Over the next couple of days, tension between the Gems slackened, to the point where they could semi-comfortably hold conversation. Garnet was relieved about this; if something happened now, they could work as a team to fix it.
But, then something happened that even Garnet couldn't see coming.
Pearl came out of her room in the morning, stepped over a sleeping Amethyst, and walked into the kitchen, turning on the stove to prepare a breakfast for Steven. She usually didn't do this for him, but she was home and Steven had been dealing with the new additions to their team perfectly.
After the last egg had been placed on the plate for Steven, Pearl picked up the plate and walked for the part of the temple where Steven's bed was, to wake him up with breakfast in bed.
"Steven, wake up! I made you s--"
Amethyst woke up to the sound of a plate crashing to the ground and sat up.
"Hey, what's with all that noise?! Some of us are trying to sleep here-"
Pearl was frozen, staring at Steven's bed.
"He's.. not here. Steven isn't here." Pearl mumbled, terrified, just loud enough for Amethyst to hear. The smaller gem was sure Pearl was just joking with her, Steven couldn't possibly be missing..
But she was terribly wrong, as she looked at the empty space where Steven should be asleep.
"I.. Steven? Steven, buddy, we can play hide and seek later.." Amethyst ripped the blanket off of Steven's bed, not believing that Steven could have just disappeared in the middle of the night. "Steven, come out, you made P drop your breakfast!" She ran over to the door that led to his closet, yanking it open and pushing clothing aside, looking.
"Amethyst, he's not here!" Pearl nearly yelled, her voice going louder than she intended, as she tried to hold tears back. Her baby was missing. He has to be in trouble.
"He has to be!" Amethyst yelled back, continuing ripping through his closet. "Steven!"
That's when Lapis entered the beach house, after hearing the commotion outside.
"Why are you guys yelling this time?" Lapis questioned, with a sarcastic hint to her voice. "Pearl steal your breakfast?"
When Pearl turned to look at Lapis, tears were already flowing down her face.
"Steven's gone! He's missing! He's been kidnapped!"
"Wait, what?" The sarcasm in Lapis's voice instantly disappeared, and was instead replaced with fear, as she ran up the set of stairs into Steven's room, looking for her friend. "Where is he?"
Amethyst was on the verge of tears as well whenever she stormed out of Steven's closet.
"We don't know! He's not here! That's the problem!" Amethyst balled her hands into fists.
"I- I'm sure we can find him, he can't be far..." Lapis looked down at her hands. Where could he be? She didn't think someone would just kidnap him.
Jasper walked into the house. "I didn't find anything very interesting in the city- why are you all crying?"
"STEVEN IS GONE!" Pearl was entering hysterics.
"The Quartz child?" Jasper questioned, slightly confused. "He must be in the city!"
"Steven would never just leave in the middle of the night, that's not like him!" Pearl sobbed, beginning to pace around the room.
".. Guys, you might want to see this.."
The Gems headed outside to see what Amethyst was pointing out, and as soon as they were outside, it was obvious what happened to Steven.
Large, deep clawmarks in the sand, about 15 feet long and a foot wide.
Steven had been attacked and taken by a corrupted Gem.
"HE'S DEAD!" Pearl's panic escalated. "A MONSTER ATE HIM!"
Garnet stepped outside of the Temple and took one look at the scene.
"Get Peridot and get to the Warp Pad. Quick. We have no time to waste."
And with that, Garnet walked back into the temple.
