Surprise! I have to be out of town this weekend so you're getting this next chapter early! Enjoy!
Hiro's last few months with Aunt Cass were bittersweet. True, he was looking forward to school even more with each passing day. Aunt Cass allowed him to stay home and study instead of working at the café so he wouldn't feel completely out of the loop when classes started. On the other hand, Hiro didn't know how he felt about spending months away from the only family he'd known his whole life. He had never been apart from Aunt Cass for so long, not even for a sleepover at a classmate's house.
Meanwhile, Aunt Cass told Alistair Krei that Hiro didn't want to leave his friends in his current school behind, and she asked about him possibly attending SFIT when he was a little older. Krei was disappointed, but said to call him if Hiro changed his mind.
Cass also took Baymax's suggestion and rifled through a list of therapists until she found one that seemed a good fit for her. She attended her first session a week later (she left Hiro at home, knowing Baymax would be there to look after him). When Cass returned, her eyes were red and puffy and she ate three donuts in one sitting, but she informed Hiro that it went well and she was scheduled to return next week.
Hiro distracted himself from his concerns by poring over his new textbooks, which were endlessly fascinating. He lay on his bed reading well into the night, stopping only when Baymax urged him to get some sleep.
"Eight hours is the recommended amount of time a child your age should sleep nightly."
"Just a few more minutes and I'm done."
"It has been three hours since you said that."
And so it continued like this for the following weeks. Every night before going to bed, Hiro ticked off another day on his calendar, counting down to September First.
On the last day of August, Aunt Cass went all out in preparing a feast for Hiro before he went off to school the next day. She cooked all of his favorites – and didn't forget about the gummy bears, either. Even Baymax joined them.
"So, we're supposed to catch the train at the San Fransokyo station?" she asked him.
"Yep, everything's down on the ticket," Hiro said through a mouth full of food. "If you've got the ticket and you're on time, then the train will show up anywhere."
"Funny way to get a magic school. Guess there's not enough flying carpets to go around." Cass chuckled at her own joke.
After dinner, they sat on the couch and marathoned as many of Hiro's favorite kaiju movies as they could before they started to doze off.
Hiro woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his clothes; he'd change into his uniform on the train. He checked and double-checked his supply list to make sure he had everything packed, even Baymax. Not long after they returned from their trip to Main Street, Baymax asked if there was anything more he could do for him and Cass.
"I cannot deactivate until you say you are satisfied with your care."
"Well then, I'm satisfied with my care," said Hiro.
Baymax waddled back into his charging case and shrank back in. There he stayed unless Hiro or Cass summoned him for help with something.
Once Hiro was sure he had everything packed, he waited downstairs for Cass to wake up. Several hours later, his huge, heavy trunk and Baymax were loaded into the car, and they set off.
They reached the train station at half-past ten. Aunt Cass lifted his entire luggage onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. Finding the platform was easy enough; what surprised Hiro was how many people were also there.
A red and blue steam engine was waiting next to the platform. An electric sign overhead said Casey Junior to Magic Kingdom – 11:00. The train hissed in anticipation over the chattering of the crowd and the scraping of heavy luggage. The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the windows to talk to families, some fighting over seats. Aunt Cass pushed the cart further down in search of an empty compartment.
There was a sudden roar of an engine, and people jumped out of the way as a rail-thin, grizzled man in a shabby overcoat drove a motorcycle through the platform, trailing colored chalk dust in his wake. Sitting behind him and in the sidecar were five barking dogs and a boy.
"Told ya we'd make it through the chalk pictures," he said proudly as he came to a halt near Cass and Hiro. "And you wanted to fly all the way to school!"
"I could have done it," the boy complained. He was dressed all in green and had an impish look about him.
"Not carrying all that luggage, you would!" the man snapped back. "Now get a move on, boys, Peter's gonna be late!"
The dogs began pushing and tugging his trunk toward the train.
"Here, lemme give you a hand," said Hiro.
He had less luck than the dogs, no thanks in part to the drool-covered handles making it hard to keep a grip.
"Wait! I have an idea!"
Hiro dropped the trunk and heaved Baymax's case to the ground.
"Ow!"
