Heidi huffed as she ran outside and found herself alone in the area. Not even the puppies or Vetiver were over in this specific plot of land. The goddess smirked at the lack of individuals in the area and chuckled. "...Might as well work off the frustration. Works for dad...it'll work for me." She said with a shake of her head.
Using her magic, she switched her outfit for something much more 'workout worthy'. Her new outfit consisted of a black crop top, black leggings that elaborately tied near the heels of her feet, and a pair of black tennis shoes that appeared to glow a bit when she shifted.
Heidi placed her hands on her hips as she summoned a pair of black headphones with glowing cat ears. She floated them onto her head before pulling out her phone and opening up an app before scrolling through her song list. She hummed quietly before smiling and stopping at one. "...Perfect." She said, pressing the song before stretching a bit.
As the music started, Heidi stomped the ground, causing it to light up beneath her and glow in an otherworldly manner. She smiled before beginning what she called… 'dance fighting' that would later change to...experimentation.
Closing her eyes, she instinctively moved and danced around with ease as she went through the memorized steps in her head. Once she was done, she opened her eyes and waved her finger at her shoes, causing them to immediately turn into roller skates which allowed her to move around much faster.
Summoning her fire, she began moving faster as she kept her body low in order to get more speed. Looking at the symbol that she had carved during her initial dancing, she held her hand out and combined a bit of wind with it before letting it grow.
Heidi smirked as she noticed the small fire twister that was forming within the safe zone that she was circling at a rapid speed before summoning a bit of the new green fire she had yet to try out. She stared in awe at the, in her eyes, beautiful sight before her before shaking her head and whispering for the wind to speed up around her.
Once she was at optimal speed, she stopped circling the twister and instead skated backwards away while summoning her golden lightning to her hands. Holding her hands out, she projected the lightning into the twister, causing the now large fire tornado to start flashing lightning at the barrier it was contained in.
Heidi skidded to a stop and commanded the wind swirling around her to fly into the twister in an attempt to make it spin faster. She smiled in amazement as she saw it grow before she brought her hands up to her mouth and gently blew out a small ball of pure darkness. Looking it over, she nodded before tossing it at the twister.
Heidi let out a small laugh in outright awe as the twister turned pure black with the blue and green flames glittering like gems on the black tornado. The lightning changed to an angry red at the darkness that was suddenly there before it began shooting off erratically.
The goddess rubbed her in chin in thought. What could I add to it? She thought, wondering how on earth she could make it bigger and in turn a bigger challenge. Looking at her hand, she summoned her multicolored magic before smirking and firing off at the twister.
The winds blasted out once Heidi strayed close to it, causing her to grin massively and to skate backward away a bit. That did it. She thought with a chuckle, rubbing her hands together as she magiced her roller skates away and replaced them with her tennis shoes before beginning to approach the twister.
Once she reached the barrier, she chuckled and ran her hand over the almost invisible wall separating her from the raging storm. "Oh...You are so angry." She mumbled aloud, laughing quietly as she heard the wind whisper as it flew around her. "Yes, I know what I am doing. If I can go faster than the twister and pick it apart one by one, I'll be ready for whatever Zeus and any other storm god might throw at me." She told the wind which made a squeak-like sound as it crashed into the barrier. "Just stay out here, okay?" She asked, watching as the wind picked up a few flower petals and twirled around a bit in what seemed to be an 'okay'.
As the song ended, Heidi magiced her headphones off and pressed her hand against the wall before stepping through it and walking up to the twister with a smile. "Time to outspeed a magic twister." She said, her smile turning into a grin as her body became covered in flames and began sparking a bit before she took off at a dizzyingly high speed to circle the tornado.
Turning into what some would call a blue blur, Heidi continued picking up speed as she failed to notice a strange neon blue glow that began emanating form her chest. She held her hand out in order to start collecting the blue and green flames. In addition to the flames, she also attempted to start absorbing the darkness that she had thrown in the twister.
After a few minutes of her continuously speeding up, and the strange glowing energy spreading to more of her body, Heidi had successfully collected all of the fire and most of the darkness. The tornado was now, relatively, a regular tornado. A fast one, but not on fire.
The goddess quickly changed the direction and began running counterclockwise while she managed to siphon a bit of speed from the twister to make herself faster. Soon Heidi was running faster than ever, so fast that she herself was surprised at the rate she was going. Not like she was going to question it, not at the moment at least. Instead she just allowed the speed to continue to pick up around her.
Around five minutes later, Heidi had almost completely taken care of the twister when she finally noticed the glowing energy that was now everywhere. "What the…" She mumbled before shaking her head, deciding that she should get rid of the tornado before anything else and held out her hands to absorb the angered winds into her body.
Once the twister was gone and Heidi went ahead and cleared the weather above, she took a moment to look herself over. The energy that was surrounding her felt...fast. It felt as though it was trying to urge her to go faster and faster until everything around her became a blur. There was also the most curious of feelings as the energy embraced and curled around her body in almost a loving or protective manner.
At first Heidi wanted to pry it off or use her magic to somehow blast it away. Then came the thought of, "Why not just absorb it? Problem solved." Of course, then, came the realization that the energy could be something terrible like god-killer terrible and she might wind up dead and nobody would find her.
On one hand...I could die by strange magic possibly sent by my psychopathic mother or I could absorb it and nothing would happen. Heidi thought, raising an eyebrow as she attempted to brush off some of the energy and failed. She pursed her lips. "If it was from my mother...why am I only getting it now?" She asked aloud.
The question was truly a curious one, though, knowing her mother, it was quite possible for her to put a magic bomb within the bluenette on a timer and said timer was about to go off. And it's not like there were many solutions to getting rid of magic. Only a few came to Heidi's mind and those were throwing it at someone, absorbing it...or just throwing herself somewhere in hopes it would blow up with her and not around her.
The goddess's expression went into a deadpan as she collected her thoughts. "...And the end to all of those is death and possibly having to fill out paperwork to get my soul back to my body. If I even can..." She said with sarcasm heavy in her voice. She turned her focus to the glowing energy that seemed to be growing by the second before sighing. "Well...If it's my time to die...then so be it." She stated before taking a deep breath and beginning to absorb the energy into her body.
The woman's body took on an electric blue glow before a light overcame her for a few moments. Once it was gone, Heidi blinked a few times in slight confusion. "O...kay. That did absolutely nothing." She said with halved eyes before pausing as she felt something...strange.
Reaching up, Heidi's eyes widened once she felt hair...long hair. As in her hair length, she had grown from her years in Hell. She patted around her head in almost a panic before she grabbed a strand to look at it. The majority of her hair had turned a bright royal blue that ombre to a sapphire hue before shifting to azure with the tips of her hair ending in a glowing cyan.
