chapter three
CARLOS

Some part of Carlos had always known it was leading up to this.

He'd been visiting the Dreamscape for a long time now, even before Rowan had joined him. It had always been a part of him; a lonely, bleak, fog-filled world that he couldn't navigate but would always wake up remembering. He'd found comfort in it at a young age; it was somewhere to escape his mother, a place where no one could follow. He'd never felt scared, only comforted by the familiar chill in the air. Did he know if it was dangerous? No, he didn't Frankly, he didn't care. It was his place, no one else's, and he found a home in the blanket of mist. Of course, some part of it had always been missing, and the Dreamscape became incredibly lonely by the time he was seven, but he never pushed it away or made an effort to tell anyone about it.

And then Rowan had shown up.

Carlos was ten at the time, they both were. He'd gone to bed very late that night; his mother had hounded on him to do chores around the house and he'd only had time to break away when she'd fallen asleep at the kitchen counter, her hand still clutching the stale booze bottle.

He'd never seen anyone in the Dreamscape before. It had always only been him. And it was obvious, the first time they met, that Rowan had never traveled to the Dreamscape before then. He was new, scared, and oh-so-willing to be Carlos' friend. So maybe Carlos had thought about him every night before going to bed, hoping that Rowan would be there when he went to sleep. Some nights, it took Rowan hours to join him, sometimes only minutes, but most nights he was already there, waiting for Carlos.

They'd been visiting each other for six years. They knew everything about each other.

Rowan knew who Carlos' mother was a month into them talking. He picked up on Carlos' fear of dogs rather quickly, and even though he tried to talk Carlos out of it, there was no proof that what his mother said about dogs wasn't true. Rowan knew how horrid Carlos' mother was, and he was well aware of Carlos' friendship with Mal, Evie, and Jay, all the way from their first adventure to retrieve Maleficent's scepter to how they sometimes met up for breakfast before school. Carlos rarely left out details of his life and day, and Rowan was the same.

Carlos knew that Rowan was embarrassed by his last name, and insisted that 'Rowan Rider' was better than 'Rowan Fitzherbert.' He knew that Rowan was best friends with one of the most important people in Auradon, though he declined to say who, as if he was abashed to say it. Carlos knew Rowan was born and trained to become the royal advisor in the future, but he didn't have any idea how much stress Rowan would be under until Rowan began appearing for less time the past two years they'd been visiting. But no matter how many times Carlos chastised him to get more sleep, Rowan insisted that his job was more important than his well being, which Carlos often called bullshit on.

Carlos knew Rowan was real; he could see it in his eyes, and he could hear it in his voice. Rowan wasn't something Carlos had made up, he wasn't that imaginative. And if Carlos had his way, Rowan would be agreeing to get more sleep, but he didn't, so he was obviously at least real enough to think for himself.

The night before Carlos left for Auradon - not knowing the announcement was coming, mind you - Rowan had been acting off.

It had been bothering Carlos when he woke up, and it hadn't connected until the limo came to pick them up.

They were going to live in Auradon. Maleficent, the equivalent of their queen, was putting them to the task of stealing Fairy Godmother's wand. Really, Carlos couldn't care less; he was getting away from his mother, finally, and he was going to meet Rowan for the first time in real life. Obviously, the usual worries were gnawing at him - what if Rowan didn't know it was him? What if he was wrong and Rowan wasn't real? What if Rowan wasn't there when they got there, but somewhere else? What if Carlos didn't get to talk to him for a long time? What if the dreams stopped because they were both in the same place? What if someone found out about the dreams?

Yet for all his doubts, though, Carlos couldn't wait.

But before all these worries came - before the sprung up in his mind like weeds he couldn't kill - he spent another normal morning of the Isle of the Lost, nearly the same as any other day.

He watched Mal steal a lollipop from a passing child in a wagon and internally cringed, though he pretended to laugh with everyone else when she raised it above her head. His attention was drawn away, however, by the two men approaching Mal, and his fears were confirmed when the villagers behind them began screaming and ran away, leaving him, Mal, Jay, and Evie. He watched Mal lower the candy, her expression one of annoyance, before she turned around, a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Hi, mom," she greeted. Carlos shared an awkward look with Evie, wondering how this was going to go down.

"Stealing candy, Mal?" Maleficent drawled. "I'm so disappointed."

