Chapter Text

Steven’s Gem was searing hot when he opened his eyes.

He felt like he had been hit by a truck. His vision was so blurry he could barely see, at first. He was staring up at the ceiling when he heard a voice.

“This is your fault!”

Whose voice was that? He ... he knew he recognized it, but for some reason he couldn’t quite place it ...

He turned and saw he was in the living room. He noticed puddles of water all over the hardwood floor. He raised his head up as far as he could manage and ...

And Lapis was there, being physically held back by Peridot and Amethyst. That was her voice.

Steven wasn’t sure why he didn’t recognize it at first. It didn’t sound any different, it just seemed so hard to focus and ...

And for some reason he had a loud ringing in his ears. It was as if he heard something in the distance that he couldn’t quite make out, but it was loud enough to frustrate.

It almost sounded like a song ...

But he tried to ignore it. He tried to focus his blurred vision to see what was going on.

Lapis, despite being held back, was trying to walk forward towards ... someone. Someone big. Steven blinked, trying to get his vision to focus more.

Why is it so hard to see? What happened to me? he thought.

“You did this! This is all your fault! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!” Lapis shouted.

“Lapis, I understand you’re upset--” Peridot started.

“SHUT UP!” Lapis screamed. Peridot flinched. Amethyst seemed to pull back twice as hard after that, forcing Lapis back a bit. “There’s no excuse for this! You ... you...”

“Just calm down, okay?” Amethyst shouted. “At least wait until Connie gets back with Pearl and Garnet and then we can figure out--”

“Since when do you think you can give me orders?!” Lapis shouted.

Steven heard the sound of pipes rattling in the house. Steven opened his mouth to speak, to tell Lapis everything was okay but ...

But he felt so weak. When he opened his mouth, no words came out. It took all his energy just to keep his eyes open.

Steven focused his eyes on the large, blurry figure in the living room, the one he couldn’t make out. So far the figure had been silent, unmoving. He squinted and saw ...

His heart skipped a beat.

It was Jasper. Standing right there in his living room.

And she wasn’t corrupted. At all. Her face was bruised but aside from that, she looked fine. Normal.

Steven suddenly remembered everything. He wanted to laugh, but nothing came out.

It worked, he thought. It actually worked!

He remembered Amethyst mentioning Connie moments ago. She must have been alright too! That was good. That ... that was all that really mattered ...

Jasper stood, staring at Lapis as Amethyst and Peridot kept her back. She didn’t seem angry like she usually did. In fact, when she looked at Lapis, she almost seemed sad.

“Lapis,” Jasper finally said, uncharacteristically quiet. She took a step towards her. “I have no idea what happened. When I came to, Rose was already--”

“HIS NAME IS STEVEN!” Lapis screamed. The pipes rattled harder.

Jasper tried to step forward, but jerked, frozen in place. She looked down at her feet. The puddle had a weird consistency to it. Steven realized Lapis was using it to hold Jasper in place.

“OR DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT THE NAMES OF PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES YOU RUIN?!” Lapis shouted.

Jasper narrowed her eyes, her face turning the faintest shade of red as all vulnerability evaporated.

“Do you?” Jasper said, filled with venom.

That set Lapis off. She shouted wordlessly and managed to push Amethyst to the side. She toppled hard on the hardwood floor.

“Ame ..thyst ...” said Steven weakly. But it was so quiet, no one could hear.

Peridot remained clung to Lapis’s arm. She tried to keep her in place, but Lapis kept trying to push her away. Still, Peridot wouldn’t let go of Lapis’s arm as they struggled.

“Lapis, stop--”

“She hurt Steven!”

“That’s not how it--!”

“Don’t defend her!” Lapis said. Steven could see tears in her eyes now. “She hates him and now Steven is-- he’s ...” Lapis tried to forcibly pry Peridot from her arm. “Let me go!”

“I can’t! Lapis, this isn’t you!” Peridot’s voice cracked.

“Let me shatter her!” Lapis screamed, the pipe rattling becoming so loud it was deafening, accompanied by the loud creak of wood. Steven could even feel the floor shake.

Amethyst looked around wildly. “She’s gonna bring the whole house down!”

“Lapis,” Peridot said, still hanging on, “you’re freaking out, just calm down for--”

“Stop treating her like she deserves to be treated fair! She’s nothing! Less than nothing! She should have just stayed in the ocean with me, chained like an animal because that’s all she is!”

“LAPIS!” Peridot closed her eyes, tears clinging to them, raised her hand and slapped Lapis.

Steven let out a tiny gasp. Amethyst’s mouth was agape. Even Jasper’s eyes went wide.

Lapis staggered back, causing Peridot to topple to the floor. The pipe rattling stopped.

Lapis no longer looked angry. She was shocked, her eyes fixated only on Peridot. She touched the red mark on her cheek. Her mouth was open, but she seemed speechless.

Peridot looked up from the floor. She glanced at her hand, as if she couldn’t believe what she did.

Steven, finally figuring enough was enough, summoned all the energy he could to sit up.

“Lap ... is ...” he said as loud as he could manage.

They heard him that time. Lapis’s head snapped towards him. Peridot and Amethyst looked towards him too.

Jasper, however, barely seemed to notice. She was able to get her foot free and rushed over to Lapis.

“Are you alright?” Jasper said.

Lapis didn’t respond. She stared at Steven.

“Steven,” Lapis said. “I--I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to see-”

“Are you alright?!” Jasper repeated, grabbing Lapis by the arm.

Lapis’s eyes darted up to Jasper. She immediately jerked away.

