A New Era Three

Chapter 13: A Diamond Emerges

"Fight her, Steven!"

"Yeah, you got this, dude!"

"You're stronger than she is!"

The gems didn't even know if the preteen heard them. Steven was hunched over on his knees, hands entangled in his curls as tears streamed down his face from his unseeing eyes. His pink face. His pink hands. His pink pupils.

They had never seen him like this. He was hunched over with complete agony strewn across his face; he would clench his eyes closed and let out whimpers of pain before opening them again and taking a large breath. His fingers would dig further into his hair and the cracks in the floor would slowly stretch toward the gems. Then, it would start over again.

Garnet slowly stepped forward, followed by the other two, and pulled him into her arms. She gently untangled his fingers from his hair and winced when his nails dug into her hands instead. But she didn't let go.

"Can we do anything to help?" Pearl asked. She knelt in front of Steven and gently brushed his curls back out of his face. The boy still didn't react.

Garnet shook her head.

They all lowered their heads and watched the gem pulse with weak white light. They held their breath as the pink aura encasing Steven's skin seemed to slowly seep into the edges of the stone, only to be pushed back by a flash of white light.

"Kick her butt, Steven," Amethyst growled, her hands in fists as she stood protectively over them as the boy fought for his life.

While they saw the outward turmoil, none of them saw what Steven did — they didn't see the lifeless walls that stretched beyond Steven's line of sight or see their own reflection in the tiled floor beneath him. They didn't see White Diamond, towering over him with a menacing look in her eyes as she peered down at him.

He was nothing to her, nothing but a pink ant. But still, she didn't approach him. She didn't lift her foot to squash him. She just stared.

"So, what now, Starlight? Are you going to fight me too?"

Steven clenched his hands, hoping to steady them, as he looked White Diamond right in the eye.

"No," he said, his voice giving away how small he felt. "White, this isn't right."

White shook her head and smiled down at Steven as if he were a toddler who just brought her a stuffed toy.

"I agree, Starlight, you abandoning us, and hiding from me isn't right."

"That's not what I mean!" Steven yelled out, frustrated. "I'm not my mom!"

White pointed to the floor beneath Steven and tutted. "Look again, Steven."

Steven looked at her for a moment longer before he let his eyes fall to the ground. He breathed in sharply and took a step back, but his reflection followed him. It wasn't him; it was Pink. But she wasn't Pink. Her skin was grayed out, her large tuft of curls, which were so like Steven's, where colorless and her eyes were void of thought. And painted on her face was the most emotionless smile Steven had ever seen.

No. He had seen it somewhere else. On Pink Pearl, before White released her from her control.

"Now do you understand?" White mused. Her fingers tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Even after all of this insisting, you're still wrong."

"No," Steven whispered. He took another step back and Pink did too. But her face didn't show the horror he felt on his.

Pink didn't feel anything.