Original Idea by: Scraps
Collaboration work with: Shortsista
Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar
Chapter 12: The Girl with the Rose Colored Gem
[*]
Crystal Temple, 2 Weeks ago
Five months had passed since the big date Steven had with Connie. He was concerned that it had something to do with the "experience" he had on the bottom of the sea. Although he had seen Connie now and again, she seemed different from before. She was wearing more concealing clothing and she seemed more distant than before. Her strange behavior was making Steven very upset. He wanted to tell someone, but Garnet and Amethyst had apparently left to do something important, despite the fact that he could not find a note on where they were or what they were doing. At least Pearl was there to help he young gem in his time of depression. However, what Steven did not realize was that Pearl was changing. Her gem seemed to be dimmer and slightly cracked; her hair had dark grey strands in it, her blue eyes now had a small blend of black in them, like a shadow in a clear blue pond, and she looked thinner than usual. One night, after a failed attempted to talk to Connie involving a small confronting with Connie's father, Steven was on his bed sulking when Peal came by to comfort him.
"Hey Pearl…" Steven groaned before slamming his face into his pillow.
"Steven," said Pearl, who pulled Seven up from the bed and placed his head into her lap. "Are you still upset about that date with Connie?"
" I just don't know what I did wrong!" Steven said with tears in his eyes, "I wanted this date to be perfect but now I feel like a screw-up. What did I do wrong? Was it something I said? Something I did. I feel like such a failure."
The long nosed gem looked down at the crying boy in her lap, then she at him up and hugged him tight, pressing his head against her chest and rocking him slowly. Don't worry Steven;" she said to him in a soothing voice, "Everyone makes mistakes now and then, what matters are that you learn from them."
Steven looked up at Pearl, the lights of hope returning to his eyes. "What about the bigger mistakes like the Sea Spire, the mistake that cannot be fixed?" He was expecting a lecture of exceptions and experience but instead he felt Pearl's hands on his face on is as she kissed him on the forehead. This was followed by a simple response from Pearl that gave Steven a strange feeling of reissuance and discomfort:
"I will always forgive you."
Steven quickly slumped back into his bed as Pearl tucked him in, gave him a special sleeping mask, and gave him a kiss good night. Steven was happy to know that he still had a chance of making amends with Connie.
[*]
That night, as Steven was asleep, Pearl sat at the dinner table, her hands placed over her mouth and her eyes closed, as if she was waiting for something….or someone. Just then, she felt the sting of obsidian tears roll down her face. As she wiped a few from her eyes, she felt the air grow cold and stale, the pitch black darkness was a clear sign that he had arrived. Pearl then felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders, the hands, firm and cold, confirmed Pearl's fear and she knew why he was here.
"Please…" Pearl whispered in fear, as if speaking would anger the being behind her, "I don't want to do this anymore. I never wanted to do this."
She felt the figure bend down until his mouth was right next to Pearl's ear. The voice she heard made her blood run cold and a new flood of tears to flow from her eyes. It was the voice of a being known by many names. To some Gems: "Master Diamond," To others: "The Old King," but to Pearl, she knew him by one title:
"Father"
"The decision is not yours to make Vestibulum." Diamond hissed, his hands dug into Pearl's shoulders, causing blue blood to trickle between his hands, "You will do as I say because that is your purpose. You are a tool, an instrument conceived to do, as I demand, nothing more. Your mother's failure is the only reason why you breathe life."
Pearl took a deep breath before she replied, choosing her words carefully and logically. She knew that upsetting Diamond would lead to horrific consequences. She knew, from the day she first drew breath that he would show no mercy to her. Just like her mother.
"Have you applied the sleeping mask?" Diamond asked as his grip softened.
"Yes…he will not see it coming…" Pearl replied softly, "There has to be another way Master, why does Steven have to die?" The Gem Rose up from her seat and stood up to her Master.
