Prologue: Innocent Past

Millennia ago (6000 years)…

Rose Quartz stood on the sandy dune overlooking the beachside with a small smile gracing her face. Below, both Gems and Warriors were socializing after a hard fought War against the Diamond Authority and the Shear Dominion.(1) The older members conversed and party in hopeful tones, while the younger members played around in the sand like children. Any divide between them forgotten for this one glorious day! Rose sighed happily at the sight…

"I hope you realize that this will not last." stated Lord Titanium plainly, standing like a stoic guardian behind Rose.

Rose huffed and replied, "You should really learn to live in the moment. We have accomplished much and they deserve a moment to enjoy their victory."

"But as the leaders of our respective forces, we need to look to the future." retorted Titanium before continuing, "The deactivation of the Kindergarten release many corrupted Gems into the world and we have already seen that your healing abilities are not enough to return them to their original form."

Rose stared sadly at a scene of a young Amethyst and Mercury chasing each other around, using their respective shapeshifting abilities to add to the fun, "And what would you suggest?"

"Containment…at least until a treatment can be fully utilized. My Warriors seem immune to whatever causes Gems to be corrupted, so they will stand guard over whatever site chosen to keep them." explained Titanium, in a logical tone of voice.

Rose thought about Titanium's suggest before replying, "As much as I trust the skill of your Warriors, there are Gems who would disagree because of our two races…past differences. Besides, I could not simple resign a Gem to indefinite captivity. There must be another way."

"Ah, my child. The answer you seek lies with compromise." stated Aurum(2), leader of the combined forces of Gems and Warriors. With a goldstone gem in his third eye chakra, Aurum form was a golden variation of an elderly Eastern holy man, with a golden monk staff in his right hand, holding him up. As a hybrid between Warrior and Gem, Aurum was respected by both sides for his wisdom and strength. It was he who help Rose and Titanium to see the potential of Humanity.

"Master!" exclaimed Titanium and Rose at the same time before bowing to their old teacher.

Aurum laughed softly before motioning his pupils to rise before he continued explaining, "As I said, a compromise will solve this problem. It is true that we cannot allow the corrupted Gems, but it is also true we cannot simply lock them away without even trying to save them. I believe, Titanium, that you have a facility built in the black forest that could keep them contained?"

"Yes, though I thought the idea was to treat them as well as contain them?" queried Titanium in response.

"Yes, which is why the Gems will provide healers and designs for additional treatment facilities. And once we have rounded up all the corrupt Gems, Rose can focus her time on healing our wounded sisters." Aurum finished explaining.

Rose and Titanium mulled over Aurum's plan, trying to see if anything could go wrong. It was not that they didn't have faith in their teacher, quite the opposite. But Aurum never allowed anyone to simple agree with his suggestion, because he knew he was as capable of mistake as the next person. See no fault with the plan, Titanium and Rose began discussions on how to make it a reality.

Rose decided that the scientific head of the project had to be Onyx, a cool logical Gem, while the head of the healers had to be Jade, a warm compassionate individual who studied the healing arts as well as combat. Titanium decided that the head of security had to be Wolfram, a no nonsense Warrior respected for his ability to lead other Warriors through the thick of combat with no causalities. There were additional details, such as ways to keep the facility isolated from humans and methods of keeping the creatures contained, though they had to be reformed occasionally to apply new methods. There was just one little detail left to be decided…

"This project needs a name!" declared Titanium, standing up in a dramatic poses.

Rose giggled at Titanium's few and far between antics, then she spotted a little creature on the ground. It was ball of spins with a long anteater nose. Picking the creature up, Rose struggled to remember what the humans called this adorable little thing. Then she remembered and smirked at the rather ironic name for the cute little creature. Then she turned to Titanium with the creature nestled in her arms (the spines not hurting in the least) and said;

"Why not…Project Echidna!"

Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or any characters or elements that are contained in the series. I only own this story and the original characters (i.e. villains and monsters) and concepts that go with it. Nice to be back, my father is getting better and should be home in a week or so. That means you might see more updates from me sooner. I stress 'might' because of chance and happenstance. Hope you like this little look into the past (and I know that Echidna was named by European explorers and probably wasn't named at this point in the story, but I had to come up with a reason for Rose to help in something named after a mythological monster). Anyway, be sure to Read and Reviw!

1 Diamond Authority is a favored name for the Homeworld Gems government, while Shear Dominion is a name I made up for the Warriors' counterpart on Allo.

2 The voice actor for Aurum I had in mind would be either Randall Duk Kun (Voice of Oogway in 'Kung Fu Panda') or Brian George (voice of Guru Pathik in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender')