We Aren't the Crystal Gems Without You

A Moment We Needed it Most

"What? What is is, P?" Amethyst asked, jumping to Pearl's side. Lion's mane continued to glow, casting a pink shine across the room. In front of him, an object took form. The object of light solidified, gained color, fell, and clattered on the floor. Not far be hind it was a note, which fluttered to the ground. Garnet bent over and lifted the note, her fingers closed firmly around it. "What is it?" Amethyst asked again.
"It's from Rose," murmured Garnet, her voice barely above a whisper. The note was written in gem. The handwriting was elegant, and the note was written in pink ink.
"'My dears gems,'" Garnet read, "'By the time you read this, I should have retreated to my gem. I hoped that it wouldn't come to this, but I prepared my lion to give this item to you if called for. Through study of this object, I've discovered how it is to be operated. But through my difficult research, I've found how dangerous it could be to be used by someone other than its maker. I'm afraid that without the proper knowledge of how to use this device, it could only be of use once. So I only wanted to use it at a moment when we needed it most. At this point, Steven shouldn't have emerged from our gem if you are reading this. Either my plan failed entirely, or there may still be hope through this object. Bismuth was the creator of this. If I'm correct, it should have the power to energize a gem. The controls are complicated, so I'm going to need you to pay attention to my instructions closely. Please, this could be Steven's last hope. Sincerely, Rose Quartz.'" Garnet finished, her words still lingering in the air.
     Pearl crouched down to pick up the object. It was about a foot long. It was oddly shaped, almost like a bat or some sort. It contained dull colors that gave the object a weird image. "Let's do it," she said, eager for the possibility of getting Steven back.
"Please, let me help!" Connie pitched in. She had been quiet for a long while, but was determined to be a part of Steven's rescue.
Garnet nodded and studied the letter. They had a lot of work to do...
~~~~~~~
Steven strummed his ukulele, his hands working to produce lovely music that calmed him. He had lost almost all hope of ever returning home. But he wouldn't have minded if his friends and family weren't so sad. "Life and death and live and birth, and peace and war on the planet earth..." Dm7, then G... His fingers picked at the stings, releasing notes in a chorus of music. He remembered when he had sang the song with Peridot, and as he sang, her voice invaded his head with her melodic alto voice harmonizing with his steady tenor.
He sang while he played, as another high alto voice of harmony joined his. Alas, it was only his imagination of Rose Quartz next to him again. But she had vanished without a trace, and Steven had been alone for days. One by one, more voices joined. Pearl's beautiful, light soprano, Amethyst's strong alto, Connie and Sadie's low soprano, and Garnet's firm soprano, her voice a base holding everything together. Their voices would come and go, fading at times when he missed them most.
At other times, he could see out of his gem, though he preferred not to. Seeing the gems so sad made him very broken, so broken that not even the tears of Rose Quartz could heal him.
What had happened? Why had everything gone so wrong? At least Connie, his dad, and the gems were safe...
                  ~~~~~~~~~
     "I can do it," replied Peridot, studying the piece of gem technology. Being a peridot, she was specially made to be a machinist, which was why the gems had called her over.
     "How long will it take you?" asked Pearl. "Are you sure you don't need any help?"
     "Positive," Peridot answered bluntly. She ran her hands over the energizer. "So if we switch this on... oh! And what if I rewire the cable..." she muttered phrases to herself, already lost in thought. "If my calculations are correct, it shouldn't take more than about fifteen earth minutes. It is a complicated tool, but when you look at it, it isn't all too different from a destabilizer. However, this is pretty old, so I'll have to make some modifications. Other than that, it's incredibly well made. Looks like the work of a forger and a technology genius fused together! Not literally, of course."
    "Then get to work," commanded Garnet. "The sooner we can get this thing working, the better." She handed Rose Quartz's notes to Peridot. Peridot scanned them over.
     "These are well made," Peridot noted. "I've detected a few errors in the instructions, but nothing too major." She put down the note and laid her hand on the energizer again. She began to mumble, "So if I move this cable to the source of energy, that should activate this switch, which will allow me to- hold on! What I moved this here? And then..." She went on and on, her hands moving rapidly.
"Good luck, Peridot," whispered Garnet. She was going to need it. Without it, Steven's role might drop out in the play of their lives.