Chapter 11: Sleepless in Heaven
It was the crack of dawn and Lapis was as snug in her bed as ever. That was when she heard a familiar voice in her sleep.
"Lapis." the voice whispered. "Lapis, wake up."
The angel stirred and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Then, she got out of bed and went to the window to see where the voice was coming from. That was when she saw a masculine angel fluttering in front of her.
He had olive skin, forest green eyes, chartreuse hair, and green tinted wings. He wore a white, one shoulder tunic that covered half of his chest and was held up by a gold rope. He looked very familiar to Lapis in a way.
"Peridot?" the young angel said. "Is that you?"
"Wow, you really can see through the deception." the stranger commented.
"It is you!" Lapis cried as she flew out the window and embraced her beloved.
"I've been waiting to kiss your beautiful face." Peridot said as he peppered his girlfriend's face with light kisses. She giggled from how they tickled.
"Wow." the young angel commented. "You look great. That amulet of yours really works."
"And best of all, no more being blocked by a barrier." the disguised demon added.
"So, what do you think of Heaven?" Lapis asked.
"It's even better than I ever imagined." Peridot replied, full of wonder.
Just then, the couple were startled by the sound of someone clearing their throat. "So, Lapis." Stevonnie asked skeptically. "Who's your new friend?"
"Oh, I'm an exchange angel from the far east." the male angel introduced himself. "My name is Peridot."
"Peridot, huh?" Pearl said. "You know, that's funny because you have the exact same name as this demon that Lapis keeps talking about."
"Oh, what a coincidence." Peridot replied, his eyes darting nervously.
"That's the demon Peridot masquerading as an angel, isn't it?" Garnet asked bluntly.
"What? No! He's-" Lapis tried to lie, but then let out a defeated sigh when she realized that being an angel prevented her from doing so. "Okay, you're right. It is him."
"Lapis, how could you let a demon cross through the barrier?!" Pearl scolded the young angel.
"I told you he's not like the others." the blue-haired angel argued. "He wanted to come to Heaven to see me."
"It's true." Peridot concurred. "I really do care about Lapis. I would never do anything to hurt her."
Lapis' friends glanced at each other. The disguised demon did sound sincere.
"Oh, alright." Garnet finally decided. "You can stay a couple nights. But, we'll be keeping our eyes on you."
"Thank you?" the boy angel said, not knowing whether he should feel grateful or fearful.
"Okay, we need to take our minds off this for awhile." Pearl stated.
"We should totally have a sleepover tonight." Amethyst recommend.
"Oh yeah." the curly hair angel confirmed. "That sounds super fun."
"Uh, what's a sleepover?" Lapis asked, feeling lost in the conversation.
"You know, it's when you spend the night at someone else's place." Amethyst explained.
"Someone else's place?" the young angel echoed anxiously. "As in away from home?"
"Oh, I get it." Pearl realized. "You're not comfortable sleeping away from Rose yet, are you?"
Lapis nodded silently in response.
"That's okay." said Stevonnie. "We can just have the sleepover at your place. How does that sound?"
"A little better, I guess." the blue-haired angel ripped meekly.
"Mind if I join you?" Peridot asked. "I'm going to need a place to stay for the night too."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Amethyst apologized sarcastically. "This is a girls only sleepover."
"Are you sure we can't make an exception for Peridot?" the younger angel inquired.
"Lapis, the last thing we need at a sleepover is to watch watch some lovey-dovey bedtime snuggling." the short tan angel persuaded. "It'll just suck all the fun out of it."
"Sorry, Peridot." Lapis sighed in defeat.
"No, it's fine." the disguised demon replied maturely. "I get it. Go have fun with your friends. I'll be okay."
The young angel gave her boyfriend a sad smile and flew off with her friends.
Later that night, the five angels were at Lapis' house, laughing and gossiping about was going on in Heaven lately. Peridot was resting on a cloud, watching from afar and feeling left out. Although the five girl angels were having fun, Lapis felt bad for her true love being discriminated by her friends.
"Well, look at you; living it up in the clouds." a familiar voice said, snapping the disguised demon out of his stupor.
He turned and saw the orange minotaur like demon before him.
"What are you doing here, Jasper?" Peridot asked, feeling a little annoyed.
"Making sure you hold up your end of the bargain." Jasper answered. "From the looks of it, you don't have any of the angels' seven artifacts."
"I'll get them." the younger being promised. "Just give me a little time."
"No, we can't waste any time." the orange demon argued. "You need to get one of those artifacts tonight and we need to distract the angels so that we don't draw any attention to ourselves. So, let's use the Claw of Nightmares on your angel sweetheart."
"No way. Absolutely not." Peridot refused, shaking his head. "I'm not using any artifact to harm my precious Lapis."