Baymax rose out once more.
"Baymax, can you load this trunk on for us?" Hiro asked.
"Certainly, Hiro."
Baymax lifted the trunk with ease and carried it through the train door.
"Thanks," said Peter. "Lemme get yours."
Peter took Hiro's trunk by one handle – and floated into the air. He dragged the trunk along partly on the ground as Cass and Hiro watched, jaws agape. The shaggy man laughed to himself.
"Yeah, that was my reaction when I learned he could fly."
"Woah, is that real flying or some good illusion magic?"
The question came from a pair of green-haired twins, a boy and a girl with a mischievous look in their eyes.
Peter whipped the trunk onboard and flew up to them.
"It's all me! I'm Peter Pan!"
"Edric and Emira Blight," said the boy.
"We were gonna offer some help, but it looks like you got it covered," the girl, Emira, said jokingly.
A girl just a few years younger than Edric and Emira ran up to them; she shared their amber eyes and pointed ears, but her hair was mint green with auburn roots as opposed to their deeper forest shade. An older boy with the same ears but cropped blonde hair and tired red eyes accompanied her.
"Wait up you two, I didn't get to say goodbye yet!" the girl said.
The blonde boy tussled her hair playfully.
"You've got plenty of time, Amity, don't worry."
An older green-haired woman who must have been their mother caught up with them. The blonde boy's demeanor changed at once; he stepped aside and stood straight with a serious expression. The woman grabbed a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped hard at a spot of ink on Amity's cheek.
"Amity, hold still," she said primly. "These children will be your classmates next year. You don't want to make a fool of yourself in front of them already, do you?"
"Awww, does widdle Mittens have something on her face?" teased Emira.
"Moooom, stop it!" Amity whined.
"Hush! Do as you're told and don't make a scene. That's how Hunter got to be the top of the class last year."
"Oh, did he, Mom?" said one of the twins with an air of feigned surprise. "You should have said something, Hunter, we had no idea."
"Hang on, I think I remember Mom saying something about it," said the other.
"Once –"
"Or twice –"
"A minute –"
"All summer –"
"Oh, shut up," muttered Hunter, a streak of annoyance crossing his stoic face.
The twins then remembered Hiro was still there.
"Hey, we didn't get your name," Edric said to him.
"Um, I'm Hiro," he said. He still felt a bit shy about telling anyone his full name.
"YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE," a voice boomed over the loudspeaker, "THE CASEY JUNIOR TRAIN TO THE MAGIC KINGDOM WILL DEPART IN TWO MINUTES. ALL ABOARD!"
Hunter took this opportunity to climb onto the train by himself. Edric and Emara's mother turned to them.
"Now, you two behave yourselves this year. You're both Blights, and it's time that you started acting like it. If I receive one more letter telling me you've…you've…blown up a toilet –"
"Blown up a toilet? We haven't blown up a toilet yet, have we Edric?"
"Nope. Great idea, though. Thanks, Mom!"
"It's not funny! Think of the example you're setting for Amity!" She shooed them to the train.
"We'll see ya on the train, Peter, Hiro!" one of the twins called out. Amity looked at Hiro and gasped; she tugged her mom's sleeve and pointed at him.
"Mom, Mom, look who it is!"
"Quiet, Amity, it's rude to point." She continued admonishing her older children. Hiro looked back to Aunt Cass.
"Well, I guess this is good –"
Aunt Cass trapped Hiro in an enormous hug.
"Please be careful, Hiro," she choked through tears. "I love you so much."
"Iluffootoouhntcass," Hiro squeezed out between breaths. She eventually let him go. Hiro shuffled his feet awkwardly.
"Hey, I know this gonna sound crazy, but I might as well ask before I go to school – there aren't any other secrets about me or my parents that you're keeping from me, are you?"
"No, of course not," she replied after a second of silence.
"YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE, LAST CALL FOR THE CASEY JUNIOR TRAIN TO THE MAGIC KINGDOM. ALL ABOARD!"
He scooped up Baymax's case and hurried aboard. He hadn't even realized Baymax hadn't returned to him yet when he ran right into Peter.
