A New Era Three

Chapter 6: The Voyage to Homeworld

AN: Time to see what the Gems and Lars have been up to all this time!

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Lar's mouth could only drop as he stared at the planet in front of them. It was torn apart — shattered and held together only by the planet's gravity. It glowed white; devoid of any color other than an awful irradiated silver glow. He glanced at the Crystal Gem's faces. Their scowls told him exactly what he suspected: this is what happened when gems took over. Everything was destroyed.

And this is where Steven was behind held.

"Alright," Pearl said from the ship's controls, her voice stiff. Her hands were glued to the thruster and paler than normal, but her face was determined. "We're here. We have 14 hours to find Steven. Garnet, any luck?"

"He could be anywhere," the fusion curtly replied.

Pearl glanced her way, but decided not to question her further. "Okay, everyone understand the plan?"

Amethyst nodded. Peridot looked like she may puke — Lars was sure that wasn't her natural green tone — but she nodded all the same. Garnet didn't react.

"Right," Pearl said, turning back to the ship's navigation. "There should be a blind spot in their security on the south side of the planet in the middle of their largest kindergarten."

"How do you know that?" Lars questioned. He watched countless ships zoom in and out of the planet, flashing like schools of salmon trying to swim upstream. "How do you know that's safe?"

Pearl shook her head and pursed her lips. "I was on Homeworld for thousands of years before I came to Earth."

Lars took one look at her face and decided not to question her again. Silence overtook the crew. Lars could only watch and bite his nails as Pearl slowly dropped the ship into a dive as they approached a chunk of the planet that was floating needless in orbit. They skirted the edges of it, so close that Lars could count the craters. He physically ducked down once or twice when a large rock outcropping seemed to be close enough to scrap the hull of their ship.

And then, darkness.

Pearl let out a slow breath and she twiddled with the ship's navigation system until it matched the speed of the rock that covered them. It was agonizing; they waited in silence and slowly drifted downward.

Lars held his breath every time they heard the rumble of a Homeworld ship or saw the red line of scanners. But nothing came close to them.

"This rock," Pearl said in a whisper, her voice shaky. "Used to be part of Pink Diamond's birthplace. It split from the planet not long after she was created. Most gems don't dare disturb it."

"So that's..." Amethyst breathed as she peered outside. Lars looked too and noticed the ship was hidden in a large indent of the rock: one that was vaguely humanoid in shape. It was huge, lined with a iridescent interior that reminded Lars of glass or obsidian — in this level of darkness, he couldn't tell. The hole was incomplete; cracked down the middle where the rock must have shattered off the planet.

"That's the lady the Diamonds think Steven killed?" Lars asked.

Pearl nodded. "Rose shattered Pink to save the Earth. If she hadn't..."

Lars looked back to Homeworld. "Then that's what Earth would be like, isn't it?"

All of the Crystal Gems nodded. Peridot looked like she was about to say something, but she shook her head after a second and crossed her arms.