Summary: A fun revelation
The gargoyle wrote down some more of what Ms Butterfly was saying. Classes were strange on earth, but surprisingly engaging. "Now, humans have these things called 'tropes', which can help you when navigating a horror setting. First up, never, ever, utter the words 'what's the worst that could happen', ever." The Mewman teacher slapped the chalkboard. "It's a huge universe we live in, and especially with each one as connected as they are, any and all disasters are possible, from pebbles in your shoe, to the skies raining blood, to your mom meeting your date." A few gasps were made on that last declaration. "This goes double to those trying to change destiny and defy the future, as fate likes to be as big of an asshole as the multiverse itself."
Everyone instantly wrote down her lesson, hoping to avoid the worst case scenarios of their mothers intruding on their romantic lives. "Second of all, it doesn't matter how big or how personal a threat is, splitting up and going off on your own is the worst decisions you can make in a crisis. Had I and my friends not dove back into the dying dimension of magic to help my brother, chances are you would all be dead right now."
"We never went over what caused that though." Another girl with cat ears stated. "Whenever we try to ask what was responsible so we could get revenge for multiversal genocide, everyone just says that it's an eternal mystery."
"Then it's a good thing lessons on the futility of revenge will be discussed in the next class." The teacher said with a slightly broken laugh before getting back on track by clearing her throat. "Third of all, unless you see a threat's body down and out right in front of you and you immediately restrain them, never assume they're gone. The more evil a threat is, the more petty they are, and the more likely they are to try and strike back. Take Holly Blue Agate for example." She pointed to the gem off to the side. "She's really annoying, but competence wise, she's not that much to be afraid of."
"I don't even want to be here." The blue lady with watery hair rolled her eyes. "But according to the Diamonds, my entire life has become 'problematic'."
"Hey, you're the one that wants structure and order. This place is the closest you're going to get." Ms. Butterfly pointed out. "Maybe if you are a good enough teaching aide and lose the attitude, I'll let you run your own class one of these days." They cleared their throat. "Now then, who here wants to explain what it means to 'bait the dragon'?" A boy with green skin raised their hand. "Yes, Zaxor."
"To constantly insult someone who can kill you if they really tried?"
"Exactly. Around here, words are just as powerful as actions, in fact, many times, they're even more so. One conversation with someone willing to listen can mean the difference between life and death of entire societies. One way to utilize this is to annoy your all powerful enemy to the point where they lose complete focus and ultimately beat themselves up." The door was knocked on. "Come on in."
The door slid open, as a giant figure that looked similar to what humans called a 'cheetoh', approached, a small gasp heard from Ms Butterfly. "Is this the classroom?"
"Ja-Jasper?" The teacher looked on in shock. "You …you're here?"
"Yes." The giant puffball answered with a grunt. "This is your 'human relations' class, correct?"
"You came here." The Mewman still looked shocked. "You wanted to come here?"
"Is it a problem?" They asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, just … surprised you wanted anything to do with us, especially after nearly three years of nothing." The teacher still looked surprised. "Mina's not with you, is she?"
"No. She's … recovering. That's all I'll say." The gems sighed.
"Alright …" They slowly nodded, shaking it off. "Now class. What do you do when someone tries to change for the better?"
"Tell them to suck it?"
"Trick them into a pit trap?"
"Say sure as you watch them rise and rise to higher heights, only to watch as they fall into an endless pit of agony where you watch their corpse fall to the ground?" … Everyone turned to another blue lady with a watery gem on her arm. "What, you really think Holly Blue was the only one forced to come here for 'problematic behavior'?"
"No, and I do report cases like yours to Steven, who tells the Diamonds just so you know." That made the gem ladies go stiff. "You give them the benefit of the doubt and do your best to help them." Ms Butterfly smiled as she turned to the giant puff. "You're more than welcome to join, Jasper. Take a seat in between the demon and the pegasus." They walked to the seat in question, awkwardly staring at it before slightly moving the wooden object out and moving down, her weight causing it to break almost instantly. "... I knew we were forgetting something when designing the school." Well this should be interesting.
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"In all my years alive I never knew a moral conundrum could be so inquisitive." Steven narrated, sitting on the porch of the house with his friends. "To risk letting the stump grow into a garden of like a weed, and destroy everything we work towards, or compromise my moral compass of accepting any and all life that wishes to grow better." He sighed. "Either way, all will be risked … yet I can't help but hesitate…"
"Dude, you don't need to hesitate about what you want to say." Amethyst slapped him on the back. "You're uncomfortable with having Jasper around. You're not the only one."
