Author's Note: Hi! Sorry for the delay, I've been busy with some university stuff. I saw that you reached 50 stars on Wattpad and 150 Power Stones on Webnovel, a new record, actually. We even reached 176 stones on Webnovel, it's incredible, honestly.
I'm always grateful for all the support you give this fanfic. I'll try to bring you new chapters whenever I can and keep my promises. Also, I'll upload the other promised chapter tomorrow.
And if you want another bonus chapter, we need to reach 50 stars on Wattpad and 120 Power Stones on Webnovel. I hope that's not too much to ask.
Let's continue:
"Steven, this won't be easy," Garnet said as we sat down in the temple's strategy room.
Her voice was serious, something she rarely showed.
"I've seen multiple futures, and in some of them, you don't return. They're not all the same, but none of them are perfect."
I leaned back a little, trying to process what she was saying.
"I'm not coming back? What exactly do you mean?" I asked, trying to stay calm, even though my heart was pounding.
Garnet sighed.
"In every possible future where Blue Diamond arrives, Earth is in danger if you don't act. In some, your father or even I tried to intervene, but... your presence is what makes the difference. That's why we need you to go."
"I don't understand..." I said, raising an eyebrow.
"So I'm on my own in this?"
"Yes," Garnet said firmly.
"You'll be the only one who can withstand the direct influence of a Diamond. No one else has your combination of humanity and half-gem to hold it."
Peridot, who had been silent until that moment, spoke up.
"And with Bismuth on our side, we can build a ship that can withstand the journey. It won't be perfect, but it'll be enough to get in and out. It could be ready in a month, and then we could rescue you in another two if anything goes wrong."
I looked at everyone. The magnitude of the situation hit me: I was about to embark on something that could change everything, and there was no room for error.
"Steven, we need your full commitment," Garnet added, looking at me intently.
"It's not optional. If this fails, the planet is at risk."
I took a deep breath.
"I'll do it," I finally said.
"But at the very least... I need you to bring me food, tools, everything I can store in my gem to survive for as long as this lasts."
Everyone nodded, and as Garnet began to detail the logistics of the journey, Pearl lowered her head and whispered.
"I hope I can be useful this time... I don't want to feel useless again."
Garnet placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, Pearl. You do everything you can, and that's more than many could bear. This mission is different. Most of the work will depend on Steven, but we'll all do our part."
Pearl, however, stared at the ground.
"But I feel like... like I'm just watching. Like I can't do anything useful."
Amethyst nodded slightly, with a weary smile.
"I'm not the most useful person here either. I feel like everything I do is minimal compared to what Steven has to do."
Pearl closed her eyes. "It's not fair. All this... and I can't do anything."
Garnet looked around, assessing everyone's morale.
"We all contribute, even if we don't realize it. Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot will be key in construction and logistics, and you and Amethyst are here to maintain balance and support. Don't underestimate what it means to be prepared."
While Garnet spoke, Bismuth had already begun inspecting the materials we would gather for the ship.
"I'll need special steel, some alloys from the lava forge, and reinforcements that can absorb gem energy," she said, her voice firm and focused.
"If we do this right, the ship will be sturdy enough to enter and leave Homeworld undetected."
Peridot was beside her, adjusting holographic displays and calculating possible trajectories.
"If we place the stabilizers at these points, we can manipulate local gravity so the ship can evade energy sensors," she explained.
"It won't be perfect, since things are much more advanced on Homeworld. We just need speed for this. We'll try to get close to one of the Rubies' ships. It'll work."
I watched everything, mentally recording every step. While Peridot and Bismuth discussed the design and pencil, I watched from the background, always attentive, though worried if the glances they gave me meant something.
Pearl approached and gently touched my arm.
"I know it's not the same as being on the battlefield, but... I trust you." Her voice carried weight, a mixture of fear and hope.
I turned and smiled at them.
"I understand, and I'll do it for everyone. But remember... I'm going to need chargers, food, water, and... patience, lots of patience. It's like the Zetas are carrying me to the side," I said as I leaned back on a nearby sofa.
The atmosphere was tense, but full of purpose. Garnet crossed her arms, and although she said nothing more, her gaze said it all: the future was upon us, and only together could we have any chance.
