"Okay. That good?" Jay asked after patting the soil down firmly around the small plant. They'd gone for a hike yesterday and found some wild blackberries. They took a cutting of the bush, Jay and Carlos insisting Pandora could use it to practice her powers.
Pandora nodded. "Yeah. That's good."
Jay nodded and stood up, wiping his hands off on his pants as he backed away. He and Carlos stood just behind Pandora with the two dogs.
Pandora took a deep breath, kneeling down on the cool grass and touching her fingertips to the soft, green leaves of the blackberry plant, carefully avoiding any thorns. She closed her eyes and focused on the plant, feeling the familiar warmth build in her chest, spreading up through her arm and down to her fingertips before flowing into the plant. After a few moments, Pandora opened her eyes, a smile spreading over her face.
The small cutting of the berry bush had grown and spread, almost tripling in size and being dappled with heavy clumps of dark purple blackberries. Pandora stood up, plucking one of the berries from the bush and plopping it into her mouth as she turned to the two boys. She grinned as the rich flavor burst on her tongue. She nodded, licking off her fingertips, even though the juice stained them purple.
"Not bad, if I do say so myself." she joked, making Jay and Carlos laugh. Jay moved past her to try some of the berries, too.
"Have you figured out if you can use your powers without touching the plant?" Carlos asked curiously.
The past few days had been similar. Evie had made Pandora several outfits, despite the blonde insisting it wasn't necessary. She'd been staying at Evie's cottage with her, Mal, and the guys. Mal, Evie, and Carlos were gone fairly often, something about helping the King prepare for when the new kids came over from the Isle. They hadn't had much time to really sit and discuss Pandora's dreams more at length after that first night. But Pandora used the time to practice using her powers more than she ever had the chance to before.
"No, I've never tried it." Pandora answered Carlos' question. "It's like this…energy that spreads from me into the plant. So I've always made sure to touch some part of the plant, usually with just the tips of my fingers. I don't know if the energy would be able to jump from my fingers to the plant. I've never tried."
Carlos hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe-"
"What are you guys doing?!" Evie called from the patio of the cottage. All three turned toward her. Her dark blue hair was smooth and flawlessly hanging down her back, and she was dressed in a navy leather jacket and skirt over tights and a red shirt. "You should be getting ready! We have to be at the school soon! Mal's already over there!"
"All we have to do is change our clothes!" Jay called, though he started heading back toward the cottage, Pandora and Carlos following behind him. "We don't take three hours to get ready like you." he added teasingly.
Evie narrowed her eyes at him, her gloved hands planted in her slender hips, though her red lips were tugging up in a smirk. "Very funny." she joked. "Dora, do you need help with your hair or anything?" she asked Pandora.
"No thanks, Evie. I'm not going to do much with it." Pandora answered, all four heading inside. Pandora went up to the spare room she'd been staying in while there, grabbing the outfit she'd laid out on the bed and changing into it.
She pulled on a white dress and black tights. Then a dark green leather jacket with leaf-like designs stitched across the back with blue flowers. On her feet were brown boots. She pulled the top half of her hair back into a ponytail, leaving it hanging in natural waves.
When she was finished, she joined the others downstairs.
"Hey, we never really discussed this." Pandora told Evie as they all headed outside, leaving a couple rawhides in the house for the dogs to entertain themselves. "Do you want me to, you know, find a hotel or something? To make room for the kids here?"
"Oh, I forgot! Me and Mal talked about that yesterday. The cottage is really only going to be this full for a couple months, before everyone goes back to school, where they'll stay in dorms. So I figured, my room is bigger, so you, me, and Mal can share my room. Jay and Carlos can shared their room. Then Celia and Dizzy can share a room, and the twins can share a room. It won't be that bad."
"Are you sure?" Pandora asked as they approached her car. She was driving the four of them.
"Positive." Evie insisted, sitting in the front passenger seat while the boys got in the backseat.
It was a relatively short drive to the school. There were already several cars parked nearby, but not a whole crowd yet. It was mostly just people involved in the planning arriving to help set stuff up. They got out and approached the front of the school. There was a giant TV screen high on the front of the school wall, probably so the crowd can see everything they need to. There was a small blue and yellow stage, probably for the King to give his speech. Everything had clearly been cleaned and primped for today, the bushes trimmed and sidewalk swept or whatever else they needed to do.
