Steven was having one of his best dreams. He really needed to rest after an exhausting day. Training, experiencing the thrill of flying for the first time, and to top it all off, facing a furious Jasper because of her mother wasn't exactly a peaceful experience, but oh well, let's move on.
He stared at the dog in front of him. That devilish dog was beating him at Connect 4. Honestly, he was starting to think the dog was cheating. He flipped a tile to see if he'd make a mistake, even though he knew he wouldn't.
The dog stared at him intently and then dramatically placed his tile, instantly sealing his defeat.
He silently looked at the tile he'd just placed and simply sighed.
"That was luck," he said, crossing his arms.
And so the game continued, with the dog giving him a beating that, to be honest, he was enjoying. It's not every day he had a dream where a dog was playing Connect 4 with him, you know?
After a few more turns, he got up. Something inside me told me to do it.
"That's it, doggy. Anything you want to say before I go?"
The dog shook his head, completely serious, before transforming into a helicopter and flying off as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
I stood there silently watching the helicopter-dog fly away, only to crash head-on into a tower.
"I think I need a doctor," I said, shaking my head and starting to wander aimlessly, my hands on my head, trying to process what I had just seen.
After several minutes, during which it was just me and my mind trying to figure out how I could get a dog to do what the dog I had played with had done, an idea came to me. Maybe if Amethyst transformed into a dog, I could do it again, I told myself as I walked among some blue flowers. I studied them closely, since I had seen them in a book a long time ago. If I remembered correctly, they were the famous Larkspur. They were beautiful, and without giving them another thought, I kept walking.
I noticed how the path was becoming a little more modern. It wasn't the grass from before; it was something finer, more polished. With each step, I saw how the atmosphere changed, how everything acquired a different texture, something I had never seen in a dream. Although they were few and far between, when I had them, I was truly aware of my surroundings, but this... this was new even to me.
And without thinking, I kept going, because after all, what could happen in a dream? I walked and walked along what seemed like an endless path, or at least that's what I thought until, out of nowhere, an invisible force pulled me toward the end of the path, as if someone had decided to fast-forward the scene without warning. There were no lights or spectacular effects, just my face slammed against the ground. I didn't feel real pain, but I did feel that annoying echo of phantom pain that only dreams can provoke. I groaned instinctively before lifting my gaze, which slowly began to focus, if that was even possible in such a strange dream.
The first thing I saw was a flash of blue, a dress I knew all too well. Hesitantly, I looked up, my face a mask of shock. Before me stood Blue Diamond again, as imposing as ever. She seemed to sense my presence, though thankfully that's all it was: a presence. Even so, she observed me as if she could truly see me, even though she couldn't.
I remained silent, trapped in that awkward moment. Blue Diamond held my gaze with that heavy calm she always carried. Her Pearl, beside her, seemed confused, as if she didn't understand why her Diamond was reacting this way. Then, Blue herself spoke my last name with obvious hesitation, as if testing the memory of my existence. "Universe," she murmured cautiously, trying to recognize me.
Surprise coursed through my entire body. I jumped back, twisting in mid-air just to regain a shred of dignity, stood up as if nothing had happened, and brushed the nonexistent dust off my clothes. I replied with that touch I used to feign confidence. The one and only, how are you, Azul?
She didn't answer immediately. She glanced at her Pearl with a subtle gesture, and Pearl shook her head as if confirming something. Then she looked back at me, this time with a warmer smile than before. "Universe, you seemed to leave rather quickly last time, didn't you?"
Steven froze, confronted by the memory that surfaced unbidden. That tragic day when he saw a Ruby die right before his eyes. A pain so profound that even his own gem felt it, as if it had been split in two along with him. Remembering that froze him for a second. He shook his head to banish those thoughts and replied without raising suspicion.
"You know me," I said, as if everything were normal. "I don't control this gift, you know? It's not every day you fall from a dream into... well... a... a... what is this?" I asked, scanning the void with my gaze.
"My hand is a ship," Blue Diamond said, as if describing the most obvious thing in the universe. Her eyes scanned the blank space as if invisible walls, doors, or corridors existed there.
The tension eased a little as the conversation began to flow naturally between us. Steven commented that he had never had such a strange, vivid, and real dream. Blue Diamond replied that some dreams weren't dreams at all, but places where the mind sought refuge that the real world could no longer offer. Steven admitted that he felt like he had no control over any of this, that he was more like he was being pulled from one place to another without understanding why. She told him that certain hearts were so sensitive that they could cross between memories, emotions, and echoes without realizing it. Steven sighed, admitting that perhaps his mind was more tired than he realized. Blue Diamond added that even there, in that formless space, he wasn't alone as long as he continued searching for answers.
The atmosphere grew calmer, like a lull between storms. Blue observed him with a gentle mixture of curiosity and affection, as if she understood him more than Steven allowed himself to understand.
"You're very philosophical and knowledgeable about organic things," I commented curiously. She let out a soft laugh, as if the question didn't surprise her at all, as if she had expected me to notice that detail sooner or later.
She said that when you have a human zoo, you end up trying to understand them, and that thanks to some Peridots, she had managed to understand feelings, hearts, and those things that seemed so similar yet so different from Gems. I nodded, intentionally ignoring the word "zoo." I had often thought about helping with that issue, but the reality was more unsettling: those people had become something akin to trained pets, though far too intelligent to call them that without a lump in my throat. That comparison sent a shiver down my spine. I shook my head to dismiss the thought before it fully formed.
I turned my gaze back to Blue Diamond, who was staring into the void of space as if it held a secret window visible only to her. Without a word, I decided to climb onto her shoulder. My negligible weight shouldn't have surprised anyone, but she still gave a small jump that nearly made her fall off the enormous chair she was sitting in.
