~O~
Chapter Twenty-One: House of Horror
"Why does it keep coming back?"
"Go back to sleep. It's okay."
"No! Let us look upon the face of the traitor!"
Steven wandered through the snowy storm and found himself standing before another link of chain. It was covered in ice.
"Please," he said, "Let me see you."
A moment of hesitation passed from the enormous being.
Then, at last; a hoof stepped into the light. Steven watched, his features gradually changing from confusion to shock as the great form of the creature slowly appeared before him.
It was enormous; larger than Malachite or Carnelian. It had pale, sick blue skin and was crouched on four legs that had been bound by the links of a frozen chain all the same. The chains were glowing, as if they somehow kept this creature from escaping.
The most unsettling thing about the being before him were the two faces fused to one head; one was bright red, caught in the middle of a grimace of rage. The other was a passive, white, serene face with sad eyes. Long, black hair trailed down its back and across its shoulders like snakes.
"Welcome, little one," the serene voice spoke and the head rotated on those shoulders, grinding like a statue. "I think it's time that we spoke."
The head rotated so that the angry face was facing Steven now. "Liar! Little liar! You'll lie to us like everyone else!"
Again, the head rotated, speaking calmly. "It's okay, let me speak. You're fine."
Steven was both stunned and mildly frightened by this being. it was clearly a fusion of gems given the appearance of a circular stone at the center of their chest.
"Who..." he began. "Who are you?"
"It's been a long time since we were separated, little one," the serene voice continued, "White Diamond took to calling us...Diopside. A fitting name, given the circumstances. We are just one of her many...pet projects. A living horror of her madness."
"Madness?" Steven asked, "What do you mean?"
"There is madness in the obsession for Order," Diopside explained, "Believe us. We have seen the true face of White Diamond. You have seen it. We understand. It's hard to know what you know and fear sharing it with others. What would they do? How would they feel?"
A heavy sigh, a collection from both faces.
"We hated one another, you know," Diopside continued, still strangely peaceful, "Even when we had taken the side of Rose Quartz, we fought each other constantly."
"Wait, you were in my mom's army?" Steven looked shocked.
"Oh yes. We served her...very loyal to her...in the war and fought for this planet," Diopside said. Her eyes closed for the moment before she continued. "White Diamond found us. She exploited our loathing for one another by forcing us to fuse. And..."
A pause. A shaking whisper. A large hand raised itself toward the chains around its body.
"Don't tell!" the enraged voice snarled. "Mustn't speak! Not its business!"
"Shh..." the soft voice assured the secondary face. "It's okay. He will learn eventually."
A few heavy steps as the fusion turned; the chains that bound her rattled slightly and Steven felt himself stepping back.
Another sigh.
"Rose Quartz had shattered Pink Diamond. Upon this, the others of her cut had been hidden away. Only we knew where they were." Diopside began. "It's... It's hard to remember sometimes. It's been so long. White Diamond found us. She had forced us to fuse to one another. She...She tortured us. For thirty years, we remained under her knife. And every day, we told her how we truly felt about her."
Steven's eyes widened. "Thirty years?" he exclaimed.
"Indeed." Diopside exhaled softly. "For thirty years, she would ask us where the Rose Quartz's were hiding. And for thirty years, we gave her nothing." Her voice began to shake and a small sob escaped her. "But after those thirty years, we just...couldn't do it anymore. We couldn't. We gave her everything."
Steven noticed the angry face had begun to shed tears. They trickled down her face in rivers. The serene face had begun to cry too. Clawed hands rose to cover their faces and soft weeping sounds escaped them.
"No... You were tortured...for thirty years?" Steven felt his heart breaking at the thought of it.
Diopside lowered her hands, settled herself onto her elbows and spoke evenly to him.
"If White Diamond could torture us for that long," she continued, her voice haggard. "If she can patiently wait thirty years for what she wants... What do you think she's going to do to all of you?"
"Torture us!" the enraged voice groaned. "Loathes us! Pain... No, you know not of pain! It knows nothing of pain! Shut up! Leave us!"
Steven thought about her words for a while. Then, he looked up at her.
"I'm sorry."
Diopside reacted a little with a soft, surprised sound. Steven started to cry. He shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry that happened to you," he said, "You didn't deserve any of that. None of you did. I wish I could have helped more. Maybe if I did..."
Diopside's two faces seemed surprised by his sympathy. Then, the passive face smiled sadly.
"You don't need to cry for us, little half-breed. It is us who should weep for you," she told him, "We weep because we know what White Diamond wants to do with all of you. And it horrifies us. It horrifies us so much."
The enraged voice cackled. "Wait for it, half one! Wait to suffer!"
Steven shook his head, a small sound escaping him.
"We can still help you!" he told her. "Just tell us where you are!"
"Oh..." the peaceful voice exhaled sadly, "Don't worry for us, little half-breed. We have long since remained in the dark as we are. It is our calling now." A small chuckle escaped her. "You are kind, but only the living can redeem themselves. We cannot..."