Well, at least they won't pick on me about the dang tips anymore. The goddess thought before facepalming at the rather ridiculous thought and took a breath. "You absorb a strange energy that makes your hair grow back and get rid of your old lady tips and give you an, admittingly, badass looking hair color. What next, my eyes have shifted colors?" She paused and quickly walked over to the nearest reflective surface to check.
Sighing in relief once she noticed that, aside from a few extra glowing flecks, her eyes appeared to be perfectly normal. She looked at the rest of herself and tilted her head as she noticed an odd tattoo on the inside of her left arm. Heidi maneuvered her arm so she could see it better and blinked once she saw it in its entirety. The tattoo was of two glowing blue roses, a small gold butterfly on one of them, and a crescent moon with most of it hidden behind the two large roses.
Running her fingers over it, she traced the line and raised an eyebrow as she saw the tips of her fingers glow blue. Taking another moment or so to admire the tattoo, she stopped and shook her head. "Should probably do some research on this." She said quietly, grimacing at the thought of returning to attack more books on the subject of unknown energies.
Taking a glance at the now unmarked terrain, Heidi shrugged and shook her head. "...At least I didn't leave evidence of a massive twister, that's one problem avoided." She said before her eyes halved and she rubbed at her forehead. "Now just to explain the hair...and the tattoo." She mumbled before heading back inside with the room she had been staying in, in mind.
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Ara kept a focused expression as she looked at her list. It was of most importance that she had completed everything on it within two days. On the bright side, Susanoo has been helping. He had turned two days of work into three hours of work. Ara would happily take three hours over two days.
"Okay. There is one last thing I have to do concerning the people." Ara told him as her concentration was replaced by a smile as she looked at the list.
"Good." Susanoo began as he stretched a bit. "After that is free time." He said with a smile, stretching his hands before shoving them in his pockets.
Ara nodded. "Yeah. I have to make sure I get this one done." She reached down in her pocket with a panicked look on her face. To her relief, she felt something there and sighed. "Okay, this way." She said as she led him along the bustling city, making sure to wave at everyone she passed.
Susanoo ignored the staring he was receiving from most of the females nearby and shrugged. "So...what is this last task that has you so worked up?" He asked, looking down at her with a raised eyebrow.
She blinked before looking at him. "...There was this kid. A kid that I used to visit before I shut myself in my father's home. I used to visit him all the time while I did my rounds. That was before Mars began giving me a hard time." She explained. "Over a month ago, I promised to find something for him." Ara said, taking a break to say hello to a family she recognized before going back on course.
Susanoo nodded at that with a small frown before it cleared and he looked at her. "What did you get him? Or is it supposed to be one of those 'hush-hush' type of things?" He asked, smirking at his words in humor.
Ara nodded. "It's top secret. Completely confidential. I wouldn't want it to get stolen." She explained to him.
Susanoo 'hmmed' in thought. "Makes sense...Tell me later?" He asked with a smile.
Ara raised an eyebrow at that. "What are you talking about? You'll get to see it." She smirked as she waved for him to head a large community park.
"Aw...and here I thought I was getting told to wait outside," Susanoo said with a chuckle. "Since I'm a stranger with a pretty face?" He gestured to himself before shrugging. "Been told to wait outside for less."
Ara chuckled before saying, "When you stand by the princess, Ocean Princess, no one asks any questions." She said before heading into a shaded area with many trees.
"People still ask questions if I decided to stand next to my sister and the other chick who has power over the universe," Susanoo said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "I think it might be a thing with me."
"Perhaps," Ara said as she looked around. "As long as they are not offensive, I think you'll survive." She chuckled before calling, "Kai! Kai! Are you around here!? I'm back!"
Not thirty seconds after her call, a young boy came stumbling forth out of the tall grass. He looked no older than ten with jet black hair, well tanned skin, and deep brown eyes. He smiled widely before running over to her. "You're back! You're back! Geez...I thought you died!" He said, holding his chest for a bit as if he was going to have a heart attack.
Ara plainly shrugged. "Almost...but I didn't." She said with a smile. "Kai, this is Susanoo. Susanoo, this is Kai. The friend I was telling you about." She stepped aside with a smile.
Susanoo waved with an easy-going smile. "Sup." He greeted simply as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
Kai waved at him with a large smile. "Hello!" He said before looking him over. "I like your jacket!" He said before blowing a few his hair strands out of his face.
"Thanks, made it myself," Susanoo replied with a smirk, looking his jacket over in thought for a moment.
Ara blinked at that. "Wait, what? You know how to make jackets?" She looked at him with interest.
"Let's see...I know how to make my own clothes, knit, craft all sorts of stuff from furniture to jewelry, and I occasionally dabble in a few other things from time to time." Susanoo answered with a chuckle as his smirk widened.
Ara looked at him, clearly impressed before saying, "I...did not know that. You are pretty versatile." She said with a chuckle.
Kai thought for a bit before saying, "I know how to craft canoes, surfboards, and fishing nets." He said with a shrug.
"See, I never got into those since they all had to do with the ocean and...I'd be the moron to somehow mess up anything related to it. I don't do much crafting along the lines of ships and stuff, I know a few other gods that are quite good at it though." Susanoo said while rubbing his chin.
"At least you can craft," Ara said in exasperation. "I can barely make a stick man." She deadpanned while Kai laughed a bit.
"Aw...Do you want me to teach you how to knit?" Susanoo asked with mischief in his eyes and a playful tone to his voice.
Ara looked him up and down with amusement. "I don't need your pity." She said jokingly.
"Then I guess...I'll just knit using the clouds in my own time," Susanoo said innocently while looking away.
Ara rolled her eyes at him. "Okay...fine. You can teach me how to knit of all things." She shook her head with a smile.
"You'll get to be the first to try my products after my personal trial dummy tries them," Susanoo told her in humor with a smirk.
Ara shook her head at that. "I'll be looking forward to it." She chuckled before turning to a heavily amused Kai. "How long before you have to go back?"
Kai thought before shrugging. "Ah. I'd say twenty more minutes at least." He said with distaste. "Have you spoken to any families yet?"
Ara sighed. "I've got nothing in that department...again." She said as he looked to the ground sadly. "On another note…" Ara waved at him to get his attention.
She dug in her pocket to get the item she was worried about earlier. She held it tightly in her fist before she extended her fist out to him. "Hold out your hand. Close your eyes." She said.
He nodded and did what he was told as he closed his eyes tightly. Seeing this, Ara smiled as she opened her fist. When she did this, a familiar orange pearl landed in the boy's palm.
Upon impact, he opened his eyes in curiosity before they widened in shock. "...You found one?" He looked at it closer with a large smile on his face. "It looks just like my mother's." He said with a smile and wettening eyes.
