The One Behind the Mirror
Word Count - 2,316
They were at a stalemate. The King stood before the pawn, the Knights far out of reach of their commander. Within a series of moves, it would all be over. The fight would be glorious, but despairingly too short.
“Checkmate.” Pearl set the figure down. It was a good strategy, but ultimately she came through. “Your tactics are somewhat unorthodox, but their almost effective. Almost.”
Steven moaned and looked at the figurine of his King. “Can we play something else for a change? How ‘bout Gutters and Scaffolding?” He began clearing off the coffee table and gathering up the pieces from the game. “You’re too ruthless, and I’m no good at chess.”
“You always manage to beat Garnet.”
“She always lets me win, because she wants to build up my confidence.”
Pearl couldn’t help but smirk. “Well, that’s the reason you never manage to defeat me.” Abruptly, she stood when the warp pad activated.
The light beam evaporated, revealing one Amethyst and the Garnet under scrutiny. Amethyst was coated in mud and stormed off the pad. Steven and Pearl beheld, wide eyed. “Uhh….”
“I hate that FOREST!”
“You’re tracking over my freshly waxed floor!” Pearl cringed when Amethyst zipped upward and crashed to her backside. “Why do I bother!”
“‘Coz your picky as plucky,” Amethyst grumbled. Only her narrowed eyes were visible.
“What happened!” Steven sprang over. “Are you hurt?”
“She’s annoyed, but otherwise unharmed,” Garnet spoke. She adjusted her shades, out of habit.
“A certain someone set a BOOBY TRAP!”
“Ah.” Steven croaked.
Garnet sighed. “I tried to warn you.”
“She insulted my honor!”
“You shapeshift into Pearl all the time. What’s the difference?” Garnet went over and plucked Amethyst up. She shook the smaller gem up and down, casting off the thicker folds of gunk.
“Yeah,” Amethyst gruffed, “but she hit a cord. Uncool.”
“You want me to hose you off? We can go to the carwash.” Steven offered. “I bet Dad wouldn’t mind the company.”
“Someone has to stay here, and I need Pearl to accompany me.” Garnet dropped Amethyst. Promptly, the small gem raced over to the couch – much to Pearl’s protest.
“At least let her hose off outside! Not on the furniture!” Pearl grabbed Amethyst by the boot, but Amethyst held onto the couch really digging her fingers in.
“It’s just mud! I’m not diseased!”
“On a good day, you’re a plague!”
Steven turned to Garnet, while the other two persisted to bicker and hiss. “Can’t I watch the pad? You just wanna know if she comes by, riiight?”
“Not quite. The warp pads connect across the globe, and that’s not the problem. The problem is, we don’t want her coming here for you.”
“Aw, guys. Can’t you lay off?”
“Steven,” Garnet chided, but gently.
“I think it’s impossible to find her, anyway,” Steven muttered, slyly. “She’s a master at hide-and-seek.” The argument shut down abruptly, and Pearl uttered,
“Have you gone back to the forest? Steven!”
Oops. Steven began sweating, looking from the stoic gem back to the ruffled Pearl, her arms stained in mud. “Er, uh… no! That would be irresponsible. Heh-heh.”
Pearl shook her hands of the muck and hurried to Steven. But Garnet stepped forward and raised a hand.
“We’ll discuss this later,” Garnet grated. “For now, Steven.” She looked to the child. “Please stay put.” Those orders delivered, she motioned to Pearl and moved to the warp pad. Pearl followed. In a blinding zip of light, the two vanished.
In the meantime, Amethyst still loafed on the couch, or, sat on the cushions leaning forward. She waited for Steven to join, swaying her boots in the air. Steven climbed onto the seat beside her and sat, deflated and glum.
“She used her ‘you’re so grounded’ tone.”
“How are you even able to sneak onto the warp pad?” Amethyst queried.
Steven clamped his lips together. It took some effort to draw forth a lie. “I haven’t then, have I? Case closed!”
“Or did she manage to get through?” Amethyst stroked her chin – it was hard to tell, due to all the muck. “You haven’t by chance seen her lurking around? Plotting something di’bolical?”
“No!” Steven burst. “I couldn’t ge—” Amethyst gawked at him.
