Sapphire knocks on her bedroom door. After a few moments, Sapphire looks through the small crack in between the door and the wall. "Hm...she doesn't seem to be in there." Sapphire grips the knob and she turns it as she pushes, grunting.

"Yet this door is locked." Another door opens nearby and a figure steps out into the hall. She turns to face us, smirking. "Trying to get into my stuff again are we now?" I turn to face Ruby. She has the key hanging around her neck, connected by a string of rope.

She points at the key with a big smile on her face. "You see this?" I glare at her. "This is the key to Sapphire's room. And you're not getting in there anymore without me. You take everything away from me, ha! I'll make sure I do the exact same thing to you."

Sapphire grits her teeth as Ruby hums a tune. I look back at Ruby's bedroom door. "However, we can make an exchange if you want. Your key for my key. What do you say?" Ruby folds her arms. I approach Ruby. "I'm not going to make any exchanges with you. I want to make...a deal with you."

Ruby raises her eyebrow. "A deal?" I nod. "You heard me. A deal."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm making more than just a simple trade."
"What are you willing to pay for this deal?"

A silent pause takes over the hall. "Sapphire." Sapphire slaps me in my left cheek. "I meant Sapphire's forgiveness." Sapphire whispers in my ear. "Excuse me, Amethyst! I've never agreed to being the prize of a deal here!"

"Sapphire, I can't just hand her the key to her room! She wants you a whole lot more. This time, we're going take serious risks to protect this barn and our family. We must gamble and play the game. But we have to be very careful not to fail."

"Amethyst, this game is going to last forever! Rose will never leave!"
"I'll...I'll think of something. I just need some time. At least a week or two. Maybe three."
"This better work. I'll shatter you if it doesn't."
"Fair enough."

Sapphire approaches Ruby. "Yes, Ruby. I'll forgive you if you can give Amethyst what she wants."
"And what may I ask could that possibly be? This key?" She points at the key again. "No, Ruby. That's not it."
"Then what is?"

"Ruby, you need to cover for me along with Sapphire."
"What?!" We shush her. "Cover you?! From whom?!"
"Steven." Ruby puts her hands out in disbelief. "Steven?! But he's dead!"

"Well it turns out that he's returned and he wants revenge on every Homeworld Gem left in existence."
"That would be Lapis, Jasper and...
Eyeball."
"That can include Bismuth too since she was bubbled by Rose."

"You mean Steven." I facepalm. "Ugh! Long story short, Steven has contracted amnesia and he thinks that he's Rose. What's worse is that he could really be her right now."
"Okay, I'm confused."

"Ruby, Amethyst needs you to lie to him with me. If his memory has been wiped by Rose's, then we can make up a lie to defend her."
"What are the chances of success, Sapphire?"

"Well..." She looks down. "We have a shot, but if we mess up, we're going to fail. There are so many possibilities that could lead to that."
"I'm taking my chances and so are you guys. We aren't just doing this for me but for everyone else's protection as well."

Ruby sighs. "You've got yourself a deal." I hold up a finger. "But, there's an additional catch." Ruby glares at me. "What else?"
"As long as this pact is in effect, so will everything that comes with it. If it were to be ceased, then so will those things."

"So in other words, if we mess up on our part, then I would lose Sapphire or if you screw up, you would lose your cover?"
"Something like that, yes." Ruby puts a hand out. "Deal." I grab her hand and we shake on it.

"Alright. We're going to go downstairs and you two are going to talk to Steven. I'm going to be in there with you guys, but part of me believes that Steven won't let me in on much of the conversation. All you two need to do is play your roles in our deal. If you say anything that could blow my cover, the deal's off."

I put a hand out again on the opposite of my hand. Ruby puts her hand on my mine and Sapphire hesitates for a moment before she does the same. "Ready?" They nod. We retract our hands. "Let's do this." We start heading down the stairs.