? The Caged Bird ? [Rebooted Reader Insert]

"Okay Lion, keep an eye on them while we try to do some research on them."

Lion grunts in affirmation, trotting over to his large, puffy pink bed while you cooed softly to yourself, already trying to climb into the feline's thick mane. After watching you get situated, Steven joined Connie beside the bench, where she was busy emptying out her satchel of its contents, which was essentially a couple of old books, including the old bestiary. "Okay, so what stuff did you find about sirens?"

Connie responded by taking out a notebook from her satchel, with the labled siren notes and flipped it open. After a brief skim through the notes of her research. "For starters," she pressed a finger into a page, in which Steven sat beside Connie to peer at the presented article. "I think they're omnivores, since the water siren feeds on fish and sea grass and the bird sirens fed on... meat."

"That sounds easy!" Steven noted. "We can collect seaweed right from nearby! And yellowtail catches fish, so we can just get those from there!"

Connie nodded and progressed to the other line of words. "Aaand... they usually live near the sea on rocky coasts and cliffsides."

"I basically live by a cliff near the sea." Steven mused, noting his beach house is literally built under a cliffside on a beach. "I think they should stay in my room. I also have a balcony, so they can hang out on there as well."

Connie sneered worriedly as she move onto the next line of notes. "Well... that's kind of the problem..."

Steven blinked. "Problem...?"

Connie winced once she re-read the paragraph a few times. "They... might actually be really dangerous."

Steven's face became pale. "W-What? How"

Connie bit her lip. "Well... not only do they grow to be like... 8 feet tall... But it turns out, it's true about their singing; it has this... really strong hypnotic power to them." Connie read through her notes again, her eyes darkening with even more worry with each word she read. "And they used them to lure sailors into... crashing their ships... and to just lure them overboard in general. And it... didn't even say why they did."

Steven felt something freeze in his chest. "It... didn't?"

He's no stranger to any threats to his City, let alone earth itself. He's dealt with them for the most part of his life, and has ultimately overcame them in one piece.

But for some reason, this felt different. Not only was it a 'danger' from earth, but this a conflict that was likely older than the Gem War itself. And unlike Gems, these creatures seemed to be far more complex than he anticipated...

Causing shipwrecks for no notable reason...?

He took his attention off the article to check on you, who was still blissfully playing with lion's face, cooing and squeaking to yourself in interest. At some point, lion pressed his muzzle against your forehead and gave it a light lick, which, earned him a squawk in delight, as you rolled onto your back, pawing playfully at him.

Something about you being so cheerful over the littlest thing caused his heart to twist.

"I... er... ma-maybe those were accidental...?" Steven heard himself say. "I-I mean, come on... they can't possibly do that... on purpose... right...?"

He met Connie's eyes, and he could tell that from the look on her face, she didn't seem to have faith in his claim. "Well... uhm..."

"Come on..." Steven tried to smile, but it strai She could swear she almost heard a horrified/desperate note in his voice. "Y-You're not thinking they'll... grow up to be like that, are you?"

"No! No no, it's not that! I-It's just..." Connie was quick to assure him, sputtering for the right words to say. "Maybe we should be more cautious of them. We don't know if it's a genetic instinct or--"

"Th-That can't be possible... that's the only siren we've ever seen so far!" He insisted, unaware of the sharp edge his voice had suddenly taken. "They couldn't know about any of the sinking ships stuff! A-And who knows, It was written like... a thousand years ago. It's all probably... outdated by now."

"Well..." Connie found herself edging away from the suddenly defensive boy, biting her lip as her eyes switched between steven, you and her notes again. Even with a few doubts in her mind, she couldn't deny that he had a point. After all, there has been no recorded ship wreck that came from beach city, let alone any sightings of sirens of any kind around. "I guess..." Her voice was slightly quiet as she shut her notebook.

"But, how's everyone going to react to this?" She pressed on. "I mean, there might be some people in town that won't trust them because of the legends. We live near the ocean! Then there's Ronaldo and his blog..."

Steven withered slightly at the mention of the conspiracy enthusiast. The books and articles were bad as it is, but who knows what facts and assumptions he would come up with? And the general thought of you being distrusted due to something your ancestors did gave him an uncomfortable tightness in his chest, like a sharp rock was lodged in his ribs.

"Well... that's not fair..." he grumbled, almost sounding defeated. "Sirens were probably here even before gems were, but they're still labeled as bad because of what they did in the past..."

He he was quiet for a moment, before he lifted his head, offering the faintest smiles. "Maybe we'll change that."

Connie side glanced him. "You think?"

"Yeah! Remember? After we teach this one how to get along with humans, they can pass on what they know to other sirens!" He sat up straighter, enthusiastic at the thought.

Connie bit her lip. "Yeah... but... I don't think it'll be that easy, though..." she fretted, avoiding Steven's eyes. "They're completely different from gems... and this stuff has been around longer than gems have been on earth."

"We can handle it!" Steven turned to face Connie, who found herself repressing a wince at the pleading look he had now. "I know we don't know much about sirens... but gotta give them a chance. If we've changed the future for gemkind for the better... we can definitely do it Sirens!"

Connie stared at him in silence. Even if she was still apprehensive with the whole mythos care, she had to give you the benefit of the doubt. After all, it's not like you knew what your future held.

Besides, the determined, pleading look on Steven's face, told her she couldn't talk him out of it anyhow.

She sighed. "Okay. I'm in."

Steven let out a huff, like he were holding his breath. "Thanks, Connie!" He then turned and called over to you. "Hey buddy, come here!"

You gave a soft chirp in question, approaching the two humans, to which Steven gets up from his spot on the bench and crouches to your height, still wearing an enthusiastic grin. "Guess what?" He greets to you enthusiastically, prompting you to return his smile.

"You just became a Crystal Gem!"

Your eyes went wide in astonishment. You had no idea what that even meant, but you still found yourself excited at the proclamation.

I'm a Crystal Gem! You squeaked happily, your wings fluttering in excitement. Steven chuckled and scooped you up under your arms, holding you up so you can look at him. "Glad to have you on the team as well."

Connie giggled weakly, exchanging a worried glance with lion. "So uh... what do we tell the gems then?"

"Oh, that'll be easy, we just tell them!" Steven beamed, hugging you into his chest. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll understand!"