"It was from a baby," Mal replied, just as sarcastically.

Carlos made sure to stay a few paces back with the other two so that they wouldn't be seen by Maleficent. Sure, he was more scared of his mom then of her, but the way she spoke to her daughter made Carlos feel bad for Mal. She had so many expectations to live up to - "When I was your age, I was cursing entire kingdoms..." - while Carlos didn't, not really. His mom just saw him as a housekeeper, not as anyone important. It's not like he was expected to take over Auradon, the kingdom of heroes, because Maleficent had already given that job to Mal. (If he told Rowan what he really thought about himself, Rowan would have a field day. The thought almost made Carlos smile.)

"Oh! There's news!" Maleficent suddenly exclaimed, snapping Carlos out of his thoughts. "I buried the lede! You four have been chosen to go to a different school," Maleficent announced. Carlos glanced at Jay, wondering if they were thinking the same thing - there was no other school. The Isle of the Lost only had one school, and they all attended it. Most of the time. "...In Auradon."

Before Carlos could really process what that meant - seeing Rowan. Actually seeing Rowan - his instinct kicked in and he turned to run, noticing briefly that Evie and Jay were right by his side. They were caught by Maleficent's minions, who held their arms down and they struggled and kicked to get free.

"What?" Mal demanded as they were all set down. "I'm not going to some boarding school filled to the brim with ... prissy pink princesses!"

"And perfect princes," Evie sighed, wonder in her voice. She caught a glimpse of Mal's expression and scoffed. "Ugh."

"Yeah, and I don't do uniforms. Unless it's leather, you feel me?" Jay asked, raising his hand for a high five from Carlos. Carlos grimaced, leaning over Mal's shoulder to talk with Maleficent.

"I read somewhere that they allow dogs in Auradon? Mom said they're rabid pack animals who eat boys who don't behave," Carlos said. He felt someone behind him and registered that it was Jay, but not before Jay barked in his ear. Carlos jumped back, glowering at him. But then the gears in his head started turning, and he realized that Auradon - specifically Auradon Prep, the school Maleficent was probably talking about - meant Rowan. It meant meeting Rowan, not just visiting him in some dream world that neither of them knew how to actually get to. It meant actually hearing Rowan talk, face-to-face, in real life.

He didn't know if the thought terrified him or not.

"Mal," Maleficent sang, motioning for the four of them to follow her. Carlos looked down, sighed, and moved with them, stepping into place with Evie.

They arrived at Mal and Maleficent's place, and they went to stand in front of Maleficent's make-shift throne. Carlos sighed, listening to her demands - finding Fairy Godmother's wand and bringing back to Auradon. A supposed 'easy-peasy' job, according to the woman who wasn't going to be doing it.

"What's in it for us?" Mal questioned.

"Matching thrones?" Maleficent mocked. "Her's and Her's crowns?"

"Um, I- I think she meant us," Carlos spoke up as Mal motioned to the four of them. Maleficent eyed him for a moment until he shrunk down before leaning forward and motioning for Mal to come closer.

"It's all about me and you, baby," she said. Carlos rolled his eyes, sharing a look with Evie and Jay. "...And with that wand and my scepter, I will be able to bend both good and evil to my will!" Maleficent exclaimed, only to be corrected by Evil Queen, Evie's mother. "Our will, our will," Maleficent corrected, though she didn't sound so genuine.

Carlos wandered over to his mother when he saw her waving him over. She began inspecting his outfit as if looking for something out of place, as Maleficent and Mal spoke. "Oh, well, they're not taking my Carlos, because I'd miss him too much!" his mother said. Carlos squinted at her.

"Really, mom?" he asked.

"Yes! Who would touch up my roots, fluff my fur, and scrape the bunions off my feet?" she questioned. Carlos frowned.

"Yeah, maybe a new school wouldn't be the worst thing," he grumbled. His heart sank when his mom reminded him that dogs would be in Auradon. "Oh, no! I'm not going," he said immediately.

As Maleficent began her big speech about revenge, Carlos looked around, catching Mal's eyes. She looked tired; they all did. All day, every day, their parents were using them in some way or another. For Mal, it was being Maleficent's pawn; for Jay, being his dad's finder for all the finer jewels of the Isle; for Evie, it was being her mother's doll, something the Evil Queen could dress up and stylize, not her daughter; for Carlos, it was being his mother's servant, someone for her to yell at and take advantage of. Never her son, only her server.

