It was nice and cool outside, finally getting to a comfortable temperature now that the sun was starting to come up.
Pandora was sure she looked awful. She'd spent most of the night tossing and turning, unable to shut off her brain long enough to properly sleep for more than a couple hours at a time. Finally, around five in the morning, she dragged herself out of bed, knowing she wouldn't get anymore sleep. She pulled on some comfortable clothes that Jay insisted on Evie making her, which consisted of a light green zip up sweatshirt with dark green vines stitched into the fabric around the center, making it look like the vines wrapped around the zipper. Her pants were just loose jeans. She'd then pulled her hair up into a messy bun, figuring if she couldn't see her hair maybe she'd forget about yesterday. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.
So, she'd been sitting in one of the chairs on the patio like she'd done a few times since arriving in Auradon City, just staring out into the cool forest. She didn't have any coffee this time, as she woke up before the coffeemaker started, and she hadn't had the motivation to go back in and get a cup since then.
Pandora sucked in a deep breath through her nose, letting the comforting scents of nature fill her lungs and melting a little bit of the tension from her muscles.
She needed something to occupy her mind. Just sitting here was no better than trying to sleep the night before. Her mind kept circling back to what happened yesterday. So when her eyes fixed on the edge of the clearing Evie's house was set in, she got an idea. Standing up, she wandered away from the patio, passing through the bushes that lined the entrance and wandering out into the yard. Her eyes scanned the grass ahead of her as she walked.
She was several feet from the tree line when she finally stopped, her eyes landing on a small, young fern growing in the grass. There were several in this area, but this one was so small, as if it was struggling to grow. Like the runt of the litter, surrounded by so many bigger ferns.
She knelt down in the cool grass, which was slightly damp from the morning dew. Her eyes fixed closely on the little fern as her mind played over the possibilities her and Carlos had discussed a couple times.
Instead of touching her fingers to the small fern, she slowly planted her palms to the ground in front of her, pressing firmly into the ground. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and searched within herself to find her powers.
Warmth filled her chest, spreading and stretching out into her arms and through her palms, soaking into the soil beneath. Her powers faltered slightly in this mildly new experience. They normally flowed into whatever she was touching, usually just a single plant. But going in the soil, there were hundreds of roots and plants for her powers to willing flow into, so many it didn't know where to go.
It was dark behind her eyelids, and she couldn't really see anything, but she searched deep within her soul and realized she could sense all the different plants and sources of life. When she found the fern she was looking for, she pushed her powers toward that plant, feeling them flow into the roots of the fern.
Then something caught her attention. Her powers weren't only flowing from her hands. She could feel tingles of warmth from some of the other plants, as if their life forces were trying to do the same thing her powers were doing.
Biting her lip, Pandora found some of those life forces and used her powers to try to pull them from their original owners, as if a fist was grasping threads and pulling them. She then pushed the life force into her chosen fern, feeling the strength within the fern grow by the second.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
Pandora jumped, her eyes flying open and her head snapping around in shock. Jay was standing several feet behind her, watching her with mildly wide, curious eyes.
Pandora looked back to the fern, her eyes growing wider in surprise. Not only had the fern nearly doubled in size, several of the plants and grass around it had wilted, shriveled, or even turned brown, leaving a jagged circle of dying grass and wilted ferns around her chosen fern.
Pandora's mouth fell open in shock, her wide, blue eyes taking in what she'd done. She'd never done anything like this before. Of course, she'd never tried anything like this before, either.
"Dora?" Jay asked, sounding a little worried, and she heard him take a few steps closer to her. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Pandora finally closer her mouth, licking her dry lips and stumbling to her feet, backing away until she accidentally bumped into Jay.
"Whoa, take it easy." Jay calmed her, his hands gently grasping her arms to hold her steady. "What happened? Is it your powers?"
Pandora lifted her hands and stared down at her palms, which had some mud and grass stains on the skin. "I-I was just practicing my powers." she mumbled.
"Okay? But, why are some of the plants dying? Did something go wrong?" Jay asked.
Pandora's eyes went back to the fern, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to put it into words.
"I…just wanted to practice. I wanted to make that small fern grow a little bigger." she mumbled. "And I wanted to try something Carlos and I discussed a couple times. Instead of touching a plant directly, I tried touching the ground instead, to see if I could get my powers to move through the ground and into the plant. And it was working, but then I realized…I could feel the other plants'…life forces, or whatever you want to call them. So, I tried moving the life forces from one plant into another."
"And…in the process, you killed the other plants?" Jay guessed hesitantly, his brown eyes moving back to the fern.
Pandora shook her head slowly. "No…they're not dead. I was pulling from their…energy, but I don't think I took everything from every plant. They're…weak and probably dying, but a little water and sunshine and they'll grow back to the way they were."
"And you've never done that before?" Jay guessed.
