Hey guys, here's Chapter Seven. Another slightly fluffy chapter, in which Emily goes on her third first date, this time with Evie.
Descendants – The New Girl
Chapter Seven:
It was almost eleven before Cassie succumbed to tiredness. We didn't make that much progress through the jungles of Chult, because a big battle with a zombie Tyrannosaurus Rex took up almost two hours of the session. Zombie dinosaurs are dangerous, we almost died… I also lost a lot of arrows… Between Eilwyse and Kate (Yes, Kate's character was just called Kate, she's playing a human) we had about ten arrows now… I smiled as I switched off my laptop, and turned to took at Mal, Evie and Ben. Who were all smiling. "That was amazing, Em." said Ben, looking at me. As Mal said "The killing blow on that dinosaur… It didn't stand a chance with that arrow going through its mouth."
"Kate can be very creative." I said, with a smile. She had also landed the final blow on the Tyrannosaurus, so she got to describe how it died. Her arrow went through the back of its mouth and hit its brain, killing it instantly. "Can we play?" asked Evie, looking at me. I smiled at her and said "I can ask Peter in the morning if he doesn't mind running a game for us." Evie smiled and nodded, as I began getting changed into my pyjamas. I knew I should have done it before the game, but I got distracted.
The bed in my room is decidedly not big enough for four people to comfortably sleep in. Big enough for three, yes, but four… four's a bit of a stretch. Thankfully I was a little wired from the game so I sat up for the night, writing. I got quite a bit written actually, and watching the three sleep was pretty nice, they all looked so peaceful. As the sun rose, I decided to get dressed and take a walk so I quickly wrote a note for the three before leaving.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one who woke up early. As I made my way through the courtyard, I saw Claudine sat reading a book. She smiled as I walked over to her. "Looks like I'm not the only who likes the mornings." she said, with a smile. "This place is peaceful compared to the Isle."
"This place is peaceful compared to anywhere I've lived." I said, with a smile. "Though I will admit I've only lived in London and New York, and both of those places are pretty busy."
"I thought you were from a different universe." she said, looking at me with a confused expression. I smiled at her before saying "I am, but it just so happens that there's a London here. As far as I know, it's probably not the one I used to live in but I haven't visited it yet so I have no clue." Claudine nodded, as she said "I understand King Ben is hosting a movie night tonight."
"It's just Ben, you don't need to call him King Ben." I told her, with a smile. "And yes, he was going to do it yesterday but something came up." Claudine nodded, before asking "What are we watching?"
"Dunno, I think they choose when everybody's there." I said, with a smile. "I've only been to one myself." I stood up. "I'll leave you to your book, Claudine."
"Please, call me 'Dina." she said, looking at me with a deep breath. "Claudine reminds me too much of…" She trailed off, and I nodded, I didn't need her to finish that sentence. "OK then, 'Dina. I'll see you tonight." I said, before walking off.
I returned to my room half an hour later, to find Ben sat at my table with a book. From what I could tell it was about King Arthur, his crest was on the front cover. Mal and Evie were still sleeping. "Morning." he said, with a smile. "I take it you didn't sleep at all last night?"
"No point in lying." I said, with a small smile. "I saw Claudine during my walk, she was sat in the courtyard reading." Ben nodded, as I continued "She wants to go by 'Dina now."
"Ah, that makes sense." said Ben, nodding. "Thanks for telling me." I smiled at him and nodded before saying "Of course." I took a seat at the table and grabbed my laptop from my bag.
