Hey guys! We're back with Luna and the gang after the big event with Bismuth and Eilat's kidnapping. What will they do now? Let's check in and find out! :D
-Luna's POV-
"Luna?" I heard. I looked up, startled as the voice broke me out of my thoughts. Circo, Onyx and Amber walked along beside me as Steven and Amethyst walked ahead. I looked at Circo, who had called my name. "What is it?" I asked.
"You've...been quiet the entire time," He said, glancing at Onyx and Amber. Onyx nodded in agreement and Amber said, "It's not normal. Even for your mother, who was a complete chatter box."
I looked at the ground, saying, "I'm just....tired."
"Oh no you don't," Onyx said. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and said, "No way are you going to be mopey! We're visiting Lapis and Peridot today! You haven't seen either of them in a while. I can't wait until you see the barn; it looks great!"
I nodded, not really feeling too optimistic. Onyx flinched and looked at Amber, "Help me out here."
"Luna, there's no use worrying," Amber said, stiffly. "I know your scared for Eilat. But we'll find them. Garnet will let us know if she sees them anytime soon. Besides, you should be excited, I hear there's going to be a solar eclipse today."
"Really?" Circo and I chorused, looking at Amber. She nodded, "Oh yeah. That's usually a big thing for sunstones and moonstones. Back when they ruled, they usually held ritual dances for fusion on the day of an eclipse. Looking back on it, it really was amazing though my view back then was different."
"Huh, that does sound interesting," I said, smiling a little. Circo nodded and looked away. I glanced at him, wondering how he was holding up with everything that happened. Onyx stopped, pulling me to a stop, "We're here!"
I looked up as our group stood next to Steven and Amethyst. The barn really was different. They moved the silo in the hole of the barn and, connected from the top of that and a piece of the old rocket, was a banner. The truck stuck out from the window of the barn and the pool had pipes running from it into the silo. It really looked like Lapis, Peridot and Onyx made this place their home. Steven cracked a smile and said, "You guys sure did something to the barn."
Onyx grinned and nodded proudly. Amber smirked and ruffled Onyx's hair, saying, "Nice work."
Onyx beamed with pride and grabbed Amber's hand, "Come on! I have so much to show you!" She tugged on Amber's hand, bringing her towards the barn. The rest of us followed until we all stood under the truck, where Peridot and Lapis were. Steven cupped his hands over his mouth, shouting, "Lapis! Peridot! Hi!"
Lapis and Peridot looked down. Both of them smiled and Lapis summoned her wings. She floated down as Peridot climbed down. Lapis rushed over to me and hugged me tightly. "Oh, I missed you so much," She said. I blinked and held back tears. I hugged Lapis tightly, saying, "I missed you too. I really should come visit more often."
Lapis let go of me and looked to everybody. "It's good to see you all," She said. Her eyes fell on Amber and she asked, "And....you are...?"
"Oh! We never met," Amber said. She extended her hand and said, "My name is Amber. I'm a friend of Onyx's."
Lapis nodded, taking her hand. "Nice to meet you," She said. We all heard a loud Thump! as Peridot had fallen down. But she quickly jumped up and rushed up next to Lapis. I noticed she was wearing a red bow tie on her neck; she probably got it from her alien plush. She looked at Onyx, grinning, "Glad to see your back, Onyx!"
"Glad to be back," She said. Peridot looked at everybody and her eyes fell on Amethyst. "Amethyst! Something looks different about you..." She said, studying her. All of us, minus Lapis and Peridot, flinched. "Like what?" Amethyst asked, sounding cautious.
"Have you grown taller since the last time I saw you?" Peridot asked. Amethyst sighed, "Nope, still short."
Peridot burst into laughter, saying, "Your welcome! For the joke." We all chuckled and Circo looked at them, saying, "Wow, you guys are looking good. And we love what you did to the barn."
"Aw, I know. But wait, wait! You guys have to see the inside!" Peridot said, excitedly. She winked at Lapis and said, "Lapis, fly us in."
