The Last Boy on Earth

When all on his home planet had perished
He walked the earth alone in the cold darkness
His humanity tethered to this marble
His gem tethered to his humanity itself


-Day 298 after Evacuation-

	The moon’s light dimmed more and more with each passing moonrise. The sun had been extinguished by an angry goddess of the sea. In her rage, she summoned up the waters from the planet and took to the skies with it, never to return. Shortly after, the sun’s warmth and brilliance decayed. A young man now walks the darkness alone, armed with a sword and a shimmering lantern. When all of gem and mankind fled the unsalvageable rock, only he stayed behind in a search for her. He was afraid, but more for the vanished goddess than of the absorbent darkness and the unbearable chill. His human form would’ve been destroyed within the first night of the dark freeze. Only with the warmth that emitted from his lantern could he deny the ravaging of his body from the temperature and refuse to perish.

	Steven was alone.

	As the moon began to set along the horizon, Steven searched for whatever shelter he could find. The earth was almost untraversable without what little light was left across the face of grey satellite. He found little, very little comfort inside a small abandoned suburban home. The temperature inside alone was already beyond that of the lowest recorded on the Earth. As he closed the door behind him, he set down his lantern on a table near the entrance. He gazed into it with a weak, tired gaze barely being illuminated by its soft pink glow. Inside the lantern was his Rose Quartz gem. He gave a heavy sigh before undressing, tossing his clothes aside as he inched closer to the light. He shuddered before lifting his hands over the warm lantern and pulling a bubble from it. Within the bubble, his skin cracked painfully as a thick layer of frost and ice melted over his soft human flesh. He resisted the urge to cry out in pain, this being a routine he’d done plenty of times already. Despite this, it hurt as bad as it did the very first time. Once the ice over his form had melted into water, he extended the bubble as far as he could without straining himself. It managed to cover the den area of the house comfortably, only a bit of warmth being sacrificed for the extra space. He reached for his bag after putting on his discarded clothes. They were warmed up by the bubble, giving a source of needed comfort.

	From the bag, he pulled out an old Diamond Communicator. This was the one Peridot had used so long ago. Steven felt a groggy smile wipe over his face as he recalled those events. They felt like they happened so long ago. He activated it, a screen appearing before him, just short enough to fit in the bubble. He waited calmly as the device beeped in search of a replicating signal. It hadn’t been too long before the screen flashed brightly and a familiar voice called out from the other side.

“Steven!” Pearl’s voice shot through the room. “Oh, you look terrible!” She gave a sad smile, her face twisting into an expression of concern. “Are you hurt?” she asked as a few other familiar faces approached her from behind.

“No. I’m okay. I’m just-” Steven attempted to complete a reply before being interrupted by a yawn. “Still… looking for her.” He followed through, his voice faltering just a bit.

“Steven. You did all you could, man. You don’t need to look for her.” Amethyst got her few words in as a comical line of Steven’s friends formed behind her. “Greg’s worried sick, dude. Just let us know when to come-”

“I’m not leaving… I haven’t looked hard enough.” Steven spoke through his fatigue. He looked down, his gaze being sorrowful before it shot up with a look of concern. “Is Connie okay yet? Where is-”

“Hey Steven!” The sweet voice that he wished for called out to him. The viewfinder was lowered to her as she greeted his gaze on the screen with a bright smile.

“Connie! You’re-..” Steven felt his mouth curl into a smile for just a moment before his face drooped just slightly. “in a wheelchair.”

“Mom just finished my surgery yesterday. She said I should be on my feet in no time, but I’m stuck in this thing for a while.” She responded with surprisingly high spirits. “But I should leave you be. You look tired and you need to rest up if you’re gonna keep looking for Lapis.”

	Steven opened his mouth, having formed a sentence in his mind but as his lips curled, it fell apart. He merely gazed at the ground before nodding weakly.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” He responded with a meek chuckle. “Bye!” He waved as Connie was rolled away, Garnet being the only one left to say anything.



“Whatever you chose to do, be safe.
We love you, Steven.”



	Steven closed the device before pulling his lantern a bit closer. It was a surreal feeling to gaze upon it for him, even though he had grown used to it. He slowly rubbed against his tummy, feeling along the place his gem used to be. It was for the best, however. This way he could keep his abilities active even while he slept. His eyes grew heavy as he laid on his side. As the bubble shrunk just a bit, he reached into his bag to pull out a soft jacket. It was the one Connie’s father had passed on to her… and she to him. Her familiar scent was depressingly faint, but Steven refused to sleep without it.

Another night had gone by.

-Day 299 after Evacuation.-