Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and a stress-free Black Friday! We now return you to your weekly magic school drama.
Merlin had convinced Hiro not to go looking for the Magic Mirror again, and for the rest of winter break the kabuto stayed at the bottom of his trunk. Hiro wished he could forget his experience with the Mirror as easily, but he couldn't. He started having nightmares. Over and over again he dreamed about his parents disappearing in a flash of green fire, while someone cackled with cruel laughter.
"I told you, Merlin was right, that mirror could drive you nuts," said Peter, when Hiro told him about his dreams.
Wendy, who returned the day before term started, took a different view of things. She was torn between disappointment that Hiro hadn't used the mirror to learn more about King Frederic and Edmund, and terror that he had nearly gotten caught out of bed.
They had almost given up hope of ever finding the connection between the two monarchs in a library book or even through a quick look online (Professor Ichabod explained in one of his lessons that most of the magical lands hadn't fully adapted to modern technology yet, so the best you could hope for when doing research on them was through books instead of the internet), though Hiro swore they were so close to the answer he could feel it. All they needed was a nudge, a word, to put them on the right track. Once term started, they were back to skimming through books during their breaks. Hiro had even less time than Peter and Wendy because Questing practice resumed.
Cassandra worked the team harder than ever. Even the endless rain that washed away the snow couldn't dampen her spirits. The Blights complained that she was turning into a fanatic, but Hiro was on her side. If they won the next match against Canis, they would overtake Felinus in the House Championship for the first time in seven years. Apart from wanting to win, Hiro had much fewer nightmares when he was tuckered out from training.
Then, during one particular muddy and wet session, Cassandra gave the team a bit of bad news. She was already furious with Hiro and Baymax, who kept dive-bombing and pretending to crash.
"Quit fooling around, Hamada!" she yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Professor Lilith's refereeing this time, and I don't want to risk her knocking off points just because you're goofing off!"
Hiro nearly did fall off Baymax at these words.
"Wait, Lilith is refereeing?" he sputtered. "When has Lilith ever shown any interest in Questing? There's no way she's gonna play fair if we overtake Felinus."
"I heard she was captain of her team back in the day," said Emira. "This is the first time I've known her to do any refereeing, though."
The rest of the team complained along with them until Cassandra raised her voice.
"Don't pin this on me! We've just got to make sure we play a clean, fair game so we don't give her a reason to pick on us."
That was all very well, thought Hiro, but he had another reason to not have Lilith anywhere near him while he was out on the field…
Hiro headed straight back to the common room after practice and sent Baymax upstairs. He found Peter teaching Wendy the finer points of Maelstrom as Milo and Anne looked on.
"Shh!" Peter said as Hiro sat down next to him. "I need to concentrate on this next move."
"You're looking a little down, Hiro," said Milo. "Everything okay?"
Hiro told all four of them about Lilith's sudden, sinister desire to be a Questing referee. Even Milo and Anne, who knew nothing about her attempt on Hiro's life, were concerned. They remembered how she treated him during their first lesson all too well.
"Don't play," Wendy said immediately.
"Tell them you're sick," said Peter.
"Pretend to break your leg," Anne suggested.
"Really break your leg," said Milo.
"I can't," said Hiro sadly. "There's no backup Chaser and the team's counting on me. If I pull out, we can't play at all."
At that moment, Wart stumbled into the common room. How he managed to find his way to the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his head and clothes were covered in paint and trash, someone had doodled all over his face, and his legs were partially stuck together.
Wendy, Anne and Milo leapt up and helped Wart into a chair. Anne performed a water spell that washed away the worst of the mess.
"Thanks," Wart muttered.
"What happened, Wart?" Wendy asked him.
"It was Kay. Boscha too," Wart said shakily. "They started flinging things at me during Music class, but I figured they couldn't follow me around all day. But they did. They followed me around all day!"
"Go to a teacher," Wendy urged Wart. "Report them!"
"I did," said Wart. "They just told me to ignore them, but it only got worse when I tried to. Ignoring them never works."
"Then whoop their butts!" said Anne. "Somebody's gotta take those guys down a peg."
Wart shook his head.
"I don't want any more trouble. I'm only here 'cause –"
He paused, considering what to say next.
"…If Sir Ector found out I was fighting, then he won't let me come back to school next year."
