Author's Note:
What's up, everyone! Here's the next chapter. It took me a while to get this out because I was just staring at my laptop screen like an idiot, waiting for inspiration to hit me. Looks like we're getting close to the goal, so let's keep it moving! On Wattpad, we're aiming for 50 stars, and on Webnovel, it'll be 170 total for 2 more chapters, including this one.
Discord for your sexy author: https://discord.gg/VwaQwWNCb5
Without further ado, let's get into it.
"Bring me the materials from the barn," Peridot said, pointing firmly toward the metal beams and panels.
"We need to start right now, no time to waste," she added, wearing a safety helmet that was way too big for her head.
Lapis nodded. Using her water control, she began lifting massive blocks, moving them toward Peridot with pinpoint precision.
"Got it, got it! No need to yell, damn. This stuff is heavy as hell," Lapis said, keeping her focus sharp while tossing in that last bit of sarcasm. Her eyes were glued to every floating piece, making sure nothing collided.
Bismuth was standing next to one of the ancient ships, inspecting every gear and panel.
"Girls, keep in mind, this thing could blow up," Bismuth warned. "Every screw, every reinforcement we put in has to be perfect, or else—boom boom. Steven's gonna need this working the second we fire it up." She handled the mechanisms carefully, like waking up from a long sleep and remembering every detail as if she'd never forgotten a thing.
Which made total sense, considering Bismuth had basically shown up overnight, meaning she had the best baseline knowledge for these machines.
"Yeah, I get it completely. You don't need to tell me, you know?" Peridot shot back while checking the floating blueprints in front of her. She looked ridiculous since the blueprints were literally bigger than she was.
Peridot watched closely as Lapis kept building with her water manipulation.
"If something goes wrong now, there's no fixing it later. This isn't just about fixing ships; it's the difference between success and total disaster." She puffed out her chest with pride. "Plus," she added with pure smugness, "you're lucky to have an elite Peridot handling this kind of stuff." She had the ultimate shit-eating grin on her face.
For a second, Lapis low-key wanted to kick Peridot all the way to the moon, but she decided to just keep working instead.
Lapis gently floated a metal block over to Bismuth.
"Every piece has to fit right where it belongs, right?" Lapis asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't want Steven wasting time looking for something that should be right here." The tension in her voice was clear, even though her water control remained flawless.
Bismuth grabbed the block and secured it to the ship's hull.
"That's right, kiddo. Steven can't mess up, and neither can we. Every move counts. Just like Steven said... then the X-men take them?" she asked, looking a bit confused at the end.
"The Zs," Peridot corrected, doing something neither Bismuth nor Lapis cared to ask about.
"Lapis, hold that panel steady while I set the reinforcements. Bismuth, make sure the propulsion cores are calibrated like we talked about."
"You got it, boss," both Gems replied, getting straight to work.
Peridot sighed and started inspecting the ship's internal systems.
"If we do this right, Steven will have everything he needs to save them later—defenses, maneuverability... even extra support for himself. What did humans call it again? Ah, right, video games."
Lapis nodded, staying focused, though if you looked closely, you could tell she was low-key hyped about that last part.
Holy shit, Minecraft in 4K, Lapis thought with a smirk.
"Never thought I'd feel like this outside of the war, but this... this actually matters," Bismuth said. "Remember, kids, standing next to me means no second chances. And if there are, it's just the first chance all over again," she added, delicately adjusting a gear.
Bismuth smiled slightly as she watched her teammates.
"Girls, we're in this together. We should start doing those human things—what do they call them? Workshops? 30 bucks an hour, what do you think? We all know our jobs, and we're killing it. Steven can count on us."
Lapis and Peridot just gave her deadpan stares, especially Lapis, who actually knew how currency worked. But at the mention of Steven, both grew serious. Hearing it over and over was getting repetitive, but they really just wanted to lock in on the job rather than think about Steven going into space all alone.
Peridot crossed her arms, standing firm. "We're not going to fail. This is for him... and we're gonna pull it off," she said proudly.
Lapis slapped her on the back of the head.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Lapis said, totally expressionless.
"Ow!" Peridot yelped, clutching the back of her neck.
The three of them dove back into their work, fully locked in. The hangar—well, sort of a hangar, since they were basically out by the cherry trees—vibrated with the clinking of metal and the controlled hum of water. Every movement carried weight: this wasn't just a ship; it was everything Steven would need to face whatever was coming next.
POV Switch:
"Are you sure this is the best path for Steven?" Pearl asked, leaning against the wall in Garnet's room, her fists lightly clenched. The afternoon light highlighted the tension on her face.
"It's what I see," Garnet answered, her voice cracking as she fought back tears. "I don't see any other viable future."
"Remember, these futures aren't set in stone," Pearl tried to rationalize, desperately looking for a workaround.
"Whether you believe it or not, Pearl," Garnet said dead serious, "right now I'm looking through way too many timelines trying to find one where Steven doesn't have to go to war because of us. And as you can see, it's not looking good." She clenched her fists tightly. "I've been carrying this for days before telling you guys, looking through billions of outcomes," she added, tears finally slipping out.
Amethyst sat in the corner, staring blankly at Jasper's gem trapped inside its bubble. Her hands fidgeted nervously with a strand of her hair. Even though she was worried about Garnet—since seeing her cry was a rare sight—she spoke up.
"We gotta back him up... support him. You did everything you could, Garnet, which was way more than the two of us—especially me," she muttered, distracted, but her tone carried heavy weight.
Silence filled the room. None of them dared to break it, each trapped in their own thoughts about what was down the road.
"It's for Earth," Garnet finally said, wiping her three eyes and letting the gravity of the situation hang in the air. Her eyes reflected the sheer exhaustion of sifting through endless possibilities.
