AN: Zahabiya: You will be happy with the next chapter for sure. The characters you want to see are well on their way into the plot!
Creator of Magic: I was debating writing the birthday party in, but it wouldn't make much sense. I definitely think there will be some awkward scene in the future though in place of it.
Thank you both for reviewing!
Once they were ready, there was no stopping the five. Celia clung onto Mal's waist as she situated on her bike. Mal clipped her helmet on tightly before she looked over to the others. Jay nodded as their eyes connected. Her eyes gazed to see Evie's bike still parked in its original spot. On Carlos' bike, the blue hair princess was sitting behind him. Her red jacket blended with his own. Mal grinned as Evie kissed Carlos' cheek before he put on his helmet. When the couple noticed her staring, Evie straightened up and Carlos nodded.
Mal turned the engine on and began her journey. Dude was yelling something behind them, but no one could hear what he said. They traveled through the woods and all the way to the ocean side drop off. Mal lifted her googles and felt her eyes glow green. "Noble steed proud and fair," she remembered the spell from when she fled to the Isle herself. "You shall take us anywhere."
They drove off the cliff. Mal grinned at the feeling of flight. Celia clung onto her tightly. When her bike hit the water, green dust appeared around the tires. The four continued their journey across the ocean. Celia had loosen her grip and reached down for the water. Her finger tips grazed the blue liquid and she smiled.
On Auradon, Jane's party had been successful so far. A banner with her her name in blue made her feel special. The crystal clear water reflected the trees. Chatter filled the area of the enchanted lake. Jane now paced around the gazebo looking for the VKs. She wanted to patch things up with them so badly. Even after months of trying to hate them, she had to admit she missed them.
Chad held a water shooter in his hands and pointed it at Jane. "Surprise birthday girl!"
"You shoot me and you don't get cake!" Jane threw her arms up in surrender. Chad lowered the shooter and grumbled a little. The daughter of the Fairy Godmother laughed a little before looking around at the guests.
"Looks like they forgot about your birthday," Chad knew who she was thinking of.
"Maybe they just took the wrong trail or something," Jane sympathized. "Or maybe they just down celebrate birthdays on the Isle. It could be a cultural thing." She nodded and Chad agreed. She knew this was a lie. When they were still together, Carlos had told her about Evie's birthday parties on the Isle. The way his eyes lit up when he talked about it. She should have seen the event of their breakup coming. Jane couldn't argue over what happened. She had gotten too possessive. Making up with them was her new priority.
"Or maybe they're still mad," Chad shrugged. Jane didn't like to think that way. "You know you did slap Evie to the ground."
"I didn't know what came over me," Jane blurted louder than she wanted to.
"Whatever," Chad laughed. "Or they probably forgot."
"Oh! Chad look!" She pointed up towards the rocks. "There's people taking selfies." Chad immediately took off towards them. Yelling at them to wait for him, Chad threw the water shooter back at Jane. She caught it and laughed to herself. The son of Prince Charming was so vain.
Audrey strode into the party. After spending the entire night thinking of an evil plan, one finally came to mind. She tried to act casual, but she held up a hand to stop someone form bumping into her. "Did anyone save me some guacamole?" Everyone's faces were confused and baffled by her new appearance. She looked around at the blank faces. "NO!? Looks like someone forgot to invite me."
She began to strut around the group of her once fellow classmates. "Well," she sighed as she stole a cupcake. "Don't be expecting Mal. She not feeling like herself." She through the cupcake behind her back and smiled. "Does that make you sad? Does it just ruin everything? You all are mindless little trolls. How could you forget what she did to us? I was supposed to be your QUEEN!"
Chad came running from the woods. She hadn't seen him since the proposal. "Time out!" He ran to her and smiled. "First off, great new look. I absolutely love the feathers. But before you do whatever you're going to do I think you should have a loyal boyfriend by your side." She hadn't thought about Chad in her plan. "Or you know maybe just someone to do your bidding. Please?" He crossed his fingers.
