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canonconspiracy · 5 years

Text

Fusion (Jasper x Reader)

Fandom: Steven Universe

Pairing: Jasper x Reader

Warnings: None

Fanfiction By: @rmorningstar21 (Will be cross-posting on my wattpad under the same username).

AN: By the way, this is the first time that I’m using the “read more” function, and am crossing my fingers hoping that it will work properly. This is my first SU one shot.

Wanted to be tagged: @mr--link

Alone.

You were once one of home world’s greatest fighters, in your dainty form you had made a great sword fighter. Your gem always glimmered proudly over your heart, and even in your current state it still had. Maybe it was your symbol to keep going - to keep trying to find someone to get back to home world. In the same sense, maybe home world had abandoned you after the war.

You wondered if maybe you were just abandoned and left for dead - left on the same Earth that held the Rose Quarts that shattered your Diamond. There was a point that you simply thought of just giving up - multiple points, actually, but something in you drove you. As you walked upon what these humans referred to as a beach, you noticed a large hand crashing down to the Earth, and panic began to fill you.

Panic and dread filled your body, coursing through you as you attempted to run. The ship itself would crash nearly on top of you, and though you were a gem - what if you had cracked - shattered even from the impact of a homeworld ship. You had barely made it out of the ship’s path, some debris covering your lower half, making you scream out in pain. Shockingly for you, you could hear voices ring out behind you, seemingly alive, though the ship had crashed so harshly.

You tried to squirm and move out from under the debris, while someone lifted the debris so quickly that you could almost miss the warmth of the object upon your legs. Your y/e/c eyes shot back to see who your savior - or not so savior had been. It was the fusion who had saved you, as you had learned during the war time. She had a kind smile upon her face, though, while the remainder of her group came over to your aid.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” what looked like a human boy had said in concern, looking you over as you began to rise to your feet. This odd bunch was definitely not your rescue team to bring you back to homeworld, though the shockingly kind faces threw you off.

“I-I’m fine,” you said quickly, before lifting yourself to your feet. You had been thankful, though you knew you were with the rebellion. The rebellion who had shattered your Pink Diamond. Somehow, they all looked so kind, and yet, you were so unsure. After a moment of debate, you murmured out a soft, barely audible, “Thanks.”

Green fire still burned all around you and the group, and you could hear an all-too familiar voice speak up, bringing everyone’s attention. “Don’t think you’ve won,” you could hear a Jasper speak out in a pained, yet determined tone. There was no doubt that this was the Jasper that you fought along side in the war - the woman that you looked up to. For that matter, she was the one that you had expected to press for a rescue team, though you may have expected too much.

You simply gaped at the woman, while the remainder of the group around you had gotten into fighting stances. There was a battle about to go down around you, and yet you could not stop staring. “You only beat me because you’re a fusion,” she continued to say to the group, likely the fabled Garnet that was made up of a rouge Ruby and Sapphire. This gem, of course, was no longer fabled as she stood before you in all her glory. “If I had someone to fuse with, I’d-.”

Her eyes had caught the fact, as she was finally noticing everything around, that you were standing there dumbfounded. Jasper’s eyes widened as she stared you down, before her idea had come to place. “Y/N!” she said excitedly, causing your cheeks to heat up with blush. The other gems around you gasped and gaped at you. The Jasper that you had fought beside came to you at a quickened pace, and the gems beside you had been too shocked to even stop the woman from taking your small arm firmly in her grasp, pulling you up to eye level with her.

You were dangling by your arm, staring directly into her amber eyes, complete with a toothy grin. “Jasper,” you whispered out with a gentle smile upon your face, despite the rough treatment. “I never thought I’d see you - or any gem, honestly - again.” It was true that you had been left after the war, but your heart swelled with something different than loneliness for the first time in over a thousand years.

“Listen, Y/N, fuse with me,” she said quickly, confident with a side of desperation.

You could not help but feel your face fill with blush as you heard her words. It was so forbidden to fuse with another gem - a gem that was not of your own kind. In the same sense, it had been forbidden for you to love the Jasper that you fought for, and yet you had, silently in shame. Maybe that was why no one came for you - and yet, here you were, being asked to fuse with the strong woman before you as she had you dangling. “What?” you asked in disbelief, despite the fact that you were actually considering her offer internally. When reality had seeped into your mind, a pit of anger began bubbling inside of you. “Fuse with you? You left me on this rock to die. I’ve been alone here since the war itself.”

“You should know as well as anyone that a Jasper can’t push for a rescue mission,” she argued. “These gems are the reason the war started in the first place. That weird bodied gem is Rose Quartz in disguise! Fuse with me and get your revenge on the rebels.”

By this point, the large woman had set you down, allowing you to decide for yourself. You glanced to the crystal gems, hearing the one that supposedly was Rose say, “Don’t do it! I’m not my mother.” Then you glanced back to Jasper, an expectant look in her amber stare. She gave you a half smile to reassure you, and you glanced back to the crystal gems once more. They had been the reason you were trapped - that war coming to be - and yet, you were conflicted. If you were to fuse with Jasper, would you not be a traitor as well?

How much did you desire the idea of being one with the woman that you fell in love with on the battlefield, though. You would have died for her - been shattered for her - and you had the opportunity to do the one unheard of thing with her. Taking in a shaky breath, you held a shaking hand out to her, palm up in acceptance. The rebel gems gasped once more, and you felt your face turn to fire with the blush upon your face as you could not meet Jasper’s gaze. Jasper’s mouth curved into a sharp toothy grin as she reached her hand out to grab your own.

Jasper’s large hand took yours in a strong grip, bringing you close to her. As the two of you danced, it was mostly you moving around her almost fluidly. What she had not expected as the two of you were doing your fusion dance was when she dipped you, instead of turning to the rebels and glaring like she had planned, she was pulled down into your lips. The taste upon her lips was indescribable, only lasting for a few moments as the two of you melded into a fusion.

The two of you had formed a four armed giant woman, adorning her long white hair with streaks of y/h/c hair. For a moment, the two of you simply admired what you had become together. The feeling of being together - being one - was indescribable. You melded into Jasper, and she you. Instead of fighting you for control, she found herself taken aback by the beautiful self the two of you created - so powerful, and so well meshed.

#jasper #jasperxreader #steven universe #steven universe jasper #reader insert #xreader #su #jasper su #the crystal gems #oneshot #oneshots #oneshot collection #fanfic #fanfiction #steven universe fanfiction

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weeping-petals · 4 years

Text

A Lasting Song

Word Count - 3,503

The Great Gem War comes to a final and brutal conclusion.

They were Winning.

They had to be.

The battle had endured for over a month at this point, Quartz and Topaz soldiers spilling out of Home World to aid the grand take over that the Diamond Authority had planned. A final Gambit to squelch the rebellious faction, and drag the Earth back under Diamond Rule. Diamond Genocide. If they did not win this game, it was all over.

Spinel tracked every Gem that was poofed, and with a small volley of units gathered up comrades before the unthinkable could happen. Pink Diamond, or just Rose Quartz now, had a firm policy against shattering foe Gems. After all, they didn’t understand what was happening, that the rebellion was a façade to relinquish destruction of a world their Diamond fell in love with. To a fault Spinel agreed, and Pearl as well – with unrestrained devotion – understood more than their comrades would, of their kind and benevolent commander. The rage and onslaught of foe Gems was understandable, though the retaliation with such an aggressive backing came as a bit of... surprise. Rose Quartz was certain. She was always so certain about these things.

So, Spinel assured that each confirmed enemy stone was bubbled, and sent back to camp. They would sort out who was who later, soldiers fell right and left. The foe Gems were in such a frenzy that they shattered first, didn’t question later – she had seen more shards produced from Jasper’s allied to the same faction than she was comfortable with.

Which was why it was important to secure Gems before the irreversible was done!

Spinel herself was poofed four or five times, but thankfully her cut was so specific that she was easily recognized by friendlies and sent off field to recover. It became more than a process of reforming and catching a Bismuth for a new weapon, Gems needed time to reconnect with their fresh form. Adjust to the violence and cycle of poof and fight. Most of the Crystal Gems were not warriors by class, but common builders, Smithers, assistants, and some like herself, entertainers. They learned to fight, to use abilities and inherit strength, and dug deep down within the light of their Gem to tap into forbidden powers. Forbidden by Home World and class restrictions.

The dust and conflict steadily shifted across the field, they were forcing units into a preferred destination. Some even about faced and retreated, the enemy’s barrage began to thin out and more pure Gem fusions crumbled. Spinel kept busy, coordinating with Gems better suited with agility, speed, and courier as opposed to brute force.

But something… felt off.

“Where is Rose Quartz!” she snapped, at any Gem carrying a star that streaked by on the field, covering distance rather than defending fellow friendlies. She was given a variety of snarky responses.

“Over there!” “Are you kidding?” “See the blitz!” “You can’t miss her!”

And it was true. How could she miss the cloud, the ravaged landscape, the direction that every other foe soldier moved in when they caught an inch on the combatants.

She had to check in with Pearl, insure that she was still intact. There was one Gem in all the battle, she knew with absolute certainty, who could not be poofed. Or more accurately, who should never be poofed.

They would lose the game.

A quad-fuzed Topaz snared a Crystal Gem fusion and wrestled the muilti-limbed warrior, the formers focus outmatching the combined attributes of a new Crystal Gem. Spinel averted her course, her weapon twirling ‘round and around her body while she built up momentum. One arm lashed out, catching a large axe buried in the soil, her arm wrenched and tightened while her fingers dug into the metal. She circled around the side of the titans brawl, tracking movement and thinking up a good one-liner.

The Cystal Gem fusion went airborne and the Topaz drew back, winding up for a devastating punch.

“HEY!” Spinel stopped and dug her heels into the soil. The Topaz snapped her head around, and smirked upon spying her. “Why don’t pick on someone YOUR OWN SIZE!”

She retracted her heels and let herself launch. Utterly flabbergasted, the Topaz spun around and put out her arms – that expression changed when Spinel barrel-rolled her body, her duel bladed staff cycling around her arrow-esque shape faster and faster, until she was a blazing drill. The real plot twist came when her zipping shape shot between the Topaz’s feet, Spinel skid across the hard soil tearing up smoke. It was a cool pose nonetheless, and the Topaz looked around, searching for the miniscule adversary.

“Syke!” Spinel indicated upward with her free arm.

The Topaz glanced up, in time to receive the full impact of the Crystal Gem fusion that plummeted earthward.

“I wasn’t the right size! See?” She stuck her thumb to her nose and wriggled her fingers, in the direction of the popped and divided Topaz soldiers. The Crystal Gem poofed each one, and dropped into her respective pieces.

One of the friendly Gems poofed, without provocation. “Jade!” The Carnelian barked, and grabbed up the green stone.

Spinel was primed to shoot off, but this trio looked far from warrior class. They all were in the same ship on the matter, but the group appeared less experienced and shook by coming undone in the midst of chaos.

“You guys better get off field. This isn’t your time to contribute to the fight, it’s your time to survive.” The Nephrite looked offended. “Look, your friend is overwhelmed. We all are, in fact. You need to take care of her, because today, I’ve seen a lot of shards.” She spun away and began a sprint, weapon slung over her shoulders. Quietly, under her breath, she added, “And I’ll probably see a lot more.”

Rose was still in the fray, somewhere. Spinel had a vague sense of where but finding the axis was the key. Was Rose at all able to abandon the battle for recuperation? Not poof and reform, but to take time out of the constant blade clashing and shield bashing. The units took turns, everyone played a part. Fusions formed and fell within hours, pure Gem fusions couldn’t grasp the concept of multilingual conversations manifesting and shrieking amid the dust. Passion for the new overcame the droned on same-old-same-old routine of pure fusions with sharp focus.

She can’t poof. She can’t poof.

Did she mean herself, Spinel? Or Rose Quartz?

“Hey you!” she bounded down a clutch of rocks, racing toward a lumbering Crystal Gem fusion she couldn’t recognize. It’s shape made no sense, but she looked sentient, and clever enough. “Launch me!”

The fusion put out a hand and Spinel plopped herself on the palm, the moment her weight settled she was flying into the stratosphere! She swept the dual blade above her head and swung it, twirled it like a blade of light on a spool of thread. Below, the shape and movement of battle took on refined focus, though it was apparent she was miles off course. Flashes of pink and brilliant sparks glint through the thick haze, the contrasting wisps unmistakable. Ah-ha!

