How many days have passed? 1 day? 2 day? A month? Years?
She doesn't know. She doesn't need to know.
Follow her master's order, follow his will.
Be good, or else.
The door seperates Sakura and the outside world is always locked carefully, except for sometime, the other slaves give her food to keep her alive. The master won't be pleased if his new toy die so easy, after all.
One day, one dish. The food tastes like dust and sand on her tongue, but Sakura never says anything.
A Pearl shouldn't speak up.
1 dish….
2 dish…
3 dish…
Maybe if she counts the dishes, she will know exactly how long she has been here, in this small, uncomfortable cage…. Dirty and unfittable.
Sakura banishes that thinking out of her mind.
No use. She is only a servant. She doesn't need to know that.
(13. A voice, young and brave and loud shout from somewhere in her mind.13 dishes. 13 days.)
One day, the door opens. Someone tugs at her golden chain, pulling her forward. She follows them, as quietly as a ghost, head down, hands cross on her chest.
They clean her, change her into a beautiful, silver dance costume. Silk hugs her tiny form, reveals the slave mark to show her master's power, the red scarf wrapped around her skinny arms.
A doll in a music box, she is.
They put her in the middle of a big, glorious room, decorate with jewelry and expensive furniture. Her Master there, on his throne, speaking the command Sakura has been so used to.
"Dance for me, slave."
("Dance for me, Pearl.")
Her ears ring, painfully from the mixing voice. She looks up at the face of her Master, fleshy, old, with some crinkles at the edge of his eyes. The brown iris stares at her, lust and desire.
"Dance for me."
All she sees, is Pink.
"Yes, Master."
("Yes, My Diamond.)
Sakura's hands raise up, the golden chain follows her movements, creating the ringing sound. One foot points, the other flat on the marble stance in the middle of the room, ready for her performance.
There is no band, no instruments to give her the rhytm, but Sakura (Pearl) never need it. She has music in her Gem, in her body, in her very core….
Had.
Had. Only had.
No more. The music has gone, long time ago. Dissapeared. Vanished.
Bleached.
Sakura dances, soft and gentle. Perfect and fancy. Hands up, foot straight. Spin and bow down. Repeat again.
The fluent movements every Pearl will be jealous of now seems so fake. Sully her own self, sully the smooth gem located in her left socket.
This is not her dance.
Not. Her. Dance.
Sakura shivers, slightly, as she sweeps her leg out into the empty space, head tilts to side, eyes closed, lulls her senses into fake belief, twists the present into the beautiful dream she knows she will never has.
In the Pink Court, no one else but her and Pink Diamond, on the stage only for her, she danced to please her, to bring smile to her gorgeous face, to listen to the melodic laughing she craved more than the light her gem needed. The sky was clear, the air held pure scent of fine crystal belonged to Homeworld only, and she danced.
And she smiled. And she was happy.
And then, she was none.
Sakura keeps her eyes close the entire performance, ignores the meaningless praises she gains form the audience. For her Master.
None of that matters. They never matter.
Soon, she is back to the cage, chained down again, waiting for the next party, to show off the beauty her performance possess, to make Master proud.
Sakura looks into the deep darkness. It stares back at her.
She doesn't hear her Diamond's voice. She doesn't feel the white wires tie around her body.
The dancing Sakura pulls today has waken up something inside Sakura's Gem, inside her broken, bleached mind. A rock breaking the tranquility of the mirror like water surface, creating wave that grows bigger and bigger.
Something isn't White, and should be punished. White Diamond will clean it. She always did.
Then why…this time….
It doesn't….go away?
She doesn't know if it's good or bad….
She likes it.
Behind the mighty White wall, Sakura's hands twitch slightly. The strings losen, just a little, but it still counts.
Amethyst squeals, while keeping punching the wall nonstop.
"Come on!! Pearl!! Opal!!! Waky up!!!!"
/
(The first time Pearl did it, it was just an accident.
She was walking in the court, hoding the information about the next Ball in her hand when a gem, a tall Tanzanite, approached with a large grin on her violet face.
"Where are you going, little Pearl?"
"My Diamond requires my presence in her private room." Pearl answered with the best manner, and a Diamond's Pearl had to be perfect all the time. But the Tanzanite didn't seem to think like that, because she frowned, darkly.
"A Pearl? Like you? Being within My Diamond's grace?"
"I am her Pearl."
"Nonsense!" She snarled, grabbed her by her wrist, causing Pealr to bite her lips at the sudden pain. "What are you thinking? Hn? A false Pearl like you, belong to her?! Don't make me laugh! And don't you dare to talk back to me!"