There was a rather large crowd out front of the school. Mostly it was a marching band, some cheerleaders, and Pandora even recognized the King's parents, the former King and Queen, as well as Fairy Godmother.
Evie instantly approached one of the band members who had a guitar strapped to his back, while Carlos went to talk to a girl in a blue and pink jacket. Jay and Pandora hung back, Jay shoving his hands into his jacket pockets as he surveyed everything.
"So, you don't have anything to help with?" Pandora asked curiously.
Jay shrugged. "Evie and Carlos helped with a few things, there wasn't much for me to help with. Although, I did help Ben with a little…surprise." Jay admitted with a smirk.
Pandora glanced up at him curiously. "Oh? What surprise?"
Jay chuckled, looking down at her. "Well, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"
"Fair enough." Pandora relented. "Was it just you who helped, or-"
"No, me, Carlos, and Evie all helped him. Well, and Doug. And a few other people-"
"So, it's a surprise for Mal." Pandora guessed.
Jay's eyes widened slightly before narrowing down on her. "You're not getting anything else out of me." he informed her in a mockingly stern voice, making her laugh.
"Alright, I'll leave you alone." she relented, heading toward the nearest group of people with Jay trailing behind.
"Oh, Pandora." Carlos called as she reached them. "Jane, this is Pandora. Pandora, this is my girlfriend, Jane." Carlos introduced her to the girl holding his hand. She had a warm smile, and long dark hair in loose curls. She was wearing a frilly powder blue dress under her pink and blue jacket. The beaming smile on Carlos's face gave away how much he cared for her.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Jane greeted her with a wide smile.
"You too." Pandora returned, also smiling as they shook hands.
"I haven't seen you around before. What brings you to Auradon City?" Jane asked curiously. Up until now, the group had kept Pandora's presence relatively quiet, considering she was something of a runaway child. Even though she was legally an adult.
"Um, just visiting mostly." Pandora answered carefully. "And I figured now would be as good a time as any to visit, and see the new kids come over from the Isle."
"Yeah, I'm so excited. I can't wait to meet them!" Jane beamed, looking excitedly up at Carlos.
Evie also dragged Doug over to introduce him before he had to go back to prepping the band. As time passed, more and more people arrived to watch the big event.
"Jay!" a girl with long, black hair waved excitedly as she approached the group.
"Lonnie!" Jay greeted, sounding surprised. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked, grinning as she hugged him. She also moved to hug Carlos, Jane, and Evie. "Don't you have a match coming up?"
"It's not for a couple days, so I took today to travel down here. No way was I going to miss this." Lonnie insisted. "Plus, Jane's birthday is coming up." When she finished hugging her friends, Lonnie pulled back and met Pandora's eyes, both greeting each other with a smile. "Hi. I'm Lonnie." she greeted the blonde, thrusting her hand out. Pandora shook it with a smile.
"Pandora. Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Herkie."
Lonnie tilted her head curiously. "You know Herkie?"
"Oh, um, yeah." Pandora answered, realizing she probably said too much. She didn't want too many people looking into why she was in Auradon City, or where she was from. "Our families are close. We grew up together." she finally answered vaguely.
"That's cool. I've known Herkie since we started here at Auradon Prep. We were on the ROAR team together." Lonnie tilted her head slightly. "Does that mean you're from Mount Olympus?"
Pandora glanced at Jay before answering, "Yeah, that's where I live. I've known Herkie since we were little."
Thankfully, Lonnie didn't seem to pick up that anything was off, and the group turned to discussing what Lonnie had been up to. Apparently she played ROAR professionally for her home team in Northern Wei. She had a couple days before her next match, so she was able to come down for the day.
Eventually, a huge crowd was packed in around the front of the school, many cheering and waving blue and yellow flags, or holding welcome signs. Pandora stood near the front with Jay and the others, not too far from the stage. They were talking with friends and former classmates. Several cheerleaders were keen to greet Jay. Their conversations were interrupted by the marching band, which began playing an energetic tune. The cheers instantly picked up as Ben and Mal rounded the fountain, greeting the crowd with smiles and waves before stepping up onto the stage up front. Mal was wearing the gown Evie has been working on when Pandora first met them. Fairy Godmother indicated for them to stay up on the stage.
