Chapter 8: A Luxurious Trap
After swimming for several miles and hours, Princess Lapis, Jamie; and the other mermaids were getting exhausted from exerting so much energy on the long trip. And not only that, but the sun was starting to go down. Everyone poked their heads out of the water and panted, getting some fresh air.
"Guys, it's starting to get late and we're all worn out from swimming so much." Smoky Quartz stated. "Maybe we ought to call it a night."
"I think Smoky might be right." Lapis said. "Let's find a nearby island to set up camp on."
"Well, we're in luck." Peridot told her. "There's an island just a few hundred feet to the northwest of us."
True to her words, the blue girl saw a tropical island not far away from her group.
"Hold on." Pearl said, halting everybody. "We shouldn't start camping on this island right away. We should probably make sure that isn't anything dangerous inhabiting it."
"You've got a point there." Amethyst commented.
"Then let's scope out this island." Ruby stated.
"We better keep the number of scouts to a minimum." Rhodonite brought up, darting her eyes about. "We wouldn't want to attract the attention of any dangerous inhabitants."
"Alright." Lapis announced. "I'll lead a group of four to investigate the island and we'll come back if we do or do not find anything to be wary of."
"Maybe I should go too." Jamie volunteered.
"No, Jamie; I need you to hang back with Dad and the rest of the group." the blue princess told him. "Like Rhodonite said: the less people scouting, the better. Stevonnie, Pearl, Sapphire, Peridot; you guys are with me. Jamie, if we're not back within an hour; come find us. Girls, it's time to go overland."
She used the magic in her birth locket to transform into a human girl. Pearl, Peridot, Sapphire, and Stevonnie used their magic stones to do the same. In a swirl of magic, the four of them had the legs of human beings and wore clothes that made them look like teenage girls. Walking on two legs took some adjusting, but they soon found their balance and were ready to go.
"We'll be careful." Lapis promised Jamie, as if reading his mind.
Her boyfriend nodded as the group of five walked off into the green unknown of the island. As the girls ventured deeper into the island's jungle, there was nothing dangerous or out of the ordinary as far as they could tell. However, something just didn't seem right.
"Hey, do you guys ever get the feeling we're being watched?" asked Peridot, feeling a little unsettled.
"I don't think so." Sapphire answered.
Just then, out of the blue; the sound of leaves rustling echoed through the trees. The five girls quivered as the rustling sounds grew closer and closer. And that was when a male human in a loincloth jumped out from the undergrowth and pointed a spear at Lapis and her friends. The girls screamed at what they thought was a hunter.
"You're female?" the man said in surprise. "Everyone come! There are females on the island!"
Pretty soon, other men with loincloths emerged from the bushes saying, "Greetings. Hello. Welcome."
"Guys, am I hallucinating or are we surrounded by some of the most gorgeous male humans on the face of the earth?" Stevonnie asked her friends, Lapis nodding silently in response. The men on the island were also amazed by the female visitors.
"These are some oddly-colored girls." one of the men remarked quietly.
"Who cares?" another whispered back. "They are beautiful."
"Greetings, feminine travelers." a very decorated man greeted the group of five, cutting through the crowd. "I am the chief of this island and let me be the first to welcome you to our glorious island paradise."
"Are all the people in this tribe men?" asked Sapphire. "Where are all the women and children?"
"You five look like you've travelled a very long way." the chief said, ducking the question. "You must be feeling pretty sore."
"Well now that you mention it, I do feel a little achy." Pearl stated in involuntary agreement.
"Perhaps a massage will help soothe those tender nerves." suggested the chief.
"I'm not sure we have the time." Lapis stammered, hating to turn down a free spa treatment.
"We insist." one tribesmen begged, desperately. "We haven't had any female visitors in so long."
"Well, I guess a quick massage couldn't hurt, right?" the young princess gave in, her friends nodding in agreement.
The islanders led the five girls deeper into the island's jungle until they came into a clearing. There, the girls were amazed to see a waterfall flowing into a pristine, little pool. On one side of the pool, there were flat, but comfy tables to lie down on, along with a stand for making drinks. And on the other side, there was a thick curtain of vines.
"Welcome to our grotto of luxury." the tribesmen chief said, presenting it as if it were a prize on a game show.
"This is unreal." Peridot commented in disbelief.
"Now before we get started, we ask that you change into the proper attire and you may use the curtain to do so." one of the tribesmen said, showing the girls a dark green bikini set. "We also advise for you to remove any jewelry you may be wearing."
"No, I can't take off my locket." Lapis protested, clutching her trinket protectively. "It's too precious to me. I don't want anyone to steal it."
"It's in good hands." the tribesmen promised. "Trust us. We won't let anything happen to it."
After reluctantly handing over her locket and her bracelet, Lapis joined her friends behind the vine curtain to change out of their clothes. A few minutes later, the five of them were now in identical, dark green bikinis. The tribesmen had the girls lie down on the tables and once the men's hands were lubricated with lotion, they began the massage. Surprisingly, the men made really good masseurs, the way they kneaded the girls' skin as if it were pizza dough.
