28. The Execution
Sapphire tried to look away from the screen when Pearl and Lapis were knocked back against the warp pad – she might not have had her future vision, but she still saw it coming. Steven… he was too self-sacrificing, too selfless, too kind. It was obvious to her that there was something larger going on, something that was making him act so irrationally, and she had a strong suspicion it was related to the Diamond seated in front of her.
This was… about as close to her nightmare as she could imagine, actually. Sapphire had see so much in her life – literally and theoretically – and yet somehow she never saw this moment. Ruby was struggling under the weight of much stronger gems, and if not for Peridot's modification, her partner would be dead; Steven had just attacked Pearl and Lapis; Connie and Amethyst were both restrained next to her with tears rolling from their cheeks; and then there was Peridot... no one even knew what had happened to her. But, somehow more unbelievable than all of that, she was seated at the feet of her Diamond once again, after thousands of years, and she still looked as mighty as the day Sapphire had escaped from her old life.
There was a shimmer in Blue Diamond's eyes that told a thousand stories, and each one of them was a lie. Carefully crafted, each fabric of her being was woven together into a delicate web of authority and hidden power. It was impossible to know how she felt or exactly how deep her hand in any connivance went; nothing she said, nothing she did could be trusted, and Sapphire knew that better than anyone. How could she not, having predicted the future at her Diamond's beck-and-call for millennia?
Blue Diamond had stopped looking at the screen once Steven was out of view, watching him head down a hallway that could only lead to Yellow Diamond, and had turned her gaze to the little blue gem below. To Sapphire's left, Connie and Amethyst were silent, trying to stifle their sobs, and she could just see the Heliodor in the edge of vision, a tight hold on Connie's hands, the orange gem's eyes intense as she looked at their Diamond. Off to her right was Ruby, eyes shut and face streaming with tears… It was a heartbreaking sight.
"You, hold the girl," Blue Diamond commanded to one of the Quartz holding down Ruby, her voice deceptively soft. "Heliodor, go retrieve the others. I want them all together, so the Crystal Gems will get to watch the boy die."
Amethyst was about to open her mouth to speak, but Connie stopped her with a quick nudg, and that was a wise thing to do. The purple gem might have been destabilized for yelling at a Diamond, or worse, and Connie seemed to realize the danger they were in, too. There was no way to overpower a Diamond, but she knew it could be possible to outwit them.
Blue Diamond looked just a tad irritated at Sapphire's calm, which was to be expected. She liked her gems fearful and pensive, and Sapphire wasn't about to give her that satisfaction. "Something wrong, my little Sapphire? You've never been one to speak much, but oh how you do love breaking the rules."
Ruby hissed, so Sapphire shot her a quick look – even behind her bangs, the red gem was able to read her body language. Don't.
"You know," she placed her pointer finger against her chin, a pose of curiosity. "Now that I think about it, you're all rule-breakers, aren't you?" Connie exchanged a glance with Amethyst and Ruby, but Sapphire had only one eye for her Diamond, silent, waiting.
She pulled up two separate tableaux from the arm of her chair, looking into each screen thoughtfully. "Yes, yes, that's right. My reports say you're all guilty of cross-fusion. Even you," she tilted her head to one side as she examined Connie.
"Tell me, what was that like?" Connie pursed her lips nervously, trying to shoot a look at Sapphire to tell her what to do. The blue gem shook her head.
That was not well-received by her Diamond. "Oh, you think you get decide who speaks, and when? My, my, five thousand years has really inflated your ego, hasn't it, Sapphire?" She rested her hand against her knuckles, looking at the blue gem in question. In response, Sapphire just looked at her patiently, waiting for her punishment. It was fine, though, she knew Blue Diamond wouldn't shatter her until after Steven's execution, so she was glad to take the pressure off of Connie.
"Well, if you're all content on being quiet, why don't I just ask someone who already knows all about it? Agate, why don't you come forward?"
All of their eyes grew wide at that, watching the intimidating figure of Holly Blue Agate come around the corner of Blue Diamond's throne. She was smiling, a face full of pride and malice. The others managed to resist the urge to scream at her, knowing what she did to Steven, but Ruby couldn't resist.