"Hey! I put your luggage with mine. Come on, your Baymax thing is there too!"
He took Hiro's hand and flew – literally flew – down the corridor until they reached his compartment. Sure enough, Baymax was standing there waiting for him. Hiro could also see Aunt Cass outside searching for whatever compartment he was in. He leaned out the window. The Blight twins were in the compartment next to him saying their goodbyes to their little sister.
"Don't cry, Mittens, we'll send you lots of letters."
"We'll send you a Magic Kingdom toilet seat!"
"Emira!"
"Just kidding, Mom!"
Hiro whistled to Aunt Cass. She sprung over to the window.
"Don't forget to keep in touch!" she called to him.
"I will!"
"And be sure to come home for Christmas and spring break!"
"I will!"
"And remember to change your underwear!"
"I make no promises!"
The train blew five shrill whistles that sounded very much like it was shouting "All abooooooaaarrd! Let's go!" It began to move. Hiro saw the twins' sister, and Aunt Cass, half-laughing, half-crying, running to keep up with them until the train gathered too much speed; then they fell back and waved.
Once they were out of sight, Hiro fell into his seat. Peter sat cross-legged across from him piping away at a small pan flute, watching him curiously.
"So, what is Baymax anyway?" he said after a while.
Hiro was about to explain, but his robot companion beat him to it.
"Hello, I am Baymax. I am Hiro's personal healthcare companion."
"Um, he's supposed to look after me if I get hurt," Hiro clarified, noting Peter's confusion. "My parents made him for me."
All of a sudden, there was a frantic chiming of bells and flashes of light from the keyhole of Peter's trunk.
"Oh, that must be Tink. I wondered where she was."
Without further explanation, he rose up to the trunk stashed above him and opened it. A ball of light no bigger than Hiro's fist darted around the compartment before settling on the windowsill. Now that it was relatively still, he could see that it was a tiny woman with luminescent yellow skin in a green dress and shoes, and delicate wings emerging from her back. Her voice sounded like the ringing of a dozen tiny bells. She chimed angrily at Peter and turned her back to him.
"Well how was I supposed to know you got yourself shut in there?" he answered grumpily.
Hiro could only point in astonishment as she twinkled something rude back to the boy.
"Is…is that a fairy?"
"Yep, that's Tinkerbell. She's my fairy."
"Yours?"
"Uh-huh. I've known her almost as long as I can remember."
Baymax waddled up to Tinkerbell.
"Do I have permission to scan your fairy?"
"Huh?" said Peter.
"He wants to study her, just let him do it," Hiro replied.
"Uh, sure, I guess," said Peter reluctantly.
Tinkerbell wagged her finger at Baymax and said something that sounded like an insult, but Baymax scanned her in less than a second.
"Scanning complete. Tinkerbell is indeed a fairy, a magical creature short in stature that is capable of flight and enchantments. I have added her to my database."
An image of Tinkerbell appeared on Baymax's chest. The fairy stumbled back in surprise, then flew in for a closer look. Tiny specks of glowing gold dust fell from her wings as she flittered about. Her chimes of impatience turned to pleasure as she admired herself.
"Yep, that's you, Tink, just as the robot sees you."
"How can you understand her?" Hiro asked.
Peter scratched his head.
"Don't know. Guess it comes with being friends with a fairy."
Hiro had to admit that made some sense, considering not too long ago he was able to understand the beeps of a runaway droid.
Tinkerbell chimed something to Peter while smirking in Hiro's direction.
"What'd she say?" Hiro asked.
"She says she thinks you really need a haircut," Peter replied.
"Well, tell her I tried but it just keeps growing back." Hiro shared the story of when his aunt tried to cut his hair, which she and Peter found hilarious.
"I'm Peter, by the way," he said once he regained his breath. "What's your name?"
"I'm Hiro…Hiro Hamada."
Peter raised an eyebrow.
"I think I know someone with that name…"
Tinkerbell, meanwhile, gave a ring of alarm and pointed at Hiro much like how Amity did.
"Wait, you're THE Hiro Hamada? Do you have the scars?"
Hiro dragged back his sleeve to show the thorny scars crawling up his arm. Peter stared.
