Me, Myself, and Him

Chapter 24: In the darkness, find the light.

Peridot POV

Everyone stopped screaming. Nobody dared to make a sound. They were all staring at Steven.

He had gone completely still. He didn't  move, he didn't speak. The only way you would have known he wasn't dead was the slight breaths that escaped his mouth.

The eye just kept... staring. A constant reminder that we were to late.

"S-Steven? Steven, can you hear me?" Pearl asked softly, still clutching his body close to him. "Steven, please wake up."

I kept my distance from the group. I was still afraid that if I got too close, they'd lash out at me.

After all, it's my fault.

"Steven, please wake up. You can't be gone. Please, Steven come back to us." Tears kept on pouring from Pearl's eyes.

*Twitch*

Steven's hand made a slight movement. I seemed to be the only one who caught it.

*Twitch*

His hand moved again. This time, Connie had seen it too.

"P-Pearl, look! His hand, it moved!" She shouted.

Everyone immediately focused on Steven's hand, looking for any sign to indicate he was still alive.

His hand slowly clenched into a fist.

Everyone's eyes started to widen.

"Steven, it's us! It's your family, please Steven! Wake up!" Pearl said, holding him tighter.

"Come on, Steven! You can do it! We're all right here!" Shouted Amethyst.

Steven's eyes shifted under his eyelids. He moved and wiggled slightly in Pearl's grasp.

"Steven, please wake up. Come on, you clod. I still have to return the favor for you helping me. Please..." I quietly begged.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open.

Oh stars.

His eyes were completely gray. There were no irises, no pupils. Just gray.

Everyone let out a gasp.

"S-Steven?" Pearl asked.

Steven let out a groan and started to struggle within Pearl's grasp.

"L-let... Me... Go..."

Connie tried to get closer to him, but before she could, Steven whipped his head around and let out a low growl towards her. When she backed away in fear, the growl turned into a whimper.

"Don't... Get near... Something's... wrong..." He whispered.

He kept struggling against Pearl's grip, which only made her hold him tighter. Garnet reached out to help Pearl by putting her hand on Steven's chest. However, when she did, Steven let out a screech of pain, causing Garnet to jump back and Pearl to let go out of fear.

Steven, seeing that he was released, shot up and stumbled his way away from the group, clutching his stomach and groaning in pain. The Crystal Gems kept their distance out of fear of hurting him more

"S-Steven?" Connie asked.

Suddenly, a large, pink glow erupted from his gem, and his head whipped back as his eyes slammed shut. He screamed in pain as the glow only got brighter and brighter.

Until it abruptly stopped.

Steven collapsed to the ground, his hand leaving his stomach.

Pearl was the first one to move, rushing over and pulling Steven close to her. The rest of us slowly made our way towards him, hesitant to see what happened.