Author's Note: This story is inspired by Dragon Elexus and her story "do not fear". Please check out her stuff, she definitely deserves it.

I hope you all enjoy this, despite how different it is from my usual genres. it won't last long, maybe one or two chapters, but I'll enjoy this either way.

Rose Quartz had just left the waking world.

Inside of Greg's van, her physical form disappeared to be replaced by a baby boy, held in his father's arms.

The gem in his stomach still shined with her essence, and for a moment, everyone was happy. Just for a moment, everyone celebrated the birth of new life. Just for a moment.. the world stood still.

Then the reality hit.

Greg clutched the boy tightly to his chest as they both cried.

Garnet split herself into her two halves, and Ruby and Sapphire held each other for comfort.

Amethyst had ran into the temple. She didn't want to experience this.. not now, at least. She would greet Steven after a good nap.

Pearl just.. stood there. Her hands were clamped over her mouth. She would have cried, if she had tears left to shed this night.

They all made a promise to themselves.. no harm would befall this child's form.

The Crystal Gems would protect Steven, the new bearer of Rose's gem, with their lives.

As these actions occurred, He watched from atop the lighthouse above the Crystal Temple.

This was.. odd. A life was given to bring about another life, yet.. the first life still exists.

He had come to take the pink one's soul, but to do that, He would have to take the boy's as well. It was not his time, however. Steven's time was just beginning.

He turned from the scene and snapped his bony fingers. In an instant, a pristine white horse appeared from the shadows of the night sky, flying to stand beside his master.

Without a word, He folded his scythe and set it in the holster on the horse's saddle. He climbed onto his horse, taking one last look down to the group below him.

WE WILL RETURN LATER. THEY DESERVE THEIR TIME TO GRIEVE.

And with a gentle nudge to the horse's sides, the stranger returned to his domain.

A few years have passed, and the construction of the beach house is finished.

Steven enjoyed his first day living with the gems. They treated him well, and he was comfortable in his new home. He was going to miss living with his father, of course, but this was better for everyone.

The gems were in the living room on the couch, listening as Steven excitedly told them all the adventures they were going to have.

"This is going to be so fun!" He exclaimed with his arms in the air, pacing in front of his caretakers. "We can play a bunch of board games, we can play tag, hide and seek, and oh!" He stopped pacing, facing the gems with stars in his eyes. "I can show you guys what Beach City Funland is like!"

"I'm excited for you, Steven.." Pearl said calmly, her hands folded over her lap. "But it's getting late. Greg is going to come over soon to put you to bed."

"It's his first night here, P, let him live a little." Amethyst was laying on her side, head propped up her hand.

"No no, Pearl's right." Steven said, a serious expression on his face. "This is the last night my dad's gonna be here when I go to sleep, so I gotta be ready for it. I'm gonna go get ready!" And then the boy ran to the bathroom to prepare for the night.

Pearl and Amethyst sighed, smiling sadly at Steven's excitement. He was so innocent, so pure.. As if Rose truly embodied his spirit.

Garnet stood up from the couch, not having said a word during this conversation. Then again, she usually never did.

But this time, when she did speak, her voice was soft, genuine. Vulnerable.

"I'm glad he's happy.."

Steven was asleep.

Greg gently closed the book that he was reading to his son. As quietly as possible, the man stood from Steven's bed and made his way down stairs.

The gems greeted Greg at the bottom of the stairs.

"How is he?" Pearl asked, always the worry-wort.

"He's sleeping like a rock." Greg put a hand on the back of his head, chuckling at his own pun. "I don't think anything can wake him up."

"That's good.." Pearl seemed relieved. Steven was well.

"Yeah.. well I'm going to go ahead and head on back to my van. You guys have a good night."

It was still awkward to talk to the gems like this, especially Pearl. Greg was sure she still held contempt for him for taking Rose away.

Of course, the gems all promised to not use their powers against humans, but Greg believed that if that promise was never made.. then he would have died a long time ago.

So he left without another word, leaving the gems alone.

