Here is the next chapter!
In a certain section, I added a couple scenes to make the events transition smoothly. You see, in the movie, Celia and Uma are eating cake with Mal pacing back and forth, then it cuts to a scene with Audrey. When it goes back to the girls, Celia is upstairs and Mal is sitting across from Uma. We don't know why Celia went upstairs or even how Uma started to eat the cake. I essentially solved that problem.
I know you probably don't care and I probably wasted everyone's time, but I'm sure someone does and actually reads my author's notes.
This chapter is slightly longer to make up for the last chapter being short.
Enjoy.
Uma and Celia spent a good fifty minutes reminiscing with one another, telling stories from their past year apart. Celia could listen to Uma's adventures under the seas of Auradon for hours on end, maybe even days. The sisters made plans of exploring Auradon together, after they save it from the vengeful princess and during the younger sister's break from school.
Uma noticed their time was running short and ushered Celia to find something to do while she searched for a clue, like she was supposed to do. Within a couple minutes, the sea witch found the Auradon princess's diary.
Uma stretched out on the lavish bed and flipped through Audrey's journal. She leafed through the pages, reading the private thoughts Audrey had recorded in her loopy cursive handwriting.
Ever since Mal arrived at Auradon Prep, Audrey had felt invisible at school. At home, her family acted like she'd let them down. Uma scanned another page. Audrey was humiliated and heartbroken when Ben publicly declared his love for Mal. Uma had assumed Audrey was some privileged rich girl, but maybe it wasn't that simple.
Uma was absorbed in Audrey's journal when Mal and Evie ran into the room out of breath.
"She's nowhere on campus," Evie panted.
"Found her diary," Uma informed before she chuckled. "And dang, did you ruin Audrey's life."
Mal rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Okay, so did you find anything in there we don't already know, or . . ."
"She hangs out at Fairy Cottage. You know, where Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather hid her mom from your mom." The pirate captain smirked mischievously.
"Yes, ha ha, the irony is not lost on me." Mal commented sarcastically.
Uma lifted her head from a puffy down pillow and ran her fingertips along the dreamy silk comforter. "How could anyone with this bed ever be unhappy?" she wondered aloud. That Auradon bed was the most comfortable thing she has ever laid on. On the Isle, she usually slept on the wood bar at the restaurant, a hammock in the captain's quarters of her ship, or Celia's incredibly small twin size bed whenever she stayed with her sister and father.
Celia, who had pilfered through Audrey's vanity to keep up the act, swiveled around, proud to model her new image. "Okay, how do I look?" She struck a fetching pose, though she looked like a damsel in distress. The young fortune-teller wore several gold bangles, three strands of pearls, and Audrey's signature bluebird tiara. With Celia, more was more.
Evie looked her up and down. "Okay, the bling stays here."
Celia pouted. "But she's bad."
"And we're not," Evie reminded sternly.
Celia removed the tiara with a disappointed sigh. Uma snickered at her sister's poutiness for not being allowed to be bad. "When this is over, I'll get you a strand of pearls," Uma reassured her younger sister.
While Celia initially perked up at the promise, Mal raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the pirate. "No offense, but how do you plan on getting a pearl necklace without stealing one and with no money?"
Uma rolled her eyes as she pulled out a teal velvet pouch from her jacket pocket. "When I got tired of searching for a hole in the barrier, I went searching for treasure," she revealed. "All I found were these black pearls. I don't need them, but might as get some use out them."
Although Mal didn't seem too convinced, she changed the conversation. "Let's head to Evie's castle," Mal suggested. "We'll wait for the boys before we head to Fairy Cottage."
About fortish minutes later, the girls were at Evie's starter castle, where they discovered that Celia's friends—the new batch of VKs from the Isle—Dizzy, Squeaky, and Squirmy, had fallen victim to Audrey's sleeping spell. A couple minutes later—while Celia was watching her friends sleep—Uma, Mal, and Evie investigated the snoring they heard from Evie's work-space. The snoring turned out be Evie's boyfriend, Doug, who had also been spelled. Upon request, Uma and Mal left to give Evie some space, because she apparently never told her boyfriend of three years that she loves him and they have never kissed.
Yeah, Uma found that really amusing.
When she walked to the dining area, Uma spotted Celia seated at the table with a plate of cake in front of her, another next to her, and glasses of milk at each plate.
"Uma!" Celia called as she patted the empty seat next to her. "You have to try this cake! It's delicious!"
Slightly curious, Uma cautiously sat at the blue kitchen seat and carefully took a bite of the strange food. Uma's eyes lit up in delight as the amazing treat. With the pink cardboard bakery box between them, the sisters chowed down on slices of the birthday cake—Uma eating her slice quicker than Celia.
Mal glanced out the window anxiously. "That was a good idea to check out Audrey's room," she complimented. "Now we know we're on the right track."
Uma raised an eyebrow at her. "Is there an insult in there that I missed?"
"It's just . . ." Mal trailed off as she smiled sincerely. "I wanted to thank you."
Uma didn't know what to say. She shared a look with her sister, who mouthed curiously, Now?
The sea witch thought it over for a moment before slightly shaking her head 'no' as Mal took a seat across from Uma. Now wasn't the time to reveal any of their secrets. Uma wasn't entirely sure if Mal told the truth earlier when she promised to set the Isle children free. For all Uma knew, Mal could have been lying so the pirates would help in the dire situation.
With a light yawn, Celia handed Mal her plate that had a new, fresh slice of cake on it. "You can have my piece," Celia offered as she yawned again. "I'm gonna take a nap upstairs while we're waiting."
"It better not be the spell that's making you sleepy," Uma warned sternly.
"Why? You can just wake me up with True Love's Kiss," Celia teased with a wide grin plastered on her face.