"You! What is the matter with you, he's just a kid! And you – " Holly Blue Agate came over and rested the point of her heel against Ruby's fingers, holding her palm open, revealing her gem.
"If my Diamond didn't have need of you, I would crush you right this moment." Her voice rang threateningly in the dead space, no one making a sound after that. Seeing her was one thing, but hearing her and watching her hurt Ruby was another thing entirely. Now Sapphire really was stressed, but she tried not to show it.
"Hmm, don't like that now, do you, Sapphire?" The blue gem frowned down at her seer-gone-rogue, waiting, but Sapphire said nothing.
"Well, Agate, why don't you tell me a little more about our guests, since they seem to have nothing to say?"
Holly Blue turned around, saluted Blue Diamond and gave a small bow. "Of course, my Diamond,"
She approached the others, ducked down in front of Connie so their faces were only a few feet apart.
"This one, her name is Connie. A human girl who admires the renegade. Oh, and Steven cares about you a great, great deal." A blue hand reached out to rub Connie's face, an action that made her recoil.
Her voice went hard as she dropped her hand. "Well, that's not the sort of attitude he remembered you with. Oh yes, every little fuzzy memory, and so many! But Stevonnie, now that was something."
Blue Diamond arched an eyebrow at this, feigning curiosity. She already knew everything from her Agate's report, but she was enjoying the show. Connie was squinting her eyes, the hurt too fresh for her to power through.
"Aw, that's alright, don't cry," she stood up. "He wasn't anything special to fuse with anyways. Weak." Amethyst looked about ready to sink her teeth into Holly Blue's leg as she approached her next.
"And then there's you, and Smoky Quartz, I believe? Yes, that was right, ol' Smoky and your little toy." Every word was laced with contempt, and Blue Diamond appeared to be pleased.
"How disappointing that must be for you. See, I, we, we had something impressive. We had a morning star, deadly, lethal," she leaned closer and closer to Amethyst with every word. "That's how we shattered the other Amethyst, you know."
At that, surprise flooded the room. Garnet had never told them who or how he had been forced to shatter, and now Holly Blue was going to make all of that come undone. Sapphire couldn't prevent herself, speaking up, her teeth clenched.
"Stop. That's enough." Her voice was calm, cold as ice; the floor beneath her started to chill.
Blue Diamond was having none of that, though. "Oh no, please, do continue. This is just so fascinating." Her command was innocent to the ears, but piercing to the heart.
"Of course, my Diamond." Holly Blue stood back up, pacing in front of the three of them.
"Well, you see, he was a desperate, weak, pathetic clinging thing. So, I took his vulnerability as a weakness, and then Opalite was made. Oh and weren't they something, powerful and fast and so surprising with every turn. We made our way to my lustrous Diamond's presence," she gestured with a hand to Blue Diamond, who was impossible to overlook anyways. "And then those insolent traitors that dared to let you escape from the Human Zoo? Yes, you know the ones," Holly Blue nodded as the recognition flashed on the purple gem's face, surprise quickly replaced by angst.
"They were brought out, and then we shattered them with our weapon. Much more than a toy could ever accomplish. Simple as that. Would you like to see? May I, my Diamond?" Holly Blue Agate turned to face Blue Diamond, who gave her just the tiniest nod, and she whipped around to terrorize them even more.
Sapphire, usually relatively docile, wanted to punch Holly Blue Agate in the face. If her hands weren't bound, and even if she didn't have Ruby with her, she would like nothing more than to watch those eyes roll back into her head with the force of her tiny blue fists. Before any of the others could do anything, Holly Blue summoned two bubbles, one in each hand. They refracted blue light across the surface of darker blue bubbles. It was like two tiny aquariums, but instead of fish, pretty little shards of orange and purple hovered delicately beneath the surface.
Holly Blue sighed, pretending to be an idol of disappointment. "These," she said, looking between the bubbles in her hands. "Were ours. Oh, but poor Steven, he hated it so much. He couldn't stand it after we shattered this Amethyst," she lowered one of the orbs in front of the gem with the same name. "And he lost consciousness. Tsk. Too puny for his own good."