Bismuth was already moving, preparing tools, adjusting energy matrices for welding and stress tests. Peridot adjusted codes and coordinates on the screen. Pearl and Amethyst checked supplies and weaponry that were to travel with me.
I observed everything, aware that soon this project would cease to be training or a game. This was real. This was the difference between an untouched planet and an invasion we couldn't stop.
The sun began to set, and as the golden light bathed the base, I knew this would be my last day of relative calm before facing the inevitable.
"Let's do this right," I said finally, looking at each of them.
"If this is the only way to keep Earth... then let's do it."
After giving my final instructions on the ship and making sure each of them knew her role, I stood up calmly. "Well, I'm going to my room to get ready," I said, trying to sound relaxed.
Garnet stared at me, wordless, and I saw a flicker of worry in her eyes. Pearl crossed her arms, trying to hide her unease, but the slight trembling in her fingers betrayed her tension. Amethyst was looking away, fiddling with a piece of test metal, trying to distract herself from the feeling of helplessness.
Bismuth was silent, her gaze fixed on the door, her breathing heavier than usual. Even Peridot, normally cool and meticulous, lowered her head, adjusting one of her screens as if that could somehow deflect reality: Steven was going alone, and they couldn't do anything to stop him.
"Is he going to be okay?" Amethyst murmured, barely audible, her eyes following his every move.
"It's not just another mission, it's something much more difficult. Let's just hope for the best," Pearl replied, her voice heavy with a weight she couldn't hide.
"If something happens to her... we can't interfere directly. We just... have to trust."
Garnet simply nodded, her expression rigid, but her eyes followed the figure moving toward the corridor. Every movement seemed measured, aware that this time there would be no room for error.
I walked slowly, letting each of them absorb the tension. I felt the gaze of each gem, the silent fear, the worry that didn't need words to show itself. The ship, the tests, Blue Diamond... everything was on my shoulders, and they knew it.
When I reached my bedroom door, I paused for a moment.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," I said with a slight smile, though inside I felt the weight of the situation.
I closed the door behind me, and a heavy silence fell over the group. The echo of my footsteps seemed to linger in the hallway, leaving each gem lost in their own thoughts.
Pearl rested her forehead against the wall, her fingers clenching lightly.
"I can't do anything... it's frustrating," she murmured, though no one responded.
Garnet took a deep breath, trying to channel her usual composure, but even she couldn't hide a slight shudder. Bismuth remained rigid, staring at the closed door, and Peridot finally looked up, a flicker of anxiety in her normally calculating eyes.
Amethyst crossed her arms, swaying slightly, as if the movement could alleviate the feeling of helplessness that filled her. We all felt the same: Steven was about to face something enormous, alone, and none of us could directly intervene.
The silence stretched on, heavy, as each of us processed the reality of the situation. The tension wasn't just fear; it was respect for what Steven had to do, for the responsibility he carried on his shoulders. And although no one said it aloud, we knew that the fate of Earth, for now, rested in the hands of its half-human, half-Gem.
From my room, I could hear their breathing and small movements, though it was mostly their minds playing tricks on them: each sigh, each gesture, marked the rhythm of the tension that filled the temple. There was no laughter, no jokes; only the shared awareness that what was coming was serious, and that I had to be prepared for anything.
Steven stared at the pink clouds that drifted slowly around him, those clouds that had always been a refuge, a safe place to think without interruption. This time it didn't work. Suddenly, his whole body turned pink, like an involuntary reaction, a reflection of something he couldn't control. His legs gave way and he fell to his knees, his hands trembling, feeling frustration tighten in his chest.
Everything was fine. That was the worst part. The Cluster was still stable, Lapis and Peridot were fine, each in their own way. Yes, one of them still carried traumas that wouldn't be easily erased, but she was alive, she was free. Bismuth was no longer trapped in a bubble; she was walking again under the same sky she had defended in the war, and although not everything was perfect, they were on the best possible terms. Even that was thanks to his mother, whether he liked to admit it or not.
Steven gritted his teeth.
In the background, almost like a constant presence that never quite left, was his mother's hologram. Rose watched him with an expression that seemed a mixture of sadness and worry, as if she knew exactly what was going through his mind.
