The war drums weren't literal, but Peridot had started calling the Cathedral's warning pulses that. Four dull chimes echoed through the crystalline halls every time a warp Pad was breached or a shield shimmered unnaturally. This time, it was five.
And it meant something different.
Kael stood in the central atrium, eyes narrowed, glaive already in hand. The throne behind him felt colder than usual.
Connie arrived in full armor, sword sheathed but tense. "Fifth chime. Peridot says it's not a direct attack. Something activated beneath the warpstream, inside the Cathedral's buried layers."
Steven and Pearl arrived moments later.
"I thought this place didn't have deeper layers," Steven muttered.
Kael looked at the pulsing obsidian tiles. "It does. They were sleeping."
Peridot's voice buzzed over the comm: "Monarch, we're detecting seismic echoes. Something's unlocking down there. I'm sending a recon drone, but it's already glitching."
"Then we go ourselves," Kael said. "Connie, Steven—you're with me."
Pearl stepped forward, concerned. "Be careful. There's no telling what Obsidian buried under here. Not even the Diamonds charted this far."
Kael smirked. "Good. Then whatever's waiting hasn't met us yet."
Subterranean Layer: The Hollow Core
The corridor was narrow—no Gem structure had any reason to be this deep. And yet the deeper they went, the more Kael felt... something. Ancient. Angry. And alive.
Shadelace drifted beside him silently.
"I feel... resonance," she murmured. "But not like the throne. This is something older."
They reached a chamber carved of midnight stone, the walls smooth as glass. In the center, a strange pillar pulsed with unstable light, red-gold lines tracing unfamiliar runes across its surface.
Steven frowned. "That energy signature... It's not Obsidian. It's not even Homeworld."
Kael stepped forward. "Then what is it?"
A voice answered—not with sound, but with pressure.
"Gemfire."
Everyone froze.
The pillar cracked.
And from it, a wave of heat burst out, flinging them back. Kael slammed into a wall, raising shadows just in time to soften the blow.
The light in the room twisted, converging into a form.
A humanoid Gem—tall, fire-wreathed, skin like molten crystal. Her gem pulsed like a sunstone gone nova.
"You woke me," she said, voice echoing with distortion. "So the Obsidian Line endures after all."
Kael stood, shadow flickering at his fingertips. "Who are you?"
The Gem's expression hardened. "I am Ignivite. The last of the Gemfire Legion. And you are the heir of my enemy."
Kael blinked. "What?"
Shadelace stepped forward. "Gemfire... that's ancient history. Even Homeworld's archives list them as myths. They were a splinter faction from before the First Era."
Ignivite's hands burned with restrained flame. "Not myths. Rebels. We challenged the Diamonds long before Obsidian. And he sealed us beneath his Cathedral to steal our flame."
Kael's stomach turned. "Obsidian did this to you?"
"Ignivite's tone darkened. "He feared our power. We fused light and heat, not shadow and stone. He saw us as competition. So he built this place atop our tomb."
Kael gritted his teeth. "That doesn't mean I'll finish what he started. I won't be his shadow."
Ignivite narrowed her eyes. "Then prove it."
She raised her hand, and the chamber shook.
Dozens of Gemfire Constructs emerged from the walls—blazing, half-molten forms shaped from fused cores and artificial flame. They surrounded Kael's group.
Steven summoned his shield. "Guess we're doing this the hard way."
Battle in the Hollow
Connie moved first, slicing through a construct with swift, practiced blows. Steven covered her flank, deflecting plasma blasts with perfect timing. Kael lunged forward, cloak flaring, his glaive splitting one construct through the chest before he vanished into shadow and reappeared behind another.
"I don't want to fight you," Kael said to Ignivite, even as he dodged another volley. "But I won't let you burn my people."
Ignivite descended, landing with a wave of heat that cracked the floor.
"You wear his throne. You wield his power. Prove you are different!"
Kael inhaled deeply.
Then he dropped the glaive.
He spread his arms—and the shadows around him rose like wings.
"I won't be your executioner," he said. "But I won't be your prisoner, either."
With a roar, the throne's essence surged up from the ground—not summoned by force, but called by will. The shadows responded to his intent, not violence, but purpose.
They formed a shield around Steven, Connie, and Shadelace.
Then they wrapped around the constructs, disarming them without destroying them. Locking them in crystal-like sleep.
Ignivite hesitated.
"You... you bound them. You didn't kill them."
Kael lowered his hands. "I don't want to be Obsidian. I want to be better."
Ignivite's fire dimmed.
For a long moment, the room was silent.
Then she knelt.
"I see now," she said. "You are not his shadow. You are his evolution."
Aftermath: Alliance Sparked
Kael helped Ignivite rise.
"I didn't know Obsidian did this," he said quietly. "But I'll free the rest of your people. I swear it."
Ignivite nodded. "Then the Gemfire will serve the Obsidian Court—not in chains, but in alliance. Light and shadow, together."
Steven gave Kael a proud grin. "Told you. You're building something bigger than war."
Peridot's voice came over the comm again. "Uh... not to ruin the moment, but I've got inbound warp signatures. Several dozen. And... Kael... Pyrope is back."
Kael's expression hardened.
"Then it's time to show her she's not fighting one throne anymore