"I didn't know I could." Pandora admitted. "It never even occurred to me. I thought I was just using my powers to grow plants." She looked back down at her hands. "I think I've been getting my powers wrong all these years. I think what I was really doing was…pushing my own energy into the plants. Not my powers, but my actual life force or something. Maybe my powers aren't just making plants grow, but moving energy from one thing to something else."
Jay was silent for a while, staring at the side of her face. "Maybe that's why using your powers sometimes makes you tired. If you're putting your own energy into the plant, it's actually taking the energy out of you, not just your powers."
Pandora nodded slowly, her eyes going back to the fern.
Jay gently grabbed her shoulder, pulling her around slightly to meet his eyes. "Are you good? Do you need to sit down or something?"
Pandora blinked, taking stock of how she felt. She wasn't drained or tired, at least not anymore than she was before. After all, she'd only got a few hours of sleep.
"No, I'm fine." she assured him, though she wasn't sure how believable she was. Especially given how doubtful Jay looked as he looked her over. "Really, I'm fine. I just…didn't sleep well." she admitted.
Jay nodded in understanding. "Well, how about we go sit? Or do you want some breakfast? Coffee?" he offered, gently tugging her back toward the house. Pandora followed him willingly, realizing Dude and Griffin were running around the yard, playing.
They went back inside, heading for the kitchen. Pandora sat at the island in the center of the room with a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee. Jay offered to make some eggs, since that's what he was eating, but Pandora didn't think she could stomach much at the moment, so she politely turned him down. She also filled up the dog bowls, which emptied almost as quickly as Dude and Griffin scarfed down their breakfast.
Jay sat across from her to eat, the only sounds in the room for a while was silverware clinking against plates.
It was interrupted by Mal and Evie entering the room, both dressed and made-up to perfection as always. Mal was dressed in a silk, fuchsia dress, her velvet purple hair loosely curled. Evie was in a dark blue pantsuit, little white dots decorating her fancy shirt, and a small crown hair clip atop her head.
"Morning." Evie greeted cheerfully, going to the cupboards.
"Morning." Pandora and Jay chorused, Jay's mouth still partially full of food.
Mal filled a to-go mug with coffee, and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl next to Jay. Her eyes landed carefully on Pandora, who pretended not to notice by focusing on the cereal swirling around in her bowl.
"You sleep okay?" Mal finally asked. "I hope the cot was comfortable."
Pandora nodded instantly. "The cot was perfect, honest. Very comfortable."
Mal nodded, though she clearly didn't believe her. "Well, I have a meeting with Ben, his parents, and Fairy Godmother, so I'll see you guys later." she told them, leaving the house with her coffee in one hand and apple in the other.
Pandora watched her leave, trying to ignore the fact that the meeting was likely about what happened yesterday, Hades trying to escape the Isle. That actually felt like forever ago considering everything that happened afterwards.
Turning her attention back to the two still in the kitchen, Pandora watched them for a moment. Evie appeared to be cutting up fresh fruit for breakfast.
"What's it like?" she asked quietly, "Having villains for parents?"
Jay and Evie paused, exchanging a glance before looking back at her.
"Well,…I suppose that depends." Evie admitted quietly, putting the sliced up fruit in a bowl before joining them at the table, sitting next to Jay. "Every villain is a little different."
"And they all treat their kids a little different." Jay agreed. "My dad…well,…he had a bit of a drinking problem…For the most part he just made me stock up his shop by stealing people's stuff for us to sell. But when he was drunk, well…he was a bit of an angry drunk." Jay admitted, his hand unconsciously going to his opposite bicep, which Pandora just noticed had a small, straight scar, as if caused…by a knife.
"And I told you a bit about my mom." Evie added, to which Pandora nodded. "She never really…well, she wasn't one for…physical exertion. It was more mental and emotional abuse, I guess. Telling me I wasn't good enough, pointing out my flaws. It wasn't so bad compared to other people."
"Cruella was a real piece of work when it came to Carlos." Jay admitted, glancing toward the doorway to ensure Carlos wasn't there. "It's not our place to say, but…I sometimes feel like Carlos had it the worst out of the four of us."
"But not every villain is an awful parent." Evie added, as if trying to point out the silver lining. "Mr. Smee, Squeaky and Squirmy's dad, you can tell he loves his kids very much. And Dr. Facilier, sure he can be a piece of work, but…"
"You kind of get the idea he's at least looking out for Celia." Jay finished. "Or making sure she can look out for herself. Although, I don't think he ever showed that much interest in Freddie." he added, glancing over at Evie again, who nodded slightly in agreement.
"Freddie? Facilier has two daughters?" Pandora questioned.
"Yeah." Jay nodded. "Freddie joined us in Auradon not long after we got here, to be honest. She's been here almost as long as we have."
Pandora nodded slightly, figuring she shouldn't be too surprised that at least some of the villains likely had more than one kid.
"What do you think…what do you think Hades would have been like…as a father?" Pandora asked hesitantly, staring down at the few pieces of cereal left in her bowl, which had grown soggy in the small amount of milk left.