"I say give her the benefit of the doubt." Kelly shrugged. "If she didn't fight back after you thought she was stabbing Star, which was really just a trust fall exercise, and destroyed a section of the city by punching her through several buildings, then it should be fine."
Steven took a glance around the flaming wreckage of the fast food store. "Okay, I over reacted…"
"You think?" Star snorted.
"But I've never had one experience with Jasper that didn't traumatize me in some way." He groaned. "I still wake up with a headache from that head but she gave me the first time we met sometimes."
"Is that why your head is so squishy?" Luz asked as she poked his forehead. "I just thought you moisturized really well."
"I do, but most of the cracks in my skull are either from her or from Mina." Steven reminded them. "Seeing her around the school just makes my skin crawl."
"If you want you can take a week off from it, I'm sure I can go five days without setting it on fire." At Star's declaration, most of the group snorted. "I'm not a pyromaniac …"
"Star, we're from Mewni. That was a weekly occurrence, whether or not you were the cause." Steven laughed. "Yeah, I think I will. Dr. Wong did say a key factor to getting through trauma was knowing when to cut yourself free from certain situations."
"I'm more surprised you're not on board with trying to help Jasper personally." Pearl noted. "Bringing troublesome gems into your life is usually your go to move."
"Haha." He rolled his eyes. "I think I'm perfectly content with dividing it up. I don't even want to imagine what she's up to now."
They heard a rumbling noise, watching as Jasper was dragging a broken tree to them. "Star said that giving one vegetation was a form of peaceful resolution."
"You gave her the 'extending an olive branch' metaphor, didn't you?" Marco turned to his sister.
"I keep forgetting which species I need to switch them off for." Star sheepishly laughed. "Jasper, just a simple flower will do."
"A flower." The gem muttered, before looking around, locking her eyes with a person wearing a flower hat. "Understood."
"Please refrain from going after people, the gesture is more than enough." Steven waved his hands in the air. "So Jasper.." He said with narrow eyes. "Why now of all times? Last I checked, you were living in a cave on Mewni."
The quartz soldier stared at him, very intensely. "I had free time." For any normal gem, that was a perfect fine explanation, but this was Jasper, someone he was pretty sure still hated the planet and his guts.
"Alright, and what about Mina?" He asked about the other former maniac that was hell bent on gutting him like a fish. "I take it you're still pretty tight with her."
"She took up cave carving." Jasper said. "It's … the best she can do." Why was that the part she hesitated on?
"Is there something wrong with her?" Kelly asked, leaning forward.
"Nothing's wrong." Jasper growled in a gritted voice. "I just.." The big burly gem sighed. "I needed to come to earth. There's something about organics I want to understand."
"Well I'm gonna help you understand all there is to know." Star said. "First up, food … I have no clue why, but every Quartz I know loves it. Even Holly Blue took up a bit of alien baking." Huh, who knew the tightwad gem had it in her.
"I..I was hoping to learn a few things directly from Ro-Pi-Steven." Jasper spat out, and it shocked him that she actually took the time to remember his name.
She was asking for help, for his help. Had he been thirteen or fourteen, he would've jumped at the opportunity. "Jasper…" He sighed, knowing a part of him would regret it. "I've tried to help you time and time again, and you've always wanted to do nothing but kill me no matter what I said. It's going to take more than one apology for me to just take your word."
She stared at him for a few silent and tense moments, before taking a deep breath. "Alright." The giant of a gem walked away, back to the school, without any fuss whatsoever.
"Oowch." Marco winced. "That was a bit cold, especially for you."
"Most of you guys gave me grief whenever I trusted someone you didn't and it worked out. Don't start with that stuff now."
"Yeah, but you're the optimist of the group." Kelly said.
A small part of Steven felt mildly miffed at them, talking as if it was easy. "What, that means I can't put up walls or distrust people that tried to kill me?"
"No, it's just very rare." His sister rubbed his back. "I get it Steven. If anyone's earned the right to be angry at anyone, it's you."
"It's not that I want to be mad at Jasper. I'd rather we'd be friends than enemies…but…she was one of the worst, and I still feel the pain she gave me." Steven sighed. "I don't want to just rub salt on old wounds, especially when I have so much good in my life now, like Ian." There hadn't been a day that had gone by where he didn't pick up his baby brother.