She cackled at her own horrible, personal insight into Steven's mind and turned back to Blue Diamond, her arms in a salute. Connie, Amethyst, Ruby were all repulsed by her laugh, but Sapphire flared hotter with anger – or, in a sense, colder in fury. The ice around her had started to spread beneath Amethyst and would reach Connie soon.
"Will there be anything else, my Diamond?" She returned to her usual proud voice.
"No, I believe that is all. The event is about to begin, so we are just at time. Shall we?" Turning in her chair slightly, the screen changed from the lifeless yellow room back to the stadium-like cheering in the Center of Homeworld.
/
Without escorts, Steven was a little worried he wouldn't find Yellow Diamond and things would come undone – it's not like he could exactly wait for the guards to reform. So, he started down a yellow hallway going straight, always going straight, and though there were off-shoots in several directions every so often, he did not diverge from the path; that's what he had done with Heliodor when he first went to see White Diamond, so stick with a winning strategy, right?
As he walked, all he could think about was the pain in Lapis' and Pearl's face when he knocked them over.
Please, please let them believe me. I don't want to hurt anyone else, whoever is left.
After twenty minutes, his nerves fraying the longer he went without finding a door, he was almost about to start shouting for someone, hoping they would take him away, when an exit finally came into view. It was not a door at all, but a diamond shaped room at the end that branched out gradually from the narrow walls. He edged closer, eyes straining, unsure of what might be beyond these halls.
Once the room full opened around him so he could see three corners and a door (where the fourth corner would have been) he bit his lip nervously. It was grand, yellow as everything else, but entirely empty.
"…want something done around – oh. You're here. And your escort?" Yellow Diamond had just entered through a wall that opened seamlessly, melding back into cold metal the moment she stepped through with her Pearl.
Steven hadn't thought of a good explanation, too consumed with his confusing mixture of guilt and satisfaction with what had just happened.
"O-oh, uh, they… went back? Right before you got here, there they go, I can see them!" He turned and glanced back down the way he came, hoping his bluff wouldn't get them shattered when this was all over.
Yellow Diamond's eyes narrowed but she said nothing.
She leaned down and bubbled him again (without a needle in his arm this time, thankfully). He turned his head away from her, saying nothing, ready to get this over with – to get everything over with.
"You understand what is about to happen?" She held him up expectantly, but he was silent, only offering a single nod. He felt sick, hungry, exhausted, emotional – the last thing he really wanted to do was talk to Yellow Diamond, of all people. Even White Diamond was better company than her, somehow.
She examined him closely, floating in her palm – a tiny thing, already near to death. Trust in others was foolish, especially in your enemy, so she did not want to risk some unaccounted for scheme.
"You… undoubtedly know about the Hand Ship, yes?" Her eyes were intense but mysterious. He looked at her, not sure what she was getting at.
"Yes."
"Well… if anyone interrupts this, just know, you won't be the only one shattered on that stage."
Now it was Steven's turn to ask a question, arching an eyebrow. "Why are you telling me this?"
Yellow Diamond turned and started advancing towards the wall she came from, unsure if she should be telling him this, but it was time. "More than one person will die today."
He looked up at her, confused and scared by the sudden annoucement, but they were propelled into a warp stream before he could ask her anymore questions.
Then, suddenly, everything was bright – yellow and white and blue and pink, so much pink, the whole world seemingly painted that color in celebration of her memory. He actually had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming – the lights, the sounds, the movement was so concentrated it didn't seem like it could be real. Yellow Diamond was holding him level with her face out in front of her, arm fully outstretched so the world could see him, captured in her little yellow bubble. The length of his vision was outlined by gems of every conceivable color moving, pushing, yelling, screaming at him, and then Yellow Diamond had started advancing before he could even understand what was happening. It sounded like the static from his T.V., combined with underwater bubbles and the whirling of a thousand drills directly in his ears. It was so, so loud – roaring and chanting and anger and sobs stormed like thunder all across a raging sea.
