"Morgana."
Mal gasped. Even as Queenie said the woman's name, memories were flooding back to her. The name. Everything she'd learned about the wicked sorceress in Badness class when she was younger. Next to Maleficent, Morgana was the most feared villain in all of Auradon, mostly due to her sudden disappearance when Beast imprisoned all the villains. She'd never been caught. And the sign Mal had seen in her spell book. The sign is hers.
But what is she doing here?
How is she here?
And why is her sign in the museum when she can't possibly be the chosen one?
The woman, Morgana, turned towards Queenie and Evil Queen impatiently. Queenie quickly dropped to one knee and Evie's mother gave a small gesture that was close to a bow. "It took you long enough," she spoke to the two villains, her voice steely and emotionless.
"My apologies, my Queen," Queenie muttered, averting her gaze. "But we ran into a bit of...difficulty." Her gaze fell hatefully on Evie and Doug as they stood up and moved cautiously to join Mal and the others near the back of the room. Mal noticed that Evie's eyes were watering, as though she was crying or struggling to hold back her powers again.
Morgana didn't blink. "I see."
Mal frowned. The woman's body seemed to be made out of thin air or dust. It kept flickering in and out, disappearing and reappearing in a different place. And her feet...she seemed to be standing on a cloud of air. It was a phenomenon that puzzled Mal. Although she'd learned a few things from Maleficent, Mal was far from being as experienced as that. It was...incredible. And terrifying. Definitely terrifying.
"And they have Maleficent's weapon." It wasn't a question.
"W-who is this?" Ben stammered, lifting his sword nervously. He may not have known who this new arrival was, but he was smart enough to know that she was not on their side. "Mal, what's going on?"
"I don't know," Mal admitted honestly. She pointed her own blade at the sorceress. "But that's Morgana. And I think she's here for the Dragonfires."
"Morgana? As in-"
"As in the one your father tried to lock away on this blasted island twenty years ago," Morgana hissed, turning to face him. "Yes."
Mal saw her raise her hand and knew what was going to happen and didn't hesitate. "Evie...DO IT!" She didn't turn around. She didn't have to. The light emitting from the bluenette's body was blatant enough. "Take cover!" she hissed to Ben, shoving him to the ground. At the same time, Carlos grabbed Jane and pushed her down while Lonnie and Jay took cover behind an old couch. Doug threw his arms over his head and ducked down behind Evie, bracing himself for a loud explosion.
"GET DOWN! SHE'S ABOUT TO BLOW!" Queenie shrieked, diving for cover as the Evil Queen did the same. Even though Morgana whipped around, it was far too late. The light burst from Evie and shot towards the sorceress. Mal covered her eyes, expecting the woman to go flying backwards like she'd done the first time Evie had used her powers. To her immense shock, and horror, Morgana simply held out her hands and caught the light as though it was nothing more than a baseball, crushing it in between her hands with a small smirk.
"That's it?" she sneered as the teens stared on in shock. "That's all you've got? Tiny magic tricks can't hurt me!"
"Well, try this one on for size!" Jay suddenly burst from hiding and vaulted the couch, holding his glowing Dragonfire in front of him. A second passed, and suddenly a huge ball of fire seemed to shoot from his hand.
Morgana just hovered there as the wall of flames sped towards her. At the last possible minute, her body split in two, creating a hole for the fire to shoot through and explode into the mountain of rubbish behind her. Jane screamed and Doug blanched as the sorceress pulled herself back together and whipped towards Jay.
"JAY! LOOK OUT!" Mal screamed.
It was too late. With one swift movement, Morgana sent Jay flying backwards through the air and he crashed down on a bunch of cooking wear.
"JAY!" Everyone screamed. Carlos, Jane, and Lonnie started towards him but where stopped abruptly by Queenie's army of shadows. As the three battled to get free, Evie and Mal hurried towards Jay who was struggling to get back up. Evie reached him first and heaved him to his feet as Mal caught up. Doug and Ben joined them a moment later.
"That is not going to help!" Mal gasped as they gathered together, eyeing the villains as their friends continued to battle. "We need a plan! The Dragonfires-they will injure her if we can land a direct hit. So, here's what we're going to do...Evie, Ben, Jay, go left. Uma, Harry, go with them. Carlos, Jane, Lonnie, and Gil, go right. Doug," she turned to address the dwarf. "You come with me."
Everyone nodded.
"Go!" Mal snapped and they broke apart into their distinct groups. Mal didn't hesitate. She grabbed a hold of Doug's arm and yanked him after her. "Come on, come on!" she hissed, not glancing back. "Move it!"
"Mal!" Doug yelped as he was drug across the room. "What are we doing? What are the others doing? Where are we going?"
"Just shut your mouth and follow me!" Mal snapped as they darted out of the room and back down the stairs towards the exit. "There's something I need to tell you," Mal added as they crossed the moat and turned only once they were a good distance away from the castle. "It's about Evie."
Doug frowned. "Mal...can't this wait? I think we have bigger problems to deal with right now..." He gestured towards the upper tower where sporadic bursts of light could be seen.
Mal shook her head. "No! This is too important! Doug, do you know the legend of the chosen one? The Legend of the Lost?"
Doug nodded. "Of course I do! Everyone knows the legends that-" He froze, eyes widening as the realization crashed over him. "Wait...you're not saying...Evie...You are! How? Why?"
