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minijenn · 7 years

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Universe Falls Chapter 36

Mmmm k so yeah this one is sorta average but honestly I’m just glad its done? Like I said, every damn one of these chapters is getting me closer and closer to Dipper and Lapis and I just can’t fucking wait for that one oh god my soul will be ripped from my body when I write it. But as for this one, it certainly has its good moments, I think. So I hope you enjoy it!

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/161587257423/universe-falls-chapter-35-part-3

Chapter 36: Rose’s Scabbard

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As the summer weeks continued to roll by, it had become something of an unspoken custom for the Gems to bring Steven, Dipper, and Mabel along on their less-dangerous missions. Their reasoning for this was twofold, mostly as a response to the kids pleading to join them but also because they made for good company, livening up what would have otherwise been boring, routine trips and investigations. And much like the past several adventures the kids had accompanied the Gems on, this one was no exception to them providing their own varied brands of intrigue and amusement.

The destination of their exploration today was quite far from Gravity Falls, practically an entire continent away though merely a few minute’s trip by warp pad. It was a vast, wide, hilly landscape, with countless earthen platforms of all sizes somehow suspended aloft in the sun-speckled sky. Though what really made this locale interesting were two distinct features: massive, daunting, ancient weapons of all different kinds, digging into the ground that served as the fertile home for countless oversized wild strawberries, growing as far as the eye could see, something that particularly peaked Steven and Mabel’s shared interest.

“I’ve never seen so many strawberries in one place before!” Steven quipped, grinning as he passed by one of the aforementioned fruits that happened to be nearly as big as he was. “They all look so tasty!”

“I know, right?” Mabel smirked as she plucked another one of the smaller (but still quite large) strawberries, adding them to the hefty armful she had already collected. “I can’t wait to get these babies home and turn them into something even tastier. I could make a huge strawberry shortcake! Or the world’s biggest strawberry sundae! Or, if I find a bunch of other giant fruits, a really big fruit salad!”

“Ok, but am I the only one who’s wondering why all of these strawberries are so big in the first place?” Dipper asked with a curious frown as he passed by a particularly massive one. “Or better yet, why all of these huge weapons are just lying around everywhere?”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful question, Dipper!” Pearl cut in with a bright smile as she eagerly shared her wisdom on the matter. “This field was the site of a historic battle. Every weapon here was left by a Gem over 5,000 years ago!”

“Whoa, no way!” Steven exclaimed, sharing an awestruck expression with the twins. “That’s so cool!”

“And all these weapons are so pretty!” Mabel added as she looked over at a towering broadsword nearby. “Why would anybody just leave them behind?”

“These weapons serve as the final memorials to the Gems who met their heroic ends here!” Pearl exclaimed with a dramatic flair. “I don’t like to disturb them, but Garnet says we can’t just leave them lying around.”

As the white Gem said this, Garnet picked up a massive battle axe from the strawberry patch nearby, slinging it over her shoulder with not much effort at all, despite how much larger than her it was. “Never know when you might need one of these.”

“I need one of those all the time!” Steven quipped, stars of excitement in his eyes.

“So do I!” Mabel exclaimed, just as enthused. “Can we take some giant weapons home too, Pearl?”

“Mabel, come on,” Dipper interjected with a scoff. “These things are huge, deadly weapons. We can’t just carry them back to the shack like they’re plain old souvenirs! ...Can we?” He asked, directing said question to the white Gem.

“O-oh, well I do suppose that is what we’re here to do in the first place, isn’t it?” Pearl shrugged with a small smile. “But still, instead of a lumbering war axe, why don’t you kids look for something that’s more... you?”

“Done and done!” Mabel grinned, dropping her load of strawberries as she ran over to a tall purple sabre, placing a hand on its dull side and grinning up to its hilt proudly. “This one just screams me, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah it does!” Steven readily agreed.

“Mabel, that thing’s bigger than you are,” Dipper pointed out as he went over to join her. “How are you even going to get it out of the ground, much less back to the warp pad?”

“With your help, duh!” Mabel rolled her eyes. “Now, come on! If we both pull hard enough, I’m sure we can pull this up and drag it home! It’s gonna look so cool hanging over my bed!”

“As if it would even fit over your bed,” Dipper remarked sarcastically, but even so, he consented in helping his sister in trying to lift the heavy weapon up out of its long-time resting place. As she watched their rather futile attempt to even get the sword to budge, Amethyst let out an amused chuckle, one that Garnet shook her head in disapproval over.

Inspired by the twin’s excellent find, Steven grew even more zealous for the idea of finding a weapon of his own among this impressive collection. “Ok, Lion! Come help me look!” he called to the pink beast, who simply turned and walked away at this prompting, as stoically as ever. “Aw, come on!”

“You really need to train that thing better,” Pearl commented, crossing her arms as she watched Lion saunter over to a nearby cluster of strawberries.

“Oh, we’ve been making progress!” Steven informed brightly. “Now he even looks at me when I say his name! Watch: Lion!” Of course, the pink beast did anything but heed the young Gem’s call, far too distracted by digging through the patch of leaves before him to even spare him a single glance. “Lion!” Steven tried again, only to get the same result. “Lion!” By the third attempt, the young Gem realized that Lion likely wasn’t going to listen at all. “Uh... sometimes, he does...”

Pearl frowned dubiously at this, though her attention was peaked as the pink beast finally did lift his head up, revealing that he was now carrying something he had apparently found in the dirt in his maw. “What’s he got now?” she asked curiously, though her confusion quickly changed into a shocked gasp upon seeing exactly what Lion had managed to retrieve. “It’s the scabbard for Rose’s sword!”

“Really?!” Steven exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this. He only got a glance at the large, bright pink scabbard as Pearl began prying it away from Lion, eventually succeeding in claiming it and shooing the sullen pink beast away. Still, the fact that it apparently belonged to his deceased mother was more than enough to peak the young Gem’s interest. “Hey, guys!” he called to Garnet, Amethyst, and the twins. “Get over here and check this out!”

They did so, Dipper and Mabel leaving the sword they made essentially no progress on pulling out of the ground behind for the moment as they headed over to get a better look at the scabbard Pearl was proudly holding out for them all to see. The pink sheath was rather simple in design, visibly sturdy and hardly even damaged at all, despite being exposed to the elements of the battlefield for countless centuries. In fact, the only other noticeable things about it aside from its size and coloration was the familiar rose emblem associated with the pink Gem herself marked on both sides and the fact that it was noticeably empty.

“Whoa... It’s so beautiful...” Mabel gushed, amazed as she looked over the scabbard. “What is it?”

“It’s a scabbard, Mabel,” Dipper informed somewhat caustically, though both Steven and Mabel only replied with blank looks of confusion. “You know, the thing you put a sword inside?”

“Ohhh,” the pair nodded in mutual understanding, neither of aware that there was an actual word for such a thing until now.

“And to be honest, I think this scabbard looks... sort of familiar...” Dipper remarked, pulling the journal out of his vest as he began to curiously flip through it.

“What?” Pearl blinked, her smile at this find instantly fading upon hearing such a claim, though she was quick to pick it up again with something of a forced laugh. “Oh, you must be thinking of another scabbard, Dipper. This scabbard has been missing for years now. Why, it’s been centuries since I’ve seen it myself! Until now, of course.”

“Uh, no, I’m pretty sure this is it,” Dipper said upon finding a sketch within the journal that was remarkably similar to the very sheath Pearl held in her hands. “I mean, the author didn’t label it or anything, but it looks exactly like that scabbard, see?”

The white Gem frowned suspiciously as she briefly glanced over the image on the open page, which was indeed identical to the scabbard, right down to it even being bereft of the sword it was meant to contain. A brief hint of alarm and confusion filled her expression, though she was very quick to suppress it with more dismissiveness. “O-oh, well... I’m sure that’s just a mere coincidence,” she scoffed, turning her nose up at the book. “After all, the scabbard is quite simple in its design. Whoever wrote that journal probably just assumed what the scabbard would have looked like and drew that.”

“What? A coincidence?” Dipper asked, confused and somewhat annoyed at how Pearl was simply passing this depiction off like it was nothing. “But how would he have-”

“And besides,” Pearl cut him off, her former verve returning. “This isn’t just any mere, average, ordinary scabbard. This is the scabbard to Rose’s own sword, the very same sword she skillfully wielded in battle in this very field centuries ago!”

“Mom fought here?” Steven asked, overwhelmed with curiosity by now.

“That’s right!” Pearl nodded enthusiastically. “And I fought alongside her!”

“Man, I bet that battle was nuts!” Amethyst spoke up, excited by the very mention of the momentous war she had missed out on. “I wish I could have seen it!”

“No, you don’t,” Garnet admonished firmly, setting her axe down for a moment. “Countless Gems were broken here. It was a maelstrom of destruction and death.”