A heavy thud as Diopside turned, revealing long, strings of black hair on her rippling back.
"Leave us. We will do you no good."
O
Steven couldn't eat his breakfast that morning.
Spinel was humming a tune to herself as she walked to the fridge. "Steven!" she said. "Why the long face?"
Steven looked up at her when she removed a glass cup from the cabinet. "Spinel. Do you know anyone named Diopside?"
"Diopside?" she asked, frowning.
Steven frowned. "Yeah. There's this gem I've been seeing in my dreams. Only she's a fusion and...a really scary one too. But I don't think she was fused on her own." He looked at her curiously and approached, noticing how shaken Spinel suddenly looked. "Spinel? Spinel. Did you know her?"
Spinel's eyes narrowed a little and she rubbed her head with one hand. "I remember something about that name..." she told him. "About how there was a laboratory that White Diamond kept hidden from the other two Diamonds. Somewhere cold. That name was mentioned once. But I think it's just spooky rumors, you know?"
"Do you remember anything else?"
"No. I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Steven sighed and leaned back in his seat. "This is crazy! How can we find her if we don't even know where she is?"
Spinel looked at him sympathetically. "White Diamond's labs were usually kept secret." she told him. "It's probably not a place any of us can find. Not even me. And I've been EVERYWHERE."
"But you've been there before?"
"Once. For a message." Spinel blinked rapidly. "I - I think?" She looked confused now. "I might? I don't know..."
A sigh from Steven. "That's okay. We'll figure it out." he told her, patting her hand once.
Steven had been working all morning in his head to figure out where White Diamond's laboratory was. He could only think of a few places that would be cold, but it did nothing to narrow it down for him. Her lab could have been anywhere in the world. Spinel wouldn't be able to help him as she claimed not to remember where it was. He didn't know what to do about it.
"Spinel, we really need to find Diopside," Steven argued, "If we can, maybe she can help us understand what White Diamond's plan is."
Spinel was eventually occupying her time with a painting in the living room. She smiled after a moment and leaned back to study what she'd made; an odd splash of green and red with eyes.
"Wow! I think I'm getting better!" she said, "Amethyst was right; I can be whatever I want! Spinel's aren't artists, but look at me!"
Steven sighed and looked down at the painting. He frowned curiously before looking at her. "What's it supposed to be?" he asked.
"I don't know. But I had a dream about it." Spinel said.
Steven sighed, but looked outside to find Connie and Jasper training together. He raised an eyebrow and smiled a little.
"Well, it's good to see Connie and Jasper training," he said. "I know she really wanted to. But I really need to tell everyone about it. They could help."
Steven gathered everyone into the kitchen and explained his dream to them.
"...I can't see what it is, but there's two of them," he explained, making gestures with his hands. "It's snowing too. And they're upset. I tried to talk with them, but they won't listen."
Pearl frowned thoughtfully. "Can you remember anything else?"
"No. But there were these really huge chains covered in ice." Steven continued. "And the voices told me not to try and help them. I'll be hurt like they were." He sighed, slouching his shoulders. "I don't know. It has to be a gem."
It's probably your mind connecting to this gem," Pearl explained. "The way it had with..." She trailed herself off, daring a fleeting glance at Jasper before continuing. "...In the past. Listen, Steven; if it's a gem who needs our help, we can do whatever we need to. But we can't afford to be reckless. Especially now."
A small nod from Steven.
"We need to find this fusion," Garnet said now, "If she knows about White Diamond and what she could be planning, it would help us."
Spinel looked troubled. Amethyst caught her look and frowned.
O
It had taken most of the morning.
Researching anything at Pink Diamond's library had yielded absolutely no results for them. But Garnet had searched the upper levels and uncovered a scroll. She dusted it off, tilted her head with a curious sound and opened it up. There were marks along a map of the Earth; each symbol indicated what looked like gem structures.
Only one was marked on Antarctica. She made another thoughtful sound and returned to the temple. The others had been waiting for her and turned their focus to the warp pad when she appeared.
"I believe I've located White Diamond's laboratory," Garnet informed them. "It was hard, but I managed to find parchment of a map."
She held up the scroll in her hand and unraveled it in front of them, revealing several marked locations tagged with red circles. Only one was marked in Antarctica and Garnet indicated it.
"This is the only marked gem facility that's been posted in a cold location as Spinel described." Garnet continued. "I believe that is where we're going and where we will find Diopside."
Spinel stared at the map curiously. "Whoa, so you found a map? It's like treasure hunting!"
"In a sense," Garnet replied, attempting to be supportive. "But Spinel, you've been to White Diamond's laboratory. You surely know something about it."
Spinel made a face. She tried thinking, but every time she tried to remember, it wasn't like the static images from before. It was different. She couldn't find the memory no matter how hard she searched.
It was like walking in a dark tunnel with no end in sight. No light to guide her.