“Now to – ” Something collided with her backside, and before she could check herself the weight dragged them down. She squealed, nearly loosing her weapon in the process. Above her arms a Morning Glory shot through the airspace and careened out of sight.

“You’re like a star in the dark sky! What were you thinking?” a familiar voice spat. Now Spinel recognized the arms laced around her middle.

“Not much, to be honest. I’m a little on a one-track mind, if you catch my drift.” They were too high up to land safely, she decided, and wound up her legs like springs to compress the fall. Garnet released her and darted away, immediately meeting fists with a Quartz soldier.

The Quartz wasn’t alone, three large Amethyst came barreling from a cloud of dust.

“Ooh, you brought friends,” Spinel cracked. She swung her blade, doing some flashy maneuvers before whipping around to meet the line-backing head on.

Poof. Poof. Poof. And POOF! Four Gems clinked to the ground. Spinel was still poised, or frozen, while Garnet dusted her gauntlets.

“Ah… need any help?”

“Bubbling them would be a good start. Spinel, I can’t help but notice you seem a bit distracted.”

“Distracted? Me!” She hurried to bubble the Gems. “Pfft, we’re in the middle of an ongoing and endless battle. How can someone be distracted? I can’t see the soldiers past the dust.” To emphasize, she coughed.

“Something on your mind?” Garnet crossed her arms.

Don’t let Saphire trace your design. Don’t let Garnet see the pathways.

“I’m worried,” she admitted.

“I know.”

“You do.” She kicked the blunt side of her blade and flipped it over her shoulder. “Home World Gems look a lot perplexed and a lot more lost. Like, I don’t know. They have a goal, but no one’s given them a word on how to achieve it.”

“As if…” Spinel hung onto Garnet’s next words, “commanders ceased relaying orders?” She whipped around, absolutely clobbering a tri-Topaz fusion. The dismayed individual Gems took mild hits, Poofed out, and bubbled out of the field. Garnet didn’t turn back, but tracked another dropship that slipped across the far fringe of the strafe.

“You put into words the feeling.” She chuckled, but the sound was void of mirth. “Yeah, we should probably check in with Rose.”

Garnet moved, and Spinel hastened to match the pace. The fuzion had a direct and simplistic method to her strategy in conflict and battle, she concluded confrontations as quick and efficiently as possible. A perfect mesh of Saphire’s calculations and Ruby’s combat prowess. If one watched from afar not knowing who Garnet was, a short-sighted evaluation might view the method as single-minded brutality. But no, it was fluid motion, and it always impressed Spinel how precise the fusion was.

On Home World, Garnet had garnered a reputation. A blasphemous fuzion and blatant insult to the court of Blue Diamond. Other foe Gems that recognized her were drawn in, eager for bragging rights of separating the first mix fusion. It would give Home World Gems no greater joy than to see the insolent Ruby and Saphire separated, permanently.

Having to confront more and more Gems in the heart of battle was such a kill joy, too.

Another dropship careened down from the atmosphere, appearing from a blip in the blackhole that preceded its sudden appearance. However, rather dump out a buttload of generic Gems, it landed. All the Home World ships that managed to evade ground fire would land, and load up with a bulk of fighters prepared – willing – to withdraw. A tactical retreat?

Spinel spent some of her energy to propel herself high enough to get a good look, but only a glimpse before she descended – and sliced out the Jasper’s that went fist to fist with Garnet.

“I don’t like this,” Spinel voiced. “I like this even less than when they’re bombarding us with weapons.”

Garnet was about to reply, but swung around knocking down a duel Ruby fusion. The soldiers were losing numbers and retreating. But it seemed too good to be true.

“I can’t see— Where did you see Rose Quartz?”

Spinel pointed her staff and watched Garnet take off. At first she didn’t follow, a few foe Gems galloped by hunting for the one that took out their friends. Spinel helped. A little. She bubbled the two Ruby’s.

“Take a rest,” she murmured, lost in thought. “When this is all over, maybe, just maybe, we’ll all be friends.”

She tore off in the direction she sent Garnet, hastily bubbling the Gems she tangled with, getting sloppy with her tactics. Once or twice, foe Gems tore past her as if afraid of something. Not Garnet, but it amused her that Gems twice the fusions size were spooked off after seeing a duel-fused Jasper pop.

Something was wrong.

Spinel stalled and turned her face skyward, peering through the clogged air unable to make heads or tales if it was dawn or dusk. The days meshed together, the fighting was never ending. And something was amiss.

“Argh!” That yelp sounded familiar, followed by the clash of weapons. It was Pearl, which meant—

“Rose!”

Where was she? “Where is she?” Spinel hollered. And where exactly was Pearl? She spun in place, searching, dashing in short sprints. This was the axis of the spinning wheel, the eye of the storm.

The unmistakable clang of a weapon hitting the resonating point of an impenetrable shield was an incriminating factor. Its sound carried, rebounding back through the clatter and barks of combat. A large helmet went whizzing by, nearly colliding with the small Gem.

“Rose!” Spinel called. The noises were moving around. As she searched the smog, she spied Pearl at last! – their Pearl – on her knees, blocking another blow from an enemy Jade. Spinel swung her body around and shot out with a long kick, knocking the foe Gem backwards.

Pearl looked battered and absolutely spent to her limits, but held her ground. She glanced over her shoulder, an expression Spinel couldn’t read in her eyes.

“Do you hear that?” she whispered. “Do you?”

Confused, Spinel squinted her eyes. She heard nothing, aside from the shouts of fellow and foe Gems meeting weapon to weapon. She did feel something was… missing, some creeping uncertainty coiling inside the core of her Gem. A resonation. An oncoming storm.

It was bright. The dust thinned out, or was it an intense ray of heat breaking through the atmosphere? She chanced another gaze upward, despite an imposing foe Gem bulldozing from the choked vapor.

No. Oh no. No-no-no. No, it couldn’t—

“Spinel!” Garnet dove from somewhere and tackled her, rolling aside as the foe Gem plowed into the soil where she stood mere moments before. “Where is she?!”

A shadow swept in from the side and caught Garnet by the shoulder, it swung around holding the fusion close.

“Pearl!” Spinel wailed. Wordlessly, Garnet aimed an arm into the murk. There was Pearl, on her back and blocking the sword that descended for her forehead. Spinel dropped her weapons and zipped her arms out, catching Pearl by the plush of her shoulders and reeled her in with enough force it nearly knocked Rose down.

Everything was so bright, so intense. Cutting through the stark haze without contest, with absolutely no mercy.

“Stay DOWN! EVERYONE!”

There was only four of them, Spinel reflected. Garnet tightened her arms around her and Pearl, and Spinel coiled her body tighter around Pearl. Looking back around Garnet’s side, she beheld Rose Quartz summoning her shield and brace it to the ground, their commander pressed herself into the concaved center. In the same instant, a radiating blaze shredded the clouds, obliterating the fog clinging tight across the brutalized landscape. It was unlike anything Spinel had ever witnessed, capable of blinding and painful to view directly. The shield hummed a strange melody of agony, as the song from the sky thrummed from beyond the charted galaxy of Pink Diamond’s doomed colony.

Rose hissed through her teeth, pressing back into Garnet. Garnet could do no better than to push back, and keep their leader from toppling as the shield pressed and buckled under the intensity. It would crack, Spinel was certain. It would crumble and they would all vaporize into stardust.

She poofed and all was silent. Dark. And the world was Gone.

What felt like ages later, she managed to reform. It wasn’t easy, but she succeeded in straightening out into a shape, and draw in something worth solidifying into. She slammed hands and knees into the dirt, a scream belting from her core. The landscape stretched as far as the eye could perceive, and was barren, void of sound and movement. Colors across the horizon slated in dreary reds and blacks, and weapons lay trapped in the soil where they fell. Abandoned and lost.

She dragged a hand to her chest and sat back, wincing with each movement. Tears dripped from her eyes. Why was she crying?

“I thought you were too.”

She looked to the one that spoke, Pearl, curled up beside a rock with her face in her hands. “They’re all gone,” she whispered.

“Who?” Spinel croaked. Though it was obvious. “What happened?”

Pearl shook her head and sat up straight. “Retaliation. We felt it. Rose… er, Rose. Felt it, I mean.” She hugged herself and shuddered.

“My Gem. It feels weird. Hurts.” Hurt was a human made term. Gems couldn’t get hurt, not really, only the Gem stone could be cracked. Humans learned the Gems language, but made new terms to describe new sensations. The best way she could describe the unsettling tingling was hurt. It buzzed and didn’t feel right at all.

“I know. We all feel it. We were safe though.” There was such emptiness in her tone.

Spinel jumped to her feet. “Rose! Garnet! Carnelian! The others! Where are—” She gaped at Pearl. “No!”

“Rose and Garnet are fine. The others, though... the others.” Her tone became soft, almost inaudible. “All gone. They’re all gone.” Pearl pressed a hand to her forehead and at last, began crying. “I thought, you too. Not Spinel, please my stars. Not her too.”

“NO! It…. That’s not fair! It’s impossible! IMPOSSIBLE! They can’t all be…. Not. Them….” She glared at Pearl, as her co-conspirator stood and walked over. Pearl looped her arms around her shoulders and tugged Spinel in close. Spinel accepted the embrace, and set her head against Pearl’s chest. “They can’t be,” she murmured. “Not everyone…. Our friends. It’s not fair. We were winning. We should have won.”

“It was Retaliation from the Diamonds,” Pearl hummed.

“What have we done?” She brought her arms up.

And shoved Pearl away. Hard. “Just WHAT have we DONE? WHAT was the point! We have nothing now! NOTHING! We’ve LOST the GAME! It was rigged against us!”

Pearl gawked, wide-eyed. “It was never a game, Spinel.”

“I KNOW!” She grabbed at her pigtails, her words cracked. “But how was I supposed to get through every minute of every single day, if I didn’t have some way to keep grounded? HOW! And now we’ve lost! We lost EVERYTHING! And for WHAT!?” She buckled to her knees, body falling into a ropey mess. She hiccupped and sobbed, like the broken toy she was.

“What was the point of fighting so hard, if this was all we were gonna get? What… why did I have to fight? I wanna go home. I just… wanna go home.”

After a few minutes, Pearl inched in closer. Spinel was still bawling, quivering, and wouldn’t look up. Pearl knelt low and, tentatively, set a hand on the Spinel’s head. “We still have each other.” Spinel flinched, and Pearl hesitated. “We have each other. And… Rose and Garnet are searching for survivors. Maybe in the caves, or the underground.”

“That’s stupid.”

“They need to check, nonetheless. Garnet… she doesn’t see if we find anyone, but we have to explore the scenarios. Maybe someone found the best hiding place.”

“I could find them,” she muttered, but it was bitter. She dragged her head up and checked their surroundings once more. “How long?”

Pearl pursed her lips. “Two. Weeks. Nearly thr—” Her arms snapped up when Spinel dropped onto her lap.

“I want to go home.”

“I think Home World believes we’re gone. Completely.”

“No,” Spinel sighed. She observed the strange patterns in the sky, as the atmosphere stitched molecules back together. “I want to go back to my Garden, with 𝐻𝑒𝓇. I want to play real games. Not this stupid war business. This was so stupid. We’re so dumb. Stars, I’m such an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot. None of us could have predicted this. Even Garnet— ”

“Yeah, sure,” Spinel hissed. She rolled over and coiled her limbs under her body, struggling to push off the ground.

“You need more rest.” Pearl tried to pull her back down, but Spinel brushed her off.

“I’ve done enough rest. I need to be someplace less destroyed.” She scrubbed at her eyes and cheeks, but the tears still came. There was nothing to be seen across the horizon, but the derelict and orphaned weapons of once proud rebels, intermixed with armament of terrible foes avenging a fallen Leader. “What do we do now? What’s the point?”

“We start by looking for survivors. Catalog the damage done.”

“How exciting.” She was better off in her Gem. “If the rest of the planet is this level of destroyed, I’ll shoot myself into the nearest star.”

Pearl straightened up from the ground and began walking, in no particular hurry, and Spinel followed without complaint or quip. She kept her eyes set on Pearl’s heels, ignoring all the half-buried Gem stones they passed across the wasteland. It was the longest walk back to the nearest base of operations, done in excruciating silence, but they had all the time in the world. They only had time, and each other.

