Peridot sat in the living room while I made her some tea. I explained that it helped ease bodily tension, though she shot back that she didn't have a body. I shut her up before she could go any further because, technically, she did... I just didn't feel like getting into the weeds about Gem biology.
While she waited, she looked at me curiously.
"Who's the wise man?" she asked out of nowhere.
I didn't answer right away. She just sat there while I calmly laid out the entire situation—everything from the Cluster to the minor detail that the world might literally blow up if something went sideways.
Peridot spoke up again, her voice laced with obvious doubt.
"So... you want me to help you with the Cluster, right?"
I nodded bluntly.
"Well," she said after thinking it over for a moment. "I'm going to need my limb enhancers if I'm going to be of any use."
...
...
I stared back with a forced smile.
"I have absolutely no damn clue where those are," I said with total honesty.
...
Peridot fell dead silent too.
"Are you serious?"
"Dead serious," I replied with absolute confidence, as if this weren't a massive problem.
She slowly shook her head, clearly disappointed, flinching every now and then at some strange noise coming from the temple. I set the tea down in front of her and showed her how to drink it. To my surprise, it actually relaxed her.
Right at that moment, the warp pad flared to life.
I didn't notice anything unusual at first. Then Lapis stepped off covered in sand, Garnet had flames licking at her hair and her visors were cracked, Pearl was practically wrapped in bandages, and Amethyst was wearing a completely different shirt that definitely wasn't her original one.
When the two sides locked eyes, the tension in the room skyrocketed. I was stuck right in the middle of the crossfire.
"Hold your Gems," I said, holding up a hand.
Both sides relaxed just enough to keep an immediate brawl from breaking out.
"First of all," I continued, adjusting my jacket, "how did the mission go? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you guys got absolutely wrecked."
...
"It was awful," Lapis said, brushing more sand out of her hair. "There were like five Gems and zero water, so I was basically just stuck on support duty," she added with a resigned sigh.
"I did great," Amethyst chimed in, pulling out a chunk of metal I was certain she hadn't had earlier. "This looks edible," she added before eating it in the most epic way possible.
Garnet shook her head.
"The mission was a success, though it proved more costly than my future vision predicted."
Pearl unwrapped her bandages as she spoke.
"Yes, and Amethyst managed to crack her gemstone again. Can you help her, Steven?"
I looked over at Amethyst, raising an eyebrow. She gritted her teeth and walked over, completely resigned to her fate.
"Spit time for you," I said, touching her gemstone. It glowed instantly, and the crack vanished.
That was when I noticed Peridot.
Her eyes were wide as saucers, taking in the entire scene.
"What a power..." she muttered aloud.
And, right on cue, every single eye in the room snapped right back to her.
"Uh..." she squeaked, suddenly looking very small.
"Don't worry, you guys are scaring her," I said, lifting Peridot into the air and holding her up like Simba in The Lion King.
"Eeeek!" she let out a high-pitched screech.
The others immediately stared at her, catching sight of some bizarre blemishes left on her form. The tension rushed right back into the room in a matter of seconds.
"Relax," I told them calmly. "I healed her before the corruption could spread."
Peridot nodded frantically, as if her life depended on it. And, well, it kind of did.
"She's going to help us with the Cluster," I added.
Everyone glared at her with blatant distrust, and honestly, I couldn't blame them.
"Speaking of the Cluster," I said, glancing over at Lion. "Hey, didn't the Moon have something we need?"
"It did?" Peridot asked, instantly intrigued.
"Well, let's go then," I said without overthinking it. I scooped up Peridot while using my other hand to drag Pearl along, who looked visibly nervous.
I practically shoved Peridot into Lion's mane, who was already pretty annoyed by the disruption.
...
"Let's move," Garnet said, grabbing Amethyst and Lapis and leaping onto Lion's back with both of them.
Lion shot me a look of pure resentment. I just gave him a soothing pat.
"I'll get you some really good fish later."
Lion stood up with so much energy it nearly sent us all flying.
"Rwar," he grunted, as if asking where the hell we were going.
"The Moon," I answered without hesitation.
Lion went stiff for a second.
"Rwar?" he chirped, like he thought he'd misheard me.
"Yep. You're going to be putting in some serious overtime today, which means way more fish for you."
Lion processed the information for a moment, and with a quick roar, he started tearing open portal after portal.
"What even is this thing?!" Peridot screamed as we tore through the rifts at an absurd speed.
"My magical lion," I shouted happily, feeling us pull more and more velocity.
"I'm going to fall!" Pearl shrieked in a panic, right before Garnet caught her, still holding onto Amethyst with her other arm.
"Get us there fast, Lion, goddammit!" Amethyst yelled in genuine terror.
With one final roar, Lion ripped open the last portal and teleported us directly into the Moon Base.
Lion spun out a bit as we landed, sending everyone flying in different directions across the room.