It was silent for a few moments as Evie and Jay exchanged a glance.
"Well,…I've never met the guy…" Jay admitted quietly. "Actually, I think I've only ever seen the guy maybe once or twice on the Isle my whole life before yesterday."
"He has a son on the Isle." Evie admitted quietly, making Pandora look up at her. But Evie was looking down at the table. "That I know of, at least. It's not too uncommon for villains to have kids with more than one person. Like, I know Captain Hook's three kids have at least two different mothers, so it's always possible that Hades has more than one kid from more than one person."
"Yeah, but I don't think Hades has anything to do with Hadie." Jay added. "Doesn't he live with his mom? Yzma? I'm actually kinda surprised she named him after his dad."
Evie shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm not sure, but I've heard rumors, mostly from my mother, that they made a deal involving potions or something. It does benefit Yzma, I guess, having another kid around to help with her potions and things. And it's always possible that, off the Isle, Hadie has some of his father's powers."
Pandora blinked, her eyes flying back and forth between Jay and Evie. "Are all…I mean, you make it sound so much like a…business arrangement. Are they all like that?"
"Well, no, not completely. And that's just what my mom heard about Hadie and his parents, don't put too much stock in what she says." Evie assured her. "It could have just as easily been a-an accident."
"Yeah, pretty sure that's what happened with my parents." Jay admitted, shrugging slightly. "My mom wasn't too much of a villain, but apparently she pushed Aladdin out a window back when they lived in Agrabah before the Isle and everything, so they decided to send her to the Isle. Guess she wasn't very motherly, she just had me and left me with my dad. And he thought I'd be useful, so…" Jay shrugged.
Pandora nodded slightly in understanding, glancing at Evie before she could stop herself.
Evie shrugged. "Don't ask. I don't know who my father is. My mother would sometimes swear he was royalty, but honestly, I don't think I believe her. And I honestly couldn't care less at this point."
"Could be your mom's magic mirror." Jay joked, snorting slightly. Evie swatted him hard on the arm, making him laugh and lean away from her. Pandora fought down a grin.
"Sounds like you guys are having an interesting conversation." Carlos announced himself, entering the kitchen with the Smee twins trailing behind him. "Are you talking about your parents?"
"Yeah, our non-famous parents." Jay answered, getting up to clean his plate off in the sink. "You guys want breakfast?" he added to Squeaky and Squirmy. "Cereal?"
They both nodded eagerly.
Carlos put a couple slices of bread in the toaster before turning around and leaning back against the counter. "You've probably never even heard of my father." he admitted, meeting Pandora's curious eyes. "And I've only ever met the guy, oh, three times at most. Mostly so my mother could use his dogs."
"Dogs?" Pandora repeated warily.
Carlos nodded, his eyes turning down. "My mother raised me to believe that dogs were "vicious rabid pack animals who eat little boys who don't behave"." Carlos recited, his eyes traveling down to where Dude and Griffin were sitting, waiting for someone to drop food. "My father is a man named Charles Muntz. You've probably never heard of him. I guess he was some famous explorer before he went crazy or something, tried to kill a couple people. Anyway, he always had a small pack of hunting dogs, and some of them could be kinda…vicious."
Pandora gaped in horror, speechless for several moments. "Oh God, please don't tell me Cruella sicced his dogs on you!"
Carlos shrugged, his eyes still fixed on their dogs. "It was a long time ago."
It was awkward and silent for a few minutes, as no one seemed to know what to say. Then, Dude turned away from watching the twins eat to glance at his owner.
"Hey, Carlos, can you scratch my butt again?"
The tension broke, everyone breaking into smiles or laughter. At the same moment Dizzy and Celia entered the room.
"What did we just walk in on?" Celia asked curiously.
"And when did you get blue hair?!" Dizzy squealed excitedly, her eyes fixed on Pandora.
Everyone paused, but Pandora couldn't help but laugh again. Mostly because for a brief while, she'd actually forgotten about her hair, her father, and her troubles.
AN: So, I wanted to kinda play around with ideas on the VKs' other parents, plus I think Pandora needed to kinda talk some of this out with someone. I don't think it's fair that only Mal's other parent was announced in the movies or books.
I think Jay's mom is the woman who pushed Aladdin out a window during the 'One Jump Ahead', which probably isn't very original. I'm pretty sure other people have that same theory.
And I randomly thought of Charles Muntz from the movie Up to be Carlos' dad. I read somewhere that Carlos is a variant of the name Charles, plus Charles has a pack of talking hunting dogs, which fits with Cruella's whole "rabid pack animals" thing. And wouldn't it be funny if Dude turned out to be a descendant of the dog Doug from Up? I don't know, I just really like that idea.
Okay, I'm done boring you all. Let me know what you all thought of this chapter, with Pandora's powers and the whole parent talk they had. Thanks!