Silence reigned as Yellow Diamond finished her sentence. You just stood there, staring desolately at those shards. How could you respond to that? How could you respond to the fact that you shattered Yellow Diamond's Pearl? How should you respond? Groveling? No, that wouldn't work. Yellow Diamond wasn't known for mercy, and your frack up shattered her Pearl. Running away? No, even if you did manage to escape Yellow Diamond, there was still the Imperial Guard contingent outside.
What do I do?!
You thought as clearly as you could, given your current emotional state. Options flitted by in your mind like hundreds of birds migrating south for winter. Each and every one of them more outlandish and improbable than the next one. You were frozen in indecision and fear and shock. So stuck in your own mind, you nearly missed Yellow Diamond stepping towards you. Snapping your head towards her, you saw a look that sent a lance of ice-cold fear through your body. She was staring directly at you with a look of contempt so vicious, you were surprised you didn't shatter right then and there. She spoke and her voice, whilst being naught more than a whisper, seemed to be the loudest thing you'd ever heard in your life.
"You see now, don't you? Why I have called you here? This-" she gestures to the cushion with her Pearl's shards, "-is your fault."
No! I didn't- I mean- Not on purpose... She has to see that!
"M-My Diamond, I'm sorry... I-"
"SILENCE!"
Yellow Diamond cut you off with a roar, stomping one of her gargantuan feet right in front of you. You mouth clacked closed, using so much force to shut your mouth that an ache started to develop in your teeth.
"Do not DARE attempt to say you are sorry, you worthless DEFECT!" she whirled around and started pacing around the room, ranting and raving in a flurry of absolute and all-consuming rage. This went on for a while, before she stopped dead in her tracks.
Slowly, she turned her head to stare at your diminutive form. The look in the eye you could see was one of wild anger, sharp contempt, and blunt malice.
"Pearl, give me the shards and relieve Peridot Facet-5D6G Cut-3DF of her limb enhancers, she won't be needing them for what I have in mind for her."
Huh...? Wait, no.
The Pearl, whom you had forgotten was even in the room, replied with a 'Yes, My Diamond.' before she reverently handed the cushion to Yellow Diamond. Seeing the cushion safely in the Diamond's hands, she turned towards you and started stalking forward with movement that could only be considered 'predatory.'
Oh stars, no, no, NO.
Seeing this, you began to frantically back away from the rapidly approaching Pearl, so frantically, in fact, that you tripped up on your own feet. In the time it took you to fall over, the Pearl had reached you and grabbed one of your legs in an iron grip. Finding the limb release button in a manner that showed she had done this, many times before. Your limb enhancer came off with a 'pop,' and she started immediately on you other leg, and then your arms, she had to wrangle you to get to your arms.
Soon after the Pearl received her order, she had a pile of tubular, green and black limbs on the floor. A little way away from the pile was you. Trembling in fear, you just laid on the ground, curling up into as small a ball as your body could manage.
This is it. I'm dead, she's gonna crush me, crush my Gem, and turn it into a fine sand...
Unseen by you, given your fearful state, Yellow Diamond handed off the cushion to the Pearl once again, approaching your balled up form. She stood over you for a moment or so, eyes taking in every tremble, every shuddering breath of your small body. Truly, she thought, this Peridot is absolutely pathetic. I should just shatter her; But that is too good for her, perhaps I could... she contemplated on what she should do with her, all the while staring down at her diminutive form.
It took a while, as Yellow Diamond wanted the Peridot to suffer for what she did, but pain for the sake of pain is not productive, it's wasteful and serves little purpose. Perhaps... there is a team being sent over to that quadrant and there are several different abandoned bases on that planet's surface, she could choose one of the defunct kindergartens control rooms. But how will the Peridot interact with the equipment without her limb enhancers? Ugh, damn her shortsightedness! Why ask the Pearl to take away her limb enhancers if she was only going to give them back afterwards? Internally groaning, Yellow resisted the strong urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. Alright, she... shall have her limb enhancers after this. How will she monitor the project, though? She could get the other Peridot, Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-whatever, to set up the equipment. Hmm, yes... but what if Peridot Facet-5D6G Cut-3DF made another mistake?
Well, it's not as if she won't be punished once the project reaches its apex. If she isn't shattered by the planet breaking apart, then Yellow can just leave her in the asteroid belt that the remains of the planet will make, so she gets punished either way. Either by shattering, or by unofficial exile.
Yes, that would work. Mentally nodding her head, Yellow refocused her attention onto the Peridot.
The Peridot appeared to have noticed Yellow standing over her, if her wide, terror filled eyes were any indication. She had curled up into an even tighter ball and, if Yellow looked close enough, she could see tiny little droplets in the corners of her eyes through her visor. Yellow felt herself frown at what she was doing. Mentally sighing, she felt something she'd never felt before now, at least not this bad: Tired.
I should really stop wasting time and get on with this. I have to get back to work.
No, no, no. Please, I'm sorry. I'm incompetent! I'm-I'm...
She was standing over you, looking down at you in clear and obvious contempt. Her hunched shoulders, and looming form looked more like a ravenous predator than the dignified Gem matriarch she was supposed to be. During her rage filled rant, her hair had come down from her prominent cowlicks to a sort of messy bob, a complete juxtaposition from the prim and proper appearance the Diamond prided herself on. She was so angry with you that she lost her carefully crafted decorum.
Letting out a whine, you felt tears prickle at the edges of your eyes as you looked up at the malevolent giantess standing over you. Opening your mouth, you did the only thing you could resort to, given your current circumstances: Begging.
"Puh-Please... mercy," you breath out, just on the edge of sobbing your words out, "I'm-I'm sorry, My Diamond, forgiv-forgive-"
Yellow Diamond released a hissing sound, startling you into silence. Staring up at her, you realized that the sound she was making was a shush. Huh... she was... shushing you? Your fear and emotional turmoil had a sudden stop as you heard that. Your mind nearly stopped functioning when she took a knee in front of you, staring down at you.
"Peridot Facet-5D6G Cut-3DF, I have decided to... have mercy on you. You will be reassigned to a new posting, effective immediately. Go to the Reassignment Center in facet 4 and-" here, Yellow Diamond pulls a holographic display from across the room, operating it deftly, "-take this reassignment form, it will ensure that you are properly reassigned."
What... she's-I'm not being shattered... I'm not being shattered. She's having mercy?
You barely even notice the 'ping!' sound originating from your limb enhancers, shock filling your body as your thoughts caught on to what just happened. It started slowly at first, relief slowly spreading throughout your system leading to slight prickles at your eyes. This slight prickle turned into a tidal wave as tears of relief began to streak down your face, hoarse, breathless sobs breaking free from your mouth. Maneuvering yourself onto your knees, you place your head on the floor at the feet of Yellow Diamond. A classic kowtow to Your Diamond.
"Tha-thank you... My Diamond... thank you..." you manage to get out before you devolve into a cacophony of sobs, cries, and half-words of thanks.
Yellow Diamond, for her part, doesn't even seem fazed by your fervent thanks. You can't tell, though given the fact that your face was currently planted into the floor. If you could see her face, you would have seen the sight of slight discomfort enter Yellow Diamond's eyes.