Diamond Hearts: A Diamond Castle Fanfiction

8 The Plan

Lydia took in the view of the towering stones, the thin layer of fog rising from the ground, and the midnight sky before her. Soon the rest of the world would be as dark and still as the Seven Stones.

She lifted Melody to get a better look at her face in the dim light. "If you want me to believe the Diamond Castle is here, give me the key."

"The key, um--"

Lydia held out the mirror over a pool. "Now, or I throw you in the pond and your friends never come out of the cave."

"The key is to place diamonds in the diamond."

Lydia scoffed. "And that is?"

"The boulder," Melody said, nodding to one of the smaller rocks behind Lydia.

She turned and noticed there was indeed a diamond-shaped crack on the boulder's surface. "Ah, I see. Now what?"

"Each slot holds a diamond. Placed in the proper order, the castle will then be revealed."

Seemed like something Dori and Phaedra would do.

Lydia lifted her wrist to show Melody a ring of small diamonds on her cuff. "Where do I begin?"

Melody slowly instructed her, obviously attempting to buy time.

"Here?"

"Mm-hmm. And then to the right, two spaces."

"Ooh, the last one! So horribly exciting." Lydia inserted the final diamond and expected the ground to shake or the castle to rise from the lake, but nothing happened. "Where's the castle?" Her knuckles were white on the mirror's handle.

Melody laughed nervously. "You see, there are a few more steps." Please, let them get here soon.

. . .

Finally, Alexa and I lifted ourselves over the cliff's edge and rolled onto steady ground, exhausted. Once we collected our breath, we stood to take the final steps out of this cave.

Alexa reached for my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Liana, about everything I said."

"Me too," I said, pulling her in for an embrace.

Just then, a pair of horses galloped down the passage, led by Sparkles.

"Fancy seeing you here," said Jeremy.

"I see you'll follow us anywhere."

"Look at that," said Alexa. "Again, you show up right on time."

"Timing is everything," said Ian, grinning.

I was back at the Seven Stones, but this time I had backup.

"You actually think this mad plan will work?" said Jeremy.

"It has to," I replied. "Once Lydia finds the castle and destroys the magical instruments, nobody will be able to stop her."

"What do you think, Ian?"

"Doom, disaster, catastrophe."

"So, we're in then?"

"Definitely."

Alexa shook her head.

. . .

Lydia gave a wicked laugh. "You've been playing with me, Melody."

"I just--"

"Diamonds aren't the key at all. You think your friends will come rescue you!" She flashed a menacing grin. "You fool."

"You can't be the only Muse, Lydia! It isn't right. The Diamond Castle is meant for everybody."

Lydia scoffed. "Great singers don't need a chorus."

Before they could continue arguing, the sound of a guitar swept across the clearing.

"Mistress?" said Slyder.

"Go investigate, and make it snappy."

Slyder bustled toward the sound, his eagerness to please his mistress taking control. He located the sound to one of the larger boulders, and prepared to pounce on the person playing the
guitar.

Before he got the chance, Jeremy leaped from the top of the boulder and landed on the dragon’s back. He attempted to knock out Slyder with a branch, but the serpent bucked him off.

Ian, who had been the one playing, held up his guitar like a bat.

“Slyder? What’s going on?” Lydia entered the scene, just in time to see the girls running in her direction.

“So far,” said Liana.

“So good.”

“Oh, I knew they’d come!” cheered Melody.

“Hmph. Waste of a trip.” Lydia brought out her flute once more and raised it to her lips. The girls stupidly weren’t wearing their necklaces, so she could easily win.

Liana and Alexa stopped dead in their tracks.

“Come to me,” Lydia beckoned.

“No, don’t listen to her!” said Melody.

As the girls made their way toward Lydia, she played her flute and created a whirlpool in the pond next to her. “Into the water,” she said, pointing. “And drown.”

“No! Liana, Alexa, stop!”

Suddenly, Liana grabbed the flute from Lydia’s hands and tossed it to Alexa.

Lydia stepped back, an expression of horror taking over her face. “How did you--”

“Do you believe in magic?” said Liana, revealing her protective necklace in her hand.

Spinning on her heel, the sorceress held Melody’s mirror above a nearby rock. “My flute, now, or I break the mirror. Then she never gets out, never!” Her eyes glinted on the brink of desperation and insanity.

“Don’t do it, don’t let her have it,” said Melody.

“You sound like someone who wants to stay in there forever.”

“No, but I will if that’s what it takes to stop you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and thrust them outward, shattering the glass. Melody’s image faded away.