Yeah yeah you know the drill by now, this took longer than expected because I can't keep a schedule to save my life but I promise you that next week you're going to get a new chapter and then the week after that until Onyx's backstory has been fully explained and explored. Please be patient with me and I appreciate any feedback you have, thanks.

Dawn of the Revelation: 1 Chapter Left

Onyx was helping Greg at the carwash today, she just wanted to work on some songs and guitar playing but she came too early in the morning and he was still busy at work with a line of cars waiting for a wash; Greg asked for help and pretty soon she was covered in water and soap bubbles helping to clean all the cars that came through the wash. Thankfully it wasn't very taxing work and soon enough the carwash is empty and the two of them can relax.

"Whew! Thanks Onyx, I don't think I could have gotten through all those cars by myself without keeling over."

"Always happy to lend a hand Greg."

"Well while we've got some downtime, you want to jam a little?"

"I'd like that."

The two went into the back of Greg's van and pulled out the guitars and amps to play properly. It had been a while since Onyx had played guitar, but the muscle memory was still there, she strummed the instrument well and along with Greg the two "jammed" together. Onyx tried to move faster and play a heavy rock song but Greg got her to slow down for a more classic rock vibe, in the end the two worked well together and experimented with new sounds that may go on to become future songs.

"Alright! You rocked it."

Onyx smiled. "Thanks Greg."

"Why don't you come down here more often? You could make some seriously good music of your own."

"Well, it has been busy lately."

"Oh I get it, gem stuff right?"

"Among other things."

"Other things?"

Onyx was upset she had said that, she never wanted to give off the impression that she was doing worse than fine, otherwise people would start asking questions that she wasn't prepared to answer. Greg was especially bad; he had a very compassionate attitude (which is probably where Steven got it from) and he would probably try to figure out what was wrong with her.

"What kind of things?" Greg asked.

"Oh you know, stress and fighting and what not. You know how it is."

"I don't actually. I don't keep up with what the gems do, I only hear stories from Steven about what happens."

"Right."

Greg was about to say something else but then they heard a low roll of thunder, the two looked up and saw the sky was growing dark.

"It's going to rain soon. Let's get this equipment inside." Onyx said.

"Mhm."

The two of them unplugged the guitar from the amps and put everything away in the van just as the rain started coming down. Onyx was about to run back to the temple, but Greg stopped her.

"Hey. You want to hang out in the van until the storm dies down?"

Onyx shook her head. "That's okay. I'll be fine."

"Aw c'mon, it'll be a good chance for us to hang out and there's no reason for you to get all wet on your way home."

Onyx wanted to resist, she knew that if she stayed with Greg he might get her to talk and then he would know all of the horrible thoughts that had been swirling around in her mind and he would see her differently… just like the gems did. She wanted to leave but she didn't have the heart to say no to this kind man.

"Alright, for a little while at least."

Onyx climbed into the van with Greg and they sat across from each other, Onyx crossing her arms over her legs because of the smaller space.

"Sorry. It's a little bit cramped back here." Greg apologized.

"It's alright. Actually, I have an idea."

Onyx's body glowed as she shifted her body and shrunk down to a smaller size which made it easier to move around in the back.

"Nice one."

Onyx and Greg sat together in silence for a while, Greg tapped his fingers as he thought of something to do while Onyx just laid against the metal wall listening to the sound of rain pelting the van.

"Want to listen to some records?" Greg asked.

"Records?"

"Oh yeah." Greg leaned forward and searched under the driver's seat. "I bought a lot of these vinyl's back in the 70's and 80's, I thought they would never go out of style even with CD's becoming a thing. It's got a lot of my favorite classic rock songs on it, it really inspired me, and it might inspire you to."

Onyx really hadn't heard any of this "classic rock" yet, in fact her only real exposure to music has been what Greg and Steven played or what she heard on the radio in the house. Maybe this could be a good experience for her.

It took Greg a few minutes, but he slid out a small compact record player and a crate full of old records.

"Let's see here: Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon, Fly By Night, Back In Black…"

As Greg leafed through is collection of records, a certain cover caught Onyx's eye, it had a figure on it wearing a black cloak wielding a long scythe, you couldn't see its body but it reminded her of…

"Hey Greg what's that?"

"Huh?" He looked at the album she was talking about. "Oh Dehumanizer? This is a pretty heavy album, even for Black Sabbath, it might be right up your alley."

"No no I meant the person on the cover… who are they?"

"Oh you mean him? He's called Death or The Grim Reaper."

"And what does he do?"

"Well first he's not real, he's made up. Secondly, he's supposed to be like this omen of death, and when people die he brings them to the afterlife."

"…I see."

Greg wondered why Onyx was just staring at the cover, but he ignored it. "Alright, why don't I just put on the record and we'll relax a little?"

Greg put the record on, slowly the device did its work and music started flowing through it. They both listened to the first track and it was almost soothing at first with a rhythmic drum set before it turned into an electric guitar ballad along with the deep vocals of the main singer.