"It doesn't matter. You've gotta stand up to him, Wart!" said Peter. "Kay's used to walkin' all over everybody, that doesn't mean you gotta lie down in front of him and make it easy."
"Besides, I'm sure Ector will understand if he knows Kay's been bullying you," said Milo encouragingly.
"You don't understand," Wart choked out. "Kay's from a proper noble family and I'm just nobody. I can't do it. I wish I could…"
He sniffed and wiped at his face.
"You don't have to tell me I'm not brave enough to be sorted into Mus. Kay's done that enough already."
Hiro felt in his pocket and pulled out a Wonder Ball, the very last one of the bunch that Wendy sent him for Christmas. He gave it to Wart, whose eyes were wet with unshed tears.
"You're worth twelve of Kay," Hiro said. "The Sorcerer's Hat chose you for Mus, didn't it? And Kay's stuck in Felinus with the rest of those phonies."
Wart's lips twitched into a weak smile as he unwrapped the box.
"Thanks, Hiro. Here, you can have the card, it was yours after all."
He held out the card, which had a very familiar face on it. Hiro gently pushed it back.
"Nah, it's okay, Wart. I've already got Merlin –"
His eyes popped open. Without a word he took the card from Wart and read the back. Confused, Wart backed away and went up to the dormitory. Hiro looked to Wendy and Peter.
"Wendy," he whispered, "did any of the kings you found rule over a place called the Dark Kingdom?"
Wendy gasped. She hadn't looked so excited since their first test results came back.
"Wait here!" she said, and she sprinted to the girls' dormitories.
"What's going on?" Anne asked, confused.
"Uh, it's kind of a private thing – for homework. Yeah," Hiro said quickly. He'd rather not get anyone else involved if he could help it. Milo yawned and joined Wart upstairs for bed as Anne shrugged, plugged her earbuds in and started watching a video on her phone.
"What's this about the card and the Dark Kingdom?" Peter asked Hiro.
"Okay, on the train coming here, I read this on the first Wonder Ball card I got – 'Merlin is particularly famous for yadda yadda yadda, and his extensive research on the magical histories of Corona and the Dark Kingdom'! We already found Frederic; he's the king of Corona. Maybe if we find the Dark Kingdom, it could lead us to King Edmund and what's connecting the both of them!"
Wendy dashed back down the stairs and plopped an enormous old book in front of them.
"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I checked this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."
"This is light?" said Peter. Wendy silenced him with a look and continued to flip through the pages.
At last she found what she was looking for.
"Of course! Here they are!"
She showed them a page with two ancient-looking drawings, one of the sun with a trail of golden drops falling from it onto a flower, and one of the moon with silver drops descending on a castle with wicked black rocks poking out of it like needles.
"It makes perfect sense," Wendy said. "King Frederic and King Edmund are the keepers of the Sundrop and Moonstone!"
"The WHAT?" said Hiro and Peter. It wasn't the reaction she anticipated.
"Honestly, don't you two read?"
She pushed the book towards them and began to read:
Long ago, when the world began, a drop of pure sunlight fell from the heavens. When it landed on earth, it took the form a golden flower with the warm healing powers of the sun. With the proper incantation, it could heal any wound or illness, restore youth, and even revive the dead.
At the same time, a drop made up of the cold light of the moon landed miles away. The Moonstone was the counterpart to the Sundrop – instead of healing and light, it brought destruction, ruin and decay, enough to devastate entire lands if left unchecked or wielded unwisely.
Two kingdoms grew around the Sundrop and Moonstone. Corona flourished thanks to the light and life Sundrop brought to the land, while a hidden kingdom known only as the Dark Kingdom was created to prevent the Moonstone from destroying the world.
Peter and Hiro gasped. Wendy continued.
For years, the truth of these celestial powers were a closely guarded secret kept by three factions –
Lord Demanitus, a brilliant engineer and scholar of magical arts who theorized that the Sundrop and Moonstone were destined to be reunited –
The Brotherhood, who were tasked with guarding the Dark Kingdom's location so the Moonstone wouldn't fall into the wrong hands –
And the acolytes of Zhan Tiri, an evil demon who sought the Sundrop and Moonstone to increase her power.
Their paths crossed many times and they left chaos in the wake of their confrontations. But to the rest of the world, the magical artifacts they fought over were nothing but a story.