How many gems were here? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? It was impossible to tell, but he had never seen so many people – gems or humans – in his entire life. Ahead of them was a divided path, a barrier keeping him from the hordes of vengeful victims, soldiers, champions, warriors, friends, supporters, and loyalist of Pink Diamond. Certainly there were many that belonged to the others, but the masses were all sporting some sort of coloration in her memory, changing their physical appearances to reflect their loss. Were Steven not so stunned by the sensory overload, he might have stopped breathing at the magnitude of the guilt that threatened to choke him.
Absurdly, he remembered when Pearl tied that elegant bow to keep the Cool Kids out of the moss his mom grew on the outskirts of Beach City, and he covered his mouth at the memory. His life had so completely changed since then. It was only about a year ago, but he had been such a child. If the sun hadn't come out that day, he would have died with Lars, Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream. Now, he looked up, away from the chaos passing below, into the eternally dark skies of Homeworld. No sun would come to rescue him today, the only shining source of yellow escorting him straight to his death.
Lowering his gaze again, Steven started to understand where they were going, down a straight path that led to a raised platform. They were about halfway to the very center of the crowd, the platform obviously strategically constructed in such a way that all could see. Calling it a stage, like the kind a Beach-a-Palooza, was wrong, because this stage was open on all sides. White Diamond was standing on the dais, legs straight, arms crossed, and face impassive. Steven couldn't help but grimace at the sight of her – the last time they had seen each other was in the Kindergarten, before she bubbled him, her last words still clear in his mind.
You are the key.
To what? I guess I'll never know – it must not matter now.
Steven considered what might await him at the end of this procession – well, besides the obvious. A speech? The whole, "any last words," bit? Would they poof him first, and then shatter him? What sort of weapon would they use? He had, for some reason, imagined a real theatrical affair, like one might see in a movie (but he didn't like watching those sort of films, so he wasn't even sure what that might be).
Time was passing like Steven's life was on fast forward, which it sort of was. How do you compress a million thoughts, sights, sounds, and feelings in just a few minutes walk? Every millisecond something new flashed in his vision, or an unfamiliar voice was yelling his mother's name, or the smell of hot metal rose from the ground, or he felt the general soreness of his body – particularly his arms – drawing his attention to his discolored skin, starting the cycle over again.
A tiny part of his brain wondered if they were here – the others. He knew he would never be able to pick them out of the crowd, it was shifting too quickly and he was pretty high up, but a tiny flicker in his heart made him try anyways. An afro, blue wings, pointed blonde hair… anything that might make them stick out in the craziness, but it yielded no results. That was fine, he thought as they neared the pavilion. It was probably better if they didn't watch anyways.
/
Lapis and Pearl fell roughly onto a warp pad in an unfamiliar place – well, it was unfamiliar to Lapis. Pearl knew this place very, very well – she wasn't sure what surprised her the most. What Steven had just said, that she was here again, or that he was the one who sent her here. She couldn't even stand up, too confused and overwhelmed to process what was happening.
The blue gem studied the walls, columns, arches… this could only be… but, why would Steven send them here?
Steven…
Pounding her fists on the warp pad, Lapis tried to send them back to him. "No, Steven! What is – !" She smashed her hands against the ground again, on her hands in knees, shaking in anger and desperation. Tears streaked down her pretty face, falling onto the plane of the warp pad, but otherwise it was silent.
Through her sniffles, she heard his voice in her head, mixing and swirling maniacally with Jasper, just seeing her moments ago still raw on her tethered emotions. There was too much hurt in her heart, too many voices in her head that didn't belong to her…
She's the one you should be afraid of… You left me alone – they made me kill people… You, you're a monster… You let them take me… We've been holding us back for too long… I'll come back for you…
If Lapis was having a tough time, Pearl's grief was insurmountable. She blinked several times, craning her neck to study the familiar walls. So long ago since she's been here, but yet, in a life as long as hers, was it really?