“But we won!” Pearl jumped in with a bright grin. “Steven, your mother led us to glorious victory! The odds were against us, and our hearts were uncertain,” the white Gem’s tone became more and more dramatic as she continued detailing this striking tale to the immensely intrigued kids. “The enemy’s forces far outnumbered our own, but we didn’t give up! We chose to fight alongside Rose, who bravely led us into battle without a moment’s doubt or hesitation. And here, we made our stand against our Homeworld!” Needless to say that all three of the kids were aptly amazed by this exciting recollection, which was why they all continued looking to Pearl for more of it, which she was more than happy to give to them. “Rose was the one who ensured our triumph that day,” she said, her tone a bit softer as she smiled down at the scabbard fondly. “And she ensured our triumph in every battle that followed it. She was the one who brought us together, who inspired us to be more than what we were made for...” A light blue blush filled in the white Gem’s cheeks as she held the scabbard a bit close to her, her smile widening as she recalled all of the times her illustrious former leader had held onto it herself. “She... She was... exceptional...”

Pearl maintained her wistful, reminiscing smile throughout the entire trip back to the temple, largely ignoring the kids and her teammates as she continued to gently cling onto the treasured scabbard. In fact, she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she barely even noticed as they all warped back into the temple with their impressive haul of weapons retrieved from the battlefield.

“This is great!” Amethyst smirked, turning to head to the temple gate with her towering armful of smaller weapons. “My room’s been needing another pile.”

“Now, be careful with this sword, you two,” Garnet advised the twins as she handed the large sabre Mabel had picked off to them. Fortunately, she had carried both the sword and her battle axe back to the warp pad, but seeing as how she had to squeeze the axe into the temple somehow, the twins were basically on their own with the sword. “It’s very sharp and very heavy.”

“Don’t worry, Garnet,” Mabel reassured confidently. “Between the two of us, getting this pretty pointy stick down to the shack should be a-” She was abruptly cut off as the Gem leader finally let go of the sabre, letting it rest in the twins’ outstretched hands though it didn’t stay there long. Its hefty weight was more than enough to pull both Dipper and Mabel down with it, though thankfully they let go of it and let it fall to the wooden floor near the warp pad just in time.

“What’s that you were saying about getting this thing down to the shack?” Dipper asked, raising a dubious eyebrow at his sister.

“Uh… Garnet? A little help here?” Mabel asked the Gem leader with a frown, not ready to relinquish such an interesting piece so easily.

“I’m… a little busy right now,” Garnet grunted as she lifted her own axe up, working on keeping it balanced as she headed for the temple gate herself. “Amethyst! Help me with this axe!”

“I… guess we’ll just have to figure out a way to get this sword out of here ourselves then…” Dipper said, glancing down at the oversized blade worriedly.

“Oh! I’m thinking our plan to move it should include squirrel-driven sleds, or ‘squeds’ for short!” Mabel quipped, excited by her impromptu plan.

“Mabel, I have a feeling that’s… that the best idea in the world…”

“How will we know unless we give it a try?”

“We really don’t need to try a plan like that to know it’s not going to work!”

“Pfft, says you.”

As the twins continued to argue over how they were going to transport the sabre and Garnet and Amethyst struggled to force the battle axe into the temple, Steven remained on the warp pad along with Pearl, laughing in light amusement over the ongoing commotion from both ends. His attention was quickly diverted away from it all, however, as Pearl let out a soft, longing sigh beside him, her gaze still focused on the scabbard. “It’s been ages…” she murmured, her expression almost dreamlike as she blushed once more. She was finally broken out of her fixation on it as she noticed the young Gem curiously staring up at her. “What is it, Steven?”

Steven glanced away somewhat, mostly towards the scabbard as rubbed his arm a bit before posing a question he had been wanting answers for as long as he could remember. “What was mom like?”

Pearl’s soft blush deepened upon hearing this question, a gentle, affectionate smile crossing her features as she looked to the portrait of Rose Quartz herself hanging from the far wall. “She was… courageous, and brilliant… and beautiful…” The white Gem glanced to the scabbard briefly, another soft, nostalgic sigh escaping her before she looked to her young ward warmly. “Sometimes, you look so much like her…”

“Really?” Steven asked with his usual schmaltzy grin as he looked back from the picture of his mother to Pearl.

“Eh-” the white Gem frowned, suddenly uncertain, though she decided not to not really give much of an answer as she instead glanced behind her at Garnet and Amethyst, who were still struggling to fit the axe through the temple gate.

“Yeah, lift it backwards!” the purple Gem encouraged.

“You mean pull,” the Gem leader corrected, pulling her weight against the weapon.

“Yeah, pull, sure, if you wanna be all fancy about it.”

Though Steven was still expectantly waiting for a response, Pearl shifted her gaze over to the twins, who were still bickering over what method of getting the sabre down to the shack they were going to implement. “Mabel, for the last time, we’re not using a team of trained squirrels to get this thing down the hill!” Dipper exclaimed, quite annoyed by his sister’s persistence.

“Aw, but the squirrel idea is such a good one!” Mabel sighed fretfully. “And besides, how else are we supposed to get it to the shack?”

“How am I supposed to know!? You’re the one who decided to you had to bring it back with us in the first place!”

“Uh, have you seen it, bro-bro? It’s so pretty!”

“Yeah, and it’s so huge that we can’t even lift it, for crying out loud!”

A moment or two later, Pearl finally turned back to Steven, perking up with relief with that what she was about to do likely wouldn’t turn into a big deal. Mostly because she didn’t think it really needed to be one. “Hey, Steven…” she began with a small smile, holding the scabbard out to him. “Maybe… maybe you should hold onto this…”

“Whoa…” Steven gasped in amazement as he took the prized possession that had once belonged to his mysterious mother, stars in his eyes as he looked over it. “Thanks, Pearl!”

The white Gem simply let out a small, warm laugh at her young ward’s clear gratitude for this gift, though even as she accepted his thanks, her gaze still happened to drift up towards Rose’s portrait as she replied to it. “You’re welcome…”

Though it took quite a bit of work and time and a well thought out plan on Dipper’s part, the twins eventually managed to haul the giant sabre down to the Mystery Shack. Steven helped them out with this task as much as he could, though he took special care to make sure that he didn’t drop or misplace the scabbard the entire time. When they did get the oversized sword down the hill, Stan was the first to see them coming with it, and he was quick to staunchly refuse to let them take it inside, much to Mabel’s disappointment. Still, the conman did allow them to shove it into the ground near the shack in the hopes that its interesting appearance and large size would intrigue potential customers from afar. Still, getting the sword itself into the soil was much easier said than done.

“Ok, keep pulling!” Mabel called down from her spot atop the sabre’s cross guard to Stan and Dipper as they tried to get the blade to dig deep enough into the ground all while struggling to keep it standing upright. “I said keep pulling! Its barely even moved an inch!”

“W-well, it’d be a lot easier if you actually came down here and helped us, Mabel!” Dipper exclaimed, practically panting in exhaustion as he glared up at his sister.

“I am helping!” Mabel protested. “I’m sitting up here so I can weigh it down for you guys! So yeah, I’m being super helpful!”

“Geez, kid, could you have picked a bigger sword to drag home with you?” Stan asked with a scowl as he wiped the sweat from his brow. “My back’s not cut out for this kind of manual labor anymore. Why don’t you get over here and do this instead of me, kid?” he called over to Steven, who was in the midst of playfully swinging his mother’s scabbard around like it was an actual sword. “It’d be a far better use of your time than standing around playing with… whatever that girly blunt object you got there is.”

“This isn’t a blunt object, Mr. Pines,” Steven chuckled as he held the scabbard in front of him for the conman to see. “It’s a scabbard that used to belong to my mom! Isn’t it neat?”

Stan caustically looked between the young Gem and the scabbard in his hands, his expression far from impressed before he turned back towards the large sabre. “Sure, kid, whatever you say,” the conman deadpanned, rolling his eyes as he continued trying to pull the sword down into the ground.

Steven’s smile faded as he glanced down at the scabbard for a moment, curiosity filling his features as he looked over at Stan again. “Hey, Mr. Pines?!”

“Ugh, what?!” the conman grunted sourly as he finally managed to shove the tip of the blade a bit into the ground, their sudden progress catching Dipper a bit off guard as he accidently stumbled back from it a bit.

“You knew my mom when she was still around, right?” the young Gem asked, walking up to the sabre himself.

“Yeah, I did, unfortunately for me…” Stan remarked coldly, letting go of the blade as he crossed his arms. Of course, the moment he did, the sabre happened to fall backwards, its headway in the ground meaning nothing at all against its top-heavy weight. As it collapsed to the ground, Mabel fell off of its hilt, prompting Dipper to hurry and try and catch her, even if he just broke her fall instead.