#steven universe #spinel fanfic #su au #steven Universe au #spinel crystal gem au #spinel fanfiction #steven universe fanfiction #su fanfiction #pearl #garnet #rose quartz #pink diamond #spinel crystal gem #steven universe the movie

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novantinuum · 5 years

Link

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 4.6K~

Summary: In another world, he doesn’t have his mother’s sword or shield to hide behind when Bismuth lands her strike. The bubble pops.

Steven falls apart.

Chapter summary: In which Greg receives some answers, Bismuth faces her consequences, and Steven really needs to go to bed.

First | Last chapter

While I’m cross posting all of these to tumblr, I’d love to have your support over on AO3 too! Plus, it’s easier to subscribe there. A win-win, I’d say. Excitingly, this is the longest chapter yet.

Chapter 5: Onward

“So… hold on,” Greg says slowly, raising his hand to cut off the others’ incessant yammering. “Just lemme- let me take a moment to see if I can properly wrap my head around everything. So you’re saying that—“

He turns on the one they identified as Bismuth, pointing at her with such ferocity that his finger might as well be a— what did they call it again? Oh, yes!— a ‘breaking point’ itself.

“—that she tried to kill my son by smashing his gem?”

“Mmmhmm,” Garnet nods.

As usual her eyes are entirely hidden behind her opaque visor, something that always made getting to know the Gem particularly daunting in those early days, but by now he’s close enough to infer her full disposition from her body language and tone alone. And as far as he can tell from the clipped words and stiff movements, she’s pissed. The full brunt of her anger is thankfully restrained… he imagines for Steven’s sake. He hugs his son closer, the boy currently nestled against his midsection and sitting on the fountain’s rim. Garnet sits on his other side, with Amethyst next to Steven. Pearl, meanwhile, kneels on the ground holding a surprisingly deep-cut gemstone in her lap, the very gemstone that by all rights should be embedded in his son’s navel but currently isn’t. He frowns and tugs at his hair (a bad habit of his, over the decades), finding his thoughts growing more and more fragmented over this by the second.

“But she only tried to kill him because she thought he was Rose… who bubbled her thousands of years ago because she wanted her to shatter Pink Diamond. But then Rose actually was Pink Diamond… all along? And somehow fake shattered herself?”

“Yup, that’s pretty much it,” Steven says with a faint laugh, no amount of falsified cheer able to conceal the conflict brewing within him. Greg watches him clutch at the bottom hem of his shirt, and his heart nearly shatters right there on its own. His boy’s grown worryingly savvy as of late, plastering on a brave face whenever he thinks the others can’t handle the full burden of a child’s stress. He probably assumes he’s getting away with it, too. His mistake. One of the many things fathers grow attuned to over the years is the habits and facial tics of their children. All that said, if this is troubling for him, he can’t begin to imagine how traumatic and confusing this upheaval is for Steven.

God, and he’s only fourteen! He shouldn’t have to deal with any of Rose’s war fallout.

“And then,” Greg continues, gesturing between his son and the pink gem Pearl holds, “before she could actually kill him he split in two?”

“It was almost like he abruptly unfused,” Bismuth supplies, maintaining a healthy distance from the rest of the group.

“But it didn’t feel like fusion at all,” Steven says, and shudders. “It hurt, it hurt really bad.”

“He was unconscious for at least a minute. The half with the gem, the pink one, started screaming and tried to fight me away from him but I knew I had to get him off the forge’s surface so he didn’t burn.” The rainbow haired Gem hangs her head in shame. “I was so worried he wouldn’t wake up ‘coz of me.”

“Yeah, sure ya’ were,” Amethyst spits, and crosses her arms.

Pearl’s eyes narrow with a precise intensity. “Amethyst, please. Not now.”

Contrary to whatever assumptions on her he held before, Bismuth shows no inclination to argue in any vain hope of saving face. Instead she stands stiff before the group, appearing just as haunted by the consequences of her actions as Steven is. While the back-and-forth between her and the Crystal Gems continues, her fingers twitch, desperately yearning for something to tinker with. As someone who frequently seeks out the reliable comfort of strumming improvised chords on his guitar in times of stress, he can relate. Of course, far be it for him to excuse this new Gem’s actions when they almost cost him his only son, but at least she has the decency to express remorse over it. He’s furious at her, he truly is, and yet… He also can’t help but feel a twinge of pity lighten his heart upon hearing her side of the story. Huh, funny. Normally he’s more apt to harbor a stone cold grudge over this sort of stuff. He blames his kid’s influence.

“I was angry at Rose, not Steven,” Bismuth says as he tunes back in to the conversation. “I was so sure that this was all just another one of her lies that I— well, you all know. But when I saw what I’d done…. When they split apart and he fell to the ground, I—!”

Her voice cracks, and he watches her nearly crumble like chalk.

“I- I made a terrible mistake, and I’m genuinely sorry,” she finishes.

“‘Kay, so you’re super sorry and promise never to hurt him again, we get it,” Amethyst says, blunt sarcasm oozing from her words. “But seriously, is no one gonna address the ginormous cluster hangin’ over our heads? Y’guys! New headline! We just found out Rose was a total sham!”

Steven holds up a finger as he interjects. “Actually, we don’t know anything except that she was apparently Pink Diamond, but…”

“Yeah, and Pink D’s like, the bad guy, Steven! She’s the reason they had to fight this whole stupid war in the first place! And then, what? She creates you just so she doesn’t have to deal with the fact she’s a liar?”

The young teen shrinks away from her anger, a lump forming in his throat. Greg’s jaw clenches. His hand tightens around his son’s midsection.

“None of this is Steven’s fault,” Garnet says quietly, firmly placing her sapphire laden hand on the purple Gem’s shoulder to quiet her down. She shrugs away at her touch, lips jutting into a pout.

“Or any of yours’," Pearl says.

Greg’s eyes lock on the slender Gem at her abrupt comment, and he watches with apt attention as her thumb glides across the largest facet of the diamond in her lap. Hearing her voice comes as a surprise, as she’s been unusually absent from this conversation thus far. It seems none of the others want to talk about it in depth right now, but apparently she’s forbidden from mentioning anything about Pink Diamond. It’s yet another betrayal, yet another reason why the sight of the rose blossoms growing wild around them and the delicately carved curly-haired statue at the fountain’s center leaves him with uncertainty gnawing at the pit of his stomach.

And yet… and yet.

What if he’s being a hypocrite about all of this? It’s not like he told Rose everything about his past, either. Rose was a diamond, sure, but— he’s a DeMayo. There’s a number of dark days attached to that name he’d rather let die in the past too. Are they really entitled to the full narrative of the life she left behind? Is anyone?

He scratches at his scalp. “Listen, Amethyst. I understand all of you are upset, and rightfully so. I can’t exactly say I’m thrilled to hear all of this either. But the bottom line is… I know the woman I loved. Maybe not for long, but I grew to know her in ways far more intimate than even some of you. And if there’s one thing I can say for absolute certainty, it’s that… despite her mistakes, despite everything else she probably lied about, her love and respect for all of you was not a sham.”

Pearl nods. “I almost can’t believe I’m agreeing with Greg of all people, but he’s right.”

“And you’re entitled to believe that,” Garnet says evenly. “But no matter what we believe, I still think it’s wise to try not to make assumptions about her in the first place. Either good, or bad. At this point, what we know is what we know, and I can’t see any easy way of changing that in the near future.”

“So, what are we supposed to do about all this now?” Amethyst asks, all her earlier anger dissipated in her exhaustion.

She considers this for a second, visor glinting in the glow of sunrise.

“Nothing.”

“What?”

The fusion doesn’t budge an inch. “We don’t change our tactics.”

“But- but if she was our leader, and we always just blindly followed what she wanted, then—“

“No matter her original intentions, the Crystal Gems, as a movement, is far bigger than one diamond,” she says. “We move onward. We thrive. Never mind Rose.”

Steven squirms in his embrace, and in a small, timid voice— a jarring reminder of the child he still is despite his recent leap in emotional maturity— asks the question he’s sure has been weighing on him ever since he got split apart in the first place.

“What about me, and my—“ he tries and fails to stifle a yawn— “my gem? What am I supposed to do now?”

“We’ll deal with your Gem half when he reforms, and he will,” Garnet says gently. “But right now, you need your rest. We all do. Pearl, Amethyst, help him to the temple and get him tucked into bed. Bismuth, Greg. I need to speak to both of you.”

Everyone nods at the Crystal Gem leader’s directions, and they all act accordingly. His eyes drooping just as much as his son’s despite the pink tinted skies and chirping meadowlarks, Greg helps him stand to his feet. Steven’s knees still quiver but thankfully this time he doesn’t crumple. Pearl loops one of her arms through his, still holding his gem in her opposing hand, and together they begin to plod towards the warp pad they arrived earlier. Amethyst follows them but notably lags behind, guilt written across her face clear as day. She delivers one final glance at Bismuth, razor sharp and flaring with hurt, and then disappears in the orchard’s shadow.

A palpable silence brews between the two remaining Gems then, uncomfortable enough that he’s almost left with sweat beading on his brow just watching them. Eventually doing so becomes too stressful, and he moves to retrieve the downy comforter that’s long since been forgotten on the stone midway to the fountain. He folds the bedding as compact as he can, and drapes it over his non dominant arm, distantly acknowledging that it’ll have to go in the wash. He wishes he could’ve gone home with Steven too. What does she need a human like him for right now, anyways? He’s no fighter, or mediator. The cool grey one blows a nervous puff of air from between her lips and wraps her hands around a few strands of her rainbow dreads. Garnet‘s expression twists into a frown. Stepping towards her, she crosses her arms.

“Bismuth…”

“If you’re going to bubble me away again, just say it,” she blurts out, hanging her head in resignation.

Ever so subtly, Garnet tilts her head as if caught off guard by the visceral hurt pooling in the other Gem's words. In any case, her tone remains steady.

“We’re not bubbling you.”

“What? You’re—?”

“It was avoidable miscommunication that led to that the first time. I won’t let that happen again, especially not to a friend. However,” she says, holding up a finger before the other Gem can interject, “as consequence for striking a fellow Crystal Gem in cold blood, until further notice you are no longer welcome in the temple. You will not seek us out. You will in no circumstance find yourself alone with Steven. If we require your help and you are willing, we’ll call for it. But for now, until we’re ready to begin to forgive, you’re on your own.”

Bismuth’s gaze turns up towards her once more, sober in silent acceptance. She blinks rapidly to stave away the tears, and her lips press together tight. Greg’s unsure if the emotion she’s desperately barring away is remorse about her exile or shell shocked relief that she won’t be bubbled away for another five millennia.

“I encourage you to explore this planet as you reflect upon your actions,” Garnet continues. “I think you’ll find a lot has changed since the rebellion… and I think that with time, so can we all.”

“Am I relieved now?” she asks, voice thick and wavering.

She regards her with a long, searching look as she deliberates. “Yes. You may go.”

At first Bismuth spins on her heels, making to leave, but apparently something else stirs on her soul because she pauses. Taking a deep breath, she whirls back around to face the fusion.

“I know this probably doesn’t count for much after all that happened, but. I truly am sorry, for everything.” She turns to regard him directly, her gaze piercing but sincere. “Tell Steven that I hope he can forgive me one day.” And, to the other Gem: “And tell Pearl I’m sorry for what she had to go through, with Pink.”

“I will.”

“Take care of them, would you? Yourself, too.”

Garnet nods. Perhaps as a final sign of goodwill between old war comrades, she offers her hand. The way she does leaves the sapphire on her palm fully exposed. Greg bets it’s a powerful and evocative gesture to a Gem who is being punished for almost shattering another. It’s a salve, an acknowledgement that you can become better, and I trust that you already are.

Bismuth links her broad fingers between hers, and exhales shakily. “Goodbye, old friend. I hope I’ll see you again one day. And hey, if any of you ever… bismuth me,” she jokes with a weak laugh, “you know where I’ll be.”

She gives her hand a gentle squeeze, and then breaks away. Her eyes can’t quite meet theirs.

“Go in peace,” Garnet says.