For the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, after relocating to Ben's room, we just talked. Mostly about D&D, actually. Pete had agreed to DM an adventure for them to test the waters after we got back from Corona, and we were creating characters. Mal had gone with a green Dragonborn Sorcerer (With black Dragon blood), after I had jokily suggested it was fitting and she liked the idea. So she ran with it. Evie chose to be a High Elf Monk, something that appealed to her, while Ben stayed close to himself and chose a Human Paladin. I decided to stick with my current character and just level her back down. Which was slightly harder than I had anticipated, so I ended up remaking her from scratch. I'm sure I had more health points than I did at that level but it didn't matter. It would work out fine. At some point, Carlos, Jay and Jane appeared and asked us what we doing. Mal and Evie explained it so much better than I ever could and both Carlos and Jay wanted to create characters. Carlos went for a Human Bard, while Jay went for a Human Rogue. Carlos also asked for a dog companion, as he stroked Dude. He wouldn't have much control over it during combat but it was a cool idea. Jane had also sat down with us and rolled a character, a High Elf Druid. And Pete didn't seem to mind the extra members when I text him about it.
Soon enough, the rest of the VKs and Charlotte had arrived and we were settling down to watch a movie. I had placed the character sheets in an empty folder I somehow had in my bag, I'm a hoarder it would seem. We watched the first three Star Wars films, which the other VKs enjoyed. Freddie had been taking pictures of the night on her phone, I made a mental note to ask Pete for a recommendation for the right equipment for her. She seemed to be interested in photography. 'Dina didn't seem that interested in the films, choosing to sit at the back with a book. Diego and Adam ('Hadie' had started going by his actual name again after Evie had spoken to him) were engrossed in the movies, and they loved them. It was an amazing night, actually, and I even found myself cuddling all three of my soulmates.
The next two days were pretty boring, and then on the third day, Evie surprised me. I was sat in my room, writing while listening to Lemonade Mouth, when my door opened and Evie walked in, holding a picnic basket. She smiled at me and said "So, Mal and Ben have gotten to take you on a date, it's my turn now." I smiled back and saved my work, before turning off my laptop. "What you got in mind, princess?" I asked, with a smile. She smiled and said "It's a surprise." I just chuckled before grabbing my bag from the side and slipping my laptop inside. "Cool, I love surprises." I said, as I slipped the bag on. Before grabbing my red jacket. "Let's go then."
Evie led me through the city with purpose, making me smile. We ended up in the park, where there was a stage set up that hadn't been there when Mal had brought me here. "There's a performance of Snow White's story today." said Evie, looking at me. "I was going to come alone but your sister told me you'd like it…" I smiled. Of course Annabeth would be meddling. "I do love a good theatre performance." I said, with a smile. Evie smiled before saying "You don't mind that I spoke to your sister?"
"Not at all." I said, with a smile. "So, when does it start?" Evie smiled again, before leading me to a patch of grass which she put a blanket down on. "In two hours, I just wanted to get a good view of the stage." she said, sheepishly, as she sat down on the blanket, her poise perfect. I smiled at her as I sat down next to her before saying "Well, I suppose we have time to kill." as I pulled out my copy of 'Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone'. I hadn't read much of it since my first first date, with Ben, so I was only on chapter five. Evie smiled as she lent into me, using my shoulder as a pillow. I smiled before beginning to read.
Half an hour later, I was almost finished chapter one again. I was back there because Evie had wanted me to read out loud, and I was happy to oblige. A few people nearby had shot us dirty looks but I didn't care, I was enjoying myself. And Evie was smiling, so I assumed she was having a good time. "'To Harry Potter – the boy who lived!'" I finished, smiling. As I turned the page, I heard a familiar voice shout "Evie!" from behind us. I turned my head to see Dizzy running up to us, with a grin on her face. An older woman with blonde hair in a bun was walking a bit behind her. Evie smiled as she saw Dizzy and said "Hey Dizz." before standing up and curtsying to the woman. "Your majesty."
"Evie, I've told you, you don't need to do that." said the woman, who I now realized was Cinderella… Or Ella as she was now know, Cinderella was a cruel nickname Tremaine had come up with. "Call me Ella. You're like a big sister to Dizzy." She looked at me and said "Hello, I don't think we've met. I'm Ella."
"Emily." I said, with a smile, as I also stood up, placing the book on the bag. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ella. Are you here to watch the play as well?"
