Roulette!AU | Steven Universe

The Corruption

Pearl strained, struggling to push her spear and the axe embedded in it up, her back against the ground. The Quartz soldier looming above her grinned menacingly.

        A few paces away, her notorious sidekick, Rose Quartz, succeeded in toppling another Homeworld warrior, hurriedly jabbing and poofing them with her sword. Their gem clinked harmlessly to the grass.

        She caught a light out of the corner of her eye and she stopped, squinting up at the sky. Her gem flared in recognition, and she straightened, standing confused in the middle of a raging battlefield as the lights glimmered above her.

        Three beams—one white, one yellow and one blue. As she watched them grow brighter with a sinking feeling in her stomach, she felt her hand tingle and glanced down in alarm to find it encased in a pink light, ready to fire at the sky in defense, or perhaps responding to the call of assistance.

        Horrified, she squashed the tingling, extinguishing her hand, and guiltily covered her glowing gem with a hand. Glancing around, she zeroed in on her companions, noting with relief that the two closest were Pearl and Garnet. With a twinge of regret, she wheeled around, scanning the field for more of their allies, but couldn't find any. Hurriedly sheathing her own sword in her gem, she raised her arms and threw up a wide shield.

        The lights were growing brighter—there wasn't much time left. Spinning to the right, she lunged forward and hurriedly poofed the Quartz standing over Pearl with a pink blast. Pearl remained on the ground, gaping up at her. "Rose!— You can't do that here!"

        Without so much as a reply, Rose grabbed her by the hand and yanked her up, taking her into her arms and pulling her quickly behind the shield. Now lurching to the left, she grabbed Garnet around the waist with a firm arm, the fusion giving a cry of alarm as Rose cowered back behind the shield, kneeling down and holding her friends close.

        The lights above burst, flooding the sky with a bright white.

        "Don't listen," Rose hissed, and her friends snuggled into her sides, shutting their minds to the eerie song as it reached them.

○○○

The light subsided, and Rose let them go, falling forward onto her knees with a gasp. The shield dissipated.

        The last echoes of song were fading as Garnet lurched across and tackled Pearl in a hug. "Thank the stars," the fusion sighed, and set her down, letting her visor fade away as she gazed at her with three concerned, mismatched eyes. "Pearl, are you alright? What— what was that? I— I didn't see it!"

        "The Diamonds," Rose breathed, and they turned to her, still trembling on her hands and knees. "They attacked— I— I should have known! I should have— this is because Pink Diamond's—!"

        Pearl's eyes blew wide, and she felt her chest clench.

        Garnet stepped forward, summoning her visor and kneeling beside the Quartz, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Rose, it's okay. You didn't know. I didn't know— I should have seen it."

        "No, you shouldn't have!" Pearl now cried from behind. Her legs felt like jelly. "Because you don't know! You couldn't know!"

        Garnet only turned and gazed at her steadily, a soft question in her eyes. After a moment, Pearl took a deep breath. "You. . . You put too much weight on your own shoulders. You can't be expected to know everything."

        "And just because you're our leader, that doesn't mean you have to get everything right."

        Pearl was silent for a moment, then nodded miserably. Beside Garnet, Rose buried her face in her hands as her shoulders shook.

        "Should we collect the poofed gems?" Garnet asked, voice soft.

        Rose hurriedly wiped at her face. "Yes— of course. Pearl?"

        It was an effort for the shorter Gem to answer. ". . . It's the least we can do."

        Garnet stood slowly and padded the few steps to the gem her Rose had poofed minutes earlier, nestled in the dry grass. As she knelt down to pick it up, she noticed something. . . different.

        ". . . Pearl?"

        Her leader looked up. "Yes?"

        The fusion took the gem into her hands, examining it carefully. It wasn't cracked; on the contrary, it was as smooth as ever. But. . . ". . . It's a different colour. What does that mean?"

        Rose's head jerked up. "What?"

        "Look." She held the gem out in her hands, glinting in the weak starlight. "This is a Beryl. . . pink. But. . . it has green on it."

        "What? How?" Rose said sharply, moving forward and taking the gem. She too scrutinised it. "This is. . . but it's not cracked? Not damaged?"

        Garnet shook her head, and Pearl stepped forward to take it into her own hands. She turned to the fusion with a worried look. "Can you see anything? What's wrong with it?"

        Garnet paused for a moment, visor glinting. It was a few seconds before her face drained of colour. "It's. . . corrupted."

        "Corrupted?" Pearl asked, shocked, and wheeled around, this time to Rose. "What does that mean?"

        ". . . Pearl," the Quartz whispered, and raised a finger to point. Her two companions followed her direction.

        A dozen yards away, a Gem was reforming. It floated in the air, fluorescent, moulding the Gem's new shape— but something was incredibly wrong. Where they expected to see a humanoid form, some sort of monster hovered with the gem at its core. When the light cleared and it thumped to the ground, all four Crystal Gems recoiled in shock.

        What stood startlingly close to them looked like some vaguely avian, bipedal creature with a spattering of eyes on its furry head and lolling three enormous, grotesque tongues. With an earth-rumbling screech, it turned tail and sprinted off, receding quickly into the line of trees.

        The poofed Beryl fell from numb fingers. The light was gone from somewhere deep in Pearl's eyes.

        "This isn't what I wanted," she breathed.

        "I knew the Diamonds—the light—would hurt them, but—" Rose began to sob, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. "I didn't know it meant this!"

        "This. . . This can't be permanent, right?" Pearl asked, frantic. "I. . . I just wanted to be free. To live on Earth. To free other Gems! I—" She spun around. "I didn't mean to do this! We can fix this, right? I can fix this! Rose, you can heal them!"

        "Pearl," Garnet ventured cautiously.

        "No, it's okay! I can fix this. We just need to. . . to collect all these Gems, and then I can. . . we can build a fountain. We'll make a healing spring with Rose's tears and we'll fix all of these Gems. Just like we do all the time! And then it'll be okay."

        "Pearl," Garnet pushed, with a little more force. Their leader stopped, frightened eyes settling on the fusion. "Pearl. . . they're gone."

        "But. . .!" Tears threatening to spill, Pearl swiped an arm across her eyes. "Maybe. Maybe. . . but I can still try. Okay? This is my fault. I can still try. We can try."

        A few paces away, Rose sank to her knees and wailed. Where salted tears dripped to the grass, it grew and flowered. Small red fruits swelled on the flourishing bushes. A garden in the centre of a deadly battlefield.