Despite the volume and nature of the song Onyx found this music comforting, the speed of the drums and guitars playing their notes as well as the high energetic nature made her feel calmer by comparison. She rested her head against the wall, and between the soothing sound of rain and the loud sounds of music she was lulled to asleep.

Of course, there was that moment in sleep where any music that you hear in the background melds together into one unintelligible noise and then the sound cuts out completely. In Onyx's case things went quiet for a moment before they were replaced with an even louder and more violent sound… bloodshed.

When she could refocus and open her eyes again, she was surrounded by clashing shadowy figures across a battlefield that stretched as far as she could see. She tried to process this information, wonder about how she got here or what she was fighting before she felt something pierce her shoulder, she turned around and saw a shadow with two swords trying to attack her; she dodged the next incoming strike and tried to simply knock the figure back... but when she attacked her fist went right through their chest and they dissipated instantly.

She tried to rationalize this, tried her hardest to focus on what was in front of her and things started to get clearer: the shadowy figures were all people on two feet, there were so many different colors it was hard to make out what was what and who was who but there was one color she saw a lot of…pink. She saw a wave of pink rushing towards her and all she could do was run towards it

She didn't even think of something her scythe or trying to get away from this battle, she kicked and clawed recklessly like a wild beast; each hit destroying one or more soldiers with each slash or kick coming faster and faster until she was a mindless whirlwind of death. This was beyond survival for Onyx, this brought her purpose… it brought her joy.

She held her ground for a long time but was eventually swallowed up by body after body piling on top of her, each one putting her body through more and more pain until it finally became too much.

"AHHH!"

She screamed and suddenly, she was back in the van with Greg…except Greg was now curled up in the corner far away from her.

"…What happened?" He asked

Onyx shook off what she saw and tried to bury all the feelings she had, even if a lot of them felt all too real.

"It was nothing. A bad dream." She said simply.

"That was not just a bad dream. You were moving around and writhing, and you screamed like it was a slasher movie. I tried to wake you up and you literally knocked me away."

"Greg I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"Just tell me what you saw. Please."

Onyx turned away. "I said it was just a bad dream."

"Onyx, gems don't just 'have bad dreams'." He put emphasis on those words. "The only gem I've ever seen sleep is Amethyst, but when she sleeps she never wakes up screaming."

Onyx remained silent, maybe if she just ignored Greg's requests, he would give up eventually and things would go back to normal. That would be the ideal situation, maybe not truly but it felt ideal to her.

"You can talk to me Onyx, I want to help you."

Onyx sighed. These were the most vivid visons that she had seen before, but she had seen many others like it before; in her quietest moments when her mind truly began to wander it would be there, like a dark omen. Maybe seeing this vision now was a sign to confide in Greg, he wouldn't let her go until he knew more and at least with him she doesn't have to risk being exiled or worse.

It took her a moment, but she finally started speaking. "I don't know what the gems have told you about me, but I have no memories outside of the last few months."

"Uh huh." Greg followed what she was saying.

"At first, I wanted those memories back to figure out who I was and what I'm supposed to be but nothing came, then I was told that maybe it wasn't important who I was but rather what I could be. I wanted so badly to impress the gems, being one of them felt… right, like I was doing good by beating monsters and keeping people safe. So I focused all of my attention on fitting in with them and didn't care whether my memories came back or not."

Greg nodded. "That makes sense. But what does that have to do with your current problem?"

"What if… what if the person I was before was terrible? Someone who hurts everyone she touches. What if when I remember everything, I become that person again?"

"But you like who you are right? You can tell yourself that you don't want to be that person anymore."

Onyx clenched her fist. "There have been a couple of times where I… lose control of myself. I hear this voice in the back of my head telling me horrible things and I'm just filled with so much rage that I lash out at everything around me. I haven't hurt any of the gems yet, but I don't want to have to worry about that or if I could be capable of hurting them."

Telling Greg this made Onyx feel horrible, acknowledging that she could actually do this instead of just repressing it to try and keep it contained like she wanted to made her feel like a monster.

Greg spoke up. "Onyx…I can't imagine what you're going through right now, but I don't think it's as bad as you say."

"What do you mean?"

"Well the gems weren't perfect either. From what Rose told me they were all very different before she came around and started shaking things up for those aliens. Not to mention when they fought that big war for Earth and a lot of people died, a lot. Besides, being aware that you have a problem is the first part, but also, you said that you've stopped yourself from going too out of control so you must have at least some control over the situation, right?"

Onyx nodded. "But I'm worried what will happen if I lose that control."

"Don't focus on what will happen if you don't, think of the reasons why you should stay in control. In my experience, focusing on positives is a much better motivator than thinking of the negatives."

"That makes sense."

"And I'm guessing you haven't really talked to the gems about this?"

"They'd hate me."

"They won't hate you Onyx, they act tough, but I don't think they truly hate anything. If you explain it to them, they'll probably be understanding, especially Steven; they're your friends and they just want to help you."

"You really think so?"

"I do." Greg rubbed the back of his head. "And I know that may not mean a lot coming from me but you gems really seem to look out for each other so if you're looking for support they're probably the best you can get."