"I'm sorry, Garnet." Spinel told her, making a face. "I was only there once. But I don't remember anything else about it."
"That's alright, Spinel." Garnet assured her. "You can come with us. Maybe when we get there, it might jog your memory."
Spinel nodded. "Okay."
Garnet looked down at Steven. "You'll need to stay bundled up on this trip, Steven." she reminded him.
O
The warp pad had been frozen.
Traveling through the snow storm wasn't the worst part for the group. It was struggling to see ahead of them. Spinel had frozen icicles on her nostrils, Amethyst had taken the form of a bear and Jasper's mane of hair was coated in snow. Pearl moved closer to her and Garnet held Steven to her chest to keep him warm.
"Are we close?" Steven yelled, through the blizzard.
"We're close!" Garnet yelled back.
True to her words, the towering form of a mountain appeared in their field of vision. Build into the mointain of ice was gem architecture at its finest; images of White Diamond had been crafted on either side of the massive double doors before them. Overall, it was fairly humble outside for a Diamond facility.
"Let's get inside!" Garnet shouted to the others. "Steven needs to get warm!"
Jasper made her way to the doors and grunted as she heaved them open. Almost immediately, Spinel froze where she stood. The others quickly filed in, but noticed that Spinel wasn't moving. She seemed to stare at the door, almost confused.
The sound echoed loudly in her mind, replacing the present day with an image of the facility; new, uncracked and as perfect as White Diamond herself.
Pearl and Steven started to enter the building, but stopped and looked back toward Spinel.
"Spinel?" Steven said.
Spinel seemed like she was lost in her own world. Her eyes were distant, staring through them.
"Spinel? Come on! Get inside!" Amethyst called.
Spinel shook her head rapidly, but quickly hurried inside with them.
The internal halls were pitch black, but Pearl and the others applied their gem's light to see. A fair amount of gem technology lined the walls, along desks and tables. But it seemed that most of it had been enchased in layers of ice.
From the looks of it, this laboratory had been neglected for a very long time.
"Well, are you sure this is the place?" Pearl asked.
"Quite sure." Garnet replied.
They looked around the room they stood in. It looked like a security checkpoint of some kind, but a very old one by Homeworld standards. There was a glass chamber nearby where a clerical gem was likely to have been stationed. Old tablets and various other items littered the floor. It seemed like long ago, they had left this place in a hurry. After all, most gems had to be quickly evacuated before the Diamond's had unleashed their weapon.
The whistling of the wind echoed around them, giving the dark room a very eerie feel. The sound of water dripping resonated in the distance. It was unsettling.
"I don't think I like this place…" Spinel said, uneasy.
"Spinel, stay close to me," Amethyst instructed. "I'll watch out for ya'."
Spinel managed a weak smile in response. But the look that crossed her face seemed to concern Amethyst a bit. Whatever was here, couldn't be good.
A soft sound of metal groaning in the distance made the gems look up quickly.
"What was that?" Steven asked.
"It's the facility. It's old." Garnet reminded them. "Let's keep looking. I'm sure Diopside can't be difficult to miss."
The gems started forward, all the while studying their surroundings. It seemed that the deeper they got into the facility, the darker it felt. Jasper paused before a room and Pearl caught it.
"Jasper?" she said.
Jasper furrowed her brow. "I thought I heard something."
A scuttling sound. Like finger rapping on a counter top.
She looked up with a grunt of alarm as a disembodied white limb crawled across the floor. A white arm that Jasper immediately dispelled with a stomp of her foot. A single white shard laid uselessly in front of her in place where the limb once crawled.
Pearl's features filled with unease. "Shattered gem shards?"
Jasper picked up the white shard and studied it in her hand. She furrowed her brow. "Grey Star Sapphire." she said. "Some of White Diamond's lab workers."
"Were they here the whole time?" Steven had wandered up to them, curious by what had been going on.
Jasper wandered into the room; it was a storage hall. She noticed beakers, tablets and crates of items lining the wall. There was also a hammer lying nearby where other white arms surrounded it, squirming uselessly against one another.
They'd shattered themselves.
Jasper was familiar with the sight. She'd seen it enough in battle to know why gems did this.
"Let's get rid of these…" she said, softly.
"Right." Pearl murmured, quiet in the wake of this revelation.
They worked on dispelling the limbs, but Pearl paused when she noticed something on the wall. The others had started to file their way out, but Jasper stopped when she noticed Pearl wasn't following them. She frowned.
"Pearl?" she said.
"I'm…I'm coming." Pearl told her.
She glanced back at the message that had interested her. Scrawled in gem.
It read: "Forgive us."
O
The halls were expansive and seemed to go on forever. The walls were coated in ice and the floors slick with water. No one had seen anything out of the ordinary or any signs of Diopside. In fact, minus the shards they'd seen, the laboratory seemed abandoned completely.
"Maybe this wasn't it…" Steven said, defeated.
"It had to be. This is the perfect location, after all." Jasper replied. "Not many humans to pester White Diamond."