False. That world made something inside Pearl, something dark and violent and creepy and scary, woke up.
They thinked she was wrong. They believed she was false, a mistake, an error in a whole system that should be cleaned. Be harvested. To them, she was nothing but a low class being. An useless thing.
Every Pearl knew that. Every Pearl understood that simple fact and took them to heart. Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl and White Pearl did.
Pink Pealr, on the other hand?
She didn't.)
She is out of the cage, again.
(5. 5 dishes. 5 days.)
"You get a good one."
"Hey, mind if she entertains me?"
"Yeah, count me in."
Mocking laughter comes from everywhere around Sakura. Hands touching her, for reasons she doesn't understand, squishes the white flesh, leaving some mark that's makes her aching.
"Later, later men! Now, Dance for me, slave. Entertains my guests and myself. Dance for me."
"Yes, Master." As usual, Sakura obeys.
This time is different from the last. Her Master wants something special, displaying his wealth and power. As a result, he lets her she dances with a sword, almost longer than her height, with it edge glistening under soft light from the ceiling. Her dance earns admiring and sound of greed. Eyes staring at her pale skin, her pink hair wore up as a flowery bun, full of sick intention.
For once, Sakura doesn't care.
For once, her heart flusters, out of control, as she sways her hip and raise the sword high.
It's not the same. Not the graceful weapon she grew to love once. The handle is bronze, not silver, while the blade is none as sharp as it used to be, but still. The feeling of metal against her fingers, curling around it so lovingly.
Memory flushes back, like a video record made by the best Citrines. Images after image, sound after sound….
The fog begins to faded away, and her world titls sideway.
Sakura stops her dancing.
("I should punish you!! And Pink Diamond will be pleased because she can get rid of you, all thank to me!!"
Pearl looked down to the marble floor, at the Gem located in the Tanzanite's thigh. Clear facetted met her glare, shone in such a mocking way, shouting at her that she was above Pearl. The upper neing.
What a stupid thing.
The violet Gem's ranting was cut by a sound. Not eve. word, a normal thing that a Gem was able to make. A growl of a beast, a monster Brutal like the punch of a Jasper, sharp like the sword made by the finest Bismuth, powerful and cruel, like a Diamond's command. The voice that made you shivered in terror, bowed your head and begged for mercy.
A growl, came from the Pearl she was holding.
Pink Pearl's head slowly rose, the long, silky hair covered most of her creamy face from Tanzanite's sight, leaving only the right eye and a part of a mouth to be seen.
The eye, green, bright green that made her Off Color burned with such a flame that a Ruby could never compare with. A fire, dark hell fire, trapping thousand of twisted soul, all connected and linked and coiled together in a sick way that strucked fear into her mind, brought up the weakest side of such a powerful Gem.
"How Pathetic." The Pearl talked, but it couldn't be a Pearl. Not even a Gem. Nothing could cound like that, with voice like sandpaper scratching your skin, rumbled with power, the lowest note of a possible melody. "You Think That You Are Above Me. But It Is None Of The Truth."
"You Are Just A Failure. A Non Perfect Soldier."
The smooth gem shone, with pink light that hid that waving darkness in it's own glory. Pink Pearl raised her hand, pulled out a long sword. A deadly blade with red handle spreaded out like leaves. One long metal bat carved around her fist, made it easier to hold, as she quickly knocked the shocked Tanzanite down with a low kick at her knee, stomping down at her stomach. The shard point dangerously lowered down to the gem's location, shining with all the moonlight and white bones that had been melted into it.
"N..NO WAY!! You are…You are Just a Pearl!!" She screamed, frightened, trying to fight back with her muscle power.
Pearl's lip curled up, bore her teeth out instead of soft, gentle smile always masked her face, splitted the acid that shaped like words to the poor gem.
"And You Are Weaker Than A Pearl.")
"What are you doing, slave?" Her Master roars as the audience notices her sudden lack of movements. "Dance. Don't you dare to embarass me!"
Dance.
Dance.
She has to dance. She is ordered to. A Peal must follow orders. Alwa-
But she isn't a Pearl.
She has never, been perfect. Never, been the model Pearl.
White Diamond changed that, yes. But now, the bleaching is so weak that Sakura wonders…
Is her Diamond here?
Why doesn't she punish her now? And before? Why can't she feel the string attached to her limbs, her neck? Why she can still hear the muffled scream of an Amethyst in her mind?
Why her world stops being blurred and White? Why is color there?
Dance.
Dance.
This. Is. Not. Her. Dance.
Sakura's leg, which is frozen in the arabesque position, rises higher as she looks up, for the first time. She won't bow to anyone.