Greg and her watch in quiet respect as the rainbow haired Gem turns on a dime and departs from them, leaving both the fountain and the ranks of the Crystal Gems behind as she fades beyond the shadow of the grove. They wait. Not too long after, a bar of pure cyan light shoots to the sky, accompanied by that resonant bell like tone he’s long associated with the warp pads. At the sound some of the tension in his companion’s form finally eases. She reaches to wipe under her visor. Geeze, tonight’s really been a high emotion day for her as well, huh? First she’s reunited with an old friend she hasn’t seen face to face in millennia, and then later that evening she’s met with the terrifying threat of Steven’s mortality…wherein she learns that this same old friend is the reason he’s cleaved apart and cracked to begin with. And then there’s all of Rose’s lies, which— as much as he loved her— he’s sure he’ll also have to wrestle with in the coming season.

She sighs, and turns to him.

“And as for you...”

He scratches at his scalp. “Heh heh, am I in trouble too?”

She chuckles briefly, lips turning up in a soft smile. “No, of course not. The truth is, I need your help. I can’t always… be here, to look after Steven.”

His brow creases. Such oddly specific words from such an articulate person. ‘Be here?’ What does she mean, that she’s leaving the other Gems? That she’s going on some extended mission? And why now, of all times?

“What do you mean?”

“My future vision is clouded, incomplete, but I can sense we’re approaching a crossroads.” She lays both gems on his shoulders, and suddenly her visor flashes away, her three eyes intensely pouring into his, searching, beseeching. It’s the single most vulnerable expression he’s ever seen her convey.

“Greg. He trusts you with matters he doesn’t always trust us with. I know you’ve mostly kept your distance from Gem activities up to this point, but the time is coming when you won’t be able to separate these worlds anymore. I need you to keep a close watch on him. For me. Promise me you’ll do that.”

“O- of course,” he says, mind nervously whirring with an infinitude of uncertain futures based on this new information, and oh golly, does this even lay a finger to what she experiences every moment of every day? “But if you don’t mind me asking, what’s coming? What crossroads?”

“I don’t know,” she admits, her gaze falling wayward. “I can barely see the shape of our future anymore, only faint impressions. And… and that terrifies me. So much has changed so quickly.”

She’s nearly quivering, eyes blown wide, and Greg only now realizes the degree to which he took her unyielding strength for granted all this time. He rocks back and forth on the balls of his bare feet, reaching for an answer on what to do, what to say to support a person who until now, has never been in need of that support.

“Are… you handling things okay?”

Garnet clamps her lips together, taking a moment to ground herself once more. Then with a intentional flick of her fingers, her visor shimmers back into place.

“No,” she says evenly. “No, I’m afraid I’m not.”

He exhales with a prolonged, meandering sigh when the two of them finally reach the temple, solid crystal phasing into existence under his feet in a bright flash of cyan. Despite how long he’s known the Gems, a trip through the warp stream is a rarity for him. In the beginning that was mostly Pearl’s doing— with her staunch refusal of allowing humans anywhere near Gem structures vocal enough to convince Rose to leave him behind. Thankfully Pearl began to tolerate him enough in the later years of the relationship that she lifted the ban. After that he and Rose would occasionally steal away on dates in exotic locations only accessible by warp pad, and while he has many fond memories of his time with her in these breathtaking places he must admit he’s never been a big fan of this form of travel in the first place. He’s not keen on flying for similar reasons— it’s simply too disorientating. What can he say, he’s a wheels to the ground sort of guy.

He carefully steps down from the raised platform. In the loft, bundled under fresh bedding, Steven stirs awake and lifts his head upon hearing their arrival. Dark bags emphasize his puffy, reddened eyes. Greg’s heart seizes at the realization that he’s been crying all on his own, when no one can see him, in the dark.

“Dad, Garnet!” he whispers, forcing a weak grin. “You’re back!”

He tosses the dirty comforter on the floor next to the warp pad, and bounds across the room to him as fast as his weary joints possibly can.

“Hey, buddy,” he says, climbing up the stairs to the loft. He plops himself down at the foot of the mattress. “You all cozy now?”

His son snuggles even deeper under the sheets, clutching one of his stuffed bears to his chest. “Yup, all tucked in.”

“Good, good. I, uh- I’m really glad you’re okay.”

And at these words, exhaustion weighs Steven down like a twenty pound barbell, shattering his brave facade. He visibly deflates, his eyelids drooping.

“Yeah,” he sighs, blankly staring off into the distance.

Upon following the path of his glance, however, Greg realizes that he’s actually not staring at nothing. He’s watching Garnet first and foremost, who’s leaning against the fridge, but more importantly… Sitting smack dab in the middle of the kitchen counter is his inert gemstone, nestled within the cottony folds of a bath towel. Of course. He needn't a second guess of what has him so glum. He leans in to embrace him and Steven immediately reciprocates, flinging his arms around his neck so tight that given the option of comforting his kid or constant, steady airflow he’d choose to forgo the breathing every time.

“Can you sleep here tonight?” he asks, voice brimming with a vulnerability he hasn’t heard from him for a few years.

“Of course. I’ll never say no to a good couch, heh heh.”

“No, I mean— with me, up here. Please. I really, really don’t wanna be alone right now.”

His son pulls away, and peers at him with the most doleful, starry eyes one could muster. He can’t help but chuckle.

“You do know you ain’t gotta pull out the puppy dog eyes on me, right?”

“Yeah, but was it working?”

“All right,” Garnet interrupts, leisurely making her way up the steps to the loft. “Let’s get you back to bed.”

He nods in full agreement. It’s super late, and the kid desperately needs some rest after all the trauma of this evening. Working together, parent and guardian, they help tuck him back, snug and secure. Heeding to Steven’s request, he crawls under the covers as well, leaning against the far wall. Distantly, he notes that he left his van unlocked when Amethyst whisked him away to the fountain, but by this point he’s too comfortable here on this mattress to dream of making the trek across town to fix that. He’ll just have to trust it’ll be fine. Beach City is a small, secluded place, after all. Most residents barely lock their doors at night.

“Garnet, am I even able to fuse with my gem again?” Steven asks meekly, before she can turn to leave them to rest.

She pauses, balling her fist against her mouth as she considers.

“I can’t see everything, but I do know you’ll be alright,” she promises, and reaches down to brush through his dark curls. Delicately, she presses a kiss to his forehead. Steven’s eyes light up instantly. This time, he grins for real.

“Wow, homemade waffles? And we’re all sharing them as a family! Well, except Pearl, of course. But she’s still there with us.”

“That’s right. It’s together breakfast.”

The tension wound through Greg's spine eases at hope’s return to the atmosphere of this household. With a relieved smile, he rubs his hands together. “Guess I’m breaking out the ol’ waffle iron tomorrow, then!”

Steven throws his arms around the taller Gem. “Thank you,” he says, clinging tight. “I really needed that. Can you… maybe stay out here with us too?”

The puppy dog eyes return in force. Any weaker individual (himself included) would surely be powerless to resist this maelstrom of pure Universe charm, but Garnet’s no brittle Gem. From what little she confided to him back at the fountain, he bets she's in want of some alone time right now. True to his predictions, she smiles apologetically.

“I wish I could, but I have some delicate matters that need to be attended to in the temple.”

“Awwwww, man!”

“But I’ll see you at breakfast,” she adds before his burgeoning pout can fully reach his eyes.

This promise seems to placate the boy enough for him to relax into his pillow. His eyes droop as he watches Garnet amble down the stairs. He’s not the only one— Greg’s own eyes are beginning to ache from sheer exhaustion as well. A sudden spike of jealousy overtakes him, upon remembering how the rest of the Gems don’t get tired, and don’t require sleep. If only, if only. Oh boy, tomorrow’s going to be rough, isn’t it? It’s what… at least one in the morning by now? Squinting, he cranes his neck to catch a glimpse of Steven’s alarm clock.

It’s twelve forty-six. Close enough. With any luck he’ll drift off to sleep within the next fifteen or so minutes.

“I love you,” Garnet says from downstairs, directed at Steven. She shapes her fingers into a heart. His lips curve into a smile as he watches this. While he’s never doubted the depth of her affection for him, she isn't often this transparent about it. Perhaps she thought his son could use the reminder in the wake of a terrifying near-death experience.

“Love you too,” Steven chimes. “Goodnight!”

With that, the Gem retreats across the room to the temple door. She holds her palms up to the star insignia. The matching gems light up, glowing a vibrant blue and red, and the magical doorway slides open— almost as if dissolving from the middle— to reveal the private chamber held within. She steps forward and disappears into the bowels of the temple, leaving the two Universe boys bundled under the covers in an uneasy silence. Steven sighs under his breath. Greg can tell without looking at him that something is gnawing away at his son's heart, bubbling up within him like soda fizz.

“Dad?" he eventually asks, flopping onto his side to face him. "Where’s Bismuth? Did she leave from the fountain?”

Yup, there it is. He feared this was coming.

“She’s—“ he pauses, trying to determine how best to phrase this— “Garnet had a discussion with her. She’s not welcome here in the temple until further notice. As punishment.”

Understanding dawns on his face. “Ohhh, so she basically reverse grounded her."

“Exiled, yes.”

“Huh." Steven hugs his plush bear in the crook of his arm even tighter, and stares up at the ceiling beams with a concerningly numb expression. "Well... I guess that’s fair.”

Greg frowns.

“What’s eatin’ you up there, bud?”

“It’s just…" He tussles at the top hem of the sheets, his knuckles turning white. "Even though she tried to shatter me, and that was terrifying and all... I could tell she felt really guilty about it right after. And besides that, she was actually super kind. I hope she’ll be alright on her own.”

“You’re the one who’s super kind,” he says with a soft smile, and reaches out to ruffle his son’s hair. Steven playfully bats his hands away, cheeks flushing at the compliment. “Not everyone your age would ever stop to think about the people who harmed them in that way. Heck, not many adults would, either. I’m not sure I could.”

"But I've also been thinking... Peridot and Lapis tried to kill us when we first met them, too. And now we’re all friends, and it’s fine, right?"

Greg considers this, stroking at his beard. As much as Steven defends their oft-erratic behavior, he's not sure he personally considers those the ex-Homeworld Gems who are bunking in his family's old barn friends yet. The first time he met Lapis, she attempted to steal the ocean and broke his leg. And as for Peridot, she once pushed him off a roof with next to no warning. (God, he would've broken his leg again if it weren't for Garnet's future vision, huh?) But despite his current opinions on them, it's true that they both have a amicable rapport going with Steven (and for the most part, the rest of the Gems) these days. They've made an effort to learn, to grow with the lush Earth around them. Against the very unmovable nature of their kind, they've succeeded in the impossible. They've changed.

"So what if we’re being a little too hard on her?" Steven continues, eyes glistening. "What if it pushes her away forever?”

“Mmm. I understand where you’re coming from, but she didn’t just try to kill you. She almost succeeded. Sometimes there’s such a thing as being too compassionate, you know?” He chuckles, and props himself up on his elbow. “Heh. You really are like your mother, in that way. Y’see, once she told me about the first time she came across a pigeon, and apparently she—“

“Can we please not talk about her right now?” he interrupts, his voice strained.

“S-sure thing,” Greg stutters, mentally smacking himself for not considering the stress the topic of Rose has become for his son before he foolishly ran his mouth. “Sorry, I didn’t think.“

Closing his eyes, Steven snuggles closer to him, scooting under the covers into his arms. “It’s okay,” he whispers, and yawns. “We’re okay.”

Notes:

-Amethyst reacts with more vocalized anger to the Pink Diamond bomb here because she has not yet crossed an integral moment of identity building character development- re: Beta/Earthlings. In canon, she tells Steven after A Single Pale Rose that none of the PD/rebellion stuff should even be their problem, and she’s absolutely right, but here I imagine she’s still at the point where she’s internally making it her problem when it doesn’t need to be. So she lashes out. Wrongfully.

-Meanwhile, Steven’s Gem self hasn’t reformed yet because he was only just healed from being cracked. I figure that takes a lot outta a Gem. He’ll need a bit more time before he’s ready.

Finally, when it comes to the long term plot, I’m very excited to say that I now have this one fully planned out. It’s gonna be a sort of alternate s4, with some original “episodes” and an arc forming the framework of the story. Should be fun. But anyways, your readership and support is so appreciated! From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

#su #steven universe #su fanfic #su fanfiction #garnet #pearl #amethyst #bismuth #greg universe #my writing stuff #crack the paragon

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queen-of-meows · 5 years

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I don’t know if anybody ever noticed

But Homeworld Gems never use (or at least very very rarely) the word “forbidden”. Instead, they say “unprecedented” or “unheard of”.

