Chapter 122: The Brewing Storm

Summary:

An upcoming problem makes itself known

"So Lars is currently running a small potluck now that we managed to get the cool kids to like it." Marco told the space gang. "And the band is doing good, they're just looking for a singer."

"Nah, I've got enough on my plate … although a ukulele in a rock band would be pretty cool …" The hybrid muttered to himself. "Anne was also in her own band with her friends..hm maybe I should look into forming my own…"

"Back to slightly more important topics.." Star slightly taped the top of her brother's head. "You sure there wasn't anything else big that happened other than Mina?"

"Nope, other than helping Heckapoo overthrowing the body empire." Marco shrugged. "That guy was a psycho … a shame he got back on the loose."

"About that … How old are you?" Steven asked. "Last time you were thirty two, and who knows how long you were there while we were gone

"Well last time I went to the neverzone, I started to see a few gray hairs …" Marco admitted. "I'm still in shape there, so I probably have a good decade left before I'd need to start wearing dentures."

"Okay, for your own health, please stop going there." Star pleaded with him. "Really don't want to know what happens when you bring a dead body across the threshold. At least wait until we can confirm if there's an afterlife."

"Alright, I was planning on stopping adventuring soon anyway." The boy admitted. "With Mariposa on the way I really need to cut back on life and death situations."

"Don't we all?" Steven chuckled a bit hollowly as he leaned against the wall of the temple cave. "Just standing right next to the diamonds made me feel like my heart would explode from all fear induced stress."

"Definitely out of our ballpark … for now." Star muttered the last part. "So now I guess it's back to fixing Eclipsa's image that nobody cares about because Mewmans are stupid."

"They're ignorant and incredibly gullible, but stupid would be pushing it a little." The Butterfly mom said from behind them. "This is quite the odd conundrum for me. I knew I'd have to give up the throne someday, but I didn't expect it to come so soon…or to see someone other than Star on it."

"Let's be honest." Star shrugged. "I probably would have burned the kingdom to the ground." There was a comfortable silence. "No one's gonna argue?"

"You set it on fire long before you became Queen, even before the wand too." Steven patted his sister's back. "Kind of a shame, I was really looking forward to being your right hand…wait, do I even want to be a knight now that you're not Queen?"

"I gave up on knighthood, now I plan on running the Big Donut." Marco admitted. "Already halfway through completing my GED, so I don't have to worry about going back to school." As much as he wanted to slow down, mundane school life still wasn't exactly his cup of tea anymore. "Hey, what's with the bubbled gem?"

"Star grabbed a Rose Quartz gem … nobody wants to pop the bubble." Steven explained. "Waaaay too many cans of worms inside of it."

"Ah, so the moment you do open it, it's going to show a gem that looks exactly like your mom.."

"And suddenly I feel the need to get out of this room." The temple door opened after glowing pink, and Steven fled into it.

"Steven wait-" The door closed. "... Star, tell me that room wasn't dangerous." Moon asked her daughter.

"It's Rose's old room, and it's made out of puffy pink clouds."

"Ah …" She paused. "Why didn't he hide out there instead of his own room during the first break up?"

"Because it can manifest his thoughts into cloud clones, and doing that would've been a huge mess, double if i'm in there because I can make them solid with magic." Star explained.

"Wait, since you're bonded and started using other people's powers, shouldn't he be able to start making them solid?" Marco asked.

"….I think we should get back to Mewni before the temple explodes."

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Eclipsa stood awkwardly as the woman stared at her. "Hello there Moon." She greeted. "Nice to see you again."

"Yes … seeing the woman you betrayed is always quite the experience." Moon stated with little to no hints of sarcasm or jest in her voice. "I see that you've chosen to rule from Globgore's old temple instead of restoring the Butterfly castle."

"Well I've always thought it was best to do your work from home, and…well this temple has always felt more like that, even back during the days of my mother's rule."

"Yes, speaking of, I'd like to talk about the 'work' you've done for Mewni." She says down, staring into her soul. "Like the current state of the destroyed homes?"

She gave a glance to Star, mentally begging for help. "Hey, is that Meteroa crying for attention? I better go be a great cousin and check on her while you two talk this out like adults."

"Traitor." She growled in a whisper. This was why Steven beat her for the title of best grandchild. "I'm doing what's right. The monsters owned the land first, then the Mewmans stole it from them."

"And at the rate you're going we'll get a 'Loveberry Two Point O' before the year ends."

"Last I recalled, Mina Loveberry was the result from the machinations of my mother, who manipulated a lost soul into doing her bidding." Eclipsa retorted. "Are you perhaps hinting at some sinister plan to 'get back' at me? Because you have such a great track record when it comes to revenge."

