"Well... This wasn't how I thought today was going to go." Onyx thought as she walked back into the beach house from the temple, rubbing her nape.

"Is everything ok, Onyx? Where's Steven?"

She looked up to see the gem and looked up to see Black Pearl, Amethyst Ametrine, and Garnet Andradite, the Crescent Gems.

"Steven's fine...Onyx chuckled sheepishly, 'better than before, actually.' She mused mentally.

"Then what's wrong?"

"why would anything be wrong, Amethyst?"

The current leader folded her arms and arched her brow at her predecessor and sister.

"Because you are looking at the ceiling and not my eyes. What are you hiding with that shit poker face?"

"I'm just making sure everything is in o-"

"Nini?" Garnet gasped, wiping her left eye.

'Oh..crap, perfect time for Garnet's future vision to self activate.' Onyx sighed.

"Nini?.. Wait..." Amethyst looked at the talker gem, " are you talking about...Kahanni?"

"The Maheswaran Djinn?" Pearl gasped, "Is that why they came? Is she alive?" Pearl's eyes narrowed, "did she send those demons after us?"

"Well, I see your steadfast paranoia is still intact, Pearl."

Their reactions to Connie's voice were immediate.

Pearl summoned her trident from her neck and pointed at the temple entrance, standing in front of Amethyst and Garnet.

Amethyst felt the heart she didn't have rapidly beat against her breast as her mouth dried, and she shook her head in a mixture of disbelief and hope.

"Nini!" The childlike Garnet ran past them all and into the temple only to later be carried out by the Djinn, with Steven at her side.

"Ka-kahanni..?" Amethyst gulped as she saw her, same as she did so many centuries ago. "You're really.

"I go by Connie now." She chucked as Garnet hugged her," or Nini..." She sighed, "But as you can see, my death has been exaggerated."

She didn't get to giggle as Amethyst all but tackled her. She smiled sadly, feeling her oldest friend cry on her stomach," I missed you too, Amy."

Amethyst wept.

Onyx laughed at her sister. "You never change."

Amethyst looked up at Connie, "I'm..I'm so happy...You're alive... You haven't aged a day."

"Well, dying and being repurposed does that to a Djinn." Connie chuckled.

"Repurposed?" Amethyst questioned before turning to Pearl and Onyx.

"Which brings us to our first issue." Steven glared at Onyx and Pearl; His mother and godmother respectively."Why did you do it?"

The duo remained silent, keeping their face away from the bonded two.

"Why did you kill Connie?" He questioned again, only to be met with silence.

"We...we had no choice in the matter." Onyx felt her heart clench. The images of Connie begging, pleading them not to end her, plagued her head and fueled her guilt.

"That doesn't answer the question!" The Djinn cried, "You were my friends...My parent friends..."Connie's lip trembled as tears threatened to fall. " What did I Do? Why did I deserve to die!?"

"Because you're dangerous to everyone," Pearl answered, keeping her trident drawn on her. "Connie...Kahanni? Whatever you're calling yourself. The fact of the matter is this...You're a Djinn. You have a power that no one else has."

Connie glared at them, "what do you mean, 'No one else?' What about my family...my mother and father...The Shawran Isles?.. There's leagues of Djinn!"

The more she talked, the more desperate her tone became.

"Right...why? Aren't you saying anything?" She pleaded to the two," You...know what happened, right?"

The more Onyx and Pearl felt their hearts break. Seeing her cry, hearing her speak of her family brought her pain; they wanted to make it all better.

Yet,

Onyx and Pearl remained silent as their eyes closed to steel themselves for what was to come.

"Tell me! Please! You..We...," Connie took a shuddery breath." I trusted you; I thought you loved me! I thought you loved my family! I thought we were a family!" Connie's eyes watered. "FAMILY SUPPOSED TO BE UPFRONT WITH EACH OTHER!" She screamed at them.

"She's right." Amethyst interjected, "You need to be more honest. So...tell her what she did." Amethyst looks at Connie, one of her best friends, tearfully, "it wasn't your fault, Nini...Ok"

"I..." Connie looked at the three, fear and shock on her face, "What did I do?"

"You," Pearl spoke up. "You destroyed the entire Shawran!"

"What?! I... I would never."

"Kahanni." Onyx clenched her fist, biting her lip, "It's..it's true."

"What?!"

"The Isles and all neighboring landmass." Pearl spoke up, "lost under flames of azure, in one night there was a bevy of lush islands, and the morning, it was gone, replaced by black and blue ash. So many lives lost, both human and non-human."

"I...I don't remember." Connie said a bit brokenly, one of her hands holding her face.

"Connie," Steven's eyes began to tear, and his heart felt like it was in a cold grasp...but it wasn't his emotions causing this response. He gripped his stomach, feeling a sensation he was not used to, but knew where it stemmed from.

Their bond.

This torrent of confusion, sadness, and guilt he felt came from Connie.

"Connie..."

"I wouldn't!" She cried, tears streaming down her face, eyes shutting tight. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"I wouldn't do that!"

"You did." Pearl held her tenant straight at Connie, shaking slightly as she could not look her in the eye, "You stood in your own flames, as you burned the world around you."

Connie glared at the gem, wiping the tears away.

"W-What do you mean?" She half-sobs, "I don't remember anything. Other than you and Onyx dismembering me and bonding the majority of my essence to that chest. "

Pearl and Onyx's faces softened.

"You don't remember the night you went berserk?"

Connie shook her head slowly.

Pearl's eyes widened."You don't remember..."

"The night of the massacre." Onyx finished.

Connie heard Garnet and Amethyst gasp; Steven rushed over to her before the both of them saw Pearl and Onyx look at each other.

Connie's eyes narrowed, "What happened?"

Pearl and Onyx took a deep breath and looked at Connie, eyes softening.

Connie, however, was more than confused. She was scared...deeply and terribly scared of what they will say next,

"You think?"

"Seem like it."

"What will they think?"

"It doesn't matter." Pearl answered sadly, "though, this does explain Connie's confusion and her words."

Connie frowned, "My...Words?"

"Your plead to the Arcana." Onyx claimed, "Your pyre was patronage to the Arcana, at least that what you muttered."

Connie's eyes widened.

____

An: holy crap a new Djinn Connie chapter. I know shocking. Hope you enjoy this bout of angst.. More to come soon.

Thank you for Reading and reviewing