Which leads me to this theory : nothing is actually forbidden on Homeworld, not in the sense we concieve it. Gems get punished when they fail to do their duties, but do Homeworld even have laws ?

I rather think Gems react violently to anything new, “out of the question” not because of moral standards, but because they’re scared of impredictability. That’s why they have Sapphires, but also why Sapphires can predict the future in the first place. They have no magical powers, they have deduction skills. In a world working like clockwork, predicting the future is just a matter of probabilites and mechanics.

Also, the common reaction of Rose Quartz, Garnet, Jade and very witness of a cross Gem fusion is the same : “I didn’t know it was possible” or “I thought I was the only one”.

Which proves White keeps every Gem in ignorance on purpose, to keep the clockwork system unchanging.

#steven universe #su spoiler #theory #Homeworld #white diamond #cross gem fusion #garnet

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megadan94 · 6 years

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Steven, Connie, and the other Diamond’s are going to fuse to fight White Diamond

Let’s look at what we know about White Diamond, we know that her power probably affects Yellow, Blue and Pink, based on how Yellow and Steven have been affected by Blue’s power, and we know that White’s power is probably a lot stronger than theirs, based on her size, the Yellow and Blue’s fear of her, and the size of her corruption blast compared to the others.

Given this, the gems are probably going to have a hard time if they decide to fight her. However, there is something that could put them on an equal standing with her: Fusion.

Okay, so we all know that white is the combination of all other colours, and you can make it by combining the three primary colours, yellow, blue, and red. What if the Diamond powers work the same way? What if Yellow, Blue and Pink Diamond can achieve White’s power by using theirs together, not merely as individuals, as they did when they launched the corruption blast, but as a fusion. And given how fusion sizes work, it’d probably even bring them to roughly the same size as her. This might even be the reason why cross-gem fusion was forbidden on Homeworld, White didn’t want them to know they could do this.

But then there’s still the issue of their vulnerability to White Diamond’s power. Even if they end up having equal power to White, and even if White is just as vulnerable to it as they are to hers, they can still be separated under extreme stress, which is a weakness White, as a single gem, doesn’t have. Remember, Blue was able to separate Alexandrite in an instant. Which brings me to their defense: Connie.

Connie has repeatedly been shown to be immune to the Diamond’s auras, the only problem she’s had is that she’s simply too small and weak to fight them. Granted we’ve never seen how this would affect her while fused with a gem, but I’m willing to bet that if she was included in this Diamond fusion, she’d give them at least some resistance to White’s aura, if not outright immune to it. So even if they were still ultimately weaker than White overall, them having resistance to her power could balance the scales just enough for them to have a chance at beating her.

So far, being able to fuse with humans has been the only unique power that Steven has, the only thing that he can do that his mother couldn’t. It would be satisfying if it turned out to be the thing that allowed him to save everyone. And hey, I know they brought Connie along for a reason, you don’t just leave a character behind every other time and then bring them along when you’re going to go confront the big bad, not unless you’re building up to them doing something important.

#my post #steven universe #su theory #su analysis #steven diamond #pink diamond #blue diamond #yellow diamond #white diamond #connie maheswaran #knight connie #fusion #crystal gems #homeworld #diamond powers #diamond authority

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jaggidart · 7 years

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So hey guys, I’ve been thinking…what if White Diamond doesn’t exist? At least, without the (three) Diamonds we know…FUSED???

Here me out.

(This post turned out quite long, so I’ll put it under the cut)

Also, potential spoilers ahead!

It took a long time to name drop pink Diamond, and after that point we have seen/heard a lot more of the Diamonds. Blue, Yellow and Pink that is. But not so much as a mention of White Diamond.

It seems to be a fandom-accepted fact that White Diamond exists and is a big part of the Diamond Authority. And with good reason:

We got the pre-rebellion Diamond Authority logo strewn across the Earth and Moon,

Followed by the Pink-less new logo,

And of course the murals. But does anyone actually SAY “White Diamond” outright? No, they do not. And here is my thinking:

White light is made up of all colours on the spectrum. Now, maybe there are more Diamonds to come (hey, never say never, am I right?) but it’s been strongly hinted that our Diamond Authority is made up of four big shots.

Now, I’ve seen a lot of theories floating about regarding Diamond fusion, such as the fusion weapon i.e. the attack on Earth to end the rebellion, and Blue and Yellow fusing for reasons. And while it all sounds great, there’s something not sitting quite right with me. Because NO ONE HAS MENTIONED WHITE DIAMOND EVER.

And yes, perhaps they’re saving another big name drop like they did with Pink Diamond and address the giant white elephant in the room. But I’d have thought surely there might be a clue somewhere by this point in the series.

Which is why I’m thinking that White Diamond was/is a fusion of Diamonds. Specifically, the big three combined to create a pure, perfect and rarest of gems.

I did some research and colours such as yellow are common, and pink and blue a little less common, and of course clear or white diamonds are the rarest (come to think of if, is she even called White Diamond? What if it’s Clear Diamond? Or just DIAMOND? We’ll see, I guess. For the sake of this slightly unfocused post, I’ll stick with calling her White Diamond.)

Either way, WD is a big deal. She is the epitome of what Homeworld (and the Diamonds) strive for: perfection.

And why is it not common knowledge? I reckon it’s because fusion is such a personal, meaningful thing that the Diamonds would not want to share this information with their underling gems.

Which explains why Blue Diamond was so outraged when Ruby and Sapphire first fused (accidentally, mind you). Fusion is SACRED among different gems. And it gives gems so much more than the sum of their parts, as we learn through Garnet and her journey as a fusion.

The exception her of course is same-gem fusion. The Diamonds don’t have a problem with it because it is merely accentuating gems’ abilities, or making them bigger versions of themselves for fighting purposes. But cross-gem fusion is a whole other matter, which the show has taught us.

And because of the Diamonds’ secrecy, regular Homeworld gems see fusion as a “cheap tactic” or a “trick”, which is why Rhodonite and Flourite hide, and why Garnet decided to leave Homeworld behind; because it is forbidden; because the Diamonds believe only they should fuse.

Getting back on track somewhat;

Many have speculated that this is the result of Blue, Yellow and White Diamond creating some sort of fusion weapon to wipe out the last remainders of the rebellion, and it sounded legitimate. HOWEVER.

Let’s take another look at the temple mural:

See those diamond shapes around what we are supposed to believe is White Diamond? I previously assumed it was just decorative embellishment, or to imply who she was. Whereas I think it’s representative of the light gems create when they fuse. Or perhaps it’s similar to the sparkles when gems’ weapons are either created or disappear. Because White Diamond could indeed be used as a weapon if, say, a pesky rebellion was taking place on Earth.

But wait! I hear you say, the White of the Diamond Authority logo remains! Yes, you are correct, but let’s take a look at that too, shall we?

The white part is still at the top, indicating its rank amongst the colours in terms of power and purity. But the logo now has a backing: a green circle. And the logo therefore has a greenish tint to the whole thing, which implies it is not quite as pure as before.

Now, obviously, white LIGHT is made up of ALL colours, so I’ll admit this could be flimsy. But yellow and blue are primary colours, and pink is the closest to red we are going to get to create the basic fundamentals of my colour theory. (By the way, I looked it up, and red diamonds are stupidly rare, so we’ll put a pin in that. I daresay we can let some things go, as pearls are technically grown organically, and bismuth is a mineral.)

White Diamond could still exist, but she would not be as powerful, or pure, or perfect as she was before, because Pink is missing. And because Blue Diamond has mostly kept to herself for eons, mourning Pink, who’s to say that the Diamonds didn’t encourage a rumour that White Diamond was in an even deeper grief and isolated herself? Their fusion secret would never have to be found out.

The song explosion (I’m sorry, I don’t know what else to call it) has a bright white centre, which could indicate White Diamond being formed. And you can say, “but White is one of the three colours in there, how could she not be part of said fusion?” Well, I don’t know about you, but that top left corner looks suspiciously green to me, not pure blue. Also, white is not a colour, it is a combination of colours in the spectrum; what we see is LIGHT. And Steven Universe gems and fusion is all about light.

In conclusion, White Diamond, as a fusion, could still be formed. Perhaps just with Blue and Yellow, perhaps with another diamond (wishful thinking)?

TL:DR = White Diamond is a fusion of the Diamonds. I doubt I’m the first to think this, but I’ve not seen this anywhere yet so here we go.

Disclaimer; this is just my personal thoughts and slightly bitty ramblings so forgive me. This went into much more depth than I originally planned!

Regardless of whether I’m right or wrong, I just know the Crewniverse will give us something spectacular!

There’s bound to be loads I’ve missed, and also things I’ve run out of enerygu to say, such as they walked past Pink Diamond’s mural on the moon too, but she got a big name drop reveal, so might White Diamond. And how are they okay with fusion experiments on Earth? Perhaps I’ll do a theory video covering this when I get a bit more time. But in the meantime, please share your thoughts in asks or reblogs, or however Tumblr works these days.

Cheers!

Jag out.

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spectrumscribe · 7 years

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Okay so you mentioned a while back that in your Gem au the first to fuse are mikey and leo during a battle situation. Can we hear about how it happens? Their reactions? The rest of the teams reactions? Love your work!!

(They’re still using their gem names at this point, so I’llgive a quick refresher: Jasper=Mikey, Iolite=Leo, Pyrope=Raph, Pearl=Donnie.)

(also thank you for asking about the gem au, i love talking about it lmao.)

—-

Jasper hears the rumbling sound before Pearl can shout awarning, and he knows it for what it is before the name reaches his ears. He’sheard the sound many times in his old home, his first home, the holes in theground that were always empty and put into cliffs that were slowly crumbling-it’s the sound of an-

“Avalanche!” Pearl shouts, spurring them all into action.

Except, Jasper knowsthat they won’t be able to outrun it, not at this range. This whole mission hadbeen a mistake; the four of them messing with integrated mining technology whenthey shouldn’t have. Trying to remove them from the surface of the mountain hadcaused this, and now they were paying for it.

The boulders tumble down the mountain side at them, andJasper sees that there’s no escape route to find. Maybe he and Pyrope willsurvive the rockslide, but Pearl and Iolite stand a good chance of beingcracked- or worse- shattered by thewave of earth headed for them.

Iolite is the closest to the oncoming threat, and he meetsJasper’s eyes as a boulder bears down on him. He’s actually scared, utterlyterrified of this force he can’t reason with or even hope to fight-

-and Jasper is sprinting back towards him, ignoring thecalls following his frantic scrambling.

Maybe if he puts himself to Iolite’s back- maybe his bodywon’t give way and Iolite’s gem won’t be damaged- maybe Jasper can keep himsafe and Pyrope can keep Pearl safe-

-maybe they’ll all make it out of this-

-Jasper doesn’t want to be alone anymore-

-so he grabs Iolite’s waist as the rocks close in on thegem, and hugs him tight as he can.

And-

-something happens.

Jasper- Iolite- disappear.

Someone new opens his eyes, and finds himself strong enoughto kick the rocks out of the way.

Surprised laughter bursts out of him- he’d never been able to do that before- never so strong- and hebounds down the mountain towards the concerns that’re still pulling on him.

Pyrope is shielding Pearl with his body, though Pearl is fightinghim, saying they have to keep running, go back for the others-

-and a boulder bigger than them all is tumbling downstraight towards them-

-and Hiddenite catches it like nothing.

Wow, even Pearl seemstiny now, he laughs to himself. What a change! Pearl’s always been thetallest of them, and now he’s smaller than Hiddenite by at least two heads. Histwo sets of eyes crinkle as he smiles at his two friends, trying to bereassuring even though a large part of him just wants to run around and smashmore boulders.

“Don’t worry, guys!” Hiddenite says brightly. “I’ve- we’ve- I’ve got this!”

Pearl and Pyrope gape at him, and Hiddenite just laughs.

—-

Pyrope can’t stop staring at the fusion sitting in front ofthem; trying to wrap his head around seeing another cross-gem fusion.

He distantly wonders how Jade would have felt about it.

“So… you hugged, and it just… happened?” Pearl asks, eyeingHiddenite’s considerable size and double eye sets.