“We’re ok!” Mabel called, even if her and Dipper had fallen into a messy heap on the ground.

“Eh, I’ll just have Soos tack that thing down later,” Stan shrugged, only briefly glancing back at the sabre before Steven caught his attention once more.

“So if you knew my mom, then you could probably tell me more about what she was like!” the young Gem exclaimed brightly. “I mean, the Gems are always talking about her, but I think it’d be nice to get an outside perspective for a change, you know?”

Stan let out a long, aggravated groan upon hearing this, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he looked away from the expectant young Gem. “Kid, I’m in no mood to open up that can of worms right now.”

“What do you mean?” Steven frowned in confusion as the twins headed over to join in on the conversation. “I know you said you guys never got along that great, but things couldn’t have been that bad between you two, right?”

“Bad?!” Stan scoffed harshly, suddenly quite upset and angry. “Are you kidding me, kid?! Things between me and her weren’t just bad, they were-” The conman abruptly cut himself off, especially as he glanced over at the twins who were looking to him with just as much curiosity as the young Gem was. “T-they were… You know what? Let’s just say things were bad and leave it at that, ok?”

“But why?” Mabel asked with an inquisitive frown.

“Yeah, what happened between you and Rose that made you apparently hate her so much?” Dipper asked, just as confused.

“N-nothing happened,” Stan shrugged crossly, looking away from the trio. “She just… I dunno—rubbed me the wrong way from the minute I first met her. And I don’t think anybody could blame me for it, seeing as how she was nothing but a huge nuisance! She always acted like she was better than everyone else, like she could do no wrong and like was so perfect-”

“Y-you mean she wasn’t?” Steven asked fretfully, knowing the conman’s views contradicted everything Pearl had told him earlier about his mother.

“Of course, she wasn’t!” Stan exclaimed hotly. “I don’t know what kind of sweet, fluffy little lies the Gems have been feeding you, kid, but your mom was far from the amazing, perfect, flawless goddess those three thought she was!”

“That’s quite enough, Stan!” Pearl shouted furiously as she leapt onto the scene seemingly out of nowhere. Her expression was absolutely livid upon as she rushed to stand in between the conman and the kids, more than ready to refute everything he had just said without a moment’s doubt.

“Oh great, the “Rose Protection Squad” is here,” Stan rolled his eyes dryly. “What, are you here to worship the ground she walked on since she’s not around for you sing her praises to her directly anymore?”

“How dare you!” Pearl hissed angrily. “You have no right to say such terrible things about Rose, Stan! You barely even knew her!”

“I knew her enough to know she was pompous, self-righteous snob,” Stan remarked callously. “Sorta like you, Pearl. Guess the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.”

The white Gem simply let out an irate growl at this, sending a hostile glare to the conman all the while. “You’re wrong about her! Completely and absolutely wrong! Rose was kind, and selfless, and fair, and honorable, and-”

“And nosy, and stubborn, and annoying, and most of all, she was a liar,” Stan scowled pointedly. “Honestly, it’s kind of mind blowing that you haven’t figured that out yet after all these years, Pearl. Then again, I guess it’s hard to see the truth when you’re so blinded by that dumb crush you still have on her even now that she’s gone!”

Pearl gasped, appalled by the bold accusation Stan had just made about Rose, but even so, she wasn’t about to let him get away with it. “You have no idea what you’re talking about! Besides, the real reason why you always had such an issue with Rose was because she was able to see you for the cheating, scandalous charlatan you really are!”

“Hey! I don’t know what half of what you just called me meant, but I take offense to that!”

“Good! You were supposed to!”

“Oh yeah? Well, I-”

“Guys, stop it!” Steven finally interjected, unable to allow such a fierce argument to continue as he pushed his way between the two. Likewise, the twins also looked to the white Gem and the conman with apt concern, quite alarmed at the brutally harsh words that they had just thrown at each other. Even as the young Gem pushed the pair a safe distance away from each other, they were still exchanging hateful scowls, something that worried him even more. “Look, I get that you guys had really different opinions about Mom, but… if she was still here, I bet she’d hate to see you guys fighting about her, just like I do!”

Pearl’s cold expression melted away as she heard this, her eyes widening a bit as she spared a gentle glance down at Steven. “Y-you’re right…” she admitted with an ashamed sigh. “She would…”

“And, while I’m not really an expert on what Mom might have done…” Steven shrugged with a small, bittersweet, almost pleading smile. “I’m sure she would have really loved to see you guys make up and get along? Please?”

The white Gem bristled a little at this, shifting her gaze to the conman, even if she made no attempt to apologize or even show amicability. Likewise, Stan simply crossed his arm and turned his nose up at her, his scowl still as present as ever. “Yeah, sure, whatever,” he remarked tersely, clearly not meaning it as he turned to head back into the shack. “I’ve had enough drama for one day anyway. I’m gonna uh, take a nap, or something…” The conman made sure to avert eye contact with everyone as he said this, not wanting anyone to catch on that he really intended to head for the basement lab instead. “Oh, and Pearl? One more thing,” Stan’s tone turned rather bitter once again as he stopped at the porch, slightly turning back to the white Gem. “One of these days you’re gonna wake up from that little fantasy world of yours and realize that Rose wasn’t as great or perfect as she was cracked up to be. And when you do… I’ll be right there to give you the biggest ‘I told you so’ you’ve ever heard!”

Pearl scoffed in indignant disbelief as Stan simply slammed the door to the shack behind him, outraged that he still insisted that Rose was anything less than exemplary. Still, as ready as she was to throw a barrage of angry words back at him, she refrained upon noticing all three of the kids staring at her worriedly. “Oh, kids…” she sighed in slight embarrassment, glancing away as she rubbed her arm. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that… Still, I simply couldn’t take Stan trying to defame Rose’s good name lying down, especially seeing as how not a single thing he said about her was even remotely true…”

“It sounds like things between Rose and Grunkle Stan weren’t just bad,” Mabel remarked with a frown. “They were really, really, bad.”

“Yeah, but I still don’t understand why,” Dipper said, shaking his head in confusion. “What was their problem with each other anyway?” he asked Pearl, hoping that she could provide at least some answers seeing as how she had been around back then too.

“Well, it’s quite simple, really,” Pearl said pointedly. “Rose was always very forward and honest where she could be, while Stan doesn’t know the meaning of the word honesty.”

“I guess we can’t really argue with you there,” Dipper shrugged, knowing that Stan was far from the most candid person in the world.

“So you see,” Pearl continued. “It only makes sense that there would be tension between a paradigm of morality and virtue like her… and someone as unscrupulous as him… Still,” the white Gem clasped her hands together, her mood brightening as she abruptly changed the subject. “Enough about all that nonsense for now. Steven, how are you liking your mother’s scabbard?”

“Liking it? I’m loving it!” Steven quipped, retrieving the scabbard from the spot on the ground where had left it. “I’ve been practicing with it ever since we got down here. If anything tries to eat us, I’ll bop them with this!” The young Gem broadly swung the scabbard out, eliciting an excited grin from Mabel, a look of confusion from Dipper, and a small, amused laugh from Pearl.

“That’s just the scabbard, Steven,” the white Gem informed gently. “It held your mother’s sword. Nothing else could fit so perfectly inside. For all this time, it’s been… incomplete…”

“Well, let’s complete it, then!” Steven concluded boldly.

“Yeah!” Mabel eagerly chimed her agreement in. “Let’s find that sword and shove it in there! Where is it?”

Pearl hesitated a bit at this, looking around nervously for a moment before looking to the kids, first with uncertainty that soon turned to acceptance and trust. “Can you three keep a secret?”

“A secret?!” Steven exclaimed with excitement, far too loudly for the white Gem’s liking.

“Shh!” she quickly quieted him, glancing around the area once again. “Keep your voice down, Steven! It’s a secret, even to Garnet and Amethyst.”

“Really?” Dipper asked, quite intrigued. After all, if this supposed secret, whatever it might be was kept hidden even from the other two Gems, then there was a very high chance that it would be worth delving into. “What kind of secret?”

“A very special one,” Pearl grinned slyly, her voice still at a whisper. “Rose had a place that she kept hidden from all but me. But Steven, you have her gem. That place is yours now! And I can show it to you! After all, if Rose’s sword is anywhere, it would definitely be there.”

“Uh, ok,” Steven shrugged with a small smile, ready for whatever the white Gem had in store.

“Oh my gosh, this secret place sounds so cool and mysterious!” Mabel chimed in, mirroring Dipper’s investment in this proposed adventure. “Can we go right now, Pearl? Can we? Can we?”

