First of all, an explanation about certain words that I will use: - things like 'daughters', 'mother' and 'sisters' is not in the sense of family, but of creation, superiority in a more friendly way, and closeness.
After all, gems have no family. Not until Steven. It is a simple connection that has no words, that's why I use those. If it bothers you, my apologies. You can change the words for others, if that is what you prefer.
Also, as always, sorry if there are mistakes ^w^'
Chapter 5: Era 0
It was a warm and bright morning when Steven Universe was woken up by a commotion below. Still a bit sleepy, but worried about what might have happened, Steven ran down the stairs, almost hitting the wall. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at first, until he saw smoke coming from the kitchen. He headed there, somewhat amused by what he saw. Amethyst, Pearl, and Spinel were covered in bread dough, flour, and... something he guessed was cream. The smoke was coming from the oven, apparently.
"What are you doing?" He asked, holding back his laughter. The gems looked at him somewhat embarrassed. Well, Amethyst seemed to be having fun more than anything, and Pearl seemed worried, trying to get rid of the smoke. Spinel, however, looked at the ground with a really red face.
"I... I just wanted to make you the brakefat" she mumbled, trying to explain.
"Don't you mean 'breakfast'?" the purple gem snickered, one hand over her mouth. She couldn't resist, really. That pink gem was very... cartoonish. And funny.
"Ha ha ha" Spinel mocked her, annoyed by the other's attitude "It was your fault it ended up like this. You told me to..." Their discussion stopped short when they heard Steven's free laugh. When was the last time he laughed like that? None of them remembered. And the heart-shaped gem was very captivated. Amethyst snickered again at the sight of Spinel's face, which brought her out of that state.
"S-shut up!" she complained, he cheeks flushed. Ame laughed again.
"Ok, ok. I'll stop now." she got off the counter, brushed off the food scraps and headed in front of Spinel "To make it up to you, how about I take you to the funniest place in all Beach City?"
That invitation was... very tempting, she had to admit. And Spinel smiled enthusiastically, forgetting the disaster that surrounded them.
"Now, Amethyst? Really?" Pearl pointed at the mess, almost hoping they would understand her. She knew better than that tho.
"I don't see what's the problem. Spinel still needs a tour of the city" the purple shrugged, completely unconcerned.
"Amethyst!" Pearl yelled annoyed.
Spinel, once clean, approached Steven, arm in arm, watching the scene in front of them. It was funnier than her misfortune on her first attempt at cooking.
"We better get going, before Pearl makes us clean everything up too" Steven whispered, walking in the direction of the door.
"Wait! Steven...!" Amethyst yelled running after them, ignoring Pearl, who kept talking about how irresponsible she was. Ah, the old days...
It didn't take long for the three of them to get to the Big Donut. After running part of the way, of course. Breathing somewhat ragged, Steven looked at Amethyst.
"Amethyst, why, ah, this sudden interest in being a guide?" He asked somewhat curious, still catching his breath.
"Eh, no reason. Someone has to do it" she replied absently.
Noticing how the smaller gem got all of Spinel's attention, Steven snorted, somewhat irritated. He could be a guide too. He had done it many other times, after all, hadn't he?
"Hey Ame-" He was interrupted again by the purple who made a loud exclamation as she pointed to another place, managing to capture Spinel's attention even more.
Steven grunted. The purple gem kept walking, showing and pointing at everything in their path, Spinel behind her as she looked at Steven with concern. It hadn't escaped her attention how very dejected the boy looked. The brunet's good humor seemed to have vanished the moment Amethyst had offered to accompany them.
"Spinel, look over there!" Amy exclaimed again, pointing to one of the buildings there. They were in Little Homeworld now "There are the gems I mentioned earlier. Come on"
Steven hadn't realized, until now, that she had been talking about other gems, or that they had arrived at Little Homeworld. They both approached the center, Amethyst calling out to said gems, while Steven lagged behind. Today nothing was going well. It was too early for this. He sighed, his hands fisted in his pockets. He did not want anyone to see him in that state. And it was ridiculous, to be honest. There was no reason to be upset. He should be happy for Spinel.
"Lapis! Peri! Bis!" she called again. The three mentioned gems appeared shortly after, Bismuth carrying a heavy weight on one of her shoulders.
"Hey Amethyst!" The smallest gem greeted, being caught by one of the arms of the purple gem "Stop it!" she complained, managing to get rid of it "You know how much I hate when you mess with my hair"
"Heh. Whatever you say dwarf" she stuck out her tongue. Peridot hid behind Bismuth, her cheeks puffed out.
"And who is this gem?" Lapis Lazuli asked, noticing the pink one.
