Chapter 21: A Narrow Escape
Jamie pulled away from Lapis after the affectionate kiss he just gave her and noticed that her blinking eyes are back to the ocean blue that he loved.
"Jamie?" she spoke, her voice full of emotion again.
"You remember me." the teenage boy smiled as he and the young mermaid embraced each other in a warm hug.
"Yes!" said Lapis, happily. "I remember! I remember everything!" But, happiness soon turned to sorrow when Lapis started crying. "I'm so sorry! If I said anything that might have offended you, I want you to know that I didn't mean it."
"Lapis, it's okay." Jamie calmly assured her. "I knew you didn't mean it. All along, I knew. I'm just glad you're back to normal."
"You troublesome human." Jasper growled. "You ruined everything!"
"I can't believe I almost got married to you!" Lapis scoffed angrily at the male sea witch.
"But how were you able to break the spell from the love potion?" Malachite wanted to know.
"Don't you believe in the power of a true love's kiss?" the mermaid princess asked her. "I've known Jamie for a long time. He accepts me for being me and wants me to be happy. And having me in his life makes him happy in return. That's true love."
"Who cares about true love?" Jasper said impatiently as he approached the blue girl. "Potion or no potion, you're going to be my queen; whether you like it or not."
From the window; Steven, Connie, and the mermaids could see that she and her boyfriend needed help.
"We can't wait any longer." the young boy stated. "We gotta help Lapis and Jamie."
Connie and the mermaid nodded and followed Steven into the lair, without so much as a single argument. "Sorry, Jasper." Lapis apologized. "But I never was a fan of arranged marriages."
"Let's take Malachite's advice and get out of here while we still can." Jamie suggested as he and Lapis tried to leave.
"Not so fast!" the male sea witch exclaimed. "You may have found it easy to get in the lair, but now I challenge you to try to get out."
"We'll accept that challenge." Amethyst's voice echoed through the halls.
Jasper turned and saw that Steven, Connie, and Lapis' mermaid friends had arrived to help the blue princess. He snarled, but then laughed as if the small army of mermaids plus two young humans was a joke.
"Do you honestly think that you and your lackeys have what it takes to best my mother and I?" he asked, turning back to Lapis.
"Maybe not one-on-one, but when we band together; we're more than a match for you." the teenage, blue mermaid answered.
"Paddy, protect Steven and Connie." Sapphire told her sister. "We'll handle Jasper and Malachite."
While the sea witches used their dark magic to subdue the obtruders, Lapis and the other mermaids (minus Padparadscha) used their powers to fight back.
Smoky Quartz and Opal summoned ropes of seaweed and sand to bind Malachite while Sapphire used her ice powers to secure the ropes like a lock.
Meanwhile, Jasper was on the offensive as he attempted to attack Lapis, Pearl, Peridot, Amethyst, and Rhodonite. Rhodonite used her invisibility powers, making it hard for the male sea witch to hit her. Pearl and Peridot created mirror-like shields to bounce Jasper's magic back at him. Lapis summoned a whirlpool to through the sea witch off balance while Amethyst threw rocks at him.
"Jamie, go join Connie and Steven." the blue princess told her boyfriend. "I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire."
"But, I wanna protect you." the teenage boy insisted.
"I know, but you don't have the kind of power that I do to do that or any magic for that matter." the young mermaid replied.
Just then, Jasper regained his concentration and sent a wave of dark energy that separated Jamie and Lapis from each other. Malachite, who had broken free from her binds took full opportunity of the human boy being completely unguarded by any mermaid. She prepared to unleash a wicked blast of black magic at him while he was discombobulated.
"This is for ruining everything that my son and I worked for!" she yelled with malice which got Lapis' attention.
At the same time that she was in horror of Jamie being in danger, the young princess knew that she had to save him. Then, she remembered that when her mermaid friends were in danger from the sirens; she used her singing voice to save them. That was when she got an idea, even if it seemed like a long shot.
As Malachite was about to attack, Lapis began to sing a beautiful refrain. At first, it seemed like odd timing to the other mermaids and humans, but to their amazement; Jasper and Malachite were covering their ears with expressions of agonized pain on their faces.
"The sea witches can't stand the sound of a mermaid's singing voice." Peridot said in fascination.
"She's using her voice as a weapon against them." Opal added.
"Lapis, that's brilliant!" Pearl cried in triumph.
"Keep singing!" Steven and Connie chorused.
As the mermaid princess continued to sing, the sea witches were clutching the sides of their heads like their ears were bleeding; completely subdued by Lapis' voice. And on top of that, the whole lair began to tremble and parts of the ceiling from above started to fall to the ground. The sea witches were concealed by the cloud of dust kicked up by the falling rubble.
"The lair is collapsing!" cried Rhodonite in alarm. "We gotta get out of here!"
Before Lapis could follow everyone out of the crumbling lair, a big, beefy hand grabbed her by her lower tail. The young princess screamed from surprise and from utter fear when Jasper's frightening face emerged from the dust cloud.
"You're not going anywhere, little princess!" he said, maniacally.
The human kids noticed that Lapis was in trouble and rushed back to help her, grabbing her hands and trying to pull her free.
"Keep your hands off my sister!" Steven demanded to the male sea witch, straining.
"Lapis, do not let go of my hand!" urged Jamie, feeling like his girlfriend was losing her grip.
"I won't let go!" she promised before lowering her voice to a whisper. "I'll never let go of you again."
Suddenly the mermaid's birth locket began to shine with a rutilant light and her body gave off a blue aura that burned Jasper's hand, causing him to lose his grip on Lapis' tail.
Once she was free, the four kids swam out of the disintegrating lair as fast as they could to join the other eight mermaids who were waiting safely outside. They watched as the sea witch's lair was reduced to a pile of debris. And out of the blue, Lapis heard the sound of a feminine, blood-curdling shriek and then, all was silent.
While everyone was filled with relief that it was all over, the mermaid princess was crying and covering her mouth to keep tears from spilling into it.
"What's wrong, Lapis?" Jamie asked, noticing that his girlfriend was upset.
"It's just... I wish that Malachite had chosen love over power a long time ago." she answered, full of remorse. "Maybe then, she would still be alive and still be a mermaid."
"Maybe." he thought aloud. "Come on, let's get going."
The group of twelve swam away from the frightening wreckage. Lapis still felt a great deal of pity and regret for the sea witches who were sentenced to a watery grave as the ruined lair became smaller from view.