Ara nodded proudly before saying, "I had a...little help." He gestured over to Susanoo. "Hey. Keep it close. Don't show it to anyone. I would hate for those other kids to do something to you." Ara said with a serious tone to her voice.
Kai looked back at her, his smile still remaining. He smiled at Susanoo in thanks. "Okay and...thank you. Both of you." He said before beginning to run off. "I got to catch the trolley! Bye!" He said, dashing off.
Ara waved before smiling. "Bye! I'll be back in a few days!" She called after him. Then, she turned back to Susanoo. "I told you you'd get to see it."
Susanoo shrugged with a smile. "And see it I did." He said before tilting his head. "Well, now I know why you wanted that pearl." He stated with a chuckle.
Ara nodded with a smile. "You see, Kai kept talking about an orange pearl that his mother used to have. One day I agreed to find one for him. Thankfully, you came along because I don't think I'd been able to do it on my own." She explained as she started walking. "The pearl reminds him of his mother, whom he lost in a tragic accident. He lost her right after he lost his father in...another tragic accident." She said with a wince.
Susanoo nodded in silent understanding. "I see. Good to know you did it for the kid." He said, appearing to be in thought about something before shaking it off.
Ara shrugged before saying, "I frequent the orphanages in the area. Me just being me. Doing stuff with the kids, answering questions, bringing holiday gifts, stuff like that. I try my best to do what I can for those kids. I know what it's like to be all alone." She said with a small frown.
Susanoo nodded and looked to the side for a bit before looking forward once more. "Well...It's a good thing you are doing." He said, sounding as if he had something else on his mind but chose to say what he said instead.
"So I've been told." She smiled. "It's...bittersweet." She smiled once more before looking at him. "Something on your mind?" She inquired.
Susanoo looked at her before smiling. "Nah, just a passing memory." He said, shaking his head. "You know how those are...show up at the most random of times." He told her with a chuckle.
Ara nodded at that. "Yeah, I do. Are you sure you are alright?"
"Yeah. It was just a fleeting memory, nothing to be concerned about." He assured her with a smile before promptly shrugging. "Besides, memories are just...memories. Can't exactly change them or go back and relive them. Maybe that's why they are called that." He mused with a thoughtful look.
Ara looked at him, nodded, then continued forward. "True. You can't relive memories or change them. They are in the past. The weird thing is, that they can change how you will react in the future. Isn't that interesting?" She looked up at him.
"It is...always has been," Susanoo said as he looked up at the clouds.
Ara looked at him before smiling. "Well, good news. The checklist is cleared. That gives me a whole day off and some extra time to help Heidi with her friendship problem. Shall we get started?" She asked, tilting her head with a smile.
"Sure...Something tells me that Heidi is going to be having a bit of free time soon." He said with a chuckle, a look entering his eyes that clearly said that he knew something she didn't.
Ara, not minding that, smiled and said, "Let's go then! If we want my plan to work, we need to catch CJ when she's in a good mood." She said, running off in the direction of their large home. "Yeah, I'm running! I need to get my steps for today!" She called.
Susanoo rolled his eyes in amusement before summoning a cloud and hopping on it. "Run as much as you want, I have clouds." He said as his cloud practically caught up within seconds.
Ara glanced at him with annoyance. "You're distracting me!" She said as she continued down their path.
"From what? Running?" Susanoo asked with a snicker.
Ara's eyes halved as she stopped running. "Aaaaaand...I've been distracted." She folded her arms with humor on her face as she looked at him.
"Still don't know how I'm distracting you, I'm just replying and sitting on this cloud," Susanoo said in an innocent manner.
Ara shook her head at him. "Don't you play innocent with me. You were snickering more than a candy bar." She said before snapping and causing a blue bike to appear. She chuckled while hopping on it.
Susanoo shrugged as his cloud began moving again. "Me? No. I'm behaving and sitting on this cloud." He said while laying back and closing his eyes.
Ara glanced at him. "Right...behaving. Do me a favor and keep behaving." She said with laughter.
"So...Do the opposite then?" He asked with a grin.
Ara blinked before looking at him with a smirk. "I am sure that you know what I mean." She shrugged. "Besides, behaving is boring." She smiled as she glided through the crowd.
"...I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing," Susanoo said with a chuckle.
Ara smiled in response and glanced at him. "Yeah. You keep doing that." She chuckled at the end while continuing her ride.
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Ara walked into the kitchen with her usual smile. The only difference was that she was looking for a certain blonde this time. Standing on her toes, she eventually caught sight of a brown bandana and blonde hair. Ara nodded at that before making her way through the bustling kitchen.
Ara walked toward the counter. "Hey, Chirpy! What's for lunch today?" She glanced at the different foods Chirpy had spread out.
The greenette looked back at Ara with a matching smile. "It's sandwiches today. Some are premade and others you can make them yourself." She shrugged. "I recommended you try the imported cheeses with a cold cut sandwich. Those are amazing!" She said with a smile.
Ara nodded before grabbing a couple of the already made sandwiches that were sitting out. "Thank you. These look awesome." She smiled before getting her beverage and heading to the table.
She looked around for a bit to see if her eyes could catch the brown bandana once more. Eventually, they did. Ara made sure to sit right beside the owner of said bandana and looked at her with a warm smile. "Good afternoon, CJ."
CJ, whose was mouth was wide open, about to take the first bite of her sub, said, "Oh...Hey, Ara." She said, about to eat her sandwich again.
Ara tilted her head to the side. "So...what do you think about Heidi?"
The blonde's mouth closed once again. This time, in confusion. "...Wha? ...Who?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ara blinked. "Blue hair...Audrey's wife…She rolls around in the wheelchair?" She said, trying to jog CJ's memory.
CJ took a moment before nodding. "Oh. Her." She finally bit her sandwich. "I mean...there's not much to say. I don't know her like that." She swallowed. "Besides, she's like this...super powerful goddess or something, I got nothin'." She said, taking another bite.
Ara nodded at that. "Hmm...now I'm seeing where the problem areas are." She said, talking to herself more than anything.
That didn't stop CJ from looking at her confused. "What?"
"I...am going to make sure you and Heidi become great friends." She said as she hit her own sandwich and smiled at the taste.
CJ looked at her for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry but are you crazy." She said with a deadpan. "Did you not hear anything I just said? I don't feel like dying early! You can't make me die early!" She said, taking her sandwich and putting it down.
Ara looked at her dryly. "CJ you are not going to die early."
"How do you know that!?" The blonde responded. "You know her! I don't! For some reason, people's first instinct is to not like me! If I piss her off, I get my soul ripped out!" She said with a fold of her arms.
Ara sighed before saying, "CJ, I need you to at least try. She's a pretty cool person, but she's not going to come to you. One shot? Just one?" She said with a pleading look.
