Malley Kite

Chapter 8

So now it was up to Steven to keep the peace at the beach house. While there was some tension, Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst had managed to distract themselves for a few days. They went to a garage band where Pearl met a mystery woman with pink hair and Steven spent time with Connie, who was also worried for the missing gem.

After three days of waiting and worrying, Steven got a video–call from Peridot's tablet.

"Peridot?" Steven asked as he answered his cell phone.

On the screen was Peridot with a bright blue glow shining behind her.

"It's Lapis. She's reforming right now. You should probably get over here, she may want to see you." Peridot said, rather urgently.

Steven could just barely hear Lapis' voice in the background, she was calling out his name before the call was cut off. Steven quickly ran to the warp and went straight to the barn. Once he got there, he found a somewhat hysterical Lapis and Peridot doing her best to calm down her roommate.

Despite the time she took to reform, Lapis didn't look any different, she probably wasn't too focused on changing her appearance while in her gem.

"Where is she?! How did I get here?! Is Steven safe?!" Lapis shouted.

"Lapis, please calm down." Peridot urged.

"And why is there a drawing of her on the board?!"

"Research..."

On the old chalkboard was a diagram of Malley's form along with a drawing of her kusarigama, notes, numbers, and everything else in between.

"Lapis!" Steven called out as he stepped into the barn.

When Lapis saw Steven, she immediately ran to him and wrapped him in her arms. "Oh Steven, I was so worried. I tried to reform as quickly as I could but I was still..." Lapis' expression took on a fearful look before she shook her head, "It doesn't matter... Are you okay?"

Steven worked his way out of Lapis' grasp and took a step back before answering in a concerned voice, "I'm fine... but Lapis, we need to talk about what happened with Malley."

"Malley?" Lapis asked, confused.

"Malley... the gem that looks like Malachite, you fought her at the beach," Steven explained carefully.

"What kind of name is that?"

"It's the name she chose for herself. Malley... Kite."

"Who cares what she calls herself," Lapis said rather bitterly. "I thought she came to hurt you and I wanted to stop her but somehow... I – I couldn't take her but were the other gems able to take her down?"

Steven was a hesitant tell Lapis the truth... luckily, he didn't have to.

"Nope," Peridot answered. "Malley flew away just when the rest of the gems and I came to the beach. From what I've heard the gems are still out looking for her."

"She's still out there?!" Lapis shrieked, her eyes widen in shock.

"Peridot..." Steven groaned under his breath before talking to Lapis again. "It's true she's out there but I think Malley is just scared."

"Scared of what? Getting caught before she shattered my gem and getting imprisoned by the crystal gems?"

"No – well, maybe – But that's not what's important right now. Lapis, I need to know how the fight started. Did Malley attack first... or was it you?" Steven asked.

Lapis' expression had a flash of guilt before she quickly shook her head and said in a stern voice.

"She's a Malachite, Steven, and I know firsthand how dangerous they can be... When I saw her, I thought she was here to hurt you. I did what I had to do to protect you."