A/N: Wow! I'm so surprised by all the positive feedback! Thank you all so much!
Here's chapter 3!
The knock echoed through the lighthouse and Peridot quickly stumbled to her feet.
"Huh, I wonder who that is." Ronaldo thought out loud. Peridot let out an annoyed hiss.
"I've been d-discovered." She muttered under her breath. She turned to Ronaldo. "You! Human!" Peridot pointed one of her detachable fingers at him. "Go and a-answer the door w-wh-while I hide! Get r-r-rid of those who are searching for m-me!" Peridot commanded. Ronaldo didn't budge.
"Hold on here. Why should I listen to you? You're on my planet in my paranormal research facility!" Ronaldo defended. Peridot scoffed.
"'Research facility?' Please! I've seen airships with better accommodations! If this is what you humans call a research facility then gems should not be worried about Earth at all! If you ask me, this place is a huge-" another knock echoed through the lighthouse and Peridot almost lost her balance, her tall confident stance slacking. The knock sounded more frantic and angry.
"You know what? I think I'll let whoever's at the door in to help me continue my research." Ronaldo turned towards the stairs of the lighthouse. Peridot's eyes widened and she started after him.
"W-w-wait!" She saw her vision glitch and tripped over her own feet flat on her face. A painful crack echoed through her forehead. Peridot's face paled when she realized that was her gem and she felt tears prickle the corner of her eyes. With her gem in this condition, there was no way she could fight the human let alone another gem. She was not a warrior gem like Jasper. Her fighting capabilities were low as is, but with her gem cracked beyond repair, there was no way she could even escape without destroying herself.
"I'll do anything!" Peridot burst out saying. "I'll do anything! Just get rid of whoever's at the door! I need to stay hidden!" Peridot heard herself beg. She hated being so pathetic. As a technician gem, she was considered lower class than warrior gems. She had no royal background and no friends. Technician gems were made to serve warrior gems and those of higher class, nothing more. She had to face reality: no gem was going to look for her.
The door slammed shut as Ronaldo made his way downstairs.
"I'm d-d-dead." Peridot stuttered. She heard the door downstairs open.
"Ronaldo! It took you long enough!" A familiar voice said.
"Steven? What are you doing here?" Ronaldo asked. 'A Steven? How did it find me so quickly?' Peridot thought silently.
"What do you mean? We're watching horror movies tonight, remember? Horror club? Lars and Sadie are coming later. They're still cleaning up at the Big Donut." Steven explained.
"Um, you know what Steven? I actually have some emergency paranormal research I'm doing right now. How about we reschedule the Horror Club meeting for next week?" Ronaldo explained.
"Aww." Steven whined.
"How about you tell Sadie and Lars too? You know, in case they show up here too." Ronaldo explained. "I promise I'll have an extra scary movie next week!"
"Even scarier than Evil Bear?" Steven asked.
"One hundred times scarier!" Ronaldo beamed.
"Oh, okay! I'll go tell Lars and Sadie then." A few footsteps sounded. "Bye Ronaldo!" The door shut and she heard footsteps going up the stairs. The door opened once more to reveal only Ronaldo.
"Um…Why are you on the floor." Ronaldo asked. Peridot didn't notice that she was still cowering on the floor. Peridot quickly stumbled to her feet.
"N-n-n-no reas-son." Peridot stammered.
"Well in accordance to our deal, you need to answer my questions." Ronaldo said.
"W-what! I never agreed to th-th-that!" Peridot yelped.
"Actually, you said 'I'll do anything' and telling me your world's secrets is part of 'anything.'" Ronaldo explained. Peridot cursed under her breath.
"I can't do t-that!" Peridot screamed. "Y-you humans do-don't know w-what you're dealing w-w-with!"
"Which is why I want answers." Ronaldo said smoothly. Peridot screamed with irritation.
"You-" She pointed her fingers at him about to say something when the floating appendages dropped on the floor lifeless. Her eyes widened.
"Does that happen often?" Ronaldo asked with a notepad in hand.
"N-no! I-It's just because m-m-my gem is cracked!" She said. Ronaldo jotted down the answer. Peridot noticed this and slapped her fingerless hand over her mouth.
"And why is this gem of yours so important?" Ronaldo asked continuing with his questions.
"Listen here. Human!" Peridot slammed her foot on the ground with anger and a loud pop followed. She felt her body fall forward as she noticed her leg had popped off. Out of reflex, Ronaldo quickly caught her before she could land on the ground face first again.
"I was right! The rest of your body is detachable!" Ronaldo said with a grin. Peridot blushed when she noticed the position she was in and squirmed in his grasp.
"Let go of me!" Peridot flailed her arms and another pop echoed through the room. Her arm fell down with a thunk. "Great! Just great! I'm literally f-f-falling a-apart!" Peridot groaned.
"Do you need help?" Ronaldo asked.
"N-n-no!" Peridot responded. At this point she could hardly fight back with just one arm and one leg. "For the l-l-last time! L-l-let go of m-me!" Peridot hissed.
"I don't think you need anymore damage on yourself! How about you stay still and just let me help you to a chair or something?" Ronaldo asked politely.
"N-n-never!" Peridot growled not wanting any help from a human being.
"Hey! Listen here! I'm trying to help! How about you let me and stop-Ow!" Ronaldo yelped as something harshly poked his back. He turned around and saw Peridot's fingers project towards him. "Ah!" He quickly turned to the side with Peridot in his arms trying to avoid impact of the flying appendages. "Hey! Call off your fingers!" Ronaldo yelped as more came after him.
"I'm not c-c-controlling them!" Peridot yelped as her foot came hurtling towards them.
"Then how do you explain this?" Ronaldo said trying to shield her from the barrage of her own appendages.
"I told you! M-my gem is cr-cracked! I don't have a-a-any control over m-my physical form!" Peridot yelped as her arm came after them.
"Then how do we fix this?" Ronaldo asked frantically. Peridot thought and went through every scenario and option she had and gulped when she realized there were none.
"I don't k-know!" Peridot said squeezing her eyes shut. She wanted to cry. Everything was falling apart around her, physically and mentally. What was going to happen to her now?
"Hey! Ow!" Ronaldo felt a finger poke the back of his head and a harsh kick to his back and he fell forward right on top of Peridot. Peridot grumbled in pain at the sudden impact and opened her eyes wide in shock to see Ronaldo right on top of her.
Time seemed to stop for the two.
"Hey Ronaldo! I told Lars and Sadie, but I wanted to see if you needed any paranormal help! Also, the gems aren't home and I was bored!" the door to the top room of the lighthouse flew open to reveal a familiar short figure. "By the way, why do you never answer the-" Steven stopped walking in and stood at the door with a dumbfounded face, "-door…"
A/N: Oops! Looks like Peridot couldn't stay hidden forever! She sure has a habit of falling on her face, doesn't she?
Stay tuned for Chapter 4!