CJ looked unimpressed with her look. "Hmm...one chance? This sounds like the beginning of a horror movie." She deadpanned.
Ara looked at her in a deadpan before her eyes lit up. This is one time she was glad CJ tells her everything. "Well...Heidi did mention she was Ama's best friend. If you are friends with Heidi, technically, it means you are friends with Ama too." She said with an innocent smile.
CJ blinked as she thought it over. Eventually, she rolled her eyes. "Just one." She said, grabbing her sandwich again.
Ara smiled in satisfaction before finishing up her sandwiches. "Awesome." She brushed her hands together and ridded of the crumbs.
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Later on, after lunch, Ara took CJ to the hospital room. CJ said it was against her will. Ara says it wasn't since she agreed to it earlier. They both went back and forth for a while, now they have arrived.
"Be on your best behavior." She told the woman.
CJ looked at her dryly as she readjusted her golden hilt. "Sure...don't have to tell me twice." She said with a roll of her eyes.
Ara shook her head, not wanting to waste any more time, and opened the door. She made her way in and said, "Hello. Sorry to come with no warning." She looked around before catching eye of Heidi's hair. "Huh...nice hair." She smiled as she practically pulled CJ into the room.
"It grew back." Heidi and Audrey said at the same time, only Audrey looked beyond happy at the fact while Heidi...looked exasperated and unhappy with it.
Not minding that, Ara said, "Great! The reason I'm here is to help with your...uh...friend problem." Ara said while looking at Heidi.
"My what?" Heidi asked, pausing to look up from the book to stare at her in confusion.
"You obviously have a problem with my group," Ara stated plainly. "I believe the problem is that most of them don't know you, see you as someone that doesn't relate to them, and you are also...intimidating." She said with a shrug.
"If I'm intimidating then my father is darkness incarnate," Heidi said dryly, gently whacking at Audrey's hands as the pinkette tried to play with her hair.
Ara blinked. "See...I have no idea what that means. That's the perfect example of the problem." She said, regaining her smile. She glanced at a confused CJ. "I am going to let you spend time with the group members you didn't get to meet during the other world trip. Spend some time one on one to get to know each other."
Heidi's eyes halved at the first part before she gained a questioning look. "Why would they want to spend time with me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ara shrugged before saying, "That's the thing. We don't know the answer to that question. We will never know the answer to that question until they give you a fair chance." Ara smiled. "I have a way with words. I'll be able to convince them to want to try and get to know you. Just like CJ." She said with a smile while CJ shrugged.
Heidi looked to the side in thought as she frowned. "I...guess. Not like most stay." She said, uttering the last part to herself while Audrey frowned and patted her on the back.
Ara nodded while CJ made a noise close to a murmur. Ara tilted her head. "Well, whenever you have free time, CJ has offered to be the first to try and get to know you." She smiled at CJ while CJ looked back at Ara in a deadpan.
Heidi looked down at all the books. "Well...I was just trying to get to the bottom of something...but the books didn't have the answers that I was looking for." She said, picking up the book in her lap and setting it off to the side, unknowingly flashing the rather large tattoo on her arm.
Ara glanced at the tattoo before asking, "So...you're free?" She said with a raised eyebrow.
"Pretty much, aside from stopping Audrey every two minutes since she keeps trying to braid my hair," Heidi said with halved eyes as Audrey abruptly retreated her hands away from Heidi's hair.
Ara nodded at that. "Awesome. Well, you two need to go find a bonding activity." She said with a smile. "I'll be monitoring from a secret location. Just to make sure everything is peachy between you two. I know how you and CJ can be." She said with a chuckle as she began to walk out of the room.
"Just as long as I don't see you 'monitoring' with a pair of binoculars...I won't go after you." Heidi said with a deadpan and halved eyes.
Ara laughed at that. "Nah. That's my dad's thing." She reached around her utility belt and pulled out a cylinder-shaped item. She extended it. "I use a spyglass." She said, looking through the telescope before putting it back on her belt.
"If I catch you, Imma shatter the glass part of your spyglass," Heidi said, her expression not changing one bit as she stared at the girl.
Ara looked at her in annoyance. "The first tip at making friends, if you have nothing nice to say don't say it at all. Kindergarten rules." She said before continuing her way out.
"I'm only discussing you invading privacy!" Heidi called out with annoyance. "And spying is invading!"
All they could hear was Ara going "Pffft!" from down the hall. "It's for a good cause! Go have fun!" She called in a teasing manner.
Heidi's eyes halved even further at that. "I'm gonna get her." She said in exasperation, absentmindedly whacking Audrey's hands away again.
CJ, who watched the whole exchange blankly, tapped her booted foot against the ground. "So…" She started. "Should we go somewhere or...stay in here?"
Heidi shook her head as she stood up off the floor and placed her hands on her hips. "Before...a situation happened earlier, I was practicing a few things outside." She said with a head tilt. "Situation happened, books, Audrey being obsessed, and we are all caught up now." She summarized while giving Audrey a half-eyed look when she mentioned her supposed obsession.
CJ blinked at that. "I guess we're not staying in here." She said with a shrug.
"I'm trying to give her some space so she'll quit it...so yeah, we are not staying in here," Heidi said, prompting Audrey to pout as she sat on the bed.
"Where are we going, then?" She raised an eyebrow. "Where do you want to go? There are plenty of places around here. Whichever one you pick…" She looked to the side.
"I was just using this open area outside since I didn't wanna stray too far. Not like it's an issue since my roller skates work perfectly fine on the grass." Heidi explained with a small shrug.
CJ looked completely confused at that before shaking her head. "Umm...are you going to...lead the way?"
Heidi shrugged once more before beginning to skate out to the garden. "I was originally out there for a few things. Practice, experimentation...Then I stopped for a bit. I can't practice my dance-fighting in peace nowadays without some random situation from occurring." She said, sighing softly at the end as she shook her head.
CJ gave a slight chuckle. "Dance fighting?" Her face gained a slight smile. "That sounds a lot less serious than it's supposed to be."
Heidi looked back at her with a small smile. "Audrey pulled me into her ballet practice, 'cause princesses have to learn ballet for some reason, and I learned a bit from it. Deciding that I would never use ballet for anything important, I took a moment to think before realizing that I could just...make it into a battle style." She explained with a small shrug.
CJ looked at her with interest before shaking her head. "I don't think I'll ever understand you. Although, I do like to dance, but more on the hip hop side of things." She shrugged. "A bit of shuffling and step too because I'm a pirate. I have to know that stuff."