"First you are angry at me for killing Rose, and now you DO want me to kill Stev-"
Within an instant, she felt one of Diamond's hands move to the back of her head and push with full force, smashing her face against the table, as he lifted he head and looked into her bloody face, he gave a scowl and he smashed her face into the table again, and again, and again. As he slammed her face onto the table once more, he waved his hands and summoned a large knife, which he plunged into Pearl's left hand. As Pearl screamed in pain, Diamond smashed her head into the table again, turning the shrieks into whimpers. The Master then summoned another knife before he began speaking to the servant before him.
"You continue to forget that you brought this on yourself." Diamond said in a stern voice as he bent down to Pearl, "if you had done what I asked and had not killed my sister, then there would be another way. You desired blood and now you will pay the price."
As soon as he finished, Diamond then plunged the second knife into Pearl's right hand, this time Pearl gritted as she felt blood flow from her hands. She then felt Diamond kick Pearl's chair away, forcing her to stand up while pinned to the table. As she did, she felt Diamond's hands slowly trace down her back. Pearl, knowing what Diamond was about to do, tried to struggle free, only to have Diamond slam her head down onto the table yet again, this time, he held her down by the neck.
"Master wait…stop!" Pearl tearfully begged as she felt her leggings being torn in the center, "I'LL BE GOOD! I WILL OBEY! I WILL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! I WILL BE YOUR LOYAL SERVANT! HAVE MERCY MASTER PLEASE! NO MASTER!"
"I know you will." Diamond hissed as he untraveled his cloak and positioned himself. Pearl could feel Diamond pressing up against her and then…
…penetration.
Pearl screamed and gasped with each thrust. To her, it felt as if she was being stabbed with a white hot metal rod repeatedly. She felt as Diamond's hands ripping off her tunic and digging into her back and breast, she felt the obsidian tears roll down her face; she felt the master's cold breath on the back of her neck. Pearl tried to shut her eyes, only for Diamond to force her to look by slamming her head into the table.
It felt like hours before Diamond released his essence within her. Pearl, exhausted from his actions, felt her legs give out and her body kneel onto the floor, she then felt Diamond remove the knifes from her hands as she fell onto the floor. As she looked onto her body, covered in sweat, bloody cuts, she looked where he stabbed her, and then she looked at where he "Stabbed" her. As she looked up at Diamond, she saw something that trembled with fear. She then felt his hand grab her by the top of her head, pulling her closer and closer to him. Pearl clamped her mouth shut, but it was no use as Diamond pulled on her head, causing her to scream and allowing him to shove it into her. He screams and cries were muffled by Diamond sliding down her throat. Pearl tried to pull away, but Diamond grip was too tight and his strength easily overpowered the Gem. Pearl felt Diamond place both of his hands on the sides of Pearls head, allowing him to control the movements much easier. After what seemed like ages, Pearl felt the inside of her mouth becoming warmer and the thrusts becoming faster. She knew what was happening and she tried to pull away, only to be yanked back even harder.
"Your resistance is only making your sentence harder." Diamond said with a stern tone, "Dont forget that you brought this on yourself."
With that, he gave one final thrust, shooting his essence down Pearl's throat, and filling her mouth. As soon as he pulled out, he quickly bent down and clamped his hand over Pearl's mouth. As the Gem tried to pull his hand away, she looked into the eyes of her master, the red eyes that burned right through her, and knowing she had no escape she swallowed the essence in the mouth. Diamond then discarded Pearl and stood back up, looking down at the naked and defiled Gem before her. He then turned his back away from her and approached the bed of the Sleeping Steven. As he gave a look of disgust at the half Gem before him and extended his hand to the boy.
"Deliquium gemma Deiparae!" Diamond muttered to Steven as the palm of his hand turned opened up, revealing a small toothed hole in his hand, "Te satis est commasculo in consiliis meis. et non potest inducere meus occidere te quia eg!"
Just then he felt a pair of hands tug on his cloak, as he turned around, he looked down to see Pearl over Steven, glaring at her Master with Obsidian Tears pouring down her face, leaving behind black pebbles on the floor around the room. After a few moments, Diamond sighed and bent down to the Gem before him.
