The next morning, Robert, Michael, and Steven were debating on if they should tell the Crystal Gems about Dark Aqua and about their prophecy.
"Look, the Gems aren't going to freak out about her." Steven said.
"Yeah, last time we told them about anything, the entire ocean disappeared!" Michael replied.
"Because you let her out, not because they found out" Robert replied.
"Don't you know how it's gonna pan out?" Steven asked.
"Garnet's the one with future vision, not me." Robert asked. "All I can do is see some lonely pink gem and some girl out in space." He was careful not to mention his mother.
"Look, I think it's best we keep our mouths shut" Michael replied as Emerald walked in, holding something.
"Guess what we're doing today!" Emerald sang, shaking the thing she held.
"What is it?" Robert asked. Michael crossed his fingers and hoped Steven wasn't a snitch.
"Are those movie tickets?" Steven asked excitedly. Robert and Michael looked to see stars in his eyes. Michael breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why's there so many?" Robert asked, thinking she was taking them and the other Gems to something.
"Well, I thought it would be fun to take us all to see Dogcopter 2" Emerald replied.
"Wait... there's four of us but six tickets" Robert replied. "Are Garnet and Amethyst coming or is Pearl going to fuse into someone?"
"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are out on a mission." Emerald replied.
"Then who's coming?" Michael asked. That's when Connie and Audrey knocked on the door.
"Connie!" Steven replied, running over to greet Connie and Audrey. Robert blushed heavily when he saw her. She looked stunning to him, and he went to her and wrapped his arms around her, not being able to see her since the Lapis incident.
"So whose car are we taking?" Steven asked.
"Greg agreed to take us." Emerald replied. "He finally got the van fixed."
"That's good." Steven replied. With that, the six of them climbed into Greg's van as he took them to the theater. Emerald couldn't help but smile at Robert and Audrey and Steven and Connie. They were just so cute together to her. She always wondered about the feeling of human love, never quite finding that special person herself.
The gang moved out towards the theater, crossing through funland to get to it.
"Have fun!" Greg said, as they got their popcorn and stepped into the theater. They had a great time. Michael stayed with Emerald as the four lovebirds sat right next to each other. Robert noticed something strange about Audrey: The fact she didn't eat a single kernel of the large popcorn he bought for them. It seemed odd to him, seeing as most people ate popcorn with their movie. As much as he tried to offer it to her, she didn't take it. He didn't push it and hoped someone would teach him how to look further into her memories to see why she refused food.
* * *
On their way out, a girl came frantically running to the group. "I knew I'd find you here!" she said, looking at Robert. He looked to Audrey, knowing what this insinuated. "I don't know you." he said, not wanting Audrey to get the idea he was cheating on her. She held on to him.
"Look, I'm not gonna steal your boyfriend." she said. "But he needs to come with me."
Audrey rolled her eyes, as if she was that controlling, but understanding as the girl pulled him aside. She stayed in earshot though, making sure her boyfriend wasn't pulled into the abyss or something equally frightening.
"Look, I'm gonna cut to the chase: You're a psychic, and need someone to teach you how to use your powers and hone your skills." She said. "I'm Arya, by the way. I'm gonna ask your guardians about you doing psychic training with me."
She seemed assertive in her conclusion, as if she knew exactly how this was going to play out. Before he could tell her his name or ask why she felt the need to pull him aside, she said "I pulled you aside because your girlfriend doesn't need to be scared about having a psychic for a boyfriend." She practically pushed him back into Audrey's arms.
Robert turned to ask the girl what she was smoking, but when he approached the corner to talk to her she disappeared.
"What the fuck was that?" Audrey asked, holding onto her boyfriend for safekeeping.
"I don't know, but I think we should run." Robert grabbed his girlfriend's hand, cutting their date short as they looked for the quickest path home.
"What does she mean by you being a psychic?" Audrey asked.
"No clue" he replied, not wanting her to know about his visions.
Robert guided Audrey back to the temple, hoping they had lost the strange woman from the theatre. He wasn't sure if it was a wanting to be special or if it was because she was really magic, but Rpobert began to wonder if he overreacted just a tad.
"Hey, dude, are you okay?" Amethyst asked, getting her feet off the table
"Yeah- we're fine." Robert lied, still worried about the crazy girl
"Oh, who's this?" Amethyst asked, getting an eyeful of Audrey, who seemed put off by the purple gem.