Heidi nodded at that. "Yeah...I only recently learned how to dance a few years back since I wasn't exactly...allowed out while I lived on the Isle. That and my dad scared people to death as a practical joke." She said, trailing off at the end before shaking her head. "One of my cousins taught me some breakdancing since he's into that sort of stuff."
CJ nodded at that before saying, "Imma say it out flat. I had no friends on the Isle because, for some reason, people hate me. Ara, who I called dibs on, was my only friend for a long time. Even though she didn't use the word friend back then, she was a friend. We were allies since villains didn't have friends." She said as she smiled in reminiscence. "As for the break dancing, pretty cool. I'm more into footwork and illusions though."
Heidi shrugged. "I had no friends because my dad used me to threaten his enemies since I had my abilities intact. Everyone saw me, and still do most often, as just another monster who lived in the cave with the resident psychotic deity." She shook her head. "I only had friends when I was shipped off the Isle." She shoved her hands in her pockets.
CJ nodded before looking around the area. "I'm glad you found friends as soon as you left and went to Auradon. I didn't. I came to mostly...okay, to completely cause chaos. I would tell you the story behind that, but I have been told that I talk too much as is." She said with a shake of her head.
Heidi chuckled at that. "Nah...I didn't make friends. I only became friends with Mal and her group after we defeated her mother, Audrey was my roommate by some odd stroke of luck...And the only other friend I made before stuff went down...was Gil. We bonded over Uno and cookies." She said with a small smile. "Most of Auradon is still in heavy debate as to whether I am alive, dead, or some sort of zombie since I spent a few years down under." She kicked the ground to gesture where she had been before shrugging. "Either way, I'm not well-liked."
CJ chuckled at that. "Been there. I'm only liked by association." Then she smirked. "But...I do remember when I was still hated. I used Freddie to help me sneak into Auradon. The first time, no one took me seriously on the whole 'hostile takeover' until I ran into Ara later on. I was stealing and Hazel hit me on the head with a watch. After that, she took me to Ara." She explained with a small smile. "And let me tell ya. Ara was isolated by the king himself back then. If you were a 'friend' of hers, you automatically got out on the hate list."
"If anyone even spoke to me, Chad would add them to the "Friend of the Demon" list. I sort of 'stole' Audrey from him the day after I got out from down under and he tried to get everyone on his side." Heidi said with a small frown. "Every single time I disappeared he'd go around and would tell people to celebrate it." She shook her head while looking up.
CJ had a look of disgust before saying, "Bleh. Never liked that guy. He never really bothered us though. The boys were a lot meaner, Chester was way more mischievous, and Ara would have fried him like chicken." She said with a chuckle. "In our world, did you know that Hazel and Mal had a thing going on?" She said with humor.
"Yeah...I learned it one way or another. Sort of like how she had a thing for me before my stunt double Terra swooped in." Heidi said with a shake of her head. "If I didn't know better, I'd say she has a thing for anybody who has a bit of my dad in 'em." She told her with a smirk.
CJ chuckled at that. "Probably. Ara makes jokes about that all the time. That's why that stutter thing is so funny to us. Back then, Hazel used to stutter in nearly every sentence. Mal gave her a nickname. We just like to mess with Hazel these days by calling her the 'embarrassing nickname'."
Heidi chuckled at that and shrugged. "Well...I do have one interesting thing about the many people who had a thing for me. Uma was one of them for the longest time." She said in a casual manner.
"Really?" CJ said with interest. "Huh. Alternate worlds are weird." She said with a smile.
"Yeah. She had a thing until she got angry and, obviously, got over me. Then once I was back on the Isle...she knocked me out and shoved me in a broom closet for a while." Heidi said, looking around at the area.
CJ raised an eyebrow at that before chuckling. "Oh. Almost forgot. You do know that Ara stole Evie from Doug, right?" She said. "Back then, it was all the drama."
"Huh. Well, didn't know that one." Heidi said before stopping as she recognized the spot. "Interesting that they aren't a thing now and Ara is with my bestie's brother." She said with a raised eyebrow, absentmindedly rubbing at the tattoo.
CJ nodded at that before saying, "They called it off sometime before Elsa got engaged. Because that meant Ara had to move to Italy. It was going to have many complications since Ara was going to have princess duties while Evie's business was stationary. Besides, Evie would much rather stay in Auradon with all of her friends. So, they both agreed to be friends and that's that." She said with a shrug as she looked around.
Heidi shrugged at that. "Sounds like Evie alright." She stated with a small smile before shaking her head. "Audrey and I...let's just say we didn't plan on a marriage that soon. It's a long story...not nearly as romantic as you might think." She said with humor while lacing her fingers together.
"Good," CJ said casually. "I'm not exactly into all of that stuff." She folded her arms with a humored expression.
"Well...I could either explain it now or explain it when I have time in the next…" The bluenette looked at the watch on her wrist. "Month. Your choice of course, since it is a bit of a long story." She said with a chuckle.
CJ looked to the side before saying, "Better get it out of the way now since Ara wants us to bond. It's not like I have anything else to do anyway." She said, giving Heidi her attention.
Heidi shrugged and summoned a blanket for them to sit on. "Let's see...It started when Ben proposed to Mal. I wasn't there for it, I was on the Isle earlier getting my brother ready, but Audrey didn't take it well and was berated by her grandmother since Audrey would never be queen. When Mal and the others picked up the kids and we were all leaving, my dad, who I had told about Mal being on the Isle, tried to escape as the barrier closed. Using his ember, he attempted to absorb Mal's magic so that he could escape. During the exchange, my necklace, which was used to absorb magic, was hit by a beam from my dad's ember. The resulting blast threw me into a coma which ended up causing Audrey, who was already pissed off at Mal, to make a plan to steal the Crown of Auradon and Maleficent's Scepter." She said, shifting into a cross-legged position.
CJ blinked at the blanket, blinked at the woman, then raised her eyebrow. "O-kay." She sat down on the blanket and waited for her to continue.
"After Audrey had managed to get me back to our house, she put her plan in motion and stole both the crown and the scepter. The very next morning I awoke in this sort of...out of body experience. Literally. I was...almost like a ghost but I wasn't dead." Heidi said, trying to find the right words to use. "I asked Hermes who had done it and he said I had done it on my own. Soon after he had said that I went to find my dad...who I scared half to death because he thought he killed me…" She said with a small smile at the memory.
"Wait...so you were dead, but weren't dead?" CJ tilted her head in complete confusion. "Nope! I'm not even going to try and make sense of that! Carry on." She said, leaning on her fist.
"I like to just think that my body was asleep and my brain was roaming. Anyway, Audrey appeared soon after I went to find my dad and stole my ember." Heidi said, pulling out the large purple stone and showing it to the girl. "And my dog. My dog is a child of my dad's giant guard dog and has powers, so she figured she could use him when she wished to destroy all of Auradon." She paused, setting the ember on the blanket so the girl could look at it if she wanted to.