"If you do not acquire the Vitae of Rose by the end of the month, you will share the same fate as your mother." Diamond hissed to the long-nosed Gem, "and do not forget that you have already provided me with a replacement should you fail."
Pearl cringed as she watched Diamond vanish. She then looked down at the sleeping Steven and gave him a kiss on his forehead. Followed by a single phrase:
"Ego voluntatem semperque ignosce vos!"
[*]
Crystal Temple, Present Day
The portal opened as the Gems stood out from it. First was Garnet, who first surveyed the area and then gestured for the other Gems to follow after. Second was Amethyst, and finally were Connie and Lion. The three Gems looked around the temple and saw it was a mess, debris was everywhere and the furnature was wreaked. It was as if a wild animal was loose in the room. Connie noticed a large puddle of bile and "pork chop" on the floor and the blood pile on the counter. As Garnet inspected a large covered pot, removed the cover to look inside, her face turned pail as she covered the pot, and turned away. As she and Amethyst looked around, they heard the Screams of Connie, who was trembling before the disembodied remains of Greg, lying on the couch alongside the decapitated Flesh puppet he made.
"Lion, take Connie outside now!" Garnet ordered Lion, Who took the disturbed Connie outside. As Amethyst looked closer to inspect the bodies, the purple Gem jumped back when the body of Greg started to move and whimper, it seemed that the obelisk was still intact.
"What the fuck happened here?" Amethyst said with a tone of disturbance as she watched Garnet break Greg's neck, allowing him to rest.
"I…." Garnet was speechless; she did not know what to do. That was until she saw the trail of blood leading to the door. "We need to find Pearl."
As the two Gems followed the blood trail, they were eventually lead to a large door, as they approached the door, they could hear a voice on the other side, it sounded like Pearl's.
"P..Pearl?" Amethyst said as she knocked on the door, "Its Garnet and Amethyst….can…can we come in?"
Before anyone could respond, Garnet activated her gauntlets and started to punch the door, even though the door was still intact, she kept punching repeatedly, until finally she was able to create such a powerful punch, it broke the door open. Allowing them to open the door and see what was inside the room, and what they saw would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
There was a room. The room was dark with no windows and lights, only light being the open doorway with the silhouettes of the two Gems sprayed onto the floor. The walls where covered in bloody writing that read the words "FAILURE," "SCREW-UP," "HELP ME," and "MISTAKE." In the center of the room was Pearl on her knees, her dress dirty and torn, her hair out of place, and her eyes were blackshot and pouring Obsidian Tears. In her hands was a large round object, about the size of a young boys head. She had the head pressed up to her stomach and was rocking it slowly like a baby. Next to Pearl was the headless torso of a boy, lying in a pool of blood with his gem missing.
"Don't worry Steven!" Pearl said in a calm singsong voice, "Everyone makes mistakes. I will always forgive you".
Garnet and Amethyst were speechless, standing there before the Insane Gem sitting on the floor. The Gem who was once known for laughing at Garnet's jokes, yelling at Amethyst for her annoying pranks and ensuring the welfare of Steven, the half-gem who was not gone because of her. The Two Gems looked at Pearl as she sung to the head in her arms, and then they looked at each other. Without a word, Amethyst turned around to wait outside, only to see Connie standing there, her eyes flowing with tears as she ran to see inside the room, only to have the pudgy Gem stop her. As the two of them looked at each other and then back at Garnet, who was still staring at Pearl, Amethyst escorted Connie out of the Temple, leaving Garnet alone with Pearl.
"Garnet!" Pearl exclaimed as she looked up at her Gem sister, "You know it's not his fault, it was an accident! If every pork chop where perfect, we would not have hotdogs! Right?
"Yes, Pearl..." Garnet gave a small smile as she wiped the tears off her face, "We wouldn't..."
She then turned and closed the door behind her and Pearl. Knowing what she had to do and knowing that even though it would be quick for Pearl, the pain would haunt Garnet for the rest of her life.