"No..." Lapis said, after a moment of silence. I giggled and Onyx, Lapis and Peridot led us into the barn. Onyx spread her arms out and said, "Welcome to our home away from Homeworld!"
I looked around in awe and Amber nodded, smiling. Amethyst looked indifferent and Steven looked excited. Circo smiled and said to Onyx, "This looks great, Onyx."
Onyx's cheeks were dusted a bit with red as she said, "Thanks Circo! I'm glad you like it." Steven rushed over to where the hole in the wall used to be. The trio had turned it into an aquarium, and Steven grinned, "Whoa, you made the wall an aquarium!"
He flinched though when Peridot's alien plush floated along in front of him. Amethyst looked at a vacuum cleaner with water and fish inside, saying, "You did all this stuff on purpose? Like, you didn't just knock over a bunch of paint cans and go, 'Eh, just leave it.'"
"Oh no, this was all very intentional. You see, I had this idea: What if we made music, but instead of sounds, we use things?" Peridot said, shaking her hands in excitement. Amethyst stared at her and said, "That's dumb."
"Amethyst," Amber muttered. But Steven's eyes grew wide as he said, "Guys, that's art!" Onyx raised an eyebrow and said, "Art? That sounds ridiculous!"
"I've been calling it meep morp," Lapis said. I smiled and said, "That's a great name."
"It is?" Circo asked. I punched him in the arm and he quickly said, "Yeah, it sure is." He rubbed his arm, trying to ease the pain. Peridot smiled, not really taking much attention to Circo's pain. "Let us show you our morps," She said. She walked over to a stand that had several cassette tapes on it, along with her broken recorder and a blue ribbon on it.
"This piece is called 'Wow, thanks.' It represents the struggles of intercommunication. The tape is the ribbon that binds our experience on Earth together. It has no functional purpose! It just makes me feel bad!" Peridot said proudly. Nobody said anything; we were all trying to wrap our heads around what it was Peridot just said. Lapis took that as her cue to show off two of her meep morps. The first one was a coat hanger that had a baseball glove, a baseball bat, and a baseball on three separate strings. The second one was a mound of dirt with the leaf that Circo gave her.
She gestured to the first one, saying, " Here's my meep morp. This is a baseball bat. It reminds me of when I played baseball." She then gestured to the mound of dirt, saying, "This is the leaf Circo gave me. It reminds me of the time... Circo gave me a leaf."
"Hey it reminds me of that too," Steven said, smiling. I glanced at a TV in the corner that had a few mirrors sticking out from the sides of it. A clip of a show I didn't recognize kept repeating over and over again. I slightly flinched and said, "Is this one about... the thousands of years you spent trapped in a mirror?"
"No, I just really like that show," Lapis said, looking at the TV. I sighed; at least she wasn't hung up on the past anymore. Peridot seemed to realize something and said to Amethyst, "Oh, Amethyst! You'll love this one!"
Peridot rushed towards the back of the barn and all of us followed. Amber looked at Onyx and asked, "Do you have any meep morps?"
Onyx glanced at Circo, her face turning red. "Yeah but...their private pieces," She whispered to her. Amber raised an eyebrow and glanced at Circo. She seemed to figure it out and smirked at Onyx, "Alright, I won't bother you about it then," Amber said, winking at Onyx. Onyx's face flushed even redder and I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. We all stopped when Peridot gestured to three toilets in front of us.
"Check it out!" She said, gesturing to the toilets. Amber raised an eyebrow, "Their...what are those?"
"Their toilets," Circo said simply. Amber looked to me for a better explanation. I shook my head, "I'll explain later."
"This represents the time I spent imprisoned in your bathroom, Steven," Peridot said. Steven looked away, looking uncomfortable about this. Peridot didn't seem to notice as she continued, "I call it 'Occupied.' It's a collaborative piece." Peridot gave Lapis a thumbs up and she returned it. She raised her hands and water shot out from the toilets. I clapped in awe for their piece and Amber and Circo joined in.
Amethyst stared at it, saying, "I don't get it."
"What's there to get? It's water! Shooting out of toilets!" Steven said. Amethyst didn't seem impressed as she said, "I can see that at home."