"Yes, Dizzy was so excited when she saw the fliers." said Ella, with a smile. "She couldn't wait." I smiled as well with a nod, as I looked over at where Dizzy was talking to Evie. Evie looked adorable as she interacted with Dizzy, and I couldn't help but make my smile wider. Till Ella brought me out of my bubble by saying "Are Ben and Mal around?" I turned to look at her, my smile dropping back to normal and said "I think they're back at the castle, they didn't want to come to this. But Evie thought I'd like it so she invited me. I say invited, she barged into my room this morning and practically dragged me here. Not that I mind, of course, Evie's the only one of the three I haven't done a solo activity with." Ella smiled with a nod, before saying "Ah, so you're on a date. I'll take Dizzy and get out of your way." She smiled and walked over to Dizzy, without leaving me any chance to say anything. I shook my head with a small smile, Queens. I watched as she talked to Dizzy and took a seat on the blanket again, before getting joined by Evie. "Shall we continue?" she asked, motioning to the book. I smiled and nodded before taking the book in my hand. "Chapter two. The Vanishing Glass." I read, with a smile, as she lent on my shoulder again.
Ten minutes before the show was due to begin, I finished reading the fourth chapter to Evie, and put the book away, earning myself a pout. "The show's about to start." I said, with a smile. She just nodded, as I continued "We can continue later, yeah?" She smiled, and sat up, reaching for the picnic basket.
I clapped alongside everybody else as the play finished. It was a cool play that kinda followed the plot of the Disney film, except for the ending when actors playing Queen Belle and King Adam appeared to imprison the Evil Queen on the Isle. Instead of the Queen falling to her death off a mountain after being chased by the dwarfs. Snow White was a rather dark film, come to think of it… But I digress. Evie had actually cheered along with the kids in the crowd when that happened, making me smile. As we left, we found Ella and Dizzy and said our goodbyes. Before heading back to the castle.
Instead of heading to Ben's room (Which was very quickly becoming my room as well, I had clothes and pyjamas in there now…), Evie led me up a flight of stairs I hadn't seen before and we entered an attic room where pillows were scattered around the floor, and there were bookshelves across one wall. Another wall was covered in artwork that looked like Mal's. "Mal and I found this place a few days after the cotillion." she said, with a smile, from where she had taken a seat on one of the pillows. I smiled before sitting next to her. "I take it you want to continue reading now." I said, with a smile. She nodded before saying "If that's OK with you." I smiled and took the book out of my bag instead of answering.
It was almost five when we stopped for the day. I had read through the next four chapters when Evie said she was hungry, and my stomach decided to growl at me. We decided to continue it the next day, which was cool with me. And we made our way to the cafeteria to grab dinner. Where we met up with Mal and Ben. "Hey guys, where have you been?" asked Mal, looking at us as we sat down with our dinner. "The play ended hours ago, where did you two go?"
"I showed Em our special place." said Evie, with a smile. "She's reading me the first Harry Potter book." Ben smiled, before asking "How was the play?"
"Amazing." said Evie, with a smile. "The actress playing Snow was amazing."
"And the one playing your mom?" asked Mal, gently. Evie looked at her before saying "She was spot on." Mal nodded, as I said "Next time, it's my turn." surprising the three, and changing the subject. Ben looked at me and asked "Next time what?"
"Next time we go on a date, it's my turn to plan it." I said, looking at them. I already had a great idea. Well, hopefully… It was nothing on par with their dates but I had an idea. Ben smiled, as did Mal and Evie, before saying Mal said "That sounds great, Em." Ben and Evie nodded as they both said "Yeah." I smiled, they seemed excited. As Mal asked "So, who's date was the best?" I chuckled, before starting to eat my chicken. Mal was the competitive type then.