CJ looked at the ember with unsurity. "...Huh...that's different from our dimension." She said with a shiver at the mention of the dog.
"There are a lot of things that are different...especially the way my Audrey went about doing things. First, she took down Auroria, her home, turning her parents to stone before moving onto the main downtown area of Auradon until she branched out to the kingdoms and royals." Heidi explained pocketing the ember as she rubbed her chin. "The royals, all except for Chad's parents, were turned to stone and moved to the Fairy Cottage...the one in which Aurora was forced to hide in." She said in thought, closing her eyes for a moment.
CJ blinked before saying, "Man...I'm really glad I was born in this world." She said humor.
"Yeah...while half of Auradon was turned to stone the other half were out due to a sleeping spell. I know Agrabah was one of the kingdoms burned to a crisp along with Auroria, most kingdoms avoided that fate and were instead turned to stone." Heidi said, clicking her tongue to shake her head.
CJ nodded. "Kingdoms were either rock city or a bonfire. Got it." She folded her arms.
"Or sleepville," Heidi said with a small smile before nodding. "After she had her way with all of Auradon and the royals, she had planned on launching an attack against Olympus since the scepter, which, long story short, told her that my family screwed me over and would keep screwing me over unless Audrey did something. Thankfully, it was avoided thanks to an idiot who managed to convince her that my family wanted to help me...not control my life." Heidi explained with a momentary exasperated look at the thought of the particular god.
CJ tilted her head. "Alright. I think I got that."
"Pretty much...we avoided a complete war thanks to a moron who spoke smart for once," Heidi said with a shake of her head. "After that...the scepter told Audrey to combine my ember with the scepter itself, that way Audrey could beat Mal since Mal had gotten my father's ember. Turns out...my ember gave Audrey magic. So...I sorta transformed her unknowingly." She smiled and scratched the side of her head.
"I understood less than half of that." The pirate said with a blank expression. "The only thing I think I understand is Audrey getting magic…"
Heidi shrugged. "Basically...Audrey merged my ember-" She pulled out the ember and pointed at it, before using her magic to make an image of the scepter. "-With the scepter. This caused Audrey to gain magic and to become bonded to my ember like I am." She explained, waving away the image with her hand. "All so she could defeat Mal who had an object as powerful as this ember."
CJ shrugged at that. "I think I got the basics. The rest is...god stuff." She said, giving up before her mind exploded.
"The ember is...the scepter is cranky old Maleficent stuff." Heidi mused with a chuckle before shaking her head. "This...is where it gets a bit complicated. Hermes told me how big of a problem this was and led me to where Audrey before she combined the two. We knew we needed to get it back to normal otherwise Mal wouldn't have been the only thing destroyed. Since I wasn't close to waking up...Hermes came up with the plan of freeing my dad from the Isle since the other gods wouldn't be coming down to help." She said, trying to simplify her words to the best of her ability.
Now CJ nodded at that. "Thank you for speaking English." She said with a smile.
"I try, just doesn't always come out in simpler terms," Heidi said with a small smile. "So, once my father was free...those two came up with a plan. My father would shapeshift and take my appearance and voice then he would try to convince Audrey to separate the two and allow him to take the ember." Her eyes halved at the memory. "It worked well until he...got stuck."
A look of confusion made itself present on her face. "...He got stuck?" CJ blinked at that.
"He couldn't transform back to normal." Heidi deadpanned with exasperation.
"Right," CJ said with the same expression.
"My father hadn't practiced in so long...he didn't know how to go back to normal. Hermes, who said he'd get help, pretty much ditched my father. He threw a fit here and there...made Mal and Uma think I tried burning down a forest and did a poor imitation of me." Heidi said with a roll of her eyes.
CJ slowly nodded. "...Anything else?" She said, changing positions on the blanket.
"Let's see...Ah, right. Audrey kidnapped Celia and created a magic double to ruin my father's ember by dropping it in water. Then she pretty much held her hostage near the end of it while Mal tried attacking her with the ember." Heidi said, gathering her thoughts for a moment.
CJ, who somehow had popcorn and a soda with a curly straw, sipped her drink. "Interesting. This sounds like it would be a great movie." She chuckled.
"No kidding." Heidi chuckled as well. "Around that point, with the whole magic double thing, Mal had finally let it slip that they were closing the barrier for good. Next thing you know, everyone is angry at her, Uma and Harry were heading back...and that's when Audrey finally turned everyone but a few to stone." Heidi rubbed her chin. "It was also about the time that I woke up and was flying back." She stated in thought.
CJ licked her lips after stuffing her mouth full with popcorn. "Whhappen ffft?" She swallowed. "Sorry. What happened next?" She offered the other woman some popcorn.
Heidi took some and ate it before nodding. "Once I got there, I summoned my pegasus in order to fly up to where Audrey was and try to talk her out of it. Meanwhile, Mal was waiting down below since I was trying to destroy the scepter in order to free Audrey from it. I managed to get Audrey to let Celia go and calm her down enough into giving me the scepter...but when we destroyed it, we found out that Audrey had, unknowingly, been cursed by it. Cursed to go straight into the nasty part of Hell." She said with a shake of her head as she stole some more popcorn.
CJ sipped her soda and offered Heidi one since she somehow had gotten another. "Uh-huh. Next." She said eagerly.
Heidi opened the soda and took a sip before continuing. "I had taken Audrey back while Mal told my dad that Audrey's soul was in limbo. My dad immediately went down into the Underworld to find it before it was too late. Since Audrey's soul was cursed when she touched the scepter, that meant that a certain...being down in the Underworld was going to take the soul to a place where it could never be retrieved or found. It took...well it felt like months while we waited for my father to return with the soul." She said, her voice softening at the end.
CJ smacked her lips at that before looking to the ground. "What happened after that?" She looked at her with curiosity.
"After that, I had told Mal the solution my family had come up with. The solution that would allow Audrey to not have to serve her life behind bars because she destroyed kingdoms and turned everyone to stone or knocked them out. This is how Audrey and I ended up married. I was told that if I were to marry her she would no longer be under Auradon's jurisdiction and instead would have to follow a punishment handed down by Zeus. Ironically...He just thought that having to be married to me was punishment enough." Heidi explained before her eyes halved and she shook her head at the end.
CJ nodded at that with a smile. "It's official. Our dimension is way nicer than yours." She said with a chuckle.
"Well, I doubt the Audrey in this dimension set a few kingdoms on fire," Heidi said with amusement heavy in her voice. "My Audrey...she just followed the hatred in her heart and listened to the hatred that the scepter had. I guess she didn't get the push here to cause mass destruction." She said thoughtfully, sipping at her drink.
