Notes: [This chapter contains intense acts of violence and may be upsetting to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
"Hello?..."
Nothing.
Her own voice sounded quiet. Faded, even. As soon as it left her lips, it seemed to fall flat in front of her and shatter onto the floor.
"Is anyone there?"
Yellow Diamond slowly turned around in place, her eyes darting around the space surrounding her. An eerie calm washed over her, suddenly drowning the anxiety rising in her chest.
She felt nothing.
She saw nothing.
She heard nothing.
It was completely black. There was no cold, there was no looming sense of dread, and there was no sign of the nightmarish Hematite. At least, not yet anyway.
She started walking aimlessly into the void. The smallest spark of relief welled up in her mind as she realized her footsteps were making noise. Her eyes kept darting around. Where is he?... Is he going to show up? Why can't I see anything this time? she thought, the dread starting to sink in. Paranoia, fear, and apprehension circled within her lonely mind. There was no horizon line, no tremors, no pillars or gem shards or cliff sides. Something about this dream felt different. The air almost felt charged with some sort of dreadful energy, as if someone were waiting, watching, and slowly getting more impatient. Was it her, was it that horrid creature? Neither? Both?
Looking down idly, she stopped abruptly and stared at her feet.
She could see them, but... No. No, this couldn't be. Panic rising, she held up her hands in front of her face. A stab of anxiety pierced her very core, making her exhale weakly, almost as if struck in the chest. Her breathing stopped, and she stared in disbelief at her hands. They started to tremble.
They were completely black, but just like her feet and, from the looks of it the rest of her, they were outlined in white. Why was this happening?! She'd always had some color in her other dreams, what was going on?!
–
The moment Yellow Diamond looked at her hands and feet, the ground beneath her and the air around her became ice cold. There was no gradual progression, there was no shift, there was no warning.
The void around her was plunged into stabbing, icy temperatures.
"Ten.~"
–
She looked up and gasped, a puff of stark white steam appearing from her lips. She started walking again, a new found fear in her step. The diamond looked around rapidly as she trotted through the darkness, eyes widening. Ten? What?
–
The ground below her began to rumble, sending a faint tremor up the yellow gem's form.
"Nine.~"
–
Her mouth fell ajar, and she started to pick up her pace into a fast walk. Nine? Wait...is this a countdown?!
–
Growing stronger, the rumbling began shaking the ground, making it harder for the gem to run.
"Eight."
A heavy, freezing breath blew at her back, pricking little ice crystals into her skin and clothing. Suddenly, a huge fist came crashing down upon the tiny gem, earning an abrupt, cut-off cry, poofing and shattering her within an instant. It left small black and white shards on the ground.
But the black void remained. The dream didn't end, nor did it falter. A shuddering thrum rang out through the plane, and the nightmare shifted with a sickening lurch.
Suddenly, the Diamond was back to running as she had been the moment before she was shattered.
"Seven."
–
Agony.
Yellow phased back into existence, face twisted into indescribable horror. Horrendously shaken from what she'd just felt, she broke out into a sprint. The initial shock rattled her so badly that she stumbled and tripped, skidding against the icy cold ground. She bared her teeth and started to stand back up.
What's going on?!
–
The ground suddenly dropped out below the diamond, and she was plunged into a free fall.
She fell past pillars.
She fell past cliff sides.
She fell past a web of white wires that slowly got closer together, the further she fell. Suddenly, she was caught in them, her arms and legs tangled in the stark white strings. The icy, thin threads dug painfully into the diamond's wrists, ankles, her chest. The more she struggled, the tighter they got.
–
She thrashed about in the wires, panicking to get a hold of anything that could get her moving down again. Horrible terror struck through her, like icy claws ripping into her chest. She was shattered already, she could feel it! So why was she still here?!
–
The wires tightened. Suddenly, it felt as though they were coiled around her gemstone in all different directions. The strings began to dig into the surface of the gem.
Yellow screamed out in pain, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. A slow, agonizing pain shot through her entire being. Suddenly, it was over in an instant.
