Chapter 15: Infiltrating the Dungeon
After a fairly long journey, the fairies, Connie, and Lars had finally reached White Diamond's castle, perched upon a rocky mountain on the furthest outskirts of the kingdom. All of them thought it looked quite sinister and were slightly cautious about entering but knew that they had to break in to rescue Jamie. However, they soon had to hide behind a set of large rocks, as the castle entrance was being thoroughly guarded by Jasper, who chose to patrol the drawbridge and ensure that nobody attempted to break Jamie out.
"Great," whispered Amethyst to the others. "How are we going to save Jamie with that orange brute preventing us from entering?"
"It's simple really," Garnet answered for she had a plan to enter the castle undetected. The others gathered around to listen, interested in what the magenta fairy had to say.
"Here's the plan," she explained. "Steven, Amethyst, Pearl, and I will enter the castle through one of its windows. Then we will search for White Diamond's dungeon, all whilst ensuring we are unnoticed."
"Can't the rest of us come along as well?" asked Connie.
"I'm afraid not," the magenta fairy replied. "If all of us were to enter at once we would likely all be spotted more easily."
"So, what are the rest of us going to do?" questioned Lars, who wanted to play a part in rescuing his friend.
"I would like the rest of you to distract Jasper and open the entrance gate once you get her away from her post," instructed Garnet. "But only after I have given a signal of fairy dust from one of the castle windows. Can you do that?"
"No problem, Garnet," replied Connie. "We won't let you down."
"Brilliant!" exclaimed Pearl. "Now let's get a move on, there's a young man inside who needs our help."
"Good luck," whispered Bismuth and Peridot as they watched their four colleagues fly away towards the castle, doing their best to remain out of Jasper's sight.
Then, once they spotted a clear window on the castle's left-hand side, the four fairies entered, with Garnet going in last to ensure that none of White Diamond's other minions saw them. Meanwhile, the four other members watched in agony, hoping that everything was going according to plan.
"Be careful," Connie said to herself as she caught a glimpse of the magenta fairy's wings disappearing through the window.
Once the four fairies were inside the castle, they heard what seemed like chanting, coming from one of the castle halls. They slowly but surely flew over to investigate the noise and stopped when they saw what looked like an indoor bonfire coming from the throne room. Not wanting to be spotted, all four of them crouched down and crawled towards a stone balcony bannister, where they could carefully peak to see what was going on below them.
Much to their surprise, the fairies saw White Diamond's many minions dancing around a fire, for they were celebrating their mistress' victory in fulfilling her curse and the subsequent capture of Jamie, ensuring Lapis' eternal slumber. Even Eyeball and Aquamarine were present. The wicked fairy herself, however, had started to grow tired of the celebration and thought it best if she went upstairs to rest, but not before giving wanting to give a final taunt to her latest prisoner.
"Such a pity that our guest is not here for the celebration," White Diamond scoffed to herself cheekily. "I think I'll pay him a visit."
So, the wicked fairy slowly moved from her throne and began to make her way to the castle dungeon, to which the fairies, who had overheard everything, decided that they should try and make it there themselves before she did. They quickly but carefully flew down several of the castle's staircases, until they finally reached the dark and dreary dungeon, where they quietly went to hide in one of the open cells and positioned their backs against its wooden door, so they could hear what White Diamond was going to say to Jamie. Just then, they heard the wicked fairy's chilling footsteps, as she approached Jamie's cell and unlocked it so that she could enter. Inside, the stable boy was feeling both exhausted and weak from being held prisoner, but when he looked up to see the tall figure standing in front of him, his exhaustion turned to anger.
"What do you want with me?" Jamie asked crossly, being fed up that White Diamond still hadn't told him why he was being held captive.
"Oh, come now, young man," replied the wicked fairy. "I have just come to inform you of something that might be of great interest to you."
"I don't have time for this!" Jamie retorted. "Please, just let me go, my loved ones are probably worried sick about me right now!"
White Diamond, who was becoming infuriated by her prisoner's attitude, decided that he needed more convincing. "Oh, but if I let you go now, I wouldn't be able to let you know what has happened to your true love," she replied fiendishly.
With this new information, Jamie went silent. "True love?" he asked. "You don't mean the girl I was expecting to meet in the forest, do you?"
