To the Arcade

Hours, days, it all seemed to be a blur to you. You had been pinned to this wall for so long you're not even sure how much time as passed. The dark red corridors at the center of this temple used to cause you paranoia, make you feel small. However this soon went away as you came to accept this as your new home... for a very long time. The only bit of action you would ever see is the occasional visit by Garnet, and a few bubbled gems teleporting in.
As your mind wandered aimlessly, your attention was grabbed by the door opening up to your left. To no surprise, the tall red gem came walking in. You glared at her as you always did, her posture and eyesight not budging an inch.
"No witty remark this time?" She asked, stopping in front of you."
"Oh what do you care, you've heard it all before you dolt." You barked at her. Your fierce words seemed to bounce right off of the gem as she began walking toward you. "What, you going to experiment on me now?"
She came to a stop in front of you for a moment before strolling to your side and leaning against the wall next to you.
"I thought we could hang maybe." She said, her gaze into the distance unaverted.
"Well, as you can see here genius, I'm already hanging on this wall, I don't need you to 'hang'". You sputtered. She chuckled to herself a little before adjusting those dark glasses.
"I meant play a bit." She said.
"What do you mean play? What are going to play with me on this wall?"
"Oh no, it's not me who wants to play." She said, pausing a moment before shifting her stone cold gaze over to you. "Listen, you don't like me, and I sure don't like you."
"Oh really? I never would have guessed!" You sarcastically moaned to her. She shifted her vision off to the distance again, falling into her same leaning position.
"But for whatever reason, our friend Steven just can't seem to shake the fact that there's some good in you. That, because you're a gem like us, we all should just get along."
"If it were that easy, I wouldn't be tied here now would I?" You said in a calm tone. You did manage to get a response from her though, as she shrugged her shoulders at your comment.
"Maybe. There's no way to know. But what I do know is that Steven sees something in you, something that not even I can see. So I have a proposition for you."
"Oh goodie! Do I get a reward for being a good little gem?!" You said in an obviously drawn out happy tone.
"Sort of. Steven doesn't get out as much as he used to since you got here. So I'm thinking you and him get some sunlight and go outside a bit."
Go outside with the little human, is she insane? She knows you could get away easily as soon as you're out of eye shot of the others. There must be some kind of catch to this, but for now there's nothing you have to lose.
"I guess, is he at least clean?"
"Don't get much cleaner than steven." She said, getting up off the wall and facing you. She raised her hand and turned her right arm into a solid gem fist. "But before you head out..." She said.
"Wait what are you doing?" You asked, but not before the gem gives a stern his to your leg armor with the backside of the fist, cracking and shattering it.
"That's expensive equipment, you don't do that!" You yelled at her.
"Oh really? Who's stopping me?" She said, before moving to your other side and giving a solid hit to the other leg, shattering your armor.
"You dolt, I'll vaporize you for this!!!" You yelled even louder. She set her sights on your armguards as if your words bounced off of her. Garnet pulled her arm back and hit your left arm armor so hard it shatters instantly, sending it flying in all directions and freeing your left hand. Before you even have a chance to stretch your left arm out, she delivers a quick blow to your right arm and destroying the armor.
"No more magic tricks from you there." She said as you fall the short distance to the floor, leaning over the remnant of your prized armor.
"That was MINE!' You yell before getting back up on your feet and swinging at the tall fusion. However, almost without thinking, she grabs your hand in her gauntlet and stops you in your tracks.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She said sternly, before letting your hand go. Your grab your wrist and begin rubbing it, making sure she didn't harm it. You look up and see her smiling lightly at you. "It's time to play, follow me." She said, motioning you to follow her, not that you really had a choice at this point.
With a few swift motions of her hands, she swings the bit door open into the small wooden house outside the temple. The setup seemed so... fragile and loose. Human buildings had always perplexed you, from their straw huts to these wooden houses. As you both walk past the warp pad, Pearl manages to catch eye of you and Garnet.
"Garnet, what are you doing letting her out? I thought we agreed to keep her in there until we figured out what to do with her." She asked in a concerned tone.
"Don't worry, I figured out what to do. I got this pearl." Garnet assured. She gave the both of you a confused and concerned look.
"Well, if you say so Garnet. Just come and get us if you need help or anything. I got to take care of Steven's laundry." She said before turning back to her work.
