Considering they were trying to get the jump on the girl, they really should have been quieter in Carlos's opinion. As soon as he and Jane had darted off after them, he was able to track them down with ease. Not because he could see where they were, but because their petty squabbling reverberated through the halls, practically acting as a neon sign for their exact location. Groaning, Carlos snuck through the halls, reviving his skills for the Isle to sneak through undetected. The rest of the team- minus Jane- were from the Isle, so why the hell were they being so goddamn loud?
Finally reaching the group, Carlos snuck up behind Gil and Celia, wrapping his hands around their mouth and pulling them flush against him. "You may as well have texted Audrey our location, with all the noise you were making," He hissed, his spittal landing on Gil's face.
With deft movements, Carlos pinched the nerve he knew would make Gil momentarily paralysed, before mimicking his actions with Celia. Both stood shock straight, a slight aura of fear permeating the air. Jane stayed off at the side, her mouth slightly slacken as she watched Carlos. She had never seen him like this, almost amalistic but controlled with clinical position. It was like he was Jekyll and Hyde, switching from his usual sweet personality to… this.
"I'll let you both go, but you had better not bicker. Use your isle training because I'll be damned if we lose tpt that wannabe princess, got it." He sneered, his tone sharp enough to pierce through any false bravado they may have had.
Seeing that they couldn't speak, Carlos removed his hands and gave them some time for their bodies to recoup. It didn't take long, since both of them had some kind of enhancement due to magic and soon the three of them were walking down the hall, as if nothing happened.
Jane just watched open mouthed, trying to make her brain catch up with time. She had never seen this side of Carlos and it kind of scared her. What if he went like that with her? What if he hurt someone? She shook her head, as if the action would physically dislodge the thought. This was Carlos, he would never do that. He may have this side hidden under layers of goodness but what did she suspect? From the limited amount she knew, the Isle was tough. It was no wonder he had to be tough to survive.
He must have noticed she wasn't there because he turned around and gave her the smile that wormed her to her core. The smile that was soft and the eyes that reminded her of melted caramel. "You coming?" he mouthed, and she nodded, running up as quietly as she could and pressing into his side.
It doesn't matter what sides he has, or how many facets. He was Carlos, and that was enough for her.
"It's in here," Dude stage whispered, pointing to the door.
Nodding tersely, Carlos looked at the others. He began using his hands to show them the plan, which they cottoned onto quickly. While each gang may have different signs they use to communicate there were central signs that all the Islanders used, just in case they ever needed it to escape. Carlos knew that Jane wouldn't understand, so he turned to her and motioned for her to follow him, wanting her by his side so they could protect each other. With a nod, Celia snuck back into the shadows down the hall, meddling with them and stepping into a world only she could understand. Gil took up the front, sliding in with his bulky arm up and his hand on his weapon, with Carlos and Jane following close behind, scarcely daring to breathe. Carlos pressed himself against Gil's back nodding for Jane to do the same, creating three points of a triangle. Sneaking into the room, knowing Celia was covering them, they looked around, checking through the spacious storage room for any sign of her.
"It's clear," Carlos declared, relaxing their formation a little, with Gil and Jane doing the same,
"I guess if she was here, she has moved on," Jane said, eyes scanning the clutter for any signs of her.
"Her shadow isn't here either," Celia said, walking out of Gil's shadow like it was a pool of water and giving the youngest LeGume a fright.
'I guess we had better get going then," Jane said, and Carlos nodded, walking over to the door that had somehow gotten closed.
"That's weird," he muttered, walking over and wrapping his hand around the knob, trying with all his strength to open it. "It's not budging. Gil, can you use your strength to try to pull it open?" Carlos asked, getting out of the way as Gil pulled on it, his large muscles contracting as his magically enhanced strength was put to work.
"Nope, It wont's open.," He said, growing slightly, barely puffed.
"I'll use the shadows to try to figure out what's going on outside," Celia announced, focusing on the shadows and trying to melt into them, only to come against wha could only be called a brick wall, one that wouldn't budge no matter how much energy she put into it.