"Woah, so that's where –"
"Yeah," said Hiro, "but I can't remember how it happened."
"Nothing?" said Peter eagerly.
"Well…I remember a lot of green fire, but nothing else."
"Wow," said Peter. "Wicked." He sat and stared at Hiro for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he quickly looked out the window again.
"So, does your dad do magic, too?" asked Hiro, who found Peter just as interesting as he found him.
"Oh, Fagin's not my dad," said Peter. "I just live with him and his dogs and the other Lost Boys."
"Lost Boys?"
"Yeah, that's what we call ourselves. No parents, no rules – at least most of the time – just flying around having fun."
"Sounds awesome," said Hiro. "Mind if I ask how you fly?"
"It's easy, all you have to do is to…is to…huh, that's funny."
"What's wrong? Don't you know?"
"No, it's just that I've never thought about it before – say, that's it! You think of a wonderful thought!"
"Any happy little thought?"
"Yep! Watch me!"
Peter jumped into the air again and stayed there.
"I could do a lot more if we weren't stuck in this tiny room."
"Maybe once we're off the train – and I'm gonna have to take notes when you do because learning how to fly sounds awesome!"
While they talked, the train carried them through various cities and suburbs, making stops along the way. Now they were speeding past fields and farms and rolling hills. Baymax had long since returned to his case, leaving just the two of them and Tink.
Around twelve-thirty, there was a clattering outside in the corridor. A frowning green ball with hands floating along its sides slid back the door and droned, "Candy from the trolley?"
Hiro, who felt like it was ages since he had breakfast, leapt to his feet.
"Come on, let's get some!"
At this, Peter looked away again.
"Nah, you go ahead."
"Why not?"
"It's just that, um…Fagin doesn't always have money for food," he said ashamedly. His stomach growled a little to emphasize his point.
Hiro had never been in want of food his entire life, so it always made him sad whenever he saw someone who didn't have any. He believed no one should ever go hungry, especially a kid like Peter.
"Wait right here."
Hiro stepped outside. His pocket was stuffed with leftover cash from the vault, and he was ready to buy as many gummy bears for him and his new friend that he could get his hands on – but there weren't any gummy bears. What was available were Itzakadoozie pops, Goofy's Candy Co. Jellybeans, Wonder Balls, Cool Creations ice creams, gingerbread stars, churros, enormous candied apples and pretzels, bags stuffed with colorful cotton candy and popcorn, and blocks of fudge in over twenty flavors. Not wanting to miss out, he got some of everything.
Peter stared as Hiro staggered back into the compartment and dumped it all onto the seat.
"Uh-oh, looks like I bought too much. How am I ever going to get rid of all this before we get to school?" he said with a wink. Peter was dumbstruck. Hiro held out a large green caramel apple.
"Go on, it's not poisoned."
Peter happily took the apple. Tink snatched a single piece of popcorn almost as big as she was and munched away on it. Hiro smiled, and dug into his haul.
"What are these?" he asked Peter, holding up a Wonder Ball box. "Do they do something crazy when you bite into it or something?
"Nah, it's just a chocolate ball that has different candy inside each time. But it's the cards you want. Each box has a card with a famous person inside them to collect. Let me know if you find Calypso, I've been trying to get her next."
Hiro unwrapped his Wonder Ball and bit into it – it was filled with sweet and tart fruity candies – and flipped over the card in the box. It showed a man with a flowing white beard and mustache wearing small steel-rimmed spectacles and a tall, blue pointed hat. Underneath the picture read:
Merlin
Currently Headmaster of the Magic Kingdom Academy
Considered by many to be the greatest sorcerer since Yen Sid, Merlin is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark witch Mad Madam Mim, for his development of the twelve principles of spell animation, and his extensive research on the magical histories of Corona and the Dark Kingdom. Merlin enjoys ragtime jazz and collecting trading cards.
"So this is Merlin," Hiro wondered aloud.
"Eh, I've got about six of him," Peter shrugged. His eyes strayed to the pile of Wonderballs waiting to be opened.
"Help yourself," said Hiro with a smile.
"Thanks…oh no, not Narissa again! You want her? You can start a collection too."
