Chapter Text
Steven knew he had to do this. He was terrified, but someone had to pay for his mother’s crimes and it had to be him. He was ready for this. He had been deposited inside a completely white cell with no one around and he couldn’t help but nervously pace around the room. Well as much as he could pace around, the room was a little small for him. He wasn’t really bothered by that though; most places were too small for him.
He was in the middle of another round when the wall suddenly opened and a blue Gem with a monocle strode inside the room. Said Gem was looking down frantically at her holo-pads and seemed to ramble to herself. Through this ramble he found out that she was called Zircon, so that was a plus. Then she looked up and immediately came to a standstill. She stood there staring at him with an open mouth.
“Uhm… Are you alright?” He leaned down a bit and carefully poked the Gem before him multiple times. This luckily seemed to snap her out of it. “Wait! I! AH! You-! My Dia-! Rose Quartz!?” He blinked at the sudden onslaught of half-finished words, but he did get the most important part.
“That’s right. I’m Rose Quartz and I killed Pink Diamond.” He puffed his chest slightly, hoping to convey a bit of confidence. He didn’t think it really worked, because the Gem froze once more. After a few seconds, he began to poke her again.
This time she snapped out of it quicker, it only took a few pokes! She was about to say something when the door opened once more. “I.. I.. We have to go to trial!” To be honest, Steven didn’t really understand what was going on, but he followed the Zircon and soon enough they both stood on a white triangle in a dark room.
He didn’t really get what was happening but the blue gem was frantically scouring her holo-pad while shooting him disbelieving looks the entire time. He simply decided to sit criss-cross applesauce on the floor in what looked like a tiny triangle depression. He still slightly towered over the blue gem, but now it wasn’t that bad. Then suddenly the multiple lights in yellow, blue and white went on and a new gem appeared.
Steven guessed it was also a Zircon and she looked green, but that could also be due to the weird ground lights. Said Zircon however immediately began taunting his Zircon, not even glancing his way. “Defending a rebel? Isn’t that treason?” The gem ended it with a small taunting laugh, but when he looked at his Zircon, she only stood there with her mouth open. This caused a frown to appear on her fellow Zircon.
Before she could ask what was wrong, two other lights appeared as well as two new people. With a startle he realised they were Pearls! They looked just like Pearl! Only one was blue with hair that fell down over her eyes and the other was yellow with hair that pointed right up! He wondered if they were Pearl’s sisters, since Pearl’s hair pointed back. “All rise for the luminous Yellow Diamond!” “And the lustrous Blue Diamond.” Both Pearls posed with their eyes still closed, when suddenly more lights went on the two giant Diamonds appeared in the room.
Both had their eyes closed, with Blue Diamond leaning on Yellow Diamond’s shoulder. They opened their eyes at the same time and he felt their eyes bore into him, when they both froze. They literally froze, no movement at all and Steven wondered if he had to poke them too. It seemed however that the Pearls and the green Zircon were also confused, that was until they glanced his way and also froze.
He really wondered why people kept doing that. It was probably luck that his Zircon had finally gotten used to his appearance as she spoke up. “My diamonds?” That caused the blue Diamond to move and before he knew it, a hand came down upon him.
He really thought that that was it. Squished by giant blue lady. A very tragic end to his relatively short life. So you could say he was very surprised when instead of being a splat on the ground, he was very high off the ground and squished against a blue cheek. “Pink!”
Confusion, that was his current state. Complete confusion, until the light-bulb went on in his head. She must be trying to punish him for taking down Pink Diamond! “Tha- That’s right I shattered Pink Diamond! I am Rose Quartz!” It however did not get the reaction he expected from the diamonds. Instead of rage, he got two looks of utter confusion as he was pulled away from Blue Diamond’s cheek. “You’re Rose Quartz?!” The looks of sheer bafflement on their faces would have been funny in any other situation.