Lapis returned the water back into the toilets and Peridot said, "Alright, I see you're not impressed." She then started running around the barn, grabbing various instruments as she talked, "But this - hold on. This, this is what we've all been waiting for! With the power of my metal abilities I will impress the shirts right off of you!"
Peridot stood in front of the barn entrance, floating various instruments around her. She held two drumsticks in her hands and had a harmonica around her neck. She grinned and said, "Ta-da! It's a one-Gem metal band! One, a two, a three and-"
She blew into the harmonica so hard that she lost concentration of the other instruments floating around her. They fell to the ground and Peridot looked. She casually tossed the drumsticks to the ground and said, "Well, that's as far as I've practiced that!"
Everybody, except Amethyst laughed or chuckled. Lapis and Onyx walked over to help Peridot. Lapis stood next to her and asked, "Why don't you try one thing at a time?"
"Because we have guests, Lapis! Guests who must be impressed!" Peridot said, stubbornly. Lapis looked at the instruments and picked up a tambourine. Onyx looked at picked up a drum and the two drum sticks. Lapis smiled at her then turned to Peridot, "We can all try it together."
"Yeah!" Onyx said, hitting her drum a few times. Peridot smiled and levitated the triangle and stick. The three started to play their instruments, dancing and having fun. Circo, Steven, Amethyst, Amber and I all sat down and watched them. I glanced at Steven as he talked to Amethyst. I looked over at Circo and saw that he was staring off into space. "Circo? You alright?" I asked.
"Huh?" He said, looking at me. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Look whose lying now," I said, eyebrow raised. Circo chuckled but his face fell. "I get why Amethyst is upset," He said. "And I don't blame her. I feel the same way too."
I was about to ask what he meant when Amethyst shouted, "Not anymore! Who has time for any of that when Jasper is out there!"
Lapis, Peridot and Onyx froze in mid-beat. Peridot dropped the triangle and started to sweat nervously. "Uh, Amethyst? I uh, try not to use the J-word so loosely around here," Peridot said, glancing at Lapis. Amethyst stood up and said, "I'm going to go do something useful."
Amethyst walked past the three and out of the barn. Circo got up and said, "I'll go check on her." He walked out and Peridot walked over to us, "Wow, Amethyst doesn't seem to understand morps at all."
"No, it's something else," Onyx said, sighing. Peridot raised an eyebrow and Steven said, "Amethyst found out she's supposed to be just like Jasper."
"Eh?" Peridot said. I sighed, "Jasper took her down in a fight and now she's obsessed with getting a rematch. ...To prove she's good enough. I think Circo is the same way too."
Peridot thought for a moment before she smiled. She gestured for us to follow her outside and we followed. I glanced back and noticed Lapis had summoned her wings. "You coming too?" I asked. She shook her head, "I'm going to catch up on my show."
I nodded and followed the others outside. I got there just as Peridot said, "I mean, seriously, Amethyst and Jasper are two completely different Quartzes. Sure, you're both from Earth, but your Kindergartens are radically different."
"Huh?! Wh-what?" Steven asked, shocked. I stood next to Onyx and asked, "Wait, what do you mean Peridot?"
"Jasper and I...are from earth?" Amethyst asked. Onyx nodded, "Yeah, she's from the Beta kindergarten. Which is way worse then my Kindergarten."
"Wait, you were from the Prime Kindergarten?" Peridot asked. Onyx shook her head, "I was from the Alpha Kindergarten."
Peridot's eyes grew wide, "Your from the same Kindergarten as the Diamond's Eilats?! That's amazing!"
I cleared my throat, "Um, Peridot? What was it you were saying about Jasper's Kindergarten?" She looked at me and realized she had been getting off topic. She cleared her throat and said, "Amethyst, you're from the Prime kindergarten in Facet Five. She's from the Beta Kindergarten in Facet Nine! Have you seen that place?"
"No!" She said. Peridot blinked, "Oh, well maybe you should! So you can see how the other half was made. Poorly!" She burst into laughter and then said, "No, seriously, let's go. You'll get a kick out of this."