“Yeah, basically,” Hiddenite says with a careless shrug. Heflips the long hair he has on one side of his head, the mottled white and bluestrands cascading down his right side. The whole of Hiddenite is a mash ofblues and yellows, mixing into green where they overlap. The two sets of eyesare a little unnerving, since the directions they’re looking don’t always syncup, but otherwise… it’s a stable fusion. Hiddenite stands up off the boulderthey put him on, rolling his shoulders and grinning with hints of oddly sharpcanines. “This is kinda weird, I’m admitting that, but also pretty neat? I’m sobig, ha ha.”

“You’re not… upset?” Pyrope asks cautiously.

“Why would I be?” Hiddenite asks back, cocking his head tothe side. “Being me saved everyone, so it’s all good. Plus, I smashed like ten boulders, and carried everyonearound like nothing. This is officiallyone the best things I’ve ever gotten to do.”

“Cross-gem fusion is forbidden,” Pearl says quietly, stillnervously eyeing Hiddenite. “I’ve heard terrible stories of gems going insanewhen they fuse with gems outside their category types.” Pyrope averts his eyesfrom Pearl, hearing that statement. “Are you sure you feel fine?”

“I feel like I could fight a whole mountain! Again!”Hiddenite boasts with a laugh. Then he sobers, looking at his hands and pursinghis lips. “But. Uh. I’m not really sure how to go backwards? Its all- fuzzy and stuff. I mean, this is pretty nice,but I also wanna know how to be- me? Again? The other me’s. Not this me.”

Pearl glances at Pyrope, still looking uncomfortable withthe whole thing. Pyrope schools his expression into something neutral and stepstowards Hiddenite. The fusion between Iolite and Jasper have made them a lottaller, and he has to look upwards to meet their eyes.

“You just have to reach back into your memories, and findwho you were before,” He says slowly. “Or you can fall out of alignment byletting go of each other. You said Jasper grabbed Iolite when the rocks werecoming down, right? Well, mentally let go of each other. The danger’s over now.”

Hiddenite looks thoughtful, humming to himself and pacing inplace a bit. Pyrope ignores Pearl’s looks at him and the fusion, and waits forthe newborn Hiddenite to figure things out.

Hiddenite closes his multiple eyes, and takes a comicallybig breath. There’s a beat where nothing happens, then a flash of brilliantlight- and Iolite and Jasper are falling to the ground without grace. They landon their backs, and Jasper and Iolite stare at the sky in a dazed manner. Atleast until Jasper starts laughing wildly.

“Oh- oh my gods,” Jaspersays, smiling wide and excited. “That was so cool!!”

“I just fused with another gem,” Iolite says in a confusedvoice. “I- that’s really, really illegal. Oh my gods.”

“And it was the coolestthing ever! Can we do it again? I wanna smash all the boulders!”

“I- I’d have to arrest myself. Submit myself for trial and-oh gods, shattering.”

“Yeah but now you don’t have to, so let’s do it again!!”

“Oh my gods.”

Pyrope sighs, and figures this is something neither gems aregoing to let go for a good while.

“How did you know how to unfuse them?” Pearl whispers, closeto Pyrope’s side. “You- did you ever-?”

“A long time ago,” Pyrope says, old grief coming to himagain as Iolite and Jasper re-familiarize themselves with being separate beings,and with each other.

Pearl narrows his eyes, not hostilely, but in the way healways does when he’s curious about something. “And you weren’t shattered forit?”

“Not me,” Pyrope says. “But she was.”

Pearl pauses, and then puts a hand on Pyrope’s shoulder. “I’msorry for your loss,” He says softly, and with more sympathy than any other gembefore him. Which is- none.

No one cared if one gem was shattered, not with the crimethey’d committed together. They’d only cared that Pyrope hadn’t been shatteredalong with her.

“I’ll tell you about it later,” Pyrope says, brushing memoriesoff as well as Pearl’s hand. “We need to corral Jasper before he tries to forceanother fusion.”

Pearl hums in a way that means he’ll definitely be askingabout this later, but lets the subject drop in favor of going to help Ioliteshake off his daze, and helping Pyrope catch Jasper before the gem flingshimself at his fusion partner a second time.

#Request Night #my writing #tmnt gem au #aaaaaaaaaa bby fusions #fresh and new #a good boy #a sweet boy #leonardo #michelangelo #Donatello #raphael #in which we talk about how cool it is the smash boulders and raph's secret past #ha ha #this was a good ask thank you anon

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kettlequills · 7 years

Link

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Steven Universe (Cartoon) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Blue Diamond/Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), Brown Diamond/White Diamond Characters: Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond, White Diamond, Brown Diamond (OC) Additional Tags: Fusion, Slight horror Summary:

Young Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond go exploring in a forbidden wing of White Diamond's palace, and discover a hidden facet of White's dark past that could explain why they are the only ones of their kind.

Reforming was always an uncomfortable and exhausting process for Blue. She was reduced to her gem far more easily than any normal diamond should be, but familiarity only bred contempt for the process. She had changed nothing about her appearance, and fell forward in a heap of hair and cloak the moment the bright glow of her reformation dimmed.

Yellow caught her. The familiar safety of Yellow’s arms wrapping around her torso and holding upright was offset by Yellow’s irritated curses; Blue had fallen through several screens that Yellow was hastily dismissing with her free hand, the hot glow of sienna-orange across her cheeks indicating, had it been anyone else, that she had been up to something illicit.

Blue Diamond raised an eyebrow at her. Yellow avoided her eyes, slowly lowering both of them until Blue was draped across Yellow, sat cross-legged. Struggling to catch her breath from the reformation, Blue allowed her face to rest against Yellow’s shoulder, anchoring herself with Yellow’s warmth and solidity. The first few seconds afterwards were always the worst, her body felt pounded flat and stretched out, weak, as if a few hollow vibrations would shake her apart. Yellow held her with the cautious yet tight grip of someone who feared that she would evaporate out of her arms the moment Yellow looked away, her muscles tense and rigid, yet leaving a few millimetres of space between her arms and Blue to avoid direct contact, a constricting cage that aimed not to crush.

Blue breathed. Yellow always seem to smell of a combination of warm fabric and hot oil, like a rag dipped in paraffin, ready to combust. The heavy texture of her clothes was thick and rough against Blue’s cheek, raspy like an unshaven beard; Blue had always had sensitive skin, easy to tear like the peeled papery shell of an onion, somewhat translucent so that the shape of bones underneath showed through, round and bulbous. Their physical forms were as different as soft chalk and hearty cheese. Every inch of Yellow was compact with solid muscle with little extraneous fat, leaving her mannish in shape, small-breasted and thin-hipped with long, carded limbs and broad hands. White had called them bismuth’s paws, once, but Blue liked the dexterity of the stubby fingers with their short, rounded nails, the strength in the flat palms.

“Hello,” murmured Blue, eventually. She nestled her forehead into the crook of Yellow’s neck, Yellow’s sharp chin pressing briefly against her temple.

“You’re back,” said Yellow, relaxing some of her death grip on the space around Blue.

“You’re here.”

“Where else would I be?” asked Yellow rhetorically, quirking an eyebrow. In the green-tinted light of their shared chambers, her eyes glittered like pennies, and her blush deep brown-ochre.

“You have your own duties to attend to,” said Blue, batting back. White did not leave them idle, she seemed to think that they would cause trouble if they had nothing to do. Which, considering the events that had led to Blue being reduced her gem, seemed in hindsight very reasonable.

“I did some work, whilst you were gone.” Yellow avoided her eyes, the colour over her nose and cheeks deepening. She was so obviously evading the truth that Blue felt the need to restrain a smile. It was a testament to Yellow’s resilient character that she still tried to hide things from Blue, despite knowing how ultimately futile it would be.

With a few impatient flicks of her fingers, she brought up some glowing white screens. Around them, complex mathematical sketches leapt into view, the design for some new ship, notes and annotations made in Yellow’s angular and spidery writing. By the look of it, she had been improving the design of the ship she had been working on in her free time before their adventure into the bowels of the palace’s unused west wing. The design looked completely different from the last time she had seen it. It would have taken a team of peridots thousands of rotations to suggest the advanced technological changes that came so readily and easily to Yellow.

“How long?” The question came out in a papery sigh. Blue felt Yellow swallow.

“Two hundred and twelve point nine one seven standard rotations, eighteen hours, thirty three minutes and approximately fourteen seconds,” Yellow answered, as exact as ever.

“And you honestly expect me to believe, that those,” said Blue, gesturing at the ship designs around them, “occupied this“, she tapped the centre of Yellow’s forehead with one fingertip, “for over two-hundred rotations of being stuck in one room? Because if I know you at all, and I do, you haven’t left me or this room once since you brought me here.”

Yellow’s cheeks flushed such a deep orange that it spread down her neck and, Blue knew, over her chest. “Yes,” she insisted stubbornly.

“Yellow, what is the use of trying to lie to me?” Blue inquired. “Even if it wasn’t to me, you’re terrible at it.”

“It’s not finished,” said Yellow, with a definite hint of petulance. “You’re not allowed to look unless it’s finished!”

“You’re still going to show me anyway,” Blue said, a sly grin creeping over her face. “Come on Yellow, don’t force me to make you show me.” She hooked one arm around Yellow’s broad shoulders, lightly tugging on the short hairs of the nape of Yellow’s neck.

“Blue-! That’s not fair!” Yellow whined.

Blue’s fingernails scratched faintly over Yellow’s scalp, her skinny, bony fingers pushing with slight difficulty through Yellow’s thick, messy hair. “This is more tangle than hair, Yellow. I never understand how you make it so… stiff.”

“Force of will,” muttered Yellow, deeply disgruntled. She was blushing again, trying to hide it behind gruffness.

“Show me what you’re working on.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No!”

“Show me anyway?”

“BLUE!”

“You want to show me.”

“I don’t!

“You do!”

“It’s not finished!”

“You’re still going to show me anyway!” Blue wheedled.

“Fine!” cried Yellow, explosively. “But you’re not allowed to say anything, it’s still in its design stages, and you were gone so some of the measurements are a little inaccurate, and well – here.”

Carefully, Yellow lifted Blue and set her against the wall, then flung herself to her feet, dismissing the ship design screens with a few violent swipes of her hand and tapping in a quick access code. New screens appeared in a blaze of light around them in the circular panoramic style that Yellow preferred when she was designing, highly technical equations sprawling down the left side, in neat rows like soldiers lining up for parade, the right occupied with odd esoteric sketches – an arm, broken down to muscle and bone, thick tubes like borrowing grubs inserted into the sketch, a foot, some odd contraption that Blue thought was a spine, metals jotted akimbo for their properties questioned beside them, everywhere, questions and concepts outlined in glowing text, angry negations next to many of them, queries – as if someone had opened up Yellow’s head and removed the feverish thought process and printed it in the form of flickering light screens, relentlessly creative, fastidiously detailed with numbers and symbols personal to Yellow that Blue couldn’t hope to decode, shorthand for theories of physics and biology and matter that Blue hadn’t even heard of.

Blue’s triumphant smirk faded into confusion, and something like wonder. Yellow was pacing, explaining hurriedly, embarrassed, every statement punctuated with some agonised comment about how it wasn’t yet finished, how everything was still so rushed.

“Yellow,” Blue interrupted, “it looks very detailed but…”

“You don’t like it.” Yellow’s shoulders slumped and bowed as if she had just been slapped, and her hands fidgeted with each other, awkward and ashamed and suddenly too aware of the space that she took up in the room. She always seemed to grow taller like this, bulkier; trying to minimise a massive body only made her more obvious. Blue hated to see her do it.

“It was only an idea,” Yellow hurried on, half-frantic, “You don’t have to like it of course. I should have asked first, I was just thinking, it was my fault that you were – gone – if I had been faster, and you were stuck with me, and I was just – transfixed, like, like some lowcut in thrall to her, and-“ Shame was burning in her golden eyes, lowered, on her cheeks, saturated the apologetic, self-recriminatory way she spoke.

Alarmed, Blue had to raise her voice and call Yellow’s name several times before Yellow seemed to hear her. She froze in the act of another apology, the words dying in her mouth.

“Yellow, it looks very detailed,” Blue repeated, firmly, “but I have no idea what it is.”

“Oh.” Yellow blinked. She blushed brilliantly. “It’s a suit. For-for you, Blue. It-uh… There are these tubes of water, like this,” she was illustrating as she spoke, “that connect to you like this, like rods, you see, and – made of some flexible material, something watertight, I was thinking that new wire insulator that that morganite found on Tantalus III – and you move the water in the rods instead of your arms, and it helps you move, like this –“ The quick crude sketch she was drawing demonstrated the pull of muscle and the rod of water being moved in unison.

