Chapter Eighteen: Banana Flambe
It was Monday, June 19th. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and although it was a beautiful day outside, Ruby was fuming.
"OH COME ON!" she screamed. "How can we still be here?!"
"Ruby, calm down," Sapphire said soothingly, but that only aggravated Ruby even more.
Garnet thought she should say something. Something pacifying, reassuring. Not just for Ruby, but for Pearl. Garnet was holding her by the shoulder for some reason, and Pearl was standing there, blinking in confusion at the spear in her hand—
"Blood," Pearl muttered. "There was blood..."
No, Pearl was too far gone for words to reach her right now. And Ruby was right, they shouldn't be here.
Garnet did not feel like being reassuring anymore.
"No, Sapphire, I will not 'calm down'! We've been stuck here for who knows how long—"
"Love, please. You're burning the—"
"—and I am sick and tired of forgetting everything ALL THE TIME!"
Smoke.
The smell of it filled the air, thick and clogging. There was yelling— Peridot, Lapis, and Amethyst were arguing about what to do about it. There was coughing— Steven, Connie, Stevonnie, they needed to breathe— but Ruby didn't stop, wouldn't stop. It was all in their heads. The smoke couldn't really choke them, any more than the food could sustain them, and they needed to get out of here. The flames coursed through her, eating the wood floor, destroying the chairs and the tables, consuming the counter, running up the walls.
Greg and Rose smiled as the flames burned up their legs, their torsos, their faces.
"I hate Mondays," said the pillar of charcoal which had once been Lars.
The fire was everywhere. Roaring red, and orange, and white, and—
Pink.