She started to turn to leave but stopped. She looked up at Lapis and whispered to all of us, "Um, just one second. I wanna check and make sure Lapis is okay." She then cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "HEY LAPIS, ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"Yeah," Lapis said, sounding calm.
"ARE YOU SURE?"
"Yeah."
"I'M LEAVING, BUT I'LL BE BACK!"
"Okay."
"DO YOU NEED ANYTHING?"
"No."
"...WHAT SEASON IS THAT?"
"Three."
"Um, Peridot?" Circo asked. Peridot looked at us and chuckled nervously, "Okay, yeah. Business time." Peridot removed the bow tie on her neck and held it up. "You know what to do with this!" Peridot shouted. She threw her bow tie and Lapis raised her hand to catch it. But it flew over her and onto the ground. Before Peridot could do anything, I turned towards the warp pad and said, "Let's go!"
-Time skip!-
As we warped to the Beta Kindergarten, I glanced at Circo to see how he was doing. He was twiddling his fingers and rotating his wrists. I placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Dude, you need to chill."
"Sorry, I....just feel so energetic all of a sudden," He said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. I raised an eyebrow, "Energy or anxiety?"
"Both? I don't know," He said. Just then, we floated to the ground as we warped into an area we've never seen before. I raised a hand as the sun glared down on the sandstone and sand all around us. Peridot raised her arms and said, "Here we are, Jasper's origin. The Beta Kindergarten."
"Am I underwhelmed? It's pretty bright out here," Steven said. Circo stretched his arms and smiled, "Nice and warm."
"It's always dry here," Amber said.
"And red," Amethyst said. Peridot nodded, "No kidding. Heh. Red sandstone! Hah! This is what I'm talking about! We're lucky this place hasn't blown away. Beta, am I right?"
"That's a math joke, right?" Circo asked. Peridot nodded, "Heh, c'mon, it gets worse."
She walked down the steps from the warp pad and we followed. Onyx hugged herself and started to shake. I glanced at her and noticed Amber place a hand on her shoulder. "It'a alright Onyx," Amber said. "What happened in the past is in the past."
"I know but....this isn't a good place," She whispered. She looked around and said quietly, "Too many terrible things happened. Too many misshapen gems. Too many....things."
Onyx noticed me looking and I quickly followed after the others. I really needed to work on not listening to people's conversations. We walked along the path, passing by walls of curving sandstone and openings that were not lined up with the others. Peridot looked at the walls, saying, "I mean, this place has got the right growing conditions in a pinch. I guess. But it's too small! It was obviously a total rush job."
"Rushed?" I asked. Amber nodded, "Halfway through the rebellion, Homeworld scrambled to generate extra soldiers on the ground."
Peridot rushed over to several openings, and gestured to them. "Look at this, the holes don't even line up! Hehe, it's like they just threw injectors down wherever," She said. Amber nodded, "That opening over there, the Carnelian inside came out sideways because of the curve in the wall. It wasn't her fault; just how this place was set up."
"I-I had no idea," Amethyst said, looking around.
"I tell you, it really makes you appreciate the Prime and Alpha Kindergartens, Amethyst. Your Kindergarten was so thought through! Sure, you might have spent extra time in the ground, but everything else is stacked in your favor! Great location, great holes, even spacing, consistent depth, a real kindergartener gets it right," Peridot said. We all followed along with Peridot and even Amber and Onyx as they joined the front. I noticed Steven had stopped and looked at one of the injectors. I looked up too and noticed what he saw.
It was broken. Recently too.
"What happened to this one?" I asked him. He shook his head, not sure. He looked up and ran after the others. I quickly followed as Peridot said, "What you want to see is a vertical alignment; no angle in the exit; a clean, strong silhouette. None of these holes come close!"
Circo looked to his left and his face dropped, "What about that one?"
He pointed to a hole in a wall that was twice the size of all the others in this kindergarten. We all stared at it in shock and Onyx whimpered, "Jasper."
"THAT'S Jasper's?!" Circo asked, shocked. Amethyst stared at it, saying, "It's huge."