I scrambled up immediately and ran over to him.
"You okay, buddy?" I asked with concern.
"Rwar," Lion replied, sounding a little weak.
I quickly gathered some spit and smeared it on him, just in case he'd taken any scrapes. It seemed to do the trick, because his expression softened almost instantly.
"Good boy," I murmured.
"Wasn't that a little rushed?!" Amethyst groaned, completely dizzy.
Right after came Lapis's muffled voice from underneath Garnet and Pearl, who had landed right on top of her.
"Not at all," Peridot said, getting to her feet and examining the walls with intense interest. "The Cluster is something that could completely obliterate this entire planet."
Everyone went rigid.
"Are you serious?" Pearl asked, confused and visibly shaken.
I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. She caught my look and grew even tenser.
...
I looked back at Peridot, who was still tapping at the walls, analyzing every single detail with rapt attention.
"Here it is," Peridot said, hitting a button.
Instantly, a flight of stairs rose from the floor, and several lights flickered on along the corridor, illuminating the path so no one would trip. Before moving up, I walked over to Lion one last time, gave him a gentle pat, and kissed the top of his head.
"Wait for us here, champ. We'll be right back."
Lion just curled up on the floor, ready to take a nap while he recharged his batteries.
"Let's go," I said, picking Peridot up since she clearly couldn't reach the stairs on her own, and started floating my way up.
The others followed without any trouble. Well, everyone except Lapis, who deployed her wings and flew up right behind me.
I could feel her gaze burning a hole in the back of my neck, but I decided to ignore it.
We passed through a room I recognized instantly.
"Observation tower," Pearl said, unable to help herself.
I seized the opportunity.
"What is it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Pearl answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"This is where the Diamonds observe their colonies," she said without thinking.
Amethyst and Garnet stared dead at her. Lapis couldn't care less. Peridot didn't react much either.
I looked at Pearl, raising my eyebrow even higher. She realized exactly what she had just let slip and clamped both hands over her mouth instantly.
"We'll talk later," I said seriously.
We kept moving until we reached the main console of the Moon Base.
"Do your thing," I said, setting Peridot down right in front of the controls.
She froze instantly.
"No, not here. I can't sit here, this belongs to a Diamond, and, and—"
"Shhh," I cut her off, making a shushing motion with my hand. "There are no Diamonds here. Lock in."
...
...
Peridot didn't say another word. She didn't get down either. She just started typing at lightning speed.
"Incredibly outdated," she muttered, but she kept working like a pro anyway.
"This is the Cluster," she finally said, bringing it up on the screen.
"There's nothing there," Amethyst noted, seeing only a regular hologram of the Earth.
"Huh?" Peridot said, confused. "Oh, right. Forgot to activate the overlay."
She punched in one more command.
The hologram shifted violently.
The planet began to warp, fracturing at multiple points. Massive cracks tore out from the core, beams of raw energy pierced the surface, and monstrous shapes seemed to be shoving their way out from the inside, as if something was trying to hatch by ripping the entire world to pieces.
It was grotesque.
It was terrifying.
An absolute abomination.
To everyone... except Peridot.
"Incredible," she breathed, her eyes shining as she mapped the data onto her Homeworld mental framework.
The other Gems glared at her like she had just committed the worst crime imaginable—like she had personally murdered their grandmother and buried her right in front of them.
Not me, though.
We had literally pulled her out of a bubble maybe two hours ago max, and she honestly hadn't had the time to process any of this yet.
So no, I wasn't surprised.
But I was worried.
"Do you know the coordinates?" I asked seriously, cutting in before the Gems could execute her with their eyes.
"Oh, yes," Peridot replied quickly, clearly grateful for the subject change as she expertly manipulated the console. A precise point flashed onto the screen.
"It's right here," she said, pointing to it.
"That's the family farm," I added with a bit of dark humor.
What a coincidence, I thought, a smirk tugging at my lips.
"We're leaving now," I said, grabbing Peridot. I noticed her snatching a Diamond communicator, but I decided to let it slide for now. Even so, I kept a very close eye on her every move.
We all headed back to the house. I kept my word and gave Lion his fish, and the guy started inhaling it like there was no tomorrow.
"Tomorrow we head to the barn. For now, get some rest," Garnet said, walking toward the temple.
"Perfect," Pearl replied, attempting to make a quick getaway.
She didn't make it.
I reached out and stopped her, planting a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going, Potter?" I said with total seriousness.
"I... uh... I'm not Potter," she stammered nervously.
"I don't care," I said, hoisting her up over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"See you guys later. I need to have a word with her," I added before stepping into my temple room with a completely terrified Pearl.
The door slid shut behind us.
Back in the living room, Peridot stood completely frozen, trapped between an Amethyst with a raised eyebrow and a visibly annoyed Lapis.
...
...
What do I do now? Peridot thought, slowly starting to panic.
End of Chapter 52.