Spinel paused while they continued to walk. She looked around, furrowing her brow as she stared into a room filled with cages. Curiously, she walked inside and looked around.
A flash of slavered teeth.
Spinel flinched as she recoiled from one of the cages. She frowned and looked around, seeing images flash in her mind of twisted abberations; corrupted and non-corrupted gems alike in the throes of agony. Claws against cages.
"Spinel!"
She snapped out of her reverie and looked down at Amethyst, who had been standing there attempting to get her attention. The look on her face immediately put Amethyst on guard. Spinel looked…scared. But not like her usual fear that she'd seen before.
"Spinel, are you okay?" Amethyst asked. She took her hand and furrowed her brow. "Dude, you're shaking. What's wrong?"
Spinel shook her head. "I don't like this place…" she said, her voice soft and tight with fear.
"Yeah, I don't blame you. It's pretty creepy." Amethyst remarked.
Spinel whimpered now and her eyes began to fill. "I…I think I did something bad, Amethyst."
"What? What are you talking about?"
Spinel's eyes wandered and she bit her lip. "I've been here before. But something happened. I think I saw something I wasn't supposed to."
She whispered it under her breath, leaning close to Amethyst so that only she could hear her. Amethyst looked over her shoulder for a moment and she put her hands on Spinel's shoulders.
"Okay, listen," she said, evenly. "Whatever it is, we can all deal with it, Spinel. But you have to tell us what happened. We need to know what you know."
Spinel nodded, a hesitant smile lighting her face. Then, she saw another flash fill her head. An image of herself facing a cell and crying out in fright.
Static.
"Hey, Spinel? Amethyst?" Steven poked his head in the room. He looked around with unease before noticing Spinel's condition. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Spinel lied.
She was clearly so terrible at lying; it was evidenced by her grimace. Most gems were aware of the fact that Spinel's were never good at lies. They were made only to speak truth and only to be truthful to themselves. Attempting to lie in any way went against her entire gem make.
"Spinel, you're lying," Amethyst said, frowning.
"N-No I'm not."
"You're doing it again!"
Pearl, Jasper and Garnet entered the room, having noticed that the others hadn't been following. Spinel shuddered, eyes wandering around like a frightened mouse. Jasper leaned down on one knee and faced her, gaze intense.
"Spinel," she said, harshly. "Tell us what you know."
"I-I don't…" Spinel wavered, her eyes filling. "I'm trying to remember. I know I've been here, but I saw something. Something I shouldn't have seen."
"You're not remembering anything because you repressed it," Jasper said, realization lighting her face. "Huh. Don't look at me like that. I know a thing about repressing memories."
Pearl made a face and looked away. She didn't want to go back to that place involving Jasper's dealings with Yellow Diamond.
Spinel looked down, features twisting before she nodded. "I…I was here. I remember coming here to find White Diamond. I had a message for her…"
Another flash of memory returned, unwanted.
Spinel wandered into the laboratory, confused to find no one present. She scratched her head and put her hands on her hips.
"Okay, well, no one's here," she mused, to herself, "Hm. Must be off on a break."
"I…I walked down the hallways, but no one was around. I didn't know what else to do. I had a message to deliver from Pink Diamond. It was important…I think. I don't know, but the Rebels were really pushing hard. But it was really dark. I could barely see anything. I just…"
"Spinel, it's okay." Garnet assured her. "We can keep looking. You don't have to think about it anymore."
Jasper scowled at her. "If you continue to coddle her, she won't be able to confront the thing she's so afraid of!"
"It's not coddling, Jasper. We need to keep her focused."
Spinel seemed to hesitate even more, but nodded.
O
The gems wandered deeper into the facility, jumping every so often at the sounds of wind and metal groaning with age. Pearl sought to ease the tension with humorous stories. Jasper chimed in as well and they exchanged tales of battle and what they had seen.
"I don't want to be here." Spinel said. "I want to go home."
Garnet turned to her now. "Spinel, we need your help."
"No." Spinel said it with such force that it actually surprised everyone there. Never had she raised her voice and never had she looked at them the way she was. But the force was smothered with a shaking fear in her tone.
"Okay," Amethyst assured her, reaching out two hands. "Spinel, we can figure this out on our own. You can go home."
Spinel never looked more relieved than she did right now.
But it started a chain of arguments from the others - mostly from Jasper and Amethyst. She barely listened to them.
"I don't like this…" Spinel mumbled.
[I don't like this.]
Spinel paused and looked down a hallway, poorly lit by a glowing whiteness in the distance. She started to follow the others, but the voice repeated itself. It was so very familiar and a sound that gave her a feeling of content. Familiarity. She knew the voice from somewhere.
"H-Hello?" she called, hesitantly making her way toward the sound.
[HelloHelloHello.]
The voice seemed to parrot anything spoken from her, so Spinel cautiously continued to follow until she stopped in front of a dented doorway. The white light shined from below and she looked over her shoulder again before calling down, holding herself tightly.
