The Past Is Prologue: New Villain Team
"The hardest part of my return to Avalor was seeing how much had changed. My parents were dead (the most difficult part, of course.) My 16-year-old cousin was now 57. My best friend was gone, and I learned that she'd passed herself off as me to try to overthrow Shuriki. (Note: See chapter on the Pretender Queen Isabel Castillo Flores.)
But smaller things had changed as well. Childhood songs and games I'd grown up with were unknown in modern Avalor. They were replaced with new games. When I tried to make new friends, it felt like I'd come from a foreign land." – Crown Princess Isabel Castillo Flores, A People's History of the Reign of Queen Shuriki, compiled by Professor Catalina de Torres
Ash looked at the figures surrounding her uncomprehendingly, unused to seeing people so solidly alive. She'd been in the Spirit Realm and now…wasn't? How? She found herself trembling, suddenly chilled. She didn't know where she was.
A hand reached down to help her up. Ash took hold automatically. "My dear Ash. It has been far too long."
"Fiero?" she said in shock.
He chuckled. "I'm so pleased you remember me. Here." There had been a cloak draped over his arm which he now placed around her shoulders. She gratefully felt the warmth seep into her body. It had been so long since she'd felt cold…or warm. "You will likely feel chilled for the rest of the day. Blood takes a while to flow properly after one has been…not quite alive." He laughed mirthlessly. "I should know."
Fiero had saved her? Wasn't he a stone statue? And how…? She shook her head, trying to get her bearings. "How long have I…?"
"Two years."
"Two years?" She'd been in the Spirit Realm for two years? She'd thought she'd been there for weeks at the most. What was the state of Avalor? And more importantly, how did her daughter fare? Was she well? Where was she? But Ash doubted the malvago Fiero would have those answers.
"Disconcerting, I know," Fiero observed dryly. "I've been through it twice now. And De Alva will pay dearly for it, I promise you. But then, you have your own scores to settle, do you not, my dear?"
"I…yes. I do." In truth vengeance was the last thing on Ash's mind at the moment. She wanted to survive, discover what Fiero wanted with her (for he surely hadn't rescued her out of the goodness of his heart), get her hands on a tamborita, and stay out of the Spirit Realm, in that order. And then find out how Carla fared. But Ash knew this vindictive malvago of old, and revenge guided his actions as the quest for power guided her. He would assume revenge on Princess Elena was the resurrected malvaga's primary goal, and she saw no reason to disabuse him of that notion just yet.
"How did you learn what had happened to me? Has that dratted princess been bragging about my defeat in the Spirit Realm?"
"Hardly. The Queen," and Fiero emphasized the word, "says nothing about you in public at all. The rumor has been that she slew you on the day of her coronation, but she's never confirmed nor denied it. No, I learned the truth of the matter through other means…"
"He learned it from me!" A young man…no, a boy in his middle teens stepped forward. He was tall, but seemed stuck in a permanent slouch. A lock of unruly black hair fell over one eye. The boy wore a white robe – no, a coat. A lab coat? "I heard it from Tomiko, who heard it from Isabel, who got the story from her sister. I'm Javier." He stuck out his hand for Ash to shake, but she ignored it. She didn't want to deal with lackeys.
"Your apprentice?" she asked Fiero.
The aged malvago snorted. "Certainly not."
The boy lowered his hand and declared grandly, "I'm no wizard; I'm a scientist! And I'm going to be the Royal Inventor of Avalor." When he saw Fiero roll his eyes, he snapped, "It was my formula that freed you from the stone statue, not a magic potion."
"And if you'd gotten it wrong, boy, I'd be a slag heap right now," Fiero growled.
"I didn't get it wrong, though," the boy muttered sullenly.
Without warning an owl appeared before her eyes. Tecolote! Startled, Ash stumbled backwards, and Fiero caught her.
"Oh, this is terrible!" the chanul seemed to be speaking to herself. "How do I guide her? If she uses the bracelet the Grand Macaw gave her she'll die; but if she stays with this lot she'll fall back into her old ways. What should I do?" The creature flew about frantically.
At the same time Fiero was saying, "Are you all right, my dear?" He was looking at her, completely ignoring the ridiculous spirit flitting about. Could he not see it? The boy, too, and the mysterious figure in the background showed no reaction to Tecolote's sudden appearance. Was Ash really the only one who could see her? Or was she going mad?
She shook her head. "I'm fine," she snapped.
Fiero looked at her shrewdly. "Feeling dizzy, are you?"
Ash wasn't, but she responded, "…perhaps."
"That is not surprising. Your body is adjusting to life again. You are likely dehydrated. He handed her a canteen he'd been wearing. "Sip this."
"I am not thirsty." But how could that be? Ash suddenly realized she'd not eaten or drunk anything in the Spirit Realm. How had she not noticed before?
"You will be soon." Fiero pressed the canteen in her hands and Ash took a sip. Immediately the malvaga found herself parched and would have gulped the entire contents of the canteen if Fiero had not prevented it. "You need to take this slow. Trust me," he added bitterly. "I've been through something similar twice now." Ash didn't know if being trapped in the Spirit Realm truly was analogous to being a stone statue, but for the moment allowed herself to be guided by Fiero. She'd never before considered the ramifications of returning to life after being stone. She began to feel a shred of compassion for… No, that was weakness, and Ash would not be weak.