Peridot waved her hand, dismissing Circo's and Amethyst's comments. "Oh, come on, we already know she's tall. Let's take a closer look," She said. Peridot walked over and tried to climb up but couldn't. She looked to all of us and asked, "A little help?"
Amber walked over and gave Peridot a boost. She climbed up and started looking at the opening, "You see, the problem here - wait, oh, wait, oh, no, um. Now this part... hm. There's this thing where if you count the steps to the back I can..."
She tried looking at various parts of it, but eventually, she sat down at the edge of the opening and climbed down. We all looked at her, waiting for an answer. When she didn't say anything, Steven asked, "What is it, Peridot?"
"She's even got frictional rock melt. It's glass all the way to the back. Actually, I uh, I've never seen an exit hole this perfect," She said, sounding shocked. Amethyst sighed, "Ugh, so it is true."
"Amethyst, that doesn't matter," I said, looking at her. "Who you are isn't about where you came from! It's who you wanna be! It's what you worked hard for. It's what you care about! That's what really matters."
"Yeah," She said. "Yeah your right!"
"Yeah!" Steven and Peridot chorused. Amethyst smiled, "It's about who I wanna be!"
"Yeah!" They cheered again.
"And I wanna be the Gem that beats Jasper into the dirt!" Amethyst said,. My face dropped as Peridot said, "Yeah!"
"Huh?" Steven said. Onyx's eyes widen and she said, "Amethyst! You can't fight her! She's too strong! She...she can shatter a gem with her bare hands!"
"Onyx?" Amber asked, looking at her with concern. Onyx shook and hugged herself, staring at the ground. Everybody turned to her as she said, "You don't know what she's like. Her brutality. Her uncanny strength. Her viciousness. I was lucky at the time someone stopped her from destroying my form. Others...not so much."
Amber wrapped an arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her. Circo stepped over to her and placed an hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Onyx," Circo said. "Amethyst and I will take care of her."
Amethyst grinned, "Yeah we're going to do it, and not just for us, for all the weird holes out there! Like this guy! And "Skinny" up there! And, and, and this mess!"
Amethyst gestured to a hole next to the previous one she mentioned. Amber's eyes widen as Peridot said, "Amethyst, that's..."
"Yeah, ha! I bet she was great," Amethyst said. Peridot shook her head and rushed over to the hole, saying, "No, no no no, hold on. Something's really wrong here. These marks are new. This hole's been dug out. Recently."
"Maybe it was a prairie dog?" Steven asked. I smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I don't think it was, Steven."
"Maybe a big one?" He suggested. Peridot walked away from the cave and down the path. She froze and turned to us, saying, "There's more!"
We all rushed over and gasped at the sight. Various caves had been dug out along the walls of the kindergarten. But along each of these caves were large pieces of metal, making vertical bars for each of the caves. We each started walking around, looking at each of them. Peridot stood by one and said, "These aren't exit holes anymore."
"Then what are they?" I asked, going over to one. I looked inside and my eyes grew wide. Sitting against the cave wall, was Eilat. "Eilat?!" I said, shocked. They looked up at me in shock. "Luna?!" They said.
Amber rushed up next to me and she sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness your alright," She said. Eilat got up and rushed towards the bars, "Amber, you too?!"
They then saw everybody else and their expression grew worried. "You shouldn't be here," They said. "It's dangerous."
"Why?" I asked. Just then, the cave next to us roared as a corrupted gem lunged at our group. Thankfully, the bars were their to keep the corrupted gem away from us. But because of the roar, all the other caves came to life with roars of various kinds of corrupted gems. We all looked around in horror at the sight. "Corrupted gems? In cages?" Circo asked, sounding sick.
"Why? Who would do this?" Peridot asked, horrified. Amethyst looked ahead and she glowered at what she saw. "That's who," She said. We all looked up at where Amethyst was looking.
Standing in a cloud of sand, having not seen us yet, was Jasper.
.......................................................
Oh man! Sorry to end it here guys but this is where the 'Beta' episode ends. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to update ASAP :)