"Hey. I'm… I'm here."
[Ha-HAY. I'm here.]
The voice… Why did it sound like…
Spinel carefully made her way down the stairs that led deeper into the facility. The ceilings were vast, fit for a Diamond to move around. The walls were cold and chilled, white metal chipped away from age. Spinel used her gem to be able to see better.
"Hey."
[Hey.]
Spinel paused once she reached the bottom step and she noticed an enormous set of double doors before her. Curious, she cupped her mouth and called again, noticing the white light glowing from the cracks of the doors.
"I'm Spinel, how are you?" she called, managing a weak smile.
[I'm Spinel. How are you?]
It made her forget her fears for a moment and she couldn't help her giggle. Whatever it was, it seemed harmless to her.
"No, I'm Spinel." she said, to the door.
[No, I'm Spinel.]
Spinel made a face before she looked around. "Are you behind this door?"
[Are you behind this door?]
"Yeah?"
[Yeah.]
"Are you in trouble?"
[Are you in trouble.]
The repeated voice didn't question as she had. It was more of a statement. Like an emotionless mimicry more than anything. Spinel looked around for some way to open the door before she noticed a piece of metal lying on the floor.
She placed it into the cracks of the door and attempted to use leverage to open it. Slowly, ever so slowly, the doors began to creak open. A wash of stale air passed over Spinel and she grimaced, waving a hand through her hair to be rid of the dust that had gotten on her.
It was dark inside this room, but Spinel's gem cast an eerie glow in front of her.
"Are you in here?" she called.
[Are you in here?]
"Uh, yes?" Spinel said, frowning.
[Uh, yes.]
Spinel took a step inside the room. She passed an enormous cell where the walls had been lined with violent scratches.
Something moved in a cell next to her.
Spinel turned, cast the light into the cell. Her eyes slowly widened and she began to waver, fear and sorrow touching her face.
"A-Amethyst?" she called.
The others were looking for Spinel when they heard her call for help.
"Spinel!" Amethyst shouted, cupping her mouth. "Spinel, where are you?'
Spinel screamed.
"AMETHYST!"
That spurred them on with Amethyst leading the way. They followed the sound of Spinel's scream to the stairway and quickly rushed down to find her.
"Spinel!" Amethyst called, "Where are you?"
Silence.
This began to worry Amethyst as she frantically searched the room for Spinel. The gems shined their gem light around before they noticed Spinel kneeling with her back to them.
"Spinel, are you nuts?" Amethyst cried, rushing up to her. "Why'd you go off by yourself like that?"
Spinel was staring into a large, expansive cell, her features blank. She looked like she was in shock. Amethyst frowned worriedly.
"Spinel?" she said.
"Spinel, are you okay?" Steven asked, approaching.
Amethyst waved a hand in front of Spinel's face, noticing no reaction to the gesture. Jasper grunted and also approached.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" she demanded.
"I thought they'd all died…" Spinel finally mumbled, her voice shaken in broken notes. "I thought my sisters were gone for good. But they've been here the whole time."
Amethyst furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
[What do you mean?]
The echo came from inside the cell, which turned their attention toward it. Spinel reached one hand, palm out. After a few moments, a shaking, dull pink hand reached out to her. Spinel's eyes began to fill and a small sob escaped her.
Steven frowned and Jasper's gem shone light inside the cell.
She saw a large, pale pink form. A leg. Another leg.
And another.
And another.
An eye.
A few dozen eyes.
Rivers of tattered, pink hair.
Jasper's furious scowl slowly drained into a grimace of horror. She could hear equally disturbed sounds from the others.
What was housed within that cell consisted of a cluster mess of what could only be a collection of spinels.
O
Spinel was sitting on the couch, staring off in a catatonic state. She hugged her knees to her chin and while the others continued to search White Diamond's laboratory, Connie and Amethyst attempted to get her to speak. But Spinel hadn't said a word since she returned. Garnet had poofed the cluster of spinels in the cell and assured her that they could rest.
"Spinel, no one's blaming you for what happened to those gems." Amethyst insisted. "You didn't put them in there."
Spinel exhaled quietly. "I'm a bad gem..."
"No, you're not!" Connie insisted. "It wasn't your fault!"
"No one's angry at you, Spinel." Amethyst added.
Spinel continued to sit there in silence. Connie and Amethyst put their arms around her. They didn't know what else to do.
Meanwhile, the others continued their search through the laboratory and came up to a large door, high enough for a Diamond to walk through. A mark on the wall beside the door looked similar to that of the crashed ship that housed the Centipeedles. Jasper ran her finger over it before she noticed a scratched message on the wall.
Through order we strive. Through madness we evolve.
She didn't know what that meant, but pressed her hand to the pad and the door roared open. It was dark in the room all the same. It felt colder here somehow, especially to Steven. He shivered and held himself, mumbling under his breath.
"I really hope we find Diopside soon. I'm l-losing feeling in my b-body." he stammered.