“Oh, well, uh…” Pearl’s smile faded as she trailed off awkwardly. She didn’t exactly have it in her to tell the twins that they couldn’t really accompany her and Steven to this secret place, mostly because it was, in her opinion, far too hallowed and sacred for any human to visit. Not to mention the fact that it had once been reserved solely for her and Rose and nobody else. So instead, she decided to put the truth off a bit by detailing a bit more about it, in the hopes of discouraging them from wanting to come along. “Well, you see, kids, this place isn’t exactly… easy to access. True, it is right here in Gravity Falls, buried deep underground. But its entrance is… rather unsightly. To deter huma—I mean, u-unwanted intruders from getting inside, Rose hid its entrance away deep within the town cemetery, knowing that most humans—I mean, unwanted intruders would be far too superstitious to even venture in there and go snooping around for it! She was always so clever when it came to things like that…”

“A magical Gem place hidden in the cemetery?” Steven questioned thoughtfully. “Why does that sound so familiar…?”

“Because it is familiar!” Dipper exclaimed in sudden realization. “Pearl, this place you’re talking about… I think we’ve all been there before!”

“W-what?” Pearl froze, looking to the kids in apt disbelief.

“Oh yeah!” Mabel grinned, recalling what both of the boys already had. “That really cool sparkly cave filled with all those weapons! The one we found on Pioneer Day while being chased by the cops! Ah, good times. Good times.”

“S-sparkly cave…. Filled… filled with weapons?!” Pearl gasped in alarm, knowing this description certainly fit the bill. “B-but how did you—no.” She quickly cut herself off, shaking her head incredulously. “There’s no way you kids could have been there before. You three must be thinking of someplace else, certainly!”

“Well, why don’t we just show you where we’re talking about?” Dipper suggested, rather confident that the cavern they had been to before and the secret spot Pearl had mentioned were one and the same. “That way you can tell us whether or not it’s the same place.”

“O-oh, yes, good idea,” Pearl agreed, still somewhat shaken by the prospect that the secrecy of Rose’s special spot had been somehow tarnished. “You can three take me there yourselves. Though still, I highly doubt we’re all referring to the same location. But all the same,” the white Gem nodded, prompting the kids to start leading the way to this unknown place. “I suppose it’s at least worth a look…”

While the kids were all in high, relatively excited spirits for their trek over to the town graveyard, Pearl was much more reserved, mostly out of concerned curiosity. Though she still doubted that the place the kids were leading her to even remotely related back to Rose, she was still interested in seeing it for herself, if it was even real at all. However, as they arrived at the cemetery and the trio led her to a remarkably familiar statue, Pearl’s alarm and fear at the idea of Rose’s sanctum no longer being a secret increased. In fact, those feelings only spiked as the kids somehow managed to activate the switch on the statue’s finger that forced it to slide aside, revealing the hidden underground entryway below it. But all the same, the white Gem kept a straight face as the kids led her down into the darkened, narrow corridor, hoping that somehow in the midst of it, they’d end up veering off the familiar path and go somewhere else. Even if she knew that this tunnel only really led to one place.

“So, is this looking familiar yet, Pearl?” Steven asked with a smile as he walked alongside the white Gem.

“O-oh, well, uh…” Pearl frowned as she glanced around the tight tunnel walls, which of course struck a nostalgic cord to her, though she refused to admit that so soon. “I-it… it might look a little familiar. But I’ve seen lots of dark, dank corridors in my day, so it’s really too soon to say for certain if this is the one that leads to Rose’s secret sanctum.”

“Why’s this place such a big secret anyway?” Mabel wondered curiously. “Because of all the really cool magical Gem weapons that are hidden inside it?”

“Er—yes…?” Pearl flinched, still bothered by the fact that the kids apparently knew what Rose had kept stored there. “I-I mean, p-perhaps. Still, there are a lot of places all over the Earth where Gem weapons are stored, like… like that battlefield we were at earlier! And besides, the weapons Rose held onto were far more powerful and more unique than any of those, which is why she decided to hide them away in a place where they would be safe and secure until she needed them.”

“So if the only things in this ‘secret’ place are weapons, then why don’t Garnet and Amethyst know about it?” Dipper asked inquisitively. “And why are you the only one Rose showed it to, Pearl?”

“Well, that’s because I was Rose’s sole confidant,” Pearl remarked with a proud grin. “For the words and secrets she could share with no one else, I was there to listen!”

“Why’d she keep so many secrets?” Steven asked, not truly understanding why his mother might have needed to keep things hidden from so many, especially since nearly everything he had heard about her always made her seem so open and transparent instead.

“She had to, Steven!” Pearl professed boldly, still smiling with adulation for the pink Gem. “It’s the mark of a great leader. Knowing just what to keep hidden from everyone you’re trying to protect. Everyone except me!”

“But how is hiding things from people supposed to protect them?” Dipper asked, somewhat doubtful of this train of logic.

“Yeah!” Mabel chimed in. “Wouldn’t it have been easier for Rose just tell everyone everything? Then everyone could be in on all those secrets, and then-”

“And then they wouldn’t be secrets anymore,” Pearl interjected pointedly, shaking her head. “I don’t think you kids really understand. Then again, I don’t really blame you. None of you have ever been embroiled in the dramatic, dangerous life-or-death dilemmas of a massive war before, and thank the stars for that. But believe me what I say that all of the secrets that Rose kept hidden from others, she kept for the sake of the greater good. Just like everything she did. She was always, always thinking of humanity, of the earth, of her fellow Crystal Gems over herself. And that selflessness, that abnegation, that integrity, that bled into her every word and action during the war and even long after it…”

As Pearl let out an admiring sigh, the kids exchanged a brief, somewhat confused look. There was no denying that the white Gem had a penchant for defending everything about Rose to the very end, and they supposed that it did make sense. After all, Pearl had known Rose for a long time, and had followed her loyally for longer than any of them (or anyone currently living, to be perfectly honest) had been alive for, long enough to truly know her and grow a deep, unwavering sense of respect and adoration towards her. It was understandable that she would be firm in her resolve to brazenly stand up and defend the pink Gem’s reputation, especially since she was no longer around to do so herself. And yet at the same time, it was somewhat concerning to see just how far Pearl was willing to defend Rose, especially if her fierce argument with Stan earlier was any indication. In a way, it was as though the white Gem refused to even listen to any implications that her former leader could have been flawed or imperfect in any regards at all, the very mention of such a thing being more than enough to set Pearl off entirely. It almost seemed like something of an obsession to her, one that she refused to let go of, lest she fail Rose and her memory altogether. And while the kids somewhat understood where she was coming from with her hardened resolve, none of them could deny that something about it set them all on edge all the same.

But even so, none of them questioned her about it further as they finally reached the end of the tunnel, the apparent dead end still as open as it had been when Lion burst through it weeks ago. Pearl’s eyes widened in disbelief upon seeing this, but her jaw completely dropped as the kids freely ran into the open cavern without any signs of trepidation at all, all of them showing their immediate familiarity with the place as they splashed into the shallow water over its floor.

“Here we are!” Steven announced with a broad smile, running up to the central circular platform as Pearl followed him at a much slower pace.

“Ah, this place hasn’t changed a bit!” Mabel grinned, her hands on her hips as she looked over the shimmering cave. “It looks exactly the same as it did when we found ol’ President Trembley in here a few weeks ago!”

“P-President Trem—You found him here?! In Rose’s secret armory?!” Pearl asked, appalled. “But I thought he just… I don’t know—broke out of that block of peanut brittle he, for some asinine reason, froze himself in and wandered out to the surface!”

“No, this is definitely where we found him,” Dipper frowned, somewhat confused by why the white Gem would think otherwise. “And it’s also where we basically got arrested and were nearly dragged off to Washington, D.C. Actually, to be honest, since it was apparently a matter of ‘national security’, I wouldn’t be that surprised if the U.S. Government knew about this place by now, so uh… yeah...”

“They what?!” Pearl exclaimed in a panic, floored by the idea that the government, of all entities, could have knowledge of this place. “B-but that’s ridiculous! Rose and I are the only ones who have ever witnessed the armory’s magnificence before now!”

“Except for us!” Steven quipped, obliviously blithe. “But when we first found it, we didn’t even know what this place really was. And now we do, thanks to you, Pearl!”

The white Gem was beyond flustered at this point, her frustration steadily growing as she walked past the trio in a huff. “How… how did you three even find out about the armory in the first place?!” she exclaimed hotly. “Don’t tell me there’s somehow an entry on it in that… that journal, of all things. …Is there?” she asked hesitantly as she looked to Dipper.

“Uh, well… I don’t really see any entries on it…” he replied after pulling out the journal and flipping through its Gem-related page.

“Well, that’s a relief…” Pearl sighed, only somewhat allayed.

“But it does mention it…”

“What?” the white Gem asked, her tone rather flat but still clearly upset.

“Oh yeah!” Mabel exclaimed, looking at the journal over her brother’s shoulder. “It says it right here on the page about you guys’ weapons! The larger pieces of the Crystal Gems’ artery-”

“That’s artillery, Mabel,” Dipper corrected somewhat dryly.

