Steven sat on his couch, his legs bouncing up and down as fast as possible. It was almost seven and there was no sign of you. He knew you would have let him know if you weren't coming. He checked his phone, probably for the fiftieth time that hour, and was greeted by the same screen. No texts, no calls, just the terrible reminder of the time.
Seven o'clock rolled around. Nothing. You weren't there. "Maybe she needs time to get her things? I'm sure she'll be here soon, right?" Steven said out loud to himself as he paced around the main area.
An hour later, still nothing. "Alright, that's it. I'm going to go look for her," Steven said. He went upstairs to grab his jacket when he heard the door slam open downstairs. "(Y/n)?" he yelled as he ran down the stairs.
"Steven! There you are! We have a huge problem!" Peridot yelled back frantically.
"Peridot? What's going on?" Steven asked, his worry only growing.
"There have been reports of an unidentified gem escaping from captivity in Homeworld, and we just caught a MAJOR wave of magic energy coming from the city!" Peridot exclaimed as she showed Steven the readings on her tablet.
"Oh no. Oh no no no. Why here? Why now?" Steven groaned. He couldn't look for this new gem and you at the same time. "Where is the center of the energy located?"
"Riiiiight here," Peridot pointed to a dot on a map of Beach City. She was surprised to see Steven glow bright pink when he saw the dot. "Steven? Are you, okay?"
"That-that's not...Where are the gems! We might need backup!" Steven said as he headed to the door, Peridot trailing behind him.
"Already on their way there. Steven, why are you so freaked out?" Peridot asked as they started running on the beach.
"That gem, she's at my friend's house! I gotta make sure nothing happens to (y/n)!" Steven said as they continued running. As they drew closer to your house, they could see what appeared to be a faint white glow emitting from it. Peridot and Steven rushed over to the gems. "Guys, what is going on?" Steven asked as he looked back and forth between the gems and your house.
"The gem in there, she's one of White's assistants from Era 2! She seems to be a Howlite, but I thought Homeworld had gotten rid of all of them before the rebellion began. I don't know how she escaped, but she somehow got here," Pearl said as Peridot typed on her tablet.
"Howlite, found it," Peridot started as she began to read her reference sheet to everyone. "These gems have mind healing properties and were used in Era 1 to help calm the diamonds down. However, if the gem is cracked, they tend to use these powers in the wrong way, taking the feelings and amplifying them. It also said that if pieces of shattered Howlite are added to a rejuvenator, the tool would be capable of," she gasped, "erasing the memories of any form of life in the galaxy."
"No, no, no, no! This can't be happening," Steven said as tears dared to prick at the corners of his eyes. He paced around and put his hands on forehead.
"Steven, bud, are you alright?" Amethyst asked walking up to him.
"No. Guys, this is-this is (y/n)'s house. What if that gem got her? I-I don't want to-" Steven began.
Garnet whipped out her gauntlets. "What are we doing then!" She punched the door down to reveal you facing the opposite way from the door. The Howlite gem sat in the air, her legs crossed and her mouth forming a smirk.
"Hm hm hm, just in time. Take of them for me hun," she said as she snapped her fingers. Steven looked over to you. A white glow shocked you and you turned around to reveal yourself. You looked scarily like the gem standing next to you. Your skin stayed the same, but your hair, clothes, and shoes matched Howlite's. Your eyes glowed white as Howlite snapped again and you went completely under her control.
"Gladly," you said in a voice that almost made Steven pass out. He had lost you. He didn't want to, but he knew the only way he'd be able to get you back was by fighting you. He shut his eyes tight and grimaced as he whipped out his shield, blocking your attack and knocking you back. This was going to be the hardest fight Steven had ever been in.
"We have to take this out of her house!" Steven shouted as he put his shield away and pulled the gems outside. You scowled and ran out after them.
"You aren't getting out of this that easily!" you yelled as you chased them down to the beach. Steven and the gems stopped, once you all reached the shore, and turned around, weapons ready. You grimaced. "Man, you guys and your pathetic teamwork. Of course Homeworld would suck up to you fools." You rolled your eyes.
"(Y/n)! This isn't you!" Steven said as he ran towards you, bubbles ready on his fists.
"Maybe this is me, Steven. Maybe I was just hiding this from you the whole time!" you said as you gracefully dodged his attack and slunk back to your original spot.
"I know it's not! That gem is controlling you! Snap out of it!" Steven said, teeth gritted and tears forming at the corners of his angry eyes.
"Okay fine, ya caught me," you said as you whirled around and caught both of his punches, smirking at him as he got angrier.
"Get. Out. Of. Her. Body. Or I'll," Steven said before you threw his hands down and put your hands on your hips. You bent down to him as he laid sprawled on the sand.
"Or you'll what? Kill me? What would happen to your precious (y/n)? You won't hurt her," you said with the most evil look any of the gems had ever seen on your face. They stood behind you in shock. Steven stood up in defeat, tears falling down his red face.
