Jess ran at full speed down Main Street, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Mandy!" She called. When Amanda turned around, she called out again, "Manda!" Amanda took off at a run towards her and the two met with a tight embrace. Amanda lifted Jess off of her feet and spun around. "You're back..." She whispered burying her head in Amanda's shoulder as she was set back onto her feet. "He freed you..."
Amanda closed her eyes and placed a hand on the back of Jess's head. "No," she whispered, "you freed me."
Jess lifted her head and looked at Amanda, tears falling fast. "How could I have done that...?"
Amanda placed her hands on either side of Jess's face and wiped her tears away. "I thought I had run you off forever." She responded with a shaky voice, her eyes watering with each word.
Jess placed her hands on top of Amanda's and shook her head. "You can never run me off, Mandy. You're stuck with me." Amanda offered a small laugh. "When you said those things to me...and when you slapped me, I knew it wasn't you in there doing all that. It was Maleficent. So I knew leaving would make you find yourself again. That it would overpower the OTK in you and bring you back to us. Back to me."
Amanda glanced down at Jess's arms and saw the markings. "What are those marks...Jess..." She looked her sister in the eye.
Jess took a deep breath and explained everything as quickly as possible, insuring Amanda that they were not self-harm scars. "I didn't tell you because you were acting different. I told Finn. And..." She looked back at Finn and he came over. "Amanda, please, please, please, don't hate me."
"Why would I hate you?"
"Finn and I kind of…"
"Kissed." Finn finished for her.
"You kissed?" Amanda crossed her arms. "How am I supposed to believe that? You two are too faithful to do that."
Jess shook her head. "It's true. I was under some sort of spell and I had tried everything I could to break it; Dillard did too. Not even Philby could figure out how to break it. That's when I went to Finn and we realized that every spell the Overtakers put on anyone can always be broken by—"
"By true loves kiss." Amanda cut her off. She looked to Finn for an explanation.
"We have no idea why the spell broke. But Jess kept hearing Maleficent talking to her inside her head. She was trying to break us all apart. So she started with you and me. We knew what we were doing was wrong, but it was the only way. She placed the spell on Jess to make her fall for me and break us up. We gave her what she wanted and that was a kiss. The spell broke and we haven't spoken about it since." Jess complied by shaking her head.
Amanda looked between the two and crossed her arms. "I can't believe you two." She said. Finn opened his mouth to say something but Amanda continued. "I can't believe you two would go so far as to kiss each other to save Jess." Her face softened instantly.
"We only did it so I could help save you Mandy. If you weren't under a spell, we wouldn't have kissed. We would have found another way." Jess said.
"But we were desperate." Finn added. "And we needed to get you back as quickly as possible."
Amanda smiled like an idiot and hugged them both tightly. "Well you got me back. And I'm not going anywhere again."
Everyone took in the moment and shared a laugh with each other. Philby looked around at his friends and his eyes landed on Jenny. "Um, guys?" He cleared his throat. "Not to ruin the moment or crash the party, but what are we going to do about Jenny? Maleficent won't stop at anything until she gets her back."
Charlene nodded. "Remember the thing with Greg and Sally? She literally froze time just to get them back."
Jenny looked down, as if she was ashamed at what she was about to say. "You guys won't have to worry about her coming for me." Everyone offered her a confused look. "She won't come after you, because I'm not going with you."
Maybeck gave her a scared glance. "Jenny, you can't possibly think we're going to just leave you with that witch." He stated.
"She does cruel things to people." Willa added softly.
Jenny nodded. "I know." She took a deep, shaky breath. "Believe me, I know."
"Then why stay with her?" Amanda asked.
"Yeah, come with us. You'll fit right in." Jess offered her a smile.
Jenny shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I can't go. I can't go because Maleficent is my mother."
…
"Find those kids immediately!" Maleficent shouted. "Don't stop at anything until you have taken them down! Bring them back to me dead or alive! They have gotten away one too many times!"
"Bring me my horse!" Hans shouted.
"You idjit!" Blackbeard shouted. "Yer horse isn't ere!"
Hans rolled his eyes and pushed past the drunk mumbling inaudible words under his breath. Sally Ringwald stood at the front of the army of Overtakers that had been formed. She stood tall and proud with her hands on her hips and she spoke clearly and loudly so everyone could hear. "Listen up!" She shouted; everyone quieted down. "The Kingdom Keepers must be taken down at all costs! We have tried everything in the past to destroy them! We've sent pirates and crash test dummies; small world dolls and hyenas! But nothing has worked! It's time we reach deep down and expose their darkest fears and take what they love!" A roaring cheer erupted from the crowd of villains. "It's time we send the villains the Keepers are afraid of and take what they love from them!"
"How do we do that?" Someone called out.
Maleficent stepped up next to Sally. "We go after and target their parents." The group was so quiet, you could hear the person next to you breathing; all eyes were on their leader. "Jafar, Ursula, Hook. You three are to go after the parents. You know which ones fear you the most. If they discover that their parents have been taken by their childhood nightmares, they'll come groveling to us for mercy for sure!"
…
"She's your…your mom?" Finn couldn't breathe all of a sudden.
"Wait, wait." Jess stepped in front of Jenny. "Is she your mom or is she your mom?" She put air quotes around the word the second time.
Jenny shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't know what you mean?"
"Jess was an OTK once." Amanda explained. "For a while. She had been changed into a completely different person. She was the opposite of who she really is. Long story short, Maleficent convinced Jess she was her daughter."
"I'm so sorry to hear that. That's terrible." Jenny looked over at Jess with sad eyes. "But that isn't the case with me."
"So she's actually your mom?" Willa asked. Jenny nodded.
Maybeck suddenly showed interest in her. "Whoa, so does that mean you can cast spells and stuff? Curse people?" Charlene smacked his arm. "What? I'm just curious!" He rubbed his arm.
"What he means is," Charlene looked at Jenny, "you must be powerful, so Maleficent won't let you go missing for long."
Jenny shook her head. "She refused to teach me."
"We're not letting you go back." Dillard said.
"It's too dangerous." Finn stated. "Even if she is your mom."
"If you want the Overtakers to leave you all alone, then I suggest you let me go back."
"It's not about whether they leave us alone or not." Philby shook his head. "It's a matter of keeping an innocent teenager safe."
"I've survived with her for nineteen years. I think I know—"
"Finn!" The panicked cries of Mrs. Whitman rang across the empty park.
"Mom…no…no, no, no…Not again."
"It's them." Jenny said. "She's started."
"Started what?" Willa asked nervously.
Jenny looked each of the Keepers in the eye before she spoke. "She's begun her revenge."
A/N: So there you have it. Randomness and terrible writing. I hope you guys love this chapter! I'm so sorry for not updating in forever..heh…Life has been insane for me lately. I just started school last week and I'm already having practice for sports (ugh). So, if you have any ideas (more romance, more action, more wtf moments, whatever) please PM me or leave them in your review! Love you guys!
~KingdomKeeper1121~
