A New Era Three

Chapter Seven: Inside White's Head

With the organic now as dull as one of the wall panels, White found herself free to explore his mind. She brushed past the thoughts of utter despair and rolled her eyes at the word "murderer," before she found something interesting. A longing feeling — something that felt so strong, and yet so hopeless, that it intrigued her.

She focused on the feeling and was immediately submerged in it; drowned in a pool of frigid tears that called out for someone who wasn't there. Desire swirled in the tumultuous waves for a life that this organic — Steven was it? — once had. For warmth and love that came from the arms of those who owned the names his heart kept calling out for: Dad, Connie, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Peridot.

White paused and she felt a smile grow on her lips. She didn't know who this "Dad" or "Connie," was, but that didn't matter right now. It was as she suspected; this organic loved the rebel gems. He wanted them to help him and wanted to be with them again. But there was something more to it. The way he thought of their names, the way they swirled in his head and brought a feeling of hopeless hope to the boy, it was something White knew well.

Pink. She had the same soft spot for flawed creatures. She surrounded herself with lesser beings, adored and took in unintelligent organics, and loved them like they were her family. She no doubt did the same to these poor gems; playing with them and making them believe her silly game was real, just as she so often did when she was on Homeworld. That's why her original pearl was broken, why her Spinel was kept off Homeworld, and why so many of her organic pets were now dead in cages.

Although Pink loved them, she never took care of them. This organic, Steven, was proof enough of that. She had the poor boy convinced that she didn't exist anymore. That the only thing left of her was her gem.

But Steven was wrong. So much of Pink was in him. Her stubbornness. Her love of flawed beings. Her destructive power, covered up by gentle healing. Her relentless ability to be selfish.

"All of this could be over if you would just come out, Starlight," White said to herself.

"She's gone," the boy below her repeated in a dull, emotionless voice.

"No, Steven," White cooed. The human's name felt odd on her lips, but if she was going to play Pink's game, then she had to abide by the rules. "Pink was always like this. She tricked others into getting what she wanted. Blue could tell you stories that would last eons about Pink's selfish ways."

"She tried to fit in, for a time," White continued. "But she just never could. That's why she made you. That's why she convinced you and the others on Earth that she was gone. So she could finally fit in somewhere. She wants to be you, Steven. She wants to fit in and be loved as you are and to escape the duties she used to desperately beg for."

She had the boy's full attention now. He stared up at her with a spark of curiosity in his eyes. An almost painful yearning echoed in his mind.

"You really don't know anything about Pink, do you?" White asked, though not surprised by this revelation at all. "You only know what you've been told about Rose Quartz. Tell me, how did it feel when you learned Rose Quartz shattered a gem?"

He didn't need to say anything. At this statement, his mind was flooded with conflict. It became the warzone Pink created; a loving side fighting against bitter resentment. He wanted to love Rose. He wanted to hate her.

Through all the conflicted feelings, one thing was certain: he blamed her. For what though, White didn't care to find out.

"Did you know that the pearl with her was her second pearl?" White asked/