Epilogue

Chrysoberyl ducked behind a tower, right when a flood of rubble collapsed. Dust polluted the streets, blinding the Gem. A loud creak flew past the buildings, and when the dust cleared Chrysoberyl looked up to see a tower falling. It hit the structure where he was standing, and tumbled down like a rockslide. Chrysoberyl forced the chain to summon, and threw it to the top of the next structure. He shot himself into the air. Shards of crystals slammed against his body, worsening the pain in his wrist.

He reached the top of the tower, but the previous one fell into it. The structure started to lean, and Chrysoberyl did not hesitate to run. He jumped to tower after tower, hoping he would be safe on higher ground, but every building fell like dominos.

Red Diamond smirked as this happened, watching the Gem struggle to stay alive.

"Is this what my brother taught you, Chrysoberyl?" He said. "Running from the fight? I haven't done anything to you yet."

Chrysoberyl ran full speed, but the tower started to fall underneath his feet. Quickly, he summoned his weapon once more, and threw the chain as hard as he could to the building on his right. He watched the blade fly through the air, and barely hit the crystal. With both hands gripping the chain, Chrysoberyl swung at a million miles an hour, and tossed himself into the air. He summoned a second weapon, diving at the giant.

He let out a warcry, lashing the sword at the giant's eyes. Red Diamond merely let out a small chuckle, and collided his katana with the Gem. Chrysoberyl let out a scream, plummeting to the ground. Chrysoberyl blacked out for a second, and grunted as his body began to glow. He gasped - his krystal was trying to resort to its original form.

No, this can't be happening, not now, he thought.

"Is this the warrior that has come to shatter me?" Red Diamond boomed. "Where is the love of the fight?"

Not much further until he hit the ground - Chrysoberyl smacked his arm, forcing his krystal to glow. He gritted his teeth and saw the pain worsen, destroying every last ounce of what krystal remained, leaving only a beating organ. It now felt impossible to summon anything, but in a split second, Chrysoberyl drove his fingers into his wrist. He screamed in pain and ripped out a chain. The sword drove into a tower, and he swung inches over the ground, and bolted himself at the giant.

Red Diamond lashed his weapon, which Chrysoberyl managed to avoid. He sliced his blade across the Diamond's knee, causing him to lose his balance. Chrysoberyl turned, and landed on the giant's back and ran up to his head. With a scream, he thrashed the sword across his neck. Salocos shouted out, and got back to his feet. He reached behind his back, but Chrysoberyl swung around to avoid the massive hand. Red Diamond turned, ramming his back into a tower. This caused an avalanche, but Chrysoberyl leaped off his back to avoid the falling debris.

Chrysoberyl landed on a large crystal platform, holding two chains in his hands. He summoned two more shackles, which flew into the air and drove into the giant's head - now he had him trapped. Red Diamond turned, facing the Gem with a scowl. Chrysoberyl gripped the chains tightly, gathering all his strength. This caused his body to glow and pain to fly, but he fought back, and tugged on the chains. Red Diamond grunted as his head was rammed into the tower next to him. Rocks flew and shook the platform, but Chrysoberyl kept his stance firm. He lurched the giant to the side, slamming him against tower after tower.

Salocos wailed in agony as the towers smashed to pieces, burying him alive. A mountain of rocks rose above Chrysoberyl, preventing Red Diamond from moving. Chrysoberyl tugged on the chains, slamming the giant's head against the platform, a crack growing bigger with every impact. Red Diamond placed his hands down on the platform to stop himself. Chrysoberyl glared, pulling on the chains, using all his weight and strength to bring the giant down. Red Diamond raised his head, dragging Chrysoberyl across the ground. The blades driven into Salocos' head were coming undone, leaving only two left. The giant gave a wicked smile, his hair falling over his face.

The krystal was giving out, but Chrysoberyl ignored it the best he could. He screamed, and pulled on the chains harder than he had done before. The colossus fell, and Chrysoberyl kicked him in the face.

A ring echoed throughout the planet, followed by Red Diamond shouting out. The last two swords released from his face, then Chrysoberyl threw a chain up at a tower, and swung to the top. He now stood behind the giant, spinning his sword in his hand. Red Diamond looked over his shoulder and scowled. He grunted, lashing his katana. Chrysoberyl leaped out of the way just as the massive blade cut the structure in two. He then had to run to the next few buildings as Salocos swung the blades, slicing solid crystal into pieces.

