*Thousands of years ago*
"You have summoned me, Blue Diamond?" Dark Aura Onyx asked, giving the Diamond salute as Yellow rolled her eyes.
"Show her the proper respect. I know you don't have a Diamond that you are assigned to due to the unfortunate demise of Black Diamond, but she would want you to show myself and Blue the same respect you showed her. Gem Commander or not, do not forget who is above you. Am I understood, Dark Aura Onyx?" Yellow Diamond asked as Dark Aura Onyx nodded.
"My apologies, My Diamonds. It was a lapse in judgment on my part." He replied as Blue continued to speak.
"I am assigning you as the new head of the fusion experiments. We need to know how to combat fusion should it ever be used against us. Any weaknesses are to be reported directly to myself or Yellow. Is that understood?" She asked as Dark Aura Onyx nodded and gave the Diamond Salute before being dismissed.
"You shouldn't be so hard on him, Yellow. He wasn't even being disrespectful towards me." Blue said as Yellow sighed, knowing she was right.
"I know. I'm simply on edge from all this Rebellion nonsense." She replied.
"That is why I'm having Dark Aura Onyx lead these experiments. If anyone can find a way to deal with any rogue fusions, it's him. Black put her trust in him for a reason." Blue replied as Yellow Diamond nodded.
*Meanwhile*
"Bring in the first subjects, Beryl." Dark Aura Onyx said as Lieutenant Beryl brought in an Ruby and a Pearl.
"On the platforms. Both of you." Beryl orderd as the Ruby and Pearl shakily got on the machine platform.
"W-What are you going to do to us?!?" The Pearl exclaimed as Dark Aura Onyx looked at them.
"Stop your whimpering, you worthless Pearl. Or rather I shouldn't call you or that Ruby worthless due to the good you're about to do with this." The Gem Commander said as he activated the machine as two beams of light hit both the Ruby and Pearl, reducing them to their Gems as they were slowly forced to fuse.
*FLASH!*
Dark Aura Onyx turned the machine off and looked at the new fusion.
"Looks like....a Rhodonite." He said as Rhodonite looked terrified.
"Ugh. It's hideous! Why don't you just use your Dark Aura on that and be done with it?" Beryl asked in disgust as Rhodonite begged for mercy.
"No! Please no! Anything but the Dark Aura!" She pleaded as Dark Aura Onyx's hand glowed and just as he brought it down....
"NO!"
*Back in reality*
Garnet opened her eyes in pure fear and to the worried looks of Pearl and Amethyst, who then embraced the fusion in a hug. Garnet kissed the both of them on their heads as she held them close as if they'd disappear.
"Garnet. Are you alright? That must have been a horrible nightmare." Pearl asked as Garnet sighed.
"Another dream about that monster. About....Dark Aura Onyx." She said as Pearl gasped while Amethyst was understandably confused.
"Dark Aura Onyx? Is that someone you knew from Homeworld?" She asked as Garnet sighed.
"Someone I wish I never knew. Why am I still seeing him in my mind years after escaping?" The fusion asked as Pearl looked at her friend. She knew why Dark Aura Onyx upset her so much and still continues to haunt her to this day.
"Garnet. How long have you been having these nightmares about Dark Aura Onyx? I remember you used to have them more frequently, but then you didn't have hardly any for a while." She asked.
"I've only started having them again recently. And they've only gotten worse and more frequent since Steven's been gone. I can't explain why, but I feel like Dark Aura Onyx will feel a need to go after Steven just to get to me. He'll take any extremes to torture me." Garnet explained as Amethyst gave a comforting smile.
"Well hopefully, if Greg manages to get through to him, Steven will be home where we can keep an eye on him so this Dark Aura Onyx guy doesn't come after him." The Purple Gem said as Garnet and Pearl looked at her in confusion.
"What are you talking about, Amethyst? When is Greg going to see Steven? I know he's moving out of here and went to get an "RV" to replace his van. But I don't know what for." The Pale Gem said as Amethyst chuckled.
"Ah. He didn't tell you? Next week, he's going on the road with Sadie and her band as their manager. But before he does that, he's going to meet up with Steven in Empire City this weekend so the two can have a long overdue father/son talk. And Greg said that one of the things he'll bring up is Steven coming back here. And you know Steven isn't gonna say no to you, Garnet. Especially if you're having nightmares." Amethyst said as Garnet put a hand to her head.
"Amethyst. Steven doesn't even know who Dark Aura Onyx is, let alone my history with him. I've never brought either topic up with him and I hope I never have to." The fusion said as Pearl said her piece.
"Garnet. Greg had already planned this ahead of time. He was already planning to have this meet-up with Steven and he had already planned to talk to him about coming back home. As it turns out, Greg talked to Steven's therapist and they both agree that the best place a 16/17 year old boy with PTSD and possible other mental health issues needs to be is at home with his family. So this was planned even before this new knowledge of your nightmares of Dark Aura Onyx came up." The Pale Gem said as Garnet sighed and went to her room.
"*sighs* *Why? Why do you still haunt me, Dark Aura Onyx? Maybe the only true way to beat you...is to finish you."* The fusion thought to herself as she closed the door to her room, leaving Pearl and Amethyst even more worried.
I do plan to have a full story involving Steven, the Gems, Dark Aura Onyx and the rest of the Pantheon and I also plan to go further into the history between Dark Aura Onyx and Garnet.