The next few days were rather boring, and soon we were heading for Corona. It was nearly twelve when we set off, because it took way too long for everybody to get ready. Evie herself took an hour to put everything in suitcases. We took three different limos, because there were too many of us to fit in just the one limo. I was in one with Ben, Mal, Evie, Jay and Dizzy. Carlos had chosen to go in one with his girlfriend, Jane, and the other VKs, as well as Charlotte. The third car had Queen Belle, King Adam, Queen Ella and King Charming in. We currently had the Bolt series on in ours, though Dizzy was the only one watching it. I was looking out of the window, watching the world pass by. It was beautiful, what little I could see.
It took over six hours to get to Corona, and the state itself was beautiful. It was even more beautiful in person than in the film, and it was rather beautiful in the film. We were quickly led through the castle towards the guest suites, because it was so late. Ben, Mal, Evie and I had our own room, I suppose news travels fast and everybody knew the four of us were soulmates… Dizzy had been put up in one with the other girls (Jane, Charlotte, Freddie and 'Dina) while Carlos and Jay were sharing with Adam and Diego. The suite itself was pretty nice, retaining that nice castle feel while also feeling modern. There were sockets for chargers in the walls, and a TV. And the view… Gods, the view was amazing. We could see the entire town from our window. It looked so beautiful at night, but I couldn't sleep. Mal, Evie and Ben were already in bed and asleep, but I always had trouble in new places. So I decided to take a walk.
It was a peaceful night, and the city of Corona looked beautiful everytime I saw it through the windows. And then I felt a hand go over my eyes and heard a familiar female voice say "Guess who." I smirked before saying "Hello to you too, Kate." I turned round with ease as she said "Can't sleep?"
"You know me." I said, with a small smile. "Terrible in new places." Kate nodded, before saying "Yeah, of course. Your soulmates know you're out here?"
"They're asleep." I said, with a small smile. "I just wanted to have a quick look around. It's not everyday you get to look around a fictional castle." Kate smiled, before saying "Tangled was your favourite. Let me join you, I can't sleep either." I smiled at her, she wasn't kidding when she said Tangled was my favourite Disney movie. Next to the two Descendants ones, anyway. I smiled and nodded, before saying "Sure."
It was fun to catch up with Kate as we walked around the castle. The guards kept looking at us funny, but didn't say anything. As we were returning to our rooms, I saw a flash of long blonde hair disappear down a corridor. Kate also saw and whispered "Is that..."
"Probably." I said, looking at her, also whispering. "Let's not spook her." Kate nodded, with a slight frown before saying "I thought she lost her hair."
"She did. In the film." I said, looking at Kate. "We don't know how exactly it played out here. She might not have lost it here." Kate looked at me, before saying "You mean you haven't been watching the news? She lost it here alright, there are pictures of her with short brown hair on the internet." I just shook my head and said "I've been a little busy, I've been reading Harry Potter to Evie. We just finished the second book, actually. And I've been sleeping eight hours most nights. It's amazing what a good cuddle buddy can do for sleep." Kate just smiled before saying "Auradon's changed you, Lee." I glared at her, that didn't sound like a compliment, causing her to put her hands up. "It's a good thing, Emily. You've changed for the better since meeting those three. You're happier for one." I just let out a small smile, as we reached the door to my room. "I'll see you in the morning, Kate. Introduce you and the team properly." I told her, with a smile. She nodded before walking off with a "Night." I smiled and walked into my room, making sure not to disturb the others.
I still didn't sleep, instead choosing to do some writing. And look up those news articles Kate had mentioned. I took a seat in front of the window and turned my laptop on, with my headphones. Which was how Ben found me when he woke up, as the sun rose. "You didn't sleep again, did you?" he asked, as I took my headphones off and stopped the music I was listening to. I looked at him and shook my head before saying "I'm terrible in new places. And it's not like I need sleep, perks of being a goddess." He just nodded, before saying "Get much written?"
