Hibiscus flowers swayed against a lush backdrop—a grassy hill, a clear sky and a glint of pink—
. . .Steven?. . .
The voice is disembodied and distant, carried on the breeze that sways the flowers.
Steven?. . .
The view is constant, locked like a video camera during a scene in a movie.
"Steven!"
Steven woke with a start, vision blurry. When he touched fingers to the dampness on his cheek, they came back with glistening water.
He became aware of the movie onscreen and sat up, wiping at his face.
"You okay, bud?" his dad asked, settling a hand on his back. "You fell asleep during the movie. I was gonna let you sleep (you looked so cute!) but, then you started crying, and. . . that was less cute."
Steven gave a soft laugh. "No, I'm fine. . . I don't know why I was crying. My dream wasn't really sad. . ." he yawned, and Greg checked his watch.
"Oh, jee, look at the time. . . and my classy new watch!"
Steven stared uncomprehendingly at the golden accessory against his wrist. Greg smiled sympathetically and patted his shoulder.
"Let's get you home, bud."
○○○
". . . Eh, you didn't miss much. Turns out they were abducting cows 'cause they needed milk for their cereal planet!"
Steven stepped up onto the stairs to the beach house and paused. "Dad. Before you go . . . can I ask you something?" He turned and fixed him with a serious stare.
"Yeah, of course!" he smiled, but seeing Steven's expression, his brow creased in worry.
"Did Mom ever talk to you about. . . Pink Diamond?"
Greg stared at him for a moment, before sighing. "There were some things your mom. . . didn't like to talk about. I . . . never pressed her for details."
"Why not?" Steven felt himself growing a little desperate.
Greg shook his head and started up the stairs. "Pearl and I talked about tonnes of important stuff—music, literature, getting sand between your toes . . . you know, feelings," he said, wedging onto the step beside him. "We both made a lotta mistakes when we were young—I thought disco was coming back, she started a war. . ." Steven cringed.
"I could tell she didn't like to talk about it. She told me at one point she couldn't because of Rose." Steven's ears pricked up. "I don't know what that means, but. . . I told her, the past is the past. 'All that matters to me is who you are now'—and who she was, was . . . an incredible, smart, loving being."
Steven gave a soft smile, feeling for the gem against his forehead. That . . . felt a lot better. But he still needed answers. Making a mental note to ask Rose later, he turned and gave Greg a warm hug. "Thanks. 'Night, Dad."
"'Night, Steven."
○○○
Hibiscus flowers swayed against a lush backdrop—a grassy hill, a clear sky. . .
I'm here again?
Steven craned his neck up to the clouds, and reacted with surprise when the view complied.
Guess I can look around. . .
His eyes tracked up the branches of a tree overhead, and then scanned across the green meadow.
What is this place?
A glint caught his eye—light refracting off a polished pink surface.
What's— what is. . .
He followed the arc of the thing, which led back—up—to a huge, intricately patterned . . . thing. It was almost like a chamber . . . on legs?
Whoa.
He was just taking notice of the masses of shrub gathering around the base of the thing, flowered vines climbing the structure, when—
Steven's eyes blinked open and he sat up upon feeling something tickling his face. When he wiped at the stuff with his fingers, he found tears.
He frowned. Again?
He was about to lie back and try to get back to sleep, but a pink glow emanating from the living room beneath him caught his attention. Taking care to keep quiet, he slipped out of bed and tip-toed across to the edge of the loft, sinking to his knees and peering over.
Rose was sprawled on the couch below, chest rising and falling slowly, fast asleep. That wasn't surprising in itself—Rose and Amethyst both slept and ate like humans, even if Amethyst did go a bit crazy with her eating. What was surprising was the fact that the gem against Rose's navel was aglow with a warm pink light—and projected into the air was what looked a movie, tinted in pink as it beamed from her gem.
As Steven peered closer, he realised he could make out a meadow, flowers, and. . . that thing. Rose was having the same dream as him?
He frowned, about to call out and wake her up—but upon hearing the beep from his Cookie Cat alarm clock—1:00am—he decided better of it and crawled back to bed, watching the pink light as it flickered from the living room.
○○○
Steven watched the pretty sheet-snow settle around him.