“Whatever,” Mabel stuck her tongue out at her brother briefly before she continued reading. “The larger pieces of the Crystal Gems’ artillery are safely tucked away within Rose’s secret armory, which is described in further detail in journal 1.”

“J-journal 1?!” Pearl balked, stunned by this revelation. “T-there’s more of them?! But… but how did he… Whoever wrote this, he couldn’t have… There’s no way!”

“Um… Pearl?” Steven spoke up apt concern upon seeing how distressed the white Gem seemed to be over the matter. “A-are you ok?”

Pearl froze at this, her gaze snapping over to her young ward and the twins with the slightest hint of disdain in her features. “If… if that thing,” her expression turned into a sharp glare as she briefly glanced at the journal. “Wasn’t what let you three to this place… then what did?”

“Oh, Lion showed it to us,” Steven informed, perking up into a grin once again.

“The lion?!” the white Gem exclaimed, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Yeah!” Mabel interjected enthusiastically. “He let out this huge roar that crashed through that wall over there and bam! Before we knew it, we were in a super -secret, super-pretty, super-sparkly cave!”

“And there’s all sorts of great stuff hidden in here too!” Steven exclaimed, hopping up onto the pedestal, the twins joining him.

“I know!” the white Gem huffed in frustration. “That’s why I wanted to bring you here! Now, let me just show you how you can access the artillery.”

“That’s ok!” the young Gem assured, walking up to the hand switch as it rose out of the ground. “I can do it without you.”

“W-wha…?” Pearl flinched, watching in bewilderment as Steven confidently slapped his hand onto the switch. However, instead of activating the impressive collection of weaponry, nothing really seemed to be happening, that is, until the young Gem realized why.

“Oh, right!” he remarked before turning to the twins. “Hey, uh… you guys mind lending me a hand here?”

“You bet!” Mabel grinned, readily running over to him.

“Uh, yeah, sure, Steven…” Dipper assented somewhat less enthusiastically, remembering how they had gotten the weapons to show up the last time they were here.

“Ok… go!” Steven exclaimed with a daring grin, prompting Mabel to poke him in the side playfully. At this movement, the first collection of weapons rose out of the pedestal’s side, much to Pearl’s surprise. “We got some… axes!”

“The Axes of Ages…?” the white Gem murmured, taken aback by the sight of the familiar weapons.

As the axes disappeared into the ground once more as Dipper pressed against Steven’s shoulder. “We got spikey chain lady and her metal dealies!” Mabel quipped as the statue toting an array of flails rose up.

“The Heretic’s Anguish?!” Pearl exclaimed, growing more disgruntled by the second.

“And a three pack of light cannons,” Dipper noted as Mabel pushed Steven’s nose, bringing the cannons up.

“The Quartizine trio!”

“And… Oh! A whole lot of armor guys,” Steven reported as both twins poked him in the sides at once, making the sets of armor appear.

“The Armor of the Fallen!” Pearl scowled, so frustrated by this point that the kids could clearly hear it in her tone.

Steven paused, his brow furrowing a bit as he looked up to the white Gem somewhat innocently. “What were we looking for again?”

“Her sword! Your mother’s sword!” Pearl practically shouted indignantly as she projected a hologram of said sword from her gemstone for the kids to see. “It’s a straight-bladed saber that’s pink with a red handle. There are vines etched in the guard that connect to a rose-shaped pommel. And it-”

“Oh! We’ve seen that thing before too!” Mabel suddenly interrupted.

The projection from Pearl’s gem briefly shifted into an exclamation point to express her shock by this news as she looked to the kids with wide eyes. “H-huh?”

“Yeah, in fact, we discovered it, like, the exact same day we discovered this place,” Dipper added, not entirely sure why this fact caused Pearl such apparent alarm.

“And I know where it is now!” Steven exclaimed with an eager grin. “Come on, I can show you!”

For a moment, Pearl stayed standing in place as the kids began to lead the way out of the armory, far too dumbfounded and stunned to even move. Needless to say, she was floored, not just by how much all three of the kids seemed to know regarding all of Rose’s seemingly best-kept secrets, but just how casual they were about it all. The armory, the sword, these were all things that Rose used to discuss with her in confidence, they were secrets the pink Gem had chosen to entrust to her and her alone. And yet, somehow and some way, not only did Steven seem to know about it all, but so did Dipper and Mabel, something that confounded Pearl seeing as how none of them had even known Rose personally at all. Still, the white Gem forced herself to remain calm (or at least as calm as she could be) for now. After all, even she didn’t know the resting place of Rose’s sword, seeing as how it apparently wasn’t in the armory. There was no way, no way that any of the kids could know where it was if she didn’t.

Right?

“Dadadadadadada… here it is!” Steven sung as he pulled the large pink blade cleanly out of Lion’s glowing mane back at the temple. The twins stood by, not too surprised at this, seeing as how they had helped him get it out of there the first time, but the Gems were all quite astonished by this display, especially Pearl.

“R-Rose’s sword…” her tone faltered as Steven handed the prized blade over to her. “But… but how did it get in there?”

“I don’t know,” Steven shrugged. “But there’s a ton of stuff in there. I keep stuff in him too!” At this, the young Gem easily hopped into the pink beast’s mane, emerging from it only seconds later, only this time, he was sitting atop his bicycle. “Ta da!” he grinned proudly, riding the bike around the den a bit as he rung its bell. “By the way, Mabel, here’s that ice cream cone you asked me to store in there last week.”

“Thanks, Steven!” Mabel grinned, gladly grabbing the cone and taking a lick. “Wow! It’s still cold and everything! I knew it wouldn’t melt if I put it in there!”

“It has grass on the side of it,” Dipper pointed out caustically, briefly glancing up from the journal.

“Well, since this grass came out of a magical lion’s mane, I’m sure it’ll taste just as magical!” Mabel countered, turning the cone over and licking the other side before instantly choking on the grass that was on it. “Ugh! I was wrong! I was so, so wrong!”

“So how’d you guys figure out that thing was in there anyway?” Amethyst asked in casual curiosity, which was a far cry from Pearl’s alarmed bewilderment over the matter. “What, did that ol’ journal tell you about it?”

“No, but it is in here,” Dipper noted, glancing down at the page with the sketch of Rose’s scabbard on it, though this time with the help of his black light. “I gotta admit, it was kind of a cool idea on the author’s part to draw it in here using invisible ink.”

“Oh yeah!” Steven grinned as he looked over the otherwise invisible drawing. “That is really cool! It’s like it’s some sort of super-secret black light bonus!”

“Oh, come on!” Pearl suddenly exclaimed, irate and exasperated. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“What’s wrong, Pearl?” Mabel asked with a worried frown.

“What’s wrong is that… that book!” the white Gem huffed, glaring at the journal. “Spying on us from afar and jotting down a few notes on us is one thing, but to know about Rose’s sanctum, her sword, about her so intimately and accurately… How did this ‘author’ person even get all of this information?!”

“Maybe he really was someone you guys used to know back when Mom was still around,” Steven suggested. “And he just, I dunno, wrote the journal without telling you.”

“I don’t know…” Dipper interjected, still flipping through the Gem section of the book. “There isn’t really anything in here that makes it seem like the author was trying to keep the fact that he was writing about you three a secret. In fact, there’s actually a bunch of places where he implies that you guys helped him with his research on Gravity Falls.”

“Oh yeah?” Amethyst asked with a somewhat doubtful smirk. “Like what?”

“Like this,” Garnet said, somewhat jolted by what she saw as Dipper handed the open journal over to her, though she read the entry aloud nonetheless. “Today the Gems presented me with another odd magical item they had found in their travels, though this time it was not one of their own: the Cloak of Occasional Visibility. This mysterious article makes its wearer completely invisible—half of the time. The other half of the time, it flickers on and off again, usually at the worst possible moment, while you wander around trying to find a good invisibility ‘signal’. Very frustrating. In fact, it’s so frustrating that the Gems professed that it never works for them, so they found it best to give it to me. Not that I’ll ever have much use for such a thing, but all the same, I appreciate the thought.”

“T-the Cloak of Occasional Visibility?” Pearl balked once Garnet was done. “But… but we didn’t give that old thing away to someone! We just lost it! …D-didn’t we?”

Garnet simply shrugged, not entirely sure herself as Amethyst grabbed the journal and turned it to another page. “Oh whoa!” she exclaimed, intrigued as she looked it over. “This one’s about that creepy bunker we went to the other day! We found a location for our hidden storage bunker! Rose had originally purposed to me that we could keep our supplies within the temple, or more specifically, in Amethyst’s room, but seeing as how I’ve actually been inside of that disastrous mess before, I don’t think keeping our extremely dangerous equipment in there would have been a very wise idea. Hey!” the purple Gem scoffed in offense. “My room is not a mess. It’s just a little… cluttered.”