To distract herself from the frantic owl's flutterings and mutterings, Ash turned to the boy…Javier, was it? "You're … an inventor?"
He pulled himself up proudly. "Yes. All Avalor will know my name! That'll show Isabel who the cleverest scientist is…"
"Isabel?" The malvaga looked to Fiero for confirmation. "The little princess?" When Fiero nodded, she commented wryly, "Little princess Isabel is already making enemies? How … adorable." Fiero let out a laugh, and the final member of the party stepped forward.
"I know, right? Only fifteen and she has her first nemesis. I'm so proud of my primita." The man was gaunt, clean-shaven, and bald. He was dressed in dark colors and wore a sword but what Ash noticed most of all were the man's eyes. Despite the joviality of his tone and the broad smile on his face, his dark eyes burned with hatred. Ash could not tell yet if the man was a wizard, though she doubted it. But she instinctively felt that this man was by far the most dangerous person there. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Duke Cristóbal Castillo, rightful king of Avalor." He swept a courtly bow.
"Oh, this is not good," Tecolote fretted.
"Why?" Ash asked in surprise.
Two things happened simultaneously. Duke Cristóbal began a long rant on Avaloran history to bolster his claim to the throne, and the chanul stopped and really looked at Ash for the first time. "You can see me, can't you?"
The malvaga cursed herself for her carelessness. Now she tried to ignore the owl spirit and pretended to listen attentively to this Duke's ramblings. Tecolote was not fooled. She began flying at Ash's face in the most distracting manner, chanting, "You can't ignore me forever, Angélica." Finally Ash met Tecolote's eyes to glare, but only for a second. The chanul appeared mollified.
"It must be because you've been in the Spirit Realm for so long. Now we can communicate directly! Isn't this wonderful?" Ash had quite a few words to describe the situation, but "wonderful" was not one of them.
"First things first," Tecolote declared briskly. "We need to get you away from these people, but I realize you need to do it carefully. So I'll be quite while you play along, and we'll talk when we have more privacy." The chanul settled on her shoulder, invisible to all but her charge. "Don't worry, Ash. You're not alone." Despite herself the malvaga felt strangely comforted.
Duke Cristóbal Castillo, would-be king of Avalor, was wrapping up his epic monologue, so Ash nodded politely, even though she'd barely heard a word. "For Fiero's plan to work, I need two powerful malvagos, and my royal wizard here tells me you're one of the best."
"The best," Ash declared smugly.
"Only when I'm out of commission," Fiero interjected smoothly. "I plan to cast a dark spell more powerful than has ever been seen in the Everrealm, but it will take two wizards to cast it. Help me, and you will have your revenge, win the favor of Avalor's new king, and go down in history as one of the greatest wizards who has ever lived."
"What would I have to do?"
"All in good time, my dear. First, you'll need to swear yourself to our cause." He took her hand. "We're wizards, Ash. We're not meant to rule. People like us wield power in other ways. Join with us, and you can finally have everything you ever truly wanted."
"You've sworn fealty?" she asked him.
"I have," he affirmed. Ash considered that – what it meant for someone like Fiero to have signed on to this cause. Ash had been on both sides of this dance often enough to know how it would go – of course she would say that she would join them. To do anything else would be suicide. Whether she meant it or not – that remained to be seen.
"I suppose I owe you for rescuing me from the Spirit Realm," the malvaga shrugged. "Very well." How would Esteban do this? He was always better at playing these ridiculous games than she was. She thought wryly to herself that her former ally would find it uproariously funny that she would ever stoop to using him as a model of behavior. But one does what one must to survive. She knelt before this Duke Cristóbal, kissed his proffered hand, and said, "I swear to serve you well and faithfully, your grace."
"Splendid!" Duke Cristóbal declared as he raised her up. "Now I believe Fiero has something for you."
Tecolote was saying, "I know you had to do that, but there is no shame in turning on people such as these. The first chance you get you must slip away. Think of it, Ash! You have a chance to make up for your past misdeeds! I'll help you with that, of course. You might even be able to reconcile with your daughter…"
Then Fiero presented Ash with a tamborita.
"Drat," was Tecolote's only comment.
Ash took the magical instrument reverently from Fiero. She had not held a tamborita in two years. She lightly ran her fingers over the drumhead, feeling the magic thrumming within it. Dimly, she was aware of the look of triumph that passed between Fiero and the Duke – they were certain they had her now. That didn't matter though. All that mattered was that she was alive, she was free from her otherworldly prison, and most importantly she had her magic again. Anything was possible.
Author's note: A story cannot contain a song, of course. But if you would like one, imagine a darker version of "Familia Forever," as Cristóbal sings why he should be king. Fiero looks bored – he's heard it all before. Ash feigns interest as she's really listening to Tecolote. Javier sings enthusiastically along in the beginning, but as the song turns progressively darker ( Cristóbal being more interested in watching the world burn than actually ruling), the young inventor starts to look uneasy.