"I-I… I never…" but she choked on her voice, unable to continue. How did she let herself get dragged back into this again? No more commands, no more orders – she was free, a free gem, her own Pearl. But… she was here. It was everything she never wanted, but everything she already was. A Pearl in purgatory; a gem in hell.
As Pearl struggled to speak, Lapis looked up at her. She's seen that look in her own eyes, the white gem now reflecting her own emotions like a mirror: horror, pain, loneliness. Pearl had literally become inert from her crushing sense of defeat. Lapis shook her head and tried to focus for just a moment – she had to warp them somewhere else, somewhere they would both be safe, a place to think… Here, in White Diamond's throne room, was obviously not the place for that.
The only thought that could come to mind, though, was Steven – back to that yellow prison. No, you have to focus, somewhere else… Her heart was heavy thinking about it, but she needed to force it away, out of her mind for now. There was no way to try to rationalize with him – his pain was internal, emotional, and it needed a different kind of healing. Honestly, Lapis was disappointed that she let her guard down so easily – there's no way he would have conceded, just like that – but the joy in her heart had blinded her.
She needed to be the guide now, eyes clear, so she tightened her grip on Pearl's shoulders and was about to speak when they were both shoved violently forward, hard enough to send them off the warp pad. Lapis had to pause, confused as she rubbed one side of her head. What… was that? Regaining her composure, she looked up and gasped when she saw a Heliodor – the same one as before? – standing pointedly above the two of them. Her eyes spoke in a language of poison, her long fingers talons ready to kill.
"W-we, I – excuse us – " Lapis started to stammer. Heliodor held up a hand to stop her.
"Don't bother," she said. "I already know who you are."
The blue gem's voice died in her throat, the words saturating the air with unspoken threats. The sudden tension was enough to even rouse Pearl from her suffocating apathy. A thin hand twitched for her sword, only for her to remember she had left it behind when she was escorted away by Jasper. Cursing under her breath, Pearl tried to meet Heliodor's intimidating gaze.
"What do you want?" Her voice rang hollow.
Heliodor paused, thinking about the question. When she spoke, her voice was as lifeless as her expression. "That's a complicated question. I want a lot of things – vengeance, answers, glory – but from you? I am afraid there is nothing you can do for me, but there is something I can do for you. Come, there is something you should see." Pearl and Lapis exchanged a nervous glance, neither of them particularly excited by such a cryptic offer by a mysterious Homeworld gem.
The gem turned on her heel and walked back towards the warp pad, waiting. After neither of them moved or said anything for a few moments, Heliodor pressed her mouth together dangerously, eyes full of contempt.
"There are forces at work here greater than you know. My Diamond is waiting for me, so there is not much time. You will not have this chance again."
To Pearl, there was hardly anything left to fight for, but she thought of Connie, Amethyst, Garnet, Peridot… and knew that do matter how much she just wanted to lay down and die, she had to stand, had to move, had to start all over again. Pearl looked at Lapis, eyes searching, detecting in her blue face a thin gossamer of resolve, fragile and wounded, but still there. The white gem closed her eyes heavily, feeling thousands of years of self-actualizing struggle float to her chest and tried to release it in a single deep exhale. It was just enough to get Pearl to start to stand up, Lapis following her lead, both of them shaking but moving forward to the warp pad.
"We're going." Lapis' voice was weak but determined.
Closing her eyes for a moment, Heliodor considered the many consequences that may follow, but she had been given an order. The execution would be starting soon, so she must act quickly.
"You'll need this." She handed them a short green baton, glowing mysteriously in her hands.
And a moment later, the three of them were gone.
/
"My loyal gems," Yellow Diamond raised one arm up, a coy smile on her face as the cheers across the ground exploded in a bouyant cheer. White Diamond was seated in a throne on the platform now, as imposing and white as she was. She looked disinterested in the festivities. That might have surprised Steven, but her mannerisms had always seemed off, so he didn't pay her much attention. He was having enough trouble staying conscious without the added distraction.
Yellow Diamond had summoned a tiny triangular platform, probably about five-feet in each direction, and chained him to its surface with familiar ghostly chains – he had been bound in these in each color by now, white, blue and now, yellow.
