Steven Universe: Beyond The Mirror

A Place To Hide

A/N: Creative title. I know. It's been a bit and I'm just now starting college. But that's not stopping me from continuing the journey Beyond The Mirror. I'll try to get the chapters out sooner going forward.

Also, the Legend GIFs aren't coming through anymore which sucks. Sorry about that.

The rain quits drizzling from the sky, leaving the clouds stained gray above the island. A chilling breeze enters the atmosphere, causing the hairs on Steven's body to stand on end as he slowly strokes the robonoid's hide in his arms.

He sighs and for a moment, Steven could see his breath escape from his gaping mouth. He has popped a squat, slumped against the pink lion he found a few weeks back. Only this time, however, he couldn't help but feel cold against its fur. He sudders and shivers as Lapis steps around the lion to face her companion.

She hesitates to speak as she watches Steven force his eyes shut for a moment, clutching the robonoid with his pale hands. "Steven?" Steven bites his lip as he faces Lapis. "You doing okay?" Steven remains mute as he nods. Lapis steps up to him and sits down beside him. The duo watches the trees sway with the breeze as they dare to face one another.

Moments later, Steven finally opens his mouth to Lapis. "I...think we should hide." Lapis faces Steven, her eyes drooping. "Hide?" Steven's forehead furrows. "It means to get away from something-!" Lapis huffs. "I know what it means, Steven. I'm just saying, why?" Steven narrows his eyes as his memory takes him to the Galaxy Warp where he fought his caretakers.

After the clashing of the weapons, he finds himself in the temple helping Lapis escape the ambush. "I have my reasons, Lapis." Lapis pulls her knees up to her dress through a sigh. "Alright, but...where do you want to go?" Steven sits up straight. The robonoid crawls off of him as his skin turns pale. "Somewhere the Gems can't find us...until they forget about us somehow."

Lapis bends her head down. "Well, I don't really know if a place like that exists, Steven." Steven huffs as he gets up. "Lapis, just...think of something, alright?" Lapis watches Steven stand up and step away from her a bit. She casts her eyes on the ground as she leans further back into Lion.

Steven gazes at the bushes and trees ahead of him as he closes his eyes. He could see the Gems attacking him and Lapis back at his mother's fountain. He mutters to himself. "Come on, Steven. Think!" Steven flashes back to where Lapis uses the water as giant hands at the fountain to help them fend off the Gems and escape.

He bulges his eyes open, gasping and he turns around. "Lapis!" Lapis looks up, jolting against Lion. "What is it?" Steven shudders for a moment. "You can move water of course, right?" Lapis nods. "Yeah? Uh, where exactly are you going with this?"
"Do you know a place that has water like say...all over it?"

Lapis attracts a tip of water onto her finger to trace in the dirt. "Well there is one place that I know of like that." Steven raises his eyebrow. "Okay. Um, what is it?" Lapis lifts her head up, sighing. "Oh, it had all these glasses set up--and some people said that there was this hidden hourglass of time that was being guarded by all these fake ones I think-!"

Steven presses a hand to the back of his head, looking away. "Uh, heh heh. Might wanna avoid that place." Lapis' eyebrow furrows as she faces Steven. "Why? Have you been there before?" Steven grits his teeth. "Let's just say...things didn't really go as I thought they would." His eyes lock on Lapis. "You see, there was this band I formed called Steven and the Stevens and-!"

Lapis holds a hand up, bending her head down. "Okay, stop. I get it. We can't go back there. That's fine. Let's...think of something else." Steven presses a hand to his forehead. "Right, right." He digs his hands in his pockets as he watches Lapis subconsciously continue to draw in the dirt.

Steven raises an eyebrow as Lapis traces a cylinder around a circle. "What are you drawing?" Lapis sits cross-legged, squinting her eyes as she traces a small cylinder on top of the original. "I don't know. This just...came to mind." She traces a hole on the bottom of the original cylinder.

Steven gapes as Lapis traces a spiral line through the big cylinder. Steven's forehead furrows as he mutters to himself. "It looks like some kind of spire." Steven's eyes widen as Lapis starts tracing more holes along the spiral line.

