Steven Universe fic

Pt3 Chapter Four: Dream Escape

Steven lay in his bed, pondering what exactly could be happening out in space, on the colonies, on homeworld. The thought refused to let him slumber, so he simply lay there, staring into the ceiling of his room unable to imagine anything but the worst.
He thought things were going well, they had been. Even after he yelled at White, she hadn't returned, or even retaliated. Spinel had been there though.
She knew what was going on, more so than any of the other gems. It was like they lived in a bubble, having no idea that gemkind was in unrest.
He turned to his side, looking out his window into the night sky. Half expecting a gem ship to appear and destroy his home without a second of hesitation. The thought shook him.
What could Obsidian want with the rejuvenator? His thoughts drifted to the hulking black gem. If it was hers, but she already had a weapon, her hammer. She knew Spinel had taken it, but didn't come to get it until now, was she ordered to get it back?
Spinel mentioned that she had to take it, but why? She came here for help, not to hurt anyone. She didn't even try to use it until she lost control.
Steven sat up, discontent with all the questions in his head, and none of the answers. He slid out of bed, shuffling his feet into slippers before heading downstairs to ask the gem himself.
She had evaded the question earlier, cutting herself off, but he knew she had the answer, and he didn't want to, he couldn't wait.

Steven opened the door to his mother's room, stepping inside. The room wasn't how it normally looked, none of the soft pink clouds drifted in the air. The room was entirely white, aside from few shadows that stretched along the floor. He searched the area for Spinel, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Try again." The unequivocal voice of White Diamond sounded from afar, causing a shiver to run down Steven's spine. He followed the sound of her voice down a long corridor, stopping where the hallway met a dark room, only lit by White herself. Below her, at a desk stood the black gem, Obsidian, tinkering with what looked to be the rejuvenator.
Steven noticed a small noise, to his left, his friend stood at the other end of the hallway, making her way toward him.

"Spinel!" He called, waving at the gem to grab her attention. She didn't look up, but continued to walk toward him.

"It should work this time, I recalibrated it so that you can customize how it affects gems." The Obsidian said, triumphantly holding the scythe up for White to inspect. Spinel heard the voice, and quickly pressed herself to the wall, listening intently to the conversation. She peered into the room for a moment before recoiling back in her hiding spot.

"Spinel, is this a memory?" Steven asked, stepping toward the gem. She didn't move, or even look his direction, as if she couldn't hear him.

"Do you have someone to test it on?" The Obsidian asked, as White took the weapon in her fingers.

"I have just the gem." White replied with a sinister chuckle.
Spinel's eyes widened as she heard the words, backing away from where she had stood.
Suddenly the room began to grow flowers and grass from its walls, causing the pink gem to look up, startled by the weeds and grass that began to erupt from the walls.

The walls crumbled away and the obsidian and diamond began to dissolve like cotton candy in water.

Steven found himself in the garden. Spinel was there too, she looked around desperately for any sign of life before she turned toward the sound of Steven's voice.
Steven turned as well, taken aback by the perfect replica of himself standing several feet from Spinel.

"Come on!" The replica called, waving for the gem to follow, she hesitated, looking around, if she could see him, Steven would have stood directly in her line of sight.
She chased after the boy, but Steven watched as she began to slow, and his duplicate drew further and further away.

"I'm leaving, aren't you coming?" The duplicate called, causing the gem to reach out, breathlessly begging for him to wait.

"Don't go!" She rasped, the doppelganger now stood on the warp pad of the garden, dematerializing as it shot its light into the air. Spinel gasped, and collapsed.

"Don't leave me here.." the gem began to cry, rubbing her eyes ceaselessly as she shook from the sobs.

Steven approached her, what is this? Is she really here?

"Spinel, I'm right here-" he tried to reassure the gem, but his words fell on deaf ears.
The ground began to shake, causing Spinel to look up, she tried to stand but the quake kept her on the ground.
The earth rose up and White Diamond erupted from the ground, wielding the rejuvenator, though in her hands the weapon was four times its size.

"You've been very very bad!" She laughed, bringing down the blade and slicing the gem in half.

A loud gasp echoed in the room, and the entire landscape poofed out of existence.
Steven blinked confusedly, looking around the pristine pink landscape. Spinel lay on the ground several feet from him gasping for breath as she woke from the nightmare. His eyes caught her attention and she paused, staring at the boy.

"What are you doing here?" She paused, "Wait, are you real?" She asked, still shaken from her dream. Steven sprinted to her side to help her stand, still lambasted from her twisted nightmare.

"I came to ask you about the rejuvenator, were you asleep the whole time?" He questioned, kneeling next to the gem. She stared at him confusedly.

"That was sleep?!" The gem stood, shaking the memory of the nightmare from her head as though it would try to latch onto her mind. Steven turned away, searching the room for anything that could indicate the dream was continuing.

"I think you were dreaming. I didn't know the room would make it real though." He muttered softly, the gem stared at the room as well, a shiver running down her spine at the thought of her dream of becoming a reality.

"I don't like dreaming." The gem said blandly, she glanced at Steven wondering if he had been there throughout its entirety. Specifically the part where he left her in the garden. The boy didn't mention it, he seemed preoccupied by the rooms ability.

"I think that was a nightmare." He said pointedly, turning back to his friend, "dreams are nice and fun, nightmares are scary." He continued, nodding toward the gem as if she knew the difference.  Spinel nodded in return.

"I was gonna ask you about the rejuvenator, why you took it exactly." He sat down, the room creating a couch for him to rest on. "I wasn't expecting you to be asleep, I thought only Amethyst slept." He laughed, though, his lighthearted take on the terrifying experience didn't console his friend in the least. He looked at her contently, with a knowing smile on his face.

"You know I'd never leave you there." He said gently. Spinel looked up, then averted her eyes quickly, realizing he had seen that part of the dream.

"I took it because they were going to make more." Her words were soft, as though they hurt to say.

"I'll show you."