"Oh, Audrey, meet Amethyst" Robert replied.
"Look, we ain't gonna hurt'cha." Amethyst replied as Audrey hid behind him.
Emerald and the others soon appeared at the door.
"Rob? Why did you run off?" Emerald asked, concerned as he typically didn't run away randomly.
"Did you come across some crazy girl who said she was a psychic?" Audrey blurted out.
Everyone seemed confused, as if Audrey was the crazy one, until Pearl and Garnet stepped forward from their rooms.
"You mean Arya? Arya Fielding?" Pearl asked. "When did you find out about her?"
"Better question: When did you?" Robert asked.
"It was a while ago, but sometime after Steven was born, we found out about Arya and her powers..." Pearl explained. "After finding out what she could do, we promised to protect her from anyone finding out about them, as long as she stayed away from Steven."
"What's so bad about her?" Steven asked.
"She isn't an ordinary human. Much like Robert, she too is a psychic. And if left unchecked, psychics can become dangerous, being able to bend the mind of any creature to their will. She can possess you, control you, even bend your thoughts to change your entire being." Garnet explained, eerily calm. "That is, if they're evil. You shouldn't have to worry about any of that from him or Arya.
"I dunno, Steven might be able to pull that kind of stuff off as well."
"What are you talking about?" Steven asked.
"This could just be a silly dream, but I saw you possessing me and later Lars." Robert replied.
"To be fair, it took every ounce of self control not to slap that guy back into that donut shop" Michael added.
Audrey looked like they all just said unicorns were native to beach city and how Baldur's Gate was a real place in Guam, standing there blinking with her jaw to the floor. Robert tried to explain how this was all new to him as well. He thought it best to take Audrey home, not wanting her to get overwhelmed. After which, he went home to ask Emerald if he should go do psychic training with Arya. Emerald seemed apprehensive,
"Are you sure about this? I don't trust Robert with some random lady from the theater." Emerald pleaded, feeling as if everyone else had their mind fall straight out of their head.
"What's the worst that could happen, E? Take a chill pill!" Amethyst replied nonchalantly, as if Emerald's adoptive son wasn't about to go to a complete stranger's house under the pretense she was a psychic who could train him.
"Kidnapping, brainwashing, sacrificing to Cthulhu, you might as well leave him in the middle of bear country slathered in honey BBQ!" Emerald's pleas were in vain as Amethyst had already turned to the door with Robert, him all too eager to go.
Emerald groaned as she followed the two, if Amethyst was going to thrust them into danger she might as well be there to put out the flames.
Upon arriving into the rather empty home Emerald felt her head boom with headaches, forcing her outside. Amethyst and Robert seemed unaffected.
"You've finally arrived." Arya greeted Robert flatly "I apologize, but Amethyst must wait outside."
"But-"
"As a gem her energy will interfere with the lesson, she must go." Arya restated
Amethyst grumbled and went outside with Emerald, both sitting on the porch as Robert did god-knows-what.
By the end of the three-hour lesson, Robert was able to perform basic telepathy, see the whereabouts of his friends, and lift objects up to a quarter-pound with his mind, as at this stage, anything heavier would result in headaches.
Arya thanked Robert for being her student, and apologized for coming off as crazy, and sent him and the gems on their way.
"Did she do anything to you?" Emerald asked, still shaking
"Uh- I can't really explained what happened, I think I passed out at one point?-"
"Em, he's fine. Chill. Out." Amethyst interrupted, Emerald huffed
"How can you be so nonchalant about this? He disappears for three hours and you don't have a single question about it?"
"Arya knows what she's doing, it'll be great."
Emerald blinked slowly, her hands pulsing in a fist to calm her nerves.
"You have to be fucking joking me-."
"Em, we've known her for years, trust me."
"You met her yesterday!"
"You met her yesterday, me and the gems have seen her around."
Emerald held her tongue, while her instincts told her this was Arya's handiwork it could just be Amethyst being Amethyst. Emerald kept a close eye on Robert as he went to sleep that night, making sure Arya didn't do anything with his mind. She certainly didn't want to get Garnet or Pearl involved.
Emerald wasn't the only one with things on her mind, as Dark Aqua's warning became less and less doubtful with each passing hour.