29Prologue: Come Little Children…
After "Sadie's Song"…
Steven was sitting on his bed, watching the latest episode of "Crying Breakfast Friends" before going to bed. Today was a marathon leading up to an exciting new episode involving a new character: Bawling Banana. The series had previous gone through one of those weird week long hiatus(1), so Steven was waiting with anticipation…
"STEVEN! Time to go to bed!" called out Pearl having finally noticed the time. The episode was coming on a little later than it usually did.
"Ah, just a few more minutes?!" begged Steven hoping to see the end because Bawling Banana had not shown up yet.
"If there's one thing I know about human television shows, it's that they repeat themselves. Usually the next day." stated Pearl as she turned off the TV and tucked Steven into bed. Steven really wanted to see the end, but when Pearl enforced bedtime, there was no escape! So sighing, Steven went down to the bathroom to brush his teeth and put on his pajamas, while Pearl gathered the Gems for the goodnight kiss ritual.
Walking out of his bathroom and walking up the stairs, Steven lay in bed waiting for the Gems. Depending on what they were doing, they were usually pretty prompt with Pearl's summons. When they finally arrived, they each kiss him on the forehead and tucked him in. They then made their way to the Warp Pad.
"We'll back soon! Just wanna do one last look around for Peridot. Love you." stated Garnet as the Gems left for their night time mission. And with that Steven closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep… Only to be awoken by the sound of music playing outside. Opening his bedroom window, Steven heard the sounds of violins and woodwind instruments filling the air with a soothing tone, before a woman's voice sounded across Beach City.(2)
"Come little children, I'll take thee away,
Into a land of enchaaaantment.
Come little children, The time's come to play,
Here in my garden of shaaaadows.
Hearing the voice, Steven fell into a trance state. Slowly walking down the stairs, Steven went out through the front door. He slid down the sand cliff face to reach the bottom faster. Walking past Vidalia's house, Steven waited for Onion to climb out of his window to the ground, everyone else in the house sound asleep. Onion had…the same look on his face he usually does(3), and followed Steven as the music continued to play….
"Follow sweet children, I'll show thee the way,
Through all the pain and the sooorrows.
Weep not poor children, For life is this way,
Muuuurdering beauty and paaaassions.
As the pair made their way through Beach City, the small town was strangely quiet. It seemed that when the song began the people of Beach City fell asleep, some of them in the streets. Not that the children really were in any shape to investigate. Reaching Beach Citywalk Fries, Onion and Steven arrive to see…Peedee Fryman and Connie Maheshwan! They were also in the same trance like state Steven and Onion were in. Together they walked through the silent city, towards their final destination guided by the haunting melody on the wind…
"Hush now dear children, It must be this way,
To weary of life and deceeeeptions.
Rest now my children, For soon we'll away,
Into the calm and the quiiiiiet.
Eventually, the children came across an old abandoned building. It had at one point been a children's restaurant with animatronic figures and games. The windows were boarded up and paint was peeling from the walls. It was in a state of general disrepair. Yet the song seemed to be coming from this foreboding structure…
"Come little children, I'll take thee away,
Into a land of enchantment.
Come little children, The time's come to play,
Reaching the entrance, the doors creaked open, revealing a strange figure. A grown woman with four arms, wearing a black sleeveless dress, covered in body paint resembling a skeleton, and wielding a staff resembling a skull and spinal column!
"Here in my garden of shaaaaadows."
Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or SheZow nor 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. Just wanted to point out, we're following the main Steven Universe Timeline right now, not my other stories. Hope I presented a good hint there at the end! Read and Review please!
1 As the Steven Universe wiki indicate a similarity between CBF and SU, I take this as my opportunity to complain about the hiatuses Steven Universe undergoes.
2 "Garden of Shadows", a variant of "Come Little Children" in the Disney film Hocus Pocus popularized by Kate Covington on her YouTube channel Erutan Music on 2009.
3 Seriously is anyone else always unnerved by Onion's blank expression? I sometimes wonder if he's a little sociopath.