"I said don't worry." She said before you two walked to the front door and out into the open. The sunlight nearly blinded you as you had spent who knows how long in there. As your eyes adjusted you saw Garnet motioning you to follow her down the stair to the beach where, in the distance the young human was playing in the sand. The stairs soon gave way to the crunch of the sand on your feet.
"Steven! I got a surprise for you!" You heard Garnet yell over to Steven, his head quickly snapping up to meet Garnet's unmoving gaze.
"Hey Garnet! What's the surprise? And why is Peridot out here?" He asked, slightly confused.
"Well Steven, Peridot is going to be your playmate for a little while.. I know how you asked for us to try and get along with her, so she is yours to play with. Just be sure to bring her back before sundown."
"Will do Garnet!" Steven said before standing on his feet and walking over to you. Garnet turned around and began walking back toward the temple, but not before leaning in toward your ear.
"You hurt him, and I'll put you in a world of pain you've never experienced before." She said, before continuing her walk. You give her a stern stare before your attention is grabbed by the small human.
"Hi Peridot." He says, waving at you.
"Hello... Steven is it?"
"The one and only!" He says slyly. "So, what do you want to do?" He asks.
"Well, going back home is probably the highest on the list, but seeing as that is not a possibility, perhaps you can think of something to occupy our time?"
"Well, I don't know what you like. So what do you like?" He curiously inquires. Come to think of it, there are very few things in which you 'like'. Curse these humans and their elusive yet simple questions.
"Well, I like space."
"Space seems pretty cool. Pearl always talks about how beautiful it is. We almost made it to space once but, our ship got destroyed before we left earth."
"I know what it's like to have a ship destroyed. It stinks." You helplessly say to try and relate to him.
"Hehe.... yeah, sorry about that."
"It's fine human, they are replaceable."
A short silence falls upon the two of you, Steven kicking the sand around his feet.
"So what's the home world like?" He asks you. Again, with the deceptively simple questions.
"It's a grand place, similar to earth. Lush with vegetation and blue with vast oceans. However I guess evolution had different plans for our species. The cities are large and vast, the gems intelligent and orderly, as gems should be."
"That sounds very... futuristic." He says, before opening his eyes wide open as if he had a brilliant revelation. "I know what we can do! We can go to the arcade and play some of the games there, you would love it, and I have the perfect game for you!" he says, before quickly grabbing your hand and pulling you along the beach.
"Wait, where are we going??"
"To the arcade, a place where you can play different games they have and earn prizes, and there's this space game there called 'alien invaders' where you fight alien ships until you explode!" He said in an enthusiastic voice.
"That sounds very counter-intuitive, whats the purpose of fighting them if you'll just blow up?"
"Because at the end you get tickets which you can spend on prizes like stuffed animals or even a TV!" He exclaims.
"That sounds like a waste of time to me, but I will humor you."
A short while of him pulling your arm the two of you happened upon a building with many flashing signs and lights with noise that made it hard to think.
"We're here!" Steven said excitedly.
"You humans derive fun from this place? There's so many lights and so much noise I can hardly think right!"
"Don't worry Peridot, you'll get used to it, now come on, follow me!" He said before running into the belly of the beast. You slowly walk in, following in Stevens footsteps before you saw him waving you down, standing next to some insane contraption of seating and screens.
"This is the game I was telling you about! Let's see here..." Steven says as he begins to dig around in his pockets before pulling out a pair of coins. "Here, ill put these quarters in and you can give it a shot!" He said, sliding the coins into the coin receiver.
"So how do I 'give it a shot'?" You asked, rather confused with these contraptions.
"Okay, so just sit in the chair and you use this button here to fire, and this button here to boost your engines. That stick on the left is your speed but I don't normally use that because I can beat a good portion of the game without it."
"Okay, let's try it out then." You said, sitting yourself in the chair. Being a simple human contraption, it was quite comfy, almost like sitting in a fighter ship. The game whirs up and you are in a ship with several other ships around you, firing at your ship. In a swift second you slam your ship in reverse and pull back on the wheel, causing you to do a backflip, setting your sights right on the ship behind you. You fire and quickly destroy it, boosting your engines and turning in a large crescent to the rear of the other ships, destroying the two of them and finishing the level quickly.
"Wow Peridot, you're a natural at this, I've never seen someone do so well at this!" Steven exclaim in excitement.