"What is going on? Is she messing with us from wherever she is?" Gil asked, frantically looking around for any chance of escape.
Carlos frowled and fished out his phone, mentally deciding if Jay or Mal would be the better option to call. Just as he was going to click Jay a voice interrupted him.
"Oh, I am messing with you alright, but not from anywhere else," Dude said, drawing all eyes to him?
"What-" Carlos was drowned out by magic surging and encasing Dude's form, the figure expanding and growing, the face becoming familiar when the magic dissipated.
"Audrey," Carlos said coldly, unconsciously pulling Jane behind him.
"In the flesh." she said smugly, a sinister smirk settling on her lips.
"What have you done with Dude?" Carlos asked, his temper fraying.
"My, who could have predicted this. You are the hero and me as the villain, quite fun don't you think?" she teased, seductively trailing a finger over the sickly green orb.
"Tell me where my dog is, before I turn you into a coat," Carlos sneered, his voice deepening from his anger.
Audrey raised an immaculate eyebrow and snickered, innocuously gesturing him forward. "Come closer and I'll show you," she said, a sly tone lacing her words.
"Don't do it Carlos, It's a trap," Jane warned and despite knowing it too, Carlos hesitantly crept forward, his muscles tensed and ready to flee.
"You know Carlos, I can see why Jane is so enamoured with you, you have gotten quite attractive since you first got here. I might just add you to my collection when I win," she purred, flickering her eyes to move to Jane who stood there bereft.
"Where the fuck is amy dog, and i'd rather date Frollo than you," He added, sneering at the princess.
Her expression hardened, as if marble was superimposed over it. "Fine," she snapped, her eyes glowing as she whispered a spell, the light enclosing over all of them and transforming them into lime green energy. The light returned to the orb, sinking in and taking the group with it.
Aubrey preened as she looked inside the orb, watching as the group stumbled around the ant gravity space. Sickly green clouds surrounded them, distorting any sense of space.
"Four down, 6 to do," she said, bending down to take Carlos's phone that lay on the floor before teleporting out of the room in a flash of light,
The trio were in good spirits as they exited the thicket, matching smiles adoring their faces. Uma or Mal would make a joke about Chad, acting out his panic and the other would dissolve into fits of laughter, while Ben tried his best to keep a straight face.
"Oh man, so she wasn't there, where should we head out to now?" Uma asked, looking at Ben with a pointed expression,
"Why are you looking at me?" he asked, slightly started at the weight her expression had.
"Gee I dunno Bem, maybe it's because the psycho was your girlfriend? Yea that could be it," she snarked, rolling her eyes at the boy's cluelessness.
Ben looked at Mal for some kind of backup but she just smirked and shrugged, a devious gleam in her eyes. Seeing that he was outnumbered, Ben sighed and ran his hand through his hair, trying to think about where she could be. "She could be in Astoria, or her dad's family's old castle. Though I doubt that, she hates her cousin Arianna." he said, muttereding th last part to himself as he thought. "Her parents have a holiday home in Queen Ariel and King Eric's kingdom, so maybe there?" he muttered, training behind the two girls.
"Great, so we have no idea," Uma sighed, rolling her eyes.
"I doubt she'd be at either of those places, she would want to be close." Mal said, pursuing her lips. "I'll call Evie and see if she got her mother's mirror, maybe she can use it to find her."
Not waiting for a reply, Mal fished out her phone and speed dialed Evie, the first one on her list, even before Ben. She held it to her ear and waited, tapping her foot as she waited for a reply.
"Hello?" Evie asked, her voice brighter than at her place.
"E! Hey, we had no luck at the Cottage- hey!" she snapped, as Uma took the phone out of her hand.
"What Mal means to say is we didn't find Aubrey but get this- oh and put the phone on speaker so Harry and Jay can hear," Uma said, and she paused until she heard the click. "We found Chad locked in a closet and after his release, he, and I'm not kidding, screamed out "I'm free, mummy, I'm free!" as she ran out the door," Uma said, her voice bubbling with laughter.