"Enough." I told him, with a small smile. He nodded again before saying "You still haven't told us when we can read it." I took a deep breath, he seemed to be genuine about wanting to read it, but I wasn't ready for that. I looked at him and said "I want to at least finish it first." He nodded, as he begin changing out of his pyjamas. "I'm going to go find somebody to see if they can breakfast." he said, once he was dressed in his Auradon Central suit. I nodded and put my headphones back on as he walked out of the room.
He returned to the room half an hour later, Mal and Evie had both woken up and were dressed. "Food will be here in half an hour." he said, with a smile. "What do you want to do till then? We could find something to watch…" Half an hour, huh? I smiled and reached into my bag, pulling out my copy of Modern Family Season One. I'm a hoarder who doesn't trust anybody with my stuff. And I have a Bag of Holding, of course I'm going to carry all my DVDs with me. "Mind if I put this on?" I asked, looking at them. "It's a very good comedy from my world. I think you might enjoy it. And they're only about half an hour each." Ben nodded, as did Mal and Evie, as Evie said "Sounds good." I smiled and went about setting up my laptop to the TV.
Another half an hour passed and we had just finished watching the first episode when there was a knock on the door. Ben walked over to the door and opened it, as a man in a suit pushed a trolley with trays on inside. "Your breakfast is ready, sir, madams." he said, looking at us. "Shall I serve it or..."
"We've got it from here, sir, thank you." said Ben, with a smile. The man nodded and bowed, as he placed the trays on the table and pushed the trolley back out. Shutting the door behind him. I smiled as Ben began handing our breakfast out. He placed two croissants in front of me, both of them filled with ham and melted cheese, causing me to grin. "You remembered." I said, looking at him. He smiled back and said "Of course I did. You mentioned going to a café on the way to school and getting these, I wanted to surprise you." I just smiled, of course he did. I then looked at the others and said "Shall I put another episode on?"
"Just the one, we need to go find the others." said Evie, nodding. I smiled and nodded, before clicking play on 'Run For Your Wife' and taking a bite into my first croissant.
We ended up spending the next two and a half hour finishing that disc. Wasn't my fault, the other three wanted to keep watching. And then there came a knock on the door. Ben walked over and opened the door, to see Belle standing there. "Mom." said Ben, with a smile as he stepped to the side to allow her entrance. "How can we help you?"
"Your father and I were wondering where you were." said Belle, looking at us as she stepped into the room. "The King mentioned you asked for breakfast to be brought here."
"Mal and Evie weren't awake so I figured I'd surprise them." said Ben, looking at her. "The King didn't mind, did he?"
"Not at all." said Belle, with a smile. "He was just hoping to introduce the four of you to Rapunzel over breakfast." I smiled, as Belle turned to me. "He also told me that his guards saw you and a girl in purple walking around the castle last night. Did you sleep at all?"
"I don't sleep well in new places." I said, with a shrug. "Plus it's not everyday I get to explore the castle belonging to one of my favourite princesses." I saw Evie raise an eyebrow. There was a reason I said one of. Evie has slowly become my actual favourite princess. "Who was with you?" asked Mal, bringing me out of my thoughts. I smiled at her and said "I bumped into Kate. Or should I say, Kate bumped into me. She's just as bad in new places as I am, so we played catch up." Mal nodded, as Ben said "We were going to come find everybody when we had eaten but we got sucked into this TV show from Emily's world… We can come now, if the King doesn't mind." Belle nodded, as I stood up and grabbed my laptop, putting it in my bag. Before grabbing my jacket from where it was hanging and passing Mal and Evie theirs. Belle smiled and said "Mr Rider was talking to Jay when I left to come find you, however I don't think Rapunzel has left her room all morning." before leading us out of the room. I smiled, of course Eugene and Jay were friendly. They were both thieves. Reformed thieves. Well, reformed in Jay's case, I'm not sure on Eugene, it's only been a week since he saved Rapunzel. And Rapunzel… Well, I think I knew exactly why she wasn't leaving her room. I smiled to myself as I followed Belle out.
There we go, another chapter over. :D Next time, we meet Rapunzel for real.