"Give up now," Red Diamond screamed. "You're already suffering; let me put you out of your misery."

Soon Chrysoberyl was able to outrun the strikes and get behind Red Diamond. He swung the chain at a million miles an hour, and the blade drove directly into the back of the giant's head. Salocos grunted; he jerked his head left and right, throwing the Gem off balance. Chrysoberyl was swung around in circles. He pulled himself forward, kicking the giant in the head, knocking him down. As Chrysoberyl was in a free fall, he watched Salocos come crashing down, smashing his head into a tower.

Chrysoberyl landed, but instantly fell to his knees. His arm was now a fleshy pile of meat, which reached to his neck and crawled up his jaw. This pain stung the inside of his body, tearing him apart, atom by atom. This brought him off guard, and he didn't notice the behemoth getting to his feet until a shadow fell. Red Diamond lashed both his swords, tossing Chrysoberyl into the air. Another lash of the sword, which should have cut him in half, but was somehow unsuccessful. Chrysoberyl watched the world spin before him, and heard the powerful scream of Salocos the Red Diamond, thrashing his swords in a powerful spin. He was a tornado, creating a massive storm which levitated the debris.

Chrysoberyl was caught in this current, and could do nothing as he was tossed around like a human child's ragdoll, slamming his head against the boulders. He screamed in agony as his body contorted into different shapes, trying to resort to krystal form.

Everything was in a daze; his vision blurred, his body went limp, and his weapon disintegrated. He couldn't go on, he couldn't fight back. Chrysoberyl was soon thrown from the tornado. He glided through the air and slammed into the ground with a loud boom.

Red Diamond looked down at this lifeless, yet still not shattered body of his adversary. "It amazes me how long you last in battles such as this," he said. "Why do you keep fighting? Look at yourself, you're practically begging me to shatter you. Why not give up, and we can both end our struggles?"

Chrysoberyl's eyes went wide - it hit him like a Star Skipper crashing into the streets. He placed a hand on the ground, coming up with a plan. He wanted it all to end, especially his enemy - after years of conflicts leading to nowhere, there was nothing left for them to live, or fight for. He will end it, for both of them - it was the only thing they could do to shatter their pain.

Chrysoberyl felt the weight of the katana rest on his back, crushing him - in a few moments he would be split in two.

"You are not scared, are you, Chrysoberyl?" Red Diamond taunted. "Must I be the one to remind you of what my brother told you? 'A Gem is created to be strong, to fulfill whatever cut or krystal they are. They are superior to the Gems lesser than them, yet are weak to the ones greater than they are. In your eyes, this doesn't exist. Held inside your krystal is unlimited power, thousands of weapons upon your choice - you decide how your enemy will perish. Everything may be greater than you in size, but in strength you are unbreakable. A warrior does not run or fall, a warrior finishes the battle when their allies fall.'" He scoffed. "Perhaps there is something we can both agree on."

He raised the katana, took aim, and brought it down as quickly, and violently as he could. The sword struck the ground, dust flying in all directions - nothing remained except for a crack in the dirt. Red Diamond smiled, but movement caught the corner of his eye. He watched Chrysoberyl run up the side of a structure, using his sword to support himself. He threw the chain into the sky, and it wrapped around Salocos' neck. Chrysoberyl leaped into the air . . . and began to fuse with the giant.

Chrysoberyl rammed into Red Diamond's shoulder, and everything lost its sound. The swords fell out of his hands, clanging against the ground. Chrysoberyl's body was a sun; his arms and legs morphed with the giant, leaving his head free. With this, Salocos' body began to glow bright as well. A white light illuminated the landscape, and panic struck the colossus.

Red Diamond gasped, reaching to the Gem. He surrounded him with his massive hand, and tried to pry him off, but something worse happened. His hand fused with the Gem, and grew into his shoulder. He tried to pull his hand away, but that only sped up the process. His arm reached all the way behind his back. Red Diamond pulled, and shouted out in pain as he felt his spine tilt backwards - Chrysoberyl felt this pain too, but much worse. He shut his eyes tight, and grinded his teeth together to continue fusion.

Salocos' eyes fell on the katanas lying at his feet. He knelt down, his back folding in half. He grabbed the sword, and drove it through his shoulder blade. It was working; the blade coming into impact with his skin was separating him from the Gem. Chrysoberyl panicked, but he did not let go, and remained fused with the giant, but the pain soaring was as if he were sliced into pieces.

