onyx: Tales From The Citidal

Chapter 15 - it has a mind of its own.

Onyx woke up like many times before, but this time was different. There wasn't any noise, there wasn't any smell, and there wasn't anything to look at. It was a grey void and she just sat there. "what's going on with her?" aqua wanted to know. "I don't know. It just up and left her." Copper explained as she core came to a stop. Obsidian tried to grab it when it took the same form that only pearl had seen before. "wait it's you again. What's going on?" pearl asked pushing Citrine and ruby to the side. "you've met it before?" granite asked. "how do you think we broke out when everybody was locked up." Pearl answered as she walked closer to the core with form. It tried to take the speed core, but it dropped through its hand. It then looked at obsidian and obsidian looked like she was listing to something. "you can't just leave she needs you." Obsidian responded to the statement that wasn't there.

"copper what can you figure out." Citrine asked. "she's in some kind of limbo. Her mind at least. We would need some people to go in and find out what's going on with her mind." "but Gwen's not here and I don't think I can do it by myself. "pearl responded. "I'm not letting my daughter die; I'm going with you." Aqua said slamming her hand on the table. "all right, Sam and sapphire, stay here with them to keep them safe while copper does his thing. Everybody else is with me. Obsidian did it say something to you?" he asked "why, did nobody else here it?" obsidian asked slowly moving backwards. "no, maybe your core allows you to communicate with it." glass speculated. "whatever the case is we need to find it." granite responded. They two teams split off. "is it just me or is something happening with her hair?" Sam asked noticing that her hair's blond roots where showing.

"we need to work fast. Sapphire, aqua give me a hand over here. Pearl do you remember what to do this time?" copper asked. "I do but, last time her memories where represented by monitors, not an empty grey void." Pearl responded. "she could be stuck in her subconscious." Sam guessed. "so where's jasper, you'd think she'd be around for this sort of thing?" sapphire asked. "she's still working out the treaty, so she preoccupied and I'm not dragging her back here." Aqua explained. Copper finished making the machine and he set the two girls up. "you remember how to use theses?" copper asked giving her a different kind of communicator. "just let us in." pearl responded. The machine activated and they were inside of her mind.

Meanwhile the other team where trying to find the gravity core. Obsidian took the hoodie and the old suit and she had it activated. "so how do we know when we'll find this thing?" Citrine asked. "this suit has a radar for the cores, although my core was interrupting it, so I got copper to change the settings to focus on the gravitational energy it's made of." "that's some big words." Glass responded. "it's all just words I was told by copper, I'm nowhere near as smart on onyx. I think my data was corrupted." Obsidian explained. "ruby, you've been unusually quiet. Got anything to say?" Citrine asked. Ruby stayed silent. Citrine remained suspicious but there was an issue that was bigger.

"I think we've found it." glass said as obsidian shushed him. "I'm going on my own, it may listen to me if I'm on my own." Obsidian explained as she approached the core. Aqua and pearl and been wondering he void for a while when they found something. "what's going on?" pearl asked seeing a massive wave approach them. "she must be locked in a prison of her worst fears. You're going to need to beat them to find her." Sam explained as the other two in the room looked at them. "what, you knew I was going to be a doctor at some point. I tried to learn something." "how often does this come up?" sapphire asked, "in the war, this happened all of the time." Sam explained as aqua tried to stop the wave, but it wouldn't work. "how are we going to beat this?" aqua asked as pearl grabbed whatever she could and used it as a flotation device. "grab my hand." She said as both her and aqua waited out the wave.

"I know their obsidian; we have a connection." The core said as obsidian made her self-known. "what are you doing?" obsidian asked. "I need to pick up the pieces." I responded in a quiet and robotic tone. "can you stop being cryptic?" obsidian asked "the cores are missing pieces. Pieces coal stole when he could. I wasn't enough for the other core bearers to notice. But I noticed." The core explained with its tone unchanging. "what about me?" obsidian asked "you don't plan on using your piece to travel through time and undo your own creation. Pluss that missing piece could be replaced with the only synthetic core to be made so far, the others using those elemental crystals." The core explained. "so you know where they are?" obsidian asked. "I had for sight wile fused with onyx. However I was given sentience by her brothers need to make onyx able to do everything. And now that I don't have the speed core available to me, I don't have it, but I know where they are." The core explained.

"what's going with her hair?" Sam asked again. Copper looked at the machine and saw the energy draining from her. "guys, you need to hurry this up. If her gravity energy runs out, she'll die." Copper said into the microphone. "so what's next?" aqua asked as they pushed on. They came across the team in a mirror, but the mirror was shattered. Their where two more mirrors, pearl looked in and saw herself but without her core and with her dads. "what is this?" pearl asked involuntary walking back. Aqua looked in hers and saw ruby, sapphire and onyx being dragged away from her." "this must be getting deeper in. these are the fears you have on a subconscious level. Your acutely aware of them but you don't want to admit it, you need to say your fear aloud." Sam explained. "I'm afraid off losing my new family." Aqua said aloud. "and I'm afraid that I lead to my dad's death." Pearl said as the two mirrors they were facing shattered completely.

"I don't get it, why did you leave her then. You know that you two together are better than not." Obsidian asked the core. "my powers where limited by her body. She was using my energy to stay alive. In the grand event of the timeline she is inconsequential." He core responded as obsidian felt a shar pain him her side. "you're not going to survive this are you?" obsidian asked. "I saw the future, it's better off without me." It responded as it got ready to jump into the ocean. "what do you plan to do when you find them, do you plan to kill them?" obsidian asked, "you where always meant to be her replacement." It said as it tried to jump. "no you don't." obsidian responded as she tackled it. "I know that you can do better, you both, but for that to happen you need to admit that you need each her. You're going to let both of you die. After everything she's been through, does she deserve it?" obsidian asked. "I've seen everything she's been through. I've felt everything she's been through. I don't know how she's able to keep going after everything that's happened to her, but I can't do the same." It responded with its grey, dead eyes, and it's monotoned voice coming out of Its lack of mouth. "you get back up." Obsidian responded.

"What's the final challenge?" pearl asked as she got back up. "they saw onyx, the real onyx, stuck between two portals. One lead to the citadel and the other lead to her home in the dimension she was stuck in. "what could this one be about?" aqua asked but pearl knew better. "onyx, I need you to listen to me. I understand what you're going through. The feeling of not belonging where you know you're meant to be. But you can get through it. it might not be here, it might be there, but you will find your place." Peal told onyx in a calming tone and hugging her. "I want to believe you. But I can't." onyx said through her tears. "I know it's hard now, but trust me, it's gets better." Pearl said as aqua came in for a hug. "it does. You just don't realise it yet." She said as she let the tears flow down her face.

"I'll come back but after she abused me, how do I know she doesn't do the same again." The core asked. "when did she abuse you?" obsidian asked. "those suits, her multi tool and yesterday with the portal." The core explained. "can you explain further?" obsidian asked but it didn't. "gather your friends, let's go back." It said with a hint of some kind of tone to its voice. They arrived and it rendered onyx's body and it ejected peal and aqua. "what happened?" onyx asked, having a new blond streak on the opposite side to the green streak going from her roots to her ponytail. Pearl wanted to say something, but she couldn't. "I think you need a break, and to go and visit the other dimension again." Aqua said. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" jasper asked bursting in seeing everybody crowding around onyx.