Lapis Lazuli: the Lost Mermaid 2 Save the Oceans

Chapter 20: Separation Anxiety

On the edge of Opalescencia, Lapis' group saw the blue princess returning from the castle.

"So you got the location of where the Oceanic Heart cave is?" asked Jamie.

"Yep." the princess answered without looking anybody in the eye. "To the west, in the Coral Sea."

"Great." Ruby said. "Let's get going then."

"We're one step closer to stopping the oceanwide apocalypse before it begins." Smoky Quartz stated. "Once we get past Jasper and the Black Scale Clan that is."

Lapis cringed as imaginings of the ones she loved being destroyed by the Black Scale Clan haunted her again.

"Look guys, I've done a lot of thinking lately." she told her friends. "And I think it would be best if I went to the Coral Sea alone."

"What?" Peridot exclaimed. "Why?"

"Think about it." the young princess told her. "Jasper and the Black Scale Clan track us down wherever we go. Everything they do has jeopardized our quest and the ocean even more. And the only reason they attack our group... is because of me."

"Come on." Amethyst scoffed. "You don't really believe that."

"Yes I do." Lapis argued. "White Diamond was right. I am a natural hazard magnet. And I'm not suggesting that I should send you all back home, I just want you to hang back until all the hard stuff is done."

"But, don't you remember saying that we have a better chance at defeating the bad guys if we do it together?" asked Sapphire.

"Yeah, but that was before I realized that a dangerous quest like this shouldn't come at the expense of the ones I love." the mermaid princess answered.

"Lapis." Jamie said in an attempt to console his girlfriend.

"Don't make this any harder than it has to be!" Lapis snapped before her boyfriend could even get close.

"After all that talk about friendship and teamwork, you decided to abandon your followers so you can fly solo?" Pearl frowned.

"You wouldn't understand!" the young leader raised her voice. "None of you would ever understand!"

"What wouldn't we understand?" Jamie said. "Why would you think that leaving us behind to finish the job is the right call?"

"BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY CHOICE I HAVE LEFT TO MAKE!" Lapis screamed at the top of her lungs, tears stinging her eyes.

"Fine." her boyfriend sighed, his feeling hurt. "If that's what you want, then just go."

And just like that, the young mermaid princess continued heading west on her own with the Infinity Map and Tsunami Trident in toe. She didn't even look back at friends' emotionally  pained faces. Her own face was strained with tears.

Meanwhile, the Black Scale Clan had been spying on Lapis deserting her group.

"Would you look at that." Aquamarine commented. "She's finally without her annoying friends."

"This is the moment we've been waiting for." Jasper started. "Well, I've been waiting for at least."

"And I've got the perfect plan to catch her." said Squaridot. "Listen up. Holly Blue Agate, you will use your hallucination magic to make the princess believe that her friends have abandoned her."

"Why?" the periwinkle mermaid asked. "She already did that to them."

"I believe there's a chance that Lapis will come to her senses and realize that she needs her friends regardless of the dangers they may encounter." the strategist explained. "But you will make her think that they've already left and that it's too late for her to apologize."

"Very well." the periwinkle mermaid said.

"Then Topaz, you will create a shockwave that will upset the ocean currents and sweep the princess away." Squaridot continued.

The large, yellow mermaid gave a stoic nod.

"And finally Jasper, you will be waiting to swoop down upon young Lapis while she's discombobulated and bring her back here." the lime green mermaid went on.

"Oh, I look forward to that part." Jasper smiled wickedly.

"This plan of yours had better work or else I'm going start having doubts about you." Emerald frowned.

"Oh, this scheme is flawless." the strategist replied pompously. "I can promise you that."

"Well, what are waiting for?" the male sea witch said eagerly. "Let's get to it already."

Lapis was still on course for the Coral Sea, a great weight of guilt bearing down on her shoulders. And then, she stopped as the shame of her action got to her.

"What am I doing?" she asked herself. "I never should've abandoned my friends. Or snapped at my boyfriend. I should go back."

The young mermaid turned around to find her friends and apologize to them, right where Holly Blue Agate, Topaz, and Jasper were waiting. The three of them were ready to put Squaridot's plan into motion.

Holly Blue Agate started things off by creating a haze that made the distant mermaids look almost invisible. But to Lapis, it seemed like her friends have ditched her.

"Guys?" she called out. "Jamie? Steven? Connie? Dad? Where are you?"

The blue princess whirled her head around in hopes of finding a glimpse of her loved ones. But, there was no sign of any other mermaid anywhere.

"No." she stammered, full of fear. "No, no, no, no, no, no! They can't be gone! I didn't tell them to go back home."

"Unless, they were so mad about being left behind that they went home anyway." the young mermaid gasped, her eyes welling up before she started to cry. "And now I've got nobody left. This is all my fault!"

"Oh, what now?" she groaned, tears overflowing from her eyes, not noticing the sudden shockwave caused by Topaz.

All of a sudden, Lapis felt herself getting swept away rapidly by a fast moving current. She screamed as she lost her grip on the Infinity Map and Tsunami Trident.

"Quick, Jasper!" Holly Blue Agate urged the sea witch. "Follow that current!"

"Ready or not, Lapis; here I come." Jasper said to himself.

The blue mermaid princess was struggling to fight against the water current. But, it was virtually impossible to swim through the fast moving water. Just then, the teenage mermaid accidentally touched her locket and her tail turned into human legs. And to make matters worse, the clasp undid itself and the locket slipped Lapis' neck.

"NO!" the mermaid princess cried as her precious locket was lost to the sea.

Eventually, Lapis finally got out of the wild current and washed up on the beach of a small island.

"Whoa, that rip current was intense." she panted, resting on the beach. "I need to catch my breath."

The poor princess was so tired from crying and fighting against the rip current, she ended up falling asleep right then and there. She didn't care if she got a sunburn or notice that a certain sea witch was spying on her sleeping form.