When Queen Ariana of Corona fell victim to a sickness no medicine could cure, her husband, King Frederic, decided to seek out the Sundrop in the final desperate hopes that it would save her and their unborn child. One of Zhan Tiri's followers, an ancient witch called Gothel, had found the Sundrop centuries before and hoarded its magic to keep herself young and beautiful. In her haste to escape the notice of the king's search party, the Sundrop was discovered. It was taken and used to bring Queen Ariana and her baby daughter, Rapunzel, back from the brink of death. King Frederic has held the Sundrop in his keeping ever since.
As for the Moonstone, it grew increasingly unstable over the years. It began to destroy the Dark Kingdom and alert the world of its location through the form of indestructible black rocks shooting from the earth. Many of the Dark Kingdom's rulers have attempted to control the Moonstone, but none of them were strong enough to survive it. The only one to come close was its final king, King Edmund, who lost his wife and his right arm in his attempt to destroy it for good. Left with no other choice, he evacuated the Dark Kingdom's citizens to safety, but remained behind as the last line of defense against any who would try to claim the Moonstone's destructive powers for their own.
"See?" said Wendy once she was finished. "Aladar must be guarding the Sundrop and Moonstone!"
"I bet Merlin is looking after them because of how much he knows about them and where they came from," Hiro said. "Maybe the kings asked him to do it because they knew someone was after them again. And look – the incantations to activate them are right here! The one for the Moonstone seems much shorter for some reason."
He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the pages.
"A flower that can give you eternal life, and a stone with the power to wipe out entire kingdoms. Who wouldn't want those?! You could rule the world with them! No wonder Lilith's after them!"
"And no wonder they weren't in Recent Magical Achievements," said Peter. "They're not exactly recent or achievements if they're hundreds of years old and meant to be a secret, aren't they?"
The next morning in Magical Myths and History, while copying down the names of notable princesses, Hiro and Peter were still discussing what they'd do if they had the Sundrop and Moonstone. It wasn't until Peter said he'd throw a never-ending Questing match that Hiro remembered about Lilith and the upcoming match.
"I'm going to play," he told Peter and Wendy. "If I don't, everyone will think I'm just too scared to face Lilith. I'll show them…it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces when we win."
"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Peter.
As the match drew nearer, however, Hiro became more and more nervous, despite what he told everyone. The rest of the team wasn't too calm either. The idea of overtaking Felinus in the House Championship was wonderful; no one had done it in seven years, but would they be allowed to with a referee eager to punish anyone at the drop of a hat?
Hiro didn't know whether he was imagining it or not, but he seemed to keep running into Lilith wherever he went. At times he even wondered if she was following him, trying to catch him on his own. Transformation lessons were becoming something of a weekly torture for Hiro as she constantly called attention to him and his progress, or lack thereof. Could Lilith possibly know they'd found out about the Sundrop and Moonstone? Hiro couldn't see how she could – yet sometimes she had the horrible feeling that Lilith had eyes and ears everywhere in the castle.
Hiro knew, when they wished him good luck outside the locker rooms the next afternoon, that Peter and Wendy were wondering whether they'd see him alive again. It wasn't exactly what you'd call comforting. Hiro hardly heard a word of Cassandra's pep talk as he draped his uniform over his armor and fitted Baymax's flight gear on to him.
Wendy and Peter, meanwhile, found a place in the stands. They sat with their wands out looking grim and determined. It drew a number of curious stares from their classmates, including Wart, but they were ignored. Little did Hiro know that the two of them had been practicing a body-binding spell in secret and were ready to use it on Lilith the moment she showed signs of wanting to hurt Hiro.
"Don't forget, the spell is Corctant Cum Vites," Wendy whispered as she slipped her wand up her sleeve.
"I won't, don't worry," Peter replied.
Back in the locker room, Cassandra took Hiro aside.
"Don't want to pressure you, Hiro, but if we need an early victory, it's now. Get to the treasure before Lilith can favor Canis too much. Better yet, let me find it first and I'll signal for you to arrive with the rest of the team."
"The whole school's out here," said Edric. "Even – Jiminy Cricket! Merlin's in the stands!"
Hiro's heart did a somersault.
"Merlin?!" he said, racing to the door. He had to make sure.
Edric was right; there was no mistaking that beard.
Hiro was so relieved he could have laughed until he cried. They were safe. There was no way Lilith would dare try to hurt him or Baymax with Merlin watching.
Perhaps that was why Lilith looked so furious as the teams marched on to the field, something Peter noticed too.