"It's cool, take all the time you need." Garnet assured him. "And if anything happens, I will be there to take her down."
"Thanks, that actually means a lot." Steven smiled at his family. "I don't trust Jasper, but I do trust you, Star. I hope it does work out for you."
"I'm gonna need it. The one thing most of the gems have in common is their stubbornness."
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Star walked through the double moonlit night, taking in the majestic view of Nexus city at night.
"HEY, I'M WALKING HERE!"
"DON'T WALK IN THE ROAD MORON!"
… Emphasis on View. The double light from the heavens made the city almost sparkle in it's radiance, a soft rainbow moving through the air, like an auroma … aroga … the northern lights Marco liked to show her.
The streets were lit with lamps powered by light spells and electric bugs. On the sidewalk, she saw the citizens walking right beside her. Gorgons being ridden by pebbles. Nephrite taking a stroll with witches. Newts kids playing hopscotch with humans. Star took a good look at them, and couldn't help but feel pride.
She often found herself going back to that moment in Glosseryck's head, in the grandma room, where she uttered the utterly horrible line 'toffee was right'. This school, this city that they built with all creatures all over, with magic and tech alike, that proved he was wrong.
The threats had the chance to be bigger, but that just meant they had to fight harder for that happiness. It may have been a never ending battle, but it was a battle she was always going to be ready to join in on.
Eventually, up on a rooftop, she found a familiar figure looking down at the world, slowly moving to it. "Penny for your thoughts?"
Jasper turned to her, gazing at her hand. "... Where's the penny?" Right, metaphors.
"Nevermind that." Star shook her head, sitting down. "I meant why are you looking down at everyone … what's making you act all dopey?"
"Don't call me a dope, Mewman." Jasper huffed out before sighing. "I'm just…I..I'm starting to think about all those years I lost. All those centuries wasted on avenging someone that wasn't even worth it." The gem looked up at the sky. "I think about all those organisms down below, purposeless, mortal, but happy with the little time they have. It…it confuses me."
"Meh, sure I'll go away one day, but that's just life, you know?" She asked. "I mean, being immortal is weirder in a way …"
"How so?" She asked.
"Well…you're given all the time in the world, for as long as the universe lasts." Star continued. "Part of life for someone like me is trying to figure out everything I want to know. I'll make mistakes, and probably won't see everything I want to, but part of the fun is trying to fit everything I can before the end." She looked up. "If you're immortal, then potentially, you can figure it all out. And once you're done, you'd have to move onto something else to learn and figure out or you'll grow bored or insane."
Jasper stared down. "I can definitely see the insanity." They sighed. "Gems were fine once, just seeing our Diamonds give us praise felt nice … it was a worship system, like Mewmans and that Stump." Well, it was almighty. "But with organics, they don't strive for someone else, or some great cause, just themselves. Now I don't have anything to strive for, because …"
"Because what?" Star asked.
"I'd rather not talk about it." Jasper looked off to the side. "I really did want to talk to Ro-Pi-Steven about something, but I guess he wasn't as naive as I hoped he was."
"It's not naivety, it's hopefulness. And when you hit a brick wall so many times without breaking it, sometimes you stop before you do." She didn't blame Steven for wanting to keep a distance, but it was just a bit disheartening to see him not be optimistic. "Well, I grew up with Steven his entire life, so I'm sure I can answer whatever questions you have."
She looked at Star curiously. "Then do you know how it happened … how Pi-Rose went away, and made him?" They asked with genuine interest.
Oh, that was a bit more…pg than she was expecting. "I do. Uh..are you aware of how organic beings are made? Like, how they're born?" Please tell her they didn't need to teach the birds and bees.
"They grow from other organics, right?" Oh sweet baby unicorn.
"That's…one way to describe it." Star rubbed her forehead, already getting uncomfortable with where this direction was heading. "It takes one male and one female since each of them have…certain parts…in their bodies that when put together, can make a baby." Star's face went red when describing it. "Rose…shapeshifted the female parts…"
They looked confused, tilting their head. "What kind of parts-"
"You know what, this is like, a really scientific thing." She waved her hand really fast. "Why don't you talk about it with Peridot? She studies humans." Please end this conversation now!
Jasper looked like she contemplated it for a second. "Alright." Oh thank corn. A problem she didn't have to deal with.