Audrey thought about his offer. "You could be useful," she nodded her head back,"Get behind me." He smiled and ran behind her. "Since Auradon loves to forget everything from their lost princess to their ex future queen, their going to love this." She swirled her staff around. Whispering to it as a pink fog began to appear at her feet. When she smash it on the ground, everyone around her fell to the ground and into a slumber.
Audrey kept working her way through the crowd. At the edged of the level ground, the queen of mean looked down at Jane on the gazebo. She looked frightened, which made Audrey smile. "Sorry I have to do this Jane. Oh wait, no I'm not. You used to be my friend, then you sucked up to those VKs. Only to get dumped by Carlos. Honestly, you're the one who is sad and lonely." She sent down the pink dust. Jane hid behind a column. Audrey didn't care to check if Jane was hit, she was sure of it. "Happy birthday Jane!" Audrey laughed before hitting Maleficent's scepter on the ground. She took Chad along with her as they disappeared in pink flames.
Jane wasn't hurt by Audrey's words, even if they were true. The pink dust continued to crawl closer to her feet. She looked down at the water and realized. It was the enchanted lake. No magic spells could work if you were in there. Jane dove into the water before the magic could reach the gazebo's edge. She held her breath for about a minute before resurfacing. The pink dust was gone, and everyone was asleep.
Ben grabbed his present for Jane and was about to head out the door of his room. His phone began to ring and he held it up to his ear. "Hey Jane! I'm on my way to the party. Sorry, the meetings ran longer than expected." In reality, his parents gave him a long lecture about closing the barrier for good. Of course, his mother had to add something in about Rose. The King had gotten out of there as fast as he could.
"NO DON'T!" Jane yelled into the phone. "Stay where you are Ben! Audrey's got the scepter and putting people to sleep. I'm going to call mom and tell her to get her wand." She hung up before he could say 'Is Mal with you?' Nerves began to rise up in him. Was she safe, was Audrey after her?He was shocked. He never thought that Audrey would pull something like this. He recalled graduation day. The weird look she gave him when she shook his hand. Could this be a long time plan? Or was she acting on impulse?
He put down the phone and turned to the guard outside of his room. "I need my sister in my office right now." He said it before he thought about it. Ben didn't know what else to do. Everything was too risky at this point. He felt like Rose would have to know something about what's going on.
Back at the Isle, Mal and her friends parked their bikes at the old green gates by the warehouse. Mal took of her helmet and looked at her hands. They were wrinkle free. She immediately felt her smooth face. "Hey! I'm me again!"
"Duh," Celia hung her helmet on the bike's handle. "Evil magic doesn't work here. That's kind the point. Man, one year at Auradon and your whole memory just goes kaputz." Mal raised an eyebrow at the sassy girl. She reminded Mal of her younger self. She exchanged looks with Evie as she put her arm around Mal.
"Oof," Evie smiled,"Welcome back."
"Thank you," Mal felt her smooth face again. For the first time, she was grateful for the awful conditions of the Isle. The five walked down an alley where Celia once had her fortune telling stand. It was still up, but the sign said it was closed. Celia walked up to the door and banged on it in a certain way. The beat came back from the door itself, and the red head girl finished it. She smiled back at the crew before the door slid open.
The distant ring of carnival music made Mal intrigued. They walked into a busy arcade made with home made games. It was a lot more colorful than Mal remembered."Daddy!" Celia ran to her father and hugged him.
"There she is!" Dr. Facilier spun her around and placed her next to him. "Come on now!" The two of them did a little dance as the core four watched. Once finished, Celia walked with her father. "So what's this hustle with these shiny people?"
"No hustle," Celia walked down the ramp into her mother's office. "I've got friends on the other side."
Her father laughed at this. "I hear you," he pointed his staff as her,"I hear you." Celia smiled and grabbed Hades' house key from its hook. She turned to see her sitting father.
"We're on a mission." She tried to impress him. "I'm kinda a major player so I can't stay long." She strung the key around her neck.
"Make sure you get your cut." Dr. Facilier advised. Celia nodded. If there was anything that her father taught her, it was to look out for number one.
Meanwhile, Mal watched Celia and her father go. She had to admit she was a little jealous of Celia and her father's relationship. "Well I guess we can have a look around," Mal suggested as she eyed a wheel of many fortunes.
