Lapis Lazuli: the Lost Mermaid 2 Save the Oceans

Chapter 14: White Diamond Knows Best

Princess Lapis and her entourage continued their way to the Manta Ruins when they came across an eerie cave.

"Careful, everyone." alerted Sunstone. "We're in the area of White Diamond's lair."

"Wait, what?" Lapis said. "White Diamond doesn't exist. She's just some bedtime story to tell younger mermaids if they were bad."

The young princess recalled a memory from her early childhood when her mother told her the legend of White Diamond. She was a sinister, mythical mermaid who would come to steal away naughty mermaid children in their sleep. It would usually be because they did impish acts like drawing on the walls or refusing to eat certain foods they didn't like. The story was only meant to scare kids straight into staying out of trouble. And it sure scared Lapis straight when she was younger.

"She's not just some bedtime story, Lapis." Pearl told the young princess. "She's very real. And she isn't a mermaid like us. The things she does to the mermaids she lures into her lair are too disturbing to describe."

"Whatever you do, stay as far away from White Diamond's cave as possible." Rainbow Quartz warned her.

Sticking closely together, the group moved as swiftly away from the foreboding cave as they could.

All of a sudden, Lapis heard something that caused her to stop in her tracks. It was an alluring, incoherent whisper that seemed to be coming from the cave. At that moment, the blue princess seemed to have lost all touch with the rest of the world. She was fixated on the hypnotic whisper and swam right into the cave while her friends weren't paying attention. Guided by the voice that was beckoning to her, Lapis made her way through a dark tunnel until she found herself in a spacious cavern.

Right before her was the most astonishing mermaid the young princess had ever seen. She had glowing white hair, the palest skin of any mermaid, black manicured nails, frightening gray eyes with silvery eyeshadow, and a radiant white tail. She wore a white and gray strapless top and a glimmering black and gray cape.

"You must be Lapis Lazuli." the mermaid spoke. "Word of your story travels fast through these waters. I am White Diamond."

"You do exist." Lapis gasped in fear. "Please let me go. I've always been a good girl. I didn't do anything naughty, I swear."

"Don't tell me you believe that old bedtime story." the white mermaid cackled. "I'm not going to keep you for being a mischief-maker, I'm keeping you because I want you to be my child."

"No, I can't stay here." the blue princess refused. "I've already got a family. And my friends and I are on a quest. The oceans are in danger. I'm in danger."

The seductress put an index finger to her lips and hushed the blue princess.

"My dear Lapis." she spoke cunningly. "Did you ever wonder how your mother was able to have you without a significant male partner? Or any mermaid for that matter? That was all my doing."

"What?" Lapis said. "I don't understand."

"Whenever a mermaid extremely desires to have a child, they come and make that wish to me." the white mermaid explained. "Of course, a wish like that always comes with a price. And your mother came to me with that very longing many moons ago. I've had many mermaids bravely visit my cave in hopes of being able to conceive a baby, but having the queen of Iridesca enter my dwelling was memorable. I had never met anyone who wanted to have a baby more than anything in the universe."

Flashback:

Long before Lapis was born, a younger Queen Hope had embarked on a perilous quest to White Diamond's cave. Once she arrived at the mouth of the cave, the blue queen timidly entered the lair of the sinister white mermaid.

"Queen Hope!" White Diamond exclaimed. "And here I thought I'd never see you in my cave. So what do I owe the pleasure of addressing?"

"Your Purity, I have come to you because I am wishing and pleading from the bottom of my heart to have a daughter." the mermaid queen said. "I have seen many of my subjects who are mothers, caring and loving the babies that they bared. It has made me realize how much I desire to have a baby of my own."

"Hmmm, your desire for a baby is great indeed, Hope." the powerful white mermaid spoke. "I shall grant you this wish, but know that the price that comes with it will be heavy."

"But, I fear that I don't have anything to give you that you would want." Queen Hope admitted.

"No need, Hope." White Diamond assured her. "I do not require a fee. But, know this. In addition to having the child you wish, she will be inflicted with a powerful curse."

"What kind of curse?" the royal blue mermaid asked.

"Your daughter's soul will be linked to a very powerful mermaid relic." the enchantress explained. "Should the relic be damaged in any way, your child's life will be jeopardized. And if that relic is destroyed, the little one will perish."

The young queen gasped in terror at the thought of her daughter dying.

"Do you still wish for a child?" White Diamond asked the young queen.

Queen Hope gave everything a lot of thought and after a moment of silence, she answered surely; "Yes, I do."

"Then, a baby you shall have." the white mermaid declared as she used her magic to ensure that a baby would grow inside the queen's body.

When the deed was done, White Diamond informed her, "Now, come nine months and you will have the bundle of joy you have always dreamed of."

"I'm cursed?" Lapis said, completely stricken with terror. "Is that why I feel pain whenever the Oceanic Heart is attacked?"

"And I see that everything you've encountered on your journey wasn't even the result of my curse." White Diamond told her. "Why, you're practically a natural magnet for danger."

"I can't believe this happening." the young princess said, clutching the sides of her head and tears trickling down her face.

"Poor sweet, little princess." the mermaid seductress cooed as she put a comforting hand on the blue mermaid's head. "Don't you wish that you didn't have to deal with all this trauma anymore?"

Lapis nodded as she stopped crying, being soothed by White Diamond's touch.

"Well, I'm more than happy to let you stay here with me." the white mermaid continued in a manipulative tone. "I'll keep you safe from the dangers of the outside world. And I will care for you like you were the daughter I never had."

She had spent so much time stroking Lapis that the blue girl had drifted off to sleep. White Diamond chuckled as Lapis softly snored and she carried the slumbering mermaid over to a spongy bed.

Then, the white seductress moved her hands in a circular motion as she summoned her magic. A milky white cloud enveloped the princess's sleeping body and in a shimmering ball of light, her entire body began to shrink. White Diamond had transformed Lapis back into a newborn baby, her bracelet magically adjusting to her new size. However, she not only now had the body of a newborn baby, but also the mind to go with it. And she did what all newborn babies first do, which was cry. The unfamiliar surroundings made her restless. Normally, her birth locket would have calmed her down a little, but White Diamond had taken it away along with her crown. Now without it, Lapis was freaking out and her blurry baby vision didn't help at all.

"There, there, baby." the mermaid seductress said soothingly as she picked up the crying princess and gently rocked her. "No need to fuss now."

The blue baby's fussing lessened and she looked up at the caring stranger that was cradling her. There was a gleam in her ocean blue eyes, the gleam that signifies the trust a baby puts in a motherly figure.

"That's right, my darling." White Diamond cooed to the baby girl. "Don't cry. Mother's here. And she's never letting you go."