Steven's memory brings him to the lunar sea spire completely surrounded by waterfalls and jagged rocks. His first mission. His first trip in the warp. His first...to prove himself of being a Crystal Gem.

Steven gasps in his reality, jolting in front of Lapis' drawing. "That's it!" Lapis stops tracing, looking back up at her companion. "What?" Steven points down at the drawing. "That's the place! That's where we need to go!" Lapis' eye twitches. "Uh, Steven? I'd hate to burst your bubble, but I can't exactly take us into a bunch of line work."

Steven smirks, bending down towards the drawing. "No, you can't. But you can take us to a place that looks just like it." Steven jabs a finger into the drawing. Lapis raises an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?" Steven brings his face towards Lapis, meeting her at eye level. "The lunar sea spire." Lapis' eyes bulge, gaping at her companion.

Lapis casts her eyes back down on the drawing. "The lunar sea spire?" Her forehead furrows. "Wait." She looks back up. "How do know about that place?" Steven grunts as he gets back on his feet. "Well, the Gems took me there once." Lapis gets up as Steven explains the mission to her. "You see, we had this statue that was supposed to..."

Steven's skin turns pale. His forehead pounds as the rest of his explanation stabs at his concious. He grits his teeth as the words gradually slip through his mouth. "Keep...the spire...from sinking." He releases a shaky chuckle as his body stiffens in front of Lapis. Lapis, now on her feet, folds her arms. "You forgot the statue didn't you?"

Steven's forehead sweats as he holds a his breath. He watches Lapis raise an eyebrow in front of him. Steven finally squeaks out a "I might've." Lapis groans, facepalming. "Oh, Steven." Steven looks down at the ground, gritting his teeth. He shivers as the robonoid crawls up to him. A slot opens at the core of it, exposing its camera lens.

Steven swallows and he looks back up at his beach summer fun buddy. Lapis is gazing down at her drawing, eyes heavy attached to her face attached to the body reflecting the effect the journey has had on her thus far. A tear slips from Steven's eye. "I'm so sorry, Lapis." Lapis closes her eyes as Steven lowers his voice, looking back down at the robonoid. "For everything."

Steven and Lapis remain in their respective positions as thunder grumbles in the clouds above them. Lion gets up nearby, stretching and yawning before opening its eyes. Steven looks up just in time to watch him start to walk away. Steven widens his eyes, looking from the lion...to Lapis...back to Lion. "Wait!"

Steven rushes up to the lion, stopping short as the animal's head turns to him. "Can you take us there?" The lion snorts. "The sea spire. Can you take us there?" Lion rolls its eyes. Steven puts his hands on his hips, sighing. "Okay, look, I can see that we don't always see eye to eye, but this is really important." Lion starts to turn his head away from the boy.

Steven scoffs. "What does it take to get you to give me and a friend a simple ride? It's nothing personal, is it?" The lion collapses onto the ground, eyes shut with its head resting against its arms. Steven's eyebrow furrows. "Is that what you want to do? Sleep?" The lion yawns and Steven huffs. "Alright, fine. If you give us a ride to the sea spire, you can sleep for as long as you want. You can sleep a thousand years if you need to. But, please."

Steven knelts down, pressing his hand against Lion's snout. "Do this for Stevie." Lion opens its eyes as Steven forces a smile. The lion glances at Steven. It groans and it gets up on its feet, narrowing it's eyes. Steven turns to Lapis as he starts to get on the beast. "Lapis."

Lapis turns her head towards Steven. "Lion can take us to the sea spire." Lapis gives a half smile, unfolding her arms. "Oh. Really?" Steven grins, facing her. "Yeah. Come on." Lapis steps up to the lion as Steven pats the beast's back. "Sit behind me." Lapis grunts as she gets on. She inches up to her companion, biting her lip. The robonoid crawls up behind Lapis and it clamps its legs against the lion.

Steven looks to the path ahead, frowning. He grips the lion's mane with both hands. "Alright. Let's go!" Lion breaks into a dash, not bothering to hesitate. The beast doesn't stop as it roars into the distance, creating a portal. "Hang on tight!" Lapis wraps her arms around Steven's waist, her head resting against his shoulder through gritted teeth. The portal vanishes as Lion leaps through it.