Chapter 8: Can You Keep a Secret?
Back in Tartarus, Peridot came home feeling happy and light as a cloud. The other demons saw and gave him smug looks or snickered.
"Well, well, well." Aquamarine quipped. "Look who's back."
"You're in a chipper mood." Spinel commented. "Did you have fun with your little angel girlfriend?"
"How long have you known?" Peridot asked, stiffening. "Who told you?"
"Oh, come on." Squaridot said. "It was as plain as the look on your face from the day the two of you first met."
"Don't tell Yellow Diamond about this." the younger green demon pleaded. "If word got out, he'll banish me from Tartarus for the rest of eternity."
"Relax, Peridot." Jasper told him in an unusually friendly tone. "Your secret's safe with us."
"Really?" Peridot said.
"Oh, absolutely." the brawny demon answered. "In fact, we want to help the two of you stay together."
"You want to help me?" Peridot questioned. "I thought it was sacrilege for a demon and an angel to have romantic feelings for each other."
"Oh, forget that jazz." Spinel told him. "Now that you've fallen in love with an angel, you don't want to let her go; do you?"
"No, I guess." the green demon responded.
"Then, perhaps we could of some assistance." Aquamarine enticed him.
"Wait, what's the catch?" asked Peridot skeptically.
"Peridot, I'm kind of offended you would say that." Squaridot said, pretending to be hurt before sighing. "Look, we just need you to go collect the Fourteen Unearthly Treasures for us."
"Why would you need those things?" the younger green demon raised an eyebrow.
"That's none of your concern." Eyeball snarled.
"What Eyeball means to say is that it's on a need to know basis." Jasper butted in.
"Okay, fine." Peridot said. "I won't press for details."
"The artifacts held here in Tartarus won't be impossible to obtain." Aquamarine clarified. "But, the ones kept in Heaven are another story."
"I hate that blasted barrier of their's!" grumbled Eyeball.
"Tell me about." agreed the younger green demon. "I can't even go there just to visit Lapis without being kept out. So how will I be able to gain access to collect Heaven's artifacts?"
"One of our artifacts might help you solve that problem." Jasper said.
"How so?" asked Peridot.
"Steal it for us and we'll tell you all about it." Squaridot compelled his brother.
Peridot had a conflicted look his face. On one hand, he was skeptical of these demons considering they've never very nice to him until now. But on the other hand, he wanted to be with Lapis more than anything in the universe. So, is winning true love really worth trusting these treacherous demons?
Meanwhile in Heaven, Lapis was flying back to her home just as stars were starting to illuminate the ever-growing velvety blue that was covering the sky. She had a daydreaming look on her face that did not go unnoticed by Garnet, Stevonnie, Pearl, and Amethyst.
"Well, looks like someone's got her head lost in the clouds." Amethyst teased in a joking tone.
Lapis snapped out of her lovelorn daze to see her four friends looking at with complacent smiles almost as if they knew something.
"So, where have you been?" asked Stevonnie.
"Oh, you know." the young angel answered, trying to sound level-headed. "Just in the terrestrial realm."
"Were you-" Pearl began.
"Yes, I was careful." Lapis cut her off.
"So what were you doing in the terrestrial realm?" Garnet inquired.
"I was meeting with somebody I met down there that I really like." the blue haired angel responded.
"Ooh, somebody's in love." Amethyst bantered in a singsong tone. "Who's the lucky being?"
"I hope it's someone angelic." Pearl added.
"Well, he's tall and green." Lapis described her love interest. "And he's got these smoldering eyes and this gentle touch that could reduce me to a puddle."
"But who is he?" Amethyst asked again.
"Uh, he's... a demon." the young angel admitted, staring down at her feet.
Her four friends were left with their mouths agape and completely speechless.
"No, no, no, no, no, no." Pearl said, breaking the silence. "That did not happen. That's sacrilege. You wouldn't attempt sacrilege."
"His name is Peridot." Lapis carried on, ignoring her friend's worrisome rants.
"Oh boy." Stevonnie commented.
"He's not like the other demons." the young arrival continued. "He's so nice. And he understands me."
"Lapis, listen to yourself." Pearl demanded her. "You're flying outside of Heaven. You're talking and falling in love with a demon. Do you what happens to angels who get too close to demons and think they can trust them?"
"They get stabbed in the back, that's what!" Amethyst barked.
"You've never even met Peridot." Lapis argued. "You don't know him like I do. He loves me and he would never do anything bad to me."
"Lapis, we just don't want you getting hurt." Garnet tried to reason with her friend. "Not to mention all the trouble that could arise if other angels find out about this."
"Look, you can't tell anybody about this; especially Rose and Blue Diamond." the young angel sighed. "So please, as my friends; can we please just keep this a secret between the five of us? Please?"
She gave the four angels a pair of pleading puppy dog eyes that were filled with tears. Just like that, her friends groaned in defeat as they caved in.
"Fine." Stevonnie said. "We won't say a word."
"Thank you so much." Lapis blessed her friends, giving them a big hug.
With a newly given pep in her step, the young arrival flew back to her house where Rose would be waiting to help her get ready for bed.
"That poor, naive angel." Garnet shook her head. "She has no idea what she's getting into."
"I know." agreed Amethyst. "She's so ga ga over that Peridot she doesn't know right from wrong."
Nothing could the four angels from worrying about their young friend. They feared that Lapis could be in a world of trouble.