The wind whipped through Pandora's hair, and she had to close her eyes when Jay's hair whipped her in the face.
She'd been a bit confused when they first announced they were taking motorcycles to the Isle of the Lost. Sure, part of the way, she understood, but there was also an ocean they had to cross. Then she figured Mal had magic, so that pretty much answered most of Pandora's questions.
Mal was in the lead on her motorcycle, Celia sitting behind her. Carlos and Jay were riding behind her, Pandora sitting on the back of Jay's bike, and Evie was bringing up the rear.
The long bike ride finally brought them to a small cliff right at the edge of Auradon. The bikes skidded to a stop near the edge of the cliff. Mal lifted her goggles up over her helmet, fixing her eyes on the island across the ocean.
"Noble steed, proud and fair, you shall take us anywhere." she chanted.
She pulled her goggles back down over her eyes, and with the rev of four motorcycles, they drove right off the edge of the cliff. Pandora instinctively clenched her eyes shut, half-expecting them all to fall to their deaths on the rocks below.
The bike lurched a bit, causing her to clutch more tightly to Jay's middle, before it righted itself and drove smoothly. Pandora peaked her eyes open, realizing they were all driving right over the surface of the ocean. She could feel Jay's chest shaking with laughter, so she lightly swatted his arm before readjusting her hold around him, not wanting to tempt fate and fall into the ocean.
Meanwhile, at the Enchanted Lake:
The sun was bright and the summer breeze warm at the Enchanted Lake. There was a giant blue banner that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE tied to two trees with pink bows. People were gathered around tables of punch and desserts. Some were lounging on towels near the lakeside.
Jane was standing with Lonnie on the small stone ruins in the water. Lonnie was excitedly telling her about what she was up to, but Jane was only half-listening. She was focused mostly up the hill, hoping to spot her boyfriend among the crowd.
Chad hopped up onto the stone platform with them, holding a water soaker full of water. He noticed Jane's distracted gaze.
"Looks like Carlos forgot about your birthday." Chad noted, interrupting Lonnie.
Jane looked up at him in surprise. "Well, maybe not, maybe he just took the wrong trail or something." Jane countered, sounding like she was trying to convince herself.
"Yeah, or they could just be running late." Lonnie agreed, knowing Chad was just trying to be mean.
Chad nodded as if in agreement. "Or maybe he just forgot. You never know."
"Hey, Chad, look. There's people taking selfies." Jane pointed up the hill, causing Chad to pass the water soaker to Jane and scurry up the hill to join in the attention.
"Forget about him." Lonnie suggested. "There's no way Jay, Carlos, Evie, and Mal all forgot your birthday."
Herkie joined them just then, hopping over a rock and up onto the stone platform with them. "Lonnie's right. I distinctly remember hearing Carlos mentioning your birthday present not too long ago. They're probably just running late. They do have the four new VKs staying with them."
Jane nodded, trying to believe her two friends. "Right. You're right. They're just running late."
Herkie glanced curiously up the hill. Suddenly all the chatter up there had gone strangely quiet. "Maybe they're here? Something's going on up there."
Lonnie followed his gaze before glancing around at the rest of the woods. The forest had gone eerily quiet. Even the birds had stopped singing. "I don't think it's them." she answered quietly.
"Wait, listen." Herkie hissed, and all three went silent as they listened, finally catching a quiet voice floating toward them from the top of the hill.
"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you."
"What is that?" Herkie whispered, all of them staring up at where some pink smoke had started to creep down the hill. Then, two figures appeared at the top.
"Happy birthday, dear Jane." Audrey sang in an eerie, quiet voice, drawing Jane's name out in the song.
Jane, Lonnie, and Herkie all instinctively scooted closer together as the smoke floated closer to them, glancing around nervously. They all noticed that when the pink smoke touched the people on the lake edge near them, those people fell asleep.
Hastily, the three friends backed toward the far edge of the platform, hiding behind one of the ivy-covered banisters. Though they all knew the empty stone would offer no protection from the sleeping spell floating right toward them.
"Happy birthday to you."
Jane glanced over her shoulder, her heel right on the edge of the stone as she tried not to fall off with Lonnie and Herkie in front of her. Then, when her eyes landed on the clear water below, a thought occurred to her.
Tugging on Lonnie's arm, Jane whispered, "The Enchanted Lake."
Lonnie instantly caught on, grabbing Herkie's huge bicep. "Get in the water."
The three friends did just that, Lonnie going so far as to dive directly into it's depths. Jane waded toward the far shore of the lake while Herkie ducked underwater in the deep end. Jane waited until the smoke was almost atop her before taking a deep breath and ducking below the surface.
The three friends found each other in the clear water, all waiting as long as they could hold their breaths before coming up, gasping for air. Their eyes instantly went up to the top of the hill to see that Audrey and Chad were gone, and the pink smoke was dissipating.
They stood there, the water to their chests or higher as they just caught their breath.
"Now what?" Herkie panted.
"Well,…probably find someone who's not asleep." Lonnie suggested. "We'll need to call Ben for sure."
"And my mom. She'll need to get her wand. That might be our best hope against Audrey and the scepter." Jane agreed as they started swimming back toward the platform.
"That's another thing. How did Audrey get Maleficent's scepter?" Herkie demanded, climbing up onto the platform, reaching down and giving the girls a hand up.
"I heard my mom mentioning that yesterday. Someone had broken into the museum and stole the Queen's crown and the scepter. I guess we know who now." Jane answered, hurriedly grabbing the water soaker she'd had earlier, as well as her purse.
"We may need more reinforcements." Lonnie announced, also grabbing her purse and digging her phone out like Jane. "Especially if that sleeping spell spreads across Auradon. I'll call my parents and let them know what's happening."
"I'll call my grandfather, too. Can't hurt." Herkie decided. If this did get bad, they may need Auradon to band together. He also had a few friends he could call.
AN: Not a lot happening in this chapter unfortunately, but I wanted to add Lonnie and Herkie, and maybe a few others, to the adventure.
We arrive at the Isle in the next chapter!