10/1/16.

The pale throne of ИММЕЦОН lay vacated, its occupant brooding in the depths of the ecumenopolitan throne world.

In the deepest depths of civilization itself, sitting upon the superheated core of ИММЕЦОН, a singular gem stood upon a corotite platform, resolute. Their garb was the purest white, stained, or rather, seared, a charred black from the medial upward. Upon the pristine forge-analogue, the burnt diamond upon the forehead of the gem glinted in the light of the planetary core. Precisely one thing was upon the mind of the Diamond; its source lay unbubbled it her hands, stolen long ago from the depths of a sanctuary of misguided followers.

It had been precisely one hundred forty-one billion one hundred forty-six million five hundred eighty-four thousand twenty seconds since the death of Pink Diamond, give or take a couple dozen minutes, depending on when you decided she was officially dead.

White Diamond, as she preferred to still call herself, silently stared at the shards in her hands, mournful and angry at reality. All of this death and conflict, brought to naught by a simple misfire with stolen artillery.

The Diamond brought the shards up to her face, puffing cool air onto their jagged edges. Attempting to rationalize all of the bloodshed and destruction brought White to but one conclusion, as the shards dug into her palms, drawing pale blue blood, as they had many a time.

All of this was for her, wasn't it.

A burning, eternal warfare between former allies and eternal enemies, all to survive long enough to see her eyes one last time, perhaps. As if warding off malicious spirits, White traced a solidus in the shards with her fingers, ignoring the blood atop them. More of her onto the beloved, of course, was ultimately the goal, wasn't it?

White, or perhaps Gray, wiped beneath her eyes furiously, despising every inch of the scorched gem she was left to. She ignored the hulking shadow creeping about at the edge of her vision. Even it was afraid to bring itself into her direct sight.

White wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.

~~~

The sounds of light cannon after light cannon sung through the skies harmonically, accompanied by shouts of victory and pain, along with the clangs of blade upon blade. White Diamond stood tall and proud in the midst of her joint army, stainless scythe in pale white hand, her body wholly unmarred by destruction or horror. Barking commands and single-handedly dissipating cannon blasts, she was the brain of the loyalist army.

But if White Diamond was the mind of the loyalists, Pink Diamond was the soul.

Ever radiant and lovely, Pink Diamond stood beside her pale counterpart, offering encouragements and reconstructive lachryma to the armies. Without this soul, there was no mind, and vice-versa, barring extraordinary willpower. The generals of this joint force were scattered across the cosmos, fighting battles that would otherwise be hopeless. White was disconcerted by some of the generals and their abilities, but they were the finest that could be mustered. Fortunately, it was only White and Pink here, and no treacherous Diamonds standing on the opposite end of the field.

A bolt of harmonious light came soaring toward the two. Raising her scythe, White prepared to bisect it. However, before she could do so, cool pink hands wrapped themselves around her wrists, and gently pulled her to the side. The blast sailed over the entire army. Grinning, Pink whispered to White.

"You don't have to take all of them head-on just to look impressive in front of everybody, you know."

White Diamond rolled her eyes, smiling all the while amidst the conflict.

"But what if I want to?"

"Be my guest."

Casually, White ordered a forward surge when an expectant white pearl came up to her. The armies raced forward toward their foes. Victory was almost assured. Suddenly, a high-pitched screech tore its way across the battlefield. White tensed, readying once more her blade. Once the next allied barrage of laser light fire cleared, the two gem rulers sighted it. A twisting maelstrom of sonic waves compacted into a neat orb shape, sailing directly at them both.

White, even with her extensive knowledge on hundreds of topics, could not glean the source of such a weapon. Staring dumbfoundedly at it, White felt a rough push to her side. Stumbling, she slipped to the ground, only to watch slivers of pink crystal rain into the air with a sickeningly satisfactory crunch. The host moved yet onward, incognizant of the blast. Dazed, White looked about, prepared to scold harshly the perpetrator of such a violent push. Surely it was not gentle, sweet Pink. Directing her gaze back to her original position, White saw the carnage. The rush of war in her forehead was sliced through instantaneously, replaced only by shock.

Hand tightly gripped about the handle of her scythe, White rushed forward. Pink was upon the earth, armies moving around her. After all, they were under orders to push forward, no matter the casualties, which were expected to be low in number regardless. Daring to hope, White's denial was crushed abruptly by a brief pulsation of the light in Pink's physical form. Almost casting her blade to the side, White Diamond rushed to the side of her only friend, observing the damage done to her navel-mounted pink gemstone. It was a wonder the thing was still whole at all, cracks all the way through the stone present, and not merely on the edges, at that.

White Diamond felt a burning hand grasp her own, and crouched down to stay level with Pink, eyes brimming with liquid all the while. Pink's voice sounded scratchy, and distorted.

"This... is extraordinarily painful."

"Can you stand? I believe I can get one of those РОС-СИЛИА over in an instant--"

"White. Do me a favor, and tell me if the state of my gem is suitable for tears."

"W... what do you desire I do, then?"

Pink winced as her physical form momentarily was reduced to twisting light, before reforming in its exact same previous position. Above, White thought she saw green and blue holographic fractals rising into the air in surprise to examine her, but deemed it only an illusion, and therefore unimportant. Pink drew the energy to speak.

"Shatter me. Quickly."

White's eyes widened.

"Absolutely not. I... we can repair this."

"We've already established I'm going to die either way."

"No."

"White. Please."

Faltering pink fingers brushed up against White's gem, the last things to do so prior to a roaring eternal solidusi flame. White rose, letting go of Pink's hand. She rose her scythe mournfully, casting her gaze upon two familiar faces, shocked, staring down at the two of them as she raised the thing. Pink whispered one last thing out.

"See you on the other side."

Of course, the last thing Pink Diamond ever said was a lie.

White brought the blade down. Not a fleck of diamond stuck to the thing. White fell once again to her knees, staring at the shards of pink around and before her, armies triumphing over the opposition all the while. Several rose quartzes and an almandine stepped beside White, looking silently to the shards as well.

~~~

Gray did not turn her eyes from the shards in her hands as a twisting maroon light begin to shape itself into being above the magma. A lone blue pearl descended into the vast magmatic ocean platform via elevator, calling the name of the Diamond only once, before sighting the light. She pulled something from her gem, solidusi energies coalescing around her blade as Gray merely stared at the shards. The maroon light spoke.

"And who is to say an autumnal hand bears the death of but one Diamond?"