"Sorry, I'll clean that up later!" Connie shouted excitedly, not sounding sorry at all. From somewhere on the floor beside her, she picked up a sizeable tome and dropped it with a thunk! onto the table.
"When you told me about your dream, I thought it sounded familiar," she said, turning the cover and searching the contents page. It was remarkable that such an ancient piece of literature should be so well organised, but he supposed that was a testament to Buddwick's character. Connie picked up a handful of pages and flicked hurriedly through them, searching, until she stopped and slammed her hand down on an illustrated page.
Steven gasped. "That's it! The— 'Palan-quinn'."
"Actually, it's pronounced palan-keen," she corrected him, and further back in the house, the warp pad chimed.
Steven brightened. "It's the Gems!—I can ask Rose about this thing!" She hadn't been there when he woke up in the morning. Jumping up, he grabbed the tome and rushed over with Connie on his heels.
When the light from the pad cleared, Steven scoured the figures eagerly, and then slumped—Rose wasn't there. At his groan, Amethyst opened an eye. "Yo," she said.
"Where's Rose?" he asked Garnet. Amethyst looked a little miffed.
"She's out on patrol," Garnet returned evenly, adjusting her visor. "But. . . she might be a couple of days."
"A couple of days?" Steven cried. "But—I gotta ask her something!"
"You can ask us," Amethyst said.
"I guess. . . just, doesn't Rose ever tell you where she's going?"
"Nope," said Garnet. "She likes to be alone sometimes."
"Well. . . in the meantime, d'you guys know anything about this thing?" Steven held open the book for them to see.
"Hmm. . ." Amethyst stepped closer and frowned at the book, propping her hands on her hips. "Steven, you deserve to know the truth." She raised her eyes to meet his, face set.
Steven felt excitement bubble up inside him. Amethyst never hid anything from him. She'd tell him exactly what this thing was, and he could figure out what it was doing in his—and Rose's—dreams.
"And the truth is. . . I have no idea what that is I've never seen it before in my life."
He deflated. "Amethyyyst! The thing is, I had a dream where I saw this thing. Connie and I were wondering if maybe—"
"You can't go there!" Garnet suddenly cried, expression tense.
Steven blinked. ". . . Why not?"
Amethyst sidled up beside him and crossed her arms. "Yeah, why not?"
Silence.
After a moment, Steven sighed and lowered the book. "I thought you were going to tell me everything from now on."
The fusion remained silent. Feeling irritation flare up inside him, Steven held it up again and pointed. "Does this have something to do with Pink Diamond? I already know Mom shattered her, so what is it about this you can't tell me?"
Garnet stepped forward with decision. "Please. We don't need to get upset about this."
"Well I already am!" he burst out. " I am upset!"
"We're. Not. Going."
Connie and Amethyst backpedalled, shooting each other a wary look.
"Pearl never wanted for you to see that place," the fusion said, steadfast.
"Pearl wanted. . ." he growled, voice rising to a shout. "What about what I want?!" he swung a finger at her. "I'm sick of everyone lying to me! Pearl is my Mom! Out of anyone, don't I deserve to know the truth?"
Behind them, Amethyst produced a bucket of popcorn out of nowhere and began munching. She offered Connie some, who silently declined.
"This isn't the time."
"I. Don't. Care! I wanna go there now!"
"Steven!"
"I'm sorry," Connie said quietly, rubbing her neck. "I— I shouldn't have brought the book."
"Yes you should've brought it! It's lucky something has some information that I don't have to get out of THEM!"
The two Gems present recoiled, shocked.
When Steven spoke next, his voice was calm but determined. "Connie, I need to borrow this book."
She hesitated before replying. "Okay, just be careful. . . I gotta return it to the library in a week."
"Thanks," he said, walking past her.
"Wait, Steven, where are you—"
A hand on her shoulder stopped her, and she looked up at a stern Garnet, eyes fixed on Steven as he slipped out through the door.
Sat in the middle of the staircase, Steven gazed intently at the image. The creak of the door made him look up.
"Steven—don't go. You have to trust me."
He sighed and stood, turning to look up at her. "I don't understand, Garnet. At least you're usually honest with me!"
