Ch.12
Just as the sun began to set over the horizon, a limo pulled up to the front steps of Auradon Prep and Evie eagerly opened the rear passenger door. Before she could utter a single syllable of welcome, Evie's arms were full of squealing, messy haired, bespeckled Dizzy. The moment Dizzy had seen Evie poised at the bottom of the steps she'd nearly launched herself out the car door. Diego, Maverick, Gil, and Maggie followed her at a much more sedate pace, already in shock over the opulence that was laid out before them.
"Well, it's no wonder you guys chose good, this place is like heaven," Diego said, his eyes wide as he slowly turned in circles.
"And this is just the outside. Welcome everyone to Auradon Prep," Evie said, her arms still wrapped around Dizzy's shoulders.
"We're not really going to have to do all the chores here are we?" Maggie asked, her voice so meek Evie barely heard her.
Evie shook her head and gave the petrified looking girl a warm smile. "Not at all, everything here is taken care of for you. No laundry, no dishes, no scrubbing floors, no dusting; you don't even need to make your bed if you don't want to."
"Is it all done with magic?" Maverick asked.
"No, there is a very large housekeeping staff, kitchen staff, laundry staff and a bunch of other people who take care of your every need and want. You'll be paired up, but you get rooms of your own with a private bathroom in each and the most comfortable beds you've ever felt. There are three square meals a day with as much food as you want, so you'll never be hungry again," Evie replied, leading the group into the main dormitory hall. She recognized the unbelieving, almost suspicious looks the kids were giving her and immediately felt guilty. While Ben had intended to bring over more kids from the isle, it felt a bit underhanded to be doing it now, right before a potential war.
"So, where's everyone else?" Diego asked as they walked down deserted hallways.
Evie pretended not to understand the full question. "Mal is with a friend doing some homework, while Jay and Carlos are on a camping trip with my boyfriend Doug."
Diego's eyebrows shot up in disbelief but he held his tongue. He knew there was more to this whole student transfer story then the Auradon guards had fed him, but he wasn't sure if it was something Evie knew or just wasn't comfortable discussing around the younger kids. Afterall Mal was as likely to be doing homework, as Carlos was to be taking a camping trip as Diego was to wave a magic wand and start granting wishes like a fairy. He certainly hoped Carlos would be back soon and could help fill him in.
"You're leaving?" Jane asked as Mal helped the girl clean up the dinner dishes.
"Just for tonight, I'll be back right after breakfast tomorrow morning. Ben got a few more of our friends off the isle today and I really want to make sure they're okay," Mal replied.
"Oh, of course, I didn't mean to keep you here all day. You already know this stuff so it must be horribly boring, though it really was nice practicing with you," Jane said, her crestfallen eyes downcast as she fidgeted with a plate.
Mal tried to keep from groaning, she didn't know where Jane learned that pathetic, heart wrenching, kicked puppy look but it was more effective than anything she'd ever seen before. How Fairy Godmother didn't seem phased by it, Mal would never know. "It was a bit tedious, but I never got to do more than read spells and pretend to cast them while I was on the isle, this is the most magic I've ever done, and I enjoyed doing it with you too."
The smile that exploded across Jane's face was worth all the hours of swishing and flicking today; no matter how sore her wrists were. "Thank you so much, Mal! I can't wait to see what we'll learn tomorrow, I'm actually excited to learn about magic. All these years my mother has insisted that it was for the best I never learn, but now it's all I can think about. Fairy Ida said I'll even be going to a special fairy training school after this and someday I might be as great a fairy Godmother as my mom."
Mal chuckled at Jane's enthusiasm, she didn't think she'd ever seen her so happy; except perhaps when talking about her dream date with Carlos of course. Speaking of which, did Carlos know about this fairy school? Trying not to drop her smile as Jane babbled on, Mal began to worry how her friend would take the news of his girlfriend's sudden departure. Obviously, Jane herself hadn't thought that far ahead or she'd be hearing about it.
"Jane, thank you for dinner, but it's getting late and I'd like to get back before everyone's in bed," Mal interrupted, handing the girl the last clean plate she'd been drying.
Jane blushed, realizing that she'd been carrying on again and walked Mal to the door. It amazed her how much the former villain in training had changed since coming to Auradon and how easy she was to get along with now. Jane felt positively silly thinking about how terrified she had been of Mal and her friends when they first met, for heaven's sake she was dating one of them now!