"Gosh, I've never seen her look so mean," he told Wendy.
The field became a snowy mountainside. The first signs of an oncoming blizzard hung in the air.
"They're off – ouch!"
"Oh sorry, Pan, didn't see you there."
Boscha grinned at Sasha and Kay.
"Wonder how long Hamada's gonna stay on his robot this time? Anyone wanna bet?" said Kay.
Peter didn't answer; Lilith just awarded Canis a penalty because one of Emira's stray snowballs hit her. Wendy crossed her fingers her fingers in her lap. She squinted fixedly at Hiro, who was circling the game like a hawk, looking for the treasure, swooping in every now and then to take out one of his opponents. Cassandra and the rest battled the elements and the other team with vigor.
"You know how I think they choose people for the Mus team?" Boscha said loudly a few minutes later, as Lilith awarded Canis another penalty for an obscure rule in the playbook. "It's people they feel sorry for. There's Cassandra, who's got no mom, then Hiro, who's got no parents, then there's the Blights, whose parents hate them."
"You oughta be on the team, Wart, you've got no brains," said Kay, shoving Wart from behind and guffawing loudly.
Wart went bright red but turned in his seat to face him.
"I'm worth twelve of you, Kay," he stammered.
Kay, Boscha and Sasha howled with laughter, but Peter, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, "You tell 'em, Wart!"
"You think you're hard enough to best me, Wart?" Kay laughed. "You've hardly got any muscle or trainin' on you. You're almost worse off than Pan 'ere!"
Peter gritted his teeth.
"One more word, Kay –"
"Peter!" cried Wendy suddenly. "Hiro!"
"What? Where?"
Hiro had gone into a spectacular dive and swooped straight upward, drawing gasps and cheers from the crowd. Wendy stood, crossed fingers held up, as Hiro streaked to the top of the mountain.
"Look at that, Pan, Hiro's spotted some gold for you!" said Kay.
Peter snapped. Before Kay knew what was happening, Peter was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. Wart hesitated, and then clambered over the back of his seat to help.
"Come on, Hiro!" Wendy screamed, leaping on to her seat to watch as Hiro sped past Cassandra, who was scaling the mountain on her own. The rock cracked beneath her feet, and she was left clinging for dear life to the mountain face. The crowd gasped as one. Hiro and Baymax reached the peak and held up a pointed gold tiara. Amid the roars and cheers came the announcement of Mus' new advantage –
"SNOW GUARDIAN."
A hulking mass of snow rose from the top of the mountain in the form of a behemoth on icy legs. It roared, and sharp icicles sprung from its back and fingertips. The monster jumped down to fight off the Canis team as the rest of Mus made their way to the peak.
Cassandra fought to maintain her grip. The wind blew in her face and her fingers slipped – she fell.
The onlookers got to their feet amid a wave of concerned cries – but they needn't have worried.
Less than five feet from the ground, Baymax swooped in and caught Cassandra. Ecstatic shouts overwhelmed the raging winds. Cassandra glared at Hiro.
"I told you to let me get to the treasure first! I had this!"
"Geez, you're welcome," Hiro replied, rolling his eyes.
Baymax carried her and Hiro to the rest of the team, where they lifted the tiara in the air together. The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the game ending so quickly.
"Peter! Peter! Where are you? The game's over! We won! Hiro won! Mus is in the lead!" shrieked Wendy, dancing up and down and hugging Melissa.
Hiro jumped off of Baymax. He couldn't believe it. They smashed through the game and came out on top. As everyone spilled onto the field and raised Hiro onto their shoulders, he saw Lilith land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped – then Hiro felt a hand inserted into his, and looked into Merlin's smiling face.
"Well done," Merlin said quietly, so that only Hiro could hear. "Nice to see you haven't been brooding about that Mirror…been keeping busy…excellent…"
Lilith harrumphed and stormed off the field.
Hiro stayed in the locker room alone for some time to properly calibrate Baymax's armor and give it a good cleaning. He couldn't ever remember feeling happier. He'd really done something to be proud of now; no one could say he was just a famous name anymore.
The evening air had never smelled so sweet. He walked over the damp grass, reliving the last hour in his head, which was a happy blur: all of Mus House carrying him out of the stadium; Peter and Wendy in the distance, jumping up and down, Peter cheering through a heavy nosebleed.