White Diamond gave a mischievous chuckle upon hearing Jamie's response, knowing that the mere mention of Lapis would grab his attention. On the other hand, the fairies were left in pure disdain by the wicked fairies' method of taunting.
"How can White Diamond do such cruel things to humans, both physically and mentally?" Amethyst whispered angrily, before being quietly hushed by Garnet
"Precisely," the wicked fairy continued. "For I have some rather unfortunate news about her."
"What?" Jamie replied in fearful shock. "What happened to her? Is she okay?"
The wicked fairy gave him a cold smile. "My, aren't we interested all of a sudden," She responded. "In any case, I'll show you, for it is a charming yet tragic story."
So, with a wave of her staff, White Diamond conjured up a projection and showed it to Jamie.
"Behold, what you see before you, is Queen Blue Diamond's castle," the wicked fairy announced. "And within the topmost tower, lies Princess Lapis Lazuli, dreaming of her true love."
Jamie stared at the projection in suspense, for he saw a princess lying fast asleep on a small yet royal embroidered canopy bed. But upon closer inspection, he gasped upon realising who it was. White Diamond took note of this and decided to taunt Jamie even further.
"But oh, isn't this an interesting turn of events?" she teased. "Why, it's the same young maiden whom you met in the forest. The same maiden who won your heart."
This revelation left Jamie in shock at how the maiden he had fallen in love with was none other than the kingdom's beloved princess.
"Indeed, she is a maiden most fair, with sapphire eyes and ocean blue hair," White Diamond continued. "Along with a heart so pure, that she would be willing to do anything for those she loves dearly, even if it meant being sent to sleep for all eternity."
"What do you mean by that?" Jamie asked in confusion and concern. "And why is she sleeping?"
"Oh, my dear, it's quite simple," White Diamond responded. "For you see, the princess pricked her finger on an enchanted spindle and has now fallen into a death-like sleep, to which there was initially no awakening, thereby fulfilling the curse that I had foretold sixteen years ago."
From this mention, the four eavesdropping fairies were left disgusted, all whilst they could hear Jamie protesting, not wanting to believe that what happened to Lapis was true.
"No, this can't be!" he cried anxiously. "Isn't there any way in which she can awaken?"
White Diamond smiled a wicked grin and gently grabbed the young stable boy by his cheeks, pulling him close to her.
"Hush, there is no need to fret," she spoke. "For thanks to the beloved fairy queen, Rose Quartz, there is a way your dear Lapis can be saved from this fate, that being a kiss from the one she truly loves."
For a moment, Jamie felt more relieved, knowing that his true love was still alive. In his mind, he wanted to ask White Diamond to release him so that he could go and rescue Lapis. However, the wicked fairy already knew this question by his brave smile, and she saw this as the right opportunity to reveal her intentions to him.
"But I'm afraid this tale will sadly remain inconclusive." White Diamond spoke menacingly, as her projection disappeared, along with Jamie's smile. "For you see my dear, the reason I captured you was to use you as my ploy, to coax the princess into touching the spindle, to which I falsely promised her that you'd be freed if she did as she was told."
The fairies were furious by this claim, not only because White Diamond captured Jamie to use him as a bargaining tool but also from how she used Lapis' broken heart against her, to fulfil the curse. Jamie, however, was outraged by her actions and tried once again to break himself free from his chains, all whilst yelling at White Diamond, calling her 'a monster' and demanding that Lapis be released from her enchantment.
"Silence!" the wicked fairy shouted, which made Jamie promptly silent before she returned to a calmer form of speaking. "I am fully intent on keeping you as my prisoner as long as you live, so I can ensure that my curse remains in effect and that the princess remains asleep forever."
Jamie wanted to retort back but found himself unable to speak. White Diamond, on the other hand, figured that she should be heading off to rest, but not before leaving the stable boy with one last patronising thought.
"Though, don't worry my dear," she taunted. "For even when you die, Lapis will have all eternity to remember you, in her dreams."
And on that malicious note, White Diamond left Jamie alone in his cell, locking the door behind her and giving out a wicked laugh as she retreated to her bedroom. Once she was gone, the eavesdropping fairies left their cell, feeling displeased by the wicked fairy's cruel actions, whilst also feeling sorrow for Jamie, who was left feeling forlorn by her cruel words and how every ounce of hope he had about saving Lapis was now gone. Or so he thought.