"Don't you even dare even begin to get into that, I've only acted out of love for my family…"

"So have I, Moon, so have I. '' Eclipsa interrupted, a single tear falling down her face. "I chose to protect my daughter, and it cost two children their mother. I attempted to rectify it by assaulting my daughter. If Steven didn't interfere as he did…I would have…." She felt herself choke at the very thought of it.

"While I do sympathize with your plight." Moon admitted with a soft tone. "The fact remains I can't trust you. You've proven that you would do anything for your family, and I can't help but think you plan on focusing on the sealed up one at the moment."

"Oh, is that what you're worried about?" Eclipsa cleared her eyes and almost snorted. "I couldn't free Globgore if I wanted to." And she didn't…not yet at least. "I never learned my mother's crystal annihilation spell, and the book is gone."

"The one good spell inside of that chapter." Moon muttered. "… I'm going to keep an eye on you."

"Everyone is." Seriously, she couldn't count the number of eyes on six hands. "I'm more surprised you're not demanding the wand and crown back if I'm honest."

"As much as I don't agree with them, they're the actions that my daughter made during a turbulent time." The former queen sighed. "I'm doing my best to support her decisions. And you sure as hell better make sure she doesn't grow to regret it."

"I promise to do my best." She vowed.

"Also, since you have the crown, not only do I get my first day off in ages, but now I get to leave all the destructive tendencies that I have to you and monsters over to the villagers." The woman let out the biggest shit eating grin she's seen in a while. "So good luck dealing with all that."

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Steven stared into the cloudy void. "Haven't been here in a while … background music." The clouds shaped and formed into moving cellos and violins. "Huh, guess I'm in a classical mood today." Now it was just him, a room where he could make essentially holograms of whatever he wanted, and a bubble that contained a gem that could very well be a mirror image of his dead mom.

He gently tossed the bubble into the air, letting it float as he walked. "You know, I never really use you. I have the potential to make … anything." He said aloud. "Laser puppies." The little barking wonders came into existence. "Sword." A regular sword popped into his hand. "I can make anything …"

He made copies of people before during that first time when Jana joined him. He looked at the bubble again, an idea, a very possibley stupid idea, came to mind.

"I can't just leave that gem bubbled forever, not when I know she didn't do anything wrong." Sure, she was probably a loyal homeworlder, but the Famethyst were really chill, so that wasn't really an issue.

"No, the real problem is that the moment I look at you, I'm going to think of her, heck, everyone is." He knew his dad and Pearl were gonna be hit hardest, let alone his mom and Eclipsa. "I just … gah." He scratched his head, sighing. "Just … give me Rose Quartz."

There was a poof. He stared at the tall woman with pink curls and a familiar gem in their stomach. Eyes full of warmth as she looked at him. "Hello Steven."

"Hey…Mom.." Oh stars, this was already super awkward. "You look…super tall." To think he actually used to fantasize about this before he knew about the Rose Guard thing. What innocent and ignorant times those were.

"Thank you." She nodded. "What would you like to talk about?"

"I … dunno." He sighed. "How do I make this not awkward?"

"Would playing catch help? Resting in silence? Talking about your feelings?" The figure asked him, pressing a bit too closely for his liking.

"Keeping distance for starters." He pushed her back. "And …" He paused. "Why are you so pushy about me?"

"What do you mean?" Rose asked him.

"It's just, every time I go back to that video you left for me, or here someone else talks about you, they all say how much you wanted a kid, how you wanted to be a mom." Steven clarified. "What was the point if you weren't going to be around?"

"It's because you're my son, I want you to be happy above all else." She smiled. "What you want matters to me more than anything."

"What I would've wanted was for us to have a freaking conversation every once in a while." He growled just a little in frustration. "I would have wanted for us to talk while eating breakfast, or for you to pat my head in bed while you tell me embarrassing stories about your youth."

"We can do that right now." She gestured to her lap. "Lay down here and you can tell me all about yourself."

"I don't want to talk about myself, I want to talk about you!" He could've sworn the clouds around them were getting darker. "You haven't even said a single thing about you and … you … you don't have any of her memories, do you?"

She stayed silent, simply staring at him. "Right, because I make this stuff, it all has to be from my head!" He let out a laugh. "And here I thought the room would have actually help me! Because I made the mistake of thinking something left behind by my lying mom would be helpful!"

"I'm a liar?"

"Yes, no..I don't know!" Thunder and lighting showed in the background as a violent wind came through. The classical music reaching a crescendo. "I don't know who you are, and I'm sick of always trying to figure it out!"