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Marco awoke to the sound of screaming. "I WILL PUT HER GEM ON A PIKE!" … He couldn't tell if Darkstar was back or she was just pissed enough to do the voice naturally. Groaning, he pulled himself out of bed, making his way to the common room of the Universe household as she fumed. Sure Moon may complain it's fast to constantly share a bed with Star, but Kelly already lived here to begin with first so …
"Star, could you keep it down?" Steven walked with a yawn with the new baby boy in his hands. "You almost woke up Ian." He looked down at his little brother's face. "Man, he really can sleep."
"He gets that from my side." Luz yawned as she walked to the fridge. "How else would I have been able to sleep in the Owl House with the giant bed bugs constantly stalking me at night?"
Star stopped her ranting, looking at them with frustration. "Jasper … Kidnapped … Peridot!"
Steven's skin flashed pink for a brief second, before dying down when he noticed his brother's stirring. "Whaaat?" He yelled in a soft whisper.
"She was up on a roof last nice to, I think, have an existential crisis, wanted to know where babies came from, so I told her to ask Peridot because she was asking for way too many details." Understandable. "So I went back to little homeschool when I woke to ask Peridot how it went, only to find a lack of Peridot and a destroyed lab."
"Alright, let's just calm down." Marco waved it off. "She put a tracker inside of her Gem and gave me the method to locate it. Said I'm the person she trusted to actually go rescue her." Considering how often every gem they knew used to try and kill her … completely understandable.
"Why the heck would she want Peridot? They only worked together that one time." Kelly questioned. "And she has more of a vendetta against Lapis than her."
"Who knows? Her brains are probably just as much in a blender as.." Steven groaned as a banging on the door was heard. "Are we expecting visitors?"
The front door was kicked open, another familiar face came that nobody wanted to see. "Alright, who took-" Mina Lovberry accused, before violently coughing. Double taking, everyone stared at her features, small bits of gray hair present in her head, muscles thinner than they once were, and she held a cane next to her. "Who took … Jasper …" They finished, coughing some more.
Steven stared at the old woman at the door with a narrow gaze. "Is this your idea of a sick joke, Loveberry? Because I'm not laughing."
"If I was telling a joke it'd be a knock knock-" They coughed again, pulling out a pill bottle and gulping it down.
"Wow … didn't you used to be scarier?" Luz asked.
"Live over four hundred with a magical lifeline and have it dragged away, it does stuff to ya. Every Mewman's trying to adjust, I just happen to get the worst out of it." She said taking a breather. "My only consolation is that Eclipsa ranks second on the scale of how bad it hurts."
"Enough, Mina. What the heck is going on with you and Jasper?" Star walked over to their once thought to be the most unstoppable enemy. "She came here completely out of the blue a few days ago, and dodged every question about you."
Mina glared. "I was gonna ask the same thing. She left out of the blue a few days ago without even leaving a note. And right when we were gonna get into our bonfire gazing week." The old warrior accused. "The week where we just sit next to each other and gaze into the fire, where we metaphorically burn away our attachments to the past."
"That explains the existentialism on the roof." Star rolled her eyes. "Has she been acting weird before then? Asking for details about organics?"
Loveberry blinked, looking thoughtful. "Well there was a time where they went on a quest for a fountain of youth, but then just slaughtered a consman village in pure rage, but after that they've mainly just been reading books."
"Jasper can read?" Kelly asked.
"I taught her…though I admit I've been out of practice for the last two hundred years, so there was about a six month gap where we'd just spend all our time in the kid's section of the library." Mina smiled. "The little tykes were adorable. Completely mushy in the heads, but adorable."
Steven moved very protectively in front of Ian. "Alright, we go find Jasper, you take her back to talk about … whatever, and we grab Peridot, then we can just go back to leaving each other alone, alright?"
"One of the few reasonable things I've ever heard you say." Mina nodded. "So are we moving our butts now or what?"
"In a minute." Marco halted them. "This is Jasper, I'm not going into that mess without coffee."
"Yeah, better take Ian back to bed while we still ca-" Luz moved to carry him, only for a light giggle to erupt. "Oh now you're awake."
"What's that?" Mina pointed.
"None of your business, Mina." Steven stated bluntly. "Once this is over, my family will NEVER have any association with you two again."
"Like I want to associate with you to begin with." Yeah … maybe he should fix everyone a cup.
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"Look, can we please stop this?" The little green gem she held tightly complained. "I feel immense discomfort working with these models."