“H-he’s been inside the temple too?!” Pearl gasped, taking an alarmed glance back at the gate. “But that’s impossible! Who would have ever opened the gate for him? I know I never let some strange, unknown human wander into the temple.”

“Neither did I,” Garnet reported.

“Yeah, me neither,” Amethyst frowned, perplexed.

“Maybe Mom did,” Steven purposed innocently.

“But that’s… that’s just preposterous!” the white Gem turned her nose up bitterly. “Ridiculous! Completely out of the question! There’s never been a human Rose has trusted enough to take into the temple before. And even if there had been, we would have known him too!”

“But we didn’t know him,” Garnet said, her tone somehow still stoic and calm amidst all this. “And I think it might be time we come to terms with that, Pearl.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense!” Pearl protested adamantly. “Give me that thing!” she suddenly swiped the journal out of Amethyst’s hands, furiously flipping through its pages for more evidence against this claim and instead only getting the exact opposite. “It’s clear to me now that in these uncertain times, the only one I can still turn to is my original research partner, the Gem I would trust my life with, Rose Quartz.” The white Gem had to pause briefly at this, her entire form trembling a bit, before she forced herself to continue. “In light of everything that’s happened, I feel as though Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl would simply shun me, but Rose has never been so quick to judge. Despite her understandable outrage with the true nature of our project, the bond of confidence between us still stands. I was always able to bear my secrets to her, just as she often entrusted her own secrets to me. I can only hope that she’ll understand. She has to understand. She’s the only one I… T-the only one…” Pearl’s reading grew even more shaken and uneven as she finished. “The only I still completely trust…”

The journal snapped shut at this, the white Gem turning on her heel away from the others as she held the book tightly against her chest. The other two Gems and the kids all exchanged a look of slight concern, none of them really knowing what to say to Pearl to calm or to allay her. Still, Amethyst did make an attempt by trying to pass off the entire matter as casually as possible. “So, uh… I guess that sorta proves that the author guy really did know Rose, even if we didn’t,” she shrugged, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck. “I mean, it is a little weird that she never introduced him to us or anything, but it’s not like it’s the end of the world.”

Almost as soon as the purple Gem said this, something in the white Gem seemed to snap, her manner going from alarmed and confused, to outright livid and enraged. “No!” she shouted, spinning around to face them all. “Like I said, it makes no sense! There’s no possible way that Rose could have known the author, because if she had then I would have known him too! And even if I had known him, Rose still wouldn’t have imparted any of her secrets to some… some nobody!”

“W-well,” Steven spoke up, wanting to diffuse Pearl’s quite apparent frustration over the matter by changing the subject. “What about Mom’s, uh, super secret place?” he asked, lowering his voice down to a not very discreet whisper. “You knew about that.”

“But the author sorta did too, didn’t he?” Mabel interjected somewhat innocently.

“Mabel, shh!” Dipper quickly quieted her, knowing pointing that out would do nothing to quell the white Gem’s stress.

“A-and… oh, the sword!” Steven exclaimed. “You knew about the sword!”

“And I don’t even think the author knew about where Rose hid it, seeing as how Lion isn’t mentioned in the journal at all,” Dipper said, not recalling any entry of the pink beast, at least not in the journal he possessed.

“But I didn’t know where she hid it either!” Pearl argued, glancing over at Lion sharply. As she approached the pink beast out of petulant curiosity, he merely growled at her, refusing to let her even so much as touch his magical mane. “Did… did Lion have something to do with Rose too?”

“Ohhhhh… of course!” Amethyst exclaimed in realization. “That’s why he’s pink!”

“It was a little obvious,” Garnet pointed out

“But… Rose didn’t have a lion…” the white Gem shook her head.

“Well, it seems like it’s her stuff in there,” Steven pointed out, finally putting his bike back into Lion’s mane.

“No!” Pearl protested firmly, her already palpable indignation growing even moreso. “Rose didn’t have a lion, because if Rose had a lion I would have known about it! And like I said, the very same goes for that… ‘author’ person, whoever he was!”

“Rose kept many things secret,” Garnet interjected as rationally as she could. “Even from us. If she didn’t see it fit to tell us about Lion or the author, then there’s a good chance she had her reasons for it.”

“But she never kept secrets from me!” Pearl stressed, distraught. “I was the one she told everything to!”

“Yo, you’re not the only one who misses her!” Amethyst scowled crossly.

“You can’t understand how I feel!” the white Gem practically shouted, gripping onto both the sheathed sword and the journal tightly. “None of you had what we had!”

“S-she probably just wanted to protect you,” Steven cut in with a small, reassuring smile. “Like everyone else.”

“Yeah, I mean, you said so yourself that she always used to do that,” Dipper reminded carefully. “That she always kept secrets from everyone for the ‘greater good’, or something like that.”

“And you said it was the mark of a great leader!” Mabel added, trying her best to lighten the mood. “And a bunch of other really fancy things about it too that I can’t really remember right now, but still.”

“Yeah!” Steven agreed, though he could tell that his attempt to console the very upset white Gem wasn’t really getting anywhere. Still, he wasn’t about to give up now. “It’s probably just like what Garnet said; Mom must have had a pretty good reason for not telling you about-”

“How would you know?!” Pearl interrupted, her tone far harsher than the young Gem was used to as he looked to her, startled. “You’ve never even met her!” As the white Gem shouted this, her fist slammed into the nearby wall out of sheer frustration, the very same wall that the iconic portrait of Rose herself hung. Easily knocked loose from its hanging, the picture began to tumble down towards Pearl, who could only gasp in alarm as she looked up at the falling image of her beloved liege. Fortunately, Garnet stepped in just in time, catching the portrait before it could hit her or the ground. For a moment, the white Gem remained frozen in place, shocked and shaken, but as she briefly looked towards the equally stunned young Gem, her building emotions finally came to a head.

Before Steven, or anyone else for that matter, could even say a word to her, Pearl turned heel and hurried off towards the warp pad, a tight sob escaping her as she clung onto both the sword and the journal all the while. “Fine, go!” Amethyst shouted after her harshly, her hands clenched into angry fists. “Go cry about it, like you always do!”

The purple Gems’ words fell on deaf ears as Pearl simply warped out of the temple, much to the kids’ shared concern for a number of reasons. “Aw, poor Pearl!” Mabel exclaimed with sincere sympathy. “We gotta go after her and make sure she’s ok!”

“And not to mention, she still has the journal! We have to get it back!” Dipper added, quite alarmed by that fact alone, especially given the white Gem’s current unstable mindset. Though still, he did catch shared disapproving frowns from both Steven and Mabel at this, prompting him to correct his statement. “And uh, make sure Pearl’s ok, like you said.”

“Where did she go?” Steven asked, turning to his two remaining guardians.

“Who cares?” Amethyst glowered, crossing her arms bitterly. “I hate it when she gets like this.”

“Garnet?” the young Gem looked towards the Gem leader, who offered no response as she simply continued to hold onto the portrait of Rose, almost as if she was frozen in place too. “I-is she ok?” he tried again, only for Garnet to remain silent, not so much as even glancing over her shoulder at him. “Well, uh… we’re going to find her. Lion, do you know where she went?” he asked, turning to the pink beast who simply let out a soft roar as his answer. “I’m… going to assume that means you do.”

“Let’s go find Pearl!” Mabel proclaimed boldly, already climbing onto Lion’s back as the boys soon joined her. The pink beast didn’t need much prompting, save for a mere pat from Steven, before he bowed low and let out a fierce roar, one that managed to tear open a transport portal that hopefully led to wherever the white Gem had fled to.

Garnet finally turned somewhat as the kids rode Lion through that portal, a hint of genuine concern in her tone as she imparted them with the best well wishes she could offer at the moment. “Good luck…”

As it turned out, Pearl had retreated to the very place that had started all of this sword-and-scabbard related drama earlier that very day: the strawberry battlefield. Night had fallen over the rolling expanse of oversized fruits and massive weapons, but with the full silver moon hanging high in the radiantly starry sky, which allowed the kids to easily spot the white Gem almost as soon as Lion’s portal landed them there.

“Pearl!” Steven called over to her with apt concern. Her back was turned away from them, the sword and journal both still wrapped tightly in her embrace and her expression awash in grief and despair. She bristled upon hearing the young Gem’s call however, and she didn’t hesitate to spare a glare over her should at the kids, showing that she was clearly not pleased with them following her.

“Leave me alone!” Pearl shouted fiercely, not hesitating to sprint off in the opposite direction. The kids exchanged a look of confused concern at this, none of them quite sure as to why the white Gem was so adamant on simply sitting in her feelings of frustration and sadness instead of letting them help her get past them. But all the same, the trio continued to peruse her, with Steven pressing Lion onward to create another portal just for them to catch up with her. Pearl gasped in heated alarm as the pink beast and his trio of riders suddenly appeared alongside her, though of course, this only prompted her to run faster in an attempt to further distance herself from them.