Blue Diamond was immediately alarmed. "My Diamond!" she exclaimed in a frightened tone, stretching out her arms to catch her, though she was too far away to reach her. It was clear she wouldn't be able to catch her if she actually fell, but she tried anyway with exaggerated, almost comical devotion.
"You scared me," Blue Diamond said, turning her head slightly toward me, trying to see who had settled so nonchalantly on her shoulder.
"Eh," I replied casually, sitting down as if I were on a nice tree trunk. "I just wanted a better view, you know." I said it with a smile that perhaps she couldn't quite see, but that was there nonetheless.
Blue Diamond didn't respond immediately. Instead, she slowly raised an enormous hand to test if she could sense anything physical. Her palm passed right through me as if I were merely a failed reflection. Her brow furrowed in a brief, resigned gesture, as if she had already expected reality to behave this way.
She shook her head with a drawn-out calm and turned her attention back to the projections showing the state of her colonies, resuming her contemplation as if my presence were a curious but not urgent note. Pearl, on the other hand, still had her arms outstretched in an eternal attempt to grab her, completely petrified with fear. Watching her, I honestly had no idea what was going through her gem's mind as she tried to hold such a woman with no physical means whatsoever. It was as if her loyalty compelled her to do things her common sense had years before surrendered to not questioning.
"You're destroying that planet," I said after seeing yet another world being claimed by the growth machines and gem installations that were drilling into it as if it were an unclaimed fruit.
"No," she replied emotionlessly. "I create gems for the Empire."
"At what cost?" I asked, still watching the fractured earth and the boiling oceans.
"Cost?" she murmured, as if the word were foreign to her.
"Of course," I said. You're stealing the life from that planet, transforming its soul into new gems. What will happen when there are no more worlds left to sustain them? Will only you be left, existing in an empty universe? I raised an eyebrow, though I knew perfectly well she couldn't see me.
"I don't really get involved in that," Blue said with the serenity of someone who surrendered eons ago. "I just follow White's orders. She's the one in charge. She's perfect, you know." She said this as she leaned back in her enormous chair, while her Pearl, smaller than a shadow, checked another tablet, not daring to intervene.
"You should ask her," I said, watching her.
"Why?" she replied with that heavy doubt that only gems who haven't allowed themselves to think for too long possess.
"Well, if you're really part of her wonderful plan, she should tell you. If she doesn't, you'll know how to interpret it. Don't you think?" I said it as I felt my presence begin to dissolve like mist in the wind.
Blue Diamond didn't respond. She just stood motionless, sunk in a silence that weighed heavier than any imperial command.
"I'll just leave you with this thought," I continued, my voice trailing off. "It seems we won't be able to communicate much today. Oh, and one last thing."
She didn't move.
"Don't break gems. It hurts me."
And my voice vanished as if it had never been there.
Blue Diamond remained staring at the projected screen, showing the Empire's advance on that dying planet. Her fingers trembled slightly, just enough to show that something in her circuits of emotional perfection had failed. She sighed deeply, a sound so ancient and heavy it seemed to come from a wound never acknowledged.
"Nothing more because I have nothing to do," she murmured to herself, though none of those present dared to question whether it was true.
"Pearl," she said finally.
"Yes, my Diamond," the gem replied with immediate swiftness, as if she had been waiting all eternity to hear her name.
Make an appointment with White. I want to talk to her.
"Of course, my Diamond," Pearl said as her tablet lit up, initiating what for her was a routine movement... but for the entire Empire represented an unexpected crack in the perfect wall of obedience.
Perhaps I should talk to White. She should listen to me, shouldn't she? she thought to herself, more than to anyone around her. She slowly shook her head as she continued to ponder. Universe has made me overthink.
Steven got out of bed with a deep sigh. He was no longer drenched in sweat from those strange dreams in which he seemed to be conversing with someone. This time he was surprisingly calm, even more rested than ever. He shifted his body slightly and noticed how he was completely wrapped in blankets, practically a human taco, trapped in Lapis's arms, who showed no intention of letting go.
He murmured her name softly, trying not to wake her. Lapis was still immersed in a sleep so deep it seemed she'd passed through five different levels of slumber. She wasn't even reacting.
He tried to free himself, but from some impossible corner, Lapis summoned superhuman strength and squeezed him even tighter. After several failed attempts accompanied by resigned sighs, the minutes ticked by, and Steven finally surrendered to the logic that fighting the bear hug was pointless. Eventually, he managed to carefully slip out.
Once free, he covered the blue gem with the blanket so she wouldn't get cold. She lay stretched out on the bed, stiff as a log, but fast asleep.
Steven shook his head as he went downstairs to the kitchen, muttering to himself. He wondered what he should do with everything he was feeling. Energy coursed through his body without stopping, as if an unlimited source had burst forth from within him without permission. It was strange, almost overwhelming. Each time he slept, the sensation crossed an invisible boundary and then began to intensify even further, as if its power knew no bounds.
He wondered aloud if it had anything to do with his diamond powers, but as soon as he said it, he brought his hands to his mouth, glancing around to make sure no one had heard him. Finding the room completely empty, he sighed with relief.
A voice then replied that no one had heard him. Steven, without thinking, naturally thanked them. But something hit him a second later. He froze. "Uncle?" he repeated mentally, confused by having used that word. Immediately, panic surged through his chest because he recognized the voice.
He glanced quickly toward the sofa, that sofa that until moments before had been empty, and his eyes widened in shock at the sight of who was sitting there.
It was impossible, absurd, surreal.
Uncle Grandpa?!
End of Chapter 43.