CJ shook her head. "Nope! Not here. I'm glad that Ara and Hazel found their family before all of that happened. Knowing them, at least one of them would have gone team Audrey." She said, finishing her soda.
"I know my Audrey got recorded as being in the top five villains...The only reason she didn't get first place is because Maleficent is...Maleficent and my father didn't involve the rest of the world when he pretty much destroyed Greece in his attempt to take over Olympus." Heidi explained with a chuckle.
"Really?" She said with interest before nodding. "Ara would have made it if she had never found her mom. She had taken the time to train every single last one of us so we wouldn't bail like Mal and the others. I mean, she was really invested. She wanted to burn everything to a crisp, Kill Ben's family including Ben, and basically break all of the villains out of the Isle. That could only lead to more trouble." CJ shrugged. "Now we're just chilling. We missed all of the...Audrey stuff."
Heidi nodded at that. "My purpose when I came to Auradon wasn't for the wand...I only came to get my ember so I could take down the barrier and free my father on the coronation day. He trained me for it the moment he knew I could handle his training. I waited my entire life just for that day so we could get out and overthrow Olympus...then Ben butted in and dragged me off the Isle." She finished with a shrug. "It was all over in my mind once I met Audrey. The plan to bust my dad out? Gone."
CJ nodded before thinking for a moment. "I...Hmm….feel out of place learning this much about you." She said as her brows furrowed.
"People know lots about me...but I do not always know lots about them," Heidi said with a small shrug and a smile.
"I mean, Ara mentioned that you are having issues with the group, right?" She said while folding her arms.
"I...wouldn't call them issues. I just don't have very good luck when it comes to befriending people...unless they are gods that is. With Hades being my dad...you can imagine the looks I get along with what people come up with." Heidi said, her smile slipping into a frown.
CJ frowned as well. "I just feel like...you...how do I put this without screwing things up…" She thought for a moment. "This...is the first time I've heard any of this and word travels fast here." She chuckled. "That means you didn't tell anyone this stuff. I'm thinking that this is part of the problem. You are Ara's best friend right?"
"Yeah. I mean...I hope we are." Heidi said, rubbing at her tattoo in a somewhat nervous manner.
CJ nodded at that. "Heh...I'm thinking there is some separation here. Not with me. I'm just getting to know you. I mean with the people you already know." She said before looking at her. "How much does Ara know about you? How much do you know about her? To be best friends you guys have to be on the same level on everything. Meaning, you have to know them front to back. Just like family." She explained with a small smile.
"I know...That's why I call Ama my bestie...because I learned all about her, kept her company when she couldn't return to earth...I could talk to her no matter the hour or whatever situation she may be in. Ara...I just feel like she either doesn't have time to speak or hang out with me anymore or uses the time to do something else. I mean...not many people take time to hang out with me." Heidi said with a sigh as she closed her eyes.
CJ looked at her with sympathy. "I'm pretty sure you are tired of hearing this, but time has passed. What you don't know is that Ara missed you terribly. The main reason she is so busy is because she tried to keep her mind off of the other world and the people she knew in it. After a while, she basically gave up on waiting on you to return and dove into the people and her work as a royal goddess. It was a distraction. I know about this stuff only because she really needed someone to talk to one day and I caught all of that." She said with a shake of her head.
"It's just...How do I know that she would want to use the time to hang with me when she could instead choose any of you over some random chick who lost her memory and didn't check back for two years?" Heidi asked with another sigh. "You are a 'now' friend...I am something that shouldn't be here if my mother hadn't given me my memories back. I am supposed to be something that was left in the past and here I am."
"It is what it is," CJ said blankly. "The memory thing, everyone understands that. You didn't remember, they made themselves forget. Time passed and here you are, but you need their help."
"But...Nobody wants to choose somebody they left in the past versus a dear friend in the present. Friends they have known for many years hold more value than one friend they knew for far less time." Heidi said as she shook her head and laid on her back.
CJ chuckled at that. "We've known Ara for way longer than two years. Hazel is Ara's long lost twin sister, JR and Trip are her loving adoptive brothers, I was her friend since childhood, Geo met Ara when she was causing power outages and became isle allies, and Uma...she was Ara's friend when she was an orphan and had no one." She took a breath. "Guess what?"
Heidi shook her head and didn't bother to look up. "What?" She asked with an unknown emotion in her voice.
CJ took a breath before saying, "...She never called us 'best friend'. The only time I heard it come out of her mouth was when it referred to you." She adjusted her position again.
Heidi shook her head. "I...There is probably something else. I am not one of you, I am and will always been the outcast unless I am verbally told that I am with them." She said with a frown.
CJ chuckled at that. "Apparently you didn't hear the pep talk." She shook her head. "If they didn't care about you, why are they preparing to risk everything for you?"
"So they are safe...and I can just leave them alone or…" Heidi mumbled with a sad frown.
"Or you can see what's stalling the relationship and fix it." She said with a smile. "The boys...You weren't as close to them as you were Ara. It's obvious that you and Ara are off."
"They wouldn't want to hang with me. I'm the daughter of Hades...it speaks for itself." Heidi said, laying her arm over her closed eyes.
"Yeah. You are the Daughter of Hades. The lover of chocolate. The one who loves strawberries. The one who protected them from the gods. The one that took them on the greatest adventure of their lives? You know they really said that, right? They give you credit for finding themselves." She said with a shrug. "Even if we haven't met you, we've heard about you one way or another."
"Yeah but...if they have a life of their own in which they are happy and successful, why should I be the one to bring it all crashing down? I...It wouldn't be good…" Heidi mumbled with a frown.
CJ nodded at that. "I understand your logic, but...how are we supposed to fight by your side...if we all are not on the same page?" She looked at her with mild confusion.
"I just assumed you'd all follow Ara...and left me to my own thing. You know, stay in a group that you trust? Allow the outcast to be on their own." Heidi said, breathing out through her nose as she turned on her side.
CJ blinked at that. "But, I thought you told, Ara, Hazel...whoever. I thought you said they would be with you during battle. Hence, the rest of us will be with you too."
"I said...They said they would, but how can I know that when the moment comes...they will stay by a friend that they hardly know anymore versus those they love dearly?" Heidi asked with a huff and a sigh.
CJ looked down at that. "We are not just friends. We are family and we treat each other like family. Ara brought us all together...that's why she takes the lead." She shook her head. "I digress. Anyway, it's not too late to join the family."
"...Why would you want me? There is...somebody out there in my world that is destroying anything and anyone that ever meant anything to me. If you...any of you, befriend me or accept me...you have just put yourself on her hit list." Heidi said with a sigh and shook her head.
"As unpleasant as that sounds, I don't think we're going anywhere." She said, looking down at her.
