Malley Kite

Chapter 13

The chime of the warp rang throughout the canyons of the Beta kindergarten then Garnet, Malley, Steven, and Peridot appeared.

"Still super bright," Steven remarked. Shielding his eyes till they adjusted to the bright sunlight.

"Bright, sandy, but with less corrupted gems running around," Peridot added.

Upon arriving, Garnet released her hold on Malley and allowed her to stand, however, the malachite gem had yet to speak. Still shaken by the events from earlier.

"What do you think Malley?" Garnet asked.

Malley looked around a melancholy expression on her face. "Why are we here?" she asked. "I thought you said I wasn't supposed to leave the house."

"I did, except for emergencies," Garnet explained.

"Well, what's the emergency?" Malley asked.

"You nearly passed out in panic again. Also, I thought about what Malachite said and... I thought you could stretch your legs now and then."

Malley shivered as she remembered what she had said to Garnet in the video and she looked down, ashamed. Then she felt suddenly felt a tight pinching on the bridge of her nose and she tried to rub it out. Steven and Garnet noticed her discomfort.

"Are you ok?" Steven asked Malley.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Malley said, the feeling fading. "EXCEPT I HAVE A MONSTER IN MY HEAD!" Her outburst echoed through the canyons and the others were shocked.

Steven then looked at her with sympathy while Garnet's face was unreadable, as usual.

"Malley..." Garnet said softly.

When Garnet tried to reach out for Malley, the younger gem cried out, "No! Don't touch me!" she stumbled back and nearly falls off the warp pad. Realizing what just happened, she spoke again in a softer tone, "I don't want to hurt you."

"I know you don't," Garnet said.

"How could you know that?! Just because of your visions?!" Malley questioned, her voice frantic.

"No. Because we believe in you." Steven said.

"We also believe that this is your form to control. Not Malachite's." Garnet added. "From what Steven has told us, Malachite's form is very different from yours."

"Yeah, she looked more like the fusion but she had the gem on her nose and not on her back," Steven said.

"That doesn't matter, she could still take control and hurt Lapis like she said she would. And what if she changes her mind? What if she–?"

"What if a boulder rolls off the cliff, on to our heads or if Steven gets a sunburn just by standing here for an hour?" Garnet suddenly interjected. Before Malley could reply, Garnet holds onto her and leaps off the warp onto the sand before turning to the children and said. "We need a minute."

Steven and Peridot watched as Garnet took Malley around a corner before letting her go.

"Did you know?" Malley questioned Garnet. "Did you know about Malachite?"

Garnet took a moment before she answered. "Not at first, no, but after we found you, Steven explained his encounter with her to us."

"So, when you took me back to your room and all that talk about the 'things I don't understand yet or not poofing me because of Malachite', that was just you hiding the truth from me. You knew but you didn't tell me. Why?" Malley asked. Then she said in a more assertive tone. "Why?"