A Brighter Shade of Pink

Chapter 3

In the gray, lifeless chasms of the Prime Kindergarten that once housed an army of quartz soldiers was the son of gem and human, Steven Universe, standing face to communication screen with one of Homeworld's great leaders, Blue Diamond.

"Now..." Blue Diamond said, with seriousness in her voice. "Tell me what really happened to Pink Diamond."

In the sidelines, both Zircon and Aquamarine were surprised and confused to hear this. They weren't told about this being the objective.

Steven, on the other hand, was rather relieved but also nervous at the same time. "It's a long story but if you let me, I'll tell you what I know." Steven said.

Peridot felt the same way, as she gave Steven's hand a comforting squeeze.

Blue Diamond thought for a moment before calling her Pearl to her armrest. In any such confrontation between a diamond and her gems (or any other in this case), it was important to have the diamond's pearl as an eyewitness. When Blue Pearl was situated in a proper place, Blue Diamond spoke, "You may begin."

Steven took in a quick breath, "First, I want to clear the air about who I am. My name is Steven, Steven Quartz Universe. I'm actually half human from my dad but my mom was a gem." Out of habit, he lifted his shirt slightly to show his gem.

Even though this was the second time she had seen the gem on his stomach, Blue Diamond looked at the gem intently. It did look like a rose quartz and yet it seemed different somehow... but she tried to block these thoughts for the moment.

"You're a hybrid of gem and human?" the diamond questioned. "How is that possible?"

"It's because my mom, Rose Quartz, met and loved a human named Greg Universe. My dad."

"What?" Aquamarine squeaked. But she quieted down, not wanting to get the death glare from her diamond... again.

Ignoring the water gem, Steven continued. "At some point, Rose decided to have Greg's... um..." he thought that the words 'child' or 'kid' might only confuse the diamond more.

Noticing his struggle, Peridot helped him out by whispering in his ear.

"Offspring!" Steven said enthusiastically.

Peridot moved away after that but still stood next to Steven.

"But-... she had to give up her physical form to have me. So when I was born, Rose Quartz became half of me. I have her gem and her powers but I don't have her memories." He then lowered his shirt, covering his gem.

Blue Diamond listened but she was having trouble believing in it. Although she wanted to continue and said. "I see, if what you say is true then that means you weren't really there when Pink died. Why did you insist otherwise during the trial?"

"Because...*sigh*, because I wanted to finish what my mom started. Rose made mistakes that hurt a lot of gems, gems like you and Yellow, and I thought if I turned myself in and just let you do whatever... I thought it would make things right."

Blue Diamond was astonished by this but then she became cross, "You thought sacrificing yourself would make things right? Make me and Yellow feel happy?!"

"Well, happy is a stron–"

"Shattering gems does not make me happy!" Blue Diamond interjected. She glared at him but upon noticing the surprise expression on Steven's face, the diamond calmed herself slightly and said. "I don't know what you have been told about diamonds, Steven, but contrary to popular belief, diamonds do not just shatter gems left and right. Shattering is a very serious matter, especially since creating more gems now is very taxing on our resources. As you may have noticed with the Aquamarine and the Peridot standing next to you, we've had to make due with very little."