Chapter Text
Numb…
It was all they could feel… if they could even feel that.
Everything just dropped away as soon as they saw their dad.
Or what was left of him at least.
That Lumachelle gem knew what she was doing, or at least she was given good orders. If his body was mostly intact, they would have been able to save him with one of their tears…
But all the tears in the galaxy couldn’t save a pile of ash.
They didn’t know what to think. It was as if their world was ablaze with light and sound, and pain, yet simultaneously, thoroughly, impossibly quiet. Some part of themselves recognized that the communications screen closed, but they were doubled over, the sight of the ash-
No
the blood
No
the remains
Still, no
their Dad
The sight of their Dad burned against their retinas, as if it was branded there. They were saying something… screaming something… giving orders? Yet it felt as though it was happening on the opposite side of the galaxy, and they were somewhere else entirely.
Somewhere, some part of themselves recognized that the room was shaking, hunks of hewn stone and mural-work fell from the ceiling… a siren blared somewhere far away, but it didn’t matter.
None of it mattered…
It already felt like their world was crumbling apart around themselves, so it was fitting that the world around them followed suit.
* * *
Melo had never felt nausea before - however she assumed that the sensations that rolled through her gem had to come close.
She made a mistake.
She was so eager to defend her Diamond’s family, so eager to do something right by her Diamond, that she sent the entire reserve army off to avenge her Radiance’s father. She was so eager to do something right by the one who had taken the war upon her shoulders, that she went all out and ended up attacking a misdirection, leaving Homeworld and the palace defenseless against an attack. And now she was paying the price.
The walls shook as artillery fire from Red Diamond’s own vessel struck the Homeworld palace. Her Stevonnie unfused, as his Radiance tried to run away, while her Diamond Orange Connie stood stock still amidst the cacophony of explosions and falling rubble. It took Pink Steven’s desperate pleading to pull her Diamond out of the trance that she found herself in, and even then, she appeared as if she was not all there. This made one fact all too clear in her gem.
She would have to be the one to get everyone to safety.
She sprang into action once more, this time remaining ever vigilant and aware of her surroundings as she guided the group to an underground stronghold beneath the palace, being sure to notify the other High Guards of her actions via a screen, that way no one would be counted as missing in the aftermath. She couldn’t tell if it was a good sign that the sounds of gunfire ceased and the palace itself stopped shaking, but she couldn’t allow herself to dwell on the ‘what-ifs’ - not when she had three Diamonds in her midst. No, she already failed at leading an attack, she could not fail when it came to ensuring their Radiances’ safety. So she lead them downwards, deeper and deeper into the depths of the palace. Corridor after corridor and staircase after staircase, the architecture around them changed, its stylings and accents reflecting the early Era One and White Banner motifs that were popular at the time of their surrounding’s construction.
It wasn’t until the dust was settling and Red Diamond’s ship had already left that she received a frantic message from the Lustrous Pearl - and the true purpose of Red’s attack was realized.
While no gems were reported as shattered in the attack, the Diamond Palace was decimated. Its very focal point, the Diamond throne room having been gutted clean from the foundations of the structure and warped away. That alone would have been a tremendous blow to the Authority, yet Red’s cruelty did not end there. Instead, she had not been satisfied with the desecration of the very symbol of the Authority, and managed to abduct its head matriarch.
The Lustrous Pearl was in tears as she gave the report that White Diamond was warped away. Of course, the right hand to her Radiance White Diamond was ever dutiful, even in the face of what was clearly great personal anguish, she had somehow already managed to send for Moonstone to locate where White had been warped off to. Yet despite all of that, Melo couldn’t shake the guilt that clawed at her gem. After all, if she hadn’t sent the entire reserve off to chase a distraction, her Radiance White might be safe and sound, and her own Diamond alongside their Radiances Steven and Blue might not be huddled away in the ancient, dust-filled, strongholds below the palace.
She only hoped that Chrysoberyl fared better off than she did, maybe the High Guard of the Pink Court could succeed where she could not.