"If it's not this..." she continued, squeezing her hands so hard her knuckles turned white, as if trying to hold back the impending disaster.
In her mind, she could see Steven facing White Diamond all by himself—the most dangerous of the remaining three Diamonds. Garnet lowered her voice.
"I don't see a scenario where he wins... I don't see him coming out of this unscathed."
The room fell silent once more. The space felt smaller, heavier, as if the weight of the future was pressing down within those walls.
"What is White Diamond like?" Amethyst asked, finally breaking the tension, though her voice sounded more fearful than curious. Her eyes darted between Pearl and Garnet, looking for answers words could barely capture.
"Gigantic. And like her name says, she's white—the color of absolute perfection, according to her," Pearl answered without hesitation. Her voice was steady, but her hands were slightly trembling. "She's... overwhelming. Completely devoted to colonization and her own standard of perfection. She leaves zero room for error. Like Steven puts it, she's basically a total species supremacist."
Garnet nodded slowly, her fists still tight. "And that's where Steven comes in... someone who can change everything, but not without our help. We cannot mess this up."
Garnet was trying to convince herself that this insane plan was the right move.
Amethyst sighed and looked back at Jasper's bubble. "If this is what has to happen... then we don't have a choice. We have to be ready to back him up, no matter what it takes." She looked over at the others. "Garnet, can you really not tell us how Steven is supposed to deal with her?"
Garnet shook her head quickly. "You can't know. Especially not you, Pearl."
Pearl closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath as her nose ran slightly. "It won't be easy. Every decision we make from here on out could alter everyone's fate, couldn't it? But if Garnet sees this as the only way... we have to trust it. I have to trust it. If we lose Steven, it'd be like..."
"...losing Rose," Amethyst finished, saying what Pearl clearly couldn't bring herself to utter.
Silence settled back over the room, but this time it was loaded with determination. Each of them processed the scale of what was ahead: Steven was going to face something they couldn't fully comprehend, and their job was to prepare him and protect him.
Finally, Garnet spoke with a calm that brought order to the heavy atmosphere.
"We do this together. For Steven. For Earth. For what we can still save."
Amethyst stood up, stretching her shoulders to shake off the anxiety.
"For Steven," she repeated louder, as if cementing the mission in her mind.
Pearl nodded, her breathing still a bit uneven.
"For Earth."
For Rose, Pearl thought to herself.
With that, the three of them stood in silence for a moment longer, fully aware of the burden on their shoulders, but ready to face it together.
POV Switch:
Steven stood next to his dad, staring off into the distance like something invisible was catching his attention—or maybe his schizophrenia was acting up, one of the two.
Greg stayed quiet for a moment, showing that classic mix of concern and curiosity he always had whenever Gem stuff was involved.
"So... you're gonna be dealing with some colonizer or something?" he finally asked, trying to break the ice.
"That's the master plan. What do you think, Dad?" Steven replied calmly, his eyes still fixed on a distant point.
Greg furrowed his brow, lines showing on his forehead.
"Are you sure about this, son?" he asked, placing a hand on Steven's shoulder. "I'm always in your corner, but I just wanna make sure this is what you actually want."
Steven raised an eyebrow and sighed. "I'm never really sure about my choices when I think about Garnet's future vision, but this seems like the best bet. What's your take?"
Greg shook his head slowly, looking like the situation was way too much to digest.
"I'm way too old for this shit," Greg muttered to himself.
Steven stepped out of the van and looked at Lion, who was watching him with that natural chill vibe that basically translated to, Everything's good, trust me, bro.
Steven had a wild idea.
"Hold up, wait for me," Steven said as his dad walked over.
"Where are you going?" Greg tried to ask, but before he could finish, Steven had already dived headfirst into Lion's mane like it was the most normal thing ever.
Greg just stared, completely bewildered, while Lion chilled there without a care in the world.
Suddenly, a chest came flying out of the mane, flipping through the air and almost flattening Greg.
"What the hell?!" Greg yelled, ducking out of the way.
Steven popped his head out of the mane with a mischievous grin.
"Hey, you want my mom's shirt? The one you gave her at your first concert?"
Greg blinked, totally lost. "That's in there?"
"Yep," Steven said, pointing to the chest.
Greg shook his head. "Nah, leave it. It's safer in there anyway."
Greg looked at Steven in disbelief, and Steven kept going, slowly opening the chest.
"Check this out... I was gonna give you this for your 100th birthday in a few months—"
Greg broke into a nervous sweat at that comment.
"—but," Steven continued, "I don't think I'm gonna make it in time, so here."
Greg carefully opened the chest, his eyes widening at what was inside.
"Is that..." he stammered, unable to believe it.
"Gold," Steven added with a sly grin, basically giving off holy shit, this is real energy.
Greg couldn't help but smile, pulling Steven into a tight hug.
"Thank you... man, thank you. I had no idea your mom had this," he kept repeating, holding him close, relief and gratitude written all over his face.
Steven chuckled softly, hugging him back.
There was no way he was gonna admit he hadn't opened the chest before because he thought a Gem monster worm was gonna pop out, and he only just now built up the nerve to open it.
"Don't mention it, Dad. Just make sure you don't blow it all on stupid stuff," Steven said, though deep down he knew the gesture was more than enough to solidify their bond.
Greg pulled back a bit, still smiling, looking at Steven with eyes full of pride and concern.
"Son... you never cease to amaze me. I don't know how you handle all this, but... thanks for thinking of me."
Steven reached out, gently tapping his dad's shoulder.
"Always, Dad. Always."
The mood lightened up for a second. The tension of what was coming faded away, even though both knew it wouldn't last long. But right then, they were just sharing a normal family moment before tackling whatever came next.
End of Chapter 71.