She swings it, fast and strong, out of the soft tune of a Pearl dancing, landing down on two flat feet. She bends her back, swaying the steel sword in her fist, cutting the air with a wooshing sound, before lowers down. One leg out, foor ponited, sweeps a circle and steps forward. Arms up, and dance.
Everyone is whispering, suprise as the change of style but pleased otherwise. Her Maste-no, not Master, the man smiles, but she knows he will let out his anger on her later.
Her skin aches, but her inside burns.
Dance? Dance for him? For such a man? For someone like that man?
Never.
She doesn't dance to entertain, Sakura now knows why everytime she does, it feels so wrong and awkward.
She dances, to destroy.
Because her dance is the beautiful cacaphony, an omen for the ghost, the last thing a man might see. Because she dances, with Death the shadow of her every moves.
Her lips pulled up into the familiar angle, enough to show teeth and still looks like a snarky smirk.
The music begins to play, from deep inside her Gem.
("No…Don't you dare to attack me!! I am a Tanzanite!!! You can't…."
"Annoying." She whispered, frowning deeply, before returns to smiling. A Pearl must alway be pretty, after all. "Let Me Remind You Here, Fool."
"SInCe whEn yoU are THe oNE ThAT IN COnTroL?"
Her sword came down, kissing the violet Gem and creating the most wonderful sound Pearl had even heard. Fresher than a ring of silver bell, hard and solid, the weapon steadily breaks the gem, as Tanzanite's mouth opens in a voiceless scareming for helpmercynononononon-
Pearl shattered her.
Hundreds of gem shards scathering down the floor, glimmering under the soft light of the ceiling. She let out of the handle, the weapon vanished, and picked up the forgotter reporter the dropped a few moments ago, calmly like she just didn't murder a High Class Gem.
She knew that. And she never cared.
Crushing it all to dust, Pearl looked as wind blew what left behind of Tanzanite away, eye soft, loving and caring.
"What a wonderful view….")
The wires shiver, an entire earthquake.
White Pearl stiffen, and Sakura starts struggling.
Amethyst clenches her teeth.
Just a little more….
/
For the first time since Sakura returns back to the White, she feels. The emotion is so strong that it pushes all those ghostly, phantom pain away from her core, leaving only that burning energy behind.
Hatred. Anger. Wrath. Fury. Love. Happy. Everything mexes together, and both showing in an unique, precious melody.
Her Song. Her inner music. What is hers and only hers, has returned.
No..
There is something…different.
She stops again. She listens.
Yes. It's a song. But not the same smooth, tender, sweet notes that a Pearl should have nor the fast and furious tune of an Amethyst. Her song, Sakura's song,Opal's song, is emotional, the neverending waves of mighty ocean, the despair of a chained bird, yet there is something else, the sharpness of ice, the rage, the fury of a soldier stamping down the battle field leaving trails of red behind. The coldness howling in the wind, the trees, but never be noticed until it has steals on you, burns so bright, unlike how a fire burns, until you are sinking down down down-
Sakura laughs. Her laughter echoes in the air, bouncing against the fancy room, like the haunting sound of broken gemstones falling down to the room.
"What are you doing, you bitch!" A man stands up, hands furiously grabs her wrist, ready for a slap to teach her a lesson.
He must forget that she is holding a killing tool in her hand. Beacuse if he does, he won't do it.
He must forget his brain to, foolish oraganis creature.
Sakura doesn't stop laughing as she twirls the weapon, like how you twirls a lover hand, spinning put of his reaching hand, an elegant fairy playing hide and seek.
The sword raise, and the man's head falls dow.
White dissapears from Sakura's sight, and color starts to bloom.
All start, with the bright, warm, Red poodle of blood on the floor.
/
The wires break, like crystal, into million pieces. Sakura stops the fight.
She looks up, as the same time with White Pearl.
No...Not White.
She is not White anymore. The Pink is returning, to Amethyst delight, as it dyes the whole Pearl in rosy shape of Pink. Just a pale shape and only a little, but still counts as the first victory.
The wall comes crashing down under her last punch.
Finally...Finally...
They are free. They are not White.
Not anymore.
The whole room is silent. No one dares to breath, as they stare in horror at the bloddy, brutal scene just happened.
The corpse is still lying down at the floor. His head under Sakura's legs, tainting her white shoes with red liquid as his eyes open, never understand what has been done to him.
Sakura's foot crushes his skull, enjoying the cracking sound of bones.
Not likr a Gem's breaking sound, but still good.
Still good.
She just claimed the stupidest, silliest action.
And she. Doesn't. Fucking. Care.
Her gem begins to glow as she looks around, smile widen like a crazy cat.
"Who's Next?"