Chapter 2:  Peridot

***

Steven looked at the piece of rock in his hands.  A small, rectangular chunk of olivine with no visible facets, but a small shine to it.  He ran his thumb over the rough, jagged edges of where it had been broken away from the rest and tried not to cry.

It was hard, knowing she was gone.

Steven gasped as the door to the Temple opened and dove into his bed, pretending to be asleep.  He silently wished for whoever entered to go away, only for a gentle, slim hand to touch his shoulder.

"I know you're awake, Steven."  Garnet said.  "I also know you still have that shard of Peridot, too."

"I'm not bubbling it!"  Steven protested, sitting up, clutching the piece of his friend tightly.  "I can't have her just sit in the Temple forever, Garnet!  I'm not letting her be stuck there until we find a way to bring her back, whole.  I...I don't want to...I don't..."

"I understand."  Garnet replied.  "She was very foolish trying to destroy the Cluster by herself.  However, she was also very brave.  If she hadn't triggered the detonation device manually, none of us would be here right now."

Steven was silent for a while, then finally said, "So, is there a way to bring her back?"  When Garnet was quiet, Steven kept talking.  "I was thinking that if we could maybe manipulate a fusion experiment somehow, we could get her back.  I know we would only have one shot at it, and you probably wouldn't like it, but...  She...Peridot was a hero, Garnet.  She saved all of us without even thinking about it.  She's a true Crystal Gem, and she doesn't even know that we're looking up to her because of it.  We were panicking about losing our lives, and she didn't.  Peridot jumped down there with that bomb without even thinking about hers."

"If we could bring Peridot back, she wouldn't be herself anymore."  Garnet finally said.  "But, I'm glad that you're thinking like that.  That you'd want to bring her back to life so that she could know that she belongs here.  But, right now, we really need to focus on rescuing Connie from the Underground.  I've told Lapis that she's to remain here and protect the Temple while we're away."  She handed Steven his backpack.  "Steven, you're probably going to need this.  I've packed several yards of rope so we can descend where Connie fell and start from there."

Steven nodded, and Garnet walked down the stairs to the main part of the house.  "Oh, Garnet, one more thing."  Garnet turned around.  "Um, I know I probably shouldn't be asking this, but, do you see anything weird in your future vision?"

"Soul fusions."  Garnet answered softly.  "And a desolate world full of fear, as well as a prosperous world filled with light.  I can't pinpoint anything exactly.  It keeps going backwards and forwards, stopping and starting again.  Somebody's tampering with time.  At least you have an idea of what we're facing now, Frisk."

Steven was immediately confused.  "Garnet, are you okay?  I've never heard you call me that before.  Nobody calls me Frisk, actually."

Garnet stopped, but didn't turn around.  "I'm fine."  Her hands were restless, tapping on the railing.  "You should try to get some rest.  We're leaving quite early."  She finally turned around to face him.  "Oh, and Steven..."  She stopped quite suddenly, her expression faltering.  "Never mind.  It's nothing important."

Steven watched in silence as Garnet left through the Temple door, humming softly a familiar melody.

Sapphire, trying to calm down Ruby.  Trying to get her not to tell Steven about something, most likely something extremely important.

Steven laid down in his bed, sighed, and stared at the piece of Peridot still in his hand.  As he started to sing, he thought he heard two other voices joining him, one like his own, and one he heard many times in the past.

"Life and death, and love and birth, and
Peace and war on the planet Earth.
Is there anything that's worth more,
Is there anything that's worth more
Is there anything that's worth more than
Peace and love on the planet Earth?"

He soon fell asleep, and dreamt of his mother and Peridot watching him from above, singing the song he and his friends sang so long ago.  Rose, consoling him about his guilt.  Peridot, teasing him and cheering him up.

Everything was going to be alright, they said.  You're doing a good job taking care of everyone.  Just stay determined, and everything will be alright.

Just stay determined...
***

Log 002- Phase 2- Initiate- [REDACTED]

Subject 004- [REDACTED] attempted to reawaken Subject 002's true form today.  They failed.  Which is a good thing.  They are not ready to not know the truth just yet.

As long as they keep [REDACTED] contained, everything will go as planned.  [REDACTED] will override Subject 003's SOUL soon.  [REDACTED], however, is fickle.  They are not willing to give their SOUL over just yet.

Meanwhile, the Storyteller has finally returned from whatever depths they crawl to.  Only for a short while, though.  But, they bring news of subject 102- [REDACTED].  They sense [REDACTED]'s return.  So did the anomaly, Asriel.  In fact, it has now been confirmed by the Storyteller that Asriel's power has been cancelled out by Subject 003's capacity of Determination alone.  They theorize that Subject 003 could even create a new World on their own based on the Determination they could hold within.

If this is true, then...

End Log 002
***

It was before dawn when the Crystal Gems left for Ebott Mountain again.  Steven tucked the piece of Peridot in his pocket before they left, knowing that she would want to tag along with them.  For some odd reason, he felt happy about this mission, despite what Garnet had told him before, and the overall mood of the four of them was quite somber.