"You're the one who can explain it, teach me." Jasper said bluntly. "Now, the glans." They've been at this for over a couple hours, and she still barely comprehended it. She needed to learn what was needed.
"The glans … they-"
BOOM
The wall opened up and there stood the 'heroes of mewni' … great. "MARCO!" The Peridot shouted with tears. "HELP ME! She's been torturing me for hours on end!"
"That is not what was happening-" She didn't get to finish as a pink blur smashed her into a wall.
"Every single time you come into my life, something terrible always happens!" Ro-Steven yelled at her. "Is it that much of a sick thrill for you to see me miserable!?"
"I…don't…care what you think." Jasper gasped out, trying to pry herself out of the wall of the cave they were in.
"Oh, but you just had to betray us again, didn't you." Star said with growl, rainbow energy radiating off her. "All to take one of us away the moment I said they could answer a question … tell us Peridot, what did she do to you!? I'm going to do the same to her, ten times in full!"
"She made me explain videos of procreation on the internet!" Peridot screamed as she cowered to the ground in tears. "Hours and hours of seeing nothing but genitalia…my mind will never be clean…never…never…"
"You….watched porn?" The bushy female….Kelly she thought it was….looked confused.
"My computer is corrupted, so many scammers are trying to hack into my systems…" Peridot cried. "They're my systems, leave them alone."
"There there Peridot." The red hooded male … Marco, patted the gem. "You're safe now … We'll make sure to clean up your software the best we can."
"Okay, not what I was expecting." A human she hadn't encountered before, one with a staff and a hood with pointy ears on it, awkwardly backed away. "Hope we didn't walk in on you guys trying to….experiment."
"I honestly don't know if I should punch you or pity you." Star said. "I mean, I want to but … it would feel so unclean."
"Look, I wasn't doing anything like what you're all assuming." Jasper got annoyed. It wasn't any of their business.
"Well what were you doing!?" The gem slowly turned as her true friend walked into the room. "Because you didn't even tell me anything. I'm all for a good kidnap and torture session, but you've just been confusing and stuff for the past month."
"I … don't want to talk about it."
"Jasper, we live together, we sleep in a cave together, we pound our food supply to a bloody pulp together! What would we NOT talk about with each other!?" Mina yelled at her, making Jasper feel more and more guilty. "What are you trying to hide from me!?"
Jasper snapped, the well of buried emotions bursting forth. "I WANT A KID WITH YOU!" There was an ever present silence in the room, not even organics the size of insects dared to make a sound.
"You know." Ro-Steven broke it. "I didn't think I wanted you to be evil and try to kill us all … but a part of me would prefer it to this … I'm out." He waved his hand. "I'm just, I'm done with today." The child began walking out. "Peace out!"
"Ah…What brought this about?" Mina spoke after a minute of silence
Jasper sighed. "You're dying … I can see it every day." She plopped down onto the ground, letting it all out. "The healers can't help, I tried looking for a way to keep you young, but nothing worked … Rose left when she did it and I want to do the same …" She didn't let the tears fall, she was a jasper, jaspers didn't cry. "I can't live another six thousand years without the only person I care about, Mina … I just can't."
"Jasper…" Mina got on her knees and cried. "The only thing that truly does suck about losing immortality is that I can't spend the rest of whatever time in the universe has left with you." Mina hugged her, and she returned it in full.
"I feel so uncomfortable and so sorry for them at the same time." Kelly muttered.
"Don't feel too bad, they'll just dump whatever baggage they have on their kid." Star grumbled. "Look, I don't fully like how this is going…but if you really just wanted a kid, you should've just asked for help.." She turned to the whimpering Peridot. "For non-kidnapping and torture help."
"Oh sure." Jasper rolled her eyes. "'I'd like to make a spawn from your two most hated enemies and have one of them teach them everything we know'."
"I would've agreed." They turned to see Steven, his back turned, but still in the cave. "If there's one thing I've learned about being the son of Rose Quartz, it's that there should be complete honesty between the parents and the kid. If you have one…I'll tell them everything about you guys. About Mina's pride in being monster slayer, about the six thousand years of genocide and your complete lack of regret. Whatever they chose to be will all be on them."
They stared at him, silently. Jasper had known Rose to be many things. A strong fighter. A capable leader. A sneaky bastard. A traitorous trickster. There was one thing she would've never described Rose as that this boy, this…Steven, was. "Then I'd like that help." Honorable.