Spinel looked away, seeming to be looking for something, or someone, before approaching Steven and wrapping her arm with his. She was feeling nervous again.
"It's okay" Steven reassured her, and turned his attention to the blue gem, at whom he smiled "Lapis, this is Spinel. She is new, and today she is here to learn a little about our planet, right?" He looked back at Spinel. Spinel nodded, implying that it was true.
"Nice to meet you, Spinel. I am Lapis, Lapis Lazuli. The dwarf gem is Peridot. And the gigantic gem over there is Bismuth.
"Diamonds are bigger" Spinel commented on impulse.
Well it was true. Bismuth was small compared to the matriarchs. Lapis snorted, especially when she saw the shocked faces of her companions.
"I like this gem~"
Spinel beamed at her accomplishment. Even if that was not her intention. She wasn't as rusted as she had originally believed. Steven was an exception.
The rest of the day they took a detour. The gems were telling stories, taking again all Spinel's attention. Amethyst was the one in front of the entire group, leading animatedly. Steven stayed behind once more, noticing how Spinel was acclimatizing. Soon she wasn't going to need him... It was Bismuth who noticed this, heading back, until she was next to Steven.
"Hey, buddy? What's wrong?"
"Bismuth?" he was surprised to see her there. He shook his head and with a forced smiled said "it's nothing"
The multicolored gem frowned, not believing him at all. It was clear that the hybrid was upset about something.
"Come on, tell Aunt Bis what's wrong?" she insisted.
The boy sighed again, knowing that the other was not going to give up. His gaze fell on Spinel, who was talking to Lapis, as she showed her one of the trees. Spinel seemed amazed.
"It's just that I thought I could help her" referring to the gem with two pigtails.
"I don't see the problem, it seems to me that you're already helping her"
"That's what it looks like, isn't it? But I didn't do anything. The others are the ones helping her. Showing her everything. Telling her everything she needs to know. And I don't know how..." he complained hands in his hair.
"Steven. You, better than anyone, know that you cannot pressure others to do what you want, even if your intentions are good" she admonished him.
The hybrid was embarrassed to notice that this was what he had been doing.
"Besides, isn't it your presence that makes her feel so relax around us? If you look closely, you will notice that you do more than you think. Give yourself more credit, Steven. You deserve it. "
She patted him on the shoulder, before returning to Lapis's side, changing the subject, noticing Peridot and Amethyst were about to start an argument.
"I guess you're right..." Steven whispered, relieved.
(In Beach City)
It didn't take Pearl long to clean up the mess in the kitchen, plus Garnet was waiting for her on top of the portal, so she didn't have time to lose.
Today they were going to visit the diamonds. Cleaning helped her with her nervousness.
"Pearl, we don't have all day," Fusion reminded her patiently. She didn't want to go either, but it was for Steven's good.
"Yes. Of course. You're right, Garnet" the pale gem sighed, before putting away her cleaning supplies. Better to get this over with as soon as possible.
They both immediately traveled to Homeworld, appearing in front of the gigantic thrones. The diamonds were nowhere to be seen.
"Well, here we are. How do we do this, Garnet?" Pearl asked, her hands entwining between them. She still didn't like the place, tho this was her first home.
"We have to find the Diamonds. Or the pearls. They will know where to find the Diamonds" replied the fusion calmly, noticing the room full of other gems.
"Right, come on then!" exclaimed the other nervously. The fusion followed her, preferring to keep quiet. Some things never really change, do they?
They had been walking from hall to hall for at least half an hour trying to find someone who could help them before finding that someone.
"Blue Pearl..." Pearl whispered. The last time they saw each other, not counting what happened two years ago, was shortly after the war began.
The blue pearl seemed to have a good hearing, because she turned in their direction, her hands clasped as they usually are. She tilted her head slightly, before speaking.
"Blue Diamond is busy with a meeting with Yellow Diamond" she said, intuiting in part the reason why two of the members of the Crystal Gems were present.
"Ah...! Yeah? T-then we'll go talk to White Diamond" replied Pearl nervously but almost challenging.
"Wait" Garnet looked closely at Blue Pearl "Maybe you can help us" she finally decided.
"Me?" she said softly.
"Garnet?" Pearl questioned her friend.
"I'm curious. I've heard of a very interesting story about the first Era" she lied easily "and I would like to know more about it"
A few seconds passed, before Blue Pearl decided to give them an answer. By way of following them, because all she did was walk in another direction. The palest gem had her doubts, but trusted her friend's judgment. They spent some time going through the corridors, before reaching their objective. Pearl gasped, immediately recognizing the place. The Great Library about Gems and their History. She believed her entry had been forbidden before she was created. She must have said that outloud, because Blue Pearl replied with a:
"It was reopened recently. It has been several millennia since I was last here..." her dreamy gaze under her bangs was positioned over the other Pearl "Something you never could" Pearl felt irritation bloom inside her. She knew she was teasing her, even if neither her tone of voice, nor her words, showed it.