The gems didn't reply to Greg and his goodbye. They didn't feel the need to.

Amethyst was the first to start on her way to the temple, putting a hand over her mouth as she yawned.

"Welp, I'm gonna catch some Z's myself. Building a house is tiring.."

"Please.." Pearl scoffed, crossing her arms. "I've seen you run miles just to get to a new fast food restaurant."

"I think we're all tired, Pearl.." Garnet spoke, placing a hand on the pristine gem's shoulder. Garnet gestured to Amethyst, silently telling Pearl to look at her teammate once more.

When Pearl did as instructed, she found out that Amethyst looked absolutely exhausted.

The purple gem kept up appearances for Steven's sake, but in actuality, she was tired of dealing with her emotions. She didn't want to experience all of this, she didn't want these feelings that had crawled into her heart.

Pearl realized that Amethyst felt just like she and Garnet did.. they were torn between their grief for Rose and their dedication to keep her son safe and happy.

"Yes.." Pearl agreed. "We're all tired."

Amethyst took this as permission to finally enter her room. The purple gem walked up to the temple and opened her door.

Though, before she actually entered her room, there was a knock on the door of the beach house.

"Now what would Greg want at this hour? Didn't he say he was going home?" Pearl immediately thought the intruder was Steven's father.

"It's not Greg." Garnet knew.. The knock sounded too hard on the wooden surface of the door. Greg's hands were covered in flesh, and would have made a softer sound.

"Whoever is out there just needs to go away." Amethyst said in annoyance as she stepped away from the temple door.

"I'll send them off.." Pearl made her way to the door, opening it to greet the intruder. But when the door opened, there was no one on the other side.

Instead, a lone, hooded figure shrouded in black stood on the beach. His cloak blew around His ankles occasionally in the wind.

"Uh, hello?" Pearl called out. "I'm sorry, but we're not taking visitors at the moment."

I KNOW.

The stranger's voice was so.. disturbing. Yet, it was calming at the same time. It felt as if.. as if the voice was being projected directly into Pearl's mind.

Pearl felt a shiver down her spine and, unconsciously, took a step back from the doorway. She turned to Garnet and Amethyst with wide eyes, silently asking them what to do.

Garnet took action. She stepped outside of the house, followed by Amethyst and Pearl. The pristine gem felt more comfortable being behind her leader rather than in front of her.

The gems made their way down to the beach to stand a few feet in front of the stranger. Upon closer inspection, they realized that the man wasn't human.. His face, shadowed by His hood, was completely void of skin and muscle.

Though, looking hard enough in the sockets of His eyes, they found a gleaming blue. They felt as if they were staring into the void, as if they could fall infinitely into an abyss just by looking into this man's eyes.

AM I THAT CHARMING?

The man's voice brought the gems from their reverie. Garnet spoke first, averting her gaze from the man's eyes from under her shades.

"What do you want?"

THAT IS AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.

The stranger brought up His hands, which were just as skinless as his face. Instinctively, the gems summoned their weapons to protect themselves, but all the stranger did was pull back the hood of His cloak.

I REMEMBER MANY THINGS.

The air of His voice was overwhelming.. It literally forced the gems to keep quiet as He spoke.

I REMEMBER EVERYTHING. BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHERE I UNDERSTAND.. NOTHING.

THE BOY IN THAT HOUSE IS A PHENOMENON UNKNOWN TO EVEN THE BEYOND.

"How do you know about Steven?" Amethyst demanded with hostility, baring her teeth to the stranger.

I TOLD YOU. I REMEMBER EVERYTHING.

"But you've never even seen him.." Pearl said, the disbelief in her voice prominent.

I HAVE A VERY UNIQUE MEMORY.

"Who are you?" Garnet asked the question they were all afraid to utter. Each gem felt as if they knew the answer, like it should be as clear as day to them. They knew who the person in front of them was.. but they were afraid to admit it.

The stranger's next words sent fear directly into the hearts of the gems. If they were afraid before, they were terrified now.

He put a bony hand to his chest in a gesture of peace.

I AM DEATH.