"I understand something of that."
The familiar voice of Diopside filled the air. The gems immediately stood at the defense and looked around, their light shining about before Pearl noticed an enormous, distended arm in the darkness, bound by a glowing chain. She focused her attention further upwards, finally noticing the mismatched face of Diopside staring down at them.
She gave a start and staggered back. It warranted no change in reaction from the enormous fusion. Perhaps she was used to horrified stares.
"Why are you here?" Diopside asked, her calm voice filling with a faint edge. Her gaze focused on Steven now. "I told you not to come here. I asked and you dishonored my request."
Steven looked down, ashamed for a moment before he looked up at her. "I'm sorry, but we needed information. It's very important! We need to know everything about White Diamond."
"And they know about Steven," Garnet added. "What we don't know is what their next plan is."
Diopside's eyes narrowed and she straightened a little. The calm face rotated and the enraged face spoke now, snarling.
"IT LIED TO US! IT BROUGHT THEM HERE TO TRAP US LIKE THE REST!"
The calm voice rotated back, speaking evenly. "No. Perhaps I've been hasty in my assumption. Let's hear what they need to say." she said, "Let's see what they come up with. We've been here for thousands of years. What else is there to do?"
The enormous form shifted, rattling the chains that bound her.
"Before I speak with you, Steven, I must ask; what did you do with the Spinel Cluster?" she asked him.
Steven glanced up at Garnet.
"We've sent them somewhere she can rest." Garnet answered for him.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't asking you," Diopside said, her calm voice still carrying an edge. "I was speaking to the half-one. I would rather you leave the room so that we can discuss what he wants alone."
"Who are you to give us any - " Jasper began, frowning.
Steven looked at the others. "It's okay. I'll be fine."
"Alright. But we're right outside." Jasper said, giving Diopside harsh glare.
Once they filed out of the room, Diopside looked down at Steven, lowering her head so that she was close enough to study him.
"You've come far and gone through great effort to find me," she said, "Though I truly wish you'd left well enough alone. Look at me. How can you even stand the sight of me? Knowing what I am?"
"That's not your fault," Steven argued, gently. "White Diamond did that to you."
The fusion sighed, straightening on her feet. The shackles that bound her ankles rattled with her movements.
"What can you tell me about White Diamond?" Steven asked.
"White Diamond. Well, there isn't much to say that you may not already know," Diopside began. "One of us served her."
She sighed, shut her eyes. Her gem produced a ray of light and a hologram from her memories. Steven wasn't sure that he wanted to watch what was about to happen, but the fusion would not give him much choice, it seemed.
Diopside groaned in agony.
White Diamond watched her silently as she loomed over her. "I know you're good gems. I know you've meant only the best. But I'm afraid you thought very little of these choices. There is one goal. One path. And that is Order."
She turned toward a map pinned on the wall. Several locations had been crossed out. She raised her hand to an unmarked location; a place at the center of the Atlantic Ocean.
"I have always admired the art of their creation. The symmetry of their ways. The geometry of their beliefs." she said. "I wouldn't seek destruction of this world. In fact, I admire it. I understand what she loved about them. I see it."
Diopside choked out a stream of blue ooze.
"Peace was our goal!" she hissed. "Please... Just listen..."
"Oh, I have." White told her, turning to face her now. Her smile widened. "And I don't think you grasp what peace truly means, Diopside. There can never truly be peace without war. The concept is something that seems to be quite confusing among human-kind. The creatures your Rebellion seem to value so much."
Her voice seemed to soften now. Her eyes carried a glimmer of pain. It was a flash, but one that was gone in almost a second.
"You have someone in your life. You honor. You revere. The closer they are to you, the greater the pain, but not even I could have imagined such horrors. And I am VERY creative when it comes to punishment..."
Steven couldn't believe what he was watching. He continued to stare with baited breath and glanced only briefly to Diopside before returning his gaze to the hologram.
"You know, I certainly didn't think about it. When we decimated the planet of its rebels, I did not know such corruption would take place. It's facinating, really. Blue and Yellow didn't know either, did they? But it seems as if the combination of our abilities and our wrath brought something..." She extended her hands, savoring the thought of it all. "Beautiful. It brought forth what you truly were - Ugly, flawed, broken slaves."
She turned now, brightening madly. "Tell me, did you see it? The result of our work?"
When she noticed the sorrowful grimace on the twin faces of the fusion, she nodded and made her way closer to her. "Good."
Her fingers grabbed Diopside's gem situated on her chest and Diopside shrieked, dropping to her knees when a charge surged through her from White's hands. "Aww," she pouted with false sympathy, "Does that hurt? Imagine the crumbling of a divine body, the twisting of a soul. Imagine dying. Imagine what it means to have your gem crushed over and over. Only then, will you have the right to say you know what true pain is."
Diopside shut her eyes, a single tear sliding down her cheeks. The memory changed now, revealing White Diamond standing beside her. She asked it again. Where the other gems of Rose's forces were hiding.