Once the couple was in place, the band ended their song, and Fairy Godmother tested out the microphone to ensure they could hear her before passing it up to the King.
Ben definitely showed his age with his speech, greeting the crowd like the teenager he was.
He then turned to Mal and started talking about when they first met in that very spot. Then, Doug started playing his guitar, Ben started singing, and several people started singing harmony. Pandora laughed quietly when she saw Carlos steal Doug's marching band hat and plop it on his own head.
Then, as the song drew to a close, Ben dropped down on one knee in front of Mal, causing everyone in the crowd, and the Lady herself, to gape in shock. Wide smiles spread over nearly every face. Then, he asked the question everyone was starting to expect.
"Will you marry me?"
Some girl in the crowd screamed "No!", though it was ignored when Mal answered, "Yes."
Everyone broke out in cheers, bubbles and confetti flying through the air. Ben stood, slipped the ring on Mal's finger, and they kissed amongst the cheers.
Pandora clapped and cheered, but her eyes scanned over the surrounding crowd. To her, it almost looked like Mal's friends were happier than she was. Jay and Carlos did a guy hug, after Carlos actually did a chest bump with the former King. Evie was standing close to Doug, practically swooning at the big screen above the school's front entrance, which showed Mal and Ben's smiling faces.
Ben stepped off the stage, being surrounded by Doug, Jay, and Carlos. He appeared to be thrilled and shocked to actually be engaged. At the same moment, Mal hurried over to Evie, both girls gushing over Mal's future wedding dress, and the engagement party Belle was already planning.
While Mal went to hug Ben's parents, Pandora was joined by Evie, Jay, Carlos, and a few of their friends that she'd already met.
"So, this was the surprise, huh?" Pandora guessed, smirking at Jay.
"What gave it away?" Jay joked before he and the others turned to where Mal and Ben were talking with Fairy Godmother. He called in a jokingly posh accent, "All bow to her royal majesty!"
"Yes, her royal purpleness." Carlos added, taking his hat off as he, Jay, Evie, Doug, and Jane jokingly bowed. Pandora covered her mouth, laughing.
"Silence, you annoying peasants." Mal joked, waving her hand regally before she started walking away.
"As you wish, my liege." Jay joked.
"Your crankiness." Carlos laughed. Everyone burst out laughing, while Evie jokingly swatted Jay's arm.
"I definitely picked a good day to visit." Lonnie beamed after congratulating Mal and Ben.
A few moments later, a long purple limo pulled up in front of the school, Mal's name on the license plate. As they discussed earlier, Pandora prepared to wait at the front of the school with the rest of the crowd while Mal and the others went to get the kids. King Ben, as well as Mal, Evie, and Carlos climbed into the back, while Jay took over as the driver.
Pandora applauded with the rest of the crowd as she watched the limo pull away, driving off toward the distant shores of Auradon in the general direction of the Isle. The trip wouldn't necessarily be a short one, at least an hour or two round trip. So she had a small wait. At least the giant flat screen TV perched on the front wall of the castle was watching their journey, so that could offer something to distract her during the wait.
She was pulled from her thoughts by someone clearing their throat nearby. Pandora glanced casually in the direction before doing a double take and freezing.
Herkie was staring pointedly at her, his bulky arms crossed over his broad chest.
"You've got some explaining to do, 'cuz." Herkie informed her sternly.
Pandora gaped wordlessly for a moment, then she tried to speak but only ended up stuttering for a few moments.
Herkie sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. "Dora, seriously, do you know how worried everyone's been about you?" he demanded. "Your mom's freaking out. Zeus is about ready to ask the Fates where you are. They're about ready to start a manhunt for you."
Pandora grimaced guiltily, looking at the ground and shoving her hands into her jacket pockets. She thought about apologizing, after all she did truly feel bad for worrying everyone, but she figured her apology would be pretty empty. She didn't really feel bad for leaving, because it was giving her a chance to learn more about who she was without being judged or having to hide everything.