“What have you been—” Amethyst didn’t finish. Steven sprang off the couch and raced to the doorway, screaming his head off. A go to solution, when things overwhelmed him. “Wait! Steve!” Amethyst made an effort to follow and drag him back, but Steven was much faster than she gave credit for. He was already stumbling down the steps and sprinting across the beach.
Amethyst would have gone after him and hauled him back, but the warp pad. It was typical of her to ignore orders, but this was different. In the case of Spinel, she wouldn’t risk it.
Out across the fields, Steven was still screaming as he raced across the border of Beach City, until he reached the It’s a Wash.
“Hey, sorry!” Greg called, from within the inner chamber of the carwash, “gimmie a sec, and I’ll grab the trusty bucket’o suds.”
“Dad! It’s me!” Steven hurried to the entrance of the carwash scrub chamber, and cautiously peered inside. It still gave him the creeps since his experience with the cat final form. Eek.
“Shtuball? Eeh!” Greg wobbled on the ladder. He worked with a wrench, adjusting the screw on one of the large brushes. “Come all the way over yonder to see your old man? I appreciate that.”
“Yeah. Kinda needed a break and some space.” Steven managed to catch his breath. He glanced back toward the rising gradient of the beach point, and the remaining arms of the temple guardian. “Not much going on, aside from a lot of board games. Oh, and Amethyst might come by for a deep scrub.”
“Eek,” Greg groaned. “Have her hose off first. It took ages to flush the grates after the blood blorp, whatever that was, yuck!”
“It won’t be that bad. She just fell into some mud.” He debated, twiddling his thumbs. “Some thick, magic mud.”
Greg gave Steven a no-nonsense look. “Yep. Have her hose off before I slot her in. Not gonna fool with that.” He banged around a bit, and wrestled around with the tool box set on the platform of the ladder. “Anything else on your mind? The Fryman mentioned you’ve missed swinging by for your daily quota of them bits.”
“I have, haven’t I?” He loved the bits. They were one of the best parts of his daily routine. “Homes been a lil weird with the gems. They’ve been ultra-protective, and I think I’ve messed things up again.”
“Uh-oh.” Greg ceased his work and carefully stepped off the ladder. He took a rag from the tool box and wiped some of the soap goo from his hands. “You need to spend the night with me? If you need space, I can sack it up in the office.”
“I don’t think so. They get a tiny bit upset if I’m out of sight for too long.”
Now Greg looked anxious. He tossed the rag aside and approached his son. “This sounds a little more serious than the usual, Sthu. You sure everything’s all right?”
Steven nodded. “Um… yeah. Pretty sure.” He looked up at his father, and the somewhat expectant but patient gaze offered. “Er, would you by chance know a gem called Spinel?” Now that look of adoration and apprehension flipped to utter panic. Oh, so he did know Spinel. She wasn’t lying.
“WHAT! Spinel’s loose? I thought they caught her! What gives?”
Steven blinked, alarmed but more upset by his father’s cold terror. “No…?” Greg hoisted Steven under arm and sprinted to the van, he leapt inside and slammed the doors. Shoot. “Are you okay?
“I should ask you that!” Greg stammered. “What happened? Did she hurt you? Talk to me, Steven! Why the heck would they get you involved with her?”
“They didn’t know!” Steven spat. He shrugged out of Greg’s grip and stood back. “They had no idea she was there!”
“But how could they not know?” Greg rebuked. “How’d she get out? They told me she was dealt with! That’s what they do with those monsters, they bubble them and lock ‘em away! Who let her out! Why?”
“She’s. Not! A. MONSTER!” Greg gawked, stunned and a little misty. Steven felt the same way. All these secrets, all the precaution. No one told him why. They said they were protecting him, but he was also scared. They made him scared of something he didn’t understand.
“They keep saying she’s horrible, and that she’s dangerous! She hasn’t done anything. Really!” Steven rubbed his eyes. “All I did was fall asleep. I was bored! But they won’t leave her alone, and I think… being lonely and chased around the forest is really messing with her. Dad! She said the knew me! She knew you! You knew her, right! What’s going on?!” He threw his arms high, panting. “Please.”