“Don’t touch me! Just--” Lapis looked down at her hands, then back to Jasper, then back to Steven. Her face contorted. If she were a human, Steven would think she was about to throw up. “I can’t be here right now!”

“Lapis,” Peridot said, gently. “I’m sorry. It’s okay, just--”

“No it’s not okay! Nothing about this is okay!” Lapis shouted, tears in her eyes returning. “Just stay away from me! Everyone, just stay away!”

With that she turned and ran out the beach house, the screen door swinging freely in its wake. Jasper took a few steps and for a moment, Steven was sure she’d chase after her ... but at the last second, she only froze and stared at the doorway.

“Wait,” Steven said, stepping onto the floor. “Don’t--”

He took a step and that was as far as he got before a sharp pain cut through his Gem. His legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor, landing in a puddle. His ears rang more, echoing with the distant noise. It definitely sounded like a song now, though he couldn’t make out the words.

Hearing it seemed painful ...

“STEVEN!” Amethyst shouted as she rushed to him.

“Let me see his Gem!” Peridot said as she got up. “Maybe I can--”

But Peridot was stopped by Jasper grabbing her by the neck. Peridot let out a painful gasp as Jasper lifted her up, inches from her face.

Amethyst whipped back around.

“Whoa, what the--” she said.

Jasper glared at Peridot.

“You hit her,” Jasper growled in Peridot’s face.

“It... I didn’t mean to, I--” Peridot let out a painful gasp as Jasper tightened her grip.

“No excuses!”

Amethyst reached in her chest and pulled out her whip.

“Um, ungrateful much?” Amethyst said, whip at the ready. “Aren’t you forgetting we were helping cause Lapis just hit you like five minutes ago?!”

Jasper glanced over to her, then back to Peridot.

“... that doesn’t matter,” Jasper said. But she dropped Peridot anyway. Peridot landed on her butt on the hard floor.

Jasper then turned her attention to Steven.

“And you ... of course you had to scare her off!” Jasper said. “Just like you to ruin everything again, isn’t it, Rose?” She took a single step towards Steven.

In an instant, Amethyst’s whip was on Jasper’s hand. Jasper shook it off as Amethyst used the time to step between her and Steven.

“I’d say pick on a Quartz your own size, but tough, it looks like you’re stuck with me again,” Amethyst said with a bitter laugh.

Jasper looked at Amethyst like she were an ant.

“Get out of my way, runt,” Jasper said.

“You’re going to have to shatter me for that to happen,” Amethyst said, cracking the whip on the floor.

There was a flash of light as Jasper’s helmet appeared on her head.

“Is that all?” Jasper snarled.

Steven craned his head up and reached out.

“Jas ... per ...”

Jasper jerked her head down.

Despite how weak and in pain he felt, he managed to smile.

“I’m glad ... you’re ... al... righ--”

A piercing tone shot through his ear. He reached to cover his ears but all he felt was his head hit the floor. For a moment, Steven could swear even Jasper looked shocked.

“STEVEN!” he heard Amethyst yell as everything went dark.

Steven was on a hill somewhere, listening to a beautiful song.

It had to be beautiful, because it came from the Diamonds.

The song was a sharp contrast to what he saw down below. It was a battlefield filled with strawberries.

Steven had never seen it before. At least he didn’t think he had.

There were large weapons strewn about. He could almost feel the battle that happened her, when valiant Homeworld soldiers, who only wished to defend their Diamond and their fellow Gems, were cut down to nothing by ...

By the rebels.

A distant part of Steven’s mind seemed to scream that was wrong, but he couldn’t even focus on it as the song got louder. It was so beautiful.

And this war was so awful.

It was so unnecessary. The rebels should have never done this.

Rose Quartz should have never done this.

Pink Diamond should have never done this.

It was the reason for everything.

Her fault.

The song go louder. Steven felt his heart race.

Her fault.

Our fault.

Our fault.

Our fault.

Steven’s eyes popped open. He was in his bed this time.

The first thing he saw was Connie crying over the blankets. Pearl was next to her, in an embrace.

“It’s all my fault ...” Connie said between sobs. “If it wasn’t for me, none of this would have happened.”

“No no ...” Pearl said. “That’s not true. Just tell me what happened and--”

“Connie,” Steven said, his voice no longer weak like before.

Connie jolted upward, her eyes red. She wiped her face and smiled weakly.

“Steven!” she said. She leapt up and wrapped her arms around him.

“Oof!” Steven said. He felt a sharp pain as Connie’s weight pressed on his Gem.

“Oh! S-sorry!” Connie said. She crawled off the bed.

“It’s ... it’s okay,” Steven said with a smile. “I feel a lot better now.”

He moved to get up, only to hear the song pierce through his ears for a moment. He winced and flopped down.

“Ugh!” Steven said.

The song sounded almost as loud as it did in the dream when he ...

... wait ... did he hear the song in the dream? He thought he did for a second, but it was hard to remember ...

Pearl placed her hand on Steven’s chest.

“You shouldn’t try to move around,” Pearl said. “Garnet should be coming back with Connie’s mother so we can look into ...” She paused. “Into what happened.”

“What ... actually happened?”

Connie’s face paled. Pearl opened her mouth, only to close it, with tears forming in her eyes. Connie ended up being the first to speak.

“Steven,” Connie said with her eyes closed. “After the fight with Jasper, we think you were ...”

She trailed off.

Pearl closed her eyes shut, then pulled the sheets of Steven’s bed back. Slowly, she lifted up Steven’s shirt.

Steven looked down and saw, around his gem, were small, jagged green spikes.

Steven’s eyes went wide.

It was the Corruption.