"Right. That's why I'm here" she admitted with difficulty. The hand on her back made her feel better. At least she had someone's support "Come on, Garnet"
In Homeworld, things like night and day didn't exist. There was always light, albeit artificial. The library that Pearl and Garnet were in was no different from the rest of the planet. It was huge, cold, and empty, apart from the few gems, and many, many files. All in the form of a somewhat old and difficult to read writings - more by the method of recording such information than by the language itself. Time didn't seem to pass.
"We've been here for many hours, I think, Garnet. And we haven't found anything! Are you sure this is the right place? It would be quicker to ask the diamonds." Pearl kept complaining. If she was on Earth, she would have been excited about this research. But she was too uncomfortable.
"No. This is the place. Here we will find our answers. If at some point the Diamonds give us information, we can contrast it with what we find here."
"But the Diamonds were the ones who created this place. They are the ones who have lived the history of the gems since the beginning. Or at least White did." the last thing was mumbled, a little unsure.
"Mmm"
The two kept silent, still searching through the sea of information, their patience wearing thin.
"Aha! Here! I found it!" Pearl exclaimed with a shout of joy. At last! "Let me see..."
The pale gem began to read aloud:
"Entry XXXXX - 6
This writing is a testimony of the times. ERA 0.
Thousands of years ago, the Guardians were created, formed by the great authority, White Diamond. The Great Creator, that's what they called her in those days.
This was an opportunity, a new community, created from the power of The Great Creator. Our Queen, in her benevolence, gave each gem created from her light her own gems, and thus create great cities and discovered more worlds. A whole colony. The First of many others.
Tourmaline. Tanzanite. Moissanite. These were the three great Guardians. The first gems created by The Great Star. Powerful as they were, they weren't perfect. They made mistakes, being punished by The Great Creator, turned into permanent statues to maintain their eternal vigilance over the entrances of each new world. What did their 'daughters' do to receive such a destiny, you ask? Breaking the only law that existed during the Era 0: The separation of two Gem Mates.
Shortly after another law was created: Vindicta.
[ Gem Mates are gems that are made to be together forever. Made to be understood. Made to never feel alone. Their bodies of light, their music, everything in them is in sync. Much more than a fusion could ever be. They call it: The Final Union. If for some reason a GemMate is destroyed or is too far from its half, its lights will fade, agonisingly slowly. Some take longer, others turn off suddenly. There are records of these events in entry XXXXVI - 19 ]
Tourmaline was jealous of the closeness between Tanzanite and Moissanite, her sisters. They were both Gemmates, so it wasn't a surprise. But, as the story goes, Tourmaline was madly 'in love' - that's what she called it, that feeling - Painful but the most wonderful thing she had ever felt.
One day, she saw them together sharing their light. Fusion. That moment of intimacy was what made her act impulsively, pulling out her sledgehammer - a weapon that was created to protect, not to destroy - and take down one of her sisters. Tanzanite. When the Guardian came back to herself, The Great Creator was present. Moissanite, hurt by the loss, asked for one last wish to her Queen, before she herself ceased to exist. Their wish was granted with the idea that they would give up, or lose the will to commit such a crime. Such was her mistake...
The fighting was fierce and devastating. All the gems present were watching from a distance, shouting, asking for the tragedy to stop. They had never seen anything so devastating as the fight and separation of their Guardians. They asked for mercy. White Diamond granted their wish. She had had enough.
"For having broken the universal law, for separating what should never have been separated, and for the use of the Vindicta, I condemn you to an eternity as statues" said this, the Great Authority threw a powerful light, turning their companions in what today are known as statues, objects of admiration; and soon after, historic art walls were created to never forget what happened.
Some time later, perhaps due to the loss of her daughters, The Queen created two more gems. Blue and Yellow Diamond. The New Authority. Welcome to Era 1.
End of Entry
White Sapphire, the Queen's Clairvoyant "
That was all. It was not the only entry on this same topic, but the first of many others. Apparently they were going to spend a lot more time in the Great Library about Gems and their History than they thought.
They both looked at each other with a triumphant smile. At least now they had knew where to start.
What did you think of my entry? I have my own version of the Gems history, something that will be part of my Fic.
It will not be 100% well done, sure, but I hope you find it interesting, and you like it~ xP
