Peridot was sitting in the living room while I made her tea. I explained that it helped relax the body's tension, though she replied that she didn't have a body. I cut her off before she could continue, because technically she did... she just didn't want to go into details.
While she waited, she looked at me curiously.
"Who's the sage?" she suddenly asked.
I didn't answer right away. She simply sat there while I calmly explained the whole situation, from the Cluster to the small detail that the world could explode if something went wrong.
Then Peridot spoke again, this time with clear doubt in her voice.
"So... you want me to help you with the Cluster, right?"
I nodded without hesitation.
"Well," she said after thinking for a moment. "I need my robotic parts to help."
...
...
I remained silent with a forced smile.
"No freaking idea," I said with all the sincerity I could muster.
...
Peridot also remained silent.
"Really?"
"Really," I replied with absolute certainty, as if it weren't a huge problem.
She shook her head slowly, clearly disappointed, occasionally startled by strange noises from the temple. I placed the tea in front of her and showed her how to drink it. To my surprise, she actually relaxed.
It was right at that moment that the portal opened.
I didn't notice anything at first. Lapis appeared covered in sand, Garnet had fire in her hair and her glasses were broken, Pearl was covered in bandages, and Amethyst was wearing a different shirt that definitely wasn't her original one.
When both sides saw each other, tension filled the room in an instant. I was right in the middle of it.
"Calm down, Gems," I said, raising a hand.
Both sides relaxed enough not to start an immediate fight.
"First of all," I continued, adjusting my jacket, "how did the mission go? Because from what I can see, it was a disaster."
...
"It was awful," Lapis said, brushing more sand out of her hair. "There were like five gems and no water, so I was just support," she added with a resigned sigh.
"I did alright," Amethyst said, pulling out a piece of metal I was sure she hadn't had before. "This is edible," she added before eating it in epic fashion.
Garnet shook her head.
"The mission was a success, though it cost more than my future vision predicted."
Pearl removed her bandages as she spoke.
"Yeah, and Amethyst cracked her gem again. Will you help her, Steven?"
I raised an eyebrow at Amethyst. She gritted her teeth and walked over resignedly.
"Saliva for you," I said as I touched her gem. It glowed instantly, and the crack disappeared.
That's when I noticed Peridot.
Her eyes were wide, taking in the whole scene.
"Wow, so powerful," she said aloud.
And, as expected, all eyes turned back to her.
"Um..." she said, now embarrassed.
"Relax, you're scaring them," I said as I lifted Peridot into the air, holding her like Simba in The Lion King.
"Eeee!" she let out a high-pitched squeal.
Everyone looked at her immediately and noticed some strange markings on her body, which caused the tension to return to the air in a matter of seconds.
"Relax," I said calmly. "I healed her before it spread."
Peridot nodded frantically, as if her life depended on it. And, well, it kind of did.
"She'll help us with the Cluster," I added.
They all looked at her with obvious distrust, and I couldn't blame them.
"Speaking of the Cluster," I said, glancing at Lion. "Hey, didn't Luna have something?"
"Yeah?" Peridot asked, intrigued.
"Well, let's go," I said without further ado, picking up Peridot while with my other hand I pulled Pearl, who looked clearly nervous.
I tucked Peridot more or less into Lion's mane, who was already quite furious about the interruption.
...
"Let's go," Garnet said, grabbing Amethyst and Lapis Lazuli, and jumping them both onto Lion's back.
He glared at me with pure spite. I just stroked him gently.
"I'll give you a good fish later."
Lion jumped up with such energy that we almost all went flying.
"Roar," he growled, as if asking where we were going.
"To the moon," I replied without hesitation.
Lion froze for a second.
"Roar?" he said, as if he thought he'd misheard.
"Yes. You'll have plenty of work today, and therefore, more fish."
Lion seemed to process the information and, with a quick roar, began opening portals one after another.
"What is this thing?!" Peridot yelled as we hurtled through the portals at an absurd speed.
"My magic lion," I said happily as I felt us going faster and faster.
"I'm going to fall!" Pearl screamed in panic, just as Garnet grabbed her, still holding onto Amethyst.
"Get here fast, Lion, damn it!" Amethyst yelled in genuine terror.
With one last roar, Lion opened the final portal and teleported us straight to the lunar base.
Lion spun around several times upon landing, sending us all flying to different parts of the place.
I immediately got up and ran to him.
"Are you okay, buddy?" I asked worriedly.
"Roar," Lion replied, a little weak.