"Ugh, you and your sentimental heart." Jasper groaned. "Fine. Just give me the amulet so that I can pass through the barrier and I'll use the claw myself."
Reluctantly, Peridot removed the Amulet of Trickery from his neck, turning back into his demonic form. He gave it to Jasper who slipped it around his neck. The amulet's magic transformed him into an angelic version of himself.
His hooves, horns, and tail were gone. And his skin was chocolate colored with peach vitiligo stripes. The only form of clothing he wore was a loincloth like skirt.
The fake angel flew through the barrier that would've kept him out. He examined his form and was absolutely nauseated.
"Gross." Jasper gagged and shuddered. "Here. Take it back. I am not comfortable being in an angel's body."
He took off the amulet and gave it back to Peridot, returning to his true form in the process. The green demon put the amulet around his neck again and turned back into an angel.
"Now, go get one of those artifacts while I use the claw." Jasper instructed the younger being.
"Just so you know, I deeply disapprove of you giving Lapis nightmares; even if it is an intended diversion." the disguised demon told him.
The two of them went in separate directions to do their deeds.
Jasper infiltrated Lapis' house where she and her four friends were now sound asleep. He quietly made his way over to the bed without so much as waking the other angels. Now, this was the first time that the orange demon saw the young angel up close and personal in her own domain. He was unknowingly drawn to the allure of Lapis' delicate beauty.
"Now I see why Peridot is so in love with this angel." he thought before shaking himself back into reality.
As gorgeous as the little angel looked, Jasper knew that he had work to do. So, he used the claw to scratch his intial over Lapis' forehead to unleash the nightmare magic into her subconscious. The orange demon lightly brushed the slumbering angel's cheek with the side of his finger and then left as quietly as he arrived.
Lapis' body tensed up as horrifying images began to take root in her psyche.
She dreamed of her angel friends imprisoned by the demons and forced into slavery. The whole time they were crying out for Lapis to come save them, but she was never successful.
The young angel awoke with a terrified gasp, her heart like thunder in her chest.
"What an awful dream." she thought.
Once she settled herself down, Lapis tried to go back to sleep.
However, the bad dreams didn't leave her. She was constantly haunted by these nightmarish visions. One dream involved having the little angel's wings being forcibly ripped off. And then, her most recent nightmare had her incarcerated in chains; leaving her vulnerable to the silhouette of a hulking demon. He had a look of lust in his eyes as descended upon Lapis like a hungry predator.
After that, she woke up letting out an earsplitting shriek that awakened all her friends.
"What's going on?" Amethyst muttered barely awake.
"Lapis, do you have any idea what time it is?" Pearl asked, looking rather annoyed.
"Sorry." Lapis apologized."I just had a terrible nightmare."
"Everyone has nightmares, Lapis." Stevonnie grumbled. "Now go back to sleep."
"I can't go back to sleep." the young angel whimpered, her eyes welling up. "I'll just end up having another bad dream. And every nightmare that I have is even worse than the last."
"Lapis, I heard you scream." Rose said, rushing in. "Are you okay?"
"She's fine." Amethyst assured her. "She just had a nightmare."
"Not just one." Lapis spoke up. "I keep having constant nightmares."
Her angel guardian came closer and two fingers on her charge's forehead. She could feel something dark.
"Those were not normal nightmares you had." she told Lapis. "I think you've been plagued."
"Plagued?" the young angel stiffened. "You mean the demons might have touched me again?"
"No, not like that." Rose shook her head. "I think they used one of their powerful artifacts to give you continuous nightmares."
"Which one?" asked Garnet.
"The Claw of Nightmares." the caretaker answered. "Whoever's in possession of it can inflict nightmares on anyone they choose. Even if you wake up, it won't make the dark magic go away. You'll have bad dreams again the moment you go back to sleep."
"How do I make the nightmares go away?" Lapis inquired.
"The only thing that can dispel the nightmare magic is the Blanket of Dreams." her guardian responded. "The blanket is the claw's polar opposite. It'll cancel out the magic that give you those bad dreams and help you sleep peacefully. I have to go get it. I'll be back soon."
Before too long, Rose returned with a fleecy blanket that had a mix of mint green and sky blue. It gave off a warm glow that made Lapis feel safe just from looking at it.
"Just wrap this around you and I guarantee you won't have anymore nightmares tonight." her guardian promised.
As soon as everybody went back to sleep, Lapis climbed back into bed and wrapped the enchanted blanket around herself as she closed her eyes. Sure, it felt cozy; but the young angel just couldn't fall asleep. It was like something was missing.
Just then, a familiar comforting warmth hugged her body. That was enough to help Lapis slip into the inviting embrace of sleep so that the blanket could work it's magic. Unknown to the little angel, Peridot had snuck in to hold his girlfriend, not caring about the earful of rants he would get in the morning from her friends.