Carlos stomps out of the forest to the waiting Jay. He opens his arms to Carlos. He approaches Jay before rearing his fist back and socking him in the jaw with a right hook, knocking him away before Carlos takes a step closer and upper cutting him in the gut. He's filled with rage and betrayal.
"HOW COULD YOU?!" The tears came as he started wailing on Jay, toppling him over and laying into him with punch after punch. Thankfully his emotional state left him weak making his punches only barely hurt.
"I did it for us, Carlos. He was corrupting you, turning you against me." Jay argued trying to defend himself but this only frustrated Carlos more.
"No, you did that. You chose to act the way you have all because you're jealous that I'm in love with Ben. You might have just sent him to his death Jay. You betrayed me and everything I stand for. I don't want to see you again. Don't touch me and don't talk to me." Carlos shoved off of Jay and trudged up the hill back towards Auradon Prep. He had to stop, bracing himself against the wall before slipping down it letting the tears just come. His sobbing attracted the attention of Lonnie who was walking by with Jane. The two girls came running.
"Carlos, what's wrong?" Lonnie immediately kicking into big sister mode. Carlos tried to speak but the words kept getting stuck in his throat at first.
"Jay betrayed us. The pirates escaped the barrier and they have Ben. They'll kill him if they don't get Fairy Godmother's wand." Carlos sputtered between choked sobs. Jane gasped but Lonnie just pulled Carlos into her lap and held him, rocking him till the cry stopped. Lonnie looked at Jane.
"Go get Mal and Evie, we need to tell them what happened." Jane nodded and scurried off leaving Lonnie and Carlos. She held him to her chest, her worry making her heart pound, but she knew Carlos needed more comfort than she did. He was falling apart in her arms. The mix of Jay's betrayal and Ben's capture was all too much for him to handle. She didn't blame him, all she could focus on was helping Carlos for Ben's sake. Once he finally calmed down Evie and Mal came sprinting out.
"What the hell happened?!" Mal cried out in surprise at how broken-down Carlos was.
"Uma, Harry, and Gil escaped the barrier. Jay asked me and Ben to meet him in the forest to apologize. He helped them capture Ben. Uma and her two assholes want the wand in exchange for Ben. If they don't get the wand Uma's going to mess with the big spell on Ben." Carlos sniffled but his words made Mal stiffen. Evie gasped and leaned down hugging Carlos tightly. They all stood up and Mal's brows furrowed.
"Even if we give her the wand there is no guarantee she won't try to mess with Ben's spell. We need to know what that spell does. I have an idea, but I need confirmation. I need to speak with Fairy Godmother, you three need to work out some kind of plan, we can't give her the wand or Auradon is completely toast." Mal dictated and everyone seemed to nod in agreement. Carlos, Lonnie, and Evie headed back to Evie and Mal's dorm while Mal headed to the headmistresses' office.
Once she got to the ornately decorated door she knocked insistently and quickly. "Come in" Came that same old sugary sweet voice that Mal had come to be used to. It still made her nauseated to hear those syrupy tones, but she stomached it. She barged through the doors and Fairy Godmother's face fell from pleasant to unhappy. "Yes, Mal?" Fairy Godmother asked flatly.
"Ben is kidnapped, and someone wants to mess with the spell that we put on him. The problem is I don't even know what spell was used. I need to know how bad this could get." Mal was very serious, changing the good fairy's expression from unhappy to deeply concerned.
"Mal, we used a spell that has never been cast before. It's a time-reversal spell. We turned back time about two full years so that Ben wouldn't die. The spell clings to him because it's the reason he is alive. Removing the spell could kill him. However, it might not." The good fairy pondered for a minute.
"Might not? Explain." Mal demanded not wanting to waste any more time than necessary.
"Well because of the changes we made, the timeline was altered meaning so is Ben's fate. There's a chance, a slim one, that because of all the changes made since the reversal he may not die if the spell is removed." Fairy Godmother tried to sound positive, but it was mostly for effect. Mal knew when the good fairy said slim, she meant insanely slim, minuscule, one in a billion. It made her sigh heavily. "Oh and by removing that spell there would be a huge backlash of magic to the one removing it. There's no telling exactly how powerful or what the effects would be but suffice to say it took nearly all our magic to cast the beginnings of the spell, so the backlash would be immense. It would be completely overwhelming. However, that memory spell is why Ben remembers meeting you four, because he did. You all were friends for two whole years. With time rewound none of you remembered but Ben did because of your memory spell, that's why he had dreams." She further clarified. Mal suddenly felt light-headed sitting down in the visitor's chair across from Fairy Godmother's desk. She felt glimpses in the back of her mind, memories, fragments of memories coming back of her time with Ben and being in Auradon. She remembered casting the spells now. She remembered it all like a faint childhood memory. She looked at the good fairy as tears welled up in her eyes as memories of Ben's death overwhelmed her, the funeral and their friendship. It all came back to her now and so did the associated emotional baggage. She had to save Ben. She stood and gave Fairy Godmother a quick goodbye before hurrying back to her dorm. She needed to tell the others.