“Wait for us!” Steven shouted earnestly, pushing Lion on to try and keep up with her, to little avail. “We just wanna help you!”

“Yeah!” Mabel added just as fervently. “If you slow down a bit, then I’m sure we can all just sit down and talk all of this really heavy stuff out and-”

“No, we can’t!” Pearl argued, stopping only briefly as she jumped onto one of the first of what nearly seemed like a disjointed staircase of floating earthen platforms. “Now get that thing away from me-” she scowled hatefully at Lion. “And all of you, just go home!”

Without sparing another word, the white Gem continued deftly jumping from platform to platform, the load she was carrying barely even slowing her pace at all. As they reached the edge of the cliff, Lion came to halt, his trio of passengers dismounting as they all fretfully watched Pearl run even further away from them and her own pressing problems.

“You better sit this one out, Lion,” Steven said to the pink beast as he patted his side, knowing he was be the last thing the white Gem wanted to see at the moment.

“Actually, Steven, we should probably sit this one out too,” Dipper cut in, referring to both himself and Mabel. “After all, you’re easily the best out of all of us when it comes to making people feel better, which is probably what Pearl needs the most right about now.”

“Oh, come on, bro-bro,” Mabel huffed, wanting to be a part of this. “I’m great at making people feel better. Remember last week when I cheered Soos up by going out and finding that stray cat for him? Then again… that cat did end up scratching his face up before running away… not to mention that Soos is actually allergic to cats…” She frowned as the boys looked to her dubiously, ultimately forcing her to retract her earlier claim. “You know what, Steven, it might be better if just you went up there after all.”

“Ok, well then here goes nothing,” Steven said with resolve as he turned towards the staircase of platforms. “Pearl!” he called after the still fleeing white Gem, narrowly jumping onto the first one as he struggled to remain steady atop it. “It’s ok! I’ve had a talk with Lion and he’s gonna, uh, chill out here! It’ll be just the two of us, nice and private!”

Pearl offered no response, nor even a glance down at him as she neared the uppermost and largest grassy platform, prompting Steven to continue following her. “G-good idea!” he called, jumping to the next platform, which wobbled a bit upon his landing. “I’ll meet you at the top!”

“Do you think he can actually make it all the way up there?” Dipper asked Mabel, aptly concerned as they watched Steven struggle to bridge the gap between the floating pieces of earth.

“Eh, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Mabel grinned with a wave of her hand, failing to notice Steven barely his next jump and only catching onto the edge of another platform by a thin margin.

But all the same, the young Gem kept going, despite how daunting and challenging this upward climb was. Even as he began to near the highest outcropping himself, he was breathless and exhausted, having had several close calls that could have resulted in him falling into the wide, deep chasm below. Still, his spirits remained as high as they could, given the circumstances. “This… this is really hard to do in sandals!” he joked up to the white Gem, letting out a small laugh that, of course, she did not return.

“Go away!” she shouted down to him, pausing only briefly to send him another cold glare before continuing on her way onto the last platform

“Pearl!” Steven called back, growing desperate as he hopped onto another platform, nearing that wide finishing jump himself. “Did I… did I do something wrong? You gotta tell me!”

As Pearl disappeared from his view, Steven took a few steps back on the small platform he was on, knowing that there was a good chance he might not actually make this last jump, given just how far and high he would have to go. He paused before attempting it though, casting a small, somewhat fearful glance down to the twins and Lion, who were all still intently watching him from what seemed like miles below now. But despite his nerves and his fatigue, the young Gem pushed himself onward, getting a good running start before he made his bold leap towards the last platform.

Time seemed to slow as he sailed through the air towards it, and for a moment, it seemed as though, against all odds, that he was going to make it. However, his confidence in this belief was instantly shattered as he caught sight of Pearl, standing atop the platform itself. Rose’s sword was locked tightly in her grip, held high over her head as its tip pointed downward towards the journal resting before her in the grass. There was no question that her intention was to run the blade through the book, as if doing so would sever whatever mysterious connections the pink Gem apparently had to its unknown author once and for all. And she was more than ready to do it too, though as she noticed Steven getting closer, her gaze abruptly snapped in her direction, allowing him to clearly see the anger, sadness, and agony written all over her expression. And that intense look of disdain was enough to end the young Gem’s jump right in its tracks.

“Steven!” Pearl’s fury dissipated into panic as Steven suddenly started falling, missing even the edge of the platform by a wide margin. From their spot on the ground below, the twins echoed this shout of fearful concern, both of them more than ready to jump onto Lion and rush to his rescue in a moment’s notice. Fortunately, they didn’t have to, as Steven managed to catch onto one of the vines growing out from the chunk of earth before he could fall too far. For a moment, all the young Gem could do was hold onto the roots for dear life, refusing to look down for a moment as he instead looked up. Briefly, he could see Pearl glancing over the edge at him, but she was too far for her to clearly read her expression. Oddly enough though, she made no effort to come down at help him up, something that confused Steven a bit, but reminded him why he was doing this in the first place: to help her.

“Steve, are you ok?!” Dipper called up to the young Gem from down below, still quite alarmed by what had almost just happened.

“Uh, yeah!” Steven shouted back, even if he was effectively hanging by a metaphorical thread.

“Do you need us to come up there and help you?” Mabel asked loudly, more than ready to hop onto Lion to do so.

“N-no!” the young Gem assured as he began to steadily scale the thick roots upward. “I… I got this!”

Neither of the twins were entirely convinced by this, but still, they decided to let him continue on by himself, watching with shared relief as he eventually did climb up to the top of the platform safe and sound. Still, while that had been simple enough, neither of them were really sure how Steven planned on going about resolving the real matter at hand here, but even so, they didn’t dare doubt that he could. After all, they had both seen him fix this kind of problem before, especially when it came to his fellow Gems, with more tact and skill than anyone else. And while Pearl’s current breakdown was perhaps the heaviest and most intense they had witnessed thus far, there was no question that Steven would be able to work his magic, whatever that was, once again.

As the young Gem shakily rose to stand atop the large outcropping, he was beyond exhausted, mostly physically, but also somewhat emotionally as well. Still, he put his own feelings on pause for the moment, especially as he looked ahead and saw the white Gem sitting on the ground just several feet away. Her back was turned to him, her knees pulled to her chest and a hand cupped over her mouth as she let out a small, depressed sob. Apparently, she had given up on her attempt to stab the journal, as it instead sat a short distance away from her, intact and unharmed, Rose’s sword resting in its scabbard close beside her. Steven could tell just by looking at her just how shaken and distressed she was as he took a small, hesitant step towards her, but before he could even say a word to her, she spoke instead.

“To think that she would entrust her secrets, secrets that she only ever shared with me and me alone… to a complete and utter stranger…” she muttered bitterly, her tearful gaze fixated on the journal. “Who was he? Why didn’t I know him? Why did he matter so much to her that she would trust him… over me?”

Steven stopped at this, his already concerned frown deepening as he realized he had all of these same questions concerning his mother and the author himself. And yet, for as curious as he was to know what the link between the two of them was, he knew that now was no time to ponder over such things. Now was the time for something else altogether. “P-Pearl,” he began, somewhat unevenly, though he forced intent into his tone as he took another step towards her. “Pearl, you have to tell me what’s wrong.”

The white Gem’s shoulders dropped a little at this, a small, ironic, almost inaudible laugh escaping her as she finally addressed her young ward himself. “Sometimes… you even sound like her…” she admitted incredulously, her hand digging a bit into the grass beside her. “Do you remember this place? Do you have any of her memories? We were right here.” Pearl finally stood as Steven finished his approach, stopping just a few feet away from her as she pushed the journal aside with her foot so that it could rest alongside the sword. “It was over 5,000 years ago… On a night just like this one…”

As if to answer several of Steven’s pressing questions, a bright holographic image flushed out of Pearl’s gemstone, an imagine that was unmistakable even from behind: Rose Quartz. The young Gem was stunned into complete silence at this, his expression solemn as he glanced up at this projection of his mother, one that Pearl humbly bowed to one knee before out of loyalty and respect. As the hologram of the pink Gem finally turned, Pearl spoke for it as well as herself, acting out the decisive conversation that had taken place between them so many centuries before.

“Pearl…” the hologram of Rose spoke, the white Gem’s voice a touch softer as she gave it a voice.

“Yes?” Pearl immediately answered, looking up to her leader intently.