Herkie reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder, his touch gentle despite his strength. She glanced up and felt even more guilty when she saw how worried he was. "Pandora, what's going on?"
She sighed heavily, having no idea how to explain everything to him. "It's…a long, complicated story." she admitted hesitantly.
"Okay. Well, we've got some time." Herkie pointed out, gesturing vaguely toward the large flat screen. The limo hadn't even reached Auradon's shores yet. It was a bit of a drive.
Pandora sighed again, trying to think of the simplest way to explain this. "Well,…I've been having weird dreams for a while now, and several of them featured Mal, the King's girlfriend, or fiancé, or whatever. So I came down here hoping I could get some answers."
Herkie blinked at her. Several times. He opened his mouth, but couldn't seem to say anything for a few moments. "I honestly don't know how to respond to that." he finally admitted.
"You have to swear not to tell my mom or anyone that I'm here." Pandora insisted, suddenly realizing Herkie might just do that. "I'm trying to figure some things out, and I can't do that if my mom comes and drags me back home."
"Okay, okay." Herkie agreed, holding his hands up in a gesture for her to calm down. "But maybe contact someone and let them know you're okay? Everyone's really worried about you."
Pandora sighed. "Yeah, okay. I probably should have done that before. I'll let someone know later or something."
Herkie nodded. "Good. So, where've you been staying?"
"With Mal and the others at Evie's cottage."
"And…have you got your answers?"
Pandora chewed on her lip for a moment. "Well,…I've got some answers. But honestly I think those answers just gave me more questions." she admitted.
Herkie tilted his head slightly, eyeing her for a moment. "Are you going to keep giving me little half truths and vague answers? Because if you want to play that way, I can keep asking you a thousand questions until I'm satisfied."
Pandora sighed in defeat, rolling her eyes slightly. "Okay, fine." She glanced around before sitting down on the edge of the makeshift stage Mal and Ben had stood on earlier, and Herkie sat next to her.
She gave him a rather vague, condensed version, but basically told him about her powers, as well as the dreams, and what her and the others had guessed about the dreams being connected to the barrier opening. Before she'd finished her condensed explanation, the limo had reached the Isle and passed through the barrier to retrieve the kids.
Herkie sat silently, his elbows resting on his knees as he sat next to her on the stage. Conversation continued to flow around them as the rest of the crowd was oblivious to their serious conversation.
"Why didn't you tell me about your powers?" he finally asked, still staring at his hands.
"I didn't tell anyone." she explained quietly. "I didn't want anyone to treat me differently. My mom's already overprotective and I just worried she'd get even worse if she knew I had powers."
"Why would she get worse?" Herkie asked, confused as he glanced over at her. "If anything, you'd be safer having powers, maybe your mom would lay off a bit if she knew."
"You really think my mom would lay off?" Pandora asked incredulously. "It would just give her more excuses to keep me in Olympus. Like I'd need to stay where people would understand my powers, and could help me learn to control them. But coming here, I've been able to practice using them, and I feel like I've grown more in the past few days than I have the last few years."
"Because you told practical strangers instead of your family." Herkie noted quietly, looking down again.
Pandora sighed, scooting closer and leaning her head against his shoulder. "I wanted to confide in you so many times." she admitted. "But you were so far away all the time, here at Auradon Prep. And I didn't want anyone to treat me differently, especially you."
Herkie sighed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I suppose I get it. I think people would treat me differently, too, if I didn't have powers. Sometimes I wish I didn't have Dad's super strength. And I could just be a normal guy. I know some people at school would talk about me behind my back because of my strength."
Pandora wrapped her arm around his back, squeezing him back.
"Don't keep me in the dark anymore, okay?" Herkie asked quietly. "I want to help you however I can."
Pandora nodded. "Deal. When Mal and the others get back maybe we can all talk, maybe plan to hang out and talk about it more or something."
Herkie nodded, but didn't have the chance to speak as people started applauding again. Herkie and Pandora both stood up, turning around to look back up at the large flat screen. Mal's purple limo was passing through the barrier once more, driving under the large red and white archway. The golden outline of the magical barrier was slowly closing behind them.