Hiro looked up at the castle, with its windows glowing in the setting sun. There was no one around but he and Baymax to take in this beautiful sight – no one except Cassandra.
Hiro hadn't realized she was still there. She gazed into the sunset, her sword held out and her back to him. She didn't seem to know that he was there. She began to sing; it was a song of helplessness and determination in the face of wounded pride and neglect, of how time and again her glory was overlooked and how she was left waiting for a moment that might never come. Hiro finally understood what Professor Owl meant when he once said music could say what words couldn't. Her song done, Cass turned her eyes downward and walked away along the forest edge.
Hiro swallowed the lump in his throat. Did him reaching the treasure that quickly really tear her up that badly? They won the game and Mus was in the lead, even if it didn't go exactly like she had wanted.
"It'll be nice to end my final year here on a high note…" the words echoed in his head. "I always thought that if I could prove how strong I was, he'd finally let me join the guards… I won't be waiting in the wings any longer…"
"Oh…"
He had stolen the spotlight from Cassandra, even though he hadn't meant to, even though she nearly got herself killed just to win. That sudden realization could have sunk him into the ground.
Hiro headed towards Cass. Perhaps if he talked it over with her, told her he never meant to overshadow her, they could work out a new strategy where they'd both lead the team to victory. He just hoped she'd be willing to listen. His awareness of the situation made his win feel less than victorious, but hey, at least he'd shown Lilith.
Speaking of Lilith…
A hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, they walked as fast as possible toward the Forest of No Return. Cassandra faded from Hiro's mind as he watched. He recognized the figure's prowling walk. Lilith, sneaking into the forest while everyone else was at dinner – what was going on?
Hiro scanned the perimeter; Cass was nowhere to be seen now. He climbed on to Baymax.
"Be as quiet as you can, Baymax. Keep an eye on Lilith, don't lose sight of her."
They took off. Gliding silently over the castle he saw Lilith enter the forest at a run. They followed.
The trees were so thick he couldn't see where Lilith had gone. They flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until he heard voices. They glided toward them and landed carefully in a towering beech tree.
Hiro leaned as forward as he could without falling off, trying to see through the leaves. Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Lilith, but she wasn't alone. Ichabod was there, too. Hiro couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stammering worse than ever. Hiro strained to catch what they were saying.
"…d-don't know why you wanted to meet here of all places, Miss Clawthorne…"
"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Lilith in her icy voice. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sundrop and Moonstone, after all."
Hiro's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Ichabod was muttering something. Lilith interrupted him.
"Do you know anything about how to get past that beast of Ralph's?"
"B-b-but I-I don't –"
"You don't want me as your enemy, Crane," said Lilith, taking a step towards him. The eyes of her staff glowed an unearthly blue.
"I-I-I don't know what you –"
"You know perfectly well what I mean."
An owl hooted loudly, and Hiro nearly lost his balance. He steadied himself in time to hear Lilith say, "…anyone else. I'll know."
"B-but I –"
"We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to screw your courage to the sticking place."
She threw her cloak over her head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost dark now, but Hiro could see Ichabod rooted to the spot, trembling.
"Oh Hiro, where have you been?" Wendy squealed.
Peter crowed triumphantly.
"We won! You won! We won!" he shouted, spinning Hiro around. "And I punched Kay in the stomach, and Wart nearly took on Sasha and Boscha single-handed! Well, Anne held Sasha back and Boscha gave him a black eye, but Professor Flora says he'll be all right. Talk about showing Felinus who's number one! Everyone's waiting for you, they're throwing a party in the common room! Edric and Emira are stealing food from the kitchens –"
"Never mind that," said Hiro breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this…"
He made sure the Cheshire Cat wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then he told them what he'd seen and heard.
"So we were right, it is the Sundrop and Moonstone, and Lilith's trying to force Crane to help her get it. She asked if he knew how to get past Aladar. There's gotta be other things guarding them apart from him, other spells and monsters and things, and Crane must know something that Lilith needs in order for her to break through!"
"So, you mean the Sundrop and Moonstone are only safe as long as Professor Crane stands up to Lillith?" said Wendy in alarm.
"They'll be gone by next Tuesday," Peter shrugged.
If you haven't already guessed, there's a song that goes here, and I think some of you might already know what it is. The full version is available on the AO3 upload of this story.
Next Chapter: Olaf The Magic Snowman