A look of worry washed over the pink Gem’s transparent face, one that, while still incredibly beautiful, was etched with a kind of exhaustion and regret that Steven never knew his mother could even feel. “I’m going to stay and fight for this planet,” she said, glancing away from the white Gem. “You know, just as much as I do, that the things that live here, as precious and special as they are, deserve to survive and be free. And so, I’m ready to do what I must to give them that freedom. This war won’t be easy and it won’t be short. You don’t have to do this with me.”

“B-but I want to!” Pearl professed boldly, without a moment’s doubt. “I want to fight by your side! To stand by you and be there for you, no matter what the cost!”

“I know you do…” Rose said, the concern on her expression only deepening at this. “But this isn’t as simple as you think. It’s not just about fighting and battles and the other Gems… It’s about what comes after it all ends. Please, please understand… if we lose, we’ll be killed. And if we win, we can never go home.”

Pearl scoffed lightly at this, letting out a small, incredulous laugh as she shook her head. “Why would I ever want to go home, if you’re here?” she asked, smiling brightly up at her beloved leader.

At first, Rose seemed taken aback by this, but her surprise quickly shifted into a warm grin followed by a soft, small chuckle. That smile remained as she extended her hand out to the amazed white Gem, as if it was both a sign of the resolved pact they were making together, and so, so much more. “My Pearl…” Rose’s tone was soothing and sweet and fond, all things that seemed to fill the white Gem with inspiration and hope and affection all at once.

“You’re wonderful…” she sighed contentedly, lightly taking her leader’s hand and placing a gentle, loving kiss upon it. The moment she did so, the hologram abruptly burst into the bits of light it was made of, startling Pearl somewhat as it broke her out of the moment and reminded her that nothing had really been there all along. A beat of silence followed, only the sound of the nighttime crickets filling it in until Pearl spoke once again. “Everything I ever did, I did for her…” she sighed, turning her gaze up towards the stars. “I followed her, to the ends of the Earth, and trusted every word she said like it was law. And she trusted me too… Or at least… that’s what I always thought...” The white Gem looked down, casting a small glance at the journal before shaking her head and dropping her kneeling stance into a sit. “And now, she’s gone. But I’m still here. Sometimes, I wonder if she can see me through your eyes,” she said, addressing Steven as he quietly lowered himself to his knees behind her. “What would she think of me now…?”

The young Gem hesitated during the silence that followed, unsure of what to say after everything he had just seen and heard. While Steven was usually quite empathetic and quick to pick up on the feelings of those around him, he was having something of a hard time completely comprehending what Pearl was going through at the moment, mostly because her feelings about his mother, her passing, the sword, the journal, and everything else were all so complex and deep. But perhaps, he didn’t need to understand what those feelings were as much as he understood how to help her deal with them.

Pearl was taken by surprise a bit as Steven suddenly hugged her from behind, his head resting against the back of her shoulder as he filled in the gaps for her the best he could. “Well… I think you’re pretty great.”

The tears the white Gem had been holding back finally welled up to the surface at this lone, simple, yet genuine statement, one that was enough to fill her with overwhelming relief, guilt, joy, and grief all at once. She took in a deep breath, one that was almost more like a sob as she let it out, and though she didn’t return her young ward’s embrace, she didn’t try to stop it either. The two of them stayed like that for quite some time, neither one saying anything, not that there was really much to be said in the first place. Even as they broke apart and stood sometime later, the bulk of the words that passed between them came in the form of a terse but sincere apology from Pearl, one that Steven readily accepted as she helped him bounce down the floating platforms and back down to the twins and Lion.

While Dipper and Mabel did softly joke with Steven and Pearl about how long they had been waiting for, neither of them could deny that they were quite relieved to see that the young Gem had managed to get his guardian to come around. It was clear that the white Gem’s ongoing melancholy still remained, but all the same, she put on a soft, amicable smile for all three of the kids as she revealed that she had brought both the journal and the sword back down with her, both of them perfectly intact. The former she simply handed back to Dipper, mostly because she didn’t really want much else to do with the implications contained within it, and the latter she entrusted to Steven, though he was quick to put insistently place her hand back upon its pommel as a sign of goodwill. Pearl’s smile widened a little at this, even if it still looked like she was ready to burst into tears at any moment. But for the kids’ sake, she held them back.

Knowing that the sword would be safest within its former resting place, that’s where they all agreed it should go again, until there ever came a need for it the future. Lion’s eyes were glowing bright as he bowed low, allowing Steven and Pearl to push the sheathed blade into his mane together. Still, even with the precious sword finally at rest, the kids could tell that the white Gem was still a bit down, which was why Steven took the lead in trying to cheer her up. With a wry grin, the young Gem began pulling a string of tied together hankies out of the pink beast’s mane as something of a “magic” trick, one that he easily recruited Mabel to help him out with. They continued their attempt to entertain Pearl by pulling several more random objects out of Lion’s mane, making cheerful jokes and jabs all the while. And though the white Gem was mildly amused by these lighthearted theatrics, her genuine interest was only garnished after Dipper handed the open journal over to her, pointing out a particular passage that she had never seen before. And, as Pearl curiously began reading through its contents, tears finally started forming in her eyes once more:

“If there’s one thing between the Crystal Gems that is completely without question, it’s the breadth and depth of Pearl’s unwavering devotion to Rose. Her ever word, thought, and action all seem to be aimed to the goal of showing her undying loyalty to her leader. While some might call this kind of behavior obsessive or even manic, I find her dedication to be quite admirable, something that Rose firmly agrees with me on. She once told me just how much she appreciates Pearl’s endless resolve, how it serves as a constant inspiration to her to be the best leader she can be for all three of her fellow Gems. To pledge oneself to another, not out of fear, but out of the deepest sense of love and respect… its certainly understandable that such fidelity would serve as an inspiration, even to someone as inspirational as Rose Quartz herself.”

A soft, yet almost happy sob escaped Pearl as she finished reading this, one of her teardrops hitting the page as she placed a gentle hand over it. While this was something that Rose had never confided in her about, the white Gem strangely enough bore no anger towards the author for knowing it over her. In fact, receiving the revelation that Rose, of all people, saw her as an inspiration, now, filled Pearl with immeasurable comfort and contentment. And, as she solemnly shut the journal and gave it back to Dipper, she smiled at the book instead of glaring at it, realizing that, perhaps, despite its mysterious, unknown origins, it wasn’t as much of an affront to the bond of trust between her and Rose after all.

Still, the white Gem only had a moment to come to peace with the journal, for as soon as it left her hands, Steven called for her attention once more. As she looked over to him, her confusion soon turned to complete surprise, her jaw dropping in amazement as the young Gem pulled none other than Rose’s iconic battle flag out of Lion’s mane. Her spirits practically soared upon seeing the flag, which she had believed to have been lost centuries ago, and emboldened by its reappearance, she insisted on detailing its role in the war to the kids. As they all took a seat against Lion and enjoyed the popcorn Steven had pulled out of the pink beast’s mane, Pearl jumped to her feet, gripping the flag tightly as she began dramatically recounting how her, Rose, and the other Crystal Gems stood their ground against their Homeworld and triumphed for the sake of the Earth and its inhabitants. The kids were all fully gripped by the white Gem’s compelling tale, though by the time she was finished hours later, they all mutually agreed that it was about time they headed home for the night.

The battle flag rested over Pearl’s shoulder as she sat upon Lion’s back, the twins both sitting half asleep behind her and Steven smiling softly as he guided the pink beast back to the warp pad in front of her. After everything that had happened over the past few hours alone, the white Gem wasn’t entirely sure how to feel at this juncture, her emotions swirling in both lingering regret and sadness but also hope and peace. As she took a small glance down at the young Gem in front of her, something inside of her seemed to tremble a bit, both with pain and with fondness. Steven was so much like his mother, so much that it sometimes hurt Pearl to even think about the similarities between them. But at the same time, he was so drastically different from her, in ways that continued to confuse and bewilder the white Gem more and more each day. In fact, the more Pearl thought about it, the more she was starting to realize that perhaps she didn’t know as much as she thought she did.

She had been Rose’s oldest and most beloved confidant, but even that didn’t mean that the pink Gem told her everything, something that both Lion and the journal were clear proof of. And while some part of her might have seen this as a betrayal or a sign of mistrust, another part of her wanted to believe that Steven had been right. Perhaps, instead of trying to keep things from her out of duplicity and chicanery, Rose had sequestered some things from her to protect her, to keep her safe and happy and loved. And the more Pearl pondered over this possibility, the more she realized that such an action on Rose’s part was not only noble and selfless, it was the purest, most sincere form of showing how much she really did mean to her.

Pearl had always believed it to be her job to shield Rose from anything that could have harmed or injured her, but Rose had done the very same thing for her, only in a completely different way. She had protected Rose, Rose had protected her, and in that way, they had kept each other not only alive for centuries upon centuries; they had kept each other thriving. And, as they left the battlefield where they had decided to make their brazen stand together more than 5,000 years ago, Pearl knew that she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

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