With a snap, they pulled in all different directions, shattering the gemstone once more.
But then she was falling again, whole and 'intact'.
"Six."
–
Once again, she found herself flailing about in the dark abyss. She could feel herself falling, but couldn't tell which way she was going. Wait, what!? Twice now! Why am I still sleeping?! That should have woken me up!
–
As if rising up to meet her, the ground appeared abruptly under Yellow Diamond.
"Five."
The voice suddenly sounded different. It was subtle, slight, but it almost sounded... clearer.
–
Meeting the floor with an excruciating thud, she lay there with her eyes closed, wincing in horrible pain. Slowly she opened them, the world spinning around her. She trembled, clutching the ice cold ground and making an attempt to push herself up.
Why is this happening? Why like this?!
–
"Four."
The voice changed again. It was even clearer, less warped.
Cracks formed below Yellow, and the ground trembled violently as an ear-piercing rumble echoed through the void.
–
Yellow pushed herself up after a moment, gasping for breath. Her eyes widened with terrified fury, and she grit her teeth, pounding a fist against the floor as she looked up.
"GET AWAY FROM ME! AREN'T YOU SATISFIED YET?!" she screamed out into the darkness, standing up as her legs weakly took her forward as fast as they could. Her steps were uneven and sloppy. As she ran, she lifted a hand to her gemstone, covering it desperately. It felt like it was falling to pieces, despite being whole and intact at the moment.
–
"Three."
There it was. The clearer it got, the more obvious it became.
It wasn't the nightmarish gem's voice.
It was slowly becoming Hema's voice.
The ground violently heaved, the cracks splitting the floor apart. A booming voice echoed around Yellow, yelling at her with spite and venom.
"SATISFIED? OH, YOU'D KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT, WOULDN'T YOU?!"
There was a violent presence suddenly, filling the air with dense pressure.
"NOTHING EVER SATISFIED YOU. NO MATTER HOW HARRRRD I TRIED, IT WAS ALL A WASTE."
Giving a lurch, the ground below her opened up before slamming shut on her, shattering her once more. She appeared again above the ground, though it was still heaving, threatening to open up again.
"LOSS"
Something from behind slapped her away, hard. She was sent flying suddenly into the pillared room, the floor thankfully absent of its usual array of shattered gems.
–
"GAAHCK-!"
The wind was knocked clean out of her as she slammed into one of the pillars with a violent force. That voice... She knew that phrase... Wait. She staggered again, looking up in horror at nothing. Tears were starting to come back. There that feeling was again, that unwelcome emotion that she had been repressing. She backed up into the pillar with a sharp whimper, clutching her upper arms.
–
"AFTER LOSS."
A fist slammed down against the pillar, absolutely crushing it behind the diamond.
–
Shrieking in horror again, she stumbled forward but got quickly back on her feet. She started to run faster, her breath coming in shallow gasps.
–
"AFTER LOSS!"
A hand slammed down behind her, cracking the ground. A hole suddenly opened up below her, and she began to fall again.
"Two."
–
Yellow swung her arms to grab onto the edge, but missed. With another gasp, she waited for the next impact. The countdown's almost over...
–
Yellow was sent sprawling on her back in an empty black void like the one she'd started in. The floor beneath her was icy, yet burned to the touch.
Everything suddenly went silent.
"One."
Whirrrr
Click.
The yellow, diamond-shaped target appeared directly above her, mere inches away from her face. A heavy, icy breath spilled over her as a soft chuckle echoed through the plane.
–
"H-AAAH?!"
Yellow clutched the ground, her nails digging into the surface of whatever it was she was laying on. She was stuck, petrified with fear. Could she even stand? Her whole body went partially numb, and she suddenly couldn't feel her legs. Her tears momentarily subsided, but she felt herself starting to sweat. Wake up... Please, wake up!
–
The monstrous form slowly backed away, hovering over the tiny diamond. Tilting his head, the giant gem cracked his neck, the sickening sound echoing through the darkness.
"Hmmm.~"
Slowly, the creature reached a clawed hand closer to the tiny diamond's gemstone.
