Consequences

28 - Secrets

Steven followed the sound of whispering. The gems had randomly disappeared again, as they had done just two days ago, and this time, Steven wasn't going to wait around for people to disclude him.

He was careful not to step or trip on any pieces of trash lying around, and Steven peered around a very large, purple crystal. The whispering had turned into talking.

"We can't just stay here like this." someone said. Steven concluded it was Lapis.

"Why not? It's been working so far..." Peridot muttered. Someone's chair moved, sliding against the floor.

"No." It was Garnet this time. "There are humans out there that need protecting. And, we can't just hide away for our entire lives. That's no way to live."

"Besides," Pearl again, "We'd need to leave eventually. Amethyst's food supply is running low."

There were some murmurs about suggestions for sneaking out, but none of them sounded like very good ideas. Heaven knows, there was probably an army just waiting for the Crystal Gems right outside their temple door.

Steven shifted his position, peering further from behind his hiding spot. The gems were all sitting in a circle, Pearl and Garnet in random, mismatched chairs, and the rest on the floor.

"Well, if we're going out again, No doubt there'll be a battle." Peridot said. Garnet nodded.

"We'll have to come up with a different strategy this time. The Homeworld forces will be much larger in number, and much stronger, too." Garnet said. Everyone became nervous. The one with future vision would definitely be right.

Steven also grew a feeling of unease. He wasn't sure what he had missed while he was... gone. Had Homeworld finally come? Had the gems fought? Had they not yet? If they had, what had happened?

Steven leaned forward, scooting a little bit further around the crystal. He was careful not to make a noise. He wasn't sure if he wanted the gems to know he was there or not yet.

"What are we going to do?" Pearl sighed, resting her face in her hands. Her voice sounded strained, and Steven wanted to rush over and reassure her that everything was going to be okay. But, he wasn't so sure himself.

"I guess..." Amethyst offered, wanting to speak but not sure what to say, "We... we just need to fight harder."

Lapis shook her head.

"It's not that easy, Amethyst." she said.

"Lapis is right," Garnet agreed. "Homeworld is only going to come down stronger against us. There's not much we can do with the few numbers we have."

Everyone stopped for a moment, trying to think of a way to stop the invading aliens of Homeworld. There weren't many ideas, and the few that there were had been offered and denied; none of the ideas were good. Peridot gasped, coming up with a plan.

"Maybe we could make a corrupted gem army! Like Jasper did!" she stood up, waving her hands around with enthusiasm.

"Definitely not." Garnet said, before the others had a chance to object as well. "For one, it wouldn't work anyway."

"But-"

"And, we don't want these corrupted gems to be hurt. They might cause a distraction, but no doubt Homeworld would destroy them eventually. Besides, all of the corrupted gems being let loose means a huge danger to the humans. We can't risk that." Peridot sat down, disappointed. But, Garnet had a point.

Steven himself was trying to come up with an idea that would work, but his mind blanked. He sighed in defeat, but not loudly enough for his mentors to hear him.