"And...everyone else would agree with that statement?" The bluenette asked in a quiet tone.
CJ nodded. "Well...yeah. I mean, Freddie and Uma aren't fighters, but they'd at least see us off. Wish us the best." She brought her knees to her chest. "Ara is not backing down. I know how she is. She will willingly put herself in danger for anyone of us. If she is willing to do the same for you, that means you are one of us." She said with a sigh.
"Then why...why have none of you come to see me? Audrey, everyone accepted her because she's...perfect. I'm just...me." Heidi said with a soft sniff while moving her arm to stare at the grass.
CJ winced at the sound of the sniff. She looked to the side. She never had been good with emotional stuff… "Well...we have been by the room. That room stays being visited. Word around the place said that you were nearly always sleeping. After that...there was a ton of chaos. Not to mention our vacation is over and we all have to go back to work." She said the last part with thought. "Ara and Chester have worked things out so that we can work from here without leaving. I guess we've been distracted. I didn't know you so, originally, I didn't visit. I figured why waste my time. No one likes me at first glance anyway." She said with a shrug.
"And I'm supposedly a soul-stealing demon that is the daughter of a psycho...I don't have anybody that is friends with me because of that. I have family...and I have lost so many of them to the other psycho in my family. The fact that I have tragedy following me should be the first sign that you shouldn't try to change and fit me in." Heidi said summoning a tiny green flame between her hands that she began playing with.
CJ frowned at that. "Who said anything about changing you? You're fine, I guess. The only thing that I recommend is talking and connecting with them. Make sure you connect. That's the most important." She said, laying on the other side of the blanket.
"But you have lives...jobs. You aren't like my family and can just snap a billion dollars on the spot or make anything we want appear so we can spend time with each other. You have things that you enjoy and I don't want to ruin that all with my presence." Heidi said as the flame in her hands turned a deep shade of blue, almost like the fire was made out of water instead.
CJ looked at her again. "Your family are gods. The vast majority of the group are normal, everyday people. Ara and Hazel may be goddesses, but they weren't raised that way."
"So I would be ruining everything with my presence. Interrupting all things you had planned, meetings, your jobs...Everything." Heidi said, blowing at the flame before closing her eyes.
"Yeah." CJ agreed with her with a nonchalant look. "But...I'm willing to lose that."
"You may be...but everyone else may not be willing to push aside something for me," Heidi muttered out with a small shake of her head.
"If I was the only one, I would be the only one with magic. I would also be the only one training in the morning. If you were around more, you'd notice that the boys even started to wake up earlier." CJ played with the fabric of the blanket. "Ara is over my group. She is aware of most of my powers and had been working with me. Who do you think she is doing all of this for?" She tilted her head.
"You say that yet she can't even find a minute to speak with me unless I have somebody important or she likes standing beside me," Heidi said as she laid on her back again. "What...What is up with that?"
CJ let out a sigh. "Can I be honest with you?" She looked at her.
"I would pay somebody to be honest with me at this point," Heidi said with a sniff as she shook her head.
"I think...I think she's scared, Heidi." CJ said with an unreadable look on her face.
"Of me or because of the monster waiting to destroy everything?" Heidi asked with a frown.
CJ shook her head. "Neither. She's scared of how she felt when you didn't show up. This...is why it's very important to get to know your best friends fully." She said softly. "On the bright side, I can help with a little. Umm...Ara hates the feeling of being forgotten. On the Isle, she was an orphan and looked after herself. I'm not sure what happened before that. You have to either ask Ima or Ara herself, But I do know that she didn't get claimed by the Gastons until she was eight." She explained. "Before then, she felt forgotten and abandoned by her real family. She went to find them and found no one. Till this very day she doesn't know how she ended up there. When you didn't show up, your memory had been tampered with, it...kind of took her back if you know what I mean." She said with a sigh.
"I...I didn't mean to...The only one that ever said something felt wrong was Mal. Always saying how she felt as though she was on the verge of remembering something but could never fully grasp the memories." Heidi said with a sniff. "I...I don't remember saying or doing anything that even relates to you guys…" She said in a soft voice, wiping at her eyes.
CJ shrugged at that. "Your memories had been jacked up. Not like we knew that. We know that now and no one holds anything against you. Ara just got hurt. Usually, when she's hurt, she buries herself into her work. Whether it be taking down Auradon or being an Ocean Princess. It's her way of putting a bandaid on things." She explained while looking at her with a soft gaze.
Heidi shook her head. "I'm still the cause...If only I had remembered for even a split second." She said, obviously unhappy with herself as she closed her eyes.
"Hey. It is what it is. You can't change the past. However, what you do in the present can change the future." She folded her arms. "It sounds like you two just need to talk. You know. Like you guys used to."
"How can we do that when she doesn't want to talk with me and I...don't want to ruin anything else." Heidi said, moving to sit up a bit.
CJ nodded before standing. "Just say this, "Ara, I need to talk to you. This is of the utmost importance." As a princess and because of the agreement you two have, she has to listen." She said using her best regal voice. She marched in place. "Then you guys walk somewhere private, talk it out, cry it out, then you guy's friendship garden is growing again." She said before sitting back down.
Heidi looked at her with an uncertain look in her eyes as she fiddled with the blanket. "...You sure she'd listen after I screwed up everything?" She asked with a small tilt of her head.
CJ nodded confidently. "Of course. I know Ara like the back of my hand." She said, moving her hand around. "You will too if you listen to me." She pointed to herself.
Heidi slowly nodded as she made a notepad appear along with a pen. She flipped through the heavily written in notepad before pausing as her eyes widened for a moment. She stared at the page before marking something and moving on. "...Uh, yeah. I'll be sure to study my notes…" She said with a shake of her head.
CJ raised an eyebrow before shaking it off. "It will be fine. Convenient too. Susanoo helped Ara with her errands. She has the whole day off." She placed her hands on her hips as she stood.
Heidi nodded as she made her way to her feet and made her notepad disappear. "Now I just need to find her…" She said, trailing off as she also made the blanket vanish.
CJ tilted her head. "She's either back at the house or touring Italy as always. I would check the house though. She just went out, so she shouldn't be going anywhere." She shrugged.
Heidi rubbed her chin and looked back at the house. "I'll look around, maybe ask Audrey if she's spotted her since she likes to wander." She said with a thoughtful look.
CJ nodded at that. "Good call. In the meantime, I need to go practice. Then I have to drop into the studio. Nice talking with you though. I'm sure this won't be the last time." She said with a small smile.
"Hopefully...It won't. See you later." Heidi gave her a small smile before disappearing in a column of blue fire.
Now that CJ was alone, she smirked. "Maybe that will fix things around here. Ah..I'm such a good person." She chuckled at herself before zooming off into the horizon.