"So, I'm guessing you've been to the Underground before?"  Steven asked the others.  They reached the area where Connie fell, and Steven took off his backpack, while Garnet began taking out the rope she packed in it.  "You guys seem to be familiar with it."

"Well, Garnet and I know a bit about it."  Pearl explained.  "You see, as well as humans, special beings known as monsters lived on Earth, too.  Then, the war happened, and to protect them, Rose placed them into a series of caverns underneath this mountain and sealed them away behind a barrier.  She meant to bring them back above ground, but they greatly resented her for it."

"She tried negotiating with them, but they wouldn't hear any of it."  Garnet added.  "So, it'd probably be best if you didn't use much of your powers here.  Wouldn't want to cause a panic, after all."  She finished tying the rope around a tree trunk and threw it into the crater.  "Alright, let's go.  Amethyst, you first."

"Sweet."  Amethyst said, and immediately grabbed the rope and repelled down, yelling the whole time.  Garnet and Pearl made more graceful entrances, and Steven found it quite enjoyable, laughing the whole way.  Once the four of them were down, they looked around in wonder.

"So, this is...the Underground..."  Steven mused.  "Or, part of it, right?"  He turned around and saw something glowing softly in the distance.  A few more glowing things circled them, and the sound of something almost mechanical warming up.  "You guys, around me, now!"

Surprised by what he said, the others stared at him, but obeyed.  Steven managed to throw up a bubble around them just before the lasers went off, going off in different directions off of the bubble.  A figure in all black stepped out of the shadows, nothing but a blue glowing eye visible.

"Sorry."  They said calmly.  "I thought they would come back here soon.  I suppose I was wrong."

Pearl summoned her spear out of her gem, and Steven carefully dropped the bubble.  "Who are you, and who are you after?"

"Why do you want to know?"  The mysterious figure asked.  "After all, even if it that did that hit them, they would just come back.  Even at this point, they have too much determination.  They would erase that timeline and start over again, just as they normally would."

"So, you know the one who's causing the anomalies."  Garnet replied.  "Also, I'm positive the one you're looking for and the one we're after is one and the same.  If you lead them to us, I could give you valuable information.  Clairvoyant information."

The figure seemed to ponder this, shifting from side to side a little.  Then, they finally spoke again.  "No need.  besides, you should go.  there's a dangerous human on the loose, and i'm sure you wouldn't want to cross paths with them.  also..."  They turned and pointed to Steven, head tilted to the side, their eye glowing again.  "Y O U  R E A L L Y  S H O U L D N ' T  B E  H E R E,  F R I S K."

"That doesn't make any sense!"  Steven protested.  "First Garnet, and now you, and you don't even know me!  Just tell me who Frisk is."

The figure walked away, lifted the hood off their face, smiled, and disappeared with the blink of an eye.  No words or anything.  They just left.

"Let's keep moving."  Garnet said after a while.  "Connie's bound to be still in the ruins somewhere."

"My, my, the Underground's getting crowded."  A small voice mused.  Steven stooped down to see a small yellow flower with its back towards them alone in the room they were in.  "Four new souls, and hopefully none of them are..."  The flower turned around and shrieked.  Loudly.

"...Hi?"  Steven asked carefully.  "Uh, we're looking for someone.  I'm guessing you've seen them?"

"You're not supposed to be here."  Flowey said.  "Chara's here.  That means that you're not supposed to be here right now, Frisk.  If Chara finds you, they'll just kill you, over and over again, until your Determination..."  He glanced over at the rest of the Crystal Gems.  "Oh.  You're back, huh?  Hey, where's your leader so she can put another barrier on this wretched place?"

"I don't remember a talking flower ever being here."  Pearl muttered.  "Either way, though, we're staying until we find who we're looking for."

"Asriel, do you know where Chara's at right now?"  Garnet asked.  "Have they reached Home yet?"

"...Make Frisk leave this place, and then I'll consider helping you."  Flowey said after a while.  "But only if you'll help me get those human souls, too."

"No deal."  Garnet replied.  "Besides, Frisk and Chara will have to fight eventually.  It's fate."  They walked through to the other room, and Garnet turned around again.  "And don't even think about following us.  Don't you have better things to do?"

Flowey was silent as they continued onwards, and he sighed as he began to burrow down again.  Chara needed to know.
***

Log 003- Phase 1- Initiate- [REDACTED]

Subject 002 has been quite inactive for a while, despite their monitor being active.  No signs of external life are being shown when interfering.  They have now either gone into [REDACTED] lockdown, or are using Determination to stay alive.  No current hypothesis on why.

Meanwhile, Subject 003 is slowly rejecting [REDACTED].  There is no trace when doing SOUL scans, but it might just be possible that they are withholding them from tampering with their SOUL.  This isn't good, especially since [REDACTED] needs to be close to the subject's soul into order for [REDACTED] to work.

Time will tell if I need to interfere.

End Log 003