Greg softened and deflated a bit on his seat. “Aw, Steven. I’m sorry for wigging out on you. I… it’s just, she’s bad news. You gotta believe me.”
“Why? Garnet said, she was hurt and broken! Why can’t we try and help her! If we can, we should! She’s not all bad.” He clenched his fists and began quaking. “You were once friends. Why did that stop?”
“Ah… uh,” Greg dawdled, scratching the back of his neck. Steven got his directness and confidence from Rose, for certain. Sometimes, it ached a bit to see how much he was like her. “Did Garnet mention how bad losing Rose was, for all them?”
“Yes!”
“Okay.” Greg picked up a crumpled shirt, and used it to dry Steven’s eyes. “The truth is, they’re afraid of her.”
“That’s not a good reason!” Steven barked. “Why?”
“Let me finish. Blow.” Steven blew his nose, and Greg tossed the shirt. “They’re afraid of her, because when— well. Let me see. She was badly upset, let’s start there. Badly upset, okay. For a while, the gems lost track of her. She’s good at hiding, getting around, that sort. And when she did come back, she kinda… she came for me, and… well, she uh… she didn’t come for a visit.” He fumbled, looking anywhere but at Steven. “She was upset, and wound up… hurting me. Physically. All around, I was… it wasn’t good. Not good at all.”
Steven felt everything click into place. The distrust, the anger. Betrayal. Everyone believed and trusted his mother, but they were losing her. They accepted it. This crushed Spinel.
“Did she hurt you bad? Did you have to wear a full body cast!?” Steven sniffled.
“No-no,” Greg was quick to assure. “Mostly scared the pi— pants, off me.” He chuckled, but it was uneasy and dejected. “But, I could tell she was hurting something bad too. I don’t know why she did it, and I doubt she really knew either. They endured a lot, while Rose and I were waiting for you. And that’s why they’re afraid of her. I’m guessin’ they don’t know what she might do, or if it is safe to let this be. I’m sure they don’t want to fight Spinel, and to be honest, I don’t want her hurt either. I think it was worse seeing her that way… after all,eh….” Greg let his words escape.
“They could leave her alone,” Steven asserted. “She seemed… sad. I don’t know. I think she really wants to be left alone. If she’s really sorry, that means she doesn’t want to come back.” That meant, maybe she didn’t want to see him either.
Greg nodded. “The gems tried that. Once. Gave her space, gave her distance.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Look, I don’t get involved with their business, unless that business involves you.” He pulled Steven up onto his lap and gave him a tight hug. “Leave the danger and life-threatening missions to the pros. They know what they’re doing. They’re trying their best, for your sake.”
“I know,” Steven grumbled. “But Spinel seemed really nice.”
“Nice?” Greg squawked.
“And she must’ve really loved mom.” He returned Greg’s hug. “It wasn’t her fault she broke. It happens, right? People break. It made her do something bad, and that made everything worse. Now she’s all alone, with no friends. No home. It shouldn’t be that way.”
“I know, Sthuball. I know.” He pulled Steven back and looked him in the face. “If you want, I can tell you some stuff about her. She was… actually really on board with Rose and I. Totally shipped us.”
Steven mumbled, still gloomy but it felt good to talk. And cry. “Yeah. I think I’d like that.”
“On one condition.” Greg held up a finger. “You leave the nope rope to the Crystal Gems. It sounds like she got ahold of you, somehow.” Steven nodded. “I’m glad she’s sort of cooled off. I wish they’d come here and given me a warning. At least, an update on how you’re holding together.”
“They’re freaked out, too.”
Greg grumbled something, which Steven didn’t catch. After a while, they opened the doors and let in some fresh air. Greg remained somewhat skittish, glancing around the roof buildings and patches of grass. For Steven, it felt good to know the reasons behind the Crystal Gems behavior, yet all along, he was hoping they’d been blowing the encounter out of proportion. Occasionally, they were known for that. It brought on new feelings of conflict for the gem, and her ill-begotten history with his family. He wanted to ask his dad more about this encounter, but recognized the uneasiness in Greg’s quick glances around the nearby field. It was kind of the same way he looked at Amethyst, but more on edge and spooked.
He felt bad for defending Spinel.