Riux - Hm, I may continue those! I'm not quite sure just yet.
~O~
Never Again
Hundreds of years later
"White..."
Blue wandered into the darkened chamber that evening; she found White sitting with her back to her. fingers typing rapidly over the many screens and keys around her. All she did was sit; a silent, cold statue. Before, it had been like that, but now, she was rarely seen and rarely spoken to, even by the other two diamonds.
"White, this isn't what she'd want," Blue said, quietly. Tears filled her eyes. "These new laws you passed...they're beyond cruel, even for you. Destroying gems for this? Shattering gems loyal does not inspire devotion."
White didn't stop typing. The only noises in the room were the gentle clicking of her fingers against the holoscreens, over the keys and the occasional creak of her throne as she moved.
"White, talk to me." Blue pleaded. "We could always talk, remember?"
"I would like to remind you that visiting my chambers unannounced is unwanted and uncalled for," White suddenly spoke, her voice flat and emotionless once more, "A repeat offense will not be permitted."
"But White..."
"I would also like to remind you to address me in my formal title," White continued, continuing with the grace of a computer, "My gems do so, and it is only proper that a diamond remembers the authority of one another. If there is nothing you wish to add, I bid you farewell."
Blue remained in the chamber, silently regarding her with anguish. She looked differently now; her form was heavily armored, her cloak ended in sharp blades. Nothing of what she once was existed in her form. It was a reflection of how SHE herself had changed. Blue herself had been through the same changes; it had been hard to go on these days, for all of them.
"You think these changes are unpleasant? With change comes the ability to adapt, to forge new paths for the future." White told her. "And in my future, there will be no room for the ideals of love. Not anymore, I'm afraid. To evolve into the race we are meant to be, there must be suffering. Always. That is how we grow stronger. That is how we become better than the previous generation."
Blue approached White Diamond's throne and slowly reached out to offer comfort - which she truly believed was needed. She rested a hand on White's shoulder, and the typing sound stopped. White's fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment, as if she'd been frozen by Blue's action. The other diamond noticed that she was looking away.
"White, no one blames you," she said, gently. "We know you loved her. It's hard for you, I understand. It's hard for all of us."
"Love?" White's passive voice took on barely a fraction of an edge. It was the first change in her tone in quite a while. "Love..." A soft, unfriendly chuckle escaped her - such an absurd notion. "How can you even say such a thing to me, Blue... Love didn't stop her from being shattered. Love didn't save her as her gem broke apart in my hands - I can still hear that sound in my head."
Blue watched her sorrowfully.
"I don't want you to misunderstand my actions, Blue; Yes, it's true, Rose Quartz destroyed something beautiful. She twisted the foundation of the Diamond Authority for her own gain and it ended in brutality. Perhaps I should hate her for that. Is that what you want me to do? Hate her? Weep like a pained human child? I could feel that. But I don't. I feel only emptiness."
Blue stared at her silently, eyes filling.
White glanced partially up at her. Her features didn't change. It was like gazing into a cold, pitiless statue. "If there is nothing more you wish to speak, then leave me to my work."
Blue lowered her hand from her shoulder before she eventually departed, leaving White alone in the room.
The diamond continued her work at her consoles before she paused, glanced down at a drawer nearby. She reached for the handle, hesitated and continued to work.
But then, she paused again; she looked at the drawer and opened it, removing the aged music box from its compartment. She contemplated playing the music for a moment, hesitated and finally, wound it back up. The sound was old, but still played the familiar melody that she remembered.
It'd been a long time.
She sighed, shut her eyes and leaned back in her chair.
O
The gem had no eyes.
A creature. An experiment of sorts.
White had been fascinated with this particular gem; she had once been an Empressite, one of White Diamond's chief diplomats. She had a thin, bony form; her face covered with a mass that took over her entire face, with the exception of her mouth.
Chains kept her wrists bound to the floor in the enormous cell.
White remembered that the gem had willingly offered herself up for experimentation. Once she had learned of her plan to help in the evolution of gem kind, she had not protested to White's need of specimens. White admired her for this offer. It wasn't often that she received volunteers for her work.
"My Diamond, it is good to hear you," Empressite said, with a smile. "Are we doing tests tonight?"
"Yes." White replied, quietly. "Your psionic abilities continue to function, despite my best efforts. Your gem is resisting the song. This has proven useful to me in my research. I am pleased."
"That makes me happy to hear, Your Radiance!"
White nodded and made her way to a console, working her hands over several keys. "Psychological stress plays a factor into corruption," she murmured, "But as we understand, there are many forms of such stress that - "
A flicker across her field of vision. A whisper.
White shut her eyes, shook her head before continuing.
You can't run from the pain forever, no matter how much you try. That's right. Ignore it... Bury it deep inside until it festers and rots. Then, you will only seek a way to end it.
Another flicker. This time, it was red.
Empressite leaned her head back, humming a cheerful song to herself. "I love to serve, no matter what I endure, My Diamond!" she said, with a smile of pride.
White turned, calmly retrieving a device nearby; the same one she'd used to test on the fusion from such a long time ago.
"I'm going to bombard you with a new sort of sound," she told the gem. "If you feel discomfort, do not hesitate to tell me."
You are right about that, White. Corruption starts from deep inside. Stress changes you. Too much stress is not good, even for a diamond. You'll change. Just as she did.
White continued to ignore the voice, passing her mind like a fleeting whisper.
Your face doesn't betray it, but inside, it eats away at you. Slowly, you'll be the very thing you hold back. The horrible creature clawing inside of you will rise to the surface. Deny it all you wish, but it happens. To all of us. The cracks will start to show. Then they will see what you really are.
