The Black Diamond

Chapter 21: Black's Scabbard

Some time after that encounter with Slap Trap, and a nervous breakdown from Garnet, the Crystal Gems went on a mission to collect as many weapons from the old Gem Battlefield, which was now overgrown with abnormally large strawberries.

(Steven)"This place is even bigger and more...weapon-y than I remember."

(Hematite)"Oh yeah, a lot of crazy battles went down around her like, thousands of years ago! That robot guy might come here for these, so that's why we need to make sure he doesn't try anything?"

Garnet lifted an axe three times her size over her head.

(Garnet)"And you never know when you might need one of these."

(Steven)"I always need on of those!"

(Hematite)"Uh, maybe you should find one your size."

(Steven)"Okay! Lion, come help me look."

(Steven)"Aw, come on!"

(Lapis)"You should really train him better."

(Steven)"Oh, we've been making progress, now he looks at me when I say his name!"

Steven begins to repeatedly call Lion's name, but he continues dig.

(Steven)"Uh, sometimes..."

(Hematite)"Ha! Guess we'll have to work on it more...hey, what's that he's got."

Lion had dug up a pink scabbard.

(Hematite)"Whoa, hey guys, look what he found!"

(Steven)"What is it?"

(Bismuth)"That's the scabbard for the sword I made for Rose!"

(Steven)"Mom fought here?"

(Bismuth)"You should've seen it, she could take down Gems ten times her size with that thing!"

Sometime later, the Gems returned with piles of blades.

(Hematite)"I still can't believe we actually forgot about this for 5,000 years!"

(Steven)"Hey, Hematite?"

(Hematite)"Yeah?"

(Steven)"What was my mom like?"

(Hematite)"She was cool. She could find potential in any Gem that the Diamonds couldn't. That reminds me, where's her sword? Didn't you say your lion had it in his hair or something?"

(Steven)"Oh right! Gimme a second."

He jumped straight through Lion's mane, and soon came out with the pink blade.

(Hematite)"Yeah, that's the one! Man, she was really skilled with this thing, especially in her final duel with Black Diamond...hmmm..."

(Steven)"Is something wrong?"

(Hematite)"Steven...do you wanna see something cool?"

The boy's face lit up with excitement. And after the others were either in their rooms or on other missions, Hematite and Steven warped to the Prime Kindergarten.

(Hematite)"There's an old cave not too far from here, the other Gems don't even know about it."

(Steven)"What's so special about a cave?"

(Hematite)"First, it was the place where me and Rose first met, and second, I have some old trinkets, from the war to be exact."

(Steven)*Starry-eyed* "REALLY???"

(Hematite)"Hah, knew that you get ya interested! There it is, behind that huge boulder."

He moved the rockwith relative ease, and the young man was amazed by the contents within. Old suits of armor, weaponry, and vases dating back hundreds of years ago littered almost every portion of the cave.

(Steven)"Whooooa!"

(Hematite)"Yep, all this was from the Gem Civil War. It was a thousand years, so of course I HAD to keep the stuff I like somewhere."

(Steven)"Why not put these in your room?"

(Hematite)"And have it look like Amethyst's? No thanks! But hey, this is just the beginning. The thing I want to show you is further back."

He lead him deeper within the cave. As it grew darker, the large Gem emitted a bright light from his gemstone, and they soon found a large stone door with an engraving of Hematite's gem.

(Hematite)"Close your eyes for this part, 'kay?"

(Steven)"Uh, sure. *Closes eyes*"

Although he couldn't see, he could tell that there was a bright flash, then the sound of moving stone was heard.

(Hematite)"Ok, open your eyes!"

He did so, and what he saw was...interesting. It was like a shrine, a shrine to Black Diamond. There were many drawings depicting the Gem, as well as a couple figurines, and a black scabbard was placed in the center.

(Steven)"Um...what's all this? Did you..."

(Hematite)"Did I make this? Nah, these things were made by some creepy Humans, I just found them. And THAT scabbard came from Black Diamond himself! I found it a couple days after the war."

(Steven)"Why would people do that, wasn't he evil?"

(Hematite)"Yeah, guess some people admired him or something. Ain't that strange?"

(Steven)"Y-Yeah, it...is."

(Hematite)"You ok, buddy?"

(Steven)"...Um, wh-what was Black Diamond like?"

(Hematite)"Uhhhhhh...a jerk, I guess. I never really encountered him that much, like, three times maybe. Why'd you ask?"

(Steven)"I'm just a little confused on how people would make stuff for him. The other Gems don't even have stuff written about them."

(Hematite)"Ok, I can see that all this is a lot to handle, the idea of a Black Diamond cult is pretty screwed up. So how about we go get some donuts to take your mind off it, yeah?"

(Steven)*In deep thought* "Yeah, let's do that..."

They left the cave, making sure that the boulder was back in place. But, they had no idea that a certain machine was hidden in the shadows.

(Slap Trap)"Hehehe, that's one thing off the list!"

(Next chapter, we'll go see what Black's up to.)