"I really want to be." She sighed and lowered her voice. "But if I tell you why you shouldn't go, you'll only want to go more."
"What? Well now I really wanna go!"
Garnet turned, with a surprised sound. "I— I shouldn't have said that. You can't go because I can't go with you."
"Why not?"
She hesitated and turned away.
"Garnet, why not?"
"I. . . I'm scared. I, I. . . I can't get near her."
"Ah! Her! Her who!"
"Ahh, shoot! Now I've made it more interesting! Steven please, just stay here." She removed her visor and gazed at him with three wide eyes. "For me."
His gaze dropped. "I won't."
Garnet only sighed. "I know."
He trotted off determinedly down the stairs.
○○○
Greg was asleep, splayed across the mattress in his van, when a banging on the door jolted him awake.
He scrambled forward and opened the doors to Steven, clutching a thick, leather-bound book. "Dad, I need your help!"
"Is everything o—"
"There's this place I saw in a dream, and it's real! But the Gems won't tell me anything about it!" he pointed at the map displayed on a stained page. "It has something to do with Pink Diamond. I know you didn't wanna get involved with Mom's past but. . . I wanna know the truth! Doesn't that matter at all?"
His voice was shrill, his eyes wide. Greg stared at him for a moment before softening. "Of course it does."
The boy appeared to calm a little. "Really?"
Greg nodded and held out his hand. "Lemme see that."
Steven passed the book to him, marking the page, and he examined the map for a moment. "And the Gems won't take you?"
"No." His shoulders slumped defeatedly.
Greg smiled. "Well I know a guy who will!"
○○○
Andy DeMayo had only been too happy to give his cousins a lift in his bushplane. Such a small aircraft did have its drawbacks, though—they made it to Korea via stops in Alaska and Russia. When they finally touched down and farewelled Andy (promising to call him when they found their way back to Beach City, as Steven was sure the Gems would take them back), Greg had insisted they take it easy and have a little fun while they were here. Steven certainly couldn't object to that.
Needless to say, South Korea was amazing. Bustling cities full of lights and billboards and screens; and clogging up the roads, beeping taxis, friendly locals and hurried tourists.
They went shopping, tried the local food, visited the Heungnyemun Gate and tried on traditional garb. After purchasing a pair of branded shirts and a load of new clothes (which Steven certainly wouldn't wear but Greg insisted on anyway), they finally caught a bus to the Seorjjungsan mountains.
"Kamsahamni— da?" Greg called upon their disembarkment, and stared dolefully after the retreating vehicle.
"What's the hurry?" he mumbled, and turned and almost ran into Steven, who was examining the map.
"This is it," he said, and began to walk.
"You sure this is the place?" Greg called after him, lugging shopping bags up the hill.
"Yeah!" Steven called back, "It's hard to explain but. . . I can feel it."
"Huh. . . sure is pretty here." Greg gazed around at the masses of hibiscus bushes, blooming with delicate pink flowers. "So does any of this look familiar to you?"
Steven stopped abruptly in his path. "Steven?"
He was staring intently at the book. When Greg leaned forward to look at him, his face was streaming with fat tears. "Whoa, are you okay?" He glanced worriedly at the book, thinking he may have stumbled across something upsetting—but he found nothing except the map sprawled across the aged pages.
"It's happening again," Greg pushed, gauging his reaction.
"I-I'm fine. Let's keep going."
"Come on. . . let's take a break," he offered tentatively, glancing back down the hill. "I think this mountain's really messing me up."
"No, Dad! This can only mean we're getting closer!" He shot him a brusque smile and forged on. "C'mon!"
Hesitantly, Greg trailed behind him until they reached a high mesh fence. Nailed (somehow) to the criss-crossing wires were two signs—one shouted KEEP OUT, accentuated with bold Korean symbols and a crossed-out stick figure; the one below was a little more mellow, wooden and scrawled with a PLEASE! and dotted with cartoon flowers. Steven thought that handwriting looked familiar.
"Look!" Steven cried, a little unnecessarily.
"This feels familiar," Greg grumbled, eyeing the signs.
"Dad, help me jump the fence."
Steven's expression was stern, fixed unwaveringly on the fence, but still flowed with tears not his own.
Behind him, Greg gulped. "Oh boy, we're doing this."
