Steven Universe: Beyond The Mirror

Before The Era Of Travesty

Lapis grunts from carrying Steven's weight and Steven groans from the immense pain in his naval where his gem resides. As they soar through the night sky, Lapis attempts to have a word with her companion.

"Steven, Pearl said there were no more corrupted Gems around. But yet we encountered one from my past here...on this battlefield." Steven, through squinted shut eyes only resumes his groaning in response.

"It...it makes me wonder. Does my return have something to do with that? That there could be more corrupted Gems that can be...linked to me specifically in some way?" Steven presses a hand to his stomache as Lapis' eyes droop.

"I don't get it. I don't get why my return just...it just changed everything! I mean...your caretakers are after us, there are more corrupted Gems out there--and there may never be a way to get us to Homeworld."
She narrows her eyes.

"It's all my fault. You can say it is yours too, Steven. But face it! It was all truly mine! Because of the mirror...because of me!" Her eyes well up as she flaps her wings. "Why did I have to be the one to be trapped in a stupid mirror?! Why did I have to be caught up in that...that Gem War?!"

A tear rolls down her right cheek. "Why does my existence revolve around nothing but travesty?!" Her voice cracks as she sniffles. "Why, Steven?" Steven, as much as he wants to talk to Lapis, to help console her the same way she consoled him, could only shift his lips an inch back.

Lapis casts her eyes down on the field of strawberries reflecting the moonlight upon her like the glossy frame of her mirror. She rolls her eyes back up to the sky to avoid the traumatic stress consuming her.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way. I was supposed to be here on Earth for a short time...and then leave. But I didn't. I never got that chance...to go back home." She stays silent as tears stream down her cheeks. Steven puts his right hand to Lapis' left arm.

She looks down at him and she gives him a sad smile. "Don't worry. We'll get to the fountain soon. And maybe after that, we can hunt down the other corrupted Gems. Together. Just...promise me that you won't risk your life for me like that again. To me, that is much more precious than mine."

Steven pulls off a chuckle as Lapis bends her head down once more to navigate the area for the warp pad. "It looks really nice out here I'll admit. The last time I was here though, it was nothing like this. I just wish I came after the war was over, you know? Maybe I would've been one of them. A Crystal Gem."

She chuckles. "But come on. I can't turn my back on my Diamond just like that. We remain loyal to them unless we perceive otherwise. My Diamond isn't terrible...well, not like Yellow Diamond...and White Diamond. She was generally very forgiving and merciful towards her Court. I remember a time when...um."

She takes a moment to recollect a certain memory. "You see, I remember a time when an Agate...uh, I forgot her name...but she didn't exactly do what she was supposed to which was to monitor this place known to  Homeworld as the Artillery House. It's the place where all of the weapons are kept in storage."

She failed to catch this one Gem who I assume is a Crystal Gem. She managed to take about a dozen swords and get away. It wasn't until after the alarm that the Agate realized the Gem got away." She giggles.

"It's kinda funny actually when you think about it. Luckily for her, Blue Diamond reassigned her to monitor the human zoo instead with the support of banished Quartzes and Off Colors from her Court. No one has ever heard of her since then."

She blinks her eyes. "Before that mishap, she was an elite in the Court and a very respectable one too. That's what a friend of mine told me anyway. She even had a perfect record because...well, if you didn't, you would technically be either bubbled away or shattered...maybe exiled."

She notices a gleam in the shubbery and she widens her eyes. She swoops down for it, dropping down at a gradual, careful rate before landing on her feet. She stands before the warp pad with Steven in her arms.

"Alright. Let's get your gem fixed." She steps onto the warp pad. "After that, we're going on a Gem hunt." She warps away with him as the battlefield fades from their vision within the tunnel of light.