“Ye-yes? I-I have her Gem and everything…” He lifted his shirt and showed them his gem. The blue diamond looked at his gem in confusion, while the yellow diamond suddenly pinched the bridge of her nose. “Pink, do you know where you are?” Steven looked around. “Uuuh, a black room? On Homeworld?” At that he got a look of complete exasperation, though it confused him that it was also filled with love. “Do you know who we are?” That threw him for a loop. “Y-yellow and Blue Diamond?” Blue was looking at him very intensely and Yellow tapped her chin.
“Do you know who rules the Great Diamond Authority?” “You do??” The yellow gem looked at him waiting for him to continue, so he glanced around frantically. There had to be a hint somewhere! That was when he spotted the diamond symbol. That’s right! “Oh! And White Diamond! Like the symbol!” He puffed up his chest, slightly proud of himself for figuring it out. Blue Diamond also seemed slightly proud, but more indulgent as she slightly stroked the top of his head. “That’s right, the GDA is compromised of me, Yellow and White.” Then she turned away from him, towards her counterpart. “Yellow?”
“Pearl, pull up an image of a rejuvenator.” He saw the yellow pearl’s hands fly across the screen and soon enough an image popped up of a scythe-like weapon. Yellow Diamond pulled up the screen, enlarged it and held it up before him. Next to it was a tiny black stick. “Do you recognise this?” Now that he looked closer, he did actually recognize it. “Oh! That’s the thingy I’m not allowed to play with! Apparently one time Amethyst and I played with it and I got hit! I don’t remember that though.”
The exasperation had somehow spread towards the other Diamond and he was pulled into her bosom. “Oh Pink.” Her voice was filled with an interesting mix of frustration and love. Though now he thought about it, Pearl often had exactly the same tone of voice.
Yellow Diamond released another deep sigh. “Can you tell us why you think you are Rose Quartz?”
That threw him for a loop. “Uuuh… Well… Dad said that my mom was Rose Quartz… and that I have her gem??” Then he tapped his chin. “Though I don’t really know why I look like this, since I don’t look like my mom. Dad said it was because Amethyst and I played with the thingy, but I don’t really know. Pearl always does this weird hand gesture when I ask.” Then he mimicked what Pearl usually did, which was clasp both hands before her mouth.
This elected another sigh from both Diamonds. “Your pearl, where is she?” At this, tears sprung into his eyes, he felt them slowly dribble down his face and he frantically tried to wipe them away. “W-well, t-these really mean gems came and they-they tried to take away my friends!” He was slightly blubbering, while the giant blue gem was rubbing his back, encouraging him to continue.
“So-so to save them, I gave myself up! But Pearl tried to rescue me! But then the small blue gem.” “Aquamarine.” Yellow gently interrupted. “Aquamarine threw Pearl into the ocean! She looked fine when I last saw her.” More tears sprang into his eyes. “But I really, really miss her.” He was currently bawling and the blue gem had drawn him back into her bosom while rubbing his back.
He heard the yellow gem sigh, before also rubbing his back with a single finger, while she whispered to him. “Don’t worry Pink, we’ll send someone to fetch her. Do you feel up to answering one more question?” He nodded his head in between sobs and the blue giant began to hum quietly. “How old are you, Pink?”
Steven was slightly confused, but he still tried his best to answer. “I-I’m f-fourteen ye-years old.” He hiccuped a bit. The yellow gem kept her tone gentle and quiet. “Pearl, what is that in cycles?” The answer was soon enough provided, a sharp gasp followed by a hesitating voice. “About one-eight of a cycle, my Diamond.”
Though his eyes were blurred by tears and blue fabric, he could practically feel the diamonds giving each other a look. The only thing they actually did was that Blue’s humming became slightly louder and Yellow began to steer them out of the room. “Trial dismissed.” Meanwhile Steven gave in to his exhaustion and fell asleep. The blue fabric of Blue’s dress being too comfortable and unconsciously he gripped it tighter.