Note - This chapter was inspired by the track "Sorrow" by Hans Zimmer.
~O~
Wrath of the Gods
The amethyst fusion paced around White Diamond, wary, but still determined to keep her away from the other gems. White seemed unnaturally passive, serene almost in her approach. But that deadly blade she clutched in her hands worried the fusion even more. She'd never seen her with it.
"Come on!" the amethyst fusion beckoned with two hands.
White stared at the fusion for several moments more before she swung the blade. The amethyst jumped, narrowly missing as it whistled through the air and cracked into the earth. The spray of heat from White to her weapon practically melted the grass, forming a bed of crystals.
"You could surrender Rose Quartz to me, misbegotten slave," White whispered, "I do not seek such a quick end for her. She won't die in battle, but I can assure you; that for the next thousand years, her dearest wish will be that she had!"
The amethyst fusion laughed mockingly. "Well, you have me to get through and I ain't going down without a fight!"
White's eyes narrowed. "Good. You will be the first example I set tonight."
The amethyst ducked and dodged each swing of the scythe. She quickly produced her own weapon - a long, deadly trident that fired off blasts of light at White. The diamond quickly spun on her heels, her cloak taking each shot and deflecting it.
White was relentless, eyes wide and nearly glowing; she swung her blade, dancing through the air like a viper. The amethyst fusion blocked each attack with her weapon, struggling to hold back the nightmarish revenant.
"The time of the diamonds is over!" the fusion shouted, "This is our day! We fought the battle and won our right to Earth!"
White brought her scythe down, moments as the amethyst fusion blocked with the trident. They held one another back and White regarded the fusion with a strange, but eerie gaze.
"You think this is a victory?" she whispered, voice shaking out of her like a storm.
She began to push the amethyst back in the dirt. Slowly.
"What you've done... The murder you've committed..." White continued, hissing out her words with great effort, "This can never be forgiven. This can never be forgotten. And I will never breathe a moment again until each and every rebel on this colony bears the image of what they truly are inside...corrupt."
A rough push and the amethyst fusion grunted with effort; she was forced into a tree and White leaned close to whisper, eyes wide with a glittering madness that was never there before.
"To want a diamond dead takes a being with a truly evil heart..." she whispered, leaning close to the amethyst fusion's ear. "That Rose Quartz who leads you to this? She did not save you nor set you free. She damned you all to your oblivion."
The amethyst fusion laughed mockingly, though she was still unsettled. "We're ready to die if it means protecting this planet from you!"
White smiled now and it looked unsettling on her face. "When I'm finished with you. You're going to wish that's all I did."
The amethyst fusion gave a fierce roar, forcing White back with a brutal shove. She swung her trident and White caught the attack with her scythe. They struggled for dominance, swinging both weapons back and forth before the amethyst twisted her wrist. The trident's blade began to spin and it caught the scythe, sending it flying from White's hands.
It spun end-over-end through the air and the amethyst fusion lunged before the diamond could recover, grabbing White around the waist. With a powerful grunt, she heaved the diamond through the air, sending her flying through several hundred trees; the heat from White's form ignited the trees in the process.
The amethyst fusion shouted out with glee, thrusting her fists in the air. "You may be a diamond, but we're amethyst's! We're MADE for war!"
She looked down at the scythe still embedded into the ground, reached for it, but the sounds of heavy footsteps made her look up.
Eyes widening, the amethyst fusion gave a shocked cry when she spotted White Diamond surging through the flames at top speeds, right back toward her with wide, manic eyes. Despite her sheer size, White was faster than the fusion belived.
This is going to hurt... the fusion thought, bracing for the impact.
White dove forward, charging into the fusion's midsection. The fusion drove her elbow into White's back, struggling to dislodge her. They grappled for dominance for several moments and the amethyst managed to get White's head in a fierce lock in her arm. She kicked out her legs, slamming the diamond into the ground.
The amethyst fusion grinned triumphantly down at her. "Hah! See if you can get your head out of this one, diamond!"
White grunted, fingers digging deep grooves into the dirt. Around them, the fire began to engulf the forest. The amethyst fusion choked out a breath against the heat. White Diamond's fire burned hotter than she had thought.
Then, White's body began to shake with a gradually building, sinister laughter.
The amethyst fusion looked down, confused and apprehensive.
White grinned, cackling long and loud; the noise was so foreign on her that the amethyst fusion didn't know what to make of it.
"Come, fusion; join me in the flames..." she suddenly whispered.
She began to crawl toward the fire, dragging the fusion with her. The amethyst fusion looked up with dread, struggling to pull White back from the blaze, but the diamond was stronger; she had been toying with her the entire time.
The fire engulfed them both; White was unharmed by it, but the amethyst fusion began to sweat and feel the effects of it. She gritted her teeth, groaning out in pain.
Get out.
She had to get out of it.
The fusion released White and jumped from the fire, stumbling several times in the dirt. She had been singed almost completely; her uniform was burned and her hair scorched. She staggered back, watching as White slowly rose, her eyes glowing. It gave her a frightening appearance, like that of a primordial being.
The amethyst fusion staggered back as White stepped out of the fire, retrieving her scythe. The fusion looked down, horrified to see her hand beginning to crystalize from being exposed to the flames. She cried out, clawing uselessly at it as White loomed over her.
"Wh-What is this?" the fusion shrieked.
White smiled down at her.
"Please..." the fusion begged, realizing that this was a worse fate than she believed White to be capable of; it hurt so much, "Have mercy!"
White calmly placed one of her heels into the fusion's chest and raised her scythe high; the act silhouetted her against the flames and moon. Her next word was simple, but carried all the weight of her grief and wrath that could crumble whole armies.