His tiny island floated about level with Yellow Diamond's torso and with White Diamond's gaze. Being so high up without the weightlessness of a bubble made him feel very ill, and Steven realized it had probably been at least a day – maybe two, or more – since he had last eaten. His skin had turned a sickly pallor color by the time Yellow Diamond started her speech, making him appear ethereal in his white ensemble. He felt like he was being supported by nothing but a flimsy house of cards, wondering what would kill him first – his malnutrition, falling from this height, or the Diamonds.
Honestly, Steven wasn't even interested in much of what Yellow Diamond was saying – he was focused on other things. His heart was pumping loudly, the fear and instability that rocked his body and his mind taking their toll, so he resisted the urge to scan the crowd for the Gems. Instead, Steven opted to stare at his bare feet, small and white and familiar, and think about his final moments.
I wonder if Pearl and Lapis are okay… it was stupid to send them there, but, it's not like I had a lot of time to think. And White Diamond is here, so maybe there was no one there. Actually, I sort of didn't expect White Diamond to be here, just Yellow and Blue Diamond… and now, she's not here either. He screwed up his face in concentration, recalling their conversation before she rubbed his head in farewell.
I won't see you again until, well, tomorrow… But I'm glad we had this time together.
As he thought about it, he couldn't even blame her for not coming. She was about as fed up with all the senseless violence as he was, seeing him die wouldn't amount to anything, it is the after that mattered to them, the peace that follows the storm.
"… Pink Diamond was greatly loved by all her subjects. To all, she was a gem as compassionate as she was ambitious, as fearless as she was humble, and she was respected by you, by me, by everyone – with one exception." Yellow Diamond bowed her head, a chorus of boos and raucous shouts were directed at him, such a sudden change from the silence that had fallen over the masses that Steven flinched. He was thankful he was sitting, might he have fallen from his pedestal in the sudden movement.
"The simple dignity of her life, her many virtues, her duty to her subjects – she was as alike a ruler as she was a sister, no gem untouched by her sense of responsibility and her courage in peace or in war. I hope I speak for all of Homeworld when I say that every institution that stands today does so as an emblem of Pink's character and superior judgment – each new generation of gem is crafted better for her having lived, and each vein of old gem made prouder for having known her through her death." Yellow Diamond did not become emotional like she had she sang to Blue Diamond, but her voice was softer and more beholden than Steven had ever heard it.
"And now, one of her subjects comes and dies. The Rose Quartz, the traitor of our kind, had never deserved the mercy of her Diamond's image; so now, let us reserve no mercy as we greet her in her death.
"Many of you may question the appearance of this creature before you – but question not when I tell you it is her. Such a form is only appropriately disturbing for the crimes she has committed, needing no further explanation."
Steven felt his hands shaking badly now, causing his shackles to quiver slightly. He really wasn't afraid of dying, it was just the absolute capacity for hatred that enraged the gems below that disturbed him. Blue Diamond had not been exaggerating when she said Homeworld needed closure – this frightening display was proof enough of that. Sadly, his last memory of Jasper floated to his mind, the words and hurt on her face causing his eyes to burn with feeling.
I've been fighting from the second I broke free of Earth's crust… because of what YOU did to my Diamond! Your Diamond! PINK Diamond!
If that was just a glimpse into the sanity-destroying torture that plagued those who loved Pink Diamond, then it was no surprise that the price of their closure, their exoneration, was to be paid in blood and shards.
What Steven hadn't expected was the amount of shards this debt would require.
White Diamond stood now, and a silence fell across all of Homeworld. The only sound for miles was the panic of Steven's human heart – it echoed through his empty body like a fractured metronome; still keeping time, the tempo getting faster, but fit to fall apart at any moment. Even Yellow Diamond looked alarmed by her sudden change in posture, a white hand gesturing for her to take a seat in a yellow throne that appeared with the flick of her wrist.
Steven had scooted carefully to face her, to look away from the mass of gems that practically begged for him to die, alarmed and oddly curious at what she might have to say.