Pandora blinked. She blinked again. Something was going weird with her vision. It was blurring around the edges, but she didn't feel like she was going to pass out or anything. Then is started…flickering? One moment she's looking up at the TV screen, then less than a second later she was watching the back of the limo. It kept flickering back and forth. It was as if she was on the Isle, watching the limo leave. She felt…enraged.
Then suddenly, she was shoving through the crowd of people in front of her, running after the limo, desperate to get there before the barrier closed. There was nothing more than a hole the size of a basketball in the barrier when she thrust her fist through, her fingers clenched around something cool and smooth with hard edges. She could feel the tingle of magic around her wrist. She then used her other hand to pry the hole wider open.
Pandora blinked several times, trying to clear her vision. Something wasn't right. She was supposed to be in front of the school. She was in front of the school. Glancing around, she saw the enormous crowd, all staring in growing fear up at the TV. Returning her gaze to the screen, Pandora saw the limo stop and several people get out.
Someone thrust their head out through the hole in the barrier, their blue hair flicking as if it was a flame.
"I am a GOD!" a voice echoed in Pandora's head as her vision flickered again, so that she saw the back of the limo, Jay, Carlos, and the others staring at her in horror. "I don't belong here!"
Pandora shook her head, her vision returning to normal briefly. Up on the TV screen, she saw Jay lunge at the villain, who shot something out of his hand, or from something in his hand? It looked like bursts of blue magic. Different blasts hit Jay, Ben, and Carlos, knocking them to the ground.
Her vision flickered again, a vicious glee filling her chest at the sight of the three boys on the ground. Then she saw a large purple cloud, from which emerged a large, purple dragon. The glee changed to awe and pride at the sight of the magnificent beast. But then it was pushed down by a hardened resolve, a feeling of determination and knowing that dragon stood between her and freedom.
So she blasted a warm power from her soul through the stone in her hand, shooting the dragon right in the chest. The pain in Mal's face was obvious, but any guilt Pandora felt was squished by her determination. She could feel Mal's power flowing from her body into the stone in her hand, which grew warm.
"Do not panic!" someone's voice called over the crowd, bringing Pandora back to the present. She was starting to get dizzy with her vision flickering back and forth. Her feet shifted as she felt herself sway for a moment. She tried to maintain her focus on the TV screen, where she could see the blue magic connecting Mal's chest to the stone in the villain's hand. Mal's strength was clearly wavering, her clawed hands curling into her chest in obvious pain as her massive wings barely kept her in the air.
People started screaming. Pandora was jostled from all sides as people started running, but she stayed put, her eyes fixed desperately on the screen. She didn't know what was happening with her, but it was making her panic more than she probably would otherwise. And a small part of her wished she was truly there with them, though she didn't know what she'd do.
Suddenly, Mal roared, a blast of wind from her wings hitting the barrier full force. After several moments, the power was enough to knock the villain backwards from the barrier, which closed the moment his hand was back on the right side of the barrier. The force was so strong he tumbled backwards, rolling multiple times until he left the view of the TV screen.
Pandora blinked rapidly. She still felt a little dizzy from when her vision kept going in and out, but she mostly felt back to normal, not as if it was going to happen again. At least for the moment.
"…Dora. Pandora! Are you okay?" a strong grip on her arm startled her, causing her head to snap around to meet Herkie's worried blue eyes. He watched her for a moment. "What happened? You kinda froze up there."
Pandora blinked, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I-I don't know." she admitted. Her thoughts flew for a moment, and she frantically pulled out her cell phone, her eyes going back to the TV screen, where she could see the VKs getting back into the limo. The phone rang a few times before someone answered.
"Hello?"
"Jay, who was that at the barrier? Was it Hades?" Pandora asked frantically.
"What? Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, it was Hades. Why?"
Pandora swallowed the lump in her throat again. "I think it's him. My dreams? The person on the Isle? I think it's Hades."
AN: Dun Dun DUUUUN!
There's a nice, long, slightly eventful chapter for you guys. Hope you liked it. And hopefully the ending was enough to earn a couple reviews?
Let me know what you all thought!