"When you're a pilot you have to have good maneuvering, it's a must." You said, before turning your sight back on to the screen. You're face with two small ships and two rather large ships in front of you. You dive down to get underneath the ships, and are quickly cut off from the rear by one of the smaller ships. You slam your throttle to zero to gain more maneuverability, but the ship following behind you slams into yours, causing your ship to careen to the side. Drastically trying to turn the wheel in all sorts of directions you attempt to regain control. Your ship had too much spin to it and eventually crashed into one of the larger ships, destroying it.
"Aww darn, I thought you had it too!" Steven exclaimed. You shrugged and pulled yourself out of the chair.
"You can't win them all Steven. That's a lesson I've learned the hard way." The excitement in Steven's eyes slowly fade to sadness and curiosity.
"Hey Peridot, I have an idea, come follow me." He said in a rather mono-toned voice, fast walking out of the arcade onto the boardwalk. You felt relieved to be leaving this pit of noise and human interaction. As you walk out from the Arcade and out on to the boardwalk, you saw Steven sitting on one on the benches over looking the beach. You walk the short distance and take your seat next to him, his eyes locked both on the ocean in the distance, and the sky gracing it's surface.
"Peridot, did you fight in the war?" Steven asked you. You took in a deep breath.
"I didn't, fortunately. The war changed homeworld quite a bit. I was scouting other systems for potentially Kindergarten hospitable planets. When I came back, everything was... different."
"How so?" Steven asked curiously.
"I came back and the glad and welcoming looks your got from civilians seeing someone in the Authority's navy were replaced with ones of discontent. We were called heartless killers, stupid colonizers and everything in between. Rose Quartz may not have been able to see the impact she had on homeworld, but man did she have an impact..." You said, dipping your head lower, thinking of the glory days of the Authority's navy. "Things were never the same after that honestly. People indifferent about our operations, ready to protest at the slightest bit of slip ups."
"Well, I'm sorry my mom did that to you guys, but she did it to protect this. The planet, and my friends..." Steven said. You drew another deep sigh.
"I know Steven. All I can say is that I'm happy I had no part in it. No proud, but at least I don't have the guilt of it like a good number of my fellow gems. Take it from me, there's no such thing as a good war."
"So I heard... listen Peridot." He said, before leaning over and giving you a hug, surprising you to the point where you almost jumped out of your chair, "I know the gems don't like you, and I know if I wasn't telling them to go easy on you, you probably wouldn't be here. I won't let them hurt you, I don't think you're bad."
Such kind and caring words that could match only those of Rose Quartz herself. If there was any doubt that thing your human was the offspring of her, it was gone now.
"You are too kind Steven. You have your mothers caring embrace and her vibrant attitude. I suppose I should thank you."
"Hey Peridot?" Steven asked.
"Yes Steven?"
"Did you ever meet my mom?" He asked, still clutched on to you.
"I did a handful of times."
"What was she like?"
"She was very caring and knew just how to cheer up her fellow gems. She was a true ally to those around her. She was a great gem. And she still is, after all, she lives on in you, is that not true?"
Steven takes in a deep breath, "I guess so. I just wish I could have met her." He says before unlatching himself from you and standing up off the bench, "Would you have fought alongside her."
"To be honest Steven, I probably wouldn't have fought at all."
He stood in silence for a few moments before drawing in his breath to speak. "I understand. Hey, no such thing as a good war right?"
"Exactly."
"Well, we better get back to the house before the gems come hunting for us." Steven said beginning the walk back to the base. You slowly brought yourself out of the bench and walk shortly behind him, silence lingering between you two for almost the entire walk back. By the time you had reached the base of the stairs to the house, Garnet was already waiting there for the two of you.
"So, you two have fun?" She asked.
"Yeah, we had tons of fun, I showed her the arcade and we played tons of game, and then we sat on the beach and watched the ocean and seagulls!"
You could see a small smile come across the stern gem's face, "Glad to hear Steven. Now it's almost time for dinner, go inside, Pearl's trying to make you pasta again, make sure she doesn't burn the counter again." Steven lets out a light chuckle.
"Don't worry, master chef Steven is on the task!" He said enthusiastically before running into the house.
"Now you Peridot." She said, shifting her rock hard gaze on you. It felt like a jury judging whether or not your were innocent or not, and made you fairly worried. "You did good. Maybe you two will have another play date in the future." She said, tuning around and motioning you to follow her.
"But until then, It's back to your home."