Steven dropped down lightly on the other side of the fence. Greg thumped heavily to the ground beside him with a whoompf!.
"Your dad really can't jump fences like he used to," he wheezed from the ground.
"Dad. . . look."
Greg raised his head to Steven's receding figure. With a groan, he hauled himself up and followed. He didn't bother with the bags; they could come back for them later.
They came to a stop in front of a huge, polished blue structure hung with curtains. It sat on what looked like angled legs and inside sat a grand carved throne.
"This is it! But. . . it's different?" Steven gazed up in confusion at the pristine palanquin. "In my dream it was all broken down and pink! This one's in perfect condition!"
"Maybe it got a paint job?" Greg suggested dubiously.
"Oh, Pink. . ."
A low voice echoed back to them from somewhere close. When Steven turned his eyes darted past pink and he found he could just make out a blue, hooded figure through the leaves of an obstructing bush. Wait—pink?
His eyes dropped again to the big-haired figure crouching behind said bush.
"Rose??"
The Gem in question wheeled around, eyes wide and flicking around before they landed on him. ". . . Steven??"
"Rose!" he ran to her, her arms flinging open just in time to catch him. Greg padded wearily up to them.
"Rose, I've got so many questions," Steven whispered.
"I'm sorry."
They turned at the voice and gazed beyond the bush. The huge figure was kneeling in front of—in front of the pink palanquin! Beside the figure, a small blue Gem knelt on the ground.
Steven gasped and pointed. "About that! About the palanquin!"
Rose hurriedly clamped a gentle hand over his mouth. "Later, Steven," she hushed, and watched the figure through the bush.
"I'm so sorry. I should have done more. Yellow says it'll all be over soon. . . I wonder what you would think. This is your planet, after all. . . I still think it is."
"Rose, do you know her?" Greg whispered.
Suddenly, Rose buckled to the ground, letting him go in favour to support herself with her hands. Thick tears spilled from her eyes, and her body shook. As he watched her, Steven's vision blurred too, but he remained upright.
"Whoa!—Rose, what's wrong!" Greg cried.
"Not again," she only moaned. "Not again! I thought. . . I thought I'd never. . ."
"My dreams. . . I was seeing through her eyes!" Steven breathed, and wiped at the onslaught of water. "I've been crying her tears!"
Rose's head jerked up, and with effort, she wiped at her own tears. "Your dreams? I—" Suddenly comprehending, she clutched at the gem against her navel. "Oh, no! No no no! I'm so sorry!"
"What are you doing over there?"
They all froze at the deep voice. Light footsteps were approaching.
"I thought I heard someone," said another, higher voice above their heads.
"Don't worry, I'll handle this," Greg whispered, and shot Rose a nervous smile and gave Steven's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"I think we're not alone," the small blue Gem said, and Greg abruptly stood, earning a small gasp of surprise.
"Ayyy! Uh, nice day out, huh? I— I didn't see you there, what's uh, what's. . . up?" Steven cringed as he heard his clicking finger-guns.
The hooded figure in front of the palanquin straightened. "Pearl?"
The aforementioned Gem turned and gave some sort of foreign salute. "My Diamond, I've found a native."
She curtseyed and Greg clambered out of the bushes.
"Oh, uh—yeah! I'm from here alright! I am your host, your. . . Highness." He didn't quite know what to refer to her by, exactly, but that seemed the most appropriate.
The figure turned just enough to expose the lower half of a thin, blue face.
"Bring it here."
The smaller Gem straightened and, clasping her hands, went to the Diamond. Greg followed.
"Dad, no!" Steven called, as quietly as he could manage. His father didn't hear him. Beside Steven, Rose clamped a hand over her own mouth, tears still flowing, and turned to peek through the bushes.
Upon reaching the figure, the small blue Gem curtseyed again and stood behind Greg.
"How curious," came the low voice. "I'm impressed by humanity's ability to survive in the wild."
The voice seemed to grow weaker, quieter. "What a strange planet. Where else would a being as fragile as a human live, while a being as powerful as a Diamond perish?"
The large Gem (undoubtedly a Gem, by now, Steven thought) gestured to the palanquin. "This is where it happened. Where she was broken."
