GaU Chapter 18 Snippet #3

Chapter 18: Not Human

Come on girl, think, think, think!

Sardonyx struggled in her restraints, the pink giant slowly walking towards her, palms still facing her. But no matter how hard she pulled, the pink tendrils grip on her arms wouldn't budge. If she was still fresh, she could've broken out of them, but with all the blows she'd taken, and the pink on her skin draining her strength by the minute, the idea of just breaking these pink restraints was more and more impossible by the minute.

The giant suddenly clenched one of its hands into a fist. The pink tendrils on her arms suddenly started glowing, and then that same glow started to spread up her body. The bits of her skin that were already pink suddenly became pinker, and her exhaustion was suddenly a whole lot worse, darkness rising in her vision, eyes struggling to stay open as she slowly gained a pink paint job all over her body.

And all while the giant grew closer with each thundering step.

She had been in some pretty sticky situations in her time. Most of which came from the Gem War, some coming from dealing with the aftermath of that. But there never been a moment like this. One where she fought against some pink, ethereal giant with powers she’d never seen before, and did so while literally fighting inside her own head. A moment where, for the first time she…

Felt helpless.

Sardonyx was made up from Pearl and Garnet. Pearl always liked to say she was was the embodiment of all their best parts, and Sardonyx did too, but, well, that wasn’t completely true. A fusion was made of all parts of a pair of gems. Up to, and including, their doubts; their insecurities.

Their fears.

The base of her fears were the base of Pearl and Garnet’s. Feeling like she wasn’t good enough, or like she wouldn’t be able to handle what the future had in store. And in her case, their was a little extra layer of anxiety in that ‘wonderful’ cake made of self-doubt and fear that was always their in the back of her head.

A fear that, if things ever got really bad, she wouldn’t live up to her own hype. That no wide smile, no dazzling flair or pizzazz, no big show stopping finishers, wouldn’t be able to help out her girls. That she’d fail to save them.

Like she had with countless other gems in the war.

More strength left her, skin and clothes more pink than any other color now, and Sardonyx struggles grew less. It was hard to even twitch a finger, let alone break out of her restraints.

And the pink giant came to a stop right in front of her. It stared down at her with those shining blue circle for eyes.

Well…looks like this was it for her, huh? She didn’t even get a chance to put on a finale. She should’ve been more disappointed in that. Should’ve been fighting harder, screaming, raging with every last bit of determination in her to keep fighting this thing.

But most of that had fizzled out, like the last, flickering sparks of a bonfire, and all she could feel was a type of exhaustion that made her feel she was coming apart at her soul.

The giant slowly pulled back its hand, and her eyelids started to get droopy.

Sorry, girls.

Her vision turned pink, and she could just make out its fingers clenching into a fist.

Guess the show’s over—

There was a roar.

A loud, earth-shaking roar. One that shook her enough, both physically and mentally, to blink away some of the exhaustion, and even made the giant stumble. It was a roar that screamed until it reached the ends of the world. A roar she could feel the anger in.

It was a roar that sounded like it belonged to Stevonnie.

To Steven.

Saronyx eyes went wide. Steven. Why was he fused with Connie to make Stevonnie? Why was did he and Stevonnie and Connie sound so angry. No, more than angry. The more that roar echoed in her mind, the more sure she was that they could hear one other thing in every decibel.

Pain.

Someone had hurt them.

That wonderful fusion, her little human buddy, and her Steven, had been hurt.

Her kids, had been hurt.