"I can't..." Diopside moaned, sobbing. "I can't..."
"I told you, if you reveal to me their location, then your pain stops," White told her, still smiling, "Do you believe that you can never truly suffer worse than I have made you suffer? That's the beauty of my work, Diopside; the old pain cannot be dulled by the new."
"Please, no more..."
"It only stops when you do."
Diopside continued making sounds of agony before she lowered her head. "I-In the Tower. The Home of Bells... That's where you'll find them..."
White nodded. Her features never changed. "Thank you, Diopside."
She gave the fusion a gentle pat on her head, which made Diopside flinch.
"Good, good," White said, her tone light and happy, but carrying a darker promise, "And since you've done so well, you get to watch what becomes of them."
Steven watched as the Diamond in the hologram departed. Then, it was over and Diopside turned to him. So that was what she wanted. There was no way to change her mind. She didn't do these things just to do them. She acted because she truly believed that what she was doing was right.
"White Diamond does everything for a reason," Diopside explained, "And as I've told you before, it will not stop. She is patient and will wait centuries for what she desires."
Steven considered this before he looked up at her.
"We can help you," he told her. "You don't have to be here alone."
Diopside chuckled gently. Then, she looked confused. "How strange, I laughed..." she said, "I haven't laughed in over seventeen centuries."
Steven didn't see why she laughed.
"I think White Diamond did well by us, in a way," Diopside continued, "We hated one another so much. We constantly fought each other, even in Rose's army. There was no pause in our squabbles. But now, we've learned to adapt to each other's presence. You truly can bond in the wake of suffering."
"I just wish it didn't have to be that way," Steven argued, quietly.
"Just because something is, doesn't mean it can be." Diopside reminded him. "Life isn't the paradise you wish it. There are no happy endings, especially in war."
Steven sighed heavily. "I know, I know..."
Diopside's features smoothed out a little when she sensed the despair in the human. "I know you want to try, but there are some gems beyond convincing. And sometimes...you have to do what's necessary, no matter how horrible that may be."
Steven nodded, though he didn't want to understand it. He never wanted to go to any lengths the way his mother had. He wanted to do better.
"You really want to keep staying here?" he asked her, after a moment.
"Yes."
"Okay."
Steven turned to leave, but Diopside's voice halted him. "Wait. There is just one more thing..." she said. When Steven looked back at her, she curiously tilted her head. "How much do you trust your teammates? How good is their word?"
The way her voice trickled with near malevolence made Steven shiver. He frowned at her.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Gems have done terrible things in the wake of fear; some do so to save themselves," Diopside explained. Her eyes seemed heavy and she looked piteous for him. "I hope you understand that."
Steven definitely thought about it.
Then, he thought about Spinel and faced the fusion again. "Hey, uh, do you know Spinel?"
Diopside frowned thoughtfully. "Spinel?" She thought about it again before brightening. "Ah! The little messenger of Pink Diamond! Oh yes, we know of her indeed."
Steven smiled hopefully. "Really?"
"Yes, she came here, looking for White Diamond," Diopside told him, "Mm, a pity what happened afterwards."
"Why?" Steven looked worried. "What happened?"
Diopside glanced up toward a corner in the ceiling. "There's security cameras here. May still work, actually. It would shed some light on Spinel's visit." she explained, "The poor little messenger saw something she shouldn't have seen and...well...we both know what happens when White Diamond becomes upset."
"She doesn't remember anything," Steven was concerned.
"Best thing for her, really. She wanted to warn her Diamond about it. White Diamond had plans for her; these plans didn't go through because of the chaos of the evacuation, but..." Diopside sighed sadly. "Tell her she has my sympathies."
O
Steven and the gems made their way up the stairs, discussing what they'd learned from Diopside. Jasper had been more cautious about what Spinel may have seen or what had happened.
"We should see if we can get that footage," Pearl told them. "Maybe we can let Spinel decide if she wants to see it."
"She's not in the best way right now." Steven reminded her. "But maybe we should. She has a right to know what happened."
Jasper looked around. "The security footage would probably be up front at the checkpoint. Most of them would be archived."
They made their way to the front of the facility where Jasper described and began to search. Sure enough, a few archived feeds were left in the wall, marked for each specific location in the building. They retrieved one for the main hallway and played it.
"These are the most recent files," Pearl told them, "It should give us what we need about Spinel's presence here and what it had to do with Pink Diamond."
The feed began to play, filtering through static of gems racing out of the facility. After time passed, Spinel was shown eventually entering.
"Okay, well, no one's here. Hm. Must be off on a break."
She began walking down the corridors, looking around. "Hello? I have a message for White Diamond from Pink Diamond!"
A low moan and Spinel furrowed her brow, leaning to one side.
Steven's eyes slowly widened. "She didn't know about the evacuation."
For some reason, Jasper couldn't take her eyes away from the hologram. What was the message that Spinel had delivered from Pink Diamond? What was important about it?