“It’s an exoskeleton,” said Blue in dawning wonder, “to support me. I could – I could move, using my hydrokinesis, I could walk.”

“Yes, quite,” said Yellow. “That was rather the intention.” She clasped her hands nervously behind her back, looking for all the world like a naughty quartz presenting a faulty report to their agate.

Blue was caught in a storm of emotions, dawning joy, and a numb, wordless awe. “Yellow,” she heard herself say rather faintly, “Come here, just, come here.”

Diffidently, Yellow approached, kneeling beside Blue. Slowly, and with difficulty, Blue reached up and hugged her, slumping against Yellow’s chest with a strained gasp. Yellow wrapped her arms around Blue, supporting her reflexively, and pressed her nose into Blue’s hair.

“Is it – all right?” Yellow asked, quietly.

“It’s wonderful. You’re wonderful.” Blue’s voice sounded thin and choked. Her eyes burned. Yellow said nothing, but let Blue hide her face against Yellow’s shoulder, and pretended not to notice when Blue’s thin frame shook in the attempt to restrain tears.

“Can you actually make this?” Blue asked finally, rather watery, not quite daring to hope.

“Of course.” Yellow drew back and cupped Blue’s face between her hands, her gold tawny eyes intent and fierce. Her breath was hot as it fanned over Blue’s face, her eyes hotter still. She had a way of looking at Blue like Blue was the only thing that mattered in the world, like Blue was the only thing that existed, just the two of them, together in this private moment that seemed to stretch on forever.

“Good,” whispered Blue. She cleared her throat, breaking the moment, “I will look forward to being able to hit you for the stupid comment you made.”

“What?” Yellow looked bewildered.

“It wasn’t your fault,” said Blue. Immediately Yellow turned their head away, the beginnings of a protest on her lips. Blue spoke over her. “I poofed because White threw us both into the wall with considerable force. It’s not the first time that White has made me reform and I don’t think it will be the last. What’s the use of blaming yourself for things you can’t change?”

“It doesn’t work that way, Blue,” said Yellow. “If she’d asked me to roll over and crack my gem, I would have. I was useless. If she had actually wanted to hurt us –“

“But she didn’t, and she wouldn’t,” Blue said. “White – White looks after the things that are hers. You’ve seen how she is with her pearls. We’re not like real diamonds to her, we’re like… big pearls.”

“I am, even if you aren’t,” said Yellow miserably. “I behaved like a pearl, back there. If you hadn’t done that thing to make us big…”

“It’s called fusion,” said Blue softly. “We… fused.”

Yellow looked at her, and Blue saw that she didn’t understand what had happened, and what words could be possibly used to explain what they’d done? It was fusion, taboo, illicit, dangerous, and Blue had led blindly trusting and naive Yellow right into it.

“If anything, it’s my fault,” she said. “No, you don’t understand – what we did… We can never do it again.”

Yellow opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and looked away. Suddenly the gaps between their knowledge seemed too vast, an unbridgeable gap. How could Blue explain to Yellow the impact of their ill-conceived fusion?

Blue remembered White’s rage, and said nothing. She leaned against Yellow, who held her tighter. Yellow wasn’t stupid, in fact she was the furthest thing from it. She had probably garnered an inkling.

There were moments that Blue considered, in hindsight, as perfect timing. Barely had the taboo subject of fusion died then a knock, so understandably heavy that they left no doubt who was behind it, rapped on the door. Three knocks, precise and clear.

Yellow and Blue jumped apart like naughty children. The door slid open, and White Diamond stood, silhouetted in the light from the corridor, her pale face cast in deep clefts of shadow, like primordial canyon with two fallen stars blazing at the very bottom. The dull jewels she wore glittered and clinked on their silver chains, and her cloak swept at her heels as she stepped forwards, austere, into the room, the door closing with a final sounding hssh behind her.

Penned in, Blue and Yellow watched her with the same wariness they would afford to a baited predator circling particularly stupid prey. White did not approach, but remained pitted in shadow at the door, looming above them both like a pinnacle of perfection they could never reach.

“White Diamond,” said Yellow, rising smoothly to her feet, shoulders back, jaw tilted, almost unintentionally aggressive. Blue murmured her own greeting.

“Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond,” White replied.

“You have good timing,” said Blue. “I am barely half an hour out of my gem.”

White inclined her head, her rich smooth voice as equal as ever. “I have cameras in this room. I like to watch you both.”

Yellow and Blue shot each other dubious looks. No one really seemed to know what to say in the wake of that revelation.

“I… see,” said Blue diplomatically. Yellow had gone the colour of sour milk.

Despite White’s apparent belief that this was perfectly normal behaviour, there was nevertheless a definite hesitation before White’s next words, carefully formal. “It pleases me to see you both restored. There is no lasting damage, I trust?”

“No, thank you,” said Blue. Yellow said nothing, but remained wary and tense.

Silence fell, and dragged its feet through the dust. No one spoke, and the atmosphere became decidedly awkward. Blue wanted to tell Yellow to at least back down a little, so it didn’t look so much like she was trying to threaten White, wanted to ask why White had even bothered to come.

Eventually, it was White who broke the silence. “I must ask –“ Uncharacteristically, her voice faltered. She shifted where she stood, and one pale hand came up to thumb at one of the brown jewels on her neck. Cautiously, she stepped forward, into the light. It struck her, gilded the lily, like a polished ivory statue. “You will not visit the west wing again,” she commanded in a voice more like her usual one.

Pugnacious, Yellow folded her arms, her stare unexpectedly sharp despite the fact that she had to tilt her head up to look White in the eye. “And may we ask why?”

“It is not unreasonable,” said White vaguely.

She seemed oddly troubled, approaching Blue slowly. Yellow stiffened, half-shifting her stance in front of Blue protectively. White took absolutely no notice of Yellow’s posturing, and lowered herself, very gingerly, to sit on the floor beside Blue. Yellow, standing alone, looked out of place, and sat too, barely mollified and still scowling. They arranged themselves in an awkward trio, White staring off in the middle distance between them, her thumb absently running over the brown jewel hanging from her neck.

“The planet below us was not always barren,” began White, in the unsteady tone of someone who was not used to telling stories, “It is… the original home world. I emerged there, many thousands of years ago, when gem kind was still young and living in scattered tribes, constantly warring with each other...”

She trailed off. White’s gaze was pulled downwards, as if by an unseen weight. She did not look at them. Still, her hand fiddled with the jewel on its silver chain. The dull jewels flashed and sparkled faintly in the light – her belt buckle, the clasp of her cloak, around her neck, rings, set into her boots. Blue had never seen her unadorned with them.

“I was not the only diamond on home world at that time… I was found by another, when I was days old… She found me singing to the stars, said… ‘You’re doing it wrong. How do you expect to sing when you’re not even breathing from the gut properly?’” An odd sort of expression crossed White’s face, as if she couldn’t decide whether to smile or to grimace. “It was something of a trade. I would fight for her and the gems she supported – even then, we were the leaders and protectors of lesser gems – and she would teach me to sing as sweetly as she did. Now, of course, I realise that she got the better end of the deal… I was perfect, and for as long as I remained at her side, we were unstoppable…”

“What was her name?” asked Blue, quietly. White startled a little, as if she had forgotten they were there.

“Brown Diamond,” she replied, and then, almost as if she was correcting herself, “She was a brown. Defective, of course, they all were back then, apart from me.”

Her hand around the jewel at her neck clenched into a fist, white-knuckled with strain. “It wasn’t like the empire today,” she told them, almost beseechingly, and her grey eyes lifted, almost soft, if it wasn’t White they were talking about, to look at Yellow. Yellow swallowed, avoided White’s eyes.

“Defective gems, raised without order, rebellious, selfish – they needed to be shown a new way, a better way. They had to be shown… purity.” Now her eyes were strong again, burning, almost alight with a remembered religious fervour, sick. “When a plant sickens, the infected and dead must be… cut away, to improve the breed. For the greater good of gemkind, a certain few individuals had to be… sacrificed.”

White spoke urgently, passionately, as if the need to explain her reasons for the dreadful deed that Yellow had already worked out, her face whitening with unadulterated horror, fear, disgust – as if White was a monster, was of the utmost importance to her.

“You shattered them. You shattered – you shattered all of the other diamonds. Because they were defective,” Yellow whispered. Defective, like us, went unsaid, hung as heavy and potent as a guillotine blade between them.

Blue sucked in a horrified breath. Instinctively, she shrunk away from White, towards Yellow, whose arm clutched her close. Blue pressed against her, tried to remember how to form Green. If they took White by surprise –

“No, no, my dear Yellow, not because they were defective!” White laughed, sharp and shrill and false. Her eyes were still sick with hate. “They were dangerous. They were plotting against me. It was self-defence! They were going to shatter me, they hated me because I was perfect… It was a matter of time… It had to be done. And hasn’t it been for the better? Look how we flourish now… They didn’t know their place. Not like you two, my dears, my flawed jewels… You are obedient. You are subservient to me. You know your place in the natural order is beneath me, for I am pure and you are not… You know this…”

“Yes, we do, my Diamond,” whispered Blue. Yellow’s head bowed, jerkily. She was trembling against Blue. “We are yours… To keep or shatter as you see fit… Your judgement is beyond question…”

White reached out, vindicated, as if bestowing holiness upon them, and gathered them to her. Yellow’s spine bent stiffly into the embrace, then, almost longingly, she melted into White, who kissed the top of her head. Blue, slumped against her side, tried to breathe past the overwhelming song of White’s thunderous presence. Being close to her was like living in the eye of a storm – the air tasted of ozone and electric.

The song of her gem was overpoweringly loud, but this close, Blue began to realise that there was a strange dissonance to it. As if it were not one song, but many. She opened her eyes, wincing a little at the warped song. The dull brown jewel at White Diamond’s neck glittered subtly in the light. This close, Blue realised it was hazed all over with cracks, as if it were shattered pieces, stuck together. In fact, thought Blue, it almost seemed as if the strange dissonance in White Diamond’s gemsong was coming from the shattered gems that Blue Diamond had always taken for ugly ornaments.

White Diamond kept her possessions close. The shattered diamonds from the mural were all right here, decorating their murderer like gory trophies.

“They were not like you, my dear flawed jewels,” crooned White Diamond. “You know your place.”

Blue bit down a scream of horror as Brown Diamond’s shattered gem in its ornamental silver casing fell against her cheek. Beside her, she heard Yellow whisper rapturous agreement.

“They left me no choice,” White Diamond murmured. “They would not consent to being kept.”

#white diamond #diamond authority #blue diamond #inkwrites #steven universe #my fic under the dust

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kettlequills · 7 years

Link

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Blue Diamond/Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), Brown Diamond/White Diamond

Characters: Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond, White Diamond, Brown Diamond (OC)

Additional Tags: Fusion, disabled!Blue/Yellow

“Young Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond go exploring in a forbidden wing of White Diamond's palace, and discover a hidden facet of White's dark past that could explain why they are the only ones of their kind.”

The day that young Yellow and Blue learned to truly fear their formidable elder, White Diamond, was the same day they learned that diamonds were not as unbreakable as they had been taught.

It started with a clandestine exploration into the unused parts of the west wing of the lunar palace White ruled Homeworld’s empire from. Homeworld itself had been tunnelled and torn asunder many centuries ago, and was now a fractured and unstable shell of the powerful planet it had been once. Supposedly, gemkind had been born there. Yellow doubted it. It looked so weak and broken.

The west wing was the oldest part of the palace, and the walls were made of some rough organic stone, pitted and scarred with age. It was a far cry from the rest of the palace, austere and dignified. Even the ceilings were stooped low, strange powdery remnants dusted along the guttering of the once ornately tiled floors. The decayed breath of grandeur was almost tangible, as if the ghost music that had once been played here still filled the empty hallways.

“We are not supposed to be here,” Blue was hissing, but she still craned her head around to see everything from her vantage point in Yellow’s arms. Her dark hair unspooled over her shoulders and swished as Yellow walked, brushing Yellow’s knees. One arm was hooked around Yellow’s neck, and the gem on her chest blazed brightly, lighting the way.

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Yellow teased, peering into each darkened passageway with innate curiosity. She carried Blue effortlessly, the measured tread of her steps echoing off the empty walls.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Blue replied tartly.