Red Diamond let out the loudest shriek of his life. He turned, sprinting towards the crater, and leaped high into the air. The giant let himself fall, a meteor crashing through the atmosphere and landing in the center of the crater. The explosion was loud enough to be heard for miles, reaching the edges of the ruins. Towers shook and fell, crashing into their neighbors, and soon everything Red Diamond had built was fallen to boulders and pebbles. Dust and grime scattered in all directions, covering the face of the planet in gray.

Inside the crater, a shapeless blob convulsed side to side, writhing in no more than pure agony. Red Diamond's body had successfully merged with Chrysoberyl, but was still trying to separate. He reached his mangled and twisted arm forward, digging his claws into the dirt, and screamed. His body stretched and popped, skin and krystal peeled away. Chrysoberyl's tiny head looked up at the amalgamation they had become.

The fusion thrashed its four arms and four legs, a searing pain surging throughout its body. No relief came, nothing happened to release them both of this constant rage of a beast with armor and denim morphed with its skin. Both krystals were sewn together, creating a beating, dying heart.

"Why?" Red Diamond's convulsing head screamed. "Why couldn't you let go? You should have let me shatter you to pieces. Why must you continue to fight, even as your krystal kills you for me?"

"Because I know what I am fighting for," Chrysoberyl replied in a slow, serene tone. "You are right, Red Diamond. I should have let you shatter me, and let you shatter yourself, but I want you to know something: The pain I have dealt with is far greater than shattering, worse than a crack - it is something Krystal Kind has no knowledge of, and maybe never will. Fusion is a gift, but it comes with a cost, and this is it. I wanted you to feel what I feel on the inside, and it is stronger than your two blades, more solid than your krystal, yet it is a concept you can relate to: Suffering. There was no point in fighting, and there was no reason for my vengeance to be inflicted upon you, or your Pearl. I will tell you what is wrong with me, why I am dying from the inside: It is fading.

"Fading is an idea that may never be recognized by any Krystal beyond us. It is a punishment casted down on us by our acts of violence, fighting, and conflicts that will never be resolved. Yes, it has been years, hundreds of centuries piled up on one another leading to what? Nothing, just a black hole eating every emotion you have. No, it does not need to end this way, but I know there is no other choice. You know this too, because we are from another generation that has no place for fighting any longer.

"That is what I am fighting for, that is what I am killing myself for. You are right, I find no reason to continue this conflict. If Orange Diamond found a way to piece together his shattered remains, he himself would find no reason as well. I am a warrior dedicating my existence to fight under My Diamond's authority, but as a Pearl would sacrifice their life to fulfill one small request, I fought a battle that had no end. I couldn't see that, in fact I refused to, and I wasted my life trying to finish this fight. There is no point, there is no end, because I thought I was completing something, whereas you knew it was nothing - you always did.

"This isn't something I need to fulfill in the name of My Diamond; he is shattered, and will never return. This is my duty, my final order, and in the warrior's name, I will end our pain."

Red Diamond heard every word, and there was no breath or syllable missed. He lowered his head, shutting his eyes.

He felt his krystal give out, and said: "Thank you . . . ."

Their horrid living amalgamation of a body started to convulse. Each of their krystals started to glow, a white luminescence growing larger and brighter every passing moment. The crater was on fire, which stretched up to the edges of the atmosphere.

Soon the light consumed the suffering body, taking away the remaining life the krystals possessed. The light erupted in an explosion which resembled that of a supernova. The towers were toppled, the planet eradicated in half, and when the light died down, the planet fell silent in the starless void.

—-

Acknowledgements

Well, here I am again with another Steven Universe FanFiction. I actually have been planning to write this for quite some time now, mainly because I wanted to write a story about Red Diamond. I always feel like we've been teased that in the show itself, but of course that did not happen, yet I would have been ecstatic to see it. In short, this is what happened to Red Diamond, after every other Diamond was confirmed shattered in Gemcut. With the character Chrysoberyl, I wanted to make him separate from Steven entirely, and not a straight copy. The idea of fading sounded interesting to me, and I suppose that is my own version of a worse version of cracking a gem.

Any recognizable characters, locations, and titles are made and rightfully owned by their original owner - Rebecca Sugar, and Cartoon Network.