"Don't talk to me," she said seriously, without raising her voice, but carrying the weight of each word.
Then it happened again.
The voices.
He thought they were gone, that the constant noise in his head had been left behind after the beating, after the training, after forcing himself to grow up too fast. But no. They returned, clear, sharp, like razor-sharp blades.
"What's wrong?... You're pathetic... You can't even rest in peace."
Steven put a hand to his head, breathing heavily.
"You died once, and you're still pathetic... you should just let a rock fall on your head again; at least you saved someone that time."
He squeezed his eyes shut. They weren't exactly pleasant memories, nor were they external voices. They were thoughts, fragments of guilt, fear, and self-loathing that crept in whenever he let his guard down. When he wasn't training, when he wasn't saving anyone, when he was simply Steven and nothing more.
His body trembled as he lay on the floor of his room, the only place he allowed himself to fall like this. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. Not Garnet with her serenity, not Pearl with her silent guilt, not Amethyst with her defensive jokes. No one.
He needed help; he knew that. It wasn't ignorance or pride; it was an uncomfortable certainty that weighed heavily on his chest. But explaining why was another matter. He didn't know how to put it into words without it sounding trivial or exaggerated. I didn't know how to say that, even when everything was "fine", my head was still a battlefield.
Steven stood there, breathing slowly, letting the pink color begin to fade. He wasn't healed. It wasn't resolved. But he was still standing, at least for now, and that would have to be enough.
For the moment.
I'll just do what I can. And if that's not enough, I'll give it my all. If that's still not enough, I'll give it my all. And if that doesn't work either... well, there's always the option of stabbing White Diamond with the machete in my backpack. One or the other.
Steven stared into space, letting that thought linger a few seconds longer than it should have.
"What the hell am I thinking?" he muttered to himself as he summoned a mirror in front of him.
The reflection appeared almost immediately. His pink form was fully active, his skin stained that intense hue, and his eyes sparkling like diamonds, too bright to be comfortable.
He stared at himself, searching for something in his own gaze that he couldn't quite place. Determination, maybe. Or exhaustion. Or both at the same time.
Then he noticed it.
In the mirror behind him, a figure began to take shape.
Steven didn't turn around immediately. He studied the reflection intently, knowing perfectly well who it was, or rather, what it was. He knew that this place belonged to him, that he was in charge there. And he also knew that if this figure was before him, it was because a part of him had allowed it.
Even so, he stood up. Tears of frustration burned in his eyes, but they didn't fall. Not yet.
"Have you ever thought about your failures?" he said seriously, looking straight at the reflection of the Diamond that now filled the entire mirror.
It was his mother. Rose. Pink Diamond. In her true form, tall, imposing, perfect. A hologram, nothing more. Only the gem remained of her... and yet, her presence still weighed as if she had never left.
"No," the figure replied without any emotion.
Steven gritted his teeth.
"The only mistake I didn't make was having you."
The blow was sharp, direct, even knowing those words weren't entirely true. Steven stared into her eyes. Eye to eye. Diamond against diamond. For a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, neither looked away. Finally, Steven sighed, more tired than angry.
"Okay," he said, looking away slightly.
"Now tell me something useful."
He started walking toward the pink void that surrounded the place, feeling his breathing gradually slow.
"Remind me what the three Diamonds are like. I want every detail. It doesn't matter if you have to search through this gem I have, I want everything. Their forms, their attitudes, their flaws. Everything."
The hologram of Pink Diamond followed him, floating beside him, as she began to speak. Her voice was steady, almost clinical, describing White Diamond with her absolute control and her distorted vision of perfection. To Blue Diamond with her eternal pain, her melancholy transformed into authority. To Yellow Diamond with her rigidity, her obsession with order and efficiency, incapable of tolerating weakness.
Steven listened in silence, nodding occasionally, absorbing every word. He wasn't doing it out of curiosity. He was doing it because soon he would have to face them, one way or another. And this time, not as a confused child, but as someone who understood exactly what he was up against.
As the story continued, Steven felt something settle inside him. It wasn't peace. It wasn't complete confidence. It was preparation.
And that, for now, was enough.
End of Chapter 70.