Steven changed up the tablets when Spinel vanished from the hologram. He switched on another one that revealed her walking down the long flight of stairs that would lead to where White Diamond housed her experiments.
"Hello?" Spinel called, "Anybody here? Hello?"
A soft groaning sound again and Spinel followed the noise into a room. It took a few moments before she backed out of it, horror on her face. She whimpered with fright, backing up slowly until she bumped into a gem no one had seen before; it looked strange, almost like White Diamond herself, but without the elegant cloak, slick back short silver hair and wide-open eyes.
"Who's that?" Steven asked, frowning.
"Onyx." Jasper said, curling her nose with disgust. "White Diamond's favorite toys."
Steven wanted to ask what an Onyx was, but he was stuck on what was going on in the hologram.
"Ah!" Spinel was almost at tears. "Please, please, I don't want to go back in there!"
The Onyx stared at her, tilting her head. "You are not authorized to have entered that room," she replied, in a flat, emotionless voice.
"I-I know! I'm sorry, I just..." Spinel looked over her shoulder, shaking and frightened. "I had a message for White Diamond. But I..."
Onyx watched her silently, a cold and pitiless statue. "You will come with me below and we will contact White Diamond ourselves, messenger. You do not belong here."
Spinel stared at her, confused. She looked over her shoulder, shaking her head. "B-But that's where the bad gems go. I'm not a bad gem!"
"You cannot be permitted to leave." Onyx warned now. "If you do, I fear I will resort to crippling your legs."
Spinel gave a cry of fright and turned, speeding away in a blur of pink. Before Spinel could flee the building, the door slammed shut in her face. She yelped, turned and faced Onyx, who advanced onto her. Slowly, she drew two swords from her gem.
"That door is programmed to stop the only gems who cannot be stopped if they flee," she told her. "Because of what you witnessed, you cannot be allowed to leave."
"W-Where will I go?" Spinel stammered.
"That is for White Diamond to decide. Now...remain where you are. This will be swift."
Immediately, it was cut off by Steven. "Okay, that's enough." he said, shutting the hologram off. "We don't have to watch anymore."
"That explains why she was in that facility," Jasper said, gravely. "It wasn't for transport. She was probably scheduled to be shattered."
"Yes, but in the chaos, she was forgotten." Garnet added.
A weeping sound filled the air, drawing their attention toward another hallway. A pale, white form was sitting on the floor, bone-thin with tattered white hair. Long, bony fingers clenched shoulders and the figure began to sway a little. The others were immediately on edge, weapons drawn.
"Hello?" Steven carefully called.
The swaying stopped. Steven carefully approached, despite the warnings from the others. He frowned, reaching out to touch the shoulder of the figure.
Suddenly, the figure turned with a horrid screech and Steven recoiled with a shout, falling flat on his backside.
The creature was a gem given the familiar shape of an onyx stone on its forehead, but bore a resemblance to a corruption. It crouched on all fours and opened its mouth, revealing long, sharp teeth. It began to advance, but the others noticed more joined in, emitting a chorus of snarls and hisses.
"O-Okay..." Steven stammered, backing away.
The orrupted gem that he'd approached sniffed the air for a moment before gurgling. Its lips began to move, twitching as if it took great effort.
"Pink...Diamond..." it gurgled.
The others stood there in horrified silence. Jasper even looked disturbed by what she'd just heard. For a moment, nothing happened between the Crystal Gems and the corruptions.
"The corruption...spoke..." Pearl managed to get out.
The gems around the first one began to chant Pink Diamond over and over, advancing on all fours. Jasper's helmet appeared on her head and she charged with a shout, knocking them away before she looked at the others.
"Go!" she ordered.
They quickly rushed down the hall with the corruptions in pursuit. The creatures slid across the floor, snarling and teeth snapping. Jasper flung a desk behind her in an effort to slow them down. One of them collided with the desk while the others continued their chase.
Once they reached the outside, Jasper immediately worked on shutting the door. She grasped both ends and grunted as she forced them shut, moments as a hand from one of the corruptions lunged out passed her head. It tackled into Pearl, knocking her into the snow.
Jasper looked over her shoulder, quickly moving as Pearl struggled against the gem. She had her spear pressed into its chin, attempting to keep it away.
"Get off of me, you horrible... I'll destroy you!" Pearl shouted.
Jasper grabbed the gem, struggling with it in her hand. It snapped, screeched and thrashed wildly in her clutches before she crushed its form, dispelling the gem.
"They knew..." she snarled, panting. "They knew about Pink Diamond." She turned to face the others. "How did these things know about her?"
"Some corrupted gems hold onto bits and pieces of their memories," Garnet told her, "Perhaps they heard it mentioned by White Diamond a long time ago. Let's just return to the temple and discuss it there. This is not the place for Steven to linger."
Steven was shivering and holding himself. Jasper looked down at him for a moment and realized that Garnet was right. They would discuss this later.