Soon Hiro not only had Merlin and Narissa, but also King Brian, Hercules, Eglantine Price, Scrooge McDuck, Agatha Cromwell, and The Sanderson Sisters. He finally tore his eyes away from Captain Nemo long enough to open a bag of Goofy's Candy Co. Jellybeans.
"Be careful with those," Peter warned Hiro. "They throw everything in the works so you get different flavors – really different flavors. There's good ones like apple or orange, but also broccoli, liverwurst, and ink. Fagin swears he got an earwax one once, too."
He bit into a pink one.
"Blegh!" he choked. "Cough medicine!"
They had a good time sampling the jellybeans, laughing over the flavors the other ended up with. Hiro got coconut, chili pepper, eggs, cinnamon, kale, cardboard, spearmint, blueberry, lobster, and a gray one that Peter refused to try which tasted distinctly metallic.
"Have you thought about what house you'll be in?" Peter asked unexpectedly.
"Nope," said Hiro. "I only know two houses, Canis and Felinus, and the last one doesn't sound too great." Peter nodded.
"Fagin told me a lot of Maleficent's supporters came from Felinus. He said to watch out for kids from there 'cause their parents were probably once on the Villains' side. Let's see…there's Anatis, they're supposed to be real smart, and Mus, where lots of the bravest warriors and heroes come from. That's where I want to be!"
There was a knock on the compartment door. Two children entered - one was a scrawny blonde boy in a simple red shirt, the other was a girl in a dress just a few shades lighter than her twinkling blue eyes.
"Excuse me, have either of you seen a stuffed bear walking around? A boy named Christopher Robin's lost him," the girl asked kindly.
"Sorry, no," said Hiro.
"Hey, did you do that with magic?" said the boy, pointing at Tinkerbell.
"No, she's a real fairy," Peter said. "Who are you?"
"My name is Wendy," replied the girl, "Wendy Moira Angela Darling –"
"Wendy's enough," Peter interrupted.
"And my name's Arthur, but everyone calls me Wart," said the boy.
"Wart – why does that sound familiar?" thought Hiro.
"Oh I'm so excited that we're going to the Magic Kingdom, aren't you?" Wendy said to none of them in particular as she sat down next to Peter. She continued talking so quickly that none of them could get a word in –
"Nobody in my family is magic at all, and I was ever so surprised to get my letter, though I was very pleased, of course. It's the very best school to learn all sorts of magic; at least that's what I've heard. I've grown up listening to stories and reading about all sorts of wonderful, magical heroes that came from that school and all the incredible things they've done. And now I'm going to the same place where they learned it all! I have no idea what house I'll be in; I heard they were named after each of the school's founders and somehow they're involved with who gets sorted where, even though nobody's seen them in years. Mus sounds the best by far but Anatis isn't too bad, I suppose. I've studied all my course books half by heart and I've even tried a few simple spells for practice, but they've all worked for me so far. I just hope it'll be enough –"
"Girls talk too much!" Peter cried out loud.
"Yes, girls talk too – oh."
Wendy turned her eyes to the floor. Hiro felt a little better about spending his summer memorizing his books now that he knew he wasn't the only one who did. He also agreed with Peter that Wendy had said a mouthful and then some, even if he had been rather rude; the best he could do now was clear the air between them.
"Um, this is Peter Pan, and I'm Hiro Hamada."
This revelation immediately shook Wendy from her embarrassment.
"Good heavens! Are you really?"
Once more, Hiro showed off his scars. Wendy's hand fell to her heart; Wart's eyes looked ready to pop from his head.
"Jumpin' hoptoads!" he gasped.
"I can't believe it!" cried Wendy. "I read all about you in some of the extra books I picked up; you're in Modern Magical History, and The Rise and Fall of Black Magic, and Great Enchanting Events of the Twenty-First Century!"
"Really? What do they say about me?" Hiro asked, feeling a little curious.
"Goodness, didn't you know? If it were me, I'd have found out everything. Well, they start off with your family in Modern Magical History, but in The Rise and Fall of Black Magic they only mention Maleficent's – oh, it's all so much I ought to show you them myself. Come on, Wart, I'll need help carrying them."