Lightning struck the cloud, but it just phased through her, leaving behind a black scorching mark. "Would seeing me harmed make you feel better?"

"No! It wouldn't!" He shouted back. "Because no matter what, I'm going to get hurt for the sole fact that I'm your son! It hurts me to even just think of it!"

"If it hurts you so much … then don't." The woman told him.

"I … what!?" He shouted with confusion. "I can't just not question it!"

"Your father didn't." The Rose copy stated bluntly. "He knew only one side of me for a couple of short years compared to most people, and he's the most relaxed and optimistic man you know."

"I … yeah … he is …" Steven admitted.

"And that tape, the one where I told you how much I cared about you … do you think it was a lie like everything else?"

"No..no you meant it….there was too much love put in that video." Steven calmed down as the thunder died down, and a gentle rain began to fall. "I know you didn't mean to force all your baggage on me…but you did, and…I resent you for it." He cried, letting himself fall to the ground. "I…I hate you." He felt like a knife was plunged into his heart when he finally said those dreaded words.

"And I accept that." She hugged him. "I'll always love you, even if you hate me, I want to be the part of you that finds happiness in being you." Even with his disdain for the woman, he couldn't help but hug her right back. "Don't let me stop you from loving others, or closing yourself off from their love." Rose waved her hand, and images of Star, Marco, Kelly, Jana, all his old friends and new friends came in. In front of them was both of his dads and Mom…his real mom, the one that raised him for all these years and gave him such a huge and loving family.

"… Alright … I'll make sure to accept them no matter what." He muttered back, leaning against her. "Just … let me rest here for a while."

"Of course." The cloud clone of Rose let him lay across her lap. He didn't want to hate Rose Quartz…but he did…and he would be okay with that. There were plenty of other people in his life that he loved and that loved him back.

Hopefully, that would include the poor gem that was in that bubble too.

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The Pie King laughed at the situation. "Alright, Star Butterfly! Surrender now and I'll make sure that half of your kind is spared." He shouted, aiming his spear at the girl.

And here she did, having the audacity to stare back at him unshaded. "… Why do you hate me?" She asked in a dead tone.

"Why … WHY!?" He shouted. "Because the Commission stole one of our own! Festiva! And now that Mewni is weakened with your new queen, we, the pie folk, found it a perfect time to strike!"

"YEAAAHHH!!!" His army shouted.

"So we're going to take you down, then enslave the rest of-"

"No." She responded.

"… No?" He laughed. "You're tied up and your friends have been drugged with muzzle berry pie."

"Mmhhhhh." The red hooded boy along with the Ponyhead princess said simultaneously, their faces covered with the blue goo of the pies. It was the tastiest poison they had.

"You don't have a chance in the slightest…."

"No." Star repeated. "We're not doing this."

"… Doing what?"

"Fighting you or talking to you, I've had too much shit to deal with lately." She responded with some spite. "So you're going to pack up and head home, because I really … REALLY, I am not in the mood for this."

"Wow, you're really bad at negotiations." The King snorted at the almost lazy attempt. "It's such a travesty that you happen to share our blood. Under different circumstances, this could've been a peaceful arrangement." He snapped his fingers. "Prepare the boonberry pies!"

The princess sighed. "Fine then." There was a flash of light, all of them blinded. A second after adjusting she stood there, unbound, six arms and golden wings. "You want negotiations?" She aimed her hand at the forest … destroying it in a single blast. "Leave now or I make you all swim for new lands after turning your island into dust." Star aimed one of her hands at him, a black and purple spark emanating from it. "Am … I … clear?"

"Hey, hey, hey! We just wanted a little righteous revenge, is that so much to ask for?" One of his soldiers said while trembling in terror.

"The last person that wanted righteous revenge murdered my brother, my mother, all of my friends and family, and became such a raging psychopath that she had to be put down by her own mother, Eclipsa." The Butterfly girl shot flaming fists of rainbows, although they were considerably more dark and purple than the average rainbow. "There's nothing righteous about revenge!"

Each attack created a dark and black mark on everything it touched, the people in the way burning with agony as black fire made them fall into a muddled mess of agony. "You want an eye for an eye?! Well guess what, everyone ends up blind, and we both end up becoming blind and deluded angry idiots!!"

"Alright alright, we surrender!" The king shouted. "Just please spare us!" He did not sign up for crazy.

"You want my mercy?! Then have your people cook pies and serve them to all the Mewmans that are living in the woods!" Everyone looked at her funny, last they checked, she hated her kingdom. "Just because they're stupid doesn't mean I want them starving."