Onyx felt a bit of tension leave her chest; she had assumed the worst would happen to her because of everything she saw but Greg was right, when push came to shove the gems did care about her and tried to help her. Perhaps this time will be the same as well.

"Well i'd better get home then, before I lose my nerve again. Thanks for the advice Greg."

"Hey, it's no trouble, you've been good to Steven and fun to hang out with, the least I could do is offer a little advice."

"Right." She gave Greg a hug of appreciation. "Thanks again." She crawled over and opened the van's back doors, rolling outside and growing back to her full size before making a run towards the temple.

Onyx liked the rain as she was running through it, the sound it made, the feeling of it hitting her form, the shadowy skies which gave the town a darker mystique, all of it made her energetic and of course there was the…

CRA-KOOM!

Lightning. Except that lightning sounded close and the flash was very bright. As she was running towards the house, she saw a bolt come down near the house before flying off away towards the ocean.

"Okay… that warrants investigating further."

Onyx summoned her wings and flew up to quickly glide above the town and get to the temple. When she got there all she saw was Steven and Garnet going inside the house, she landed on the deck and walked inside.

"Guys, did you see that?" She asked.

"See what?" Steven asked. "Nope." Garnet answered at the same time.

"But the lightning-"

"Got very close, we know, but it's all right." Garnet cut her off.

"But-" Onyx was about to ask again but Garnet threw a towel in her face which once again stopped her from talking.

"Here, dry yourself off."

Onyx took the towel and started rubbing her face and hair to get the water off but saw that Garnet didn't have one.

"Don't you need a towel as well?" Onyx asked.

"No."

Before Onyx could ask why she saw Garnet flex her body and the rain started to evaporate and turn to steam which dried her off in seconds.

"So cool." Steven said in awe.

There was a moment of silence before Garnet spoke. "Steven, your clothes are soaked, you should probably change."

"Oh yeah, good idea Garnet."

Steven went to his room and grabbed a change of clothes before going into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. When he was in the bathroom Garnet got closer to Onyx.

"You're wondering why I wanted to keep it quiet."

Onyx was rubbing her midsection clean as she stated at Garnet. "Garnet I don't even know what 'it' is. All I know is I saw a bolt of lightning strike near the temple and then bounce into the ocean and I'm very confused."

Garnet look conflicted for a second before leaning closer. "If I tell you what happened, you don't speak a word of it to Steven."

"Why?"

"It would only make him worry, and it's… distressing that I almost put him in danger."

Onyx was insanely curious about this now and nodded in agreement. "You have my secrecy, now tell me what happened."

"I warned Steven not to stand on the roof tonight, I said it would be dangerous, but instead of doing as I asked he took it as a challenge and stood on the roof anyway. He was almost hit by lightning, but I talked him down and deflected the bolt before anything bad happened."

That would explain why she saw it draw near the temple. "I don't know what's more impressive: the fact you deflected lightning or that you suspected lightning was going to strike there."

"I didn't suspect it, I knew, that's why I wanted him to stay away."

"But isn't lightning sporadic? How could you have known that it would strike that spot right then?"

Garnet paused again, as if trying to hide something or unsure of what to say next. "I can see the future."

Onyx paused, shocked at that revelation. "You… you can?"

Garnet nodded, pulling down her glasses revealing all three of her eyes. "Two of my eyes are focused on the present, but one always sees into the future, I'm always seeing events that may or may not occur."

"May or may not?"

"Nothing is completely certain. I see dozens of possibilities for every event all the time, some are more likely than others, but all are possible."

The implications of this answer scared Onyx, but she needed to know. "How far forward can you see into the future?"

"Anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks, but the further I look the more possibilities it creates which can be very overwhelming to try and process, so I try to not look too far ahead at any one time."

This explained so much to Onyx: How Garnet always knew where to go for monsters or important events, her advice, her fast reaction speed, her choice of wording to push certain events… all of it.

"I… I see. I won't say a word about this Garnet, I promise."

Garnet smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

Onyx smiled back, but she could feel her chest close to caving in from stress and fear.

"I'm going to go to bed, I've had a long day."

Onyx quickly walked away from Garnet through the kitchen and went to the temple door.

Before she could go inside, Steven opened the door to the bathroom and came out in a pair of pajamas. "Onyx! I was going to play some Speedy Blue Hog 2, want to join me?"

"No thank you Steven, I'm… tired."

As soon as her door was opened Onyx stepped inside and once it was closed she slumped her back against it and sank onto the floor.

"She can see the future…" The realization hit Onyx like a ton of bricks. Garnet knew so much more than she had let on, if she can see the future then… did she know about her? About all the pain that she might cause? Had she known from the very moment they met and if so, why would she ever let Onyx around them?

"Is that why she tried to kill me? Is that…"

Onyx clutched her sides and tried not to panic. She didn't want to go, she loved being around all the gems, they made her feel whole when there was so much that was taken away from her; but if she was going to do something bad, something that put them all in danger and Garnet knew about it… then maybe Garnet was right to try and kill her the moment she showed up.