CHAPTER 35: SACRIFICE

"It's a safety door! It can only be closed and opened from the inside!" Peridot could feel a trail of tears running down her cheeks, they would have never outran the guards, not all of them, without this door, they wouldn't have survived.

"We can still reach the hangar! I'll carry Steven come one!" Jet said raising Steven from the ground.

"Come on!" Garnet said as everyone rushed across the door, everyone but one gem.

"Black? Black what are you doing?!" Pearl shouted as she noticed Black was following them… she was staying in front of the door's panel.

Meanwhile:

"What?! Stay here Pearl… I have something to do…" Yellow Diamond hissed through her teeth as she received a message on the holographic interface of her throne. As she stood up and began to stomp towards the exit of the room, her pearl started to follow her.

"M-my Diamond? May I know w-what is troubling y-you?" Yellow Pearl asked cautiously in a trembling voice.

"Those filthy, defective rebels managed to escape from the dungeon!" Yellow Diamond yelled furiously as she punched the wall near to the exit door, making large cracks spread along it.

"M-my Diamond! Please do not tire yourself! Your gem is still cracked!" Yellow Pearl said as Yellow Diamond gripped her chest tightly, grunting in pain.

"You're such a good pearl… always worried about your master… but don't worry, as soon as I'll find those rebels, I'll rip what I need to be cured from the corpse of Rose Quartz's offspring…" Yellow Diamond muttered in pain as she opened the door and disappeared behind it.

Fear was something Yellow Pearl hasn't felt for a long time, of course her master could become pretty terrifying when something she planned went wrong, but she never feared for her own life, she was a good pearl and she kept repeating it to herself all the time, if she would continue to be good, Yellow Diamond would have never let anything bad happen to her, she wouldn't even get tired of her like she did with her other pearls. Yellow Pearl was sure of that, or at least, that was what she tried to believe, what she had to believe.

"I hope nothing bad will happen to her…" Yellow Pearl said to herself, she became really convincing with time.

"If that is your wish, than I'm afraid it won't be granted…" A voice said from outside the door.

"Who's th-" Yellow Pearl didn't have the time to finish her sentence, the door was swung open, hitting her and making her fall to the ground, as she raised her gaze, her face became white, over her, was towering Blue Diamond, the gem she enjoyed seeing being tortured by her master, or at least, she tried to show contempt in what Yellow Diamond did to her and her pearl while she was imprisoned in that mirror.

"You…" Blue Diamond whispered as she stepped forwards.

"Please! Please my diamond don't punish me! I didn't mean to do that!" Yellow Pearl pleaded as a giant hand gripped her by her neck and raised her in the air.

"I'm not your diamond… I would have broken you a long time ago if I were…" Blue Diamond said as she gripped Yellow Pearl's neck tighter.

"Please no! No! Don't do this! It wasn't my fault! I never enjoyed what my master did to you and your pearl! I had to show contempt or she would have thought I was defective! Please! I hate being her servant I swear it! I don't care if she dies! Please just don't hurt me! Let me live!" Yellow Pearl was crying hysterically at this point, she has never been so afraid in all her life.

"So eager to betray your master only to save your life, pathetic, you are really a defective gem… but I'm not interested in insects like you… unlock her interface… now…" Blue Diamond said throwing Yellow Pearl to the ground.

"Y-yes…" Yellow Pearl started to limp towards Yellow Diamond's throne, followed by Blue Diamond and her pearl. As her leader's servant, she was the only gem who knew the password to unlock her master's holographic database, if her diamond would ever discover about this, Yellow Pearl would have had a very short life, but she didn't care, if it meant to stay alive for another day, she would have betrayed her master.

"My Diamond… what are you going to do?" Blue Pearl asked as Blue Diamond sat on Yellow Diamond's throne and brought the interface in front of her face.

"I'm going to reveal the truth my pearl…" Blue Diamond answered as she began to tap on the interface, soon, a message appeared on the yellow screen, it said 'initializing global communication', both Blue and Yellow Pearl realized what Blue Diamond was going to do.

"Gems of Homeworld which used to serve the long lost leader Blue Diamond, I have a communication for you all…" As Blue Diamond spoke, the message was broadcasted all over Homeworld, every speaker, every screen, it displayed Blue Diamond's face and communicated her words.

"You have been fooled by the wicked, defective minds of the remaining gem matriarchs, I am still alive, I wasn't kill by the rebels, Yellow Diamond trapped me and tricked you into believing I was dead, only to enlarge the numbers of her armies and the ones of White Diamond. Now… if there are still gems loyal to me on this planet, help me gain my revenge and take back what's mine…" Blue Diamond's words hit in a way nothing else could do, in fact, in the exact moment those words were said, a war started.

"We have one last task to accomplish…" Blue Diamond said as she stood up from the throne.

"My diamond?" Blue Pearl asked reaching her master's side.

"My gems may be strong, but they will never win, but there's still hope, to clear the universe from our mistakes and save ourselves… do you trust me Pearl?" Blue Diamond asked crouching down in front of Blue Pearl.

"Of course my diamond… I would never doubt you!" Blue Pearl answered.

"Let's go then…" Blue Diamond was going to exit the room but an annoying voice stopped her.

"Wait! Please wait!" Yellow Pearl yelled trying to reach the two gems.

"What is it now?" Blue Diamond had to repress the will to simply stomp this annoying fly.

"Please take me with you!" Yellow Pearl was desperate.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Blue Diamond asked, quietly irritated by the gem's behavior.

"No! When Yellow Diamond will discover about this… s-she… she will, oh please I can't face it! Please take me with you! I never enjoyed staying here! I-I would be a g-good servant! I would never f-fail you, I promise!" Yellow Pearl was indeed really pathetic.

"My diamond… I know I shouldn't do this… a pearl isn't supposed to manifest her own ideas… I… I must be defective too… but… I don't think you should let this gem die… she had to live the entirety of her life being afraid, she had to serve a master she never really loved… it's a miserable life that made a gem who could be great become like this… save her… please…" Blue Pearl spoke in a low tone, she didn't know why she was saying this, maybe it was because she felt sympathetic towards the ones of her own kind, maybe because she understood fear more than anyone else and didn't want anyone to live a life dominated by it, but she just couldn't let that gem die. Blue Diamond didn't say anything, she just nodded slightly and opened the door, all of them leaving the room.

Meanwhile:

Pearl was standing still, her eyes filled with terror as she watched her friend staring at the panel near to the door, Black wasn't following them, all of the gems realized what she was going to do. The yells of the quartz guards resonated more and more strong in the corridor until the first one appeared from the corner, followed by countless others.

"Black! What are you doing?!" Pearl yelled as she stepped forward.

"You'll never be able to escape if they won't be stopped in some way…" Black raised her gaze towards Pearl, a small tear streamed down her cheek, although she was smiling.

"Black… no… please…" Pearl whispered stretching her arm forwards.

"Remember Pearl… fight for your freedom… that's what is really worth sacrificing ourselves for…" Black said before placing her hand on the panel, the door quickly shutting in front of her.

"No!" Pearl cried as she rushed towards the door, too late, it was already closed.