I quickly swallowed and started rubbing some on him, just in case he had any injuries. It seemed he did, because his expression changed almost instantly.
"Good boy," I said.
"Wasn't that a bit rushed?" Amethyst asked, completely dizzy.
That was followed by Lapis's voice, as Garnet and Pearl had fallen on top of her.
"Not at all," Peridot said as she got up and began touching the walls with interest. "The Cluster is something that could destroy the entire planet."
They all tensed up immediately.
"Really?" Pearl said, confused and visibly worried.
I glanced at her. She noticed me and tensed up even more.
...
I looked back at Peridot, who was still touching the walls, carefully analyzing every detail.
"Here it is," Peridot said as she pressed a button.
Immediately, a staircase emerged from the floor, and several lights illuminated the corridor, lighting the way so no one would fall. Before moving forward, I approached Lion one last time, gently stroked him, and kissed him on the head.
"Wait for us, champ. We'll be right back."
Lion just settled more comfortably on the floor, ready to rest and regain his strength.
"Come on," I said as I lifted Peridot, since she clearly couldn't reach the stairs, and began to float up.
The others climbed up without any problem. All of them... except Lapis, who spread her wings and began to fly behind me.
I felt her gaze fixed on the back of my neck, but I decided to ignore it.
We passed through a room that I recognized immediately.
"Watchtower," Pearl said, unable to contain herself.
I took advantage of that little slip-up.
"What is it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Pearl answered as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"This is where the Diamonds monitor their colonies," she said without thinking.
Amethyst and Garnet stared at her. Lapis didn't care. Peridot didn't react much either.
I looked at Pearl, my eyebrow even higher. She realized what she'd just said and instantly covered her mouth.
"We'll talk later," I said seriously.
We continued on until we reached the main console of the lunar base.
"Do your thing," I said as I sat Peridot down in front of the controls.
She tensed up immediately.
"No, not here. I can't sit down, this belongs to a Diamond and and and—"
"Shhh," I interrupted, gesturing with my hand. "There are no Diamonds here. Get your act together."
...
...
Peridot didn't say anything else. She didn't get off either. She just started typing rapidly.
"So outdated," she muttered, but kept working as if nothing was wrong.
"This is the Cluster," she finally said, showing the screen.
"There's nothing here," Amethyst commented, seeing only a hologram of the planet.
"Oh?" Peridot said, confused. "Oh, right. I forgot to activate it."
She pressed one more command.
The hologram changed abruptly.
The planet began to warp, exploding in multiple places. Enormous cracks opened from the core, beams of energy ripped across the surface, and monstrous structures seemed to push from within, as if something wanted to be born by tearing the world to pieces.
It was grotesque.
It was terrifying.
A true monstrosity.
To everyone... except Peridot.
"Incredible," she said, her eyes sparkling as she processed the image of Homeworld in her mind.
The other Gems stared at her as if she'd just committed the worst crime imaginable, as if she'd killed her grandmother and buried her right in front of them.
Not me.
We'd literally pulled her out of a bubble about two hours ago at most, and honestly, she hadn't even had time to process all this.
So no, I wasn't surprised.
But I was worried.
"Do you know the location?" I asked seriously before the Gems glared at her.
"Oh, yeah," Peridot replied quickly, clearly grateful for the change of subject, as she nimbly manipulated the console. An exact point appeared on the screen.
"It's here," she said, pointing.
"It's at the family farm," I added with a touch of humor.
"What a coincidence," I thought with an involuntary smile.
"Let's go now," I said, taking Peridot. I noticed her grab a Diamond communicator, but decided not to dwell on it for now. Even so, I kept a close eye on her every move.
We all went back to the house. I kept my promise and gave Leon his fish. The darn thing started eating like there was no tomorrow.
"We'll go to the barn tomorrow. For now, get some rest," Garnet said as she walked toward the temple.
"Perfect," Pearl replied, trying to escape.
She didn't succeed.
I reached out and stopped her, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"Where are you going, Potter?" I said with complete seriousness.
"It's... um... I'm not Potter," she replied nervously.
"I don't care," I said as I picked her up like a sack of potatoes.
"See you later. I need to talk to her," I added before entering my temple room with a completely terrified Pearl.
The door closed behind us.
In the living room, Peridot stood frozen, caught between a raised eyebrow Amethyst and a clearly annoyed Lapis.
...
...
"What do I do?" Peridot thought, slowly panicking.
End of Chapter 52.