On the Isle of the Lost 1 Week Before the VKs Were Invited to Auradon
"WESLY!" Theodora roared.
Wes almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the screeching. He scooped up his backpack and hid it inside of his closet, closing the doors just in time to lean on them casually and open a nearby spellbook when his mother burst through the door. "Yes, ma'am?"
"What was that?" She said, glaring at him in a way only a Wicked Witch could.
"What?" Wes asked.
"I heard something bumping around."
"I dropped a few candles. It's no big deal."
There was a soft meow from the closet.
"What was that?" She looked over his shoulder at the closet door.
"I didn't hear anything." Wes said, looking back down at the spellbook.
"Did you just lie to me?" Theodora asked with scary quiet.
"Would I-"
"Move." She demanded.
Wes looked up. "You can't be seriou-."
"Move. Now."
He swallowed and stepped aside. His mom crossed the room and threw open the door. She looked around and saw what was inside his backpack. She picked it up and pulled it out.
"What is this?" She held the black cat up, her claws dangerously close to it.
"My familiar." Wes said.
"No it's not. You don't deserve one. You will never be worthy of-"
"But-"
"If you won't get rid of it," She smirked as her eyes cut to the fireplace burning across the room, "I will."
"What?!" Wes exclaimed.
"Did I stutter? I already have to feed you, I don't need another pest."
"I was able to keep her for months without you noticing, I can handle-"
"What did you say?"
Idiot. Wes chastised himself in his mind.
Theodora whistled and three baboons flew into the windows.
"Get rid of this creature." She held out the cat. Then she pointed at Wes. "And take him downstairs. He's gotten too comfortable."
Just as the baboons reached for Wes the ground shook and a blinding white light shot past the window.
"Find out what that was!" Theodora commanded to the baboons.
Wes looked out the open window and saw a searing hole in the dome. He made a quick decision, shooting across the room and snatching the cat back from his mother. Before she could react, he pulled her red ring off her finger. Then he plucked his backpack from the closet and, as the baboons were still shooting from the ground, he grabbed onto one of their legs. The wind drowned out his mother's screaming as they flew up and up toward the hole in the dome. It was slowly repairing itself, but the baboon he was holding onto managed to soar out of it before it could close. Wes held onto the cat tightly and tucked the ring into his pocket. The baboon finally noticed that it carried a passenger and started trying to shake Wes off of itself. He tried to hold on but the baboon lost control of its flight and crashed back into the reformed dome. It tumbled from the sky and Wes let go. He was free-falling hundreds of feet above the sea beneath him. The water was getting closer and closer with each blink. When he was about seventy feet from the water he chanted, "Reanimata transfiguro encanta!" There was a flash of red light and he blacked out.
The Next Day
Wes woke up in a cave. There was a burning fire in the center of the square chamber. He looked around and saw his backpack was on the ground, spellbooks spilled out onto the ground. There was a movement in the corner of his eye and turned toward it. Prowling across the floor, staring up at him was the little black cat he'd held while he fell from the sky.
"What the heck." Wes rasped. His voice was rougher than the feeling of the cave floor beneath him.
The cat tilted its head and lazily padded over to him. It sat down at the foot of his makeshift bed and nudged its collar with its chin.
"I never gave you a collar." He finally noticed the gold medallion the size of a quarter attached to the leather band around the cat's throat. The medallion was set with nine tiny red gemstones.
The cat glowed bright red and slowly morphed into human shape. When the light faded there was a girl around his age with black hair, green eyes and pale skin. Thankfully she was dressed. In black leather that matched his own. She smiled at him.
"Am I dead?" Wes asked.
"Nope." She said.
"This has got to be some sort dream." His voice was finally kind of normal sounding.
"Lucky for you...no." She said. "When we were falling, your mom's ring started glowing. A piece cracked off and I got this." She touched the collar she was still wearing even in human form. "It turned me human. I got you out of the water, but you were...well...kind of dead.."
"Kind of dead?"
"I used the collar. It brought you back to life, but this gem died out." She showed him the one gem that wasn't glowing as bright as the rest.
"I read about this in my mom's books. Cat familiars can sacrifice one of their lives to bring their owners back from death."
"You're welcome."
"Thank you." The words were hard to force out.
"No problem."
"Shouldn't you have a name."
"Really? Like what?"
"What do you want it to be?"
"I don't know, you pick one."
"Hmm." Wes considered it for a second. "I like Vivianne."
She mulled it over. "Guess it works."
Wes got an idea, taking the ring out of his pocket and holding it in his hand. The gem was missing a fragment, but it still flickered with red light. "Where are we?"
"Auradon. Why?"
He held out his other hand and said, "Ignacia." A green flame instantly appeared in his hand. He focused and it flew into the wall, burning so hot it speared five feet into the stone. He blew out his smoking hand before asking Vivianne, "Because I'm about to start some major trouble."
6 Months Later
Wes was grinding up some flower petals with a pestle when he asked Vivianne-who was in cat form-"Are you sure you can do this? The entire plan is riding on this going smoothly."
She shifted into human form and sighed. "Of course I can. The only danger is me dying of boredom."
Wes dumped the petals into the cauldron boiling to his left and it turned bright red.
"Then let's show Auradon what evil really is."