It took a moment but pretty soon three sets of laughter tricked out the phone. Mal would be able to pinpoint the soft laugh of Evie anywhere and the deep bellowing chuckles of Jay. Though she supposed that the devil-may- care laugh of Harry, one that was boisterous and loud was memorable enough.
"Ye best naw be kidding' me, Uma," Harry managed to say, any sternness drowned out by the laughter.
"Trust me, I'm not. Was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Sure I thought princes were pansies but that took the take," she snickered, and Mal couldn't help but chuckle too.
"As funny as this is, Mal, did you call for a reason?" Evie asked calmly, her voice soothing and guiding Mal out of her amusement.
"Yea E, did you get your mothers Mirror? We are kinda at a loss as to where the bitch is," Mal sighed, and she could practically hear the reprimand Ben wanted to give her for her language. But he could deal, he wasn't her keeper.
"We are heading there now- Jay put me down, I can walk myself you brute!" Evie tried to say sternly, but the giggle ruined any chance of that.
"No can do, there's a bat-shit crazy princess out to get us, princess, gotta keep you safe." he said, doing a better job of hiding his amusement than Evie.
"'Sides, yer given' me a damn nice view," Mal heard Harry say, his smirk almost visible despite the phone.
There was slight silence for a moment until Harry broke it. "Ow, wha' ye do that fo' princess!" Harry asked, pain clear in his tone.
"That's what you get for being a pervert Harry," Evie huffed, before returning her attention to Mal. "Sorry M, I'm surrounded by children. No I haven't gotten my mirror, but we are going there now. Going to check to see if there are any spell books I might be able to read," she paused, and Mal could practically see the devious smirk on her best friend's face. "Might find one to boil Harry's eyes, so he might actually be a gentleman for once," she said, getting a deep chuckle from Jay and an indignant "Hey!" from the pirate.
Mal chucked and smirked, loving this side of her best friend. She could still hear the sadness in her tone but she could tell it was better than before, and she had the two boys there with her to thank for that. A devilish smirk came onto Mal's face as she started plotting, imaging ways to encourage whatever is going on to grow. All she wanted was her best friend happy, and despite it only being a 5 minute phone call, she hadn't heard her laugh like that, even with Doug. "Sounds good E, maybe even an Erectile Incompetence charm too, just for good luck," The Dark Fae suggested, getting a hiss of dislike from all the males and evil giggles from the females.
"I'll see what's there. Keep me posted and make sure you text me when you go to someone else. I love you M," Evie said softly, her voice cracking slightly at the word love, creating a sister crack in Mal's heart at her sister's pain.
"Love you too E, after this we can go on a trip, just us okay?" Mal protmosed gently, wishing more than anything she could be there with her then.
"After we help the Isle, of course," Evie said firmly.
"Love you E, I'll see you soon. Oh and Jay and Harry? Anything happens to my Evie and Erectile dysfunction charms will be the least of your problems," she hissed, quickly hanging up the phone.
She turned to the group, giving Ben a glare to make him be quiet. "Okay, that's sorted then. Where should we go next?"
"Reckon she might be in the library? To get some more information on the staff's power," Uma asked, and Mal shrugged, it was as good an idea as any.
"Let's then, wannabe villains to catch, then princesses to cheer up," Uma said, grinning at Mal and linking their arms together, striding off in front of Ben.
Mal kept a smile on her face but couldn't help the sinking feeling in her chest. She knew once her decision was voiced then this camaraderie would shatter, so for now she decided to indulge herself and enjoy it, placing it carefully in her happy memories box for safe keeping.
I hope you al enjoyed this chapter, I tried to make it longer than the last one. I' sick and studying so doing this in between breaks. Poor Carlos, he's just so over everyone. I figured he'd have a more dangerous side than he shows from the isle and figured that the hunters may be aware of pressure points etc and may have taught him, as I'd bet that Cruella would still want her furs. It may be a long shot but thats what I'm running with, as I reckon he's more badass than he seems.
Oh and also, Evie kicked Harry with her heel from behind, thats why he said ow.
Until next time!