"No."
With that final word, she brought her scythe down.
O
It had begun to snow.
White hadn't been certain how long she'd wandered deep into the storm. She wasn't sure how far she'd gone. All around her were mountains and she couldn't see beyond the falling snow in front of her. She dragged her scythe behind her.
Whispers through her mind.
Shaken, distorted images before her.
They killed her.
Because of me.
The Rose Quartz's. A flaw in their programming. One of them had passed beyond her eyes and she had failed to see the defect. Pink was gone because of her.
She swayed, stopping her trek; suddenly White was feeling very tired, no longer caring if she continued or not. Her scythe slipped from her hand, falling to the ground at her feet. Eventually, White pitched forward and collapsed into the snow before going still.
White...
White didn't know how much time had passed, but a thin layer of snow covered her form. She barely managed to open her eyes; a small bird had landed in front of her. She stared at the animal, eyes half closed. It seemed to watch her, tilting its head curiously.
White huffed out a small sigh, ruffling the small bird's feathers. It chirped and flew away.
Someone was approaching.
White stared into the distance, still so very tired. She noticed a tall figure was walking up to her; a diamond, perhaps? White didn't want to move. She no longer cared.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and she sat up, stunned to see Pink standing there, smiling warmly down at her. White reached for her, but the image vanished, leaving her alone in the cold. Tears trickled down her cheeks and the only sounds for miles were of the frigid wind and her own sorrowful moans.
Meanwhile, Yellow and Blue were planning to send a search team out for White Diamond after learning of her disappearance. Several of the strongest gems they had of their court. They stood by the Homeworld warp, mere moments as it activated, and White stepped through.
They gave several startled gasps, stepping aside as White quietly walked through them. She was covered head to toe in ice, her gaze blank and devoid of emotion. But something else was there. Something distant and almost frightening.
"W-White?" Blue barely managed.
White stopped.
"Where did you go?" Yellow demanded. "We've lost a diamond today already! We couldn't bear losing another!"
White continued to stand there in silence.
Yellow glanced at Blue briefly before she approached White. The diamond's features still remained blank and emotionless. When she spoke at last, it was almost too quiet to be heard.
"Use the song." she whispered.
Blue's eyes widened. "White..."
Yellow seemed completely fine with it. "Very well." she said, evenly. "Come along, Blue. We'll announce the evacuation for the rest of our forces. Let's get this over with."
O
Gems began pouring through the warp, rushing to their ships when they received the command from the diamonds. It was chaos; pushing, screaming and struggling between them all. It took mere seconds as the gems departed before the weapon was unleashed.
On the beach, Rose had her bubble surrounding her comrades as the roar of the song pierced the air. She grunted with effort as Pearl, Garnet and Bismuth held onto her. She looked up, wincing with effort before her features smoothed out in anguish.
A nephrite was kneeling on the beach, staggering back in shock and pain. The force of the sound seemed to whip her hair wildly around her face, but as she turned, Rose remembered Pearl pulling her from the broken Homeworld vessel.
Stars...
Walking seemed to cause the nephrite great pain and effort, but she staggered toward the bubbled gems anyway, moaning and reaching for them. Her form flickered and green fluid poured from her mouth. They couldn't hear the sound from inside, but only watch helplessly as the gem clawed at the bubble, her mouth forming desperate pleas for mercy.
Tears filled Rose's eyes and she whispered out "I'm sorry". The nephrite continued to beat uselessly on the bubble before the sound around her began to take its toll; her arm began to rot into a thin, black appendage and her mouth formed a row of sharp, dangerous teeth. Green fluid poured from her eyes, nose and mouth in a gruesome display.
She collapsed into the sand and despite the gems inside the bubble being incapable of hearing anything, they could only watch as the nephrite began a horrible transformation; long, snakelike body, jagged fangs and multiple legs sprouting from her sides.
The creature screamed out before scuttling away.
"This was Homeworld's plan..." Rose moaned, shaking her head in rebuke.
Once the sound had stopped and Rose willed the bubble away, a chorus of distant animal snarls and screams pierced the night air.
O
White was sitting alone in her tower, listening to the little music box that Pink had given her. The soft, gentle melody didn't give her any peace. Still, she listened to it anyway, perhaps to ease away the loud thoughts in her head.
The tune stopped.
White tilted her head.
She began to wind it back up with a simple turn of the key on its side and played the melody again. When it stopped, she repeated the gesture.
Over.
And over.
And over again.
When she fell asleep in her throne, she'd dropped the music box to the floor.
The door to her chambers hissed open.
A set of bare, pink footsteps filled the air.
Two hands reached up to touch her shoulders.
White's eyes fluttered open and she looked up, stunned to see Pink smiling tenderly down at her. Pink reached one hand down to cup her cheek and guide her to stand. White did so and leaned down for a kiss on her lips.
Not real.
Debaser.
Defiler.
Pink pulled away, backing up from the other diamond with a lingering caress on her chin. White attempted to follow it; but suddenly, Pink froze, as if she were a hologram on pause. Her image shattered into shards of glass.
White awoke from her dream with a startled gasp, looking around the darkness of her room. Her gaze fell to a mirror that she'd broken earlier and it fragmented her visage into numerous white eyes staring back at her.
She simply stared at the wall in silence.
O
Note - I thought a good theme for White fighting the amethyst fusion would be "Moon Presence" OST from Bloodborne. Give it a listen. It's eerie. Also, the OST "For Whom the Bells Tolls" by Steve Baker and Carmen Daye was an inspiration as well for this chapter. It's from the movie Donnie Darko.
One chapter left to go! I'm kinda keeping this more open with little explanation to see where they go with the show.