"Her father is the huntsman," Mal explained. "She is descended from a hero and a villain."
Doug fell back against a wall with a look of horror and shock, his breath seemingly taken away. "Wow. Evie. And you're sure?" He glanced up at her hopefully. She knew what he was thinking. Maybe she'd made a mistake. Maybe it wasn't Evie. Surely not Evie. But it has to be. Mal thought of all the magic flares that her friend had been experiencing. They weren't ordinary spells...certainly not ones that Evil Queen had ever had. Everything pointed to Evie. She was the chosen one. She had to be.
"Yes," Mal told him. "It's her. I'm sure of it."
Doug nodded weakly. "Does she-"
"Know?" Mal finished for him. "No. Not yet. There hasn't exactly been an opportune moment to tell her, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah..."
"All right," Mal went on with a deep breath. "I want you to stay here. No," she added quickly as he opened his mouth to argue. "I'm not going to argue with you on this. Evie can't focus on defeating anyone if she's worrying about whether or not you're safe and you know I'm right so don't even try and try and debate this with me."
Doug merely nodded his consent. "You're right. I won't be much help in there anyway. Here." He fished around in his pocket for a moment before revealing the silver Dragonfire and handing it to her. Both noticed the hissing noise as it passed hands but neither said anything. "Take this. Maybe you'll have more luck than I did."
"Doug..." Mal began hesitantly. She knew he was feeling worthless. She didn't know how to comfort him. Evie knew him much better than Mal. Mal had always been too busy falling in love with Ben or plotting revenge to take the time to get to know him. She hated herself for it. What would Evie do? "I-"
"No...it's okay." Doug gave her a pitiful attempt at a crooked smirk as he hopped up on a fence and crossed his arms patiently. "I'll wait here for you guys. Just don't forget me when you go back to Auradon, all right?"
Mal stared at him. How could they possibly forget? Evie would kill them.
Doug smirked for real this time. "That was a joke, Mal." Though he was being humorous, the doubt was still evident in his words and in his eyes.
Mal hesitated, and then nodded slowly. "Stay here," she told him as she began to back away. "And I mean it," she added. Doug raised his hands innocently. Mal raised an eyebrow but turned on her heels and started back towards the castle, fingering both Dragonfires nervously and taking a long deep breath.
Doug sighed too. He sat back against the wall and rested his head against the bricks, closing his eyes tightly. Evie...how could it be Evie? He'd heard the stories. Every hero's kid had. His mother had told him them when he was just a child. He felt his heart squeeze at the memories. Sitting beside the fire after a cold day sledding in the snow with the woodland animals, his mother would tell him tales of a time when villains and heroes lived together as friends...and the day when they would again. He remembered dreaming of that time, drawing it in his notebooks when he should have been studying. For a long time, he'd hoped and prayed that he'd get to see that day. And now, was it possible that the legend was about to come true?
He glanced up towards the castle, watching as light illuminated everything. That was good, right? That meant his friends were still fighting. But could they win against Morgana? They'd studied her in History of Auradon class back in tenth grade. Apparently she was one of the most powerful beings in the world...next to Merlin himself, of course. And the two had never gotten along well. Morgana had wanted to control the world by raising an army of the undead and Merlin left all his magic to the Prime Merlinian, an average everyday boy who lived outside the borders of Auradon. She'd been defeated and Ben's father had attempted to bring her here...but she'd managed to get away. Though it was still unclear how, Doug personally suspected that it had something to do with her abilities to shape-shift.
Evie can do it. She can beat Morgana. And if she really is the one, then, maybe, this is the last time we'll have any trouble with the villains.
It was a wishful thought. The villains would always be villains. It would take more than one confrontation to stop a war. But it was a start. A start that Ben had initiated. He'd changed everything. Maybe...just maybe...his friends stood a chance.
He inhaled deeply and opened his eyes, staring up at the stars. Evening had come on quickly. It had to be at least...ten o' clock. He glanced at his watch. They had been in there for half-an-hour. Had they done it? Had they won? Was it all over?
He was just considering going back and making sure that everything was going okay when there was a loud crash from overhead. His head shot towards the sound, jaw dropping as the window in the tower shattered and a dark cloud of dust burst from inside and disappeared into the heavens. A loud scream of "NO!" followed promptly and Doug could make out Mal's purple hair as she stuck her head out the window and beat her fist against the frame in disgust.
Two minutes later, everyone hurried through the front door and Doug rushed over to join them. "What happened?" he demanded, grabbing Evie's arm as she hurried past him. "Evie, what did she do? Did you stop her? What was that thing coming out of the window?"
She hesitated before turning to face him. "Doug, I'm sorry, but we really don't have time to talk. Morgana got away. We have to go after her." She started off again.
"She what? She got away? Where? Where is she going?"
"Doug-" Evie began again.
"We failed," Lonnie groaned as she and Jane walked by. "We weren't...strong enough."
"Okay," Mal interrupted, appearing among the group a moment later. "This is no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We've got a bigger problem. Everybody take your Dragonfires." She handed Doug his back with a meaningful glance. "We've got to stop Morgana once and for all."
"How do we do that?" Doug questioned. "Where is Morgana going?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Mal asked, turning to face him slowly. "She wants revenge. There's only one place Morgana would go."
The direness of the situation was evident in every word she said.
"We have to get back to Auradon before she does."