Uma raised an eyebrow in amusement. "More like a bucket of cold water," she joked. "I'm not kissing you."
Celia rolled her eyes playfully. "Or, so you say." Out of old habit, she hugged her older sister, just like she did every time she went to bed when Uma stayed with her and their daddy. Due to the habit, Uma kissed her little sister's forehead like she would on the Isle.
"See!" Celia exclaimed, pulling away with a wide, giddy smile. "You kissed me, Umie!"
Uma rubbed the young fortune-teller's hair affectionately. "Get to stepping before I make you."
Celia eagerly ran to her room on the second floor of the starter castle, having more energy than she did before. There was no way she could sleep now, but she might as well try.
Meanwhile, Mal glanced at Uma curiously. " 'Umie' ?" The future queen repeated. "What's that about?"
"Celia asked if she could call me that while you and Evie were searching the campus for Audrey," Uma fibbed with a shrug of her shoulders. "She's kind of like my not-so-secret admirer." Hoping to change the conversation, Uma took another bite of the dessert with a delightful moan. "I don't know whose birthday it is, but I want more of this cake!"
Mal smiled as she helped herself to a finger full of frosting. "You know," she began almost bashfully, "I might have missed the boat a bit when I called you Shrimpy and wouldn't let you join the gang."
"Yeah, we could have really torn up the Isle together," Uma commented with a small smile. "Just like the old days."
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!
The girls suddenly jumped in alarm as a wood plank smacked into place across the kitchen window. They watched in fright as solid wood planks slammed one after another across every window and blocked out all but a crack of sunlight.
"Celia!" Uma shouted for her sister as loudly as she could. "Celia, come here!"
At the sound of her name, Celia ran down the stairs as quickly as she could. She tried to throw open the front door, but several wood planks pounded mightily into place and sealed the exit. "We're trapped!" she screamed.
Celia backed away from the door and ran to her sister in the center of her room. Uma immediately embraced her sister to help comfort her in the scary situation. Uma could feel Celia quivering in fright as she held her tighter.
When she had first applied to Auradon Prep, Celia imagined a carefree life filled with too much sunshine, dorky pep rallies, and the opportunity to read the fortunes of wealthy Auradon Prep students—not lethal knights and magically sealed exits. This was not what she bargained for.
Evie and Doug ran into the living room. "Are you guys okay?" Evie wondered. "What's going on?" Her room had been boarded up.
Mal's eyes gleamed with frustration and anger. She raised both of her hands and incanted from deep heart: "You've caused my friends pain and fear. We've had enough, now disappear!"
The planks merely rattled in response. That was not the result Mal was hoping for.
"You guys, I'm sorry," Mal apologized. "My spells aren't working. Audrey's magic is getting stronger!"
Uma stared down at her gold shell necklace, which now glowed in a golden light. She had an idea. To Mal's surprise, Uma stepped forward to stand alongside her and grabbed her hand. Mal's eyes glowed green, Uma's necklace shone blue, and together the girls incanted: "You've caused our friends pain and fear. We've had enough, now disappear!"
The planks rattled more than they did before, but they didn't remove themselves.
"It didn't work," Evie announced in dismay.
Although all hope seemed to be lost, Uma had one more idea. During her attempt at the incantation, Uma was thinking about Celia. But Celia wasn't her friend, she was . . .
"We need to change 'friend' to 'family'," Uma insisted confidently. When Mal looked confused, Uma sighed in irritation. "It will work! Trust me!"
Mal nodded. Together they shouted with all the passion and willpower that they could muster, "You've caused our family pain and fear. We've had enough, now disappear!"
In a split second, the planks dislodged and vanished in thin air. The girls stared at each other, amazed by their accomplishment.
"You did it. Together. This is what I've been talking about," Evie exclaimed as she threw her arms around both girls.
"I guess my shell likes you," Uma teased Mal, though she knew the real reason why the spell worked. She looked down at her necklace, opened the shell, and took out Hades's ember. She offered it to Mal as a token of appreciation and trust. "Why don't you hang on to this?"
Mal nodded gratefully and accepted the ember. Celia looked out the open door and cheered with delight as their friends paraded up the front patio to Evie's house. Amongst the group, she noticed Harry Hook close to the back. "Heeey," Celia teased as she pointed to Uma, "it's your bae."
Mal must have thought the young girl was talking to her as she immediately ran out the door to greet her fiancé, King Ben. Evie and Doug walked out the door next with Uma slowly trailing behind them.
"I was talking to you about Harry," Celia grumbled bitterly to her sister.
Uma smiled as she rubbed her sister's head again. "I know, but nobody knows he and I are sort-of a thing, like no one knows we are sisters."
"Well, I'm gonna go greet Jay," Celia announced a little too eagerly.
Uma raised an eyebrow at her. "Girl, he is too old for you right now and there is no way in hell I would let him date you when you are so young. Give it about four years, when you're eighteen."
Celia merely blushed as she rushed out the door with Uma following her. Uma immediately went to Harry, who cradled her head as she embraced him lovingly, but not enough for their allies to notice. "You and your sister alright?" He muttered curiously into Uma's ear. "Nothing happened while I was gone?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle," she reassured with a soft smile. "Thank you."
While everyone was distracted with greeting one another, Harry used that opportunity to kiss Uma's forehead as lovingly as she had. Celia had been the only one to notice the display of affection between the couple that has yet to actually be a couple. The youngest sister couldn't help hoping . . . wishing that she would find someone that looked at her like Harry looked at her older sister.
And that he would be her future brother-in-law —
If he doesn't screw anything up.
What do you think? Be sure to leave a review and I'll try to update tomorrow and/or Tuesday.