“Only because you’d fear me accidentally cracking myself if you let me go alone,” countered Yellow.

“You attract disasters like magnetite. It would be irresponsible to let you go alone, and you’re so stubborn I knew you’d go exploring eventually, with or without me.” Blue did not mention the fact that she herself would be useless without Yellow to carry her, or that she would spend the entire time worrying until she came back.

“I’m hurt by your lack of confidence – wait, what’s that?” Yellow’s sharp eyes had caught the gleam of metal down one passageway they had passed. Without waiting for Blue’s approval, she turned around and headed towards the glint.

“I believe,” said Blue as they drew closer, “that’s commonly known as a door, Yellow.”

“I knew that!” Yellow snapped. “I wonder where it leads?”

Resettling her hold on Blue to free one hand, despite Blue’s aggravated protests, Yellow pushed experimentally against the door. It barely moved, but it did budge the barest crack. It was very cold, very stiff, and by the look of it, quite ancient.

“Hold on a minute, Blue,” said Yellow absentmindedly, gently setting Blue Diamond down on the floor. Blue propped herself against the wall and watched with curiosity as Yellow set her shoulder against the door.

Yellow slammed her shoulder into the metal, slightly overzealously. The metal buckled and shrieked its surrender instantly, sending Yellow staggering forward into the uncovered room. The foul stench of old air flooded out, and Blue’s eyes stung. Coughing, she waited for the noxious gas to pass. Yellow was still inside the room; Blue heard her hushed gasp of amazement.

“Blue, you need to see this.”

Awkwardly peering around the doorway as much she could without leaning on her weak arms, Blue demanded with no small amount of impatience, “What is it? Tell me!”

But Yellow didn’t answer, instead she strode back to Blue, her eyes alight and burning with delight at a puzzle. She was grinning, a great wild sort of grin, like the one of feverish ecstasy she had given Blue the first time they had met, and Blue had told her that she was a diamond just like Yellow. To Yellow, born without the intuitive knowledge of all gems, the unexpected knowledge that she had a companion who was rather more sympathetic to her disadvantage than White had been was tremendously important. Blue had felt rather the same.

She reached down and scooped up Blue as if she weighed nothing more than a sack of feathers, which, Blue supposed she did to Yellow’s seemingly boundless physical strength. In the few short steps it took Yellow to reach the inside of the room, Blue puzzled over what could have enticed Yellow so. Some secret of White’s? Despite herself, Blue found herself deeply curious.

She lit up her gem without being asked as soon as they crossed the threshold. The brightness bounced back off the wall almost blindingly, and immediately she lowered the intensity of the light – then stared in wonder.

It was a mural. Veins of faintly luminescent rock shot through the polished metal, curving shapes that filled shadows on the wall. It was a bas-relief of metal and rock, bumpy and rigid, a tapestry of texture. The strange, powerful figures it depicted were done in a style completely alien to the clinical white functionality of Homeworld. It was like nothing Yellow or Blue had ever seen.

The deep clefts and shadows spilled across faces twisted forever into hideous war cries. Raised edges like scars depicted gems, all over their bodies, lumpy and malformed. They were all shapes and sizes, all shades of brown and white and grey, completely unrecognisable from any organised gem type Blue knew. There was a fierce primal brutality in the primordial struggle, gems clawing at other with clubby hands and teeth, fighting like animals in the dirt, reckless and vicious in their struggle for survival. To Yellow and Blue, raised in the superiority of the gem empire, never having raised a weapon anything in their lives, it was world changing, life shattering, stupendously at odds with the principles they had been raised with from the moment they had emerged.

“Who are they, Blue?” asked Yellow in wonder. She stepped to the left to examine some part of the mural more closely, then froze as shifting Blue’s shining gem caused navy shadows flicker across the walls, making it appear as if the fighting gems were about to leap from the confinement of the rock.

It stung to admit her ignorance. “I don’t know,” said Blue. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Yellow glanced down her, quickly, no doubt as off-balance as Blue was. They were both used to Blue explaining away all the gaps in Yellow’s knowledge. For the first time, it seemed to sink in that they had found something important, something that had no doubt been buried for a reason.

“Wait – take a closer look at this one,” said Yellow, her sharper eyes noting a bizarre familiarity with the touch of dread. “She has a diamond on her forehead, just like…” Her voice trailed off, and her yellow cheeks turned a sickly jaundice yellow.

“White,” Blue completed in a mere whisper.

The figure was undoubtedly White Diamond. Her features had been lovingly carved, right down to the familiar narrow slant of the disapproving eyes. Her expression was so wholly alien that it was a wonder Yellow had recognised her at all. Her face was warped into a snarl of leviathan proportions, a bitter fury of hate and battle-lust that made shivers run down their spines. In one hand, she wielded a wicked mace, which was cracking down on the skull of another gem with a diamond set in her shoulder. At her side, there was a shorter gem, brown, who clasped White Diamond’s free hand and wielded a crude spear in her other.

“Diamonds fighting diamonds,” Yellow said in a strange fascinated horror. “I didn’t know – I thought White was the only diamond.”

“She was!” Blue insisted. “I’ve never heard mention of anyone else – well apart from us – there never were other diamonds!”

“Well,” said Yellow logically, “clearly there were, otherwise someone wouldn’t have carved them all like this. It’s far too detailed for imagination. Right?”

“Then… What happened to them? Why aren’t they still… here?”

Blue and Yellow shared a look of fear and shock. Trepidation crawled up Blue’s spine. If they were caught – Blue had no doubt that White would be furious to know that they had uncovered this secret.

“We really shouldn’t be here,” Blue whispered.

“No,” grated horribly familiar voice from behind them, “you really shouldn’t.”

Later, Blue would remember that Yellow’s first instinct was to whirl around and hold Blue tighter, protectively, angling her shoulders down so that a blow might fall there instead of hitting Blue, and feel a startling warmth for her. But in that moment, there was nothing but pure terror, and a nasty, creeping, crawling guilt.

“White!” She heard herself shriek, felt herself clutch convulsively onto Yellow.

White Diamond was silhouetted in the doorway, a massive and furious shape. Hot bright fury radiated from her palpably; Blue could just see the burn of her incandescent pale eyes, the savage glow of her gem as she fought the urge to draw her weapon. With her shoulders squared and tense, her hands knotted into fists, she looked angrier than Blue had ever seen her, angrier even when they had both come out defective.

She did not shout. It was worse than shouting. Instead her voice was low and tightly controlled, each word spat with effort around clenched teeth. The fact that she did not shout told them both how hard she was forcing a far worse reaction down.

“You know this wing is off-limits, and you defied me, in complete awareness of this knowledge.”

Neither of them were stupid enough to lie to her face. Blue found herself shaking, quivering pathetically. She had never liked confrontation, certainly not against White, the pure pinnacle of gem perfection. Yellow’s thumb smoothed against her knee, comfortingly reminding her that she was not alone. Blue felt Yellow’s body coiling with wiry muscle, preparing to spring to either side, preparing for a fight.

White noticed. Blue saw her nostrils flare, the wind moaned low outside. She could physically hear White’s teeth grinding in an effort to control herself.

“Do you mock me?” White enquired, low and dangerous. “Do you soil the one place I have left untouched?”

“Mock you?” The words burst out of Blue before she could hold them back. “How could we –“

“DO NOT LIE TO ME!”

White’s voice thundered through the room so loudly the walls shook and dust rained down from the ceiling. The force of it drove Yellow to one knee, and Blue felt herself glitch in response to the overpowering cry. Desperately, she scrabbled for control over her physical form, grasping onto Yellow to stabilise herself. Apparently noticing the effect her unbridled voice had on them, White visibly reigned herself in.

After a short moment when they both appeared to have recovered, White spoke again at almost a hiss. Her cloak flapped around her ankles and an imposing wind bore down into the small room, scouring the walls.

“Do you seek to challenge me?” Her eyes were alight with cold hate and an ancient panic, distorting her noble face. She stalked closer, every inch of her body taut and straight and radiating with power, positively rolling off her like a particularly intoxicating perfume. She was gloriously unhinged in threat, magnificent in her poison presence, like a snow leopard closing in on wounded prey too starstruck to run away.

This time, it was Yellow who shivered.

Only Blue seemed aware of the sudden and imminent danger White posed. She tugged on Yellow, weakly at first then with increasing vigour when Yellow didn’t respond. White’s shadow loomed over them, grand and cold. Her gem was glowing, pulsing with anticipation for a fight. Yellow’s gem flickered uncertainly in response, and Blue hastily tried to muffle it with her robe.

“Of –“ Blue started, but White moved so suddenly that she panicked. Barely a moment later, Blue knew it for a feint, but the damage had been done.

Instinctively, she had grabbed for Yellow, but Blue had fatally misjudged Yellow’s trance of receptivity. Everything of Yellow flooded into her and was known in turn, and bright white light overwhelmed her as her mind fell apart like it had been unravelled at the seams, their edges fitting together like puzzle pieces put back together after a lifetime of separation, and everything that was Yellow and Blue mixed seamlessly into something that wasn’t quite either of them, but felt like something new and the same and coming home all at once.

For half a second, Green Diamond and White Diamond stared at each other with identical expressions of incredulity on their faces. And then, in an instant, White reacted.

Her mace formed in her hand in a flash of light, and with a roar, she sprang at Green Diamond, who tried to backpedal and tripped over legs that felt far too long, banging her head on the low ceiling. Instinctively, Green swung a fist at White, who expertly dodged, using Green’s overextended punch to duck under her arm and swing her mace at Green’s unprotected head. Through pure dumb luck rather than any sort of expertise, one of Green’s flailing hands hit White with enough force to send her crashing to the floor. A twist of wind had White back on her almost immediately, but she didn’t charge again, circling warily at the edge of the inexperienced Green’s reach, judging her for weaknesses.

White smiled, and it was not a nice smile. She inhaled, steadily, and the wind around her rose, whipping in her cloak and tossing her hair, building to such a cyclone fury that White lifted from the floor. The mustering of her power was a slow show designed to intimidate, and it worked, paralysed, Green cringed back against the rough wall. She knew suddenly as surely she knew anything else that what was coming would not be pleasant.

Then White howled.

The volume of her voice struck Green Diamond like a physical blow. It was overwhelming, immeasurably painful, and wiped away anything, any thought in its sheer overpowering intensity. The fusion wobbled, clung on for a moment longer, then split apart with such force that the two components rocketed across the room as if they were polarised magnets. Blue Diamond hit the wall with an audible crack and instantly her form vanished into white smoke. The thud of Yellow’s landing shook the room, and masked the sad little clink Blue Diamond’s gem made as it hit the floor.

White allowed the gathered winds to dissipate, breathing deeply to calm herself. Her gem was still glowing with the brightness of a sun. Yellow stirred with a dull groan, glitching as she struggled to move. She managed to raise herself on one elbow, staring hazily across the room and trying to remember something important.

There was someone – there was someone –

White watched blankly as Yellow flung herself to her feet and all but launched herself across the room to the yellow-flecked blue diamond unprotected on the floor. White wondered if Yellow knew she was babbling nonsense as she gathered the gem in her hands with impossible gentleness, checking every facet for a single scratch. Yellow uttered a deep groan when Blue was unharmed, hunching over her gem convulsively.

“Calm yourself,” White heard herself saying harshly. “It’s pathetic. It would take far more than that to shatter a diamond. I know.”

Yellow twisted to look at her, and White saw sudden fear congeal in her eyes, and felt that fear strike her as if it were White herself who had hit the wall. The wound reopened too many others, old ones, and White bypassed shame to retreat straight back to the comforting numbness of anger.

“Get out!” She ordered, “Take her with you!”

Yellow Diamond did not need to be told twice. Clutching Blue’s gem to her, she scurried from the room.

The dark eyes of the mural watched White. Suddenly anguished, she gazed up into those implacable stone eyes, begging those silent shadows of the past only she remembered for something they were incapable of granting. Brown Diamond, loyally at White Diamond’s side forever in the rock carved before the centuries that had split them apart, seemed to soften her countenance, and maybe it was the flickering light, but she shook her head in disapproval weighted like hammer blows.

“What are you looking at?” White snarled, then turned on her heel and left the ghosts to their forgotten darkness.

#inkwrites #steven universe #diamond authority #my fic under the dust

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