Peridot and Pearl moaned in pleasure as they felt like their bodies were turning to mush.
Sapphire gave a heavy, relaxed sigh from tingling feeling in her skin.
"Oh, yeah." Stevonnie said, doubled over in pleasure. "That's the stuff."
As for Lapis, she had become so soothed by her masseur's finger work, staying awake was becoming a real battle as her eyes started to droop a little.
"Would the young lady care for a refreshment?" a tribesmen asked, presenting a smoothie in coconut shell cup with a straw in it.
"Mmhm." the princess responded tiredly as she reached out to grab the cup, but the tribesmen halted her.
"Oh, there's no need to make you do that yourself." he told her, bringing the straw to her mouth. "In fact, stay with us and you and your friends won't have to worry about doing anything yourself ever again."
"Wait." Pearl slurred. "Aren't we supposed to be on some kind of quest?"
"You know, I can't remember." Peridot replied, her voice muffled from lying flat on the massage table.
"Me neither." Sapphire added.
"Maybe we could stay awhile..." Lapis said, just before she dozed off.
Much time had passed since the scouts disappeared into the jungle and Jamie's patience was about as thin as a dynamite's fuse. He had been walking back and forth for the past nine minutes.
"Jamie, maybe you should stop pacing before you make a groove in the sand." Iris advised.
"I can't stop worrying." the teenage boy panicked. "Lapis has been gone for about an hour and a half."
"So has her group." Opal added. "I'm surprised that they haven't come back yet, especially if Lapis was in danger."
"Unless they're all in trouble." Rhodonite thought aloud, getting a little nervous.
"Okay, that's it." Jamie proclaimed. "I'm going in there to find my girlfriend."
"I better go with you." Rainbow Quartz suggested, following behind him. "I know the island well. You'll need someone to keep you from getting lost."
Back at the spa grotto, Lapis and her group were in the pool that the waterfall emptied into, relaxing to their hearts' content. The more time that passed, the more comatose they became.
"I don't think I've ever felt this relaxed in my life." Stevonnie stated in a drowsy tone.
"You know what's funny?" Lapis said to her friends.
"What?" Pearl asked.
"I can't seem to remember my name." the young princess implied, feeling like her memory was starting to numb.
"I don't even know what a name is anymore." Peridot replied, inattentively.
After trekking through the jungle with Rainbow Quartz (who had transformed into a human), Jamie saw the grotto where Lapis and her friends were.
"There they are." he said, pointing ahead. The two of them ducked behind some bushes to stay hidden from the tribesmen.
"I heard about these tribesmen." Rainbow Quartz whispered to the human boy. "Whenever females come to this island, they treat them to immense luxury. If the females overstay their welcome, they lose their memories and become extremely lazy. The tribesmen then take advantage of the lethargy and... mate with them."
"Oh no." Jamie said. "We gotta get the girls out of here."
He impulsively emerged from his hiding place and started yelling, "Lapis!"
"Oh, Lapis. That's my name." said Lapis, her eyes lighting up for a brief moment. "Thanks, mysterious boy."
"Lapis, snap out of it." her boyfriend urged her. "It's me, Jamie. You have to wake up. We gotta get out of here."
"Intruder!" the island chief exclaimed. "Seize him!"
"Jamie?" the blue princess mumbled just as she was starting to snap out of her entranced stupor. "Jamie!"
She scurried out of the pool and tried to get through to her friends, yelling; "Guys, you're all in a trance. Snap out of it!"
"The blue girl is awake!" a tribesmen exclaimed.
Lapis heard the man and desperately she used her magic on the water in the pool to firmly splash her four friends in the face. Simultaneously, the four girls were blinking, shaking their heads, or groaning.
"What just happened?" asked Stevonnie.
"I think we might have overstayed our welcome." the blue girl answered. "Let's grab our stuff and get back to the others."
"Stop!" the island chief asserted. "You're not going anywhere!"
Rainbow Quartz emerged from her hiding place in the bushes to join the six teenagers as the tribesmen charged towards them.
"I think you men need to have a timeout." she stated, snapping her fingers.
Instantly, all of the tribesmen just froze in place with pink sparkles surrounding their bodies. This confused Lapis. The men's bodies weren't cold so there wasn't any ice magic involved.
"What happened to them?" the young princess asked.
"I have the magical power to freeze time and anything in it." the pink woman explained. "Don't worry, it's not permanent. They'll be able to move again in about an hour."
"That's cool."
"Yes." Pearl agreed. "Now, let's grab our clothes and get out of here."
The five girls made no haste getting their clothes back on and grabbing their magic talismans. Then, the group of seven quickly made their way through of the jungle to join their other friends back on the beach. Obviously, this was not a safe island to camp on for the night.