White calmly retrieved a data pad, scrolling through it. Her new order. The way things should be on Homeworld. How she could keep destruction from happening again. Even without the embrace of the one she loved dear, she would live.
She had to.
O
The colony felt lifeless.
White made her way to Pink's abandoned chamber; she paused to study the aged pillars, cracked walls and rooftops ensnared with vines. Animals had begun roosting around. It was like standing in a graveyard. White shut her eyes, remembering how it had once been to stand here.
When it felt alive.
You can pretend not to be bothered, but being here rattles you, doesn't it, White? To be among a graveyard where your fellow God once walked. To stand where the one you loved was worshiped and adored. But it was all a lie, wasn't it? You know the truth of what happened - no matter how deeply you try to bury it, it's very real.
Why did she come here?
Why, indeed?
She went to visit the palanquin next, where it had happened Perhaps she visited these places to feel something again. The gaping void of nothing clawed away at her from inside. She had once felt her fire flare like a bright, scorching inferno; but at the years had passed, the only sensation she had been accustomed with was emptiness.
Void.
Nothing.
My palanquin. That is where it happened; it was fast and I barely had a chance to react. Treachery of the spirit, of the soul... But it was here where it happened to you, too. This is where we both died. They came for me. I suppose it was a matter of time, really. My kindness didn't save me here as I'd hoped it would. I hoped for many things. Perhaps that's what made me weaker than the rest of you. It was a gambit I was destined to lose. Oh...don't be shy, White. Step a little closer.
White took a step closer, running her fingers across the palanquin's broken leg.
A flicker through her field of vision.
Yes, it was true; maybe she wanted to feel something again, but that part of her was gone, along with the part that loved Pink Diamond. Pink was dead. Hope was dead. Love was dead. And White couldn't fix it. It was something beyond her capabilities.
There was nothing.
That evening, White made a broadcast to all of Homeworld. Her visage appeared on every screen, console and monitor all across the planet. Including that of Yellow and Blue's.
"Good evening, Homeworld," she began, "Let me first begin by extending an apology to all of you for my lack of presence as of late. As I suspect, there are questions that are no doubt burning in your minds; questions regarding the demise of our beloved Pink Diamond and what had become of the Rebellion. I can answer both of those questions with a simple answer.
Death. Death is what became of them both. Now, all of you surely wonder what our future brings. I can assure you that despite this loss that weighs heavily in our hearts, we will use this day to remember these sins for the next era to come. I believe in logic. I believe in order and the drive for evolution. To evolve we must change and to change we must adapt. And so, the Rebellion thought to end us. To bring us to our destruction.
Order. To some it is natural, like the flowing of space and time; to others, it is their very ruin. They're discordant, disconnected from the reality of what their purpose is. And it is the Rebels who seek to undermine all that we have made.
I am certain they will call me many things; liar, dictator, persecutor. But fear not, Homeworld; I desire nothing but evolution; a hope that every gem life-form will see themselves become better than they ever could. It is the survivors who write the words of history on the walls, but it is they who bend truth and logic to suit their agenda. They are Chaos and Ruin and we are Order and Logic. They may claim they fight with passion, inspiration and in the name of freedom, but I have dared lay my eyes upon these things. And I have witnessed the atrocities of it.
Many of us question why Rose Quartz did it. Was it the love of her colony? Was it for the creatures that walk on its surface? Instead, the life they were meant to give, they used it to destroy their own. A betrayal of our love, our protection and our lives that we sacrifice so that they may live. All of this was perverted for a selfish goal: Free will.
There are those who would argue with the idea of free will; it is a gift, is it not? But many of you must come to understand - and WILL understand - that such a gift comes with a heavy price. We've all known what that price is and what it cost us dearly.
I know why they did it. Many reasons could be put on the table; a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt the Order of the Authority and rob them of their common sense. The thirst for power, perhaps? It is said that Rose Quartz promised many gems freedom and peace; and then, she took it a step further than that... She demanded the life of a diamond who sought to end it peacefully."
Yellow and Blue looked at one another, listening to the constant flat tone of White's voice. It had been different before, but they knew that Pink's death had changed her in a new way; it was without feeling, without any manner of hesitation.
Gems around Homeworld seemed taken by her speech. They had all but ceased their activities to listen and watch her.
"Those who remain unaware of what she was like, allow me to explain. Pink Diamond had a soul beyond most. She could experience and feel deep within the core of existence and reverberate life though even the coldest beings. Such was how it was. Perhaps I foolishly believed in this once... As the eldest, I do not expect change, but understand the necessity of it. She reached out and found what I didn't believe existed.
It has always been fascinating to me; this eternal comparison of good and evil. But who is worthy of judgment than those who shattered our dearest Pink Diamond? Perhaps they meant well in some point in history; perhaps they considered that destroying the Authority meant freedom and a certain sentience. Even now, they seek my voice among the silence. But don't think me vengeful. Think of me as a diamond beyond that. I seek only to prevent such atrocities from repeating themselves.
Now, Homeworld, we remained silent and passive in the wake of this uprising, but no more. We must fight for the living, fight for the future, but also for the dead. We will rise so that Pink Diamond's sacrifice will never be in vain. Those who fell to chaos will be immortalized in the stones of our new order. And it is you who will rise above them, who will evolve beyond anything you were made for. And it is you who will stand eternal."
Outside of her tower, White could hear the sounds of cheering. It was a gradually-building sound that reminded her of her control.
Behind her stood the illusion of Pink Diamond, who gently rested her hands on her shoulders.
"Let's begin." White said.