Mal waved goodbye to Jane and concentrated on transforming herself into her dragon form. Usually, it overtook her by force if she was feeling threatened or overly agitated, but ever since she'd changed to take on Uma, Mal had been trying to get more control over the power. Now that she could pretty much do it on command it certainly beat waiting around for Ben to send a limo, and flying was an absolute blast.
As much as Mal wanted to prolong her flight, as she neared Auradon Prep she saw Evie walking with someone out of the dormitory's front door. Swooping down low, Mal circled the driveway and landed next to the sidewalk, concentrating on shifting back into a human.
"Look out, it's Maleficent!" Gil yelled, suddenly grabbing Evie's shoulder and hauling her backward until she was pressed against the dormitory doors they had just exited.
A gust of wind buffeted her face and she peeked over Gil's shoulder, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Evie smiled seeing the familiar purple dragon, knowing it certainly wasn't who Gil thought, but touched that the young man would try to protect her from such a possibly huge threat. As the dragon landed, it shimmered and began to shrink until finally Mal was left standing in its place.
"Gil?" Mal called, seeing the young pirate huddled at the top of the stairs. Glancing around she noticed Evie had somehow disappeared.
"See, it's not Maleficent, Gil, only Mal. She can turn into a dragon too. Everything is okay now," Evie reassured, trying to pat the boy on the shoulder from her awkward position.
Gil gaped at Maleficent's daughter who was taking the stairs two at a time towards them, Maleficent herself nowhere in sight, so he slowly stepped away from his protective stance over Evie.
Mal let out a relieved sigh as Evie stepped out from behind Gil, smoothing out her blue leather mini skirt and navy blue hair. "Evie, everything okay?"
"Of course, I was just taking Gil to the infirmary to see Uma and Harry. All the others are getting settled in their rooms, Dizzy and Maggie are next door to us, Diego and Maverick are across from Jay and Carlos and Gil will be sharing with Harry. Dizzy was so excited, she talked non-stop through my entire school tour," Evie replied.
Mal laughed, she could definitely imagine Dizzy doing just that. "So, Maverick didn't want to see Uma?"
"I sensed a bit of tension between Uma and him the last time we spoke about him coming over so I thought I'd check with Uma first before springing him on her," Evie explained.
"Did you tell Gil why Uma's in the infirmary?" Mal asked quietly, as Gil followed them, spinning in slow circles while looking around.
"He hasn't asked, so I didn't know if I should or not," Evie whispered back.
Mal stopped short, "We've got to give him a head's up. Gil do you know why Uma's in the infirmary?"
"Uh, no," Gil answered a very unconcerned look on his face.
Mal and Evie exchanged looks. "A few days ago, Uma tried to get through the isle's barrier. It's weakening because Fairy Godmother is sick, and since she's the one who cast it, the spell is weakening with her. Uma managed to get through the barrier but she got very badly burned and we've been taking care of her here."
Gil looked puzzled for a minute like his brain was having a hard time absorbing the news. "Is she going to be okay? Is that why she never came back? Me and Harry waited on the pier and then one morning he was gone too. Did Harry try to go through too? He can't swim, where is he?"
"They're both fine Gil. Uma is getting better every day and Harry came to keep her company," Evie replied quickly, seeing the worry start to cross the boy's face. Both girls decided they'd said enough and hurried Gil along.
Working his way quickly from the conference room, Ben practically sprinted across the Auradon Prep campus to the infirmary building. He flung open the doors, much to the displeasure of the nurses who quickly shushed him as he hurried down the corridor to Uma's bed. The noise of his boots clacking across the tile floor brought Harry out from behind the curtain, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised in question.
"I need to speak with you and Uma immediately," Ben said.
"Harry, what's going on?" Uma asked, trying to yank the curtain back enough to see.
Harry turned slightly around, "Prince Ben requests an audience."
Uma chuckled and waved him in. "What's got your kingly robes in a twist now?"
Ben sat down in the chair Harry shoved his way as the pirate settled on the edge of the bed next to Uma, helping her sit upright. "How many ships do you have docked at the isle?"
"Altogether about a dozen, but not a single one of them sail, why?" Uma asked.