She and Wart exited the compartment. Peter, who had been sulking in the corner while this was going on, snorted.
"Whatever house she's in, I hope I'm not in it."
Tinkerbell nodded vigorously.
"She's just excited," Hiro said. "We all are. I don't blame her for wanting to get a leg up on things."
Peter turned the conversation to a more familiar topic – sports. "Do you play questing?"
"No, but I want to learn more about it. It sounds cool."
"It's the best game in the world! Me and the Lost Boys play it all the time."
He went on to explain the finer points of the game, what each player did, how the field they played on affected each game differently, and so forth, until the compartment door opened again. But it wasn't Wendy and Wart this time.
A boy and two girls entered, and Hiro recognized the boy at once. It was the stocky red-haired boy from Main Street, and he seemed much more interested in Hiro now than when they first met.
"So it's true then, what people are sayin' on the train – you're Hiro Hamada, aren't you?"
"Yeah, that's me," said Hiro. He eyed the girls standing on either side of him; they looked less like his personal cheerleaders – even though the girl on the left was dressed like one – and more like his bodyguards. The girl in the cheerleader outfit was blonde, and the other had three eyes – three! – and skin and hair in different shades of pink. Both of them leered over the boy's shoulder back at Hiro.
"This is Sasha 'n Boscha," the boy said, "and I'm Kay – Sir Kay in the future. I'll be the first person in this school to be knighted before sixteen if Dad has anythin' to say about it. You'll see."
He snatched up a bag of popcorn and stuffed a greedy handful in his mouth.
"What I wanna know is, how come you didn't say nothin' 'bout who you were back on Main Street?" he said, spraying flecks of popcorn from his mouth.
"I don't know," said Hiro. "Maybe if you stopped talking about yourself for five minutes you'd have found out sooner."
Boscha gasped. Sasha broke into a coughing fit that sounded quite a bit like laughter. Peter didn't bother to hide his guffaws. And Kay, he stopped his munching, swallowed, and glowered at Hiro.
"If you weren't from a proper magic family, I'd box your ears for sayin' that."
He turned to Peter.
"You on the other hand? No need to ask where you're from. Ratty clothes, and a hand-me-down trunk? You ain't got no family. You're an orphan, a nobody born and dumped in the gutter, where you belong."
"I do not!" Peter shot back, rising until he was eye to eye with Kay. "So what if I don't have a family? One day I'm gonna be the greatest hero there ever was! Everyone will want to hear stories about Peter Pan a lot more than they will about dumb old "Sir Kay"!"
"Ugh, alliterative names?" Boscha scoffed. "What are you, like, a wannabe superhero or something?"
"I think it's cute," said Sasha, "reminds me of the names my friends would make up for our dungeon campaigns."
Kay sniffed and returned to Hiro.
"You'll soon find out that some us are better than others, Hamada. You don't wanna go 'round makin' friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
He held out his hand. Hiro didn't need to think twice.
"Meh, I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks," he said coolly. "By the way –"
He snatched the popcorn from his grubby hand.
"Get your own."
Kay's cheeks went pink.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Hamada. Your mum and dad didn't know what was good for 'em either. You hang 'round with riffraff like Pan 'ere and that giant, and it'll rub off on you."
Hiro and Peter stood up.
"What, you're looking for a fight now?" sneered Boscha.
"Unless you get out now, then yeah, we are," said Hiro far more bravely than he felt since he was outnumbered.
"But we don't feel like leavin', do we, girls? All our sweets are gone and you've still got some."
He reached for a bag of candy but Tinkerbell zoomed up into his face and poked him in the eye.
"Ow! Blasted pixie devil!" Kay yelled as he swatted around blindly.
Up rose Baymax.
Tinkerbell buzzed around Boscha and Sasha, who had as much luck catching her as Kay. She hovered between them making faces until Kay approached, ready to swing his hands together to capture her. She swooped up right as Peter and Hiro tripped him, resulting in Kay falling over and smacking his and the girls' heads together. Infuriated, they both punched Kay in the stomach. He fell backwards into Baymax, and bounced off his stomach right back into Sasha and Boscha. They fell out of the compartment on top of each other. Maybe they thought there were more nasty surprises hidden among the snacks, or perhaps they heard footsteps, because all three scrambled back down the corridor. A second later, Wendy returned.