"I suppose," Evie smiled as they walked down the stairs. They all seemed to go their separate ways.
Mal immediately went to the wheel. She played competitively against a few other kids she had seen at school before coming to Auradon. She let them win of course. Even adding an extra coin in the mix, she threw the game in their favor. It was her little contribution to the kids that might never come off the Isle. The thought sickened her a little. She hadn't told anyone because she told herself it wasn't a definite decision, but it was.
Jay and Carlos both walked to a simple throwing game. If you knocked over the bottles, you could choose a prize. Carlos looked around at the other games before turning his attention to Jay. "I think you might struggle with this one," Jay nudged him a little.
"Why?" Carlos raised an eyebrow.
"Because you played this about a hundred times before actually winning it." Jay recalled. "Me and Mal used to watch and make fun of you. From afar of course. Then when you did win, you didn't even choose a cool prize." When Carlos was making Evie's heart necklace, he had won the red gem that he carved into a heart here. He would always remember the way her face lit up when she opened it for her sixteenth birthday. It was only a matter of months before they were chosen to go to Auradon. Even then Carlos knew he wanted to always make Evie's face light up like that. Whether if they were a couple or not.
"Yeah," Carlos shrugged. He looked around the room to see Evie was playing a quiz game. She was so beautiful when she was thinking. There was a gloss over her soft brown eyes he couldn't get enough of. The heart necklace was still strung around her neck. "But I got a better one now."
Jay followed his eye line to her and shoved him a little. "Are we going to play or what?" Carlos snapped out of his daze. He scanned Jay's expression and couldn't help but feel guilty. He knew Jay missed Lonnie, and he didn't help that he was talking about his own girlfriend.
"You're going down," Carlos tossed the booth holder a coin and grabbed a ball. At the same time, the boys threw at the stacked bottles. The six were all knocked down. It was a tie. They both cheered.
"Choose your prizes boys," the guy said as he lifted a cardboard box up onto the counter. There were a lot of mini prizes in the box. Carlos didn't find anything he liked for himself, but found a thin silver ring that had a fake ruby on the top. Thinking of Evie, the white haired boy took the ring and put it in his pocket. He then helped Jay look through the box.
"Doesn't this necklace just scream Lonnie," Jay held it up. A small black rope was tied together with a plastic sword swinging from it. It was spray painted silver and didn't look as bad as some other prizes.
"Yeah," Carlos shrugged. He didn't expect Jay to bring up Lonnie. "You could mail it to her with your next letter."
Jay nodded and strung it around his own neck. "Just so it doesn't slip out of my pocket."
Evie finished her quiz game and stood up from the bench. She did surprisingly well on a the test of villain knowledge. When the blue hair princess turned to see Carlos smiling at her. She walked across the room to meet him in the middle. "Did you win?" Evie acknowledged the smile.
"Yes," Carlos pulled something out of his pocket, but she kept her eyes on him. "In more ways than one." He winked at her as he gabbed her left hand. She blushed as he pulled her closer to him. At first, she thought he was just holding her hand, but then she felt the cool metal on her finger. Her brown eyes looked down to see a sliver ring with a red ruby on its top.
She couldn't believe it. Evie held her breath to prevent gasping. Carlos had just placed the ring on her ring finger. Did this mean he wanted marriage? Her chest tightened at the thought. She was in doubt of their relationship and their future. Doug had begged her for a second chance, and she ultimately said no. Although, it did make her think about her choices. Was Carlos the one? Did he want her as much as she wanted him? But here Carlos was, giving her a ring.
Her eyes flickered back up to his. His smile filled her with love and warmth. Evie was about to open her mouth and question what this meant, but Jay cut her off. "Guys! Come look at this!" They all rushed to where Jay sat. A television sat in front of them. Carlos and Mal both sat in chairs next Jay. Evie was about to sit on Carlos' lap, but stopped her self. She was still confused on what was happening.
Carlos looked back at her when she just leaned over his chair. Evie focused her eyes on the screen so Carlos would look away. She placed her hands on the back of his chair instead of his shoulders. When Carlos sighed Evie felt a pang of guilt, but it went away when she looked down at the ring. She needed answers before giving Carlos affection again.