"She's right, I-I can't," he hung his head. "What do you want with us?" Steven said in a low voice as he clutched onto the bottom of his jacket.
"Come with me. Just you," you said blankly as you grabbed his hand. He began to follow you.
"Steven!" the gems shouted. Steven turned his head to look at them.
"Guys, it's best if I just go. I can't lose her. I'll be fine. It's her I'm worried about," Steven said.
"Steven, are you sure this is what you want?" Pearl reached out to him. Garnet put a hand on her shoulder.
"He'll be okay. I'm sure of it," she said. They watched as you led him past their range of sight.
---------------------
"Where are you taking me, and what do you want with (y/n)?" he asked as he continued staring at the ground. He couldn't stand to look up at you. This was not his (y/n). This was someone else.
"Just for you to go through what I did when," you stopped. "I'll let her explain it." You shook and continued dragging Steven along. You brought him to a cave inside of a mountain towards the edge of Beach City. Steven could barely see anything until the end of the cave where Howlite stood near a white campfire.
"Ah, you're here," she said. She snapped, releasing you from her control, mostly. You dropped to the ground. Steven ran to go help you up, but Howlite placed you in a bubble.
"What do you want with me? Leave her out of this!" Steven shouted as he turned bright pink.
Howlite chuckled. "My, my Steven. I knew you were attached, but I must have overestimated how much you care about this worthless little human. This will certainly be a fun time, won't it?"
"No, it won't. Not until you release her. She has nothing to do with this! And she's not worthless!" Steven asserted.
"Oh, but she does. Maybe now you'll FINALLY know what it feels like to be taken away from the person you care about the most!" Howlite yelled. She glided over to you and popped the bubble. She pulled a dagger out from her gem. She pointed it towards you.
"Please! No! We can talk this out! I can try to help you, just don't hurt her!" Steven yelled, fighting back tears.
"What is it with you? Talking can't fix all your problems," Howlite fought back as she slowly pulled the dagger away from you.
"It doesn't hurt to try," Steven said walking to her. "Now, you've got to tell me what happened, or else you'll never get through this." He put a hand on her shoulder.
"You should already know," Howlite said as she jerked away from Steven. "You did this to me!" She pointed at him.
"What? How could I have-"
"For years, I got to enjoy my life! I got to serve my diamond! She was the best thing to ever happen to me! And thanks to you, the empire was shot into Era 3, and I was taken away from my diamond! My only purpose, stolen from me, ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" White rays of light flew out of her, one landing on you. That's when Steven noticed it. Her gem was cracked.
"Hey! Calm down. I can help," he reassured her.
"How? You can't exactly-"
"Just trust me," Steven said as he licked his palm. He walked toward her.
"What are you doing?"
"This," Steven said as he placed his hand on her gem. It began to glow a vibrant white as she rose in the air.
"What's going on?" she asked worriedly. Her gem stopped glowing and she dropped to the ground. She touched her gem. "Did-did you just, fix the crack?"
"Mhm. Are you okay? Like you aren't gonna try to kill me or anything?" Steven asked helping her up.
"No. I-I'm so sorry. Oh my stars, your friend!" she said as she noticed the figure walking towards them.
Steven whirled around. "(Y/n)?"
Somehow, you were still under Howlite's control. Howlite snapped a few times, but nothing was working. "What do we do?" Steven asked.
"I dunno! I'm not controlling her! I can't believe I did this," Howlite said as she kicked a wall. Steven bubbled you for some time to think. What could he do to snap you out of this? He couldn't hurt you, and he couldn't re-rejuvenate you. What if....? That's it.
He ran up to the bubble, popped it, and grabbed hold of you. You fidgeted around trying to escape his grasp, but to no avail. "(Y/n), this isn't you! Snap out of it!" he shook you and you stopped trying to escape.
"I-I can't-" you managed to squeak out.
"Yes you can! I know you can! You are stronger than this!"
The controlled side of you yelled in his face. "No you don't! You don't know a thing about me!"
Steven cupped your face in his hands. "I may not, but I do know that I love you," he said. Your eyes widened as he pulled you in and kissed you. You felt this strange sensation. It was almost as if the kiss was draining the evil out of you. You melted into the kiss and he hugged you for what felt like the first time in ages. This feeling only lasted for a bit, however, because your body was so weak from all the magic that you fell to the ground.
Steven reached out his hand. "(Y/n), here." You grabbed his hand and stood up.
"Thank you, but um who are you exactly?"
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(A/N)
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Okay so one thing I can say is I definitely sobbed quite a lot writing this chapter! I'm sorry if you aren't a big fan of twists like this, but trust me it's going somewhere! I hope y'all liked this chapter and are looking forward to the chapters to come! I should have the next bit out in the next two weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for that! I thank you so much for the continued love and support for this story! I cannot believe it's almost at 1k reads! I love y'all so much and until next time
~xfandomxgirlx <3