Maybe a new school wouldn't be such a bad thing.

A car honking outside drew everyone's attention to the door; Carlos felt himself freeze for a moment before he relaxed. They could figure this out. They just had to stick together.

"Carlos, come!" his mother snapped, leading him outside. Carlos followed, hearing Evie and her mother talking behind him. When Carlos realized his mom wasn't leading him to the car outside, he took off, knowing she would never be able to catch him in her heels. He was silently thankful the many years the Isle of the Lost made him do his exercise because he slid into the car with no problem as his mother ran out after him, yelling, "Come back here, now! Carlos! Ingrate."

The limo ride was honestly a blur to him; the moment he realized they weren't going to die, that it wasn't a trap, that the magic bridge opened and allowed them to go, the rest of the ride seemed unimportant. He barely even remembered grabbing the blanket, but he and Jay fell out of the limo fighting for it. Carlos had seen it first! Why did it matter if he wanted it anyway, Jay could have just stolen it from him when he wasn't looking, he didn't need to make a big deal out of it! The thought would still be angering Carlos hours later, but for now, Jay pulled him up from the ground as Fairy Godmother - the Fairy Godmother - stood in front of them.

"Leave it how you found it, and by that I mean just leave it," she told them, smiling sweetly despite the sharp tone of voice she took.

Carlos looked around as he took his place next to Evie, studying the school in front of him. It was bigger than he'd imagined, but he reminded himself that this was a school and that they probably needed so much space for everyone to attend. He wondered if this was the only school in Auradon - or at least in the state they were in - but realized there were probably schools for younger kids in the area because the school wasn't nearly big enough to house so many kids.

A nervous giggle brought him out of his thoughts; it seemed Jay had been flirting with the girl who was standing with Prince Ben, who Carlos recognized from one of the TV programs that had aired a few years prior - a sort of celebration for the prince turning 10, Carlos vaguely remembered. He didn't recognize the girl, but he assumed she was Ben's girlfriend.

Fairy Godmother leaned in front of Jay, smiling brightly. "Welcome to Auradon prep. I'm Fairy Godmother, the headmistress."

Auradon Prep. So this was the school that Rowan went to.

"The Fairy Godmother? As in, 'Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo?'" Mal asked. Carlos pursed his lips. He didn't want to participate in this plan, but he knew it was for the future - their future. "Yeah, I always wondered what it felt like for Cinderella when you just appeared out of nowhere, with that sparkly wand and warm smile." Fairy Godmother hummed, looking pleased. "And that sparkling wand," Mal insisted.

"That was a long time ago. And as I always say, don't focus on the past or you'll miss the future!" Fairy Godmother sang.

Ben stepped forward, hands clasped. "It is so good to finally meet you all! I'm Ben-"

"Prince Benjamin, soon to be king," the girl Jay had flirted with corrected, sounding awestruck. Carlos rolled his eyes, ignoring the conversation that happened as Evie stepped forward, though his mind kicked into protective mode when he heard the girl insult Evie's status. Jay grabbed his arm, preventing him from taking a step forward.

"This is Audrey," Ben introduced, sounding weary.

"Princess Audrey, his girlfriend. Right, Benny-boo?" she asked, staring at him. Ben smiled nervously. As Fairy Godmother left - leaving them with the note of the library hours - Ben turned to them once again, smiling brighter this time. "It is so, so, so good to finally me-" Jay punched his shoulder, making Ben grunt. "-meet you all." He shook Mal's hand, and the two seemed to pause, staring at each other before Ben snapped out of it and continued down the line. "This is a momentous occasion, and one that I hope will go down in history..." Ben shook Carlos' hand and licked at something on his finger when he pulled away. "Is that chocolate?" he asked. "As the day our two peoples began to heal."

"Or the day you showed four peoples where the bathrooms are," Mal interrupted.

Ben chuckled. "A little bit over the top?"

"A little more than a little bit," Mal told him.

"Well, so much for my first impression." Ben hesitated, glancing at someone beside him. The boy was looking down, as if in thought, before he suddenly looked up, smiling hesitantly.

"And I'm Rowan."

Carlos felt his heart drop.