"Because we need a fleet of ships to help protect the waters between the isle and Auradon. If the villains try to flee north or south up the shoreline we won't be able to stop them unless we can catch them in open water before they reach land. We're going to need ships, weapons, and people to sail them. I've got requests into King Eric's naval fleet, Atlantica's royal guard and Queen Elsa for ships, sailors, and builders but I'm not sure it's going to be enough," Ben explained.
"So let me get this straight, you want to form a pirate army? Using the wrecks we have on the isle and who?" Uma replied, looking thoroughly stunned.
"That's right, I know it sounds crazy but we're going up against Ursula, Morgana and Captain Hook's crew who are all powerful in the water. If we can stop them there and get them back to the isle it might save hundreds of lives. So, we're going to need as many people who can sail or build ships as possible," Ben said.
"Well you know the only person who could possibly convince any of them to switch sides and go against the villains is Uma, but she's not exactly in any condition to captain a ship right now," Harry butted in.
"Ya and it was my own stupid fault, so I am going to temporarily give you my captaincy Harry and you're going to have to round up all the pirates you can. Without, of course, tipping off my mother, my aunt or your sister CJ," Uma declared, plucking her tri-corn hat off the bedside table and setting it on Harry's head. "I expect that back in one piece."
Harry's eyes were wide with surprise as he gently touched the hat. "There's no way they'll follow me without you there."
"Then we bribe them, threaten them and drag them kicking and screaming if we have to. You have to make this happen, Harry, if the pirates get here with the villains leading them I'll never make it out of this bed alive," Uma replied sternly.
"Well then, it looks like we brought reinforcements at just the right time," Mal said, stepping around the curtain with Evie and Gil following.
"Gil? What are you doing here?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Prince Ben sent for me, I got to ride in a fancy car and Evie said I get to live here now and go to school if I want. A bunch of other kids came over too, Uma, your cousin Maverick's here," Gil replied excitedly, giving Uma and Harry a broad smile.
Harry's eyes shot over Gil's shoulder, squinting at Ben, Mal, and Evie. "You could have at least given us some warning."
Ben ducked his head with a small smile. "Last minute additions, I figured it would be easier if we all knew everyone who was coming. I swear I just thought up this pirate army a few minutes ago, but it does fit into our plans pretty well."
Uma scowled and rolled her eyes. "Fine, then Harry you take Gil and Maverick with you. You're going to need to find Harriet as well, she's the only other person who might be able to convince the pirates who are working with CJ to switch sides."
"She'll never agree Uma, we haven't spoken in years and she hated the idea of pirating; wouldn't set foot on a ship if it was the last thing to save her life," Harry argued.
"Well it might just be if we don't get them to join us, they'll burn all of Auradon to the ground and loot our dead bodies," Uma growled.
"What would convince them?" Mal asked.
"Treasure!" Gil piped up.
Everyone exchanged looks.
"I seriously doubt Auradon's coffers have enough treasure for all the pirates on the isle. Is there anything else?" Ben asked.
"They'd probably agree if they had new ships, free roam of Auradon's oceans for treasure hunting and a promise of being captains themselves," Uma said thoughtfully.
"That I can do, I'm already commissioning as many new ships to be built as I can, which of course will need captains and crews. After that I don't see why they couldn't choose to either work for Auradon as part of our new navy or see if they can find buried treasure for Auradon's history museums and be able to get a cut of the rewards," Ben replied hopefully.
"Bloody hell, we're really going to try this aren't we?" Harry asked, looking a bit green around the gills.
"Yes, you're going to get me the meanest, nastiest, roughest crew for my brand new pirate ship that will out sail your moldy father's old Jolly Rodger any day of the week. There won't be a villain on land or sea who can hide from us, we'll take back the seas, dragging every single one who comes against us down to Davy Jones locker where there won't be a spell any Godmother can bring them back from," Uma cackled, a toothy grin crossing her face.
"Aye, aye Captain." Harry's own face split into a devilish smirk and he leaned down and captured Uma's lips with his own. Uma's eyes flew wide in surprise, before fluttering shut as she grabbed hold of Harry's shirt and yanked him forward on the bed. Gil broke out in a loud hooping holler, clapping his hands as Ben, Mal and Evie quickly diverted their eyes and beat a hasty retreat out of the infirmary.