"Yes of course, we'll bake them pies." He nodded. "Come on people, we have cooking to do!" And annihilation to avoid.

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Star sighed as she walked into the temple, noticing the wooden structure. "You guys building something?" 

"Yes, now that you have no castle, we decided it would be the perfect time to finally finish building the home for Steven and you." Pearl showed off blueprints.

"We've been saving these up since Rose announced the pregnancy." Garnet added on as she carried an entire log into the cave. "Although with your whole family currently homeless, we're going to have to expand beyond a kitchen and one bedroom."

"Yeah, we've been staying with the Diaz's and Eclipsa so far, but the former feels like intruding and the latter … not the best living conditions." She admitted. "We've` mostly been using Lion as a bed." It was fine until the giant cat rolled over and nearly suffocated the life out of them.

"I'm just happy we'll be getting more roommates. Now I can share my junk with people who'll appreciate it." Amethyst snickered as she tossed a hammer into the air. "Speaking of, has anyone seen Steven? I haven't all day."

"You mean he's still in Rose's room?" Star questioned. "And the temple hasn't blown up yet?"

"He went inside of Rose's room?" Pearl asked with a bit of concern. "That's … not the best place to be. Rose only used it for minor things and simulations, with someone as emotionally vulnerable as … let's be honest, everyone else?"

"That checks." Marco nodded. "Maybe this is like that dream land situation Mabel talked about once and he's trapped in a seemingly perfect paradise?"

"No, he needs to eat sometime, of course he'll come out." Amethyst waved off.

"Either way, looks like I'll have to bust open the door if he doesn't come out soon.." Star stopped as the temple doors opened, and a sighing Steven came out with the bubbled Rose Quartz in his hands. "You good bro?"

"Yeah … yeah … just talked with my subconscious representation of Rose Quartz so … doing well."

"You did that…and the temple didn't explode?" Pearl asked him. "I know you don't have the…best relationship with her.."

"That's the thing, I have no relationship with her." Steven sighed again, looking at all of them. "I keep learning about the good and bad, and it just messes with my head. I thought I couldn't figure out what she is to me until I had all the answers..but I don't. And I have to accept that…that I hate her, and nothing can make that better."

Pearl looked like she was about to say something, but covered her mouth, the other gems looking around awkwardly. "So … you need anything else?" She asked.

"No." He answered, looking down at the bubble. "I've held it off long enough." And popped it.

"Whoa, bro you sure about this?" Star asked in concern. "You just said that you hate her.."

"I hate one Rose Quartz, I don't hate all of them." Steven responded, holding up the gem. "She at least deserves the chance for us to know her as her own gem."

The gem began to glow, slowly forming and shaping itself into Rose … but not quite. There was no dress, but instead a burgundy crop top with shorts. There was no curly hair, instead straight and flowing. Salmon pink skin with a gem located on the chest. Her eyebrows were noticeably thick, and her expression seems to be more genuinely relaxed than she was expecting. "Whoa…so that's what it's like to be bubbled. So trippy." The new gem looked around, and noticed the very visible looks of cringe surrounding her. "Is someone throwing a party? This is quite the mix of gems."

"Ah…hey there..Rose Quartz…right?" Steven was the first to be brave enough to speak up, flinching when the gem's attention was directed at him. "I'm … Steven. You're on earth."

"Oh, this is earth." They looked around. "It has a lot more wood than I remember." The girl fell to the ground, and moved her arms and legs like she was making a snow angel. "Really smooth and cool wood too. I thought homeworld would've burned it all away by this point. Feels nice, real nice." She turned to the other gems. "Care to join me?"

"No thank you." Amethyst squeaked out in the most quiet and polite tone she's ever heard.

"Your loss, more for me." The pink gem let out a calm sigh of relief. "Gotta get as much chillin in as possible before they rebubble me, or shatter me for being free, whatever comes first I guess."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that." Star waved her hand. "We snuck you out, you're free from Homeworld now!"

"... Alright." Well that was underwhelming as heck. "I'm going to go stare at the sun, do you want to join me?" She asked Pearl, who had been shaking this whole time.

"Ah, that sounds like a…pleasant time, but I think I'll pass.." Pearl was stopped mid sentence by the Quarts grabbing her hands warmly.

"Such a shame. If It was a high standing gem, I would have loved to have a Pearl as kind and caring as you."

Star watched as the pale gem made a mad dash to the pad, warping. A second later Steven's phone dinged. "Sorry, I would die for you a thousand times, but I'm staying at the Arctic Tundra until it's over." He stared at it for a second. "Yeah, this is gonna be a work in progress."