"What is going on here?" she exclaimed as she surveyed the upturned compartment.
"I think we just met our bullies for the year," said Hiro, brushing himself off.
"Oh dear, you haven't been fighting, have you? I'd so hate for you to get into trouble before we arrived."
"To be fair, it was Tinkerbell who did most of the fighting," said Peter proudly. "Good job, Tink."
Tinkerbell blushed.
The Blight twins appeared in the doorway.
"Edric! Look!"
Their eyes fell on Hiro's exposed scar.
"Geez, he's –"
"Yeah, you are, aren't you?"
"What?" said Hiro.
"You're Hiro Hamada!" chorused the twins.
"Oh him – I mean me. Yes. I am," said Hiro.
"Wow! Hey Viney! You'll never guess who's right next to us!" Edric and Emira ran down the corridor.
"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this," Hiro sighed.
"Oh, I almost forgot," said Wendy, "I was going to bring the books but I heard from the conductor that we're almost there, so you'd better hurry and put your robes on."
The sun was setting, and a purple haze settled over the forests and plains. The train seemed to be slowing down. The boys changed into their uniforms after Wendy left. A voice echoed throughout the cabins:
"Just ahead is the Magic Kingdom station. Please remain seated until the train comes to a complete stop, then watch your step as you're getting off. Your luggage will be brought to the school separately. Permanezcan sentados, por favor."
Hiro deactivated Baymax and he and Peter crammed the rest of the sweets into their pockets. The train soon came to a halt.
All the students made their way onto a tiny platform in the woods. Hiro shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and a familiar voice called out –
"First years, this way, over here! Come on now, don't be shy! Hiya Hiro!"
Ralph beamed over the students' heads.
"All right, watch your steps, first years! Follow me this way!"
They followed Ralph down a steep path through the forest until they reached a wide river. Several boats were waiting on the shore.
"Okay, no more than four to a boat. Come on now, hop to it!"
Hiro and Peter got into a boat, followed by Wendy and Wart.
"Everyone in?" Ralph shouted. "Stay seated, and keep your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the boat. Right then – onward!"
And the little fleet of boats moved off all at once, silently gliding down the river.
The sky had turned a deep blue with a few scattered clouds capturing the last pinks of sunset. The first evening stars began to emerge. Every now and then a firefly would spark in and out of view among the trees or by the riverside. Nothing could be heard except the lapping of water and the gentle croaks of frogs and crickets.
They turned around a bend that led them out of the woods and in view of their destination. There was a cry of "Ooooh!" among the students –
An enormous white castle stood before them, glowing from the warmth of a thousand torches along its walls. Towers capped in blue and gold reached towards the heavens. Fireworks exploded above in a shower of glittering colors; one soared over the towers in a graceful arc like a comet. It was a vision out of a fairy tale.
The portcullis rose at their approach, allowing the boats through an archway underneath the castle. They came to a halt by a pair of large wooden doors in the tunnel wall.
Ralph checked the boats as everyone clambered out of them onto the rocky shore.
"By the way, anyone here lose a bear?"
He held up a yellow bear in a red t-shirt by its arm.
"Pooh Bear!" a boy cried out. He pushed his way to Ralph and gratefully took Pooh from him.
Everyone crowded around the doors.
"Okay, now that's settled, everyone's here?" said Ralph. "Good."
He raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times.
In this story, Hunter's been adopted by the Blight family - for reasons that will become abundantly clear as the series goes on. I couldn't think of anyone to fill the Percy role and had originally written him out entirely. Then after watching the Hunting Palismen episode of The Owl House, I went "I wonder..." and came up with this.
If you haven't already guessed, the castle is the one that opens virtually every Disney movie, though Cinderella's Castle in Disney World was also a major influence.
If you're a guest or anonymous, I can't reply to your reviews or answer your questions. I'm sorry, but it's not me, that's how the website works. I do appreciate your encouragement though!
Next Chapter: The Sorcerer's Hat