"How quaint."
–
"Stop, stop stop- No!" She whimpered, watching his hand near her. She tried to move her legs, weakly attempting to scoot further away. Needless to say, it didn't really work. She was so drained, so exhausted, so terrified that she could hardly move. "D-Don't touch me! Get away!"
WAKE UP!
–
The harvester extended a single finger, hovering the tip of the sharp claw mere inches above Yellow's gem.
"You thought you could get away.~"
–
"I-I!"
She stammered, her whole body trembling. Anxiety was rising within her. Fear was rising.
Death was coming.
This wasn't a dream anymore. This wasn't even a nightmare. This was something completely different. She felt all the paranoia from the past months seeping back into her form. She felt completely awake, so why was she still stuck here?!
"S-Stay away!"
Stars, please, somebody wake me up!
–
The claw stopped right above Yellow's gemstone. With an eerily wide grin, the huge harvester suddenly scraped the icy nail along the hard surface.
–
"GYuuAAAAAAH!"
Her world exploded into a hot flash of searing pain. Her entire being cried out in agony. Arching her back and digging her nails into the ground, they scratched harshly at whatever they could grasp. There was a brief ringing in her ears before the pain stopped. Opening her eyes, she stared at the huge claw, which was now hovering over her gem again.
No, no this is REAL! This can't be a dream!
–
The gem's teeth parted as he chuckled darkly in amusement. His claw hovered for a moment before he harshly tapped her gem.
"Tick~"
–
There was another flash of excruciating pain. But it was only a split second. She gasped suddenly, followed by a shuddering breath. Her tears came back, nails easing up from the ground which now had noticeable stark white claw marks in it.
–
"Tick. Tick. Tick."
He continued tapping rhythmically on Yellow's gemstone, the sound echoing around the empty room. "Time's running out, Diamond," he said in a hushed tone. "You can't hide forever. I'll get you one day, when you or your fellow diamonds are least expecting it."
–
Her eyes widened again, finally looking up at the dark visor hovering above her. She winced with the pain of the ticking gemstone, and soon she was hardly able to hear anything but the harrowing sound of his claw, much like a ticking clock. She bared her teeth, eyes pleading silently for him to stop. He was drawing this out... tormenting her. Endless, unrelenting pain. And she would soon never be able to escape.
–
The giant gem slowly lifted his hand, balling it into a fist.
"It's only a matter of time."
Without warning, the massive hand barreled down on the diamond, going straight for her gemstone.
–
She stopped breathing, shutting her eyes quickly and turning her head. She realized that whatever came next would be probably worse than before.
SMASH!
Gasping for air, Yellow found herself writhing on the floor of her office, surrounded with fallen papers and a tipped over chair. She stood quickly, grasping at her gemstone. She stared off at nothing, spotting the chair she must have fallen out of. It was warm in here, the lights giving a cool glow to her room. She was awake. She was awake once more, and she was alone. She nodded off at her desk again...
"Dammit..." she hissed, tears welling up in her eyes again. Angrily, she turned and kicked her desk, sending it flying over with the chair. Turning, she went to the window of her office and placed her palms on the thick glass, shuddering. She placed her forehead on its smooth, cool surface and stared out into the city.
She remembered everything she had felt, and everything that she had heard. She could swear that her body was still aching from the pain.
"Hah... hahahah... And to think, I thought things couldn't get any worse."
Yellow slowly closed her eyes, lips curled into a small, defeated smile.
She felt it. She felt the fear, she felt the anger, she felt the crippling agony of impending death. She knew it was coming sooner or later, or at the very least, she had come to accept that these nightmares were never going to end.
She was convinced that this was going to drive her mad, leading her into a spiraling chaos that would end up getting herself or others hurt. This was going to be what did her in, of all things. She'd not felt this defeated in a long time.
She'd either end up being taken out of her leadership status and her life would be ruined forever, or she'd be killed by her own paranoia somehow, if he didn't get to her first.
My time is running out... and there's nothing I can do to stop it.