Shattered Hearts (Steven Universe)

Chapter 15

Peridot's head hurt even more the next day, and even more after that. The constant fear of being found or possibly killed wasn't helping the pain in her gem very much. Was this what humans called a migraine? Maybe, maybe not. If I hadn't broken my stupid gem, none of this would be happening right now! The green gem gritted her teeth and tried to assess the damage by feeling her gem. Her hand immediately was drawn back from the injury. It hurts to touch it! Oh, this isn't fair! Peridot stood up and angrily kicked the tree in front of her. She regretted that afterwards, though, when pain shot through her foot. She decided she didn't care and kicked the tree's trunk again and again and again. When it felt like her toes were numb, she stopped and sat down again. Beating herself up wasn't helping her get home. Peridot activated her visor to sharpen her vision and hearing. Maybe she could find something useful around here to build a ship with. Before she could do anything, thunderous footsteps were picked up by her tech. She gasped and turned her visor off. A familiar human boy hurtled towards her like a bullet. Before he could run into her, he skidded to a stop, his chest heaving. His black hair was spiked up even more than usual from his running, and his blue eyes were dull with exhaustion. He dropped something at Peridot's feet and then staggered, grabbing onto the tree for support. "That's...for you," he gasped. "Can we talk?" The gem examined his gift. It was a full bag of cool ranch Doritos. Peridot scowled. "No. Leave, and take your petty human food with you."

Ben wheezed. He had been running all over town, looking for Peridot. That had clearly been a mistake, because now he could hardly speak, and his lungs burned in his chest. "What? Y-You don't understand...I need to tell you-"

"I don't care what you have to tell me!" Peridot hit Ben's chest and knocked him backwards onto the ground. "You've made me defective. Caring about a doomed planet is foolish, but yet, that's what I've been doing. If I had never met you, then I might've had a chance to live and go home, but if I go back now, my leader will kill me herself just for giving out information about my kind to a human! You ignorant, daft, unintelligent, foolish c-clod!" Peridot's form wavered like a broken hologram, causing her to stutter and look frightened. Ben got up, brushing dirt off of his pants, and looked at the girl's gem. "It's broken," he murmured. "I thought you would've fixed it by now, but I guess not. You're dying, aren't you?" "Quiet!" Peridot spat. "Don't you dare say another word, you useless cl-!" Her body flickered again, and she gasped and clutched at her gem, trying frantically to fix its broken center. Ben chuckled lightly. "I get it now. Your gemstone is your actual body, and if that breaks, so do you. You're going to die if that breaks completely, won't you?" When Peridot didn't reply, Ben spoke up again, sounding much angrier. His voice was shaking. "Answer me, Peridot! Is that true?" "Yes," she muttered. "You've got your answer now. Why can't you just leave? You've hurt me enough already." "Because I care about you, and I don't want you to die! I know you're hurting, but you have no idea how much pain I'm in. Love hurts, especially this one, and you're gonna listen to me before I leave you again, because if you don't, they'll find you. I talked with their leader, Garnet, and they know where you are. They saw your message, and they know you're here." Peridot's green eyes widened. "What? How could they have seen it? I sent my message only to home world!" "No, you didn't. It was broadcast onto every television in Beach City, including mine. That's why I came here in the first place! Because of that message, the Crystal Gems know where you are, and without my help, they will find you and kill you, and if you die..if your gem is broken by them, a part of me will die too." Peridot was rooted to where she stood, and she looked traumatized by this news. Ben kept talking to her though. "Peridot, please. I know you hate me, but I'm here to help. I-" "Shh!" Peridot whispered. The gem ducked behind a tree and peered out from behind it, looking towards a platform that had lit up, bringing four people to a nearby tower. Ben followed her, afraid of who might be here. The sound of their voices caught his attention. "It looks like Peridot somehow repaired the communication hub! Well, at least some of it, anyway." That voice! It wasn't Garnet, but a smaller gem. She was thin and pale, and walked rather gracefully beside her comrades. A white, oval shaped gem was on her forehead. "Who is that?" Ben asked Peridot. The green gem was shaking behind the tree. "A Pearl, but that's not important!" she half cried, half whispered. "If they find me here, I'm dead!" Ben turned pale at this. She was right. "We have to get out of here," he told her quietly. "Can you do your helicopter thing still?" "Yes, but I shouldn't do it now. They would see me if I flew up over their heads, and with you in tow, I could fall." She looked at Ben and then at her enemies. "Let's wait this out. We should also-" Peridot fell silent, and she stiffened, looking at something behind Ben. "What is it?" he asked her. "What's-" The gem seized the boy's shoulders and turned him around to see what she was seeing. "Look," she hissed. The lithe, white gem walked with Garnet to a central spot by the tower. After stretching, she started to dance, her toes pointed and her movements graceful still. Her gem was glowing faintly. Garnet was dancing too, but in a different way. The gems on the palms of her hands were shining, just like the other gem's had. "Why are they doing that?" Ben whispered to Peridot. "Aren't they here to look for you?" "No, they're here to destroy the hub," the green gem explained, "and this is how they'll do it." "Well, then we need to stop them!" Ben started forward, but Peridot pulled him back. "We can't," she said. "What do you mean we can't? You have to-" Ben paused when he saw Garnet throw Pearl up in the air. She spun rapidly, and once she was caught by the red gem, they were both engulfed by white light. Peridot recoiled, hiding behind the tree and clutching it tightly. Ben was much braver, and kept watching. The light changed shape, growing to make what appeared to be another person, but she was much larger and taller than the other two gems had been. The light faded, parting like a stage curtain to reveal a gem with four arms, four eyes, dark skin, and triangular shaped hair. "Good evening, everybody!" she shouted cheerfully. "This is the lovely Sardonyx, coming to you live from the soon to be former communication hub! How are y'all doing tonight?" "I can't believe it," Ben breathed. "That's-I mean, that was-how did they do that? Where did Garnet and Pearl go?" Peridot's reply was fearful. "Th-They're still here. This is another thing that gems can do. We can fuse with each other to make a new being that is a combination of our physical forms." Ben was the shaky one now. "You mean...that's a fusion of Garnet and Pearl?" "That's what I said." A smile appeared on the human's face. "Cool."

Author's note: Hi again! I thought I should make it up to my readers for making you all wait so long last time, and post another chapter today! It was going to be longer than this, but I thought the rest of the action could wait until the next part :3 Bye for now! ~ awesomeri14