"Sleep spells have been running across the country." The reporter was talking in front of the square garden where the Best statue lingered above. "We're trying to finger out who is behind all this. Possibly another attack from the once forgotten princess Rose? Revenge from Uma? Or maybe a brand new villain? Oh, we have an update. Its moving this way!" He said the last part warily as the TV cut out.
"We have to go," Mal ordered. "Now." Thoughts ran through her head. Rose? It had to be Rose. But how could she have gotten out? They walked out of the door to hear the rumble of the bikes.
"Rookie mistakes," Carlos pointed.
"Long time no see!" Harry raised his eyebrows. He, Gil, and another pirate were on the three bikes. Mal was relieved that Evie didn't bring her bike, then it would be another one to chase.
Carlos and Jay ran towards them. "Get off my bike Hook!" Jay yelled.
"Catch me if you can Jay!" Harry said playfully. They all sped off. Carlos, Jay, and Evie all ran after them. Mal held Celia back.
"The roofs!" Jay was already climbing.
"Cut them off!" Evie yelled
"Hey!" Mal watched her friends execute their plans to go on the roof. "Not you. They got this. You and me got to go find the ember."
"Perfect timing," Celia looked at the watch on her wrist. She flicked it a little. "Its around his nap time."
The bikes screeched around the corners. Jay jumped down from the roof, but he was too was already speeding past him, laughing. Jay grumbled in defeat. There was no way to catch up with them now. Maybe Evie and Carlos would get them. He jogged up the alleyway. His eyes gazed with hope to see Carlos jump down towards the bikes, but they sped past him.
That's when Evie cut them off. They didn't stop for her though. Evie jumped on top of Gil's bike so he didn't hit her. When she was in the air to jump off, Harry caught her leg with his hook. She was thrown into cardboard boxes as the bikes drove out of sight. She didn't move a muscle. Fear rose in Jay as he continued to jog towards her. Carlos sprinted to her.
"Eves?" Carlos called to her, but there was no answer. "Eves!" He shook her, and she rolled off of the boxes. Her head now lay in Carlos' lap. Her eyelids fluttered open. Jay sighed with relief. She smiled when she saw Carlos.
"I'm here," she whispered. The white haired boy was overfilled with joy. He smiled before bending down and kissing her. Jay looked away as he did this. Carlos then embraced her tightly. The two sat up and looked at each other. Carlos took her hands in his, and brushed his thumb over her left hand, this was when Jay noticed the ring on Evie's hand. Only it was on her ring finger.
"I'm so glad you're alright." Carlos stood and brushed himself off. He held a hand out to Evie. She tried to get to her feet, but yelped with pain and leaned onto Carlos. "What is it?" Carlos steadied her. There weren't any injuries he could see.
"Her ankle." Jay pointed out. "Harry must've cut it with his hook."
"There's wrap in my bag and water." Evie said as Carlos set her back down on the ground. Jay got it for her, and Carlos rolled up her pant leg. A deep cut was across her calf. Blood was dripping down her leg. Carlos exchanged worried looks with Jay. Evie looked horrified.
"Its fine," Carlos sat up next to Evie and put his arm around her. "Jay will wrap it for you and you'll be alright. And if it hurts, you can just squeeze my hand." Evie looked at him and nodded. Jay swallowed as he touched her leg. Evie gasped, and Jay pulled away. Looking at Carlos, Jay waited for him to nod before trying again. She took a deep breath as Jay began to clean her wound. She held onto Carlos' hand tightly as he did it. The boy could tell she was fighting back tears, so he held her closer to him.
After a few minutes, Jay had successfully cleaned and wrapped the cut. "Thank you Jay." Evie managed to say as a single tear ran down her cheek. She leaned her head on Carlos' shoulder. Another moment had passed before Carlos knew they had to get out of here. Together, Jay and Carlos lifted Evie onto her feet. At first, Evie leaned onto Carlos, but she managed to walk on her own a little. It it was any lower, Carlos would have to carry her, but she managed to get through it, holding Carlos' hand for support.