Have no fear, chapter 7 is here! Please review everyone who gets to this chapter, I really need reviews. Also, fair warning, this chapter does start rather dark, but there will be light at the end of this tunnel. Anyhow, enjoy!
Shard found himself floating in the inky blackness of space, far away from any planets or stars. All around him he could hear screams of terror and pain, and moans of absolute despair. Yet he could see no-one. Slowly, every so incredibly slowly, a group far in front of him began to appear. He knew these people. They were the last generation from his home planet, everyone he'd ever known back there, and the many others from there he'd never personally seen, but knew of. All of them were thin and boney, most of them had large scars and wounds, and a few were missing limbs.
"Shard!" They all cried out to him, their voices, long forgotten by time, blending into a single note. "You abandoned us! You left us to die!"
"No, that's not true!" he said as he shook his head, trying to block out the accusations.
"You went off to save your own skin, you never came back to fight!"
"No!" He replied, still refusing to listen.
"You were a coward! You ARE a coward. And now look at you, you're a MONSTER!"
"I'm not a monster! I came back!"
More beings approached from a different side. The inhabitants of the world he'd left to so he could become strong enough to defeat the Gems. Most of them were now nothing but shadows of the men and women they once were.
"Betrayer! You worked with us for years and when the time to save us came, you broke your promise! You didn't save our planet. We all trusted you!"
"I tried to save you! I wasn't strong enough yet!"
"Liar!"
More and more beings appeared around him, all from the many worlds he had lived on or near in his long life. And all accused him of one thing or another, all testifying to his failure to save them. The battered him down with distortions of his life, claiming he was not the hero he tried so hard to be. And to a degree, he knew it to be true. While he had always tried his best to save the many worlds he had come across, in the end they had all fallen under the deadly fist of the homeworld Gems. But now, a new group was approaching from the last side. While the many voices of the other races continued around him, everything slowed down as he saw these new people.
There was Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, Steven, Lapis, and a whole crowd of humans behind. The humans were all very blurry as he had not met many of them yet, but the Gems… Beaten, broken, scratched up, and so very tired. All stared at him with disappointment and betrayal in their eyes.
"You've done this to us Shard. You let us down. Earth has fallen. What did you really think you could do, you let every planet you've ever been to die. You killed us all."
"That's not true! That can't be true! I've always done my best to save everyone!"
"Then you are just a weak failure. We should never have trusted you."
"How are you even gone?! I've only just come to your planet!"
"You've been the death of the others, and now you will be the death of us. You're nothing but a monster."
"I…, no, I can't be… I'm not a monster… not a monster…" he began to repeat to himself.
Now others appeared, but not as close. Off in the distance, surrounding him on all sides, were the giant heads of the many Gems that had caused the destruction around him. All of them began to laugh and mock him. All the others continued to batter him for his failures. Even after fading back into the darkness around him, their voices remained. A dark and very hot fire engulfed the horizon, slowly making its way towards him. As it passed the places the voices were coming from, they would all scream out, and then vanish back into the void. Soon the only ones who remained were Lapis and the Crystal Gems, a short distance away. The fire that was burning dark was getting close to even them, and was not long in reaching Shard himself. But then, Shard looked up at the Gems and the half Gem before him and stood.
"No. I may have failed to save several worlds before me, back before I became strong. But the Gem's trail of misery and destruction ends today. I will NOT let the Earth fall. You hear that world?! EARTH WILL SURVIVE!" he screamed at the darkness and the fire.
And as he said this, the fire died out, the Crystal Gems disappeared, and he fell. Right back down into the void below, down towards a little blue back-water planet in a small corner of the universe, Earth. Still falling, slower now, as he descended through the atmosphere, through the roof like a ghost, and landed back in his rightful body. And then, he woke up.
Taking back in his surroundings, he noted that it was early morning. Soon the others would be awake. He smiled. Looking down, he had a slight start as he saw that Lapis had healed and returned from her gem, although she was still asleep… curled up on his chest… maybe now would be a good time to start floating again… So he slowly floated off the couch while retaining his laying down position. Once a couple feet up, he gently wrapped his arms around Lapis and turned to the side until she was below him, then lowered her down to the couch. "Now, to get something to eat…" he thought as he turned around, only to see Amethyst out of her room early and smirking at him.
"I bet someone slept well." she said.
"Sh-shut up Amethyst…"
Woot! Done! So, how was my first dream chapter ever? I hope you all liked it. The next chapter will hopefully be out tomorrow, although no promises because sometime soon my computer had to have work done on it and I can't type while that's happening. Either way, I'll see you soon. BYE!
