A Heavenly Star-Crossed Romance

Chapter 3: Down to Earth

The next day, a group of twenty-five angels, including Lapis and her new friends were eagerly waiting for their field trip to Earth to commence.

"I can't believe we get to go to Earth today." the new arrival said softy.

"I know." Stevonnie replied. "Isn't it exciting?"

"I just wasn't expecting so many angels to be going on this trip too." the blue-haired angel added, feeling a little overwhelmed by the large crowd.

"Angels, listen up." an unfamiliar voice sounded off.

The whole group turned their attention to the angel at the front. She had fair skin, dark indigo eyes, periwinkle blue cresent-pointed hair, and indigo-tinted wings. She wore a shimmering white dress, a midnight blue sash held up by a gold medallion that concealed her left shoulder, a matching sash around her waist, and golden sandals.

"Good morning, everybody." the angel greeted the group. "My name is Blue Zircon and I will be your Earth guide today. Blue Diamond has also requested me as extra security to look after our newest angel."

Everybody turned to Lapis who blushed and stared down at her feet timidly, not enjoying these silent stares.

"Now before we head down to Earth, a word of caution to everybody." Blue Zircon issued. "Earth is the one place where angels and demons can and will cross paths with each other. Be careful that you do not let a demon touch you. The accursed dirt on their hands can infect angels with a serious disease if left unchecked."

"How will we know if there's a demon nearby?" one of the angels from the group asked.

"That's just it." answered the Earth guide. "You won't. Demons are naturals at sneaking up on angels without them knowing until it's too late."

Lapis and her friends gasped in horror.

"Which is why I will be advising a buddy system." Blue Zircon continued. "Every angel must have a buddy at all times while we're on Earth. So find a buddy everyone."

Lapis watched as all the other angels scrambled to find a buddy to pair up with, all while trying to avoid getting collided into. Unfortunately, the young angel was the odd one out as she saw that all the other angels found their buddies quickly; including her new friends. So, she went to go to discuss the situation with Blue Zircon.

"Um, excuse me?" Lapis said meekly. "I'm only the only angel without a buddy and everyone else is taken."

"Well, I could be your buddy or group you with a pair of angels." the Earth guide offered.

"Lapis can join us if that's okay with her." Garnet suggested, Stevonnie nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, thank you." the young angel smiled, joining her two friends.

"Alright, if everybody is ready; let's fly." Blue Zircon declared.

All twenty-five angels flapped their wings and followed the head of the group down to the terrestrial realm that awaited them below. Lapis glanced behind her and watched her cloudy sanctuary get smaller from view as she and the other angels left Heaven behind. It felt frightening for the new arrival to leave her home realm for the first time.

Finally, the angels arrived at their final destination and their feet touched down on the lavish terrestrial land. This particular part of the realm was a mix of dense forests and flourishing meadows. Lapis was absolutely awestruck.

"Angels, welcome to Earth." said Blue Zircon, presenting the open land to the group.

All the other angels looked around in wonder, taking in all the natural splendor of the telluric surroundings.

"Now, you are all free to explore the area, but I would like to go over a few rules first." the Earth guide declaimed. "One, no angel is allowed to explore outside this area without my permission. Two, while exploring; you are to stay with your buddy at all times. Three, if you are caught out in open with demons; get out of there fast. And four, if any angel is attacked by demons; their buddy is to come find me immediately. Everyone got it?"

All of the angels nodded their heads, indicating that they understood the rules.

"Very good." the group leader smiled. "I hope you all have a wonderful time."

As the pairs of buddies went in separate directions, Lapis and her buddies flew off to the eastern part of the meadow. Among the vast sea of green grass, a rainbow of wildflowers dotted the area of ecosystem.

"Just look at this place!" Garnet said blithely. "Doesn't take your breath away?"

"I've never seen a place that's so green and beautiful." Lapis responded before smelling the air. "And the smells here are enticing."

"Hey girls!" called Stevonnie who was on her knees observing some of the wildflowers. "Come here."

Her two buddies joined her to see what she was looking at. It turned out that was a small, barren patch of meadows with no flowers or even grass to be spoken of.

"Why is there nothing growing here?" Lapis asked, studying the unusual dead patch.

"No idea." the curly haired angel shrugged.

The youngest angel placed two fingertips in the soil and then something magical happened. The patch of dirt glowed bright green. And in a near instant, some grass and a trio of red poppies sprouted forth.

"How do you do that?" Garnet questioned in surprise.

"Yeah, there was nothing but dirt there just a second ago." Stevonnie said in equal shock.

"I-I didn't even know I could do that." the new arrival stammered.

"Well, it was amazing!" the taller angel commented, smiling. Lapis blushed modestly.

"You know, we should pick some Earth flowers to take back home with us." Garnet commended.

"Oh yeah, good idea." Lapis nodded. "I'm sure Rose would love some Earth flowers."

So, the trio each started to pick a small bouquet of flowers to bring back to Heaven. They were very precise and specific about the flowers they gathered, making sure not to take too many at a time. After a while, the tall angels were quietly talking exploring another part of the meadow; so they went on their way. They were expecting and assumed that Lapis would follow right behind them, but she was still sitting in the same spot.

The young angel didn't see that Stevonnie and Garnet were wandering off, but she was too enamored in the wildflowers to notice. However unbeknownst to Lapis, six pairs of malevolent eyes were spying on the young angel from a bunch of bushes.

"Would you look at that." a husky masculine voice said. "Fresh meat."

"So young. So innocent." a nasally male voice commented. "So ignorant of the danger she's about to be in."

"And all alone." a young British boy voice added. "No other angels nearby to get involved."

"We're going to have some fun today." a peppy boy voice declared.

"Peridot?" the husky voice asked. "Why don't you make the first move."

"Gladly." a slightly younger nasally male voice replied slyly.