"I…" she started, a tension so thick it might have suffocated them all if they needed to breathe.
"Would like you to all join me in sending off this mistake, scouring the whole infected vein of Quartz from our society."
Steven's lungs started hurting, each breath sharp against his windpipe as she swept a hand across the horizon, each finger intent and lethal in the graceful motion. As her hand traced the sky, bubbles started to appear, to float gently above the stunned audience. Each one of them contained a sparkling pink gemstone – a Rose Quartz – locked safely away behind their fragile barrier.
The realization made him feel nauseous, a sort of shock that rocked him the same way he felt when he caught up with Opalite's disturbing desires.
They're going to shatter them all.
Do gems even have genocide? If they never had genocide before, that's what was about to happen – an entire class of gem, to be smashed just like the Jasper under his, their, Opalite's, feet.
He had tried, he had really, really tried to steel his heart at his imminent fate, but this was about to mean the death of hundreds, if not thousands, of gems. It really shouldn't have surprised him as he felt a horrified sob rise in his throat. White Diamond had demonstrated exactly how cruel she could be on multiple occasions, but this was just unprecedented.
He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, trying not to look, expecting the carnage to start any moment, but the world fell silent once again. As he peeked behind his lids, Steven joined the rest of Homeworld in a deadened stillness.
A fearsome, petrifying saber emblazoned by a familiar yellow energy pierced White Diamond through the chest; Yellow Diamond stood behind her, face carved in stone. The usually chilling tyrant had an innocuous look on her face, eyes wide and hands shaking, looking down at the end of the blade protruding through her own torso.
A dark pause, an infinite moment of disbelief, and then…
Poof.
/
A glittering white gemstone clinked to the base of the platform and rolled to a stop. Everyone continued to stare, wondering if this was some sort of disturbing joke. But no – there was no punch line, only another swift turn of Yellow Diamond's blade as it penetrated the delicate shining surface of the stone at her feet. Dust and fragments exploded from the point of impact, leaving nothing but a crater and a small pile of iridescent shards.
Connie, Amethyst and Ruby all sat with their mouths agape in a totally stunned silence, and Sapphire turned her head away, eye closed tight in shock.
"Well… it seems things are getting out of hand. Just a moment," Blue Diamond stood up, not a trace of disbelief lining her pretty face, and walked to the wall behind her throne. Raising a hand, it opened to reveal the world beyond, the Center far away from their exact location, but near enough that she could spot the disturbed mob far in the horizon, still quiet in amazement.
She lifted a hand in a sweeping movement in their direction, her face focused and the gemstone on her chest glowing bright blue.
The group of detainees looked from her to the screen in wonder as the silence started to break, expecting shouts of anger only to be horrified at the cheers of celebration. Sapphire recognized this, watching the crowd turned from overwrought to overjoyed as an extension of Blue Diamond's frightening pathokinesis. It was alarming in a million different ways, watching as the group began to cheer in wonder at Yellow Diamond's accomplishment.
Connie was squinting at the image as she watched the shock turn to fear in Steven's expression – it was a far off angle, but still, she could read the terror written plain as day across his face. She wanted to rub her eyes, or pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but her hands were bound by an annoying soldier behind her back. Then, in another quick flash, the world on the other side of the screen turned into chaos.
With an outward spread of her hands, Yellow Diamond burst all of the bubbles suspended above the ground with tiny jolts of energy, and for a few seconds, it was raining Rose Quartz gemstones from above. The incensed, maddened crowd took to the defenseless Quartz gemstones like they were lamb to the slaughter.
Many of the pink gemstones didn't even have time to reform before they were ravaged by the mob. Too fascinated and petrified to look away, Connie felt the urge to vomit as the sky itself turned pink with dust, some Rose Quartz having only enough time to scream before they were torn down the moment they reformed, and quickly the entire scene was obscured from the screen's view in a blizzard of pink shards, dust, and smoke.
Amethyst gasped wretchedly, strong enough to make her almost choke "Steven!"
They all immediately turned their attention to the hovering platform, barely visible above the rolling pink fog, only to find it empty. He was gone.