Steven Universe: Broken Peridot.

Her lonely room and Asha's once-white clothes were now covered in blood.

Connie could only stare at the scene with trembling eyes, denying the reality before her. 

But while the situation seemed concerning, Asha's thoughts were far from wary or fearful. 

'This is so fun!' 

Her focus remained solely on her notebook, filled with notes about her body. 

It contained detailed specifications of her gem anatomy, including the time required to disperse substances from her body, the seconds necessary for regeneration, and even speculations about how her body would behave under extreme conditions. 

Now, she could accurately estimate how long it would take for a part of her body to regenerate and how much energy she could expend while maintaining her disguise. 

'The limit is surprisingly low.' 

If she lost an arm, her disguise would completely vanish. If she lost a quantity of blood equivalent to the mass of a limb, the need to recover would override the ability to maintain her body's shape. 

As a result, she would revert to being a simple gem to fully regenerate her limbs—an apparent emergency system. 

She theorized that this behavior occurred because the gem required a minimum amount of energy to function. If this limit was breached, her body could only regenerate after returning to its original gem state. 

Asha had conducted countless experiments, to the point where she felt that any more blood loss might destabilize her form. 

This instability occurred because her disguise required additional energy to sustain, making the process of maintaining her form even harsher. 

After the overload, her body had changed. Once, her skin could withstand significant impacts, but now, it was as fragile as human skin. 

Her gem now had just enough energy to sustain a default body. She hadn't tested it yet, but she suspected that if she fell from a great height, her weakened bones would break instantly. 

She lived in a constant state of energy deprivation. Whenever she managed to gather enough energy, it was immediately extracted for recovery from the overload. 

There were likely many other side effects she had yet to discover; everything was still a hypothesis. 

Asha looked at her notebook with pride. 

'I can't believe I conducted this experiment while staying sane.' 

In the past, whenever she tried to explore a new aspect of her body, her overwhelming curiosity would take over, robbing her of any rational thought. 

But perhaps because she was now more aware of herself and had forbidden the use of her powers, her symptoms had lessened slightly. 

She still felt the urge to test her theories, but she managed to resist as long as she didn't dwell on them too much. 

This proved that self-control was possible under the right conditions. 

Asha closed her notebook and glanced at her wrist, which was still bleeding. From an outsider's perspective, it looked quite serious, but Asha didn't react. 

She had calculated the exact amount to cut, ensuring she was near her limit but not too close to losing her disguise. 

The fact that she was still conscious proved her calculations were correct. 

Far from being repulsed by the sight, she felt thrilled to see her hypotheses validated. 

'Today was a very productive day.' 

All the experiments were complete, and though she wanted to continue, she knew it would be dangerous to push further. 

That's why Asha decided to eliminate the "evidence." 

'It's only been a few hours, but there's no harm in being cautious.' 

Holding a utility knife close to her wrist, she analyzed the energy contained within it. 

It would evaporate in ten minutes, but she could accelerate the process by deliberately separating the energy. 

Until now, she had only tested energy applications, but reversing the process shouldn't be an issue. 

Asha was about to test her theory when something unexpected happened. 

The utility knife, which was clearly within her analysis scope, suddenly vanished. At the same time, a force restrained her hand. 

'What...?' 

She expanded her scope of analysis to better understand the situation but immediately regretted it. 

A child with a pale, sweaty face was staring at her as though looking at a terminal patient. 

"..." 

She stopped her analysis and tried again three more times. 

But the image of the girl persisted in her mind. 

Appraisal was supposed to show reality in its raw form, so imaginary elements shouldn't be involved. 

Why was she hallucinating so suddenly? Perhaps her skills weren't as infallible as they seemed. 

'This must be a side effect of the blood loss. Maybe my emotions are destabilizing due to a lack of energy. I suppose I was complacent in ignoring the mental consequences of the experiment.' 

She rationalized this as she observed the image of the girl growing increasingly distressed. 

The reason she wasn't immediately alarmed was simple: Connie would never return home until late at night. 

No matter how much she thought about it, she estimated only a few hours had passed since starting her experiments. 

Unless she had been so absorbed that she lost track of time, she couldn't have made such a mistake. 

She was also certain she had closed the door... 

'How strange. Why is the door open?' 

This hallucination was far more vivid than anything she had experienced before. 

Perhaps her gem brain's exceptional capacity for storing high-resolution images allowed her subconscious to create these realistic visions. 

She could even notice the pressure against her wrist. 

What was even stranger was her inability to move her hand despite her efforts. 

"Shing...!" A faint light began to emanate from her gem. 

Two round, anxious eyes stared at her. The girl's breathing was rapid and shallow, her face flushed red. 

No matter how she rationalized it, wasn't this too realistic to be a hallucination? 

She tried to speak, but Asha couldn't decipher the girl's words. 

Still, something deep inside her warned that if she didn't act now, something serious would happen. 

In a moment of crisis, Asha directed a dense amount of energy toward Connie's lips and jaw, hoping to discern her words from their movement—a technique she had repeatedly failed to master with Nurse Maria. 

Strangely, this time it worked with precision. 

"Mom!" 

The voice was loud enough to reach even Asha's dulled hearing. 

As soon as the word registered in her mind, she had to face a cruel truth. 

There was a high probability that the Connie standing before her wasn't a "simple" hallucination. 

And she was completely screwed. 

*

Author note

I did it...? I've been writing without sleep since yesterday but I still couldn't finish it at all. I decided to release a small version of the chapter. This chapter was originally in Connie's POV, but I decided to change it to Asha's POV, I hope you like it.

Thank you to everyone who supported this story during this absence. Let's finish this damn volume!