gems took a few steps out, taking in the place. At first glance, it looked exactly as it had before: a complete garbage dump. Cables everywhere, scraps of metal, split structures, discarded parts... the same old mess.
Everyone got down and began advancing in silence, analyzing every corner.
"Stay here, okay? We'll need you to get back," Steven said, looking at Lion.
Lion simply nodded and sat down, peaceful, like a pink guardian awaiting the next order.
Steven turned his gaze back to the Gems, who were waiting patiently for him while he tried to sort through everything running through his head. He walked over to them, alert to every detail of the surroundings, feeling the situation grow stranger the further they advanced.
After a few minutes of scouting the towers and circling the communications hub, the anomalies began to show. If that bizarre message hadn't appeared on the TV, they never would have paid attention to the clutter around them, but now everything was different. Every shadow and every twisted cable seemed to scream that the place was rigged.
Amethyst, shape-shifted into a small bird and resting on Garnet's shoulder, observed it all with a mix of wonder and mockery. She thought that, despite how absurd it was, the setup worked surprisingly well—so weird it was almost impressive.
Garnet observed the communications hub with her usual calm, fully aware of what needed to be done. Her mind was already made up, so after a few seconds, she stated it naturally: they had to smash it. Amethyst immediately objected, having absolutely no intention of bringing Sugilite back into the equation. Garnet understood and directed her gaze toward Pearl.
Pearl felt that look like a celestial invitation. Her eyes lit up and her excitement surged so much that she ended up hugging Steven from behind, right as he remained trapped in his own thoughts. Steven, without filtering his words much, tossed out a clear, direct idea. It was better to destroy everything without leaving a trace so nobody would have to come back and fix it again in the future. And it would also keep Pearl from becoming obsessed with fusing into Sardonyx every chance she got. How clever you were, Steven.
Pearl squeezed him even tighter, overflowing with emotion, and immediately got ready alongside Garnet. The two stepped into position, ready for what was coming. They began to dance in a way so natural and fluid that anyone would have noticed the joy in every glance they shared. A massive glow spread before everyone, and a figure materialized with elegance.
Four stylized arms, an incredible posture, a head with certain lines reminiscent of Peridot but with an unmistakable blend of Garnet and Pearl. A fusion designed to dazzle. She was, in every sense, an elegant presence.
The newly formed Sardonyx spun gracefully, waved to an imaginary audience, and introduced herself to her lovely public. Amethyst flopped onto the ground with the clear intention of taking a nap, while I could barely stop myself from copying her. Lapis simply watched the fusion and then looked over at me, with a neutrality that still spoke volumes.
Sardonyx advanced toward the pillars of the communications hub with a wide smile, as if she were starting a show. Every movement was an act, every strike a well-thought-out choreography. She raised two arms and, with majestic delicacy, began to smash the pillars one by one. She fractured them as if they were part of a calculated theatrical performance, letting each piece fall with the perfect level of drama for a show's grand finale.
The building groaned, shook, gave way, and came crashing down in a blur of dust, metal, and echoes of the past. And right at the final instant, Sardonyx gave an elegant bow before letting the light of the fusion begin to dissolve. Garnet and Pearl returned to their original forms smoothly, as if the stage had gifted them a silent round of applause.
The destruction was complete. And it had been, to say the very least, spectacular.
"How elegant," I said, watching what they had just done.
Lapis and Amethyst looked at me with expressions full of confusion. I tried to clear my head as I walked toward Lion, and Lapis flew to my side almost immediately. The others simply kept to their own business without much reaction. Pearl and Garnet remained completely absorbed in their own world, happy to have fused again, and Amethyst ended up perching on my shoulder while letting the two Gems celebrate in their own way.
After a few minutes, during which Pearl and Garnet continued to enjoy their enthusiasm, they finally regained their composure. Pearl ran over to us with that characteristic energy she got when something excited her too much. She asked us to wait for them just as we were already mounted on Lion. Garnet followed her with a peaceful smile, as if all of that had been the perfect closing to the moment.
End of Chapter 41.