Rose gave out a strangled gasp, and Steven's eyes widened.
"Were you close?" He started at his father's voice.
The Gem paused for a moment before replying. "Very."
A sob from Rose, and she bunched her hands in her hair, as if in pain.
Greg sighed. "Ah. . . I'm awfully sorry. I know how hard it is to move on when you've lost someone."
To Steven's shock, the figure then turned, exposing a long, mournful face, framed by white tufts of hair. The eyes were huge and blue, wet with tears. As another tear dripped down the Gem's face, Steven felt his own eye water. Rose looked to be struggling to keep herself upright on her knees.
"I lost someone very important to me, too," Greg continued. "I miss her every single day and I think about her all the time. But. . . she's never coming back. That feeling can be so hard to be okay with."
"I'm surprised that a human being is capable of understanding how I feel." She turned back and and gazed sorrowfully at the palanquin. "It's a shame."
Slowly, she stood, drawing her rippling robes with her. "There's a geo-weapon incubating in your planet that will destroy everything, shortly. But. . . you don't deserve that, do you?" She turned and gave him a small smile.
"No," Rose whispered in horror.
Greg stood transfixed, not quite believing. "Geo-weapon, huh?"
"You know, I really shouldn't be here." The large Gem kneeled down and spoke playfully, almost as if she were conversing with a favourite pet. "But I'm glad I came back one last time. I can save one last piece of her legacy."
Greg smiled. "Oh, yeah?"
A huge blue hand darted out from underneath the cloak and snatched him off the ground.
"Dad!" Steven cried, panicked.
"Greg!" Rose shouted, at the same time.
The huge Gem straightened and raised a hand. At her signal, a leviathan blue hand rose from somewhere behind a nearby mountain and into the air. Larger than her? How was that possible?
"That's a. . . big arm," Greg stammered.
Steven heard something behind him and ducked just in time to avoid being struck by the blue palanquin. It could fly, too?!
"Put me down, please!" Greg's desperate cry echoed across the landscape. "Whoa, whoa! Put me down, your Highness!"
The Gem heeded him none, just ducked into the palanquin and sat, her tiny companion following suit.
Steven tumbled out of the bushes. "Dad, DAD!"
Just as he would have reached it, the palanquin flew up into the sky, higher, higher, until it reached the hand—the ship? the hand-ship?—and disappeared into its clenched fist.
"Stop!" Steven cried, and crouched to leap.
"Steven, wait!" Rose cried, flinging an arm out.
With all his strength he launched himself up at the ship, flying higher, higher, the ground receding beneath him, the trees shrinking into pinpricks—
He stretched an arm out, reaching for the ship—
It turned and shot into the atmosphere, warping out of sight and blasting him back towards the ground with the force of its afterfire.
Steven gave up and went limp, falling, staring helplessly at the spot he had last seen it. "Dad. . ."
He was caught up in two strong arms, and he closed his eyes, resigning himself to the warm hold as he and Rose drifted back down.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered tearfully.
"Steven, I'm sorry!—Rose?"
He opened his eyes and gave a start at the new voice. "Garnet?!"
She ran to them and let her visor fizzle away. He saw her eyes glint with regret. "I saw you come here, I saw Blue Diamond on Earth, I saw her see me and find all of us!—I couldn't be here with you!"
"She took my Dad! It's all my fault— I— I should have listened to you! . . . What are we gonna do, Garnet?"
Garnet's face hardened.
"We're going to space." She pulled him out of Rose's warm arms and set Steven on the ground, resting a firm hand on his shoulder. "We're going to get him back."
I searched high and low for mountains that resembled the ones in this episode, and that were also in the right location—the middle of the South Korean west coast (and couldn't find any), so let me present to you, Seorjjungsan: A Crash Course in Fictional Linguistics:
— Seojj = part of seojjog (meaning "west")
— Jung = part of junggan (meaning "middle")
— So seojjog + junggan = seojjunggan
— Seojjunggan to SeojjungSAN—all Korean mountains have the suffix san (meaning "mountain")
— Seor = part of Seoraksan (the mountains that have the most semblance to the ones in the show)
— Seojjungsan + homage to Seoraksan (or just Seorak) = Seorjjungsan