Templeschool

8. Dr. Maheswaran Learns The Truth

"Look, I promise you guys. I'll tell you about Peridot when the time is right. I'm sorry, but I don't want to mess with the future. If I mess with this aspect of the past too much, things could be disastrous."

Pearl turned her nose up in annoyance. "Fine! If you're not going to help us find Peridot, then I would rather be searching instead of wasting my time talking to you." Garnet and Amethyst watched her storm off.

That signaled the end of yet another meeting between the Crystal Gems and Twoie about the future. Meeting would be putting it lightly. It was more like a randomly scheduled interrogation, with Twoie worrying about how much to reveal and the gems pressuring him to reveal all of it. Usually, it was held in the Burning Room, but with Steven hanging out at Connie's house, the gems held their meeting in the living room.

"She has a point, Twoie." Twoie turned to face Garnet. "You have a better understanding of the future than we do. Right now, the threat of Homeworld is looming over us. Have you thought that by delaying our search like this, you have changed the future already?" Twoie avoided looking her in the eyes. "If you really don't want to prepare us for the future or ease our concerns, then you are wasting our time. Come on, Amethyst." Garnet walked away from him to the warp pad. Amethyst mouthed 'Sorry, dude' to him before tagging alongside Garnet. The two disappeared into the warp stream.

Twoie sighed. He wished he knew how to explain it to them. There was a lot of pressure in being able to change the future. Garnet should know that already, so why does he have to explain himself? A gem could crack under all that pressure. The memory of Yellow Diamond's words rang in his mind. Twoie took a deep breath and banished the thought. 'Stop it, Steven. Get it together.' The young man snatched his briefcase from its spot by the couch.

Work always helped! He sat down at the counter, pulling his binder of notes and some textbooks out of the bag. Steven had been progressing very well in his studies. The garden and the museum gave him some much needed real-world application of the things he was learning. Maybe he could plan out another trip soon? The zoo could be fun... His planning was interrupted by the 64-bit Cookie Cat Theme Song.

"Huh, done already?" He pressed the answer button on the phone and brought it up to his ear. "Hey, Steven! You ready to come home?"

"Twoie! I'm so glad you answered! Okay, so Connie and I were practicing with Mom's sword, and Mrs. Maheswaran took it! Can you help us get it back?"

Oh, no. The hospital! Twoie worriedly bit his lip. Oh, this was bad. "Okay, I'm on my way. Do not leave, got it?"

"Okay! See you in a bit, bro!" Steven hung up. Twoie tucked his phone into his pocket and ran out the door. 'Please work!'

"LION! I NEED YOU!" Twoie shouted as he jumped down to the sand. The tinkling of a portal rang throughout the quiet beach. Lion skidded across the sand and looked at him in expectation. "Oh, thank stars that worked." He scratched Lion's neck in appreciation. "Okay, bud. I need you to take me to Connie and Steven, okay?" The pink beast snuffed. He opened a portal, and the two charged in together.

Steven and Connie were waiting outside for them. "Twoie!" Steven ran up to him and hugged him. Twoie chuckled as he hugged his little brother back. Connie approached the two with a smile. "Hello, Twoie! It's nice to see you!"

The young man pulled away from the hug. "Nice to see you as well, Connie. Okay, so if I remember correctly, Mrs. Maheswaran got called away to the hospital, right?" The two kids nodded. Twoie let out a stressed sigh. "Okay. I need to warn you about what's going to happen." They stared in rapt attention.

"There are gem mutants in the hospital." Connie and Steven flinched. "G-gem mutants?! Oh, man! Mrs. Maheswaran is in danger! We gotta save her!"